With his split second warning, a few students were able to brace themselves, getting into a freefall formation...Most aren't so lucky.
"Goddamnit!" The blonde girl screams, her guitar slapping against her back as she spins uncontrollably. "Freaking military maniacs!" She rights herself, just in time to see the ground as it seems to come at her like a bullet. "Fuck!" She grabs her guitar in one hand, gripping the neck with white knuckles. As she falls, she spins, pressing a button. The strings detach, and she holds on for dear life as the bladed implements sink into the mighty pine beside her.
She screams all the way down, carving a path down the tree's trunk. She stops a bare inch from the ground, still screaming, but she opens her eyes, blinking as she stares down at the ground. "Okay, Cappollo. You're alive, and your aura isn't shot. Let's keep moving". She pulls on a single metal glove, sliding a clear plastic visor over one of her eyes. A HUD fires up, and her backpack drones activate, the weapons popping out. Two screens show their sensors, and the girl smiles. "Alright, I'm about halfway there".
"Whee!" A grey-haired girl whips past her, a maniacal grin on her face. Her pike's butt end belches fire, and she grabs the shaft, leaping off, deactivating the rocket and slicing the tops off several trees before landing face-first in a pile of snow. "That...Was...Awesome!" She pops back up, just in time to see another pine simply topple over, shards of wood flying every which way as two blackened steel feet kick right through it.
"Enyasi!" Talis stands as she runs over, greeting him with a flying tackle hug to the face. Not budged, the giant metal man stands, calmly shaking his head and walking towards the mountain in the distance as she runs circles around him, hollering at the top of her lungs what smells and sights she saw while riding down.
"Really? Dropping people out of airships?" The bird boy floats on a cushion of air, his gauntlets glowing violet as a translucent bubble nullifies gravity around him. "And I thought Atlas was at least sporting with these kinds of things".
A blue hologram forms in front of him, and a woman's head forms, a severe expression on her face. "And you didn't bother to warn them". Winter Schnee scowls, her eyes narrowing. "Should I take this to mean you don't wish to attend Atlas academy, Private Delsingh?"
He pauses for a moment, tilting his head curiously. "Why on earth would you think that, specialist Schnee? I'm well aware that this airship will be heading towards the mountain to wait for the students". He chuckles. "It is told to us in combat school that 'Atlas wishes to have the best and brightest, critical thinkers who expidite the most efficient path to mission completion' after all". He rolls his shoulders, giving Winter a wink. "Don't tell me that the brightest minds among Atlas's faculty failed to predict a gravity warping flier being able to stay in the airship?"
Winter doesn't react as he speaks, but as he finishes, she gives him a cold smirk. "They didn't". Her hand comes into the holo's frame, as she holds a remote, pressing the button a split second later. "but I did". Behind his back, a small click and a mechanical hiss sounds. He spins in midair, turning towards the sound, but is too late to dodge. A small pistol pops from the hold, but instead of a bullet, it has a small dust crystal in the barrel. Lightning spikes out in a blue-white surge, and the gravity bubble fades. The boy's eyes widen, and his boots flare...for another half-second. The gun targets it next, and he flips the holo off as he falls.
"Arrogant boy". Winter turns the holo off. "They're all in play, sir".
"And the flyboy needed a push?" Ironwood scowls, rubbing his head. "Of course he did. Did he actually assault Sargeant Ginger?"
"...Not exactly". Winter shakes her head, walking over to the holo-map. "He screamed the man off his feet, literally, immediately claiming it was an accident". She zooms in on a rapidly falling blip on the map. "What should we do with him?"
"Let Sergeant Ginger punish him as he sees fit. Nothing else". Ironwood glares at the blip. "What about the-"
"White haired bitch, I swear to the gods, I will..." Chromata spreads his arms, sparks trailing from his hands and feet, fizzling on his leather flight suit. "...Gauntlets are Fubar, boots...Still out..." He wiggles his feet experimentally, to no avail, but as he fiddles with his gauntlets, his wings spread, five foot wingspans nearly throwing him into a tailspin. "Well...I have wings at least". He kicks his feet back, tilting his head downwards. his wings catch the wind, and he kicks back again, far weaker. He winces as the wings catch the wind, and his flight levels out. The icy landscape below rises up, faster than normal, and the boy grits his teeth, aiming for a small clearing. He tucks his feet and wings in just in time, narrowly missing a tree trunk, and he throws up a twenty-foot wave of snow as he touches down, scraping his boots across fifty-five feet of ground before coming to a complete stop.
"...She hit me with a stunner". He peels off a plate on his gauntlet, his eyes narrowing as he examines the electronics within. "Nothing I can do in the field...Gotta keep moving". True to his words, he sets off at a brisk jog, eyes narrowed.
The forest looms above, and he scowls as the light shines in a few shafts of shattered light. "Mountain shouldn't be too far..." He climbs a tree with practiced ease, taking the time to survey the land around him. The tree is on a low point, barely making it above the average lay of the land. Hills and crevaces dot the landscape, ice-covered pines cover the land to his east, the mountains jutting above and behind.
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"So...I'm in the forest, and about halfway through it, from the looks of things". He pulls down his goggles. "So...I'm West of the mountain, and then I need to head to the icy plains". He nods, jumping down from the tree and landing lightly on his feet.
"You're so slow, Talis!" Enyasi jumps off his shoulder, walking backwards ahead of him. "Come on, I want to get this overwith".
"It's a fifteen mile hike to the mountain, over rough terrain". Talis's voice is rough, and he rolls his shoulders as he walks. "I'm over four hundred pounds of muscle and armor. If we went at the kind of pace you want, I'd be out of Dust by the time we get there, and you'd be burning your semblance at one-five. I know you". He shakes his head, and she slumps, a pout on her face.
