Ch 4 Landing Strategy?
As the light of freshly rising Sun arced through the glass of the ballroom windows Mars slowly opened his eyes. Squinting in the bright light he looked confusedly around until he remembered where he was. Mars changed into his armor, donned his cloak and headed towards the cafeteria. As he ate at a table by himself with his helmet resting on the table next to him he decided to study some of the other students and try to see who he wouldn't mind having as his partner.
He noticed Pyrrha a few tables away eating a small bowl of cereal, he wouldn't mind having her as his partner, having already seen the red headed Spartan in combat. It was then he also noticed the two sisters again as they ate their breakfast a few tables away.
"The blonde one looks tough but the red and black haired one seems a bit too young." He thought to himself. Turning his attention to the opposite wall he saw a young man chatting up a small crowd of girls near the cafeteria entrance.
The young man had long flowing bluish white hair and blazing light blue eyes. He wore a pair of jeans and black shoes, with a black T-shirt. Over his T-shirt he wore a long white coat with a split tail at the bottom with a dark blue ribbon tied around his midriff and tied into a neat bow on his back making the lower half of his coat look like butterfly wings. He was handsome to give him credit but the way he stood made him look condescending and haughty.
"He looks powerful but he seems too much like a rich kid prick." He thought to himself as he finished his breakfast and headed for the weapon lockers.
The room was large with many aisles of the rocket propelled lockers hunters used to store their weapons for quick deployment. As he reached his locker with his helmet under his arm, a person stepped out of a nearby aisle and into his way.
The first thing he noticed was the long ponytail of Snow White hair upon the side of the girl's head. As he looked down at the girl who was a head shorter than him he saw none other than Weiss Schnee. The blue-eyed heiress smiled kindly up at him as she thrust out her hand in greeting. Being a gentleman at heart and a little mischievous, he grasped the tips of her hand gently and leaned down and kissed the top of her hand as if he was a knight greeting a lady of high birth.
Weiss's pale white cheeks flushed a deep crimson as Mars straightened up and bowed to her. Due to that simple unexpected act Weiss's whole train of thought had grounded to a staggering halt.
Mars smiled amusedly at her as he saw her mind fighting itself to return to her normal stoic self. After a few moments, Weiss seemed to have regained her composure and smiled again at Mars.
"I couldn't help but notice you talking to Pyrrha Nikos yesterday. Do you know her well?" She asked.
"I don't know her that well, but we did share a very difficult scrap with the White Fang a month or so ago." He replied finally after a moment's thought. Weiss's face seemed to deflate a bit with disappointment as she kindly excused herself to her own locker and retrieved her weapon which resembled an ornate rapier.
Mars reached his locker and retrieved his sword and returned it to his belt. As he closed his locker and began to walk away once again someone jumped in front of him. This time it was the short haired and blue-grey eyed young man he had saved the day before.
"By dust you're a hard person to find!" The boy said wheezing as he leaned over out of breath. Mars raised one of his mahogany colored eyebrows in concern as the boy panted as if he had just run a marathon.
"Are you all right?" He asked the boy with concern.
After a few moments, the boy finally straightened up and extended his hand in greeting. "Hi, My names Gren Vertian. What's yours?" He said with almost childlike enthusiasm.
"My names Mars, nice to meet you Gren." Mars replied kindly as he shook the boys hand. As the two young men finished their greetings they began to walk out of the locker room and down towards the bluff overlooking a place called the Emerald Forest.
"So, you've been looking for me since yesterday just to say thank you for me helping you out?" Mars said as he and Gren walked.
"Yes, I did. You left before I could thank you so I wanted to find you. You were so awesome the way you just appeared out of nowhere and scared the pants off those bullies!" He replied as he grinned to himself as he remembered the expressions on the bullies faces as they ran away.
As Mars and Gren finally reached their destination they saw all the other students standing on strange metal plates in a long line facing the forest. The two boys separated and took their places on the plates and faced the forest. Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch walked up and faced the students with their backs to the cliffs drop off.
"For years, you've trained to become warriors and today, your abilities will be tested in the Emerald Forest." Said Ozpin addressing the students before turning thing over to Mrs. Goodwitch.
"Now I'm sure you've heard about the assignment of teams. Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teams...Today." Said Mrs. Goodwitch to hushed muttering.
"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 you can work well with. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with once you hit the ground will be your teammate for the next four years." Ozpin continued as he took a casual sip of his morning coffee.
"WHAT?!" Came a shout towards the end of the line from the red and black haired sister as well as several other students. Ignoring the outburst Ozpin continued. "After you've paired up, you will make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition on the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will Die." He said with a tone of foreboding.
