Naomi paused when she heard the gunshot, looking off to the side and pausing. Then she noticed a large shadow beside her, head jerking back around to see the very large Grimm raising a claw to strike. Naomi froze, as Tibbers started to flicker slightly in the middle of the Ursa a few yards back.
She flinched as it struck, but then it started screaming instead. Naomi peeked through her eyelids before she felt herself being forced down, as the boots from the girl she’d just helped fired off Dust rounds. Naomi was reeling, she could feel her heartbeat in her ears again. There was a lot of stimulus around, and she didn’t have the comfort of Christophe’s plans telling her what to do. She struggled, forcing herself to not white out and lose focus again. She came to Beacon to prove she could handle herself, she had to not run away in her head when things got difficult, she had to-
And now she was flying.
Just a few feet, Naomi rolled as she heard a muffled sound and a cry of pain. Naomi shook her head, a little dizzy from the unscheduled flight, and saw the Ursa lying on the ground. Lifeless, or soon to be, it’s eyes were cold and growing colder. But the person it was on would soon join it, if she stayed under there for much longer.
“N-no!” Naomi shouted, running over and slamming her tiny shoulder in the Ursa’s side. She pushed as hard as she could, but the body wasn’t moving. She wimpered, looking back and shouting, “Tibbers!! Help!” Instantly, the Aura construct was beside her, growling as it shoved the beast’s body hard. It started rolling, and another shove pushed it completely off of Pascale’s body. Naomi dove close, ear to Pascale’s mouth to check her breathing.
“…I dunno, if she’s breathing, it’s shallow,” she said, as Tibbers growled and nodded in one direction. Naomi glanced to see the other Ursa creeping over, as Tibbers had disappeared from their battle. Tibbers made a few odd growls to Naomi, who replied, “I know! But we can’t move her yet, I dunno if she’s alright!” Naomi looked back to the Ursa, breathing heavily through her nose, obviously on the brink of another episode.
Then Tibbers placed a hand on her shoulder, and she paused. She looked up at him, as he gave a few more oddly toned growls. Naomi nodded, saying, “Alright, if you think so,” bending low and hugging Pascale tightly. Tibbers rose up and surrounded Naomi and Pascale, who were slightly within his Aura constraints, just as the Ursa surrounded them. They roared, slashing and biting at Tibber’s body, but he expanded and slightly puffed up, providing a buffer and shield to the two girls. For minutes, the pack of Ursa pounded and attacked Tibbers body, which was still holding strong, but showing signs of deterioration from the onslaught.
Naomi opened her eyes, brow set and determined, as her eyes started to glow, very softly. Tibber’s lines started glowing as well, brighter and brighter, slowly turning from it’s color to white. And brighter still, almost blinding, as Naomi’s eyes matched its intensity. The Ursa paused in their attack, whining and covering their eyes with their paws, as Tibber’s body started to grow. Like it was being inflated, a balloon filling almost to-
There was a huge flash, though no sound, save for air rushing and bodies thumping. The Ursa were thrown back, knocking over trees and slamming into rocks, and any that weren’t dead were knocked out. Around the two girls was a circle of blown dirt, showing where the blast was, and they had been safely inside the bubble Tibbers had made.
Naomi was silent, before opening her eyes. She looked around, not seeing any of the Grimm that surrounded them, just the body of the one that Pascale killed. It was thrown into a tree, it’s back wrapped around it like a bow. Naomi breathed a sigh of relief, looking down on Pascale. Tibbers was gone, and Naomi knew that it would be awhile before he could form again, after that display, but she still spoke to him. “I dunno, Tibbers, Christophe’s counting on me to join with him. I mean, she saved my life, twice, although she did it without asking me. …Yeah, I guess there wouldn’t have been time, but she didn’t know if I could…yeah, I guess she couldn’t have known…I know she was just looking out for me, I just…it’s different. I know Christophe and the gang, I’m used to them, they’re stable for me when new things happen,” Naomi said, reaching up to her shoulder as if someone had a hand there.
“…I guess I have to get used to new things, huh? I don’t want to be the girl who just hides in her hoodie when bad things happen…” she said, looking down on her W.A.T.C.H. It started beeping, rapidly turning into a tone as the screen faded. The names popped up, as Naomi saw the girls name was “Pascale Buckley.” Then the other letters faded, as new ones faded in to say, “Team PANIC.” Naomi sighed, saying, “I guess there’s no going back now…yeah, guess the name is kind of fitting,” and glanced over to the body of the Ursa that first attacked. She looked at the silver object on its neck for awhile, before standing up and going over to it. She reached out, hand pausing just before touching it, and then grabbed it. The latches disengaged and retreated inside the thing, leaving it a completely smooth orb. Naomi looked at it for awhile, before putting it in her bag. “It’s alright if I open it after meeting up with Christophe, right? I just…I’d like to talk to him before it’s…you know, final,” she said aloud, walking back over to Pascale.
