RWBY: Red Wolf Saga

Checkmate

We don't own anything except OC's. Rights to RWBY goes to Viz Media

Team RWBY noticed that, as they got closer to their destination, the thicker the undergrowth became. It got so bad that Ruby was forced to use her scythe to cut through. Ruby, however, soon found it getting harder and harder to cut through.

"Man, this stuff is thicker than your hair sis!" Ruby yelled as she cut through a particularly stubborn seedling.

"Excuse me? And just what is that supposed to mean?" Yang asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing…" Ruby quickly corrected herself.

Yang smirked at that. "I thought so."

"At least that dolt is useful for something." Weiss muttered.

"She did save us back there against the Grimm you know. Just because she's not the brightest doesn't change that." Blake said, looking at the white-haired heiress.

"Yeah, Ruby can be a little ditsy sometimes. But she's a real sweetheart and her heart's in the right place." Yang admitted.

"Ow!" Ruby said as she ran into something, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Are you alright, Miss Rose?" A familiar voice asked her.

"A-Azura? Wh-what are you doing here?" Ruby said, looking up to see the samurai's familiar face.

"The same as you. Trying to reach that temple to get through this test. Please, allow me." Azura replied, leaning down and extending his left hand to help her up.

Taking his hand, she was soon on her feet. Behind him she then saw his companions, smiling at the sight of Ember and Zhan. Though the form of Rena was unknown to her, if she was good with those she already knew, what was the harm of it?

"Come on over. It's not as thick over here." Ruby said, motioning to the rest of his group.

"Thank you very much. My swinging arms were getting tired there." Zhan answered with a smile.

"So, I guess we'll all be going together, huh?" Yang asked.

"That appears to be the case, Miss…?" Azura began, but trailed off when he realized he did not know her name.

"This is my sister Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, my partner, and Yang's partner Blake Belladonna." Ruby said chipperly.

Azura forced a small smile onto his face and gave a polite bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Why don't you introduce your companions? It's only fair." Blake asked.

"You are right. This is my partner Zhan Vulkan, our current top strategist Rena Septum, and her partner Ember Hedda." Azura replied, motioning towards the three behind him.

At that, the two groups made a little bit of a clearing, and a bit tired from travel decided mutually on a break. Slowly they began to mingle and talk amongst themselves. Yang and Ruby were sticking close to Azura. Though the sisters noticed that something seemed off about the azure samurai.

"Is something wrong there Azura?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"N-No, it is nothing. I am fine…" Azura said not too convincingly.

"It sure doesn't seem like it. If something is bothering you, you can talk to us about it." Yang told him, trying not to pry.

"I never like seeing anyone down. Talking about it usually takes the edge off. No one is alone here." Ruby said to try and cheer him up.

Azura looked over the two sisters. Though he did not know them very well yet, he got the feeling that he could trust them a little. He did not really know why. Something about them just told him that he could trust them.

"It is just… we were attacked by a horde of Grimm soon after we all met up. Even though I told myself I was ready for this… that I had trained for this… I froze up…" Azura admitted quietly.

"I know what you mean." Ruby admitted with a regretful sigh.

"I… do not think you do. Ever since I was ten years old, even though I have had to fight them in training, I have been terrified of the Grimm. There have been times where I almost froze up but managed to collect myself, but this time… there were just too many…" Azura told them, his frustration and anger at his own perceived weakness leaking out.

"I might not know everything, but I know that much. Back on Patch, routinely every single Grimm on that island would come after me, hunt me down. Practically driving me into the sea so many times. And… I'm afraid of Grimm to this day because of that. But my mother always told me, courage is not lacking fear, it's being able to fight despite it." Ruby said somberly, the memory of her mother starting to bring tears to the corner of her eyes.

Yang gently pulled Ruby into a comforting hug as she looked at Azura. "It's like Ruby said, tough guy. The fact that you're afraid of them doesn't matter. It's what you do about that fear that matters. The fact that, before this point, you've been able to stand up and fight against the Grimm despite being terrified of them shows that you're a lot braver than you think you are."

