SpiritedDream — Roleplayer Guild

Team CLRT

It was a strange feeling for most of them. For one, they were standing inside a tunnel as a Grimm tried to kill them from the outside; a few of them have been in similar situation, but it was usually the other way around. For another, they where in this situation with strangers their age. No mentors, no teachers, no escorts, no parents; just people their age that came to the academy with the intent to pass and find their dreams. Despite the situation, it was hard for the four would be heroes to describe which of the two aspects was bothering them more. 

The future hunters continued to catch their breath, eyes on the tail that desperately clawed at the tunnel's walls, exiting only for a second as the beast rammed at the tunnel's entrance, trying to make room so it’s tail can reach them. 

‘The walls look sturdy, but we’ll have to get out soon lest it caves us in,’ mused Viola as she stopped combing her hair, ‘it’s going to get messy again in but a moment’. Mentally checking herself to feel her aura, a thought struck the sea witch as her lips pursed slightly in a subtle show of worry. “Sir Roan, how’s your...well, everything really?”

Argent kept his focus on the large monster outside their tunnel, but he spared a quick, humorless laugh at his partner’s question.  “I’m ok, my injuries from my landing are all healed, my aura is at about fifty percent, I think, which admittedly is still about the same size as most people’s normal aura level, and I’m down two shotgun shells and three revolver rounds, how about you, er... all of you?”

A wink and a smile was Violas response. “A trifle miffed I won’t get to teach that Nightmare a lesson for stepping on Lis, but fine.”

“I’ve barely done anything but run, so my aura levels are fine. I’m down to four and a half magazines though, so that’s fifty-eight bullets. They’re not very powerful, either.” Cereza muttered to herself, “One day I won’t need them at all.”

“My aura levels are still fine.” The cheetah faunus said as she loaded up another air dust canister,  “and I’ll have full mags in a bit.” Then she paused and asked the witch-like one, “Any idea what would happen if we were able to send a tidal wave towards him?”

Said witch could only cringe, “I’d likely have to sell my body for the years I’d spend at Beacon to cover the cost.” 

“If it’s the cost you’re worried about, don’t worry. I can cover that.” Cereza told the violet witch. She didn’t let on that her ‘covering’ wasn’t liked by the law, but the hacker had been taught well enough to cover all her tracks anyway. Plus, her semblance made it easier to erase traces. It’s hard for computers to map a human mind going through their systems after all. “Use as much dust as you need to; I’ll forward you a full load of replacements when this is all done, as long as we all survive this. Money has never been a problem for me.”

“Only if you let me pay it back with interest. I may not be wealthy, but I refuse to owe people money,” said Viola in a firm tone.

Cereza waved the violet witch’s concerns away, “You can pay me back later, but only after you start doing missions, and not all at once either. At least if I replace what you use today, you won’t be broke or have none at all for the rest of our time at Beacon.”

“Besides, I only need two dust canisters,” Tierra replied. “My swords are capable of doing more than just air dust, I just choose air dust since I mostly use it as a booster and air is just better for that purpose. But I should be able to go by the entrance and send out a downpour upon the Grimm.”

“That thing is a little too big for two canisters of water Dust to do much.”

“Besides, I...”

“I could then at least get it into its eyes,” the noirette shot back. “Then you guys can make it out while it’s distracted. Besides, using the full canister should create a steady wave to use for a bit, I only use partial canisters for my short bursts.”

“I really don’t think that we’ll need that much...”

“How good are you at using dust, Tierra, Viola?” Cereza asked, and furrowed her brow. “We should probably have the person best at manipulating it be the one striking the creature - that way the dust would last longer and do more damage.”

“I may be so-so with dust use and have more experience with air dust,” the tawny-clothed girl said. “But I have the better chance of escaping afterwards; my semblance allows me to move quickly and I learned how to effectively use it for hit-and-run tactics.”

