A Grimm Business (Private/Vide)

Rory's ears twitched as she listened in carefully on the small briefing. She nodded attentively and tried to list everything down in her head. She followed next to Kai as they continued through the forest. All her senses were awake. Her ears were alerted to the sounds of the leaves and the grass, the crunches and cropping as things moved. She kept her eyes sharp but decided not to use her semblance yet. She sniffed the air for the scent of Grimm. She once again remembered the thing her uncle always said.

Be the Grimm...

Rory stopped walking for a while.

"If we're looking for certain Grimm," she said. "Let's take into consideration their habitats. We know for certain we'll find everything on the list in this forest, but let's be more specific. I've heard about some scavenging. Ursa's are average near thick bushes while Beowolves are more of where the trees are wider and can run freer. A Death Stalker...is usually in caves."

She pointed to the nearby mountains and rocks some distance away.

"I'm sure it'll be easier to find one lurking there. The Boarbatusk, I'm not sure yet...but the King Taijitu was once reported to have been found in a clearing in the woods where there was a circle of trees and a large patch of grass...I hope this helps. I'm gonna recharge my aura a bit so let's walk for now..."

It was now pretty clear to Kai that while this little faunus girl had just met him, she was definitely concerned about him, and that was a touching thought, and that made him want to be able to protect her all the more. As they ran he was making sure that he was in a position to body block in case something jumped out at her, but he was sure that they wouldn't be attacked again without them knowing, not with Rory looking out for them. With her semblance active she would pick up on anything around them, and that in combination with her hearing would allow for them to be on guard easily.

Kai found it somewhat impressive that she had such a large amount of information on Grimm. True, Kai knew pretty much everything she had said, except that he had an idea where they might find the Boarbatusk, but she was still pretty knowledgeable for a Signal student. "You have a good grasp of Grimm it seems. Your Uncle teach you all that?" he asked, looking to their left for the cliffside they were heading to. It had been awhile since he had looked up information on the Emerald Forest, but he remembered that there was a sheer cliff face that rose up out of the woods around here, and that it was likely home to a few Deathstalker caves. "Rory, when we find what we're looking for, I want you to get around it and onto its tail. One of the few things that can pierce a Deathstalker's armor is its own sting. Since I have no method of cutting it off, you'll need to be the one to sever the connection. I can maneuver you around it with my semblance, but I hope to only use it to help you avoid an attack. I'll keep its attention, and I need you to stay safe. Communicate with me if you want to try something, but I need to have the final decision on it, got it?" He would look back for a reply from her, before catching sight of the cliff. Hopefully with Rory there it wouldn't be hard to find an entrance.

"Yeah, he did teach me a lot," Rory said. "At least about the Grimm and basic fighting. He was an idol to me, as you can probably guess. I just want to make him proud."

She recalled Uncle Zephyr, a kind man with a lean figure, his eyes bright green and his hair pale blonde. She recalled that even if he was gentle and soft-spoken, he took out Grimm with a beastly viciousness and heroic valor. She turned to Kai, for some strange reason seeing Uncle Zephyr in his eyes. She smiled at him.

"I can handle severing the sting," Rory said confidently. "I aced Axe-throwing in freshmen year and I think I've got the hang of it. My main problem would be keeping it still for a while, so I need to count on you for that."

Hmm...I could just try and wake the damn thing up...then it would be easy to get it out here...And there wouldn't be any need to tire Rory with more use of her semblance... Kai thought to himself as they approached the cliff. The rock here was solid, solid enough for him to hit it with his hammer and for it to carry the sound for hundreds of yards into the stone. He took pace alongside the cliff, running his hand along the surface as though searching for something that was invisible to the eye. Well, he sort of was, he was feeling for a place where the rock came out in a dome, one that would take the force of a hammer blow without crumbling.

The image of Rory smiling at him was near the forefront of his mind, just behind the concentration of feeling the rock and the thoughts of the battle that was soon to come, and that smile was charming, but there was also something else there...admiration? Confidence? Friendship? It was hard to tell exactly what was there, but perhaps it would be shown in time.

