RWBY: The Giant's Little Rose

Chapter 7

"Oookay..." Ruby raised her eyebrow. "Do you think whatever threw him followed-"

She was interrupted by a roar from the forest line. Violet growled in response as Ruby sighed; "I'll take that as a yes."

She tapped into her ability, praying she'd get the right one. Luckily, she did. Using Forewarn, she was able to tell that something large and dangerous was approaching, an old, determined malice. "It's a big Grimm...and really old."

"You can tell?" asked Blake.

"Sort of," said Ruby. "It definitely feels big." Kneeling, she pressed her left hand, palm down, against the ground, splaying out her fingers and closing her eyes. It was an old trick that Mew taught her. By extending her Aura into her surroundings, she can look around at things others couldn't sense, not even Faunus. "Too many footfalls...it must be a Deathstalker, a big one."

'What the heck does she think she's doing?' wondered Yang.

'Ruby doesn't actually believe that she could be able to tell something like that, just by touching the ground.'

"How close?"

"It'll be here in about...," Ruby paused, for dramatic effect.

"Now."

Just then a Deathstalker burst through the trees. The Grimm was on the tail of Pyrrha, who was soon tossed like a ragdoll at Ruby and Blake's feet.

'Ruby was right!' thought Yang in shock. 'It had to be a lucky guess...right?'

Jaune, who was currently hanging upside down, and Pyrrha found each other's eyes.

"Pyrrha!"

"Jaune!"

"NORA!"

Ruby knelt down and helped 'Pyrrha' to her feet. "You go get a relic, I'll help your partner down! Weiss, can you hold it still?"

"Got it." Weiss nodded, and launched herself at the Deathstalker. It's stinger was soon encased in ice.

The petals from Ruby's semblance gathered around her feet, and she ran toward the tree Jaune was stuck in at speed. Once she was at the base, she launched up into the treetop next to the boy. She looked back over the others on the ground, squaring up against the giant Grimm scorpion.

'We might be able to beat it if we have to...'

A screech from above them made Ruby look up. Another Nevermore, this one even bigger than the one Violet killed, had apparently become attracted to the sudden feelings of panic, confusion, and anger.

"That complicates things..."

"What do we do?" Jaune asked.

"We can run!" Weiss spoke up. "Our mission is for the relics, not to fight these things!"

Ruby grabbed Jaune and pulled him down before jumping down the tree. She dropped the boy off with his partner and ran up to Weiss. "How is your ice holding?"

"It won't keep for long, we need to move!" Weiss replied quickly. Ruby shook her head.

"Once a Deathstalker fixes on a target, it doesn't give up," said Ruby gravely. "This thing will follow us all the way back to the cliffs, if we don't get rid of it now."

The ice started cracking already, the Deathstalker straining against the ice.

"Stand back, Weiss," Ruby said. "I need room to move. You go get our relics."