With a huff, Viola tried again, “As I was trying to say, I shouldn’t need that much dust to get it’s attention. I can simply make a sturdier version of Lis and have it crawl up it’s tail and attack it’s eyes; it likely won’t kill it, but it should take it’s mind off us long enough to get out.”

“That might work,” Cereza nodded at Viola, and thought for a moment, “Maybe a combination of both? Viola, you could make a...Lis, was it? and distract the creature initially. While it’s distracted, we could make a break for a more open area and both of you could keep an eye on the beast in case it switches its attention back to us. Tierra, you go first and find a good spot to keep its attention without getting attacked yourself - you said you are good at hit and run tactics?”

At Tierra’s nod, she continued, “We need to keep it guessing and off-balance. It’s the only way we’ll have a chance against that tail, really. You focus on hit and run tactics, making sure to never attack from the same direction twice, while the rest of us get into a better position. That would give us the optimal chance of us all getting out. Once we’re all outside, we’ll find it’s weak spots and go from there.”

“Tierra, I’ll cover you with my Semblance while you hold its attention.” Argent offered.

“That probably won’t be necessary,” the cheetah fanus replied as she loaded up her dust canisters. “I make it my business to never be hit so it would probably be a waste of aura you can’t afford. I know you have more aura than most, but half aura is still half of your aura that should be saved for real need. Besides, you can always wait to use your semblance until I really need it, or does it have to stay on a person for a certain amount of time before being utilized?” The noirette readied her stance as she waited for the answer.

“I can use it whenever, the barrier sticks around for about fifteen minutes or whenever it takes more damage than it can withstand, whichever comes first. But like you said, I should hold onto my Semblance for now, just in case someone needs it, but I will help keep its attention. My ‘optimal position’, Cereza, is front and center.”

“You can attack it once we’re all out then. Now is the time for action.” Cereza told the silver haired young man. She gave a nod to the violet witch, “Whenever you’re ready, Viola.”

“Understood,” said the witch as she took one step in front of everyone and took one last deep breath. 

‘Lis...’ came the familiar catalyst that marked the beginning of many things. It marked her hair turning into a glowing white, as it began refusing to follow gravity and eerily floated around her face. It marked water pouring out of every orifice of her blade, it too refusing to follow gravity and seemingly coiling around the blade protectively as glowing white threads appeared within the water and placed themselves in an almost skeleton like fashion.

‘...let’s let loose.’

Suddenly bits of ice began to form at the ends of the serpent, initially as fragments that slowly came together in the form of a double edged blade curved at the tip on one end and a mask with 2 saber like fangs not too dissimilar to that of a grimm on the other end, the 2 sides connecting at the middle via an artificial spine connected by an aura column with spikes protruding outside of it’s watery body, forming one row of spikes on it’s artificial back.. 

Cereza made sure to press herself against the wall as the young woman worked, giving the shorter girl space to do whatever she needed. She drummed her fingers on the handle of Llaw Du in anticipation, making sure to wait until she was outside before she extended the long poleknife again.

‘Steady...’ thought Viola as she positioned the tip of the blade behind her body as the Grimms tail clawed at the edges of their cave, giving her allies a chance to see her creation in all its battle ready glory. 

Argent gripped Michael’s hilt and made sure Raphael was set firmly in place on his right arm, ready to move the moment everyone was clear of the tunnel.

The cheetah faunus waited behind the witch, crouched and ready. The snake was impressive, but she couldn’t let it distract her from the here and now.

The creature took a stance a real snake might do when preparing to attack, as the witch was patiently waiting for just the right…

‘NOW!’ a flick of her wrist sent the snake flying towards the Tail as it made another hole at the top of the cave. It collided with the tail and stuck to it upside down as the snake crawled without losing any speed towards the light that marked the beginning of the tunnel, and it’s mission.

An inhuman shriek marked the moment two creatures came face to face, as the creature's limbs moved away from the tunnel's entrance.

