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Warning: you will hate me by the end of this chapter, sorry in advance.

We Go Together

The students had been walking at a brisk pace for close to an hour, the mountain was now only a couple miles distant. It had been a mostly uneventful journey, a few stray Grimm had attacked but were easily dealt with. They had heard a few shots from further ahead in the forest, the hollow bangs were almost certainly that of professor Port's blunderaxe. The shots had been getting steadily closer, which indicated they were gaining on their tutor. They confirmed they were traveling in the right direction when they happened upon the corpse of the Nevermore professor Port had tackled out of the sky. It's sheer mass had hindered the breakdown of its slowly dissolving body. It lay impaled upon a large, straight tree, the trunk piercing through its abdomen. Deep slashes to its neck and chest leaked blood and black smoke. Flint whistled, admiring the professor's handiwork as they passed the fallen Nevermore's carcass.

Sky ached all over, he trudged after his comrades, not wanting to be anymore of a burden than he already was. The forest was starting to thin. The murky red twilight, sunlight filtered through the innumerable red leaves of the tree canopy above them, was now speckled with pure white rays of sunlight. Somewhere, beyond the mountain a prolonged burst of heavy automatic fire reverberated through the forest. Fox's heightened senses picked up on it first, the sound reached the rest of the party's ears a moment later. All eyes turned to Fox for comment, since he had significantly better hearing. "It sounded like the Striker's chin gun… but at this distance it's hard to tell, even for me."

"Could be Cardin and Velvet? She might have used her semblance to power the cockpits systems." Rod said hopefully.

"It could just as easily be another airship or a random huntsman on another mission." Ember intoned.

"But if it is them, they could need our help." Yatsuhashi put forward quietly.

"Port's instructions were clear, meet at the objective. We have to pass the mountain to get to where that sound came from anyway. If it is Velvet and Cardin needing help then it would be better to find them when we have Port there to back us up and kick Grimm ass." Coco said curtly.

She had a point, Yatsuhashi nodded his understanding, "then let us make haste."

The group jogged through the forest, the signs of battle were everywhere. They definitely were on Port's trail or rather in the wake of his wave of destruction. The surrounding trees bore deep gouges and holes, smoking Grimm corpses littered the ground, some were even strewn from the branches above. A pair of gunshots echoed through the forest, they were close… very close.

The group quickened their pace, soon emerging from the forest and into a pasture at the base of the mountain. In front of them professor Port swung down his weapon, beheading a prone Ursa with one stroke. He turned and propped the blunderaxe against his shoulder, barrel up, like a soldier on parade. "Ah, miss Adel. Right on time as always."

"Professor, I think Cardin and Velvet might need our help."

"Then let us quickly slay this damnable Razorwing and find our comrades."

"Lead on Sir." Coco answered with a smile.

The group took off at a jog, pacing themselves for the climb to avoid becoming fatigued. As they neared the summit excited chirping could be heard. They crested the ridge and looked down into the long dead volcanoes boulder littered crater. More than three hundred adolescent and fledgling Nevermores, between four and ten feet tall moved about the crater on scrawny legs. A dozen giant Nevermores huddled towards the middle, resting on clutches of eggs. And in the centre, towering over even the largest of his harem, was the Razorwing.

"Students of Beacon!" Port roared, raising his blunderaxe high above his head. The Gathered Grimm collectively squawked in surprise. '"CHARGE!"

Port waved his axe forward and ran down the slope, the incline aiding his acceleration. The party let out a unified battle cry and sprinted after their tutor. The Grimm rushed forwards to meet them, most taking to the air. Feathers flew, but the hastily aimed projectiles were easily dodged by the hunters without causing much loss of momentum. The Grimm's barrage was answered with bullets. The students fired on the move, sacrificing a little accuracy for becoming harder to hit.

"Hey, lil bro, bet you 50 Lien that I kill more of em." Flint shouted to his younger twin.

"You're on!" Gray yelled in reply, just barely audible over the din of battle. He raised his rifle mid-step and snapped off a shot, nailing a fledgling Nevermore as it took off. "That's one!"

