*Please comment if you have any opinion on my writing. I want to get better, but that's hard without feedback. What did you like? What do you want to see more of? What can I improve? What should I cut back on?*

Chapter 13

*Recommended Ambiance: Still silence*

The path opened up into a large open area. A stream silently flowed through the center, crossed by an ornate wooden footbridge. The fields on either side were a sea of colors with dozens of varieties of flowers growing everywhere. A simple dirt path split it down the middle, leading across and to the other side where the brush surrounding the area narrowed again to a tight exit. It was the perfect place for an ambush.

"There is a powerful shadow nearby." Aigis confirmed what everyone suspected. "It is moving rapidly."

"I can sense it too." Yang added. "Where is…up?" She looked skyward. A tiny black speck floated through the cloudless sky. "That's it." She pointed and the others strained their eyes to see.

"It looks like a bird." Nora said, making a binocular shape with her hands.

"Is it just me or is it getting bigger?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Scatter!" Ruby shouted. The group rushed into the field, spreading out in all directions as the gigantic flying shadow swooped down, its talons scything through the flowers as it attempted to grab Weiss. She dove aside and blasted the shadow with fire from Myrtenaster as it flew past and climbed back into the sky.

"It looks like a Giant Nevermore, but somehow even more threatening." Blake said.

"What is a Giant Nevermore?" Aigis asked. The group watched the shadow as it circled overhead, no doubt looking for an opening to attack.

"It's another type of Grimm." Ruby explained. "We fought one once, but it wasn't this big."

The shadow swept down, heading straight for Blake. She waited until the last moment and threw Gambol Shroud's blade, extended on its ribbon, at the shadow. It stuck in the shadow's body as Blake leapt high into the air. She landed on the shadow's back, anchored to the monster by her weapon. Blake unloaded her gun into the shadow as it screeched in pain and struggled to throw her off. Black globs dripped from the shadow's wounds as Blake continued to shoot it. Suddenly, the shadow turned upside down and flew at the ground. Blake dove off and tried to wrench Gambol Shroud free, but it was stuck. Unwilling to abandon her weapon, she was dragged through the field as the shadow scraped along the ground. She slammed into the bridge, which was much sturdier than it appeared, and used it to hold herself in place. Her blade ripped free of the creature as it soared back into the sky. Badly injured, Blake crawled under the bridge to get out of the shadow's sight.

The rest of the group fired their weapons at the shadow, but hitting a fast-moving target was difficult, and a flying one doubly so. It dove down, again heading for Weiss. The shadow opened its beak and unexpectedly fire shot from the creature's maw. Weiss ran but was overtaken by the flames as the shadow swept past. She raced through the burning field and dove into the stream to douse the flames. The steep banks prevented her from escaping as the shadow circled and attacked her again, leading with its razor-sharp talons. Nora charged and leapt at the shadow, hitting it in the side of the head with Magnhild just before it reached Weiss. The shadow slammed into the ground beside the stream, cutting a trench through the dirt. Weiss took the opportunity to join Blake under the bridge where they could be relatively safe. The shadow clumsily regained its footing before taking to the sky again.

"Aigis, before you ask, no, they don't normally breathe fire." Yang said. "Do you guys have any ideas?"

"If we can keep it on the ground, it'll be vulnerable." Jaune suggested. "One of us needs to lure it so we can take it down."

"Fire doesn't bother me." Yang said. She charged into the open and took a few ineffective shots at the shadow with Ember Celica. "Come on! Let's see what you've got!"

The shadow swept down, aiming for Yang in a shallow dive. It opened its beak and unleashed a blast of fire as it closed in. Yang stood amidst the flames as the shadow approached. She reared back and met the oncoming shadow with a powerful punch to its face, stopping it dead in its tracks. The shadow flapped its wings furiously in an attempt to stay in the air as Yang ran up to it and repeatedly punched it in the midsection. The shadow slashed at her with its talons but she kept up the assault. Nora came sailing through the air atop Magnhild and landed on the back of the shadow's neck. With a mighty swing of her hammer, she slammed the shadow down into the ground as Yang dove out of the way.

