RWBY: Welcome to Lodestar (A Fate Core System RP) - Game Thread

[Drummodino]

Elva narrowed her eyes as the landscape changed around them, tall white spikes rising up out of the ground. Visibility was severely limited, it reminded Elva of the convoy she had traveled on as a child.

Trees flashing past the window,
Matt sitting opposite her,
A loud crash as the train shook,
Grimm surging out of the forest,
A roar as one leaped towards her...

Abruptly snapping out of her memory, Elva gritted her teeth and redoubled her grip on Labrys. Yes this would be the perfect location for an ambush, they wouldn't see the enemy until they were right on top of them.

"Hey Amber, is that a friend of y-"

"Look out!" Elva screamed as she spotted a flash of black, red and white surging towards them. As the beast lunged at the Ursa, she lowered the gun and unleashed a storm of bullets. Several scored the creature along its side, however it wasn't enough to stop it from crashing into them. The smallest of the girls was sent flying, crashing into one of the ivory pillars.

"Ow... That really hurt. Come on focus, you've gotta help the other two!"

"Bloodmanes!

Regaining her feet Elva heard Jade's cry. She scrambled over to her, eyes peeled for another attack.

"You okay? I hit the thing but I don't think it did much damage."

 

[hiei82]

"You okay? I hit the thing but I don't think it did much damage." Elva said, getting up from where she'd been tossed. Jade likewise pushed herself up, though her ankle was still in pain. "I'll be fine."Jade said with only a small cringe of pain. Because she already had her bow out, she settled into a stance to take the shot. Unfortunately, the Bloodmane was still behind the Ursa so her arrows wouldn't useful until it decided to move. Fortunately, Bloodmanes were known for jumping in and out of the brawl.

She watched as the Bloodmane tore open the Ursa to ensure it's prey was dead before doing as she expected and bolting back into the rocks.Jade loosed the arrow but the timing was off and it bounced off a rock where the beast had been milliseconds before. Fortunately, the resulting explosion was certain to harm the beast and a yip from among the rocks seemed to confirm that. Jade drew another arrow and readied to continue her attacks when the beast arrived again.

Taking only a moment to glance back, she could see the other cat doing much the same; attacking the unknown Faunus girl once before ducking back into the rocks and shadows.

Spoiler: OOC

Team JAE Bloodmane: Stealth 4 to escape into the rocks
Diamond's Bloodmane: make a Physique 5 to resist it's attack and Stealth 3 to escape into the rocks

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

Rushing over to Jade's side, Amber kept vigilant as Elva checked on her. Unfortunately, with her hair in her eyes and with the Bloodmanes as fast as they were, she only caught blurs as they dove into cover.

"You okay? I hit the thing but I don't think it did much damage."

Looking back, Amber frowned a little. When she picked the two girls up, Jade had already had a makeshift splint on her leg. That was sure to be a little worse for wear with that tumble. But the dark-haired girl pushed herself onto her feet with only a slight cringe, telling them that she was fine.

At that, Amber turned her attention back to their surroundings, her mouth twisting into a snarl as she noticed just how much cover there was for the damn Grimm to hide behind. After a moments pause, she straightened up and rolled her shoulders.

"Alright guys, get down." she told them, extending Aeris Spina's whips with a flick of each wrist.

Then, with an almighty grunt, she lashed out at each and every rock, outcropping and crevice, her whips cracking the white stone with surprising ease. But after every lash, there was a few seconds delay before the stone shattered with a small boom, forming long, shallow craters.

When she was finished, the ground near them was almost completely flattened despite the craters her attacks left.

"Let's see them hide now." she murmured with a smile.

Spoiler: OOC

Amber created Advantage: New (Mostly) Flatland, with 2 Free Invokes due to succeeding with style. Bloodmanes now have reduced Stealth.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

As Chesshie climbed down, she was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't the best course of action. Yes, she was a thief (well, ex-thief, but that was beside the point now), her whole motto was "to run to live and fight another day". But right now, maybe she wasn't thinking straight.

