Authors note: Hi, everyone. It's me. I'm alive, but unfortunately not as well as I would like. The reason I haven't updated was because months ago I got hit by a serious bout of salmonella, which cause me to develop some chronic problems (which I'm still dealing with) despite early indications otherwise. So I haven't really been in the mood in the last several months to write a humorous story.

However, I can't really mope around forever, and I have been planning to come back to this story (mostly spurred by NaNoWriMo). Also, I have just caught up with RWBY volume two, which got me revving to write again. I'm gonna start posting new sections to this long-uncompleted chapter bit by bit in the Spacebattles thread for it instead of completing it in one go since I'd rather take it slow. Same goes to succeeding chapters. Also, I'll be revising some of the early chapters. Nothing major, just minor tweaks to incorporate some details revealed in volume two. You'll know when an old section is updated since an "Revised - (insert date here)" label will be placed as a heading for the post in question.

In fact, I just posted the revised versions of the prologue and first two chapters. I'll be revising the other chapter later. I'm also gonna put together the sections of Chapter 4 up in Spacebattles so far, including the one I just posted, into this Chapter 4 Part 1 since the accumulated length is already similar to the other complete chapters. I'll continue posting section by section there then put up Chapter 4 Part 2 when said sections have been accumulated.

So for those who've been waiting for the teams names (and the full chapter for that matter) for months, I sincerely apologize for making you have to wait a bit longer. I hope this is at least somewhat satisfactory. I just really want to get this baby moving to shake off the cobwebs (both for the story and for myself).

Chapter 4 – Unstoppable Force, Moving Objects (Part I)

"If you want to make the gods laugh, tell them about your plans." —ancient Vytalian saying

Ruby jumped back as Crescent Rose morphed in her hands, compacting itself into its gun only form. She managed to get off two rounds at the diving form of the Nevermore, allowing the recoil of each shot to push her out of its way. The talons just missed her even as her bullets bounced ineffectually off the massive bird's hardened feathers and equally hardened skin.

She hit the ground and rolled onto her feet, her hair and clothing ruffling in the wind of the Grimm's swooping flyby. Immediately she took aim and fired at its retreating back as it began to loop back. Pyrrha, her sword having transformed into a semiautomatic rifle, did the same.

"Into the woods!" the older girl shouted over the thundering report of their weapons. "We're too exposed out here!"

Ruby nodded, shooting off a couple more rounds while backing away from the new clearing the enormous Ursa had gouged out of the tree line earlier. She found herself under the shadow of the forest canopy halfway into the Grimm's looping flight, and she stopped firing.

She compacted her weapon into its dormant form and it clipped it to her belt to make it less cumbersome to move through the woods. Absently, she wondered if the Nevermore attacking them now was in any way related to her smacking into that bird she had smacked into at the beginning of the test. It hadn't seemed as big as the Nevermore attacking them now. Maybe that had been this one's baby? Or a friend? Did Grimm even have friends?

Staying low, she moved from tree to tree, shadow to shadow, trying to avoid where the sunlight shone through gaps in the forest roof. She caught sight of Pyrrha moving cautiously through the woods herself some distance from her. The girl caught her gaze, and a moment of silent agreement passed between them.

Grimm in the size class of the Nevermore that was attacking them—and that Ursa that had so rudely barged past, for that matter—were usually impervious to most small arms fire save specially designed penetrator rounds, and even those weren't guaranteed to not get shrugged off. The smart thing to do now was to avoid it until it got tired of looking for them and went off for easier-to-spot prey. The good news was that Nevermores hunted by sight, so they wouldn't have to worry about the thing sniffing them out. The bad news was that they had very good eyes, and between her red cloak and weapon and Pyrrha's red hair and bronze-and-gold equipment, they weren't exactly difficult to see.

The sudden sound of wood snapping to pieces all around her told her just how good the thing's eyesight was. Instinctively, Ruby slammed herself flat against the nearest tree trunk, almost hugging it as massive black feathers and the branches and leaves they had cut off rained all around her. The ground shook as the feathers' central quills buried themselves into ground. She resisted the urge to yelp as one came uncomfortably close to scraping her hooded cloak off her back.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Pyrrha had it worse. The girl was crouching, balling herself up as tightly as possible while she held her shield over her. One of the gigantic quills slammed into it almost head-on. It held and the feather clanged off, but Ruby saw the shock of the impact travel through Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out when the barrage stopped. "You okay?"

"I'm fin—" she began as she looked up from under her shield. Her green eyes snapped wider. "Move!"

The sheer urgency of the warning caused her to push off against the tree instinctively. There was a massive ripping sound and a shower of soil and gravel. In less than a second, the tree was gone, uprooted and taken into the air so cleanly and quickly that it might as well have been a garden weed. Ruby gaped at the feat as she sat on her back.

But only for a moment. The Nevermore was again turning in their direction, tree still held beneath it. She clambered to her feet even as Pyrrha ran to her side, weapon in javelin form and raised for hurling. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and snapped it into scythe form. She slammed the point of the blade into the ground in front of her, using it to steady the weapon. She fired as the gigantic avian came head-on, trying to aim for its eyes and working the bolt with each shot. It didn't even seem bothered as her rounds glanced off its beak.

Pyrrha stopped beside her, legs spaced in a throwing stance. In one swift, powerful motion the girl lofted the missile. There was a sharp crack as a round fired from the rifle-barrel-turned-spear-shaft, adding the force of the recoil to the weapon's forward velocity. Rapidly, it closed the distance …

… only to be snatched out of the air in the creature's beak.

"What?!" Ruby's jaw dropped. To her side, Pyrrha could only blink in astonishment.

People always warned that Grimm were more than just dumb beasts, and that you shouldn't underestimate how nasty their soulless little minds could be when they thinking up ways to kill you.
But before today, she hadn't quite truly understood exactly how dangerously smart they could be.

