Disclaimer: The following is a fan based work. RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and created by Monty Oum.


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest

Time: 11:10 A.M.

"We should be reaching the ruins soon at our current rate," Jaune told his travelling party as his [Detection] informed him of a structure ahead.

"So, Jauney," Nora began as she walked in front of Jaune, and began walking backwards to face him. "What kind of magic stuff can do? Can you fly? Can you make things disappear and reappear?" Nora gasped as another question came to mind. "Can you make things explode with your mind?!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at the rather excited state of his new team member and friend. He sent a subtle glance towards Ren, who gave an apologetic shrug. 'Humour her,' he saw him mouth.

"Well," he turned his attention back to Nora. "I can fly, and I can make things come and go," Jaune confirmed her first two questions. "As for the last one, I can't exactly just make things explode. I need to have an object first, like a rock-"

The moment those words came out of his mouth, Nora immediately bent down and picked up three rocks before handing them to him.

"Please, please, please?" Nora begged, eyes practically shining. Jaune sent another glance towards his other two teammates. Ren closed his eyes and sighed through his nose and raised his arms before dropping them, as if to say 'What can you do?' Pyrrha stifled a giggle with her hand, but nonetheless also motioned for him to go ahead.

Jaune sighed. "Okay," he relented which garnered him Nora's cheer.

At this point, they've stopped walking and the three of them faced Jaune a distance away. The blonde closed his eyes as he held the three stones with both his hands. With a thought, he felt his Semblance go to work.

He felt a small reserve of his Aura shift and change, turning into something incorporeal, yet real and meaningful. He directed the immaterial force into the stones, weaving the idea of fire, power, destruction, and the addition of color into their very being. As the last bit of Aura was used, the stones began to glow and Jaune opened his eyes. It was complete.

"Here it goes," he told his small audience as they stepped back a bit further. Jaune tossed the stones in the air, and with a snap of his fingers, the spell had come to be.

Flames burst forth from the stones. Not enough to cause a great explosion, just enough to create a spectacle. The color of the flames were different with each stone; red, blue, and gold. As the flames came, Jaune raised his hand and began to control them. The colored fire danced and intermingled with each other, creating even more colors. Twisting, twirling, merging, the flames had truly looked alive. Seconds had turned to minutes before Jaune decided it was enough.

Jaune gathered the fire into a sphere, the colors now completely merged into a ball of white flame. And with a snap of his fingers, the sphere was extinguished, ending the spectacle.

Jaune gave a bow, and silence overtook the group.

"That...was...awesome!" Nora cheered as she rapidly clapped, even twirling and spinning, trying to get the energy out.

Ren raised an astonished eyebrow, but nonetheless also clapped, albeit at a more calm and controlled pace.

Pyrrha smiled and applauded as well. She had known Jaune for years, and was already aware of what he could do. Still, it didn't diminish the effect any less.

Jaune straightened up from his bow and laughed, brushing a hand through his hair. It had been a while since he last used his magic to perform party tricks, and he had to admit he enjoyed the reactions and attention.

"If we ever have the time, I guess I wouldn't mind making more fireworks," Jaune offered, mostly to Nora who seemed incredibly pleased and happy. And when others were happy, Jaune was happy.

"Now then," Jaune started as he began to walk once more, beckoning his team to follow. "I believe we still have ruins to reach, so why don't we…" he only took a few steps before he stopped, his smile morphed into a look of confusion, and then into a thin line on his face.

His team was confused at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Jaune? What's-" Pyrrha tried to ask her friend what was wrong, before Jaune raised his hand, silencing her.

"...My [Detection] spell just went off," he informed his friends. "There's a group of Grimm nearby, and it looks like there's two people fighting them off."

His friends immediately understood the message, and prepared their weapons. Pyrrha unsheathed Milo and Akouo, while Nora brought out Magnhild, and Ren with Storm Flower.

"Which way?" Ren asked, prepared to move. Jaune turned towards a certain direction in the forest, eyes narrowed.

"That way."


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest

Time: 11:05 A.M.

Ruby deftly swung Crescent Rose, cutting down three Beowulves before leaping into the air and firing her sniper shots. Two landed in the chest of another while one made its way through a skull. She landed and prepared herself once more.

