The following morning, they were brought to a cliff overlooking Beacon's Emerald Forest.
Professor Ozpin told them their objective: to find their partner and a relic by traveling through the forest. They would face great danger and would be expected to take care of themselves. The forest was teeming with Grimm of all shapes and sizes.
Each student was to move carefully and stealthily. Also, be prepared to fight for their lives against the Grimm. Their partner would be the first person who they met the eyes of. He did not tell them how their final teams would be decided.
The danger they would face, along with the need for discretion and teamwork due to the number of Grimm in the forest, was emphasized.
Then, he launched them off the cliff from spring loaded panels.
"This will be an interesting class once the pairings are decided."
Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin stood on the edge of the cliff, watching as their students sailed through the air. Each had a scroll connected to the camera drones following each student.
"Mmh," Professor Ozpin watched them land without meaningfully responding. After a minute, only two hadn't touched down.
"Five of the thirteen who threw up flags for investigation are in this group. Unfortunately, three have already been tested once," Professor Goodwitch said as she swapped her view to their two stragglers: Jaune Arc, who was woefully unprepared and had been pinned to a tree by Pyrrha Nikos throwing her weapon at him; and Yang Xiao Long, who was using dust shots to propel herself deeper into the forest. She'd also taken the largest leap at the beginning. Glynda shook her head. "Speaking of which, Miss Xiao Long seems to be trying to set a new distance record."
"She'll be hard pressed to beat her uncle." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and watched as she finally started descending. She was incredibly close to the final site. "He transformed and flew to the relics. Summer found him pretending to take a nap with one of them in hand."
"That is… unsurprising." Glynda shook her head. Convincing Qrow to do anything even by the letter of the rules was next to impossible, let alone the spirit of them. "That entire family seems to be cursed with unfortunate appearing Semblances. Qrow, Taiyang, Summer, and now Yang as well. Only Raven was spared."
"You could say that Ruby was spared as well." Ozpin smiled softly. One of the knowing grins that he was prone to whenever he wanted someone to figure something out on their own. It was a habit that had infuriated her when she was a student.
"Ruby?" Glynda wracked her mind for where she'd heard that name before. She knew that Taiyang and Summer had another child, but couldn't put a name or face to them. They were presumably in this group if Ozpin was mentioning them now, but which one. She went over the features and equipment of each student on her scroll before the memory snapped in place. "Ruby Rose, the student with the uncontrollable, memory-loss Semblance that you sent the all staff message about last week. She's wearing one of your pins."
After another moment of thought, Glynda sighed, "Of course. Her last name is the same as Summer's... Which was a surprisingly difficult observation to make."
"Considering that difficulty, we can only hope that she will find a partner who has the mental fortitude to keep her in mind." He glanced down when his scroll pinged.
Their scrolls would sound when two students got close enough that they might see each other. They received two in a row, then six more.
"Our first pairing, Cardin Winchester and Dove Bronzewing. The second will likely be Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladona." Glynda barely resisted groaning when she saw who the large set was. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, and Jaune Arc are all approaching each other as well."
It was coincidental beyond reason. Even if he'd tried to set this result up, Glynda was sure that Ozpin wouldn't have had anywhere near this degree of success. Two of them were practically a pair, and there was a good chance two more would be as well. With luck, they'd challenge and test each other enough to be removed from the list. Then nothing unfortunate would have to happen.
She looked at Ozpin, who was as inscrutable as ever, and then back to her scroll. A quick text confirmed that the other professors hiding in the forest had received their notifications as well. She hated having to do treat their students like, all of the professors did. But, it was better for people who hated the task to have to do it, than people who may enjoy it.
The first trial was the regular entrance exam, but it only gave them an idea of who to look into more closely. All too often, it took live combat and the risk of death to reveal the danger lurking in human clothing. And once it was revealed, they would do what needed to be done, the hardest job of an elite Hunter.