"You will also be monitored and graded throughout your initiation. But your instructors will not interfere. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair will choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item and your standing and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin quickly looked along the line as he finished.
"Yeah...um sir?" Came a feeble voice from the end of the line from the blonde-haired boy that threw up on the transport.
"Good! Now, take your positions." Ozpin said as he ignored the poor young man. At his command the students began to get into various stances while the poor blonde raised his hand in a futile attempt to catch the professors attention.
"Um sir I have an ugh...question." The boy tried again as the grinding of a mechanism was heard at the other end of the line sending a plate mail wearing student hurtling into the air with a large kite shield held out in front of him.
"This landing strategy thing, w-what is it? You're like, dropping us off or something?" The boy said.
"No, you will be falling." Replied Ozpin simply. Down the line Gren was planning his strategy out in his head as he looked for places to land when he heard the person next to him get launched into the air. The noise startled him as he looked down at his own plate as it started to make the same noise.
"Wait, wait, wait, I'm not ready yeaaaaggghhhhhhhht!" He yelled as the plate he was standing on launched him skywards in the direction of the distant tree line.
Mars only a few plates away placed his masked helm upon his head and pulled up his hood as he waited patiently for his turn, silently chuckling to himself at Gren's antics as he flew doll like through the air.
"Oh, I see. So, did you pass out any parachutes for us?" The poor blonde continued.
Before Mars could hear Ozpin's reply his plate launched him skyward and the wind blew away any chance of him hearing the rest of the conversation. Mars flew like a bullet through the air, his cloak billowing in the wind.
Mars soon found himself fast approaching the large trunks and spear like branches of the forest. Mars smiled under his helmeted mask as he headed for a very dark part of the forest. The moment he was about the hit the large thick trunk of a giant tree he disappeared into the shadow covered woods.
Gren screamed as he flew towards almost immanent doom. Thinking quickly, he reached behind him and grabbed his weapons. As he detached them from the magnetic plate on his back they unfolded into a pair of large cleavers. Taking his cleavers, he attached them to each other by the back of their blades forming a large tower shield.
Holding his shield out in front of him he careened into the ground and slowly grounded to a halt leaving a long gauge in the ground. When Gren finally stopped, he picked himself of the ground and stood dazedly, shaken from his near-death experience.
For a few moments Gren checked to see if he still had all his parts. "That...was a close one." Gren said letting out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Gren heard a long low growl from behind him and slowly turned his head to look at what was making the noise. As he turned fully he finally caught sight of what had made the noise.
The creature was huge and covered in thick matted black hair and long white spines, it was long and sleek and resembled a large black panther with a long snout filled with razor sharp teeth. The creature was at least four times Gren's size and seemed to be in a state of shock from almost being pulverized by the falling boy.
"Your awful big aren't ya!" Said Gren worriedly as he raised his cleavers and started to back away from the feline Grim. The large Grim let out a load roar as it wiped around and slammed its strong spike ended tail into Gren sending him rag dolling deeper into the forest.
Mars sneaked his way through the darkness of the thick forest. He knew he was headed north by the way the few scattered rays of sunlight illuminated small areas of the ground. Many people would think it strange if he told them but Mars truly felt at home within the shadows. He had lived in the shadows for so long he no longer feared it. To him the darkness brought sanctuary from the endless horrors of the world and a weapon for him to use to destroy those who wished him harm. As he walked he wondered on the side about who he might end up with as his teammate.
Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a distant yell. He stopped in his tracks and grasped the hilt of his sword in preparation. The noise seemed to be getting louder and he listened until a sudden weight smacked into his back and sent him and the perpetrator sprawling into the dirt.
Pushing the weight off his back and flipping himself over only to be greeted by an extremely dizzy Gren. Mars shook his fellow huntsman in training and brought him back to the land of the sane.
"Hey Mars when did you get here?" The boy asked groggily as he shook the dizziness out of his head as the pair returned to their feet.
As Gren regained his senses a series of load crashing noises brought their attention to the direction that Gren had come from. They saw through the thick forest of trunks and growth a very angry feline looking Grim. As the Grim finally reached them and burst through the trees and into full view Mars let out a worrisome sigh as he studied the large creature.
"Think we can deal with it?" Asked Gren warily as he readied his cleavers.
"We might be able too." Mars replied with uncertainty as he unsheathed his sword. "But we need a clearer area to fight it in because if that's what I think it is we don't want to be any closer to it then we need to be." Mars continued as he grabbed Gren's arm and sprinted off into the wood with the large Grim hot on their heels.
Any way
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I will see
YOU
in the Next Chapter
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