I do not own RWBY or any other copyright content. All rights to it go to Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth, and their original owners. All OCs are owned by myself or my friends.
Writing credits go to Uzumaki Ricky, Monsterhuntergod, Sharad the hedgehog, and Traines, as well as Kima Whitehawk Jordan on Facebook. And a very special shoutout and thank you to 501awezome and Mega Ghost on Fanfiction.Net for all your support.
Tiger King and Dragon Queen
Volume 1 Chapter 19: Duos of Destiny Part 1
"Glynda. What did you just witness?" Ozpin asked, trying to handle the daze of what he had just witnessed.
"One of the Knights of Light… has awakened…" Glynda uttered in sheer disbelief.
"Thank the heavens. I thought I had gone mad." Ozpin said, letting out a deep sigh of relief.
"Ozpin… we need to keep a close eye on Mr. Arc from this point on." Glynda replied, her eyes narrowing as she adopted a contemplative look.
"Please be more subtle with this one. We don't want another casualty like the last Knight we had in our possession." Ozpin said with a sigh.
Glynda sighed and nodded. "Agreed…"
Meanwhile: Back in the Emerald Forest
A black haired, green gi clad boy made the landing better than most, using his weapons to reduce the speed of his fall. The tree's thick bowels and bark gave his blades good purchase. With a land that most certainly will hurt the knees, he stood up and brushed himself off. The forest was surprisingly calm, despite the gothic darkness choking around him. However, this eerie calm was broken quite swiftly.
"SOMEONE STUPID BREAK MY FALL!!!!" A loud, shrill female voice called out.
"Is that…" The boy said in stunned surprise as something sent him face first into the ground.
"Owwwwie…! That hurt…!" A voice very to the young man and familiar and distinctly feminine voice uttered.
The girl, very short even for her age, shook around her bright orange hair. Clad in a white shirt, blue jacket and pink skirt, she stood out greatly. Her electric blue eyes scanned her surroundings for signs of life. Little did she know that life wasn't exactly where she'd expect.
"Nora? What are you doing here?" The boy said from under her butt.
"Oh! Hi, Ren! Sorry for landing on top of you." The girl, now identified as Nora, replied chipperly.
"Can you please get your butt off my head?" Ren asked, his voice muffled by dirt and leaves.
"Right! Sorry." Nora replied, getting off of her childhood friend and putting her hand out to help him up.
"Well… I guess we are back to looking out for each other again…" Ren said, rubbing the back of his head, now throbbing in pain.
Nora gave a bit of a sweet smile as she hugged the tall, green clad boy. "There's no one I'd trust more." She replied with a big smile, lifting him up off the ground with the hug.
"Nora… Ribs… Cracking…" Ren wheezed through the girl's bear hug.
"Sorry!" Nora replied quickly, dropping Ren to the forest floor.
"Nora, you're going to kill me, one of these…" Ren said, but stopped as he heard movement. Fast movement.
Screaming out of the darkness came several blurred white spinning balls. Pushing Nora out of the way, Ren then leapt over each of the spinning balls in acrobatic fashion. Landing after a long leaping flip, he saw two of them rush back into the darkness, likely for another charge, while the third slammed into one of the thick trees. Ground to a halt, the ball uncurled to reveal a Grimm in the shape of a curve tusked, armored black boar. Its beady red eyes glared and let out a snort, unleashing a black huff of smoke.
"Boarbatusks…" Ren muttered.
"Alright piggies, time to meet the big bad wolf!" Nora yelled, unfurling from her back a massive silver hammer.
Drawing his weapons, Ren prepared himself for battle as Nora launched herself into the fray. The Boarbatusk against the tree curled up and did another rolling attack as it launched itself at her. Swinging her hammer with great force, the orange haired girl ballpark smashed the boar Grimm back, sending it flying into the ground. As it tried to recover, a hail of gunfire hit it from the front as it turned and glared.
Ren, his bladed machine pistols at the ready, was laying down covering fire for Nora to distract it. Looking back up too late, Nora reared back her hammer and swung with full force, an explosive grenade round expelled from one end to add to the concussive force of the swing. The hammer slammed down onto the boar Grimm's head, cratering it into the ground as it squealed in agony. Landing, Nora gave a proud smile as she hefted her weapon.
"That's one down! Where're the other two?" The excitable redhead replied chipperly, peering into the darkness of the tree line with one hand above her eyes.
