Chapter Two: A Strange and Deadly Encounter

~The next day~

Standing on the side of a cliff overlooking the Emerald forest, Shiruba was patiently waiting for the initiation to begin. He was standing on a square piece of what appeared to be metal, he stood there in his full combat gear, which included a gray hooded cloak with slits cut for his ears, a combat vest underneath the open front end of the cloak, a black half face mask loose on his neck that he could pull up whenever he wanted to, and a pair of combat boots, complete with shin guards. Quite frankly, he was relieved to be back in his gear, as he never felt quite right without it. With Tsukiakari strapped to his back, Shiruba absentmindedly started to play with it, as he looked down the row at the other new first years.

A few people down the line from him was Mori, standing there in her own gear, with a bored expression on her face. Shiruba wasn't surprised she was bored, as she wasn't one to just stand around waiting, she would much rather be knee deep in a fight. Her own gear included a cloak much like his, but dark green in color. The left arm was covered in armor from the shoulder down to her fingertips, but the right side was bare, the cloak having the length of a short sleeve T-shirt. The only other thing she wore on her right arm was a single fingerless glove, complete with wrist bracer and also dark green in color. Like Shiruba, she had on a pair of combat boots and shin guards, but rather than a pair of dark cargo pants like what Shiruba wore, Mori opted for a regular pair of jeans, stitched with stronger material to withstand the effects of being on a battlefield. She had her weapon, Yajū, slung over her shoulder in its loose leather sheath.

Quite the force to be reckoned with, Yajū was a long, one-sided sword. The other side sported a powerful, semi-automatic shotgun capable of using many different kinds of Dust rounds as well as the standard array. However, what made it such a deadly weapon was the fact that the transformation it took to go from a sword to the shotgun was very minimal, taking almost no time at all. Having seen the effects this had up close on the battlefield, Shiruba was immensely grateful he never had to go up against Mori. She was one of the few people he wasn't confident in being able to beat. "Well, one of the few people of my age," Shiruba thought to himself. "there are plenty of people out there who could probably wipe the floor with my tail."

Further down the line, Shiruba noticed the large individual from before. Instead of what he wore before, the man now had on a large set of heavy-looking armor, with a fairly large shield slung over his back into the sword he carried the previous day. Interestingly enough, the sword seemed to be sheathed inside of the shield itself. Taking note of the large knight, Shiruba's thoughts were interrupted as Professor Ozpin approached the group.

As Ozpin began to speak about what was to come, Shiruba took notice of the metal panel he was standing on. From what happened to the group before his, he assumed that they were to be launched into the forest, from which he would have to meet up with Mori, and make their way to the ruins.

"…and the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years." finished Ozpin. At this point, Shiruba's mind took a double take. "First person to make eye contact with?" he thought. "I HAVE to make sure that it's Mori that I get teamed up with." Shiruba had an ingrained lack of trust in others, and Mori was one of the few he trusted. Quite possibly, she was the only one that he really trusted, especially as a partner in a fight. There was no one else here that he would want to be partners with, especially not for four years.

At this point in time, the first of the students was launched into the air. Readying Tsukiakari, Shiruba positioned himself into a crouched position with the cane extended behind him. Looking over as the others were launched, Shiruba saw Mori flash a smile at him before being launched up into the air. A few moments later, Shiruba felt the plate shift as he was thrown into the air above the Emerald forest. As he flew through the air, he peered around, trying to catch any glimpse of his sister, so that he might be able to reach her quickly after landing. Perturbed, Shiruba couldn't see any sign of her.

"She must have landed already" Shiruba thought to himself. "I'll just have to find her on the ground." As he neared the tree line, Shiruba readied his cane for his landing strategy. Ducking under a branch, Shiruba shifted his weight to cause him to turn in a slow front flip. As he completed the first full rotation, he extended Tsukiakari catching a branch. As he spun around the branch, he used the momentum to change his direction towards the ground. Catching another branch at the base of tree, Shiruba swung, and releasing the branch he shot forward along the ground, before rolling on his shoulder and landing in a crouched position, Tsukiakari having taken on its alternate form.

A compact personal defense rifle, Shiruba has taken out all the stops in tricking out his weapon. Complete with a suppressor, an angled foregrip, and a small telescopic scope, Tsukiakari was quite the proficient weapon in the hands of someone as capable as Shiruba was. Keeping an eye on his surroundings, Shiruba took a moment to get his bearings straight. Peering through the scope, he realized just how thick the forest floor was. "Great..." he thought to himself, "It's gonna take a while to find Mori in all of this crap." Standing up, Shiruba changed Tsukiakari back into its cane form, and began the long trek towards the ruins.

