Barking up the Wrong Tree (hunt/Sakura, Ruben, Valerie)

A redheaded girl stood out among the blues of the Finick forest, waiting impatiently beside a notably large tree. It was the beginning to the path of a clearing that was apparently well known within the forest, often used by locals for picnics and other outdoorsy activities.

The problem was that it had apparently become plagued with attacks from particularly tough Grimm, after some type of vague incident happened during one of these events. Rika had seen the posting to clear the area, and practically jumped at the chance, thinking as impulsive as ever and thinking that it appeared to be a great idea in her usual impulsive manner.

It had only been from someone else’s input that she was waiting rather than trying to take on the Grimm herself. So now she was waiting on Sakura and whoever else happened to tag along from her frantic messaging through the contacts on her scroll.

Rika just hopped somebody, ANYBODY would show up soon, because she was SO bored!

Finnek Forest. A forest that was well-known around the world for the beautiful blue hue which the trees and leaves gave off. It was an extremely popular place to have picnics at for both families and vacationers. Sakura had heard a lot about Finnek Forest from her eldest sister, Violet. In addition to this, her older sister, Rosalia, had shown her pictures which she took of Finnek. Ever since then, Sakura had been wanting to visit Finnek Forest in person.

An opportunity soon revealed itself as she took a glance at the Mission Board on campus. A request had been posted for the hunters/huntress of Syne Academy. According to the mission request, there had been a string of Grimm attacks on families and vacationers that were having picnics in Finnek Forest. The frequency of these attacks had been increasing in recent days. In response to this, Bellmuse decided to do something about this.

"People have been getting hurt recently in these recent Grimm attacks. It would be extremely selfish of me to not get involved when civilians are getting hurt by these Grimm." Sakura thought quietly to herself as she approached Finnek forest. As she did so, she began looking around for Rika. Rika had messaged her on her scroll as she was leaving campus. Rika was tempted to rush in there immediately. Sakura replied to this message with "It was unwise to take on Grimm alone. Please refrain from doing anything reckless until backup arrives". After a few minutes of searching, Sakura found Rika standing underneath a tree which marked the location of one of the paths into Finnek Forest that many families and vacationers use.

"Good Afternoon to you, Miss Rika. I hope that this day is treating you well." Sakura greeted in a friendly manner as she approached Rika who was standing underneath a tree. Sakura was relieved to see that Rika had taken her advice to wait while she and two other hunters arrive at Finnek Forest.

Finnek Forest. Now where is that in his memory. Ruben searched his memory for information on Finnek Forest. He's been here before,and got destroyed. Grimm defeated him,and looks like multiple times. The forest is known for the blue hue and people like to hang out here. But grimm are everywhere. They seem to like particular areas. And the amount of them have increased. This is why he is back in this forest of bad memories. To work with some students to help kill them. Wearing his heavy 300 pound armor,and his pistols at his sides. He jumped up and grabbed onto a tree branch,but it immediately snap and he fell. He has to get use to being so heavy. He looked to his left and saw two people right there. "Did any of you see that? Don't worry,I'm okay. I just have to get used to this upgrade. Anyway,I'm Ruben Seranus Nuke,a professor at Syne. You'll probably already know that,but you can call me Ruben. One of you messaged me,so which one did it?" Ruben said calmly,like the entire situation didn't happen. He looked at Sakura then at Rika,then Sakura,then Rika before finally deciding to just look at Sakura.

While Daphne had no real incentive to attend any kind of class until the next semester would begin since she joined in the middle of Spring, it didn't mean that she wouldn't help around against the threat of Grimms showing up around the island. An increase in the sighting of them in Finnek caused many requests on the Academy's Mission Board to investigate and patrol the area around the school in order to eliminate any immediate threat.

Daphne had taken on one of those request, waking up super early to be sure she wouldn't be late and decided to make a preliminary areal patrol and flew around the forest for about an hour before she began looking for others. She was told when taking on the mission that she was to meet other students as with the amount of attacks and sighting it wasn't safe to go alone on such a task.

