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SABL (Ashen Wolf x LittleCloud)

L

LittleCloud

Super-Earth
Joined
Sep 12, 2022
So far everything had gone off with Atlasian efficiency, last night all of you were staying in a barracks somewhere on a military base in Mantle, but at oh five hundred you'd all been bundled in to a Bullhead flying off to an undisclosed location.

The snowfall was bitter and the wind frigid cold and none of this was more noticeable while the door to the airship was wide open, not that your 'chaperone' seemed to care one bit. "Okay cadets!" The statuesque dark-skinned women bellowed, her voice still easily heard above the roar of the engines, her uniform marking her out as not merely another teacher but a member of the elite Ace Ops "This is where we separate the men from the boys! We're heading out to an abandoned Schnee mine, at the centre we've placed a beacon, you are to make your way there and insert your Scroll to complete your evaluation!"

That all sounded simple enough and the would be Hunters simply nodded, a few of the more enthusiastic students already drawing their weapons in readiness when she continued "Here's the fun part, normally we put on bots to put you kids through your paces but three days ago we got wind of a Grimm infestation in the place! Any questions?!"

A slight murmur ran through the hopeful Huntsmen and Huntresses, though that was barely audible over the sounds of the howling wind, until eventually a blonde haired boy tentatively raised his hand "What should we do if we get in trouble..?"

"Cadet if I have to haul any of your assess out of here before you reach the beacon you will wash out of this program so fast there will be a crater when your feet hit the floor! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes Ma'am..." The boy quickly put his hand back down again and with that settled the students began to jump out of the bullhead, the more reluctant ones being practically thrown out by a forceful slap on the back from Elm. Luckily everyone had a landing strategy, right...?
 
It had been a long night for Sable Grey. Being party to a bit over three dozen nervous teenagers in a barracks almost made him miss the holding cell they'd kept him in for the past week. It certainly made him miss home. Nerves and bluster charged the night air, and try as he did to ignore them, the faunus couldn't help but to think how much he would've liked to have their worries. Flunking out of the Academy meant a bit more than getting a company job or joining the militia in his case. Sable had fought for his life before, but this was an altogether different sense of the phrase.

Regardless, late nights and early mornings meant red eyes and dark bags. It was in times like these that Sable would kill for a coffee, an energy drink, a tea... Anything to keep him awake and alive for the less exciting parts of the day. Unfortunately, the kinds of places that have 5 o'clock mornings aren't too keen on things like vending machines or coffee grinders. It's the small tragedies like that that really bring the day down.

Sable's ears lilted forward irately as the frigid wind and engines roared discordantly. Although he'd long since become accustomed to the biting chill of Solitas' characteristic climate, that didn't mean he liked having the Bulkhead doors thrown open. Praise the gods for aura, else he'd need to start arranging for a group huddle and gods forbid these Atlesian kids need to touch poor people or faunus or both for once in their lives.

At least they were almost there.

Sable peered out the open Bullhead door. Nothing but snow white, spiny conifers, and looming mountain shadows as far as the eye could see. He was lucky. He'd never been to a mine out in the sticks, but folks in Mantle spoke often of them. You couldn't toss a stone without hitting someone who knew someone who went off (or was sent off) to harvest dust under a mountain somewhere. It made for a great excuse if you needed someone to disappear without too many questions.

At any rate, their objective here was very straightforward: go from Point A to Point B, whatever it takes. It was a very elegant simplicity. The wolf didn't need any encouragement from their amazonian instructor to get a move on. A drop ship wasn't much different from a building at the end of the day, and he'd lost count of how many times he'd had to do that. And so, he was one of the first to begin plummeting to the ground at terminal velocity.

Fingers curled around the compact strapped to his back, triggering the mechanism to unfold and extend into a precision rifle. Sable tucked his legs in and fired away, propelling him further into the hinterlands with each shot. Rushing air screamed past his ears, almost drowning out the sounds of Twilight's Fang blasting into the early morning. The landing strategy was going to be a bit different here. The trees were more sparse and not nearly as large, but he could still work with them.

He triggered the frame again. The frame extended, folded, and shifted. The gun narrowed into a workable haft, and from beneath the barrel, the blades of a halberd unfurled. Sable lashed out, catching the trunk of a pine on the beard of his halberd. Twilight's Fang carved into the bark and released, shaving momentum and launching the faunus in a lateral direction. He weaved between the trees like this, and by the time he hit the floor, his aura easily blunted the rest with a three-point landing.

The blocky stock of Twilight's Fang rested against his shoulder like an old friend as he scoped out the landing zone in rifle. Nothing but eerie, howling wind and a sparse treeline were there to greet him. The mechanized frame activated once more, folding the blades into place and narrowing the rifle's frame into a haft. The tundra was mostly open, but with the snowfall, he wasn't too keen on testing the length of his leash by firing on another student, accident or not.

He slung the halberd-rifle over his shoulder and began to trudge deeper into the wilderness.
 
