Built to Break[Hunt][Closed]

The wind fighting against her. The air was so much fresher here. There were no crowds. Just Zev, and prey. She had been running for maybe an hour. She had come here to hunt Grimm, but was distracted by the sheer appeal of the area. It felt free. She had spent an eternity leaping from tree to tree, doing cartwheels, front flips, and whatever else she could acrobatically.

Finally she fell to the ground, her chest heaving for air, a giddy grin plastered to her face. She closed her eyes to enjoy the sun. She was laying on a hill in the middle of an opening now. A speck of bright blue in a sea of relaxing green. It wasn't an idea place in a hunt, but it was certainly comfortable.

MUSE

The woods were nice; they had a nice breeze to them. It almost made Nero's training a bit more enjoyable than it already was. Instead of practicing on anything inanimate, perfecting his swordsmanship there, Nero preferred live training, and it was the duty of a Hunter to eliminate all Grimm, or at least protect Remnant from Grimm. Maneuvering through the trees, dashing through the shrubbery, the hunted Faunus became the hunter. He was ready for combat to come to him, but it never did, in any way or form. Instead, he found himself arriving at the edge of a hill with no one there but a girl; he didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, so he approached her, slowly albeit. So, there's another person here beside me. Wasting their time away just lying on the ground. Well, at least it's a nice day though for some relaxation. Still... Nero approached the girl, having nothing else to do as he lugged his long sword on his back; he still wanted some type of rest before he went back into the woods to look for some type of Grimm to kill.

"Hey," Nero spoke first as he stood beside the girl, looking off the cliff, "How you doing?" At this close, he could recognize that she was a cat Faunus; not uncommon, but then again, he was a breed of dog. Maybe he'd get along with her, maybe he wouldn't, it just mattered on what she was going to say or do next that gave him his initial impressions of her. She looked like a relaxing person though, not being all too serious about the situation at hand, making him a bit more annoyed at her demeanor; however, he stayed calm, keeping his common, calm expression as he stared off the hill top at the clouds and what lied ahead.

Zev jumped to her feet as her silence was disturbed. Her blades already hissed from their sheaths, and she stood in an aggressive, nearly feral, stance low to the ground. "What do you think you're doing sneaking up on me like that!?" She practically screamed, slamming her blades back into their sheaths, and placing a hand over her chest to catch her breathe. "Developing heart problems aside, I'm fine..." She added in a more polite tone.

She wasn't sure what kind of reaction he was expecting. A man with a calm commanding presence, no shirt, and hideously large blade lurks over her in her nap, and doesn't say a thing until they're right next to each other. The fact that he was polite almost made it creepier. "I'm Zev by the way. Zev Graves.

Stepping back, alerted from the girl's sudden awakening, Nero was ready to draw his own sword, placing his right hand on the hilt while his left held the bottom of the sheath. Glaring at the girl with his grey eyes, he replied in his aggressive, but calm voice, "I just saw you lying down over here and decided to take a little break for a small talk." She was a dangerous one, one to not be underestimated, at least from Nero's perspective. Nevertheless, with her swords sheathed and a calm voice speaking to him after all of that, Nero released his grip on his own weapon, bringing himself to a more calmer standing, although still cautious of the situation.

With the birds still chirping in the woods, Nero kept his stare on the then-revealed Zev Graves, only to reply with his own name. "Nero, Nero Canaan. It's a pleasure," he stated in a calm tone, before returning to the matters at hand, "I assume that you're here for a hunt, rather than a peaceful day in these woods? If so, then I find it best in both our interests if we work together." Nero was quick to the issue at hand, only to give a glance back at the woods, knowing that there was something watching them, something listening to them, or anything at all, most likely a creature of darkness. At least with two people, the hunt's difficulty would at least be a bit easier for the both of them.