Coco sighed upon overhearing the twin's competitive streak rear its ugly head. Arma was far too cumbersome to fire on the move. She wanted to stop to fire but didn't want to be separated from the rest of the group and become easy prey. The twins were snapping shots off with their rifles, Ember blasted compact fireballs towards the enemy with her gauntlet. Rod wasn't by his team's side, instead sticking close to Sky and Dove. Both Dove and Rod fired their weapons into the solid wall of Grimm rushing up to meet them. Sky had his halberd pointed forwards, ready to skewer the first enemy he came into contact with. The machine pistols in Fox's armblades chattered in controlled bursts beside Coco. Yatsuhashi and Russell took the right flank, advancing side by side. The latter blasting his enemies with bolts of lightning from his daggers.

Port had a slight head start on the others and as such was the first to meet the foe in melee. His weapon slashed forward in a wide horizontal sweep, gutting two fledgling Nevermores. He flipped over their corpses before they even hit the ground, cleaving another enemy in two. Sky rushed past him, spearing a fledgling on the tip of his halberd, he flipped the enemy over his shoulder and span to deliver a vicious swing of the wide blade into an adolescent Nevermore's chest. Rod leapt over him his tomahawks finding the adolescents throat as his body continued past it feet first, both his boots connecting with a fledgling's face. His tomahawks tore free and he rolled to lessen the impact. Dove was suddenly at his side, finishing the fledgling Rod had stunned and turning to stab another that had tried to flank Sky.

Fox leapt into the air and returned to Remnant fist first. His shockwave semblance knocking over at least a dozen enemies and liquefying the adolescent Nevermore who was unlucky enough to be standing directly beneath him. This gained the attention of a few of their airborne assailants. As they turned to engage the blind second year, accurate fire swatted them from the sky. A fledgling's head disappeared in a puff of red mist. "Seven!" Gray bragged.

An adolescent squawked as a fist sized hole opened in its chest. "Ha, twelve! Flint shouted back. The roar of a Gatling gun from behind them made both twins turn round. Coco stood with Arma unfurled and smoking in her hands. A series of loud crunches made them turn back around. Nearly two dozen corpses fell from the sky and crashed to the floor.

Coco flashed them both a mischievous grin. "Nineteen." She said smugly.

"Oh fuck you!" Flint retorted.

"See, this is why I like Yatsu more." Gray said, joining in with his brothers complaining.

"Twenty five!" Yatsuhashi yelled with the barest hint of a smug smile tugging the corners of his mouth upwards. His sword disembowelling one of the giant Nevermores, though he was only able to reach it because they seemed reluctant to leave their eggs.

"Oh come on!" Gray whined.

The green blur that was Russell using his semblance sped past him and leapt into the fray. He'd been using hit and run tactics, striking the backs of enemies whose attention was elsewhere. An adolescent Nevermore swooped down towards Coco. Fox turned to engage the threat to his lover, but Russell was faster. He jumped behind the avian Grimm and brought his daggers down into both of its shoulders simultaneously. Its wings fell limp and it plummeted into the ground. Russell finished it with a quick stab to the back of the neck and took off sprinting, once again becoming a green blur.

One of the giant Nevermores had had enough and abandoned its clutch of eggs. It took to the sky, circling once before fixing its eyes on Flint. It shrieked as it dived towards the second year. The elder twin smiled and mecha-shifted his rifle into its melee form. The stock expanded out into a sledgehammer like maul and he waited patiently for the Nevermore to close the distance. Nevermore hide was weakest at the neck so he simply needed to sidestep the first strike and then retaliate before it could return to the air.