"Now!" Nora shouted. "Finish it off!" The shadow struggled to move but was beaten back to the ground with another hammer blow. Jaune jumped onto its back and slashed away with his sword while Aigis repeatedly speared the shadow. Yang punched it in the head, Ember Celica adding power to the attack, as Ruby arrived. Ruby hooked her scythe around the shadow's neck and fired, the recoil forcing the blade back and embedding it deeply in the monster. She fired again and then a third time, finally severing the shadow's head. It dissolved and disappeared.

A very unhappy-looking Blake climbed out from under the bridge. She was soaked. She reached back down and helped an equally drenched Weiss out of the stream. "I hate water." Blake said.

"Well you are a cat." Yang joked. Blake was not amused.

"Thanks." Weiss said to Blake. Not only for helping her up but for healing her. Her combat skirt was singed but somehow her hair had survived the fire intact.

"This field was so beautiful before." Ruby said, frowning. The flowers were gone, burned away. Only blackened husks remained and small fires still smoldered here and there.

"Well, that sucked." Jaune said. "I had my fill of Nevermores from the initiation."

"Come on guys, enough chatting!" Nora said. "We've got to save Ren!" She headed off down the path without waiting to see if the others followed. She seemed far too happy given the situation.

"At least she seems to be having a good time." Ruby said. "It must be nice to be so happy all the time. Maybe we're the crazy ones."

"We might be crazy, but she's totally nuts." Weiss said. For once everyone laughed.

Pyrrha sat at the window, staring out in silence. Labrys sat in a chair on the other side of the room. The silence was starting to bother her. "You should really try gettin' some sleep." Labrys suggested.

"I should be out there with them." Pyrrha said. "They might need my help."

"They'll be fine." Labrys assured her. "What you need to do now is rest so you'll be ready when they do need your help."

"You may be right." Pyrrha sighed. "You know, you don't have to wait here with me. You can go if you want; I'll be fine on my own."

"After what happened earlier today, Aigis thought I should take the night off." Labrys said.

"I heard you collapsed and started crying during a practice match." Pyrrha said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Labrys replied. "It just brought up some painful memories, that's all."

"Talking about it might help." Pyrrha suggested.

"Aigis said the same thing." Labrys said. "I just don't think I'm ready." She paused for a moment. "Do you want to talk about anythin'?"

"You mean about my shadow?" Pyrrha asked. Labrys nodded. "It seems painful memories are something we have in common."

"Are you afraid of bein' alone?" Labrys asked.

*Recommended Music: I'll Face Myself (Persona 4 Soundtrack)*

"That's not quite it." Pyrrha answered. "It's a bit hard to explain. I'm famous all over Remnant as a great fighter. The problem is that makes people look at me differently. People see me as something special, something to be put on a pedestal and admired. I just want to be a normal girl with normal friends and normal relationships, but most people can't get past my celebrity. It makes it really hard."

"Where does Jaune fit in?" Labrys asked.

"Not shying away from the tough questions huh?" Pyrrha laughed. "He's the first person who ever saw me for me. I don't think he even realizes how famous I am. It's great. He just acts like himself around me, and I feel like I can be myself with him."

"That's great." Labrys said.

"The problem is I'd like to be more than just friends." Pyrrha admitted. "I'm not quite sure exactly what that means, but I really like him. He just doesn't see me that way though. He's always chasing after girls, Weiss mostly, but never me. I thought I found someone, that I didn't have to be so alone anymore, but I just don't know now. Maybe he's not going to be what I want him to be. Maybe I'm not going to find someone like that."

"I'm sure you'll find someone." Labrys encouraged her. "I'm a robot, and I found a sister and a whole bunch of friends. If I can do that, you definitely won't be alone."