At this moment, she wished Tibbers was physically there again, as she had to once more drag the girl along. She brought the girl’s arm over her shoulder to hoist her up, and began the slow walk out of the forest. “I hope it’s not too far to the edge of the forest,” Naomi said, as the ground began to rumble. She looked around in concern, before there was a sound of trees falling down a little ways in front of her. She scrambled forward as the rumbling died down, passing through the forest to see the mountain range. She gasped at a huge line carved into the ground, like something very power or very fast had just ran through.
“Naomi?”
She looked up to see the familiar face of Jonah land nearby. “What happened?” she asked, nodding in the direction of the commotion.
Jonah growled, “Ashton’s being an idiot again, I swear he’s gonna get killed…and what happened to you?” he asked, pointing to Pascale’s unconscious body.
Naomi paused, saying, “We got into a bit of a scrape, can you help us out?” she didn’t tell him that her W.A.T.C.H. had partnered the two together, and she had a feeling he didn’t know how they worked yet either, considering Ashton had just apparently sped away.
“Yeah, I got it,” he replied, easily lifting Pascale on his arm. “Hop on my back, I’ll try and get us over there, I’ll fill you in on what happened on the way,” he said, as Naomi climbed up and gripped his shoulders. Jonah took one of his hammers and swung it around, letting it fly and carrying them with some assistance from its jets, as the trio lifted off and leaped into the air. “So,” Jonah said, a bit loudly as the air was rushing around them, “Ash and I were falling through the air…
Location: Near Mountain range, B6, traveling East.
~
Ashton "YEE-HAW!" lasted for almost his entire ride down, as he gripped his hat to keep it from flying off his head from the fall.
Jonah grimaced, saying, "We're falling a little too fast, I'm gonna burn up all my Dust keeping us from going splat!" he shouted, the jets from his hammer fighting against gravity
Ashton only smirked, holding his arm down. It had a fairly thick gauntlet on it, with rows and rows of bullets visible from the forearm down. But along the base of the arm, there was a small opening. He flexed his fingers, as a long, fairly thick filament slipped out. He swung his arm as the rope looped itself, creating a hoop, as Ashton said, "Get us moving sideways, pard'ner!"
Jonah looked to his hammer, scowling at the thought, but complied with Ashton's order. He swung his harmmer around by it's tether, throwing it in front of him while still gripping the loop. Coupled with the jets, they shot forward, just as Ashton threw his arm to the side. The rope sailed till it snagged the top of a tree, and the rope started glowing orange when it pulled tight.
He gave another shout of joy as he pulled tight, the lasso causing them to spin around the tree. Faster and faster they went as the rope grew shorter and shorter, binding around the trunk and clipping branches all the way down. Jonah's face grimmaced against the spinning, while Ashton's face held a rush of joy. Nearing the middle of the trunk, He swung low and pulled on the lasso, causing them to swing upwards in the air just as he let go of the rope.
Jonah was still reeling as the two flew through the air, knocking through branches as they cleared the forest from their swing. They flew to the base of the mountain, hitting dirt and skipping like stones, before rolling to a long stop with a huge trail of dust behind them. Jonah pushed up, groaning, coughing, cut all over, but alive. He grunted as she pulled his legs to a crouch and stood up, rubbing his head while looking for Ashton.
"Ace...Ace, you here?" he called out, trying to wave the dust away. He jogged through, calling out, as he ran out of the dust cloud. He froze, eyes widening, cursing under his breath. "Ace...Ace, what are you doing?" he harshly whispered, barely moving a muscle.
Ashton was looking up the mountain, hunched slightly and feet in a steady stance. Jonah was behind him, but he could practically feel the cowboy grinning, as he locked eyes with a terrifying creature.
Up the mountain, looking over a ridge, stood a black, four-legged creature. Eyes, red like fiery blood, hair silver, with white, bone like markings along its back. It's tail dashed back and forth, hair swinging, like it was conflicted and agitated. And this was a creature that did not take agitation well. On it's forehead, sharp and bright, was a translucent horn. Like pale bone, it surrounded a blury, red center, that seemed to pulsate with energy and anger. Near the middle of the otherwise flawless, gem like protrusion was a chip, cracks leading away from the point of damage that were charged and smokey.
"You know one of the reasons...I wanted to come here, Jonah?" Ashton asked, not looking back, and keeping his unblinking eyes locked on the Grimm before him. "You see, I heard stories of the Grimm near the campus. Now, I've run into all sorts of Grimm in the wilderness, first bullet I ever fired was 'tween a Boarbatusks eyes..." he said, fingers slowly flexing. "But, now, The Unicorn, that's something else entirely..."
