Ruby had never seen a Grimm in her life. She'd heard stories by the dozen, tales of gnashing teeth and sweeping claws, of burning acid and spikes of bone. Monstrous creatures, summoned by and attracted to intense emotions. Some even say that they eat the soul, leaving nothing for the Shepherd to usher into her flock.
But this is where the extent of her knowledge ended, as evident by this creature's appearance. Ruby already had an image in her mind, based on her sister's stories: giant black wolves, giant black birds, giant black… boars. In hindsight, her view had been severely limited, but no part of her psyche could have conjured the thing before her. Well, under her. She was currently standing on it, boots planted in its almost-liquid flesh, pulling Weiss up by her legs. How she'd let herself get more than halfway sucked into it was a question for another time.
Ruby looked down as she pulled, but her sister's shout made her screw her lids tight. "Stand back! Don't look it in the eyes!"
Ruby had no plans on heeding the former command, but she was glad to do the second. Closing her eyes against the creature's form was like stepping outside her forge after a deafening day of forgework. Something about the sight of it was inherently disquieting; her eyes just wanted to slide away, as if they could stubbornly ignore its existence. Ruby pulled at the heiress' legs. The monster pulled harder, absorbing her up to the ankles before Ruby could reclaim her grip.
"Come on!" She yelled, grunting as she pushed up with her legs. She fought against the Grimm's pull with everything she had. "Let. Her. Out!"
Ruby felt a surge of heat blast across her, accompanied by intense vibrations through the creature under her feet. She had no doubt that it was Yang. Even if she couldn't see her, she could picture each flaming punch diving into the Grimm's hide.
The assault seemed to help and the creature's grip on Weiss faltered, allowing Ruby to pull the heiress all the way up to her chest before her progress hitched, as if Weiss had become caught on something. The girl seemed to have a minor spasm, and Ruby could feel the thing she was stuck on getting loose, so she wrapped her arms more securely around Weiss' thighs and pulled.
All at once, Weiss slipped completely from the Grimm's body, her weight suddenly barging into Ruby and sending them both flying off the creature. Thinking fast, Ruby tried her best to wrap herself around Weiss— she didn't know whether or not the heiress had an Aura remaining, and she wasn't about to just blink away and leave the girl to fall. Instead, she focused on her own Aura, hoping that would bolster her against the inevitable impact.
The first thing she struck was a tree, her back slamming hard against it and almost knocking Weiss out of her grip. Her Aura flashed and shimmered, holding on by a thread as she continued to fall with Weiss tucked close to her chest. The ground arrived quickly, finally shattering the remains of her Aura. Thankfully, the soil was unreasonably soft, saving her from further harm. Distant pain shot up her body regardless, but the look on Weiss' face shoved that into the back of her mind.
The heiress' cerulean irises were little more than slivers giving way to blown-out pupils. Her lip was twisted with intense disgust, her whole body was shivering in Ruby's lap, and there was nothing behind her eyes. Ruby gently shook her, cupping the back of her head so she could bring their eyes to meet. "What happened!"
Ruby could see the precise moment that Weiss reclaimed her cognizance, indicated by the shrinking of her pupils and the widening of her eyes. Intense confusion etched across her features. She mouthed the smith's name, blinked rapidly, then twisted to look behind her, towards the Grimm she'd just escaped.
Ruby, with one hand supporting Weiss' back, was able to feel when her stomach lurched, but she didn't have time to move. The heiress vomited onto Ruby's breeches. She looked down to assess the damage.
Oh. There was a sword in her thigh.
Blake landed in a controlled skid, but a jutting stone caught her foot and sent her toppling. Thankfully, Yang caught her. Their battle had advanced a good distance deeper into the forest, leaving burning trees and pools of black ichor in their wake.
"You need to let me handle this," Yang insisted, her voice much more serious than Blake was used to.