Right afterwards came Tierra, a flash of green behind her. The tawny-clothed girl jumped as soon as she was free of the tunnel, leaping upon the base of the beast’s tail and made her way up to the head, dodging the flailing tail that sought to sweep her off and slicing at its back as she went.  As she reached the neck, she slashed at its base. The Grimm howled and sent its tail to rid itself of the pestering thing while its spider-like forelimbs still grappled with the serpent, it’s small body and deceptive speed making it difficult for the beast to get a any semblance of a grip on it; the serpents spiky protrusions pointing downwards and carving a wound wherever it went was not doing it any favors either. As the tail came hurtling towards the lithe girl, Tierra embedded her pommel as far left as she could reach into its skull and flung herself over the shoulder of the beast, hanging there while the tail came down. When the tail retracted again the cheetah faunus used her pommels to climb up the rest of the skull, using her same hanging tactic to avoid other lashes of the tail and avoiding the great curling horns as the creature tossed its head back and forth. 

“Go,” muttered Viola in a faraway voice, focusing her attention on her serpent in order to increase it’s speed, power, reactions and aim, so they could all get out of the cave safely. 

Argent heard his partner telling them to go, a quick glance over at the currently white haired witch showed her deep in concentration. Trusting that she knew that this was the right time to move Argent dashed forward, straight at the Chimera.

Cereza followed the silver knight closely, separating from him as they exited the tunnel and extending Llaw Du once more with a flourish. She flicked her eyes around the crumbling ruin as the other two attacked the beast, trying to discern a viable plan of attack beyond ‘hit it until it dies’.

With the other two reaching the halfway point near the exit, Viola gave one last order to her pet, ‘Circle it!’, as she too took her leave from their temporary shelter. Wasting no time, the serpent’s spikes reverted back on its top side so it could move faster, and hopefully stay out of trouble till it’s next order. Speaking of standing out of trouble, it seems her cyberpunk ally had decided to observe the fight for now. Agreeing with her choice of position, Viola stopped next to her and resumed her focus on the serpent, who promptly went back to making a trench on the grimms skin. “See anything?” said the witch in a low drawl, her attention focused on her more familiar companion.

“It’s unarmoured on the back and underside,” Cereza replied, flicking her eyes between her fighting companions, the crumbling walls and the squat tower in one corner, “Though it looks like Tierra’s attack didn’t do much to the back. We need to restrict its movements more - now we’re far too open.”

“Restrict...movement...” paying attention to multiple things was not one of her strong suits, but what she heard was simple enough to understand, and her summon promptly responded, choosing one of the beasts undamaged left legs as it began to spin in a circle, its spikes acting like a glorified chainsaw as it was slowly severing the limbs top joint from the monster's body. 

Moving faster than most would expect from someone in armor, the silver haired knight ran directly under the monster's torso. He was nearly knocked over by one of the creature’s legs but he stepped out of the way just barely in time, he shifted Raphael into shotgun form and fired at point blank into one of the middle joints on the nearest leg. The blast didn’t do much damage but it was more than enough to knock the Chimera off balance for a moment, long enough for Argent to run out from under the beast’s torso and swing Michael at a lower joint on one of it’s back legs with as much force as he could muster.

Once on top, the noirette steadied herself on one of the horns and took a moment to judge her next move. 

“Go for the eyes!” Cereza shouted to the agile girl, realising that she was in a prime position to attack it, “Argent, see if we can herd it towards the tower, get it to collapse it on itself!”

She finally darted forward, planning on assisting Argent in cutting off the beast’s legs and herding it towards the weak structure. Swinging her tri-bladed poleknife at the nearest leg, the blonde twisted out of the way of the flailing tail as it whipped past her.

