FANG
"Well," Ozpin said, taking in Geal's new attire, "Our friend was correct, you do clean up well."
The wolf Faunus looked incredibly uncomfortable in his school uniform, with his shoulder-length bone-white hair pulled back in to a short ponytail.
"Thank you, sir," Geal said with a bow, "I'm grateful to have this opportunity."
"Of course, young man," Ozpin said with a small smile, "But please understand, I do not want you engaging in any of your more…clandestine, activities while you are here at Beacon."
"I understand sir," Geal said, standing up even straighter than before, "I would be more than willing to answer to you if the need arises."
"Oh no, young man. You won't be answering to me," Ozpin said with a slight shake of his head, "You'll be answering to…"
"Me," Glynda interrupted, "And trust me, your punishment will be, severe," She said, punctuating her statement with a crack of her riding crop, causing Geal to yelp.
"I promise not to do anything that would make that happen, ma'am," Geal said as he shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"Very well," Ozpin said, taking a sip of his coffee before continuing, "Since you're joining late, we haven't finished assembling a team for you. For now, please familiarize yourself with the campus and find your classes."
"Yes sir," Geal said, picking up his pack, "Thank you again."
Later that day, Geal sat quietly, carefully reading his textbook, and doing his best to figure out what the text meant. Suddenly, someone plopped down in the chair next to him, but he didn't outwardly react. Instead he sniffed the air and listened for any other cues that could help him determine what this stranger might want.
"Hello there!" The girl exclaimed, "Whacha reading?"
"Uh," Geal mumbled, glancing over at the young, red hooded, silver eyed girl, "My textbook, trying to figure it out."
"Having some trouble?" Ruby asked, cocking her head as she studied the book, "Cause you've been on the same page for a few minutes."
"Uh, yeah I guess I am." Geal mumbled, turning his attention back to the page.
There was a moment of silence.
"Blake, he's pulling a you," Ruby stage-whispered, "What do I do?"
Geal looked over to see Blake, Yang, and Weiss at a nearby table; and Blake looked like she'd seen a ghost. Geal's eyes sharpened and he returned his attention to his text book.
"Uh," Ruby said as she glanced between the two, "Do you two know each other?"
"No, just nice to see another Faunus," Geal said, causing team RWBY to look at him in shock, "I can smell that she's a Faunus."
"Can you do that Blake?" Yang asked her partner.
"Well, sort of," Blake mumbled, "I can smell much better than humans, but he's a canine, so his sense of smell is extremely strong."
"Lupine," Geal corrected, "I'm a wolf Faunus."
"So, uh…wolf?" Ruby asked.
"Geal," He corrected.
"That's cool," Ruby said as she watched the Faunus read his textbook, then offered, "Do you want some help?"
"Uh, if it's not too much of a problem," Geal said, leaning back in resignation.
"No problem," Ruby said, "Where are you stuck?" Geal pointed to a line, and Ruby examined the line for a second, "Is it the 'not readily susceptible to mental manipulation' part?" Geal nodded, "They can't be tricked or controlled basically."
"Oh, thank you Ruby," Geal said, looking back to the book, mumbling, "They could've just written that."
"Did you not understand the words?" Ruby asked quietly.
"Not a lot of time to study language, where I grew up," Geal stated, "Some words are new."
"Well, I'm sure we can help you, right gang?" Ruby said heroically.
"Uh, why?" Yang asked.
"Well, he needs our help, and Huntresses help people, right?" Ruby said, confusing herself somewhat in the process.
"Its fine Ruby, I don't want to waste your, or your teams, time," Geal said, turning his attention back to his textbook.
"We can revisit the issue later," Weiss stated, "We need to go to the amphitheater for our sparring sessions."
"Excellent match Ruby, Norah," Glynda said with a nod to the two girls, then addressed the crowd, "Now, I believe we have a late addition to the class. Mr. Faol, would you like to come down and show us what you can do?"
Geal nodded, and went down into the arena.
"Now, based on your skill set, I believe that Ren would be a good match for you," Glynda gestured to the young man, who quickly made his way to the arena.
"Let's have a clean match, children," Glynda said as she stepped out of the arena.
Ren prepared himself, only to be surprised by having Geal bow to him. Ren bowed as well, and then they both got into their combat stance.
