Francesca had been walking through the forest with a hand on Bulletedge. She had been waiting for something to jump at her. Beowolves would come in packs mostly, but were easy enough to deal with. Ursas would be a little bit more of a pain to deal with. Bigger, tougher, but still killable. Now then, with a clear enough way for now she just continued walking. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught someone. "Hey, I....found...you..."

At first, she thought he was creepy. Still, he was the first person she looked in the eyes. With a light sigh, she went over to the guy. "Francesca Stahl. I suppose we are partners from here on out then." She bowed. "You are?"

Placing his other hand on the handle, Perry brought his weapon down in a powerful diagonal swing. Powerful enough that it had little trouble carving through two Beowolves without slowing in the slightest. Its tip buried into the ground, coming to a halt at last, and he let go of it to deal with the last Grimm. He blocked a swing of its clawed hands with his arm before sending it stumbling backwards with a sharp kick to its chest, leaning back as he did to avoid getting mauled. While it was trying to regain its footing, he wrenched his weapon from the earth and drew a large gash across the Grimm’s frame, carving it from hip to shoulder. It stumbled at the large wound not quite dead, but the lance tip that punched through its chest certainly finished it off. The corpse slid off as Blast Bicell folded back together. “No, they really aren’t.”

“Perry Symund, nice to meet you I suppose,” he introduced himself before turning to look around, “I suppose we should get a move on it if we don’t want to be last.” He hadn’t bothered trying to extend his flight time like some of the others, and it would appear neither had the other student. So they were likely one of the furthest pairs from the ruins where their objectives apparently laid. Yet the odd silence that ensued had Perry turning around in question. "What..." he murmured in confusion as all trace of the other student had basically disappeared. He hadn't been paying attention, but he was certain he would have at least picked up some trace of the student leaving. While he wanted to get a move on towards the objective, he couldn't just leg it without his "partner". Grumbling in a bit of annoyance, he walked over to the spot where the other student had stood for any traces of where he might have gone. Yet, despite his efforts, there was literally nothing, not even the slightest track on the forest floor. It was as if the student had been whisked away.by something.

He couldn't stay for long though, as a chill ran up his spine to reinforce that though. Looking around him and paying attention, he could hear the sounds of the Grimm all around him in the forest. Standing up and backing away from the spot slowly, he made his decision a brief moment later when the sounds intensified. If the other student hadn't revealed himself despite the heavy Grimm activity, Perry could only assume the worst. With a quiet curse, he turned around and dashed off into the trees.

As Michelle scanned the area, she saw someone carving a line down a tree as the person reached the ground. She lowered her sniper rifle to look at him without the use of her scope, then lifted her sniper rifle back up again. She examined his appearance, trying to see whether or not he would make a good partner. His weapons were pistols, that much was obvious, but the way he used them interested her. There were some sort of ice bayonets on them, almost as if they appeared straight out of the barrels. As for his appearance.... Michelle didn't believe for a second that he wasn't some sort of hoodlum. Still, if he was to be her partner, then she supposed she could do worse.

Michelle leaped from branch to branch, getting closer to him in order to meet up with him. On the way, though, she was suddenly attacked by a somewhat larger-than-normal Nevermore, which had swooped down with its talons to strike at her face. Michelle parried it away, putting them both off balance for a second. Michelle clumsily landed on a branch as the bird flew around back to swoop down on her again. Unfortunately for the bird, its maneuver created a ridiculously easy shot for Michelle to land. Michelle flicked Artemis' setting to Lightning, then fired. One could actually hear the taser-like noise as the bird was electrocuted and fell to the ground. She lowered her sniper rifle and turned around, looking down at the boy who would be her partner. "Hi," she said in an amused tone.

"My-my-my name is Ka-Ka-Kael Lor-Lord-Lordono-Lordonos." His knees began to shake a bit as his mind started to berate himself for his total lack of speech, as he could not speak correctly. "I do apologize for my speech patterns. I never spent a lot of time with people." At least now, he was able to speak.

Moving his two halves of his zhen together by the hilts, with a twist, he locked them back together into its original form, a bladed staff. Looking back up, he took a good look at his new partner, sizing up her size and hopefully to see what kind of fighter she was. She was wearing close to nothing, but she did have a few weapons on her. Hopefully, she was good with them. Nothing came to mind, so he began to take in his surroundings, looking to see if they were surrounded. Grimm could be anywhere.

"I guess we should move on, go and find this relic, I guess. Just to let you know, I am a melee fighter. I can take lots of punishment. What is your fighting style?"

High above, a roar sliced through the serene skies, one that no dragon would have to be ashamed off. Schwarz knew she wouldn’t be as lucky as to dodge the nevermore. Even the slight pang of anxiety that she might be discovered by it lured it closer to her. At times she really wished she could work like a machine, emotionless.

“You...” she hissed for herself, watching the avian Grimm approach, “They’re going to call me names again, because of you.” she said through her teeth, which were clenched shut and bared, her eyebrows and the wicked red eyes contributing to the expression that would shatter a brick wall.

The nevermore turned towards her, sensing her delicíously cold anger. This human, she was so full of pent up darkness. Irresistible. It would make for a fine meal! Screeching, the Grimm sped up after it’s prey. It could see the human was foolishly brave and trying to stand up to it. The Grimm creature screamed. Impudence! When it was in range, it swung it’s wings forward to bathe the cheeky monkey in it’s quills.

