[center][color=gray][h1]Ryuu Iro Chroma[/h1][/color][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgS2wY3H7fE]SimBi, HDSounDI - Invincible [/url][/center] [hr] A bolt of lightning danced across the end of Ryuu's staff as he deftly twirled the weapon in one hand before he span in an half-circle, the electrified tip slamming a beowolf into a tree before he turned again to jab the weapon into the torso of another beowolf. Lightning ripped through the grimm as it was catapulted back into a group of more beowolves, the energy arcing between them and stunning them all. Twirling his Bo staff again, he pressed a trigger on the handle two times and the cylinder on the head of the staff rotated by two notches. A vial of orange dust clicked into place and the end of the weapon burst into flames as he pressed the second trigger before it was smashed into the face mask of the nearest beowolf, the one he had slammed into a tree, leaving a nasty burn on the bone white plate. With a flurry of strikes, the soulless creature fell down, charred and lifeless as its body began to dissolve. Deactivating the flames with another spin of his weapon, Ryuu settled into a fighting [url=https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/martial-arts-robot-staff-pose-33927139.jpg]stance[/url] with one hand gripping the staff as it was tucked under his arm with the dust-chamber end away from his hand, his opposite hand stretched towards the pack of beowolves regrouping on the other side of the clearing, palm out with two fingers raised. The air around seemed to glow with a dull, almost grey light as shapes began to form around him. Two dragon wings formed on his back, a pair of horns on his head and claws over his hands as he eyes took on the same greyish glow before his wings of aura spread out to their full 5ft span. With a slow motion, he reversed his palm upwards before flicking his fingers towards himself twice. The message was clear. The four remaining beowolves wasted no time in charging towards him, but he pressed the trigger of his staff once more and a new dust type loaded into the weapon. With another pull of the second trigger, a purple blast of energy burst around the tip of the weapon as it was rammed into the torso of the first beowolf, the Gravity dust launching back the grimm with a loud crack. Another press of triggers and a block of heavy stone shattered against the second grimm's head. The third beowolf dived at the young huntsman, only for a stone grey wing to block its claws before the grey-ish brown quickly faded to a pale white and a blast of wind tossed the canine grimm at its companions. The beowolf slammed into the first and second grimm, knocking them to the ground. They began to pull themselves to their feet, only to be floored again by their ill-fated fourth member being tossed over with a blast of wind that sliced into its blackened hide. They watched as their human enemy's wings and horns went from white to reddish orange before they tried to charge again. A smirk slid onto Ryuu's face before he took a deep inhale, the light of his aura glowing brighter before he released the energy as a screaming roar that coalesced into a stream of flames that engulfed the charging grimm. A cacophony of pained roars chorused through the forest that fell away into silence as he halted his stream of flames. He swayed a little on his feet as his semblance faded before a set of heavy footsteps echoed though the trees and the smirk returned to his face. He flicked a switch on his staff, collapsing the 5ft weapon to 1ft long, before he placed it into a sheath on his lower back and put his hands onto his sword, one on the handle and the other on the quickdraw trigger. His thumb pressed against a small switch and a dust chamber was clicked into place on the blade... [color=gray]"Took you long enough."[/color] A large figure crashed out of the trees, and Ryuu fired the second mechanism of his Katana. A wave of Ice dust streaked towards it, leaving a frozen line across its torso as its movement slowed and became more sluggish, like a man with hypothermia. He rolled to the side as the large grimm charged past him before it stopped about 5 meters away from him. It looked like a Beowolf, but it was much larger and with more bone white plates across its dark hide. An Alpha Beowolf, an older, stronger and more deadly Beowolf, and it was glaring right at Ryuu. Slowly, he re-sheathed his weapon and entered a slight crouch, his hand resting on the handle of the katana as the two hunters stared at each other. The moment seemed to freeze in time, the two of them waiting until... SNAP! The sound of a damaged tree giving out shattered the standoff and the two beasts charged. Ryuu's semblance flared into life, and he was suddenly behind the Alpha, sliding his partially drawn katana back into its sheath as his wings and horns faded to nothing. The soft click of metal seemed to echo across the trees as the Beowolf finally registered the damage on its body with a shattering roar of pain before the top half of its body fell away, leaving the dissolving body to fall to the ground in two separate pieces. Ryuu managed to remain standing for a few more seconds, like a victorious samurai, before the backlash hit him like a Deathstalker on steroids and his knees gave out. Taking very deep breaths, he tried to push himself to his feet but instead only got to a sitting position. Looking over the cleared littered with still-dissolving corpses, his mind wandered back to a few hours previous. [hr] He was knelt by a stone grave, a familiar Bo staff resting against it. No words were spoken, just quiet mourning. A clamour at the local tavern got his attention, and he went to check it out. As he drew closer, he overheard the words 'Beacon' and 'attack', his pace quickening sharply as he forced his way to the front of the crowd gathered around the large screens. He saw the news and his blood ran cold. Beacon was under attack from the Grimm. And it was chaos. Running outside, he pulled out his scroll and immediately video-dialled his team, taking not small amount of relief when he was greeted with the familiar jade hair and forest eyes of Viridia Moss, Leader of Team VRDT and Ryuu's secret crush. [color=darkgreen]"Ryuu? Is that you?"[/color] [color=gray] "Yeah, it's me Vi. Where are you, are you safe?"[/color] [color=darkgreen]"Yeah, We're all fine. We're helping with the evacuations right now..."[/color] A burst of gunfire and shouting came though on the other end as Viridia glanced at something out of frame with worry and fear. Fear spiked through Ryuu as he tried to get her attention. [color=gray]"Vi? What's happening? Vi!"[/color] His shout apparently got her attention as she looked back to the scroll in her hand with a startled look that quickly faded to a kind of... sad acceptance. The cold blood in his veins turned to ice as she spoke. [color=darkgreen]"I never had the chance to say this before, even after two years, so I'll say it now."[/color] A Griffon slammed into the ground behind her, but she didn't turn to face it. Instead she gave him a sad smile. [color=darkgreen]"I love you, Ryuu. Don't forget about me, okay?"[/color] And with that, the signal disconnected. Ryuu could only stare blankly at the screen of his scroll before his hands fell to sides and he fell to his knees shortly after. He stayed like this for several minutes as some of the villagers came over to comfort him. Giving them a hollow smile, he rose to his feet and began walking towards his master's grave. Kneeling by the stone tablet again, he let out a few pain-filled sobs. [color=gray]"Damn it all. Everything's gone to hell. What would you do, Master? This student needs your guideance again..."[/color] The click of metal against stone caught his attention as he looked up to see his master's staff fall from its place on his grave and began to roll towards him. It gently tapped against his leg, and his mild surprise gave was to a small, understanding smile. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he took the weapon with one hand, the ghostly image of his master with his hand on Ryuu's shoulder, an encouraging smile on his face, appeared in his mind's eye. [color=gray]"So that's your answer... Alright. I'll fight, for what's important to me."[/color] [hr] Ryuu drew himself out of his thoughts, looking across the ruined clearing for a second time before he drew his staff and extended it to its full length, using it to prop himself up and help him stand. Straightening to his full height, he brushed off the dirt from his robes before began to walk back into the trees, using the Bo as a walking staff as he made his way towards the next town.