In his peripheral vision he caught sight of his younger brother. Gray leapt from one enemy to another, using them like stepping stones to gain height. He fired his rifle down into each one as he kicked off them and onto the next, the recoil of his massive 40mm rifle propelling him even higher. He leapt towards the giant Nevermore intent on harming his brother. The rifle spun in his hands, his grip moving from trigger to barrel with fluid grace, the stock of his rifle mecha-shifting into a single headed axe. The sharp side faced towards his target. Gray had his weapon poised to strike, the axe held in a two handed grip over his head. He fell towards the Grimm and his axe fell with him, decapitating the giant Nevermore with one swing. He landed on his feet in front of Flint, the headless body of the giant Nevermore slammed into the ground behind him with a heavy thud. A moment later half a dozen smaller corpses tumbled out of the sky around them. Gray savoured the look of sheer incredulity on his older brothers face. "That…" his older twin stammered. "...that still only counts as one."

"Totally doesn't." Ember stated flatly, suddenly appearing alongside the pair, shooting gouts of flame into the air.

Yatsuhashi saw the streams of fire and realised he'd overextended. It was hard to keep tabs of everyone's positions when new targets presented themselves so frequently. He stabbed a fledgling through the chest and was in the process of unsheathing his blade from the bloody, twitching, feathered scabbard in front of him when an ear splitting shriek attacked his ears. He winced and turned, looking for the origin of the sound. He caught a glimpse of a large silver object flying towards him at immense speed. The Razorwing had joined the fray. A green blur, moving even faster than the Razorwing, slammed into him. Russell tackled his older comrade to the ground as the shadow of their adversary passed over them. They could feel the air of their targets slipstream rush over their prone forms. "Thanks for the save." Yatsuhashi said gratefully as he rose to his feet.

"No problem." Russell panted before zipping away to aid Sky who was being assailed by two adolescent Nevermores.

Port suddenly appeared alongside Yatsuhashi, his blunderaxe dripped blood onto the ash beneath them. "Mister Daichi? Your sword is of Goujian make is it not?" he asked casually.

Professor Port was, of course, right. Though a question regarding the village that was his birthplace caught Yatsuhashi off guard. His weapon was forged in the undying flame due west of his now desolate village, though not by Yatsuhashi. The sword was old, older than its wielder, older than Port even. Three and a half centuries to be precise, passed down through from generation to generation. Goujian was a village famous for two things; its caramel (unparalleled throughout all of Remnant) and its sword craft. Rust resistant alloys and crucible steel were forged into a near unbreakable weapon that would endure the ravages of time and the rigours of combat. An extremely rare kind of dust was also added to the blade. Meticulously refined, spectral dust was carefully layered into the colossal blade during the folding process. The same dust used in Velvet's soul cage, though the end result was slightly different. Spectral dust allowed a person's aura to be imprinted into dust form. Every one of Yatsuhashi's ancestors had imbued a portion of their power into the blade. He could feel their presence, almost envision their past deeds, every time he wielded the sword. He understood why his tutor was checking the origin of his sword. If anything could reliably pierce the Razorwing hide it would be his weapon and so finally he answered Port's question. "Yes professor."

The professor smiled. "Then you know what to do." He said, blasting a shot into the near indestructible hide of the Razorwing. At first Yatsuhashi thought the Grimm hadn't even noticed but it soon started to come back around for another pass. "You need only keep its attention and slow down the beast Mister Daichi. I will return in a moment with your teammates." He counselled before running back into the fray. Yatsuhashi rolled his shoulders, took a wide stance and hefted his weapon up in front of him, staring down the Razorwing with steely eyes. Its entire body shone like a well oiled blade. Every inch of its body tapered to form a razor sharp edge, hence the name: Razorwing. It's baleful red eyes returned his stare with intense malevolence.

The Razorwing gave a shriek of triumph as it scythed into its motionless prey. Yatsuhashi held fast. Bladed body met colossal sword, the metallic clang louder than any bell. The ground beneath Yatsuhashi's feet cracked and splintered. The force of the impact forced him to slide backwards several paces, his feet leaving deep ruts in the stone and ash. But his sword held fast, his enemies speed and momentum actually aiding his weapon in piercing the creatures, toughened skin. A monumental screech of pain filled Yatsuhashi's ears as the Razorwing flailed over him and landed messily in a heap behind him, a bloody gash in its shoulder leaking ichor onto the dusty ground. Its left wing dragged limply behind it as it righted itself, every scrape of the metallic hide along the floor producing sparks. The wing was useless now that the tendons controlling the limb had been severed.

