Chapter Ninety-two

Samt Alyashm wondered what, exactly, Headmaster Ozpin was doing. Meeting the team, they'd seemed normal enough, to the extent that he had been a little worried about their capabilities. He'd picked up this mission, willing to give the esteemed man the benefit of the doubt, and had been slightly impressed with their deductive skills, but had still had his reservations.

And then they had ran.

He'd set what he first believed to be a brisk pace, only to almost be immediately overtaken, pushing himself to that which he could maintain, fully expecting to need to slow down rather quickly, youthful exuberance and a desire to prove themselves leading the students to burning out, and slowing to a more sedate pursuit, one that would be acceptable as their target was waiting for them instead of fleeing.

Except they hadn't.

For hours and hours they'd run, and while he had given them small breaks to recover, they'd barely seemed winded when it had started to darken. Samt had been waiting for them to start to trip to call it, given how much Ms. Valkyrie was invested in this mission, to the point that he'd have to watch her when they found the bandits, to keep her from getting herself killed, but they'd kept going, displaying a surety of foot in the twilight that he'd only seen in veteran huntsmen, or other Faunus.

Finally, he'd called it, dealing with the whining, only to find that they had better night vision than he did. Samt would say they were all Faunus with hidden traits, but had Ms. Schnee been one, given her family's history, she likely would've been killed outright, and certainly would not have been allowed to leave Atlas.

Regardless, they'd kept watch, and the morning's breakfast had been… odd. The 'breakfast smoothie's' flavor was Mistralian, which Valkyrie and Ren were, but it'd given him an almost unnatural energy, the others' level of 'pep' making a little more sense.

There had been… rumors on how the Headmaster would pick out a team every few years as an 'experiment'. This gave truth to them.

Samt had attended Haven, almost twenty years prior, but he'd seen the teams that'd arrived for the Vytal Festival they'd hosted, and one team of Dustcasters from Beacon had dominated the senior division. However, the last one of them had died, six years later. The Headmaster's favorites were supposed to burn brightly, but they always had the worst luck.

Alyashm had just assumed that luck would last through their schooling.

He'd apparently been wrong.

"What do you mean, 'sacrifice?" the Schnee girl demanded of the crazed looking bandit, as more and more Grimm, enough for a minor Tide, moved through the forest around them, with a level of coordination that put the Huntsman's teeth on edge.

Grimm could move like that, Beowulfs led by an Advanced one of their kind coming to mind, but he could pick out at least four different types of Grimm flitting about, and while Beowulfs were foremost amongst them, there were also Creeps, centipedal Murkates, feline Whampuses, and even what he was pretty sure was a Flash Drake.

To have them all working together meant this was a Tide, but he'd never heard of one acting like this, and Samt started trying to figure out how they'd get out of here, grabbing his Scroll to call for an evac, but the signal was gone, his call not connecting, because of course it couldn't.

"What does it sound like, girlie?" the bandit sneered, cuffed, and trying to take a swing at them with his words instead. "One of us is about to die!"

"Looks like more than one," Samt noted, "as we won't be carrying you out of here."

The Grimm were waiting, moving, until, at an unseen signal they charged, Schnee turning, one hand going to the odd looking Ice Dust pendant she wore, the other extending outwards, half a dozen snowflake sigils forming in the air in a circle around the tower, firing icicles downwards as the Tide hit the surprisingly stable structure and started scrabbling up it.

Beside her, Rose, their team lead, extended her rifle out and sighted on the nearest Whampus, the horse-sized six legged Grimm cougars all leaping on top of buildings, squatting down and preparing to leap for them. Shooting, her round took it in the eye, dropping it, even as the others started to jump for them, the one that looked like it'd make it to them first caught in the chest and knocked backwards with a second shot, a fist sized hole through its ribs.

Samt Glared at another, meeting its pure-red eyes, the creature going still in time to hit the tower and bounce off, before he blinked.

