A/N: Hello again! This chapter felt like it was much easier to write, but all the same it feels awkward in third person. Then again, my goal was to challenge myself. Please leave a review, I need to know if this is absolute garbage or not. Thank you for reading!
That night was uneventful for Sage. He found a spot on the floor easily, laid some of his clothes out on the floor to act as a cushion, then changed into a gray shirt bearing the elephant emblem he had chosen for himself as part of hunter tradition and some shorts. All hunters choose a symbol, usually related to his or her semblance. Sage looked around, trying to occupy his time by people watching. First, he looked at the guys around him. There wasn't much interesting besides the patterns on the males' pants and the gun show, though the blonde haired kid from earlier was now walking around in a set of baby blue footie pajamas. Well, at least I'm not that guy. He didn't even last a day without looking stupid.
The girls, on the other hand, were more interesting to watch. A few of them chatted idly while they let their hair down and relaxed. Two or three wrote in diaries or journals whereas others restlessly laid in their sleeping bag to get some shuteye, to no avail. The room wasn't too loud, but tomorrow's events seemed to be on everyone's minds. Sage flopped unceremoniously onto his pile of clothes. Why didn't I bring a sleeping bag? It was on the list. I mean, even if I didn't have one at home, I should've cobbled something together. it's kind of cold in here. Maybe I could take someone else's?
Maybe I shouldn't burn bridges before they're even built. The airship was different though, they all knew me already. What if they end up in my team? Having Maud as a leader was a nightmare and I really don't want to have a repeat of Lighthouse. Hell, even without Maud all those years would've been horrible. Why people even tried to make a town around that school I'll never know. On land, there's a few nevermore nests to the north, beowolf packs have overrun the forest to the east and south, and then there's the sea-grimm to worry about. A few girls were shouting at each other a distance away, but Sage just rolled over; he was stuck inside his own head. The lights went out; within fifteen minutes soft snoring filled the room. Sage wasn't the only one kept awake as he noticed a few people were shifting positions every so often. He groaned and sat up while rubbing his eyes. I'm not going to sleep right now, am I? Not with the snoring, and not with all of that on my mind. Three others were doing the same. All four of the students were looking around at each other, all four wondering what was keeping the others awake.
Waking up the next morning was both incredibly boring and extremely exciting simultaneously. Everyone was rushing to get themselves ready for the initiation. Breakfast was quiet, with most people eating alone or in pairs. Sage ate by himself in a far corner, content in his seclusion. Then to the locker to grab his weapon. Exsul. Glad to see nobody stole you in the night. The teen grabbed the emerald green carbine out of the locker. It was a simple thing, colored in line with Sage's color scheme. With a skeleton stock and a rather large bayonet, it didn't seem like much. Though, I'm not sure why they would. Everyone has their own weapon. A projectile whistling past his head drew his attention. The blond guy from earlier was now stuck to a column by a scarlet and gold spear. Already getting bullied? Can't say I'm surprised… His train of thought was derailed by the one who threw the spear.
"Is that… the girl on the cereal box?"Sage rubbed his eyes, if only to make sure that he wasn't crazy. I didn't even think she existed.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." Goodwitch said over the PA system. The red haired girl took her spear and left with a girl in a white dress. It's probably more like a combat skirt, though that wouldn't give her any protection like mine. Sage thought as he patted the studded leather strips making up his own combat skirt.The cliff is huge, how am I- right, follow the masses.
Ozpin and Goodwitch were there waiting for them.
"As you are arriving, please make your way to one of the metal platforms. Do not leave the platform. We will brief you when everyone has arrived." said Goodwitch. She didn't look up from her scroll at the students, unlike Professor Ozpin who calmly watched them take their places. Sage found himself at the furthest platform from the two adults. Despite this, he could still hear them clearly when they began their briefing.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began, taking a sip from his coffee mug after finishing. Everyone from Lighthouse was trained to defend the town. Not to be a warrior. Goodwitch picked up where he left off.
"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."
