Rebel 2: Discord's White
"It seems that we have arrived too late, Valkenhayn. They have burned the facility to the ground to hide their tracks."
A young girl's muffled voice cut deeply into Ragna's consciousness, causing him to stir. The ground beneath him felt damp, it seemed he had been sweating profusely. He couldn't have been out long, or at least, that was what he felt. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed as his eyes to clear his head. It took him a moment to realize that he was propping himself up with his right arm. But before he lost consciousness, Ragna could plainly remember crawling towards something, leaving a trail of blood which flowed from the stump of that very arm.
It took his eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, he saw that he had made his way quite far from where he had seen the green-haired man walking off with Saya and Jin in tow. A name burned in his mind as he recalled the sadistic glee the man had displayed as he turned and left Ragna for dead.
"Terumi…" Ragna growled, clenching his hands into fists.
Something dug into the palm of his right hand and he looked down to see what it was. When he found out, Ragna recoiled in surprise. His arm had turned jet-black, so dark that it seemed to drain what little light was present in the room. The dim-red pulsating vein-like lines running the length of his arm didn't seem to add any light to the surroundings. Unclenching his fist, Ragna noted that his fingertips ended in claws.
"Aaagh! What the hell is going on!?"
Ragna screamed and swung his arm outwards. Black mist coalesced in the wake of his movement, sending a dark, shadowy form outwards where it collided with the far wall and left an impact crater. Rubble and debris showered down from the ceiling and it was then that Ragna realized that he was in a very precarious situation.
"It seems there is a survivor. Valkenhayn, clear out the debris, if you would."
"As you wish, Milady."
Ragna heard a brief conversation coming from beyond the wall behind him. It was followed shortly afterwards by loud impacts and the crumbling of rocks, brick, and mortar. More dust and dirt drifted down from the ceiling and Ragna was suddenly struck with the thought of the roof caving in before whoever was on the other side broke through. What were they using anyway? A sledge-hammer?
After a few terrifying moments, the wall crumbled inwards, causing Ragna to fall backwards onto his rear. A tall man with a long, elegant ponytail stood on the other side of the opening. After dusting off his white gloves, he stepped to the side and gave a small bow, making way for a girl in a frilly black dress.
"Who—?" Ragna asked, stumbling over the words. A light breeze from outside cleared his lungs and the brightness of the sun outside caused him to squint his eyes in pain.
"When asking for a name, it is proper to give your own first," the girl admonished. She had an elegant way of speaking which suggested she was someone of high social standing.
"Ragna. My name is Ragna," he answered. "Now give me yours."
"Insolent pup! You dare speak in such a—"
The man who was accompanying the girl interjected angrily before she stopped him with an outstretched hand. He glared at Ragna for a second longer before relenting and stepping back once more.
"I am Rachel Alucard. It pains me to think that an uncultured and barbaric-looking ruffian such as yourself might address me with familiarity, so I request that you please refrain from using my name unless absolutely necessary," the girl replied. "Now then, tell me. What transpired here?"
Ragna's eyebrows twitched in agitation. "Screw you, rabbit!"
"Rabbit?" Rachel inquired. She seemed rather amused by the term.
"The ribbons you're wearing," Ragna explained. "But forget about that! What the hell is going on? Where's that bastard, Terumi?"
Rachel seemed shaken upon hearing the name, but she recovered so quickly that it was impossible to tell for sure.
"It seems our information was correct, Valkenhayn," she said to the man standing next to her. "He is behind this incident."
A burst of violent intent exploded out from Valkenhayn. There was a bestial quality to it, a rage so primal that it did not seem human. Ragna was glad that it wasn't directed at him.
"Calm yourself, Valkenhayn. He is no longer present," Rachel continued. "There is no point in frightening this child more than you have to." Then, turning to Ragna, she mused, "Now the question remains. What shall we do with you? If you would like, I can have Valkenhayn collapse the wall behind us and leave you be. Or…"
That first option didn't sound too appealing to Ragna. "Or what?" he growled, causing Valkenhayn to shoot him an angry glare.
