A young blond carefully dusted the dirt off of his trousers as he stood and his green eyes scanned the trees around him. The words of Professor Ozpin repeated over and over in his head,
'You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die.' His tone was serious and carried a hint of worry. And being truthful with himself, the young huntsman-in-training was afraid and worried. "Well Danny, no point in waiting around." He said to himself while double checking his weapon was secured to the back of his belt, and heading North towards the relic alter.
After wandering for about two hours he felt his pale skin starting to redden under the bright sun, so he sat under the shade of a large oak. While he relaxed, his green eyes continued to scan for any of the 'opposition' Professor Ozpin had mention. Smiling to himself, he sat his weapon in his lap. To the untrained eye it looked like a thick, single edged short sword. It's yellow gold coloration matched the gauntlet wrapped around his left forearm. As he tightened his hand around the green leather handle, Danny suddenly jumped to his feet as he heard something running towards him. He flicked his left hand and the outside of his gauntlet sprung open to form a semi-circle shaped shield. Carefully he leveled his right arm, the point of his weapon aimed in the direction of coming sound. As his finger tightened around the trigger, he felt the cylinder in the hilt turn and aligned a shell with the barrel along the reverse side of the edge.
Stumbling through the woods, a young, pale, white haired girl ran through the undergrowth. As she suddenly ran into a clearing with a single large oak, she skidded to halt as she saw Danny standing there with his weapon leveled with her face. Panting, she stared down the barrel with a hint of fear in her eyes until he lowered it and clipped it to the back of his belt. "Well it looked like we're partners, Ivory." Danny's calm voice cut the silence surrounding them. As Ivory scoffed in response, she turned and motioned for him to follow.
With a sharp gasp of pain, a short and lithe girl limbed through the woods. Leaning most of her weight on a staff that was taller than she was, she was careful not to trip on any roots of the many trees around her. As her endurance started to grow strain, she put her back to a tree and leaned against it. Her short and shining, almost metallic, gray hair hung around her head like a halo as she rested. Slowly she slide down the tree until she was sitting and she could stretch her legs out.
Finally off of her twisted ankle, she cursed her luck and focused on mending the busted joint. With her focus inwards, she didn't realize someone had approached. Snapping her head up, a large framed lad with jet black hair was kneeling in front of her, his head leveled with hers. "Uh….hi." She said timidly as her gray eyes stared blankly at him.
"Silver, right?" His voice was warm and sincere as he smiled at her and she nodded. "I'm Ebon. Need some help up? Looks like you had a hard landing." He finished with a light chuckle as he held his hand out.
"Thanks, Ebon." Silver responded softly while taking his hand and he pulled her to her feet. She took a few careful steps then halfway turned towards him. "Do you know which way is North, partner?" She asked with a faint smile.
Nodding, Ebon looked towards the Sun, then pointed towards his best guess as North. "Follow me, m'lady." There was an odd silence until Silver's smile widen and she let out a soft giggle. Exhaling, Ebon started to walk with Silver close behind him.
Letting a deep sigh escape his lips, Danny tried to start a conversation with Ivory again. "So where are you from?" His voice was still calm and carried no hint of annoyance at the fact that she had yet to speak a single word.
Stopping suddenly, Ivory quickly turned towards Danny and pushed him away before he could bump into her. "Do you ever shut up?!" She snapped with a scowl while putting both of her hands against his green shirt and pushing him further back. "You're insufferable! I would rather be paired with a Beowulf!" She screamed at him while shoving him again.
Looking at her in shock, Danny was stunned at Ivory's sudden outburst. "She speaks!" He bursted out with a laugh as she slammed one of the black metal cases that she had attached to her hip against a nearby tree. "Why are you so…." He trailed off as they both turned towards the sound of a loud, deep growl.
Slowly a pair of Beowulfs emerged from a thicket of bushes. "Looks like we both get a new partner." Danny commented while readying his weapon. With a flick of his wrist, the blade doubled in length as he raised his shield. Smiling widely, he tapped his sword against the edge of his shield.
As the Beowulfs stepped closers, Ivory's lips slowly grew into a small smile while dropping the pair of black, metal cases she carried attached to her belt. The instant they landed, they sprung back up and extended to form a pair of short, one handed maces. Snatching them from the air, she rushed forwards and met one of the Beowulfs with a powerful kick to the side of the head, sending it crashing to the ground. Before the Grimm could rise to its feet, Ivory brought one of her maces down onto its head.