The Nevermore opened its beak, dropping the javelin as it suddenly flared up, wings sweeping wide. Its talons snapped open, sending the much abused tree it had lifted tumbling in their direction.

Pyrrha leaped and rolled out of the way, but Ruby had other ideas. Time seemed to slow as she focused all her attention on the motion of the tree. Her leg muscles coiled as the tree trunk rolled and rolled and …

Now!

She jumped, and there was a slight suction sound as her scythe's blade was yanked out of the ground. The moment her feet made contact with the trunk, she ran up its leg and onto the stump of a severed branch that was set at just the angle Ruby had been hoping for. She bounded off the stump like a skier would a ski jump, bringing the vicious curve of her weapon to bear on the flaring Nevermore's now exposed underside. The tree thudded duly into the ground behind her.

"Ruby, no!" Pyrrha's voice seemed distant as her blade arced down viciously.

It never made contact.

A series of sudden, vicious wing beats sent her sprawling into the forest floor with a wall of wind even as the same force shot the big black bird into a climb. Ruby grunted as she crashed into a rock, smashing it into so much rubble before rolling all over the ground like an errant kickball, leaving a cloud of dust, soil, and crushed flora in her wake. Even with the instinctive activation of her Aura, that had still hurt. She lost her grip on Crescent Rose, and it spun wildly through the air, almost taking off the head of Pyrrha, who had managed to dodge in time, before burying its blade into a fallen log.

Ruby settled to a stop on her back in an open area; she groaned. Her eyes fluttered open in a daze, and she was greeted with the sight of a light blue blur. It took her a moment to realize that the blurry blue mass was the sky.

A splash of dark red and gold suddenly blotted out most of the blue. "Ruby, are you alright?"

"Sure." She smiled up at the voice crookedly. "Don't know about the bus, though."

Then Ruby saw a dark spot appear in the blue she could still see beyond the blurred outline of Pyrrha's head. Sudden alarm punched through her dazedness, and her vision snapped into near-clarity. It was clear enough.

"Sorry!" she blurted out as she suddenly drew up both her legs and kicked Pyrrha clear with a blow to her abdomen. She winced, hoping that her partner's Aura had caught the brunt of the force as she let the sudden uncoiling of her own body flow into a shaky backflip.

Huge talons scoured the spot she and Pyrrha had been on, showering her mid-flip with disturbed earth. She spat out some of the soil that had gotten into her mouth as she landed on her legs. They buckled a bit, but she soon steadied herself as the regenerative effects of her Aura faded out the lingering effects of her injurious landing.

She glared at the Nevermore, boring holes into it with her intense silver eyes even as it circled around for yet another pass at them. Automatically, she reached for the back of her belt for Crescent Rose before remembering that the weapon had already been deployed and that she had let go of it. Frantically, she started looking around for it.

"Over here!" Pyrrha's increasingly familiar voice called out.

The taller girl collapsed the weapon safely into its storage mode before tossing it at her. Ruby snatched it out of the air eagerly, activated the faster-firing rifle mode, and proceeded to again take aim at the attacking bird. Rationally, Ruby knew that wouldn't do anything, not even slow it down. The entire fight so far had been pretty much been a showcase of how little their weapons fire meant to the thing.

But between the dogged persistence of the Grimm in hunting them down and the way it had literally blown her away, Ruby was beginning to feel more than a little angry and frustrated. She yelled defiantly at the Nevermore, moving back in an erratic pattern and dodging between obstacles as she emptied her magazine at it. The Nevermore matched her move per move, no matter how unpredictable she thought she was being, and homed in on her. As it closed the distance, it mowed down whatever trees she wove behind with its own bulk. Her furious screams were drowned out by its own deafening caw as it raked its talons at her.

In an instant, Crescent Rose shifted into scythe mode, and Ruby blocked the creature's attempted grab with a quick swipe. The crash of metal on unnaturally solid claws rang clearly through their combined shrieking, while the force of the impact pushed Ruby aside. She forced herself to remain standing by pushing Aura into her legs, and she skidded some distance on her feet. She let out a frustrated snarl.

Rifle fire rang out, of a much smaller caliber than her own, and Ruby realized that Pyrrha had taken the opportunity to recover her weapon. The girl began to yell incoherently even while she fired methodically, apparently trying to direct the Nevermore's attention away from her.

Ruby felt her temper abruptly deflate from a spike of guilt as she recognized that she had briefly forgotten about her partner in her ill-advised attempt to blow off steam by goading the Grimm to come at her. She moved to Pyrrha's side as the monster sped away to gain altitude for another diving pass. She smiled sheepishly as she approached her and was about voice her apology, but Pyrrha just smiled at her and shook her head in understanding.

"We're going to need to shake off this Nevermore if we're ever going to back up your sister and Jaune," she stated the obvious in what Ruby suspected was an attempt to preempt any type of apology from her.

Despite the desperate situation facing them, Ruby felt a warm sense of affection at the considerate gesture. Pyrrha really was as nice as she had seemed. The glow faded when the Nevermore let out a cry, signaling yet another attack.

Ruby shook her head. "At this point, I think we need backup."

Pyrrha stayed silent for a bit. Finally, she said, "I'm open to ideas."

That was the last thing she wanted to hear from the renowned fighter who was supposed to be much more experienced than she was. Then again, there was tournament experience, and there was a fighting a multi-ton, nigh-indestructible Grimm. Apples and oranges, if oranges came naturally armed and liked eating people. Though, at this moment, not even her overactive imagination could distract her with that amusing image.

"Let me get back to you." Ruby let out a smile, as if the whole conversation had just been an exchange of light-hearted jokes. The smile quickly became strained.

