AN: Hey, everyone. Sorry for the long delay. We have a really long chapter for you to compensate.
Also, apparently FFN has been having a problem of people not getting email notifications for quite a while now. Make sure that you check your story alerts manually. Especially since I'm going to start posting my rewrite of my Xenoblade 2 fic really soon, possibly later today. Keep an eye on my profile for that.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 6
Tifa dodged the swiping claws of an Alpha Wrath Hound, flipping away to put a little more distance between herself and the monster.
Damn, so much for an easy stroll to the temple, she thought. "Hey, Ruby, how's it going on your end?"
While Tifa had engaged the Alpha, her partner was dealing with the remaining four Wrath Hounds by herself. Normally, Tifa would never let a girl younger than her deal with that many monsters alone, but Ruby had insisted she could handle it and they didn't have the time to argue. Ruby used her Semblance to avoid a pouncing Wrath Hound, but the other three moved to surround her. Tifa could tell that Ruby would have a difficult time using her Semblance, given that the forest was so dense that she had limited space to zip around without hitting a tree.
"Uh, okay-ish," Ruby said, quickly ducking under a Wrath Hound whipping its tentacle at her. "Eep!"
The Alpha Wrath Hound tried to bite down on Tifa, but she held the jaws back with her strength. "Man, at this rate we won't get to the temple til sundown."
Ruby flipped out of the way of another lunging Wrath Hound. She stabbed her scythe into the ground and spun around it to kick the beast in the face before landing on her feet some distance away from the monsters. She saw the Wrath Hounds were gathering together to corner her up against a tree. "Tifa, you said you have an ice Semblance, right?" Ruby asked.
Tifa pushed the Alpha back and punched it twice, knocking it away. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Throw the Alpha into the rest of its pack," Ruby said.
"What?!"
"Just do it!"
"Alright," Tifa said. The Alpha lunged again, but Tifa fell onto her back and used her legs to flip it over her and into the other Wrath Hounds, briefly dazing them.
"Quick, freeze the ground!" Ruby shouted. Tifa slammed her hand into the ground and sent a stream of ice towards the Wrath Hounds, freezing their paws to the ground. "Alright, now it's my turn." She pulled out a green Materia orb before activating it with her Aura. She used her Semblance to run circle around the trapped Wrath Hounds, much to Tifa's confusion. "Aero!" A small tornado began to form around the Wrath Hounds, forcing Tifa to cover her eyes. The Wrath Hounds were pulled from the ice and high into the sky. Ruby came to an abrupt stop, and swapped out the Wind Materia for a different one. "Tifa, activate your Fire Materia!"
"Right."
Both girls poured their Aura's into their weapons, activating the orbs embedded inside. They took aim at the descending monsters.
"Fire!" They shouted in unison. They launched two fireballs into the sky that converged into one, exploding on contact with the Wrath Hounds and destroying all five of them. The duo took a few seconds to catch their breath.
"Woo, nice thinking there, Ruby," Tifa said, patting the young girl's back hard enough to make her step forward slightly.
"Oh, uh, thanks, Tifa," Ruby said, rubbing her back. "But it's no big deal, really."
"Don't be so modest. You should be proud. That was a pretty smart idea you came up with," Tifa said, causing Ruby to smile. "Now, we just gotta figure out where the temple is." Ruby put her hand to her chin in thought, and Tifa took a look around the area. Eventually, she glanced up at the tall trees surrounding them, and a smile graced her face. "Hey, Ruby, how much do you weigh?"
"Huh?"
When Tifa had asked about her weight, the last thing Ruby expected was for her partner to haul her onto her back and carry her like a baby gorilla on its mother's back as she climbed the tree.
"You know I could've just climbed up myself," Ruby said.
"I know, but I thought you might enjoy the ride. Are ya?"
Ruby grumbled quietly in embarrassment. "…Yeah, a little."
Tifa chuckled. "Alright, we're almost to the top now. Keep holding tight, Ruby." After a few more minutes of climbing, they finally reached the top of the tree, presenting them with a gorgeous view overlooking the entire Emerald Forest. Ruby carefully got off Tifa's back and they both stood atop a thick branch. "Okay, let's see if we can spot the temple." The two began scouring the horizon. "There it is," Tifa said a few seconds later.
"Where?" Ruby asked.
"Right over…there," Tifa said, as the two realized that the temple was much farther away than it should have been.
"What?!" Ruby yelled. "But I thought we were heading in the right direction!"
"Apparently not," Tifa said. "I guess we got turned around at some point."
"No, no, no!" Ruby yelled in a panic, sitting down on the branch and grasping her head. "How are we gonna get there? If we don't get a relic, we'll get kicked out of Beacon, we won't become Huntresses and, and, and—"
Tifa sat down on the branch and grabbed hold of Ruby's shoulders to get the young girl to look at her. "Whoa, Ruby, calm down. Look at me. Breathe in… breathe out…breathe in… breathe out." Ruby followed her instructions, and eventually the panic began to subside. "You good?" Ruby nodded. "Okay, listen Ruby, we're gonna make it to the temple and we'll get into Beacon. But you need to calm down or you'll attract Grimm, and they'll slow us down."
"But the temple, it's…"
"I know it's far, but trust me, we'll make it. But you need to calm down first."
Ruby continued breathing deeply, and soon felt herself begin to calm. "Okay, I'm fine. Thanks for the help, Tifa."
"Hey, we're partners. We're supposed to look out for each other, right?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah. Right," Ruby said.
"Good. Now, we just need to figure out a fast way to get to the temple. Maybe we could find a Chocobo and ride it there."
While Tifa was lost in thought, a large black feather gently fluttered down and landed on Ruby's head. Ruby grabbed the feather and briefly examined it, before looking up and seeing a black mass in the sky. "Uh, Tifa, could that get us to the temple?" Ruby asked, pointing up.
"Huh?" Tifa asked, looking up and seeing the owner of the large feather. "Well, it might not be a Chocobo, but I think we can make it work."
"So, is this the temple?" Yang asked. She and Yuffie had crested over the top of the hill, and saw what looked to be a ruined amphitheater with several pedestals scattered around the center.
"Yep," Yuffie said. "Which is a relief cause my feet are killing me."
"Same. When this is over, I'm gonna spend the rest of the day just taking it easy."
"I think I'll join you," Yuffie said. The duo walked down into the ruins, and saw that the pedestals had chess pieces sitting atop them, though some of the pedestals were empty, indicating that the chess pieces they had once carried had already been claimed. "Chess pieces?"
"Some of them are missing," Yang said. "Guess we weren't the first ones here."