Ren dashed forward, firing the whole way. Geal responded by deftly dodging his shots, and putting one hand on the hilt of his blade. Just as Ren began to circle around Geal to continue firing, the Faunus dashed forward, drawing his blade at blinding speed. Despite having blocked the attack, Ren was still thrown back several paces. The moment the distance was clear, Geal's left hand flashed up, firing the large revolver as fast as he could. Ren took several direct hits, dropping his aura into the yellow, but he still managed to leap up and out of the way of two of the shots.
Geal sheathed his blade then quickly reloaded his revolver as Ren continued to fire as his leap carried him over his opponent. As Ren dropped down to attack Geal more directly, the wolf slashed up in attempt to throw Ren off his course. Geal wasn't quick enough, and was knocked to the ground as Ren landed several rapid drop-kicks on the Faunus. Once he had the advantage, Ren fired into Geal several times, dropping the Faunus' aura into the yellow.
Geal fixed Ren with a glare, spun out from under his attacker, and slashed several times with his blade. Surprised, Ren leapt out of the way, while Geal spun to keep his eyes on his opponent, but spun the wrong way, leaving him open to another slash from Ren. Ren saw the opportunity, and dashed forward, but Geal was expecting the attack.
As Ren dashed into range, Geal moved into his opponent, and smacked Ren upside the head with the butt of his gun. As Ren stumbled back in shock, Geal fired into his opponent as quickly as he could, managing to land all six shots dead center. Just as Ren was recovering, Geal drew his blade again, landing his strike with full force, and knocking Ren's aura into the red.
"The match is over," Glynda announced, "Well done you two."
Geal helped Ren back to his feet, and bowed to the other boy once again. Ren bowed back, and they both took their seats.
"Wow Ren, he took you down," Norah said, "You ok?"
"He adapts to his opponents fighting style very quickly," Ren observed, "I look forward to seeing him fight in the future."
"That was great Geal," Ruby said as the Faunus boy sat down near her, "Your fighting style seems a bit predictable though."
"What do you mean?" Geal asked.
"Well," Ruby said as she recalled the fight, "You did your blade quick-draw thing as an opener and a finisher; and whenever you managed to get some range on your enemy, you just shot at him."
"Well," Geal said with a huff, "I didn't want to give away everything I can do just yet. Besides, I usually try not fight my enemies on even ground like this."
"Enemies?" Yang asked, moving a bit closer to the Faunus.
"Grimm, bad guys, that sort of thing," Geal said as he focused on the next match, ignoring the strange looks he got from the rest of Team RWBY.
"So," Geal said the next morning, observing the other three people in the bunk room, "The team is all together now."
"Yes, and I think we're gonna be good friends!" The blue haired girl responded, hefting a blue and red painted keytar onto her back. She was clad in dark blue cargo pants, a matching button up shirt, and a cream-colored leather jacket.
"Sure, go team," The green haired deer Faunus said as he finished unpacking a large beige duffle bag. He wore khakis, a green shirt, and a mixture of oak brown leather armor.
"Hmm," The tall, tan, dark-haired boy responded. He wore a black shirt, black pants, and was currently donning heavy silver plate armor trimmed in gold.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves?" The girl exclaimed, "My name is Nilima Cadence, and I love music. How about you?" Nilima asked, pointing to the deer Faunus.
"I'm Grün Gestirn," The green haired Faunus stated, "I'm a stag Faunus. I like the outdoors, I hunt occasionally, and I have a little sister attending Signal. That's why I came here from Sanctum."
"I'm Valens Argyros," The black haired, heavily armored human stated, "I'm coming in from Sanctum as well. I mostly train and study."
"Geal Faol." The wolf Faunus stated, as he changed out of his uniform and into his combat gear; which consists of olive drab cargo pants, a grey undershirt, and brown duster, "I grew up in the wilds. I mostly train and study as well, but I do a bit of hunting occasionally."
"Cool," Nilima said with a big smile, "So, what do you guys think of Vale so far?" The group gave a collective shrug, "Jeez, you guys are boring. I'll fix that!" She said as she swung her keytar down from her back and began to play an upbeat, and loud, tune.
"She's not wrong," Grün said just loud enough to be heard above the music.