"No!" the talkative bandit yelled, getting to his feet. "No, don't fight them! Someone has to be sacrificed! Him!" the man ordered, kicking the still-shaking bandit, the one that'd fallen off the tower before. "Throw him off!"

"So," Valkyrie questioned, a malignant glint in her eye, "we throw someone off, these Grimm go bye-bye?"

The lead bandit nodded, glaring at her, "Yes, you stupid bit-aaaaaah!"

The hammer wielder smiled, having kicked the man off their platform, as Rose and Schnee looked at her in horror. "Well, it's what he said to do," the orange-haired girl shrugged, taking a step forward to look over the edge. "Huh, that's weird."

"No! Don't! Noooooo!" the bandit screamed as, instead of being torn apart, he was carried away on the back of a Murkate, two Beowulfs holding him down as he twisted about, kicking uselessly, and then, as one, the Grimm Tide left.

It wasn't like watching a Tide break, as the united Grimm suddenly became individualistic, running away through some deeply buried sense of self-preservation. No, while chaotic, the retreat seemed almost orderly in comparison, until the only sign of the attack was the few dozen dead Grimm, mostly from the Dustcaster's Ice, though the dead Whampuses were all Rose's work.

"Indeed," Samt agreed, leaning against one of the supports that held the roof over their elevated platform up. "Most strange."

"But, where are they taking him?" Schnee questioned.

"And why?" Rose added.

Looking to the remaining two bandits, the woman shrugged. "Dunno. Far enough we stop hearin' the screams. Small mercies, I guess," she finished voice faint, the female bandit clearly traumatized.

Given what she had likely done to others, Samt had little pity for her.

"Well isn't that lovely," the Professional Huntsmen commented, noting that the team leader had pulled out her Scroll.

"I'm not getting any signal!" the red-hooded girl exclaimed, Schnee checking hers as well, while Valkyrie turned an unimpressed look towards the two cuffed bandits.

"Where's the jammer?" the Mistralian girl demanded.

Her Atlesian teammate glanced up, "Wait, you mean there's a CCT Jammer? But those are illegal!"

Everyone looked at the heiress in disbelief.

Even the bandits.

"Uh, Weiss?" her partner stated. "I don't think they care. 'Cause they're bandits."

"Oh… right. Do you know how bad those things are!" the white-haired girl still demanded. "How are you supposed to call for hel… oh. Well, you're really just getting what you deserve," she sniffed.

"The problem is that we don't want to get what they deserve," Ruby pointed out, looking at the outlaws. "So, where is it?"

The woman shrugged, "Don't know. Hoss did but…" she glanced towards the forest, "ya kicked him off. Asshole deserved it, but… yeah."

Schnee turned a look Valkyrie's way, the hammer-wielder shrugging. "Whoopsie."

"Okay, so we just need to look around," Rose said, mostly to herself, glancing about.

"But ya can't," the female bandit argued. "The Grimm worms take anybody that touches the ground!"

The rest of the team turned to the Atlesian, who glanced back at them, asking, "What?"

"What kind of Grimm is it, Weiss?" Rose questioned leadingly.

With a put upon expression, the Dustcaster demanded, "What, you think because I get better grades that I'll know what kind of Grimm it is?"

The others stared, undaunted.

"It's a Graspoid," Schnee groaned. "Some people think they might be what makes Grimm Tunnels, like the one we saw, but no one can prove it, and to be that big, those ones would need to be Alphas."

Frowning, Samt interrupted, "You have seen a Grimm Tunnel?"

"Yep! Went down it and everything!" Valkyrie grinned, the girl bragging about what, to many, had been a one way trip. "That was a fuckin' day! It's where Snowflake got her fancy necklace! Well, Jauney-boy made it, but same diff!"

The Huntsman frowned, looking at the pendant in a new light. He'd seen Huntsmen with Artifacts, air purifying crystal candles, canteens that never ran out, and even an unbreakable blade, but they were rare things, and usually ended up in the hands of collectors. While it did have the look of one, now that Samt paid closer attention to it, the Snake Faunus would have assumed the crystal was merely an imitation, the kind a high-society girl with an eye towards combat might wear, mixing form and function, had this team not been the one favored by Beacon's mysterious headmaster.