"Well this is just perfect," she heard Weiss mutter somewhere behind her, but didn't dare turn her attention away from the Grimm.

Weiss used her Glyphs to quickly dash towards a Beowulf, thrusting Myrtenaster through its heart. As swiftly as it entered, she pulled it out, and with a click she swung her rapier towards a gathering pack, fire erupting from the tip. The unfortunate few that didn't evade screamed as they were consumed in the inferno.

"No really, this is exactly how I wanted my day to go," Weiss ranted as she backed towards Ruby. "Partnered up with you and completely surrounded by Beowulves."

Ruby tried to ignore the ranting as she shot behind her. Pushed forward, she cut down a Beowulf before performing another leap in the air. With a frontflip, she brought her scythe down on another one, before firing a sniper shot at a third.

"Look, it's gonna be fine!" Ruby made to reassure her less than jovial teammate. "All we need to do is keep this up and we can win this!"

"A small problem with that plan of yours," Weiss once more used her Glyphs to dash through a group of Beowulves. With precise strikes, she pierced three of them before once more retreating.

"I'm not exactly abundant with Dust anymore, and I'm sure you're beginning to run out of rounds. So if you have any alternatives, by all means let's hear them," Weiss replied scathingly.

Ruby gripped the shaft of Crescent Rose tighter, her patience thinning. She knew that Weiss didn't exactly see eye to eye with her, but now was so not the time. Ruby took a breath, trying to calm herself and thought of the things that made her happy, burying the very, very tempting thought of telling Weiss where she could shove her remaining Dust.

Suddenly, a small knife embedded itself into the skull of a Beowulf, dropping it instantly.

Ruby and Weiss were shocked, before looking over to where the blade came from.

"Jaune!" Ruby cheered, happy to see her friend and relieved to have back up. Weiss was shocked to see one of her originally sought after partners in the distance.

Jaune sprinted into the clearing, calling upon [Spectral Armament] to produce many knives that levitated around him. He quickly grabbed two before sending the myriad of blades at the Grimm.

"Talk later, fight now," Jaune said simply as he ducked underneath a claw before driving his left knife into the Beowulf's gut and right knife into its face. He withdrew both blades before he flipped his right knife, grabbing it by the blade. With a flick of a wrist, he threw the knife into the shoulder of another Beowulf, before it exploded in a fiery mess, catching other nearby as well. He made more knives and continued to launch them.

A distance away, Pyrrha was gunning down the monsters with Milo in its rifle form, before switching over to its sword form and rushing in as well. With a mighty kick, she leapt towards a Beowulf and used her shield to bash its face before slitting its throat with a twirl. She grabbed Akouo by the edge and with great strength, tossed it to another Beowulf that caught it with its chest. She switched Milo into its javelin form and fired it at another Grimm. As the javelin embedded itself into its gut, Pyrrha walked over and placed her hand on the shaft, before kicking the Grimm off by kicking it in the neck, hard enough to snap it. With her Semblance she recalled her shield, and charged once more.

Ren weaved in and out between the Beowulves, each swing of Storm Flower slitting the throats of each Grimm with deadly precision. With great agility, he leapt over a Beowulf and planted one of his bladed guns into its back when he landed. The creature howled in pain, but Ren had no mercy as he deftly kicked the back of its knee, breaking it, and planted his second blade into its neck before firing at the head.

Nora had the largest grin on her face as she fired her grenades into the masses of darkness. It was simple really; kill everything that wasn't a person. As limbs became disconnected from bodies, she switched Magnhild to its true, beautiful hammer form, and with a great swing, completely smashed the head off a nearby Beowulf.

As the six Hunters fought together, the battle soon devolved into a massacre.


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest

Time: 11:30 A.M.

The clearing, once green and lush with forestry and bushes was now covered in thin, black mist from the dissipating corpses of the Grimm. The six young teenagers regrouped in the center, each one showing visible signs of wear, but not too exhausted. Well, that's not true.

"Well, that takes care of that," Jaune said as he dusted off his hands. He looked towards his comrade and green, and saw his current condition. "Ren? You good buddy?"