"Nora, be careful." Ren warned, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of trouble.
"Ren, 'Careful' is my middle name! Never did forgive mom for that…" Nora replied excitedly.
As soon as Nora said this, a rotating black and white ball of porcine death came screaming at her out of the darkness from behind. Acting quickly, Ren pushed her out of the way and jumped aside to avoid the hit as the hell beast hog went rolling back into the darkness. Flipping backwards, Ren had to jump up to avoid a second ball of death pork, leaving him up in the air as the first came rocketing at him again. Seeing her partner and best friend in trouble, Nora hopped onto the head of her hammer and launched herself at the two with an explosive blast from it.
Whipping her hammer out from under her, Nora slammed it into the demonic murder pig, slamming it back down onto the ground. Ren then flipped, pressing his feet against one of the ends of the head of her hammer. With an explosively amplified swing, Nora launched Ren down at the demon hog as he brought forth his blades. Using the added momentum from Nora's swing, he stabbed into the underbelly of the death swine with all of his strength, penetrating through it before slicing it in half.
Landing on his feet with Nora landing behind him, the two stood back-to-back as they watched for any signs of the last Boarbatusk. Finally, when it came roaring out of the shadows of the underbrush like a porcine wheel out of hell, Nora swung with all her strength to launch it back into a tree. The tree cracked and bent upon impact as Ren leaped up, flipping onto the head of Nora's hammer. Performing a final explosive swing, Nora swung with full force to launch her partner and best friend at the demon murder pig.
Readying his blades, Ren swung as the boar tried to shake itself off to recover. However, its recovery was too late as it looked up. Slashing with his blades, Ren carved clean through the monstrous swine and bent tree trunk behind it, killing it while cutting down the tree as it fell with a crash as he came skidding to a halt in a crouched position.
"Nora? Are you alright?" Ren asked his partner.
"I'm fine, Ren. Not a scratch on me." Nora replied reassuringly, dusting herself off.
"That's good. Let's get moving before more show up." Ren said, a hint of haste creeping through his voice.
"Wait for me, Ren!" Nora called out to her friend, following behind him.
In Another Part of the Forest
Jaune and Pyrrha made their way slowly through the forest. The only reason they went that slow was Jaune being… less than acrobatic. Or stable on his feet. Or really being of much good in a hiking situation in general. As he tripped over his fifth rock, Jaune began to grumble.
"Rotten, good for nothing trails…" Jaune growled in pain as he shook himself off.
"Don't get so frustrated, Jaune. We're currently making good progress and the test doesn't have a time limit." Pyrrha pointed out.
"I would prefer to give the Grimm less time to try and eat me." Jaune answered, rubbing his sore knees from his numerous falls.
"Nonsense. When you accidentally used… whatever that was earlier, you easily damaged a Grimm while stopping it in its tracks." Pyrrha pointed out encouragingly.
"So that was my Semblance, right?" Jaune asked, as if having a glimmer of hope.
"Well… potentially. But I've never seen a Semblance like that before. Elemental Semblances usually focus on only one element, not two." Pyrrha explained.
"Finally. Things are coming up Arc." Jaune said chipperly, performing a fist pump..
Pyrrha giggled a bit. "Don't get too far ahead of yourself, Jaune. We still need to figure out what that was if it wasn't a Semblance. As well as actually finish the test." The red-haired champion told her partner with a smile.
"Somehow you have a way of cheering me up and tearing me down in the same sentence…" Jaune said in a dejected, confused tone.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. I'm simply trying to make sure we keep our wits about us." The Mistralian champion replied apologetically.
"Alright then… what's your favorite color?" Jaune asked, trying to make small talk the only way he knew how. Badly.
Pyrrha giggled in amusement at the bad attempt at sparking a conversation. "Jaune, you don't have to try so hard. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other once we pass and get into Beacon. But I do appreciate the attempt. Thank you." She told him with a smile.
"A girl that hasn't completely thrown me in the trash for trying to talk to her… did that fall kill me and I went to a Worthy Realm?" Jaune muttered to himself like a moron, instantly getting a laugh out of Pyrrha.
Meanwhile: Deeper in the Forest
"Can you tell me about your dog?" Zhan asked Azura as he cut through the brush.
"No." Azura answered simply.
"Can you tell me about your family?" Zhan asked, avoiding a flying stick.