((OOC: You called him "Gawain" in the first paragraph. ;w; ))

Getting a better taste of his voice, Zev couldn't help but think that it matched his look. He had an intense presence somehow. It was collected, but offensive at once. You might expect this kind of atmosphere you would expect a seasoned warrior to give off. Surely he was too young to be any of those though. "Yeah, I'm here to kill Grimm." She confirmed the man's suspicions, hoping she wouldn't have to explain her slight... Distractions... So yes, she followed a butterfly here, and was hopelessly lost, but he didn't have to know that, and she could just follow him back to the town or where ever. Everything works out.

Still, she couldn't help but be a little unnerved about the man's confidence. She had just drawn a blade on him. Not only did he not see fit to do the same, but thought she was a small enough threat to trust her as a hunting partner. Maybe he was just a good judge of character. "I guess I don't mind sharing. Better than getting eaten by a Nevermore because I decided to refuse anyways. She shrugged, then tossed her hands up for a stretch. "I've played around long enough. Lets get down to business."

(It's fine.)

Straight to the point, ready to fight, even though his very first impression of her didn't detail that, Nero thought Zev to be one of the higher-ups on his rating list, combat-wise. Personality-wise, she could've been a completely different person from what Nero depicted her to be. But, nevertheless, they were both fighters, aiming for the same goal in that situation: to hunt Grimm. As long as their goal was the same, throughout his objective, then Nero wouldn't find any objections to them working together; however, if anything arose to draw her from their designated goal, then there were going to be problems. Based just off of the fierce appearance and tone that Nero always gave, most people wouldn't want to challenge that, but for those who did, Nero ended up proving he was as fierce as the ripple on his blade.

Stretching both his arms out, cracking his fingers and neck, exhaling and inhaling at a peaceful and calm rate, Nero turned first towards the forest, walking with his right hand on his ōdachi's hilt as his steel-colored combat boots crushed the grass below him; his black pants waved as the air gently slid across it, donning a black belt for support with a white wolf pendant as the connecting point. Giving Zev a quick over-the-shoulder look, Nero left a few words with a nod before he began advancing once more. "If you need help, then don't be afraid to ask. We're partners for now, and I refuse to leave an ally behind." With that calm beat in his voice, Nero was ready for combat, ready to fight alongside his compatriot and fellow Faunus.

Zev quizzically watched as the faunus readied for departure. That meticulous preparation. Loosening his hands and neck with a tantalizing crackle. She couldn't help but mark that he seemed a driven individual. Like this was just a small step. Not at all as short sighted as Zev herself. Somehow, fighting Grimm didn't seem like his end goal. Like that wasn't the job. The real vision lay somewhere far off. Perhaps unrealistic, but a goal he was all too serious about achieving.

The words shot through her like a bullet. No way he was serious. No one was so loyal to a stranger. It was foolish at best. She had just drawn a blade on him! That was crazy, right!? "Yeah..." She responded plainly, widely unsure of how to respond. Maybe he simply thought he had a good grasp of character, but even then, they had only met a few moments ago. Even turning your back on someone in this situation should take a phenomenal amount of trust, or stupidity. Zev brought a hand to comfort the growing unsettled feeling in her stomach. Now she was the crazy one. Somehow, she was comfortable with him in the lead. At least for now.

The plain response from Zev clearly showed that something was off; she wanted to say something, but Nero wasn't about to pursue the subject. They were warriors, fighters, going-to-be Hunters; with the creatures of darkness, there wasn't supposed to be any time for any social problems. Combat came first, and that was how Nero saw it. Any social matters could come after, but before that, a warrior's life was kill or be killed. His past life taught him that through cruelty and pain, and now, he'd take those lessons and learn from them to become stronger, strong enough to make his dream a reality; he'd make the life his parents made a worthwhile one.

Gripping his sword tightly, Nero maneuvered his way in the woods, taking a calm approach at first, listening to the noises all around the two Faunus. He tried his best not to make any sudden movements, listening to the simple breath of the woods, the gust that flew by the two, and the rustle of leaves by any wild-life creatures. Any Grimm could've attacked them at any time, so being alert at all times was of the impertinence. Once in a while, Nero would check on Zev to see what she was doing, hoping that she was being as careful and on task as he was; plus, who had the back of the person who had his back? Anything could happen when it came to Grimm; one could even be traversing the trees right then, getting the jump on them from the air. To Nero, that experience would be quite intriguing and interesting to fight. Still, being prepared for any attack was important, and so Nero continued with his behavior, wondering when the two would encounter their prey.

