Chapter 4 – Initiation (Part 2)


Angela had been making her way through the forest at a slow but steady and efficient pace. She had her "wings" retracted so they would not get caught on any of the flora. As she continued forward, she had the sneaking suspicion that she was not alone, and that those with her were not friendly. However, because the presence had not made a move on her yet, and she felt that the foliage was a little too thick for her to fight efficiently, she continued onward.

Unfortunately, that patience of her stalker, or stalkers, had worn thin. With little warning, a Beowulf lunged at her from behind a large rock, growling menacingly, its claws ready to strike. Angela heard the beast's growls and turned its direction. She raised Aegis up and easily blocked the Beowulf's attack. Without missing a beat, Angela parried the attack, and swung Judgement at the monster, cutting the top half of its head off. As the corpse fell to the ground, Angela saw that it had come with its whole pack.

Angela quickly turned and ran. Not out of fear, but to find a better location where she could take them all on. As the Beowulves gave chase, Angela occasionally looked back and fired a few shots from Judgement's pistol at the ones closer to her. Even when running, Angela's aim was true, and she scored either killing head shots or crippling leg shots. When she turned her head back, she saw that they were coming up to a clearing. Angela smiled.

Right as she made it to the clearing, Angela leaped forward, her jump pack sending her flying and her wings deploying. This gave her even more ground ahead of the pack, and she landed in a combative stance. As she did, the pack had entered the clearing as well and began to slow down, approaching her cautiously. Angela smirked as they did so.

"Come on boys. It's rude to keep a lady waiting," she taunted them. For some reason, that seemed to work. Out of the twenty or so Beowulves, four of them charged her. Angela blasted forward with her jump pack. She cut one of the four charging beasts in half as she bolted past it, and blocked the attack of the next one. Another Beowulf tried to take advantage of the fact that her shield was preoccupied and attack her from the side. However, Angela foresaw this and extended Judgement in its direction. The beast impaled itself on Judgements blade, and as it was impaled, Angela fired a round from her weapon. The force combined with her jump pack pushed her away from the now dead Beowulf and the other who's attack she blocked. As she flew towards another Beowulf, one standing on its hind legs and looked like it was set to grab her, Angela quickly altered her angle and blew past this one, cutting it in half as well. Three down, seventeen to go.

Two more approached her from behind, both ready to strike. Instead of blocking either of them this time though, Angela dodged the first and cut off its leg. The Beowulf howled in pain as Angela, in the same motion, cut off the other Beowulf's head. Still in the same motion, she drove Judgement's blade into the side of the wounded Beowulf's head. Unfortunately, while Angela was busy with these two, a third had snuck up behind her. Before Angela could react and remove her sword from the head of the other monster, the assailant lunged, claws ready to rip her apart.

The Beowulf never made it to its prey though.

About halfway to Angela, a lightning bolt struck the beast in the head, blowing it off. Angela heard the sound of electricity and turned her head to see the corpse of the Beowulf skidding towards her, small amounts of lightning crackling around its corpse.

"Need a hand?!" she heard a familiar voice call out from her left. She smiled as she turned her head just in time to see George jump from a large rock. Dragon's Bane in its rifle form, he fired of few lightning infused rounds at another Beowulf that had made its way near her. George landed right next to her and transformed Dragon's Bane back into its spear form as Angela removed Judgement from her last kill. Both stood in their combat stances and quickly looked at each other, making eye contact. They still had thirteen more.

The remaining Beowulves had had enough though. With a roar from their alpha, they all charged forward. The two Hunters also charged. As Angela neared the five approaching her, she leapt forward, Ascendance giving her a boost. George just continued to advance on the five heading for him.

