After few minutes of me apologizing to an indignant and unless I was mistaken, very much embarrassed Huntress, the two of us stepped out into a wide open clearing, at the middle of which was a decidedly ancient piece of architecture. Looks like… Mistral style columns.

Can't see anyone else here. Something tells me that we didn't get here first, not with the extra time we spent doubling back around to make sure the Giant Nevermore wasn't following us.

"I guess this is it." Ruby piped up by my side as we made our way towards the dilapidated structure.

"Certainly looks like it." I agreed calmly, the picture of ease itself.

Externally anyway.

Internally however?

Well…

CODE RED I REPEAT CODE RED!

What's the situation?

We appear to be conversing with a teenage girl sir.

Mother of God! Critical thinking, status report!

We're holding up for now cap'n but if we keep getting thrown into the deep end like this I cannae expect her to hold out.

What about our standard strategies for this situation?

Well sir they were only intended to last for a few minutes at best, long enough for us to subtly run in the other direction at first opportunity.

And?

We are going to be partnered with this girl for the next four years. The strategy is no longer tenable.

Damnation!

Incoming obstacle dead ahead.

All hands, Full Reverse now!

I stopped just before I managed to walk myself straight into one of the ruined columns and had to fight the urge to sigh as I made my way around it.

Honestly I am all over the place right now.

Okay then, let's see what we have in the way of relics.

And behind column number one we have…

"Chess pieces?" I said bemused, seeing a series of different oversized game pieces sitting atop a series of separate raised platforms. "Not what first comes to mind when one thinks relic." I commented, flicking my gaze back to Ruby.

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, but hey at least it'll be easy to carry." She replied, joining me in front of the relics.

Okay let's see what we have here.

One black king piece.

Two black rook pieces.

Two white rook pieces.

Two white bishop pieces.

And two white knight pieces.

Now, which one to choose?

This could be a defining moment that directly influences the rest of our time here. So it stands to reason that we must carefully examine our various options.

"How about this one?" Ruby asked, bouncing one of the white knight pieces in her hands.

Or we could just choose one at random and hope for the best, that works too. I shrugged, chuckling lightly. "Sure." I agreed, my partner quickly tucking the piece away…somewhere…within her skirt.

Some kind of invisible pocket perhaps, blending in with the fabric of the clothing?

Eh.

Steps one to three of the plan all done and dusted.

Now all that's left is for Ruby and I to traverse back through the forest, make our way back up to the top of the cliff and it would be over, initiation complete just like that.

The rustle of flora being pushed aside pricked my ears and I spun to face the source of the disturbance, Divinus Arcus blurring into my hands, both arms of the bow fully extended, arrow waiting to be drawn by my free hand.

I absently noted that Ruby had blurred around just as I had, possibly even faster due to her incredible speed and was levelling the collapsed form of her scythe like some kind of chunky bolt action rifle.

"I still say we should have kept going north." The familiar voice of Weiss Schnee called out facing behind her. "We would have found the temple by now if we did." Weiss finished, stepping out into the clearing in her somehow still spotless outfit, yet to see the temple ahead of her.

"We are going north." A droll voice replied behind her, an audible sigh of exasperation following it. The foliage parted once more and the predatory stalk of the girl with the black bow on her head, looking less than pleased with her choice of partner. "And look at that, it seems like we found the temple." The girl in black added, the slight inflection in her tone suggesting that she was taking a small pleasure in proving her partner wrong.

Weiss spun around turning to face towards the temple and her face flushed a bright embarrassed red as she spotted me standing there.

What's she so embarrassed about?

Wait is this about the thing in the locker room?

Still?

Honestly how long is she going to hold onto that?

Ruby started waving enthusiastically besides me at the two girls as they entered. "Hi Weiss, Hi Blake! Welcome to the temple!" She cheered, throwing out her arms.

I looked at Ruby surprised for a moment. "You know the girl with the bow?" I asked her quietly, trying to draw any further attention to myself as the two huntresses approached us.

I didn't think someone as innocent to the world as Ruby could have known someone as…I hesitated.