Landing down on to the hard snow, the scene around Sable was eerily quiet as he began to make his way towards the mine with only the crunching sounds of his footsteps for company, snow naturally absorbed sound after all and wildlife knew well to stay clear of the creatures of Grimm. None of the other hopeful students appeared to have chosen this immediate area as their dropzone either but it quickly became apparent that the Faunus boy wasn't alone, with strange mounds of disturbed of earth and snow dotting the landscape.

Soon enough the edge of the compound came into view along with the ruined remains of what had been its perimeter fence, enormous chunks torn out of until it was more a series of poles jutting out of the ground covered in teeth marks. The closet buildings to the fence had fared similarly badly with a guard tower collapsed entirely in to rubble and an entire wall of a nearby storehouse completely gone, off further in to the compound the shadow of the mine loomed.

The culprits behind all this weren't exactly difficult to spot, scattered around were a handful of short stubby creatures, more of an enormous mouth that trailed off in to a short tail perched atop a pair of viciously clawed feet. Some were scratching at the snow beneath them whilst others were gnawing at the fallen masonry. At the current distance, it didn't look like any of them had noticed Sable just yet, but who knew how long that would last as one on top of the damaged storehouse paused for a moment and started to sniff the air...
 
Crunch, crunch, crunch. That monotonous sound had followed the length of his lonely trek, but it wasn't the sound of his feet making that noise this time. Sable hadn't caught hide nor tail of any other applicants so far, but what he did find at the end of the trail was a mining outpost crawling with Creatures of Grimm. He clicked his tongue. He was hoping someone had come by this way and done the work of clearing a path for him. Like everyone else in Atlas, he would welcome the unpaid labor with open arms.

Unfortunately by the looks of it, he was the unpaid labor this time. 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese', indeed.

He scoped out their number through the scope of Twilight's Edge. One, two, three... Only about a handful of them in sight. Grimm taxonomy wasn't exactly his area of expertise, but his gut told him more were waiting in the wings. The idea of slinking past unseen crossed Sable's mind. It wouldn't be too hard to get in and out with much fuss, but then he remembered why they were here. This wasn't just a job; it was an evaluation. They were watching his every move, and if they found him lacking... Well, he'd rather not that happen. Sable knew his worth, and he damn well knew he wouldn't have some administrative schmuck condemn him because they thought he was scared of some sharp teeth!

The faunus peered down the sights, watching one of the creatures rise to its haunches, testing the air. Looks like someone had finally noticed he'd arrived. For a moment, those soulless reds met his own through the lens of the scope.

Sable waved at the poor beast and squeezed the trigger.
 
BANG! BANG! BANG!

With a controlled burst of fire Sable reduced the Creeps to so much ash and smoke before they could so much as bare their fangs at him, but unfortunately it wouldn't be long until the sound of weapons drew more attention. Though maybe not the kind that he was expecting...

"RUN! IT'S COMING!" Came the shriek of a female voice behind him, a girl with short brown hair and an Atlasian cadet uniform was barreling through the snow with all the speed her Aura would allow her in his general direction, what looked like a slender black cane clutched in a death grip in one hand. She didn't exactly know where Sable was but she had heard gunfire, the Grimm didn't use guns and right now that was good enough for her.

If the Faunus had any questions about what could have possibly caused such a panic in a prospective student they would quickly be answered by the sound of an unearthly howl coming from deep within the forest, followed by the groan of timber and the fall of trees in the (not so) distance.
 
Sable exhaled, his breath rising like the smoky shadows of dead Grimm. Granny had told him some pretty outlandish stories about the creatures of destruction, but even though the shape was different, it looked like they all went down the same in the end. Before he could grow too proud of his skills at sniping bottom-barrel monsters, Sable lowered his rifle and began carefully making his way past the remainder of the perimeter fence, taking care not to inadvertently stumble upon a second wave of the beasties. Although, he would quickly realize that a second wave of those Grimm wasn't what he had to worry about...

Sable paused. His lupine ears turned, enticed by an altogether new sound: a girl screaming. Immediately his mind trended towards the least charitable take on things: a cadet out of her depth, trying to get a much more skilled fighter to handle whatever it was that hounded her. Already intent on being annoyed, Sable grunted and slung Twilight's Fang over his shoulder. With a steely glare, he turned to face the rapidly approaching girl and reached out. "Oh, no you don't!" He grabbed the brunette's arm as she tried to sprint past. "If you think you're just gonna leave me an angry Grimm, you've got another thing co--"

CRACK! CRUNCH! HOWL! Sable looked over to the quivering treeline. Although still firm, his grip on the cadet's arm lightened and his pace began to hasten in the direction of the ruined mining complex. "...Which is why we are both going to go in the opposite direction very, very quickly."

Discretion is the better part of valor, and Sable would certainly love to be valorous enough to avoid the business end of whatever was big enough to start crunching trees beneath it.
 