Schwarz let her anger flow. Ever since that day, she knew it was her dark side that her semblance drawn power from. It didn’t make her life any easier, especially given just how powerful her own shadow was. Sometimes it frightened her to even think about it, about what it implied she might be capable of if she snapped.

As she let the feeling fill her being, her image started to shiver and darken. The faunus slowly felt gravity losing it’s grip on her, as her mass was disappearing, changing her into the nightmarish shadow form her semblance provided. Roaring with anger, she raised Swansong above her incorporeal head, the weapon bursting into what looked like white flames.

The nevermore launched it’s attack on her. “You know, I can do that too!” she growled, her ghastly eyes glowing fiery red as she swung swansong in front of her several times. The weapon left a trail of the white substance behind itself. At another swing, the trail separated into blobs that took a shape of slightly shimmering white quills. Thrusting her arm forward, the quills went loose, heading for the Grimm while Schwarz dodged the attack aimed at her.

Her attack burned it’s way through the incoming black feathers, most of the quills annihilating themselves dissolving the Grimm’s, but one got lucky and struck the nevermore right into it’s left wing. Shrieking, it started spiralling towards the ground, half of it’s wing gone.

But Schwarz was having none of it. It was a Grimm. They were the source of all of the troubles in her life. If not for them… If not… She choked on a sob, that was quickly replaced by a new wave of anger. With another roar, she willed her shadow form to follow the wounded thing. The weapon in her hand shifted into it’s rapier form, and as Schwarz slashed with it, a quarter circle wave of the white flame shot forward, chopping off the other wing from the nevermore.

The creature crashed into the forest below, and the furious girl followed it into the branches. To her surprise, it was still moving, although black smoke was spilling profoundly from the white glowing scars where her attacks met. It looked at her with hateful eyes and jumped form it’s clawed legs, it’s beak aimed straight for her heart.

Pulling what control she had left in her, she made her form bend into a C shape and the creature flown by, before she lost it. Unlike her anger, her rage was as burning as it got. Letting out a mad sound, the would-be huntress lunged forward, leaving a haze of swan quills in her wake, proceeding to stab the maimed creature several times, enjoying every single agonized shriek it let out.

As the ataka of rage dissipated from her, her semblance deactivated and she was changed back to her human shape. flipping the Swansong from hand to hand and converting it back into the wand in the process, the dust crystals lit up. “Die.” she said emotionlessly as several fireballs shot from the tip of the wand, incinerating what was left of the nevermore after her earlier brutal attack. Calming down, she noticed for the first time she wasn’t alone. Turning around, she saw another student. “Oh, hi.” she said sheepishly, turning away to hide the blush at her earlier outburst.

[collab with Forsythe]

Coral wasn’t a slow runner, at least. Not that she was top of her class or anything (hypothetically, of course: she’d never been part of a class), but she wasn’t unfit or anything, and if she were in the mood to waste her Aura, then she could have used her Semblance to go even faster. But with the threat of monsters attacking her randomly, she didn’t feel safe enough for that. So normal running speed it was!

She’d kept her senses alert in case anything decided to jump out at her, her Semblance on a hair trigger, but nothing had gotten in her way yet. The stupid Grimm were probably all too scared to try anything: after all, a tentacled monstrosity such as herself was not a common sight, and she’d probably give them indigestion if they ate her, anyway. Just to spite them.

And then she heard screaming and explosions and death above, and she slowed herself to a bewildered stall as a huge bird thing fell out of the sky, followed shortly by something that she could only assume was one of their classmates. Grimm didn’t use weapons, right? It was hard to tell, though, as the thing engaged in mortal combat had the same color scheme as that which she was mercilessly slaughtering. But it was yelling in rage things that sounded a bit like words, so, yeah, probably a person. She was certainly doing a piece on it, and apparently with no care for her surroundings: Coral stood just two yards away, and didn’t seem to have been noticed by either of them. Or maybe it was a Grimm, and didn’t think that her intense pleasure at watching something get torn apart before her was a delicious emotion. They only ate negative emotions, right, and joy was a positive one. She was so untasty right now.

It took the berserker a few minutes to realize that her target was dead, and when she did, she returned to normal-people mode and almost instantly noticed Coral. Their eyes locked, and the team was sealed. Well, at least it was a cool-as-heck Faunus who was fun to watch. She could have ended up with a worse teammate.

“Well! Did that thing call your mother a whore or something?” She smiled aggressively and kicked at the quickly-disappearing body.

"If it did I'd give it a medal, not a beating." Schwarz rolled her eyes, approaching the other student. Of course, she meant her step-mother. She has seen Faunus of many shapes and considered herself to be one that stood out the most, but this one was an entire league higher. Of course, being stuck home for most of her later years didn't give her much opportunity to see the world, but even among whom she saw on the airship...

Shaking her head to end her inner ramble, she offered her hand: "Looks like we'll be teammates. Schwarz Nacht, a pleasure," she introduced herself with a slight headnod.

"You too, eh? Though I'd probably just ask for directions. I don't have any medals on me." Coral had never actually met her parents, but her mother certainly had some explaining to do. Obviously there was some beastiality going on somewhere down the line, and someone needed a good talking-to about not screwing with future generations' genetics like that. Not cool, ancestor, not cool.