It's not that this Blake person is necessarily bad, but rather that she had come to terms with some of the realities of this world. That sometimes bad things happen to people. That all too often the worst evils this world has to offer are not Grimm but rather other people. All a Grimm can do is kill you. People are far more vindictive.

I let out a breath and shook myself, forcing myself to relax. Blake may have witnessed those things, true. But that does not make her a bad person. Until I see proof of her being such an individual, I should still strive to treat her as anyone else.

Ruby looked at me blankly for a moment before she seemed to realise what I was asking. "Oh, I met her last night in the hall before we all went to bed." She said honestly before wincing as she seemed to remember something. "Although that may have been mostly due to Yang dragging me over there."

I snorted at that. Now that was an experience I had been more than familiar with through my own siblings. "Sisters." I said commiserating, nodding in agreement.

Ruby looked surprised at that. "You have a sister?" She asked sounding shocked.

I shook my head at that. "Not sister, sisters, plural." I clarified, hanging my head slightly. "Seven in total."

"Seven!?" Ruby exclaimed, drawing a few strange looks from Weiss and Blake as they approached. "You poor, poor man." She said finally, patting me on the back in an attempt of compassion.

"I take it these are the relics?" Blake's voice cut in, indicating one of the chess pieces remaining on the pedestals.

I shrugged. "I guess so." I replied, honestly the sharp yellow eyes of the girl in black lasering in on me. "Just pick one up and then head on back to the top of the cliff."

Weiss stepped forward, her white heels clicking distinctively on the stone of the temple's floor and grabbed one of the pieces stuffing it into her pocket. "Well then, time to return to Bea…"

I saw Blake's bow twitch slightly before she turned to face the forest once more, one hand going back to grab at her sheathed sword, looking to be some kind of oversized machete with some kind of overly long fabric extending from the hilt at first glance, although the trigger within the hilt suggested some ranged capabilities as well.

It was then that I heard the crash of something breaking through the underbrush and I turned to face it as well, one eye flicking towards Blake appraisingly.

She heard that from this far away?

Damn, that's pretty good.

Question is, was it just natural ability or was her Semblance giving her a little push? That's the thing about Semblances, you never know what you're getting yourself into.

I went to pull an arrow from my quiver before another sound reached my ears, one that seemed to contradict the monstrous roars approaching us. Squeals of joy and excitement.

Now who do I know who would make that sound?

The sound of a loud explosion filled the air.

Well that narrows it down.

I stopped reaching back for the arrow and motioned for Blake to stop as well. "Don't worry, they're friendly." I said calmly, even as trees were ripped out of the ground by the force of whatever was approaching.

Suddenly something broke free of the dense growth of forest and entered the clearing surrounding the temple, a large Ursa up on its hind legs, foreclaws slashing away at anything that got nearby.

Ruby turned to stare at me. "Uh, is that supposed to be on our side?" The young Huntress asked hesitantly, waiting for my reaction.

Before I could reply a loud explosion followed by what appeared to be a blast of pink electricity erupting from behind the Ursa's back appeared. "Yee-ha!" A boisterous cry let out out of sight, hidden by the Grimm's form.

I bit back a snort of laughter. I knew that voice.

This was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back and the Grimm dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, the person who had been riding on the back of it executing a perfect rolling dismount before turning around, looking utterly disappointed that her impromptu ride was over. "Aww. It's broken." Nora let out despondently before dashing back over to her now deceased form of transport, idly letting out an "ew" of disgust as the Grimm slowly began to break down.

Someone hurdled the rear of the dead Grimm and suddenly Ren appeared before us, bent over and gasping, sweat pouring off of him, using one of the Ursa's ivory quills to support himself. I'm guessing that somebody had to follow our wayward Grimm rider on foot. "Nora," Ren began before stopping to heave in some more air; "Please… don't ever do that again."

Unfortunately for Ren, Nora wasn't there anymore. Nora had instead dashed over to the temple, where the remaining chess pieces were waiting, before stopping entranced by the remaining white rook piece, lifting it up from the pedestal.