"Impressive," he nodded, waving them to continue. "Surviving one of those gives me more confidence in our chances. Now, what is your plan, Ms. Rose?"

"O-Oh!" the young girl, who did not seem pleased with the praise, replied. "Right, Weiss! What can they do?"

The Atlesian, also looking regretful, refocused. "Well, they grasp things. Usually by bursting from the ground, taking them in their jaws, and digging back down, tearing off anything not in their mouths through the force of their dive. They do have tongues with hands, so if they are just there, they can reach out, but they're blind, and can only feel the world through vibrations. As long as you don't touch the ground, you should be fine, but anything that's resting directly on the ground they'll feel, as opposed to elevated structures. Winter actually talked about an outpost where they keep appearing, and the buildings all had to be built on raised supports."

"Don't touch the ground, got it," Rose nodded. "And what's this Jammer look like?"

In this, the Huntsman could help. "Like this," he instructed, bringing the image up on his Scroll and showing them.

"But, how did you get that, if you don't have service?" Schnee questioned.

"This is not the first time I have dealt with such things," the experienced man smiled. "I have it, along with other things, saved on my device."

"Ooooh, we should do that!" Valkyrie told her partner, a teasing tone in her voice.

The boy sighed, "We already have, Nora."

"Oh, right!" the hammer-wielder nodded, shooting the Atlesian a knowing look, which the girl, by her huff understood as the slight it seemed to be.

However, before he felt the need to step in, Rose already was, asking her partner, "Okay, Weiss, I can make it down, but I'll need platforms between. You got that?"

"Pffft, ask me something difficult next time," the Dustcaster shot back, the red-clad girl taking a running stance, then sprinting off the tower, leaping towards the nearest building, off-course, to the point that Samt stood a little straighter, starting to worry.

However, the girl came apart in a burst of rose-petals, which flowed over to the rooftop, reforming into the Huntress, who landed lightly, turned, gave them a jumping wave, and then flipped her weapon into a scythe configuration, cutting open a hole in the wooden rooftop with three swift twirls of her blade, and jumped inside.

"That girl, she wouldn't be related to the Bloody Rose, would she?" Samt questioned, something about that Semblance oddly familiar.

"…Who?" the girl's partner questioned, the others similarly unknowledgeable.

Samt shook his head, "A Huntress of some renown. I heard she retired. I don't know her real name, but I came through an area she'd been. The woman was as thorough as she was deadly, and if Ms. Rose is related… No, Valian women take their bethrothed's last name. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence," he shrugged, her file stating the girl had a speed Semblance, but not the specifics.

"I take it she cannot cut things with those petals of hers?" Samt questioned, her partner shaking her head. "Pity."

They waited, somewhat tensely, a gunshot catching their attention, and a dead Beowulf was tossed out a half-opened window on the second story, permanently opening it, Ms. Rose leaning out of it a moment later.

"There's Grimm in here!" she called.

Gauging the distance, noting he could make it, the Huntsman called back, "Do you need any assistance?"

The girl turned to petals, flying out, up and around, landing on the roof as another Beowulf lunged out the window, the girl flipping her weapon about to blow its head apart before it hit the ground.

"Nah! I got it! Just thought you should know!"

And then she jumped back into the hole in the roof she'd cut, disappearing once more.

Left to wait, Samt noted, "Her file did not mention her close quarters combat skills."

"Huh?" Schnee questioned. "What skills?"

Without saying a word, the Huntsmen gestured to the two dead Beowulfs.

"Nah," Valkyrie disagreed, "little red's the worst at that stuff."

Once more, Alyashm gestured towards the newly deceased Grimm.

"Pah-leese," the hammer-wielder dismissed. "They're only Beowulfs."