"And I'm Coral. And yes, a pleasure. I like your work!" She looked her new partner up and down, noting the wings and the weapon and the odd uniform. Were those initials on the collar? A rich family, then. The weapon didn't look cheap, either. Well, she supposed that that might not be a bad thing, since she'd come with no money herself. Maybe having a partner with some would be useful.

"So... was that your Semblance? You become a Grimm?"

"Coral." she tried how the name flowed off of her tongue, "Short enough to call out in battle, good. You get off without a nickname." Schwarz grinned, knowing well what terrible nicknames she could give. "Work?" She said quizzicaly before realizing she was talking about her violent murder of the nevermore. "Oh, oh no I just got angry and... wait, did you say like?" her eyebrows shot up. She withdrew her hand as it was still ignored, checking it was actually still there and not lying in a pool of her blood on the ground.

"And don't call me that! Or I'll get angry again." she said, her eyes gaining a strangely hollow look. "And sort of..." she said, breathing out to focus. Now with focus and control outside of a fight, it was easy enough to activate the semblence within a second. "I may look like a Grimm, but I'm not really one." she said, swinging her arm and making it pass through a nearby tree. She felt as if the log bumped into her, but the shadow that made her didn't even deform. "I'm intangible to anything that is not a grimm, and, well, I melt them away." she shrugged and dropped back to her usual form. "What about you?"

Haha she'd made Birdy uncomfortable. Coral watched Schwarz' expression turn and her hand retract, and it only made her smile wider. A hypocrite, then? That worked just as well, though Coral admitted to herself that she would have prefered someone just like her, someone who wouldn't look down on her for actually enjoying such glorious art. But at least she'd still see something often enough, and she could deflect criticism with this fun little incident.

Oh, but now it was time to show off Semblances! Coral activated hers, approaching in stealth right next to Schwarz as she showed off her interesting little trick. She could wave her arm through the tree? Interesting, indeed. Did that then mean that Coral's knives would go through her? Time to test it.

The knives rotated in their holster until they silently unlocked. Coral's clone continued standing by, acting interested in Schwarz' demonstration. The knives rose to her hands, and Coral was about to take a swipe with them when her new partner returned to normal form. She stopped herself in time, and instead decided to have fun showing off, herself. She brought one of her knife claws up right under Schwarz' chin and let her clone speak.

"Oh, well I was already using my Semblance." The clone disappeared into smoke, and Coral appeared at the same time.

"Boo."

"That's handy. And so not fun to be a target of." the swan hissed, glaring it's bretheren at the dagger pressed to her chin. "By the way, I can still feel everything as the shadow, so don't even think about it." she warned, even though she probably wouldn't be able to retaliate at all if Coral went through with what Schwarz thought she was doing. Unless one could call agonized gasps fighting back.

She slapped the hand holding the weapon away from her. "Anyway, relics. I was heading north when that thing spotted me, I think I saw some old buildings there. It could be it." she shrugged, waiting for Inksac to take the lead. She wasn't certain how to handle this person. Coral seemed like the kind that didn't care for refined behavior and if anything might make fun of her for it.

"Just a fair warning, my defense is to kill them all before they kill me. I'm a sort of a mix between a mage and swordswoman so I can support your charge, as long as you don't expect me to take a hit for you." she shared how her fighting style was, not feeling the necessity to share much more about herself for now.

"Awwww, that's not too useful then, is it?" The knives returned to their sheathe and Coral took the lead in the direction she'd been heading before. "You just get all monochrome and glowy? Lame." There had to be something more to the semblance than that, right? Sure, phasing through things might be nice (but if she could feel it, what would that be like?), but Coral couldn't really see the use of a Semblance that did nothing but make you look scary. Maybe she intimidated that bird to death.

But that sounded like a good defense. Killing things first... well it had always worked for Coral. She withdrew the little computer thingy that they'd given her last night and glanced at the information shown there. Already hers had linked up with her partner's, showing their respective aura. It looked like Schwarz was, regardless of what she said, probably the less fragile of the two. "We'll have to duel some time to see each other's strengths and weaknesses."

"Did you miss the part where I said it melts Grimm away?" Schwarz rolled her eyes. "You could take a swing and it would leave a gash, I could take a swing and wipe out half of an ursa or mroe if I put my mind to it." she said, keeping to herself that putting her mind into it seemed to be a very difficult thing to do in an actual fight. "At least it's not wussing out and hiding in a shadow." she shot back, her eyebrows quirking in a challenging expression.

Then Coral suggested they spar later. "Oh you're on, but first things first. Shall we?" she asked, nodding deeper into the forest.

Francesca pulled out Bulletedge when Kael asked her what her fighting style was. First she moved around the weapon and then turned it into it's gun form. "Whatever it needs to be." She reverts the weapon and places it back where it belongs on her side before starting off in the direction she thought they needed to go. It was wordless, but not exactly silent as she stepped on twigs and an assortment of things. The song playing on her device started with a small crescendo bringing her attention back to it. Liking this part of the song, she begins humming along to it.

She imagined Kael was following behind her. He was timid so he might not speak up much at all. Still, if he got into Beacon, he must have some kind of skills. It's not like Beacon takes just anyone who decides they want to be a hunter. It's only for those with the most skill and determination to be a hunter. Whatever his reasons, him and all the students are there for roughly the same thing, albeit probably for different reasons.

On the other hand she wasn't sure if she could trust him with her back. If his already show timidity were a sign, this was the beginning of a not so good partnership. I almost want to just spar with him here and test what he can do. That wasn't the best of ideas. As far as they both knew, this was Grimm infested territory. It's not something you fight someone in on purpose. Francesca turned around to make sure the boy was keeping up with her. Or maybe, to make sure he was still there.

