The next day – Beacon Academy Initiation
The morning sun found me trailing after a severe looking blonde. We were on our way to Beacon Cliffs, the place where I and the other first year students were going to be put through an initiation of sorts.
I had no idea what it all entailed. Goodwitch – the woman I was following – had been very clear that she was not happy with me and that I should be wearing a uniform and that I'd already broken half a dozen other rules and no, she would not let me cheat by telling me about the initiation. On top of the blonde's attitude, I dealt with judgmental glances and scoffed insults on my way through Beacon's halls. All because of what I was wearing.
What. I. Was. Wearing.
Jeans and a plain under shirt – I did not have any time to put on anything more elaborate this morning, given I just found out that I could attend Beacon less than twenty-four hours ago. A lot less than twenty-four hours, actually.
I was in a sour mood.
Just I started to mutely reconsider attending - because apparently clothes mattered to a lot of the huntresses and hunters-to-be here - I heard Goodwitch make an approving noise quickly followed by several voices speaking.
"We are here," she stated. "The initiation is set to begin in two minutes. Hurry, if you will."
She sped up and I started walking faster too.
I checked my right arm, just to make sure that the weight I felt was, in fact, Aegis. Did I bring everything else I needed? What if we were expected to camp out overnight? I glanced down at Aegis again. The shield was more of a thick bracer in its collapsed form now, given all the enhancements I made over the past two years.
Nervously, I ran a hand through my short, brown hair. Hopefully I wouldn't need anything else…
"Enten!"
Ruby's voice, I recognized it easily. I had just enough time to turn toward it before a blackish-reddish blob smashed into my side.
"You're here," she cheered, inches from my ear. "That's so great! Now I know two-"
She cut herself off quickly and I smiled sympathetically at her. Even now, she had trouble making friends. I knew she was hoping Beacon would be a fresh start for her but it looked like the girl hadn't had any luck at socializing.
I squeezed her shoulders with one of my arms. "Couldn't just let you and Yang get ahead me, you know?"
Ruby grinned up at me even as her sister punched my opposite shoulder.
"What's up, Yang," I said. "Miss me?"
She grinned up at me too, looking frighteningly similar to her half-sister, and it struck me how much three years had changed us. We used to be the same height, Yang and I, now I stood several inches taller than her and quite a bit broader too.
"You know it tough guy!" She shadow boxed in front of me, the brown coat about her shoulders bouncing with the movement. "Dunno what I'd do without my number one sparring partner!"
"Can't have you losing your edge," I agreed. The banter was relaxing and served to cool my frustration at how the morning went. The three of us talked for another few seconds and I noticed a boy lingering nearby. By his facial expression and the way his eyes darted around the clearing, I could tell he wanted to join our conversation but apparently didn't know how.
'Huntresses and hunters in training they may be - the lot of them are still awkward teenagers.'
"Enten," I said, stepping away from Yang and Ruby and offering the blond my hand.
He jumped but hurried to accept the gesture. "Ah, Jaune. Jaune Arc!"
"Nice to meet you Jaune," I nodded. "I hope these two haven't driven you spare yet?"
The girls squawked, indignant, behind me while the boy in front of me laughed.
"No, no," he said quickly even as his shoulders relaxed. "They've been great! I haven't had- well, they're great!"
I smiled. Yes, Ruby wasn't so odd in her social awkwardness. Might be that I just forgot what it was like to be a teenager.
"He didn't know Pyrrha Nikos," the shorter girl in question chimed in from my side. She was in her usual black and red dress, complete with dark tights and heavy looking boots. The dark clothing, as usual, remained a startling contrast to her cheerful demeanor.
Jaune shrugged, clearly embarrassed even as I said: "Who?"
The name sounded vaguely familiar. I couldn't place it though - it never came up in any of my readings.
Ruby shrugged and I laughed. Apparently she didn't know much either. I heard someone nearby – a girl – huff and storm away from us at that point. She was short, wore a snowflake-covered white dress and had pure white hair.