Angela, like her first and third kills, flew right past one, cutting it in half. She rammed into another with Aegis, but in a way that, combined with her force and the pointed edge of Aegis' lower half, impaled another Beowulf's midsection with her shield. While this did not kill the monster, it brought her to a stop. As her remaining three opponents closed in on her, Angela stabbed the Beowulf impaled by Aegis in the side of the head with Judgement. When the closer of the three remaining Beowulves was in striking range, Angela removed Aegis from the other's corpse, effectively dodging the attack and causing the Beowulf to stab the corpse of its deceased packmate with its claws. Before it could remove its claws, Angela kicked the beast in the head, disorienting it. As she did so, she removed her sword and cut the Beowulf's head off. The two dead monsters looked like they had run into and killed each other.

Her remaining two opponents had both closed the gap and were both attempting to swipe at her. She blocked, parried, and dodged their attacks until one of them stumbled from her parry. She bashed the monster with Aegis and stabbed it through the throat, killing it. The last Beowulf swiped at her again, but she dodged it, her sword still in the other Beowulf's neck. She dodged in a way though that she turned the Beowulf's body with her. She landed in a way that the blade of Judgement now faced the surviving Beowulf, even though it was still in the other's neck. As the surviving monster recovered from its attack, it turned to be greeted with a bullet to the head from Angela's weapon. As she fired, she pushed herself away from her kill, removing her blade from the corpse's neck. She landed a few feet away as she watched the two bodies fall to the ground.

As Angela was dispatching her targets, George was handling his. When he was a few feet from the first Beowulf, he combat slid right by it as it swung at him. As he did so though, he cut the monster's leg off with Dragon's Bane's blade. As the Beowulf scrambled to the ground, trying to correct itself, George slid right past it until he slid to a stop. He immediately jumped to his feet and dodged an attack from one of the other Beowulves. George swung the blade of his spear at the staggered Beowulf, cutting a deep wound into its skin. In the same motion, George turned and blocked another Beowulf. Parrying the attack, George knocked the Beowulf back a bit with the bottom end of his spear's shaft. Before the monster could recover, George ran his weapon's blade through its head from the lower jaw.

After slaying two of his five target, George conjured a lightning bolt into his left hand. At the right second, he withdrew his weapon from the deceased Beowulf and side stepped just in time to avoid another one's attack. Taking the lightning bolt he had conjured, George swung it overhead as if it was a sword he was holding with the blade pointed downward. The bolt made contact with the Beowulf's head and went right through it. If it had been a sword, it would have pinned the monster's head to the ground. The last two, if you can still count the one missing one of its legs, were circling around George. The one with all its limbs still remained on its hind legs, while the other tried to maneuver as best it could with just three legs.

Angered by its wounding, the three legged Beowulf lunged. However, as one could guess, it was sloppy and poorly coordinated. George extended Dragon's Bane toward the beast and impaled it in the chest. As this happened, the other Beowulf charged. George very quickly channeled lightning into the blade of his spear, which carried over to the corpse impaled on it. With one mighty swing, he flung the Beowulf copse off of the blade of his spear and it collided with the other. There was so much lightning coursing through the body that it might as well have been a ball of electricity. When it made contact with the other Beowulf, not only did it knock it to the ground, but the discharge was so great that it practically fried the living Beowulf. George stood triumphant over the five dead monsters. He unfortunately did not notice one of the last three sneak up on him.

Quietly, the Beowulf snuck up behind George, stood up, and was ready to strike. As it did though, Angela, who had just finished dispatching her share, jumped between George and the monster, blocking the strike with Aegis. George, having heard the ordeal behind him, quickly turned around, swinging Dragon's Bane as he did so. His strike cut the top half of the Beowulf's head clean off. Now there were only two left, one of which charged both of them. This one, the Alpha.

George and Angela, as if reading each other's minds, sprang into action. Running ahead of Angela, George made it to the Alpha first, dodging its attack as he made it. Instead of killing the beast, George merely hit its chin with the bottom end of his spear, causing the monster to recoil. In a way that left its chest completely vulnerable. With that, George crouched as Angela leapt from behind him and sunk her sword into the Alpha's chest, killing it. Only one Beowulf was left. It stood there, eyeing the two of them, and unmoving. George and Angela both looked at the monster, meeting its gaze. After a few seconds of staring it down, Angela smirked slightly, and uttered one word.