Sprinting at full pelt the brunette's mind was racing, tunnel visioned completely on the next few steps in front of her and on not getting eaten by the monstrous creature that was pursuing her. So when Sable grabbed at her arm she let out a shriek and her first adrenaline fueled reaction was to swing her cane hard at whatever had just touched her! Luckily she noticed that he was a fellow student and not yet another of the creatures of Grimm and the bludgeon stopped inches before his face.

"OH. MY. GODS. I'M SORRY!" She blurted out in between enormous gasping gulps of breath "Monster...! Like I've never seen! Huge...! Run...! We should...!" To say that she was relieved when the Faunus boy seemed to have exactly the same idea as she did and the pair went fleeing across the snow towards the entrance of the mine. Running through what remained of the surrounding complex wasn't exactly subtle going, the Creeps that Sable had dispatched weren't the only beasts lurking around but that was just a reason to run faster!

If either of them needed any more reason to speed up, whatever had spooked the brown-haired girl let out another chilling undulating cry from behind them and if either of them dared to spend a moment to look behind them they would see its source. Silhouetted against the treeline was an enormous, vaguely humanoid figure, at least 10 or 12 feet tall with long spindly limbs that ended in cruel talons and atop head sprouted a pair of crooked of antlers whilst deep in its sockets were lights burning red with hatred.

"I can...! My cane can seal the entrance...!" The girl shouted out as the mine finally came into sight, she hadn't dared turn around but that howl (and the Creep's nipping at their heels) had certainly encouraged her to pick up the pace.
 
As the cane came throttling towards his face, Sable's reflexively tightened his grip around the mystery girl's arm. It stung, and it would've bruised any normal person, but her aura would see to it that it didn't leave any lasting harm. Fighting the instinct to follow through was a bit hard, but he was able to stop himself. His was a gentler touch, for now.

"Usually the pretty girls start swinging at me after I put the moves on them," Sable joked. If he had been a second slower on the backstep, that might've hurt. For both of them. Twilight's Fang was more than a bit sharper and sturdier than a cane, after all. But with the Grimm hot on her heels, there wasn't much more time to dwell on corny jokes and misplaced revenge fantasies. At least this girl apologized for it; that was way more than he'd gotten from almost everyone else he'd met that pulled the same stunt.

Without relinquishing her arm, like he was worried she might up and vanish without him anchoring her, Sable settled into a sprinting pace alongside the aspiring student. Unlike his panicked partner, the faunus kept a cool head, even as the creeps started making their way out of the woodwork. And with a full-force speed from the very beginning, it felt more like he was dragging her along at times. Fortunately, he had more than enough stamina to make sure she wasn't left behind and that he wouldn't slow down.

Casting a glance over his shoulder, the wolf locked eyes with the glowering crimsons amidst the horned Grimm's giant silhouette. He was too far away to size the beast up and he'd committed to escaping with the girl in tow, but yet...

He let go of the girl's arm.

"Right. Do it on my signal," Sable ordered vaguely, adjusting his grip on Twilight's Fang as they closed in on the mine's entrance. "You'll know it when you hear it."

As they crossed the threshold into the mouth of the cave, Sable leapt forward and twisted mid-air, Twilight's Fang mechanically shifting into gun form as he took aim behind him for a snapshot into the treeline.

BANG!

"Okay, that was the signal!" Carried by his momentum, Sable slid to a stop inside the mine. Fast hands refused to stop firing, this time into the large crowd of creeps that had followed them. "Go!"
 
Now was hardly the time to be flirting and the girl's brain was a jumble of panic and adrenaline (which only served to make her stand out like a beacon to Grimm when standing next to the calm and collected Sable) but somehow the crimson tinge of a blush still coloured her cheeks as she was dragged by her arm across the snow and towards the mine where surely the enormous monster behind them wouldn't be able to follow.

As they fled through more and more Grimm joined the trail they had collected, hungry gnashing Creeps burrowing up from the ground to pursue them and a low droning hum filled the air as the commotion had drawn the attention of a flight of Lancers, clicking and chittering while they bore down on the two students. Looking behind him for just a second, Sable locked eyes with the beast in the treeline and in that moment the Grimm didn't seem to be simply surveying the hunt going on in front of it but instead staring directly back at him with its burning red eyes.

"On your signal, right!" The girl replied, seemingly sliding easily in to the to the role of subordinate, reaching up to readjust her glasses when he finally let go of her arm.

BANG!

Shot after shot rang out from Twilight's Fang but this time Sable lacked the element and the nimble creatures of Grimm managed to avoid his volley this time, what it did do though was buy the girl enough time to steel herself and spin around to finally face the oncoming horde (hoard?), the tip of her cane glowing with icy blue Dust before she slammed it down on the ground causing a thick sheet of shimmering ice to rise up and fill the mine's entrance, several seconds a series of thuds came from the other side as the first wave of Grimm collided with it but it didn't even budge.

For the moment it looked like the danger had passed and the girl's adrenaline started to fade, leaning heavily on her cane to keep her on her feet while she caught her breath.

"That should hold them for a while and whatever that thing was there's no way it can fit through that opening anyway." She said, straightening up a little and turning to face him "I'm Henrietta, Henrietta Bronze. Thank you for your help out there."
 