"Alright guys, are you ready to do this thing?" Nilima yelled, holding Forte, her keytar, high as their team made their way to the proving grounds.
"What is it we're doing?" Valens asked as they arrived at the edge of a cliff, "Cause there's just some launch pads here."
"Good morning children," Professor Ozpin said as he walked up to them, Glynda in tow, "Now, I'm sure you've heard a bit about our initiation from the other teams. Let me assure you that this will be similar to what you've heard."
"The objective is to retrieve two relics from the temple ruins in the forest, and deliver them to the bastion," Glynda explained, pointing out over the trees to a greyish area in the mist, "Finding those areas will be up to you."
"Take your positions," Ozpin said, and the four students took their positions on the various launch pads, "Good luck." With that, the students were launched one-by-one into the forest.
As he fell, Geal fired all six shots with his revolver, spun, drew his blade, and caught the edge of a tree with it. Luckily, he managed to use that to lose momentum, but lost his blade somewhere behind him. He howled and grabbed the next tree with his claws, spinning down it and finally stopping his fall. He looked back up to where Tsume, his blade, was, and groaned when he realized it was easily another 10 meters above him.
Meanwhile, Valens crashed through three trees with his shield before finally whipping his falchion out and catching it solidly in a tree. He flipped up onto a large branch, saw Geal crash unceremoniously into the trees, and grumbled as he moved in the direction of his would-be teammate.
Nilima laughed as she played Forte most of the way down, then suddenly, with a blast of sound, slowed herself dramatically, and slowed to a stop using the blade of her weapon on a tree. Once on the ground, she whistled as she played a little tune on her keytar, and set off in search of her other teammates.
Grün flipped his staff around into a bow, knocked a grappling arrow, and fired. Once secured, he used it to spin around down a tree. Without stopping, he hit the ground running, disappearing amongst the pines as he went in search of his allies.
Geal had managed to shoot Tsume down with Unari, and sheathe the blade. He kept Unari drawn as he moved carefully through the thick forest, sticking to the shadows, and sniffing the air for any signs of Grimm. He heard, more than smelled, Valens approaching, but he also heard something else moving towards Valens. He immediately decided to circle around his teammate, and ambush the would-be-ambusher.
Valens heard, at the last second, the Beowulf move towards him, and he spun to catch the initial strike on his shield. The large claw rocked him as he caught it on his shield, and looked up past his shield at the massive Beowulf. He gulped as he realized he had probably bitten off more than he could chew. Valens rolled backwards, narrowly avoided the next strike, flipped his falchion into a shotgun, and fired twice into the Beowulf. The enraged creature roared, and charged. Valens steeled himself and sprinted into a charge as well. Just as they met, Valens focused all his aura into himself, and two shining silver copies of him appeared on either side of him. In combination, Valens and his two clones, managed to stop the Beowulf cold.
Just as Valens' clones were about to falter, there was a flash of white, and the Beowulf collapsed onto its stomach. Valens grunted and pushed the limp monster off his shield. Geal was standing on the back of its neck, his blade stuck deep into the base of the beast's skull.
"Nice semblance," Geal observed as he pulled Tsume free, "Your tactics need work though."
"I had that under control," Valens snapped back, "Have you seen the others?"
"Of course you did," Geal said, annoying Valens even more, "And if I had found them, wouldn't they be here?"
"Alright," Valens grumbled as he stormed off into the woods, "Let's just go."
"You're too loud," Geal said as he moved quietly alongside his partner, "Try moving more quietly."
"Stealth is just another word for slow, and we need to regroup now," Valens said, not bothering to look at the wolf as he spoke.
"Regrouping won't matter if you attract the attention of every Grimm for miles," Geal said, shooting the shield-bearer a nasty look, "Or would you rather I leave you here to deal with them?"
"Can we just go?" Valens asked with a snort.
Meanwhile, Grün stalked carefully through the trees, approaching a large clearing where he thought he'd heard music. He stopped at the edge of the clearing, and sighed as he saw Nilima standing on a large rock, playing her keytar, with a dozen dissolving Grimm scattered around her.
"Ya know," Grün yelled over her music as he approached her, "You're gonna draw every Grimm in the forest by doing that!"