The Nevermore had the high ground here in the every figurative and literal sense. Their guns were nearly useless, given how the thing seemed impervious to their ammo, and it would be really difficult trying to sink their blades into the Grimm given how alert it seemed to be when intercepting or flying away from such attacks. And that was provided they could even get close enough for that on their own terms, which was an unlikely proposition against something that could fly that fast. Running was also out of the question since it could apparently find them just fine through the gaps in the tree cover and intercept any path they tried for with impunity. Or just bury them in its weaponized feathers if it wanted to.

She felt her frustration rising again. It just wasn't fair that this thing could fly and they couldn—

For a moment, Ruby stiffened as an unexpected idea all but barreled over every other thought in her mind. Then she smiled, widely and toothily.

"Pyrrha." The girl turned at the sound of her name. "How do you feel about air travel?"

The redhead just looked at her uncomprehendingly for a moment. Then, Ruby saw her red eyebrows slowly begin to rise as the realization began to dawn. She looked at her, shot a look at the descending Nevermore, then back at her.

"… Amenable," she finally said, looking like she wasn't quite sure what she was getting herself into.

Ruby smirked.

She had made a mistake. Everything about this school had been one long, sordid mistake, but this one was her fault.

But not completely.

This had only happened because off all the insufferable people making things horrible for her. In fact, other than Pyrrha and that nice black-haired girl who'd recognized her and offered to help yesterday, everyone she'd met thus far seemeed hellbent on ruining her day. And this was apparently the culmination of all that indignity.

As Weiss ran out of the mouth of the cave, she cursed herself. She had allowed her temper to get the better of her again. She had let all the anger and frustration at all those people yesterday build, and then she had let that … that girl's antics become an excuse to let lose all of it.

Of course, despite her well and justified anger, she had still lost her temper with restraint. Angry or not, she was a Schnee after all. The Schnee did not throw simple tantrums; their wrath always had purpose. In her case, it had been an unequivocal declaration that she would take charge and refuse to countenance Nora just dragging her around.

She'd done nothing wrong there, and she'd been quite proud that she'd managed to do it without succumbing to the temptation to wring her new partner by the neck—that would've been far too inelegant. Problem was, with how quickly everything had happened since she'd bumped into the … odd girl, she'd lost her bearings. Having just taken charge, though, she couldn't just say she was lost. It would've undermined the authority she had put her foot down to establish. So she'd gone and pointed at the first thing she'd spotted that seemed like a clue, and she'd been "lucky" enough to be in the vicinity of a cave with markings on the outside.

Naturally, it had turned out to be a Deathstalker nest. She really should have given those drawings around the entrance more than an impatient cursory look.

With the crash of shattering rock, that very same entrance suddenly became much wider. Weiss dodged the larger pieces of debris sent flying her way as the large arachnoid Grimm pushed its way out of the stone. It looked old, with weathered-looking armor plates that had cracks in some places and some grass and moss growing in patches. Its underside was encrusted in what looked like fungus. Then again, to grow that big it would have to be old. And to get that old meant it was probably one of the toughest and most tenacious of its kind around.

Not that that detail seemed to mean anything to Nora since she was on its back, laughing wantonly and completely oblivious to the beast's displeasure. The Deathstalker let out a rumbling, hissing bellow. It skittered this way and that, looking almost like it was shuddering as it tried to shake off its unwanted rider.

Weiss let out a long, disgusted sigh. Was this all she could look forward to in Beacon from now on?

"Nora! Get off that thing!" she commanded frantically. Just what was it with that girl and her obsession with mounting Grimm?

As usual, she wasn't listening. "Yee-haw! Now this is a ride!"

"This is a bad idea!" The heiress circled the Grimm warily as it continued to ignore her and focus solely on the annoyance on its back.

All she got was that same stupid, irritating grin in reply. "Don't worry, we're fine!"

"I am so far beyond worrying!" Weiss yelled back, tempted to start pulling at her hair again. "And you are far beyond common sense! Or common sanity!"

Amazingly, though, Nora was fine. Despite being well within striking distance of the creature's stinger-tipped tail, all the appendage did was hover uncertainly. With sudden clarity, Weiss realized that it couldn't aim properly thanks to its blind spot, and it was probably afraid of accidentally piercing its own armor with a careless strike. There were a few half-hearted attempts, but Nora dodged them easily and swatted those away with her hammer. Taking advantage of the very same blind spot, she began mercilessly pounding at the joints in the Deathstalker's carapace in between the moments she was dealing with its tail, alternating between purely physical strikes and grenade-reinforced ones.

"Touche!" Nora cried triumphantly as she blocked the tail yet again, an explosion making the sharp sound of the blow even louder.

Weiss gritted her teeth. Then she let out a disgusted roar of her own, "Oh, fine!"

If the girl was going to insist on acting like a crazed child, then it was clearly up to her to take advantage of the distraction she was causing and end the whole stupid thing quickly herself. She shifted into a ready stance, spun the appropriate Dust container into position in Myrtenaster, and charged. White disks with stylized snowflakes runes shone at her feet with every step, accelerating her in a flash.

Then she was at the Deathstalker's side; perhaps a little too quickly and rashly since she had to roll out of the way of its flailing legs as it continued to shudder under Nora's relentless siege. She thrust out her sword as she came to her feet, discharging the Dust she'd been priming. Jagged ice crystals erupted from the ground and quickly snagged all eight legs on its right side. It hissed in outrage even as she zipped around its back to the other side, swiftly doing the same.

"It's a Grimm popsicle!" Nora giggled.

Weiss ignored her and moved around to face the creature head-on. Immobile now, it bucked and shook furiously, and even Nora seemed to have trouble maintaining her footing on its back. The ice buckled and cracked, and Weiss knew it wouldn't hold for too long. But it would be enough. It tried to chip away at the frozen crystals with its tail, but Nora—actually working with together with her for once—deflected the stinger with her hammer every time it tried.

