Eyes fluttering open, Kuhaku was slowly returning from unconsciousness. Eventually becoming fully awake and aware of his surroundings, he blinked upon realizing he was once again on the ground. Arms trembling as he pushed his body off of the ground he placed a hand on his pounding, aching head. Shaking his head, he immediately regretted doing so. Hit with a sudden bout of nausea, the world around him spun wildly and he nearly emptied his stomach on the ground in front of him. Dizzy, his vision eventually stabilized and he stared at the ground. What the hell had happened to him? It was then he noticed a few drops of blood spattering in the dirt. Blinking, he sat as he touched the back of his head. Wincing, he pulled his hand away and looked at it. It was covered in blood. Turning in his seat, he looked behind him and saw that a tree directly behind him had a blood stain on it. Closing his eyes tightly, he struggled to recollect his thoughts.

He remembered walking through the forest with his new human partner. He remembered coming out of the treeline and locating the other Beacon Students. He remembered that he and his human partner were the last ones to arrive. The human waved at them as he ran up and grabbed the last relic they were supposed to have retrieved. Then what? His head throbbed as he tried to drudge his memories back from the inky, black abyss. The Grimm. That's right. Three...was it three? Three Grimm appeared. A large spider-like Grimm had grabbed one of the students and dragged him over the edge. Two snake-like Grimm slithered from the forest next. No, it was four. They were two-headed King Taijitu. One of King Taijitu swept at them. He remembered that he was still too weary from his previous encounter with the Grimm, his reflexes were dulled. He was not fast enough to dodge the sweeping attack. The rest was murky and vague. He remembered images of the other students fighting against the large Grimm...

Opening his eyes, he looked again at the tree behind him and deduced what had happened. He was too slow and was took the King Taijitu's sweep attack, being thrown into a tree. He must've hit the back of his head against it hard enough to flick his 'Off' switch. Lights out for him. That explained why it was hard to breathe and his ribs hurt. He probably cracked a few or bruised some at the very least.

Absolutely wonderful, he had arrived only to completely miss out on an important battle. Who was he kidding though? He was in no shape to continue fighting and probably would've just hindered the other students. If he had a choice, he would've probably hid and took the time to rest and heal while the others fought. Neither situation would've earned him any favorable opinions. Not that he cared. He couldn't get over his pathetic feelings of helplessness and worthlessness, however. Whatever, this was a test. They were new students. They had plenty of time to make mistakes and to learn. The harsh lesson he learned would only be one of many. He would have to keep in mind to not be overzealous and so enthusiastic to play the 'hero' again in the future. What came over him when he ran into his human partner, anyways? He didn't know. His head hurt. He just knew to avoid coming into contact with large amounts of Grimm again. 

Looking around, he saw the two King Taijitu had died and gone. Though the fight wasn't over yet, it seemed. It was then he noticed the large Arachnid Grimm had launched itself into the air, a student still on its back. His senses hadn't completely recuperated yet so he couldn't pinpoint who it was. It looked like the Grimm was on its last legs and wanted to take out as many of them as it could when it landed. Crushing them all. 

Wait.
He would be in its path.
He would be one of the few crushed underneath.
[I]"Damn it."[/I] he sighed underneath his mask.

It was then that he was hit with a sudden gust of focused wind. The concussive blast strong enough to lift his body off of the ground and send him flying away. Away from where the Arachnid Grimm would land, but dangerously close to the edge of the chasm. As his body slid and skidded along the dirt, he became disoriented from the blast as he neared the precarious edge of the chasm. Panicking, he dug his claws into the ground as his lower body swung off of the side. Eyes wide, he panted heavily. Looking over his shoulder, he saw how far from the ground he would land if he slipped. Big mistake. Shutting his eyes, he quickly turned away. He was terrified of extreme heights, especially ones that could kill him. 

His eyes snapped open as he felt his body start to slide and give way. Struggling, he tried to muster his strength to pull himself up. But, as he tried to pull himself up, he only slid more over the edge. His energy was drained from having fought so many Grimm earlier, even more so after becoming close friends with the King Taijitu's sweeping head. It wasn't looking good for him. The first test of his abilities and he had been knocked unconscious twice today, now about to die from being too ignorant to conserve his energy and think things through. What the hell was he doing? What happened to him being calm, cool and collected? To carefully thinking and planning things through?

As beads of sweat rolled down his face, he frantically thought of how he could save himself. The only thing coming into mind was to free one of his hands and punch out with a Chained Spike and to let the winch pull him to safety. But, that required him to let one of his hands go. Trying it, he slackened his grip on one of his hands slightly and quickly tightened it as his body jerked further over the edge. Closing his eyes tightly, his chest tight and breathing difficult and painful, he couldn't do it.

[I]"A-am I going to die...here? Like this?..."[/I] 
He was scared. 

The facade he put up in front of others quickly melted away. He wasn't as cold, harsh and indifferent as he seemed in this perilous moment. Rather, he was probably one of the most vulnerable one out of the other students. And he hated himself for it. Sliding still, his eyes remained shut. Refusing to accept the way things were happening. Refusing to acknowledge that his life could very well end right now just like this. What could he do? Maybe push himself off of the edge and fire his spikes into the cliff face? But, his spikes weren't strong enough to punch into sheer rock were they? He didn't know. He didn't want to try it. His body trembled from his strength draining and from his terror. His ears flattened against his head.

He was scared.