It was when they had gone about 200 feet along the cliff that Kai held up his hand, signalling Rory to come to a stop behind him, then he turned to face her, grabbing his weapon at the same time. "Well, the thing is, I don't plan on having you throw your axes at it, ridding yourself of your weapon, even just one of them, is the biggest mistake you can make when fighting. No, what I'm going to do is use my semblance to move you up and behind it, where you can grab the tail and hack away as you like. Then, when you're done, I'll move you off again and try to land the killing blow. But first," he grasped the now extended handle of Dustbreaker and wound up a wide horizontal swing, "we need to find one!" With a smooth and powerful motion of his arms, Kai brought his hammer sideways into the cliff, sending a sharp "Crack!" through the rock.

He turned back so that the cliff was once again on his right side and pressed his ear against the rock, beckoning Rory to do the same. "Listen for it, it might be-" but even before he could finish his sentence, he heard it, a deep rumble in the rock, and he only had time to spring back and pull Rory to the side before the cliffside came bursting outwards, revealing what they had been looking for. The Deathstalker stood there, stunned for a moment in the sunlight that had managed to penetrate the trees and sine upon it. This was an opening they needed to take advantage of. "Rory, the tail!" as he called to her, he concentrated, making the space between her and the back of the stinger, just seemingly not exist for her. That was his semblance, it created a sort of 'wrinkle in time' and that was what would allow Rory to attack first.

Rory and Kai continued to walk throughout the scenery and eventually came to the cave. Though Rory was confident in her fighting, she suddenly felt her heart beat faster. She had taken down average sized Grimm, but a big one was harder and the pressure to kill it faster was there. As Kai gave out his plan, Rory nodded, realizing the blunder she had almost committed.

"You're right, " Rory nodded, smiling. "Losing one of my weapons in-battle would eventually be a comeback. Thanks for the tip."

As Kai's hammer shocked the cliff's side into pieces, Rory felt her knees tremble. She only realized now how strong Kai's weapon was...and just how strong he needed to be in order to use it. But she didn't have time to make calculations. The Death Stalker was there in plain sight, enormous with its sting just above. As Kai gave his signal, Rory was suddenly close to the stinger and she took her hands to Damian. There was no support to keep the sting from moving as she hacked, so Rory needed to make the movement swift. With a strong swing, Damian slit just above the stinger, severing the connection and making it pierce into the Death Stalker's body.

Rory, mid-air, curled her body and landed in a rough roll just a few feet away from it.

"Done!" Rory cried as she waited for Kai's move.

With Rory being on top of things, the attack went off without a hitch. In the instant she walked forward and reappeared on the Deathstalker's tail, Kai had taken to advancing on the beast, keeping its attention away from the Wolf Girl. While she hacked at the tail, Kai quickly shifted to his cannon and fired light shots at its tough armor. While the shots simply glanced off, being lower power yellow shots, they did keep it from noticing the light mass hanging on. At this point, Kai wasn't watching Rory, he needed to keep his movement up to avoid the grabs from the Grimm's claws, one had been so close that he needed to transform his weapon and smash all in a few seconds. But when he heard the shout of success and the saw the sting fall, tip first, upon its owner's back, he was ready.

Once again he concentrated on where he saw Rory, causing her to disappear in a puff of snow, mid roll, and reappear behind Kai, where it was safe. "Here goes nothing. Rory, remember what I said about throwing one's weapon? Well, do as I say, not as I do." he grimaced as he said this, because he was starting to feel the fatigue of using his Semblance so much. However, that grimace was quickly replaced by a grin of confidence as he charged forward, throwing Dustbreaker up into the air above the Grimm. He quickly dodged around the beast's claws and jumped onto its back, running past the stinger on it, and up its arched tail. He caught sight of his hammer, now falling and jumped, disappearing with his semblance.

His hand was what reappeared first, grabbing the handle of the hammer, then the rest of him came back into sight. He had planted his feet on either side of the handle and on top of the hammerhead, basically turning the fall of him and his weapon into a massive pile driver. Slamming down onto the sting, Kai pushed it into and through the Deathstalker, causing it to collapse under him even before it could counterattack.

Panting, he leaped from the dead Grimm as it dissolved into black mist, and walked back to Rory. He had to use his weapon as a sort of crutch now from his fatigue, and kneeled down, holding onto it for support as soon as he reached her. "I've....never used my semblance this much. Overdid it a bit, didn't I?" he breathed, forcing a weak laugh. "Let's rest a bit, I don't think the other teams are as far as we are, and a little break won't hurt."