"Wonder what her problem is," I muttered even as the headmaster – Ozpin – called for our attention.
Next to me, Ruby scoffed as our group of four headed toward the cliff's edge. "She's just a bossy know-it-all."
"Ruby blew her up," Yang stage-whispered across her sister's face.
"I did not blow her up," the fifteen year old said, adamant and a little louder than she should have. We reached the rest of the students then and most, if not all of them, were staring at Ruby. The younger girl blushed even as the white haired girl scoffed and looked away.
'Ray of sunshine, that one.'
Ozpin cleared his throat, easily garnering our attention. Beside him, Goodwitch stood with a Scroll held in her crossed arms. Without any further ceremony, the gray haired man started off on a speech about the forest below the cliff and what we were here for.
The short of it? We were going to be launched off this cliff and into the forest. After landing, we needed to head to an abandoned temple 'at the end of the path'. The path.
'Unless that path zig zags across the entire forest, that doesn't help at all.'
Finally, once at the temple, we needed to grab a relic and make it back to Beacon.
At least that part was straight forward.
Oh, and the first person you made eye contact with down there was going to be your partner for the next four years.
'What genius thought that was a good idea?'
"Now," Ozpin continued, sipping from the mug in his hand. "An administrative incident-" Goodwitch scoffed. "-left us with an odd number of students this year. As such, there will be one group of three partners. You will know if you are part of that group of three."
Now my fellow students were whispering to one another; we were all stuck on these platforms so no one could really move, but I heard them trying to figure out who had joined them since this morning. I didn't bother trying to draw attention to myself and given I was standing between Yang and a big guy in armor, it wasn't hard. Upon hearing Ozpin finish his speech, I crouched – better to absorb the force from being launched – and expanded Aegis.
It was a work of art, though I may have been a little biased. It was still a kite shield, now reaching nearly three-quarters of my height and stretching just a little wider than my shoulders. The edges on the side of the shield were bladed, tapering down into a wicked looking spear point. It was thicker now too, Aegis. I needed to make it bulkier so that I could direct my Semblance through it from the inside. To that end, I had placed multiple vent-like ports on its edges. It gave Aegis the odd appearance of having two layers of metal.
The shield was heavy, too. Heavy enough that I needed an elbow length gauntlet to support it completely. My hand was positioned near one of the top corners of the shield while my elbow was locked into place right in the middle of it. It looked weird when I held Aegis at my side because of that, but I found it more natural to hold it in front of me that way rather than using a completely horizontal alignment.
"You the newbie," the big guy on my left said. He'd been throwing glances my way for the past fifteen seconds.
I looked at him and nodded. "It was a last second thing. Enten, you?"
"Cardin," the boy said. "You must be good, if the headmaster waited for you."
"I'm alright," I shrugged. I was probably a little better than just alright, if Yang's boasting about being one of the best at Signal had any merit, but bragging was never a strong point for me. Better to draw less attention to myself anyway, given I was unique in that I only just arrived at Beacon.
The boy scoffed even as students started to get launched into the forest.
"The headmaster wouldn't have made us wait for just anyone. You're good."
Well, at least he was sure of himself.
I shrugged again while we waited – it was taking forever for all of us to be thrown off the cliff. "I prefer to let Aegis do the talking," a shifting of my stance allowed me to show him my 'weapon'. Given I used it on my dominant arm – my right – and he was on my left, I had to do some rotating.
"Damn," he muttered, eyebrows arched. "Big shield. I approve.
"This is Ofring," he said as he grabbed the large mace on his back. "I can put any Grimm down with this-"
Our conversation was promptly ended when he was launched into the forest and, a few seconds later, I was thrown from the cliff too.
The Emerald Forest
It was a simple thing to use Aegis to break my fall and I ended up alone in the forest with nary a bruise to show for it.
It was a quiet, tranquil atmosphere that surrounded me. Either the other students hadn't found any Grimm yet or they were too far for me to hear. I shut my eyes for a few seconds and just… breathed. It was relaxing and a much needed relief from the craziness this morning offered me. My life was being dramatically changed – for the better, I hoped – and a moment to gather my bearings was met with extreme gratitude.