It swung its right wing at the stoic swordsman who moved to block, the monumental blow forcing him to slide again. It swung again. And again. Now in a frenzy, each impact shook Yatsuhashi to the bone and left small triangular notches in his blade. Even a sword of Goujian origin couldn't withstand this onslaught forever.

It charged forward, trying in vain to take to the air with only one useable wing. Its body slammed into Yatsuhashi, sending him sprawling to the floor. The beast realised it couldn't take flight and so instead slammed its beak down at the human who had wounded it so grievously. Yatsuhashi rolled out of the way just in time, his adversary's beak embedded in the rock beside him, the Grimm tore its beak free from the stone and jerked its head to the side suddenly, catching Yatsuhashi by surprise and knocking his sword from his grasp. It raised its head, poised to deliver the finishing blow to the helpless student.

A roar of raw fury made the creature pause and a heartbeat later Fox rocketed into its face with a shockwave infused punch that dented its snout and staggered the beast. A devastating barrage from Coco's Gatling gun caught the reeling enemy square in the jaw, right where her lover had dented the creature's armour. The focused fire on the weak point punched through and ricocheted inside the target's mouth. The Razorwing shrieked in pain and brought its right wing up to shield its face. Coco didn't relent. After all, if its right wing was busy shielding its face and its left wing was disabled, then it was vulnerable to an attack from her teammates. The Razorwing jinked left and right, trying to throw off her aim. Beneath the flailing beast Fox threw Yatsuhashi back his sword and rolled beneath the creature as it jerked around violently. Now inside the guard he lay on his back and peppered the Razorwing's face with bullets from his armblades built in machine pistols. The avian Grimm squawked in surprise and brought one of its clawed feet down onto the second year. Fox brought his arms up to guard against what should have been an instantly crushing blow. He could feel the collar of his zipper vest fill with ash that trickled down his back as he was pressed into the dirt. His bones creaked from the pressure. His left armblade crumpled and folded. Fox let out a roar of sheer desperation as he felt his strength wain. His arms shook as they were slowly, inexorably, forced down.

The Razorwing's thick skin had withstood the deluge as Arma rained down with shot after shot. Coco gritted her teeth as she saw her lover and teammate being slowly crushed. A rapid series of dry clicks begrudgingly informed her that Arma had expended all its ammunition. "Hold on babe" Coco yelled as she mecha-shifted her weapon into melee form and sprinted towards the Razorwing without a moment's hesitation. She wasn't going to get there in time...

Yatsuhashi did. He put every last ounce of strength he had left into a swing at the Razorwing's leg. The leg was as thick as Yatsuhashi's torso and a hell of a lot more armoured. Yatsuhashi felt his ancestors lend their strength to bolster his own, the sword shone brightly with golden light as it cleaved halfway through the leg with a single stroke.

The Grimm cried out in pain and hobbled back a step, tearing Yatsuhashi's sword from his hands as it remained embedded in the retreating Grimm's crippled leg. It slashed with its uninjured wing as it backed away. Coco finally reached her two teammates and leapt forwards, blocking the strike. A dent appeared in Arma's casing and Coco was bowled over from the force of the impact. She flipped nimbly back to her feet and again put herself between the Razorwing and her teammates. Yatsuhashi dragged his dazed teammate backwards, a white knuckled fist pulling frantically at the collar of Fox's orange zipper vest. Yatsuhashi glanced around, hopeful that some of their allies would come to their aid, disappointed to find all the other students still engaged with lesser Grimm.

The Razorwing reared back to swing again. Coco braced herself, ready to endure another bone shaking blow to save her friends. The swing never connected, as Port finally added his strength to the struggle and slammed his axe into the creature's torso, leaving behind a deep dent and staggering his massive adversary. He kept up the pressure and blasted the Grimm's already wounded face with his blunderaxe. The Razorwing swung its wing at the professor, who nimbly leapt up onto the wing as it cleaved through the air beneath him. He ran along its limb and scaled the Razorwings shoulder with ease. Port leapt off the shoulder, blasting behind him with his weapon to gain momentum. His axe met the weeping wound in the Grimm's right cheek, taking advantage of the already ruptured armour to cut deeper. The force of the blow knocked the hobbled beast off of its feet. Around them the sounds of battle grew fainter as the last of the lesser Grimm were finished off.