Rory felt the ground shake as the Death Stalker attacked but her mind was on other things. She could, for some reason, sense Kai's aura levels going down because of his use of his semblance and she had half the mind to intervene. But the Death Stalker collapsed and died, Kai triumphant, but more than exhausted. Rory rushed over to him and swung an arm underneath to support him.

"I think you have," Rory said regarding Kai overdoing it. "Here, let's rest down by that tree for shade. You should eat and drink something."

Rory set him down again, a small wrinkle of worry on her forehead, and she knelt down beside him. The case she kept Holzfallen didn't just house weapons but some other things and she took out a thermos and a tied cloth of food. She smiled warmly at Kai.

"Looks like I have to nurse you back to normal again," she said cheerily. She didn't let Kai move and she proceeded to undoing the thermos, which had cool water. She placed it against his lips. "Drink up." she said.

She let him drink enough, careful not to spill any on his chin, which was still dressed. With her other hand, she took a cloth and began wiping the sweat from Kai's face, just seconds before using that hand to put a cookie in her mouth as she tended to him.

"You were really awesome," she said in between her teeth. "I'm glad I got you as a partner."

Eating up the biscuit and letting Kai finish drinking, she stretched her arms and leaned down next to him. The air let off a cool breeze, which was a relief since it was sunny, and Rory just lay there for a while enjoying the scenery. She looked back to Kai and smiled, waving a biscuit at him.

"You should eat some," she urged. "Carbs mean energy, after all..."

Gratefully, Kai accepted Rory's help, once again, mainly due to the fact that he could hardly move on his own right now. Where it any other case he would have insisted upon walking himself over to the shaded tree, yet, at that moment he hadn't the strength to do so. Slowly and with Rory's guiding arm, he lowered himself into a sitting position at the base of the trunk and laid his head back, closing his eyes. Boy, he had really pushed himself this time. It had only been a few months since he had started training his semblance, and yet, now he was using it carelessly. He would bet that if he were to look at his scroll, his aura would be nearing the red zone by now, which would mean he would lose in a tournament-style fight. But there could be worse consequences as well.

Upon hearing the slosh of water in a thermos and Rory's insistence that he drink up, he opened his eyes and opened his mouth, letting his partner do most of the work of getting the liquid into his currently dry throat. He greedily drank from the can, nearly draining it before parting from the brim and letting Rory set it aside. He closed his eyes again and tilted his head back as she tended to him, only breaking his silence upon her comment about his awesomeness. "Well of course I'm awesome, I mean, I made it into Beacon without even attending Signal! How many people can say that?" He started to laugh, but stopped abruptly when he felt a shooting pain in his side. And while it was only there for a moment, he clutched at it all the same feeling a grunt of pain escape his lips. Once it had subsided, he continued to speak. "Well, I'm glad to have you as my partner as well, Red. I mean, not many Signal students are able to adjust as quickly as you do. And think about it, what state would I be in if it weren't for you taking care of me?"

Kai sighed in satisfaction as the wind blew over his face and jumped a little when Rory leaned down next to him. It had been a bit unexpected since he wasn't paying attention. However, one thing that did catch his eye was the cookie/biscuit that she waved in front of his nose. In a flash, his hand had snatched it from her and stuffed it into his mouth, whole.

He munched on the morsel with visible vigor, grinning at the sweet taste of it. "Thiff iff a rearry good biffcut" he voiced through the mouthful of baked good. True, people back at home told him not to talk with his mouth full, but sometimes there were things that needed to be said right then and there, and his pleasure at the treat was one of those things.

Swallowing, Kai tried to push himself to a standing position, but quickly rocked back to sitting when his stomach churned at the movement. "You know...I'm...I'm just gonna sit here awhile. We can talk while I recuperate, I still haven't explained my Semblance to you, have I?" With a dexterous, bird-like grab of his hand, he reached out and plucked a deviant hair from Rory's head, doing so in a way that there would be little to no pain, and held the orange strand between his index fingers and thumbs. "Okay, so you see this hair? Imagine that that is your path of travel. So, normally, you need to move all along the hair to get from point A to point B, however with my semblance..." he pushed the two held ends together so that it bent into a U shape with the tops touching. "One can move from point A to point B without traversing the distance in between. Kind of like a wrinkle in time and space. It does effectively make me the fastest being alive, since I can travel nearly instantaneously. He tossed the hair up into the wind and watched it float away till it was out of sight. "Any questions?" he asked, looking to Rory as she leaned beside him.

