Sent To Protect and Serve Humanity

Chapter 4: Retrieval

3rd POV

"I can't shake him!" Valorous shouted.

"Straighten yourself!" Ruby shouted from his back as she aimed down her sights.

Ruby lined up the reticle with the head of the Nevermore that chased them. After a deep breath, she pulled the trigger and fired a round from her sniper rifle, throwing the beast off balance.

"Nice shot, Rubes!" Valorous cheered.

Ruby smiled at the nickname before focusing on the recovering beast. The Nevermore let out a ferocious cry as it surged forward with unrelenting speed. Ruby fired another round from her rifle, only for it to clip its wing and cause the bird to collide with the two.

"RUBY!" Valorous tried to reach out for her, barely missing her hand.

"Dive!" Onwards told his little brother as he and Weiss diverted the Grimm's attention.

Valorous nodded and flipped quickly enough to accelerate himself with his thrusters. He flew towards the ground and snagged the falling girl just before they slammed into the cold stone floor of a ruined temple. The two rolled several times until stopping at the feet of a staircase.

"Gotcha." Valorous smiled at the girl as he released her from his grasp.

"Thanks." Ruby smiled warmly at her savior before a slight cough was heard behind them.

"Another happy landing?" Courageous asked from her position atop the flight of stairs.

"We're still in one piece." Valorous looked up at his sister.

The other frigate helped the two to their feet and did something that made Ruby experience a strange feeling.

Courageous kissed her twin brother on both cheeks before pulling away with a teasing smile. "Mon frère. Glad you could make it."
("My brother.")

"Why'd you do that?" Ruby asked defensively.

"Hm? It's a greeting in my culture." Courageous stated. "Think of it as a handshake or a hug."

Ruby calmed down a bit and focused on the task at hand. Suddenly, a screaming Jaune flew through the air and slammed into a tree, falling headfirst onto the ground. Moments after, several crashing noises were heard in the forest ahead of them, and an Ursa comes out, claws swiping, just as a pink blast of energy hits it in the back and it crashes to the ground, depositing its rider.

"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" A ginger-haired girl with white skin and turquoise eyes cheered as she rolled off its back. "Awwww... It's broken." She groaned sadly as she inspected its carcass.

A black-haired boy with a pink stripe running down his hair quickly followed her and stopped to catch his breath. "Nora! Please... don't ever do that again." He panted for air, but when he looked up, the girl was gone. He frantically looked around, finding her plucking a piece from a pedestal.

"Oohh..." Nora snatched the golden rook and placed it atop her head. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She danced and sang with the relic not moving an inch from her.

"Nora!" The boy that followed her shouted.

The girl stopped dancing and immediately skipped towards him. "Coming, Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked in a state of shock.

"I-" Oklahoma tried to speak.

He is interrupted as a screech is heard from their right, and Pyrrha Nikos comes onto the scene as a scorpion creature uprooted entire trees in its chase after her. Pyrrha narrowly dodged its giant claws and keeps on running.