Dream of an Emerald Forest

Chapter 2 - Awakening

Wake up, Tenno.

Three words. Small words. Insignificant to all but a few.

They define my life.

I slept too long, and the world turned to chaos. None were there to keep the storm in check.

So much was lost. It ravaged the Origin system, and I was asleep.

She called to me. She cracked open the golden egg, and I was awake.

Something went wrong. The lure of sleep called to me once more, and I was absorbed.

I am trapped in my own mind. Her voice sings to me no more.

There is no call to wake me.

I am falling into the darkness. I am without fear, but I am drowning.

Something calls to me.

I am rising into the light. I am without fear, but I am burning.

:-:-:

From the bushes, Ruby could see the strange beast's next action clearly. Its outstretched hand glowed green for a second, before the glow dissipated into a mist which fell down to the one on the ground. It did this for around ten seconds, before returning its hand to its side. It then proceeded to stare at the body.

"What was that?" Ruby only barely caught her partner's whispered question. She was fearful that it might hear them.

"I don't know," she spoke in response, "but I think it was giving it an aura transplant of some kind."

"Aura doesn't look like green smoke, you dunce!" Weiss' frustration made Ruby cringe, but she'd managed to keep her voice down. Looking back through the bushes, she could see the monochrome one beginning to stir.

"So much for only waking one of them up," she muttered to herself.

The black and white creature was much slower to rise than its comrade. It moved with symmetry, no limb taking any more strain than its partner. In the time it had taken to stand up, the electric one had moved over to the brutish one and started spraying the green smoke on it. Upon drawing itself to its full height, it brought its hands in front of it to make a small circle. One hand over, the other under, with the fingers forming the outer edge. It stood in this posture for a moment, before moving over to the Jester.

Ruby was terrified. Their plan to keep the creatures manageable had failed, and she somehow knew that she and Weiss would be unable to fight them all. Sneaking away also wasn't a possibility. Other than the tree just behind them, there was nothing nearby that could serve as concealment. The muscly one was stirring, and Monochrome was beginning to revive the Jester. The Storm was keeping watch from the edge of the clearing, and had a clear view of their hiding spot. If they left the bush, they would be spotted. "I don't see how this situation can get any worse!" she thought.

Then she heard a Beowolf's roar. One of the most common creatures of Grimm, and little more than cannon fodder for a huntress of any calibre. However, most huntresses didn't have to remain concealed in a bush while fighting. The creatures apparently heard it too, as they all turned to face the source of the noise. The brute was still slowly getting to its feet, but it turned its head.

This was their chance. Ruby and Weiss nodded to each other, then broke their way out of the bush. A quick dash behind the nearest trees, and they suddenly felt a lot safer with some solid cover between them and the creatures. Peeking around the tree's wide trunk, Ruby saw that the monochrome one had returned its attention to the last creature on the ground. Finishing its weird smoky ritual with the Jester, it returned its hands to their previous position.

The roars were getting closer now, and several others had joined the chorus. Ruby could tell that they were only seconds away, and the creatures seemed to realise this too. The brute advanced to the front of the group, while the two others moved to shield the one still on the ground.

The brute was bracing itself for combat. Its arms went in front of its faceplate, and it hunched over forwards to lower its centre of mass. Its legs spread out slightly, one further forward than the other.

It held this posture for five agonising seconds, then the Beowolves arrived.

Three of them, all snarling and gnashing at him. One, more cautious than the rest, had tufts of burnt fur all over its body. Ruby realised that this particular Grimm was one that she and Weiss had seen before. Looking over to Weiss, she saw her glaring back.

"This is what happens when you attack out of turn," she whispered, "The survivors come back to haunt you!"

"Well I'm sorry for trying to kill them for you!" Ruby whispered in response, before turning back to look at the action.

The brute wasn't attacking the Grimm. This confused Ruby, as her instincts were screaming at her, telling her to charge in and defeat them. Then she noticed the tension in the brute's stance. It wasn't just standing passively.

It was waiting.

They struck first. The leftmost beowolf had moved to the side to try and blindside the brute, and it lunged with an arm slashing out at the creature's throat. The strike never connected however, as the brute had caught it with a gauntleted fist. What happened next was difficult for Ruby to see, but the result was a beowolf with a broken arm hurtling towards its burnt companion. Before the last standing Grimm could muster an attack, the brute charged forward with force that would move mountains. Its fist became encased in stone, and crushed the beowolf's head to the ground. Without pausing for breath, its second arm whipped out to grab the wolf by the scruff of its neck and hold it up for the world to see.

Ruby was taken aback by the speed and viciousness of the attack, but seeing the aftermath nearly made her lose her breakfast. A quick glance over confirmed that Weiss was in a similar situation. Most of the weapons she knew of used either bullets or blades to defeat the Grimm. While there were exceptions, this meant that most Grimm kills were relatively clean. Not this one.

The beowolf's bony faceplate had been smashed inwards, with fragments of rock and bone jutting out at nauseating angles. There was nothing clean about this kill, and it was fortunate that the Grimm's body began to dissolve into petals at that point. The brute (the moniker being even more appropriate than she first thought) caught some of the petals for a few seconds, before discarding them and the decaying body.

It turned to face the remaining beowolves. Ruby wasn't looking anymore, but she heard the crunches. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the burnt wolf running away into the forest. She waited until the sounds of fighting had stopped, then peeked her head around the tree again.

It took her only a moment to realise that the brute was staring right back.