[IC] Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

[EnterTheHero]

Huntsmen and Huntresses Wanted

---

On any other day, the settlement of Vasim would have been somewhat beautiful in the gold-and-orange light of sunset, the desert winds more gentle and warm than scathing and scouring, the last glimmers of the day filtering through the buildings and alleyways, as the people of the town returned to their homes. On this day, however, the beauty of the sunset only served to contrast the horror in the streets, illuminating row upon row of bodies, the jagged hole in the wall through which the Grimm had finally penetrated through their defenses, and the blood spattered across the sands.

The sirens still wailed, with no one to turn them off, drowning out the shuffling and snarling of the few Grimm still scavenging their way through the remains of the once-prosperous settlement. If any survivors were left, they would have either run for the hills hours ago, or, worst-case scenario, found somewhere to hole up and pray for the Grimm not to find them.

The bodies of Vasim’s former residents lay strewn over stands and crates, hanging in windows, lying in doors, and through the various holes that had been created in the walls and homes. Slashes and punctures were gouged out of their bodies. Several were tossed aside, with deep, round wounds taken from their shoulders, stomachs, or heads. Despite the pools of blood gathering on the ground in the dusty, desolated town, motes of dust creating shafts of failing light, the most eye catching red was the telltale mark on the back of a white jacket on a body lying face down on the ground...

---

All in all, thought Raye, as he observed the carnage from a dune some distance away, a pretty normal day in Vacuo. He sighed tiredly as he gazed through a pair of binoculars, keeping a tally of the Grimm he could see, knowing there were likely more lurking in the shadows. His mouth twisted as he realized there were more Grimm about than there should be. Bigger than they should be, too. He cursed as he witnessed the tail end of a black snake body trailing away, the tail alone the size of a couple train cars. Way too big for just a normal Taijitu…

Fuck. That’s a big snake. Great. Vasim really hadn’t had a chance, if something of that caliber was out and about. Still, there was one silver lining, of sorts: it was still here. Which meant it could still smell something it wanted in the town. Logical conclusion, there were still people in the town. Somewhere.

The bad news is that Raye now had to go in and find them before they got eaten. Sigh… the things I do for Lien… Raye put down his binoculars, then pulled out his Scroll, reading over the distress call that brought him here, when Vasim was attacked. It wasn’t very hopeful, however- mostly just a request to wipe out the Grimm in kind, and perhaps pay their respects to the fallen. No mention of searching for survivors.

Until now, thought Raye, tapping a command into his Scroll, and raising it to mouth level. “Emergency Broadcast HQ, this is Hunter Raye Solaire. Large Grimm presence verified in the settlement of Vasim. Too many for just scavengers, they’re looking for something. Possible survivors within city limits; will update with new information as needed.”

He hung up, then, hoping it would take less than a few hours for the message to go through and relayed out. He didn’t want people just randomly shooting up the place if there were still civilians in the crosshairs. Pocketing his Scroll, Raye reached down and hefted Prominence, gazing out at the rapidly-darkening desert around him. With any luck, there would be more Hunters on their way here soon. As good as he was, he couldn’t handle a whole city full of Grimm on his own. I’ll still try, though, he thought, grimacing. Without hesitation, he called upon his Aura and jolted into the sky, in the direction of the town, camouflaged by the light of the setting sun...

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Eisenhorn@Ryougu@Tergonaut@Ryuji Sakamoto@Sho Minazuki@floodtalon@Mercurial@MasquedMartyr@Afro Samurai@AtlasRize

[Ryuji Sakamoto]

The final howl of a beowolf echoed across the vermilion sky as the creature went up in flames. Standing before the fallen beast, Gwyn still had her hand outstretched with small flames dancing across her fingertips. She held her head up in triumph, grinning at the sight of the Grimm returning to dust.
Precious. she taunted, amused by the lone Grimm who had decided that Gwyn was to be his next meal. Though no doubt the wails of their fallen kin would attract more. Continuing along the blood soaked path, Gwyn did her best to stomach the carnage that surrounded her. Though no doubt her horror was evident through her disgusted grimace and sad, glistening eyes.