The moment the pair of Beowulfs charged at them, Danny lost focus of Ivory as she met one mid charge. With the other jumping at him, he stepped forward and dropped to a knee. Getting under the beast, he pushed his shield upwards while jumping back to his feet and tossing the Grimm over himself and onto it's back. Spinning on a heel, his sword shortened as the tip of the blade was pointed at the beast's head as it rolled onto its feet. With a loud and sudden crack, he felt the powerful recoil from his weapon as he sent a shell from his weapon and into the Beaowulf's head. Slowly it slumped to the ground and started to dissolved away while his shield collapsed and he secured his weapon to his belt.
While the two unlikely partners turned to face each other, they shared a smile for a moment as Ivory pushed the heads of her maces against the ground and collapsed. "This doesn't make us friends." She said coldly as her face returned to her natural angry looking expression.
Sighing, Danny shrugged while they started to walk again. Only a step behind Ivory, Danny caught himself looking her over. She was beautiful and carried herself with an air of dignity despite her clothes and skin being covered in dirt and dust. Smiling, he was too caught up in admiring her to notice there was another Beowulf. With the beast already in the air, leaping towards them, Danny was able to put a hand between Ivory's shoulder blades and she was suddenly propelled forward and out of the way of the beast's large claw. It instead met Danny who was easily thrown back into a tree.
After wandering for nearly an hour, Ebon turned towards Silver with a frown. "I think we're lost." He said softly as she stopped a few stepped behind him.
"What do you mean 'lost'?" She asked with a shaky voice as she turned around slowly.
Cocking his head, Ebon turned around as well to see a large Ursa a few dozen feet away from them. Eyeing the Grimm, he grabbed the pair of white metal clubs from his hips as a slim, single edged blade sprung from both to form them into a pair of kamas. Carefully, he aimed the one in his left hand at the Ursa's head while he wrapped a finger around the trigger of the high caliber pistol he had built his weapons from.
"Don't." Silver said while putting her hand on the end of Ebon's raised kama and forcing him to lower it. "You'll only piss it off." She added while slowly shifting into a stance with her hands wrapped around her staff. "Let's soften it up some first." Her voice showed none of the timidness from before.
With a loud roar, the Ursa charged at Ebon and Silver. Chuckling, Ebon was the first to move. He stepped forward and caught the beast's powerful claw with his kamas. As the Ursa readied to swipe at him with its other claw, Silver took a step and swung her staff to deflect the massive claw. Growling, the Ursa headbutted Ebon back but was met with a round from each of his kamas as he stumbled backwards.
Howling in pain, the beast swung wildly at Silver, who seemed to disappear in a blur of motion as she gracefully deflected each swipe. Dancing between the beast's claws, she suddenly slide between its hind legs while her staff separated into a two dozen links. With a hand wrapped around one end of the staff as it segmented, she flicked her wrist and wrapped the weapon around one of the Ursa's legs. Jumping to her feet, she jerked on the end in her hands and caused the beast to lose its footing and fall onto its belly with a massive ground shaking thud.
As Silver became a blur of motion in front of the Ursa, Ebon was unable to get a clean shot. Waiting carefully, he steadied his kamas and waited for the shot. The moment Silver slide under the beast, he took the opening and fired the remaining rounds into the beast as it slammed into the ground.
"Kill it!" Silver screamed as the beast started to get back up.
Cursing under his breath, Ebon leaped onto the Ursa's back. Putting a knee onto the back of its neck, he crossed his kamas behind the beast's head. With a swift motion, he used both kamas to cut the beast's head from its body. As it collapsed to the forest floor, Ebone stood beside the dissolving body as the blades on his weapons retracted and he flicked the revolver cylinders outwards and the spent casings fell to the ground with a sound of soft tinks.
Once the Ursa had fully dissolved, Silver tugged on her weapon and it quickly snapped back to being a staff.
With a loud gasp, Ebon stopped in the middle of reloading his weapons as something dawned on him. "Silver?" He asked softly, his voice shaking slightly.
"Yes?" She responded while shifting her grip to the middle of her staff.
"Are you blind?"
"Oh…." She trailed off while nervously rubbing the back of her head with her free hand and turning her body away from Ebon. "Yea, why do you ask?" Her tone becoming filled with the same timidness she had before.
"Then how can you fight like that?!" Ebon asked in complete awe as he started to load his weapons again.
"My Semblance." She answered softly while nervously shifting from side to side. "It allows me see everything around me, but I can't see color or writing sadly." She added as her head turned towards the ground.
Slowly, Ebon stepped closer to her as she holstered his weapons and put a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "I don't know if you can tell, but I'm smiling from ear to ear. That might have been the greatest thing I've ever heard: Silver, the Blind Huntress!" He said with a hearty laugh.