Then she started singing, balancing the rook piece as she did so. "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" She sung loudly moving about without a care in the world.

"NORA!" Ren roared at her, the sugar-fuelled berserker halting mid-song at her partner's interruption. "Coming Ren!" Nora called back brightly, proceeding to skip her way back to the still clearly exhausted Ren.

I felt someone tug at my sleeve and I turned to see Ruby staring at me, what was most likely supposed to be a scowl directed toward me, although all she achieved was a very cute looking pout instead. "How come you didn't call her out on riding the Grimm?"

I rose an eyebrow at that. "Ruby there is absolutely nothing wrong with riding a Grimm," I started before raising a finger to cut off her reply, "provided that you can kill it when the ride ends, instead of just angering it and making it attack you from on high." I finished, narrowing my eyes pointedly at my partner, an unsaid 'just like you did' evident from my look.

Ruby chuckled nervously in response, going to reply before spotting something over my shoulder, her eyes widening in shock. "Yang!?" She yelped aloud, one finger pointing over my shoulder behind me.

I spun on my heel to face where Ruby was pointing just in time for a yellow blur to collide with me, sending me tumbling across the crumbling stone floor of the temple.

I let out a groan. "Ow." I don't know what I've done today to suddenly become some kind of fast moving blur magnet, but so far I'm two for two. Thankfully, this time I learnt my lesson.

Before I tried moving anywhere I opened my eyes.

And I met a set of startled lilac eyes staring back at me.

I felt a brow raise quizzically, my head still dizzy from my impromptu spin across the stones. Those look familiar.

Wait, what did Ruby yell out before?

Clarity struck.

"So is colliding with other people at high speeds a family thing or are you just having an off day?" I asked dryly, looking up at Yang as she flushed and scrambled to her feet.

I got up a bit slower myself, my back letting out a loud crack as I did so. Wait a second. What threw her over here?

I turned back to where Yang had hurtled from just in time to see Pyrrha clear the forest at a breakneck pace leaping the last bush before continuing to sprint forward, a sword in her hand and her shield strapped to her other arm.

And then the tree's behind her proceeded to do their best impression of exploding, fragmenting as they were flung in the air leaving a sight far more intimidating than a few stray Beowolves in its wake.

"Oh come on, a Deathstalker?" I let out with a groan, turning towards Yang. "Where in God's name did you find a Deathstalker? They hibernate in caves during the day."

Heavily armoured carapace that can resist almost all forms of damage, prehensile tail that can stab through a foot of steel like it was tin foil, and to top it all off, two pincers that are more than capable of cutting a person in half if you let them.

Not fun, let me tell you.

Yang chuckled nervously, her hand going up to scratch the back of her head in a way I realise now Ruby must have learnt from her. "I may have punched an Ursa into the cave and accidentally woke it up."

I felt one of my eyebrows twitch dangerously at that, even as Ruby sighed in exasperation at her sister's antics.

But enough time for that.

I manipulated the buttons on Divinus Arcus' grip, an arrow extending from the quiver only to be snatched by my hand. Time to buy some breathing room.

"Pyrrha!" I called out to the running huntress as she hurdled one of the pincers as it lunged at her, rolling under the opposite one as it tried to collect her, her eyes catching mine and widening. I pulled the arrow back taut on the bow string, the arrow head glowing brightly as my Aura surged through it. Primed. "Duck!" I roared out.

I released the bowstring and the arrow was sent soaring through the air, Pyrrha diving under the shot before it slammed into the Death Stalker's head.

The giant Grimm let out a squeal of agony as the arrow's payload exploded as if a newborn star had been born before us, light so bright in its intensity that it was painful to gaze at from a distance.

Nora let out a loud 'ooh' as she watched on. "A Morningstar charge!" Nora nodded appreciating, even going so far as to give a light clap. "Excellent choice!"

I turned to face the others, the expression on my face completely serious. "That'll buy us some time, but Deathstalker's don't need their eyes to track us. Their sense of smell is damn near perfect. As soon as it's adjusted it'll be on us again in no time at all."