"Or, we can take you with us," Rachel answered simply. "I am your savior. There is no question that you owe me substantially." Raising her hand and pointing directly at Ragna, she declared, "You will be my servant."
Her vantage point on top of a pile of rubble combined with the fact that Ragna was sitting on the ground meant that, even though the girl was considerably shorter than he was, he had to look up towards her. The sun was at her back, making it impossible to see her expression. A sudden breeze lifted the twin tails of her hair and caused her the hem of her dress to flutter.
Ragna gave his answer, causing the girl to laugh daintily into her fist.
Jaune Arc thought the day was off to a decent start. Breakfast was pancakes. Those were always good. Sure, they were a little on the bland and tasteless side, but add enough syrup and you couldn't tell the difference. Many of the other students were talked animatedly about who they wanted to be on their team.
(Oh yeah, teams. I need to find some people. But how? I'm not even supposed to be here…)
Jaune sighed. After a having a whole day to think about it, faking his transcripts to get into Beacon seemed like a really stupid idea. Well, it was stupid to begin with, but more stupid than it had been just a day ago. Everyone else just seemed so confident. Maybe he could find someone strong to tag along with until he improved.
Someone sat down next to him at the table, muttering "Damn it. I should have woken up earlier, all the cute girls are done eating..."
The newcomer stifled a yawn and scratched the back of his head before jabbing a fork into his stack of pancakes. Jaune recognized him in passing from the headmaster's announcement; he was the one who had intervened when Ruby and that other girl had been arguing.
"Good morning," Jaune said, "I'm Jaune. I don't think we've met before?"
"What's with all the formality?" the boy replied, raising an eyebrow. "Relax a bit. You'll have plenty of time to get stressed during initiation." He took a bite out of his pancake before realizing that he hadn't introduced himself. Swallowing quickly, he added, "Kagura Mutsuki."
Jaune's jaw dropped. The Mutsuki family was known for producing many famed Hunters and Huntresses. If he remembered correctly, their estate was in Atlas, which made Kagura's presence in Vale rather strange.
"W-why?" Jaune stammered.
Kagura laughed at the expression on Jaune's face and gave him a pat on the back. While it was undoubtedly a friendly gesture, the black-haired boy's strength was ridiculous, sending Jaune's face into his half-eaten pile of pancakes.
"Whoops, sorry about that," Kagura apologized as he handed Jaune a napkin. "But I'm assuming you mean 'why am I here rather than somewhere closer to home?'" Jaune nodded as he wiped his face off. "Long story short, the old man got a little sick of me bringing girls back home, so he sent me here where he at least wouldn't have to deal with that for a while. But the official story is that my parents are alumni of Beacon and they feel the facilities here are better."
Working up his courage, Jaune asked, "So this thing about teams—"
Kagura shoveled another forkful of pancake into his mouth before answering. "Oh, I don't know too much about that. The folks refused to 'ruin the surprise' when I asked. Everyone knows there's something about teams, but I don't think anyone has the details besides the professors. Unless you're subtly trying to ask me if I want to team up with you? In that case, sorry buddy, but I'd rather team up with a chick. No offense."
Jaune laughed nervously. For someone who dressed like a delinquent, Kagura was surprisingly sharp. "None taken," he replied. "If it was me, I'd probably say the same."
"Oh?" Kagura grinned, "I see…a fellow admirer of the female form, huh?" He put an arm over Jaune's shoulder. "Then, why don't I show you how it's done? If I'm not mistaken, everyone's getting their stuff ready for the initiation in the locker room, follow my lead."
Noel Vermillion sighed as she opened her locker. There was a lot of activity going on in the locker room right now. An extremely energetic girl with orange hair was bouncing around a lethargic looking boy who was inspecting his weapons, talking about how it would be great if they were together, but "not together, together." Another girl nearby, wearing a black dress with a red hood, was angrily chastising her sister, accusing her of not wanting to be on the same team. A third group of students, consisting of a red-haired girl in armor carrying what looked like a spear, a silver-haired young lady with a rapier, a blond boy with a sword at his waist, and a boy with black hair who Noel recognized as the one who had almost gotten into a fight last night were deep in conversation. The blond one was either trying to flirt or convince the two girls to join his team, but from the sighs and head shakes coming from his companion, it seemed like things weren't going too well for him.
