Grimm Studies

It was going to be chaos Cian was certain of that it was going to be nearly hell out there the sheer number of students and all that. Still she danced around the tentacle that was sent her way at first. Ichiaval is not going to be of much help with how relentless the tentacles would attack. With the rifle mode out she was at least able to bat away the things that came to close as she continued to dance around the tentacles. Jumping back Cian fired a shot but to little effect as it only grazed the thing as it just continued on attacking with little notice of her attack jumping back Cian quickly activated her semblance bringing up a shield protecting her from the attack that came her way.

Scent and/or pheromones... Or motion. Or heat, perhaps? That's a lot of stuff to go through, Ashe thought to herself. She knew from her previous encounters that Grimm only partially sought out prey based on negative emotions. Happy people tended to not get attacked by Grimm while walking outside of cities, while people struggling with some personal catastrophe didn't seem to make it to their destination all that often. But they also generally had eyes, noses, ears. Simply hiding from a Grimm was often enough to survive for just a little while longer, and Grimm could be blinded. At least, if they had eyes.

Others were formulating their own plans in their own circles of friends allies, and she was sure that most of them could take care of themselves while she tested her ideas out. Of course, she couldn't think through every detail on time, because Port suddenly alerted the class that it was time to fight. It was rather uncomfortable - she felt much more confident with gathering information well before taking action, but she supposed it was realistic enough to be thrown into a fight with nearly zero knowledge. And so the box slid into the floor, taking the class's safety with it.

She stood, nervously eyeing the gigantic creature. She hadn't ever properly fought Grimm before, and here she was facing off against some sort of giant floral tentacle monster. Every motion it made prompted a slight twitch, some nervous reflex to run or to jump aside, but it seemed to be taking its time. And then it struck.

One tendril came straight for her, and for some reason, her eyes locked onto it. Alertness was out the window, and with a reflexive flick of one finger and a jab of her wrist, she launched a spurt of flame directly at the masked tentacle headed her way. Nothing happened -- the safety was on and the magnitude was still unset, and she only barely managed to vault over the vine's side swipe before the second, unseen tentacle came crashing down from above.



Aaaaand down she went. At least her aura kept her intact and conscious, if dazed and gifted with a truly exquisite headache. Instinct kicked in and with a quick slap to the back of each glove and a second jerk of one finger, she jabbed her fist towards herself. The gravity burst sent her skidding across the floor out of harm's way, and with some minor difficulty, she pulled herself upright. This wasn't going to be easy. At all.

---

Llyr heard many shouts of instruction around him from the other students, many of them saying that they'd take it upon themselves to take out the stems or the beast itself. The faunus merely chuckled to himself. He wasn't really sure if anyone was in a position to order others around. He found it funny when people would say anything to get all the glory, not that he cared about such a pointless prize. A sense of accomplishment is all people really needed.. Or a good snack. Fried chicken sounded good right around now.

As the veil on the Dionaea was lifted, the beast immediately attacked every student. The two heads of Llyr's Steel Cephalopod changed to graspers from blades as he realized in a split second that these stems were too thick to cut like flesh. The two Grimm appendages attempted to crush him from both sides, like a clap. The squid preferred an applause rather than a single golf clap. Without even moving a single step or making a gesture, his weapons moved as if they had a mind of their own, two out of the four tentacles catching the stems as they attempted to crush the Faunus. The Steel Cephalopod creaked as they fought against the struggling stems. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU, ROBBIE?! THE GRIMM ARE FRESH FOR THE 'PICKING'!! He laughed loudly in the chaos that unfolded. Get it? Picking? Flowers? No? Alright.

He glanced to the side to see Cian having some trouble with the tentacles that attacked her. Of course a ranged fighter would have troubles. The two free heads of his weapon changed to graspers, quickly extending to grapple two roots that bashed at the poor student. The graspers pulled the caught roots toward Llyr to secure a better grip. "Careful now, girlie. I'd hate to see a friend get turned into purée!!" He chuckled, giving her a cheeky smirk.

His gaze went back to the Grimm, his own tentacles still shaking slightly as they held the roots with an iron grip. He lifted his cane, aiming at the smaller heads of the plant. He fired a pre-loaded Fire dust shot. Maybe a little bit of a blaze will give me some nice roasted vegetables? Perhaps.

Yyyyyyyyyyyikes.

If there was one thing years of confidence tricks had taught Lauren Negasi about thots, it was that they would always find a way to let you know that the hoein' wasn't goin'. Amy Desire sure was sticking to the playbook in that regard this afternoon. Lauren couldn't even remember seeing her in any classes this morning, and she definitely hadn't showed up at the team's table at lunch before 4th period. Clearly she was having one of those mornings.

Lauren would've saved another sandwich like the first time they'd had Armory class together, but hey, she had to eat too!

Besides, everyone knew that a thot, once first ye fed her, would return to leech ye into the dirt.

So she patted Amy sympathetically on the back once or twice and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly with the hand holding Lawnslot. When she drew the arm back, she was flipping the tonfa around her hand playfully, rolling it along her palm and the back of her hand before flicking some of the Fury's chains from Lauren's side of the desk back onto Amy's.