The head of the blunderaxe hooked into the gaping hole in the Razorwing's cheek, Port pulled, wrestling the Grimm, matching its strength with his own. The hole in its face tore wider as the beast writhed and screeched. It tried to push itself upright with its right wing but Port was too strong.

Yatsuhashi had finally gotten Fox clear and sprinted back into the action. Coco crouched beside her dazed lover. "You doing alright sweet thing?"

"I'm fine, help Yatsu." Fox answered, sitting up and inspecting his damaged armblade.

Yatsuhashi reached the professor. Port turned and smiled. "Mister Daichi, be a good chap and hold this." He said gesturing with his eyes to the blunderaxe embedded in the Razorwing's skull. Yatsuhashi nodded and complied, no sooner had his hands gripped the haft of Port's weapon did the professor let go and sprint around the monstrous Grimm. Dust the thing was strong… Yatsuhashi dug his heels in and pulled with all his might, still the Razorwing's right wing started to push the creature off of the ground. The Razorwing screeched and jerked away from the stoic swordsman, evidently whatever Port was doing behind the creature was causing it a great deal of pain. Yatsuhashi's arms were nearly ripped from their sockets, his feet started to leave the ground. He couldn't keep the creature down any longer, not alone.

He didn't have to, because a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back. "Just hold on a little longer." Coco breathed.

"Haha!" Port's booming laugh washed over the two members of team CFVY. They glanced up in surprise to see the professor leaping from the Grimm's back with Yatsuhashi's sword in his hands. He sliced into the Razorwing's outstretched neck, cleaving through its entirety with a masterful stroke. The professor, Coco and Yatsuhashi were sprayed with blood as a pressurized jet of the fluid erupted from its jugular.

"A fine blade mister Daichi." Professor Port complimented as he handed the sword back to its rightful owner with respectful reverence. Port had caught a glimpse into the Goujian blade's past. He'd felt the memories of battles that made his own accomplishments pale by comparison. He had seen, in his mind's eye, Yatsuhashi's great-great-grandfather wielding the sword with magnificent skill during the great war. He had felt first hand the heartache of Yatsuhashi's mother, Anko Daichi, as she died in the final stand of Goujian. Her blood slick hands gripping the handle of the soul sword to the bitter end as she ensured her son's escape from the burning village besieged by Grimm. She could have left with her son but the honourable soul had elected to stay behind with her brothers and sisters in arms. He had felt the bittersweet happiness of Yatsuhashi as he returned to his desolate village and retrieved his mother's weapon and made it his own. The blade's name was Tamashi no ken.

The memories were slipping away from him now, like a half remembered dream… Though one thing remained clear in Port's mind; if Yatsuhashi was even half as powerful as the previous wielders of that sword then there was no doubt he would go on to achieve more than Port could ever hope to accomplish himself. The professor nodded solemnly to the stoic swordsman of team CFVY and gathered the students.

Port took stock. Fox's left arm was curled in against his body protectively, his muscles had been damaged while staving off the Razorwing's attack. Everyone else seemed to be relatively unscathed, though Flint was bitterly mourning the loss of 50 Lien to his brother Gray who smugly told anyone who would listen just how easy he'd found it to beat his slightly older brother. Russell was supervising Dove and Sky as they smashed each Nevermore egg in turn. Rod was turning a cylindrical case over in his hands, inspecting it for damage.

The professor cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "No time for dallying my friends, our comrades may still need our aid." Nobody argued and the students quickly gathered their weapons and few remaining supplies and made their way down the other side of the mountain where they had heard the heavy automatic fire earlier, though now the forest of forever fall was worryingly silent.