Nilima laughed as she finished her chord, and hopped down off her rock.
"Well, they'd better be tougher than this lot," She said, emphasizing her point with a stern kick to one of the Grimm, "So, where do ya think we should go?"
"One second," Grün said as he sniffed the air, and then pointed off in one direction, "We're downwind of them, I can smell Valens from here."
"Yeah, his dude-perfume is strong," Nilima joked as she swung Forte back behind her, "So, that Geal is kinda weird huh?"
"He's not a normal Faunus," Grün stated as he carefully navigated his way towards the scent, "His scent is different than other canine or lupine Faunus I've met, and there's something else. He carries himself differently than most people we know."
"What do you mean?" Nilima asked idly as they walked.
"Well, have you noticed that he never enters or leaves a room first or last?" Grün mentioned as he picked up the scent of a Grimm, and navigated around it.
"Huh," Nilima thought for a second, "I guess he does do that."
"So, I'm guessing you didn't notice that his eyes never stop moving, like he's always on alert," Grün smelled the Grimm scent grow stronger, "Or that he doesn't always sleep in our dorm at night?"
"Really? He sleeps on the roof?" Nilima asked, as she heard something crash in the distance and readied Forte.
"No," Grün said as he flipped his staff into a bow, "I think he sleeps outside somewhere. We have maybe thirty seconds before those Ursa get here."
"How many?" Nilima asked casually, playing a few keys idly.
"Three if I had to guess," Grün said as the trees ahead of them shook, "Good sized."
"Meh," Nilima said with a shrug as three large Ursa came through the trees at them, "Fought bigger."
"Is she throwing a concert?" Geal asked himself as he heard the music begin from almost a mile away.
"And you were worried I was making too much noise," Valens said with a wry chuckle.
"Quit whining, you're not much quieter," Geal said before dashing off towards the noise, a prickly Valens following close behind him.
"I…don't know what to say," Grün said, as the last of the Ursa stumbled off into the forest in confusion from the devastating sound waves it had taken.
"Yeah, I admit I got a bit artsy with that last verse," Nilima said as another of the dying Ursa exploded, "But all in all I think it worked."
"No, I mean, they never even got within thirty feet of us!" Grün exclaimed as the last Ursa stopped twitching, "I only got two shots off!"
"Keep up dude," Nilima said with a big grin, "So, ya think Geal and Valens can find us now?"
"I think people in Atlas could find us with a reasonable degree of error right now," Grün said with a chuckle, "Was that your plan all along?"
"Duh," Nilima said, "Geal is all sneaky, and I bet Valens just charged off into the forest."
"Huh, good point," Grün said as he smelled Valens and Geal approach them.
Geal came out of the brush first, "Nilima, that was a bit much don't you think?" The wolf asked.
"Nah, it was just right," The blue haired girl said with a bright grin as Valens stumbled into the group as well.
"Well, we need to keep it tight and quiet from here on out, because the Grimm around here are undoubtedly alert now," Geal pointed out.
"Exactly, so here's what we need to do," Valens said, starting to form a plan, "We need to split into two groups; Nilima and I will go northwest, while you two go northeast, that way we can find the ruins and relics much quicker."
"No," Geal stated, getting a glare from Valens, "You and Nilima would quickly get lost in this terrain, whereas Grün and I can navigate it without difficulty. We need to stay together, with maybe one person scouting ahead."
"I'll take the front then," Grün offered, "I'll make two bird-calls for danger, one for clear, three if I spot the ruins."
"Good," Geal said with a nod, "In which case I'll be vanguard, Nilima your center. Please don't bust out the music unless it hits the fan."
"Got it." Nilima said with a nod.
"Valens, rear-guard," Geal said, then turned to go.
"Who made you team leader?" Valens asked as Grün moved off into the trees, "I don't remember taking a vote."
"I'm leading because I can get you out of this forest alive," Geal snarled, "That equation can change."
"Fine," Valens growled back, "But as soon as we're out of this forest, I'm looking for a new team."
"What'd I do?" Nilima asked sadly.
"I just don't want to be on a team with this jerk," Valens grumbled, pointing ahead to Geal, "You're ok though."
"So glad I rated an 'ok'," Nilima said sarcastically as they moved off into the woods.