In short, the topic on everyone's minds was who they wanted to team up with.
Noel sighed again. She had wanted to make a good impression on her first day and maybe make a friend, or even two. Instead, she had gotten lost, ended up late for the headmaster's announcement, and then had somehow offended some scary looking boy. She had applied to Beacon to get away from home and start anew. It was supposed to be her debut as a whole new Noel. Instead, here she was, friendless and alone.
"I wonder how Tsubaki and Makoto are doing. Are they angry with me for coming here instead of staying with them?" she mused as she took her weapons out of her locker.
"Oh wow! Those are cool!"
Noel jumped. Because she had been lost in thought, she hadn't noticed someone coming up from behind her. It was the girl in the black dress.
"Can I take a look at them?" she asked excitedly, pointing at the pair of guns in Noel's hand.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking that question?" the girl's sister remarked, bringing her hand down in a light karate chop. "I swear, Ruby, you can be such a dork sometimes."
"Ooowwww…Yang…" the girl, Ruby, protested. "You didn't need to do that—" Then, turning to Noel, she smiled nervously. "I'm Ruby. And you are?"
"Noel," she answered, "I remember seeing you yesterday night. You were the one talking with Blake…"
"Yep, that's me. Being all socially awkward and…well," Ruby replied. Then, her face brightening up again, she asked again, "So—can I take a look?"
Noel hesitated for a second. Her weapons were one of the few things she had brought with her from home. If they got damaged…
(Come on Noel. Pull yourself together! If you want friends, you need to take the first step!)
"Oh, alright," Noel answered reluctantly, causing the other girl to jump with joy. "Just promise me you'll be careful with them."
Noel handed her twin guns over to Ruby who snatched them out of Noel's hands so quickly that, for a brief moment, she thought the girl would run off with them. Ruby's sister caught Noel's eyes and gave an apologetic shrug.
"Sorry about her," Yang apologized. "She tends to get excited when she sees a weapon she likes."
"It's not a problem," Noel answered. Her gaze drifted downwards, towards Yang's bosom. (Huge!) Looking down at her own chest, Noel suddenly felt very inadequate. "I'm jealous," she muttered.
"What was that?" Yang asked, apparently thinking that Noel was saying something to her.
"Huh? Oh! Um…nothing," Noel answered, realizing she had been overheard. Thinking fast, she added, "I was just thinking about how nice it must be to have family with you at school…I'm a little jealous. About that and…some other things."
"Yeah," Yang agreed. "I was sooo happy when my little sister was allowed to come here two years early. She's really talented, you know. Even if she's a little crazy in some ways…"
Yang nodded towards Ruby who, apparently, had started rubbing her cheeks against Noel's weapons with an immensely satisfied expression on her face.
"Waaah! Don't do that to Bolverk!" Noel cried out, taking her guns back from Ruby. Her line of sight drifted downwards. Even if her bust was emphasized by the corset she wore, there was no doubt that Ruby was better endowed than Noel. And this girl was supposed to be two years younger than her? She felt her legs collapse under her. "Ahahaha," she muttered weakly, "kids these days sure grow up fast…"
Ruby looked down at her with a worried expression. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Glynda Goodwitch stood next to Ozpin as he inspected the line of students prior to initiation. Each was standing atop a stone platform which would be used to launch them into the forest. The initiation was similar each year, but without fail, there would always be at least one student who would be caught completely off-guard. As the headmaster put it, seeing the expression on that student's face made initiation "the most wonderful time of the year."
(Sometimes I wonder why parents trust their kids' future to a man like him.)
Glynda explained to the students that they would be forming teams today, confirming the rumors that they, no doubt, had been spreading all morning long. The headmaster then elaborated on the team selection process, stating that the first person a student made eye-contact with after landing in the forest would be their partner for the next four years. Reactions to the announcement ranged from dull acceptance to complete shock. Miss Rose in particular took the news poorly and seemed to need a few long moments to accept the implications of what Headmaster Ozpin had said.