And angry screech behind her reminded her that an angry Deathstalker was clambering down after her, so she had to make her move now. Pulling a hidden trigger on her Queen's Mallet opened up to reveal a minigun.

"Eat this!" She shouted, and a barrage of bullets put holes in the Deathstalker's hide, making it scream in pain before collapsing.

"How do you like that, huh?!"

With that done, Cheshhie continued on her way, looking for whoever had saved her back there.

[spoileroc]My first post here in a while, let me know if I have to change anything. [/spoiler]

 

[hiei82]

As the smoke cleared, there was almost nothing left. The rocks had all but vaporized under the force of the blow. Suddenly, everything was a lot clearer and the Grimm had lost most of their hiding spots. Well, except in Jade's case. She'd been scanning the rocks when Amber struck and had quite a bit of dust in her eyes.

Suddenly blinded in an exceedingly painful way, she fired the arrow she had nocked in a wild direction as she reached up with her now free hand to clear her eyes. Strangely enough, though she hadn't aimed it, her arrow slammed into the side of an approaching Bloodmane, exploding in a burst of flames. The Bloodmane barely reacted however as it had a more important target in mind; the one who'd destroyed their hiding spots - Amber.

It ran in at full speed despite it's injury, and made a passing blow with it's claws against the woman.

The other Bloodmane continued it's assault on Diamond, launching into another desperate bite toward her jugular.

Spoiler: OOC

New Notice DC's (after Amber's attack) are 2 and 3 respectively. You can make them to counter attack the Bloodmanes. Physique 6 from Amber to resist, Physique 5 from Diamond.

Jade rolled terrible for everything, yet somehow the Bloodmane did worse for it's physique. At least the RNG hates all my rolls evenly >_>

 

[Drummodino]

Elva ducked as Amber smashed the terrain around them, revealing the Bloodmane's intimidating form. Hatred flashed through her briefly as she looked at the evil creature, it was time to end this thing's miserable life. Energy surged through Elva, sparks crackling across her skin. She quickly transformed Labrys back into axe form and concentrated her energy into it, lighting it up in a white blaze of electricity.

The Bloodmane took off towards Amber, shrugging off an arrow from Jade like it was nothing. As it closed on the goat faunus, Elva unleashed her attack.

"Eat this you monster!" she roared, slamming the axe down and firing a bolt of lightning at the beast, scoring a direct hit... which didn't faze it in the slightest.

"Are you serious?" Elva asked, staring in disbelief. "Oh no, Amber!" she cried as the Bloodmane reached the other girl, slashing at her with its claws. The white haired girl was mad now, her failure to stop the creature had possibly injured her new comrade. Sprinting forward she surged past Amber, jumped onto some rubble and launched herself at the creature.

"DIE!"

The Bloodmane dodged the axe flying towards its face but not quickly enough - the blade slashed through its leg. Blood spurted from the wound, splashing across the rocky ground. Elva leaped back out of claw range, ready for the next attack.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

Amber noticed a little too late that Jade had been in the middle of getting an arrow nocked onto her bow's string, but she had to admit that even blinded painfully by sand and dust, she was still a great shot. Unfortunately, it didn't slow down the Bloodmane barreling down at her much.

"Eat this you monster!"

Amber hadn't expected Elva to attack too, especially when she was just about to move herself. The short girl slammed the blade of her axe down, and a bolt of electricity arced towards the thing, shocking it. But not enough to stop it. Seeing that caused the Faunus girl to grimace, and Elva herself seemed to be in disbelief of just how durable the Grimm was, just before throwing herself at it with a swing of her axe.

It wasn't quite quick enough to keep it from reaching Amber though. She leaped to one side in an attempt to dodge, but while it's claws missed her, the bulk of the thing slammed into her. At that point, she had had enough, and she twisted so that she could wrap one muscular arm around the things neck, grasping the top of it's maw with one hand and grappling it's lower jaw with the other.

"Bad kitty! You're not going to be eating anything now, so OPEN WIDE!" she growled, pulling with all of her might on it's jaws, forcing them open.

It didn't take long to push the limits of what the Bloodmane's jaws could handle, and with a sickening crack the things lower jaw was not only dislocated but nearly ripped off, hanging limply beneath it's upper maw.