‘Just a little further.’ The metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel was so close, but the shadows were creeping in and threatening to swallow that hope. “Fuck. OFF!” His roar resounded through the treeline and into the clearing, a Beowolf following it as it tumbled across the ground, thrown from the trees. Perry followed closely after it, literally jumping into the small clearing as he bled from a number of wounds. Mostly shallow cuts that just drew blood and bruises, superficial at most. Sending the Grimm rolling across the grass again with a sharp kick to its jaw, he turned around to face the horde that had gathered. While he wasn’t panicking, irritation and anger were still fairly good for drawing in the creatures of the Grimm. With a heavy sigh, he tried to settle his mind as he drew Blast Bicell from its holster and unfolded it. “Well, come on then,” he muttered as he stared into the treeline and saw more black than green.

It was only a small blessing given their numbers, but only minor species of Grimm had hounded him to the clearing. Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and a few Ursas were the monsters that strode forth into the clearing, itching for a taste of human. They weren’t going to get one without a fight. With a roaring boom Perry fired his weapon, the lance head flying like a missle until it impacted against an Ursa. The creature’s head simply ceased to exist as its body fell to the ground mid-charge, sliding to a halt. Roaring in defiance to the overwhelming odds, Perry’s Aura suffused his entire body in a dim glow of blue. Wielding the handle, he swung the attached lance head relentlessly, tearing through any Grimm that tried to approach. Beowolves were left mangled, the wire carving into their flesh, while Boarbatusks were pulped, the lance head crushing them upon contact. He left plenty dead or dying in the space between him and the treelines, but there were always more ready to take the dead’s place.

As Blast Bicell came together in one piece with a heavy thunk, empty of Dust, Perry twirled the weapon at the approaching Grimm. His breath came harder, the weapon was just a bit heavy in his arms, and the worst had yet to come. “Just my luck…” And then there was no breath for meaningless chatter as the Grimm fell on him. An inevitable tide of shadows that would drown out this one speck of light, but until then, it would burn the darkness around it.

While waling with his new comrade, Kael noticed she had begun to hum in a melody. It seemed pretty catchy, but he felt it might give them away if he were to join in. He began to search around the forest with his eyes, looking for any abnormal signs, things that should not be there. He used his zhen as a staff, using it to keep his balance. He was not afraid of it becoming dull, as it was specially crafted to not worry about it.

He was curious about where this relic is, as it seemed to be very important. What was its purpose? Why did Beacon want it? Was this all a test or something more? Shaking his head at these thoughts, as this was not as important. He had to make sure no Grimm were around. They had been lucky this far, not being attacked. He noticed when Francesca turned to look at him, he simply kept on walking, looking to his sides and above, as that was always a good way to ambush.

"Would you listen to me for ONE SECOND!!" The first pair to arrive, Saurodrinn and Zyramos, came in from the forest to find the ruins, what seemed to be a shrine almost. Zyramos turned to her partner with a scowl. "If you don't like my methods, then go and die already. Its not my fault I'm stuck with you." Saurodrinn brought his palm to his face, then rubbed his nose while frowning. "While I respect your valor, telling me to stand by while you tackle a dozen Grimm at once is stupid and arrogant!" she waved her arms around in response, pointing out the lack of wounds. "It worked, didn't it? Why do you have to be so naggy?" He scoffed, then remarked "Why do you have to be so reckless..."

The two walked towards the ruin, neither pleased. At the center of the pillars there sat multiple pedestals, most of which were empty. There were only six left, each of which resembled chess pieces. Two black queens, two white bishops, and two black knights. without hesitation, and a faint smile, Zyramos closed her eyes and flung her axe skyward. After what seemed like a minute, it fell, engraving itself into the ground near the black Knight. Opening her eyes, Zyramos turned to her accomplice and said "Looks like we're taking that one." Saurodrinn glanced at the other black Knight. "What about that one?" in response, the girl grabbed it, and instantly threw it into the forest. "What about it?" She replied as she looked at his baffled expression, which only lasted about two seconds before he stroked his nose again, agonizing.

---

Leona and Aashaln walked through the forest in silence, much to Leona's dismay. Arms relaxed while folded behind her neck, she lead the way with a look of mixed curiosity and disappointment. She glanced at her partner, his expression ever unchanging. The usual indifference. The same uninterest as when they first met. "Sooo what'ya do for fun?" she asked, trying to start up conversation, although he never replied. After a few more moments of awkward silence, she tried again. "What's your Semblance like?" This time, he did reply, but only with "Fire." This was getting her nowhere and it drove her mad how quiet he was, could she really handle being with him for the next four years?

Turning to face him while still walking backwards, towards the random direction she chose, Leona was determined to make him talk. "What do you think these Relics we're looking for are like?" Although he didn't respond again, he stopped and looked up. "Huh?" she muttered in confusion, then looked up as well. *WHACK* Something struck her in the forehead, causing Leona to roll and writhe in pain. Aashaln simply walked over to where it bounced off and picked it up. "...A chess piece?" Leona got up and said "Is that what we're looking for?... Hard little bugger..."