"There was a time, not too long ago, that we would not have dismissed them," Ren disagreed. At his partner's disbelieving look, he amended his statement to, "I would not have dismissed them."

A few more gunshots could be heard, then a window opened, and Rose emerged. "Not this one! Weiss! Platform!"

Nodding, the white-haired girl cast her hands forward, three glyphs forming in the air between structures, the slowly rotating snowflakes serving as platforms as the red-clad girl jumped between them, before dipping down into what looked to be a barracks of some sort.

That was cleared as well, as was the next, and, in the distance, the sun started to set, the Grimm returning, the girl still inside the Bandit's motorpool.

"Ruby!" her partner yelled. "Ruby get back here!"

Then, with an explosion that had to be Dust, one wall of the motorpool blew outwards, their Scrolls all beeping with the sound of reconnection.

The Grimm, which had been milling about at the edge of the forest, surged forward, Ms. Rose coming out of the destroyed wall and onto the roof, reforming only to come apart again, a Whampus flying out of the tree line for her, claws outstretched, passing harmlessly through her discorporated form.

"Rose! Come Back!" Samt ordered her, locking eyes with another of the great cats, Glaring and fouling its pounce, causing it to trip over the tree it was trying to leap from. In his free hand, the Faunus brought up his Scroll, starting to call for a highest-priority evacuation, only for the connection to be cut again.

But it had connected, for a moment.

Which meant it was something the Grimm had done.

Oh, this is not good.

Schnee created a few glowing platforms, which Rose used her Semblance to climb, the Glyphs exploding into showers of ice behind her as the agile cats tried to follow. Looking at the two remaining bandits, the choice was clear, and the Huntsman grabbed the Bandit who'd originally fallen out of the tower, and tossed him out, causing him to fall once more.

"Mr. Alyashm!" Schnee gasped, aghast, while Valkyrie giggled, Rose arriving as the Faunus watched the bandit, screaming in terror, hit the Grimm below.

And was promptly ripped limb from limb.

At least his death was quick, the Huntsman thought, the Grimm not stopping, the level of coordination, of tactics, here unreal, but that didn't make a difference when they were right in front of him.

The red-clad girl arrived, Samt ordering, "Rose, free the last bandit and let her have a weapon. We're leaving." Looking outwards, there was a clear view of the path back to the road, and it was packed full of Grimm, while, in other directions, the concentration was less, which in random Grimm formations would be coincidence, but now suggested they were being blocked off.

If they were to try and use the trucks, they'd be stopped, by sheer dint of the bodies of their enemies alone, but, as Huntsmen, they needed no roads.

Turning towards the main road, the one they'd originally dropped onto, though they'd have to run for close to a day to get to it, he knew where they needed to go. A running battle wasn't good, but staying here was not an option, the amount of Grimm below them multitudinous as they rushed the tower once more. Schnee used her Dustcasting to cover the structure in spikes, shaped in interlocking rings to prevent the Grimm from using them to climb, which slowed them, but it wouldn't be enough.

The creatures howled in pain, impaled, even as Rose looked around at the attack, panicking, the last Bandit similarly shocked that they were still being attacked, while the Mistralian pair just looked ready, Ren meeting the Faunus' gaze, calm, and nodded.

Unholstering Consequences, a shake and twist shifted it to its cannon formation, and Samt pointed westward, directing the others, "We're going to make a run for it. Leave your bags behind, they'll just slow you down. Better to fight on the run than be drowned in the Tide."

That got their leader calmed, the girl latching onto that task, looking out, flipping her weapon into its rifle form, seeing something and firing a few rounds, screeching from her targets as they died coming from the direction he was pointing. "Okay, Fliers down, then… Weiss, Vector Glyph?"

The Atlesian nodded, as Samt thought, fliers? not having seen any. The white-haired girl turned and formed two almost vertical glyphs, on top of each other, rotating in opposite directions, both pointed the way he'd directed, but tilted upwards. Valkyrie stepped forward and swung her hammer, taking out the pillars in that direction, then another hit broke the roof over their heads, a detonation from the back of her weapon causing it to strike with enough force that it broke the ceiling off completely, sending it tumbling below.