The day was new, the dark beast just awoke from a deep slumber in its corner of the forest. The Grimm decided to take a stroll in the forest a little, to see if it would be able to gets its claw under a poor uncaring Hunter.

After some hours of search, the beast saw a shirtless man walking across the forest toward an open area. He looked strong, but not invincible as he was shirtless. Who would go into a forest full of Grimm without a proper armor, or simply clothing in this case. This guy must be nuts. It followed him at the edge of the forest to spy on him. He was walking toward another Hunter that was lying on the hill. They didn't seemed to like each other from here as they were readying their weapons. After a while, the man looked toward the beast. Did he saw it or did he just barely felt like he was watched? The Grimm wouldn't know, but he had a bad feeling about that guy, so it focused his observation on the girl. When they both stated to come towards it and the forest, the beowulf went further in in hope to hides itself in order to spy on them and plan its attack.

As the girl seemed less menacing and a little far behind the man, the Grimm decided to flank her with a tackle in order to pin her down and would starts to attack her with a flurry of claw strikes. If it could get the girl out of the fight, it would be easier to get the guy afterward.

Zev waved a hand in front of her nose. What an awful smell. She knew the guy was a faunus, so it was okay that he looked the part of a shaggy dog. But did he really have to /smell/ like a wet dog too? Nine times out of ten, she would just aim some clever quip, and make herself laugh as well as ensuring that this wasn't a problem in the future by humiliating him, but-... This guy... Something in her stomach told her if she said that she would regale him with the story of why he smells like that. Maybe he butchered a bunch of dogs for fun earlier. Those /were/ pretty cold eyes.

She cringed as her mind raced through the horrible faux deeds of the stranger. Covering her nose, she let herself fall a bit farther behind the man. She didn't want to raise his suspicion, but she had to shave the edge off of that smell somehow. Whenever his glance came back to her, her hands would shoot down to her sides, giving him a not so innocent smile, assuring she was up to something. There's really no hiding the facts. When you grow up with an exceptional ability to get up undamaged from your wounds, you tend to lose a bit in the ways of wit.

MUSE

That girl was acting strange for some reason or another; she always had that stupid look on her face and body posture when he checked on her, but why? It would've been indecent of him to just ask her why she was acting so weird, so Nero let it go, continuing on their hunt. Still, it was quite annoying to him; if they couldn't trust one another, then one of them might've as well have left the other for dead if the situation went sour. Yet, at the very least, once they encountered a Grimm or a group of them and ended their mutual hunt, then he'd probably leave; however, that depended on his mood. Nero still had some kind of respect and interest in Zev; she was a strong and tough individual when it came to combat, but on the outside, she was a little annoying to deal with. With a sigh in his head and through his mouth, Nero continued with their objective, gently pushing his subjective mind aside for the sake of the two.

However, as the two continued their way deeper and deeper into the forest, on the next turn around to check on Nero as he expected for another stupid look, he found another type of stupidity. With a Beowulf charging straight at Zev, Nero sighed angrily as he dashed straight at her, placing his left hand on the end of his sheath, tilting it upward as his sword-hand drew his ōdachi. The long katana could've been menacing to anyone; even the hamon on the blade was dark and held killer intent. However, to the Grimm that was coming straight at them, it wouldn't show any fear, only the will to kill. With a downward momentum to his left leg, Nero turned the katana for an upward strike to his right shoulder, only to utilize the Dust encased in his sword. As the blade struck against the forest ground, a flaming shock-wave flew from the ground, dashing towards the Grimm, but in the direction of Zev. "Get out of the way!" Nero exclaimed at his idiotic partner, dashing towards her with his katana held upwards by his right side. To Nero, he only wished that Zev was more aware of her surroundings than not at all.