Someone needed to eliminate the Anathema before they could threaten the entire world.
Ruby slid to a stop before she got closer to the first person she heard. She'd been hoping to find Yang and be partners with her sister; it would be nice and easy. They'd fought together before and worked really well as a team. But because Yang flew off when they got launched, that wasn't very likely.
Thankfully, she was pretty sure she knew who was up ahead just going by the sounds their heels made when they stepped. It was probably Weiss or Pyrrha; Ruby would be happy to be partners with either of them. She also heard Jaune yelling from really high up, and while he didn't seem like he'd be great in a fight, he was pretty nice and kinda funny. Though Pyrrha probably wanted to find him first.
She stopped and listened again. There was another person walking nearby. Both of the people moving had heels, though one made sharper sounds when she stepped. She was pushing through the buses. The other was cutting more, but mostly avoiding them. Pyrrha had a better sword for cutting so that might be her.
Ruby took a deep breath. The sounds of the forest faded away as the music of the world took over. It was faint, but she could pick out Weiss, even from this far away. Her music was calmer than last night when she and Blake spent awhile looking at each other from across the room.
With a burst from her Semblance, Ruby rushed towards Weiss. She stopped just outside of the clearing that the white haired girl was standing in. This was the moment of truth. Could anyone else remember her?
Weiss's eyes narrowed briefly. Ruby gulped and waved at her, "Umm, hi."
After a long pause, Weiss nodded. "I could do worse. Let's go Ruby." She turned away while Ruby squealed with joy. She dashed over to the other girl and wrapped her arms around her.
"You remember me!" Ruby lifted Weiss just barely off the ground and spun in circles. Her cape whipped behind her, leaving a whirlwind of petals surrounding them.
"Hey! Ruby, what're you doing?" Weiss struggled as soon as she realized what was happening. She tried, unsuccessfully, to shake herself free. She couldn't get any leverage thanks to her heels dragging against the grass. "Do you know where we are? Let go of me this instant!"
An elbow to the face sent both girls tumbling down, but Ruby just kept smiling. Everything would be ok now! "I'm... it's just… You remembered my name!"
"Of course I did, you dolt!" Weiss staggered to her feet. "Why wouldn't I remember you considering how we met?"
Ruby giggled from the ground, watching the petals that trailed her fall. "People just sort of forget about me. It's kind of my Semblance."
Weiss caught a petal and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah, my dad didn't recognize me when I first came home. He thought I was one of Yang's friends trying to sneak in and almost threw me out of the house. The same thing happened the next night. And the morning after."
"That." Weiss picked up her rapier, which she'd dropped in the struggle. "Sounds like it was very difficult."
"But, that's all better now. Because we're partners!" Ruby flipped herself to her feet and raised her hand for a high five.
Weiss just crossed her arms and tapped her foot. The frigid glare was back again. Ruby took a hissed breath and pulled back.
"Ok, yeah I'll be serious." She peered off into the distance and drew Crescent Rose in light-rifle mode. The Grimm were close enough that she didn't need any extra stability. They'd been stalking, moving silently and using the bushes to stay below her sight-line. She and Weiss were almost surrounded.
Ruby took aim at the nearest grouping while Weiss rolled her eyes and started walking towards the bushes. "Now you'll be serious? Just by drawing your gun? Look I'm sure you can-"
Ruby fired four times, blasting holes in the plants right next to Weiss. Three startled yips were accompanied by bits of black, red, and white flying into the air as the Beowolves' heads exploded. Howls sounded around them. The survivor charged.
Weiss hopped back, narrowly avoiding the Beowolf's teeth. It burst from the brush with half of its mask missing, claws digging furrows into the ground when it caught itself. Before it could regain its balance, she lunged and skewered its head through the bullet wound. Five more shots rang out before Weiss got to Ruby's side.
"How many are there?" She kept her gaze on the bushes while Ruby unfolded her scythe. They stood back to back as the horde slowly emerged.