Gwyn wasn't too far from Vasim when she heard the duress alarms, though not even the fastest of hunters would have been able to stop what transpired here. Her eyes darted from each shadow to every alleyway, looking for any signs that there might be someone left. She caught glimpse of a Nevermore shadow below her and quickly hid close a wall to observe. The Grimm appeared to be circling the ruins of the settlement.
"Dirty little vulture." She spat, sidestepping along the wall so that she could pass by unnoticed. Normally seen as a cheerful individual, even bright and bubbly Gwyn had lost her spark in light of the horrific scene before her. Just when all hope of finding any survivors had disappeared, a transmission came through on her scroll.

“Emergency Broadcast HQ," A somewhat familiar voice caught Gwyn's attention. "this is Hunter Raye Solaire. Large Grimm presence verified in the settlement of Vasim. Too many for just scavengers, they’re looking for something. Possible survivors within city limits; will update with new information as needed.” Sound logic. Gwyn pressed a few buttons on her scroll before relaying her own message back to Raye.
"Okie Dokie! I'm already in the eastern part of the settlement; near the trade area. I think? It's kind of hard to tell thanks to the Grimm's uh... redecorating?" She ended her transmission before a thought crossed her mind. In an alarmed panic, she quickly opened up the channel once more. "Ah! This is Gwyn Ivory by the way! Sorry, should have opened with that! Hehe." She giggled before ending her transmission for real and continuing her search.

Turning into one of the alleyways that formed the many nooks and cranny's of the settlement, Gwyn found a wooden ladder that led up to the roof. It'd be a risky maneuver, but the other Hunters would have an easier time spotting her if she was out in the open. Just in case, she shifted her hand down to her thigh and prepped Walpurgisnacht with Burn and Earth dust. The queer trinket spun, mixing the various types of dust for a few moments as Gwyn ascended the ladder. By the time she reached the top, a deep crimson dust had filled the various canisters in the machine.

While standing on the roof, the Nevermore from earlier shifted its gaze to where the young lady stood. With an ear piercing roar, it began to circle in on Gwyn's location. She began to rub her fingers together in a circular motion, the same crimson dust from before roaring to life in a warm, murky sludge that bubbled and seared while she shaped it into a moderately sized sphere. In the distance Gwyn could hear more grimm shuffling to the location of the Nevermore. Hopefully she'd be able to handle one bird brain hastily enough to make a getaway before they arrived.

[AtlasRize]

Vasim had gotten ugly, that was certain. But then, this was Vacuo. Ugly was part of life.

Rust Mallory had actually been on his way to Vasim earlier in the day, hoping for a nice bed, a nice meal, and a bath. Not necessarily in that order. But the Huntsman had gotten tired, and instead of pushing the rest of the way into town he'd decided to just pull his rattletrap old truck-slash-living space into a fairly isolated rocky patch and take a nap. It wasn't an unusual thing for him to do, and in all honesty the Faunus spent far more nights sleeping in his vehicle than in any town.

It was the sirens that woke him from his sleep. He was still a ways from Vasim itself, but sound carries across the desert with no large structures to stop it. Within moments he had begun driving again, hoping to get to the settlement in time to help. By the time he'd gotten too close to safely drive any further, it became very clear that he had failed.

Silencing his scroll Rust made his final approach to the town on foot, slipping through the sparse cover and utilizing his semblance to create screening clouds of sand when needed. Already he had seen far too many Grimm. He ground his teeth in frustration as he got closer and the stink of smoke hit him. Where had they come from? There shouldn't have been so many, or ones so big anywhere close. Vasim was remote, but not unsupported.

Rust sprinted the last stretch to the wall, and with a leap shot upwards, hands reaching. The Huntsman caught the top of the wall and pulled himself up into a balanced crouch, keen eyes peering into the city. With another leap he vaulted into one of the town's watch towers. It was a simple affair, a single room where one or two people could keep watch for bandits or Grimm. A single table, a pair of chairs, a half-eaten meal. No bodies though. Whoever had there had either left the tower to try and help. Or to try and escape. Either way it was painfully obvious that chances were good that both options had been bad ones.