As Ozpin continued the obligatory introduction, Glynda took the opportunity to evaluate some of the students' preparations.
Noel Vermillion was standing on the leftmost platform. She was fidgeting nervously and kept staring at twin guns in her hands as if to reassure herself that they were still there. Glynda thought that the girl was a bit too meek to be a good Huntress, but her overall grades were passable and her marks in Aura control in particular were extremely high. It would be interesting to see how well she did in the forest.
Weiss Schnee stood next in line after Noel. She had a rapier at her waist and, rather naively in Glynda's opinion, opted to wear a frilly white dress. According to the information she had on the girl, Weiss was particularly apt in using Dust-empowered attacks. Like Noel, it seemed like every combat situation the girl had been in so far was in a controlled setting, meaning that the two of them would be facing live combat for the first time today.
Pyrrha Nikos was the next student who caught her attention. The girl had a shield and short sword combination, although the data suggested that her weapon also had a javelin and rifle form. Glynda personally felt that Pyrrha was the most well-rounded student this year and was looking forward to seeing the girl's growth.
In stark contrast to Pyrrha, Ragna was next in line. He had no visible weapon on him and kept looking at Noel before shaking his head and scowling. Glynda's opinion of him had not changed much; she still felt that it was foolish of the headmaster to let an unknown into the school. The boy's poor attitude was also a matter of concern.
The next set of students were just as mismatched as the last two. Nora Valkyrie kept trying to make small talk with Lie Ren, who was standing on the platform to her right. It didn't seem like the girl was taking the initiation seriously at all. Still, she had scored highly on physical aptitude and had passable grades elsewhere despite her erratic behavior.
Lie Ren was the opposite of Nora. His academic grades were impeccable and he gave off a scholarly and cultured vibe. Whether it was because he was too focused or because he found Nora's chattering to be annoying, he wasn't responding to her.
To his right stood a girl with silver hair. Glynda brought up the file on Bullet. Apparently, the girl had been raised by a group of Hunters since she was a child and had been brought on sojourns into the wilderness as soon as she had been capable of walking. (Really, what were those men thinking?) Well, there was no doubt that the girl was qualified to attend Beacon on those merits alone.
While Glynda thought that Bullet's attire was wholly inappropriate, it seemed as if the boy next to her thought the opposite. Kagura Mutsuki was alternating between eyeing Bullet and Yang and he was stroking his chin as if whatever he was thinking about was of great importance. His weapon of choice was a large sword-like object; it had a handle and a rectangular blade, but from the look of the dull edge on the weapon, it was meant for crushing rather than cutting. Even if he was from a well-known family, his flirtatious behavior was rude and offensive to Glynda, who adjusted the hydraulic force under his platform upwards through her Scroll. If Ozpin questioned her on it, she had a reasonable explanation ready; his weapon certainly looked heavy enough that more propulsion was required. Still, she doubted it would come to that. After all, the one who had proposed the insane method Beacon used to start initiation was none other than Ozpin himself.
Yang Xiao Long stood next in line. From her transcript, it was apparent that the girl was more than ready for Beacon, but there were a few worrying matters about her as well. A note accompanying her school record mentioned that she often cut classes (but not enough to fail) and was occasionally seen hanging around nightclubs and other places of ill-repute. While Yang had helped take down a few gangs while she was still a student at Signal Academy, it seemed like the girl did so as a means of thrill-seeking rather than out of any desire to do good.
Glynda found Yang's sister to be the more interesting of the two. While Ruby Rose was certainly skilled for her age, Glynda still thought that it wasn't prudent of Ozpin to let her in a full two years early. Skipping ahead even one year was already rare enough. There was a reason for that too; the extra years helped greatly in that students were more mature and better able to cope with the stresses a lifestyle as a Huntress or Hunter entailed.
Last in line was Jaune Arc. Glynda wasn't sure what to make of the boy. On the one hand, the grades on his transcript were all slightly above average for applicants. On the other, he seemed to be, putting it lightly, a bumbling fool. While everyone else was preparing for the launch into the forest, Jaune asked a series of questions which made it clear that he had no idea what was going on. Her perception of this was reinforced when his platform launched him into the air mid-sentence; if only he had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have known exactly what was going on.