"Dang. I kind of wanted to be first," Yuffie said. "Aw well, I guess we should pick one."
The two of them examined the remaining pieces, and a golden knight piece caught Yang's attention. She grabbed it and held it up for Yuffie to see.
"Hey, Yuffie, how about a cute little pony?" she asked.
"Sure, it goes great with your hair."
"Why thank you. I do try to look my best," Yang said, flipping her hair with her hand for good measure.
"You could use a trim, though."
"Hey!" Yang yelled, causing Yuffie to chuckle. Suddenly, a dog-like creature with red fur leaped out of the bushes right in front of them, startling the two.
"Whoa, monster!" Yuffie shouted. Yang and Yuffie readied their weapons. In response, the dog growled and stood a little lower, as if it was assuming its own combat stance.
"Are you sure that's a monster, Yuffie?" Yang asked.
"What else would it be?"
"Well, it kind of looks more like a dog. Maybe someone lost it."
"You're close," a boy's voice said. Yang and Yuffie looked at the bush that the dog had emerged from, and saw Blake and Reno stepping out of it. "We found it."
"Reno?" Yang asked.
"Blake?" Yuffie asked.
"Yo, Yang," Reno said. "Looks like you made it."
Blake walked up to the weird dog thing and pet its head. "Calm down, Red," she said. "They're friends." The dog, apparently named Red (real original there), looked up at Blake questioningly before calming down.
"It's great that you guys made it here," Yang said. "But, uh, what's with the pet? Is it yours, Reno?"
"Nope. Blake and I found Red XIII in a marsh with a broken leg, and Blake here decided to help it out with some Healing Materia. But she didn't count on Red taking a liking to her," he said with a chuckle.
"Aww, poor thing," Yang said. "Well, at least it's better now." She reached down and pet Red XIII's head.
"But that's no fair, Blake!" Yuffie whined. "Every time I asked if I could get a pet, you said no. But it's alright for you to get a pet?"
"First, Red's not a pet, it just won't stop following me," Blake said. "And second, if you did get a pet, I'd be the one mostly taking care of it." That prompted Yuffie to cross her arms with a huff.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Reno asked, gesturing between Blake and Yuffie.
"Yep, I'm Blake's sister," Yuffie said.
"Well, ain't that a coincidence," Reno said. "Nice to meet ya. The name's Reno."
"Yuffie," the fox Faunus said, before a sly grin appeared on her face. "And there's something else you should know about Blake, Reno."
"What's that?"
"She likes to read—"
"Books!" Blake shouted. She had rushed behind Yuffie and covered her mouth with her hand. "I like to read books and nothing else. Right, Yuffie?" She suddenly removed her hand from Yuffie's mouth with a grimace. "Ah, did you just lick my hand?"
"Well, you shouldn't have put it over my mouth," Yuffie said, sticking her tongue out at her.
"Oh yeah, they're sisters," Reno said as the two continued to argue with each other.
"Yep, and I've been on the receiving end of a few hand licks before," Yang said with a shudder.
"I can only imagine," Reno said. "Yo, B, watching you play with your sister is fun and all, but I think we should grab our relics and head back to—"
A high-pitched scream suddenly came from deep within the forest, startling the group.
"What the heck was that?" Yuffie asked.
"Sounded like a girl. She must be in trouble," Yang said.
Reno chuckled. "You think that was a girl screaming?"
"Who do you think was screaming?" Cloud asked. He and Weiss were still riding on the back of the Chocobo when they heard a high-pitched scream resonate from deep in the forest.
"Doesn't matter," Weiss said. "How long until we reach the temple?"
"Well, we've been riding for awhile, so maybe we're-. Ah, look. There's a clearing up ahead," Cloud said. Weiss peaked around him to confirm his words. "I'm betting that's where the temple is."
"Are you sure, Cloud?" Weiss asked.
"Only one way to find out. Hya!" the Chocobo suddenly picked up speed, causing Weiss to let out a little shriek and tighten her hold on Cloud. A minute later, they made it into the clearing, and Cloud brought the Chocobo to a stop. "Hey, Weiss, looks like I was right."
Weiss peaked out from behind Cloud and saw a ruined amphitheater with stone pedestals containing chess pieces. "I-it's the temple," she said.
"Yep. Looks like you're gonna get to be a Huntress, Weiss," Cloud said.
Weiss suddenly threw her arms around Cloud's neck in a tight hug. "Thank you, Cloud! I'm sorry for ever doubting your capabilities."
"Weiss, y-you're choking me," Cloud struggled to say.
Weiss immediately stopped hugging him, a slight blush appearing on her face. "Oh, um." She cleared her throat. "Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Strife."
Cloud chuckled. "Don't mention it." He hopped down from the back of the Chocobo. "Now, let's go get our—"
"Cloud?" Yang's voice called out to him. They turned around and saw Yang, Yuffie, Blake, Reno, and some weird dog thing approaching them.
"Oh, hey guys," he said. "Looks like you beat us here. What's with the dog?"
"Long story, yo," Reno said. "But back to you guys. Did you ride a Chocobo all the way here?"
"Well, we didn't want to waste any more time, so I used the last of my Greens to get this guy to get us here," Cloud said, petting the Chocobo.
"Hm, I'm guessing you've been to Anima if you know that trick," Blake said.
"Yeah, smart thinking, Cloud," Yang said. "Too bad you're partnered with the Ice Queen, though."
"Yeah, that's gotta suck," Yuffie said.
"I'm right here, you know," Weiss said.
"And?" Yang and Yuffie asked simultaneously, causing Weiss to growl in anger. Reno walked over to the Chocobo and extended a hand to Weiss.
"Yo, Weiss. Do you require some assistance?" he asked, clearly thinking he was suave. Weiss narrowed her eyes, and hopped off the large bird.
"No."
"Or you could do that," Reno said. "That works too." The red dog thing walked up to Weiss and began sniffing her, startling the heiress. "Don't worry, Red's cool. Just don't call it a pet, they don't like being called that."
"They?" Weiss asked.
"We're not sure if it's male or female, and I'm not looking under the hood to find out." Weiss rolled her eyes and looked at Red, who looked up at her with curiosity. Weiss hesitantly reached her hand down and patted its head.
"Um, there, there?" she said. Red nuzzled its head against her hand, causing Weiss to visibly melt. "Aww, aren't you just the cutest little thing." She began to scratch Red's head, causing it to happily shake its back leg.
Huh, so Weiss has a soft spot for animals, Cloud thought in amusement. I wonder how she'd act if she met Zwei. Speaking of animals.
Cloud turned his attention back to the Chocobo. "Alright, big fella. You can head off. We don't need to go anywhere else." The Chocobo let out a happy call before running off back into the Emerald Forest.