He crouched at the edge of the tower, tracking the movements of Grimm below, looking for signs of survivors. Rust wasn't an overly large man, but he wasn't small either. If any of the monsters below looked up they would have at least even chances on spotting him. Thankfully with the light dying and the shadows of the tower itself his dark jacket and pants helped cloak him further. Of course there was no helping the red shock of hair on top of his head. There had been a shudder from his silenced scroll earlier, but he continued to ignore it. No sense in causing undue noise right now, not with so many enemies about. Although his every instinct screamed at him to dive into the street and go on the offensive, Rust held back. The numbers weren't good, and a more stealthy approach was called for.

But that was before he saw the Nevermore and the Huntress it had begun to take an interest in. With a single smooth movement he brought Savage Arc into his hand, the weapon shifting into its bow configuration with a series of quiet clicks. Rust could see more Grimm pulled towards the focus of the Nevermore's interest, catching wind of the out-in-the-open woman on the roof. His eyes glanced over the route he'd need to get to her, calculating distance and the Grimm's movements.

Doable.

Rust stood and drew and arrow from his quiver before turning and moving back to the far side of the tower. There was a brief moment where his lips wanted to curl into a smile, knowing the adrenaline high that was about to hit his system. There were few things better than taking out Grimm, that was certain.

With a rush he was moving. Four steps and he was airborne, arcing out from the watch tower, black jacket flapping in the wind of his passage. He hit the roof of the next building and rolled forward, coming back to his feet with a smoothness that his old trainers would have been proud of. In an instant Rust was running again. Savage Arc lifted in his hands and he pulled back the string, drawing the lightning arrow back to his cheek and taking careful aim. With a snap he let the arrow fly, then leaped again.

If it struck home, the arrow would loose a small storm of electrical energy into the monster. Arcs of violet light would dance and crawl across the screeching Grimm as it flailed and struggled to stay airborne. Certainly wouldn't be enough for a kill shot - the bird was too big for that - but it would hopefully be enough to buy time and deal some damage.

Rust touched down a few feet to Gwyn's left, immediately pulling a second arrow from his quiver and sparing the Huntress a quick glimpse before looking back to the Grimm overhead. He was surprised to find that the woman carried no visible weapon of any kind, but then again there was the glowing sphere of... something in her hand.

"Well, glad I'm not the only one who was close by."

[tobiax]

The dark fingers of dusky shadow stretched across the rocky outcropping, where a soft shoe was pressed hard against the bony flank of a squat, two limbed Grimm, whose resistance had been broken down to feeble attempts at thrashing. With a distinct clacking, a gun was drawn. A single shot was fired. The creature's body jolted, before ultimately falling flat, and resigning itself to oblivion. As it began to fade, the light of an emergency update began to flash from the Huntress's pocket.
A delicate hand flipped the device from the hidden pouch, azure eyes scanning the information quickly. The Scroll was placed in the pocket deftly. Critical alert. Low chance of survival. The information flickered through her mind. Vasim was twelve miles away, and the report was old- she had been outside of ICCT connection range for about an hour, it seems. A sound of metallic sliding and a snap, and the gun had vanished from sight. Taking a deep breath, she ran headlong into the outcroppings of rock, then vanished from sight.
Cyan traveled as fast as she could towards the village of Vasim, always a bird flying above. The wings' shadow was always before her as she loped and leaped, she traveled as fast as she could. Soon, the smoke from Vasim was in her sight. The bird which had been leading her way ducked out at the settlement's perimeter, where Cyan stopped, taking a stance beside the breech in the wall.
Gently, she rested two fingers against the stone, revealing a dark smudge near the broken edge of the wall.
"Explosives?" she muttered to herself, only for her train of thought to be cut off by the cacophonous shriek of an aerial Grimm.
Her eyes darted up, her posture shifting to peak through the hole just barely, hoping not to be detected, as she saw a Nevermore circling overhead. And in the epicenter of its spiral, stood an adorable looking girl, who seemed to be challenging it, as another man rolled onto the same rooftop moments later. It was then, daring to expose herself to look along the ground, that she saw the bodies. Cyan stifled a gasp, withdrawing her Scroll as she crouched behind the wall.
"Emergency Center;" she spoke quietly, holding an ethereal button on her Scroll to send a message, "Huntress Cyan Zehn reporting. Vasim is compromised, Hunters on scene are engaged in extermination and extraction. Possible foul play afoot. Further report after extermination."
With that, the lithe huntress stowed her Scroll once again, and began searching for a point at which to scale the wall, to enter without being spotted.

