Chapter 2
In the ballroom everyone had set up sleeping bags on different patches of floor. Ember found a good spot for both her and Lavender to spend the night and perhaps continue with their little chat. Ember looked around and saw all sorts of different people. She saw Yang and Ruby laying right by each other, she saw that Weiss was down a little further off, and she saw another girl by the wall with a candle reading a book. The girl had black hair and amber, cat-like eyes. At the very top of her head was a big black bow standing straight up.
"Funny," Ember thought "from here that bow looks kind of like a set of cat ears." As they were laying down a boy walked over to them. He was a little short and rather scraggly. He had bright blonde hair and a short goat-like beard. At the top of his head Ember noticed that he had a small set of goat horns poking out through his mess of hair. "He's a Faunus" Ember thought, with a little bit of anger rising in her. The boy spoke up with a bit of a Spanish accent and said,
"Hello, is this spot taken?" He pointed to the empty area near the two of them. Ember was about to lie and say it was when Lavender piped up and answered,
"No. No one is sleeping there." Ember cursed her friend's honesty and the boy called over a friend that was also looking for a place to sleep. The girl was a lot taller than the Faunus and had even longer hair than Ember. Her hair was a dark chestnut that, while long, was extremely well kept and straight. She moved over to join her friend by the two of them and they both rolled their sleeping bags down. Lavender, still being kind, asked,
"So what are your names?" The boy looked up, evidently surprised that a stranger would just talk to him out of the blue. However he was still the first to answer and said
"I'm Dorado Mortega" The girl took her turn and said, in a bit of a high pitched yet brief voice,
"Name's Mikado." She didn't seem to want to give them her last name so Ember didn't feel the need to ask it. Lavender began making friendly conversation with the two of them. Ember was dreading talking to these two late into the night. She looked around again and saw Yang and Ruby fighting in front of the girl with the bow. As they were fighting they saw that Weiss girl come up to them and yell. Her voice carried easily amongst the room and Ember could hear every word of it.
"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"
As the argument went on Ember saw the bow girl getting more and more annoyed. The frustration with the people around her mirroring her own. Until eventually she blew out the candle removing the only source of light left in the room. Ember saw her chance and used this darkness to avoid conversation with the Faunus. She knew that it was wrong to think this way but every time she saw a Faunus she couldn't help but think about, Him. She sighed and decided to get some sleep for tomorrow.
The next day went by rather quickly. Ember heard people all talking about teams and wondered how that would be handled. She sincerely hoped she would be on a team with someone like Lavender. She already knew the girl and saw how skillfully she could handle her weapon. Unfortunately she had no idea how the teams would be picked and therefore had to hope that she could adapt quickly enough to get a good team. All new arrivals were told to head to the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest for their initiation.
On the cliffs they once again saw both Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. They were all directed to stand on the different pads that were spread out by their feet. Ozpin then looked at them and said
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Glynda Goodwitch went on right after him and said,
"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." Ember hoped that they would at least tell them how the teams were assigned rather than just hope they figured it out. Ozpin began once again and told them,
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. 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." Ember let out a short gasp in surprise and turned to Lavender. She seemed just as nervous but put on an obviously fake smile and gave Ember a thumbs up. She returned the gesture before returning her attention to Ozpin. "After you've partnered up, 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."
He finished and added "Are there any questions?" The clumsy blonde guy from the other day said
"Yeah, um, sir" However he was cut off by Ozpin who said
"Good! Now, take your positions." Next to them Ember saw students start to get launched off the pads into the forest. However the blonde kid seemed completely oblivious.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a , this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" he said.
"No. You will be falling" Ozpin calmly answered. Just then Ember felt herself get shot off of the platform into the forest. Behind her she heard a scream of
"Birdy no!" As she plummeted into the forest she knew that she had to find a way to stop herself. She quickly devised a plan and shot her blades into a nearby tree. She used her momentum to bring herself into a controlled swing and as she reached the end of her pendulum motion she pulled the blades back and shot her other blades into yet another tree, using this to decrease her speed she eventually got into one more pendulum swing. At the slow end of the arc she jumped off and flipped herself upwards before landing on her feet.
Lavender flew through the air trying to think of how to land. She nearly panicked trying to think of a way to slow her descent. An idea came to her just as she was passing a huge tree. She pulled out her dual edged sword and stabbed one end deep into the trunk. Using her momentum she flipped around her sword handle, using these flips to gain more control over her speed she hopped off. Pulling the blade out with her she landed on the ground, ready to find the relics.
Dorado found himself falling before almost any other student. He was dressed in light, street clothes and a dark black jacket. He came prepared for this sort of situation and reached into the pockets on his jacket. Pulling out a small, green, cylinder he aimed his shot. As he was getting close to the ground he threw the cylinder downwards. It exploded into a huge burst of wind as the Dust inside went to works. The gust slowed him down considerably and allowed him to lose momentum. Finally he tucked into a roll transferring the rest of his speed and getting up into a run.