Several minutes later there were three bird calls, a long pause, and then two more.
"Alright, prepare for combat," Geal said, "Nilima, if it's anything bigger than an Ursa, feel free to do what you do."
"Woo!" Nilima said, "I hope they're ready for some Klein!"
"Eww," Geal said, shaking his head in disgust.
"No, gross! Klein was a classical composer from the early industrial era," Nilima clarified.
"Oh," Geal said, still somewhat confused, "Just get ready."
"Yeah, got it," Nilima said as Valens brooded a bit more.
They carefully moved through the brush, and spotted Grün who motioned for Geal to move up. The wolf moved silently forward, and groaned inwardly as he spotted the Death Stalker. After studying the scene a few seconds longer, he and Grün silently moved back to the other two.
"There's a Death Stalker," Geal stated, earning a groan from the other two who hadn't yet seen the creature, "They aren't invincible, so we can still do this. Besides, all we need are the relics it's guarding, Grün and I can dash in there and grab them, then all we have to do is lose the thing in the forest on our way to the bastion."
"Why don't we just kill it?" Nilima asked.
"That's easier said than done," Grün said, "Based on what I've learned, a Death Stalkers armor is nearly impregnable to anything short of heavy artillery."
"Gotcha covered," Nilima said with a grin, hefting her weapon, "Forte and I are all the artillery you need."
"I dunno," Geal said, sniffing her a couple times, "Isn't your aura a bit low after dealing with those Ursa?"
"Now that you mention it, I am getting a bit tired," Nilima said with a yawn, "Maybe the artillery needs a nap."
"No time," Geal said with a shake of his head, "Is there any way you can use your semblance to aid us without exhausting yourself?"
"Well, I suppose I could like, make you guys faster or something," Nilima said thoughtfully.
"Good, do that if possible," Geal said, then looked to Valens, "Do you think that you and Nil can distract it while we nab those artifacts?"
"Yeah," Valens grumbled as he hefted his shield and falchion.
"Grün," Geal said, pointing to the deer Faunus, "Help me grab one of the artifacts, then try to nail that thing in the eyes," Grün nodded in acknowledgement, "Ready?" Geal asked his team, and they all nodded.
Valens and Nilima dashed out of the forest and into the clearing, immediately attracting the attention of the Death Stalker. While they did that, Grün and Geal snuck around behind the beast, and searched for the artifacts. Valens deflected the initial stinger strike from the Death Stalker with his shield, and then managed to parry the beast's claw swipe with his falchion. Valens slashed at the Stalkers pincer to keep the large creature off balance, but unfortunately, he only managed to piss off the Grimm. He focused, and created two of his defender clones just in time to block the Stalkers next strike. Just as Valens was beginning to struggle with dealing with the Stalker, he heard a loud blast of music from behind him, and felt invigorated.
Meanwhile, the other two found the artifacts; two small statues of heroes past which stowed away easily into their packs. Geal glanced back at the Death Stalker, noting that Valens and Nilima were doing a good job of holding off the beast.
"They can't keep that up for long," Grün stated, "What's the plan?"
Geal took in the situation, briefly entertained the idea of leaving Valens behind, and then put something together.
"Weak points are the eyes and the stinger," Geal stated, drawing his weapons, "You hit the eyes, I'll handle the stinger. Once it's blinded, we get the hell out of here."
Grün nodded as Geal dashed forward, leapt up, and caught hold of the monster's tail. At the same time, Grün leapt past Geal, firing two shots from his bow down into the Grimm's eyes, causing it to flail, and giving Valens some much needed breathing room. Geal hacked away at the stinger with his blade, but was having a hard time being effective while it was thrashing around. Grün managed to blind a couple more of its eyes, and then pull away from the beast with Valens. Just as Geal started making progress, the Stalker threw its tail forward, throwing the wolf off. Geal growled, spun, fired three shots at the spot he'd been hacking at, and managed to hit all three times, causing the stinger to detach and fall uselessly to the ground.
Geal barked "Move!" And they were off.
"It's still back there!" Grün yelled as he caught up to the other three students, who were still moving at break-neck speed towards the stone bastion rising above the trees ahead of them.
"It won't stop, let's just kill it!" Valens shouted.