Sweat dripped down Jonah's brow, sliding down his cheeks, dropping off his chin. As the droplet hit the dirt, with a 'thump' that Jonah could swear echoed, he could see the Unicorn's tail twitch. "Ace, why's this so important? That thing could kill you, why can't we let this one go?" Jonah asked, fighting to keep himself from bolting. He'd heard horror stories of the Unicorn, seen pictures of its victims that could curdle milk, he couldn't fathom how Ashton could be that...that close to it wihout a twang of fear.
"'Cuz, pard'ner, I'm a cowboy," Ashton said with a grin, "I see a wild stallion, I just gotta rope it..." He swung his arm to the side, the lasso extending from his guantlet just as the Unicorn reared back and neighed, kicking its legs in the air while its horn glowed bright red. Its feet came down, cracking the stone beneath it as it charged, and its horn flashed bright red. Jonah saw something fly through the air, barely visible, just as he crossed his hammers in front of him to defend. He flew back, feeling a huge and hot gust of wind slash at the metal of his weapons, sending him sliding almost to the treel line. He groaned, but quickly got back up, rushing to Ashton.
The Unicorn seemed to favor impaling Ashton rather than blasting him with whatever attack he used on Jonah. Ashton kept his footing while the beast neared, eyes unwavering and set. At the last possible second, he dove to his right, his poncho catching the tip of the horn and was cut through like paper. Ashton yanked hard before the beast could turn around, as the lasso loop cleanly went over its neck and sapped tight. "Gotcha!" Ashton said, as his rope glowed orange.
The Grimm paused, looking at the rope leading from it to Ashton. Not confusd or perplexed, perhaps amused, it locked eyes with Ashton once more. Then it turned. And galloped.
Ashon was yanked along all too easily, but he knew it would never be that simple. dragged along the ground, he tried to right himself, but the Unicorn turned every time he tried pulling himself up, and kept unbalancing him. It looked back, almost maliciously, as Ashton could only hang on. Suddenly, Ashton found himself in the air, the beast had made a hard turn that swung Ashton up and-
*SLAM!!*
Through a rock at the base of the mountain. Ashton saw white, unprepared for the impact, but held onto his lasso. Hat lost in the crash, he forced a weak smile and shielded his face from the gravel he was being dragged through when he hit the ground again. "Sorry...buddy...gonna...take...more than...that!" he said, in between getting tossed around like a balloon. Against all odds, he started pulling himself closer to the Unicorn, in between the sharp turns which sent him through rocks and trees.
Jonah couldn’t do much besides chase after them, the beast was incredibly fast, and Ashton would likely not be able to hear his calls anyways. He caught something off the corner of his eye, though, behind the newly knocked down trees. A familiar face, and an unfamiliar one. Damn that guy…I’d better check on Naomi first, then I’ll have to go after him he thought, swinging his hammer and aiming for a jump to land near Naomi.
~
Location: Middair – B1
“Gaah!” Christophe yelled, as he and Lorelei arced through the air. “Why’d you do that?!” he screamed, trying to orient himself while he was falling, “We’re heading for the mountain! There’s no water to land in, no trees to grab onto, no ravine wall to claw into to stop us! It’s just a rock!”
“Then you better think hard on a way out, Mr. Boss. Or is imminent death too much pressure?” Lorelei asked, a devilish smirk on her lips. Her face, despite their situation, was cool and calm. She had complete faith in Christophe.
Christophe looked at her, shaking his head slightly. He looked down on the mountain, taking a deep breath, and exhaling slowly. His eyes darted around to scan below them, his mind racing for an idea. His eyebrows darted up, alert, as he spun in midair and grabbed his axe. He unfolded it to a bow, pulling back the cord as a red arrow of pulsating energy appeared at his fingertips. “Get your weapon ready, we’ll need it.” he said, firing off shot after shot to the rapidly approaching mountain below. The laser arrows hit the rock with sparks, crumbling part of the rockface into loose pebbles.
“What’s the plan?” she asked with a smile, setting “Silent Seduction” on her arm tightly. He transformed his bow back into an axe and handed it to her. “Okay, now what?” she asked, locking the gauntlet’s fingers around the handle.
He pointed where he shot, as the mountain grew closer. “I’ll aim for you, you fire the gauntlet’s grapple to it with the axe. It’ll dig in the ground, and use your soundwaves to destabilize the rock below. With the axe, it should knock a lot of the rock loose above the mountain…hopefully,” he said, patting her shoulder.