"What?!" Sage whispered harshly to no one in particular. The boy next to him, who just so happened to be the black and white card themed Ace from yesterday, echoed him.
"I know ri-" he began, only to be hushed by the next person down.
"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." I don't work well with anyone. Sage's confidence began to drop a little bit. I'm not changing for the sake of this school, but I don't want to get someone else killed.
"...with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." After landing? How are partners being picked?
"What'd he say?" Sage turned to Ace, but Ace was now intently focused on 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. Are there any questions?"
Sage straightened his back from his coiled up position to wave at Ozpin."Ah, yes actually!"
"Now, take your positions."
"Wait, I've got-" He was cut off by the catapulting of his body into the air.
"YOU MESSED UP MY GODDAMN LEGS, YOU ASSHOLE!" The launcher had indeed 'messed up his goddamn legs', due to his position before launch. He drew out a long "Holy shit!" before cursing the headmaster of Beacon again. "OZPIN YOU ARE AN INDUSTRIAL SIZED BAG OF DICKS!" he yelled as he flew through the sky. Talking (more like screaming) to himself, Sage tried to orient himself to figure out a 'landing strategy.' "Okay! Ground is that way! Plenty of time til I hit the ground! Actually, still going up!" He pulled on the sling that attached the rifle to himself.
"Okay, okay! I can do this! Just gotta figure out how the hell to stop myself with a freaking rifle! What am I even gonna do with this piece of shit!" His mouth became dry from all the yelling and the wind, and he began to cough. "Damn it!" On his way down now, Sage tried to guess where he'd land, and it wasn't looking too good for him. The platform he had malfunctioned. Instead of shooting him due north, it sent him far to the northwest. More accurately, it put him on a trajectory that would place him in the middle of a grassy clearing. "Oh come ON!" he managed to get out before making his crash landing.
Bouncing a few times prior to slamming into a large dead tree, Sage was in a bad way. The tree creaked and groaned due to the sudden impact but remained standing.
"Okay, I'm alive." he moaned. "That's a start. Alright. Reactors… well, I'm alive. Online then. Sensors..?" he began to get up but stopped at the sudden pain in his ankles. "Extremely painful. Weapons systems..?" he picked up Exsul, his rifle, in his right hand. "Well… it works. Or it did. Shouldn't test it, don't want an ursa breathing down my neck. Either way," he paused to grunt in pain as he tried to move his left arm, "could always stab. With one arm, apparently, unless I'm going to…" Sage checked out his arm for breaks. "... relocate it by myself." He laughed quietly. "I'm in a bad way. And I'm talking more to myself than I have in a long time. Am I in shock? Is this shock?" Sage's laughter became more and more desperate.
"I'm… uh… hah, hahaha… totally fucked. So much for the plan."
Sage woke up surprised for two reasons: he was alive and he didn't remember falling asleep or passing out. Attempting and failing once more to rise to his feet, he tried again; this time he used Exsul as a crutch. Kind of ironic, a weapon made to kill instead used to save a life. Assuming I find someone. The sun had long since reached its peak in the sky, now on its way down. The day was beginning to cool down, though Sage estimated that he still had about two to three hours left of sunlight. I can't have been out for too long. We launched in the morning, at… nine…
"No one else is going to be out here. Just gotta go north. I'll hit the temple. I have to." Or you achieve what you're here for. Why haven't you just done it yourself yet? A small, oft pushed away voice spoke in the back of his head. You're not saving anyone in this condition, you're going to die.
"I can do this. Just keep walking. I'll be okay. I'll be okay." Sage repeated the mantra over and over out loud. "I can do this just keep wal- SHIT." Stumbling over a root, he found himself on the ground again. "Getting tired of your shit, legs. Okay, mumbling is not helping."
Limping onward, he managed to appreciate his surroundings. Grimm infested forest or not, it was a lovely one. The lack of undergrowth allowed for him to move easily through the woods, and the canopy wasn't so thick so as to make it dark. Sun trickled in through the leaves. Up ahead, he noticed a clearing.