"Hey, Cloud," Yuffie said. "When we're in Beacon, do you think you could show me how to catch a Chocobo?"
"Sure," he said. "But first I gotta ask. Were one of you three screaming earlier?"
Yang scoffed. "Come on, Cloud. Do we look like we'd scream like a little girl?"
"Yeah, we were actually wondering if it was Weiss that screamed," Yuffie said.
"I most certainly did not!" Weiss rebutted.
"Well, if it wasn't any of you three, then who—"
"Heads up!" a voice called out from above. They all looked up and saw Ruby and Tifa… falling from the sky?!
"Is that Ruby?!" Cloud asked. Before Ruby or Tifa could hit the ground, a famlilar-looking blond knight came flying through the air and slammed into the two girls, sending all three flying into the trees.
"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark or two," Reno said.
"Did you sister and some girl just fall from the sky?" Blake asked, Yang was too dumbfounded to respond.
"Questions for later," Cloud said. "Let's go see if they're okay first."
"Oww, what was that?" Ruby asked, her vision full of stars after something slammed into her and Tifa.
"I don't know, but it hurt," Tifa said. Ruby managed to shake her dizziness away, and saw that she and Tifa had ended up on a large tree branch, with her sitting on Tifa's back. She heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and looked up to see Jaune hanging upside down from another branch.
"Hey, Ruby," he said, his tone sounding kind of defeated.
"Oh, hi Jaune," Ruby said. "Tifa, this is my friend, Jaune. Jaune, this is my partner, Tifa."
"Nice to meet you," Jaune said.
"Likewise," Tifa greeted. "But let's hold off on introductions until we're back on the ground." Tifa swiftly punched the trunk of the tree, breaking the branch she and Ruby were on, while Jaune was shaken loose from the one that snagged his leg. All three of them plummeted to the ground, though Ruby and Tifa accidentally landed on Jaune's back.
"Oww," Jaune groaned.
"Oh, sorry Jaune," Ruby said, as she and Tifa quickly got off of the blond knight and helped him to his feet.
"Yeah, sorry," Tifa said. "But thanks for breaking our fall."
"No problem. Anything for a friend," he said with a weak chuckle, before holding his lower back in pain.
"Ruby!" Yang's voice called out to her, and Ruby saw her sister and Cloud running towards her with a group of other students, who were all people she thankfully recognized (including Weiss unfortunately). "How did you—" Yang started to say, but stopped when she finally recognized who Ruby was with. "Tifa."
"Sup, Yang." Tifa said.
"What are you doing with my sister?" Yang demanded.
"What does it look like? We're partners."
"P-Partners?! Ruby, of all the people here, why her?!" Yang asked, turning to her sister.
"Well, i-it kind of just happened," Ruby said.
"Hey, don't get mad at her," Tifa said, stepping between the two siblings.
"I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at you," Yang said, stepping closer to Tifa.
"Oh, well in that case, I'd be more than happy to adjust your—"
"Tifa, you promised," Ruby interrupted. "Please?"
"But she—" Tifa said, turning to look at her partner, only to be faced with something more dangerous than any Grimm or monster.
Ruby's puppy-dog eyes.
"…Fine," Tifa relented before turning to look back at Yang. "Look, we can talk about this later. But right now, I'm guessing you guys are wondering why we fell out of the sky."
"That would be correct, so could you kindly explain what happened?" Weiss asked.
"Well—" Ruby started to explain, but then took notice of a cute red-furred creature that seemed to be accompanying Blake. "Is that a dog?"
"Ruby, focus," Cloud said. "Why did you fall from the sky?"
Instead of answering, she just pointed towards the sky and everyone looked up to see a large Grimm flying overhead.
"You two rode… a Nevermore?" Blake asked.
"That. Is. Awesome!" Yuffie yelled.
"Yeah, you didn't mention she's a daredevil, Cloud," Reno said.
"She usually isn't," Cloud said.
The sudden sound of falling trees caught everyone's attention, prompting them to turn to the forest. They saw a large creature that looked like an elephant, but with blue skin and horns on its head in addition to the tusks sticking out of its mouth. It reared up on its hind legs, and cried out in pain. Suddenly, a small explosion of pink lightning appeared behind the creature.
"Yee haw!" a girl's voice suddenly yelled. The Elfadunk collapsed to the ground, revealing that the ginger-haired girl in the pink skirt that Ruby had seen in the locker room had been riding on its back. She looked down at the now-dead monster, and a disappointed look crossed her face. "Aww, it's broken."
The green-clad boy she had been chatting with earlier appeared from behind the Elfadunk's body, and leaned against it to catch his breath. "Nora… Please, don't ever do that again." He looked up and saw that the girl, evidently named "Nora", had suddenly disappeared. He looked around frantically, before finally spotting her in the temple and looking at a chess piece, a golden rook. She grabbed the piece and held it up triumphantly.
"I'm queen of the castle~, I'm queen of the castle~!" She sang.
"Nora!" the boy shouted in an exasperated tone.
Nora giggled. "Coming, Ren!" She began skipping happily back towards her partner, leaving everyone completely dumbfounded as to what had just happened.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Elfadunk?" Blake asked.
"I…" Yang started to say, before they heard a roar coming from the forest. Everyone looked and saw a red-haired girl with bronze armor running from a giant Deathstalker. It tried to grab her with its claws, but the girl ducked underneath it and kept running.
"Jaune!" the girl yelled when she saw him with the group.
"Pyrrha!" he called back to her.
"Nora!" the ginger girl yelled suddenly, popping into the middle of the group and startling everyone.
"Did she run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked. Yang growled in frustration.
Reno chuckled. "Maybe I should have wished her luck."
Yang finally exploded with rage, her hair igniting and her eyes turning red. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" she yelled. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
A few seconds later, a rustling sound coming from the forest caught Ruby's attention, and she tapped Yang's shoulder.
"Uh, Yang."
Yang sighed as everyone else looked to see where Ruby was looking. Trees were being slowly tipped over in a zig-zag pattern until finally, a Zolom snaked its way out of the forest and into the clearing, letting out a mighty hiss at the group.
"I-Is that a Zolom?" Jaune asked, the fear evident in his voice.
"Looks like it," Ren said in his usual calm tone.
"But what's it doing here?!" Weiss asked, starting to panic. "It shouldn't be this far from any wetlands!"
Blake's dog got into a defensive stance and growled at the Zolom, prompting Reno and Blake to look at him.
"Uh, we might have an idea," Reno said.
Cloud looked at the dog, and seemed to come to whatever realization they did. "Oh no."