Ren was facedown in the dirt, completely unmoving. Nora went over to him and bent down, lightly poking him in the neck. He gave a small groan at that, the only indication that he was still alive. Nora gave a smile and thumbs up at the group.

"How did you find us?" Ruby asked. While she was happy her friend was here, she couldn't help but be curious as to how he managed to find her.

"I have a spell called [Detection]," Jaune explained. "It allows me to sense everything within a certain radius of myself. Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and myself were on our way to the ruins before it alerted me of you and your partner fighting," Jaune turned towards Weiss and offered his hand. "I'm Jaune Arc, nice to meet you."

Weiss raised an elegant hand to shake Jaune's. "Weiss Schnee; heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. It is a pleasure to finally meet the 'Magician,' himself. I take you and Pyrrha are on a team now?"

"Indeed. I met with Pyrrha and then we met with Nora and Ren here," he motioned towards the orange haired girl and her friend, who was now up and being supported by her. "So now we have a full team."

"I see." Weiss did her best to try and hide the disappointment. She had failed to secure either Jaune or Pyrrha as a teammate and now they already had a full team. "That's a shame. I was looking forward to being on a team with both of you."

Ruby winced as Weiss said that, but thankfully Jaune seemed to notice, and tried his best to quickly change the subject.

"Well, just because we aren't on the same team doesn't mean we can't be friends," Jaune said with a smile. "I'm sure that when we get back to Beacon, we can find the time to bond with each other, but for now let's head to the ruins shall we?"

Weiss nodded, and sheathed her rapier. Behind her, Ruby gave Jaune a grateful smile.

"Now then, it should be over here."


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest-Ruins

Time: 11:40 A.M.

The ruins in which the relics were located appeared before them as the forest gave way to a clearing. An old stone circle with pillars, some standing while others fallen, paying testament to its ancient nature. Within the circle stood a copious amount of pedestals, each on holding…

"Chess pieces?" Ruby asked, no doubt curious as to why the relics were the way they are.

Indeed, chess pieces laid upon the pedestals. One side held pieces of a gold color while the others a pure black. Some missing, indicating that they have been taken and the group was not the first to arrive.

"I must admit this is rather odd for an objective," Weiss agreed with her partner. She knew that Beacon would be an entirely different, but placing pieces of a gameboard in a forest was something that escaped her.

Nora however, didn't seem to mind the odd relics as she quickly rushed over and plucked a piece of a pedestal. It was the golden, or rather white in context, rook piece.

"I'm queen of the castle~! I'm queen of the castle~!" Nora sang as she played with the piece.

"Nora…" Ren gave a tired sigh as he beckoned his friend over to him. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ruby were amused at the display while Weiss raised an eyebrow at the girl's antics.

"Coming Ren," she chirped happily, rook in hand.

"I suppose we should choose a rook as well Jaune?" Pyrrha asked her partner, who gave a nod. He walked over to the pedestal holding the last remaining white rook and picked it up. Jaune inspected it for a moment, before [Storage] came to mind, and with that the rook disappeared, safely tucked away.

Jaune looked to Pyrrha and gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, deciding not to say anything about what he just did. She had known Jaune for years, and also knew better than to try to reason exactly what his Semblance was, merely taking it as it is.

The group of six reconvened in the center, Ruby and Weiss deciding to take the white knight piece.

"I'd say that we should head on back to Beacon, but Ruby and Weiss still need two other people to make a full team," Jaune pointed out the obvious problem. As they walked from the clearing to the ruins, they had met no other pair to complete the half-team.

"Well, I guess we could just stay here and wait for others to come by," Ruby suggested.

"I suppose that would be the best choice," Weiss agreed. It would be much easier to find a pair heading towards the same location then to go into the forest, find them, and then return to the relics again, wasting time and energy.

"Well, it looks like you won't be waiting long then," Jaune said as his [Detection] went off, alerting him of two incoming entities. One human and one faunus to be exact.

Soon enough, Yang and Blake came into sight, the former of which was surprised but nonetheless happy that Ruby and Jaune were ahead of her.

"Ruby! Jaune!" Yang smiled as she walked over to them, waving her arm. Blake raised a brow and gave a glance directed at Jaune, eyes full of intrigue.