Rory was relieved that Kai was at least strong enough to eat and talk.

"Wow, you really didn't go to Signal or anything?" she asked eagerly. "That is amazing!"

And when he was able to give her a small compliment, Rory glanced to the side, cheeks red and her hand scratching her head. She listened carefully as Kai explained his semblance.

"No, I understand perfectly," Rory nodded. "And that sounds pretty unique, too. That explains how you can't just move yourself, but others, right? That's how you folded the space and got me close to that Death Stalker's tail."

Rory took another biscuit and bit into it.

"It sounds aura-draining, alright," she remarked. "To physically manipulate such properties...and to match, you're a great fighter and are good looking, too!"

Rory felt herself choke back on her words as she said the last part and let out another nervous laugh. "I-I mean, in total, you're the whole package!" she said quickly. She darted her glance away, a bit embarrassed she had said something so stupid. She looked out to the trees, trying to regain her composure.

"Want to know something, senpai?" she said quietly. "All of this today...it's brought a lot of nostalgia to me. Good memories. I came to the city not knowing where to go, getting used to the urban way of living, the high technology...and though I lvoe learning new ways, I can't help feel this was all missable."

She turned back to Kai with a bright smile. "So thanks a lot for being my partner today."

Before she knew it, her head got heavy and she felt it tip over to Kai's shoulder, realizing just how exhausted she was. She had the urge to jolt and move over, but she was too tired and she felt all too comfy.

"Just tell me when you're better, okay? This nurse is going to take a small break..."

"Yeah. It really is..." muttered Kai, meaning his semblance. Really, if he could work on it to the point where it took much less energy to move himself and others, it'd be a blessing. Of course, that would take a lot of time to get to that point, maybe even all four years at Beacon. But, he was just starting here. It had been only a month or so since he first used it, and already he could maneuver effectively with it.

Though tired, Kai still caught the smile that Rory shot at him in his peripheral vision. "You're welcome, I'm pretty happy that I got paired with you as well. And yeah. I never went to Signal. I grew up pretty far away, on the other side of the kingdom, and the school I went to isn't known for putting people into Beacon often, so I'm somewhat rare. But yeah, I like it here a lot more. I wasn't all that well off there see? I never knew my parents, not my real ones anyway, but I was happy. I didn't think I'd manage to get away from there, but I was happy. And now, I've managed to get here, to Vale, where the Hunters are trained." Kai's eyes went out of focus as he spoke, as though he was remembering his past, yet he was simply thinking about how lucky he was to be there. He had been so busy thinking, that he overlooked just what Rory had said about him being good looking.

He dipped his head slowly to Rory. "You know...I really wanna see how you grow once you get here to Beacon. Hope we win this, then you might have a chance to be here this year..." He yawned as Rory's head tilted onto his shoulder, smiling and lifting his arm to scratch her ears affectionately. "We'll just rest for a moment, should only be five or ten minutes."

And indeed it was. He allowed his eyes to close, and found himself asleep within seconds, but he did wake up about ten minutes later, feeling refreshed. "Alrighty Red, let's do this, just gotta grab a Boarbatusk, King Taijitu, and an Ursa." With that, he would shift himself upright and offer his hand to the girl to help her up.

Rory took Kai's hand gratefully and stood up to stretch herself.

"Mmm! That was a great break!" she said as she swung her arms in the air. She looked back to Kai and beamed. "I'm glad you rested well. Now, let's see...a Boarbatusk, King Taijitu and an Ursa..."

They had started walking back towards the forest. Filled with new vigor, Rory was swinging Holzfallen in her two hands, twirling them but careful not to hit herself nor Kai. As they got deeper into the forest, they came to the bushes and Rory kept her ears, eyes and nose alerted. She stopped Kai from walking further as she heard the bushes just 10 meters away rustle. A low growl was heard as an Ursa appeared before them.

"I'll take this one," she told Kai as she ran forward. To save on ammo, she swung out Cosmas and rushed towards the Ursa. It stood about a meter and a half taller than her and it began to run, too, and pounced. Rory rolled to the sides and swung, Cosmas' hooked tip latching onto the bear and then carefully hacking into its head. It slumped down and fall easy enough.

Rory smiled.

"That was easy enough," she smiled. She stopped just as her ears twitched. "I hear hissing a short distance from here..."