"Thinks it can look at me like that, does it...?" Sable grumbled discontentedly to himself as the sound of bodies slamming futilely against the ice echoed through the earthy corridor. It seemed that the smaller ones hadn't even registered on his radar despite his less than stellar performance. Granted, he wasn't entirely aiming at them, either. An empty magazine clattered to the stone floor next to him while he slotted in another with a metallic slide and a satisfying, mechanical click. "Oversized bastard won't get a second glance when we meet again, that's for damn sure..."

Big game hunting was often a matter of pride, but he wasn't just a huntsman out for a stellar kill against that mysterious Grimm. Those weren't the eyes of a mindless beast. He recognized that kind of look; it was a challenge, and one that he wasn't going to back out on. Regardless, with the big wall of dust-spawned ice in the way, there wasn't going to be much of a round two any time soon unless he wanted to sit here until the horde broke through, if they didn't decide to buzz off instead.

Sable stood from the ground and dusted off the back of his coat. Twilight's Fang, meanwhile, reverted back to its more compact form, which the faunus strapped to his back. Now free from the burden of escape, he glanced over the ice wall and nodded.

"Respectable." He said, despite having no personal knowledge on the topic of dust or engineering. That kind of expertise had never been his job, after all. All he know was that if it was thick enough to stick, that was good enough for him, and that the only people who could use dust so liberally were rich kids or well-connected brigands. The girl definitely wasn't the latter, which meant she was the former. "Good work, rich girl."

Fortunately for her, he wouldn't have to stick with that moniker for long.

A glint in his eye betrayed his surprise, but it was quickly stifled by his disaffected, professional facade. He recognized that name: Bronze Mechanical Industries. The label and its emblem were stamped on almost all the robots he'd sunk or stolen across his criminal career. Like the Schnees, the Bronzes had plenty of enemies. When his kinds of people weren't dealing with their products, they were dealing with the supplier directly. Other than that, Sable wasn't much for celebrity gossip.

"Well, at least now I know who to forward the invoice to once we get out of this rock." He shrugged. Although what he'd said was so absurd it could only be a joke, the way he said it was so straight that Henrietta could be forgiven for thinking it was literal. Of course, it was a joke... If only because he wasn't actually allowed to do that anymore.

"Sable. Nobody cares about my last name." The faunus boy stuck a gloved hand out for a fair shake. Most Atlesians would balk at touching a faunus, but regardless of if she took his hand or not, Sable stepped past her and began making his way deeper into the complex. That end goal wasn't going to reveal itself if they stayed here all day.

"If you really want to thank me, you can hand me a stack of lien when this is over," he called over his shoulder, "Or you can help me pass this test."
 
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"Uh...thanks?" Henrietta wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to be 'rich girl' but a compliment was a compliment and she was hoping that she'd make some new friends out of all this so she'd take what she could get, she just hoped it wasn't a name that she was going to be stuck with. "We're not that rich...not like the Schnees or Aegeans anyway."

Yep, his joke had gone completely over her head.

Sable might be surprised to find out that the Bronze's were not as prejudiced against Faunus as he might have thought (at least compared to some of the other old money families in Atlas), this wasn't due to any high-minded ideals, they simply relied more on machinery and automation for their business. Regardless Henrietta reached out and shook his hand without hesitation.

"Well it's nice to meet you" She asked curiously, following beside him as they moved deeper into the mine "I uh...left my wallet back at the barracks but I can help!" She waved her cane a little for emphasis, holding it in one hand while she held her Scroll in the other to provide her with a light source (she was only human after all) "It's safer in numbers right?"

Walking down the path Sable notices that the walls and ceiling are dotted with holes about big enough for a person to crawl through, you're not not deep enough into the mine for it to be anything to do with the extracting dust. I wonder what they could be for...
 
"You're welcome." Sable snorted. He could hear the uncertainty in her voice, but he didn't need his ears to tell hear the whizzing sound of his joke flying over her head. And he didn't need it to know she was just trying to be friendly, either. He could respect the sentiment, he supposed. It struck him as a very Atlesian thing to do. In his circles, if a stranger was trying to be nice to you, it was best to walk the other way. Fortunately for her, the other way was blocked off by Grimm and ice.

Oh well. As they say: when in Mistral, do as the Mistralians do.

"Either way, you're richer than I am," the faunus shrugged, "but your name sounds a bit better, so let's go with that for now." That last comment did not seem to bode well for Henrietta, if she didn't like nicknames. Sable hadn't quite thought of one for her yet, though. Who knows, maybe he wouldn't have to if they got sorted into new teams.

What was decidedly not an Atlesian thing for Henrietta to do was so easily shaking his hand. The dull surprise on Sable's face belayed the actual surprise in his mind. His brow furrowed for a moment as he glanced down. Was it just because he was wearing gloves? No, she'd been way too direct. Between this and the screaming down the mountain, maybe she was a bit weird. He lowered his hand and shrugged it off.