"Boo."

The Beowulf turned tail and ran as if it was caught on fire.

George and Angela both stood there among the dead Beowulf pack, catching their breath. After a few seconds, when both of them had caught their breath, they both looked each other in the eyes. Both welcomed each other with a smile.

"I guess this means we're partners now," Angela said with a cheeky tone. George chuckled slightly before responding.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," he responded as she sheathed Judgement.

"So, do you have any clue on where to go from here?" she asked.

"Sort of. Ozpin said our objective was on the western side of the forest, and judging by the sun and the time of day," he began, looking around trying to orient himself. As he did though, he heard Ascendance's jets come to life. When he looked back to where Angela was standing, the space was vacant. He looked up and saw her hovering several meters above him and appeared to be looking around. When she was done, she quickly descended and landed right back where she stood.

"It's this way," she said, tone still cheeky.

"Heh. Show off," George said jokingly, to which she laughed. With that, the two of them started heading in the direction Angela pointed out, leaving the Grimm corpses to their rapid decomposition.


Nikolaos continued his trek through the Emerald Forest as his own, leisurely pace. While he didn't have a compass or anything to properly orient himself, he did remember that when he was launched from the cliff, he was facing north. So, he went to his left when he began his journey.

He didn't sense any danger so far, and was thankful for that, but at the same time wished that something exciting would happen. If for nothing else, to give those who were monitoring him a chance to see his skill.

That's when it happened. Nikolaos heard a deep growl coming from behind him. He smiled, pleased that he now had that chance.

Quickly popping of the lids of one of his Dust crystal canisters, Nikolaos fired a quick but powerful stream of water from his palms, sending him airborne. Right as he did so, an Ursa landed right where he once stood, having pounced at it in an attempt to get Nikolaos. Landing expertly, Nikolaos drew his falcata, Auqa-Lash, and spoke to the Grimm.

"Ordinarily, I would be furious at something interrupted a pleasant stroll, but I suppose I should thank you," as he spoke, the Ursa recovered from its failed attack, "for you've given me a change to display my talents."

The Ursa growled at Nikolaos as it set up to charge him again. When it finally did charge, so did Nikolaos. About halfway to the Ursa though, he used his semblance to fire a volley of "water darts" at the Ursa's head. This caused the monster to stagger and slow its pace. As this happened, Nikolaos pressed the switch on his weapon's handle, changing it from its falcata form, to its bladed whip form. In one fluid motion, when he was close enough, Nikolaos jumped over the staggered Ursa, wrapping Aqua-Lashes whip word around its neck as he did so. Because the Ursa was still running forward, it played right into Nikolaos' trap. As it moved, the bladed whip grew tighter around its neck, until with one quick and forceful tug from him, the Ursa's head popped off like a bottle cap.

As Nikolaos landed and the headless body of the Ursa fell to the ground, he smirked to himself. Unfortunately for him, he didn't notice that another Ursa had snuck up behind him. Quietly, the Ursa stood up and was about to slash at Nikolaos. However, a bullet to the head put an end to that plan.

A lone gunshot rang out, snapping Nikolaos' attention to behind him. He turned only to see the would-be Ursa "assassin" fall to the ground dead. The bullet had entered its head from the left eye and exited through its right. A clean shot.

Nikolaos could tell that it wasn't George, due to hit weapon's ranged mode firing lightning infused rounds. So Nikolaos came to the conclusion that it was Angela who had just saved him.

'Not my first pick, but definitely a preferable one. I'm sure that the two of us will make a fine-' Nikolaos' thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, male, voice.

"Hey! Hey Nikolaos!"