Her eyes narrowed on the Deathstalker's own as she brought up her rapier. She stepped into the range of its still-free claws, goading it to strike at her, only to step back deftly when it did. Wasting no time, she encased the pincer in ice and then leapt upon it. The other set immediately attempted to snap at her, but she projected a circle of runes before it, stopping it cold and allowing her to stop it even colder with another chilly blast. It shrieked desperately at its own helplessness, and its tail lashed out repeatedly at her. But Nora was still deflecting it with dogged persistence, laughing and cheering like the whole thing was some sort of game.

From her perch, Weiss stared down at the massive scorpion's face. Her own face was reflected it its shiny red eyes, and she felt a smirk tugging at her cheek now that things were finally, finally, finally starting to go her way.

With a smooth click, she spun Myrtenaster's chamber into position. The Dust mix she'd just primed was usually for increasing concussive force and was often used by explosives experts as a blast enhancer. When channeled through a narrow point designed specifically for the purpose, though, all that focused energy made it very effective for armor penetration. She hadn't had much of the mix left with her, but she had more than enough for a final decisive strike.

Myrtensater shot forward, blade glowing with pent-up Dust energy …

… unfortunately, the Deathstalker had struck at the same moment as well. The bucking of its unfrozen parts had steadily worsened Nora's footing, and it had become increasing hard to intercept its tail. She managed to twist enough so that the venom-tipped point passed harmlessly under her armpit, but the bulk behind it still clipped her and sent her spinning right into Weiss.

With a simultaneous "Oof!" both were thrown into the branches of a low-lying tree. Even worse, the impact had discharged their weapons within moments of each other. Nora's grenade ripped a chunk out of the ice over the monster's right legs, while Weiss's armor-piercing blast punched a hole into the ice holding its claws. Already weakened from its continued struggling, the two crystalline clusters shattered like so much glass, covering the area with razor-edged shrapnel that would've bloodied the girls had their Auras not flared up automatically.

The creature roared in triumph and began trying to wrench its left legs from the still-intact mass freezing them in place. From the tree, Weiss shot a quick look at the level of remaining ice Dust in her weapon. She had just enough to freeze it in place again, but with the way the ice was starting to snap, crackle, and pop, it would be free soon enough. And without Nora on its back to distract it, she wouldn't be able bracket it as perfectly. Also, it would be expecting her to do it again, making the task even harder.

Weiss screamed in frustration. She had been so close!

The sound of a transforming weapon caught her attention, and she turned to see Nora taking aim at the Deathstalker with a revolving grenade launcher. Remembering how the Grimm had shrugged off several direct hammer strike/grenade blast combinations, Weiss didn't think it would help. Worse, a miss might hit the remaining ice. She grabbed the girl's arm before she could fire.

"Forget it! Let's just go before it breaks loose."

Nora struck out her lower lip in an expression of exaggerated consideration, and for a moment, Weiss was afraid the girl would just ignore her and start shooting anyway.

She was immensely relieved when she simply nodded and said, all too cheerfully, "Okie-dokie!"

They both jumped off the tree, with Weiss using a circle of runes as a stepping stone while Nora swung from under the branch they'd been standing on to do a somersault. As they made their way to the forest, Weiss shot a look at the girl as she ran beside her. All things considered, the annoying madwoman had actually been surprisingly useful.

Weiss's expression quickly darkened. Still, it was the girl's lapse that had ruined her coup de grace, and they'd only run across that tunnel in the first place because she'd been so frustrated with her. Coupled with her erratic childishness and her refusal to properly communicate with her, it made it hard to coordinate on even the most basic level. Sure, she'd acquiesced to her just now, and when they had entered the tunnel, but that was far removed from any real sense of coordinated teamwork. Putting her foot down wasn't enough, Weiss realized. She needed to clearly delineate exactly how she was in charge and what she expected of the girl if she had to be her partner.

First thing's first, she had to call out how poorly she'd performed. That was what her instructions did every time she'd messed up in training.

"How could you let it throw you like that?!" Weiss demanded after they'd gone a certain distance. "I almost had it!"

Nora shrugged sagely, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "Well, an uncle is almost and aunt, but he's a boy."

She shrugged away the girl's hand roughly and felt her own face twist. "T-that doesn't even make any sense! And it's not pertinent! Why do you always keep trying to change the subject?"

All she got was an indulgent, pitying look in response. "Don't worry, you'll get it when you're older."

"We're the same age!" she exploded. Then, more calmly, she stuck a barb of her own, "At least physically."

"Then you'll get it when you think older," Nora continued glibly, all but throwing her insult back in her face.

Weiss felt the bile rising within her, and she shook almost violently as she forced herself not to rise to the bait. She was starting to suspect that part (or maybe even all) of the girl's apparent strangeness was all some elaborate attempt to needle her. And she'd already allowed the orange-haired annoyance to get to her way too much. She'd get this nightmare of a test done with, then she'd put the girl in her place. Provided she survived this blasted forest, or her company for that matter.

An inhuman shriek behind them told her that the Deathstalker had finally broken free. Without looking back, they continued to run.

Even though Jaune and Yang had managed to complete the objective of getting a relic, they hadn't set off any booby traps in the doing, and the only thing that had come out of the forest was another of the potential allies he had met yesterday and her unknown partner, he felt too on edge to let his guard down completely. With every rotten thing that had happened in his barely a day and half in Beacon, he would've been remiss not to.

Sure, he had outwardly allowed himself to calm down and even start joking around. All the better to maintain the friendliness he'd managed to develop with Yang and encourage it from Blake and her new partner, Ren. Not that they both seemed particularly sociable, but that didn't necessarily entail a general misanthropy. Though somewhat hesitant, Blake and Ren's expressions didn't seem to hold any sense of hostility or active avoidance. In fact, Yang was amiably making small talk with Blake, while he and Ren amiably settled into an awkward silence of two complete strangers trying to decide whether that meant small talk was expected of them as well and were not quite sure exactly how to get started.