[Flood]

Jin Midas

@EnterTheHero@AtlasRize@Ryuji Sakamoto

Sirens echoed in the distance. Disappointing, but nothing new. As Jin rode down the dusty ol trail his Scroll activated automatically. That could only mean one of two things. One, his sister was calling to talk about some cool new gun she had seen in class, or two, there was an Emergency Broadcast being sent out to all nearby Hunters. He glanced at his Scroll and frowned, number 2 it was. After forwarding the Emergency Broadcast to everyone near him, thus furthering the range, he turned towards the sirens and sped up, leaving a trail of dust behind him. He smirked and chuckled to himself. Time to save some lives and earn his paycheck.

As Jin got closer to the town he decided to hit the reply button on his Scroll. "This is Jin Midas reportin in. I'm drivin like a bat out of hell and should be there within 5-10 minutes. Don't start the party without me!" He ended the message and listened to the other response that had come in from Gwyn Ivory. Good response time on her part, must've already been in the neighborhood. He considered sending her a message, but it didn't matter. He was here.

Jin sped down the alleyways and streets, LOOKING for either survivors or Grimm. He found the latter and maybe the former as well. He skidded to a stop and drew his revolvers as he launched off his motorcycle, firing at a Nevermore which was attacking a young girl who was around his height. If the bullets hit they would penetrate the left wing, removing it's ability to fly and subsequently it's greatest advantage. "You all right missy? Didn't want to see a sweet little thing like you get hurt- annnnd you're a Hunter." Jin stared the obvious as soon as he noticed the ball of energy in her hand. Then some other dude came out of nowhere shooting off arrows and lightning like it was going out of style.

"Well damn, looks like I'm fashionably late. Let's take down Big Bird here, maybe then we can introduce ourselves." Jin's revolvers began to glow red hot as he prepped his Semblance for combat. He swung the barrels of his guns out and quickly reloaded with his speed reloader, snapping the barrels into place. Lets rock and roll.

[Ryougu]

Momo was lounging on the couch reading a book when she heard the distress call. She doubted for a moment whether she should go, worried she might only get in the way. After a brief few seconds she got up and grabbed her gear. There goes my night off. As much as she disliked the Grimm, duty called, and it would be unlike her to ignore it. Grabbing hold of Diana, she paused for a moment. Momo shuddered at the thought of fighting Grimm, the adrenaline would make every second feel like it were more.

I'll make it back. She thought, taking a deep breath. I always have. Besides, Solaire is there, and several other hunters should be on their way. As she stepped outside, Momo took a moment to properly supress her nervosity before getting on her motorcycle and making her way to Vasim as fast as she could. Every second counted if there was a chance survivors would be there.

---

The sound of sirens in the distance was eerie, despite being painfully familiar, and haunted Momo from the moment she got remotely close to Vasim. "If only I'm in time... she mumbled, decelerating. Parking her motorcycle with trained rapidity, Momo drew Diana immediately after. Her approach was far from stealthy, though masked by the noise of the sirens, and would probably have several Grimm swarming her within too long. Dashing into the city, Momo immediately entered an alleyway, barricading the entrance with a wall of her her semblance's traps.

In the alleyway, Momo quickly started scaling the wall, hoping the roof would make for a decent vantage point. With a bit of aura-enhance prowess, Momo soon made it on top of the roof. She knew very well that seeing also came at the cost of being seen, and several Grimm on the ground below indeed seemed quite aware of her now she was on top of the roof. A few roofs further ahead she could see a nevermore, facing three hunters. Figuring they'd be fine, Momo used the rooftops to make her way through the city, partially unhindered. She occasionally turned and slashed, leaving traps to repel enemies as she scanned the area for survivors.