Silently soaring through the air as he bounded from one tree to another, Kuhaku was growing tired. With final leap, he reached out with his metal claws and dug them into the bark of another tree branch. Pausing as his body swung from the momentum, he let himself hang as he quietly panted behind his mask. After briefly resting, his strength partially returned. Kicking his feet forward to shift his body weight, he began to swing on the tree branch. At the top of his swinging, he vaulted his body underneath and over the branch. Feet firmly planted on the top of the branch, he sighed as beads of sweat slowly rolled down his face. Though his Faunus body was strong, agile, and flexible, his heart tired quickly. Sitting on the branch, he leaned his back against the tree and took a few moments to rest up.

As he sat, he looked up at the sky above. The rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy of the forest, the image brought a peace of mind to him. Helping him to relax as he steadied his breath. It had been some time since he had entered the forest and since then he had yet to encounter another student nor Grimm. As he took in the clean air the forest provided, he wondered where exactly were all of the students that were launched into its greenery. Wasn't this forest supposed to be infested with Grimm? How long had it been since he first began his movement through the trees? Curious as to the answers to his questions, it was then that his nose was suddenly assaulted by a foul stench. Ears twitching excitedly, he sat up and scanned the area around him.

The stench was that of Grimm. A lot of them at that. Taking quick, but deep inhales, he controlled and stilled his breathing as best he could. Ears slowly rotating, he listened intently. There was something else in the heavy scent of Grimm, there was a human scent. A human in distress. Focusing in on the center of where the scent was strongest, he began to discern the general distance and direction of the large body of Grimm. For some reason, they were pursuing this human. Was the human a fellow student? If so, they must've done something to anger the Grimm and gain their unwanted attention. Turning, Kuhaku was about to continue his movement through the trees, to run far away from the gathering of Grimm. If the human was a Beacon student, the Grimm they attracted was their own problem. If they couldn't make it then oh, well.

But, was that right of him to think that? Hesitating, he turned back towards where he believed the student and Grimm were located, he attempted to pick up any other information. Sniffing at the air again with his head raised, he confirmed that the human scent was the only one he could detect. The rest were nothing but the foul odor the Grimm gave off. The human was alone. Against that many Grimm, even a Beacon student would have...trouble. But, that wasn't his problem, right?

"Kuro, run! Take your brother and leave us!" a female voice from his memories screamed at him.
His eyes widened as his mind decided to tormented him with flashbacks.
"Find your brother, Kuro! Find him and leave us behind!"" a male voice from his memories yelled at him.
Suddenly grabbing at his head, he squeezed hard. As if to try to wring the cruel images out of his brain. Eyes shut tight.
"Go, Kuro! Run! RUN!"
The writhing black mass of a multitude of Grimm. Snarling and growling. Moving as if they were a united, singular organism. Swallowing everything whole in their path of bloody carnage.

Quivering, he slowly opened his eyes as he regained control of himself. Blinking, he removed his hands from his head and looked at them. Still trembling, he angrily balled them into tight fists. Looking up, his eyes burned as he thought of the quickest path to where the Grimm were. He couldn't abandon someone to a horrid fate such as that. He wouldn't. His energy and strength having returned to him during his short rest, he got on all fours on the branch and reared back. Launching himself forward, he was no longer worried about the level of noise he was generating as he moved. Gleaming metal claws ripping deep gashes in the trees he leaped from branch to branch, he tore an enraged path towards where the human would be. Adrenaline coursing through his veins and heart-beat roaring in his ears, it didn't take long for him to reach his destination.

Perched on another branch, he stopped himself as he arrived. Hiding behind the body of the tree, his blue eyes took in the scene before him. It was indeed a lone human. A rather large one, at that. He alone faced off against a horde of Grimm. Nothing but Boarbatusks, Beowolves, and Ursas from the looks of things. From what Kuhaku could see, the Beacon student was exhausted and in trouble. Though he was fending for himself rather valiantly, he wouldn't last much longer before they overwhelmed him. Looking at the sheer number of them pouring from the treeline, a look of nervous concern etched his face. There were too many of them to accurately count and track. How could just the two of them stare down an large number of the Grimm like that? Shaking his head and wiping away the worry from his face, he steeled himself. He would have to try something a little...different. He hoped it would work. If not, they would be done for. Setting his jaw, he hardened his expression.

With a powerful leap, he ejected himself from the trees. Doing acrobatic flip in the air, he landed directly in front of the burly human male in a crouched position. Black tail sweeping back and forth behind him, he stared into treeline of Grimm. His blue eyes burning with an deep, intense hatred he reached up with a hand and squeezed the sides of his mask. Its jaw clicking and hinging open, Kuhaku then stood and reared his head back. Inhaling and filling his lungs with as much air as he could, he puffed his chest out. Stretching out his arms, he threw his head forward as he strained his lungs to their limits with a explosively thunderous tiger roar. With as much menace as he could muster, he projected all of his voice as loudly as he could. His roar booming and resonating throughout the area of the forest. Veins bulging in his neck and face flushing red with blood, he sustained his roar as long as he could. The metal claws of his gauntlets and fangs of his open mask bright and vicious in the sunlight.

---

As his lungs burned, empty of air, his roar ended. Throat strained from the effort, he panted slowly as his eye's color drained and changed to a crimson red. As he stood in front of the human, white 'stripes' appeared on his tail, ears, and across the arms of his tan skin. Reaching up with his hand, he shut his mask closed with a mechanical click click. Patiently, he stood in front of the human observing the Grimm's movements. With his roar having projected his intent and emotions, the Grimm grew agitated and stirred restlessly from the challenge Kuhaku imposed on them. It was as if he dared them to come at him. Hoping his challenge worked, he waited. It didn't take long for them to react. Soon, a swath of Grimm rushed towards the two of them, looking to rip out their throats.