"No." Azura answered again.
"Can you tell me literally anything?" Zhan asked.
"Yes." Azura answered as he readied to break a rock.
"And what is that?" Zhan asked.
"I do not want to tell you anything about me." Azura said before breaking the rock with a Fire Dust-enhanced strike.
"God, you Zodiacs are so insufferably stubborn." Zhan groaned.
Azura sighed. "Why could I not have run into Yang or Ruby first? Someone who already relatively knows me so that I do not have to share personal information…?" He asked in exasperation.
"So, are they your girlfriends or something?" Zhan asked, raising an eyebrow at the mention of the two names.
Azura blushed a bit. "Ruby is just a friend, and Yang is not my girlfriend!" He snapped out in embarrassment.
"Oh, so Yang is your girlfriend. What's she like?" Zhan asked.
Azura blushed more. "I… it is not like that, okay? She is just a friend… a very sweet… caring… beautiful friend…" Azura tried to explain, starting to daze off a bit.
"Oh, so you're in the denial phase of your relationship, I see. You do know the more you deny she's your girlfriend, the more people believe she is, right?" Zhan said in an inquisitive tone.
Azura glared darkly and viciously at Zhan as he used his thumb to push on the guard of his ōdachi and push it a bit out of the hilt.
"Touchy, I see. Sheesh. And here I thought my Aunt Belera had a rough time showing feelings…" Zhan muttered, "What's next, you gonna get offended about your Aunt Petunia?"
Azura slowly drew his blade at that, making Zhan realize the truth. "You have an Aunt Petunia, don't you?"
Azura nodded, slowly sheathing his blade and taking a deep breath.
"Look, if we're gonna be partners, at least we can make this not stupidly awkward. Kinda hard to pass team tests if you're just gonna be tall, dark, and gruesome on me." Zhan explained.
Azura nodded in response. "Fair enough. What would you like to know?" He replied, steeling himself to answer some questions properly.
"Got any hobbies?" Zhan asked, going for a stab in the dark.
"Oh, just reading. And cooking, playing guitar, motorcycles. And I also sing a little." Azura replied nonchalantly.
"Watch wrestling?" Zhan asked simply.
Azura smirked a bit. "What Zodiac doesn't enjoy a contact sport that involves combat?"
"Dude, did you catch the Harvest Moon Havoc pay per view?" Zhan asked excitedly.
Azura chuckled in response. "Oh, that was one for the record books! That Underworld Chamber match was brutal! Thoughts on The Reaper sending Blade to the Underworld with that Last Call off the top rope?"
"Before or after the new guy Barbel the Destructor showed up to crash the party?" Zhan asked.
"Before, of course! Honestly, before that part, that match was one of the closest in Reaper's career." Azura noted with a smile.
"Did you hear they were going to ban the use of sledgehammers cause of that match…" Zhan said before he got cut off.
"Really? After a man died accidentally being shoved off the top of the Chamber a decade ago, that of all things almost causes a ban?" Azura asked in a deadpan tone.
"Hey, if you can't take a sledgehammer to the face with Aura up, then you're in the wrong line of work. Imagine if you or I couldn't take an Ursa hit?" Zhan explained.
"Amen to that. You need to be able to roll with the punches and deal with occupational hazards." Azura noted in agreement.
In Another Part of the Forest
Ember and Rena continued their hike through the forest. However, Grimm didn't cause them any trouble because both of them were stone quiet. This was mostly, however, due to the fact Rena wasn't exactly the talking type.
"What's it like up in Atlas?" Ember asked to break the silence.
"Cold and weak." Rena simply replied.
"We get cold in Vacuo, but only at night. Winters just get dry…" Ember said, trying to spark conversation.
"Of course. That is how deserts work, after all." Rena replied.
"You're not exactly a conversationalist…" Ember muttered.
"Conversation can wait until after we pass, soldier." Rena replied with an eye roll.
"There's more to life than fighting, you know." Ember said, caught off guard at that.
Rena, seeing the shy, short girl's point, sighed. "Do you know of any good books…?" She asked her partner.
"Have you ever read the History of Imperial Power series?" Ember asked with a gulp.
Rena seemed visibly surprised at the question. "You're a fan of that series too?" The soldier girl asked in shock.
"Well yeah. The Sultan of Vacuo and his family are very well loved. He was giving out the first and second volumes of this series a few years back at the Festival of Beginnings…" Ember nervously explained.