A sudden silence fell over the nearby wild-life and I heard the rustling of bushes not too long after.
'Grimm or student,' I thought as I hefted Aegis up in front of me. 'Either way, I have a target now.'
That thought in mind, I started heading toward the rustling. It didn't sound like a Grimm; there were no animalistic sounds or heavy foot falls, just a rustling of bushes.
'30 feet out.'
But damn if this wasn't the densest forest I'd ever been in… Forever Fall had nothing on this. The brush was tall enough to reach my waist in some spots and the trees were maybe fifteen feet apart at the most. I couldn't see the sky anymore-
'Movement!'
I couched fully behind Aegis, wary and ready.
"Student or Grimm," I called. The immediate lack of movement relieved me; if this thing was a Grimm then I had no doubt it would already be attacking.
"Student," I heard a girl call back after a second or two of strained, awkward silence. She stepped out of the bushes just as I straightened, clad mostly in blacks and whites. Two of her more unique characteristics stuck out to me most of all though – the large bow she kept in her hair and her yellow eyes.
"Enten," I said, extending my hand once I disengaged it from the gauntlet I used to control some of Aegis' more fine-tuned abilities. I thought it was pretty fun to watch – Ruby agreed – because the gauntlet would peel back over my hand and the entire shield shift back up the gauntlet with an intimidating growl of machinery.
She accepted the gesture with a quiet, "Blake." Then silence descended over us again.
She was watching me silently, but once I caught her eyes she averted her gaze and started glancing around the forest.
'Awkward silence.'
It was something I was used to, something I thought all teenagers were used to. This girl appeared to be no different but was still reluctant to speak.
"Alright," I said. "This abandoned tem-"
A scream cut me off. Not one of fear, but one that spoke of rage.
'That was Yang!'
"Come on," I said quickly before I darted off toward the commotion, Aegis up in front of me. Blake was following after me, judging by the sound of rustling bushes. The trees were so thick that I could scarcely see even thirty feet in front of me; the only guiding influence I really had was the racket Yang was making.
'She must be pissed.'
I rounded a tree trunk and abruptly found myself in a clearing. So startling was the transition between thick forest brush and open skies that I stopped behind Aegis reflexively, eyes scanning the clearing for any threats. Behind me, Blake managed to stop on a dime and keep her balance; I felt more than heard her crouch behind me. It was all for not, though. The only thing in the clearing was Yang and two downed Grimm. She was breathing heavily and currently looking away from us.
I snorted. "What did these poor, innocent creatures do to deserve this?"
Yang spun, her fists up in a boxing stance, but quickly relaxed when she saw me.
"Enten," she crowed.
I grinned and half-turned, encouraging Blake to step forward. She did. Yang's eyes widened, apparently she hadn't seen the girl.
"This is Blake," I said to the blonde. Then, to my partner: "Blake, this is Yang. She and I go back."
"Waaaay back," the girl confirmed with a happy nod in greeting. "We met last… last… What is that?"
I looked up, in the direction Yang was staring, to find whatever had caused her to pause. It was not hard… The thing stuck out like a sore thumb and looked like a giant pinkish-purplish bolt of plasma and…
"Shit," I spat, herding Blake behind me and bringing Aegis to bear. "Yang!"
"It's not," she started to say just as the energy curved downward, heading straight for us. It was even larger than I thought, at least ten feet wide.
"Uh oh," Yang muttered as she finally got moving.
The second the blonde made it behind me, I planted my left hand on the inside of Aegis and channeled my Semblance through the metal. The shield absorbed it readily and started spitting it out via the vents on its front. In short order, I had a translucent shield made entirely of my Aura placed between the three of us and the impact site which was about to become the impact site-
The plasma hit the ground and I tensed my muscles in preparation. Yang and Blake were silent behind me… in fact, the entire clearing was silent.
There was no explosion, no shockwave, no… anything.