Suddenly, Pyrrha came flying, and hit the ground hard in front of the group.
"Great, the gang's all here," Yang said sarcastically. "Now we can all die together."
"I don't think we need to worry about that, Yang," Yuffie said, confusing the blonde until she saw that the Zolom and the Deathstalker were sizing each other up.
"Awesome, Zolom vs. Deathstalker!" Nora cheered.
"Y-yeah, this is great," Jaune said. "While they're fighting, we'll just head back to the cliff. No problem." The Zolom and the Deathstalker stopped focusing on each other, and turned their attention back towards the students. "Or not."
"Yeah, now we're gonna die," Reno said.
"These creature are nothing."
Ruby was surprised by the voice in her head. It certainly sounded like he, but there was something foreign about it at the same time. "You can easily defeat them by yourself. Uo've done it before." The words were accompanied by the image of a dragon laying on the ground, having been felled by her own hands.
Confidence began to surge within Ruby.
"Not if I can help it," she said, before charging towards the Deathstalker and Zolom, ignoring Yang's cries for her to stop. As Ruby ran towards the two monsters, Yuffie suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke and began running alongside the young Huntress. "Yuffie?!"
"Thought you could use some backup," Yuffie said. "Can't let you have all the fun."
"Uh, okay," Ruby replied. "You take the Zolom and I'll take the Deathstalker."
"Roger that, boss."
The girls split up to head towards the monsters. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and fired it towards the ground, launching herself towards the Deathstalker. But before she was able to land a single strike, the Grimm knocked Ruby away with its claw.
"Ruby, are you alright?!" Yuffie called out as she dodged an attack from the Zolom.
"D-do-don't worry, I'm totally fine!" Ruby called back, though the tremor in her voice gave away her fear. Ruby looked back at the approaching Deathstalker, and fired a single shot at it. The bullet didn't inflict any damage to it, though it did propel Ruby backwards so she could run back towards the group.
"Ruby!" Yang called out, as she and Cloud ran towards her.
Yuffie dodged an attack by the Zolom and struck it across the face with Juji. She heard the Nevermore cry out, and turned to see that it had joined the Deathstalker in chasing after Ruby.
"Ruby, watch out! The Nevermoe's back!" she called out. The Nevermore fired a barrage of feathers at Ruby. Thankfully, they all missed her, but one of them snagged her cloak and trapped her in place. They also formed a wall that stopped Yang and Cloud from reaching her. "Don't worry, Ruby, I'll—!"
Before Yuffie could finish her sentence, the Zolom swung its tail and hit Yuffie, knocking her to the ground and dazing her. As she tried to regain her bearings, the Zolom slithered towards the young ninja and lunged its head forward to devour her. But just before the Zolom's jaws could clamp onto Yuffie, Red XIII landed in front of her and launched a blast of fire from the end of its tail, hitting the giant serpent in the eye and causing it to roar in pain.
While the Zolom was distracted, a familiar black ribbon wrapped around Yuffie's waist tightly, and pulled her to safety before Blake caught her in a bridal carry.
Yuffie gazed up at Blake, who looked very unhappy.
"B-Blake?" Yuffie asked nervously.
"We'll talk later," Blake said. "But just to let you know, you're in big trouble."
"Yeah, I figured," Yuffie said with a sigh.
Ruby desperately tried to pull her cloak free from the giant feather, as the Deathstalker rapidly approached her.
"Ruby, you gotta get out of there, now!" Cloud shouted.
"I'm trying!" Ruby yelled. She turned to look again at the Deathstalker, and saw it raise its stinger before quickly thrusting it down towards her.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled in a panic.
Ruby tightly squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable pain of being impaled.
…Only, it never came.
She opened her eyes and saw the Deathstalker's stinger was trapped between two walls of ice, one with a glyph underneath it, and the other was connected to streak of ice running along the ground. She looked to her sides, and saw Tifa on one side and Weiss on the other.
"That was cutting it close," Tifa said.
"A little too close for my liking," Weiss said.
"Hey, thanks for giving me a ride."
"I didn't give you a ride, you jumped on my glyph before I launched," Weiss argued.
"Still counts," Tifa said with a smirk.
"Tifa? Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"Ruby!" Tifa said, pulling the Nevermore feather out of the ground and helping Ruby to her feet. She quickly looked her partner over for injuries. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Tifa, really," Ruby said.
"Oh, good," Tifa said. "What were you thinking trying to fight a Deathstalker by yourself?"
"I-I-I thought I could take it."
"Thought you could—" Weiss said before cutting herself off with a groan. "You are so dimwitted, hyperactive, and childish. Why would even attempt a stunt like that?"
"…I just wanted to prove that I belong here."
"You do belong here," Weiss said, surprising Ruby. "But acting reckless will make people think you don't. So don't do anything like that again. Got it?"
"Y-yeah, promise," Ruby said. "And thanks for saving me."
"Don't mention it," Tifa said. "You would have done the same thing for us. And I gotta admit, trying to take on a Deathstalker by yourself is pretty gutsy. You're gonna make one hell of a Huntress, Ruby."
Ruby smiled at her partner, a slight blush adorning her face. "Thanks."
Yang and Cloud finally made it to them, and Yang pulled Ruby into a crushing hug.
"Ruby, you're okay!"
"Not really," Ruby said, struggling to breathe. "You're crushing me."
Yang let go. "Oh, sorry. But why would you do something like that?"
"I just thought it would be an easy win for me," Ruby said with a nervous chuckle. She felt Cloud lightly smack the back of her head. "Ow, Cloud!"
"Hey, you gotta be punished somehow," he said.
"You didn't have to hit me," Ruby whined.
"Be thankful I'm not Tai, or I would've taken your weapon away."
"Not my baby!"
Yang turned her attention from Ruby towards Tifa and Weiss, and approached them. "Hey uh, Tifa, I want to thank you and Weiss for saving my sister," she said. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."
"You're very welcome," Weiss said.
"It was the least I could do," Tifa said. "I couldn't leave my partner high and dry like that. But, does this mean we can end our little feud?"
"In your dreams," Yang said with a chuckle.
"Good, I still want to kick your butt."
The Nevermore roared again, prompting everyone to look up at it.
"Uh, guys, I hate to interrupt things, but the Nevermore is circling back," Jaune said, as the rest of the group met up with the others.
"Yeah, and I don't the Zolom is happy about its new scar, yo," Reno said, pointing to the Zolom, which had at this point stopped writhing around in pain, and was searching for them again. "Anyone have any ideas?"
"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss said, pointing to the relics. "Our objective is right there."