This girl...she really was quite hyperactive, wasn't she? He couldn't help but think of himself at that age as she rushed off to take out the Ursa that was now advancing out of the brush, and while normally he would have gone in with her, she seemed confident enough that she could do it herself. Then there was the fact that it seemed she was trying to prove that she could handle herself in situations like this. So, he hung back and watched as she wielded her axe, easily downing the bear-like monster with a quick stroke into its skull. It really wasn't a difficult thing to kill, and Ursa, not on its own, it was when they grouped however, that their bulk resulted in a difficult fight for those not well versed in combat.

"Well yeah it was easy, that was just one Ursa," he said playfully. "But imagine a whole group of them that size. Of course, that's why there are two of us here, just in case." he winked at her and looked in the direction where he had seen her ears twitch. "Alright. So, you know about King Taijitu at all? Anything about their anatomy?" He took point, keeping his hammer leveled. "They're twin headed, giant serpents. When one head attacks from the front, you need to watch for its second attack from behind. For one person they can sometimes be hard to handle, but for two that can fight well together, they're much easier." He broke through the brush, and now he could hear the faint sounds of a snake as well.

"Let's make sure we keep our communication going, that'll be key when we fight such a beast." He slowly walked forward, lowering himself to remain hidden by the foliage from the sight of whatever was up ahead. And sure enough, through the next batch of trees he saw it. Black scales...that was one end of the monster, the problem was...where were the white ones? "Rory, you keep watch for its white end, I'm going to attack its black one and go for the head. When the white one shows itself, you engage it, and we'll switch targets if we need to. You got that?"

With any affirmation from her, Kai would quickly charge forward, his hammer held outward and to the back in a windup for a side swing. To his left! A flash of movement, the black head struck from above, and he rolled, dodging the bite and coming up with a counterattack that just grazed its mouth. It was enough to send it back a bit, but not enough to damage it significantly. All the while, he kept an eye out for any blur of white, any sign that he was going to be attacked by the second half. The head struck again, weaving around rapidly to try and surround him, but he blasted upward with a shot of hot air from his hammer and landed on its back. This gave him a good view of its body and he could see the halfway point, where the black scales met white, and they led back around to where he had been with Ror-

"Rory! Back and to the right, look for the white end, it's trying to surround us!" he shouted, dodging another attempt from the black head to swallow him.

"Got it!" Rory shouted from where she was.

Her ears had already alerted her in advance as to where the white end of the snake was. Holding Holzfallen in both hands, she waited as she sensed the moving grass, the movement until she felt it right behind her. Rory flipped herself in the air just as the white snake's end darted forward. She lifted into the air and switched Damian for Fusilier, shooting it at the snake head not to shoot it down but to lift herself more in the air and to keep its attention from Kai.

The white head darted back to Rory as she shot more rounds, it's part of the body twisting back towards her as she landed on the branch of a tree. It leaped at her and but she lifted into the air again, but took a misstep, suddenly sliding down it's body like a perpetually moving slide. Taking Cosmas, she turned it vertically and lodged one of its crooked sides into against the white end's body, trying to hook herself while her other hand clawed at its skin. Halfway through the body, she lodged on just as its turned to her again. She looked at it as it charged against her. She took Fusilier and shot at its mouth, trying to take it down but it only winced. It pounced its head forward and Rory barely dodged its fangs with her axe and being thrown against a nearby tree.

No! Rory thought in her head. The snake was headed at her until it saw Kai with the other end. Taking Fusilier, Rory staggered upwards and broke into a run.

"Kai! Behind you!" she screamed.

The fight with the Black End was one that shifted back and forth. First it would seem that Kai landed a blow that would turn the tide, and then the beast would come back from it, angrier than before. Then there was the matter of the other end. It had gone for Rory, and sure, he had alerted her of it, but he still couldn't help but worry. That worry started to grow when he heard shots being fired in the clearing behind him, but there hadn't been any screams yet, and that meant that Rory was still okay. He was running down the length of the beast's back as the Black End chased him, coiling and unfurling to try and get at him, but he was managing to stay ahead of it. It was only when he reached the place where black joined white that he skidded to a stop, and surprisingly, the head also stopped, reaching high into the air to loom over him. It was odd behavior, up until now it had tried to grab at him, but now it seemed to just be blocking him.