"We get to the bastion and we won't need to kill it," Geal insisted, "We attack something like that head on and chances are someone dies."
"Team JNPR did it!" Valens countered.
"Do you see them anywhere?" Geal asked, "Without Nilima at maximum effectiveness we don't have a powerhouse to pull it off."
"He's right," Nilima added, "Escaping would be less risky."
They skidded to a stop before the chasm separating them from what was left of the bastion. There was no bridge to the grey structure rising from the mist below, and they all turned to face the inevitable. They could still hear the Death Stalker crashing through the forest towards them, but it hadn't broken the tree-line yet.
"New plan," Geal stated.
"Run more?" Valens asked sarcastically, "I'm getting real sick of your plans."
"You'll like this one," Geal said.
Just as the Death Stalker cleared the tree line, the group had gotten into position. Grün and Geal fired everything they could, causing the Death Stalker to charge them at full speed. Just as it was about to close to melee range, they jumped over it, revealing Valens and Nilima. Both dropped to the ground just as it crashed over them, and Nilima blasted it with a powerful wave of sound just as it was about to finish passing over them. The beast was unable to quickly stop its charge due to the force of being thrown towards the edge of the cliff by the sound wave. The moment he found his feet, Valens charged the beasts back. As he connected with the beast, Valens activated his semblance, tripling the force of his charge, and sending the monster the last few meters over the edge.
Valens went wide eyed as he realized he'd hit it too hard, and was about to go over the edge himself. He spun, trying desperately to grab the edge, to no avail, and began to drop. In a white flash, Geal dashed forward, down the side of the cliff, and grabbed Valens outstretched hand just as he stuck his blade into the cliff face. They screeched to a halt, and Geal looked down at Valens, who nodded. Valens put his shield back with one hand, drew his shotgun, and fired several times, giving him just enough of a boost for Geal to throw him back up to the top. Geal ascended quickly using his claws, and the group reassembled.
"Be honest," Valens said breathlessly, "You planned that."
"Not at all," Geal stated with a shake of his head, "If I'd known you would go over, I would've let Grün save you."
"Speaking of which," Grün said, firing a rope line across to the bastion, "I hope no one is afraid of heights."
"Well done," Ozpin said as the team assembled in his office, "I'm sorry we aren't having an official ceremony, but these are unusual circumstances," He smiled at the assembled students, all of whom were beaming with pride, "Henceforth, you shall be known as Team FANG, led by Geal Faol," He smiled, "Congratulations."
"Thank you, sir." The team said in unison.
"Now," Ozpin said, taking his seat, "If you wish to be approved for the Vytal festival, please speak with Mrs. Goodwitch."
"Now then children," Glynda said, stepping purposefully in front of the newly minted team, "You have a lot of work to do."
Notes
Tea G: Faol Argyros Nilima Grün
Weapons
Unari & Tsume: Unari & Tsume: Geal's primary weapon is Unari, a powerful revolver left to him by his father Nahas. It is extremely rugged, difficult to damage, and can channel his aura/semblance into energy shots. Geal has added a straight edged tanto-style long-blade his arsenal, Tsume, which can fold down into a wakazashi if necessary. If the two weapons are paired up, they become a rifle.
Ineptus & Aegis: Valen's falchion and shield. Ineptus can transform into a high-powered, short ranged, shotgun. Aegis is a large, Spartan-style shield that can deploy a razor edge. It can also be fired from the user's arm, and is attached by razor wire to Valen's arm.
Forte: Nilima Cadence's keytar weapon, it is bladed on one side, and can transform into a heavy machine gun, flamethrower, or mini-rocket launcher. Its main purpose is to channel Nilima's semblance, which it does extremely well. This allows her to do anything from empower her allies, harm her enemies, change the weather, and much more!
Vormund: Grün's quarterstaff, which can be transformed into a bow, handed down from his father. The bow can fire normal arrows, or energy coated arrows using Grün's aura. With the energy arrows, Grün can use his semblance to control the attack or manipulate kinetic energy around the arrow.
A/N: This is the rewrite/updated version of this chapter. Mostly because I wasn't in love with the first version I posted. If you like it, please favorite it and leave a comment. If you didn't like it, comment anyways please. Thanks for reading.