In return, Kuhaku reacted as soon as the beasts made their decision to accept his challenge. Smacking his gauntlets against his hips, he quickly hooked his chains. Spinning to face the human male, he hopped in the air and slammed both of his feet into the male's chest. Using the other student as a springboard, he kicked off of him and shot towards the rushing Grimm. Barreling towards them, Kuhaku absently hoped that the sudden attack on the student held enough force to push him away in the opposite direction or at least stagger him and bring him to the ground.

Colliding into multiple Grimm, Kuhaku got entangled with a Beowolf and crashed to the ground. Pushing the stunned Beowolf off of him, Kuhaku corrected himself on his knees and looked at the ground. He had to act quickly. Smacking the both of his palms against the ground, his crimson eyes burned brightly as his Semblance activated, etching a large black 'Glyph' into the ground. The rotating band on his gauntlets turned and clicked as a Red Dust Crystal then centered in place. The Dust Crystal glowing bright, the intricate engravings on his gauntlets lit up red along with it as Kuhaku embued the glyph with its power. As the glyph emitted a red glow from being 'charged' and then faded into a faint outline, the confused and disoriented Grimm realized that Kuhaku was in their midst and quickly attempted to surround their easy, free snack.

The Grimm now refocused on him, he scrambled to his feet and clenched his fist, punching outward at an opening in the group. With a gunshot-like BANG, a spike attached to his chains shot outwards from his gauntlet until it buried itself into the trunk of a tree some distance away. Activating his winch, the chain violently jerked his body away from the center of the swarm but not before a Beowolf was able to rake its claws across his body. Smashing into the tree, Kuhaku dropped to the ground as the stupid Grimm all ran into each other causing a sort of train wreck. Coughing and panting under his mask, he looked up from the ground to see the tangled mass directly in the center of the Glyph he created. Smirk hidden by his mask, he popped the knuckle of his thumb. With the crack, the Glyph made itself clearly visible again as it glowed an even brighter red with its activation. Forcing his face into the ground and covering his head, Kuhaku flattened his ears as the Glyph then erupted in a roaring, fiery explosion. Incinerating some number of the entangled Grimm. Looking up towards his future partner, he hoped that little demonstration was enough 'sharing' for the two of them to come up with a plan.

The attack was messy and reckless, but he at least dented their numbers. Whatever his human partner's ability was, if they could gather and funnel the Grimm into his Trap Glyphs, the both of them may make it out of this alive. That was his plan. He only hoped that the human male had enough intelligence to pick up on it. He was beginning to question his involvement in all of this. Wincing, he pushed himself off of the ground to see that his chest sported some bloody gashes. Great. He hoped they wouldn't leave scars.

Francesca was glad to know the her partner was at least keeping up with her. At least she didn't need to worry about that much. Still, she wished he'd at least try to speak up. Not that she was all the good at it either. "Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day," She began to sing. It was relaxing in a situation like this, being able to sing that is. If there was nothing else to her in terms of desirable personality, she at least had a decent singing voice. As the two walked through the forest she continued singing her song. Even as she sensed something. . . Dark. . . Grim, nearby. She had encountered the creatures of Grimm a few times before. Not in the wild though. She was much to civilized to do that. It was only in school for display purposes or even for combat practice. Well, she at least wished it were that last one. Still something lurked nearby most likely.

She pulled out her trusty Bulletedge and made it transform into it's rifle state. Still Francesca checked her peripherals as her head was pointed forward, Bulletedge ready to fire. Brush rustles and a lupine, bone white nose can be seen peeking through accompanied by a growl. Taking no chances at that, Francesca aims at approximately where the top of it's head would be. After few shots and a slight whine, a Beowolf collapses out of the bush. As it hits the ground Francesca's song stops along with her voice.

A lone Beowolf could be nothing. At the same time, however, it could me there is a pack nearby. Turning to Kael she speaks up, "I suggest we pick our pace up. Best not to chance an entire Beowolf pack if there is one." After turning her weapon back quickly she motions for Kael to run with her in the direction she thought the relics were suppose to be. "Besides, we can't be the last ones to get our relics."

Gerald had, of course, heard the shots from behind him as he gathered himself from the landing. Turning behind him, he looked up to see a dead nevermore and what appeared to be a girl wearing a cloak.

Gerald could see very practical reasons for wearing a cloak. Having a cloak allowed one to conceal their hand movements, something which Gerald ascribed and respected, having also taken the same concept in having a long coat. Cloaks also helped conceal body language, something Gerald found very helpful. The hood of the cloak even concealed one's identity. But even then, there was still that one little fact that, even - or rather, especially - taking all of this into account, that had Gerald extremely concerned.

Each and every single advantage he had just listed was designed to work against humans. Not Grimm; humans. Beowolves didn't memorize specific faces by sight, humans did. Ursas didn't read body language, humans did. Her wearing a cloak was a warning sign - a warning to Gerald that his new partner was going to be hiding things. Of course, he could have been wrong and she could be using the cloak for completely other reasons - possibly even just fashion - but Gerald always hoped for the best and assumed the worst.