It didn't take too long for her to find the others due to a loud crashing noise that she could hear even from above the trees which caught Daphne's attention. Heading down and gently going through the branches of some trees, the blonde girl landed softly as she looked around. She could recognize Sakura that she had already met, while the other two were complete strangers. Waving to them with her left hand while her right one was holding her assault rifle, she greeted her fellow students, having no idea that one of them was a teacher. "Heya there people! Hope you're doing well Sakura!"

Valerie was glad to get a mission with no strings attached to it. It was simple; babysit a small team while they laid waste to some grimm. Surely there wasn't much glory to be found in it, but she was just happy to be doing her part, even if it did mean a bit more stress on her part.

She lightly tapped each of the vials within their straps on the forearm of her gauntlet, quietly humming a number for each one, making sure that everything was in her proper order. Straps were tight, and the gears on the mechanism for her shield were loose, just the way she liked it.

The glove on her right hand was snug, and she could still make out solid feelings through the fabric. Valerie reached down and checked her sidearm, leaving in the holster, but just seeing how the checked grip felt in her palm. Comfortable, yet secure, her hands would be more protected when she fired now. Not incredibly important, but for the long haul, she would appreciate having that small luxury.

Valerie stumbled a bit, tripping over a small root and disturbing the cadence of her gait. It wasn't much, but it was enough to rouse a head to rise from over her shoulder, yawning and looking around them. Paprika had taken to snuggling his way into her tucked wings to nap, as he often did whenever they needed to make a trip somewhere.

Valerie reached back and scratched him behind the ears a bit as he started to wake up. It was good for him really, travelling this much helped him get better trained for life as a companion and something as a guard dog. Not to mention, that he seemed happy with the change.

Paprika did suddenly bark as they began to hear a few voices, pressing through the woods. Valerie broke through a wall of leaves and bush to spy the group, which she could only assume was her charge. She recognized Rika and Sakura, but was unfamiliar with the others, so introductions would be in order.

Val put her hand on her hip as she stopped. "Fenix, Valerie. Certified FR, EMT, RN, and CMT. Oh, and this little pooch here is our brave guard dog, Paprika." As though the pup had a sense of communication, he barked at the mention of his name. "I'll be your medical support on this operation. Stay close to me, and you'll make it out with enough pep in your step to hit downtown after we're through here."

Valerie smiled warmly in her maternal manner as she did her best to instill confidence in everyone she was paired with here.

Rika grinned widely at Sakura when she arrived, happy to see her new friend as well as the fact that now she wouldn’t have to worry the more mature girl. “Great! Just want to get started already!” The hyperactive faunus exclaimed. “Aint got a clue who else’ll show up though, lotsa people said they were busy…” The redhead frowned at that though she understood somewhat that people couldn’t just drop what they were doing.

When the weird looking guy with the bluish hair’s fall drew her attention, the redhead let out a laugh, very much amused by the guy. She had remembered him, as some of the professors in the school had been added to her scroll including a picture of them… “That’d be me, don’t got a clue what upgrade you’re talkin bout, but these things are supposed ta be pretty tough.” The guy seemed a bit weird, especially with how he didn’t seem overly concerned with what just happened.

Another girl showed up from the sky of all places, and Rika gave a confused look upward, noting that there was no sign the girl had been using the trees for transport as she often did when traveling through the forest. “Wow you can FLY…that’s great!” She grinned widely at the girl before introducing herself to the two strangers. “I’m Rika, nice ta meetcha!”

Shortly after that Rika saw Val approaching, waving around. “ALRIGHT!” She exclaimed with the other faunus girl’s arrival before flinching away at the puppy’s bark. She normally didn’t like dogs at all, being a Cat faunus…but the pup’s cuteness won over the instinctual dislike and Rika hesitantly attempted to scratch the dog behind the ears to greet it.