"Maybe you're right." Pyrrha smiled. "I'm not giving up on Jaune either. I think he might be starting to get it. Whether that will change anything, I don't know, but I won't give up until I know for sure."

"I don't know much about that sort of relationship, but my sister once found a guy like that." Labrys said. "She didn't think she could ever have human emotions, let alone human relationships, but she did."

"What's he like?" Pyrrha asked.

"I never met him." Labrys replied. "Aigis doesn't talk about him much either. Apparently he sacrificed himself to save the world. She always gets so sad when she talks about him, I could never bring myself to ask more. Maybe she feels the same way about him that I do about my past." Labrys frowned.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you sad." Pyrrha apologized.

"It's alright." Labrys said. "Maybe talkin' about it would help my sister too."

Kanji walked over to a wounded shadow. He transformed one of his spiked knuckles into its pistol form and executed the downed enemy. "That's the last of 'em." He reported. "Let's get this show on the road. I want to get this over with and face my shadow already."

"There is a special shadow ahead, but why do you think it's yours?" Rise asked.

"Look, I may not be the sharpest, but I know a pattern when I see one." Kanji answered. "So far they've been showing up in the order we awakened our Personas. That means I'm next, then you, then Ted and then Naoto."

"I noticed the pattern, but do you think the shadows would really be that predictable?" Yosuke asked. "I mean, they always seem to throw us a curveball just when we think we've got things figured out."

"Perhaps the predictability of the pattern is part of their strategy." Naoto suggested. "If we know what's coming, our anticipation and worry could distract us."

"You're overthinking it." Kanji said. "They don't need a strategy. They're just looking for a weakness. They want to see if one of us will break. It doesn't matter if they do it in order or at random. The real test is facing your shadow. So far we've done a pretty damn good job. I'm not going to let us down by being the weak link and you guys better not either."

"That was…surprisingly inspiring." Yukiko admitted. "Have you ever considered being a motivational speaker?"

"Him, a motivational speaker?" Chie laughed hysterically. The others joined in.

"Are you making fun of me?!" Kanji shouted. "Stop laughing at me! I'll kick all your asses!"

"There's the Kanji we know and love." Teddie laughed.

"Can it bear." Kanji said, shaking his fist.

"Alright, let's get going before Kanji turns Teddie inside-out." Yosuke said.

*Silence!*

The path opened up into another large area. A narrow dirt trail cut through the center of a field overgrown with grass and wildflowers. Beside the trail was a small pond with various plants growing out of its shallow water. "There are shadows here." Yang warned. "There's a bunch of them, somewhere in the grass." The group carefully followed the path that traversed the area. Like every other place in this world, it was eerily silent. The grass waved as if blown by a gently breeze, but the silence and stillness of the air indicated that wind was not behind the movement.

"They are all around us." Aigis reported. The group formed a circle, facing outward to confront the incoming attack.

"I've got movement over here." Blake called.

"Here too." Ruby added.

"How many are there?" Jaune asked. "It's like they're everywhere."

A shadow leapt out of the grass, straight at Weiss. She ducked and it sailed over her head, slamming into Jaune's back. Jaune fell on his face with a yelp, dropping his sword and shield, the shadow landing atop him. It looked like a wolf, its fur black and impossible dark, its eyes glowing red. Jaune rolled over, knocking the shadow aside. It immediately jumped back on his chest, growling and biting at his throat. He grabbed it by the neck with one hand and searched for his sword with the other. The shadow shook free and bit his hand, drawing blood.

Nora rushed over and clobbered the shadow with a horizontal swing of Magnhild. The shadow tumbled through the air, disappearing back into the grass as it landed. Another darted out of cover and clamped its mouth around Nora's calf. She screamed and kicked it with her other leg, but it refused to let go. Jaune recovered his sword and stabbed the shadow. Thoroughly impaled, it released Nora and struggled for a few moments before it dissolved and disappeared.