"That's my sister Yang," Ruby explained to her partner in white. Weiss rolled her eyes. "Charming," she said rather dull and sarcastic, but Ruby didn't notice. Jaune noticed this, and raised a concerned brow.

Yang gave Ruby a tight hug, which the younger sibling returned. After the sisters reunited, Yang stepped back and introduced the girl in black beside her.

"This is my partner Blake. Say hi Blake," she beckoned her partner to introduce herself.

"...Hello," Blake said as she walked past the group and toward the relics, but not before giving a brief glance at Jaune. Pyrrha seemed to notice and felt a small pang of curiosity and jealousy, but quickly stomped it.

"...Yeah, she doesn't talk much. Sorry about that," Yang apologized while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well, she's focused on her goals. That has to count as something, right?" Ruby inputted, looking on the bright side.

Yang met up with her partner, and the two of them picked the remaining white knight piece. "It's a cute little pony!" Yang exclaimed earning her Blake's eye roll but a smile as well.

"And with that, all of us now have a full team," Jaune said, happy that everything turned out alright. "Now, we can head on back to…"

Jaune couldn't finish as a loud screech interrupted him, coming from the forest. Everyone readied their weapons, and Jaune gave a sigh.

So much for everything turning out fine.

[Detection] went off for what Jaune felt like the hundredth time, and Jaune faced the forest.

It was a Death Stalker. A scorpion of great size came bursting through the woods, easily knocking down the trees. It's body was black and covered with white, bone armor, red eyes glowing with hate, and golden stinger hovering above it menacingly. The fact that it was covered in patches of moss did little to diminish its presence. It looked directly at them before charging.

"Well that's not too bad," Yang said. "Sure it's big, but with the eight of us here, it's not that big a-"

Yet another screech interrupted, Yang this time as the victim. [Detection] alerted Jaune again, this time it was airborne.

"Above us," Jaune informed everyone as they looked to the sky. A Nevermore flew in the distance, similar in that it was covered with white plates as the Death Stalker, and red eyes as well. Its talons glimmered in the sunlight, and it might have been awe inspiring if it wasn't trying to currently kill them.

"Please stop talking Yang," Blake said as she prepared Gambol Shroud for a fight. Yang complied and took a stance.

Of course there were Grimm right after they got the relics. Of course they had to be large types. Of course one of them had to be flying.

"Okay, lets see here," Jaune said as he began to formulate a strategy. "I am an all around type of person, Pyrrha excels in melee and ranged and has a shield, Ren is a swift attacker at melee and mid range gunner, Nora is a heavy attacker with a hammer and grenade launcher," he looked to the other team. "What fighting styles do you have?"

"Crescent Rose is a scythe that can turn into a high impact velocity sniper. If you need me to, I can fight at a distance," Ruby said, not as a girl but as a Huntress.

"I can fight at close combat and can use Dust to enhance my ability. I could fight at long distance with it, but I'm starting to run out," Weiss informed with a grimace on her face.

"I can use Gambol Shroud to fight at close or mid range. I'd prefer stealth but that doesn't seem to be an option right now," Blake sighed as she readied herself nonetheless.

"I can use Ember Celica to fire off shotgun shells at a range, but punching things really hard is really all I've got," Yang said as she pounded her fists together, eyes red and hair aflame. "And frankly that's all I need."

Jaune took in the information, and made his plan known.

"Ruby and Weiss, you're with me. We can take on the Nevermore at a distance and stop it from attacking everyone else when they take on the Death Stalker. Here," he reached into [Storage] and pulled out spare Dust crystals for Weiss. "You'll need these."

Weiss took them and began to quickly refill Myrtenaster. Jaune continued his plan. "Nora, Yang, see if you can't break off the armor on the Death Stalker. Pyrrha can defend you if you need to get in close. Ren and Blake can rush in when it's busy attacking the three of you."

Jaune sighed, and began to use his spells.

[Enhancement], [Enchant: Strength], [Enchant: Speed], [Enchant: Stamina].

He felt his Aura go down a significant amount as he not only applied the spells to himself, but to his comrades as well. They felt a surge of power as the effects hit them.

"Now then, is everyone ready?"

A cacophony of weapons readying and guns clicking greeted his ears.

"Alrighty then Hunters. Let's hunt."


