Beacon Prequels

As Lorne watches the packs of Grimm rush towards him, he notices at the back a particularly massive Ursa Grimm at the rear. An Ursa Major, his knowledge told him. His training told him that it was dangerous. His eyes, however, could see the deep purple sash wrapped around the largest spike on the Grimm, in the centre of its back.
---
As the newly created duo of Sapphire and Cerise made their way through the forest, it was only thanks to their quick reflexes that they survived a surprise attack from a King Taijitu. The gigantic beast dwarfed the two hunters in training, its two heads (one black one white) rearing above them to come crashing down, serrated maws aiming to take out the duo. But as it does so, the two girls see a bright green sash tied around where the two forms were conjoined.
---
As Lacey sprinted her way away from the Beowolf, she manages to replace her wires. Whipping around, she was ready to face the Beowolf. However, all she was greeted with was silent forest and the sound of.... Breathing?

The wire user was fortunate that her training kicked in, as the split second after she launches herself to the side the space she occupied went up in a splash of dirt, the Death Stalker's stinger impaling the ground. As it rips the stinger back out and stalks towards the downed Lacey, she notices a purple sash tied around the stinger...
---
Charles made his way through the forest, his large armoured frame thumping against the ground as he searched for any sign of movement. It didn't take long.

Seemingly out of nowhere, someone appeared in front of him. The two stopped for a second, looking at each other. It was a Faunus, some sort of... Cat?

The Faunus was dressed simply, and really if it weren't for the headphones on his head he would look almost stupidly average. Brown hair, green eyes, average height... Okay, maybe the green eyes would help. Before Charles can open his mouth however, a cry from above echoed out as a shadow flew over the pair.

Acting on instinct, Charles switches his hammer into its crossbow form, places his shield down and aims. After a second he fires. Another second or two and a cry was heard in the sky, followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground a bit further into the forest.

Charles looked at his new Partner, transforming his crossbow back into the hammer. "I... Guess we go check it? That nevermore was small, but it could have had a sash?"

Janeway made her way through the thick foliage of the forest, pushing overgrown vines out of her face and taking care to step over the thick undergrowth of creepers and protruding branches beneath her feet. It was not the first time she'd been in a forest for an assignment, so at least she wasn't completely wet behind the ears about what to do in a situation like this. Taking note of the surroundings around her, Janeway allowed herself a brief moment to appreciate the temporary serenity in the pockets of clearings and light around her. From where she stood, there was blessed silence all around spare for the occasional rustle of the leaves and the soft chirping of crickets. It would've made a nice place to lie against a trunk and take a nap if this forest wasn't Grimm infested, she supposed. The sunlight hitting her face was pleasant and warm and she was starting to feel rather comfy.

Slapping herself lightly, Janeway shook her head and carried onwards. She understood that it was for the best in her interest if she were to finish this assignment quickly. There still wasn't a single other student in sight, which was rather surprising. She wondered if it was possible that she might complete the assignment and still be without a partner at the end of it. It wasn't likely, but there was the possibility. It would be rather tragic, though.

Just then, towards her left, she heard a sudden disturbance in the woods. It was a light rustling of branches, but there was no wind then and Janeway could make out the faint rumbling of a beast. Immediately she was on high alert, her hand tightening around her Viking axe as she made her way swiftly towards the direction of the disturbance.

The rumbling got louder as she approached, and Janeway could feel her heart start to thump faster- from excitement or fear, she couldn't tell. From a safe distance away she could observe the shape of at least a dozen beasts- Ursa Grimm, her mind immediately supplied. Directly in front of her, about ten meters away, was one of the largest Ursa Majors she'd ever seen. Her heart jumped as her mind raced to a conclusion- where there were Grimm, there was bound to be someone there. Readying her axe, she crept forwards to position herself between two of the trees, and nearly laughed out loud when she caught a glimpse of the Hunter trapped in the circle of Grimm immediately. Of all the people she could have ran into, it was Lorne. She'd grown rather fond of just how innocently earnest he seemed from their previous interactions, and well, Lorne would make a decent partner alright.