Health and Aura | Dust:

As the dark beast was going for a flank attack upon the unaware girl, the topless man used his massive sword to create a fiery wave towards it. Fortunately for it, the blazing attack was going straight toward the girl instead. The beowulf used that missed attack to his advantage and stepped back into the bushes to hides itself once again, aiming to get out of the sight of the girl.

A mischievous plan sprouted in the beast's mind. If it was able to mislead the two hunters into fighting each other, it could then just finish off the one that would still be standing without really having to fight. It stood there, in the shadows of the wood,looking at its preys, waiting to see what next move it could do to put fuel to the fire between the two warrior. What cunning tricks could it use? The beast was circling around them, staying hidden far behind the girl in hope she would just be enraged to the boy who just attached her, by accident or not...

Zev eeped, her tail fluffing up in her unhappy surprise. With a split second, she dove to the side, and tumbled back to her feet, drawing her blades in a single swift motion. "You lookin' to die weirdo!?" She growled, sparking her blades together, her tail swishing from side to side to express her distress, as her eyes narrowed to bore into the man. She was completely oblivious of any other presence.

In all honesty, she wasn't surprised. She was used to this kind of thing, really. People tried to kill her all the time, but it didn't work. She could probably just let him swing until his arm was tired. That would be terribly fun to watch. Still, she wasn't about to excuse that kind of disrespect. She was itching for a fight anyways. Butterfly's could only provide so much fun, after all.

Staring off at where the black beast left, Nero was more than ready to give chase as denoted by his change in form; however, the sudden growl from the cat altered his course, requiring his full attention to avoid being skewered from behind.

"Do you really think I'm aiming to attack a comrade in the back? If you had your ears open and eyes widened, then you would have noticed that we had a Grimm stalking us this entire time." Nero growled back at her, holding his sword by his side as he waited for her to calm down and listen to reason; however, he still stared wary of the situation at hand; the Grimm was watching them from wherever it was then, and it could've struck at any moment. Even if Nero dared to look for it on his own, then he wasn't too sure what Zev was going to do to him. She seemed like she had a killer personality, one that was ready to strike at any moment.

It has started. The plan of the beowulf to get those two to hate each other in order to make its fighting a lot more easier. The man seemed still pretty aware of it, so the grimm decided to stay put in hope the girl hasn't spotted it yet. It was only watching, hidden in the shadows of the bushes and the trees. It looked from afar, avoiding being seen and/or in range to be attacked. It was circling around, focusing on the girl more than the boy since it still wanted to take her down first. But watching for now was way more important. Would the girl trust the man or not? Let's hope not...

It made its way a little higher in the trees branches to avoid the force to be reckon with of the blazing trail that the man could leave in his wake. The beowulf didn't want to get caught in such an attack, but if the girl could get in one though, it would be quite a good thing.

Zev's tail swished back an forth in it's unhappy way, his words only adding intensity to her irked state. She swiveled her head towards the man in a sarcastic display of curiosity. "Oh yeah! I totally believe you! Next I'll need to look over there, right? How dumb do you think I am!?" Naturally, she didn't. She had way too many humans in her old town play that trick on her. She had to admit it had been a while since that sort of thing had happened to her, but she certainly wanted to keep that sort of humiliating game at a distance. After all, it wasn't fun once the would be pranksters learned of her healing factor, and running her through, or nailing her to the ground became nothing more than a fun little game. Even if the man seemed honorable, distrust was a time hardened habit for her.

The wolf Faunus glared at his companion, hearing such charming words let loose. "I would've attacked you by the hill if I wanted to settle this earlier. We're in a area supplied with Grimm where we could both be attacked," Nero barked back at his current opposition. With the two of them in the state they were in, he wondered if they were ever able to finish their dispute and work on more pressing matters at hand. For then, they were stuck arguing to each other about the case of his attack which only irritated Nero at an increasing pace.

"Look, I'd rather not stand here and argue for the rest of today. We're both looking for the same thing here, and fighting one another isn't going to help us reach that goal." Nero kept his eyes directly on Zev, waiting for a response and an end to their discussion. With his attention directed towards her, he allowed his awareness of the situation to drift and his guard to drop as he simply waited.