"I wouldn't call it my idea of a nice meeting. Or did you forget all Grimm knocking over there?" Sable half-joked, giving her a pat on the back. Presumably it was meant to be reassuring or perhaps friendly, but it came off a bit too rough for either of those things. "Just stay close and I'll get you out of here."

It wasn't exactly a polite introduction, but it was probably the best she was going to get from him right now. Notably, he didn't correct her when she excused her lack of a wallet. Payment and a partner? Now that's what Sable called a good deal!

"By the way," The wolf looked over his shoulder, crimson eyes glinting in the low-light's glow. A wry smirk was barely visible at the edge of Henrietta's Scroll's light. "I wouldn't worry, Henrietta. If you were as rich as them, I'm sure this encounter would be going a bit differently."

It seemed that he could hear her whispering. Maybe it was the echoing walls. Or maybe it was those furry ears of his. Another faunus gift of his was his keen sight in the dark, which allowed him to notice the perforations in the cave face around them. They were large enough for him to crawl--or fall--into, and startlingly numerous. At the same time, they didn't seem to have that industrial touch that mining would've left...

"Henrietta. What do you make of these?" Sable asked, flicking on the light of his own Scroll, if only to point it out to his human companion. "Think it could be some kind of digging Grimm?"
 
"Sorry." Henrietta apologised when Sable mentioned their relative financial standing, obviously it wasn't exactly her fault maybe she was just that sort of person? At least for now she got to be Henrietta and not 'rich girl', thank the Brothers for small mercies. What she certainly hadn't been expecting was his pat on the back, while she certainly had no problem with him being a Faunus being raised in Atlas had left her unaccustomed to much physical contact, certainly not from somebody she'd just met and she was sent stumbling forward with an undignified "Gah!"

Luckily she caught herself before she could do anything so embarrassing as faceplant on to the ground, it was dark after all, what were the odds that he'd even noticed? Nevermind the fact that he could obviously already see in the dark. "Stay close, right." She nodded, though she wasn't exactly sure whether she liked the look he gave her and her grip tightened on her cane, she reassured herself that Sable still wasn't the scariest thing she had run across today.

Thank goodness the strange holes in the walls had caught his attention, maybe they could put the whole 'nearly falling on her face' thing behind them, and she crouched down to take a look at the what he'd found. She didn't exactly like what she saw...

"Careful! Those are Grimm holes!" She warned Sable and was quickly vindicated as a pair of murderous red eyes shone back at the Faunus and a long black and white monster scuttled out towards him on a hundred insectoid legs, hissing a war cry as it did!

Henrietta _: 1D20 = [11] = 11

Grimm_: 1D20+8 = [10]+8 = 18
 
The moment of weakness hadn't gone beneath his notice, but fortunately for Henrietta, Sable didn't make any comments about the way she'd so inelegantly stumbled over what he'd assumed was a light, friendly gesture. He'd just assumed that was the pampered Atlesian upbringing at work, and unbeknownst to him, his assessment was more or less spot on. Close as he was to the girl, the faunus thought to maybe catch her as she fell, but that was a step too far even for him. She could catch herself... which she did, but if she hadn't, he'd have been quite disappointed in the partner he entrusted himself to for now.

At any rate, to Henrietta, it didn't seem like he'd noticed.

When she answered his question, he first lifted an eyebrow skeptically. Then, immediately, with no time to make the snappy comment formulating in his head, Sable darted backwards as the realization hit him. He ended up next to Henrietta, between her and the insectoid Grimm skittering out of its hiding hole. Although it wasn't a specific answer, it was the best he was going to get under the circumstances. Mantle was kind of dingy; he'd squished plenty of bugs in his time. What made this one any different?

Sable's hand gripped the haft of Twilight's Fang at his back. A quick trigger extended it outwards into handaxe form, which was much more convenient for the tight space they were stuck in than full extension into halberd mode. Without taking his eyes off the enemy, he braced himself for attack and asked: "Anything specific I should keep in mind?"
 
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Rearing up, the monster's slender body towered over the pair of would be students, cast in warped shadows by the light of the Scroll held in Henrietta's shaky free hand as it chittered and clicked its mandibles, glowing red eyes darting between its two targets, weighing up its options before lunging at the Faunus!

"Don't let it bite you!" Henrietta helpfully shrieked, she couldn't think of anything specific about this particular Grimm but it certainly had scary looking mandibles and she wouldn't want to get bitten.

Mukade
Move Action: N/A
Standard Action: Attack Sable Mukade Poison Bite: 1D20+9 = [13]+9 = 22 DC24 Toughness & DC19 Fortitude vs Cumulative Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated if that hits but you can't fail the Affliction by more degrees than you failed against the damage.
 
It happened in an instant. The Grimm reared up, gauging the two students, and then it made its decision. At the same time, Sable considered his options and sprang forward, ready to sink his teeth into his quarry like his patron predator. But although he was only a hair's breadth behind the hundred-legged monster, that was enough to leave him on the backstep--an unfortunate turn of events since it turned out he was a bigger, tastier target than the dainty little Atlesian doll behind him.