At least, that was probably true in Ren's case. Jaune had taken their unspoken agreement not to start speaking until the other did to size Blake and the boy up as potential allies. While he'd met Blake yesterday, he hadn't really gotten to actually see her weapon since she'd trailed behind. From what he could see, it wasn't looking too good. She had what at first glance seemed to be a cleaving sword, but on closer inspection the large blade didn't seem actually attached to the hilt, and it had a secondary handle. That likely meant that there was a thinner sword blade nestled within. All in all, a clear sign of a preference for short-range combat.

He tried not to show his rising dismay on his face. Sure, there was a pistol integrated into the hilt of her weapon, but pistols had limited range and most mid- to large-sized Grimm could usually absorb several low-caliber rounds without stopping. Ren hardly seemed to be better a prospect since he couldn't see any weapons on him. That meant that he was totting around a concealable weapon somewhere, and as a rule those tended to be short-ranged and/or low-caliber weapons too.

So if they got into a fight, it would most assuredly be well within an uncomfortably close physical brutality radius. And by the very nature of such fights, he couldn't just "naturally" settle into backing up someone while he or she did the brunt of the fighting. He'd be in the thick of it, and what backup they could give him would only be as much as they could spare.

His mouth opened slightly so that his resigned sigh came out as an imperceptible breath.

Well, at the least he knew that they would be traveling together. Having gotten their respective relics, they'd reached a roundabout agreement to return to the cliff and complete the test as a group. There was safety in numbers, after all, and it wasn't like they were actively competing with each other. Plus, three other people meant a 75% chance that any Grimm they encountered would first go for one of them.

As if it had been waiting for exactly the right moment to ruin his mood, Jaune's musings were rudely interrupted by a bone-shaking roar that blasted out from somewhere in the forest. Well, the joke was on the Grimm—an Ursa, from the sound of it. He'd been expecting things to go ploin-shaped this time, so it wasn't going to be an unpleasant surprise. Just plain, old-fashioned unpleasant, with a dash of terrifying for flavor.

"Did you guys hear that?" Yang asked, which was an expected question and barely even registered.

"Did you guys feel that?" Blake, observed, and her wording immediately got his attention.

He was about to ask what she meant, dreading the answer, when he suddenly felt it too: The ground was shaking. Faintly, but getting stronger by the second. Also getting stronger was the sound of crashing and cracking accompanied by the frightened screams of birds frantically taking to the air. He felt a rumbling within his own bowels as he turned in the direction of the cacophony.

In the tree line there was a very visible cloud of dust and debris, heralded by waves of birds retreating before it. Some of the debris were clearly full-fledged trees, and his mind boggled at that sheer size and strength required to hurl those in the air high enough to be visible from this distance. He froze in place, which was something he would've cursed himself for had his mind not been busy refusing to comprehend the scale suggested even though the sound of the roaring was clearly from an Ursa, not a mature Deathstalker. His companions were hardly any better, gaping at the sight about as dumbly as he was.

All too soon, the thing exploded into the clearing in a shower of leaves and massive splinters of wood. It had a powerfully built, fur-covered body with well worn but still thick and tough-looking bony plates. Its four legs seemed to be as big as the bigger tree trunks in the forest, and either one of its paws could probably have crushed him whole, with room to spare. Spittle flew from its screaming, terrifyingly angry-looking open mouth, and its eyes seemed to glow even redder with all too visible bloodlust.

An Ursa, alright, and just as Deathstalker-sized as the roaring and ripping had suggested. It was so much larger than the average Ursa Major (and would probably have found the inadequate adjective an insult) that part of his mind wondered exactly what (or who) the thing had been eating.

A small part; the rest of his mind was blank, having gained the enlightenment of the sage deer before the divine glow of onrushing headlights.

"Ursa …" he heard Blake mumble beside him.

"Big …" added Yang.

"That …" was Ren's contribution.

"Is a …" That had come from him because for some inane, insane reason, his fear-addled mind chose that particular moment to have a pique of grammatical completeness.

Then his sense of self-preservation re-exerted its influence, and he snapped out of it so violently that he was sure he must have jerked visibly. That seemed to set off a chain reaction within the group, and they all scattered before the beast just as it spotted them and began to charge them, bellowing as it did. They'd split into their respective partnerships, weapons out and ready. Even in his fear, he'd managed to have the presence of mind to shoot a look at Ren's weapon as they slid out of his sleeves and folded out. A pair of bladed automatic pistols; close-range, just as he'd expected.

Jaune resisted the urge to scream like a girl when he saw that the Ursa was going after him and Yang, passing by Blake and Ren with nary a glance. Just what was it with Ursae trying to kill him today? First he landed practically on top of a pair of Ursae Minor, and now this …

His mind trailed off as the pieces fell into place. This time, a look of dismay did show on his face, but it he forced it away quickly. His mind raced at the implications of what he'd just realized, both from increased fear (as if it hadn't already been more than enough) and from desperately trying to figure out exactly how he was going to survive a truck-sized Grimm after him personally.

Then his eyes lit up.

"Yang," he said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

She turned to him. "Yeah?"

"Follow me," he said quickly. "I have a hunch."

A questioning look came over his partner's face, but she didn't press him for an explanation. All well and good, because with all the effort he was putting into not letting his rising panic spill into his voice, he was pretty sure it would've broken eventually had he tried talking more.

Besides, if his hunch was correct, then this idea would be a way to test it and a way to buy time for a retreat, while its proactive-seeming nature would make it look like he wasn't retreating. He'd simply be performing a desperate, half-formed "tactical" maneuver that would look ill thought out in retrospect. Especially given where they were going.

He ran back into the wooded areas, Yang on his heels. Just as he'd feared, the Grimm kept right on after them. It plowed through the trees as it had earlier, which did slow it down, even if not by much.

"Is it just me," Yang observed, "or does that thing really not like us?"

"M-mommy!" Jaune couldn't quite stop himself from whimpering. Catching himself, he quickly added, "Mommy's very angry."