Hesitantly, I lowered Aegis.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, straightening out of my crouch. The translucent blue shield faded away and, annoyed, I noted that my Aura was sitting at about four fifths of its maximum.
My Semblance was incredibly powerful in that it gave me nearly unlimited control over my Aura and the ability to influence nearly anything I touched in any way. The downside was that it pulled directly from my reserves; the stronger my Semblance's attacks, the weaker my Aura's defense. Because of that, I often played a delicate balancing act in combat. I needed to make my attacks strong enough to bring down my opponents but I needed to save enough of my Aura to weather any attacks in return.
Yang scoffed as she and Blake stepped out from behind me. They too were exasperated.
The plasma hadn't been an attack. It hadn't even done anything but leave behind a small, wooden sign in the clearing.
'Surprise! You three are partners now!'
"So," I said about ten seconds later, when we'd all been given a chance to come to terms that the 'attack' was really just their convoluted way of telling us we were stuck together. "This abandoned temple?"
All in all, I think I got lucky as far as partners were concerned. Blake and I worked especially well together; she was all about offense where I was all about defense. Alone, she often over-extended herself in a reckless drive to do as much damage as possible whereas I ended up weathering blows behind Aegis without dishing out much in the way of a counter attack.
Together, I was able to cover for her when she slipped up and she was able take down the enemies that I could not.
And then there was Yang.
Yang was a force of nature.
She took hit after hit after hit from her enemies and only ended up stronger because of it. The more damage done to her Aura, the harder she hit. That was her Semblance. There were very few ways to beat the girl in a fight and the pack of Beowolves we'd just fought were unable to utilize any of them.
I shifted my shoulders, collapsing Aegis to give the tired muscles a break. Beside me, Blake sheathed her katana-esque weapon and placed it on her back. It was an interesting piece of work, given that both the blade and the sheath could be used in combat. I was impressed with it and with her skill in handling it - hopefully the rest of the students at Beacon were equally as competent. If all of us were this strong already then that would definitely count as a positive aspect of attending Beacon.
"Woo," Yang cheered, stretching her arms above her head. "This is fun! And I think I see that temple too!"
"Fun, she says. Temple, she says. This, she says," the nonsensical words spilled out of my mouth as I watched the blonde dart out of the clearing, pulling up the sole orange knee sock she wore under her combat boots. Maybe I was bitter, but her Semblance was so much better than mine. Seeing it in action again just drove that point home.
I heard Blake snort as she brushed passed me and my lips twitched upward as I moved to follow her.
Still, I had a lot going for me as well. My Semblance was definitely more dynamic than Yang's and it wasn't dependent on getting hit – thankfully.
Blake and I cleared the tree line just in time to see our last partner reach the ruins of what looked to be a stone temple. As we drew closer, I noticed that there were pillars placed around the inside ring of the temple's walls. Each pillar had something on it… A chess piece?
Yeah, chess pieces. Black and gold. Ironic, given my companions' color schemes.
"These must be the relics," Yang said, excited. She was currently inspecting each piece, slowly making her way around the circle of pillars. I noticed that two of the pieces were already gone, but the other eighteen were still present.
I heard Yang coo behind me and turned to find her holding a golden knight.
"How about a cute little pony!?"
Blake shrugged and I didn't care much either; I did, however, see an opportunity to wind the energetic girl up…
"Wait," I said, attracting their attention as I walked over to the other golden knight. I held it up for Yang to see. "This one is better."
Her eyebrows rose and she slowly shook her head, unimpressed as she glanced between her piece and mine. It was clear to me that she was at a loss for words.
Given there was no visible difference between the two pieces, that was to be expected.
"It's obviously superior," I expanded, fighting to keep my face blank. "I don't know how you missed it…"
"What," Yang said slowly. "They're the same, dolt."
I arched an eyebrow and glanced toward Blake. "She can be a little slow, sometimes. You'll have to forgive her," I commiserated.
"What?!"
"The dirt smudge on yours. And the crack down the middle, duh." It had neither a crack nor a smudge, but it distracted her long enough for me to bring Blake into the conversation.