"Left!" Velvet yelled. Cardin stooped his head low and ducked to the left around an ancient tree. He leapt over a particularly large exposed root and sucked in air as he felt Velvet's nails dig into the skin of his shoulder. Her left arm was looped over his right shoulder and across his back and her right hand brandished her chainsword, which growled in frustration as it was yet again dragged away from its enemies.

They had been running for almost an hour and the mountain was close peaked over Cardin's shoulder. "On my signal, spin and jump right,." She ordered.

"Awfully bossy today..." Cardin panted.

"Now!" Velvet yelled urgently.

Cardin complied. He span round to see a Beowolf mid pounce and jumped to the right. Velvet swung her weapon in a vicious horizontal slash that caught their attacker off guard. Cor ruptor shrieked in delight as it bit into the Grimm's flesh, separating its upper jaw and cranium from the rest of its body. Cardin turned and fled as an Ursa lumbered into view. Velvet took another peek over Cardin's shoulder, relieved to find the Ursa struggling to squeeze between two huge trees. "We're good, keep going."

"Easy for you to say." He muttered. Setting his eyes on their barely visible destination through the tree canopy. His breathless lungs screamed for air and his heart hammered steadfastly in his chest.

They broke out of the tree line and into a field of knee-high red grass, swishing slightly in the light breeze. In front of them a steep incline heralded the start of the mountain. Cardin barely slowed down, jogging across the field as his legs were dampened by the moisture of the knee-high grass he waded through. They reached the start of the steep slope and Cardin gently put Velvet down. In the hour or so they had been running Cardin's aura had been steadily replenishing, he now had two thirds of his aura to call upon. Conversely Velvets aura had stayed at just less than a quarter, her wounds sapping her strength.

"Fighting retreat?" He panted. Jogging for miles carrying Velvet and dodging Grimm had tired him. He drew his weapon. A few dozen Grimm burst out of the tree line, a mixed bag of Ursas and Beowolves.

"Yeah." Velvet answered, turning to face the horde approaching them across the field. She revved her chainsaw.

Fox ached all over… but his arm was something else. It felt like his bicep had torn free from the bone, hell it probably had… He sucked in a sharp intake of breath as his left elbow brushed against a tree. Beside him Yatsuhashi looked him up and down with concern. "Perhaps it would be better for someone else to take point with me?"

"Like who?" Fox replied. "One of the damn first years?" he added bitterly.

"I'm only looking out for you." Yatsuhashi replied.

Fox sighed and looked at the ground. What is wrong with me Yatsu is a good friend, I shouldn't snap at him, he thought, irritated with himself. "I know but-" Fox began, but was interrupted by a hesitant tap on the shoulder. He turned to regard Sky, who was holding out a shaking hand that cupped a pair of small white pills. "What're those?" Fox asked in confusion.

"Pain killers, they help with the headaches I get after my seizures. You look like you need em more right now." Sky replied nervously.

"Thanks." Fox muttered, taking the proffered pills and swallowing them.

Sky nodded and slowed down to fall back in step with Russell. "Got anymore of those pain killers?" Russell asked hopefully. "My leg still aches from that Gargoyle bite."

"Nah, sorry that was my last two."

"You gonna be able to manage without them?" Russell inquired.

Sky shrugged in response as the group broke out into a clearing, created by autocannon fire. The ground was rutted and pockmarked with small craters and coated with red leaves and pulverised bark just ahead the heavily damaged cockpit section of the aircraft leaned against a massive tree. Yatsuhashi jogged over to it and leapt onto the wreckage to search the interior. Coco and Fox were right on his heels, the others fanned out around the crash site watching for any Grimm that could be lurking in the murky red tinted twilight that surrounded them. "There's a lot of blood in Velvet's seat. It isn't disintegrating so it's not from a Grimm." Yatsuhashi called out, a hint of panic in his normally calm voice.