The only real weak spots she could see up here was the eyes, as Cereza had just suggested, and they were on opposite sides of the head.  And once she took out one eye, the ensuing panic to get her off would make it a near thing to get out alive and an impossibility to get the other one. She sighed and thought, ” Well, getting at least one eye would be better than getting none.” The lithe girl barrel-rolled to the right to avoid another tail swipe, slid down the side of its face, and pommel stabbed right next to the eye. Then Tierra used her other sword to swipe, brass punch, anything it could do to the eye. Seeing that it wasn’t quite working, she placed it into its sheath, extended her claws on her free hand and gouged at its eye until there was nothing left. The young woman pushed herself away from the creature, unsheathed her other hook sword once more and used her Dust to speed out of the creature’s limbs and to safety, tumbling a bit when she landed before getting back up for the next move.

As Tierra shredded the Chimera’s eye it began to backpedal, losing its footing as one leg is fired upon. The beast shuffled the other 3 on its left side to regain balance, narrowly avoiding the silver haired paladin’s blade. With an ungodly hiss, the amalgamous creature swung its neck down, sharp teeth gripping Cereza’s polearm.

The goat headed beast swung its head violently aside, dragging the weapon and its holder along behind. It violently shook the technophile back and forth for a few seconds, trying to tear the weapon from her grasp before electing instead to use her against her rapier wielding ally, releasing the tool from its jaws and sending the girl and her blade flying towards the white-haired witch.

Cereza clung to her weapon desperately as the monster shook  her around like a rag doll, knowing that if she lost Llaw Du again she’d be left with just her pistols. The blonde tried to find purchase on the ground, but her heeled boots weren’t exactly conducive to grounding herself and refusing to move, and when the creature finally released her weapon she was flung backwards. She crashed heavily into her white-haired companion, breaking the other girls focus as they tumbled across the broken stone-strewn courtyard. 

The Chimera slashed apart the fluid serpent, which refused to dodged without being told to. The beast then rapidly fled up onto the wall above the tunnel, as water and chunks of ice fell to the ground. It turned to face the pests for a moment, angry red light rising from its eye and the markings across its armored hide for a moment, before it turned away from them, scuttling around the wall and out of sight.

The hacker pushed herself off the shorter girl with a hurried apology, twisting her head to see where the monster was. It had disappeared in the short moment between her being flung away and hitting the ground, and she yelled to Argent and Tierra, “Which way did it go?”

 “Up the wall,”  the cheetah faunus said pointing.  “ And if it comes back, it’ll have the high ground to attack. I could go up alone, but I’m not sure if we can all get up there. I’ve never tried carrying one person while jetting , let alone three. Viola might be able to convince her grimmish snake to carry her up, but I’m not sure about you two.”

Grimmish snake.’ silently mouthed the witch, as she was taking the moment to dust herself off from the surprise crash. ‘Lis is much more beautiful than those jagged things, i mean sure she has spikes, sharp extremities, a mask like head and...mines prettier...’ she fumed internally as she went to rebuild her summon out of the ice that fell when the Grimm ascended.  

“It’ll have the advantage if we follow it up there as well, as that seriously restricts our movements. Shit.” Cereza cursed, looking around the ancient ruins. There wasn’t really much useful besides the half-rusted out trebuchet that was leaning against the wall beneath the one remaining rampart, and the blonde doubted any of the quartet could use it, not even to throw at the blasted thing.

“There is no need for foul language Miss Cereza,” said the witch, whose hair went back to violet, as she finished reassembling the snake. Said snake was now coiled around her waist with the head resting on her left shoulder, the spikes lying flat along the material of her skirt.

“What are you, my mother?” Cereza retorted to the other girl, “I think this is the perfect time for swearing.”

“...There is little need to follow a creature that wants us dead with all it’s might,” said the witch, deciding not to press the matter for now, “Let’s simply make a tactical retreat. It will either have to let us go or fight where it will be at a disadvantage.”