Mikado came dressed in military style combat gear. In the air she focused intently on the forest ahead of her. Rather than pull out her weapon she scanned the area for a pool of water. Spotting a lake she then pulled out a set of yellow mechanical daggers. She swiped the daggers around causing the blades to fly into the hilt and the back end of the hilt to extend. Finally the daggers became a set of yellow, magnum-like pistols. Aiming in the exact opposite direction of the lake she fired the guns repeatedly, using the recoil to change her falling path to the lake. She dove into the lake with a huge splash and resurfaced only moments later.
Mikado swam to the edge of the lake and jumped out. She knew she saw Dorado fall somewhere nearby. So she set out in that direction to find him. As she walked through the forest she couldn't shake the feeling that something was following her. The distinct sound of growling came from all directions around her. She pulled out her guns and readied herself for a fight. Out from the bushes leapt a pitch black lion Grimm. It was almost completely back, however rather than the normal lion mane its mane was a gray natural armor that had the blood red lines of tracing around it. Mikado recalled her studies and remembered the creature was called a Jiangdong. The creature was backed up by a pack of 15 more Jiangdong that jumped out and surrounded her. They started to circle her, almost daring her to make the first move. Suddenly one of them lunged at her trying to latch onto her neck. She reacted as quick as lightning and shot it straight in the chest. It was launched back and slammed into a nearby tree. Two more took this as their cue to attack and came at her from opposite sides. She turned and shot both of them sending them back as well. One managed to sneak up on her as she was concentrating on the other two and jumped on top of her. She was almost pinned to the ground but she switched her guns back into daggers and just barely stabbed the Grimm. Fighting even further the pack continued methodically attacking, and trying to exhaust their prey. Three of them were in the middle of lunging when she saw them. It was too late to react and she readied herself for their razor sharp claws.
Just then three objects flew past her and hit the Jiangdong right in the face. One exploded into a burst of fire while the other was frozen in ice. The final one couldn't be seen because it was sent flying into the air by a huge gust of wind. Dorado jumped out with small Dust bombs ready in his hands. He threw more fire bombs at the other Grimm which blew them back. Realising that they were outmatched the pack retreated and started running away from the two fighters. Turning around he looked straight into his old friends eyes and made sure she was okay. When he was sure she was fine he smiled and said,
"Ozpin's rules, I guess we're a team now." Mikado let out an overly-dramatic sigh and said,
"Oh no! Anyone but you!" They both laughed and moved on.
Meanwhile in another area of the forest Lavender was facing her own set of Grimm. She was being attacked by a group of Ursai. She was easily handling the first one however she was getting into huge trouble when 3 more showed up to attack her. She had already disconnected her swords and was using the greater mobility the twin blades provided. But every time she fought two the third would get a swipe in without her being able to stop him. One of them knocked her into a tree just in the distance. Cornered, and having almost no options she began to think,
"If I can't stop the third one, I'll never beat them" An idea struck her that could get the third one to stop fighting, "No!" she thought "I can't do that! I don't care if I die, I never want anyone to see that!" Once again she remembered all the constant taunts and hatred from everyone she's ever met. She picked up her swords and charged back in. Once again she was caught holding two of them back while the last Ursa made a swipe at her face. However this time its swing didn't connect. The Ursa screamed in pain and Lavender saw daggers in the back of its arm connected to a thin, durable, razor wire. The daggers drew the Ursa back as they retracted, until finally popping out of the Ursa and eliciting a screech of pain from it. Even more daggers flew into the Ursa tearing through it, some wound around him and flew into his chest while others hit him in the back. The Ursa fell to the ground with a roar and stopped moving. Ember jumped out with her weapons ready and Lavender pushed the Ursai away from her. Ember moved in close and stood back to back with Lavender before saying,
"I've been looking everywhere for you. Glad I found you in time" Lavender sighed in relief knowing that she had someone that could help her.
"So, you want me to take one, you take the other?" Lavender asked
"Better plan, we take them both out at once. Just trust me, I know what to do." Ember jumped into the air and shot her claws into the chest of the two Ursai surrounding them. She pulled them inwards towards her. Surprised at such a tactic, the Ursai were unable to fight back in time and were dragged forward with the blades. "Now!" Ember yelled. Lavender understood and held both her swords into different directions, pointing directly at the Ursai. They both got pulled onto the blades and were skewered through their chests. Lavender pulled the blades out and both the Ursai slumped to the ground next to their companion. Lavender was just about to thank her friend before she felt hands grabbing the sides of her head. She felt herself being forced around until staring directly into Ember's eyes with her face only inches away. Lavender blushed, wondering what it was that Ember was doing. Just then the hands around her head released their grip and Ember smiled at her and said,
"There, now we're teammates. Just wanted to make sure that it was official." Lavender was still blushing at that and stammered out an agreement. Ember softly laughed at her friend before once again adopting her more serious look. "Come on, those artifacts won't find themselves."