Bony, chitinous daggers crashed against his defense. Extended arms and a split second trigger of Twilight Fang's full extension kept the twin mandibles at bay, forcing them apart like a metal brace. Even so, pulses of his pale aura rippled across his form as the centipede's curvy mandibles pressed down against his shoulders, mere centimeters from tearing flesh and bone. "Very helpful!" Acerbic wit and more than its fair share of frustration dripped from his snarling tone. "Maybe I should start calling you Wise Girl instead!"

Another click presaged the mechanical folding that retracted his halberd, and a shot to the floor ensured that the only thing the Grimm could take a bite of was air. But Sable didn't 't stop at just evasion. He moved forward, not backwards, to weave between writhing coils, carried by the momentum of careful shots and wheel-like slashes.

Sable
Move Action: N/A
Standard Action: Sable Melee Attack: 1D20+8 = [14]+8 = 22, Multiattack (If successful, increase the attack's resistance check DC by +2 for two degrees of success, and +5 for three or more.); Damage EV is 23 at base.
 
Striking back at his monstrous opponent with a flurry of blows, shots and slashes hit home against the flexible but surprisingly sturdy chitin of the Mukabe until eventually one hit a gap between the interlocking plates, punching a hole in the beasts defences that dripped with a foul smelling black ichor that hissed as it touched the ground. Sable had struck first blood but they fight wasn't over yet!

"I can help!" Henrietta squeaked back, weighing up in her head what was scarier, the Faunus boy's snarl or the monster in front of them. He'd see, when this was all over he'd be calling her Helpful Girl! (Nevermind the fact she didn't want a nickname in the first place) Holding her cane aloft in one hand its internal mechanisms clicked and whirred as the next load of Dust slid into place and a powerful wind began to whip through the mine shaft leaving Sable untouched but battering the Grimm, throwing its own attacks off balance while knocking it in to his.

Henrietta wasn't the only one with another ace up their sleeve and even has the Mukade lunged again at Sable, the rest of the creature pulled out of the hole to reveal another head with its own set of snapping jaws that spewed a stream of acrid black gunk towards the human girl!

Henrietta
Move Action: N/A
Standard Action: Aid Sable Henrietta Wind Dust: 1D20+13 = [12]+13 = 25 Sable rolls his next attack at +5 & is Deflected until Henrietta's next turn.

Mukade
Move Action: N/A
Standard Action: Attack Sable Mukade Poison Bite: 1D20+9 = [8]+9 = 17 DC24 Toughness & DC19 Fortitude vs Cumulative Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated if that hits but you can't fail the Affliction by more degrees than you failed against the damage.
Standard Action: Attack Henrietta Mukade Acid Spray: 1D20+9 = [17]+9 = 26 DC24 Toughness & if she fails the save it also has Secondary Effect

Sable: Fine
Henrietta: DC24 SE/Dazed/Bruised x1

Mukade: Bruised x1
 
Sable clicked his tongue, displeased by his results. This thing's chitin plates were tough, that was for sure. He'd put all that effort in just for a drop of blood... Or whatever it was that Grimm bled. The coiling centipede was fast approaching too, twisting and turning, running along walls, and through holes in the floor. It was tough to keep track of, even with his darkvision. He'd managed to keep the glancing blows at bay, but the Grimm was quickly adapting to his tempo...

"Shit!"

It looked like the Grimm finally had his number, so he grit his teeth in preparation for impact that didn't come. Dust-infused air redirected the monster's strike, knocking it off course and opening it up for reprisal. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sable rushed in and swung Twilight's Fang for the fences as the beast raged against the gale. "Well, you weren't lying about that," the wolf grinned. "Keep it up..."

...! Was this it? Could it be that he was actually going to call her by a nickname that wasn't terribly sarcastic?

"...Henrietta."

Unfortunately, it seemed that wasn't really his style, but at least she'd gotten her first wish. As long as she kept performing well, of course. It's a shame she wouldn't be able to appreciate it for long. It turned out these Grimm had two heads, and that the old adage was certainly not incorrect in the slightest. "Still holding up?" Sable called out, still dealing with the problems of his own centipede end.

Toughness Roll: 1D20+10 = [7]+10 = 17 vs 24, Fail
Fortitude Roll: 1D20+8 = [4]+8 = 12 12, can't fail worse than 2 degrees None of that actually matters lmao
Deflect Roll: 1D20+6 = [15]+6 = 21 vs 17 to hit, dodges

Sable
Move Action: None
Standard Action: Sable Attacks: 1D20+13 = [17]+13 = 30, DC23
 
He called her Henrietta! That was her name and it was way better than Helpful Girl!

"Just hit it as hard as you can, I won't let it hurt you!" She called back at him, trying not to let the fact that her glasses were slipping down her nose ruin the moment. While Sable continued to clash with the monster and shed yet more of its foul black blood on to the cold ground, the would-be Huntress redoubled her efforts, thrusting her cane forward and sending the wind rushing forward to slam against the Mukade like a hammer, all the while keeping it swirling around Sable to keep the creature's blows at bay.