"Good Morning to you, Professor. I hope that this morning fines you well." Sakura greeted politely to Professor Seranus Nuke as he approached her and Rika. Sakura had heard about Professor Seranus Nuke from some of her classmates. However, she had not met him in person prior to this moment, so Sakura was a bit excited to see what one of Syne Academy's professor can do during the hunt. However, Professor Nuke then asked about who messaged him while looking at Rika and Sakura. Sakura was not sure about the answer to his question as she hadn't messaged anyone prior to arriving in Finnek Forest. She then responded by pointing to Rika as she was the one who send her a message. Soon after, Sakura caught a glimpse of Daphne approaching them from the area. A few moments later, Daphne landed near the group before saying hello.

"Good Morning to you, Miss Daphne. I am doing quite well this morning." Sakura replied politely to Daphne. She had first met at the Training Arena a few days back and that had quite a friendly conversation. Sakura was quite happy to see Daphne as she was somewhat interested to see Daphne fight. After a while, Sakura heard a bark which caught her attention. Soon after that, Valerie appeared through the wall of leaves. Sakura quickly waved hello to Valerie. Valerie then approached the group before introducing herself and her pet, Paprika.

"Good Morning to you, Paprika. It is a pleasure to meet you." Sakura greeted politely as she waited for a chance to pet Paprika. Rika had been smitten by Paprika's cuteness and was in the process of scratching the puppy's ear.

Ruben turned his head towards the two other hunters. Then he noticed something. Is he the only male here? By the looks of it,yes,he is indeed the only guy here. Ruben looked at one of the two hunters that came. "My name is Ruben Seranus Nuke,professor at Syne Academy. You can call me Ruben. I assume you two got a message by Rika." Ruben froze for a second. "Valerie. That name sounds familiar." He turned to look at Valerie." "Did you by any chance join one of my classes. I may look different,but rest assured,it is still me."Ruben walked towards Valerie. "Yeah. I met you before! Let me check my memory." Ruben looked up into the sky for a minute and looked through his memory. "Yeah,we met before." Ruben then walked towards Daphne. "I know for sure that I haven't met you before. Also,were you flying? I never seen someone fly without wings before." Ruben then looked around one more time. "So,does anyone know what we are exactly fighting?"

Valerie smiled cheerfully as she waved to the group and nodded an affirmation at each statement cast to her by any of her allies. "Well, I guess with this many people we're looking at something pretty serious. If they can send one guy to deal with hordes of Creeps, then I can assume that we'll be in for a fight, especially if they wanted a medic here specifically."

She looks over her shoulder and rubs the back of her head as she recalls a past memory. "Whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't end up being like that Nevermore attack at Halloween. Huff, some poor dude got injured, I got impaled, there were rockets and explosions, the whole nine-yards. Anything less than that is sounding like a cakewalk."

She laughed at her short anecdote nervously, while Paprika was enjoying the attention he was getting. After everyone had a turn to scratch him, he hopped off of Val's shoulder and started to weave through people's legs, sniffing the ground around them.

He eventually began to take special interest in Rika, sniffing her leg quite insistently for several moments before abruptly running to Sakura, giving her a brief sniff before pawing at her leg and howling.

"Paprika, behave." Valerie shot a command, before looking apologetic. "He's still in training, so direct experience is the best for him."

This forest has been a favorable place to hunt for some time now. People felt safe enough to travel here alone, or without anybody around that could protect them, which meant easy prey for two deathstalkers. The Grimm would be constantly searching for more vulnerable people to take, and they managed to find some victims every now and again, but recently, it seemed as if people were catching on. People frequented the forest less, and it seemed like it was about time to go somewhere else, but one of the Grimm detected some people just before they began to travel.

The small one charged immediately, not even making an attempt towards stealth. It had no patience left, and victims were available in this very moment. The larger one decided to move slowly, quietly. It had found that catching an opponent before they can react usually yielded better results with less pain for itself. Since the smallest one charged right away, it was the first to begin it's assault. The deathstalker burst through the trees and lunged with one claw forward, directly at some poor soul with red hair. Whether the claw met it's mark or not, the Grimm would make sure it's other claw followed suit, grabbing for the girl.

The larger one spotted where it's victims were and waited silently for a moment before following in it's comrade's footsteps. From the right side of that very same red haired girl, the deathstalker stabbed twice with it's stinger at it's prey, running forward as it did so to prevent an easy escape. For the moment, they both only took note of the other people around them, but they both seemed to realize the importance of taking down one instead of fighting them all at once.

