The group silently stared at Oobleck for a few moments.

"Is he…?"

Jaune walked over to him, hand trembling a bit as he placed two fingers on his neck. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. He started rubbing away the acid with his gloves, thankful it couldn't dissolve leather. "He's alive, just unconscious."

Coco walked over, frowning as she saw the acid. "Those are antborus grimm. They're really rare this far outside of Mistral, and even rarer that they'd target something away from their nest. Jaune, I think you were right when you said something was controlling the other grimm."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Wait, that means…"

"We're being hunted," Jaune said.

Blake turned, eyes flicking into the undergrowth as her cat ears twitched behind her bow. "We need to get out of here—we aren't trained to deal with something like this."

Jaune shook his head, gesturing to Oobleck. "You heard Oobleck. Our extraction isn't until tomorrow. Even if we wanted to leave, we'd be walking through miles of forest back to the city, and that'd take us hours—during which time our mysterious hunter could pick us off one by one. Not to mention Yang—one of our best close-range fighters—is still down for the count."

Jaune scratched his chin, eyes fogging over slightly as he thought about their situation. "No, we need to find a place to hold out. Somewhere defensible, where we can keep an eye on Yang and Oobleck while they recover. This area's terrible for that since it can be accessed from every direction. We'd need something like a cave or a cliffside—even a valley would be better than this."

Ruby absently raised her hand, drawing eyes to her. "I saw a big line of cliffs on the east side of the forest. We could set up camp near them."

Jaune nodded, hefting Oobleck over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "Good idea, Ruby. Coco, you and me will keep Oobleck and Yang safe near the center. Blake, Ren, you two's aura senses are the best, so you watch our backs. Velvet, you and Ruby lead the way. If you sense anything off, stop and warn us. Everyone else, fill in the space."

Velvet nodded, summoning a hardlight copy of Coco's minigun as everyone filled in the spaces between them. Blake drew gambol shroud as Ren drew Stormflower, the two taking up the back of the line. Ruby, meanwhile, held Crescent Rose at the ready, her legs tensing as she tip-toed across the grass—ready to charge forward with her semblance at a moment's notice.

The group were silent, tensed and ready for any attack that could come at them as they walked forward. Though, their caution—despite being well warranted—was seemingly for nothing. They reached the cliffside Ruby was talking about after about a twenty-minute walk. Ruby searched for a moment before finding them a small overhang, what could've been called a cave if it were just a few feet deeper.

Jaune set Oobleck back at the farthest back point, Coco setting Yang up just next to him. Coco turned to everyone, "Alright, who here has taken the grimm traps course at Beacon?"

Velvet, Weiss, and Pyrrha raised their hands.

Coco nodded. "Perfect. The three of you come with me, we're gonna boobytrap this place nine ways from Sunday. Weiss, you're the resident dust expert, so let me ask you: What's the best dust for killing a running grimm?"

Weiss tapped her chin for a moment before she spoke up. "Fire dust has the fastest activation time, but wind dust moves the most feet per second. So one of those two would be best."

Coco nodded. "Fire dust is a no-go unless we wanna burn down the whole forest, so wind dust it is. Get as much of it as you can and start setting traps—snares, spike pits, nets, Mistralean grenade bouquets—whatever you think will kill the most grimm. We're working in groups of two so we don't get ambushed. Velvet's with me, Weiss, you're with Pyrrha. Let's move."

The four of them departed, leaving everyone else to set up near the center. Ruby immediately moved to Yang, staring at her for a moment before turning around, taking a knee and aiming toward the woods. "Don't worry sis—no one's getting the drop on me."

Blake looked to Jaune. "We should start a fire—most grimm won't attack an open flame unless they feel threatened."

Jaune nodded. "Not a bad idea. You and me will gather firewood, everyone else, set up a defensive perimeter."

The two made their way to the tree line, Jaune drawing Crocea Mors and cutting away at branches. Blake did the same with Gambol Shroud, eyes always flicking around for danger as she kept her head on a swivel. She looked at Jaune after a moment. "How are you so calm? I figured you of all people would be freaking out right now."

Jaune gave her a faint smile. "Hiding it pretty well, aren't I? Don't get me wrong, I'm terrified out of my mind about what's happening. But…I don't know. I guess I'm internalizing it? It's like part of my mind is freaking out, but the other part is realizing freaking out won't help, so it sort just…" he made a motion as if flicking a switch, clicking his tongue. "You know?"

Blake slowly nodded. "I understand. I just hope professor Oobleck's okay. Antborus acid is supposed to be extremely painful. Not to mention corrosive."

Jaune shook his head, cutting off a particularly heavy branch. "He'd benefit from some painkillers, but otherwise he'll be fine. He had a heartbeat and he was breathing just fine. The acid's damage was mostly surface level from what I saw. I got enough of it off he should be okay."

Blake slowly nodded, only to freeze as she heard something snap to her left. She aimed her weapon toward it, Jaune freezing and doing the same as he saw what she was doing. She took a single step forward. "Who's there?"

