RWBY 1: The Dead Mountain

Part 8 - A Broken Promise

Raven had always hated her semblance. She could never see any use for it - all it did was bring pain to her teammates and the people around her. The first time she used it Lime collapsed and ended up in a coma for weeks. She had barely used it since and never discovered its true potential.

But today that had to change. Raven readied her sword.

Her opponent, the tall, fairly muscular, dark haired beast stood opposite her. His white vest and black combat pants were spotless and in perfect condition. His own body was the only weapon he needed and his claws were deadly.

Snow stared down the huntress before him. Of all the hunters he had to encounter he was stuck fighting this weakling. Snow remembered her well, Raven was in the year below him in the academy but everyone in his class knew her name - for all the wrong reasons. She had lost fight after fight in every spar and tournament she entered, rumours spread that she didn't even have a semblance - that she just being carried by her teammates.

"This will be easy" he thought to himself. Weakling or not, killing humans was still fun.

Then in a flash she was right in front of him, swinging her weapon. Snow was taken by surprise - he couldn't dodge this attack. He raised one hand to block it but Raven's sword hit hard, harder than he expected. His arm buckled under the strain as he just managed to catch her sword and stop it. With his free hand Snow lunged, scratching at Raven's chest, leaving claw marks in her top and light scratches underneath, but her freshly recharged aura withstood the bulk of the attack.

Snow flung the huntress's sword aside, closing in with claw attacks from both hands. They both connected, another to her chest - shredding her clothing further - and one to her neck. He felt her aura pop, she was defenceless now.

Raven was winded by Snow's attacks, his speed and strength were unbelievable - in the instant her sword hit his hand he had countered with three powerful attacks. Raven quickly activated her semblance again and vaulted over the faunus. She slashed at his head mid-air, her blade bouncing off as Snow performed another perfect block. The crack on her sword grew larger, the sound it made when it hit his claws this time was strange.

Raven landed and aimed for another swing,  Snow again blocked it and countered with more swipes from his claws. Her top had completely ripped open now, revealing the black sports bra underneath. She instinctively backed off and raised her arms to cover her exposed skin, but the faunus chased her and lunged forward - his eyes filled with rage. Raven's aura was drained again, she activated her semblance a third time and held back the searing pain - it was taking its toll.

"Again..." Snow thought as anger raced through his mind  "She survived again!?". He knew he had hit her with full force, he had felt her aura pop twice, it had recharged almost instantly. "Just what is her semblance!?" he was growing more and more frustrated and the grimm could feel it. They were watching restlessly, waiting for his command.

Raven had put some distance between them with another burst of speed, she was going on the defensive. Snow paused to catch his breath.

Fear crept into Snow's mind. The fight had just begun, how was he so tired? He had fought far longer and tougher battles than this and had never felt this way. He focused his mind and checked his aura - half of it was gone! 

He didn't want to find out what Raven's semblance was any more - he had to end this quickly. Snow activated his second semblance, one he rarely used as it was exhausting, in a flash he appeared behind the red huntress and brought his claws down towards her throat.