Ember had been directed to the ledge of a cliff along with all the other first years. Beyond the cliff was a steep drop off into the forest below. From this height all the trees molded together into a single rough of green tops. Ember could see a few clearings amongst the trees but not what was hidden within those clearings.
Looking down the row of students he saw dozens of others. All of whom looked awesome either by their armor or their weapons. He'd heard rumors that they'd be getting teams today. He didn't know how the teams would be selected, but he knew who he wanted on his team. He'd seen the legendary Pyrrha Nikos among the students and knew if he wanted to be one of the top teams he'd have to be on her team. There was also the girl who'd skipped a year or two, and he was interested in seeing her skill.
It all felt surreal to Ember. He'd trained his whole life to get here. His right hand began to tap away on the handle of his rapier which hung loosely on his hip. This happened when he was excited and people constantly mistook it for anxiety. He had no reason to be worried with his weapons so close. His rapier and pistol, respectively named "Patience and Rage," had helped him get to this point and would easily get him past this point. They'd gotten him through enough close spots to comfort him.
Ember had brought his favorite combat gear to the academy. It was a grey under shirt with loose black pants. Over that he wore a red coat trimmed with white that ended just above his knees. The sleeves were short, ending above the elbow. He belted the coat at the waist to avoid it from flowing away too much. He wrapped his hands in gray wrappings up past his elbows. He wore golden, heavy duty boots. His left arm had a spring contraption which extended Patience into his hand and could retract at a moment's notice. On his belt rested the sheath for Rage.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin began.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today," Glynda added.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin continued. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
A girl down the line of students said, "See? I told you…"
"After you've partnered up," Ozpin said over the girl, "make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, um, sir?" A boy said, raising his hand.
"Good!" Ozpin ignored. "Now, take your positions."
Almost immediately the platform beneath Ember launched him into the sky. He soared up, far beyond the reach of the forest below. Behind him he heard the other students getting launched. There were cries of glee and terror as the reality of the first test hit them. Ember was along the lines of the latter, but he wasn't screaming; his fear was silent. Falling was something of which he wasn't too fond. He'd have to use his semblance to land.
He saw the ground rushing towards him. He took a deep breath and allowed his energy to flow all throughout his body. He felt detached from himself as it kicked in. Unfurling along his back were his wings of pure flame. They reached out twice as far as his arms and gleamed with a fiery golden brilliance. He fell past the top of the tallest trees, waiting to beat his wings. He had them beat once, licking the surrounding forest. The wings were strong enough to slow Ember's descent but not hot enough to burn anything around him. His feet touched down and he fell to his knees; control like that was exhausting.
He allowed himself a short breather before getting up. He began to jog through the forest with Rage drawn in his right hand and Patience in his left. It wasn't long before he heard some bushes nearby begin to rustle. He readied his Rapier and angled it towards the noise. It wasn't a Grimm though.
From the bushes exited another student. He was about the same height as Ember. He wore blue chest armor, shoulder guards, and forearm guards. He had dark boots with two golden buckles on the outside. Instead of leg armor he had four short knives, two per leg, strapped to his thighs. He wore a purple cloak trimmed in more blue with cowl pulled over his head. He was leveling a rifle at Ember until he realized Ember wasn't Grimm either.
"First person," a male voice said from under the cowl.
Pulling the cowl back revealed a young man's face. He had short brown hair that complimented his brown eyes. He lowered the rifle and extended his left hand to shake. Ember retracted his pistol to shake the guy's hand.
"I'm Yale," the guy said.
"Ember," Ember replied.
"Let's go," Yale said. "It's not safe here; lots of Grimm."
With that the two continued on. They wandered around for a little while before Ember suggested he climb a tree to investigate. Yale agreed and waited for him to return at its base. Ember sheathed Rage and retracted Patience. His hands became a blur of motion as he grabbed tree limbs to pull himself up. He had chosen a tree that rose a few feet higher than the rest, and he looked out at the rest of the forrest. Ember was able to see a clearing in the distance and decided that was probably the best place to look for the relic.
They made it to the clearing without incident and saw some ruins forming a semi-circle. The ruins had short pillars with chess pieces on them. Ember moved forward towards the pillars and looked over the pieces. Only one had been taken so far, and it was one of the white queens. Distant gunfire told him that he and Yale would get company soon enough.
"Which should we take?" Ember asked.
"Black King," Yale said.
"Any particular reason?"
"You read X-Ray and Vav?" Yale asked.
"What, you want us to be the Mad King?"
"Exactly, he's my favorite."