An Ursa lunged forward, and Janeway instinctively struck out with her Axe, cleaving the Ursa's head off cleanly before Lorne could intervene. As the blood splattered and fell to the ground, Janeway stepped out from her position between the trees, smiling at Lorne's dumbfounded expression through his visor. The Grimms' attention was now on her, and Janeway felt apprehension seep through her even smile. "Well, hello there. We just keep running into each other, don't we?"

(sorry for long delay, my fault )

Sapphire sighed heavily as she looked at the evaporating Grimm. It was all bark and no bite. All size and no punch. To easy in her mind but ah well. Cerise did a wonderful job beating it to a pulp, she had to admit she was a little impressed by Cerise's raw power and very up-close and personal fighting style. Though she was already analyzing what she saw from her for any weaknesses or possible things she could exploit in case they would end up fighting each other in the future. That was for another time though, as for right now, she walked up to the large green sash and picked it up, swinging it around her shoulder, looking at her partner.

"So..... Now what?" She looked around a bit, waiting for something else to happen. It couldn't possibly be that easy..... Could it? Sure this was the first assignment in Beacon but to even be considered into Beacon you had to be damn good. Sure a King Taijitu wasn't easy but it wasn't the challenge she was expecting to have.

Forest shrugged. He hadn't expected to run into someone so quickly, but rapidly worked to take it into his stride. The person was well armed and armored, coated in plates. Forest wasn't exactly sure to think of it beyond wondering how much such a suit must cost. The man's weapon, the voice betrayed the gender, was impressive as well. Smoothly transforming to bring down the bird. There wasn't any hint as to whether or not the man was a Faunus or human. While it wasn't strictly important, Forest would have liked to have known that by looking. The person was, no doubt, right. The bird, Nevermore was it, could indeed have a needed sash. How the teachers got one attached to one was something he had no idea how they managed it. But it was a good as lead as any. Still, Forest thought, I wonder why they want us to get sashes of all things. What are they for?

These thoughts chased their way around his mind while he introduced himself and agreed that they should chase down the Nevermore. As the new partners began to move out, he voiced his question towards the purpose of the sashes. Again, it was a much a way to make conversation as anything.

(Sorry for the late reply.)

Conversation between me and @Griffith . Edited slightly to match previous posts.

Lorne prepared to be attacked from all sides just as the Grim Pack charged to attack. An Ursa Major luncg at him from his blind side, leaving him defenseless against the Grim's charge. Fortunate for him, the he was saved and was given some relief when an ax flies through air and slices off the Major's head from its neck. Lorne was rightly startled by the attack and the surrounding Grimm backed away from the ax thrower. Lorne needed to lift us his visor for visiual comfirmation as it came as a surprise that is savor is the girl from the airship Janeway, suited up in ornate armor.

"Well, hello there. We just keep running into each other, don't we?" She said, giving him a smile. He would give her a friendly greeting but there wasn't' really time as the Grimm roared and changed their strategy, separating themselves into two groups in order to fight the armored warriors. Lorne puts down his visor and gets into battle stance.

"There's a lot of Grimm about. How about we take care of this and talk afterwards?" He suggested.

"Yes, I can see," Janeway replied rather wryly. "I wonder what the school was thinking, sending us into Grimm-infested forests on our very first day." Picking up her weapon from the ground and heaving it into a battle-ready position, Janeway turned to survey the pack of Grimm surrounding the two of them. "I'll take the ones on this side. You cover the left." Lorne nods in agreement as the pack of Grimm charged into the battle frenzy.

The two covered each other's backs for the battle against the Beowolves and Ursa, slaying the Grimm one by one with steel and dust. For two minutes they fought valiantly until the last of the beast had fallen to their arms. Lorne waited for a few seconds to make sure there weren't any more surprised once all the visible Grimm were dead. Once he was sure that there was nothing left, he lowers his guard and lifts his visor to talk to Janeway. "That was quite the event. Are you hurt anywhere?" He asks her.