Pyrrha having picked herself up from the ground and taken a place by my side, nodding thankfully for my assistance opened her mouth to speak. "What's our plan then?"

Yang's voice called out at that, walking back from the podiums tossing a white chess piece into the air idly as she did so before stowing it away in a pocket as she reached us. "Well we've got what we came here to get didn't we? Let's just head back to the cliff."

Ruby nodded resolutely, supporting her sisters' suggestion. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artefact and make our way back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

Well said.

As if to provide further reinforcement to Ruby's statement, a familiar squawking cry filled the air.

I bit back a curse.

Seriously, can't this damn bird take a hint already!

"Time we left." Ren said firmly before he started sprinting back towards the safety of the tree line so as to break the Nevermore's line of sight.

I shared a look with Ruby before we both started sprinting for the trees, back towards the cliffs our initiation had started on.

Let's finish this.

We broke through the tree line, the immense derelict ruins that led to the cliff standing dead ahead of us, when a monstrous shadow flew over us, temporarily blotting out the sun.

As one we all ran forward taking cover in the crumbling ruins before we stopped, making sure that all of us we're still here, still safe.

All we've got to do is make it across the bridge and we're home free.

I looked up to see the Nevermore soar forward, before perching itself atop the highest point of the structure on the other side of the bridge, looking down upon us and giving a victorious cry.

Well, there goes that plan.

Yang scowled, looking up at the bird of prey as it continued to scan the ruins for us. "Well that's great." She complained shaking her head.

The sound of trees being ripped out of the ground and a chittering roar sounded behind us and I turned just to see the Deathstalker that I had previously blinded slam through the trees that had previously served as our cover.

And when it rains it pours.

"And it's time we were somewhere else!" I said loudly, sprinting away from the anvil of the Deathstalker towards the hammer of the Nevermore.

The Nevermore's four red eyes narrowed at us and it lifted itself up from its perch, readying to attack.

"Nora!" Ren's voice called out behind me. "Distract it!"

I looked back to see Nora break out of cover, hurdling a barrage of razor sharp feathers launched by the Nevermore before she reached behind her back pulling out a grenade launcher.

A grenade launcher made by Weyland the Smith's daughter.

Oh, I do not envy that Grimm.

Nora unleashed an arsenal of attacks at the Nevermore, which if my eyes didn't deceive came complete with giant pink hearts embossed on the rounds which slammed into the Nevermore and detonated in a conflagration of pink explosions. The monster roared in anger before quickly deciding that discretion was the better part of valour and flying out of Nora's range.

"Okay let's stick with the plan." I said aloud to the others as we grew closer to the bridge.

"Do we even have a plan?" Weiss asked with a huff as she gracefully spun out of the path of a flung feather as it impaled the patch of battered stone she had previously been standing on, the Nevermore back to harassing us from afar once more.

"Kill it before it kills us?" Ruby suggested hesitantly, her red cape fluttering as she ran beside me.

"I like that plan!" Yang said with a grin before throwing a look over her shoulder and frowning as she looked back at the Deathstalker. "Keep going, I'll catch up." She called out before she turned and flung herself back at the armoured Grimm, her gauntleted fist knocking the beast back a step, buying her new partner Pyrrha some time to recover as Ren exploited the opportunity if the loud screech it gave off was any hint.

We made it onto the bridge the Deathstalker giving an indignant shriek as we escaped it, its cumbersome form unable to follow after us as the Giant Nevermore…

I frowned.

Was not firing feathers at us anymore.

In all the confusion. I'd lost track of the blasted thing.

Not good.

As if to confirm my thoughts through the glint of the blazing sun I caught sight of our misplaced monster, it's wings tucked in, its beak extended as it moved forward to…

Understanding dawned.

"Incoming!" I roared pumping my legs faster, grabbing Weiss and Ruby and throwing them forward before diving forward myself just as the beast charged like a battering ram through the ancient bridge creating a massive gap between the two sides.