Rena groaned. "I remember that! I tried to get time off to go so that I could pick up a signed copy of each, but I just missed it the day they ran out!" She admitted in a surprising amount of frustration.
"I have an extra set back home if you want them…" Ember asked, only for Rena to cut her off.
"I would very much appreciate that, but are you sure? Signed copies of that book series are hard to come by." Rena admitted, visibly uncertain.
"I picked up two sets, one of them for my cousin. She… she passed two years ago in a Grimm attack. I know however she would want someone to be able to read them and not collect dust." Ember explained.
Rena was surprised but bowed a bit. "I humbly accept… Miss Hedda." She replied, giving a small smile.
"Right. Well… let's get through this test first, I guess…" Ember answered nervously, a bit surprised on the turn around.
Rena nodded. "Agreed. Watch my six, okay?" She told her partner, keeping her eyes peeled on the front.
"What does that mean?" Ember nervously asked.
Rena looked back at her partner. "It means that I'm trusting you to watch my back until we get somewhere safe while I watch yours." She explained.
"Oh… got it." Ember said, looking behind her as the two made their way further into the forest.
Meanwhile: with Yang and Blake
"Well, this is the most boring test of all time…" Yang groaned as she and the ninja walked through the forest, trying to find the ruins.
"In this kind of situation, boring is good. Boring means less of a chance of getting killed before we can even get into Beacon." Blake replied stoically.
"I don't know, it's kinda fun fighting Grimm. I don't get why Azu freezes up so badly sometimes. He's strong enough to not worry…" Yang said before Blake cut her off.
Blake was surprised to hear this. "Wait… he's afraid of the Grimm?" She asked the blonde pugilist in disbelief.
"Don't tell Azura I said that. He gets… touchy… when people find out something that would make him seem weak…" Yang said, feeling very much like an idiot.
"There's nothing weak about being afraid. Only about not standing up and fighting in spite of that fear." Blake replied somberly.
"You sound like you speak from experience, Miss Belladonna." Yang said, raising her eyebrow.
"More than I'd ever like to admit…" "Blake admitted.
"Don't worry. I'm not one to pry." Yang said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Blake gave a small smile. "Thank you. So how did you and the young daimyō meet?" Blake asked, surprising Yang with what she called Azura.
"Why did you call him a daimyō?" Yang asked.
"Well, based on what I know of his father before his passing, Lord Azolum was the Sōtora clan's head military officer as their Clan Shōgun. Due to that, each of his children would have the rank of Daimyō by association with him. Likely with each inheriting a castle town and having to develop their own courts upon coming of age." Blake explained, trying to simplify the specifics of Zodiac samurai culture.
"And you know all of this, why??" Yang asked.
"I read. A lot." Blake simply said, trying to change the subject.
"Alright. Well, I ran into his little sister at Signal Academy and helped her get back to her family because she got lost. I don't blame her, that place is a damn maze at the best of times. Once I brought her back, that's when we met." Yang said simply.
"I see. So how would you describe your relationship and intentions with him? Are you two simply friends or… something more?" Blake asked while trying to not pry too deeply.
"My turn to change the subject." Yang simply answered, giving Blake a look.
"Ah. So, it's complicated. Alright then, tell me about your family." Blake replied, respecting Yang's privacy.
"Well let's start with my sister…" Yang began and swiftly trailed off into telling the black and white clad ninja girl all about her small, bizarre family.
With Ruby and Weiss
"Are we there yet?" Ruby groaned, panting as she cut through what felt like the thousandth tree in their way.
"No." Weiss replied, mildly annoyed.
"Well, I'd like to go on record as I wish I was. Gods, this is worse than the time Azura had Seamus lay on me with pushups…" Ruby groaned, putting a hand on her increasingly sore lower back.
"We'll get there when we get there. Can you please act your age instead of acting like a little girl on a long road trip?" Weiss groaned in frustration.
"Maybe you can put that fancy pigsticker to some use and do some of the work clearing the way." Ruby shot back.
Weiss gasped, aghast at Ruby's words. "How dare you! My Myrtenaster is no 'fancy pigsticker'!"
"Well, it's certainly not good for a whole lot sitting on your hip either." Ruby said, putting her hands on her hips.
Weiss sighed. "Very well. I'll assist you so that you can get some rest." She replied, drawing Myrtenaster before using it to manifest multiple Glyphs.