"No, I'm fine." Janeway's hair was mussed and curling in her face, and she put her axe down for a brief moment to tame it. "That was certainly something." Pulling a rubber band out, Lorne watched as Janeway made quick work of her hair and tied it into a simple ponytail. Picking up her axe again, she wiped off some bits off mud on it and made a face. "Now I'll have to clean it again when I get back. Well," she shrugged and looked up at Lorne. "Guess we're partners now."

"I assume so. Well better the person I know then not right?" He joked. He remembered he spotted a sash on the Ursa Major and goes over the scavenge it from the body. "So we're supposed to be getting some sashes now. If you're done, I think we should get walking. I'm sure whatever noise we made here would attract more Grimm." He tells her. "So how did you find me anyways? I must've flown maybe a mile or so off course."

"I was wandering around, and I heard something in this direction, so I just came over to see if someone was in trouble." Said Janeway. She made a gesture for Lorne to walk with her, and the two started advancing into the forest. "I don't think we landed that far apart from each other in the first place. Still, we were both quite fortunate, weren't we?"

"Quite so. Quite so..." He trails off as the two walked. "So...If we're going to be partners do you think we're gonna share a room? Cause that might be weird....and even weirder if we only have one bathroom."

"Oh honey," suddenly Janeway's eyes were gleaming full of something that Lorne couldn't quite place. "You really are quite intriguing, aren't you?" Then, without offering any explanation or answer, "I'll be looking forward to being your partner in the future... partner."
The two of them continued the trek, deeper into the forest.

(Senior year is keeping me busy but here it is! Even if it is slightly short.)

When the King Taijita was finally felled by Sapphire Cerise relaxed her stance. She was lucky she hadn't had to use her semblance, especially of a monster of that caliber. It would've required her to focus on only one head, while being vulnerable to the other. She switched the dust cartridges off and the shock field on her gauntlets as well. She looked over to Sapphire with a smile. "I never want to fight one of those again if I can avoid it. Lets grab that sash and continue on." She walked up to the sash and grabbed it off the ground. When she did she held it up for Sapphire.

"It's all yours. You did the final blow so you go ahead and take the sash. Anyways. What do we do now? We've got the sash, but should we look for others? Or try to make our way out of this forest. I know there are plenty more Grimm where that one came from." She jerked her hand in the general direction of where the Taijita fell and looked around her and her newfound partner. It was still fairly early out, so she wasn't worried about finding a place for the night. However the test should be over by then anyways.

Walking in a straight line without true knowledge of where he was going was nerve-wrecking for Sinoy. The soft rustling of leaves shook underneath the force of his feet and he had yet to encounter anyone. Or anything, for that matter. He's heard a few roars in the distance as well as the sound of what seemed to be swords clashing against a dense object but he didn't know what the Grimm were like. Their type, size or general abilities. Lacking crucial information like this scared him greatly, and he felt greatly disadvantaged at such a small and dense space such as within the trees of the forest. He was much more suitable for fighting in an open range and spacious environment, where he could use his weapon and physical abilities at it's full potential. Crossing his arms together, he stopped in his tracks when he heard a particularly loud thud nearby. The sound of a large object making contact with the forest floor caught his attention, and he rushed towards where the noise had come from.

With his hammer beside him, he thrust himself upwards with a particularly high jump- defying most laws of physics that didn't exist in the RWBY universe anyway- and casually slammed his weapon into the ground. Looking up, his eyes widened as he saw a particularly large death stalker attacking another student. Lacey, was it? Placing one foot firmly in front of the other, he gripped his hammer and called out to the female.

"Hey! Over here!"

(Sorry bout that guys, didn't get alerts. You're on your own now, either start to return if you have your sashes or control your own beasts. That should help with increasing post frequency)
Charles shrugged at the Faunus' question, not knowing the answer himself. "Maybe we have to do something with them later? Like a... graduation test? Really, I have no clue." He tells his new partner as they races through the underbrush, him stumbling and crashing his way through while his far more agile partner slipped through the undergrowth with grace.