He crouched, ready to spring out of the way of an attack from the front, but that was when the first, shrill, panicked scream reached him. It wasn't one that was without words though, and the words said made his heart skip a beat.

He turned at the direction of Rory, only to find that the White End had come up behind him and was closing in, maw open wide. Kai made to run down the other end of the snake, but found the Black End blocking him. So. That was what it had been doing, it had been corralling him. True fear struck through his body, his muscles tensed as he turned. He wouldn't have time to whack the head with his hammer!

His mouth opened in a cry of shock as the White End descended on him, pulling him into its mouth whole. To an outsider, it would seem that Kai was surely dead, or would soon be dead, but he wasn't one to give up.

Both ends of the Grimm now turned to face Rory, having devoured their first piece of prey, and the Black End took the lead, pulling the white one behind it, and they quickly went for the girl. Yet, as they moved, something was happening in the belly of the White End. There was a sudden bulge where Kai was, but, it was moving, expanding outwards. A shrill 'hiss' screeched through the air and the Black End stopped to see its White End stretching outward.

A massive concussion blasted outward from the White End, which ruptured and exploded outward as a Black Light blasted from between its scales. And there, in the ruined carapace of the serpent, stood Kai, visibly shaking in rage, his weapon in its Cannon Forme in his hands with its Barrel smoking and holding remnants of purple, yellow, and red dust.

"You'll...you'll **** pay for that. No one. Eats. Me." He said, looking up at the towering Black Snake that remained. With a sound similar to that of a bullet ejecting from its chamber, six crystals ejected from the rotational cylinder in the pommel of the cannon. With a quick flourish of his hand, Kai grabbed a string in his ammo pouch, revealing six crystals identical to those just ejected, all on a sort of ammo belt. He inserted each into their slots with a single fluid movement, and once again the Cannon glowed with life, ready to fire once again. "Rory. Let's kill this thing." he muttered, flipping his hair out of his eyes.

Rory's head had spun from hit she received from the white end and she tried to make her way to Kai as she shouted. Kai had been fighting on his end, taking the Black end's attacks with what she thought considerable ease. Her eyes widened as the white head charged at him and swallowed him whole. She felt her heart stop.

"S-senpai..." she muttered. It stayed quiet for a while and despite the Grimm still completely loose, she had stood there for what seemed forever. Her mind suddenly driving her back to a memory she had forgotten. Flames...shadows...Grimm attacking her family as she stood helpless.

I'll save you! I promise I will! she had screamed then, her family attacked by a swarm of dancing shadows. But she had been tossed aside and from the flames, she saw her family engulfed by the mouths of vicious monsters.

Her blue eyes trembled and then sharpened, the gray of her eyes revealing themselves as she looked up.

"You..." she glared at the King Taijutu in pure rage. She spun her axes at an incredible speed. "I'll...I'll KILL YOU!"

Just as she was about to attack, the White End was obliterated in a huge concussion. Her mouth dropped as she saw Kai alive and standing with his weapon in hand. She heard him speak and she felt all her anger leave her. She nodded and switched back to Fusilier, reloading it with a new set of black rounds.

Quickly sidestepping, she made her way towards the body of the black end as it slithered. She wasn't going to slide this time as she did on the white end. Keeping a constant speed, she cocked Fusilier's barrel as the black head motioned towards her.

"EAT THIS!" she yelled.

The black head charged towards her just as she fired, a large fiery vortex shooting towards the mouth as it pushed her back in recoil making her back flip as the snake swallowed the vortex, hissing wildly as its mouth caught into flames. She turned to Kai.

"It's all yours, Kai!"

Stomach fluids dripped off of Kai as he stood in the exploded carapace of the white end. There were still a few bloody pieces trailing from the black end, which Rory was now engaging, but really Kai was more concerned with the smell of the stuff. Sure, he was focusing upon the combat at hand, but he also disliked the reek that was now all over his body. A vein pulsed in his head in annoyance, and he charged up behind the serpent as Rory called to trade out with him.

"Right." Kai disappeared with his words, reappearing in front of Rory and below the black end. Now there was no way that it could swallow him, and he had a bit of a vendetta to finish against it. But, he had heard the screams of Rory while he was inside, and if it was to be just and right, she would need to be the one to kill it. Kai had taken out one end, but Rory would finish the fight.