"Blake," I called. "Which one is better?"
"Yeah," Yang said, looking rather confused now. "Tell him mine's better! There's no smudge on here… or a crack!"
The girl in question looked incredibly uncomfortable and I almost felt bad for putting her in this position. She would probably enjoy it just as much as I would, though, when Yang caught on.
"Uhh," she muttered, looking between the two of us. Hesitantly, she pointed toward the blonde.
"Yeah," Yang cheered, turning toward me. "See! You're just- Why are you smiling? You were- Oh, you're dead. Dead!"
I barked a short, sharp laugh and placed my knight back on the pillar just as she reached me. A quick step to the side left me in the perfect position to put her into a headlock, which I did.
"Hey," Yang squawked indignantly when I started to rub my fist into her hair. "You have no idea how long it takes-"
She managed to punch me in the gut and I doubled over, leaving her to stand over me with her chess piece held high.
"All hail the great Yang!"
"Your hair resembles a bird's nest," Blake observed, smiling softly as she drew near. I think it was the first time I saw her with something other than a neutral look on her features.
"You should smile more often," I said. "You have a pretty smile."
She flushed and Yang cooed.
"Awww, how cute!"
I glanced at her as I got to my feet. "You've got a nasty case of bedhead. You should put more time into your appearance."
The girl chuckled darkly. "What do you want on your grave-"
She was abruptly cut off by a scream from somewhere… above?
Yes… yes, above. There was figure in the sky and it was getting closer. It was- It was a someone!
"Is that Ruby," I muttered, wide eyed. The girl had perfect timing – with any luck her sister would forget about the insult.
Yang, sufficiently distracted at seeing her baby sister falling out of the sky, yelped. "Ruby!"
I moved to catch her – I couldn't just let her hit the ground – but movement in the corner of my eye distracted me. Jaune Arc was flying through the air as well… and he was right on track to hit Ruby.
In mid-air.
'What are the chances,' I thought, sardonic, even as my left arm came up to track the boy's flight through the air. 'Sorry Jaune.'
A blast of force issued from my arm, impacting the blond boy and sending him spinning into an arc that would take him above Ruby. The girl herself reached the ground just as I opened my arms to catch her. The impact was jarring – for both of us, to be certain – but I managed to keep her from having her fall broken by the unforgiving ground.
"Thanks," Ruby chirped once she was on her feet.
"Ruby," Yang said, sprinting up to us and leaning in close to the younger girl's face. "What were you thinking? Jumping from- from…"
The girl glanced upward so I did as well, oddly enough the only thing in the sky was a massive Nevermore…
'No…'
"Ruby," Yang said softly, a sweet smile on her face as she looked away from the massive bird-like Grimm. "Why is there a Nevermore in the sky?"
"Uhh, because they fly?"
"Because they fly," the blonde girl nodded. "Of course Nevermores fly, they have wings and that's the easiest – Why were you on a Nevermore's back?!"
"I wasn't on a Nevermore's back," Ruby protested, stamping her feet.
There was a moment of silence, then:
"I was… on its claws?"
Yang inhaled sharply and started breathing deeply, trying to calm herself. While I wasn't too pleased with her either, Ruby wasn't my sibling; it wasn't my place to scold her for doing something so dangerous. Besides, at that moment I saw another person falling out of the sky. Because apparently one wasn't enough. This time, it was the huffy girl from the cliffs. The one that wore white… everything.
I glanced at my companions. Yang was saying something to Ruby whilst the girl in question scuffed her boot on the ground. Blake was watching the two of them and Jaune was nowhere to be seen.
'Well, it's not like I'll just let her hit the ground.'
I shuffled over a few steps, until I was under her, and managed to catch her as I had Ruby.
"Uh," she scoffed as soon as she realized what had happened. "Let me- Put me down!"
I did, second guessing my decision to help this girl out… she was quite abrasive.
Once on her feet, the girl immediately honed in on Ruby and she started to stomp toward her. Halfway there, she hesitated and threw a quick, "Thank you for catching me," at me over her shoulder.