As Ozpin sipped from his mug with a look of satisfaction on his face, Glynda couldn't help but remark, "You're enjoying this a little too much."
"Damn it! Why does it seem like I got launched so much harder than anyone else?"
Kagura complained as the wind whipped by his face, knowing that no one would be able to hear him. He just wanted to vent a little. Several of the students had already reached the ground by now, but Kagura had gotten more airtime than anyone, courtesy of being launched almost twice as high.
"Well, no use dwelling on the past," he murmured. "Gotta focus on not ending up as a smear on the ground."
Twirling his sword around in one hand, Kagura hurled it to the ground as hard as he could just as he fell past the canopy of the forest. Unlike most of the students he had seen so far at Beacon, his weapon wasn't capable of any fancy tricks and had no transformations. He couldn't slow his descent with recoil or grapple to a safe location with it. It was simply a slab of metal with a handle. Throwing the blade slowed him down a little, but Kagura still had to fall through and break a half-dozen thick branches before his momentum bled out entirely and he rolled to a stop near the base of a tree.
He ran to where his sword had landed. Although it had sunk into the ground for half of its length, Kagura pulled it out with ease. One good thing about having a simple weapon was that maintenance was easy. He didn't have to worry about oiling the parts or sharpening the blade or keeping track of ammo. Just hit things with it and give it the occasional washing to get rid of the dried blood.
The noise he had made upon entry had attracted some attention. Glowing red eyes appeared from the bushes around him. A quick glance told him there were four enemies in all. Kagura closed his eyes for a second; the number of creatures breathing in the area confirmed his initial count.
(They'll attack immediately if you show any sign of weakness. Of course, they'll attack eventually anyway, but you can use this to your advantage, Kagura.)
The advice his father had given him as a child just learning the basics of combat floated to the top of his mind. Flipping his sword around, Kagura turned around to face the enemy that had been behind him. As he did so, Kagura swung his sword over his shoulder and felt it connect with the enemy he had turned his back to. He felt something crack under the blow and heard a howl of pain. Judging from the mass of what he had hit, he was fighting a small pack of Beowolves.
Seeing its pack-mate get sent flying into the air, the Beowolf which Kagura was now facing charged. Kagura eyeballed the distance between them and planted his sword into the ground. Shouting a battle-cry, he punched the back of the blade, sending the weapon careening forwards into his foe. Without pausing, he leapt up, grabbed the handle of his sword, and delivered a spinning kick to the jaw of the enemy coming in from his left.
He landed on the ground in a low stance, facing the last Beowolf that he had yet to engage. He gripped the ground with his feet and leapt upwards as it jumped at him, claws extended. Powering a downwards one-handed swing by somersaulting, Kagura slammed his foe into the ground, instantly killing it. Wisps of black smoke rose from its corpse.
The monster he had punched his sword into had recovered and was now warily pacing about. The one he had kicked picked itself up off the ground, shaking its head to clear out the grogginess. The other two were down; Kagura had hit the first one harder than he had initially thought. Their numbers halved, the Beowolves decided to continue the attack, flanking Kagura.
"Oh? Still want to fight?" Kagura asked admiringly. He had to give these Grimm credit for not turning tail. Of course, his way of showing this was to go all out.
The two Grimm charged at the same time, no doubt intending to force Kagura into a position where he would only be able to defend against one of the attacks. However, he had no intention of letting them do as they pleased. Picking the one he had kicked earlier because it still looked a little disoriented, he stepped towards it as if intending to fight it head-on. Once it was close enough, Kagura side-stepped, ducking under the wide swing of the beast's right arm and turning around so that he was facing its back. He swung his sword with both hands, sending the Beowolf flying into its companion.
He dashed forwards while the two were still entangled on the ground and brought his sword over his head with both hands. Channeling his Aura into the massive weapon, he slammed it forwards into the ground on top of the two Grimm, sending a pillar of purple and black energy spiraling into the air.