As soon as the Glyphs manifested, she sent them spinning into the brush. The glyphs carved and cut through the brush and trees like large thrown sawblades, carving a path for her and her partner slowly and carefully.
"So, if you just create a bunch of fancy sawblades, what's the point of the sword?" Ruby asked as the two girls walked through the wake of shrubbery defilement.
"It acts as a good conduit for using my Glyphs. They're much harder to do otherwise and require more concentration." Weiss replied as she continued walking while using the Glyphs.
"So, it's like a magic wand?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side.
Weiss sighed. "Yes, Ruby. It's like a magic wand. A magic wand that can stab someone's liver out." She replied sardonically.
"I have a wizard partner!!" Ruby yelled, pulling Weiss into a bear hug, which immediately began crushing the poor girl.
"Too… tight…! Release me…! You… dolt…!" Weiss gasped out, trying to focus on her Glyphs.
"Oh sorry, Weiss. Continue cursing the shrubbery with saw blades." Ruby said sheepishly, letting go of the white clad girl.
Weiss sighed and grumbled as she continued using her Semblance to carve a path for them. Soon, they made it to an open clearing as Weiss made the Glyphs disappear. Looking around, they tried to figure out which way to go next.
"Alright. Time to check from the treetops again!" Ruby yelled.
"You are not using me as a human projectile again!" Weiss snapped at her younger partner.
"Thank you for volunteering!" Ruby yelled as she grabbed Weiss's hips.
"Release me at once, you…" Weiss began to say before a twig snapped behind them. "What was that…?"
"Protect me, wizard!" Ruby yelled, holding Weiss out in front of her by her hips.
Slinking from the shallows of a nearby small lake came a long, needle-like skull. Clad in the bone armor down its long back, the creature was six feet tall and walked on two splayed legs with eerily hand-like feet with four fingers, each tipped in brutal claws. As it waddled out of the forest, they got a better look at its rear. Its thick barrel body was attached to a long, whip-like tail, equipped with barbed spikes that flexed up and down naturally. At its tail was a red tipped, wicked barb, as the creature eagerly wagged it back and forth for them to see. A long, snake-like tongue flitted from its thin lips, as two red sunken eyes stared at them.
"Weiss… what is that?" Ruby asked, still holding her.
"Th… that's a Charybdis…!" Weiss muttered in slight shock.
Ruby steeled herself, tightening her grip on Weiss's hips. "Then it's time we turn that thing into a Charybdon't." Ruby said sternly and readied a throwing stance.
"Wait… what…?" Weiss asked in confusion.
However, the poor girl was cut off by Ruby chucking her straight at the monster. Causing Weiss to let out a most unladylike scream of sheer terror.
Meanwhile: With Blake and Yang
As the black and yellow clad duo trudged through the forest, Yang stopped. Something felt… off. This change, however, was quickly noticed by Blake.
"Is something wrong, Yang?" Blake asked in slight concern.
"I sensed something… Like my baby sister tried to make a pun…" Yang said in confusion as tears formed around her eyes.
"Are you going to be okay?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm so proud of her!" Yang yelled in tearful pride.
Blake rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you are. Do you need a minute to compose yourself?" Blake asked a bit sarcastically.
"No, no… I'm good." Yang said, wiping the tears with a handkerchief.
Before either girl could say anything else, they heard the sound of feet hitting the forest floor. Snarling and squealing, several squat, two legged creatures came from the underbrush. Similar in body plan to the Charybdis, it was far more heavily built. Thick black and white spikes sprung from their back, as smashed, thick maws of jagged teeth snarled at them.
"Oh goody, just what a girl wants to see. Creeps." Yang said sarcastically.
"Would you prefer it if it was a pack of your nobleman boyfriend?" Blake sarcastically joked.
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND; YOU SMUT READING NINJA!!!" Yang snapped.
"How dare you! It's not smut! It's erotic literature!" Blake snapped back, drawing her weapons.
"IT'S STILL PORN THAT YOU READ IN FRONT OF MY INNOCENT BABY SISTER!!!" Yang yelled as she popped out her Ember Celica.
"I didn't read it out loud…" Blake muttered sheepishly.
"IT'S STILL PORN!" Yang yelled, pointing at the black clad pervert.
"Can we please focus on defeating the Grimm!?" Blake asked in annoyance.