Something took off running.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Blake dashed forward.

"Blake, wait!"

Jaune dashed after her, the two disappearing deeper into the woods as Blake listened for the cracking of branches. She saw her quarry…well, sort of. She saw the broken branches, the faint footprints in the dirt, and small slashes on the trees. She saw them all. Not to mention she heard them rushing ahead.

You're not getting away from me!

Jaune, meanwhile, was simply following Blake. His brow furrowed as they moved. What are we chasing, anyway? And why was it so close to us? The other time it used a bow and arrow, which means it has some kind of intelligence. Why would it come so close…unless…

Jaune reached forward, grabbing Blake's shoulder. "Blake, stop! It's a trap!"

Blake looked over her shoulder. "What are you—AGH!"

Blake nearly fell forward into a large pit filled with spikes that had been covered with leaves, only for Jaune's arms to dash out, wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against him. He pulled her back, taking a few steps before looking down at her. "You okay?"

Blake looked up, eyes widening a bit as she felt the close proximity to Jaune. Her face tinted pink as she nodded. "Yeah…yeah, I'm fine."

Jaune let go, turning to look at the pit. "This thing got close to us and deliberately led us over here…why, though?"

Blake's eyes widened as she heard gunfire. "It was trying to separate us."

"And it worked. Come on, we need to get back!"

The two rushed back to the others, eyes widening as they saw several dozen beowolves attacking the main group—Velvet, Weiss, Pyrrha, and Coco nowhere to be seen. Ruby was hovering over her sister and Oobleck, firing bullets into the grimm each chance she got. Without Coco, Yang, Pyrrha, or Jaune to draw the grimm's agro, the role had fallen to Nora. Who, based on the several smashed beowolves, was doing pretty well.

Jaune dashed forward, taking up a defensive position next to Ren while Blake dashed into the horde, using her clones to disrupt them and firing down into the backs of their skulls. Jaune turned to the group, "Everyone okay?"

Ruby fired before pulling back the bolt. "Running low on bullets!"

Ren nodded. "Me too."

Nora looked back at Jaune with wide eyes. "Kaboom?"

"Not yet Nora!"

Jaune's eyes widened as the beowolves withdrew, a sharp whistle piercing the air as three ursa rushed forward from the underbrush. The good news? Pyrrha, Weiss, Coco, and Velvet emerged on the other side of them, rushing to their defense.

Jaune turned, to his team, gulping as he saw the ursai. "Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, remember that move we practiced?"

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "The Juniper special?"

"Yes! Time to do it!"

Jaune dashed forward, slicing into the front ursa before dashing back, raising his shield. Pyrrha dashed to his left, Nora to his right as she switched her hammer to its grenade launcher state. Ren, meanwhile, crouched just behind Pyrrha, waiting for his moment.

Nora fired three grenades into the side of the ursa, Jaune tanking a few hits with his shield before lunging forward with his blade, peeling off a bone plate. Jaune turned, "Ren! Now!"

Ren leaped above Pyrrha, who lowered herself and launched Ren forward with her shield. Ren landed on the ursa's left side, slamming his blades into the place Jaune had opened. Pyrrha held her hand forward, focusing as her semblance grabbed hold of Ren's weapons, ripping them into the beast.

It howled in agony as Ren's blades slammed out of its skull and back into his hands, falling forward in a cloud of smoke.

"LOOK OUT!"

Jaune dashed forward, pushing Pyrrha out of the way before being slammed back, his shield thrown aside as he hit the cliff.

Meanwhile, team RW was busy fighting a second ursa. Ruby looked at Weiss. "Omni-slash?"

"Omni-slash."

Weiss held a hand forward, creating well over a dozen black glyphs surrounding the ursa on all sides. Ruby, meanwhile, dashed forward. She slammed into one of them before activating her semblance, dashing around at near the speed of sound as her blade slashed into the ursa. She landed after about two dozen slashes, spinning her scythe around and aiming at the ursa's head, its skull split open thanks to the sheer speed of her strikes.

BANG!

A single shot took it down.

As this was happening, Coco, Velvet, and Blake were dealing with the third Ursa. Coco fired into its belly as Blake dashed behind it, leaping onto its back and climbing to its head. She stabbed Gambol Shroud into its neck before firing a few bullets into its ear—only for the ursa to slam its back into a tree, knocking Blake off.

Velvet, meanwhile, created a hard-light greatsword that Coco recognized as belonging to Yatsuhashi. She leaped onto the tree before backflipping on top of the grimm, slamming her blade into the spot Gambol Shroud had pierced. Blake leaped onto the back and helped Velvet slam it down, the two pushing it so low it came out the grimm's belly.

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren rushed to Jaune, who was currently dazed against the cliff. Pyrrha reached down, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Jaune slowly nodded, letting himself be pulled up by Pyrrha before leaning on her shoulder. "Yeah, my aura took the brunt of it. Just need to catch my breath."