"Take it, kiddo, and take my advice with it - a weapon like that has a very particular shape for a very particular reason. Cap knew this. Remember: all that breathes may not always thot, but all that thots will certainly always breathe, jahfeel? Uh huh, I can see it in your eyes, jahfeel. Good luck, Luke."

@NarayanK @Write @FlitterFaux

Two roots, one from above and one from below.

Most of the students were evading, like his own first instinct instructed him. But classes were for learning, and the new paradigm his shield brought with it was not about getting out of the way. It was about stopping the threat in its tracks.

And besides. He was the tip of the formation. Bad form to back down.

The first root cracked down and he stepped into it, catching the tendril on Joyous Guard’s surface. It hit harder than he expected, the shock traveling through the shield into his forearm behind, but his defense held. The shield had traveled up to meet it, intercepting and forcing it aside; a movement that opened up his front, a break in his defenses the Dionaea sought to exploit. Its second root darted in and up, seeking to throw him into the air, but a second [i[crack[/i] resounded from the barrels on Caletfwlch’s hilt. The blade rocketed forward at an opposing angle, intercepting and batting away the vine-like threat. The blade had bit hard, but not deep enough; despite the deep cut in its surface the root held. Disappointing, but not entirely unexpected.

But now it was the Grimm that presented an opening. Ben pressed forward with several steps, sword and shield already drawn back into his guard. He could see the unused roots ahead, no doubt prepared for this very advance, but he would deal with them when they came.

He didn’t check behind him, despite the urge to make sure he was covered. Nuit, Sangue, even Skye. They had his back. He entrusted it to them, as much as they trusted he would mind their front. It was his job to punch right this those defenses, and he’d damn well do it.

”Everyone alright so far?” He asked casually, feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline start to kick in. Doubtful it’d attack the same way twice, he needed to focus.

But a little banter kept everyone’s spirits up.

"Yeah, I feel. Thanks."

I absolutely didn't feel.

I knew her advice was warning me, as it so often did, of the dangers of scandalously "easy" women, but how on earth did she get there from the subject of the shape of Ben's tonfa?

Like, I knew the common wisdom of "if she breathe she a thot" by heart at this point, and I also intellectually knew that it was anatomically and biologically impossible for everyone who wasn't a thot to not breathe. If anything, I'd guess that the message she wanted to relay to me was "find a happy medium with your caution, don't distrust all as thots, but don't forget that all thots walk amongst us", or something along those lines. But, that's not the issue here.

The issue is the tonfa.

Lawnslot is a shotgun and a tonfa, and unless she's tying it together via phallic imagery, I don't see how its shape relates to thots at all.

They were two different trains of thought.

Two different chains of thot, even.

I glanced over to Amy, and the geyser that was once her weapon, before looking back down to Lawnslot in my hand.

I wasn't sure why, but a very chilling thought (and not thot) occurred.

...If Lauren had, metaphorically mind you, just handed me Ben's...

"........."

I would be extremely upset. That's all that we need to say. Any more words were to be sternly had with her, and her alone.

.........

Anyways.

All that aside.

Chatsworth's assignment for today was extremely hands-off, as far as they went— Just as well too. Drawing up plans for Crow's Beak was more like telling Ben what I was thinking of in the first place, so in essay terms, I had basically already mapped out my "rough draft" in the classes before.

So, once I had gotten Lawnslot opened up and looked into, I could start that up in earnest—

Well, actually, hold on.

Let's weigh the options for a second.

This may come as a shock to you, but I've recently become aware of a disturbing tendency of mine: I am, apparently, pretty easily sidetracked.

If I actually were to switch gears from the planning stage to the investigative stage, I could quickly lose the frame of mind needed to write down my schema in a timely, concise, and unobtrusive manner.

That'd sink me for sure! A slapdash and haphazard note cobbled together at the end of class wouldn't hold up to Beacon Academy's standards at all!

I couldn't allow it. With all the fury and rightful panic of a man who's been brought from the depths of washout-dom—

I absolutely wasn't allowing it.

The paper and pencil were free before you could even blink. A quick summary of my thoughts and plans to start— That would, at the very least, provide me with a suitable roadmap before I inevitably began to tinker and lead myself astray.

Lawnslot had a fairly simple-appearing construction, owing to the necessary minimalism of sticking a gun in a tonfa of all things.

But even so.

Even so.

I could not underestimate it. The smiths of Redwood had forged this thing.

"Redwood is always full of surprises—" The words of an old Shiroyaman general, whose name I unfortunately glossed over in my high school history class's Color War unit one or two years prior.

"—Just when you think you have them cracked, something older and meaner than the both of you pops up from nowhere. I fear that anything less than a swift and total defeat will not be sufficient, lest we waken another sleeping giant."

I don't remember what that giant was.

It sounded like a Grimm to me right now, but I got a feeling that one of the other arguments being made was for their populace and arms—

Arms I was dealing with now.

.......

The point is:

I needed to do the report first, before marveling at whatever beguilingly simple-looking feats of engineering lay within Lawnslot.

...Wouldn't it be funny, actually, if it really was as simple as it looked?

Could that be what Lauren, my beloved surrogate sister who unfailingly speaks in double or even triple meanings, was getting at all along?