"All Aboard!" Valkyrie grinned, grabbing the bandit, who'd picked up a dagger and a pistol, and jumping onto the glyph, leaning into it and holding the edge with an open-fingered grip, so she didn't have any part of her behind it.

And the Grimm continued up the tower, the icicles no longer firing down on them, the Tide seconds away from reaching them.

Ren leapt onto the Glyph as well, as did Rose, Samt following suit, leaving only Schnee, who, concentrating, announced, "Launching in three, two, one."

Leaping upward, twisting in a partial somersault so her feet were on the glowing circle, the white-haired girl stated, "Firing!" and the circles both exploded in light, the Huntsman gritting his teeth as they were launched forwards, and upwards, the six of them flying high into the sky.

From the forest, in a ring around the clearing, Girgoyles took flight, the armored Grimm like airborne tanks, except from the direction they were headed, which remained clear. Even then, though, Rose turned about, sighting on them mid-flight, shot after shot taking down the ones closest, half her hits striking not their extensive white and red protections, but their apple-sized eyes, causing the advanced Grimm to drop to the forest below.

And, in the direction they travelled, the sun had almost set, seeming as if they were chasing it for safety, as night fell.

However, looking down from that orange orb, movement in the forest in front of them told the Huntsmen it would not be as easy as a simple chase.

The arc of their flight evened out, Samt slowing first, due to the Faunus' weight, but a shot from his Cannon towards a clump of Grimm behind them pushed him forward enough that he came down with the others, Schnee making a Glyph her teammates angled to hit, which burned off their momentum nigh-instantly.

Their leader, propelled by her shots, came down ahead, but her Semblance allowed her a similarly easy landing, as she turned, pointing her rifle further West, and started firing, the rounds eliciting the death-screams of Grimm ahead of them, showing that whatever Alpha Grimm was behind this attack, it had kept forces in reserve.

Which was not a thing that Alphas were supposed to do.

Regardless, he reached with one hand to grab the bandit, taking the shaken woman from Valkyrie and hoisting her over one shoulder. Having a witness would help, but not to the point of endangering the others. "Move," he ordered them, "And do not stop."

And then they were off, trying to outpace their enemy, at first hurtling through the trees, but soon enough, battle was joined.

First were Othro, Mistralian Grimm, two-headed snake-dogs that didn't come straight for them, but tried to run parallel to their group, allowing the Beowulfs to gather attention, only to then come charging in from the side like a runaway cart. However, the team he was with were already moving, all of them darting about and out of the way, Valkyrie even jumping on one's back long enough to crack open one of its skulls, but had to jump away as the other head snapped for her, the creature able to exist with one, if with less grace.

Another Othro charged Samt, and he paused long enough to Glare at, causing it to stumble and fall, as he swung Consequences, spinning into a warhammer, down onto its spine, disabling the beast, and moving on, the bandit, terrified, having gone still over his shoulder, which was good, as it made her easier to balance.

Then were the Beowulfs, which the team didn't even break stride for, ducking, jumping, and running past without stopping, rapiers, scythes, hammers, and pistol-mounted daggers lashing out to leave crippled and dying Grimm in their wake.

Which is when the forest itself tried to stop them.

The grass beneath them started to grow upwards, trying to catch their feet, weak enough they could rip free, but spike-like roots shot up to hit their legs, chipping away at their Aura, and it was enough to slow them down, as a humanoid looking Grimm knelt behind a tree, armor covering its face and neck, running down its arms, both hands on the ground, a shadow moving through forest floor to the bits of foliage that had turned hostile.

"Joanne?" the bandit over his shoulder cried out, in shock and horror.

Rose turned, rifle pointed at the creature, but hesitated.

Valkyrie didn't, a grenade striking the humanoid, who, with a shriek, exploded, painting the nearby foliage with black and red Grimmstuff, their footing once more secure.