"She's right," Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliff. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Run and live," Jaune said. "That's an idea I can get behind."
Everyone in their group that still hadn't claimed a relic walked up to the pedestals. Blake and Reno took a Knight piece, Jaune and Pyrrha grabbed a Rook, and Ruby, Tifa, Cloud, and Weiss grabbed Bishops. The Deathstalker started to pull its stinger out of the ice, and the Zolom finally spotted them and let out a fierce roar.
"I think it's time we left," Ren said.
"Right everyone, let's go!" Ruby shouted.
After several minutes of non-stop running, the group of would-be Hunters eventually found themselves coming out of the forest near a large ravine. The immediate area was covered in ruins, with an old bridge going over the ravine and towards a tower on the other side. The Nevermore flew over their heads and landed on top of the tower, forcing everyone to take cover behind the ruins. The Nevermore briefly scanned the area before letting out a roar when it couldn't find the group.
"Well, that's great," Yang said.
The sound of a tree falling caught Jaune's attention, and he turned to see the Zolom burst out of the forest and slither towards them at a quick pace. "Aw, man, run!" Everyone bolted from their cover and ran as fast as they could from the giant serpent. Unfortunately, this led to the Nevermore spotting the young hunters, letting out another roar before flying off from atop the tower.
"Nora, distract it!" Ren shouted. Nora broke off from the group and ran into the open, dodging the Nevermore's feathers as they ran down on her. She ducked under the last feather and came to a sudden stop, pulling out a grenade launcher from behind her back, and fired multiple shots at the Nevermore, forcing it to fly off.
"Ha, how'd you like them apples!" she taunted. Nora then heard a loud hiss coming from behind her. She turned and saw the Zolom slithering towards her. She readied herself to attack the large serpent, but Ren and Cloud leaped across from one another to strike it at the same time, stopping it in its tracks. The others quickly joined them and surrounded the Zolom, weapons at the ready.
"Yo, it's thirteen against one," Reno said. "This is gonna be quick." The Deathstalker suddenly burst through the forest, knocking down trees that were in its way, and charged towards the teens. "…Okay, maybe not."
"We can't fight both of them at the same time," Pyrrha said. "There's not enough room to move around with this many people."
In other words, they needed to separate the monsters, deal with them individually. Blake looked carefully at the Zolom, before looking down to Yang's gauntlets.
"Yang, think you can get the Zolom's attention?" Blake asked. Yang looked at her for a moment before a grin spread across her face.
"You bet." Yang fired a blast from her gauntlet, and hit the Zolom in the side of the head, causing it to turn to look towards her.
"Hey, you overgrown reptile!" Yang shouted. "Over here!"
"Yeah, fresh meat, yo!" Reno yelled.
The Zolom roared and slithered towards them, prompting Blake, Yang, Reno, Yuffie, and Red to run to the other side of the ruins.
"What the—" Ruby exclaimed. "Yang, what are you doing?!"
"Don't worry, Ruby! Just get across the bridge!" Yang shouted back.
"But-!"
"Come on, Ruby!" Cloud said. "Yang will be fine!"
The rest of the group ran towards the bridge as the Deathstalker chased after them. Pyrrha turned and saw that the giant Grimm was beginning to catch up to Cloud and Ren. She shifted Milo into its rifle form, and fired at it as the rest of the group ran past her.
"Go! Go!" she shouted. As she kept firing, Ren caught up to her and assisted her using his machine pistols. Cloud barely dodged the Deathstalker's claws, but all three of them had to abandon the bridge when the Nevermore returned and flew through it, breaking it in half and separating the trio from the others.
The destruction of the bridge knocked Nora and Jaune off their feet. When they recovered, they saw Pyrrha, Ren, and Cloud fighting the Deathstalker by themselves, cut off from everyone else.
"Oh no, they're in trouble," Jaune said. "We need to get over there!"
Nora ran up next to him, a look of fierce determination on her face. "Let's do this."
"Yeah, but, uh, I can't make that jump," Jaune said. Nora smirked, and knocked Jaune away from the edge with Magnhild, before shifting it to hammer mode. She ran towards the end of the bridge and leaped into the air. "No, wait!"
She slammed her hammer into the bridge, catapulting Jaune across the ravine, screaming the whole way. She flipped her hammer around to stand on it, and fired, flying after him. Once she reached the other side, she flipped and slammed her hammer into the Deathstalker's head. The stinger was about to come down on her, so she fired another round to fly away from it. However, she hadn't looked at what was behind her beforehand, and bumped into Cloud, knocking him down into the ravine.
"Cloud!" Weiss yelled in a panic at seeing her partner begin to plunge into the ravine. She quickly ran to the edge of the bridge and summoned a glyph under Cloud, catching him in the nick of time. She breathed a sigh of relief, only to get interrupted by the roar of the Nevermore as it flew towards the blond sword fighter.
"Uh, Weiss, a little help here!" he yelled. She quickly activated the glyph, launching Cloud upwards just as the Nevermore slammed it's jaws down at where he once was. Once he was close enough to the ledge, Cloud stabbed his sword into the side of the bridge to catch himself, and pulled himself up onto the bridge. "Thanks for the save, Weiss."
"You're welcome, Mr. Str—Cloud."
"We gotta move!" Jaune shouted, prompting himself, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora to charge at the Deathstalker.
It aimed one of its claws at Pyrrha, but she deflected it with her shield and slashed it with her sword. The Grimm swung it's other claw at her, but Jaune jumped in and deflected it with his shield, knocking it back so Pyrrha could leap over him and attack the Deathstalker's face.
Ren ran towards the giant Grimm, firing his machine pistols at it. The Deathstalker thrust its stinger at him, but he dodged the attack and grabbed hold of the appendage. He fired one of his pistols point-blank into the part where the stinger connected to the tail. Pyrrha threw her javelin into one of the creature's eyes, causing it to flail in pain and launch Ren through the air.
"Ren!" Nora cried out. Ren slammed into a wall hard, and fell down, not getting up. Jaune noticed, however, that the Deathstalker's stinger was dangling limply, barely connected to the tail anymore.
"Pyrrha!" he shouted, and the redhead understood immediately.
"Done!" She shouted back, throwing her shield like a discus and slicing the stinger off. The severed stinger fell into the Deathstalker's head.
"Nora, nail it!"
"Heads up!" Nora shouted as she hopped onto Pyrrha's shield, and used a blast from her hammer to launch herself straight up high into the air. On the way down, she slammed her hammer into the stinger as if it was a nail, driving it through the Deathstalker's head and crumbling the stone beneath its feet. With a final, pathetic wail, the Deathstalker slumped to the ground.
