AN: If there's one thing I'm consistent at, it's being late.

Well, the chapter's here now. A lot of stuff came up over the past month, and I've been struggling with this chapter (Although that doesn't really excuse much, I'm still a lazy fuck). Regardless, I apologise for not getting this chapter out.

Chapter 13 - Emerald Forest Part III

Ling and Albur moved quickly through the forest, making their way to the temple, using whatever sort of cover they could. The plan was simple: Albur would throw a small object, using his semblance to generate a small explosion. The pack would be drawn to it, and Ling would strike from an entirely different angle. The pack would be force to split, at which point Ling and Albur could further disorientate and attack them from new angles

"There are only a few more left. We could engage in direct combat and easily win." Ling stated, dropping from a tree. "And the temple is just up there." He pointed forward.

"There are some people over there." Albur pointed out. Ling squinted his eyes, but all he could make out was yellow and black. 'Yang maybe? And she's with someone else…'

A loud scream from above began to make its way towards them. "Some girl's in trouble!" Ling pointed out, trying to find where the sound was coming from. Whilst he looked around, he spotted a Nevermore going around the temple, with a small, black and red figure falling from it. "Ruby!" His attention immediately shifted as he tried to make a plan.

Before he could make a move, another person seemed to collide into her, both of them headed straight for a tree. Instead of the splat he should have heard and the gory splatters of blood he should have seen, blue sparks hit the tree and formed a slide going down the back. 'Another one? Here of all places?' Greed asked, befuddled.

'What are the o-' Albur shoved Ling out of the way of an approaching beowolf, and both of them rolled on the ground in a jumbled mess. Albur was the first to gain his bearings, as three more came forward to attack. With a furious snap of his fingers, a fiery explosion cut through them with ease. Albur stood tall over their rapidly fading corpses, but fell to one knee in exhaustion.

"You good?" Ling rushed over to him.

"Yeah… focusing my semblance in air is tiring…" He breathed. He got up onto his legs, and began to walk off. "Hm. I guess I payed you back." He exclaimed. Ling followed him.

'Hmm… Reminds me of someone I used to know.'

'That seemed oddly familiar for some reason. Hmm. Nah, it's nothing.' He shook it off.

Sometimes, during his adventures with his friend, Nora Valkyrie, Ren wondered if he was still fully sane. Then he remembered that he was friends with Nora Valkyrie, and that he had likely lost his sanity many years ago. Oh well.

"YAAYYYY!" Nora screamed ecstatically as the Ursa desperately attempted to get her off its back. That was hard to do with Nora of all people attached to it, though. Ren followed closely behind her, attempting to get her off. He was definitely going to have a talk with her about being responsibility and safety. A long overdue talk.

But for now, all he could do was run, and hope for Nora to not be flung off the wild Ursa at Mach speeds. He was so focused on her, he didn't notice that they had already gotten to the temple. It was only after the beast had had enough of its cruel torment and broke down.

"Awww. Ren, it's broken!" Nora whined, getting off of it. She immediately ran over to the temple, selecting a rook piece from the… chess board? Well, a relic is a relic.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the-"

"NORA!" His patience had run a bit thin. "Never… ever… do that… again." His breathing was heavy. He felt a consoling hand on his back.

"Girl problems, huh? I feel for you." He looked up to see the guy who had tried to do… something to his aura. The same one Nora had spooked at breakfast.

"I guess." Was all he could manage to say.

Lan Fan and Cognis had walked a considerable amount, and the beginnings of the temple were making itself known to them. They hadn't encountered many grimm while they journeyed, only one or two ursa. They'd made quick work of them.

They'd heard some commotion in the distance, so they had their guard up. As they walked, a low thunder-like rumble erupted from the ground. "You should probably run!" Their heads snapped to the side to see a tall, red-headed girl running away from a massive Deathstalker.

"Hm. Good advice." Cognis began to sprint, as did Lan Fan. She turned around occasionally to fire a few kunai at the beast, but it just knocked the weapons away with its tail. Her brows furrowed in frustration, but she simply began to run faster.

The girl suddenly turned on her heels, shifting her weapon into a spear in order to fend off the monster. "Lan Fan!" She heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Em- Uh, Ling!" She stumbled slightly. She walked over to him quickly. "Are you injured?" She inquired.

"Nope. Thanks to this guy." He pointed to Albur, who slightly behind them.

"In the suit?" She pointed out, almost incredulously.

"Don't let it fool you, he's got a seriously dangerous semblance." Ling complemented. Lan Fan studied him for a bit, before turning around to move towards the temple.

"Hm. Has anyone noticed the large nevermore currently circling around us?" Cognis spoke up. "Or the… girl still attached to i- Oh, not anymore." They all looked up towards the sky, where a figure clad in white was slowly making their descent towards Terra Firma.

"I can get her down safely! The rest of you, help the girl with the deathstalker!" He'd already began running towards her, whilst the others turned their attention towards the beast.

"We flank." She turned to Albur. "You fight with her." She turned to Cognis, before jetting off towards the grimm. He grunted in acknowledgement, holding his axe in both hands before joining the fray.

Albur was slightly more hesitant in his approach. 'I only have the aura left for a few small explosions, and that's using an object… How do I make this count?' He moved towards the trees, hoping to gain some high-ground.