"Eh, Hilda's cooler."
The two grabbed the Black King piece as they debated the merits of their favorite character. They then turned and re-entered the forest. It was about another ten minutes before they heard some rustling in the forest. This time it was another team that emerged from the bushes. It was two big burly and heavily armored figures. The one on the left carried a massive LMG and the one on the right held a shotgun with a chainsaw incorporated into its body.
The one on the right had on full plate armor, shoulder guards, bracers, knee guards, and boots. His armor was gray with interruptions of black undershirt and pants. It made Ember think of the Atlas Tech robots in appearance, but the color scheme was just different enough to feel unique. His hair was short, messy black. His brown eyes looked over Yale and Ember. He slackened his hold on the shotgun and let it drop to his side.
The other armored figure made his buddy look under armored. He was just as armored as his buddy if not slightly more so and his armor was noticeably thicker. It was a reflective gold color trimmed in white. The face was hidden behind a helmet that appeared to have no visor or means to look out. The head still shifted between Ember and Yale, but unlike their buddy they didn't ease up as much.
"Hey," the guy without a helmet said. "Are the pieces that way?"
"Yeah," Ember replied.
"Cool, thanks," he said.
The person in the helmet nodded and the two teams separated. Ember and Yale continued back to the starting zone. Ember was getting antsy, he wanted to fight. He felt like their score wouldn't be too high if they didn't display their skills. However things just weren't happening. For a forest filled with Grimm it seemed surprisingly empty.
A tree in the distance suddenly caught fire and it was followed by howls of Grimm. The two guys readied their weapons but kept moving. It wasn't long before they were cut off by a pack of Beowolves. Ember counted six initially, but more kept joining. In the confines of the forest the Ember believed he and Yale would be on even footing as the wolves. However, they held superior number which could turn against them really fast.
"More behind us," Yale said.
He was right. Another four had appeared behind them. That made it ten on two, but those odds were still relatively simple. After all, it was only Beowolves.
"I got forward," Ember said.
"I'll take back I guess," Yale affirmed.
With that the two dashed off to their respective fights. Ember covered the distance to the nearest Beowolf in two strides. He thrust his Rapier into the wolf in an instant; he hit the wolf right in the heart. He withdrew and parried the slash the wolf to his left. Crossing his left arm across his chest Ember angled his pistol at incoming wolves. Without looking he fired in the direction of the wolves. Two bullets hit two Beowolves in the head and the third bullet glanced off the third. Ember spun, angling his Rapier to intercept the next slash of the survivor, and he aimed down the sights of his pistol. This shot landed between the eyes of his target.
Ember wasted no time on these victories. He dropped into a deep squat just as a wolf swung where his head used to be. He launched himself into the air attempting a backflip. While air born he fired his pistol at the nearest two wolves that had yet to engage and got both of them in the head. The final wolf was beneath him and leapt after Ember, but he intercepted this wolf with his Rapier, stabbing the wolf right in the heart.
Thirteen seconds had passed. Ember had fired six of the nine shots in his pistol. He looked over to Yale and saw him standing over four dead Beowolves reloading his rifle. Yale nodded that everything was clear. Ember decided to reload his pistol since they had a moment. Yale walked up Ember, looking over the dissolving Grimm corpses.
Gesturing to the bodies, "Nice. Nice, nice."
"Not bad yourself," Ember complimented.
With another small exchange they continued on. They reached the ruins that would take them up to the cliff side. It was an open filed lined with ruins on either side. Beyond that was a narrow bridge leading to a tower. The tower connected to a bridge that leads to the top of the cliff side. Waiting for them in the open area was a pack of Ursa, all of whom looked like they were searching for something. Ember guessed some students had given them the slip here. Ember and Yale paused at the edge of the clearing of the ruins. They were both surveying their options.
"Stealth?" Ember offered.
"I don't think so," Yale replied. "I'm good at sneaking, but… not without cover."
"There's at least twelve Ursa down there," Ember observed. "Not sure about open fight…"
"That's too many for me."
"Same."
"What if you had help?" a voice said behind them.
Yale and Ember turned to see the two armored guys from before. They were both raising their hands as though to wave to show they came in peace.
"You guys strong?" Ember asked.
"Yeah," the one with the helmet said. "Probably stronger than you."
"Mkay," Ember said. He took one last look at the clearing before asking, "Ranged or Close?"
"What?" the guy with black hair asked.
"Actually, first," Ember changed topics, "Names? I'm Ember."
"Yale," Yale said.
