STRQ (A RWBY fanfiction) [Book 1]

Chapter 12

My eyes opened slowly. For a moment, I thought I was still in my dorm. The area was dark, so I struggled seeing for a moment. Once my vision had become clear, I realized that I wasn't in my dorm room. The area I was in looked dead. The grass was a strange grayish brown color and the trees were empty of life too. The sky above me was dark gray, giving the area a more sinister look. I heard a piercing shriek that didn't sound human. I turned toward the source of the noise and nearly screamed. Before me was a horse-like Grimm. It had a torso of a human-like Grimm attached to it. It's long dangling arms had claws that looked to be as sharp as knives. Its hooves scraped the ground as it walked towards me slowly. I was about to draw my sword when I noticed that its left arm was stretching, still gripping something. I followed the arm and saw that it had its sharp claws wrapped around Qrow's neck. Qrow was helplessly struggling against the grip. His weapon had fallen onto the ground below him. He was completely defenseless.

The Grimm had turned its attention away from me and back towards Qrow. I watched as its grip began to tighten, strangling him.

"Leave him alone!" I screamed and swung my sword at the Grimm's leg, trying to distract it.

My plan didn't work. It's grip tightened even more as I heard a cracking sound.

"NO!" I screamed.

"...Summer? Summer!"

My eyes flew open. I was panting and drenched with sweat. I saw my teammates standing near my bed.

"Are you okay? We heard you scream!" Raven said.

I tried to take a few deep breaths to calm myself, but it didn't work. I sat up and started to hyperventilate as tears welled in my eyes and I began to cry. My teammates sat next to me and tried to comfort me.

"Take some deep breaths, okay? The nightmare is over now," Raven soothed, wiping the tears from my eyes gently.

I took a few deep breaths as I did my best to remember the details of my dream. After I was finished explaining, Raven walked over to her textbook and started to flip through it.

"What are you doing over there?" Tai asked.

"Trying to find the Grimm Summer talked about. Let's see... is this it?"

Raven held up the notebook and I leaned forward to get a better look. The Grimm in the textbook looked exactly like the Grimm from my dream.

"Yeah... that's it."

"It looks powerful. What Grimm is it?" Qrow asked.

"A Nuckelavee. From what the text says, it's arms can extend and it has a powerful shriek that stuns its enemies. I think this is going to be the most powerful Grimm we've faced so far," Raven replied.

"That makes me feel a lot better, thanks," Tai said sarcastically.

"I think we'll be okay if we prepare enough," I said. "We need to keep a close eye on each other too."

"We're already prepared. We take advanced classes and everything," Qrow said.

"I wouldn't say that. You still have a way to go with your hand-to-hand combat skills," Tai replied.

Qrow shrugged. "I told you before that I'm just not good at that kind of thing, Tai."

"You could be if we practiced together. Practice makes perfect, right?"

Qrow looked at me. "Do I really have to train with him?"

I was thoughtful for a moment.
"I think it could serve you good in the long run. What if something happens to your weapon and you can't fight with it?"

Qrow sighed. "That's... a fair point."

"What about you, Summer?" Raven asked.

I looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I said if you ever needed some training, I would help you. I could help you increase your dexterity and agility if you're interested."

"I could use some improvement myself. I think I'll take your offer on that," I replied.

Raven smiled. "Good. The mission doesn't start until a few weeks. That's not a lot of time, but I'll teach you as much as I can. We need to find somewhere quiet so we can concentrate."

I stood to my feet and grabbed Raven's wrist. "I have an idea. Follow me."

I led her to a staircase that went to a secret part of the school's roof.

"What is this?" Raven asked.

"It's a part of the roof. No one really uses it for anything, so I thought we could train here without anyone disturbing us."

"That's not a bad idea. Since we're already up here, do you want to start training now?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Now? But... I figured we would wait until tomorrow."

"The sooner we begin, the more time we have to train," she replied.

I sighed, feeling quiet nervous, as I got into my fighting stance.

"Your foot is a little too forward Summer. Make sure your knees are slightly bent as well."

As soon as I was in the correct position, Raven came charging at me. Caught off guard, I tried my best to counter her attack, but it backfired and my sword went flying. As I went to retrieve it, Raven used her katana and tripped me, making me fell backwards onto my back.

"Ow," I said, sitting up. "Why didn't you tell me you were gong to attack me?!"

"Your enemy won't be telling you when they'll attack you, Summer. You have to be prepared at all times. You didn't do that bad on your first try. Although your counterattacks could use some improvement."

I glared at her and rose to my feet.

"Want to try again?" she asked.

I got into my fighting stance and watched as Raven charged at me again. I managed to doge her attacks, but couldn't seem to land an attack back. The more I missed, the more frustrated I got. How did she learn to move this quickly? My sword flew from my hand again and Raven had her katana inches from my face.

"You seemed more frustrated this time. That distracted you and made an opening for me. Being angry won't help either. If anything, that makes things worse for you in the battlefield. Try to stay calm and focused if you can," she said.

I sighed and picked up my sword.
"How did you learn how to move that fast? I could hardly touch you!"

"Lots of practice and training," Raven replied.

I sighed. "Of course... I think that enough training for today."

"Alright. Same time tomorrow then?"

I nodded. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow, Raven."

She smiled. "Likewise."