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Deathstalker A (Large guy)

HP : 130/130
Two attacks, 30 damage each.

Deathstalker B (Smol boi)

HP : 100/100
Two attacks, 30 damage each.

OOC: Sorry for the wait, guys. I'll try and keep doing posts on time from now on.

Rika was known for being rather dense, but even SHE couldn’t miss the sound of a giant scorpion charging through the forest, especially when it didn’t make any attempt at stealth as a result she had more than enough warning to prepare herself, having an earth crystal ready when the opening lung came at her, The pigtailed faunus avoided the strike and made her own move at the same time, channeling her aura into the crystal at the time and causing the earth to raise with her movements, a pillar of earth shooting out diagonally both putting earth between herself and the Deathstalker’s second claw as well as doubling as an attack. Even if it didn’t hit, it would put the solid rock between herself and the claw, thus cutting off the secondary attack.

The pigtailed faunus grinned at her own trick before the second Deathstalker flanked her, this one actually taking her off-guard and hitting her with it’s first attack of it’s stinger, knocking the pigtailed girl back, though she moved with the hit and jammed a crystal into the ground and causing a mall wave of rock and earth to surge forward at the scorpion before it could attack again, whether it hit or not, the counterattack would cut off the creature’s forward movement enough that Rika could successfully jump back out of the second strike.

The pigtailed girl would activate her semblance after this, a blue glow forming around her body to strengthen it so that any more attack’s would be less effective.

HP 115/130 aura 160/170
Two dust attacks (one on each deathstalker).   T1   earth dust used.     40 damage each defenses not included

Semblance activated -10

After seeing the two Deathstalkers pop out of the woods and double team on her friend, Sakura quickly got her Aegis MK 10 shields out of their case and equipped them. At this very moment, Sakura could see a wall of rock inbetween Rika and the large Deathstalker which flanked her. After seeing this, Sakura decided to try to get the attention of the large Deathstalker. After deciding on this plan of action, she quickly moved closer to the Deathstalker.

Sakura waited for a bit for the Deathstalker to reveal its armored face before moving in. As soon as she did, Sakura then slammed her shield hard into the armored face of the Deathstalker. Sakura knew that this was not going to do any damage to the creature. However, that wasn't her plan. Sakura hoped that the Deathstalker would focus on her so that Rika could focus on the smaller Deathstalker. In preparation for a counterattack, Sakura entered a highly defensive stance.

Even if the Deathstalker counterattacked, Sakura had enough endurance to withstand any hit the Deathstalker would throw her way.

---

Current Status

HP: 300/300
AP: 0/0

Attacks Taken
1. Shield Bash (Deathstalker's face)

Total Damage Done
2.5 Poke Damage Dealt (Defense not included)

Valerie was taken with a minor bit of surprise at the sudden developments that had just occurred. Paprika was running ahead, trying to jump headfirst into this fight.

"Paprika! Heel!" Valerie shouted as she suddenly drew her sidearm and let her shield fold out of her gauntlet. She dropped into a crouch and started to back away from the pair of Deathstalkers a bit, trying her best to take on a very passive role and make herself into less of a target. Paprika, hearing his owners command, stopped in his tracks and barked before running back to Valerie. He hopped up onto her shoulder and ducked into the fold of her wings again, taking refuge from the fight for now.

Val looked back and forth across her shield, making sure all of her meds were exactly where they needed to be. She then eyed her teammates through the view port of her shield. She loosed her aura, letting the golden flames envelop her as she focused her energies toward Sakura and Rika, the golden flames suddenly enveloping them as well to form a protective shell over top of their own aura.


No Attacks

Granted Barrier on Sakura and Rika: -20 Damage from the next attacks on the two of them. (-40 SP from Val)

+5 SP from Recovery Aura

The smaller Deathstalker's impatience was quickly punished by the red headed girl as she not only managed to dodge its attack, but rammed a stone pillar right in its face causing it to back away and rethink its approach. While the pillar did nothing more than stop its advance and push it back slightly, it did not seem to hurt it and while the girl was putting distance between them, it was not about to give up on its prey though and moved towards the opposite side that its larger partner took, flanking the small girl from the left while she created more rocks. Using its claws to protect itself from another potential pillar, it stabbed towards her with its tail three times repeatedly, hoping that at least one of those attacks would land by overwhelming her with speed.

