A pack of Beowolves emerged from the forest line. The prowling creatures inched forward as they readied their weapons, branches snapping beneath their claw limbs. She counted just under a dozen, the pack led by a single alpha, the bony armor sticking out of its pitch black skin and noticeably larger size giving away its status.
The alpha slowly rose to a stand, staring down at them with crimson eyes that pulsed with an ominous glow.
This was hardly the worse type of Grimm to come across. Even with this horrible team up they should be able to handle the creatures.
"We should-"
A swirl of rose shot past Weiss before she could voice her plan just as the alpha opened its maw, a guttural roar filling the air.
Weiss grimaced. Why in the world did she have to get stuck with such an immature dolt? She was supposed to team up with Pyrrha Nikos not some brat who couldn't be bothered to take a moment to plan their approach.
At their leader's roar the pack broke in half, one group converging on Ruby who had just severed the head of one of the Beowolves, while the rest charged her on all fours.
One foot behind the other. Back straight. Aura already active and at full strength.
Weiss flipped away from the first to lunge at her, at the same time forming a glyph beneath her feet that instantly turned black, the clock hands within them rapidly spinning. As another prepared to swipe at her with its claws, she shot forward, the world blurring around her. With no armor in the way, her sudden velocity, and careful positioning of Myrtenaster's thin but razor sharp tip, she sliced clean through their necks, both dropping dead on the spot.
She quickly turned back around to the pack, forced to backflip to avoid another of the relentless creatures.
A glyph formed beneath her heels, turning black once more, this one keeping in her place as she crouched. A pair of Beowolves leaped at her and she shot forward, slipping between their swipes and running her previous attacker through.
The force of her stab carried her and the already dissipating corpse a good distance from the group before she yanked it free.
The rest lost their zeal, prowling back near their Alpha, who unlike the others, had been hanging near the forest line to observe the battle. It must've been an old one to understand the importance of gathering information.
Either way, they were perfectly lined up for her to handle them in one go.
She turned Myrtenaster's dust chamber and readied a wide swing as flames gathered along the edge of her blade.
She swun-
A bullet cracked the bone plating around the alpha's head, a speeding cloud of roses following a moment later. Hurriedly shifting her stance, Weiss sent the carefully calculated wave of flames upwards, barely managing to avoid hitting that reckless brat. Luckily the flames were just shy of hitting the trees, a forest fire avoided.
Ruby, stopping just short of the alpha, missed the opening her shot created, scythe scrapping at the bone around its maw. Forced to raise her scythe to fend off a swipe from the creature, she was sent sliding back beside Weiss. And, before either of them could attack, the alpha howled, it and the rest of the pack retreating back into the forest.
They stood side by side, staring after the creatures.
"And that's a win for us!" Ruby suddenly cheered, scythe put away far too quickly in this situation. "High-five!"
Weiss glared at her. "What is wrong with you?!"
"Huh?"
"In what way does this qualify as a win? The part where you rushed in without a plan? The part where you got in my way? Or maybe it's the part where you gave the Grimm a chance to get away?"
"Hey, you don't need to get so angry." Ruby said, hand dropping. "They were just Beowolves, we can-"
"Just Beowolves? Do you think this is some kind of game? They're Creatures of Grimm and every fight they survive just makes them more dangerous but I guess its too much to expect a reckless child to be aware of that simple fact."
"Well at least I did something instead of just standing around when they were about to attack us!" Ruby yelled back.
"I was accessing the situation." Weiss groaned, nursing her forehead. "Why did I have to end up with you?"
"Its not like I want to be paired up with you either princess." The childish excuse of a Beacon student crossed her arms with a huff, looking away. Would you look at that? They actually agreed on something. Pyrrha would've been the ideal partner but even that faunus would've been better. At least he seemed more qualified to be here.
The sooner those two showed up, the better.
XOXO
Yin pulled his dual saber out from the corpse of the final Beowolf, its dissipating corpses slumping onto the ground.
"There's a crack in the bone around its head." Pyrrha pointed out as she stepped up beside him, a handful of fading beowolves behind her. This type of Grimm thrived in great numbers but faced with so few of them there had been no need for them to stick together to take them down.
"Must've been fleeing from a fight." He said. The shallow cut he'd noticed on its already faded neck had been fresh.
"Ruby and Weiss?" He nodded along with her assumption, the both of them continuing their trek east where the Grimm had come from.
Trees and bushes all around. Sunlight limited by the abundance of greenery above. All sorts of minor scents and sounds brushing his senses. It'd been a long time since he'd been out in the field.
He glanced to his side, briefly meeting Pyrrha's eyes. She turned her attention ahead, weapons ready as she scanned the foliage, undeterred by the limited light.
