Emerald Trial
-Vale-
-Emerald Forest-
-Arno Attano-
Arno leans to his left blocking his attack by resting his own sword on his shoulder, his sword slamming against Arno's atop his shoulder, a split-second later, he shifts again, leaning right away from his attack, swiping his sword towards the woman, his sword slicing her mask open a bit, cutting her cheek.
Then he spins, swinging his sword at neck height, it slashes through the mans throat, and he grabs the wound, gurgling, he stumbles backward, then falls backwards, turning into ash.
"NO!" The woman yells, then also vanish into ash, blinking away...
Arno hums, flipping his sword around his hand, then hooks the hilt onto his belt, with a nod he pulls the rune from his coat, his fingers tracing the marked up whale bone.
"Arno!" He glances back, hiding the rune behind him, tucking it into his coat as he turns to face Yang and Blake, "...Arno?"
Clipping the rune to his belt, Blake's eyes widen at the sight of the legendary mask, Yang gets a little nervous, "Yes... Sorry." Arno reaches up, removing the mask, he hooks it onto the left side of his belt.
"I wear it when I'm working..." Arno looks up, pulling the hood down, his hand held gently behind his back.
"Are you the first one here?" Blake asks, she sniffs quietly, the scent of blood pinching her sense... "Are you hurt?"
"No, I wasn't the first here... And no, I am not hurt." He brushes a bit of dust off his coat, "I uh... Well, there were a few people here before you, that weren't students."
"Weren't students? Should tell Ozpin, he can search for 'em!" Yang cuts in.
Arno hums, looking at the relics, "I think these are what we're here for." He changes the topic, motioning to the chess pieces.
"Sweet," Yang walks over, grabbing a rook piece, Blake grabs one as well, "Where's your partner, Arnie?"
"Please don't call me that..." He grunts, "And I got here before I found anyone in the forest." Arno steps forward, grabbing a rook, "Five rooks... Maybe a miss count..."
"Or purposely done." Blake smiles, tucking the rook into her pocket, she looks at the forest, as Yang is about to speak, a scream is heard through the forest...
"Was that Ruby..?" Yang hums, Arno shakes his head, walking beside her.
"That might've been Jaune." - A.
"What?" - Y.
"It started high pitch, ended low pitch." - A.
Yang and Blake hum quietly, understanding his reasoning, "So, your mask... Is it a replica of your dads?" Blake asks.
"Ah, it's actually his mask, he figured I'd get more use out of it, it's more for protection than concealment." Arno states, smiling a bit.
"Well, it's crafted well, who made it?" - B.
"Ah, a Faunus, he helped my father clear his name." Arno answers, pulling the mask from his belt, he holds it out, "Well, more kept my fathers gear in top shape, while he cleared his name."
Yang cuts it, "It's spooky looking! Had me a little nervous when we first got here." She nudges his shoulder with a fist.
A shadow passes over them, Blake and Arno look up... A Nevermore, "Heads uuup!" Ruby falls from the Grimm, and as she gets closer, Arno preps to save her, only to watch a blonde haired boy, wearing the chest piece and arms of white and gold armor burst from the forest, slamming into Ruby...
They land on the ground, the boy groaning, Ruby puts a hand to her head, looking down, "Oh! Sorry Jaune!"
"No... it's... my fault." He grunts.
Arno looks to Yang, "Your sister seems to be drawn to trouble..." Yang giggles nervously, rubbing her head.
"Yeah she uh... she does that..." - Y.
The forest ahead of them rumbles, an Ursa bursts through the treeline, claws swiping, "YEE-HAAW! just as a pink blast of energy hits it in the back and it crashes to the dirt, a girl with orange hair and pink themed outfit is tossed off, rolling off the creature, "Awww... It's broken..." She sounds disappointed...
A boy with black hair, a pink streak through it, runs into the clearly, "Nora!" leaning against a tree, "Please... Don't do that again!" When he looks up from the floor, 'Nora' is gone, he glances around frantically, then spots her at the ruins.
"Riding an Ursa... Impressive." Arno nods, looking at the boy who came with her, "Appears he doesn't think so."
"I-" - Y.
The trees rumble again, Pyrrha jumps into the clearing as a tree is uprooted behind her, a Death Stalker jumps into the clearly.
"Jaune!" - P.