The virtues of calling a spade a spade?

A tonfa a tonfa?

A thot a thot?

...We'll see.

A lot of new information presented itself to Oswald in rapid succession

Gren wanted to send some poor blade to its doom in testing this monster they were creating.

Emerald was fucking flying.

And Chatsworth wanted them to write a report. On what they were working on. K. Big huge sword-puncher and a magnum that would surely result in comments about compensating. Hmmm, would his cannon require a compensator? Was it even feasible to create a compensator so huge?

Well, tanks used them, so shouldn't this thing? With a weapon so big, especially meant for use with only one hand, any advantage he could get would help. Compensator it was. He had a feeling it had a more official-sounding name, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It didn't really matter, did it? No, it didn't. Fuck matter. Energy was where it was at, and Oswald would need a big compensator to divert as much gas from this damned thing as possible to save himself from turning his wrist into jelly.

He was gonna have super-arthritis by the time he was like 30, he could just tell. All the torture he put his body through on a daily basis could not be doing him any good, Aura or no.

Back to matters at hand: Emerald was flying, he had to write a report about this stuff, and Gren needed a volunteer blade.

"I ain't got shit." Taking a second to look around, Oswald shrugged. "I'm...sure there's gotta be something we can use, though. Some piece of junk scrap for reference or some shit? I'd...go looking, but I'd rather not get up again, not just yet." Letting out a slow breath, Oswald clenched his fist a few times before sighing. Broken ribs suuuuucked.

@Lucius Cypher @Abillioncats @FlitterFaux

And so it begins.

The fight started slower than I had anticipated. There were enough sayings about caging an animal to infer a certain behaviour, and Grimm were nothing if not worse. The Dionaea immediately lashed out towards our group, perhaps completely randomly. I struggled to resist watching all sides at once, it was an impulse that being in a survival situation thrusted upon you. Especially since Skye and Sangue seemed more likely to dodge past blows, instead of guard them. Which left myself and Ben to do the majority of repulsion.

Speaking of which the young man started to prove he deserved the title Lauren always referred to him. Ben took a strong stride forward to meet the incoming blow from the Dionaea for one second that seemed to last ten where the root collided with Joyous Guard. But soon after the root slid down the side deflecting the blow from truly colliding with Ben at full force. The ground felt shook as the root smashed into the ground.

But the boy wasn’t done and neither was the Dionaea. The beast struck once more, and once more the blow was deflected. But this time, with a hefty slice into the root. I grinned wickedly watching it lurch back in pain. While it was nearly as thick as a tree trunk it was noticeably wounded. With no blows incoming as far as I could see and the root swiftly returning after having been sent hurtling backwards I outstretched my left arm aiming the spear towards my target. It was a difficult shot, but I was able to correct somewhat with my semblance. Of course correction would cost speed.

I took four steps, coming to a quick sprint and stomped my left foot into the ground, focusing on stopping completely. The entire right side of my body came across rapidly as I let go of the spear. While my body twisted my eyes followed the spear frantically.

It was on target.

I reached out towards it and pushed it away, further increasing its speed and sending it completely through the root like a bullet from a gun.

The root fell from point of contact towards but further to the right of our squadron with a massive thud. As it crashed into the earth I caught Ben’s gaze before falling back.

“1-0”

I reached out towards C’est la Vie that rapidly returned towards me, almost magnetically connecting with my hand.

Let that set the tone.

I returned to my place on our flank awaiting the inevitable counterattack.

As the battle unfolded, Jack was sprinting around the outside of the fight, eyeing it out, leaping from place to place, any tentacles that flew at him were thoroughly outrun until it simply gave up, seeing as he wasn't attacking just yet. There was a lot of pressure no matter where anyone attacked from, as he had expected, seeing this he began throwing in some of his pins, placing a couple scattered about on the ground and some more catching into the middle of the tendrils of the Dionaea, the observent would spot these small silver nails being set up as the battle went on.

As soon as they were set up, the next few lashes from the Dionaea at some of the class members were interrupted with a flash of lightning as Jack darted through and past them, slicing them as he did.

"I'll relieve the pressure for you guys, use the opening to get in there", he announced. He didn't stop moving either, as soon as the Dionaea noticed him again and lashed at him, he was able to evade them with a few acrobatics, and could freely retreat as his he could use his Semblance to re-enter the fight whenever he was required. The pattern repeated each time the Grimm tried to attack anyone near Jack, but he was constantly moving around, so who he helped kept changing up.

”Hmm, you make good points.” Trad said agreeing with both Llyr and Robert after they pointed out trying to be the sole distraction might not work out as he had intended. Unfortunately, none of them were able to come up with a new plan before Port released the Dionaea. In an instant the Grimm’s many tendrils shot out with about two targeting every student, including Trad.

Pulling out his weapons, Trad was only just able to bash away the first tendril by giving it a good solid up swing with his shield. The second one came in just as fast ready to take advantage of the wide opening the hunter gave only to find the hit ineffective as Trad quickly used his semblance before it made contact. While the second tendril recoiled from practically hitting a wall, Trad deactivated his semblance and brought his shield down on it, causing further damage to the already retreating plant.

