𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 (English)

Chapter 89

"This isn't a good idea."

"You think we don't know that?" Pyrrha snapped back at Ren. Team NPR plus Yang ran through the forest, Yang moving just a little slower since the breastplate was crushing her chest, making breathing difficult. "We're luring this monster onto us. Of course it's a bad idea."

"Worse to let her have Jaune," Nora said. "It's our job to protect the helpless. And Jaune is helpless when he's not asleep. And when his opponent isn't asleep either," she added awkwardly.

"It's ridiculous how his Semblance is single-handedly the most powerful I've ever heard of and yet also the most easily countered in existence," Pyrrha said. "But I suppose there have to be limits on everything. Grimm ahead."

Only a few. Yet more distractions.

"Can't—" Yang panted. Every breath was laboured. "Deal with."

"On it!"

Nora shot ahead and Ren followed after as best he could. It reminded Pyrrha of initiation, except that Nora's recklessness was tempered now. It didn't hurt that they were all of them more experienced as well, more ready to work with and around one another. Nora darted past the Grimm, shocking them into turning to follow her, which left their backs exposed to Ren's knives. As the first fell, Nora slammed her hammer down to halt her momentum, turned and swung back into the kneecaps of the Grimm ponderously reacting to her. It fell with a howl.

More came from the trees – two Beowolves and an Ursa. It certainly felt like Salem had taken the bait, because they couldn't go five hundred metres without something getting in their way.

Our plan is working, then, Pyrrha thought. But what do we do if she actually catches up to us?

What then?

Because if she was as strong as Jaune and Yang made her out to be – enough that even the teachers were afraid of her – then Pyrrha wasn't sure what a team of first years could do other than beg for their lives. They wouldn't, of course. They were proud huntsmen and huntresses, and so they would fight.

But a valiant last stand didn't sound great either.

"Pyrrha!" Nora yelled, smashing through an Ursa. "Head in the game!"

Pyrrha nodded, took aim with her rifle and fired.

The Grimm were no great challenge for them, especially not when she and Yang caught up, but the minute or so it took to deal with them was still sixty seconds of catching up for the one chasing them. The team rushed on ahead but the Grimm were endless. They could afford to die in droves to slow them down just one minute at a time. And it quickly became obvious that was their ploy, for they attacked in twos and threes, just hurling themselves in the team's path with no regard for success or survival.

"We're not going to make it to Vale at this rate," Ren said. "Maybe one of us should stay back to buy the rest time—"

"Don't you dare talk about throwing your life away, Ren," Nora hissed.

"We have to do something!"

Intellectually speaking, Pyrrha knew she should be the one left behind if that were the case. She was the strongest, and thus the most likely to be capable of holding her own. Nora and Ren couldn't keep going as long as she could.

"No one is sacrificing themselves," Yang said, "That's an order."

Selfishly, Pyrrha felt relieved by it, even if Yang was in no state to give orders to their team.

They could hear something behind them. It was a roar of noise, like the buzzing of an angry beehive. Pyrrha suspected it was actually the distant roaring and thundering feet of hundreds of Grimm. Thankfully, they weren't so close as to be on them, but the noise hadn't been audible when they split up from Team RWB and Jaune, so whatever it was had caught up to them in the intervening time.