Jaune collapsed to his butt in relief, and saw Ren stumble his way over to them, before collapsing onto his face in exhaustion.
Blake looked behind her to see the Zolom still chasing them. They ran in between a row of pillars, while the giant snake just plowed right through them, sending large pieces flying towards the group.
"Scatter!" Blake shouted, and the group split up in different directions to dodge the large stones. The Zolom charged at Yang, who retaliated by firing shots from her gauntlets, but the beast dodged them. The giant snake struck at Yang to try to eat her, forcing the blonde brawler to backflip out of the way, only to get knocked to the ground when it swung its tail at her.
The Zolom attempted the move towards Yang, but before it could, Blake threw her ribbon and wrapped it around the beast's mouth, snapping it shut. She used the Zolom as a fulcrum to swing high up into the air on her ribbon, and fired Gambol Shroud at the monster on the way down. The Zolom freed its mouth and opened wide to try to devour the descending Huntress, but Redd XIII leaped onto the serpent and began clawing and biting it, causing the Zolom to roar in pain.
Blake landed on the Zolom's head, and quickly jumped off and onto the ground to the creature's left. Yuffie suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke in front of the Zolom, and threw Juji across its face, leaving a noticeable scratch. As the giant shuriken flew away, Yuffie teleported into its path and caught it, before throwing it again to hit the Zolom in the back of the head. She repeated this tactic several more times until the Zolom was disoriented. She landed on its right side with a smirk on her face. Red dislodged himself from the Zolom and landed on the ground, taking a defensive stance and growling at the disoriented beast.
Reno ran up to Yang and helped her up. "Yo, Yang, you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said. "But that thing's gonna lose some teeth."
"I'd like to help you with that, but I don't think I can reach its head," Reno said. "Not unless you can throw me?"
Yang smirked, and her hair ignited as she activated her Semblance. "You bet I can."
"Well alright," Reno said, putting on his goggles. "Ready for launch, yo." He held out his arms, and Yang grabbed his forearms, before spinning him around.
"And here. You. Go!"
Yang threw Reno at the Zolom before launching herself in the same direction with her gauntlets. The Zolom regained its bearings just in time to see Reno and Yang rocketing towards it. Reno delivered an electrified strike to the serpent's head with his baton and Yang gave the Zolom a shotgun- and Semblance-infused punch, knocking the creature to the ground.
Reno and Yang landed on the ground, and looked down at the unmoving Zolom.
"Welp, looks like mouse-breath is down for the count," Reno said.
"Seems like it," Yang said. "Nice going with the baton. I bet the Zolom was shocked by that one."
Reno chuckled. "And thank you for giving me a lift, yo."
"No problem, Reno."
"That was awesome!" Yuffie cheered. "You guys took that thing down. Though, we did soften it up for you."
"Ha, ha, very funny, Yuffie," Yang said, pulling Yuffie's headband over her eyes. "But I do owe you guys for saving me."
"You're welcome, Yang," Blake said.
"Yeah, we won't leave a friend hanging now matter what," Yuffie said as she put her headband back, her words making Yang smile.
"Well, since we've taken out this guy, how about we head back to the others and help them—" Reno was interrupted by noises coming from the supposedly dead Zolom. Everyone turned their attention to the serpent, and saw that it was still alive and starting to move.
"What, it's still alive?!" Yuffie shouted.
"I guess we didn't hit it hard enough," Yang said.
"Well, I guess it's time for round two," Reno said.
Blake looked around the area until she spotted a large piece of the ruins the Zolom destroyed. "Everyone, over there, quick!" Blake and Red started running towards the destroyed ruin, much to everyone's confusion.
"What, but we can just—" Yang tried to say.
"There's no time, come on!"
The group ran to the ruin and ducked behind it, just as the Zolom recovered and began looking for the young Hunters.
"Blake, why are we hiding instead of fighting the Zolom?" Yuffie asked.
"Yeah, yo, Hunters don't usually hide from monsters," Reno said.
"Fighting the Zolom head-on is a waste of time," Blake said. "We're hurting it, but we're not doing any real damage."
"Oh, come on, we can take this thing out," Yang said. "We just need one good hit."
"You're right, but it doesn't need to be a direct attack." Blake peaked her head out from behind the ruin and looked around the area, eventually spotting a large puddle near an unstable column that looked like it could collapse at any second. She ducked back down. "Okay, there's a big puddle nearby. Me, Yuffie, and Red will lead the Zolom into the puddle. Yang, you'll knock down the nearby ruins to trap it, and finally Reno, you'll use your Semblance to electrify the puddle. Does anyone have any objections?"
"…That sounds like a pretty good plan, yo," Reno said.
"Yeah, I think we can give it a shot," Yang said.
"We're with you, sis," Yuffie said. Red nodded his head, further convincing Blake that he somehow understood what she were saying.
"Okay," Blake said. "On my mark. And… Go!"
Blake, Yuffie, and Red ran out from behind the ruin, Blake firing Gambol Shroud at the Zolom to get it to chase her and her group towards the puddle, while Yang and Reno headed in another direction to reach the column.
The trio made it to the puddle and turned to face the Zolom. The giant serpent charged at the Huntresses and Red, forcing them to dodge out of the way, resulting in the Zolom ending up in the puddle.
"Okay, we got it in the puddle, now we just gotta wait for Yang and Reno," Yuffie said.
Blake took a closer look and realized that the Zolom wasn't close enough to the column. "No, it's not in the right spot. We gotta force it back."
"You got it, sis."
Blake, Yuffie, and Red charged at the Zolom as it lunged at them.
"Alright, we made it," Reno said as he and Yang arrived at the nearly-collapsed ruin.
"Yep," Yang said. They looked out from behind the column and saw Blake, Yuffie, and Red fighting the Zolom. "And it looks like they made it, too. Now we just gotta wait for Blake to give us the go-ahead."
"I just hope it's soon, yo."
The Zolom lunged at Red, who dodged out of the way and scratched the serpent across the face, forcing it to recoil back. Blake and Yuffie charged at the Zolom.
"Yo-yo!" Blake yelled. Blake used a shadow clone to throw herself into the air. Yuffie threw Juji up, and Blake used her ribbon to latch onto the shuriken and hit the serpent across the face. Yuffie jumped up onto the swinging Juji and rode it before throwing some smaller shurikens. They hit the Zolom in its wounded eye before she landed on the ground.
"Should've kept an eye out for that attack," Yuffie taunted.
"Good job, Yuffie," Blake said. "Now we just need one—"
Blake was interrupted by Red XIII charging at the Zolom at top speed while surrounded by a fiery aura, ramming into the giant serpent, and knocking it to the ground.