"Seven nearby. Another ten still coming." Ruby settled into a tail stance, scythe directly behind her. The heel of her blade was close to Weiss, but not in her way. Though, for some reason, the other girl still kept glancing at it rather than keeping her eyes on their enemies.
"You're not worried?" If Weiss was, her tone didn't show it. She kept her sword pointed high, alternating between the two closest to keep them at bay.
"Nah, I took out around thirty by myself two weeks ago." Ruby giggled and gripped Crescent Rose tighter. They were almost there.
"Thirty? That's a ridi-" Weiss was cut off by Ruby firing Crescent Rose.
"Go!" She shot forward, aiming right at the center of her group. The outermost Grimm's head flew off as she landed. The Beowolves turned to her, growling and circling just out of range. Crescent Rose laid on her shoulder while she waited. When two more came charging from the forest, they all rushed her.
Ruby threw her entire body behind her next swing and fired another round to gain more speed. She became a red and black blur, scythe lashing out. A moment later, all five Beowolves fell to the ground in a pile of severed pieces. None made it within three feet of her.
She could make out Weiss's shocked face before her partner turned away, engaging with her own group of Grimm.
Blake crept along the old stone wall, staying in the shadows, while Yang waited in the middle of the ruins. Her partner was ready for anything to come at her, sunk into her knees with her fists slightly open. On her belt was their relic, a golden knight.
Yang was turning constantly, keeping watch all around. She tried to keep her glances random, but there was still a pattern to how she moved. Once to the far left, back to center, and suddenly left again. As soon as she finished the snap, Blake moved.
She used a stone jutting out of the wall as a handhold to flip herself over it. The one patch of grass and dirt on the stone floor was her target, the perfect spot to land and avoid being heard.
She landed on one foot. Yang was starting to turn around again. Blake sank down and pushed off. She flipped in the air and landed right behind the blond. She tapped Yang on the neck at the same time that she slipped her prize from Yang's belt.
"Grahh," Yang's eyes flashed red as she shouted, "How do you keep doing that?"
Blake looked back to her path. She'd crossed around ten yards in less than a second, without being noticed. She smiled and gave Yang a hint. "You don't look up and back enough."
"I looked behind me just fine."
"Not really."
Yang brought her hand to her chin and thought for a moment. Then she leaned back and craned her head around, pushing against her cheek to move it a bit more. At the end, she would just barely have hit the right arc.
Yang rubbed the side of her neck after she turned back. "Yeah, I still don't see how you'd do that."
"Like this." Blake turned away from Yang. She crouched slightly, then turned her knees, hips, chest, and neck so that she could see behind her without losing her balance. "You need to move everything at once."
Yang tried to mimic the movement, but she couldn't quite bend all the way. After three attempts she pouted and sighed. "Ok, one more time. You're only getting to the count of five to hide though."
Blake tossed the relic back to Yang and got ready. This would be the fourth time they played this game since they reached the ruins. She snuck up on Yang in the forest and now the other girl insisted on doing this until she caught Blake creeping up on her. There were so many gaps in Yang's defense, they could be here until nightfall before she succeeded.
But, it was a fun enough way to pass the time.
"Ok ready?" Yang covered her eyes and was about to start counting when more heavy rifle shots sounded from the forest. They'd been going on for a while now, slowly drawing closer to the ruins.
"Yang, I think we should wait." Blake turned her head towards the shots. She couldn't make anything out visually, but heard the growls and yips following each shot. There were a lot of Beowolves chasing whoever was doing that.
A piercing cry sounded from their other side along with tremors in the ground. Then, a series of explosions from between the two, these ones with the roar of an Ursa in response. Blake pulled her blade off her back and got ready for the Grimm to descend upon them. Yang punched her palm and rolled her shoulders, deploying her gauntlets.