Having a moment free of the Grimm’s attack, Trad looked over the battlefield to see how everyone else was faring. To his surprise, a group lead by Ben were making a push toward the Dionaea despite still having an onslaught of tentacles after them. At that point he realized part of his plan would still work, only instead of him being the distraction, it would need to be his would need to be all four of them.

Charging forward, Trad placed himself in front of the others and expanded his shield to a kite in order to fend off the tendrils more easily while he explained his idea. ”Cian, Robert, aim for the heads watching Ben’s group. See if you can’t get them to focus on us instead. Llyr, you and I need to keep these things at bay while they shoot!” If his plan worked they would no doubt be swarmed by tendrils, but the advancing team would have a clear path.

@Guess Who@Suku@Rekaigan

Grimm Studies

Cian heard what trad said and gave a grunt in response as she worked to track the tentacles from the dionea. "I'll need a brief moment try to keep things off me till than." She called out as she switched forms on Ichaival to the sniper mode it had with the shields from her semblance ready for any hits she may take. "Five minutes all I need at least five minutes!" She called out once more lining up the sights on the rifle trying to get a perfect shot one mistake and she could miss and hit something else as a whole she was placing a lot of faith on those around her to keep things off of her long enough for her to get in a shot to fire at the head of the beast.

---

When the Dionaea was released from its captivity Robert had his back turned to the giant plant Grimm, so as it flung out its roots towards each student present, he was completely ill prepared. "Begin? What was that about- Whoa!" he said before vaulting over the incoming appendage, just barely avoiding being struck. "Jeez, that thing could have taken my head o- Gah!" From the other direction, a second root came from behind and collided with Robert's back, his aura keeping him from receiving any major injuries as it flung him across the room. It didn't, however, negate all of the pain as he skid across the stone floor, snapping a couple of the wooden poles that stood in his way.

Once his roll of pain was finally halted by the hard solid wall, Robert shakily rose back up to his feet, stumbling back the way he came to rejoin Trad, Cian, and Llyr. Rolling his head in a circle and receiving several cracks from his neck, he let out a sigh. "That... hurt," the redhead cautioned his friends, letting them know that being hit by their Grimm opponent was not recommended.

Hearing Trad's new plan, Robert decided to follow orders and transformed his weapon to its ballistic mode, aiming toward the Dionaea and opening fire. A barrage of 10mm rounds struck the creature, tearing through its foliage-like faces and necks. If Trad wanted him and Cian to grab the thing's attention all on their own, the pair were certainly doing the best they could.

The smaller heads of the Dionaea hissed in a shrieking manner, clapping their mouths in discord as its roots continued to attack the students. Some of the roots were damaged enough to the point where they fell off, though some students may find that the roots were stronger to pierce through than anticipated. Evidently, simply expecting firearms or weapons to immediately chop the roots off would disappoint some.

It was a Reisen-class Grimm for a reason. They were only a tier below the strongest of Grimm, and despite looking fragile, the Dionaea was far from it.

Few of its roots fell off in the end, and it continued to relentlessly attack the students. The attacking pattern suddenly randomized itself, however, and soon it ended up using three of each of its tendrils to attack the students rather than just two. It continued to have unused roots slithering nearby, though they raised themselves intimidatingly as if they were prepared to stab at anyone who came too close. The roots weren’t sharp, but they were still strong enough to smack away those who got close on their own.

If one decided to stand their ground like a fortress, some of the roots would simply attempt to slither and wrap themselves around their legs before flinging them across the room. Students would have to cooperate to prevent the roots from flinging their classmates around.

Although its smaller heads continued to shriek, the largest head remained dead silent, simply watching the students as it swayed now and then, pointed at their direction despite having no eyes. At some point, however, its primary head began to stare directly at the following students:



The largest head did nothing in particular yet. It simply glanced between the three continuously as the smaller heads and roots continued to focus on pretty much everything around them.

---

Sangue slashed in a perfect arc above her, yet again pushing away a root. She focused on protecting Ben, who was doing more than enough to protect the people behind him. Her gaze remained sharp as she saw a root make a stabbing motion at her direction.

Jerking her body away from the root at the last second, she leapt over the root, slashing at a downward arc with her blade. This time, she managed to make a well-coordinated attack, and her katana sunk through the root deeper than before. Just before the root retreated, she took a deep breath as the wound she had landed on one of the Dionaea’s roots slithered near her.

Her grip on her katana tightening, she slashed mercilessly through the root, finally ridding the Grimm of one of its many tendrils. The Grimm still had plenty more, but she still managed to cut down its number of potential weapons by a small amount.

She quickly stuck to Ben as she swung her weapon at whatever that came close to his right side. He was pushing forward for them- and he needed the students nearby him to cover for him from the roots that attempted to sweep him off his feet. She began to move more strenuously as soon as the Dionaea began sending three roots at each student.

Skye braced herself as the thick glass containing the Dionaea lowered and the great beast took stock of its surroundings. She noted that each of the smaller heads angled toward them as if those were its main sensory organs. But she still could only guess at what senses it used to track them. With a chilling cacaphony of shrill shrieks from these mouths, the Dionaea began its assault. It managed to attack everyone surrounding it simultaneously with incredible speed and coordination, and still had plenty of limbs waiting to strike or defend.