The larger scorpion learned from its brother's mistake and was alert of the earthbending powers of the red headed girl and managed to stop its motion to avoid meeting the rocky blockade. Albeit another wall would show itself in the form of another girl, this time with pink hair. She smashed her shield into the grimm's face, to no avail beside stopping it in its tracks for now. Another girl was farther back, hiding behind a shield as well while keeping safe a small noisy furball. Neither of the sheildbearer did anything though, so maybe it would be a good idea to let them be, but one of them was in the way. With the pink haired girl not moving, she was what appeared to be an easy target. Swinging its claw at her and trying to get a hold of her, the large grimm planned to throw this girl at the one in the back, hoping to get both girls out of their metal shells while making way for the redhead, swinging its other claw at her while its partner was on the other side poking at her with its tail.

______________________
Deathstalker A (Large guy)

HP:130/130
Two-three attacks, 30 damage each (1-2 being throwing Sakura at Valerie, 3 being claw at Rika)

Deathstalker B (Smol boi)

HP:100/100
Three attacks, 30 damage each

Most would assume Rika to be the type to fall for the same trick twice, especially given her normal density regarding most things, fighting however was something the pigtailed cat faunus thoroughly enjoyed and tended to pick up on things much faster than subjects she found less interesting and enjoyable. As such the scorpion’s attempt to flank her was noticed this time by the pigtailed girl, and she avoided the attacks in a similar manner this time, with one exception. Once again using earth dust to form a piller, but instead of using it to attack the smaller deathstalker she instead launched a short distance into the air, and out of the way of both scorpions attacks as a result.
While airborne Rika wasn’t idle however, and finally drew her weapon, a single button on the handle of her whip causing the length of it extend outward and a single gesture and loud crack in the air later it was at it’s full length. All the while her free hand drew another earth crystals, slamming the first into her handle where it broke a moment later, rock like shards appeared to be embedded down the length of the whip.
She landed just close enough to be able to still make some attacks at the flank of the smaller Grimm, as it had been to her left, rather than infront. Though the other was out of her range. It didn’t matter however and the pigtail girl made two lashes at the creature’s unarmored legs.

115/130 150/170

Actions taken: Earth dust pillar used to evade. Two dust attacks made 40 damage each before defenses. targetting smaller deathstalker.

After taking up a defensive stance, Sakura got ready as the larger of the two Deathstalkers swung one of it large claws at her. As the Deathstalker's claw was about to hit her, she quickly sidestepped away form the hit before parrying the blow away from her. Sakura then shield bashed the Deathstalker in the face with enough force to knock it back about three meters or so. After doing this, Sakura then tapped a button on the back of her Aegis MK 10. Soon after, outer parts of Sakura's Aegis MK 10 split open before fully expanding. Once this was done, the built in shield generators activated which caused Cherry Blossom Pink energy to extend out from the outer edges of her shield. The amount of area that Sakura's shield now protected was double its normal coverage area. However, Sakura was now stuck in place for as long as her Aegis MK 10 was in its "Deployed Mode".

"Focus, Sakura. Remember what you learned from her mental training." Sakura thought calmly to herself as she focused on using the negative emotion that she had locked in the back of her mind. She then began focusing on using the regret and guilt she felt regarding her failure to protect her friend, Nyx. It had been a short time since Sakura had figured out a way to use these feelings to her advantage. Sakura hoped that this was enough to get both Grimms to focus on her for a bit.