As she face towards him, Silver found herself smiling. "It's not ear to ear." She replied with a soft and warm giggle.
"Hey, at least I tried to make it ear to ear." Ebon said while taking his hand off of her shoulder and looking around. Carefully, he tapped the back off Silver's hand. "Can you expand your Semblance to about half a mile? We might be close enough to the Relic Altar for you to find it."
"I can try." She answered while nodding and closing her eyes. Carefully, she forced her focus outwards. After reaching a hundred foot radius, she could feel a cold chill forming throughout her body. As she continued to force her semblance wider, Silver felt her body shaking.
With a loud gasp, Ebon caught Silver as she fell forward. "Silver?" He said softly while rolling her onto her back. "Are you alright?" She had fainted because of his idea.
Sighing, he picked her up and carefully set her on his shoulders. With his weapons holstered, he steadied SIlver with one hand and carried her weapon with his other as he started to wander in what he hoped was the direction of the Relic Altar.
As she flew forward, Ivory let out a loud gasp of surprise. "Why did you do…"She trailed as she was propelled forward, Ivory let out a loud gasp of surprise while stumbling to get her footing back. Quickly she turned around to see the large Beowulf hit Danny.
With a loud thud, Danny's back slammed into a tree. Wincing, he looked up just in time to roll out of the way of the Beowulf's next swipe. Chuckling nervously, he leaped away and landed next to Ivory. "Are you okay?" he asked as he readied his weapon and shield.
"We're still not friends." She answered as her hands wrapped around the handles of her maces.
Slowly the beast turned towards them and growled loudly while eying them. "I'll make an opening." Danny said softly before firing two shells into the beast's chest, and as it stumbled back he darted past it slashing at one of its hinges legs.
Scoffing, Ivory hesitated a moment as Danny attacked the Beowulf. She slowly took a few steps closer to the beast, bidding for a time to strike.
With the beast's focus on Danny, he raised his shield and caught the beast's claw. Feeling himself getting pushed back, he fired another shell into the beast before it could swipe at him again.
Hearing another shot ring out from Danny's weapon, Ivory readied herself. As the Beowulf reeled from the blast, she lunged at it. Smashing one of her maces into its hip, bringing it to the ground. As it fell, she swung her other mace up to meet its head on the way down.
Smiling like a fool, Danny watched Ivory as he replaced the spent shells in his weapon and putting it away. "Sorry, I should've warned you about that." He said hesitantly while holding his hand out.
Looking at him, Ivory raised and eyebrow and slowly shook his hand. "You didn't have to, but thanks." Her words sounded almost sincere as she pulled her hand away. "How close do you think we are?" She asked while looking around.
"Close." He answered while looking up at the late morning sun. "Less than a mile for certain, maybe less than a half. I was able to see some ruins during the launch." He added while heading towards the Altar.
Silver followed close behind Danny, but refused to holster her weapons if something else attacked, she wanted to be ready.
Reaching down, Ebon picked up a small white dice from one of many hip height pedestals that surrounded him and Silver. Slowly the clicking of his boots hitting against the stone floor of the Altar grew closer to Silver. "Feeling better? I didn't realize using your Semblance like that would take so much from you. I'm sorry for pushing you."
Tilting her head upwards slightly, she smiled faintly. "It's fine." She said weakly as she slowly rose to her feet. "Back to the Cliffs, now?"
"Yeah." Ebon answered while tucking the dice into the pocket of his trousers. "How are you feeling? Ya gave me a scare when you fainted earlier."
"I'll be fine. I still light-headed from earlier, but no need to worry." Silver replied as they started to head South towards the Cliffs.
Carefully poking his head out from behind a tree, Danny smiled like an idiot when his eyes saw the Altar. Motioning for Ivory to follow, he stepped out from behind the tree and started to head towards the Altar. Their boots clicked with each step against the cold stone under them as they stepped into the center of the Altar.
Carefully their eyes scanned each of the eight pedestal that surrounded them. A few of them had small game pieces on them. Smirking, Ivory slowly approached the pedestal with a single small dice on it. "How do you like games of chance?" She said while moving her hand to pedestal.
Turning towards her, Danny shrugged. "Works for me. But never been much of a gambler myself." Slowly they turned towards the Cliffs as Ivory tucked the small dice into her pocket and started the last leg of their journey.
Nearing the cliffs, Ebon turned towards Silver. "Just about there, how ya feeling?" His words were filled with concern. Silver had fainted twice more since they grabbed a Relic from the Altar, and she was now bearing most of her weight on Ebon.