Pushing it away from her in disgust, Amber stepped back and clutched at her middle.

"I'd say that I'll feel that in the morning, but hell, I'm feeling it already." she murmured.

 

[hiei82]

Under the combined might of Amber and Elva, the Bloodmane finally fell. Between the blood pouring from where it's legs used to be and the violent rending of it's jaw, the creature could only whimper in pain as it bleed out into the sand. Even in it's dying breaths it seemed to stare into the eyes of those who vanquished it; it's cold eyes betraying that it would have liked nothing more than to reverse the situation.

On the other side of the field, the remaining Bloodmane seemed to perk its ears at the sound of it's dying partner. After striking at Diamond, it retreated into the remaining shadows. Calling upon all the fell power in the creature's heart of darkness, it sought to at least take from those who took from it.

As though it were liquid shadow, it shot across the battlefield. Seeing Jade still blinded from the leveling of the ground, it decided to take full advantage of the weakness. Mere seconds before the first of the Bloodmanes finally breathed it's last, the other struck out violently. Caught completely blindsided, Jade hit the ground face first. What followed were screams of pain the human mouth and ears were ill-equipped to handle and sprays of blood across the sand.

Still, even as she fell, Jade's luck held. She transformed her bow into it's chainsaw form and twisted it back, stabbing it into the eye of the enemy cat. It was because of this sudden pain that the cat faltered and left Jade within an inch of death, but still somehow breathing.

Emboldened by it's success, it turned to Elva, roared, and charged.

Spoiler: OOC

Cat attack: 10, Jade defense: 4. Jade's remaining stress: 0.
WHITE MAGE PLZ!

 

[Terratina.]

'Finally.' The Owl Faunus sighed.

Jet internally cringed as he had the tell-tale racket of a minigun, he appreciated the death of the Death Stalker but did she had to use since an inefficient weapon? Regardless, with the immediate threat gone, he popped out of his hiding spot and saw that the other Faunus was still trying to look for her helper. Well, she'd probably just thank him and move on without taking into account anything he'd say. Such was life. Already walking, he decided to make things a bit easier for her.

"Hey! Over here!" Jet shouted, already thinking of worse-case scenarios. If she was the plucky, happy-go-lucky type...

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"Hey! Over here!"

Chesshie blinked, and turned to where the voice had come from. She could see another Faunus - an Owl from the looks of him - waving her over. She remembered seeing him on the ride over here, but had never actually spoken to him.

Well, it couldn't hurt to introduce herself, could it?

"You're the one who saved me back there, right? Thanks, I guess." She stuck out a hand. "My name's Chesshie Heliotrope. What's yours?"

 

[Redryhno]

The beast lunged at Di, who was lucky enough the paw that swiped at her was the one she had previously cut the claws from. Though it still visibly hit her Aura enough to spin her, she moved as fast as she could, activating the boomerang function of her Icarians, swinging both arms behind her back, bending backwards onto one foot, and used her entire body to launch them at the Grimm bearing down on the dark-haired archer.

They weren't fast enough however. She was still jumped on and ripped apart from Di's vantage point, one less intolerant human possibly at least, she thought. The creature bounded off her body however towards the sister of the soft-spoken escalating youth from this morning, right into the twin boomerangs, one ripping down its side, the other a clean slice across both front legs before they sped back to Diamond, launching it off-course, rolling into a canyon wall.

Jumping out from the cliff, she caught both in their respective slots and activated her Semblance, speeding down to the valley floor to continue the fight against the Grimm, there had to be more emboldened by these cat Grimm now. Taking up a position in front of the fallen archer, who still continued to breathe.

"Didn't expect being accepted to Lodestar," She said to no one in particular,"Would be this time-consuming to finish up the paperwork."

 

[Drummodino]

The bloody and beaten Grimm tottered and fell, a pool of blood spreading around its twitching form. Hatred and rage were still visible in its eyes, even as the light faded from them. With a savage grin Elva buried her axe in its head, making sure that it stayed dead.