"You have a semblance too, y'know. You could use that".
"And be completely unable to focus for fifteen minutes or so after we got there, and do the rest of this trip with hunger pains. No thank you". He keeps moving at his normal pace, and she jumps onto his head, riding him piggyback style. The big man lets out a sigh and keeps walking, pneumatic hisses escaping his legs with every step.
"Still not gone". Blue eyes flash with anger as the leather-clad bird boy crests the hill. He kicks a pinecone, watching as it soars into the treeline...And hits a Beowolf in the head. It turns towards him, red eyes narrowing. Hunter and Grimm stare for a bare moment, but it gets over the shock faster, rearing its' head back and howling. Four more wolves lope out from the pines, adding their howls to the cacophony.
"If I survive this, I swear, someone's gonna get their bed destroyed". He sinks into a boxer's stance, and as the pack drop to all fours and rush him, he stands his ground.
Cappollo sits on a tree branch, eyes closed. A sudden howl sounds from behind her, and she whips her head around as a large Beowolf tears through a small tree beneath her as it lopes past. The wolves howl a moment later, and she rolls her eyes, standing on the branch and leaping off. Her sunshine yellow coat tails behind her as she sings her guitar. The strings lash out, and she swings from branch to branch.
The first Beowolf to crest the hill gets a wingtip to the face, stopping it cold. The wing retracts, but Chromata's already pivoting on one foot, slamming a second wolf in the snout. It falls sideways, letting out a yelp, but the force of the blow sends him spinning back the other way. A third Grimm is hit with his other wing, but the impact knocks the boy onto his side. The other wing extends, throwing him skyward, narrowly dodging the fourth Beowolf, and the fifth hits him in midair, hitting his shoulder with a forearm. He blocks the follow-up with a gauntlet, the impact separating them, but the first Wolf attacks almost before he even lands, swiping at his legs with its' claws. He jumps, trying to punch the beast in the face, but it rears back just out of his reach, then snaps back, forcing him to pull his hand back. He jumps back, landing with his back against a tree. The Beowolves pause, spreading out in a semicircle.
"Always figured either Schnee or Ironwood would be the death of me. Didn't figure it'd be both". He almost laughs.
The largest wolf rushes him first, and he opens his mouth as wide as he can. Chromata plants his feet and roars, a screeching sound filling the air for a split second before careening up into ultrasound.
The charging Beowolf cringes, covering its' ears with its' front paws. Without the front paws, it falls flat on its' face, but as the horrible sound fades away, it levers itself up.
Just in time for the bird boy to come careening down, wingtip extending into the Beowolf's extended neck. He stands, the Alpha dissolving around him. The pack recover in the same moment, and rush him as one.
A sudden flash of light blinds both boy and Grimm alike, and as the wolves cringe again, bullets fly from both flanks, the small calibre rounds striking legs, eyes and claws. The Beowolves turn in two different directions, facing the streams of fire, but as they do so, a slender frame comes through. With a single, almost dainty motion, she twists her guitar, firing a .50 calibre slug directly from the guitar into a Wolf's brain. A second wolf slashes at her blindly, only for another, slightly less dainty movement to unleash the strings, which follow the guitar as she swings it into the Beowol's shoulder, severing the arm at the base. It dissolves into black powder before it hits her, and she takes a half-step back, clearing the blinding powder.
Chromata recovers from the initial shock, pulling a fire crystal from his jacket. He gasps in pain as the crystal glows, trailing red light as he moves his free hand. A ball of flame forms in the palm of his hand, and he sticks his hand into the closest Beowolf's mouth, detonating the fireball in a sudden burst of light and heat. As it dusts, he whirls, barely getting his hands up into a guard before the last uninjured Beowolf jumps him, knocking him onto his back.
Cappollo steps back as the injured Beowolf swipes at her wildly, a smile on her face. She dodges a second strike, then a third, but as it winds up for a fourth swing, it stiffens. Two quadcopters fly through the rapidly dusting Grimm, twin machine guns retract into their bodies. She turns her head as a sickening crack fills the air. The Beowolf on top of Chromata dusts, leaving a coughing boy in leathers trying not to gag or inhale.
"Thanks for the assist, m'lady, I would have surely perished if not for your radient presence". She strides over, offering the downed bird boy her hand.
He stares up at her for a few seconds, as her sarcastic smirk stays glued to her face. "Good morning", he replies flatly. Their eyes meet, and she laughs, a clear, silvery sound.
"No, you're supposed to say "My hero". She bats her eyes at him, imitating a damsel in distress, and he rolls his eyes.
"If anyone's the princess here, miss rockstar jacket, it's you". She clutches her jacket's tassels, frowning at him, sticking her tongue out. The jacket is sunshine yellow, with sky-blue woven through it. Its' color matches perfectly with her hair, almost as if it had been made from the silky smooth waves.
"I just saved your hide, flyboy. You'd think that would warrent at least a 'thanks". She folds her arms, glaring at him, and he nods once, giving her an apologetic shrug.
"Yeah. Thanks for that. Sorry, just a bit...livid right now". He flexes his gauntleted hands, grimacing. "My weapons were disabled by specialist Schnee as I left the airship". He growls, shaking the ground around them. "No gravity, no flight, just wingtips and sound".
At that, Cappollo's eyes widen, her eyebrows shooting straight up. "Wait, did you say sound?" He looks at her, puzzled, and she strums her guitar. Instead of sound, small flickers of light form, motes of changing color that orbit around her. As he blinks, stepping back in stunned realization, she gives him a cheshire grin, rubbing her palms together.
"Oh, we are gonna have some fun with this, boombox boy".