Our group had been separated by the Nevermore's impromptu charge.

On one side, the side approaching the cliff there was Myself, Ruby, Weiss, Ren and Nora.

On the remaining side, the side which had an angry Deathstalker at the other end and a crumbling bridge beneath them stood Yang, Blake and Pyrrha.

I pulled three arrows from my quiver at once launching them at the retreating Nevermore, even as Ruby pinged high calibre rounds off of its hardened feathers.

Damn that things tough.

"Jaune!" I heard Ren call out and I turned to see him gesture towards the group trying to get around the Deathstalker and get back onto solid ground. "You three peep it occupied, Nora and I will go help the others."

At that I saw Nora manipulate her weapon and what was once a grenade launcher was now a full on two handed Warhammer.

Definitely Weyland's daughter alright.

Nora ran forward and jumped before twisting in mid air and slamming her hammer down with a crash, the bridge flinging the clearly prepared Ren into the action his two machine pistols up and blazing at the armoured Grimm which flinched away from the sudden assault.

Then, quick as a blink, Nora placed the head of her hammer at her feet and stood on it before presumably pulling a trigger and launching herself forward with a familiar pink explosion.

I turned and ran for the tower seeking a higher vantage point, harrying the Grimm with potshots as I moved, reminding it that I was here, trying to do my best to be the most annoying gnat I could be so as to prevent the Nevermore from attacking the group still trapped on the bridge.

I manipulated the buttons on Divinus Arcus' grip and pulled the selected arrow out, pulling the bowstring back to full draw.

This is going to hurt, you great, feathery asshole.

I flared my Aura and the concoction within the arrowhead glowed an ominous red before I launched it at the Giant Nevermore, who promptly flew under it.

Son of a…

Wait is that Blake?

Sure enough, our mysterious woman in black was swinging under the bridge from what I had previously thought to be nothing more than a decorative ribbon attached to her weapon, but was quite clearly more than that before landing atop the Nevermore's head. She unleashed a flurry of strikes at it, running down the beast's back, still attacking as she did so before leaping off and landing lightly next to us.

The flying Grimm flew off into the distance once more, circling around to approach us again.

"It's tougher than it looks." Blake informed us her eyes remaining focused on the Grimm that by my eyes at least had failed to suffer anything worse than a few deep scratches from her assault.

No kidding.

I bit back a curse as I saw the Giant Nevermore's wings fold in once more as it prepared for another battering charge. "Don't hold back!" I yelled, firing arrows one after the other at the approaching brute.

Arrows, pistols bullets, high calibre rounds and gleaming blue beams were launched at the monstrous bird as it corkscrewed dodging most of the incoming fire and outright ignoring the rest before it slammed into the columns below our feet, sending the building that had been serving as our footing crashing down to the misty valley below.

Which is why I am so very glad at how utterly ridiculous hunter training makes things like falling to your doom on a collapsing building a small trivialities in the grand scheme of things.

We moved, clambering up the descending masonry as we sought stable ground, Ruby making use of the massive recoil of her weapon to force herself higher, Weiss making use of solid platforms she could conjure in mid-air to jump even higher while Blake chose to simple ignore gravity as she ran up a piece of vertical stone before leaping up.

I on the other hand? I suppose I could have gotten up by myself.

But on the other hand…

I pressed a specific sequence on the bow's hilt and pulled the arrow that extended out from the quiver, pulling back the drawstring and aiming carefully.

Where's a good vantage point?

Nope.

Too low.

Too exposed.

Not exposed enough.

There we go.

I fired and the arrow soared out, a length of cable trailing out begind it before it slammed into the highest point of the tower, anchoring itself before retracting rapidly, pulling me into the air before detaching as I reached it, allowing me to land firmly atop the tower.

Two can play that game asshole.

I manipulated the bow grip and a handful of arrows extended, waiting to be drawn.

You may have dodged one, but a whole bushel of Prometheus arrows is going to be a different story.

I fired them one after the other at the Nevermore as it circled around above me, the mighty Grimm letting out pained screeches as explosions of fire rang out around it, one particularly well aimed shot bouncing off the beast's forehead.