Argent smiled at his partner, his adrenaline was still pumping hard, so the smile was a little wider and fiercer than normal. “Good thinking Viola. It’s going to come back soon, so our best bet is to prepare for it.” With that he began ejecting the buckshot shells he had loaded in Raphael, before replacing them with solid slug rounds. For good measure he shifted Michael into revolver mode and replaced his spent rounds in that gun as well, when he finished loading them he returned both weapons to their melee modes. Then he started looking around their surroundings, his ears pricked for any sign of their enemy returning.

The blonde gripped Llaw Du a little bit tighter, the blades wiggling in response to the adrenaline currently rushing through her body as she tried to see if she could spot the monster again. “We need to stay away from anywhere it will have the advantage over us; that means the tower and walls. And we can’t retreat to the trees either, as that just gives it more places to hide. Until it comes out, we should probably just group up in the courtyard’s centre and wait for it to come to us. Backs together, facing outwards so we can see in all directions; what do you guys think?”

 “Do we have any other choice?”  The tawny-clothed girl exasperatedly asked.  “Since you let it get away, we can’t now follow it. And we can’t attack till it’s here. Ugh, I hate waiting for something to attack you. It’s the definition of being at a disadvantage. If there was only a way we could surprise it and even the odds.”

“Since I let it-” Cereza started hotly, but with a sharp breath in through her nose let the matter slide. It was frustrating, but now was not the time for arguments. Any problems between the four of them could be talked out logically and calmly after they were safe and had time to calm down.

“It’s only a disadvantage if we let it be, we need to take this time to think up a concrete plan to take this thing down, when it comes back we need to be ready.” Argent replied patiently. As he spoke he walked into the center of the courtyard area, and held his sword and shield at the ready.

Tierra sighed and joined Argent in the center, swords in hand, body poised, and eyes searching. It might have to come out first, but she was going to make sure it didn’t attack first.

Viola was also tempted to sigh, for the atmosphere was getting so tense she had to wonder if it would mess with her hair. Truthfully, she wasn’t happy with this arrangement anymore then they were, but her mother once assured her that it’s normal to be nervous, and confided to her the fact she worried all the time when the two of them were on patrols; her mother simply didn’t let it show to calm her down. It was an odd feeling, she realized, to be in her mother's spot, a fact made more apparent by the comment made by the high strung blond, but she’d just have to deal with it for now. 

“There really isn’t much to plan,” she said in a slower voice than normal, a trick her father taught her when talking to strangers to calm them down, while taking out a bottle of water from her purse, “It’s missing one eye, and most of its legs on one side are damaged, so it can’t charge us properly, nor can it track us properly. We simply need to take out the other eye, and from there on just strike a vital point.” Taking a small gulp of water from the bottle, she offered it to Cereza, hoping she would pass it along, “We’ll be fine,” she said towards Cereza, but she meant it for all of them.

The blonde took the proffered water bottle from Viola and took a mouthful, handing it off to the other side. She didn’t particularly mind who took it from her, but it was nice of the smaller girl to share when everyone was so tense. The hacker nodded to Viola, “Thanks. Look, I can’t think of anything beyond enraging it so much that it basically just charges us, and using Llaw Du to spear the blasted thing. But if we do that someone will have to provide a shield for me, since as you can see,” She wiggled the blades of her poleknife to catch their attention, “It doesn’t have anything to stop the beast from coming down the actual pole itself, and someone else will probably have to be on the back of it keeping it’s head out of the way. But to do that, we need to deal with that tech-forsaken tail first or they’ll just get skewered.”

Argent took the water bottle from Cereza and took a drink before passing the bottle to Tierra and speaking. “My Semblance is the ability to project a forcefield onto someone else, I will provide the shield you need.”