"I don't know what to think," I muttered as I drew up beside Blake. "Two people fell from the sky. Another was tossed half way across the forest after nearly hitting Ruby in mid-air…"
Her yellow eyes swiveled to me all of the sudden, taking me by surprise. I had thought she was riveted on the verbal beating Yang was giving Ruby.
"The boy's trajectory changed. He should have hit Ruby."
"Oh," I said, relieved. "You mean my Semblance. I… I'll explain more later. We have company!"
I said the last bit loud enough for everyone to hear, not that it was necessary, the giant Deathstalker chasing a red haired girl was loud enough on its own.
"Pyrrha," Jaune yelped as he ran out of the forest behind us. I must have launched him farther than I thought, for him to take so long to get to us. And as if the entire situation wasn't hectic enough, two more students chose that moment to ride into the clearing on the back of a large, bear-like Grimm.
An Ursai.
"Now, I don't know what to think," I said, laughing even as I expanded Aegis.
The Ursai was dead, at least, so that left us with a giant scorpion-esque Deathstalker on the ground and a giant Nevermore in the air. The red haired girl clad in pink didn't seem to care about either of them, though; she dashed away from the Ursai corpse and over to the temple immediately while her companion caught his breath. Pyrrha was currently flying across the clearing, courtesy of the scorpion-thing's claws while Jaune started screaming incoherently, panicked.
Yang and the white haired girl were standing in front of the ruins, Blake was with me… So where was-
"Ruby," I exclaimed, startled and scared out of my mind when I saw the girl charging the Deathstalker. Alone.
"Shit," my Semblance made itself known in a burst of energy emitted from my feet, launching me forward. I hit the ground sprinting for all I was worth. Ruby clashed violently with the giant Grimm and, immediately, realized she could do little on her own against the thing. She folded Crescent Rose up on her back and began running away from the beast. It was gaining on her.
Why wasn't she using her weapon to move faster?
I heard Yang behind me just as the Nevermore – forgotten until now – unleashed a barrage of wicked looking feathers, their tips as sharp as spear points. They rained down on all three of us and one caught Ruby's cloak, pinning the girl to the ground.
Enhanced intelligence indeed. The larger the Grimm grew, the smarter they would become. Given their size, these Grimm were dangerous.
I cursed again and raised Aegis over my head, continuing forward. Yang fell back behind me, without a shield to cover her she couldn't risk running into a deadly rain of spear-feathers. While the projectiles did not stop me, they did slow me down.
The Deathstalker was so close now.
'I'm not going to make it.'
The realization hit me with a deep feeling of dread and I abruptly stopped running. I planted both my feet and threw my right arm forward. Aegis' pointed tip swung up at the urging of my fingertips and aligned with my arm.
Then, I fired.
It was a desperate, last resort action. I was too far away and the Deathstalker was already on top of Ruby.
'Come on, come on,' I urged, watching as Aegis flew forward, a thick chain attaching it to the bracer portion still on my arm. Time slowed when I saw it clip a feather and get knocked off course. It hit another feather, and another before finally spinning out of control and dropping, useless, a mere ten feet from Ruby.
"No," I cried. So close. So close!
The scorpion reared back and hurled its stinger down and then… Then, there was ice… And the girl, the white haired girl, she was standing over Ruby. In front of the Deathstalker. The beast's appendage was frozen solid, caught in the girl's ice.
'Fast,' I thought as my eyes narrowed and I exhaled in relief. Aegis was quickly reeled back in with a little manipulation of the gauntlet covering my right hand – I had built tiny buttons into it along the side of my pointer finger, easily useable with my thumb.
"Girls," I shouted when I noticed they were just sitting there, talking, while the Deathstalker tried to free its stinger. "Move!"
That got them going, though the white haired girl threw me a dirty look. She'd just have to deal with it – ten feet from a giant Grimm was no place to have a conversation. Fast she may be, situational awareness clearly wasn't her strong point.