Okay that's step one done, I've got it's attention.

What the hell was step two again?

I pulled back my the final arrow in my hand and realised it was different than the ones I had fired in my recent barrage and felt a grin spread across my face as I remembered.

Smile for the camera.

I fired the Morningstar arrow and caught it directly in the centre of all four of its crimson eyes, the beast giving off a terrible screech as it did so, veering off to the side, blinded.

But not for long.

Time to make the most of it.

Flicking my wrist Divinus Arcus collapsed from a bow into a sword once more, while my other hand drew Crochea Mors from its sheathe.

God I better not miss.

I started sprinting for the side of the tower and dived off, throwing myself towards the ground blades drawn back to strike and then the beast was below me, at the perfect time.

The Nevermore roared in agony as my blades sunk into its back, trying to do its best to shake me loose. But with the swords acting as a grip I was able to cling on to the flailing Grimm.

Okay Jaune, you're now on the back of the blinded Giant Nevermore as it sails through the air, hundreds of feet above the ground, which has already proved to be to hardy to take out with a regular swing of a sword.

What next?

I scanned the horizon looking for something to give me an idea when I caught sight of the sheer cliff wall and a thought popped into my head.

Why don't I just crash it into the wall?

I know better than most how much crashing face first into a wall feels.

And when you've got as much momentum as Feathers here has going?

Somebody's going to get hurt.

Something tells me it's not going to be the inanimate cliff.

Alright, plan set, crash this big bastard into the cliff.

Now then…how am I supposed to steer this thing?

I steadied my feet on the Nevermore's back, centring myself before I yanked to the left with my impaled blades.

Typically, the bloody Grimm decided to veer in the other direction.

Take two.

I sawed the blades to the right this time, the massive bird giving a pained cry before turning towards the left, back towards the cliff.

Now we're getting somewhere.

Suddenly the Giant Nevermore shook in mid-air before corkscrewing, leaving me dangling by my swords as it flew upside down.

"That all you got!?" I roared at the Grimm, ensuring that it was still on a collision course with the cliff with a few choice wrenches of my blades.

And then I was falling, a blade having come loose from the Nevermore's back and I just managed to tuck into a roll as I hit the rundown stone of the roof, my head spinning slightly from the suddenness.

BOOM

A pained cry filled the air after the air shaking boom, and I found myself grinning at the thought of the Giant Nevermore slamming into the cliff.

Shake that off bird-brain.

I raised my head just in time to see the blasted bird land on the building by the wall and roar at me.

"Oh come on." I swore under my breath, reaching back for another arrow, "What the hell is this thing made of?"

"Move!" A voice commanded from behind me.

I looked back at where Weiss was zooming in with Dust boosted speed and saw Ruby waving frantically at me, her sniper-scythe fully extended, while Blake had climbed to near the top of one of the more stable ancient columns beside her.

What on Remnant is she…

Suddenly I realised what Ruby's plan was and I wasn't sure whether to shake my head in amazement or exasperation.

Human slingshot?

What kind of a plan is that?

It's barely even a concept!

I froze suddenly as a dull realization made itself apparent to me.

Oh God, I'm turning into Slade.

This is the kind of crap he'd spout when he was berating me.

I shook my head, clearing it of the unneeded thoughts.

Fine, I'd just pull out a retracting cable arrow, pull myself to the other column when I fire i…

I looked down at my now noticeably empty left hand, Divinus Arcus nowhere to be found.

Welp.

Okay Jaune think, where did you last put it?

Hmm.

The Giant Nevermore, now pinned into place by an outcropping of ice gave off a bellowing squawk that stung the ears and as I turned to face it I caught sight of a familiar golden hilt poking out from behind the Grimm's head.

Well…

That answers one question at least.

This is certainly going to be interesting.

"What are you doing standing there!?" I heard Weiss shout at me indignantly.