Azura was deep in thought at this. What the two sisters had said to him made a lot of sense. Though, at the same time, he could not help but wonder why so many Grimm would target Ruby specifically out of nowhere. But, believing it to be something personal, he chose to not ask about it out of respect.

"I will give some more thought to what you both have told me, later. That being said, I appreciate it." Azura told them, giving them both a surprisingly bright smile that made Ruby blush and Yang see what Ruby saw in him.

"Y-You're welcome, S-Sōtora… I mean A-Azura…" Ruby stammered nervously.

"Yeah. Also, you should smile more. Your smile's really warm and nice." Yang commented, making Azura blush a bit.

"D-Do you really think so…?" Azura asked nervously.

"I know so. Right, Ruby?" Yang replied with a smile.

"N-no… I-I mean yes… I-I mean…" Ruby stammered; her head completely turned around as she just did not know what to say.

Azura chuckled a bit and patted Ruby gently on her hand. "Breathe, Miss Rose. It is okay."

"R-Right. Let's go get that relic then." Ruby said, jumping up, and immediately stepping face first into a tree.

Azura chuckled a bit and tried to not laugh at her antics. "Are you alright, Miss Rose?"

"Yes… Absolutely." Ruby said, trying to cover her embarrassment, before beginning to lead the way.

Soon the rest began to follow and the eight were off. Alternating Ruby and Zhan, they cut their way through the thick brush, which the closer they got to the temple seemed to get thornier. After multiple times of getting Ruby unstuck from a clump of thorns, they finally reached their target destination. Before them were the ruins of some long-forgotten temple, rotting and broken structures everywhere. On the stone flooring off in the distance was several chess boards stacked in a holder, with various chess pieces on each.

"Well, that was easy." Zhan said, putting a hand to one side.

"Is it? This feels like a trap." Rena answered.

"It's almost definitely a trap." Azura replied, right hand resting on the hilt of his sword ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"Place your bets. What Grimm is it going to be this time?" Blake asked the group.

"Hopefully no more." Ember muttered nervously.

"I say that, if it is a trap, we grab and go before we accidentally spring it." Yang replied, walking over to grab a relic.

"Yang, this isn't a nightclub!" Ruby said indignantly.

"You worry too much, sis! We'll be fine!" Yang replied, picking up a large White Knight chess piece.

Soon as she grabbed the piece, they all heard a loud hiss. Soon the shadows of the temple practically became alive. They began to move in multiple directions, swirling and shifting like the ocean waves. Rising from the dark depths came the twin heads, one black and one white of a truly behemoth King Taijitu, its body easily three times as thick as a marble column, rippling and bulging with muscle and fat. Both heads let out their tongues to sniff the air for our heroes' scents. Once acquired, their eyes lit up like a volcano blowing its top, and each head unfurled massive frills before baring their fangs.

"It's a trap!" Ruby yelled.

"You were saying, Miss Xiao Long?!" Azura called out in a panicked tone.

"You know what, sis?! I'll take your advice! I'll stick to nightclubs!" Yang called out in a bit of fear.

The massive, two headed snake Grimm then struck with surprising speed, one head aiming at Blake and the other aiming at Rena. The two girls just barely rolled to the side to dodge, avoiding being eaten. The eight then began to scatter from the strikes, trying to put some distance between them and the enormous reptilian Grimm. The King Taijitu continued to strike out at the Huntsmen-hopefuls, trying to snap one of them up and eat them.

Meanwhile, Azura was beginning to panic. How were they supposed to defeat something that big? This thing was easily large enough to eat a large Nevermore for lunch or bite the tail off a Death Stalker with the other head going for the claws. But, before Azura could begin to truly panic, Ruby and Yang's words echoing in Azura's mind.

'Courage is not lacking fear; it's being able to fight despite it.'