"Nick," the helmetless guy said.
"Brass," the guy with the helmet said.
"Nick, you fight close quarters I assume?" Ember asked.
"It's a shotgun and a chainsaw," he replied.
"12 shot?" Ember clarified.
"Yea."
"Brass," Ember shifted, "Close quarters?"
"Mostly," he said, "My Striker can become an Axe if things get too close."
"We don't have to fight them all," Ember decided. "We'll create a four man diamond formation. Yale, you lead and force the Ursa to the sides with your rifle. Brass, Nick, you two will cover the sides and keep the Ursa at a distance. If they get too close you'll be best equipped to handle them. I'll cover us with my pistol. It won't be much against those furs, but it'll slow the chase. Understood?"
"Yea," Nick said.
"Mhm," Brass acknowledged.
"Alright," Yale said.
The four of them began their run across the field. Yale didn't fire until one of the Ursa between them and the tower ruins noticed them. Then he let loose and killed the Ursa with what had to be half his clip. The ones on the side began to flank the formation, but Brass and Nick held them at bay. When the Ursa fell behind the formation, Ember shot at their unarmored joints which slowed them enough for his purposes. They reached the bridge having killed two of the Ursa and the rest chasing them.
The students dashed across the bridge and the Ursa hesitated to follow. Once one began to cross the other Ursa followed. Things turned for the worse as they were about to enter the tower. A King Taijitu slithered its way out and blocked the door. Its other head slithered out a window and bared its fangs at Yale. The formation stopped abruptly.
"Down!" Brass ordered.
The group dropped as Brass swung his Axe overhead. In a single swing he cut one of the heads off the Taijitu. The other head took this moment to strike, but Nick fired his shotgun from the ground. It knocked the attack off its mark and the Taijitu struck near the bridge. Ember prepped his Rapier and thrust through the eye of the Taijitu as it tried to slither back to attack. The body hung limp in the door and window, but it blocked their escape from the Ursa who were advancing across the bridge.
"Brass! Clear the snake," Ember ordered.
"Ok," he replied.
"Yale! Nick! Suppressing fire," Ember ordered.
Ember and Nick began to fire their guns at the advancing Ursa. It wasn't doing enough as their combined fire only killed one of the Ursa too close to their position. Brass had cut the half of the Taijitu in the window which sent it spiraling down into the chasm bellow. He was now pulling the other end out of the tower.
"Back up," Yale said.
Ember and Nick backed away as Yale stepped in front of them. The hair on the back of their necks was on end. Yale had his hands clasped together, and when he separated them lightning arced along them. It danced between his fingertips. Each finger emanated a blue pulse that arced ever so slightly from the main current. He then directed the lightning at the Ursa. The lightning arced from one Ursa to the next, sending the volts through all the Ursa on the bridge. Only the two at the far end remained unharmed by the power.
Yale eventually released the power after about ten seconds and fell to a knee. Nick made sure he didn't fall of the bridge. The Ursa hit weren't so lucky, as their either dead or paralyzed bodies tumbled off the edge of the bridge into the chasm. The surviving Ursa cut their losses and retreated. Brass had finished clearing away the blockade and the four of them continued up the tower.
Waiting for them at the cliff side was another team of two, Glynda, and Ozpin. To the side were some medics who were currently doing nothing as the students present weren't injured. Ozpin smirked when he caught the four of them looking at him. The four of them went further away from the ledge before taking a seat to rest.
"Ember Ohgi, Yale Klevy, Brass Stark, Nickel Gelum," Ozpin said.
It was the ceremony for all those who'd passed the first test. All the students were being put into their team based on which piece they'd retrieved during the exam. Yale found it weird that Ozpin had put such an emphasis on ability to work together but then made teams nearly at random. He could've had it worse though; after the fight against the Ursa and Taijitu he knew this team wasn't useless.
"You four retrieved the Black King pieces," Ozpin continued. "From this day forward, you will be known as Team EBNY. Led by… Ember Ohgi."
Yale didn't mind not being leader. He wasn't keen on leading, but he had always found himself making decisions. In fact, he was sort of glad he wasn't the leader of the team. He just hoped the planning Ember had shown during the test wasn't out of the ordinary for him. Another team was beign called up in the background as Team EBNY went off stage.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie," Ozpin announced. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by… Jaune Arc."
Yale, as well as the rest of the audience, seemed surprised at this announcement. The legendary Pyrrha Nikos was not team leader. Instead it was someone he'd never heard of. This Jaune kid must have incredible skill if he was picked over Pyrrha.