"Ryuuou Zangaoushou!"
The impact left a small crater in the ground. After confirming that the two creatures in the middle of it were truly dead, Kagura kicked his sword, causing it to spin rapidly in the air before he caught it in one hand and set it atop his shoulders.
"Now then," he mused, staring into the forest, "my 'hot chick' detector is telling me to go this way…"
-A few minutes earlier-
"That old bastard," Ragna groaned, plucking twigs out of his hair. "He's almost as bad as Master."
The launch had surprised him, but landing hadn't been too bad, initially. He had smashed through a few trees to slow his falling speed and managed to catch onto a branch at the end. Luck wasn't with him though, and the branch had snapped just as he thought it was safe, dropping him into a dense shrub which took a lot of effort to disentangle from.
"No point in sticking around here…now which direction was the temple ruins in?"
Ragna vaguely remembered seeing his destination while he was airborne. No doubt the rest of the initiates were making their way there as well. As for finding a partner…well, he didn't really give a damn about that, as long as they were somewhat competent. In other words, anyone except for that blond kid who got pinned to a wall by his hood after he annoyed a group of girls in the locker room would be fine.
Not willing to take any chances, Ragna climbed the tallest tree he could find and looked around. He had plenty of experience getting lost before, mostly thanks to a girl he knew from his childhood who could lose her way on a straight path while following a map. The memory elicited a rare chuckle from him. After spotting a clearing in the forest some distance away which looked promising, Ragna dropped down from the treetop, caught a branch on the way down, and let himself fall the rest of the distance to the ground.
As he ran, he heard the sound of gunfire coming from two directions and saw smoke rising into the sky from a third. Some of the other initiates must have run into enemies already. He grinned and clenched his right hand as he ran towards to combat site closest to him. It would be good to vent all the frustration that had built up since yesterday on a Grimm.
The source of the noise turned out to be a boy engaged in combat with a King Taijitu, a snakelike Grimm roughly the same size as a train. The monster had two heads, one predominantly black, the other mostly white. While they looked like separate creatures from afar, the two were actually connected at the midpoint of the creature, making Ragna wonder how they coordinated their movements so well. While the Grimm was attacking fiercely, the boy was doing well on his own, dodging with dance-like movements while returning fire with two bladed pistols; he probably would be able to beat the thing on his own even if Ragna didn't join in. Still, helping out now would lower the risk considerably and the boy, who if memory served correctly, was named Lie Ren, wouldn't be as objectionable a partner as some of the other students.
Just as Ragna was about to charge in, a hand clapped down on his shoulder and pulled him back. Turning to face the girl who he had sensed hiding nearby earlier, Ragna found himself with his eyes covered by her other hand.
"We can't make eye-contact! You can't be my partner and you can't be Ren's partner either," she exclaimed. Ragna recognized the voice; it was that girl who had been annoyingly cheerful all morning long. "Ren and I are going to be together. Well…not together together, but together, you know?"
Ragna groaned and pushed her hand away from his face. Closing his eyes, he retorted, "Alright, we won't make eye-contact, ok? So, tell me. How the hell am I supposed to help if I can't see where I'm supposed to attack?"
"Oh don't worry about that," she stated, the bubbliness in her voice causing Ragna to envision rainbows and flowers popping into existence around him despite his eyes being tightly shut. "Ren's got it all handled. He's the perfect student, you know? He'll take that thing down easily."
A gory sounding explosion filled the air. From the pained hissing noise, Ragna guessed that the King Taijitu had been badly wounded.
"See?" the girl exclaimed. "Oh, I guess you can't, with your eyes being shut and all, but it was soooo awesome. Ren just blew its head off by snapping off its fangs and impaling it in the eye. That looked like it hurt. Do you think it would hurt?"
(This girl has a few screws loose…I'm outta here. Don't want to catch whatever insanity she's infected with.)
As Ragna ran off into the forest towards the second source of gunfire he had heard earlier, shaking his head to stave off the impending headache from his brief interaction with "cheery girl," he could hear the girl calling out behind him, "Wait, where're you going? Even if you can't see what's going on, you going to miss my commentary!"