Now that he was below the beast's raised head, Kai would send it blasting off. He switched his grip on his hammer, holding it with his lower hand pushing on the pommel and his upper acting as a lever point on the handle. "Buh bye!" With a massive blast of air as the head descended upon him, Kai sent his hammerhead flying upward with a violet light glowing in the barrel. As it made contact with the underside of the Grimm's chin, a secondary concussion burst outward, pushing the snake up into the air with ease. With the blow, the entire heavy, black body was thrown up above the trees, but it was still plenty alive.

Kai moved with his swing, bringing the hammer to rest with its head behind him and flat for Rory to jump on. "Time to see if a wolf can fly!" he called out behind him. Once Rory got on, he would fire another blast of air from the other end of the head and swing with it to send her at the airborne target, like a bright orange bullet. He was confident she could finish off the job with the speed boost and a twin slice of her axes through its head. It would also give her a chance to try and land by herself. "Hit it hard!"

Rory darted into the air much higher than any jump had taken her. The launch had been pretty fast, but it was enough for Rory to control her movements in the air. Pulling out Fusilier, she shot another fiery round behind her and it shot her even higher up. She took out Cosmas as she came closer and closer to the King Taijutu's remaining end and shot herself up one more time as she twirled into a propeller, now replacing Fusilier with Damian. Round and round she span as the two axes created a large fan and just before the snake could turn, she sliced through the neck screaming.

Simultaneously, she began to fall with it's remains and landed in front of Kai as the head and the rest of the snake's body plummeted behind her.

"Phew!" Rory said. She smiled brightly at Kai. "That was a close one, wasn't it?"

She was about to move closer to him, but she immediately darted back and pinched her extremely sensitive nose.

"And you need a bath," she said laughing. Rory looked at her pack but she only had enough water for drinking. "I saw a clearing with my semblance earlier," she explained. "If you're up to it, we can get you scrubbed up there and smelling less like Grimm and more like a Hunter."

She didn't wait for a reply and ran up ahead, her nose already aching. Sometimes having a strong sense of smell isn't as fun as it's turned out to be....

She led Kai to a small little clearing and a high cliff were a gurgling water fall was. She threw a bar of soap at him.

"In you go!"

Kai shielded his eyes from the light that was piercing the treetops, keeping his eyes on the little wolf girl as she fell from the heavens. It had been an impressive attack, managing to cleave the Grimm like that in one blow, but there was also how she would deal with falling.

The serpent descended in the air behind her, limp with death, but she seemed to be handling herself well. She easily touched down in a crouch near Kai, to which he gave an appreciative grin and clap, letting his hammer balance on its head. "Nice work, lovely!" He called, flicking some of the stomach fluid off his coat sleeve. As soon as Rory darted backward from him, Kai realized just how bad the snake's insides made him smell, and this was his favorite coat...

Well, it wasn't optimal, but at least this might get him clean, at least, that was his thought process as he followed his companion through the woods towards the clearing she had spotted. If they were lucky it would have a lake or a pond or a....waterfall...great.

He looked over the edge that Rory had lead them to, frowning at how high it was from the lake below. If she was expecting him to go over that and leave her this far away, she had another thing coming. He caught the bar of soap easily and laid his hammer down on its side. "Well, I'm not leaving you alone, so..." Abruptly he grabbed Rory around the middle and held her under his arm while dropping off the cliff with his hammer beneath him, the end blasting air to act as a sort of 'hoverboard'. Despite their descent being slowed by his hammer, they still fell quickly towards the lake, and the thrill pierced through his entire being. He didn't know about Rory and how she felt about this sort of thing, but flying like this was one of the greatest feelings he experienced.

When they were a few dozen feet above the water, Kai jumped off the hammer, kicking it towards the shore and releasing Rory over the water as well, then pulled his legs in, dropping like a cannonball into the water below.

The cold water rushed through Kai's clothing, and he quickly swam up to the surface, pulling of his coat once he was there and dragged it to shore before returning to wash himself. He watched for Rory, wary of what her reaction to being forced in the water with him might be.

Eventually he had washed everything he could with only his coat off, and where he was from he had often bathed with other people in his undergarments, so he quickly pulled them off as well, tossing them with his coat and continuing to scrub himself. He would be somewhat oblivious to what Rory was doing, and wouldn't register any shock from her regarding his sudden immodesty unless she cried out or something similar. Really, why did Grimm's insides need to smell so much?