As the Creeps snarled and squealed, the girls prepared for combat. The Grimm began closing in as the two got ready to fight.
Meanwhile: Another Part of the Forest
The forest was calm, the same kind of gothic calm it had for millennia. However, to all the woodland creatures and dark hell spawn that lurked in the forest, that calm was about to be violently broken. Even the babbling brook was not safe as several sets of Aura chains, tipped with hooked sickles, shot ethereally from a young Tenrō woman. The blades found purchase into the various overhanging trees. However, due to the spin she had gained on the dive, Sapphire was rapidly turned upside down and tangled in her own created chains. Dangling and bouncing up and down into the creek, her face partially going into the water each time.
"If I could walk on water…" The sound of singing echoing from up the creek. "Well, gliding really. But hey who's counting."
A light skinned young man with a set of goggles on his head, wearing a dark blue colored lab coat trimmed for combat and a grayish blue hoodie, skated along the water like he was on ice or roller skates. He had a medium build, black hair, and aquamarine-colored eyes. He stood at average height for a young man, barely taller than Yang. On his back was a pair of hook swords modified for using Dust, the two blades crossed over his back in an x shape. He skated along the water with a smile on his face as he headed down the brook towards her. Stopping in front of her, he fell into the water with a great splash, his back hitting the rocky ground beneath the water.
"Ow…" He groaned lightly, looking up at the busty blue beauty before him.
"Apologies, but can you help a girl out?" Sapphire asked, her face getting splashed with water from the ripples he kicked up.
"Where did you get blue chains?" He asked her, curious and amazed.
"I made them… now can you please break them and get me out. It's kinda embarrassing really, my own damn chains tangling me up…" Sapphire asked, grumbling the whole way.
"Wait… if you made them… can't you unmake them?" He asked in confusion.
"FUCK!!" Sapphire yelled out in utter annoyance, mentally kicking herself over forgetting the most basic part of her Semblance.
With a simple thought, she undid her tangle of change… only to be dunked face first into the brook. Surfacing from the water and now completely soaked, Sapphire crawled onto the back and began to try and dry off, starting by shaking her entire body off like a dog.
"Fuck me, it's my own damn Semblance…" She grumbled, ringing out her hair.
"To be fair, we were just dropped from who knows how far up out of an airship…" The young man reminded her, trying to make her feel better as his eyes looked anywhere but at her own.
"I'm a bloody Zodiac princess. I could swing a sword before I could walk, and I forget how my own damn Semblance that I've had since I was eight works. Gods, the only good thing is Sylver didn't see that, he'd never let me live it down." She ranted, kicking a rock into the forest hard.
"The adrenaline probably made you forget. My name's Torrent Lyndon, by the way." The young man, now identified as Torrent, said, introducing himself.
"Water themed name, and we met in a brook. How quaint." She sighed, "Sapphire, and it's impolite to not look at someone when you're talking to them."
"I'm, uh… looking around to see if there are any Grimm nearby… yeah, that's it…" He replied nervously, looking away to try to sell his deception.
"Unless there is a Grimm on me right now, I find that very hard to believe." She said, putting a hand on her hip. "Gods, these weighted training clothes feel like you're wearing cinder blocks when wet."
At that, with almost zero situational awareness, she began to aggressively strip off her clothes, throwing them onto logs and rocks so they could dry while leaving herself in only her thick bra and panties. This immediately made Torrent's face blush red as a ripened strawberry as he looked away.
"Oh, come on, you big baby. Have you never seen a girl before?" Sapphire asked.
"I… Isn't it i-impolite to st-stare at a girl when she's… n-naked…?" The blue-eyed boy stuttered out nervously.
"I'm a Tenrō. I've seen men, women and everything in between naked. I really don't care if you look at me." She said, rolling her eyes as if somehow Torrent was being incredibly childish.
Out of the water shambled several large black masses. Thickly muscled, these Grimm stood upright like men. However, when the two got a better look at them, they found them with overly large, gorilla-like arms, sickly webbed legs, plate-like black scales, and white and red faces. Extendable maws lunged forward on jointed jaws, revealing row upon row of needle-like, razor sharp teeth. Two beady, dead stared red orbs "looked" at them, as the Grimm shambled onto dry land.
"Great… Vodyanoy Grimm…" Torrent sighed, drawing his hook swords from his back.