Continuing on through the forest, Shiruba became distinctly aware of the lack of wildlife. Hell, even signs of life, such as bird calls, were all but non-existent. Gripping Tsukiakari more firmly, Shiruba squared up for a possible attack, when an ursa came crashing through the bushing, roaring in rage. Preparing for battle, Shiruba was shocked as the ursa simply ran past him, seemingly taking no note of the faunus. Dumbfounded, he turned to watch the ursa go tromping off into the forest, with someone RIDING the damn thing. "ONWARD MY CHARIOT! REN IS WAITING!" the mysterious rider called out.

Jaw hanging loosely in shock, Shiruba watched the odd pair continue out of sight. Shaking his head in disbelief, his ears pricked as he heard a stick break behind him. Immediately changing Tsukiakari to pdr mode, he spun into a crouched position, letting a burst off directly into the chest of a beowolf. Around him, a pack of them howled in anger.

"How the hell did I let them get around me without noticing it?" Shiruba mentally questioned himself. "I must be losing my edge." Shifting his center of gravity, he waited for the beowolves to make the first move. As the first beowolf charged him, Shiruba immediately put two rounds into its chest, and one in its head. Around him, the others charged him. Emptying what was left in his clip, Shiruba took out two more of them before the beowolves were upon him. Throwing himself to the side, Shiruba again changed Tsukiakari's form to a cane as he rolled out of the path of the wolves. Charging them, he began placing his blows in critical spots such as the shins and the backs of the knees, in an attempt to destroy their mobility. Leaping clear of the counterattack, Shiruba escaped unharmed, as the beowolve's claw's tore through the air where he had been a moment before. Reloading Tsukiakari, Shiruba stood up and lowered the weapon at the beasts.

Preparing to strike again, Shiruba felt a brush of wind behind him. Activating his semblance, he disappeared from where he had been, much to the confusion of the beowolf that had managed to get behind him. Unable to comprehend what had happened, the beowolf never felt the bullet enter the back of his skull. Now behind the beowolf, Shiruba put two rounds into the skull of his would-be killer, before returning his weapon to cane form, Shiruba leaned heavily on it, immensely exhausted from using his semblance. A power he had dubbed "Phase-Jump", it allowed him to traverse a short distance near instantaneously, though at the cost of a large amount of his stamina. As he was now, Shiruba could only use Phase-Jump once before needing to rest, meaning it was a last ditch effort on his part.

With only three beowolves left of the pack, Shiruba was confident he could take them out without serious risk. What he didn't expect to happen was as the three were charging him, the third one, older and smarter than its two allies, dropped back a pace behind the others. Unloading what was left in his clip once again, Shiruba dropped the first two before hearing a click emanate from his weapon. The third beowolf roared as it jumped over the now lifeless bodies of its fallen comrades. Shifting to cane form, Shiruba wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the attack, still feeling the effects of his semblance from before. Having been knocked to the ground, Shiruba barely held the beast back with his cane, the deadly fangs inches from his face.

The beowolf reared his head back, howling in victory for having overcome this deadly prey. Looking down, it prepared to issue the killing blow. However, there was a peculiar feeling in its chest. It took the beowolf a second to realize just what it was that it was feeling. It…was pain.

Looking up in shock, Shiruba saw what appeared to be a large grappling hook pierce the chest of the beowolf about to tear his flesh apart. The beowolf looked down at him in shock, before being forcibly yanked off of Shiruba. Craning his neck around, he watched as the beowolf went flying into the bushes. He heard it screech once, a god-awful noise, and then silence. Still laying on his back, Shiruba peered into the bushes.

He was shocked to see a pair of pale blue eyes staring back at him, looking him dead in the eyes. Shiruba gulped once, unsure of what was about to happen.

A/N- Well how's that for a cliffhanger of a chapter? Not too shabby if I say so myself. I wonder whose eyes these may be?

For those of you wondering, the pdr form of Tsukiakari only holds at maximum twenty rounds of a low-caliber, subsonic round. This would explain why Shiruba wasn't able to simply lay waste to the entire pack of wolves in one go.

As always, reviews and comments are much appreciated! So please, don't be shy, and tell me what you thought! Chapter three should be on the way before too long.

Happy reading everyone!

~Tyler