Noel Vermillion spun Bolverk around in her right hand, aiming it upwards towards the Beowolf leaping at her from the side. A quick pull of the trigger sent it flying backwards into a tree. She immediately jumped, catching another member of the pack by the head with her knees before vaulting off of it and knocking it to the ground by shooting downwards. Multiple howls from the surrounding forest caused Noel to pause momentarily to consider her options.
(Visual confirmation of three Beowolves. Two permanently incapacitated. At least six outside of visual range. Recommended course of action: disengage and seek a chokepoint or reinforcements.)
Tsubaki had once described Noel's fighting style as "mechanical," but Noel didn't really know if that was true. All she did in combat was calculate out possibilities. Expose the fewest possible openings while maximizing return fire. It was a tactic that worked well in the 1-on-1 mock battles at school prior to coming to Beacon. There were a few glaring weaknesses to it though. If something managed to overwhelm her or go beyond her calculations, she had trouble adapting and would often start to panic. Also, she had never had to fight more than two enemies at once. Having a full pack of Beowolves on her trail was straining her concentration.
Noel ducked and rolled as one of the Grimm leapt at her from the side, sliding under its claws. She brought Bolverk up to bear, but the monster disappeared into the foliage before she could fire. A second Beowolf followed the first, again from her right. Noel swung Bolverk upwards, catching it under the jaw with the gun's muzzle. She pulled the trigger, sending a spray of black mist outwards as the round penetrated the beast's skull.
Glowing eyes suddenly appeared all around her. She had been forced to slow down in response to the attacks just now, giving the Grimm enough time to encircle her. Noel took a deep breath and tapped the back of her guns together before swinging her arms out to the side, pointing them at the two Beowolves which flanked her.
"Let's begin…"
She pulled the triggers, preempting the inevitable attack. The target to her left took a hit between the eyes and went down, but the one to her right managed to avoid the shot.
"Feo…"
Noel took a step back and shot at the ground, channeling her aura through Bolverk at the same time, causing a small explosion which disoriented the Beowolf charging from the front.
"Uru…"
She flipped backwards over the monster coming from behind, rapidly shooting with one of her guns in an arc as she held her arm out. It looked like she hit a few vital spots on it. However, she lost track of her surroundings briefly due to her firing angle and one of the pack managed to slip in close from her blind spot.
Noel brought Bolverk in close, managing to block a swipe just in time. The impact sent her staggering back a step. Using this break in her defenses, two more Beowolves closed in, again from opposite sides. She kicked out towards one of them and, lining Bolverk up with her leg, fired a shot directly into the open maw of the one approaching from the left. She tried to recover in time to deflect the second attack but was sent reeling from a partially blocked attack. The impact caused to her drop one of her guns.
(Reassessing combat situation…)
Panic began to spring up in her chest, causing Noel to freeze up. There were simply too many enemies for her to handle right now. The hit she had taken had knocked the breath out of her lungs, slowing her movements some more. She realized with a sense of growing dread that she wouldn't be able to lift the Bolverk up fast enough to counter the next attacker. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable pain.
There was a thud and a yelp. Noel opened her eyes and met the gaze of the boy who had approached her last night with an air of hostility. He had a scowl on his face, though whether he was directing it towards her or the enemy underneath his boot was unclear.
"Ugh, it was you after all," he groaned. He reached out with his left hand and roughly pulled Noel to her feet. Kicking the Beowolf he had been stepping on so hard that Noel heard a crack, he added, "Are you still able to fight or do you want spend some time finishing up your crying session while I handle things?"
"Crying session?!" Noel yelled back indignantly. She hurriedly wiped the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes. It was a perfectly normal reaction, thank you very much.
(Really, who was this jerk?)
"They're coming. I'll clear a path for you to get your weapon since you were too stupid to hold on to it," the boy said with unmistakable arrogance.
"I'm not stupid! Let's see you do better against a full pack!" Noel found herself screaming back. She liked to think of herself as a nice person, if a little shy, but this guy…he ticked her off.