Pulling the axe free, Elva turned to see Jade fall under the claws of the second beast, although she did catch it with her chainsaw as it passed. The creature didn't stop moving however, it charged straight towards Elva! Praying that Jade was alright, Elva gripped her axe and yelled, running at the Grimm and meeting its charge head on.

Just before they reached each other there was a flash of steel, two boomerangs cutting through its hide and legs, causing it to stumble. Silently thanking whoever had thrown those, Elva seized the advantage, rolling to the side and bringing Labrys up in a sweeping arc across its underbelly, activating the dusts vents to give her attack extra force. The heavy blade tore through the creature, and it roared in pain from the combined attacks. Blood ran from several wounds scattered across its body, pooling around its feet. Surely it didn't have much fight left in it.

Stepping back and watching the beast warily, Elva called out. "Amber, wanna help finish this mangy cur off?"

 

[Texas Joker 52]

(( Amber ))​

Amber let out a soft sigh as the Bloodmane in front of them died, and Elva took the time to make sure by lodging her axe into it's skull. But their respite didn't last long as the remaining Grimm decided to avenge it's fellow by running down the blinded Jade. Both Elva and Amber were too slow to stop it, with the Faunus crying out.

"Jade! Crap! Jade, are you alright?" she asked, rushing over to the injured girls side and cradling her in her arms.

Elva and the girl who the Bloodmane had been attacking earlier both turned on the thing, with one throwing a pair of swords to rip into it's legs, while Elva's axe tore through it's underbelly. With that, on top of the insult to it's eye that Jade had managed to give it before being torn into herself, it was clearly on it's last legs.

"Didn't expect being accepted to Lodestar, would be this time-consuming to finish up the paperwork."

Amber looked up when she realized that the third girl was in fact Di, from the cafeteria.

"Di! Good to see you're alright." Amber said in surprise.

"Amber, wanna help finish this mangy cur off?"

She nodded. "With pleasure. Hold on to Jade, she's hurt pretty bad." she told her, handing off the injured girl before getting to her feet.

Striding over to the felled Bloodmane, she grabbed it by the scruff of it's neck and at the base of it's tail before heaving it up off of the bloodstained sands. Then, she brought it back down, slamming it down against her back with a grunt. The Grimm's spine shattered under the amount of force Amber put on it, twitching once before breathing it's last.

Once it was limp, she tossed it onto the corpse of the first, dusting off her hands afterward.

"Jade. You ok?" Amber asked as she crouched next to her.

 

[Terratina.]

"My name's Chesshie Heliotrope. What's yours?"

"Jet Tylluan." Jet replied, ignoring the outstretched hand. Instead, he kept ahold of his weapon. Given the prospective Lodestar students' priority was to get to the campus itself, Jet simply assumed the introduction was just the result of an obligation to manners. He quickly turned away, checked his Scroll then muttered, "I said not to bother with thanks. Guess you didn't bother to listen."

Afterwards, he slowly started walking towards Lodestar. He honestly didn't know what to do his... stalker?

 

[hiei82]

"Jade. You ok?" Amber asked, to which Jade could only respond "Qu'est-ce que tu fous." in a pained voice. Vulgar? - yes. Appropriate given that she'd nearly been torn limb from limb by a giant cat? - equally yes. Jade waited on the ground for her aura to kick in and at least heal some of her wounds before pushing up from the ground. "This is why I hate Grimm." she mumbled more to herself than the others.

Turning to Amber, Elva, and the other unknown girl, she quickly uttered her thanks. "Thanks for saving me; I guess I'm lucky I met you." she said; feeling like she owed the group some aid. Turning to face the unknown Faunus girl, Jade continued. "So I know Amber and Elva - at least a little - but I don't think we've met. My name's Jade." she said, offering her hand while picking up and stowing her chainsaw with the other.

 

[Redryhno]

"Di! Good to see you're alright."

"You three are the only other students I've seen today, not too many survived the fall I take it?"

Looking around the area, she didn't see or hear any Grimm nearby, but that was no reason to not keep moving towards Lodestar. The human girl that had been jumped on by the Bloodmane earlier had gotten up by now, her Aura restoring her strength.