I sighed picking up the sheathe for Crocea Mors, extending it into its shield form and sliding it onto my left arm, before pointing up at where my other weapon remained embedded in the Grimm's ebony skin. "I've got to go get my other sword. Go back to the others, and get ready to launch Ruby."

Weiss gaped at me for a moment before exploding at me again. "And how exactly are you supposed to hold the other end of Blake's cord in place if you're still over here?" She exclaimed, waving her arms to further emphasize her point.

I shrugged. "Well I guess I'll just have to improvise." I said simply, before I turned and surged towards the gargantuan Grimm.

Blake watched in shock from her perch on the crumbling column as Jaune moved up the ancient structure where the Giant Nevermore now stood, frozen in place. It was less like Jaune climbed but rather he flowed over the obstacles in his path, his pace remaining eerily constant throughout.

The Grimm gave out a piercing cry and its beak surged down to pierce him with terrible force. Yet Jaune merely spun slightly to the side, the ivory bone thundering down where he'd previously been, the shield in his left hand sliding alongside the beak as if he'd tried to deflect it.

It struck her then just how similar Jaune's style when fighting, of minimal movement and prodigious skill, was to that of another. Of someone who'd been almost a mentor to the young Faunus during her time in the White Fang…

Blake broke away from her contemplation, her sharp eyesight focusing, trying to observe what would happen next. Then quick as a flash his sword blurred into motion, stabbing deep into one of the Nevermore's glowing eyes, a tortured scream being let out from the beast, it's head pulling backwards away from the one causing the pain.

Pulling Jaune into the air with it. As she looked on stunned, he pulled the sword from the Grimm's now decimated eye and spun, harnessing the monstrosity's motion to manoeuvre around to the monster's back.

He vanished from view for a moment as the Grimm continued to thrash about before suddenly she saw him again his sword and shield sheathed and his ornate longbow in his hands once more.

"Blake, now!" Jaune roared and before Blake even realised it she'd already thrown it, the hilt of Gambol Shroud rotating through the air as it soared towards the other column.

Blake mentally re-evaluated Jaune Arc within her mind.

He was much more like Adam than she thought.

As soon as I saw Blake's hand rear back I tapped into my Semblance leaping up into the air as I did so.

And then?

The world froze.

Utterly without motion.

Or at least it appeared to be.

For what I was about to attempt, 'nearly' wasn't going to cut it.

This was threading a needle.

Only the needle is the hilt of a deadly weapon as well as its firing mechanism.

I could make out the individual cracks in the column it was approaching, the precise number of stains on the Ballistic Chain, even if they had been cleaned previously spotless now glowing to my eyes.

It would rotate precisely four and a quarter times before it reached the target location.

The hilt would be facing away from me so I would need to compensate accordingly.

The feel of the wind on my skin tells me that I'll need to add three, no…

The bow aimed minutely more to the right.

Three and a half degrees to adjust enough to succeed.

I took a deep breath in and held it, the bow in one hand and the arrow in the other now no longer simple objects, but extensions of my body, as familiar to me as the palm of my hand.

The arrow was going to strike its target.

Not because of some sly chance or twist of fate, but because I made it do so.

There is no such thing as luck.

Only fools who believe in it.

My hand released the arrow and time resumed its natural speed. The projectile rocketed forward, blasting through the air. It reached the column just as the Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe rotated in front of it. But then the ground appeared before me once more and I was forced to divert my attention towards it, tumbling forwards in a momentum stealing roll as I did so.

CRACK

I looked at the embedded arrow and smiled softly, lowering the bow as I did so.

In the impossibly small gap where the trigger was normally situated, the arrow I had fired sprouted, pinning the weapon tight enough for what was to come next.

Blake pulled tight on her end of the weapon, the long 'chain' of her scythe drawing tight. Ruby launched herself into the air with a helping hand from Crescent Rose and landed on it, drawing it back like the string of a bow.

On the ground below stood Weiss, who with a confident gesture created a series of Glyphs in the air, holding Ruby in place at full draw as it were.

Okay, I'll admit it.

This is looking a lot less stupid then I had previously envisioned.