Skye kept half her attention on her surroundings and other students nearby even as she was attacked by two tentacles that skirted around their group. The first to reach her came from her left and slightly above, and it tried to smash into her perhaps to knock her down or away. Or into the other tentacle approaching low from the right. Skye stepped into the left side attack and threw her elbow as hard as she could into it to stop its momentum. Surprisingly, the attack seemed like it had to be half-hearted or weaker for reaching so far around her allies. Skye's counterstrike sent it reeling away but she could feel a few things within her body that might be a problem, the most alarming of which was the aching and strain of her muscles. That was a new development and could only be a very bad sign. Fighting at her normal capacity was putting a lot of strain on her weakened body, and her overall strength and speed was notably less than normal.

But there was nothing she could do about that. Her team needed her to watch their backs no matter what condition she was in. And the Grimm, as always, would never relent until either it or Skye was dead. Just like any other fight there was no alternative but to push herself to her limits or beyond.

The second tentacle tried to slither around her leg, counting on her to be distracted. She stomped down hard, crushing the tip and momentarily pinning it to the ground. With her other leg she kicked as hard as she could, shredding the flesh under her foot as the tentacle was knocked away. She had a moment to catch a breath as the rest of her allies were doing just as well if not better, so far. In fact the other three managed to avoid getting hit and caused some significant damage to the first wave of tentacles.

Ben asked how everyone was faring and Skye called out a quick affirmative, even as Bianca put her spear through one of the tentacles severing it fantastically.

Of the ones that had gone for Skye the damaged one had pulled back toward the body and the other seemed hesitant to attack again. This let her take stock of her allies farther away. She was not surprised to see Jack darting almost effortlessly between the Dionaea's roots, easily evading and slashing and keeping incredibly mobile. It was an impressive sight as far as shewas concerned. The other group Jack had been strategizing with looked to be having a bit more difficulty, but managed to hold their own well enough that she wasn't too worried. They were even managing to put firepower into the upper heads of the creature, which would likely take some of the pressure off her group while they pushed towards the trunk.

And then she saw Ashe and was shocked to see her isolated and taking a major hit. She doesn't have any cover... Skye mentally kicked herself for not noticing until now, and assuming Ashe had another group to join for support. With a creature like this and without the kind of speed Jack displayed she doubted anyone alone like that would last very long. With no time to spare for coordinating with her other teammates Skye made a decision.

"Ashe! Over here! She pointed to a spot mostly in the center of them, closer to Sangue's side while Skye shifted her position a little closer to Bianca. As Ashe moved to join them Skye made sure the others knew what was going on. "Friendly joining us, at your backs."

She faced the Dionaea proper as it still seemed to debate if it was worth it to come after her again. She watched as the main head of the thing moved and, disturbingly enough, seemed to be looking at Ashe. Then it turned that eyeless gaze onto their group, and she couldn't tell if it was looking at one of them or the team as a whole. It also scanned over the team shooting at it, but at this point Skye knew it would be too risky for her to dart out and help them, they had pressed too close to the massive riesen.

As if to confirm that assessment the Dionaea picked up its pace in an already largely relentless assault. It was now throwing about three roots at each combatant with greater ferocity than before. And it still had appendages it wasn't actively using. At some point they were going to push this thing to its full potential and that would truly be a terrifying storm to weather. This was already bad enough.

Apparently concluding Skye was a worthy enough target on her own the Dionaea sent three completely fresh tentacles her way, fast and all at once, each from a different angle. She attempted to strike one of them away, then block a second with her arm, and stomp on the third, lower one to stop it. Her first two attempts at deflection met with success, but the low approaching tentacle stopped short, and her foot slammed into the ground. Overextended an slightly unbalanced the Grimm slammed its low tentacle into her poorly planted legs and droped her facedown. Water splashed chaotically as she rolled onto her back as fast as possible, in time to see all three tentacles poised to deliver crushing blows.

She rolled, pushing herself as fast as she could and just barely managed to evade the first two impacts. The third compensated for her direction and came right down on her. She was lucky enough to be on her back at that point and able to catch the attack. But the shock was still incredibly jarring and she felt sharp pricks under her skin as some of the crystals in her body shifted. She kicked upwards forcing the root on top of her away, and turned in time to knock aside one of the others that tried to capitalize on the brief distraction. She managed to roll to all fours and leap just out of range as the Dionaea relentlessly attacked. She had a split second of room to get to her feet and face the continued assault.

Now that she had a taste of how intelligent this thing was she managed to keep up and push her attacker back this time. But she didn't think she was doing well at this point. All she was managing was to defend herself and at any moment someone might need her help. Pick up the pace, this isn't good enough! I need to do better than this, I'm going to fail them at this rate.

@NarayanK @Write @FlitterFaux

Them’s fighting words, bird girl.

Things were going fine so far. No one was hit, no one was grabbed, one tendril down, they’d made a little forward progress. Despite the tendency towards tunnel vision in a situation like this, he’d caught on to Trad’s plan; he might not have been on Ben’s team anymore, but he still had their backs. When this was done, one of these days, they’d have to catch up. Had been too long since they’d gone their separate ways.