'The fact that you're afraid of them doesn't matter. It's what you do about that fear that matters.'

Clenching his hand tightly around his blade, Azura found his resolve as he drew his katana Aotenjō and called out to the others. "Everybody, form ranks! We cannot let this thing separate us!"

"Form ranks!?" We'd be sitting ducks for that thing!" Weiss yelled back.

"Just do it! If we let this thing separate us, it will just pick us off one by one! But, if we stand together, we can beat it!" Azura barked out in response.

"Alright! Let's do it!" Zhan bellows out. 

"You heard the man! Form up!" Rena called out.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby yells, rushing towards them.

With that, the group of eight divided up into two groups of four, one for each head. The two heads hissed so loudly that they sounded almost more like a pair of roars before lunging. Zhan used his ax-blade to deflect one head while Yang punched the other one side. Quickly recovering and seeming completely unphased by the blows, the twin heads quickly lashed out, forcing the group to dodge.

"Stick together! Do not let it isolate you!" Azura called out, unleashing a wave of fire by channeling Fire Dust through his blade and slashing, catching the massive snake Grimm's white head in the eye and making it hiss in pain and anger.

"Easier said than done!" Ember yelled, nearly crushed by a falling bit of rubble in its titanic wake.

She then transformed her tetsubō into its rocket launcher form and fired, hitting the massive reptilian beast in the black head and making it hiss in rage. The head lashed out at Ember trying to snap her up, only for Zhan to shove her out of the way and barely manage to deflect the head. The force of deflecting the snake's strike pushed Zhan back, making him skid backwards as he tried to recover. Transforming his ax-blade into sword form, Zhan stuck it into the ground to stop himself, digging a small trench into the dirt as he slowed his momentum to a halt.

Ripping it out of the ground, Zhan ran Fire Dust into the blade. "Eat this, Scale-Face!" Zhan called out as he slashed his weapon, unleashing a crescent wave of fire at the white head of the two headed snake Grimm.

The took the wave of flames head on, then hissed out in anger at Zhan before lunging right at him. Dodging to the side, Zhan barely avoided being snapped up and eaten. Jumping forward, Azura activated his Semblance and began glowing with a sapphire blue lightning aura. With a battle roar, Azura sliced the neck of the black head.

But, to his shock, the blade of his katana barely even cut into its neck. The Grimm hissed in pain and the head thrashed to try to throw Azura off. Azura held on for dear life, his blade stuck in its neck. Remembering what he was told to do in training, Azura grabbed onto the hilt and pulled, pulling himself free and launching himself back. Skidding backwards, Azura glanced up in disbelief at the Grimm.

"Even with my Semblance at this level, I cannot cut this thing! Its hide is too tough!" Azura called out.

"Well, how are we supposed to hurt this thing!?" Ruby yelled out, gulping as she looked over its massive size.

"At this level…? Azura, how much higher can you push your Semblance safely!?" Rena called out.

"This is my safe limit! I can push it higher, but that will drain Aura a lot faster and cause me to physically exert myself a lot more! Are you thinking what I am thinking!?" Azura replied.

Rena nodded. "Hang back and keep giving orders while you charge it up higher! I trust you to know when to strike!"

"How long do you need!?" Blake yelled out.

"I need you to buy me a minute of time! I am still not used to going up to this level quickly!" Azura called out, dropping into a stance before closing his eyes as his aura began to flare up.

"You need a minute, you got it!" Ruby yelled, pumping her fist into the air.

Azura nodded as his aura slowly began changing from sapphire to navy blue. "Cover me while I concentrate!"

"How are we supposed to…" Blake said, before noticing something behind her.

"Blake, look out!" Yang called out.

But it was too late. One of the heads, the black colored one, had circled around Blake and encircled her. Before she could react, she found herself wrapped up with the head preparing to constrict.

"Blake!" Ruby called out before speeding over in a flash of rose petals.