---

Current Status
HP: 295/300 (5 minimum damage from the parried attack)
AP: 0/0

Actions Taken
1. Parried the first attack
2. Activates the "Deployed Form" of the Aegis MK 10 on her right arm
3. Attempts to draw both Deathstalkers attention towards her

Attacks Done
1. Shield Bash (Deathstalker's Face)

Total Damage Done
2.5 Bash Damage Dealt (Defense not included)

Okay then,time to make himself useful and start attacking. Ruben sent energy into his legs and focused his priority on either the smaller or larger Deathstalker. The smaller is more inexperienced,unlike the latter.  Ruben clenched his fist and started running towards the smaller grimm,using his semblance to send electricity towards his legs so he can move faster. He then grabbed one of his guns and aimed it towards the Deathstalker. He fired a shot near its eye as a distraction,then stopped with a slide and another shot fired,this time at one of it's exposed legs.

After those shots,Ruben charged his semblance for something else. He walked over slowly towards Sakura and crouched down. His hands laid flat against the ground before being clenched up into a fist. His hands gained an electric charge. The electricity spread all over Ruben's body before completely covering him. Ruben then tapped into some negative emotion,to at least send some of the grimm's attention to him. "Hey Deathstalker! Come over here to me! I'm nice and shiny!" he shouted. With the electricity covering his body,any contact will cause damage to whoever touched him.

---

Stats
HP:200/200
Aura:70/100
Actions:Two shots=30 before defense
Electric Cloak=20 damage on contact

Valerie didn't have much real work to do yet, as the fight was still in it's earliest stages, however, she still had a duty to uphold here. So, she figured that they should try to gain something of an advantage at least, tilting her shield to the side and aiming her pistol at the stinger of the larger creature. She cracked off two shots of hollow point from her sidearm, hoping that she would be capable of swinging the battle in their favor with the extra damage she could output.

With those shots, however, she then raised her shield back into a full defensive position and started sidling her way over to Rika, as she needed to be close to her target to be able to heal them should the need arise. The battle was still young, but from the way that things were starting off, she could already tell that this was likely going to get a bit dicey at best.


2 shots on the larger Deathstalker- Target: Stinger- 35 + 35 DAM before defense


+5 SP from Recovery Aura

HP: 110/110
SP: 170/200

The fight quickly turned out to be crowded with the Deathstalkers at a disadvantage in number two to one with the sudden apparition of a walking electric tin can. This clearly would not be such an easy hunt as the smaller grimm first thought it would be but they would not back away from their prey. It appeared as if the huntsmen's force were split between the two which made things somewhat easier than if they all focused on one of them, which was a good thing for the grimms.

The small one seemed to be the main target of the offensive party however, which was quite irritating. The red haired pest avoided its attack by moving away using more rocks before lashing out with a rock whip. This girl had a weird love for stones. While the first lash hit its mark, the Deathstalker would not let the second land. Using the added rocks on the length of the flexible weapon to get a better grip, it snapped its claw at the incoming whip to catch it, stopping it in its track. Then there was the electric kid that appeared from nowhere that tried to capture the grimm's attention along with the pink haired girl facing its larger brother. Leaving the latter to his partner and focusing on the sparky boy. Not dumb enough to strike something clearly imbued with electricity, the Deathstalker figured the red haired pest would be useful. Hoping she was still in midair, it pulled on the whip to use her as a makeshift flail to swing her at the tin can without noticing the shot at its legs that came from him right before. With them being barely making any damage at all, it was hard to notice them.

The larger scorpion was met with another kind of pest, one that kept smashing her shield in its face even though it was doing absolutely nothing towards its defeat. She was just being annoying at the moment. Suddenly a sharp pain came from its stinger, coming from the other girl with a shield. Her second shot missed due to the sudden movement of the tail after being hit, but one was more than enough to piss off the grimm more than the pink haired girl was annoying it. Wanting to make the girl move while also wanting to get back at the one with wings, it dug its claws into the ground right between itself and the girl facing it in an attempt to throw her away before it rushed to the one that shot its tail. Moving its stinger near the front of its body and raising its claws to protect it, it would slam them at the blonde girl hoping to crush followed by a stab of its stinger.

______________
Deathstalker A (Large guy)

HP:120/130
Two attacks to Valerie, 30 damage each

Deathstalker B (Smol boi)

HP:75/100
Two attacks from flailing Rika at Ruben, 30 damage each (Potentially 20 for Rika touching Ruben?)