Friendly joining behind, per Skye’s report. Helpful, for sure, but-

He heard more than saw the assault on Skye, it was too far behind him to see, but it didn’t escape his notice. His advance slowed long enough for him to glance back over one shoulder, determine if someone needed to intervene, but was relieved to see the girl back on her feet.

But it presented an issue. If the rear guard was under such heavy attack, he wasn’t doing his job well enough.

The Dionaea wasn’t focused enough on him.

Time to fix that.

Three tendrils came next, the Reisen was upping its game, which necessitated a change of strategy. One, the sneakiest, went for his ankles; it received a shotgun-enhanced swing from Caletfwlch to dissuade it of that notion. Hurt, but not severed, it withdrew just in time for its brethren to strike. The first came in as before like a whip, a swing from the massive limb meant to smash him into the ground.

It met Joyous Guard like the crack of thunder, sliding across its angled surface to deliver the brunt of its momentum into the ground. Water sprayed from the spot, drenching his left, but he was unhindered. But the Grimm was smart. It could see the way dealing with the first two had opened him up, left him without a viable defense. So the last rocketed towards him like a spear, with such force that it didn’t need a point to tear into his defenses. The water inhibited his movement, his guard was wide open-

Exactly as planned. Bastille’s captain twisted, avoiding the brunt of the blow, but that left it clear to pass him and reach his teammates. Until he clamped his arm down, trapping the thick tendril between his limb and torso like a vise. His Aura gauge dropped in his peripheral vision as Deinamig kicked in, he slid backwards with its continuing momentum despite his footing, the beast overcame its surprise and started to encircle him like a python, but Ben’s grin only widened.

Steel met vine with the crack of a shotgun, Caletfwlch descending like the wrath of an angry god upon the Dionaea’s limb. It had experienced such an attack once before, so perhaps it was surprised when the blade cleaved through its tendril like a knife through butter.

The tendril went limp and he let it drop contemptuously to the ground, pressing the opening to advance several more steps and flicking the viscous sap-like substance from his blade. His Aura dropped again precipitously, his BaSTEEL’s dutifully informing him of Deinamig’s expenditures, but it barely registered.

”1-1, Nuit!” The declaration was more like a war cry, resonating from deep within the blacksmith’s chest. He locked eyes with the Dionaea’s main head as best he could, whether the beast noticed or not, and slammed Caletfwlch’s hilt once against Joyous Guard’s to punctuate his message with the ring of steel on steel. ”Keep up! Skye, status?”

@NarayanK@FlitterFaux@Rekaigan@Azereiah@Guess Who@Write

For a moment, all was calm, even as the Dionaea assaulted her fellow students. Violet simply observed, the mark she'd placed on the creature let her sense every movement it made, though it difficult to keep track of so many limbs. This did mean however that she could not be taken by surprise, she'd sense the moment one of it's many tendrils came close to her. Dodging them was simple, she easily evaded any vines that tried to snag her, almost as if she was a step ahead of them.

Despite looking frail, the Dionaea was anything from it. It's roots were tough, it would take serious firepower to pierce through them. Violet looked at the primary head of the monster. Was that it's weak point?

There was only one way to find out, while dodging a vine that tried to sweep her legs out from under her, she aimed her bow and pulled back the string before letting go. The arrow head glowed a bright orange as it traveled to it's target, the large head of the beast. It was time to see how the Dionaea liked fire.

When the arrow collided with the beast, the fire dust infused in the arrowhead exploded in a small inferno. If that didn't get the plant's attention, nothing would.

Violet didn't wait for the beast to retaliate, she had already drawn another fire arrow from her quiver and fired it at it's primary head again.

Burn.

Grimm Studies

"Mission Start!" Cian said aloud as she readied Ichaival and took aim. So far the grimm wasn't focused on her which would play greatly to her advantage. Taking aim she grabbed a different set of ammo in this case incendiary rounds and loaded it into her weapon. "Bang" she muttered to herself with a slight laugh as she fired two rounds while heading back towards the rear a bit more to get ready to set up more shots. This grimm was no laughing matter things was not going their way at all or that is how she saw it than again this was no mere beowulf rather this was a larger grim one more powerful and carrying with it a larger presence than the others. Taking advantage of its split attention Cian smirked and switched to the sniper rifle mode of Ichaival. With the incendiary ammo still loaded and powered by fire dust she was going to make a bang. "Target locked." She whispered to herself while not used as much due to the time it takes the sniper mode was potentially a powerful mode though it takes time to use it. With a small breath she took aim and pulled the trigger with the attention of her she was able to lock onto the grimm this was bound to garner attention but hopefully it was long enough for others to attack. With a sharp bang the shot was released exploding due to the dust loaded into the round with a small smile to herself Cian prepared to run in the worst case scenario.

While Robert and Cian kept the pressure on the smaller heads, he held up his end slicing and bashing away tentacle after tentacle. Things were going pretty good so far, well, in the sense that no one had been tossed ragdoll across the room again. But things were just getting started. Just as Trad thought he had a handle on the situation, more of the Grimm’s deadly vines came at them. In addition to the ones swinging around, this new wave was slithering on the ground, most likely going for the legs to throw Trad or the others off balance.