During this time Viola sat down on a relatively large slab of stone, eyes searching for the source of their distress as she ran her fingers through the only companion she knew for certain wouldn’t have a freakout, mindful not to cut herself on it’s spikes like she has done in the past. “Lis and I should be able to sever the tail, provided you can keep it occupied enough that it can’t bite Lis off without hurting itself,” if one looked closely they might have noticed an occasional white thread exiting her fingers, mending what cracks it could find in the serpent’s eerie form,

Tierra then put Sola back in its sheath, took the offered water bottle, and took a drink before giving back to Viola, saying,  “I could get on its back again. Just tell me the best way to distract its head and I’ll see what I can do. What I can think of is implanting one pommel in the middle of its face, try to use the hook of the other sword to strike its eye and top gums, then hold on tight as it tries to buck me off with its head.”

Upon hearing Tierra’s plan, Argent couldn’t help but smile. It was completely insane, but it just might work, his favorite kind of plan. “We’ll need some way to draw its attention to Cereza, if we can’t get it to charge her the whole plan will fail.”

 “More we need to get its attention towards Cereza than at her.” The cheetah faunus said as she grabbed Sola again. Then she thought of the beast’s throw, looked at Viola, and said,  “Could you control your snake from beside Cereza?”

“As long as it isn’t too far away I can order Lis just fine, and given we are suppose to draw it’s attention that shouldn’t be a problem,” replied Viola, taking the time to check the relic she picked up and making sure it was still strapped safely on her belt.

“Its horns are curled around its face like a rams, aren’t they?” Cereza asked, “You could hang onto those with your hook swords and brace your feet against its neck and get it to turn or whatever. Argent, you could be with Viola and I to help attract it - the bigger the group over here, the more likely it’s going to charge. Plus, I wouldn’t mind some help making sure Llaw Du doesn’t come sliding back on impact.”

“You can count on me.” The silver haired knight nodded to the hacker. Her plan made sense and his training had involved a lot about how to take a charge from a heavy opponent head on; it was, after all, a part of his fighting style. He could help her and therefore, in his mind at least, he pretty much had to help her. It didn’t even occur to him not to.

 “Your plan is feasible. Alright, we’ll do it your way then.” Cereza’s partner replied. She was a bit disappointed not to be able to help with any additional damage, but in the end defeating it was what counted, not how you did it. Well, except if you sacrificed virgins in order to ambush it or something like that.

Having had ample time to regroup, and after deciding the rookie hunters would not be attempting to pursue, the Chimera made its way to the ground around the curve of the watch tower. It lowered its body to the ground, tail curled safely at its rear and horns forward. It crept around the ancient tower, coming slowly into view, hissing loudly to draw their attention as it unfurled the scythe like blade on its tail. 

“Found it,” announced Viola as she rose from her artificial seat, not caring that the sound it made was enough of an indication. Changing her hair for what she hoped would be the last time today, the snake coiled around the rapier with it’s head on the tip, it’s spiky protrusions making the blade look more like a crystal mace. 

“Here it comes!” Cereza exclaimed as the creature reappeared. “We need to take out that tail before we can do anything, though. Viola, Tierra, can you at least get rid of the blade?”

“We’ll see,” was Violas short reply, since she needed to get her summon on the beast's back once more before she could do that. 

Slowly straightening the appendage and bringing it to rest between its horns, the monster charged the tightly knit quartet, burning red eyes set on the source of its aquatic nemesis.

 “On it,” the noirette replied. She pointed the pommels of Sola and Luna toward the ground and fired off the jets, using just enough force and on the correct angle to fly over the head and land on the tail. 

Argent saw where Tierra was aiming her jump and reacted quickly. He raised his left hand, and with a shimmer of silver a nearly imperceptible dome of energy formed above the leaping Faunus girl. She smashed into the shield and ricocheted to the ground with a cry of surprise. Argent ran through the dome and picked her up, before turning and running away from the charging Grimm. When they were out of reach he set her down. “What was that? Are you trying to kill yourself? Because that’s the only reason I can think of for you to jump onto that thing’s tail like that.”

Cereza and Viola couldn’t believe their eyes as the silver knight reacted before they even had time to blink and stopped Tierra from whatever foolhardy move she was going to make. As he came back, Cereza echoed his words with a slight hiss, “Next time, think before you go trying to kill yourself. Some of us are trying to get through this alive, you know.”

