In collaboration with my good friend, editor and now assistant in dialogue, CushionySiren3, I have began work on the following story. This story takes place at the same time as the plot in RWBY, however, it will solely focus on the escapades of Team TEAL. There may be interaction with JNPR and RWBY, but the plot shall surround TEAL. I will provide pronunciations and explanations at the end of this chapter as well. I do not own RWBY. RWBY is the creation of Monty Oum in partnership with Rooster Teeth.

This is some bullshit… He thought as the Death Stalker bore down on him.

And to think this was only his first real test here at Beacon. Launched into the Emerald Forest with next to no instruction, other than to find a relic and that the first person you saw was your partner. Neither of which he had accomplished so far after his crash landing through the tree line. He had many powerful skills, he did get in to Beacon after all… but flight definitely wasn't something he was accustomed to. Still, he survived the fall… He was still alive. He still had that going for him, which was nice. And then there just had to be a Death Stalker. Although, technically, he kind of bore down on it in the first place, but seeing as it was several times larger than him, he considered the odds shifted more toward its favor.

The deathly creature made to impale the young hunter-to-be with its menacing stinger, but he quickly rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. Before he could retaliate, however, the Grimm sent him flying with a swing from one of its pincers. Skidding to a halt and back on two legs, he quickly assessed his tactical situation. He knew dealing with it at close range was probably a good a way to get him killed, seeing as it had armored pincers and a poison-tipped tail. Open ground and a ranged assault would have to be the way to go. Using his semblance to quickly dart through the thick brush, he searched for a suitable battlefield, cautiously aware of the hulking behemoth in pursuit of him. As he reached a large clearing, he paused and reached for his weapon of choice, a dust-infused kunai. He had worked tirelessly for months to perfect his weapons resulting in, in his opinion, the perfect weapons for both ranged and hand-to-hand combat. This one in particular was fire infused. He was going to enjoy this part.

*WHAM!* He was sent flying by another blow from the Death Stalker from behind as it entered the clearing.

"Son of a biiiiitch!" The sound trailed off as yet another hunter in training trudged through the brush. He turned toward the obviously distraught voice and silently made his way toward it.

As the young man approached the edge of the clearing he crouched among the foliage, arriving just in time to see another young man land with a loud thud. It was then too, that he saw the Death Stalker enter the clearing as well and bare down on its target. Before either could spot him, he used his semblance to cloak himself. He was going to watch this play out.

The young hunter staggered to his feet after his impact with the not-so-soft ground. In retaliation he quickly threw his kunai at the beast. The bladed weapon made contact with the thick armor of the Death Stalker's back before ricocheting off and impaling itself in a nearby tree. The tree quickly burst into flames, seemingly from the inside out.

"Oops…" The young man muttered to himself as his attention turned back to his assailant. Perhaps fire in a forest full of kindling was a bad idea.

The second young man was prepared to intervene before seeing the other regain his composure and retrieve yet another blade.

Best to avoid conflict if possible… He thought to himself.

"Best to pick my target more carefully." The other said aloud to himself.

Seeing as fire was clearly a poor choice on his part, his next kunai was ice infused. But seeing as the creature's thick armor protected it nearly all around, he would have to be careful where to strike, so as to put it down for good and not just piss it off and give it the cold shoulder. He just barely dodged a strike from its stinger before he decided on his target. Much like the innocent tree he sent up in flames, this target would have to be defeated from the inside out. Its armor was too thick to be pierced by his blade, but its own deadly weapon revealed its flaw. If it was anything like a typical scorpion, then its final tail segment was hollow and contained its venom glands. If he could precisely pierce the Death Stalker's barbed tail, then his kunai's effect could carry on through its tail and its body with ease… hypothetically.

"This had better work!" He shouted aloud as he ducked below a swing from the beast's pincer.

As he leaped over another one of the beast's attempts to topple him, he took aim and threw his weapon. He had just enough time to witness the blade hit and stick into the Death Stalker's menacing stinger before he tucked and rolled to soften his landing. Before he could use his semblance to quickly retreat to the far edge of the clearing, he was knocked to the ground by the returning motion of the Death Stalker's pincer strike. The Grimm made to pierce his body with its tail and for a brief second, both the combatant and the young hunter in hiding thought it was all over.

"Aw crap!" He shouted as he winced in anticipation and the other leapt to his feet to intervene.

Just before either could occur, the Grimm's tail stopped in its place, mere inches from the young hunter. It gave a loud shriek of pain before the red glow in its eyes seemed to cease as well, as its insides gave way to the frozen wave that swept it from the inside.

"Way too close for comfort…" He said to himself with a sigh of relief before carefully crawling away from the stinger and returning to his feet.

"Woohoo, I win!" He exclaimed victoriously, seemingly forgetting the terrifying struggle he had just gone through.