"Man, that's one tough dog," Yuffie said. The Zolom shook off its cobwebs and got back up, glaring down at the trio. Blake noticed the Zolom was finally standing in the right spot.
"Yang, Reno, now!" she shouted.
Yang gave the column a good hard punch and sent it falling down onto the Zolom's tail, causing it to roar in pain. Blake, Yuffie, and Red ran out of the puddle as Reno leaped into the air and stabbed his baton into the water. He activated his Semblance, electrifying the puddle and the Zolom as it roared in pain. After a few seconds, he turned off his Semblance and the Zolom collapsed to the ground.
"I-It worked. Your plan actually worked, sis!" Yuffie cheered. "Way to go!"
"Wait, you didn't think my plan would work?" Blake asked, offended at the surprised tone in her sister's voice.
"What, no. I knew it would work. Why would you think—" Blake gave Yuffie a look. "Okay. I thought the Zolom was gonna move at the last second. You can't blame me for thinking that."
"I guess," Blake said. "Luckily, that didn't happen."
"Yeah, thank the Planet," Yuffie said. Red gave the fox Faunus a curious look.
"Yo!"
Blake, Yuffie, and Red turned to see Yang and Reno approaching them. "You three all right?" Reno asked.
"We're fine," Blake said.
"That was some plan, Blake," Yang said. "You'd make a pretty good leader."
Blake blushed at the praise. "Oh, uh, thanks."
"And did you see Red?" Reno asked. "He took that thing down, yo."
"Yeah, he packs a bigger punch than I do," Yang said. She walked over to Red and knelt down to offer the furred creature her hand. "That was one heck of an attack, Red. Up top." Red smacked Yang's hand with the end of his tail. "OW!"
Reno chuckled. "Yeah, his tail doesn't just look like a flame."
Blake walked over to Red and pat his head. "Thanks for helping us, Red." Red looked up to Blake and seemed to smile. Yuffie ran up to Red and enveloped him in a hug, much to his surprise.
"You are the coolest dog ever! I'm so happy we're keeping you. Right, sis?"
Blake sighed. "…Alright, we can keep Red, but we're gonna have to ask if he can stay at Beacon with us."
"Woo hoo! Welcome to the team, Red!" She hugged Red again, and though initially stiffening up, he relaxed and let the hug continue.
Ruby, Weiss, Cloud, and Tifa found themselves standing atop the ruins at the end of the bridge as the Nevermore flew towards them.
"It's coming back around," Cloud said.
"Then let's shoot this bird out of the sky," Tifa said. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper configuration and fired, Weiss used her Ice Dust to launch razor-sharp icicles, and Cloud and Tifa launched fireballs and lightning strikes with their Materia. All of their attacks hit the Nevermore, but didn't slow it down. It plowed right into the ruin and demolished it, forcing the group to leap onto what was left of the bridge.
"Damn, we didn't even put a dent in it," Cloud said.
"We need to take the Nevermore out now, or we won't have any more ground to stand on," Weiss said,
Ruby felt a familiar tingling in the back of her head, and then she heard the voice.
Your allies have strengths and skills that only they can use. Utilize them and end this battle.
A plan quickly formulated in Ruby's mind.
"Weiss, can you still make those glyph thingies?" she asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I have a plan." Ruby turned to the other two members of her group. "Cloud, Tifa, I'm gonna need you two to try and get the Nevermore to land near the cliff."
"No problem," Cloud said.
"Okay, you two do that, while I tell Weiss her part. And Tifa, when you see a fireball in the sky, meet up with me and Weiss."
"You got it, Red," Tifa said before she and Cloud broke off from them and ran out into the open.
"So, you're Ruby's partner?" Cloud asked as they ran.
"Yep, name's Tifa."
"Cloud."
"Well, Cloud, I hope you got my back," Tifa said.
"Like you even need to ask."
Cloud and Tifa made it to the end of what was left of the bridge and saw the Nevermore flying towards Ruby and Weiss's location.
"Okay, so how do we get that thing near the cliff?" Tifa asked.
"Easy, we'll just do what you and Ruby did," Cloud said.
"What me and Ru—" Tifa's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I know what you're getting at."
"Yep. But first, let's get its attention." The pair activated their Materia, launching fireballs and lightning at the Nevermore and causing it to shift directions and fly towards them. "Okay, on my mark." The Nevermore drew closer until… "Now!" Cloud and Tifa ran towards the edge of the bridge and leaped off just as the Nevermore plowed through it. The duo landed on the Grimm's back, and held on for dear life. "Okay, so how did you and Ruby get this thing to fly to the relics?!" Cloud shouted.
"She just stabbed it with her scythe and controlled its direction!" Tifa yelled back.
"Sounds simple enough!" Cloud carefully climbed his way to the back of the Nevermore's neck and stabbed it with the Buster Sword. The Nevermore roared in pain and tried to shake the duo off, even performing a barrel roll. "Hold on, Tifa!"
"Way ahead of you!"
The Nevermore finally stopped spinning, and Cloud shifted the Buster Sword to the left towards the cliff. A fireball suddenly shot up into the air, getting Cloud and Tifa's attention.
"I think that's your cue, Tifa!" Cloud shouted.
"Looks like it! Good luck, Cloud!" Tifa leaped off the Nevermore and landed in the ruins. Cloud shifted his attention back to controlling the Nevermore as the cliff got closer.
Okay, Cloud, you got this, he thought. Just keep calm and focus. The Nevermore rapidly flew towards the cliff, and Cloud could feel sweat forming on his brow as it neared. Steady, steady, And… Jump!
Cloud leaped off the Nevermore at the last second as the beat slammed into the cliff, before it landed on top of the ruin's roof, letting out a mighty roar. Cloud landed safely on stable ground and looked up to see Ruby and the others on the other side.
Weiss used her glyphs to speed towards the Nevermore, and froze its tail to the roof before it had a chance to fly away. She back-flipped off the roof and onto a glyph before launching herself back to the others.
Tifa ripped the top layer of the ruins off and lifted it up, making a ramp. Cloud ran up to her and assisted in holding up the ramp.
"Need a hand?" he asked.
"If you're offering."
Ruby stood in the path of the ramp with her scythe at the ready. Weiss summoned a glyph under her feet.
"Of course you'd come up with a plan like this," Weiss said.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.
"Hmph, can I?" Weiss asked with a huff.
"…Can you?"
"Of course I can!"
"Ruby looked at the Nevermore with determination and activated her Fire Materia. Weiss activated her glyph at the same time Ruby fired Crescent Rose and sent her over the ramp. Ruby repeatedly fired Crescent Rose behind her to keep her momentum going.
