Team SHDW Volume 2

Chapter 11: No Safe Haven

And here we are with the finale of Volume 4. And hopefully the end of the mind-bending RWBY timeline.
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Skyler and Rose finally arrived in the ruined village of Kuroyuri, the sounds of thunder and gunfire guiding them. Skyler spotted Jaune, Ruby, Ren, and Nora (where the heck did they come from?), and they had all fallen back by a dead cherry tree, Qrow still unconscious and propped up against it.

Rose blinked, staring at the older man, "Wait, is that-"

She was interrupted by the sound of thundering footsteps. The Nuckelavee came into view, and Skyler got a good, frightening look at it. At first glance, it looked like a man riding a horse. But upon closer inspection, it looked as though the top half of a human had been attached to the back of a horse's body.

The bony horse head breathed loudly, exhaling black smoke. Within the bones were glowing red lights and around it was the black flesh of a Grimm. Out of the humanoid spine, weapons could be seen, stuck into its body that also has bones sticking out perpendicular to its spine. Its arms were so long, they dragged across the ground, and when it stopped, its various body parts twitched creepily.

Slowly, the torso arose after being hunched over the whole time, revealing a horned, humanoid Grimm. The horns and front part of the face were bone while the mouth was merely thin strips of Grimm flesh stretching across an opening. The mouth, bones, and eyes all glowed red. The Nuckelavee twitched its head and sent out a shockwave roar that caused all of them to flinch. The Grimm's human torso twitched again, swiftly leaning forward to look at the four teenagers before turning its head to look at Qrow... and began galloping towards him.

Jaune sheathed his sword and made a run for Qrow. The Nuckelavee lashed out with one of its arms, able to extend it at a far reach, but Jaune avoided it and got to Qrow, getting him upright, but the Nuckelavee was heading right for them again. Ren placed his hand on the ground, using his Semblance to hide Jaune and Qrow from the Grimm, which stopped short and looked around in confusion.

Jaune stood still, staring at the Grimm until Ren commanded, "Just get him to safety!"

Jaune huddled away with Qrow while the battle resumed, Rose choosing to jump in, becoming a shadow once she landed. Though a bit startled by the arrival of this newcomer, Skyler and the rest of Team RNJRS joined in, Bloodmane popping out of the ground and slashed one of her daggers into the horse's side. The Grimm reared and began using its arms to grab hold of each teammate, but was continually distracted by the fire of the next one, forcing it to let go numerous times.

Jaune came back into the fray and shouted, "Guys, keep moving, go in a circle!"

The team followed this plan, but it was quickly ruined by the Nuckelavee screaming, the bones sticking out of its spine elongating, and it spun its human torso around in circles, swatting each warrior with its stretchy arms. Jaune managed to land a hit, but was kicked back and next to Ruby. Jaune then sheathed his sword after getting to his feet, confusing Ruby.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Jaune pulled his entire sword out, sheath and all, and the sheath sharpened, creating an extra layer of metal for the blade. Jaune ran up to the Grimm once more, slashing it in the upper thigh and escaped before the Grimm could kick him again. Skyler then ran in front of it, switching Kasai into a gun, and blasted fire right into the horse's face, sending it stumbling back and it retaliated by grabbing at him, but he rolled out of the way.