The hidden hunter had to admit, that was a pretty bold plan of attack and although it didn't fit into his preferred stealthier approach, it obviously worked. He had entered just barely into the open ground and was about to introduce himself before being interrupted.

"And just where the hell were you?!" The voice echoed across the clearing, clearly directed at him.

"Uh… me?" The young man made his way toward his victorious counterpart.

"Yes, you! I could've died." He answered in frustration.

"Eh… but you didn't." He shrugged in reply.

"Well, I can't entirely say it's nice to meet you. The name's Ty, Ty Midori." The kunai-wielding hunter shook hands with the other.

"Augustin, Augustin Ombre Noire. But you can call me Austin Noire for short. Sounds more fluid that way." He replied in greeting.

"I guess this means we're partners then?" Ty Midori half-questioned.

"Looks like it. We should probably get going and look for that relic Professor Ozpin told us to locate." Austin Noire answered while trying to gather his bearings.

"Sounds good to me." Ty replied before giving a final glance toward the still Death Stalker.

As the duo made their way through unknown parts of the Emerald Forest, they did their best to become acquainted with each other. Ty Midori hailed from the Vale region so he was not too far from home at Beacon Academy. His father was a member of the Vale Police Force, leading Ty to pursue a similar career path. He had always known he possessed speed far surpassing those of his classmates and he scored highly academically, getting him as far as attendance at Signal Academy. There he had forged his kunai and found himself split between two career paths. When the time he was eligible to apply for the police academy came, he felt the strong influence of his father's footsteps toward law enforcement as well as the influence of his teachers toward the defense of humanity as a hunter. So he applied to Beacon Academy as well, eventually being accepted into both academies. It was then that he made the ultimate decision that protecting human kind as a whole outweighed the enforcement of the laws of man. Because of his semblance, he wore somewhat closely fitting green attire with a tailcoat design at the end, with black and green accented pants. To protect his body and still maintain mobility, he donned light steel armor on his shins, vambraces, and shoulders, as well as a small upper chest plate to protect his heart and lungs. For added style he wore an almost purple cape. Merely for appearance, he added. From what his partner could gather, he seemed rather levelheaded and quick thinking.

Austin Noire seemed respectable, but from what Ty could see he also seemed somewhat socially awkward. He hailed from Vacuo, along a relatively unpopulated region where humanity met the Grimm infested forest's edge. Unlike Ty, he relied on stealth rather than speed to win his fights. Growing up in a dangerous area with little human contact left open-field combat as a poor and often deadly choice. His semblance allowed for him to cloak himself for periods of time, although as he added, frequent use tended to give him migraines. He didn't seem to offer much else toward his background, which Ty felt was best not to pursue any further until he was ready to reveal it himself. His weaponry consisted of a nearly six-foot black and gold bo staff which could be halved and collapsed further into to two baton-like weapons to be carried with ease along his belt. He mentioned something about there being a firearm design within one and a ninjato like design in the other, but he promised to show it to Ty at a later time. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt with loosely fit brown pants and light moccasins. For protection he wore a black and gold tactical vest bearing an emblem of a skull at the center, lightweight metal armor along his wrists, elbows, knees, and shins. Black and gold plated gloves covered his hands. To top off his attire he also wore a black and gold diamond patterned scarf around his neck, as well as a pair of goggles atop his head. He informed his newfound partner that they too had multiple capabilities, in this case to help him see in almost all types of conditions while stealthily stalking his target.

By the time the pair reached an abandoned temple containing what they assumed to be the relics, most of them were already missing. All that remained were two black knights, designed similarly to chess pieces. While somewhat odd that someone would place chess pieces out in the middle of the forest as relics for their initiation, they were glad that it was nearly at an end.

"So which horse do we want, the black one, or the black one?" Austin gestured to both with a comical smirk.

"I don't think it matters, let's just grab one and go." Ty replied, cautiously watching for possible threats.

Before Austin could reach for the relic, however, he quickly stiffened and looked around.

"Something's coming…" He said to his partner with a look of concern, before placing on his goggles and scanning the forest around them.

"Something what?" Ty tried to scan as well, but couldn't see much.

"A lot of something."

"Anything specific?" Ty asked, readying his kunai.

"No. Wait… Yes, two of them are smaller. I think they're being chased." His partner replied.

"We don't stand a chance out here against multiple threats with no backup. We need to conceal ourselves. Ambush is the only option. I'll take as many down as possible and then bring them to you." Ty stated.

"I agree. I'll stand over watch in the trees, while you try to take as many out from amongst the ruins." Austin said before taking off and hiding among the tree line.

Austin sat perched in a tree, ready to call out targets. He knew he would waiver in open ground against so many threats, but stealth and ambush were his specialty. Ty stood in cover amongst the temple ruins and prepared two of his kunai for the targets fast approaching. He could just make out movement in the brush before he was about to take them out. Suddenly, two students burst into the clearing, a dark violet haired girl and a black haired girl with a green streak on one side. Both fair skinned girls seemed in a state of panic and their weapons were stained with blood.