Hissing angrily as it was battered back and forth in the unnatural gale the creature's twin heads surveyed their two opponents and suddenly looped around each other to switch targets, one spraying more black acid at Sable while the other lunged towards Henrietta snapping its dagger like mandibles!

"I'm fine!" The girl insisted, her aura flickering as she was a hair too slow to avoid the Grimm's attack but it did its job and the creature couldn't break her skin "I think we're wearing it down!"

Henrietta
Move Dazed
Standard Attack the Mukade Henrietta Wind Dust: 1D20+8 = [13]+8 = 21 DC23 Toughness vs Damage if that hits. Sable is Deflected until Henrietta's next turn.

Mukade Toughness vs 23: 1D20+7 = [11]+7 = 18 Bruised

Mukade
Move Dazed
Standard Attack Sable Mukade Acid Spray: 1D20+9 = [17]+9 = 26 DC24 Toughness & if he fails the save it also has Secondary Effect.
Standard Attack Henrietta Mukade Poison Bite: 1D20+9 = [10]+9 = 19 DC24 Toughness & DC19 Fortitude vs Cumulative Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated if that hits but you can't fail the Affliction by more degrees than you failed against the damage.

Henrietta Toughness vs DC24: 1D20+7 = [9]+7 = 16 Dazed & Bruised
Henrietta Fortitude vs DC19: 1D20+8 = [14]+8 = 22 Resist

End of Turn Secondary Effect triggers against Henrietta

Henrietta Toughness vs DC24: 1D20+6 = [13]+6 = 19 Bruised

Sable Fine
Henrietta Dazed/Bruised x3

Mukade Bruised x3
 
Much of Sable's attention was focused weaving between the centipede Grimm's whip-like attacks. The narrow, pock-marked mineshaft was both boon and bane for him and his opponent alike, but unlike his enemy, he was comparatively very small but equally vicious. Dusty winds carved slipstreams into the stagnant air, battering the great beast and lightening his steps. Faunus eyes and ears tracked the undulating movements across the dark battlefield, focused almost exclusively on his target.

"I'll hold you to that," Sable called out. Now she was speaking his language. 'Hit it really hard' was the most actionable thing she'd said yet!

The Faunus' stance lowered as he shifted his grip on Twilight's Fang, but the attack he was waiting for never came. Even with the wind blowing through the mine, he could tell it would be difficult to avoid the liquid danger. But if he couldn't go around, then he'd just have to go through! He flashed a toothy grin at the centipede, charging right into the spray of dark fluid, gunshots echoing behind him. Vile venom splashed across his form, evoking pale flickers as the fluid dissolved harmlessly against his aura. With no pincers to worry about, he darted into close range and reared back before letting loose a wide arc across his enemy's underside!

Deflection: 1D20+6 = [8]+6 = 14 -> 16 vs 26: Fail
Toughness: 1D20+10 = [15]+10 = 25 vs 24: Pass
Fortitude: 1D20+8 = [4]+8 = 12 vs 19: Fail, 0 degrees of failure

Sable
Move: N/A
Standard: All-Out Power Melee Attack: 1D20+10 = [11]+10 = 21 (8 Base + 5 All Out - 3 Power Attack). DC 26 Toughness (23 Base + 3 Power Attack). Sable's Defense is reduced by 5 until his next turn.
 
Rushing forward and strike at the monster's underside Sable struck another hard blow against the Mukade but the creatures of Grimm were not the stuff of nightmares because they could be easily dispatched by a single bravado filled charge! What it did however was draw the beast's attention solely to him, one head hissing aggressively at him and fixing the Faunus with its burning red eyes, promising a quick and violent end to the would-be huntsman whilst the other head lunged at him with its envenomed mandibles!

Luckily for Sable, Henrietta was still doing her best and her artificial gale was still rushing through the mineshaft, battering the monster this way and that and keeping it off balance. This time she went for a different tactic, the longer the fight went on the more chance there was of somebody getting seriously hurt.

"Lets hit it together!" She shouted out, thrusting the tip of her staff towards the beast and sending a pointed rush of wind in its direction.

Henrietta
Move Dazed
Standard Team Attack with Sable Henrietta Wind Dust: 1D20+13 = [17]+13 = 30 Sables next attack has +5 DC. Sable is Deflected until Henrietta's next turn.