"...Well hello there," Gerald said with a smile straight off the bat, not bothering to comment on the fact they were partners for he found no reason to voice the obvious - "Gerald Tarius. Jack of all trades, odd jobs specialist and handy man. Pleased to meet you." he said, offering his free left hand up for a handshake despite the fact she was looking down at him.

Lugging his zhen with him, he and Francesca continued on their way through the forest, searching for the relics. She pulled out her sword and changed it into a rifle. Kael jumped backwards at this, ready to attack if need be. Then, she shot a Beowolf in the bush up ahead.

Kael's mind began to turn, cranking out a plan. They had to move now. They had to find this temple NOW! If there was one Beowolf, due to the gunshot, there will be more coming.

With no hesitation, he rushed after Francesca, who was already running. There was no time to sit back. There will be more Grimm. With more Grimm, there will be Death. Such a thought brought a smile to his face. Blood would be spilled!

On their way, he saw some small objects, small beaks in the bush. However, they were not a color he recognized. He pivoted on the run and hurried as fast as he can back to where they were. When he got there, they were gone. "AMBUSH!" Kael yelled to Francesca, worried what may happen now.

Michelle listened to his little introduction and came to two conclusions. Either he wasn't as much of a hoodlum as she thought, or he was just cocky. Either way, she was stuck with him now. She jumped down from her branch and landed in front of him, then got back up and shook his hand. "Michelle. Long range specialist," She said, introducing herself in a similar manner. "Now, let's get going, shall we? Lead the way."

So far the rest of the trek has been rather dull. Not that she would complain about not encountering anymore grimm, mind you, but it only made her feel like they were walking straight into an ambush. Schwarz noticed fairly quickly that Coral seemed to notice a lot more than she did. It looked to her like tentacles-for-head had some kind of sixth sense or something. That made her feel a bit easier about their impending doom, but all that was nullified when they heard the sounds of combat around them.

"Looks like the others aren't as lucky." she said in a half whisper. She felt inclined to help, but the mission went first. "We should go grab the relic, then turn back and..." she stopped as she crossed through a dense bush and found out the forest ended. In front of them was a clearing with a ruined, overgrown temple. "Well, this looks like it." she commented and checked the skies, not wanting to be caught in the open clearing.

Satisfied with the blue emptiness above, she marched across. It looked like the relics were chess pieces, and not many were left. What baffled her though was the fact that there seemed to be twice as many as there should be. As she came closer, she recognized two bishops and queens. Coming closer, she eyeballed the bishop piece. "hmm, bishop. Strong support piece. Reliable. It'd be nice to have someone like that." she commented for herself, and then her arm went and grabbed one of the black queens as if there was no other option. "But alas, the most valuable piece on the battlefield seems like the better description for us, no?" she said with a smug smile as she turned back to her partner, waving the queen piece in front of her.

"...Actually," Gerald said as he looked around the completely equally green and brown looking forest, "I... don't really have an idea of which way to go. I was hoping that you would have an idea." he admitted.

In his defence, he had never been in a forest before so this was a completely new, foreign and creepy environment to him.

Collab: Pyromania99 and pyre101

If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. It didn’t come as too much a surprise when her partner yelled, “AMBUSH!” Bad things always went worse given the chance. She hadn’t really noticed what the ‘ambush’ was when her partner first yelled it. She readied up at this point, poised to strike if necessary.

He began to run as fast as he can, trying to track where they were. He finally caught up to his comrade, ready in an attack pose. Kael went past her, still trying to find them in the forest, but in sight. Turning around, he began to wave to her. “There are Grimm here, hiding in the bush. We must run!”

Francesca nodded at him and took off with Kael behind her. Assuming they were running towards where they needed to retrieve the artifacts from, she pushed her feet to that end, hoping to outrun the dangers that were lurking in the woods. Her next song started on her music device and she started singing lightly again. Maybe loud enough for Kael to hear. Sounds of ‘caws’ were heard as they ran however.

The sounds of the Grimm were getting closer as they ran. Kael put more of his energy into his legs, pushing them closer to their limit. They had to get away before they were torn apart by their beaks. He had fought some of them before, or, at least, a variant of them while training. He continued to follow down the path until he saw a fork in the road. Where to now? They had no time to tarry. He made his decision and went down the right path, hammering down into the soft ground when it began to gulp down his shoe.

As the two ran, small avian creatures began zipping past their heads. Francesca put up with dodging them for a short while. The constant feel of wind brushing past her face, or past parts of her exposed flesh become a nuisance. Even if they ran, the small pests would probably just follow them. The best solution the girl could come up with was to swat them out of the air and kill them. The first two attempts were a miss. The third, however, score a direct hit from the recently reverted blade of Bulletedge. With at least one success, Francesca was confident she could take care of the rest of the avians the attempted to strike both her and her partner.

Attempting to recover his shoe, Kael reached down for his leg with his off-hand, not wanting to lose his weapon, and began to pull on it. He felt mud beginning to grip his shoe and creeping up, trying to pull his entire body down. He turned to look to see if Francesca would help, but saw she was busy trying to take down the birds. Looking back down, he tried to think through his options. He could cut off his leg...probably not a good idea....grab a hold of something….no….. While he was pondering on this, his leg continued to sink down when he heard a soft snort to the side of him. Kael turned to look and saw a white bone armored snout with red eyes. Gulping, Kael tried to stay calm, but his jitters seem to be getting the best of him. “Umm, I think we have something worse than just birds.” Taking a swing at it, he felt his weapon bounce off the armor. That is when it reached out to bat him across his chest. Good thing his aura was there. Instead of becoming eviscerated with his intestines exposed to the world, he had simply had his air knocked out of him. When he looked up, he saw a piece of metal stuck inside the Ursa’s paw. Kael smiled at that sight though. At least his ability was working as planned.