"Ty, here they come!" Austin shouted as loud as he could from his perch.

"Get down!" Ty yelled as loud as he could to warn the huntresses in training.

The pair immediately hit the dirt as two of Ty's kunai soared through where they had stood a mere fraction of a second earlier. A flash of light was seen from just behind the brush followed by two closely placed explosions. The mangled bodies of two Beowolves flew into the clearing, their momentum still leading them before their demise. He managed to fell three more of the wolf-like Grimm as they entered the clearing before shouting for the girls to move. The trio found themselves being quickly surrounded as they did their best to cut down the assault. Ty was forced to turn to hand-to-hand combat with his kunai. The purple haired girl deployed what at first appeared to be a simple battle-axe, until the handle detached, leaving it connected to its blade by a long chain. She used this to swiftly swing her weapon and almost instantly decapitated any Grimm surrounding her. Meanwhile, the black and green haired girl had taken to cutting down her targets with a simple katana. Very soon, though, they realized they were going to be overrun by the pack of Grimm. They could not allow themselves to be entirely cut off from escape.

"Quickly, into the tree line!" Ty shouted and pointed toward the opening between them and the pack of Beowolves.

The trio sprinted as fast as they could toward the trees with their attackers in swift pursuit. They managed to gain precious little distance between themselves and the Grimm before crossing the edge of the clearing.

"Austin, now!" Ty yelled as they passed through.

From his perch above, Austin dropped down silently and unseen by human and Grimm alike with goggles on and his scarf covering his face. From their baton-like state, his weapons transformed. His right hand baton became a semi-automatic handgun with the flick of his wrist, while his left-handed weapon deployed to be his ninjato blade. As his allies passed by and the Grimm approached obliviously, he swiftly cut down the first of the Beowolves at the knee. Half a dozen of the foul creatures fell to the ground past him, their tendons severed and bloody. He raised his right-handed weapon and opened fire on the other assailants, cutting down nearly all in his iron sights. Quickly and one-by-one, the Grimm dropped dead with precisely placed headshots from his .45 caliber handgun. Still moving too fast in pursuit of the trio, nearly a dozen more of the Grimm were gunned down before having a chance to turn in retreat. He ceased firing as the last of the remaining Grimm turned and made for a rapid retreat.

As he revealed himself to both his allies and slain enemy, he turned toward the trio and removed his scarf and goggles. He gave them a cheery smile before sheathing his weapons.

"Well, that sure was something, wasn't it guys?" He asked, still holding the same victorious smile.

"Yeah, sure was something. You sure made quick work of those Beowolves. They didn't even see it coming." Ty replied.

"Thanks for the help there, you two. We didn't stand a chance against so many like that." The black and green haired girl spoke at last.

"My name's Evelyn, Evelyn Emerald." She shook hands with young hunters before passing the introduction off to her friend.

"And I'm Lila Kappel. I for one think we could've handled things on our own, but still, thanks for the assist." The violet haired girl introduced herself with a smirk.

"We should probably save any further introduction for after we're out of this forest, don't you think?" Evelyn asked, gesturing toward the temple ruins.

"Agreed." The other three replied in unison.

Each pair took hold of their own black knight relic, before making their way back.

"Ty Midori, Evelyn Emerald, Augustin Ombre Noire, and Lila Kappel," Professor Ozpin spoke aloud at the ceremony. "The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team TEAL, led by Ty Midori."

The newly formed team turned to each other smiling and expressed their satisfaction over their placement. They had proven themselves against the Grimm and survived their battle. Now they just had to survive living with each other for their duration at Beacon Academy.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year…" Professor Ozpin closed his announcement before allowing the teams to get better acquainted with each other. There were several teams he intended on watching closely, their progression of great interest to him.

Name pronunciations…

*Ty Midori (Tai Mee-dor-ee) - Midori is the english spelling for the Japanese word for "green".

*Augustin Ombre Noire (Aw-guss-teen Om-bray No-are) [Will typically be referred to as Austin Noire] - Ombre Noire is French for "black shadow", with Noire just meaning "black".

*Evelyn Emerald (Ev-uh-linn Emerald) [May be referred to as Eve] - Emerald being a green precious gem.

*Lila Kappel (Lee-la Kuh-pell) - Lila is German for "violet" or "purple" and Kappel is German for "chapel" or "church".

Explanations...

*Well, since I don't have any questions as of now I will review personal messages for questions you may have and will do my best to explain in the following chapter. Please do not ask questions in the reviews. The weapons will be further explained in following chapters and their backgrounds and descriptions will be furthered.

Thanks for the support and reviews! Also, check out my other RWBY fanfic: Crossing Swords. Also, check out CushionySiren3's RWBY fanfic: A Frozen Heart.