Mukade
Move Dazed
Standard Startle Sable Mukade Intimidate: 1D20+10 = [9]+10 = 19 DC19 Insight/Intimidation/Will or be Vulnerable against the Mukade's next attack. This doesn't actually do anything because Sable is Deflected by a third party but the Mukade has -3 INT so it doesn't know that!
Standard Attack Sable Mukade Poison Bite: 1D20+9 = [1]+9 = 10 DC24 Toughness & DC19 Fortitude vs Cumulative Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated if that hits but you can't fail the Affliction by more degrees than you failed against the damage.
Sable Fine
Henrietta Bruised x3

Mukade Bruised x4
 
The sound of bony chitin shearing against the blade of Twilight's Fang was louder than even the sound of Henrietta's whistling wind. Yet when Sable concluded his cleaving arc with his ax-head buried into the earthwork beneath him, it was clear that the oversized insect still had plenty of fight left in it. Unfortunately for the Grimm, a dirty look from a reeling foe wasn't something the faunus was scared of in the slightest. Rather than bone-chilled fear, Sable glared back, promising something similar with that toothy grin of his. The faunus' grip tightened around his weapon, eager to dislodge it from its stony prison in time to deflect the coming attack.

But his weapon's beard caught on the stone, evoking a muttered curse. It wouldn't be fast enough. He just had to hope his partner could hold up her end of the bargain. Fortunately for both of them, he wouldn't have to think of any more teasing nicknames for the time being. A well-timed gust of wind blew the Grimm off course....

And right into the waiting bite of Twilight's Fang! Crimson eyes zeroed on the cracked chitin with bloody purpose. A shot rang out, drawing a wide, flashing arc that drove Twilight's Fang into that most vulnerable gap. He stepped in, and with a feral growl, followed through, forcing the second head right into the path Henrietta's spiraling lance!

Insight Resistance: 1D20 = [8]+15 = 23 vs 19: Success
Deflection Roll: 1D20 = [2]+6 = 8 -> Deflection 16 vs 10: Success

Sable
Move: N/A
Standard: All Out Power Multiattack Melee Attack Roll: 1D20+8 = [16]+8 = 24 (8 Base + 5 All Out - 5 Power Attack) DC 33 (23 Base + 5 Power Attack + 5 Assist).
If the attack is successful, increase the attack's resistance check DC by +2 for two degrees of success, and +5 for three or more. Sable's Defense is reduced by 5 until his next turn.
 
Working in tandem with blade and dust and bullet Sable and Henrietta struck a decisive blow against the monster, Twilight's Fang digging deep into its already weakened armour and shoving the beast forward in to the path of the girl's wind-based assault. Howling in impotent rage it thrashed its body around to try to dislodge itself from Sable's weapon but it had already lost too much of the black ichor that pumped through its body and a few moments later it went limp, beginning to evaporate in to so much smoke and ash.

"We did it!" Henrietta squealed happily, the howling gale around them dying down with the danger over "I told you I wouldn't let it hurt you!" There was a note of pride in her voice as she ran one finger down the length of her cane to reveal a small panel covering a series of different coloured lights "I think I might have overdone it on the wind Dust a little though..."
 
Sable swiped Twilight's Fang as if to rid his weapon of filth, but at this point, his gesture was an expression of habit at most. Grimm weren't like his usual quarry. Any gore had long-since faded to smoke with the rest of the centipede. He looked over the spot where its corpse once lay. Granny would call that a passing grade, wouldn't she? Would Atlas think the same? His eyes flicked up, following old power lines wired along the top of the mineshaft. Were they even watching what was going on down here?

The wolf collapsed his halberd with a flick of the trigger and slung its boxy frame off his back. Then he deactivated the flashlight on his scroll and turned to the only other source of light in the mine. For someone who'd just recently been contending with a face full of acid, Henrietta didn't seem too worse for wear if she was able to celebrate so loudly. Compared to her, his celebration was far more humble: a pleased hum and an overwhelming sense of relief.

"I was just about to say... That looked like an expensive fight," Sable remarked. Granted, he thought just about everything that wasn't just bits of metal being strewn and thrown about made for an expensive fight. Life had its way of making him very frugal, but regardless of her opinion on the matter, he waved off her concerns about over use. "But I guess someone like you doesn't have to worry about that. What matters is that we still have the rest of the mine ahead of us."

He turned away curtly and paused. Then he turned back and ruffled her hair.

"Good job."
 
"It'll be fine..." Henrietta replied, flicking the panel back up and brushing down her uniform, just about ready to offer some defence from Sable's 'someone like you' comment as he turned away, until he quite unexpectedly reached out and patted her on the head like an animal that had down a clever trick. The irony of the situation was lost on her in the moment, her brain flailing like a newborn fawn on an icy lake as she tried to make sense of the sudden display of approval from the otherwise stern Faunus and when she realised she didn't exactly dislike it, a crimson blush began to spread beneath her glasses.

"Th-thanks..." She muttered back, following behind him as they moved deeper into the mine.

The pair would make good time through the passageway until eventually they would reach a dead end, a huge pile of rocks sealing up the path in front of them and perched on top of them was a girl who's uniform clearly marked her as another would be Cadet but who's bright pink hair screamed anything but.

"Ooo hi!" She called out, hopping off her perch and practically bouncing towards them, her pigtails and their bizarre looking spherical ornaments swinging this way and that, stopping in front of Sable and tilting her head upwards to look at him "I'm Lilac but my friends call me Lily. Are you my friend?"
 
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