And as she'd anticipated, the adrenaline pumping through her veins made everything appear sickeningly slow. Every passing glance at the red of the blood painting the street felt like minutes of staring at the disgusting scene. The monstrous figures of the Grimm, the blood-red streets and the disgusting slowness of it all, caused all alarm bells inside Momo to go off, complementing the deafening alarm outside, all issuing the same suggestion; run. As much as she would've liked to, she didn't run, she had her reasons, thus she continued scouring the bloodstained streets for signs of non-Grimm life.

[Tergonaut]

The Bullhead's dual VTOL engines roared as the transport approached the beleaguered town of Vasim. The vehicle, an aerial transport painted in the colors of the local Emergency Center, was high in the air, higher than most Grimm could reach - for the moment, anyway. Being primarily a transport, it was not equipped with the chin-mounted gun that military variants of the Bullhead were known to have, and it relied on its speed and maneuverability to get away from danger.

That, and the Hunters and Huntresses it usually carried directly into the fray.

"ETA, two minutes!" called out the co-pilot from the cockpit, her voice miraculously loud enough to be heard over the din of the engines. "Make sure you've got your landing strategy ready, 'cause we are goin' in hot!"

Slater Skywise checked his weapons one last time. Rampart Spur, his twin tonfa/revolvers, had seen better days, all nicked and scarred from heaven knew how many blows. But they were clean and still fired true, and they were loaded up with a full set of magnum Stone Dust rounds for an extra kick. He confidently clicked the revolvers shut and holstered them for this brief moment before drop, and he got up from his seat to hold onto one of the overhead grips near one of the side hatches of the Bullhead.

As soon as the word that Vasim was under attack had gotten out, all nearby Hunters and Huntresses had been asked to provide immediate support. Those that had been near the Emergency Center closest to the village had boarded one of their Bullheads, which came at all speed to Vasim. There hadn't been very much time to gather, so Slater was one of the few who had managed to get there in time for liftoff. It sounded like the devastation was bad...very bad.

If only I'd been there to protect them, he thought to himself, tightening his fingerless gloved grip. The knowledge that he likely would have been slaughtered as well didn't matter; if he could have saved even one person's life, he would rather have done that than hear about this tragedy without lifting a finger. Perhaps he could at least attempt to save any survivors...

"Doors opening in five!" broke in the voice of the co-pilot, who held up a hand with splayed fingers that dropped as the countdown continued. "Four, three, two, one...go, go, go!"

The hatch slid open, leaving a wall-sized opening where a door had been before. The wind tore at Slater's clothes along with some residual dust - the normal kind, not the capital-D sort - and in a glance, he saw the village below, the Grimm swarming, and the handful of Hunters and Huntresses who had already arrived on the scene. Not to mention all of the dead bodies...

Slater's slow-burning anger focused into action as he dropped forward out of the transport, the wind whipping at his duster and skunk tail. He plummeted downward, well aware that landing from this height would be too much for his Aura alone to handle, and his weapons - heavy pistols that they were - wouldn't be able to provide all of the thrust he would need to counter his fall. He drew Rampart Spur in both hands in revolver configuration, and crossed his arms in front of himself as he dropped toward the Nevermore that flew above the battlefield. Oh, he had his landing strategy ready, all right.

He aimed himself at the Nevermore and concentrated for a moment. His Aura blazed with golden orange light, and suddenly he had his Shield deployed directly below him. If his aim was true, he'd hit like a meteor and bring the Nevermore to the ground, where it could be easily dispatched by the other Hunters; even winging it might throw it off balance enough to prevent its attacks on his comrades below. But even if he missed and headed straight for the ground, his Shield would protect him from the fall and provide a shockwave that might at least slow the Grimm down before he joined his comrades in the fighting...

"Heads up!" he shouted, his words mostly lost to the whipping wind as he charged downward, Shield-first.