In short order, Blake, Yang, Ruby, the girl and I were all back in front of the ruins. The other four – Jaune, Pyrrha and the two Ursai riders were there as well.
Yang had Ruby in a death grip of a hug; she was scared and I didn't blame her. If not for- for…
"What's your name," I said to the girl in white. I couldn't just keep referring to her as 'the white haired girl' in my head.
"Weiss," she said shortly. "Weiss Schnee."
I recognized the name. The Schnee family owned one of the largest Dust companies in the world. They were not friends of the faunus but then the faunus were not friends of them either. Still, I would keep an open mind... this girl did not deserve to be judged based upon her family's work. Given her background, though, she was exactly the kind of person I was worried my mom and Phoebe would encounter; dangerously skilled and carrying a potential grudge against the faunus.
"Enten," I said, trying and ultimately failing to hide my wariness. The girl frowned but nodded in response all the same, social niceties required of her as part of the Schnee family, most like.
While we were introducing ourselves, Ruby ran off to the temple and grabbed one of the chess pieces. Jaune, upon seeing that, scrambled off to grab one too. An argument then started up over what the group should do next and that confused me. Why did we need to stick together?
I understood that there was strength to be had in numbers but that redheaded girl proved that the Deathstalker could be outrun. Easier to do that than it was to fight them and the larger the group we had, the more likely we were to be found.
That opinion was unique to me, though. That became readily apparent as I listened to the eight teens volley ideas back and forth. I contemplated just leaving on my own for a short time but ultimately resigned myself to sticking with the group. It would probably be frowned upon if I left my partners behind in the Emerald Forest, given it was implied that were to stick together.
Disgruntled but ultimately unbothered, I instead focused my attention on the argument taking place in front of me.
It was interesting, seeing this group's dynamics at play. I could tell already that Weiss, Ruby and the orange haired girl were used to being heard. They were the most vocal by far. Jaune remained quiet, flinching every time the Deathstalker a short distance away made itself known with a frustrated screeching sound. He was right to be wary. We needed to move… and fast.
And the group knew it too, there was an air of rushed panic amongst them as a whole. The vast majority wanted to run. Now it was just a matter of deciding how to go about it, where to go, whether or not we needed a distraction… that kind of thing.
Blake and, surprisingly enough, Yang stayed silent alongside me throughout the entire exchange. I expected that of black haired girl. What little interaction we shared today was more than enough to show me that she was quiet and reserved and when she spoke she did so…evasively. Almost like she wanted to avoid directly confronting someone at all costs. Maybe she was just shy and didn't want to offend anyone? Sometimes people took time to come out of their shells. I would know eventually.
Yang I knew to be outgoing. She was almost always the center of attention and always had a word - or a pun - to add to a conversation. Thus, her silence surprised me. She was extraordinarily focused on something too. Her eyes locked onto… Ruby?
I glanced back at the blonde just to make sure I was following her gaze correctly. Sure enough, she was watching Ruby. Was she still worried after the near death encounter? Was Ruby behaving strangely? My eyes failed me and I couldn't find anything off about her demeanor or her behavior. She was speaking animatedly to the group at large, bouncing ideas off of people who spoke up.
Maybe I just didn't know her well enough to see it?
"We have no reason to fight them," Weiss reiterated. She was frowning and her brow was furrowed. "Our objective is complete. We have the relics."
Ruby offered the girl a nod. "Weiss is right. Let's head back to Beacon!"
She took off running and the group as a whole hesitated, unsure of whether to follow or not.
I wasn't sure she knew it, but Ruby had just placed herself in a position of power. She threw down the proverbial gauntlet. She made a claim at leading us.
Yang and I locked eyes for a moment. She was pleased about something now. Ruby's actions? How the girl was taking charge?
I'd have to ask later.
At any rate, we both took off running after Ruby, silently accepting the girl's challenge.
'Alright, Ruby. I'll follow.'
Blake took off after her partners and, with about half their number gone, the rest of the group fell into line.
The gorge
I was not mobile. Not on the level that Blake, Yang, Ruby and Weiss were. Even now, they easily maneuvered their way through a storm of falling rubble, steadily climbing to a high stone platform above the deep gorge we found ourselves in.