Lorelei lined up the arm, letting Christophe position it while asking, “And how will that save us, Chrissy?” She held her breath as she fired off the hand of her gauntlet, a tether from it flowing out from its arm as he flew, axe down, towards where Christophe aimed.
“There’s a cache right below us,” he said, checking the holo-display on his W.A.T.C.H. “It makes sense that this test will pit us against Grimm, and if the goal is to monitor how we do, then the only logical answer is that these ‘caches’ are somehow attached to them. I’m betting there’s a big one down there, or a lot of ones. Either way, it should make for a decent landing,” he said, watching his axe dig into the ground.
They were traveling very fast, and now about 30 seconds from hitting the ground. Lorelei wasted no time in activating her Semblance and the gauntlet, its hand causing the axe to vibrate violently and cause much of the rock below it to tremble. Cracks appeared, and dust flew from the surface as the whole thing began to shake. “And if we just crash into more rock?” Lorelei asked brightly.
Christophe shrugged, saying “I’ll come up with something when that happens,” he said dryly, bracing him and Lorelei for impact as the mountain loomed closer. He moved in front of her, tensing up as they made contact.
*CRASH*
The rockface broke apart as they hit, a huge dust cloud billowing from the impact spot. It wasn’t the softest landing, but better than if they just hit it straight on. They fell through the rock, tumbling and twirling, being knocked around by a stray piece of stone here and there. Christophe groped for his axe in the chaos, his hand finding it and keeping a hold while he heard more rock cracking beneath them.
The broke through something, an opening to a large cavern filled with water, and a few patches of rock scattered around like islands. While in midair, he grabbed for Lorelei, yanking her close before they hit, falling through the surface and sinking down. He twisted to place himself between her and the bottom, as his shoulder slammed into the rocky floor. Bubbles shot out of his mouth while he screamed in pain, gritting his teeth and kicking off to the surface once more.
Thankfully, Lorelei was conscious, helping him swim to a nearby rock, and helping him to climb on top of it. “Thanks, wow, that was fast,” she said, lying back and breathing heavily. She plucked her sunglasses from her face, as the crackled lens fell out onto the ground. “Whatever, they were out of style anyways,” she said, tossing it into the water. She didn’t bother covering her scarred eyes with anything, as she did around other people, a sign of her closeness to the group. She turned to Christophe, lying on his stomach and clutching his shoulder, and asked, “How’re you holding up, handsome?” She patted his shoulder, as he winced with a sharp intake of breath.
“Yeah, think I dislocated it in the fall, gah, it hurts,” he said, groaning as he rolled on his back. “Still,” he wheezed, giving a thumbs up, “Survived the fall, guess my plan worked,” he said with a pained grin. He strained himself to sit up, setting his arm in the leather strap on his chest that held his axe. “What do you think this place is?” he asked.
“Guess it’s an underground water system. I could see pretty clearly under there, even with us falling through the water, I could sense further than when I’m on land. There’s other water tunnels down there leading out into the terrain, I’m willing to bet that they link up with the lake. Maybe that’s where the ‘sinkholes’ on the island lead to,” she said, shrugging.
“Well,” Christophe said, groaning as he stood up, “We shouldn’t worry about that now, we better find that cache,” he said, looking at his W.A.T.C.H. “Looks like it moved, which doesn’t bode well, I didn’t see anything below us when we fell,” he said, looking to Lorelei. “By the way, um, not sure if it’s rude, but can you use you’re, you know, Watch?” he asked, as she chuckled.
“I can sense the hologram, it’s not always the clearest picture, but my soundwaves can bounce off the projection, and I can generally see what’s displayed. I can also sense what the display is showing beneath the screen, though sensing the hologram and display is obviously more difficult than a real thing,” she said with a smile, as their W.A.T.C.H.’s beeped in unison.
They both read, “Team CLASH”, as Lorelei shrugged. “Not bad, I guess, better than ‘Team Lacy,’” she said with a smile. Christophe chuckled, then went silent. “Eh, hey, what’re you looking at?” she asked, as he was staring out in the water.
“I dunno…something’s bright under there, it’s shining…” he said, looking at his map. “I think it’s the cache, let’s go get it,” he said, tightening his strap around his arm to keep it steady.
“Woah,” Lorelei said, grabbing his good shoulder. “We don’t know anything about this place, why don’t you make a plan first?” she asked, as Christophe took his shoulder away.
“I dunno, I just…I really want to get over there, right now. C’mon, let’s just go already!” he said, rushing over to wade in the water, using his good arm to swim to another rock island. Lorelei looked around nervously, slowly going into the water as well. She kept a watchful ear around them, ducking her head slightly below the water to make sure she could see under there clearly. She had a bad feeling about this, but Christophe usually had good ideas, so she tentatively followed his lead.