The fay sent her a dumbfounded look. "Are you stupid? That thing will—"
"It's just a Grimm," Yang said, as if that was a reassuring statement. "I've killed plenty. Get the other two out of here, I'll find you."
"Just a Grimm?" Blake pushed herself off of the Huntress. "Look at the damn thing!"
Yang briefly looked up at the viscous creature. Its bulbous, writhing body was suspended on an inconsistent number of spidery limbs. Rather than walking like a normal creature, it seemed to sprout and discard the appendages in the direction they were needed, giving it a perfectly smooth gait.
Extending from its hulking body was a long neck, at least a couple meters in length, that seemed to squirm on its own volition, uncaring of how it unbalanced the rest of the creature. The neck ended in a pristine white mask, though she was sure none of the others saw it that way. Grimm such as this one took advantage of the mind rather than using brute force, tempting their victims with a hypnotic visage before gobbling them whole. Thankfully, it only worked once, and Yang had been exposed to such abilities as part of her training. She turned back to the fay. "Blake, you can't kill it— you can't even touch iron. Plus, one look in its eyes and you'll—"
A deep black limb shot towards them, interrupting the Huntress and forcing her to scramble back lest she suffer a sudden impalement. She tried to reach out and grab the extended appendage, but the rest of the Grimm's mass arrived with uncanny speed, its other legs sweeping out and batting Yang out of the way with a hard impact to her chest. She barely managed to stay on her feet, but what she saw next made her panting breath hitch.
Its mask was bent down to Blake, perfectly aligned with her eyes. Long arms, disturbing in their humanlike appearance, sprouted from its upper torso and confidently reached down to encircle her. Yang tried to lunge forward, but the fire in her palm wouldn't reach in time. Grimm of this kind weren't as blindly voracious as their animalistic kin; it would take Blake and run, forcing Yang to either chase it, or leave Ruby and Weiss alone in the darkness of the Emerald Forest. She watched helplessly as Blake was caught in its entrancing gaze.
One moment, Blake was in its long fingers, then she simply wasn't. In a flash of otherworldly light, Blake appeared in the air above its closed hands, leaving Yang to watch awestruck as she fell with her fist extended, lit only by the residual flames of the ignifer's earlier attacks. The fay's hand struck the mask with a resounding crack.
The Grimm scrambled back, its hands flying up to cradle its now-broken face. It let out a long, hollow shriek as its liquid form suddenly bristled with spikes of ichor, then it just… ran away. Yang took a single step in its wake, but the dark form sank easily into the shadows of the forest.
Yang only noticed Blake's quiet approach from the sound of clinking metal. She looked to the fay, panting and bewildered at what she'd just witnessed. "Wha… how did you…"
Blake held a wide smirk, but it was clear that she was maintaining it to hide her pain as she unwrapped the iron chain from her fist. "I can handle myself just fine."
Yang gawked, but only for a moment. The Huntress surged forward and ripped the chains from Blake's hands. "Gimme that! Gods, Blake, you're going to hurt yourself!"
Blake let her take the chain, but affixed her with a glare. She was prepared to berate Yang for doubting her ability, but found her words hanging in her throat as the Huntress came close and cradled her hands. Their burned flesh mingled, though Yang didn't have any reaction besides the fawning look in her eyes.
"Yang, I'm fine. It's just iron," Blake assured. "I'm used to it."
Yang only gave her a single, unconvinced glance, then began pouring a light trickle of water over Blake's wounds. "That should feel better," Yang insisted, her focus on Blake's burns.
The fay sputtered, unsure of how to react to this level of gentle care. "Sh-shouldn't you be worrying about your sister?"
Yang raised an eyebrow, then looked off into the direction Ruby had flown with Weiss. They had a good bit of distance now, and she sincerely doubted a Grimm that wounded would test its luck for a long while. "Eh, she's a tough cookie. I'm sure she'll be fine."
AN:uuuuuu y wasnt blake vored? intruge