AWOOOOOO!

Jaune groaned as he walked over to his shield, "Guessing they won't let that happen, though."

A second pack of beowolves rushed forward, hammering against their defenses. They held for a good two hours against waves of grimm before they finally relented, leaving everyone sweaty and exhausted. Jaune fell to one knee as the beowolves finally relented. "Finally. Who made these guys so angry today?"

Ruby sat next to him. "Probably whoever's hunting us. If I were them, I'd want us to be really tired and exhausted before going in for the kill."

Jaune slowly nodded, eyes widening as he felt Yang stirring. The group made their way to her, seeing her get up and crack her neck. "Agh, my back. What did I miss?"

Ruby smiled. "An ambush and the longest fight I've ever been in. I swear I must've killed dozens of beowolves—we all must've."

Coco nodded. "Yeah, these bastards have milked me dry. I'll be down to hand-to-hand at this rate."

Yang smirked. "Hey, that's my thing, remember?"

Coco chuckled before looking at Jaune. "You made a good point before about the fire. I'd say we make one and sleep in shifts. Sun'll be setting soon."

Jaune nodded. "Right. Alright, I'll go gather some firewood from the trees. Let's hope your traps are a good deterrent for the grimm."

Jaune walked to the edge of the treeline, gathering firewood as Nora, Ruby, and Coco built a circle of stones near the center. Pyrrha, meanwhile, sat cleaning her rifle near the edge. She leaned back against the cliffside, taking a deep breath before releasing it. They really are relentless in this forest…I'm so tired…

She closed her eyes, resting against the rock as she laid her sword down.

Thwip!

Pyrrha's eyes shot open as she looked down, everything seemingly in slow motion as she saw an arrow flying toward her. Though, rather than pinging off her aura or armor, she saw it burst open into a large net, which covered her within seconds. She'd barely gotten out a scream when she was pulled into the underbrush and hoisted up a tree.

Jaune turned, eyes wide as she heard Pyrrha screaming. "Pyrrha? Pyrrha!"

The group made their way toward Pyrrha, Jaune reaching her first—seeing her stuck up a tree. He drew his sword as he took a step forward.

His eyes widened as he saw something dash into the tree above him.

Suddenly, Pyrrha began flying back.

"JAUNE! HELP!"

Jaune turned. "RUBY!"

"On it!"

Ruby dashed forward, her semblance letting her dash into the treeline and catch up with Pyrrha's captor. Her eyes widened as she saw…nothing. Whatever was after her, it was completely invisible. Still, seeing the end of the string gave her a clear hint as to where it was. She dashed across, slicing into the figure.

Whatever it was hissed as it let go of Pyrrha, black blood falling onto the leaves as she fell to the ground below. Ruby looked up, eyes widening as the invisible figure revealed itself.

It was a hideous creature, with a split mouth that divided into four pieces and bright red teeth and eyes. On its arms were long blades protruding from its elbow to past its hands—a bit like Fox's weapons. It leaned down, holding out its hands as it hissed at her.

"You are one ugly—"

SLASH!

Ruby leaped back as the grimm slashed at her, finding her footing on the higher branches. She held her scythe back, glaring at the beast. "So you're what's been hunting us! Oh, you are so dead!"

Ruby aimed Crescent Rose backward, firing a bullet and lunging at the creature. It held up its blades and blocked her with surprising strength, slamming a blade across her chest and knocking her to the ground. She landed next to Pyrrha, who quickly drew her rifle and fired at the beast.

It's hands were a blur as it blocked bullets with its armblades, leaping onto the ground and slowly approaching them. Ruby's eyes widened as it rushed forward, slamming its blade into Pyrrha and launching her back, tearing into her armor and aura alike. She swung down, only for it to catch her scythe in its hands, ripping it away from her and tossing it away.

She was in shock long enough for the grimm to rush forward, wrapping its hand around her neck and hefting her a good foot off the ground. Her hands grasped futilely at their own as she struggled for breath, her heart slamming in her chest as she activated her semblance.

In a few seconds, the creature staggered back, its hand burnt from the sheer friction of trying to hold onto a semblance-fueled Ruby. It turned instead to Pyrrha, dashing forward. Pyrrha raised her shield—

"GAH!"

"PYRRHA!"

VOOM!

Jaune and the others caught up to find Ruby laying on the ground, unconscious, and Pyrrha's shield broken and lying on the ground. He dashed to Ruby, pulling her up and gently shaking her. "Ruby? Ruby! Are you okay—where's Pyrrha? Ruby!"

Ruby didn't react.

Blake walked over to Pyrrha's shield, eyes widening as she saw the massive slash mark in it. "I think we have bigger problems right now, Jaune."

Jaune turned, seeing the others rapidly catching up with them. Yang dashed to him, placing her fingers on Ruby's neck. "She's okay—just passed out. Where's…"

Everyone turned to the forest, wondering where their spartan had vanished.