The blonde gave him a look of incomprehension. It quickly disappeared. "Wait, you mean those two that we …?"

"Apparently," he answered curtly.

He really just wanted to focus on running. Distractions might trip him up, and he did not want to lose footing with a ginormous, angry Grimm after them. Especially one that was slowly catching up despite having to push trough literally tons worth of trees to do so. That boded poorly for when they'd return to open ground, but he tried not to think about that.

Thankfully, Yang said nothing more, and they wove deftly through the forest ground. After what seemed like a lifetime, they looped back out of the wooded area. They almost ran into the other pair, who'd apparently decided to go in after them to try and help. Despite himself, Jaune actually felt a little glad about that. Though he'd probably never understand what could posses mostly sane people to throw that good sense away and try, on their own volition, to lend assistance even in situations where they'd do little more than increase the casualty count, the fact was they were still willing to help him. And that could matter greatly in other bad situations where they might not be useless. He hoped that he'd live to fully appreciate the fact, and cash in on it if necessary, later.

"Plan!" was all the time he'd had to say as he met them, and Blake blinked at him as he ran past.

He was vaguely aware of Yang giving them a running shrug from the periphery of his vision, probably smiling as she did. He heard Blake and Ren falling in to follow. They were welcome to do so, but he doubted if they could really do anything. They wouldn't even serve as distractions since the enraged mother Ursa seemed hellbent on avenging its dead young.

The Ursa emerged from the trees, still howling with bloodlust. As he'd feared, it was moving even faster now. The rumbling on the ground was almost like an earthquake, and they struggled to maintaing footing, slowing them down even further.

"So, about that plan …" Ren prompted with a calm manner that seemed a little too forced. It had been the most he'd heard the taciturn boy say so far.

"Columns!" Jaune pointed at the columns in the temple ruins he was leading them back to. "Weave through them."

"Wait, wouldn't that …?" Blake began to object, but Yang interrupted her.

"Listen to man and go!"

The ruins began to rumble as the Ursa came closer and closer, and Jaune fervently hoped that the columns wouldn't topple over before they could pass between them—or worse, while they were passing between them. Some of the smaller pedestals did begin falling, but the larger columns, while swaying very worryingly, kept standing. Satisfied that that was probably as safe as it was going to get, Jaune ran into the temple between a pair, sparing a look at the floor so as not trip on a fallen relic.

Yang, Blake, and Ren sped after him, with Yang jumping high over a pedestal that fell before her. Even with the desperation of the situation, she still shot him a cocky smile and a thumbs up as she landed in front of him and started moving ahead. Jaune didn't even bother being annoyed by it. He wove out of the opposite set of columns, close to the outer section of wall that was still standing, and kept on going, Blake and Ren right behind him.

Heedless, the Ursa smashed into the columns like it had the trees. However, old and worn as they might've been, they were still quite solid, and the impact slowed it down considerably. It roared again, somewhat more softly than before, and kept going. The Grimm body slammed into the columns on the other end and into the remnant wall section behind it. With an almighty crash, the remaining columns and the wall all crumbled and toppled over, covering it partially with a pile of heavy cut stone. It had stopped.

On his perch on the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, so had Professor Ozpin's coffee cup just as he had been about to take another sip from it. He stood still for a moment, staring wordlessly at the video feed on his Scroll. The cup came down, unsipped.

"… Huh."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Glynda turn slowly toward him. He met her gaze; it was more eloquent than most formal reports he'd read in the past week. The eyebrow she raised at him even more so.

"Well," he finally said. "I suppose I should have anticipated something like this could happen."

His colleague just tilted her head forward, raising her other eyebrow.

"You didn't see this coming either," he pointed out reasonably.

Glynda quietly turned back to her own Scroll and began manipulating the camera controls. He smiled slightly at his little victory.

"From what I can tell," she said after a moment of scrutiny, "some of the relics got knocked clear and appear to be … salvageable."

The headmaster just smirked silently and returned to his own Scroll. He studied the feed intently as it focused on one particular blond student.

What other surprises do you have in store for us, Mr. Arc?

The cup raised again, and he took a sip.

Jaune wheezed as he slowed his run, mostly to catch his breath. He knew that wouldn't keep an Ursa that big and angry down for long, which made it all the more important to build his stamina back up since there'd definitely be more running in the near future. He drew on a trickle of Aura and let the soothing, rejuvenating energy flow through him.

Suddenly, he felt something slam into his back, and he staggered for a bit as he tried not to fall over.

"Jaune, you're a genius!" Yang grinned in approval.

He just wished she hadn't praised him with one of her far too strong slaps on the back. More to the point, he didn't want any praise at all. That was supposed to have been a desperate plan that had ended up destroying a part of the test—and school property to boot—because he hadn't thought things through. He was sure that there were still other teams out there who hadn't reached the objective, and with it gone at his own doing, there'd have to be some sort of reset, right? Or at least a negative assessment of his field capabilities or something.

Sure, that might build some resentment from the teams that hadn't gotten a relic yet, but they'd been chased by a Grimm far beyond their firepower to properly handle. He was sure they'd eventually understand, especially given that they'd had to have run into Grimm of their own by now. The reaction wouldn't still be as negative if he'd simply just run away. Plus, he could then play up apologizing to the headmaster personally, taking responsibility, and asking him not to hold his mistake against the others. This probably wasn't anywhere near enough to fail him, but that should earn him some points among his classmates.

"You ... you just ruined the ru—" Blake stopped, realizing the redundancy, before pointing out, "How will the others get relics now?"

He loved it when people played right into his expectations. Yang's mood seemed to deflate, probably because her sister might be one of the unfortunate students he'd inevitably deprived of relics. For his part, he let a stricken expression flash across his face.

"I-I hadn't thought of that." He slapped his own forehead. "Gah, I'm an idiot!"

And don't you forget it, he added mentally.