Nikolaos' heart sank into his stomach at the sound of the voice, and a look of horror made its way to his face. He heard footsteps coming from where the voice originated, and with each one he felt his heart skip a beat. When the footsteps stopped, indicating that the person was close to him, Nikolaos closed his eyes and turned his body in the direction of the voice, praying that he just heard the person wrong. But as he opened his eyes, he felt himself wishing that the Ursa had killed him.

Leo Vicci stood there with a smile on his face and his pistol draw, the barrel still smoking.

"Talk about good timing, huh? I was following this one cardinal that I found, trying to get a few good sketches of it, but the dang thing wouldn't stay still. So I kept trying to follow it, and that's when I heard growling and water rushing so I followed the noises, and, well, I showed up just in time to take out that Ursa. Lucky for us huh?" Leo explained excitedly. Nikolaos remained silent, cursing to himself in his head.

"Sooooo," Leo added, "Do you have a partner yet? I mean, I guess not because I didn't see anyone with you, but maybe they could've been hiding or something. But if you don't, I guess that means we can be partners," Leo's smile never faded as he spoke to Nikolaos.

"Partner…" Nikolaos said softly.

"What's that?" Leo asked, having not heard him well.

"I have to be your partner?!" Nikolaos responded louder this time.

"Well, that is what Ozpin said, right?" Leo said with a nervous smile.

As they spoke, Leo quickly noticed something behind Nikolaos. Before he could get a better look at it though, it lunged at the two of them, appearing as if it was targeting Nikolaos.

"Look out!" Leo shouted as he sprang into action, pushing Nikolaos out of the way. After he did, Leo deployed his shield, Vitruvian, and raised it. The claws of the creature made contact with the shield and knocked Leo back and off his feet. Landing a few feet away and on his back, Leo quickly jumped back up, as did Nikolaos to see that their new attacker was an Ursa Major. Most likely the one of the two Ursa they already killed.

"Spectacular! Now I have TWO headaches to deal with!" Nikolaos said angrily as he conjured an orb of water into his left hand. As he did this, Leo quickly holstered his pistol, drew his pen, and began to add the finishing touches to a drawing he had prepared last night.

With Nikolaos being the closest, the Major turned its attention to him. Lunging at him, Nikolaos extended his left arm, blasting a torrent of boiling water at the Major. However, the monster payed no mind to the pain of the water. With both of its large claws, it swung at Nikolaos, who barely dodged it. He was about to stab the beast when it back handed him, knocking him back. Nikolaos recovered quickly though and readied for another attack. The Major was about to strike again, when suddenly, a large, finely detailed paper wolf jumped onto its back and bit at its neck. The monster flailed around, trying to grab or shake the construct off. Nikolaos turned his head to the side to see Leo standing there with a smile on his face.

"Quick! Finish it off while my wolf has it distracted!" Leo told him. Nikolaos scowled and sheathed Aqua-Lash. This time, he conjured a large amount of water to both of his hands, forming massive blades with them. Just then, the paper wolf let go of the Major and jumped from its back. At the moment, the monster had its back turned to Nikolaos. Not wasting any time, he leapt forward and drove both of his water blades into the Major's back. As the monster howled in pain, Nikolaos quickly slashed upward, cutting its upper body vertically in half. Kicking off from the Major's back, Nikolaos landed and the blades of water around his hands collapsed, soaking the ground beneath him.

Nikolaos looked over to Leo, who was petting the paper wolf he had summoned.

"Well done, well done indeed my friend," Leo told the wolf right before it crumpled up and disappeared. After it did, Leo returned his attention back to Nikolaos.

"Good teamwork there partner," he said.

"Don't call me that!" Nikolaos snapped at him, making Leo flinch slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?" Nikolaos nearly yelled, "What's wrong, is that out of all the potential candidates for a partner I could have gotten, out of all the skilled students I could have run into, it's YOU I get stuck with!"

Leo was, justifiably, upset to hear Nikolaos say this, but didn't show it.