Then with Ruby chambering a round and Weiss flourishing her multi-action dust rapier, Ruby was fired into the air, leaving a trail of what appeared to be…red rose petals? I shook my head at that.

Semblances. If it doesn't make any sense, nine times out of ten a Semblance is involved.

The young Huntress soared towards the oversized monster, her scythe catching it around the neck, the beasts tough skin preventing it from being a killing blow but nonetheless slamming the beast into the cliff face once more.

Well there goes that idea.

Suddenly the cliff wall lit up with the familiar sign of glowing white glyphs which Ruby used as a runway drag the Nevermore up the side of the cliff. Have to admit, felt my jaw drop slightly at that one.

An eye flicked back to see Weiss focusing on the glyphs that served as Ruby's path forwards, sweat glistening on her brow as she focused. Each one of the glyphs that her fellow huntress passed would then fade, directing her remaining energy on the glyphs that were yet to be used.

I let out a low whistle at that.

Not bad. I can certainly see why she's Winter's sister.

Then Ruby reached the top of the cliff, The Nevermore's body getting caught on the edge resulting in the oversized scythe blazing through the beast's neck like a hot knife through butter.

I found myself laughing as I stared up at where Ruby was standing on the cliff.

Try and walk that off you feathery bastard.

That was certainly stylish.

And fun.

In the corner of my eye I saw Weiss collapse to her knees, shaking slightly every so often, looking to be the very picture of exhaustion, Blake making her way over to check on her.

Looks like using her Semblance that extensively really bites into her stamina.

I went to take a step towards them before a high pitched ringing filled my ears and I was nearly overcome with a sense of extreme vertigo.

Aha, there it is.

Was wondering where that had gotten to.

The world devolved into nonsensical gibberish as my senses tried to readjust to the normal flow of time from the bullshit that was my Semblance.

I mean don't get me wrong, I love my Semblance, useful as anything.

But the downsides?

Not the most exciting thing in the world.

I bit back a groan and closed my eyes, focusing solely on the sound of my heartbeat, trying to drown out all other sounds until the side effects passed.

After what seemed like an age, the high pitched ringing faded and I judged myself okay to get moving once more.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked demurely and I turned to see Blake approach me, supporting a still exhausted Weiss with one arm over her shoulder.

I shrugged my shoulders, a series of loud cracks sounding out as I did so. "I've been worse." I said with a soft smile, before nodding my head towards Weiss. "You two doing okay?"

Blake nodded. "I'm fine, nothing that won't heal by the time we get back but Weiss is a bit low on Aura, so she needs to take it easy for a while."

I paused at that, thinking for a moment. "Alright then." I said clapping my hands together, "I'll take her from here."

"Wait what are you doing?" Weiss squawked at me, flushing red as I picked her up supporting her legs and back as I did so.

I gave the Schnee heiress an odd look at that. "I believe it's known as 'carrying' in this day and age." I said slowly.

Blake choked on her own laughter.

Before Weiss could go to say anything more, I cleared my throat, arching my brow as I did so. "You were three steps away from collapsing and have clearly expended too much Aura to be thinking about anything other than regaining it for the next few minutes at least."

Weiss went to say something in response before seemingly coming up empty, giving off a 'hmph' and turned her head away from me.

I looked at Blake who's yellow eyes appeared to be lit up with mirth. "Well that's one way to set the two of you apart." She mused, walking passed me.

I blinked.

"What?"

AN: Behold! I arise from my slumber!

So yeah, as you may have noticed my additions to my stories have been rather…non-existent…lately. This was due primarily to the fact that my laptop decided it would be a wonderful idea to try and get me to kill it out of sheer frustration.

So after what was originally promised to be no more than two days at the laptop repair place dragged out to exceedingly longer than that, I have returned!

I'm aiming to have the next chapter of White Knight up and running in a week or two, hopefully before I see whatever new stuff they'll be showing about RWBY Volume 3 at RTX.

Speaking of, I'll be at RTX, so keep an eye out for me!

Until next time,

The Inner Hollow