She eventually reached the Nevermore and hooked Crescent Rose's blade under its neck, her feet landing on the side of the cliff. Weiss quickly summoned glyphs up the cliff wall, allowing Ruby to run up the wall while dragging the Nevermore behind her.
With a cry, Ruby reached the top of the cliff and decapitated the Nevermore, its head landing next to Ruby as its body fell into the ravine.
Ruby turned to the edge of the cliff, and looked down at her friends' impressed faces. She smiled and waved down at them.
"Wow," Jaune said as he watched Ruby cut the giant bird's head off.
"Wow? More like awesome!" Nora yelled. "She just decapitated a Nevermore, that's pure awesomeness!"
"Regardless of her age, that girl has the makings of a true Huntress," Ren said.
"I couldn't agree more," Pyrrha said. Nora sniffed very loudly before recoiling.
"Ugh, what's that smell?" she asked. They briefly looked around, and noticed the Deathstalker dissolving.
"I believe that's the stench of a dissolving Grimm," Ren said.
"Man, it smells worse than it looks," Jaune said, holding his nose.
"Yes, it's not the most pleasant of smells," Pyrrha said.
"Well, that was a thing," Yang said, as she and the others in her group were able to see Ruby defeat the Nevermore from where they were.
"Yeah, the coolest thing!" Yuffie said.
"Right?" Reno asked. "Why didn't you mention your sister was a beast in combat, yo?"
"I didn't think I needed to," Yang said, her voice full of pride. "After all, she is my sister."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go meet back up with the others."
"And get accepted into Bea—" Yuffie was interrupted when the supposedly dead Zolom exhaled. "Oh come on!" she exclaimed in frustration. The group turned to see that the Zolom was still alive.
"What do we have to do to kill this thing?" Yang asked.
"Calm down," Blake said. "Its tail is still trapped under the pillar. Let's just ignore it and leave."
"Oh come on, B, we can't leave the Zolom trapped there," Reno said. "That's just cruel."
"If you're suggesting we heal it, then no," Blake said.
"Oh hell no. Just… give me your gun so I can put it down."
"Why my gun?" Blake asked.
"Well, Yang's gauntlets would send me flying back a good few feet."
"Probably," Yang said.
"Yuffie doesn't have a gun."
"True," Yuffie said.
"And Red's an animal."
Red growled.
"So, that just leaves you, yo," Reno finished.
Blake sighed. "…Fine." She handed him her pistol. "Just make it quick."
"No problem." Reno walked over to the defeated Zolom, giving Blake's gun a twirl on his finger as he did. Upon reaching the Zolom, he leaned down to inspect all the wounds they had inflicted on the serpent. "Man, you were one tough snake. You really gave us a run for our money, but you just came up short. Nothing personal."
Reno aimed Blake's pistol at the Zolom's head and… the Zolom's eyes flew open and it sniffed the air, much to Reno's shock. The Zolom got up and let out a mighty roar. To everyone's astonishment, it managed to yank its tail out from underneath the pillar. Reno attempted to shoot the giant serpent, but it used its head to knock him to the ground.
Everyone else charged at the Zolom, but the giant serpent slithered past them at rapid speed and headed in the direction of the bridge. The group turned their attention to Reno and rushed to his side.
"Reno!" Blake called.
"Are you okay?" Yang asked.
"Ugh, what the hell got into that thing?" Reno asked.
"I don't know, but it's heading towards the others."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Yuffie asked. "We gotta go help them!"
"Right behind you, yo," Reno said as he got up.
The group made a break for the bridge as fast as they could.
"So, how are they gonna get across without a bridge?" Jaune asked while his group watched Weiss use her glyphs to help Ruby descend the cliff.
"Oh, I can launch myself over there with Magnhild and catapult them like I did with you," Nora said.
"Uh, let's make that plan B," Jaune said. "Anyone else have any suggestions?"
"I believe Weiss will be able to—" Pyrrha started to say before she heard a roar. The others turned to see the Zolom slithering towards them.
"Why is the Zolom coming back?" Jaune asked. "I thought it was fighting Yang and the others."
"Perhaps it escaped before they could finish it," Ren said.
"So that means it's our turn to fight it. Yay," Jaune said.
"Woohoo, bring it on you overgrown handbag!" Nora shouted.
The group readied their weapons as the Zolom got closer, only for it to turn and head straight towards the Deathstalker's body and began eating its remains.
"Oh, no," Pyrrha said. Blake and the others burst out of the woods, and came to a sudden halt upon seeing the Zolom devouring the dissolving Deathstalker.
"Oh, crapbaskets," Yuffie said.
Ruby reached the bottom of the cliff and stepped off of Weiss's glyphs, only to be immediately enveloped in a tight hug by Tifa.
"Way to go, Ruby," Tifa said. "You took out the Nevermore."
"Tifa…" Ruby struggled to say. "Can't… breathe."
"Oh, sorry," Tifa said, releasing Ruby before the younger girl's hair was ruffled by Cloud.
"That was a very clever strategy, Ruby," Cloud said. "Wouldn't you agree, Weiss?"
"It was… a unique strategy," Weiss said. "And it did succeed in defeating the Grimm. So… good job, Ruby."
"Aww, thanks guys," Ruby said. "You know when I came up with that plan, I was just… just…" She suddenly went quiet and her eyes widened, much to everyone's confusion.
"Uh, Ruby?" Cloud asked.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked. Ruby silently pointed across the ravine, drawing everyone's attention. Their eyes went wide with fear when they saw what she was pointing to. They saw the Zolom rip a large chunk off the Deathstalker's body and throw its head back to swallow it whole.
"N-No," Cloud said.
After a moment, the Zolom let out a pained roar before falling to the ground and writhing in pain. Black ooze seeped out from its wounds and began spreading all over the top half of the Zolom's body and turning it black. A red symbol appeared on the back of its hood while similar markings appeared on the inside. Its underbelly turned bone white, its eyes turned red and yellow, it grew a bone structure on top of its head, and finally a green glow briefly surrounded the creature, signifying its Aura had been unlocked.
The Zolom stopped writhing on the ground and got back up. The beast let out a mighty roar that could be heard throughout the Emerald Forest, before turning its attention back to the young Hunters and growling menacingly.
Fear washed over the teenagers as the realization finally set in.
The Zolom had become a Hy-Grimm.
AN: Man, it's been a while since I've written an almost 10,000 word chapter for any of my stories.
I don't want to do it again.
Anyway, the discussion Pyrrha and Jaune had about Hy-Grimms has now paid off.
We also have the final three teams decided.
As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!