"Well… I'm sorry. But we can't really do anything about that now, can we? We're partners now, and well…"

"Well what?" Nikolaos asked harshly. Leo pointed to one of the decaying corpses of the Ursai. The one he shot.

"I did save you earlier."

Nikolaos was speechless.

"I know I might not be as talented as George or Angela, but you don't have to worry man," Leo added, still keeping a positive tone, "I will have your back."

Nikolaos was still angry about this situation. Very angry actually. But Leo was right. He did save him, and while he didn't seem like much, Leo's semblance did just prove its usefulness. What Nikolaos said next though really hurt his pride.

"Fine."

Leo was happy to hear this, smiling again.

"But know this," Nikolaos added, "I may be stuck with you, and I will work with you," he turned his back to Leo, "but that does NOT make us friends. Got it?"

"Um, sure," Leo responded, slightly glumly.

"Now come on," Nikolaos gestured for him to follow, "I'm sure the temple is this way." With that, the two of them started walking through the forest, both dead silent.


Gabriel continued to make his way through the forest, both eyes and ears open for any possible threats. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he could swear he was being watched. And not by anything friendly. His grip on Sandalphon tightened as he continued forward, walking backwards from time to time.

Nearby, Onyx was also walking through in what she assumed was the right direction. She never really was that great at orienting herself in these kinds of situations. After a short while though, she heard what sounded like twigs snapping. Reaching for her sword, Sunder, which was still sheathed on her back, but not drawing it, Onyx prepared herself for a possible confrontation. She now walked in a battle-ready stance.

Both Onyx and Gabe were walking backwards when they entered each other's vicinity. If not for this, they would have noticed each other immediately. As one could expect, they continued to walk backwards towards each other. Before either of them knew it, they had both walked right into each other. For a brief second, they stood back to back, both of them surprised and nearly jumping out of their skin. Both jumped away from each other, Onyx drawing Sunder while Gabe got battle ready, and turned to one another.

Gabe and Onyx made eye contact and after a few seconds, both of them settled down, realizing what had happened.

"Good God, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Gabe said to her in a friendly tone as they both lowered their weapons. Onyx laughed slightly at the situation.

"And what about you? What were you trying to do?" She asked.

"I don't know. I felt like something was stalking me, so I guess I just got a little to overly-cautious."

Little did the both of them know, their caution was warranted. While they laughed at themselves for what had just happened, Onyx heard something. Hissing.

Before she could tell Gabe what she heard, a King Taijitu crashed its way through the trees next to them, drawing both of their attention to it. It was an adolescent one judging by its size, but still large enough to make a meal out of the both of them. As the two Hunters got back into their fighting stances, Gabe realized how fairly clear the area they were in was. He and Onyx must have accidentally wondered into or near its nest.

"Uh oh," he said as both the heads of the beast got set to strike. The white head lunged first, heading straight for Onyx.

"Onyx, look out!" Gabe yelled at her. She already saw it coming and used her semblance to turn her skin into obsidian. She also rearranged her stance in a way that she would have better leverage. When the Taijitu made contact with her, it recoiled in pain as hitting her in that state was the equivalent of ramming into a canyon wall. After this Onyx changed her form back and charged the serpent.

As this happened, the black head lunged at Gabe, maw wide open. Gabe jumped back at the perfect moment as the snake got a mouthful of dirt and grass. Gabe quickly jumped onto the monsters head and swung Sandalphon downward, driving one of the blades into the head. However, he did not hit it in an area that would be lethal. Instead, the snake began to flail around, trying to shake Gabe off as he tried even harder to hold on.