"Uugh... Pyrrha..!" Jaune groans, everyone starts to call out one another's name, Yang is visibly more agitated with each person, finally she snaps.
"WILL EVERYONE JUST COOL IT FOR ONE SECOND!?" Everyone looks at Yang for a second, even Arno looks a bit concerned...
Ruby gently tugs on Yang's sleeve, "Umm.. Yang?" She points up, that's when Arno looks up again, Weiss is hanging off the Nevermore?!
Her grip loosens and she begins to fall, "I have her!" Arno shouts, running beneath her, he jumps shadows puffing out from his coat as he bounces higher, finally he out reaches his left hand, blinking to meet Weiss, he grabs her...
They stare into one anothers eyes for a second... Then Weiss looks down, "Y-You didn't think this through did you..."
As they begin to fall he smiles, "I did, don't worry." He flips them, looking up at the floor, he reaches his hand out again, "Hold on tight!" He blinks again, now landing in a knelt position, still holding Weiss...
She sighs dreamily, "My hero~" Arno stands, gently setting her on her feet, "Thank you, Arno..."
"No issue, Miss Schnee." He bows slightly, smiling softly.
"Okay, okay, love birds! Back in the game please!" - Y.
"R-Right!" - W.
Arno glances at the Death Stalker, "If you don't mind... I think I'll handle the Bug." Walking towards it slowly, he pulls his mask from his belt, clicking it on.
"A-Arno look out!" Ruby shouts, turning quickly, the Nevermore's steel feather soars towards him, he quickly flips his sword into hand, then parries the feather away, leaving everyone stunned.
He then turns, quickly rolling out of the way of the Death Stalkers tail, he grabs his crossbow, as it unfolds he flips it, explosive bolts loading automatically, he jumps over a swipe from the Death Stalkers pincer then aims up at the Nevermore, letting loose a bolt, it slams into the Nevermore and explodes, the Grimm turning to dust as it falls.
He turns back to the Death Stalker, and narrowly avoids a duel tail and pincer attack, he jumps back away from it joining the others, "My father always said, fight or flee, and I think now is a flee!"
Pocketing his folded crossbow and flipping his sword closed, he takes off into the forest, "Hey! Wait for me!" Ruby rushes after, ther others soon running too.
Arno jumps over shrubs and bushes, sliding between trees, even blinking forward, though his speed is no match for Ruby's semblance, he stays ahead of everyone else.
They come across an ancient bridge, "Ruby, get everyone across!" Arno stops at the edge as the others run past, Jaune almost trips, but Arno catches the boy, pushing him back into a run.
"T-Thank you!" - J.
"Keep going!" - A.
The Death Stalker screeches as it bursts through the forest, tail striking, Arno jumps back from it, rolling backwards on the stone, the Grimm slowly walks onto the bridge, its foundation rumbles under the weight...
"I can drop the bridge..." Arno mutters, "Get off the bridge now! Get up that cliff!" He shouts back to the others, avoiding a pincer swipe, pulling his crossbow out and unfolding it, he aims beneath the Death Stalker, then fires...
The ensuing explosive stuns the Death Stalker just long enough for it to plummet, "Oh yeah!" The bridge begins to crumble at the explosion point, "Oh no!" Arno turns, sprinting, as the bridge begins to collapse, he jumps from the falling pieces, continuing...
As he reaches the edge of the bridge, where the cliff is, a bit of stone suddenly juts up from weight, tripping him, he hits the stone hard, starting to slide forward, "Oh shit, c'mon!"
He flips, then pushes off the bridge, flinging himself towards the cliff, "I'm gonna-" He doesn't make the distance, "-fall..?" He suddenly remembers, as if he could really forget, he lifts his left hand and clenches it, blinking over the edge, he slams into the grass, rolling a bit, before ending on his back...
He is panting, reaching up to take off his mask, he looks up, everyones made it, and is currently surrounding him, "Anyone have an Elixir..?" He half jokes, everyone laughs quietly, "No, seriously... Anyone..?"
"Uh, no, don't think so." Yang helps him sit up.
"Then I'm gonna need a bit of help walking back to school..." Yang helps him stand, Pyrrha taking the otherside.
"Thank you for covering us, Arno." Pyrrha smiles at him as she pulls his arm over her shoulder.
"Well, it was either that or... well, fight it head on." - A.
They all begin the walk back to Beacon, Arno half asleep the entire trip..
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