Aigis advanced into the grass, her sensors allowing her some limited vision through the obstruction. She could see a shadow running around her and tried to spear it. Her weapon was too big and slow to hit the agile creature, so she tossed it aside. The shadow rushed her, jumped and bit her arm. It squealed and recoiled in pain after chomping on metal, and Aigis took the opportunity to riddle it with bullets. She looked around, but now the shadows appeared to be consciously avoiding her, presumably finding her too hard a target.

Ruby scythed through the grass, cutting away the shadows' cover in an effort to locate the elusive enemies. To her surprise, one jumped on her back, attempting to bite the back of her neck. She slammed down on her back, the shadow beneath her. It was stunned by the slam and Ruby swung Crescent Rose around to finish it off. Before she could, another sunk its teeth into her arm. As she struggled to fight it off, the other scurried away, back into the grass and out of sight. Ruby grabbed the offending shadow with her other arm and ripped it off, leaving a bloody gash behind. She tossed it high into the air before shooting it out of the sky with Crescent Rose. The high-caliber round entered the shadow's neck and blew its head off. The fragments fell back to the ground as they dissolved and disappeared.

Blake saw the grass rustle and fired several shots from Gambol Shroud at where she expected the shadow to be. It raced out of the grass and straight at her. It attempted to bite her leg, but she sidestepped it. The shadow slid to a stop, only to be met by Blake's boot as she stomped it into the ground. It struggled to free itself, but Blake sliced the trapped shadow in two. It dissolved and disappeared. Blake heard a low growl and turned around just in time to see another shadow leaping at her. She caught it by the head and blasted away at it with Gambol Shroud until it dissolved and disappeared. "They're not that strong." Blake said. "If we can see them, we can kill them easily."

"On it!" Yang shouted. She summoned her Persona and blasted the grass with fire. Weiss saw what Yang was doing and joined in with Myrtenaster. Before long, the entire field was engulfed in flames. It burned a little too well. A firestorm surrounded them, forcing the group to head for the pond. In the water they had some respite from the flames, but the heat and smoke still presented a danger. Ruby summoned her Persona Summer Rose and Aigis summoned Norn. Together, they used wind to push the flames and smoke back. The intense fire soon ran out of fuel and died away, smoldering in a few places.

With the plant life gone, the shadows were revealed. There were a great deal more than they had expected, at least a few dozen. "Light them up!" Ruby ordered. She took aim with Crescent Rose, blasting away at the shadows as they scrambled for somewhere to hide. Aigis opened up with her hand guns, peppering the shadows with bullets. Nora fired several grenades around the shadows. Those that were not quick enough were blown to pieces, masses of black being launched into the air at the site of each explosion. The rest were forced together into a tight cluster. Nora charged at them, forcing the others to stop shooting to avoid hitting her.

"Nora, what are you doing?!" Yang called after her.

Nora laughed maniacally as she leapt into the air. She slammed Magnhild down into the center of the group of shadows, sending several tumbling through the air and crushing those hit directly into a fine paste. The remaining shadows all now attacked her. She swung her hammer wildly, crushing shadows with every move. Their broken bodies piled up around her before dissolving and disappearing. Only a few shadows remained and they were terrified, backing away from Nora as she laughed again. The rest of the group mopped up the isolated enemies with their guns while Nora proudly admired their handiwork.

"Nora, you need to be more careful." Blake admonished. "If you're overaggressive like that, you're going to get hurt."

"So?" Nora replied. "I can always just heal myself with my Persona."

"There are limits to Persona healing." Aigis warned. "A Persona can heal cuts, bruises, some broken bones, and even organ damage, but not all injuries. Joint dislocations, major structural damage, and severe wounds are beyond a Persona's ability to fix. It will not bring you back from the dead." She frowned. "I have tried."

"I'll be more careful." Nora sighed. "It's just so fun to smash them!"

*Please comment if you have any opinion on my writing. I want to get better, but that's hard without feedback. What did you like? What do you want to see more of? What can I improve? What should I cut back on?*