"Dryant!" the experienced Huntsman told them. "Not local. Advanced. Plant controllers. Keep moving!"

They'd slowed, the Grimm from behind them starting to close, more Othros taking the opportunity, but were once again dodged, the ones that were not killed by the team pulling back to look for another opening, a wave of Creeps coming in, the two-legged armless lizards snapping at everyone as they took to the trees, one snap catching Ren's leg but his Aura held as he kicked himself away, Valkyrie and Schnee laying down a blanket of attacks that wiped out the mob in seconds, allowing them to drop down to the ground as a nearby tree darkened and started to reach for them, Rose not hesitating this time, and taking out the next Dryant.

Hitting the ground and running once more, the team thankfully smart enough to not attempt 'tree jumping' without knowing what they were doing, especially with Dryants around, more Grimm were incoming, but not a single Alpha was in sight.

Those Grimm had a definite range, and any kind of coordination like this was, well it was the kind that Alphas could only manage if they had eyes on their enemy, but, looking around, twilight giving way to darkness, there was no distinctive large expanse of white against a larger one of black that would indicate an Alpha Grimm's presence.

Instead, with a reptilian hiss, three Flash Drakes leapt in their path, the Grimm's distinctive head frills extending, a grenade from Valkyrie arcing out as she cried, "Not Those Fuckers!"

The grenade missed, the pink explosion, however, shielding the three Grimm from view, as the rest of the forest was momentarily lit up as if in broad daylight, the blinding radiance only causing the smoke-cloud to turn neon, and Samt understood the Mistralian girl's tactic, having twisted his weapon in front of his eyes so as not to be caught himself.

But, in that flash he'd seen more Grimm.

A lot more Grimm.

Coming from every direction.

It was so much, that, if they all rushed in, this team was doomed, but they were holding back.

Which is when the Othros charged again, losing several of their number, Consequences taking one in the back leg, crippling it, and leaving the snake-dog to howl and try and hop away, though Samt couldn't press the attack, as more Grimm were coming.

"What were those dino-Grimm?" Rose questioned, leaping over a Beowulf and beheading it, using her spin to slam the spear-tipped bottom of her weapon into another shoulder to continue her vault, a shot from her weapon sending her spinning through four more, while the bullet she'd used slammed into a Whompus, signaling that the cats had caught up to them, taking it off course as it leapt for Ren.

Schnee, breathing hard, twitchy in a way that suggested she was trying not to panic, attempted to respond, once more wearing those ice shoes of hers, a slice of her rapier taking out a Beowulf's throat, not enough to behead it, but enough to kill it. "They're known as Flas-"

"They're Those Fuckers!" Valkyrie cut her off, an Ursa charging from behind a tree, slamming into the girl with a spiked paw, causing her Aura to shimmer. Grabbing something from a pocket and biting into it, pink lightning wreathed the Mistralian girl's form as she darted forward far faster than she had before, slamming her electricity covered hammer into the Ursa, sending it flying away, crushing an Othro that had slowed to turn and start another charge, killing it too. "If they hiss, look away! One almost got Rennie killed!"

"Good advice," Samt noted, his voice controlled, weighing the value of dropping the Bandit he was carrying, who was shaking, and sobbing, and crying that she didn't want to die right in his ear, but if he was going to do so, it'd be at an opportune moment.

Seven more waves came at them, each with slightly more Grimm, each getting in hits, even against Samt, though the student's skills took serious blows and turned them into glancing ones. Even then, their Aura reserves were surprising, none of them breaking even though they had to be below half by now, as they ran, the sun having truly set and darkness surrounding them, having to slow each time they were attacked, and the sound of the stampede behind them grew ever closer, another ambush by Flash Drakes showing the greater Tide only a few hundred feet away now, and then… chittering?

Whatever it was, no, whatever they were, they were closing fast, from the left and right, Alyashm trying to place the sound, when, all of a sudden, the noise stopped.