Nearer to the temple, Ling hurried over to where he presumed she would land. Slipping on one of his gloves, he slammed an open palm into the ground. Blue sparks formed around his hand, and before anyone could comment, the ground morphed into a massive, blocky arm.

It shot straight up, directly to where the girl clad in white could be. As it reached her location, it curved around her descent and formed a circle of sorts. It managed to slide directly under her, giving her a platform to stand on.

'You may have tucked it in a bit too fast.' Greed noted. True to his word, Weiss was held at a height that, if she were to drop, would shatter her bones if she didn't have aura. 'Hmm. It's a school for huntsmen. She's a big girl, I'm sure she'll find a way.'

"Woah! Hold up, what was that!?" Yang stood in shock. Blake was also very surprised, but kept quiet. 'A semblance? I've never seen anything like it. Interesting…' She thought to herself.

"That. Was. So. CO-" Ruby, having recovered from her fall, ran over towards him. A slight lack of spatial awareness led her to fall into a large dent in the ground. She rolled to a stop near the bottom.

Jaune had also made his way towards the temple, although his expression was one of suspicion. 'Hey, I thought my uncle and I were the only ones able to do that… Unless it was a semblance… No way. That was alchemy.'

"Tends to happen when I do that. Matter can only be transferred, after all." He walked over to the hole around his creation, peering over the edge. It was low enough to where he couldn't reach her, but high enough to where she could climb out. Probably.

"Uhh, a little help here?" Guess not. He was about to drop down, but a yellow blur moving past him told him that Yang was already one step ahead of him.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but some of my friends are fighting a really big grimm over in that direction. So, if I could just excuse myself and…" The red-haired girl, who he could now see was Pyrrha Nikos of all people, rolled to a stop at his feet.

'Perfect timing.'

She shot up quickly, looking back at the deathstalker. "It's too dangerous!" She called out. "We need to retreat and regroup!" Pyrrha called out. Those fighting the deathstalker heard her, and rushed towards the temple.

"Hm." Ruby hoisted herself up, with Yang's help of course." "'Too dangerous'? Not if I can help it." She ran forward, holding Crescent Rose and firing a shot at the ground. The burst of speed from the recoil shot her forward at Mach speed, and desperate cry of her sister was drowned out by the rushing winds.

For her bravery, or stupidity (either one worked), she was smacked back by the claw of the deathstalker, straight to the ground. "Don't worry!" She got up groggily, a slight ringing in her ears. "T-totally fine!" She fired a shot at the grimm before running away.

"Ruby!" Yang ran towards her sister, concern on her face. A loud cry overhead notified everyone that the Nevermore was present, and very close.

'Oh, she's definitely not running from this one.' Greed exclaimed. 'Should've been thinking instead of acting.'

Ling tensed his muscles, ready to spring forward and act. Yang was already running towards her sister, however. 'Doubt she'll be acting rationally. I have to be there to back her up.' He thought.

'Wait. Something's gonna happen. I can feel it.'

Shooting some of its feathers towards the ground, it managed to pierce the edge of Ruby's cloak and pin her to the ground. Yang, who had been stopped by the sudden attack, urged her sister to escape.

"I'm trying!" She cried out, yet all her pulling was useless. Ling's muscles were tensed, yet he waited. Greed was usually right about these sorts of things. But as the deathstalker's stinger was poised to attack, he began having second thoughts.

It was then when a white blur zoomed past him.

'The girl I saved!'

'And subsequently forgot about? Yes. Her. She exists.' She stood between the two, her rapier raised in defiance. She suddenly stabbed it straight into the ground, forming white glyphs on the ground. The surrounding landscape was encased in ice, and he could feel the sharpness of the cold air in his throat. On the other hand, the deathstalker had been successfully ensnared.

She turned around to Ruby, yet the words she spoke were lost on his ears. He was trying to formulate a plan on how to successfully acquire the pieces, evade the grimm, and make their way back.

'It's likely that the deathstalker will break free soon, so it's in your best interests to hurry the fuck up.' Noted. Now, to get everyone together.

"Guys! That thing's circling back." Jaune spoke to the rest of them, pointing towards the still-present Nevermore.

"Well, there's no point in dilly-dallying. And, our objective is right there." Weiss pointed to the artefacts inside the temple, which were chess pieces of all things.

"She's right." Ruby affirmed. "Our objective is to secure an artefact and get back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"So: Run and live. Sounds like a plan." Jaune nodded. The potential future-students each grabbed a relic of their choice. Ling decided to retrieve one of the white bishop pieces, which Lan-Fan also picked after looking over at him.

After everyone had secured a piece, Albur asked one very important question:

"So, which way would we be going?"

"Hm. It seems like there aren't any obviously advantageous methods of escape." Cognis added on.

Ling began to scout out the area, looking at all the possible methods of escape. The cracking of ice signified that their time was limited, and with a sigh he pointed towards the bridge.

"The bridge seems to be the quickest way!" He confirmed. 'But not necessarily the safest.' He forgot to add on.

"Then let us make haste." Ren exclaimed.

"Come on, let's go." Ruby led the group as they made their way towards the bridge.

AN: I think this chapter could have been better. What do you think? Let me know in the reviews.

Until we meet again.