Trying to fight off both sets proved to be an overwhelming task, as Trad had to monitor and track the ones going low, while still keeping the swinging tentacles at bay. Switching to his machine gun made it a bit easier to deal with the lower ones, but the way this Grimm was learning meant it wouldn’t last for long.

“Hey, Robert!” he called behind him, “Think you could give me a hand here?”

@Guess Who@Suku

As the small heads screeched, the topmost one, which had remained silent quite a while, finally moved its jaw very slightly.

One of the roots protecting the Dioanea lunged out and caught itself on fire from Violet's fire arrow. It twitched as it lowered, rolled and doused itself in the shallow body of water beneath it. As the Dionaea took its time to douse the fire out, another root quickly blocked the head before rolling around in the water beneath it. The fire did spread across the root, but none of them ever spread to the stem itself. It was clear that it still did not like fire, however, which was evident in how it threw out about five roots at Violet's direction after it was hit.

The Grimm's topmost head clapped its jaws softly once.

It then clapped its jaws violently a single time at Robert’s direction.

Pulling one of the three roots it used for each student, the roots it pulled back raised themselves straight at Robert’s direction. It then launched themselves at him, each of them covering almost all options for dodging them. They moved in arcs, as the Grimm was aware that it should not cluster up its weapons against foes who could penetrate its attacks. The roots intended on battering Robert against one of the walls, though it was not aware of how the walls were safely padded for the students’ safety.

It continued to keep several of its roots on-guard, though if one were to take a peek the split moment it raised the roots it sent at Robert’s direction, he or she would find a faint orange glow at the bottom of the stem, mostly hidden within the roots. Some would conclude it was a weakpoint of some sort, while others would not pay it too much attention.

Some of the thinner roots guarding the Dionaea, however, steadily made their way towards Bianca and Ashe’s ways. Four thin roots respectively moved towards the two students specifically. Attacking the thin roots before they reached their targets would have them simply dodge the attacks, though once they reach their targets, they would remain still for a split moment before attempting to wrap the students by their waists.

---

Everyone seemed to be doing well. She was particularly surprised by the potential strength behind Bianca’s attacks, being able to tear through some of the roots like butter. Something about the way Bianca and Ben were talking to each other felt odd to her.

It sounded like they were in a competition.

As for what they were competing for, she did not know.

But they seemed to be having fun. She didn’t doubt that Bianca would be a friendly person, but it was still a more pleasant sight than the lumbering Grimm next to them-

Ducking, Sangue narrowly dodged a root that swung right above her. Putting strength into her prosthetic, the redhead punched the root above her, detracting its direction away from Ben. As she straightened herself, she found several roots making their way towards Bianca.

Pointing at the thin roots floating their way towards the Faunus with her prosthetic arm, Sangue’s grip on her blade tightened.

“…Bianca,” she spoke, a little louder than usual to catch Bianca’s attention. She then continued to stick close to Ben, as he provided a very solid defense for her. Each time Sangue struck, her strikes dug deeper and deeper through the roots.

It felt easier to stab the root and tear at it rather than attempting to slice it from the get-go.

The Rode sisters starred after Oswald as he wheeled himself down the corridor. "He's kind Sapphire," Demetra said with a look of deep melancholy in her eyes. "But he's so lost and so sad." She turned to look at her older sister. "You should look after him, he's going to need someone."

Sapphire couldn't help but smile. The way Demetra talked and moved Sapphire always thought of her as someone far older than ten. Pain and sorrow did that to a person and no one could experience it more than the girl who felt everyone's pain. Still in that moment she looked just like a ten year old asking her mom to take care of a stray dog. "I'll do what I can."

With those words Sapphire shed the depressing aura that had fallen over the sisters since they'd encountered Oswald. She grabbed Demetra by the hand and started to run with reckless abandon written on her face. "Come on, the race'll be starting soon. It'll my a little late for me to show off my skills but you'll enjoy what everyone else can do. We've got some pretty strange people here."

As they approached the track Sapphire suddenly became aware that something was wrong. Perhaps it was a change in the air, or her sister's aura or maybe she simply felt Demetra's grip change but a moment later the feeling of dread was justified as she felt Demetra's hand fall from her grasp. Sapphire stopped, knowing even before she turned that this was not something benign. She turned just in time to see Demetra's body hit the floor. A strangled cry escaped her lips, like all the air had been squeezed from her lungs in one forceful motion. Sapphire fell to her knees as her sister's side at a loss for what to do. Demetra's muscles began to seize and release in a series of violent convulsions. Her eyelids flickered back and forth but Sapphire could see that she wasn't conscious. The sight was horrible to behold and for once in many years Sapphire didn't know what to do. She wasn't prepared for this, she didn't have a course of action, she didn't have a plan.

In that moment Sapphire did the only thing she could. The only option she had left. She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Help! Somebody help! Help please!" she continued to scream in desperation until her words reached someone at the edge of the gym.

"What's all the..." a boy began to say before seeing Demetra in the midst of a seizure and Sapphire by her side trying to prevent her from hurting herself.