"From Above!" Ren yelled, the boy monochrome, when, leaping at them from the trees, looked like half a dozen men, curled up into fetal positions, faces, hands, and feet the white and red of Grimm Masks.

And then they S̸̻̉̌h̵̦͂i̴̧͗ẽ̷̟k̷͍͙̾e̷̞͙͊d̴͎̋̀.

The noise slammed into the Huntsman like a slap to the brain, the Grimm suddenly extending long, thin, spider-like limbs outwards as they lunged, and the Faunus hurled the Bandit to the side, the woman hitting the ground and scrabbling to her feet.

Instantly, two of the attackers changed course mid-air, and hit the woman, black limbs snapping shut like beartraps, white bone 'fingers' shown to be claws that flayed her flesh, the Bandit having lacked an Aura, the Huntsman Glaring at a third as, shifting Consequences to a cannon, he shot the woman with an explosive round, killing the two Grimm on her and ending her suffering, her wounds unquestionably lethal. A swing of his shifting weapon let him crush the third as it hit the ground, frozen in place.

Of the three left, one was impaled on an ice-spike, its limbs having closed hard enough to crack the substance despite the frozen creations Dust-formed toughness, another had been blasted back by Rose's rifle, while the third was still air-borne, but with the monochrome Ren on its back, having intercepted the Grimm mid-flight as it went for Valkyrie, and riding it to the ground.

There was a momentary pause in the fighting, as the Huntsmen recalled a report on a new kind of Grimm that had been spotted in the wild called a Slender, and, looking at their unfurled bodies, like warped stretched half-spider-half-men, he could see why.

And then the ground underneath their feet broke apart.

Schnee instantly formed a Glyph and leapt away, Valkyrie doing the same with her hammer's explosive chamber, though she started furiously pulling more rounds from a pouch on her back and loading them into her weapon. Ren was able to feed the Graspoid under him a buffet of bullets and twirl away, but Samt was in just the wrong position, and began to fall, the creature snapping down on his foot, his Aura taking a heavy hit as he pulled himself free, dropping him below a third of his reserves, the Grimm opening its mouth for another bite, even as he turned his weapon, getting ready to lose more, chambering another round into his cann-

"Got you!" Rose called, suddenly behind him, and he felt a pull, giving in as the world became a shifting riot of colors and directions for a moment, and then he was on the ground a dozen feet away, the four Graspoids that'd uprooted trees turning to dig back down, the Othros charging once more, one catching a concerned looking Rose, knocking her down, as the Faunus reacted, twirling Consequences as he shifted it, putting his all into the blow as both the Grimm's heads snapped for the girl, hitting it hard enough it was sent flying, where Valkyrie brought her hammer down on its spine, crippling it, and the red-clad girl scrambled to her feet.

And still the Grimm came.

And Samt Alyashm knew they were going to die here.

But he wasn't going to go down easily.

Nodding to the team leader, the girl shaken, he pushed her forward and she took off, a Girgoyle crashing down through the treetops and barely missing her as she momentarily came apart into a shower of petals as it passed through her, reforming to slam her weapon, sped up by a shot, through its head, killing it, her magazine popping free, the girl pulling another from her belt and wincing, mouthing the words 'last one' to herself.

More Beowulfs, a trio of Dryants, and then more chittering.

This time, he, and the others, were ready, slowing just long enough so they could burst into action when the noise came, darting outwards, the Slenders only able to turn mid-air once, and only by about forty-five degrees, letting them prepare for the surprise, and power through the effects of their Shriek, Valkyrie thudding her hammer into one, only for it to still hit her as it sprang close, the girl's Aura breaking as she slammed it into the ground, breaking it to pieces.

Then the hidden Dryants attacked, and the girl bit back a cry of pain, the roots that'd speared her legs coming out with a spray of blood.

Samt was busy dealing with his own Slenders, but Rose was there, and grabbed the girl, who came apart in a shower of pink petals to match her leader's own, coming out of it and biting down on another yellow crystal, covering herself with more lightning, but carving bright red lines in her skin in the process.