A grimace was on my face as I used my Semblance to clumsily blast myself to some rubble above me. Aegis was collapsed, I didn't need its bulk throwing me off right now…
Another use of my Semblance, more of my Aura slipped away.
'Not even half left anymore,' I lamented even as I used it once more to finally, finally make it up to the walkway where Ruby was standing.
"Not mobile," I muttered when she looked my way. The Nevermore had just hit the side of a tall cliff, courtesy of Yang unloading a salvo of ammo straight into its mouth.
'Crazy girl.'
Weiss froze the giant bird's tail feathers to the building it was sitting on before it tried to take flight. It was trapped on the ground now, where we could reach it.
Where I could reach it. This fight showed me I had some serious flaws to take care of, ranged offense and mobility being the two largest. I could use my Semblance to cover for both, but with such a potentially dangerous consequence of its use… I was more than a little wary of doing that.
Blake and Yang just managed to stretch a black ribbon between two pillars when the Nevermore, sensing danger, raised itself up and unleashed a barrage of those deadly feathers at us.
"Enten," Ruby called as she shot herself up to the ribbon, stretching it back to where Weiss was waiting with her glyphs like some kind of giant sling shot.
I expanded Aegis – 'Stupid! Should have done that earlier!' – and jumped up, directly between the projectiles and the girls. This time, I went all out. Well over a quarter of my Aura was pushed into Aegis and the same translucent blue shield appeared, this time it was large enough to encompass the entire platform we stood upon.
The feathers impacted the blue energy and I heard at least one ecstatic shout behind me when they slowed until they were stuck in it completely, unmoving.
I dropped to the platform and the giant projectiles landed in a line on my sides. My left fist was already cocked back with all the Aura I had left. A wordless roar tore from my lips as I thrust my arm forward, releasing my Semblance.
It thundered down the platform, rocketing toward the giant Grimm even as it reared back for another attack. The beast never got a chance to use its feathers, though. My Aura hit it head on and threw it back into the cliff.
It quickly regained its feet and I turned around to find Ruby and Weiss talking. Talking!
"Go!" I had no idea what their plan was, but I couldn't block another barrage of those feathers, not completely.
They jumped, startled, but complied just as the Nevermore released more feathers.
We were going to have a word about talking in the midst of battle later.
"Shit," I spat as I half-shuffled, half-ran to Weiss. Yang and Blake were hiding behind the pillars they were on but the Schnee heiress was completely vulnerable.
"Weiss," I yelled when I realized I wouldn't make it. The girl was doing something to the cliff behind me but I did not have time to observe it. Instead I turned around and hefted Aegis up, hoping she got the point. I might only have a sliver of Aura left, but I could still block the ones that came directly at me.
I heard the girl's shoes behind me just as the attack reached the four of us. My arm shook but held strong. One-two-three feathers impacted Aegis and bounced off of the unyielding metal before I lowered my arm.
Just in time to see Ruby finish her sprint to the top of the cliff, aided by the Schnee heiress' glyphs and dragging the Nevermore behind her by its neck in Crescent Rose's blade.
"Damn," I breathed. That was impressive. A plan that combined Weiss' glyphs with Ruby's speed and power. Not to mention that fact that she was dragging a creature several times her size and weight behind her up a vertical surface. Crazy.
I laughed hollowly when I saw the beast's head get torn off. Relief tore through me and I finally allowed myself to sink to a knee, breathing heavily.
'First day at Beacon and I've already got a story for Phoebe.'
A/N: And so begins the first year at Beacon! Getting the story setup and the OC(s) introduced is thankfully behind me now...
For a reference on how Enten wields Aegis, search up images on 'dark souls kite shield'.
(01/12/2016): Revised.
Ghost of a Reaper: Thanks for your feedback - I don't like too many one-liners either. At the same time I dislike super-long paragraphs too; I tried to find a better balance between short and long for this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Welp, that's all for now. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!
-Phailen