[tobiax]

A glint in the sky against the setting sun flared beyond the haze of the drop craft's jet engines. As the Nevermore shrieked, and the jet engines roared, the clicking, scraping of a long bodied, many legged Grimm went unheard. With the avian Grimm disoriented by the impact of Bolt Dust, the golden blaze of the Huntsman Faunus was free to slam into the creature's back. A moment later, and the shimmer of light from above became a careening fire. The burning shield of the Semblance Meteor seared the dark, twisted flesh of the Grimm. The falling strikes caused a large chunk of the creature to fall beneath Slater, leaving a seam of red behind, while Raye's attack left the beast burning.
The Nevermore's burning corpse began to lilt and drop to the north side of the rooftop, its wing beginning to smash the building's facade as, should he desire, Slater would easily be able to ride the disengaged chunk of the daemon to the rooftop with a splatter and relative safety.
All the commotion, however, had been exactly what the stalking monster had needed. A blunt, bulbous head with stretching sword-like mandibles reared up from atop the wall, snapping at the girl in white with a sickening gurgled hiss. It hadn't be able to reach, so now its spindly legs began to one by one grasp at the wall, dragging its segmented, coiling body farther up the building, heedless of the forming ball of Dust before it, nor the gathering presence of Hunters at the rooftop.

There was, however, a sickening collective grunt and snarl, as the sounds of combat and the fall of the Nevermore rang from the spire of Vasim. Now knowing there stood opposition, the Grimm in the streets began circling back, licking their chops as they stalked closer, seeking the Hunters that had come to the village's rescue.

---

Within the office of the Emergency Broadcast Center, two messages appeared, though slightly delayed, thanks to the distance of Vasim from the ICTT. A receptionist in the dimly lit office lifted an ear piece, transcribing the information that was given in the messages from a Huntsman and a Huntress who had arrived in Vasim. With a few deft strokes of the holo-screen, the mission in the decimated village was updated, adding "Search and Rescue" to the parameters, as well as a potential connected "Bounty" mission, adding a note about potential sabotage. The updated message was then uploaded to the Emergency System, and, by way of the ICTT, transmitted to every Hunter's Scroll in the general area, making the update known, with high urgency.

[Tergonaut]

Slater landed on the roof next to the other Hunters, his Shield dissipated back into his Aura as he slid across the battered rooftop and halted directly in front of the pale young woman wielding a murky yet heated sphere. With a flick of his wrists, the long barrels of his revolvers slid down the front of his pistol grips as they converted to tonfa mode. He pulled the triggers of Rampart Spur as he raised the tonfas up in front of himself, and suddenly a thick shell of gray stone formed over the length of each weapon, reinforcing the already-tough tonfas with a brittle extra shell of armor. The choking smoke of crackling fires dotting the city rose up in columns around the building the Hunters were located, and the dimming rays of the sun filtered through that smoke as night fell closer and closer...the time where Grimm were most active.

"The name's Slater, ma'am," he drawled over his shoulder as he put himself between the approaching centipede-like Grimm and the young woman. Then he turned his orange eyes forward, though his next words addressed the other Hunters present. "Gentlemen, let's give the lady some room to work, shall we?"

And with that same almost lazy confidence that masked the intense concentration behind his eyes, Slater strode forward to bait the large Grimm into attacking him. He had already used his Semblance, and while he could whip up another Shield, he wanted to keep from blocking the shots of his allies with it when he was counting on them to provide fire support. No, for now, he would block with his stone-crusted tonfas, get a better reading of this new large Grimm, and only back off if it became apparent that the creature couldn't be held off at close range.

[Ryuji Sakamoto]

Gwyn had been prepared to unleash her next 'spell' upon the Nevermore when the sudden addition of not one, not two, but three hunters; all baring their weapons against the great flying beast. For a brief moment she allowed her disappointment to show on her face with a pout. She had hoped to have had the pleasure of dealing with the Nevermore herself, but it seemed their combined attacks were enough to dispatch the beast. The glowing ball of lava dust was beginning to hiss and bubble, growing in size and temperature. As a young silver haired man approached, Gwyn quickly went back to her usual beaming smile while he addressed her as if she were some damsel in distress.

"You all right missy? Didn't want to see a sweet little thing like you get hurt- annnnd you're a Hunter." He commented, receiving two little nods and a giggle from the young huntress. Gwyn was about to respond with some witty comment regarding the state of the mans eyesight, but barely had enough time when the other hunter who had been firing arrows also joined the group.
"Well, glad I'm not the only one who was close by." The red headed archer spoke. Yet again Gwyn was about to open her mouth to speak when another hunter, the Faunus who crashed into the Nevermore from the sky, skid into a halt in front of Gwyn. Taking a step back, Gwyn was completely caught off guard by the snapping of the centipede Grimm from behind. Thankfully it hadn't been able to reach her.