"Rod, get up here. We need your semblance." Coco shouted down from her perch atop the crumpled cockpit roof. Normally his semblance was only useful for hunting the more elusive Grimm, such as Lurkers, now it was being used for search and rescue. Rod sighed and leapt up beside Coco, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. Rod's semblance was Postcognition, it allowed him to view events of the past, though it took a great deal of concentration and more aura was used the further into the past the event took place. Luckily this was a recent event and Rod had no problem in projecting a blue bubble that enveloped the entire crash site.

The sounds were washed out and crackly, like a scratched vinyl record. The vision was tinted a deep blue but sure enough Rod had allowed them all to perceive past event's. A loud rumble startled the students as a spectre of the wreck rolled through the forest flattening trees that were no longer there. Rod skipped forward.

Yatsuhashi gasped and reached out, his hand passing through the blue tinted spectre of an unconscious Velvet impaled by a thick branch. Fox and Coco both jerked away as the spectre of an anguished Cardin suddenly emerged between them, and shouted down to Velvet "Don't you dare die!" The ghosts of beowolves prowled around the crash site.

Rod skipped forward. Velvet stood facing away from Cardin, tears in her eyes as she told him to leave her and save himself. Cardin sprinted up and caught her by surprise as he swept her up in his arms and took off running towards the mountain. A moment later Beowolves and Ursas broke into the freshly made clearing and took up pursuit. The vision flickered and died as the bubble dissipated.

"Well it looks like we know where they're heading." Gray commented cheerily as he pointed to the shorter peak the pair had taken off running towards. Coco had retrieved the first aid kit and was busy putting Fox's left arm in a sling.

One face of the mountain Gray was pointing at came away as a huge landslide swept down the steep slope. "Gee what gave it away?" Flint asked sarcastically.

"Well that hadn't happened yet so you can shut it." Gray shot back.

Ember twirled her sword in her hands as she listened to the twins bicker, her patience quickly wore thin and she blasted a halo of fire into the air with her gauntlet to get their attention. "Hey, both of you. Between us and that mountain there is about ten miles of forest that I assume is Grimm infested, so shut your dick holes, get your gear, shut up again. and start walking. Any questions?"

The twins shook their heads in unison.

"Onwards and upwards then I suppose." Professor Port sighed.

"Keep going!" Velvet yelled bisecting a Grimm with Cor Ruptor. She backpedaled a couple of steps and then parried a blow from a Beowolf with the flat of her blade.

Cardin slammed his mace into an Ursa's face, splintering the bone mask atop its skull. He used his moment of respite to glance down, the ground beneath his feet was threaded with small fissures and cracks. It was time to put into action the plan he had been formulating. "Get clear, I'm ending this!" He yelled in reply.

Velvet was about to protest but the confidence in her companion's eyes was enough to quell her doubts. She turned and scrambled up steep incline. Cardin poured as much aura into the dust crystal nested between his weapon's flanges as it could take without overcharging and breaking. He roared with pure undiluted rage as he slammed it into the mountain at his feet. For a moment, Cardin thought his plan had failed, nothing seemed to happen. Then the mountain itself groaned and cracked like an ancient man awakening and stretching. The Grimm paused, looking to each other in confusion as the sound resonated forth from Remnant itself. At Cardin's feet, the face of the ground came away, rushing forward to meet the creatures of darkness. Huge boulders bounced and rolled through their ranks, crushing them indiscriminately. Tides of smaller stones swept forward, maiming Grimm upon impact and burying them alive.

The dust settled and a heavily breathing Cardin surveyed the destruction he had wrought. Not a single Grimm was left standing, most had been crushed and the few that hadn't were buried alive. Their exposed and twitching hands groping for air that would never reach their lips.

"Nice!" Velvet praised, hobbling over to pat him on the back before turning and resuming her ascent of the mountain, Cardin followed.

They reached the it was a long dead volcano, the top of the mountain actually sloped inwards and formed a bowl shaped crater. Around the edges of the crater tunnels wormed their way into the stone.

They glanced around the bowl, there was no sign of their teammates, or the professor, or the Razorwing... They had gone to the wrong mountain. "Dust fucking damn it" Cardin sighed, kicking a stone down into the pit.