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest-Ruins

Time: 12:00 P.M.

Jaune, Ruby, and Weiss sprinted in one direction while the other five sprinted in another. Far enough to not get in the other groups way, but close enough to call out to each other should they need it.

Jaune caught the Nevermore's attention by rapidly shooting it with his [Aura Bullets] which greatly annoyed it. It squawked as it made its descent down towards the three, wings reared back. In a swift motion, the wings fell forward, and razor sharp feathers flew at them.

With a click, Weiss ran her Aura through the Dust in Myrtenaster and a wave of fire incinerated the oncoming feathers. And with another wave, shards of ice formed around her before launching themselves at the beast. Ruby began to snipe when the opening presented itself, each shot hitting the Grimm's wings.

The Nevermore screeched as it was assaulted, but that only made it enraged. With renewed vigor, it flew down towards them, talons calling for blood. They swiftly managed to dodge and they watched as the beast flew once more in the sky.

They had no choice but to continue this exchange, and the minutes seemed to crawl as they piled on.

"This is going to prove difficult," Weiss muttered the dark truth. It would indeed take some time to hit a moving target, especially one that was flying.

"We need to find a way to ground it. Make it immobile," Jaune shot a [Lightning Bolt] which managed to connect, stunning the Grimm briefly. Jaune however, seemed to be losing breath. "I've used up a lot of Aura in the last hours due to my Semblance, so we need to make this quick."

Ruby could only look on in frustration. At this rate, she was going to run out of rounds, Jaune would empty out his Aura, and Weiss with her Dust. She palmed at her head, as if to force her mind to try and come up with something, anything to kill the Nevermore.

She grasped at her red hair, completely vexed and uncertain of how to make this work.

Ruby's eyes widened as a moment of clarity struck her.

"Guys!" she called out to her two companions. "I have a plan!"

"Oh really? And what would that be?" Weiss asked rather impatiently as she quickly used her Glyphs to speed out of the way of another volley of feathers.

"Weiss, please," Jaune admonished as he used a [Lightning Bolt] to vaporize them. "Ruby, what's the plan?"

And so Ruby told them.


Nora was the first to attack the Death Stalker as it crawled its way over, her grenades making contact and exploding into clouds of pink.

As it was stunned, Yang shot behind her and launched herself forward, right arm reared back. As it flew forward and connected to the face, she felt the [Enchant: Strength] apply itself, cracking the mask, but not quite killing it. The Death Stalker screamed as it reared its stinger and tried to bring it down while also swiping its left pincer at her.

Blake however, thought otherwise, and with swift movement positioned herself behind the venomous Grimm. She threw Gambol Shroud, its ribbon wrapping around the tail, and with a mighty pull stopped it from bringing it down.

As the left pincer came to Yang, she ducked under before getting in between the space and grabbing the bottom segment, her arms completely wrapping around it while her legs were planted firmly on the other. With a roar and a twist of her body, she spun herself with her legs, and tore off the bottom segment of the left pincer.

The Death Stalker screamed as it lost a portion of itself. Yang was pulled back by Pyrrha, whose hand glowed a deep black. Once Yang was distanced she began to fire at the Death Stalkers eyes, and Ren took the opportunity to get in close.

The Death Stalker tried to squash the green garbed teen, who evaded and leapt onto the Death Stalker's body. With another, he jumped at the stinger, and with his blades out, he spun and severed the stinger, rendering the tail relatively harmless. Seeing that, Blake unwrapped her weapon and regrouped at the front.

"Alright! We've got it on its last legs!" cheered Yang, an excited grin on her face. Nora shared the sentiment, Magnhild now in a hammer form.

"We should end this quickly and help out Jaune, Ruby, and Weiss. An aerial Grimm will be hard to pin down," Ren inputted, readying Storm Flower. Pyrrha and Blake agreed, and prepared to finish off the Grimm.

"Blake! Yang!"

The two people turned their heads over and saw Jaune in the distance, hands cupped over his mouth.

"Ruby has a plan to take out the Nevermore! She needs the two of you to help!"

"But the Death Stalker's almost dead!" retorted Yang.

"We can kill the Death Stalker anytime, but the Nevermore can leave anytime!"

