Panic
-Blake Belladonna-

Rocks fell from the pile of rubble, shifting as it settled into a stable formation. The remains of the King Taijitu were already wisps in the wind, with Neji standing in the massive clearing gouged out of the forest. Looking around, there were several trenches in the ground, signs that Neji's destructive technique was most likely used more than once. Neji herself was staring straight ahead. Her hands moved to her forehead.

"Neji?" Blake called out to the other girl. "What's wrong?"

Neji turned back to face Blake. Her eyes were blank, a lighter shade of pale than what was normal. Veins pulsed around her eyes, throbbing slightly. Her face was even paler, drenched in sweat. She was taking slow, drawn-out breaths, clearly exhausted. "Nothing. More incoming." Neji leaped to a tree, several of the lower branches stripped away by the massive gusts of wind. Braced against a thick fork, she brought out Crescent Rose. Neji brought the rifle up to her shoulder, peering down the sight at a spot on the ground chosen seemingly at random. "Fifty, maybe sixty Beowolves." She gestured back. "Weiss and Yang are coming back now. Be ready to engage." She shifted, the branches rustling on the tree. Her legs hung off the branch, making it look like she was sitting on a chair as she sighted to the south.

"That's… we need to get out. I'm calling Port." Blake retreated up the same tree. "You can't fight right now."

Neji pushed away some of her hair. "I shall be fine."

Weiss and Yang arrived behind, the same way that Blake had come. "Alright, big snakey is dead. What's next?" Yang circled one of her shoulders, popping it.

"More hostiles. Be ready." The rustling of leaves signaled the first of the Beowolves approaching. Yang seemed a bit taken aback by her 'sister' giving such a clipped order, but she still chose to reload.

"Ruby," Blake glanced at the rest of her team. "You aren't ok. We need to get out." She pulled out her Scroll, preparing to dial Professor Port.

"I'm gonna agree with Blake on this one." Yang gestured up at her sister. "You're not looking to good, Rubes."

Blake stared at Neji's scrunched up, unsatisfied face. "What could she possibly be concerned over?"

"Fine." Neji jumped down from the tree, landing somewhat heavily on one side. She stood anyway and holstered Crescent Rose. "Call for the Professor. We will retreat to a safe distance and hold until reinforcements have arrived."

Weiss and Yang looked to each other. For the first time since they met in the clearing, Weiss spoke up. "Ruby is definitely notokay." As a group, they made their way back towards the meeting point. Blake held her scroll up.

"Professor, we're retreating. There's a large group of Beowolves to the north of the rendezvous. Possibly fifty or more. No one was injured, but Ruby is too exhausted to continue."

"I see." Port's voice came up muffled, with the sounds of rustling leaves around it. "Retreat for now. I'm a bit…" He grunted, and the sound of his blunderbuss firing drowned out the next word. "-right now. Get to the rendezvous. The Bullhead will be ready. JNPR is already there, all eight of you need to hold that position. There's an-" FWOOM "-of Grimm in the area. We'll be right there."

Blake reported to the rest of the team, and turned to Neji, who was currently leaning on a tree for support. Neji looked to the rest of the team. Blake spoke up. "We need to get to the extraction zone. Yang, can you carry Ruby?" She then had to speak over Neji's tired objections. "We need to get out as quickly as possible."

Yang scooped up her tired sister like a sack of flour and turned to the direction they came from. "Well, let's go!" She set off at a jogging pace, carrying a tired and resigned Neji in a bridal carry. Weiss, still unusually quiet, followed behind with Blake.

At the extraction zone, fighting had already started. A few brave Grimm approached team JNPR who were currently bunkered in the Bullhead. Ren seemed tired, leaning against one of the Bullhead's walls, with the rest of the team fanned out around him. All four weren't in the best shape. Jaune rammed his shield into a Beowolf, sending it stumbling backwards. He moved to cut the Grimm in two, but Nora was already in motion, Manghild sending the Beowolf into several others. Yang ran to the Bullhead and set Neji down inside of it, even as Blake herself moved to intercept a rather large Boarbatusk that was charging towards the ship. Ren, seemingly feeling better, lurched forward in a spin to cut at the mask of another Grimm.

The next two minutes were a blur of slashes and blocks, each of the seven capable students destroying the steady stream of Grimm. Blake was thankful for the choking circumference of trees preventing the truly massive swarm of Grimm from overwhelming their position too quickly. The defenders were backing slowly into the ship even as Professor Port and Team CRDL moved in from the other direction. Sky dragged Cardin into the Bullhead and came running back out, the three members of CRDL helping to push back against the waves. Russel Thrush was standing on the Bullhead itself, slapping down Grimm from destroying the ship.

-Hyūga Neji-

He could feel his chakra's strained flow through his system. "Damn." Neji was loathe to admit it, but he was in no fighting condition right now. "I need a lighter weapon." Keeping up with the Grimm, who had no tenketsu whatsoever, was foolhardy for him. His fighting style was made to fight humans, after all. "And some soldier pills."

Next to him, Cardin glanced sideways at his fellow casualty. "What was that, anyways?" Cardin rolled over to get his back pressed against the wall. He began unclasping his armored chest piece. Neji noticed large gashes in the armor itself and the dark stains in his shirt. "That many Grimm in Forever Fall? Something's messed up out there." There was only one flange left on his mace, the rest in a pile beside him.

Neji nodded as Cardin pulled a toolbox out of a floor hatch. The sounds of hammering filled the room, the sharpness of the impacts a stark contrast to the muffled gunfire outside. "I wonder what the cause would be. Conflict of some kind?"
"The White Fang." Cardin replied. "I wouldn't be surprised. Bunch of terrorist rats."

"Perhaps." They said nothing else. Neji listened to the sound of Cardin's hammering as he drifted into a meditative state. Maybe he could convince Ruby to help him make something that was smaller than his entire body. And yet, he had the feeling it would also, somehow, be a gun.

AN: I forgot to post this to the FF version, whoops. I'm writing again, so expect something soon.