blueteamnovel 4. Weapons
4. Weapons
4. Weapons
Thankfully, Yang moved past the event with as much ease as Ruby had been hoping for. It really was incredible how well she could take something in stride.
"Seems safe, at least," Yang said, looking around the new space they found themselves in. "And look. There's water to wash off in."
There was, in fact, a pool of water on one side of the rocky cavern. Yang's statement served as a reminder of the state they were in. That they needed to clean themselves. The tumble down the slippery slope had left them thoroughly lubricated. In fact, it was kind of distracting—Yang was attractive enough without having every inch of her body oiled up.
Ruby ran a finger down her stomach, scooping up some of the thick and shiny material. "What is this stuff, anyway?"
"No clue. Just hope it's not something gross."
She brought her finger to her nose and sniffed. She'd anticipated the worst, but no vile stench hit her. "Smells like...nothing? That's good, right?"
Yang shrugged.
Ruby finished taking in the rest of the cavern. Like their starting point, there was only one way out. Well, one viable way. The hole in the ceiling was inaccessible for obvious reasons.
"We'll be able to come back, if we need something to drink," Ruby said. "In an emergency."
"True. Hopefully the Rift doesn't go that long. That's pretty rare."
The two of them cleaned off. The weird substance was, thankfully, easy to wash away. The water was cold, but Ruby appreciated that. She needed to cool off. A few splashes of near-freezing water on her face warded away some growing, confusing feelings about her sister. And seeing how their nakedness was going nowhere, she needed as calm of a head as possible.
Ruby, Yang - NSFW!
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When they were done, they took stock of their situation.
"Guess we should watch for traps, going forward?" Yang asked.
"Pretty sure there weren't any warning signs. It was just a normal cave tunnel. Empty." She hadn't been scrutinizing the walls and floor, but she had been paying attention. Sort of. Maybe she'd been a little distracted with everything going on.
"Still," Yang grunted. "Assuming we don't wanna take another tumble like that, should keep an eye out."
Want to take another tumble? Well, different parts of Ruby were extremely conflicted on the topic of want, right now.
For the second time that Rift, the two of them strode forward, heading deeper into the complex—with there not being much else to do. This time, she did scrutinize the walls, floor, and ceiling.
They progressed forward without issue, though. Less than a minute later, a new room opened, much like all the previous.
Except this one had weapons.
Two, in particular. One for her, one for Yang.
When a first-timer huntress-in-training entered a Rift and gained a class, they were supposed to receive their weapons and outfits immediately, which would be summonable whenever they needed them from that point onward. But that hadn't happened for her and Yang. They'd taken a more circuitous path toward their reward, she guessed. And it doubly confirmed that the 'trap' couldn't have been avoidable. Because if they hadn't fallen down it, then, what, they'd never have gotten their weapons?
The first was a pair of what appeared to be metal armguards. Thick plates of golden-yellow metal were layered atop one another, a dark black outline streaking across the edges. Ruby couldn't tell what they were right away, but the weapons looked high-tech. That was becoming increasingly common in the modern age. Huntresses manifested weapons from their soul, so it made sense their tools were progressing alongside the march of technology. Way back forever ago, huntress weapons were just swords and bows and other mundane implements. Now, they were mech-shifts, most of the time.
Ruby drank in the sight of the weapon, her mind whirring at what it might do. Besides training to become a huntress, her biggest other hobby was weapons engineering. Yang would make fun of her for saying it, but when it came to meeting huntsmen, it was as often their weapons she liked to learn about than they themselves. Each one was amazing, no exceptions.
She inspected the weapon, curious to have it identified.
Yang was really something. One of the best fighters she'd ever known, hands down.
Catching Ruby watching her, Yang turned and grinned. She tapped her gauntlets together in an enthusiastic display, the metal clanging.
"Oh yeah," she said. "I'm gonna have fun with these." Her eyes turned to run up and down Crescent Rose. "You like yours?"
"Like it? I love it!"
Yang smirked. She hadn't expected any other response.
The two of them showed their weapons off to each other. It wasn't entirely an indulgence; they were partners for this Rift and needed to know each other's combat styles. It was pretty clear what their dynamic would be. Yang, the up-and-close brawler who stayed in the thick of things and kept the Grimm's attention. Ruby, the swift reaper who struck when opportunity allowed it. And when she hunted through her next Rift, a ranged specialist too.
She could only barely stop herself from wiggling side to side in excitement.
Eventually, they ran out of things to say, and the conversation tapered off.
"Where are our outfits, though?" Yang said. "Got the weapons, finally. But that's only half of it."
"Uh. Good point." In her excitement, she'd forgotten about the other half of their huntress-manifested gear.
"Why'd it take our clothes, anyway?" Yang continued. "Why's it forcing us to run around naked?" She frowned. "Our outfits better not be nothing. Imagine that. Every time we need to summon our weapon, it makes our clothes disappear. Nuh uh. Not a chance."
Ruby paled at the possibility. "I don't think that's what's going on," she hastily said. She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Not that I have any clue what is going on, so never mind."
Yang grunted. The only way they would find answers would be by advancing through the Rift.
As one, their eyes fell on the exit out.
Seeing how they'd gotten their weapons, Ruby figured they were due a fight. And compared to all the weirdness of before? Ruby was twice as eager for it as she would've been otherwise. Because fighting Grimm? That was a whole lot easier to deal with than being stuck in a pit with her naked sister wiggling against her cock.
"Ready?" Yang asked.
"Ready," Ruby said.
They walked, Yang leading. The cave tunnel winded around for a few turns before opening into a second cavern, this one much larger than any of the previous. A proper full arena, with huge stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
Sleeping in the center of the space, with an enormous canine skull resting on two equally big paws, was a beowolf.
Their first Grimm, as expected.
The beast lay there, unaware of their presence. Grimm acted differently in Rifts compared to on the surface. When Grimm broke free of these pocket dimensions—which was what happened when Rifts weren't handled in a timely manner, hence the urgency of the Association's tracking of them—they would awaken with a supernatural ability to hunt down any nearby sapient life, and especially, they would hone in on negative emotions.
But down here, they were just regular monsters. No more aware of she and Yang than they had been of it. Sight, smell, and hearing only.
The wolf-monster's midnight black shadow flesh was covered in bright white bone plating and spikes. Each paw had a collection of long, sharp claws. A bone mask covered its face, and Ruby knew once its eyes opened, a pair of glowing red eyes would be revealed.
Of course, there were no red markings on the beowolf's body. This was an F-Rank rift, and likewise, an F-Rank Grimm. The coloring of a Grimm's plating indicated the strength of the beast, where a few splotches of red meant an E-Rank, and a lot of splotches meant a D-Rank. That pattern followed for light and dark purple markings, with an S-Rank slathered in dark purple. Those were capable of taking on whole teams of the most capable, highest-evolution Huntsmen of Remnant, and were genuine threats to humanity as a whole. A single S-Rank Grimm could massacre a city without huntsmen intervention. Even with huntsmen intervention, sometimes.
Ruby and Yang shared a look. They didn't risk waking the creature by speaking, thus giving up the element of surprise. They could communicate everything they needed with just a glance. This was what they'd been training for their entire life, after all.
Yang moved first, Ruby following close behind, Crescent Rose wielded in her grasp.