"Watch my back," he commanded, again ignoring her outburst.
The boy charged in the direction he had indicated earlier. He lowered his stance as a Beowolf clawed at him and delivered a punch to its snout. A second Grimm attacked him from the side and for a second, Noel thought he was going to take a claw to his exposed ribs. However, he stepped into the attack and did…something.
Noel had no clue what happened. One second the Grimm was right on top of the boy and the next, it was twenty feet away, sent flying by some great force. For one instant, she thought she saw shadowy fangs sprout from the ground, but whatever it really was, it faded away so quickly that she convinced herself that she had imagined it.
"Oy, are you just going to stand there and stare all day?" he called back.
Snapping to her senses, Noel rushed forward and retrieved Bolverk. It felt good to have both pistols in her hands again.
"I'll take the ones in front of me," the boy declared. "You take the rear. Think you can handle it?"
"What? Are you a moron?" Noel exclaimed. "You're the one without a weapon. Let me handle the main body of the pack."
The boy's eyebrows twitched in agitation, causing Noel to feel a burst of satisfaction. Served him right for being such a jerk. But there wasn't any time to bicker more. Two enemies were closing from behind. Noel closed her eyes and cleared her mind.
She dispatched the two of them with machine-like efficiency, taking both down with one shot each by luring them in, creating an opening by using Bolverk's long barrels as melee weapons, and firing at a vital spot. Having a partner made combat much easier as she did not have to worry about her blind-spots as much; it also helped that she had already taken out half the pack before the boy even showed up.
She dispatched her final target by kicking it in the face, shoving Bolverk down its throat, and channeling her Aura through the gun to unleash an explosive round. She then turned around to assist the boy, but it turned out that there was no need.
"What…happened here?"
It looked like a storm had struck the forest immediately behind her. The ground had been churned up as if someone had haphazardly plowed it, leaving deep furrows scattered in random directions. The white-haired boy stood at the center of it, surrounded by the corpses of four Beowolves. There were jagged wounds on the side of the one closest to Noel; it looked like something had taken a large bite out of it. From this angle, she could see only the side of his face, but it looked like he was wearing a fierce grin. A smoky black Aura rose from his body, mostly concentrated by his right arm.
Noel suppressed a shudder. Sure, she was out of immediate danger, but something about her partner seemed…off.
Noel sat with her back to a tree. A short distance away, the boy, who had finally introduced himself as Ragna, sat with his legs crossed.
"Are you done taking your break yet?" he asked irritably. Then, he muttered, "Go figure I get stuck with someone like you…"
"You don't need to be that mean," Noel pouted. "Besides, I'm tired out from that fight. You're the weird one. As far as I can tell, you were throwing your Aura around left and right…and without a weapon too. You should be half-dead from exhaustion by now."
"Ha! As if a couple of weak Grimm like those would tire me out," Ragna scoffed. "Don't lump me in the same group as you, idiot."
"Will you stop calling me 'idiot' already? I have a name, you know?" Noel replied. Having Ragna for a partner wasn't helping her self-esteem at all. Speaking of names, she was suddenly reminded of something. Hesitantly, she asked, "Who's Saya?"
Ragna's expression was one of surprise, but it quickly turned dark. He grumbled something angrily before looking at the ground.
"She's…" he began with a voice that was surprisingly melancholic.
He punched the ground and looked up. Glaring at Noel, he continued, "none of your business. If you're energetic enough to talk about pointless things, you're well enough that we can get moving."
Ragna got up off the ground, brushed his pants off, and then walked off into the forest. Noel got to her feet as well and followed behind, not wanting to be left alone in the forest. But as she watched the boy's back, she had the feeling that Ragna had been about to answer her question honestly before changing his mind.
AN: This chapter is mostly focused on the Blazblue cast. I find that there's really not much point in detailing something from the RWBY casts' perspective unless there are going to be changes from canon or at least elaboration on events that follow canon. As a sidenote, Bolverk doesn't have the same emotional suppression ability it does in Blazblue canon (as Nox Nyctores and Ars don't exist under RWBY rules.) Not much else to say, but if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in a review.