Tierra growled,  “I could have done it. I could have swung on the tail, rode it like a bull, and chopped its blade off.”

“And get yourself stabbed a million times!” Cereza interjected heatedly. She looked up at the beast, which was almost upon them. “We don’t have time to argue about this now - everybody scatter!”

The blonde dove to one side out of the charge line of the monster, hoping the others did so quick enough as well. Remembering the plan, Viola dove to the same side as the tall blonde, not minding where the beast’s attention would go. Glancing back over her shoulder, Cereza could just see the empty black hole where Tierra had gouged out the beast’s eye. By pure luck, the hacker and the witch had escaped to its blind side.

Argent grabbed the still prone and fuming Tierra’s hand and yanked her after him as he threw them both to the side, and out of the path of the Chimera’s charge. The silver haired knight rolled with his landing onto one knee, to meet the malevolent glare of the Grimm’s remaining eye.

As it pushed past the now separated quartet the  monstrous chimera took several additional steps, attempting to reach a safe distance before turning about.
Rising to full height and once more facing down the enemy, the creature curled its sickled tail safely behind its body and took stock of the young hunters. Watching them cautiously for a moment, it backed further away whilst letting out a low warning hiss, before swiftly turning and ascending the tower, disappearing over the top of the structure. A loud thud could be heard as it dropped to the ground on the other side, fleeing into the forest.

Viola blinked once, twice, a third time, and for the heck of it had Lis imitate a blink using the white threads located where the eyes would be on the mask, ”...I...well...did it...just...ditch us?”

Tierra could only share the water witch’s surprise as the cheetah faunus got up and brushed herself off.  “Are Grimm even allowed to do that? I thought they were suppose to stick around until their bitter end. No Grimm just leaves.”

“Yup...”

“...that...but...” realizing she was babbling, she took a moment to compose herself as the snake fell of the sword haphazardly. “Excuse me!,” she failed, miserably, “you do not just take a lady for a ride and DITCH her for the culminating point like some sort of discarded COMPOST left EXCREMENTED by a decrepit old ANIMAL!!!” she said, as her hair was doing it’s best gorgon impersonations.

Argent watched his partner explode with indignation with a kind of fascinated amusement. He was so engrossed in watching the normally overly composed girl go apeshit that he didn’t even notice when he started to snicker, and once he did recognise that the sound was coming from him he burst into laughter.

Cereza just about jumped a foot in the air as the seemingly composed girl beside her exploded into a rant. She started to speak, but didn’t get far before the silver knights laughter cut her off. “Well, at least-”

“And WHAT, pray tell, do you find so amusing about being DITCHED and IGNORED like an inedible piece of cuisine, CAREFULLY set for a grand feast of PAIN and SUFFERING  that shan’t be delivered because it’s being served to a gigantic HEAP OF NOTHING!!!”

“I find your reaction to be hilarious, we forced it to retreat and you’re acting like you got stood up on a date. We won, Viola, we were too strong for it to handle so it ran, some of the older Grimm are smart enough to know a losing fight when they see one. Now we can take our relics back to the cliffs and be done with it.” Argent pointed out, still smiling.

“I - Uh, I agree with Argent.” Cereza stated, though she wasn’t sure the violet teen heard her. She glanced at Tierra, her own partner, to see if she was just as angry about the whole situation as the other girl.

Tierra was just flabbergasted. She kept holding her swords, waiting for the Grimm to come back.  “How could it have just run away?

“Easy for you to say. I was keeping myself in check all this time, trying to avoid having those two more riled up than a Nightmare with a Hunter on its back, and now i just lost my one chance to vent some pent up frustration...at least you got to shoot it...” nonetheless, Argent’s calm demeanor did a lot to placate the witch, her hair receding back to it’s violet shade, some strands of hair falling on her face and eyes.