"The nurse!" Sapphire shouted "Get her! Now!"

The boy ran back into the gym as though a demon was on his tail and returned seconds later with the school nurse who'd been overseeing the race in case of injury.

Though it killed her to do it, Sapphire stood back and allowed the nurse to attend to her little sister, repeating over and over again that Demetra was going to be just fine. She was going to be alright.



For several hours Sapphire sat starring at the wall as the nurse tended to Demetra and several more after, she sat there knowing what must be done. Unwilling to return to her dorm room Sapphire had slept on one of the couches in the hospital wing. Demetra had suffered a grand mal seizure most likely brought on by her semblance. This was the first time it happened but the nurse told her that it was unlikely to be the last. From now on Demetra would need constant care. She'd need someone to watch over her twenty four hours a day and as much as Sapphire loved the rest of her family, her grandparents, her sister, she didn't trust them to be their for Demetra; not in the way she needed. From the moment the nurse told Sapphire her sister's diagnosis one thing became very plain to her, she was leaving school.

Her stomach twisted into knots as she thought of it. It wasn't as if she had the fondest memories of Beacon. Her team's missions had been disastrous, her teammates couldn't stand her and she didn't particularly care for them either but Beacon hadn't been all horrible. She held wonderful memories of Oswald, Diamond and Emerald singing at her Uncle's club, sparring with Geni in Forever Fall to get a handle on her new weapon designs. Beacon was step one on a journey that she wanted very much to complete, a journey that for the moment Sapphire had to put aside. As important as school was to her, there were things more important.

During first period that day Sapphire returned to her dorm and started to pack. She'd acquired more possessions since coming to school but not so many that all of her stuff didn't fit into her suitcase and backpack. She dropped her suitcase, and bag off at the airdocks to be loaded onto the next ship as luggage and she spent the rest of the morning wandering Beacon. She hadn't been here that long but somehow it felt like years. She walked by her old haunts, the little garden where she'd go to practice violin, the section of the grounds where she did her morning run. All the little places she knew she was going to miss.

As the afternoon classes rolled around Sapphire decided that their were some people that she needed to talk to before she left; two people in particular. One had been something akin to a friend and the other had been a constant thorn in her side but still she felt the need to say farewell to both of them. Right now they'd be in Armoury Class.

At the door she poked her head into the classroom. "Professor, if I can, I'd like to talk to Oswald and Gren for a moment. They won't be gone more than a few minutes." With the teacher's approval Sapphire had the two people at Beacon that for better or worse she was closest to. "There's something I felt I should tell you before you hear it from whoever handles dorm assignments." she turned towards Gren. "Good news, you don't have to plot against me or feel threatened by not being in the leadership role anymore. I'm leaving Beacon." Sapphire paused again. There was something so final about saying the words out loud. She was going. Maybe one day she'd come back, but it would never be like this again.

Her hand clenched as she tried to find the words to express what had happened. Sincerity wasn't exactly her strong suit. "During... during Family Day, before the race, my little sister Demetra had a seizure. She's alright but it was bad. Bad enough that she's going to need someone to look after her. That's always been my job." She gave a shrug as though it wasn't a big deal but she couldn't quite bring herself to smile. "I'm leaving school."

It was this next part that was harder. The goodbye and the last words that went with it. She wanted some privacy when she talked to Oswald so she decided to start by saying her last to Gren. "We're not friends. This time she did smile, sarcastic though the grin might have been. "I doubt we'd have ever become friends but whatever else happened, whatever problems we had, I respect your skill and your willingness to put yourself out their to protect others. I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for at Beacon. And tell Shiro..."

Sapphire broke off, she didn't have the words to convey what she wanted to tell Shiro, to express her frustration, her exasperation and her certainty that because of his nature things would end very badly for him at Beacon but also that she sympathised with his pain even if she didn't really understand it.

"Tell him good luck." She didn't have anything better.

She motioned to herself and Oswald. "If you could give us a moment."

After Gren had returned to the classroom Sapphire paused for another long moment trying to think what to say.

"I'm... I'm not very good at this sort of thing. Severing the spine of a nine foot shadow bear comes a lot easier. Thank you is what I'm trying to say. You were the closest thing I've had to a friend in a long time. Even if we didn't hang out as much as we could have it was comforting to know you were down the hall if I needed someone."

At this point most people would have expected a hug but Sapphire had never been that sort of person. She held out her hand to shake Oswald's. "Demetra told me that you were lost, I don't know what happened or how you ended up here but I hope you find your way Oz. Good luck. Who knows, if things change I might be able to come back to school, my father arranged to have my spot held open should that day ever come. Though she doubt her team would still be missing a member if that ever happens. "Goodbye."

With those simple words Sapphire turned her back on the Armoury classroom door, on the halls of Beacon, and for the time being her dreams of being a huntress.

She and Demetra were flown away from the school some hours later and as she looked back at the great towers of Vale rising above the waterfall she couldn't help but feel that she was leaving somewhere she belonged. But as she glanced down at her sister, asleep with her head in Sapphire's lap, at peace, she knew whatever she was leaving behind, it would be worth it to see Demetra smile again.
@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN@Lucius Cypher