It'd been even longer since he'd been out in the field alongside another he was expected to fight alongside.
"You seem well adjusted to our situation." Pyrrha said, a sideways glance already back on him.
"The forests beyond Vale's walls aren't too different from this. Back at Signal they brought us out there to get used to Grimm." He said. "What about you? You don't seem rattled by any of this."
"Similar trips were conducted by my teachers back at Sanctum as well. Though we've never held any extended exercises like this. I must admit, I'm not sure I properly prepared for this."
While he wasn't completely versed on every curriculum there was, he expected as much. Heavily supervised encounters when small groups of Grimm and a hands off test like this were leagues apart. No normal primary academy would sign off on subjecting students to the harsher sides of being a huntsmen so early on in their training.
"Don't worry about it." He patted his vest with his left hand. "My supplies are your supplies, partner. If you need something just say the word."
Pyrrha smiled. "Thank-"
"Well at least I did something instead of just standing around when they were about to attack us!" A shout came from ahead.
This was the first he was hearing it raised to such a degree but there was no mistaking that voice for anyone aside from Ruby.
Pyrrha have him a nod, the both of them picking up their pace. The distant arguing continued as they drew closer before they finally broke free of the forest line. The base of the mountain ranged they'd agreed to head towards awaited them, the grassy grounds giving way to a more rock filled dirt.
But before all that were Ruby and Weiss, their moods sour.
"Glad to see the two of you are getting along." Yin stated dryly.
"Yin! Pyrrha!" Ruby dropped her crossed arms, grinning as she ran up to them. Weiss clicked her tongue, his comment earning him a sharp glare, though she did follow after Ruby at a much more leisurely pace. "You guys are a pair right? That means our plan worked."
"Fortune was on our side." Pyrrha said quickly, smiling down at the girl. Its not like he planned on pointing out her stunt with that weapon of hers but he'd take that as a sign not to mention it at all. Weiss had come to them looking to pair up with Pyrrha after all. Letting her in on that would stir up unnecessary tension. "I assume those Beowolves we ran into were fleeing from the two of you?"
"Yeah! We-"
"This brat's recklessness let them get away before I could finish them off." Weiss cut her off, a deep frown spread across her face.
"Hey! Maybe if you'd taken care of your half faster I wouldn't have needed to help you."
"Please. As if I would need the assistance of someone who doesn't use their head."
"Hmph, if you need to think so much to take down a few Beowolves maybe you're the problem." Ruby muttered.
"Excuse me? I'll have you know-"
This pair was a stark contrast to him and Pyrrha, the arguing girls mixing like oil and water.
"Perhaps we should carry out the rest of the plan?" Pyrrha suggested, her smile strained in the face of the two's spat. Ruby huffed but didn't put up any protest while Weiss looked ready to keep the argument going, or at least her complaints and criticisms of Ruby going.
"If we're being graded on teamwork, time wasted arguing won't be a good look for us." Yin added for good measure.
Weiss did as expected, reluctantly nodding along.
Together they fully left behind the forest line, walking alongside the base of the craggy cliffs that made up the edge of the mountain range. He had no issue with the silence between them but there was a certain tenson in the air too difficult to miss. A far cry from the alert silence he and Pyrrha had shared.
It didn't take long for them to come across their target, the four of them standing outside the mouth of a cave.
"There's no telling how deep this thing goes or if there are Grimm hiding in it." Weiss pointed out, reservations rearing their head now they were actually face to face with a possible place to spend the night. Unlike him, who could see inside the narrow tunnel without issue, she and the others were on guard.
"Ooo, you can leave this to me guys." Ruby pulled out her scroll and activated its flashlight, inching into the cave ahead of them. "With my semblance I can be in out quick."
"That's fine with me. The less time I spend with you the better."
"I don't think any of us should go anywhere on our own." Pyrrha said as soon as Weiss finished her snide remark, a look sent his way. A not so subtle way to make her idea known.
"I'm the one with night vision. Best if I go with so nothing gets the drop on you." He said as he stepped up beside Ruby.
"Alright. We'll be back in no time." Ruby was quick to take the lead, moving ahead despite the possible dangers that lurked within. He followed after her, Pyrrha calling out for them to be careful as they braved the depths.
XOXO
A/N: When it comes to weapon forms, when I'm writing I just change terms as they change forms. So if one moment you see Yin's weapon go from a staff to dual saber, that's to signify whether or not the bladed ends are out. For Pyrrha is would be like short sword to javelin and her other forms. Just keep that in mind. Action flowed a lot better than way than pointing out every single instance they changed their weapon's form with unneeded detail.