"Yea, I should be okay to walk on my own." She replied while pulling away from him slowly and using her staff for support. "My head's still spinning though."
Nodding, Ebon walked close to Silver as they entered a wide clearing at the base of the cliff. Looking at the massive, crumbling castle ahead of them, he wondered where the teachers were. "I guess we're the first ones here." He surmised while helping SIlver to a sitting position under one of the many nearby columns along the walkway to the castle.
Panting heaving, Ivory leaned against one of the many trees as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Why did you have to see what was in the cave?!" She screamed at Danny as he came crashing through the undergrowth and leaned against the same tree.
"I was just curious?!" He exclaimed as they both looked towards the sky and the sound of an angry Nevermore. "Doesn't seem like it knows where we are yet." He said with a faint smile.
"It won't be long until it finds us though!" Ivory rebutted while shielding her eyes and catching the faint shape of the flying Grimm in the sky. "I can see the top of the Shine they mentioned. We can't be more than a hundred yards."
Chuckling, Danny turned towards her with a smirk. "If we're quick enough, we might be able to get there and under cover before it sees us."
With a look of disbelief on her face, Ivory just stared at Danny for a long moment as the Nevermore circled back. "That's a lot of ifs. But we really have no other options. Ready when you are." Her lips slowly turned towards a small smile as she pushed herself away from the tree and secured her weapons to her belt.
Nodding, Danny took another look towards the sky, then quickly turned in the direction of the Cliffs. "NOW!" He shouted as they both darted out from under the tree.
Hearing a shout, Ebon turned towards the direction of the voice to see his sister, Ivory, and a young, blonde man running towards him. "Ivory!" He shouted happily while checking behind them for any Grimm. Cocking his head, he wondered why they were running then heard a screech from above. Facing towards the sun, he saw the shadow of the large Nevermore. Cursing under his breath, he quickly pulled Silver to her feet. "We've gotta run!"
Gasping as she was suddenly pulled to her feet, she stumbled as she started to follow Ebon. After a few short moments, she tripped and hit the ground with a loud wince of pain.
Turning back, Ebon bit his lip and darted over to Silver. Trying to get her back on her feet, they couldn't see the Nevermore as it started to rain down it's razor sharp feathers over the path.
Turning his head towards the sky for a split second, Danny looked back at Ivory and put a hand on her shoulder. As she flew back and skidded to halt on her back, Danny lunged forward and landed next to Ebon and SIlver. Raising his left arm, he pushed Ebon down as his shield expanded. Grunting as the massive feathers bounced off his shield. "I've got ya!" He shouted at the two as they last few feathers landed around them like a volley of arrows.
As the Nevermore turned back around, Ebon and Silver stood up and quickly thanked Danny. "We've got about thirty seconds." Danny informed them while helping Silver to her feet.
As they all stood, Ivory motioned for them to hurry to the shade of the tree. "We need to wait for it to lose interest!"
While they gathered around the trunk of a tree, they looked back and forth between one another while waiting for someone to come up with a plan. Danny was the first to finally speak. "I'll draw it's attention away from here. You three run for the Shrine. Then use the area as cover while pulling it back this way. No need to kill it, just annoy it enough until it leave."
The other three nodded in unison. "Silver, will you be okay to run?" Ebon asked Silver, who answered with a quick nod while Ivory turned towards the ruins and shook her head.
"We're gonna die here thanks to you!" She shouted at Danny. Who only smiled and shrugged.
"Ready everyone?" Danny asked as he readied himself. "Try to stay under something." And with those words, he darted into the open.
Seeing prey, the Nevermore circled slowly then came down in a steep dive. Before hitting the ground, it's wings opened and it slowed. Landing on its feet with a mighty, ground shaking thud. "Come on!" Danny shouted while firing a shell from his weapon at the Grimm.
Recoiling from the blast the Nevermore showed no signs of damage, just annoyance as it flapped its massive wings as Danny who had to drop to a knee before getting toppled over. Slowly, it stepped closer until it's head was almost directly over Danny , who showed no signs of backing down.
The Nevermore brought its massive beak down in an attempt to peck Danny, who quickly responded by raising his shield to deflect the attack. As the beak made contact with his shield, Danny was easily tossed to to the ground by the massive strike. Grunting, he leaped to his feet and sliced at the beast's neck.
Reeling from the strike, the Nevermore took a step back and flapped it massive wings again. As the sudden rush of air hit him, Danny fell to his back. Unable to roll away in time, he brought his shield up to keep the Grimm's massive beak from impaling him as it continued to peck down at him.