“If you still feel that way tomorrow I’m sure we can talk to one of the professors to arrange a spar for the two of us, you can work your frustration out then, how does that sound?”

“Unnecessary, since I should be fine by then...but I appreciate it nonetheless.”

“That’s part of what partners are for, friends too.”

‘Friends,’ the beginning of a genuine smile began to grace her lips, barely noticeable through the hair currently covering her face. She seemed to be making a lot of those recently, some of which were admittedly kind of odd, like “LAN!” she said suddenly. 

“Who is Lan?” Cereza asked, slinging her weapon across her shoulders once more. 

“The lemur faunus, we left her with the other 3 against the Nightmare,” said Viola, trying to direct her gaze at cereza but realized her hair was in the way, so she began messily moving the loose strands behind her head..

“Well, I’m sure she’s fine. She has three people to help her, and I’m sure they found somewhere to defend themselves or disappear into. Maybe they got lucky and the Nightmare ran away from them too?” She checked that the sheath was still attached to her belt; it was a little dusty but otherwise fine. “Well, we have our relics and we are currently not in danger of being trampled or skewered. All in favour of a tactical retreat to the cliff top, say aye.”

A very dry glare was Violas response, one that promised all the pain she didn’t get to give to a certain Grimm.

Seeing Viola’s face, the blonde hastily added, “If they don’t turn up within an hour, we can go back and find them. Tierra will probably know the way, since she led us here. But as it is, they’re somewhere in this forest and we have no clue - we might end up killing ourselves looking for them, which would defeat the purpose.”

Taking the moment to process what the blond said, Viola directed her gaze at the forest, looking nowhere and everywhere at the same time, almost hoping for a sign to pinpoint her potential colleagues location.

“I don’t plan on abandoning people who might need help. I realize that there’s a chance we reach them and they’ll have the Nightmare handled, but there’s also a chance that they won’t.”

“No,” Viola spoke, not taking her eyes away from the forest. “Although she only said that to placate me, she is right in the sense that we have no real way of finding them since we don’t know where they are. We do, however, know where they will go. Let’s head to the clifftop, from there we can ask the teachers on their status and go back if they have not returned. But,” she directed her gaze towards Cereza, “Since we are all in good health from not having to fight that thing, we’re making a run for it.” It was clear she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“We’ll just have to trust that your friend will make it out alright then.” Argent nodded his acceptance of his partner’s decision.

Tierra, who had finally composed herself replied,  “Besides, from the top of the hill, it probably would be easier to see where they are.” Then the noirette sheathed Sola and Luna and said,  “Alright then, last one up the cliff is a rotten Nevermore egg. I’ll even not use my semblance to give you guys a chance.” Then she broke out into a dead run towards the cliff, not waiting for a response.

Argent blinked at the cheetah Faunus, who had just broken into a run, as the silver knight put away his weapons. He felt his smile widen, then, with a quick glance at the remaining two, he took off in pursuit.

Cereza watched the duo run away and muttered to the remaining member of the quartet, “...Did they really just run full tilt through a Grimm infested forest with no plan and no backup? Midas, lend me your patience to deal with irrational fools.” She heaved a sigh and glanced at the teen witch. “I’m not really that interested in winning a leg race. Shall we partner up and make sure to stay alive?”

“...One moment please,” She said as she grabbed a handful of her hair with her right hand and let it turn as pale as the moon. The snake began to shed its bony structure, leaving it behind like a snake would it’s skin. Crouching down, Viola let it coil around her left arm once more, its head resting on her left shoulder. “The ice will slow me down due to the weight,” she offered as an explanation.

“Fair enough.” Cereza shrugged, hefting Llaw Du into a position that was much more suited for running. She’d put it away, but its hook was currently occupied by the relic Tierra and herself had chosen. “We off then?”

“Quite,” was her reply as they began to jog back to Beacon, hoping their more energetic partners wouldn’t cause trouble on the way.
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The One Who Sleeps

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