Yang clicked her tongue at that, but could understand. The Death Stalker, in the event that it would escape could easily be chased down, but the other Grimm had flight and could easily abscond at any moment.

Yang gave a nod to Blake who returned it. Then she turned to Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. "Looks like the killings put on hold."

"That's fine," Pyrrha said as she switched Milo to its sword form. "We can stall for now. You two should get going."

And so Yang and Blake rushed to the Nevermore team, while the Death Stalker team was made to hold out for now.


Location: Vale-Emerald Forest-Ruins

Time: 12:15 P.M.

"This is pretty damn crazy," Yang couldn't help but let out a nervous breath as she readied herself with the plan alongside her partner.

"Believe me, I don't believe this will work either-"

"Thanks for the confidence, Ice Queen,"

"-But right now it's all we have." If Weiss was bothered she didn't show it. Underneath Yang was a Glyph, specifically one made for launching and propulsion. A distance away Jaune placed his right hand firmly on Blake's back, spell at the ready.

"Its making its way back," Jaune pointed out as the Nevermore circled back to them, its speed increasing along with a screech. He looked to Blake. "Are you prepared?"

"As ready as I can be in this situation," Blake sighed, also not enjoying the plan, but what else did they have? Nothing, that's what.

"It'll work, trust me," Ruby reassured her friends as she took aim at the Nevermore with Crescent Rose, scythe end planted into the dirt. "Now we just wait for it to get closer."

Everyone was readied now, and all they could do was wait.

The black dot that was the Nevermore slowly became larger.

"Wait for it…"

Its talons arced in front of it, ready to rip into their flesh.

"Wait for it…"

The Nevermore opened its mouth and let out a screech.

"Now!"

Weiss released her Glyph underneath Yang, and Jaune released [Force].

The duo rocketed off the ground, and straight towards the Nevermore.

"My part's done now, yeah?" Jaune asked, not actually expecting an answer when he already knew. "Then I'm off to the Death Stalker."


Blake fired Gambol Shroud to Yang, who caught it and securely wrapped the ribbon around her arm. As they approached the Grimm, they held firm to the ribbon…

...Which found itself hooked to the Nevermore's open mouth.

The Grimm gave out in indignant squawk as the duo wrapped around the head and found themselves on the back of its neck. They quickly gripped the feathers to secure their positions, before Yang crawled her way to the top of its head. With her free hand, she cocked Ember Celica and began to beat its very vulnerable skull.

One strike turned to two, then to three, then to four.

She increased her speed until her single arm seemed like a blur. And with each hit, the Nevermore recoiled and descened lower, unable to maintain flight. And finally, with a last roar Yang put all her strength into her arm for one final hit.

The Nevermore stopped resistance as it helplessly crashed into the ground, below it waiting Ruby and Weiss.


"Honestly, I still can't believed that worked," Weiss prepared another Glyph under Ruby, the same one that launched Yang. Her voice held a tone of disbelief and reluctant admiration for the plan her partner developed.

"Told it would work," Ruby couldn't help the childish teasing, but after all the flak Weiss gave her, she felt like she earned this.

Weiss rolled her eyes, but it lacked any form of malice. "Yes, yes, I suppose I can say that I should have had more faith. But can your sister bring it down?"

"Don't worry about Yang," Ruby said, absolute confidence in her voice. "She's super strong."

It was proven moments later as the Nevermore soon crashed into the ground. Now that it was down, Yang unwrapped the ribbon from her arm and returned it to Blake who hurried off the beast. The fiery blonde then flipped herself off the head and into the face of the avian Grimm, and reared her leg back.

"Can you make the shot?" Ruby asked Weiss.

Weiss humphed at that, but also gave a smile. "Can I?"

"...Can you-"

"Of course I can!"

Yang let out another scream as her foot made contact with the Grimm's jaw, knocking its head up…

...and completely exposing its absolutely defenceless neck.

Weiss released her Glyph once more, launching Ruby who had her crimson scythe ready, the blade screaming as it cut through the air. With shots firing behind her to further boost her speed, Ruby made an elegant twirl and felt her blade dig into the neck…

...before the Nevermore was completely decapitated. And thus, the battle ended with a victory.