"Let's worry about that later." Ren pointed at the pile of ruins and Ursa, which was already starting to shift.

Jaune was positively aglow with how helpful the pair had been just now, but he showed none of that on his face. He took on a regretful expression even as Yang patted him on the shoulder, much more softly this time, and tried to reassure him that he'd done the right thing.

Of course I did, he thought, a bit smugly.

The self-congratulatory feeling faded quickly, however, when he heard the Grimm roar yet again. First thing's first, he had to focus on getting out of the forest intact. If he made it in one piece, he could celebrate all he wanted later.

"No, Ruby, Polarity means that I control magnetism, not poles," Pyrrha explained patiently, hoping she didn't come off sounding patronizing in any way.

Pyrrha reminded herself that Ruby was younger than she was. She, herself, remembered being patronized during her younger days, before she'd become established as the "Goddess of Victory," and she certainly hadn't enjoyed the experience. She emphatically wanted to avoid doing the same inadvertently due to Ruby's outward childishness. After all, from what she'd surmised, Ruby had been accepted early by the headmaster himself. There was clearly more to her than met the eye.

Granted, the brightly eager look her partner was showing, as well as her earlier misunderstanding of Polarity, made keeping that in mind a bit difficult at times.

"That's perfect!" the shorter girl exclaimed, looking up at her. "It makes this plan so much easier."

For a given level of "easier," the taller girl thought.

From what Ruby had excitedly explained to her about the said plan, she had to admit to having more than a few reservations. It was … audacious, to say the least—especially since they had practically just gotten to know each other and did not yet have a full measure of each other's abilities. Then again, that was one of the points of this entire exercise …

Pyrrha cast a glance at the Nevermore, and from its motions she could tell that it was already lining them up for a strafing run. Their earlier attempt to take it head-on had made it more cautious about coming closer to the ground. Ruby's proposal had sought to turn that to their advantage in a way the Grimm wouldn't expect. She had certainly been surprised enough on her part.

She let out a small sigh. Reservations or not they were out of time, and right now she hadn't come up with any real alternatives of her own other than continuing to try and evade that thing, which was a mere reactive delaying tactic and a losing proposition in the long run. Any further hesitation would help no one but the Grimm.

Facing Ruby's expectant smile with as confident a one of her own, her answer was simple: "Let's go."

Ruby's smile turned into an equally confident grin, and they turned as one to await the gigantic avian's attack. It came not a moment too soon.

Time seemed to slow as the Nevermore fired off a barrage of lethally-hardened feathers. She focused on the quills spearing toward her, positioning herself almost directly under the one furthest forward. Before it could skewer her, she slapped it to the ground with her shield Akuou, causing it to slice into the earth at an angle. She leaped onto it before it could even quiver, shifting Milo into rifle form as she did. Using the quill as a springboard, she propelled herself toward another quill in mid-fall, immediately pushing off it and onto the next. She repeated the process rapidly, a quickly ascending streak of red and gold amid the black rain. At the periphery of her vision, she was vaguely aware of her partner doing the same. All too suddenly, they found themselves at the end of the barrage.

Without missing a beat, Pyrrha hurled Akuou toward Ruby, guiding its trajectory with her Semblance. Time suddenly seemed to speed up again as the hooded girl pushed off the shield the instant it passed under her feet, firing off a quick shot with the rifle-configured Crescent Rose to boost her further. Even as she continued to fall, Pyrrha was already magnetically pushing Akuou toward where her partner was going to drop. Right on time, the girl in the hooded cloak did another recoil assisted leap off the makeshift stepping stone just as Pyrrha landed in a crouch, still remotely pushing Akuou to its next position.

Pyrrha's face had taken on a look of intense focus. She felt her Semblance's influence on the shield beginning to slip as it moved toward the edge of her range. In a flash, she brought up Milo to bear just before Ruby made contact with Akuou again. This time the shield immediately spun toward the ground when Ruby skipped off, but a series off shots rang out and slammed into the brazen disc unerringly, sending it spinning like a flipped coin and keeping it in the air. It was a sharp contrast to the smooth Polarity-controlled flight, but pinpoint accuracy and quick adjustments by Pyrrha nonetheless kept it moving to its next position just in time.

The redhead ran forward, firing and reloading on the move expertly as Ruby's improvised flight brought her ever closer to the Nevermore. Risking a quick glance, Pyrrha saw that the titanic bird was already moving to intercept her partner, its enormous beak opening expectantly.

Exactly as planned.

Still, she tensed as the gap between the two closed rapidly, hoping and praying that Ruby knew what she was doing even as she played her part with almost machine-like precision. Time seemed to slow again as she watched Ruby hop off one last time, knowing that the Grimm would meet the other girl before she reached the apex of her last jump. Pyrrha felt herself holding her breath as she beheld the scene through her rifle's optics. Even at the distance, she could see almost every detail with crystal clarity.

A sharp breath forced its way out of Pyrrha's lungs when Ruby suddenly disappeared from view, replaced by the shut beak of the Nevermore. But just as quickly, the beak sprang open, a fully extended scythe propping it ajar. She saw the girl holding the scythe pump her free hand briefly, letting out a whoop loud enough for Pyrrha to hear clearly from where she stood.

Another breath escaped from Pyrrha's mouth, this time one of immense relief, before she stowed her rifle and started moving again to recover Akuou. Nonetheless, she kept an eye on the events unfolding overhead as she headed toward where she'd last seen her shield fall.

She could see the Nevermore flying erratically, head twisting this way and that in a clear attempt to eject her partner from its beak. Without the benefit of Milo's scope, all Pyrrha could see was a splotch of red toward the front end of the Nevermore, clear against the Grimm's immense blackness.