As Francesca took care of a few of the birds, she noticed something. Her partner being assaulted by a big Ursa. A few of the birds did what would have seemed like a coordinated attack if she didn’t know any better. She weaved between the attacks as she transformed Bulletedge to it’s rifle form. After turning out of the attacks, she placed a few shots into the Ursa. If nothing else, it would give Kael time to do something to it.

He pulled himself off the ground, ready to attack again when he felt the grass with his left foot. Damn it! Kael turned to look at the big Ursa, ready to strike again when it started to roar with anger after being shot at. He had to do something before it went after his partner. Grabbing a hold of his zhen, he began to twirl it around his right hand in a circle before grabbing it with his left hand. He began to do a dance of steel, striking the Ursa a good amount of times before twisting the middle of his zhen. The middle split into two halves, where he gripped one half in a forward fashion and the other opposite. He began to cut down with his right hand, chopping into the Ursa’s shoulder before bringing his left blade up into a slash for the head. Blood began to fall from those small cuts, but not much. He danced back and reattached the two blades together. He began to bounce on his heels, waiting for the Ursa to move.

Francesca finished up with the remainder of the avians as her partner continued his struggle with the Ursa. Well, it was less a struggle than a stand-off right now. Bringing out both of her swords in their bladed forms, Francesca joined her teammate in fighting the large Ursa. However, she joined from the back. Well, the Ursa’s back to be specific. With blades in hand, she dives each of them into the unplated flesh on the beast’s back. All the while she continues singing her song.

While watching for any movements from the Ursa, Francesca seemed to join in. Wanting to press the advantage, Kael dove back into battle. He twisted his blades again, making them into two halves and began to slice and dice. He mainly tried to aim for the face, but he did have to try to dodge the attempts of parrying from the Ursa, who seemed a bit sluggish. Was something wrong with it? Not wanting it to get serious, he moved back for a second and dropped one of his blades and sprung forward with his index and middle finger out, going for the eyes. As he got within reach, he summoned forth two six inch blades into its pupils, taking out its sight. Kael hurriedly got out of reach of its arms, but he did got battered from his left paw as it slapped him over the head, knocking him to the ground. He was able to crawl away and grab a hold of his dropped weapon and prepared for its next attack.

Still on the beast’s back, Francesca felt it move as Kael did. . . something to its eyes. Regardless, she did what she could from its back. After it stopped moving around so much, she removed her blades and used Bulletedge’s altered state putting a few shots into the Ursa’s back before it started to react to her on its back. Resetting Greifen back in its place, she used both hands on Bulletedge. Backflipping off the beast’s back she placed more shots into it’s unarmed flesh. In no way a finisher, she was ready for it to die though.

Seeing that the Ursa was becoming less responsive after the sheer amount of damage to it, Kael hooked his blades to his belt, letting them hang to his knees. Out of his hand, a blade began to flow out with a hilt to it. It was a hand and a half size hilt with a good 3 feet of steel on it. Grabbing onto it, he bent his knees together, gathering his remaining strength for the last attack. At the same time, Francesca used her Semblance to teleport above the Ursa with her bladed Bulletedge ready to dive down. Kael pushed off from the balls of his feet, rushing towards the Ursa, his sword cutting through the air with a whistle as it pierced through the lower part of the neck. Francesca began to fall down, her sword seeking the neck from above. As both blades penetrated the muscle, the Ursa began to roar with pain and despair of its fate. Kael drove more of his blade forward, blood rolling down the metal and staining his arms. Francesca bore down on Bulletedge, making it sink deeper. Eventually, the points of both blades met, hitting together with a clink. At the sudden resistance, Kael began to pull his sword to the left, the skin parting. Francesca, at the same time, pulled to the left as well, cutting through the other side of the neck.

As if time had stopped, the Ursa stood there as both individuals knelt on the ground, waiting for something. Both stood up abruptly, and the head rolled off with a sickening crunch.

Michelle sighed. She had expected that response from him, but it was still not the best thing to hear. Then again, she was planning to let him do most of the work, so perhaps it had evened things out. "Alright then, I'll go find us a path," Michelle said, then went over to a nearby tree and climbed upward. Upon reaching a branch, she steadied herself as she scanned the area. The boy was right about one thing: everywhere around them looked roughly the same.

Then her eyes came across a Beowulf heading toward their direction. She hoped that that was not a bad sign, although that hope soon vanished when its pack soon came to join it in its charge. "Ok, we're going that way!" Michelle yelled down to Gerald, pointing in the opposite direction. "And we better hurry! Beowulves are coming!" She wanted nothing more than to leap away from the incoming pack, but she felt that she couldn't leave her new partner behind.

He landed on his feet, a deep bloodthirsty grin on his face as the head of the Ursa separated from the body. Absorbing the blade back into his body, he began to move towards his zhen halves when he felt his knees start to buckle. Taking a moment to steady himself out and to catch his breath, Kael stumbled over to his weapon and attached them to his belt, not wanting to physically carry them.

He turned around to look at Francesca, waiting to see her reaction, but they had to get away now. "We had better get going. Don't want to be the last ones to the ruins."