Rika had been satisfied to get a real hit in, and hadn’t expected her whip to be caught at all, as such she’d been unprepared, but fortunately, had landed already, However the pigtailed girl was nothing if not adaptable, and it took but a moment for her to decide what to do next, taking out a differently colored crystal to press against her weapon, causing the whip’s length to change from it’s normal color to a fiery orange as it became superheated. Since the lower part of the Grimm’s claw was unarmored, she didn’t even need to try, it would likely harm the creature, and Rika hopped to burn the scorpion a bit for trying to attack her like it had earlier, the jerk.

When the Deathstalker attempted to throw her, Rika had been fortunate enough to already have landed, and as such was not thrown, but rather dragged, which while still just as painful, at least meant she would be spared the fate of hitting Ruben, due to the resistance simple resistance of being pulled against the ground rather than through the air. The force wouldn’t be enough to

Still Rika wasn’t just idly letting herself be dragged across the battlefield however, and she threw a crystal out under the scorpion, where flames would erupt and expand out to hopefully injure the unarmored underside of the creature.

110/130 HP (30-15=15 -10 more for def buff 5 damage from attack) Aura 140/170

Actions. Rika avoided getting flung into Ruben but was dragged about halfway. Two fire-based dust attacks with intent to burn. Targeting smaller scorpio.

After activating the "Deployed Form" of the Aegis MK 10 shield on her right arm, Sakura then braced herself for the incoming strike that by bracing herself and planting her feet into the ground so that she wouldn't budge from her current position. In addition to this, Sakura had planted her shield down so hard into the ground so that the hydraulic spikes which were installed in the lower half of Sakura's Aegis MK 10 to deploy. These hydraulic spikes that embedded themselves into the ground. Usually, these spikes would be used to keep Sakura's Aegis MK 10s standing up vertically whenever she had to examine her shields or to repair the inner core of the shields. Sakura hoped that this would help keep her planted in place as the large Deathstalker dug its claws into the dirt between them.

"I must make sure that this Deathstalker does not get past me." Sakura thought determinedly to herself as she turned the regret in doubt in the back of her mind into sheer determination. Sakura then waited until the large Deathstalker was about to impact her shield before using the tip of the Aegis MK 10 on her left arm and slamming into the general area where the Deathstalker's eyes were. Sakura hoped her strike was strong enough to knock the Deathstalker back away from Valerie.

---

Current Status
HP: 290/300 (5 minimum damage for intercepting the first hit which was meant for Valerie.)
AP: 0/0

Actions Taken
1. Brace for Impact
2. Intercepts an attack that was meant for Valerie.

Attacks Done
1. Shield Bash (Deathstalker's Eye Area)

Total Damage Done
2.5 Bash Damage Dealt (Defense not included

Valerie took the moment to reload, despite only firing twice. She didn't want to be caught out in case things did start becoming more aggressive towards her personally, plus she had the space to do so now that Sakura had taken some of the focus from her.

The moment that a magazine was back in her weapon, she maneuvered toward Rika once again, anticipating that her assistance would be needed in the near future, however she could already tell that their damage output was seriously lacking, at least against enemies like these.

"Ready to show off?" Valerie wiggled her wings a bit, and Paprika immediately sprung his head out. She was surprised at how smart the pup was, if a bit gung-ho.

"Alright. Paprika, hike!" Valerie rose her shield up, and Paprika ran across the face of it, leaping into the air and running at the smaller Deathstalker that was currently attacking Rika. Valerie provided support by taking a shot at the eyes of the thing, meanwhile Paprika got decently close before slamming his front paws into the dirt. This caused a quiet rumble shortly before a freight train of stone barreled at the creature, slowly rising from the earth until one could make out a large spike directed at the underside of the Deathstalker.



1 shot on the Smaller Deathstalker- Target: Eyes- 35 Dam before defense
Earth Spike sent at the smaller Deathstalker- Target: Underside- 20 Semblance Dam (No Defense applicable)

+5 SP from Recovery Aura

HP: 110/110
SP: 175/200

Paprika:
HP: 40/40
SP: 20/40