In the next wave, Schnee's Aura broke, her Glyphs stuttering and vanishing, as an Orthos charged her, but Samt was there to grab her, bringing her out of the way as Consequences flashed out, not in a disabling blow but one that knocked the creature off course, another wave of Creeps coming next, the Grimm endless.

And that's when he saw it.

A light in the distance, off to their right.

One that Samt hoped was what he'd heard of, because if it wasn't they were dead.

But they were dead anyways.

"This Way!" the Huntsman yelled, running as fast as he could, the others following, only for the ground to give out from under him once more, but he was ready, and leapt, shifting his weapon to a cannon, and flying over the gaping maw while firing into it, killing the Grimm in a wet explosion of obsidian and crimson gore, glancing back to see the others following.

Samt put everything into his run, chambering his weapon's third and final round, until he could see the light clearly, and, YES!

A door, lit by nothing, leading nowhere, in their time of greatest need.

He hadn't believed the stories, because everyone knew that Magic wasn't real, but right now, he didn't care.

"THROUGH THE DOOR!" he yelled, as, all around them, the Grimm seemed to pause.

And then the forest erupted into FURY.

From all around them, the waiting Grimm charged the fighters, rushing them as a true Grimm Tide, the chittering, the roaring, the hissing, merged into one, but he got to the Door, which resisted him for just a moment, before it opened inwards, revealing a warm, well-lit interior, the space on the other side a well-furnished hall, even as, beyond the Door, more Grimm charged.

Turning around, despite his desire to run through it, to safety, Alyashm turned and spotted the Slenders, a mass of them, closing, firing his last shot into them, killing some, while others could turn away in time, but in doing so bought the students time.

With another cry, Valkyrie bit another of what the Huntsman realized was pure Lightning Dust, grabbing her partner as she was further burned, and practically blurring forward, while Rose, shooting at the masses around them, used her Semblance to dart to her staggering teammate, her ice boots shattered, turning Schnee into white petals, both of them pouring through the open portal as well.

Samt turned to go inside, when from behind something impacted him, the legs of a Slender slamming down over his chest, slicing through his Aura, which broke in a shimmer of green energy, the Huntsman knowing he had a single second of protection left as the armor of his soul came apart, but launched himself through the doorway anyways, to at least shut the door before he died.

To his surprise, the spider-thing shrieked as it evaporated, turning not even to the black mist of decaying Grimm, but gone completely, giving him just enough time to turn around and slam the door in the face of the incoming Tide, so much black, white, and red that the forest was no longer visible.

And then, shaking, the Huntsman tried not to vomit, tried not to collapse, and looked to the students, to see how he could help them. Valkyrie was injured, but Samt kept a medkit inside his jacket…

The four of them were staring, and, as the Faunus turned, he understood why.

They stood in a large hall, like the inside of a Mistralian Hotel, the area lined with identical doors, but, at the end was a welcome desk.

Manned by a humanoid wolf.

A golden humanoid wolf.

Not a Wolf Faunus, for other than its shape there was nothing Human about it, but it almost appeared to be the creature that Beowulfs were a twisted imitation of, as Ursa's were bears and Boarbatusks were boars. More than that, its fur glistened with a distinctly metallic sheen under the hooded torches that lit the space with a gentle glow.

The seven foot tall spirit, for what else could it be, smiled, revealing pure white razor sharp teeth, but there was no threat in the gesture, as it opened its arms, clawed hand spread in greeting, and it spoke.

"Rest Well, Good Hunters, And Be Welcome To The House Of Mercy."

Music:
battle was joined - The Binding of Isaac - Divine Combat (Boss Music) EXTENDED
But he wasn't going to go down easily -The City Must Survive
spoke - Two Steps From Hell - Mercy in Darkness (Archangel)

AN: Oh Hi Steven! Yes, this is when the Multiversal Elements start to creep in (though, for those in the know, they've already been here for a bit).