"First time crushing Vodyanoy skulls with these thighs." Sapphire said, stretching a bit to prepare herself.
Meanwhile: The Northern Part of the Forest
A young man with gray hair and black eyes was soaring towards a chasm. He had a muscular, but not overly bulky build, stood at six feet tall, and wore a basic muscle shirt, shorts, and crocks. Behind him in his hands him was a large, bulky polearm in the vague shape of a lance. Held aloft by a thick metal haft, it was centered around a revolver cylinder with small Dust rockets chambered. A thick, almost vaguely cannon-like barrel let out an echoing roar as he fired another round to keep him aloft from its shockwave. The blade, looking more like a short sword welded to the front, swung about as he performed his explosion hops. However, he soon pulled the trigger, and all it did was cause a small clicking noise.
"Crap… out of ammo. Should probably reload." He replied simply, pulling out Dust rockets to reload the revolver chambers on his weapon as he began to fall.
As he rapidly began to descend, face first towards the chasm, the young man raised an eyebrow. He was descending faster than he expected. However, to his then bemused surprise, his descent began to slow. That before he stopped following, just before his head was to be crushed like a watermelon. Looking towards his waist, he noticed something pink and slimy wrapped around him. Was that a tongue?
"What the…?" The young man asked before being cut off.
Looking up, he saw that the tongue was attached to a purple haired, lilac eyed girl in tattered clothes. She wore a tattered skirt, a normal t-shirt, a pair of boots with fur around the tops where the feet slip in, and a tattered cape with furry shoulder pads. She wore simple armor, worn from use and made of scrap metal. At her hip was a set of strange whips with claw-like tips that were also made of scrap metal.
"... You do know I could've survived that fall, right? I'm basically immune to fall damage." Lance replied to the strange girl.
"Thour thelcome." The girl answered, her speech muddled from her tongue holding him up.
"Thank you, toad girl." He said thankfully.
"That thid thu thay? Thi than thop thu." The girl in a far angrier tone asked.
"Right, right. Sorry. Frog girl?" He asked,
"That's thetter…" She said, gently letting him down to the ground and dropping down after him, her tongue snapping back into her mouth effortlessly.
"My name's Lance. Lance Ryokugyū. How do you not choke on your tongue like that?" The boy, now identified as Lance, said, introducing himself.
"Mad skills." She answered in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry again about the 'toad' thing again. Didn't mean to offend." He told her, hoping he didn't come across as racist.
"It's fine. At least you apologize. Unlike a lot of people." She answered, muttering the last part.
"So do you tongue a lot of people like that?" Lance asked, genuinely curious.
"WHAT THE FUCK, BRO!?" She snapped out in utter shock and revulsion at his statement.
"What? You tongued me. You grabbed me with your tongue." Lance replied in confusion.
"THAT IS NOT WHAT I DID, YOU PERVERT!!" She yelled at him, pointing her weapons at him.
"What's perverted about tonguing?" The young lance wielder asked, genuinely confused.
"IT'S… what was that noise?" She said, before snapping her head toward several small caves.
Screaming out of the caves came bird winged Grimm, humanoid in form, of the feminine variety. Little bone armor clad them, as jet black talons from raptorine feet bared at their landlocked prey. Red eyes squinted and zoned in on them before letting out baneful shrieks, and each member of this impromptu flock went for a dive towards them.
"Harpies, kill the pervert first!" The girl yelled, pointing to Lance.
"I have a name, you know! You should give me yours before we die!" Lance replied, drawing his gun lance.
"Fuschia Branwen." She sighed out.
"Huh. Neat. Who're the Branwen's?" Lance replied, reloading his weapon with Dust rockets.
"Why did I get stuck with an idiot Zodiac…?" She grumbled, bracing for the Grimm's dive.
Meanwhile: Eastern Part of the Forest
From the vastness of the sky, a lanky, fit boy barreled down from the sky, with a very bored expression on his face. Sometimes he wondered why he even tried to go through with stuff like this, in the vein hope of finding a worthy challenger. The only worthy challenger he'd ever fought his own age was his cousin Azura. Another dark and spooky forest? Where he was from in Mistral, that was the norm. Even the ever-present threat of the ground impacting upon his face did little to sway his mirthful mood.
With an almighty crash, the boy slammed into the ground like an artillery round going off. Dust and dirt flew everywhere, carpeting the nearby area. As the cloud of kicked up sediment dissipated, what was left was a hole eerily similar to the boy's profile. With one hand, and then another, the boy in near impeccable form pulled himself out, brushed himself off, and looked at his surroundings.