"I'm Charles, by the way." He states, pointing a thumb at his chest as the two finally see signs of where the Nevermore had been grounded. He wasn't going to lie, it had to have been a lucky shot to bring it to the ground. Even then though, a fully mature Nevermore wouldn't have even glanced at his bolt, so this thing had to be pretty young.

Marching forward, Charles spotted the hulking form of the bird. It was... big. Very big. Its wings alone were almost twice his size in his suit. But it seemed to be huddled up, the Grimm's black feathers cloaking much of it as it remained in a stationary position.

Sharing a glance with the Faunus, Charles marches up towards the titanic bird and raises his hammer high above his head, ready to deal the crippling blow. Standing forward with all his strength, he swings down.

And is promptly sent flying backwards and into a tree by a wing.

Peering through its wings was the beak of the Grimm as it stood to its full height and lets out a shrill call, spreading its wings as it faced the two Hunters.

Forrest nodded, understanding that at least he wasn't the only one clueless. "I'm Forest," he said after Charles gave his name while worry nagged at the back of his mind. He'd never had to deal with Grimm in the city before and that creature and the Nevermore, as Charles had called it, was not small by any stretch of the imagination. Despite, again, as Charles had claimed it to be.

His suspicions were confirmed when they sighted the downed beast. Massive and prone. Perhaps its knocked out, he thought, sharing a glance with Charles, or perhaps its... but before he could finish the thought, Charles had already strode forward and was sent flying back by the Grimm. waiting for us.

Forest switched his music, sparking adrenaline and focusing his mind. First things first, he thought as he settled into one of his stances, ready to move in any direction. He was ready and eager for a fight, but years on the streets had long since taught him that flight was a valid option and, simply put, Forrest had no idea how he was going to effectively fight this beast yet. Charles's arrow had downed it, but perhaps it could still fly. Even if it couldn't, it still had its size, some sort of resistance, and, with this small clearing, that was to its advantage. However, if we get it to follow us into the forest... a plan beginning to cook into his mind. Still though, battle would be more likely to just drain their aura reserves rather than actually accomplish anything unless the Nevermore had a sash. He scanned the beast, looking for one while he said, "you alright there Charles? Cause, if you are, I think I've beginnin ta get a plan on how ta kill this thing." A feral grin touched his face as he thought, oh yah, I like where my brain is takin' me.

@Lucifer

The girl walked through the forest and hears the sound of someone calling out to her. She looks out and sees a young man shouting out to her and she perks up and smiles. She was glad to see another living person in the forest and was going to begin making her way back towards the young man but hears the sound of something behind her. Something big. She turns around to see what it was only to hear the sound of her aura shattering and feels a quick pain in her abdomen. Her eyes widen and she looks down to see that a large scorpion's stinger has impaled her and she looks up into th darkness to see several yellow eyes staring back at her. She quickly lost conciousness soon after and from the darkenss comes a Death Stalker. The creature somehow snuck on the girl and took its first catch of the day. It swings its stinger, throwing the body off its stinger to prepare for the next prey.

The body lands next to Sinoy, lifeless and cold as blood runs from the body like a fountain and her eyes stayed open in a look of fright and confusion.

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@Griffith

Lorne walks alongside Janeway and for the first time he can get a good look at her fully suited and armored up. The young lady looked rather lovely in the armor and he couldn't help but stare a bit as Janeway let off a sort of glow about her, one that he couldn't really understand but didn't really fear.

It happened too quickly.

Too quickly for Sinoy to even react. It was like it had never happened, as the body landed right next to him. His arms were held out in front of him as if trying to catch the corpse that lay dead next to him. His eyes hadn't even moved from the spot where the girl had stood, smiling at him. His blood ran cold. The death stalker had already begun to advance towards him in a menacing and imposing crawl, its stinger was poised high above it and the intent to kill was evident. Shivering, the only thing the boy could do was grab his hammer from the floor and deflect the attack. His eyes were blank, but not with the usual emotionless look that he had held before. They held a look of shock, disbelief and disappointment.