"Did I miss much?" Jaune asked as he ran to where his original team was. He was there just in time to see Pyrrha block the right pincer and Nora fire off her grenades at it, while Ren was firing at its left side.

"Not much Jauney!" yelled Nora as she she jumped over the stinger-less tail and switched it back into hammer form. Her body twisted as she brought it down, completely cracking the armor and flesh beneath it, causing the scorpion to scream. She pulled the trigger as an explosion came beneath, launching her away before it could retaliate.

"I think it's time that we end this," Ren said. They reconvened in front of the Death Stalker.

"Indeed," Jaune agreed. It was time to end this.

He turned towards Nora, a smile on his face. "Hey Nora, wanna fly?"

"Oh boy! Do I?!" she replied with a happy and hopeful look on her face. Jaune planted his palm on her back, and readied [Force] again.

"Up you go!" he released his spell as Nora was sent flying directly upwards, giving a cheer as she flew.

"Jaune? What was the point of…" Pyrrha trailed off as Jaune soon clapped his hands, and placed them on the ground. Calling upon [Spectral Armament] chains erupted from underneath the Death Stalker. The numerous coils wrapped around its body, legs, and pincer before it pulled, completely restraining it despite its rage and screams.

"You guys have done enough, and deserve a long, well deserved break," Jaune managed to bite through as he raised his left hand towards the sky. "And frankly, so do I."

He clenched his raised hand, before punching the ground.

Nora fell with it, [Force] dragging her back to the earth as she held Magnild above her head, a manic grin plastered on her face. Within seconds she was above the Death Stalker, and brought her hammer down on it.

It didn't even have time to scream, nor did it realize it was already dead.

"SMASH!"


Location: Vale-Beacon Academy-Main Hall

Time: 6:00 P.M.

Ozpin stood upon the stage as he christened and congratulated the students that had passed the initiation.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark: the four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, lead by: Cardin Winchester."

The students applauded the four as they made their way off the stage, and soon another group of four came to the stage.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, lead by: Representative Jaune Arc."

Nora gave a delighted squeal and hugged Ren, who stumbled but caught himself and returned the hug with a tired, but genuine smile. Jaune put his right hand over his heart and gave a light bow to the Headmaster.

The effect was diminished somewhat as Pyrrha bumped him on the shoulder, making him tumble before catching himself. He sent a playful glare at his red headed friend who looked away from him, even whistling nonchalantly.

Ozpin let out a chuckle, amused by the display. "Congratulations, Jaune."

Soon they were ushered off the stage, before the final team of the night walked up.

"And finally. Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY; lead by Ruby Rose."

Ruby and Weiss were shocked, but for different reasons. Yang however, was incredibly happy.

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang enveloped her sister in a tight hug, knocking themselves down.

Some of the audience laughed at that, along with Ozpin himself.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin sipped from his mug as he absently said those words. Perhaps things were looking up for the future.

Time would tell. It always did.


Location: Vale-Unknown Warehouse

Time: 8:00 P.M.

The shattered moonlight shone through the windows into an abandoned warehouse, illuminating a lone figure hunched over a metal table. His black dress pants matched his shoes along with his white coat, all of which were of high quality. Most notable was his orange hair which covered his right eye due to the black bowler hat on his head.

He held his scroll to his ear, seemingly arguing with someone on the other end before it was cut off. Angrily, he slammed it on the metal table and gave an irritated sigh. He brought out a cigarette and lit it. He felt the burning smoke fill himself before releasing a puff.

The clattering of wheels caught his attention behind him. A cart with a large black case was being moved to him by a figure with a black and white uniform and a peculiar mask. The smoking man brought out Lien and handed it over to the other.

"Open it," he ordered, voice deep yet smooth. It held an air of dangerous, sophistication not unlike a thug masking himself as rogue.

The uniformed man complied, and popped open the case. Within it contained many variations of Dust Crystals; blue, red, orange, yellow, white. He picked one up and inspected it, as if staring at it would give him the answers he needed. He sighed releasing another cloud of smoke.

"We're gonna need more men."

Roman Torchwick was certain of that, contemplating of how he ended up in this situation. He was unsure of how he would end up after all was said and done, but complied nonetheless.

Time would tell. It always did.