Before anything else could happen though, the gunshots stopped. Moments later, a small girl in a red cloak burst from the bushes, swinging her enormous scythe into the ground to stop herself. She turned around and blew her bangs out of her face. The girl waved at them. "Hi Yang!"
Yang giggled and relaxed. She waved back to the girl. "Hey sis! You got this?"
"Yep." The girl turned back to the bushes and aimed. She fired her weapon so quickly that the next shot was in the air before the shells from the first two hit the ground. Each one was punctuated by a roar and the sound of a body falling. She was smiling as she fired again and again.
"Weiss, jump!" She shouted during a brief pause. Blake thought back to the previous day; the girl in red knew Weiss Schnee and she'd helped a girl like that before. It took her a moment, but the name came to mind.
"Ruby," Blake whispered to herself. She turned to Yang. "Your sister. Her name's Ruby isn't it?"
Yang whistled and turned to respond, keeping one eye on her sister, "Yeah... That was quick. You got her even faster than dad did."
"She's fairly memorable. I didn't believe her when she explained what her Semblance was at first." She'd never heard about anything like that before. Yang also winced as soon as she mentioned it. "Though…"
Blake paused when Ruby dropped her first magazine to the ground, reloading in record time. Three more shots, then she stopped. "Considering how she's moving, I'd say something relating to speed would be more likely."
"Heheh, yeah. It's kinda weird, but you know how those things are." There it was again, that tic where Yang played with her hair. Something else was going on and both of them knew about it.
"Of all of the stupid, reckless, boneheaded ideas!" Weiss Schnee's shouting drew Blake's attention back to her and Ruby. She was pulling twigs from her hair while Ruby giggled. She was also standing too close to the bushes. Bushes that had something moving inside of them.
Before Blake could warn her, a final Beowolf lept forward. Blake snapped her pistol up and fired two shots, one for each eye, before Ruby reacted. It was already dead when the other girl blew its head off.
"Weiss, you really need to be more careful." Ruby continued scanning the bushes, while her partner growled and stalked up to her.
"I need to be more careful? Do you have any idea how close you came to shooting me?" Weiss turned away, ignoring Ruby's complaint that she never actually hit her.
After taking a deep breath, Weiss glanced towards Blake. The animosity from the previous day was almost all gone. "Thank you for reacting so quickly and saving me."
Ruby folded her scythe up to a small rifle. "Aww Weiss come on. The plan worked great. We got all fortyish of them. And the Ursa too!"
"Thirty two. You took out twenty of them, along with the Ursa, while I stopped us from being swarmed even more than we already were." Weiss continued ranting, "I'd expected there to be some fighting, not a panicked run through Grimm infested territory. Why are there so many Grimm in this forest anyway? It's right next to Beacon!"
Blake mouthed thirty two and looked back to Yang; who wasn't worried for her sister at all. She wasn't sure which was more excited when Yang spoke, "Whew, good job sis. We only found three Ursa and like ten Beowolves so far. I've gotta catch up."
Weiss groaned in exasperation. Blake shot her a sympathetic smile that got a small smile back, which was surprising in its own right. Having anything in common with the Schnee heiress was unexpected. Though it was probably for a different reason in her case.
The thought that someone could enjoy fighting Grimm wasn't exactly new to Blake, but Ruby and Yang seemed too nice for that. Everyone else she'd known with that attitude had a bloodthirsty streak a mile wide and gave off an aura of violence even when they were just sitting around camp.
She shivered when she remembered the conversations that they thought she couldn't hear. The things some of them wanted to do, that they wanted her to help with. Bile rose in her throat.
Never again.
While she shook the memory off, another pair of Hunters joined them. A small, very energetic, girl who rode an Ursa in before it collapsed and an exhausted boy chasing after her. Another high pitched scream sounded from the forest, followed by a chorus of howls. The trees shook as the Grimm moved.
"Yang." Blake got herself ready to fight. "I think you'll get your chance."