Trying to snap out of whatever trance he was in, the boy shook his head with his eyes tightly shut. The impact of the hit had knocked him back a few meters away from the death stalker, allowing him enough time to prepare himself for whatever the death stalker could do.

Lacey's body was carelessly trampled over, the death stalker had flicked her off. Like she was nothing. Sinoy's grip on the hammer had tightened, his body shook with seething rage. Grimm- creatures without auras, souls attracted to negative feelings. If he kept this up, he'd attract every Grimm withina 50 meter radius. Inhaling, he let out all the emotions he had felt before and replaced his anger with a new one. Narrowing his eyes at the large creature, his head was clear and his determination to win against this creature and avenge the poor lifeless girl he never had the chance to know heightened.

Justice will prevail.

@ChelonianCommander

Janeway made her way through the thick mossy undergrowth of the forest, taking care to step over the convoluted snarl of roots and fallen branches on the ground. The air was slightly damp, as was the forest ground, and once or twice she feared that she was in danger of losing her footing.

Walking slightly in front of her, Lorne was a comforting presence, and Janeway was grateful at the least that they'd somehow managed to find each other. He was good company and someone that she could rely upon should she need assistance. In this case, she didn't really mind having a little extra help with finding the sash, since it really was nothing more than an overly tedious task and Janeway could afford to admire scenery another day.

Stopping short in a clearing, Janeway stooped down to check the ground for any signs of Grimm that might have recently passed by. Knowing Beacon, sashes were probably fastened onto larger Grimm like the one Lorne encountered earlier, and finding their tracks would largely shorten the amount of time Janeway would need to complete the task.

Turning to Lorne, Janeway made a slight beckoning motion.

"Darling, do me a favour and help me check for signs of Grimm. Tell me if you find larger prints, yes?"

@Lucifer

The Death Stalker gave off an ear piercing screech and charges forward. Its sheer bulk breaks down some trees as it rushes forward. As it charges it lunges out with its claws in order to grab the human in order to tear it apart.

As the two fight, Rozenn was in the area when she immediately ducks at the sound of splintering wood. Thinking it has to be a rather large Grimm, she loads her rifle and quickly made her way towards the noise.

-------

@Griffith

"Hmm? Oh yeah sure." He replies. Lorne walks up to the ground and kneels closer to the ground to get a better look. "Let's see....I don't see anything so far. I'm not the best at tracking. More fighting and tinkering sort of guy I guess." He tells her and stands up. "Want to give it a go? I don't think I'll be much help tracking down anything smaller then a Death Stalker."

(Goddamn alerts are broken i swear. Sorry Shad)
Charles lets out a small growl as he stood from where he had been crouched on the ground. The blow hadn't done much, but to send him flying like that while he was in his suit... "Do not let it hit you, Forest!" He calls out to his... Partner. Odd. He had never really thought about a Faunus partner. Lets see if he's any good.

Standing up, the behemoth of a man cracks his neck as his suit whines with the sound of mechanical devices. Picking up his shield, he eyes the Nevermore carefully. The beast wasn't moving, but as he made his way towards Forest it slowly stood up, spreading itself to its full size. It was... massive. Taller than some houses, by his reckoning.

Tied around the Grimm's neck was a green sash, the bright colour clashing against the darkness of the Grimm. At the sight of it, Charles lets out a small whine of displeasure as he reaches Forest. "Lets hear this plan then, because I don't think my shield is gonna cut i-" He starts, before the Nevermore lets out a harsh and loud cry, filling the air as the giant Grimm charged its way towards them.

'Guess that answers as to whether it can fly' Charles thinks to himself as he shoves Forest back and braces himself into the charge, raising his shield in one hand as he draws back his hammer. The Nevermore slammed into him with the strength of a freight train, his body being shoved backwards and cutting grooves through the dirt.

"What's... what's the plan man?!" Charles grunts as he focuses on just not being overwhelmed by the Grimm, which had taken to trying to topple him with force alone. His suit let out various warning cries as systems went into overload just trying not to collapse.