"Finally. Maybe I'm there…" He rushed forward as fast as his battered legs could take him, only to find it was a badly burned area of cinders, charcoal matchstick-like trees, and ash. The fire cut a flaming swath through the forest like a hot knife through butter. Luckily, the wind was at Sage's back, meaning the wildfire had raged its way north and created an (rather heated and smouldering) area that would both scare away the local grimm populace and give him increased visibility for the temple. "Though, if I fall here…" He shook off the thought and pushed forward.
"Did you realize that we didn't have video feed on Sejanus Aquila up until a few minutes ago? We'd completely lost track of him." Goodwitch intoned sharply to Ozpin, who had long since moved from the cliffs to his office. The gears in the ceiling clicked softly like the silent gears in Ozpin's head as he recalled.
"Yes. You said the last pair had been formed, but you'd only shown me Winchester and Thrush, Bronzewing and Lark, Arc and Nikos, Xiao Long and Belladonna, and Rose and Schnee up until you said Ms. Valkyrie and Mr. Ren had found each other. In fact, you didn't even mention anyone but those twelve."
"You didn't think it important to tell me, sir?"
"You seemed engrossed in their activities. I didn't want to interrupt."
"With all due respect, you can pretend to be apathetic about the students all you want but something like not telling me when we have students missing is reckless and pointless."
"Yes, but he's clearly alive on the scroll. He's from Lighthouse."
"I know, and his individual scores were excellent, but-"
"Have some faith in the child, Glynda. Battered as he may be, Lighthouse builds them to last."
"Oh shit!" said Sage, upon reaching a hilltop. Not too far to the north were the remnants of a battle. Chunks of white ice contrasted sharply with the foliage of the trees and the grass of the clearing. Nevermore feathers stuck out of the ground. As he followed the feathers left with his eyes, he saw "The TEMPLE! There IS a god!" Is the Nevermore still around? Sage thought, suddenly feeling very exposed on the hillside. It might be… Nope, it's flying… and… fighting by the cliffs? "One step at a time. Get the relic, then worry about massive Nevermore that happens to be circling the cliffs that I have to climb up somehow." Through the forest he hobbled to reach the objective. As soon as he broke out of the forest, he began to limp as fast as he could towards the temple.
"Lots of pedestals. Okay?" he muttered as he glanced around the ruin. "There's gotta be SOMETHING left." He shifted around in his hunchbacked position. "Would've helped if I had known what to look for." An agonized expression came over his face as he began to walk again. "Ugh… I have to get off my feet." Don't do that, Sage. If you sit down you're not getting back up. "Is there some kind of switch? Maybe this is just the entrance..?" To find something, anything that would help him, he searched every nook and cranny of the moss covered stone to no avail. "Hey God, if you're up there, I take back every negative thing I ever said about you and all the people that follow you if you'll help me this one time."
Nothing.
"It was worth a shot, I guess. So this whole trip was…" Something glinted in the grass as a cloud uncovered the sun. "... NOT pointless." Sage snatched the piece up from the ground, but became irate as he noticed what it was. "It's a CHESS PIECE! Ozpin, you sent us into a grimm infested forest to cleanup your GOD DAMN GAME? Does this look like a game to you? I swear when I get up that cliff I'm going to… oh."
The yelling had attracted a roving pack of beowolves. The pack had attempted to sneak up on Sage while he was distracted and alone. Sage moved his hand at a snails pace to stow away the white bishop piece. After pocketing the relic, he went to reposition Exsul so he could make to shoot the alpha.
Beowolves' pack mentality is similar to more 'normal' wolves' pack mentality in that there's the alpha male and female, beta, and omega. However, if the alpha male dies, the beowolves are more likely to fight within themselves to be the next beta or even try to take the alpha position from the beta. It was with these facts in mind that Sage moved, using his good arm to pull the rifle up onto one of the stone pillars and to take aim at the largest of the small pack.
I hope I'm not mixing up the pack mentalities.
He took a deep breath and let a little bit out, then slowly squeezed the trigger.