Getting within the hold of the snake, Ruby used all her strength to pull it apart to give Blake room to move. She then looked at her sister's partner frantically.

"Go! I've got this!" Ruby called out.

"But how are you-" Blake started only to be cut off.

"Just go! I can't hold it for much longer!" Ruby told her.

Nodding, Blake maneuvered her way out of the King Taijitu's grip and to safety. However, before Ruby could escape herself, she found her strength slowly giving out on her as the snake slowly began to constrict and crush her. Opening his eyes and seeing this, Azura looked down at his aura to see that it was still only changing from navy blue to indigo. He still needed more time and Ruby needed help.

Looking around, he saw a large rock pillar near the place where the two snake heads met. Charging Lightning Dust into his blade, Azura swung and fired a crescent blade of electricity. The crescent blade of lightning soared between the heads, seemingly missing.

"You missed!" Yang called out in concern for her little sister.

Azura smirked at that. "No, I didn't."

Before any of the others could ask about that, the crescent blade of lightning cut straight into the pillar's base and exploded, bringing it down. The pillar crashed down onto the middle of the King Taijitu's body, making the two heads hiss out in agony as the one constricting Ruby released its grip, allowing her to escape. Taking her opportunity, Ruby leapt out of the snake Grimm's grasp and to safety as Azura closed his eyes.

"Thanks, Azura… I thought I was snake food…" Ruby panted out; a bit beat after holding that snake's sheer bulk back.

Azura just gave a thumbs up as he dropped back into his stance and continued to concentrate, his Aura slowly shifting from indigo to violet. Once his aura was completely violet in color, Azura opened his eyes, Azura smirked and called out "Okay, I am ready! Rena, Ember, keep it busy! Ruby, I need you to have Yang, Weiss, and Blake launch you at that thing as hard as they can! We are taking this thing down!"

"Alright! Form up, partner!" Rena barked, making Ember do so with haste.

"Need me to do anything, boss?" Zhan asked.

"How is your throwing arm, big guy?" Azura replied with a smirk.

With a smirk back, Zhan nodded and clasped his hands together for his partner. Hopping on, Azura prepared for Zhan to launch him as Yang, Weiss, and Blake made a makeshift slingshot out of the ribbon on Gambol Shroud and two trees to launch Ruby. Using her Semblance, Ruby launched herself at the makeshift slingshot to pull it back as Weiss locked it in place with one of her Glyphs.

"Are you sure about this?" Weiss asked.

"I trust Azura. He hasn't got us killed yet." Ruby said with her warm, lovable smile.

"On my mark, everyone!" Azura called out, waiting for just the right moment.

Meanwhile, Rena and Ember were keeping the two heads busy while everyone set up. Once the heads reared themselves up to strike, Azura saw their window of opportunity.

"NOW!" Azura yelled out, signaling for Zhan to throw him and Weiss, Blake, and Yang to launch Ruby.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Yang yelled out as Weiss let Ruby go, launching her.

Meanwhile, Zhan threw Azura with all his might. The red hooded reaper and the azure samurai both flew at the heads at high speed, Ruby using shots from her scythe to propel herself faster while Azura fired shots of Gravity Dust. Before the two snake heads knew what hit them, they found themselves met with a katana blade at one of their necks and a scythe blade at the other. Azura cut straight through the black King Taijitu head while Ruby, using shots from Crescent Rose, cut through the white King Taijitu head, decapitating them both simultaneously as they both went soaring past the Grimm.

"Okay let's grab those pieces and get out." Ruby panted, sweat beading down her face.

Azura nodded, panting slightly too as his Aura slowly began to fade and turn back to azure blue, signifying his Semblance's deactivation. "Agreed…"

With that the group gathered around the chest boards. Yang and Ruby immediately grabbed the white knights, smiling as they do, before giggling. Azura and Rena surveyed the pieces, before picking the white bishops. Once they had their booty, our heroes wordlessly left the ruins. All of them proud of their victory, but too exhausted from their long day to show it.