(No worries Green.)
Forrest's grin peeled wider upon spotting the sash. This was absolutely perfect then. As the Grimm charged forward, Forrest prepared to spring out of the way only to have Charles shove him. Almost sprawling, he ungracefully rolled to his feat. Teamwork, he thought, something to build on. Moving pace with Charles as he both yelled and the Nevermore pushed him back, Forrest scooped up said, "we need ta pull it fully into the forest so it can't move and dodge too good. Then, when it's about ta attack ya, I can strike it hard from behind. Should mess up its angle. At the same time, ya need ta swing under and up so that its falling head smashes into ya hammer. Should beat its tough skin. Now, when I say move," he hurled the stone with pinpoint accuracy, right at the Nevermore's eye, "Move!" he shouted, springing away and into the trees. Trusting that Charles would be the distraction and bait he needed.

Forrest was not, however, so believing in his plan that he didn't begin planning another way to deal with it. It still involved Charles's powerful hammer and Forest's maneuverability. Something to make it slip.

“Oh you son of a b-“ Starts Charles as he watches Forrest sprint off into the woods after explaining some half baked plan. And after he went out of the way to help him.

Unfortunately Charles didn’t have enough time to be cranky, as the moment he had turned his head the bird had gotten tired of trying to brute force it’s way through and had feared backwards, letting out a horrible screech. That was all the incentive Charles needed to grab his shield and bolt.

His heavy feet shuddered the earth as the Nevermore chased him into. The woods, right wing at an odd angle now that he had time to look, the feathers brushing against the trees.

He couldn’t see Forrest anywhere as he ran through the forest, the bird hot on his heels. He also wasn’t sure whether that really high pitch noise was the Grimm or himself. He swore that if he died here he would haunt that hillbilly sounding guy for the rest of eternity.

Only half a minute in and the forest was dark and dense, the Grimm’s feathers near invisible as its red eyes looked down at him. Skidding to a stop, Charles raises the shield and draws his hammer back. ‘Here we go!’ He cries mentally as the Nevermore catches up to him at full speed.

“This is gonna suck.”

Forrest heard the beginning of Charles's response before he swung himself up into the trees. Scrambling like a mad monkey, he swung, hurled, and leapt through the scratching branches to keep up with Charles and the demonic Nevermore. When he wanted to, the big man certainly moved fast. The quaking caused by the Nevermore jolted the branches as he moved along, almost causing him to fall for a few hair-raising instants. But it was slowing him down and both were starting to outstrip him. There was little doubt in Forrest's mind what would happen if he didn't make it in time.

Then, suddenly, Charles brought himself to a grinding halt. He grimaced and focused. He activated his semblance. Immediately, quick-time brought his legs into a few, rapid springs across the branches before he launched himself down. Like a comet, Forrest shot at the back of the Nevermore's head. He barely managed a shout, "strike!" before he himself slammed the beast's head down, ruining its angle of attack, and directly for Charles's waiting hammer.

The Death Stalker made the first move.

As it lunged towards him with its left claw, Sinoy quickly runs past the powerful swing of its claw, narrowly dodging the attack. He grips his hammer and thrusts himself upwards, slamming his weapon against the tough bone-plating that protected the Grimm's back. The vibrations of the hit rippled through the creature and for a second, its awkward lanky limbs faltered and the creature shook. Sinoy stood his ground atop the creature, attacking its eyes in an ordered and robotic fashion. Although, that movement had distracted the creature quite a bit, it had swiftly regained control of itself and its tail lurched backwards ominously, pointing forward to stab the human upon its back. It threw its back upwards. Attempting to shrug the human off and stab the young male with its stingers. As the boy fell forward, he tucked himself into a ball and as a consequence, lost his hammer. Luckily for Sinoy, his aura was naturally thick and always enveloped every part of his body in equilibrium. The stinger pushed at the palms of the hunter-in-training with murderous intent, its golden colour shining brightly and its claws snapping at him.

His eyes darted around, hastily looking for some sort of advantage that could be found in his predicament. The tail of the Death stalker curled up and it menacingly stalked closer to him...