'Alright, I'm here. Now where are the damn ruins so I can go and kill some Grimm for fun?' He thought.
"That's quite the landing. Never seen a strategy like that one." A voice quietly called out from behind him.
"What the…! How long were you there?" The boy asked, jumping a bit in surprise.
"The whole time. I followed your trajectory as you were falling." The voice replied.
"God, you sound like Azura when he was tutoring me in math." He grumbled as he turned to look at the source of the voice.
The boy before him had brown hair, brown eyes, and dark skin. He wore very casual clothes in the form of a long sleeve open shirt, shorts, and sandals, the kind of look typically seen on Vacuans. He wielded a scimitar-shaped broadsword that he kept sheathed on his back with a hilt designed for Dust cartridges. Overall, he seemed very unassuming.
"So why did you follow me?" The boy asked, looking over the very plain boy before him.
"Eh, you seemed pretty interesting, so I wanted to partner up." The boy said in reply with a shrug.
"Well wish granted. By the rules, we are partners." The lanky lad said.
"Then I guess we should exchange names? What's your name?" The boy asked, unsure of how to handle the situation.
"Mido Calico." He said simply.
"Nice. My name's Oren. Nice to meet you." He replied, giving a small smile.
"Quiet." Mido said, turning around to look into the forest as he heard a sound on the wind.
The sound on the wind was the flapping of wings. Born aloft came small corvusform Grimm, unmistakable as Nevermores. Avian Grimm were not the most numerous type, and Mido knew them well. However, soon louder, chunkier wingbeats could be heard. Some larger ones, the size of small buses, were also joining the cloud of their smaller kin.
"A murder of Nevermores. Haven't dealt with that in a hot minute." Mido said, folding his arms.
"What do we do…?" Oren asked, a bit nervous.
"We kill them. Want to race to see who can kill the most the fastest?" Mido answered.
Nodding, Oren drew his broadsword with a small smile. "You're on." He replied as the two boys charged into the fray.
Meanwhile: Southern Part of the Forest
Sylver looked around the clearing he wandered into. He'd never admit to anyone openly, but he was hopelessly lost. All the trees, bushes, bunny rabbits, beetles, and clearings looked the same. Even calling upon his survival training of leaving marks to keep track of where he was didn't help. He never found any mark he made.
"Well, this just isn't my day. Dad never told me that initiation involved navigation. Useless old bastard messing up my groove… Why do I hear someone screaming?" Sylver said, before his ears perked up, and looked up to the sky.
"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL!? WHY AM I HERE!? I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS! WHY DID MY UNCLES SIGN ME UP FOR THIS!?" A feminine voice shrieked quickly in terror as she fell.
Sylver stared up into the sky as his eyes locked on her, getting a good look at the rapidly descending girl heading towards the clearing. She had medium length wisteria purple hair, daffodil yellow eyes, and a simple white combat skirt with white shoes. However, looking out of place was a pair of spiked purple gauntlets on her hands as her weapons.
As she rocketed towards the ground, Sylver simply stepped forward, put out his arms, and soon she landed in them. Bending his knees with the momentum to make the landing softer, he soon stood up again with a small smirk.
"Still got it." He slyly said to himself. "Alright rocket girl, you okay?"
"I… I'm fine…" She nervously replied, trembling in terror from the drop.
"First time jumping out of an airship?" Sylver asked, raising his eyebrow curiously.
"I didn't think I'd ever have to…" She meekly responded as he put her down. "Thank you."
"All part of the job." Sylver answered. "Sylver."
"W-Wisteria W-Wilde…" She replied nervously.
"What is with me attracting floral themed females?" Sylver muttered to himself.
Sylver, however, then grit his teeth as a horrid shrill buzz hit his sensitive ears. Even worse, it was growing stronger. Fighting through the pain, he turned to see a swarm of Warrior Lancers. No doubt a hive was nearby, and this party was sent to investigate.
"My least favorite Grimm. Alright, Wisteria. We…" Sylver said, only to be cut off.
"EEEEIYAAAAAAAH!" Wisteria screamed in sheer terror as she fell over, passed out.
"This is going to be a long day…" Sylver sighed as he readied his claymore for the swarm.
To Be Continued…