A few loose stones clacked as they were disturbed. At first Cardin thought the mountain was still settling in the aftermath of his man made landslide. That was until Velvet screamed a warning, Cardin turned to see a colossal death stalker, at least three times the size of any he had bore witness to before. Its thick hide was crisscrossed with the marks of battle, made by the countless humans the ancient Grimm had bested in combat. Its mandibles clicked together excitedly as a stinger the size of a car was hoisted aloft by its muscular tail. One massive claw lurched towards the two students. Velvet dived forwards to shield an awestruck Cardin from the blow. The claw slammed into her and she in turn slammed into Cardin.

Both huntsman and huntress bounced painfully down the sheer side of the crater. Velvet managed to raise one arm and weakly call out to Cardin before slumping back into the ash, her aura all but gone.

Cardin saw stars as he stared up at the sky, despite it still being day. He groaned and blinked away the distraction from the edge of his vision before rolling onto his stomach. His aura was now just below half, if not for Velvet taking the brunt of the strike it was likely he'd have had near enough no aura left. Velvet... As the thought of his selfless companion solidified in his mind his head snapped up searching for her. She lay a few feet in front of him, battered and bruised... but alive, if the gentle rise and fall of her chest was anything to go by. Her chainsword had landed within reach and Cardin's left hand had somehow maintained its hold on his own weapon.

The sound of agitated hissing and skittering rocks made Cardin look up. The Grimm nimbly descended the sheer face of the crater. As the ground levelled out, it stopped, staring down the two prone students, waiting for them to make the first move. Two more tails with glowing amber stingers rose up either side of the first. Three stingers, massive stature, more cautious than most Grimm... This was no normal deathstalker, this was a Hiveguard.

Cardin had never been smart, or quick. He usually solved his problems with brute strength. However, he wasn't strong enough to take on a Hiveguard... but he needed to be. He needed to be strong enough or Velvet would die.

Aura naturally enhanced all manner of things in a person; speed, coordination, strength. But the strength Cardin now felt resonate within his body was beyond anything his aura was previously capable of. It was in this moment Cardin discovered his semblance:

Brawn.

His fatigue disappeared in an instant. His indigo eyes were alight with the blueish glow of his aura, wisps of white smoke emanated from the shining sockets.

Cardin crawled forwards, grabbing Cor Ruptor with his free hand. He rose to his feet, staring down the Hiveguard. There was one thought on his mind; protect Velvet. He glanced down to the weapons held limply at his sides. The thumb of Cardin's left hand depressed the stud on his weapons hilt, building a charge in his mace's glowing red dust crystal. His right hand found the trigger of Velvets chainsword, he pulled the trigger fully, taking the chainsword to maximum revs. Cardin returned his gaze to the Hiveguard in front of him which now twitched slightly left and right uncertainly.

The hand holding Cor Ruptor was raised and cocked back behind him, ready to deliver a swing. The mace clenched in his left fist was held across his body defensively. His feet propelled him forwards. His mouth pulled back in a snarl as his lips let loose a battle cry of epic proportions.

With a humming mace in his left hand, a screaming chainsaw in his right fist and a rage induced roar in his throat…

Cardin charged.

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!

This is just a quick thank you to every single reader. This story wouldn't have been possible by myself it's not my work, it's all of our work. Every last one of you has contributed, readers, recommenders, reviewers, beta's. Everyone made this more than just a crappy crackship fic. Thank you for everything, I don't deserve your continued support but I am so grateful for it. I endeavour to live up to your expectations as best I can.

Now for specific thanks:

Thank you to the Beta reader Nemris for being awesome as all hell. He just put up a story on here called Chaos is the prize, it's a warhammer/RWBY crossover but if you don't know anything about 40k lore you can always read it as an elaborate OC centric story, so stop reading this and go look at it damn you!

s/11599330/1/Chaos-is-the-Prize

Thank you to ZaloRythm of Reddit for coming up with the name Postcognition.

Thank you to RikkuEcRud of Reddit for coming up with the name Brawn.

Also check out Zygarde22 his profile features a couple Cardin x Velvet fics that are definitely worth a read.