Then she saw the distant creature bank wildly to the side. A flash of fear seized her as the red blot spilled out of its beak. However, its fall stopped as soon as it started, and a sudden glint of reflected light told her why: Ruby had hooked her scythe's blade onto the Grimm's beak, and it immediately started writhing in discomfort. The red blur swung this way and that, causing Pyrrha's heartbeat to soar even further, but it held on doggedly. As Pyrrha continued to watch, she saw Ruby ride an opportunistic swing onto the Nevermore's neck. The motion tugged Crescent Rose sharply upward, causing the Grimm's head to do the same.

"Yeeaahh!" Pyrrha could hear her partner exclaim as her unwilling ride was forced into a loop.

As Pyrrha reached within Polarity range of Akuou—which she immediately summoned toward her—her eyes remained fixed on the scene in the skies above. The Grimm fought the younger girl fiercely when it leveled out, thrashing this way and that. Ruby fought to establish control in turn, yanking her scythe's handle with both hands like a fighter jet's control stick. The massive raven flailed and twisted in response, screaming like a banshee.

Her shield recovered, the redhead raised it, poised to reflect the sunlight to make it easier for her partner to spot her from the air. She waited until she was confident Ruby had gained enough control over the big bucking bird, however. The Grimm's flight was still erratic, but increasingly less so. It wobbled, wobbled again, dipped, then leveled. It continued more or less steadily for a distance, Ruby having apparently mostly figured out her jury-rigged steering system—such as it was.

Having had time to catch her breath and collect her thoughts, Pyrrha could only shake her head at the sheer audacious absurdity of the sight. Still, she felt a smile forming on her face. She knew from her own experiences that coming up with any plan on the fly and actually managing to implement it was no easy feat, let alone something this crazy. It was proof positive that the girl was, indeed, a prodigy of some sort, and Pyrrha felt privileged that she'd ended up as her partner. She had a feeling that the next few years in Beacon were going to be quite interesting.

Without warning, the Nevermore dove straight to the ground—and so did Pyrrha's heart.

"Ruby!" she cried out, already sprinting forward toward where the Grimm seemed to be falling before she even realized what she was doing.

She poured as much of her strength and Aura as she could into her run, but an icy pit formed in her gut when she realized that even then she didn't have a prayer of reaching Ruby in time. She could only hope that—

"Kaaaaawwww!" the beast shrieked in protest as it suddenly pulled up just before its head could slam into the forest floor.

As it was, its belly still scraped along the treetops, kicking up an impressive cloud of leaves and branches as trees toppled in its wake. It took to the air, clearing the trees briefly, only to again dip amongs the trees even lower, ruining even more foliage and sending countless more forest creatures fleeing for their lives. Pyrrha skidded to a stop, realizing that the Grimm was now heading right at her, still mowing down tree after tree as it did. Atop its neck, Pyrrha could see Ruby with her legs clamped firmly on the Nevermore's neck, smiling widely. The girl let go of the scythe with one hand and waved at her. Looks like she wouldn't need to signal her with sunlight after all.

"All aboard Air Ruby!" she heard her partner call out over the cacophony of splintering wood, rustling leaves, and screaming Grimm.

Pyrrha set Milo to xiphos mode and strapped it onto her back with Akuou. She dodged the pieces of tree hurled her way as Ruby and her literal wild ride moved closer. As her partner passed to her left, she extended her free hand to Pyrrha, who kicked off the ground and took it into her own outstretched left hand. Ruby pulled her up and around with a grunt of effort, plopping her awkwardly onto the space behind her. Her own legs squeezed onto the Nevermore's neck even as she let go of Ruby's arm so she wouldn't twist it. She reached around to grab hold of Ruby's waist with her now-free left hand as her other hand took hold of the scythe's handle to lend Ruby her strength in controlling the over-sized raven.

"Secure your tables in the upright position!" Ruby remarked gleefully in greeting. Then her tone changed to one of command. "Ready? Up!"

At the order, Pyrrha pulled on the scythe-handle-turned-control-stick, trying to make her movements complement Ruby's as closely as possible. The treeline fell away as they began to climb, more or less smoothly, although the Grimm still twisted and turned in increasingly half-hearted attempts to shake them off.

The wind blew the smaller girl's hood into her face, and Pyrrha fought with it briefly with a series of jerky head motions. Finally, she managed to catch the edge of the hood with her chin and pin it down on Ruby's back. Pyrrha took a moment to catch her breath and make sure that the both of them were as secure as possible on their perch.

"R-Ruby?" she had to yell to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Yeah?" was the cheerful response.

"This—" And unexpected bank by the Nevermore caused her to swallow her words, and both of them fought with the stubborn creature briefly to countermand the motion. "This is … well, crazy!" she managed to choke out when they brought it to heel once more.

"In a good way?"

Before she could answer, the defiant creature suddenly resisted again, this time pulling into a rapidly rising barrel roll without their input. Instinctively, both her and Ruby's legs squeezed tighter, causing their unwilling mount to start gurgling. She tried to ignore the dizzying blur of the spinning scenery and focus on coordinating her handle control input with her partner's own.

In a bad way! a distant part of her mind retorted to Ruby's question when the Nevermore began to roll faster and faster. In a very bad way!

Finally, the spinning stopped. Hacking wheezes from the Nevermore told her that their legs wringing the Grimm's neck had likely had more to do with forcing it back into level flight than their desperate tugging and pushing on their improvised controls. Their legs loosened just enough to let it start breathing again while still applying enough pressure to keep a firm hold (and remind it who was boss now).

"Let me get back to you on that." Pyrrha finally said out loud. "So, what now?"

Ruby looked around for a bit without answering. Then she pointed. "We follow that."

Pyrrha followed her finger and noted the Ursa-made trail that they had run into—or more accurately, had run into them—earlier. From high in the air, it looked strangely, deceptively small. Almost like a path in an ant farm.

"Alright then." Ruby nodded judiciously, decision made. "Left!"

Both levered the makeshift control stick, and the Grimm grudgingly obeyed. However, it had stopped its token struggles. For now, at least.