"So I know Amber and Elva - at least a little - but I don't think we've met. My name's Jade."

"Yeah, uh-huh,"Di replied, not bothering to shake the offered hand, her own half-wave in response,continuing north,"You can see the school from up there,"She pointed in the general direction she'd come from,"So, we're not all that far from it."

She adjusted her bag,"Just call me Di, now let's cut the chatting and get this formality over with, I don't think your ride's gonna be getting back up."

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"I said not to bother with thanks. Guess you didn't bother to listen."

Chesshie's eyes narrowed, putting her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with showing gratitude?" But Jet was already turning away. "Hey! Shouldn't we stick together? It's dangerous out here, and we might survive better if we at least watch each other's backs!"

Normally Chesshie preferred to work alone... but in situations like these, she grudgingly admitted that working with someone else would be beneficial for her...

What's his problem? She wondered.

 

[Drummodino]

Elva cheered as Amber picked up the Bloodmane and smashed it downwards, a loud crack of its spine signalling the end of its life. With the immediate danger neutralized, she walked over to check on Jade as the other human slowly got to her feet. A second faunus had joined them, it seemed she was the boomerang wielder who had intervened so timely against the second Bloodmane.

"Thanks for saving me; I guess I'm lucky I met you."

"No worries," Elva replied, smiling happily. "I'm glad you're not too badly injured, things looked pretty nasty for a moment there."

"Just call me Di, now let's cut the chatting and get this formality over with, I don't think your ride's gonna be getting back up."

Elva looked at the Ursa that had been carrying them, now sprawled dead on the ground.

"Aww, it's broken! I guess we're walking then, shall we get going?"

 

[Terratina.]

"Hey! Shouldn't we stick together? It's dangerous out here, and we might survive better if we at least watch each other's backs!"

Jet gritted his teeth. The objective was not just to survive, but to thrive - if that whole spiel could be believed. The Owl Faunus quickly turned on his heel to address the Cat Faunus.

"Follow if you want but don't chase Death Stalkers or next time I might choose to sit out of that fight. Hinder me again and you'll regret it." Jet snarled before adding, "Oh and thanks leading that Death Stalker towards me, by the way."

He turned back around and continued walking. Lodestar didn't care about pedigree but he couldn't see any sort of merit in her that would make a good Huntress. Maybe in spite of his good eyesight Jet was missing something. Who knew?

 

[Arcanist]

"Zaan... Schwarz Zaan."

Matt pulled his cloak's hood over his head, obscuring his face partially in shadows. He briefly tried to rationalize it as trying to use the newfound shade to block some of the sun's glare, but he knew the real reason - he didn't want his new... friend(?)... to see his growing frown.

'Zaan. Of course it'd be a Zaan.'

He squeezed his eyes shut and took in a few deep, measured breaths to calm himself. Schwarz couldn't be any older than himself - how could have possibly been involved in that accident? Blaming him, even implicitly, was stupid and, to be frank, selfish.

A shudder escapes his lips as that repressed memory flashes through his mind once more, tears threatening to sting his eyes. Choking back a sob with considerable effort, he steadies his breathing once more. They were gone, dead, and never coming back. He was past this.

A sidelong glance towards Schwarz, jogging nonchalant in the desert sands, and another mote of misery forms in the pit of his gut. 'Apparently not...'

He grits his teeth and focuses once more on steadying himself. This neither the time nor the place to fight that particular demon. Get to Lodestar, then... something. He'd figure it out later. Right now, he needed to focus on surviving this 'test' - if for no other reason than Elva's sake.

To that end, Matt carefully surveyed the terrain as the pair left the canyon pass, vigilant for signs of Grimm ambush. Their previous scuffle with that Queen Arachnae notwithstanding, they were making good time - if the sun was anything to go by, it was just barely past noon. Squinting as he scanned the horizon, his gaze stopped as he made out two figures in the plateau in their path - other Lodestar students, judging by their size and shape.

Matt gestured to Schwarz, indicating in the direction of their potential allies. "Strength in numbers, right?" He said, jogging in their direction.