Suddenly, the Faunus was standing in front of her in a rather chivalrous manner. Perhaps being a damsel in distress was something Gwyn could get used to? His name was Slater, huh? Gwyn would need to thank him and the others for their daring rescue.
"Gentlemen, let's give the lady some room to work, shall we?" Finally, something Gwyn could agree with. She watched Slater dash forward in an attempt to catch the beasts attention. Noble, though more of a hindrance than a help. Gwynn couldn't go all out with an ally in the way of her target. She supposed she'd just have to manage. Balancing the floating ball of lava in her left hand, Gwyn knelt down whilst gathering wind dust in the palm of her right hand.

"Enchanté, hehe, Gwyn Ivory at your service!" She giggled, before glaring up at the ferocious maw of the centipede with a frighteningly stern expression that most would find quite alienating on a face as childlike as hers. "I think you boys have showed off enough; allow me to take center stage!" Releasing a gust of wind from her right palm, Gwyn propelled herself up above Slater and the Centipede Gwyn. From her vantage point, she could make out a few Beowolves attempting to scale the wall alongside the giant insect. Her lips turned up into a smile, flourishing her hands outward as the ball of lava began to stretch and splutter around her in the form of two rings. As she began to descend, she twirled herself through the air whilst the lava rings began to spray pellets of molten rock down upon the Grimm scaling the walls.

"Molten Rain!" Gwyn proclaimed, watching the fiery red downpour hail upon the Grimm. Those who were unfortunate enough to be caught up in the attack would find themselves pelleted with the burning debris, no doubt greatly hindering their attempt to scale the wall and even burning some of the smaller Grimm to death. As Gwyn approached the rooftop, another well times gust of wind helped to ease the burden of her descent, though she still failed to stick the landing. Knelt down on the floor, Gwyn stared up at the other Hunters as if expecting some form of praise or looks of surprise.

[AtlasRize]

Well, this rooftop is getting crowded...

Rust tossed a flicker of a glance at Raye as he crashed into and through the Nevermore, feeling a twinge of the old competitive relationship between the two. He'd only seen the other Huntsman a few times since they'd graduated from Shade Academy together. Part of him immediately wanted to turn the current situation into a competition, a see-who-can-kill-the-most-Grimm contest. The smarted part of his brain, however, snapped him back to reality and was just happy to see more Huntsman who up. They were going to need everyone they could get, it seemed. The whole town was looking more and more like an absolute nightmare.

The leopard-eyed Faunus caught the introductions the two strangers popped off, but didn't offer his own for the moment. Too much going on for that sort of thing, he felt. Particularly when the massive centipede-like monster came scuttling up behind them and almost nabbed Gwynn. In a heart beat Savage Arc whirled in Rust's hand, pieces clicking and sliding as the bow vanished and the blade took its place. Six feet long, half of it blade, the Hunstman couldn't help but grin a little as he glared at the hulking Grimm over the gleaming cutting edge.

With a surge of force he shot forward, covering the distance between where he had stood with the now hovering Huntress and where the monster was pulling itself up, clawing at the edge of the stone building as it did. With a quick thought he activated his Semblance, sending a whisper of geomancy into the stone where the Grimm labored. It wasn't much - to do more would require more concentration than he could afford at the moment - but hopefully it would destabilize the stone further and make it more difficult for the centipede to claws its way up the wall.

Meanwhile, Rust dashed to the creature's right side, Savage Arc sweeping back as he moved to trail behind his own right side. He caught the flashes of molten liquid that rained down against the Grimm trying to get to them and grinned further. Now that was what he liked in a partner.

"Slater! Go left, I'll go right!"

Without waiting for a response Rust dashed in from the right side of the monster. As he did he swept his weapon in a deadly diagonal slash from low right to upper left before immediately leaping backwards to hopefully avoid any counterattack. With luck he'd take out a couple of the creepy bastard's spindly legs and test out the strength of its carapace.