As Gabe was taking care of the black one, Onyx was busy with the white head. She tried to get close enough to actually deal some damage but the damned thing was too fast. After she realized this, she transformed Sunder into its ranged form, an explosive harpoon gun, and tried to shoot it instead. Unfortunately, the snake was still too quick and Onyx would instead hit nearby foliage. She got lucky with one shot though, as she hit a nearby tree that the snake lingered close enough to be hit in the blast of her harpoon's explosion. It did not wound the monster, but it did concuss and stagger it. Smiling at herself, Onyx changed Sunder back into its greatsword form and was about to charge to finish the job. When…

"Onyx!" She heard Gabe yell and turned to see him still holding on for dear life on the black head. She knew the white one was indisposed for a short time, and she needed to help Gabe. She realized that they were partners after all.

"Hold on there Gabe!" She called out as she rushed towards the two of them!

"What do you think I'm doing?!" He yelled in response. As this happened though, his grip accidentally loosened on Sandalphon's handle, and he was finally bucked off of the serpent. Gabe landed on his back a few meters away, and right as he sat up the black head lunged at him. At the last possible second, Onyx lunged and made contact with the black head, running her blade into its eye. The force of her contact made the both of them slide several feet away from Gabe.. The now dead black head laid lifeless as Onyx pulled her blade from the monster's eye. After she did, she reached for Sandalphon, pulled it from the head and tossed it back over to Gabe, giving him a smile as she did so.

As Gabe stood up and caught his weapon, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. The white head was still alive, and it lunged at Onyx. She didn't even notice when it happened, having forgot about it when she came to help Gabe. He didn't even waste the time to warn her. Using his semblance, Gabe swapped places with Onyx. She was shocked to find herself standing in a different spot in an instant, but soon saw why. Gabe now stood where she once was, and she saw the white head about to devour him. Gabe however, was prepared for this, and swung Sandalphon vertically at the right moment, cutting the serpent's white head vertically in half. The two headed snake was dead as could be.

Gabe walked over to Onyx.

"Thanks for the save," she told him with a playful punch to his arm.

"No problem. Consider it a 'thanks' for saving my skin."

"So, do you have any clue where we go from here?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping you would know," Gabe said with a nervous smirk, "but if I had to say, this direction?" he pointed to his left.

"Lead the way partner," Onyx told him.

Luka Mauve was walking through the forest, listening to some music she had set up the previous night on her boombox, The DJ. She had on a pair of Beats by Red headphones and was really enjoying herself. One would think that this was her being careless, though this is untrue. While it isn't the most responsible of things, Luka's heightened sense of hearing as well as her over all alertness more than made up for this little habit.

She was listening to a remix of a song by the artist Tri$ha when out of nowhere, a Beowulf pounced at her. Luka heard the monster coming for her and jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the Beowulf was able to cut the wire of her headphones. When the two of them landed, three others joined the Beowulf while Luka took off her headphones, looking at the severed wire. She turned her gaze to the Grimm, her expression one of annoyance and anger.

"These were expensive headphones you jerk!" she yelled as she dropped them. The Beowulves took this as a challenge and charged her. Luka stood her ground until the closest Beowulf swiped at her. She dodged the attack in a way that looked like a dance move. The other Beowulves all took their turns in trying to kill her, but she always avoided their attacks in ways that looked like she was dancing. After a short while, Luka dodged another attack from a Beowulf, but in the same motion delivered a round-house kick right to the monster's head, staggering it. In the same motion, she drew her sonic pistol, Feedback, and put the barrel right up to the beast's temple. With a single pull of the trigger, the Beowulf's head exploded like a balloon being filled with too much air.

When the other three came after her, she cartwheeled away, but did so at the right moment that as she did she kicked on of the Beowulves in the chin. When she landed her cartwheel, she quickly swung The DJ and hit one of the others in the head. In the same motion, she delivered a multitude of kicks to its head as well until the beast was dazed and confused. Luka then kicked its left hind leg in, making it fall to all fours. Almost immediately after that, Luka spun around and performed a powerful heel kick to the Beowulf's neck, breaking it with ease.

As Luka turned around to face the last two, she saw that one of them had pounced at her. She was just about to dodge it, when suddenly a pulse of orange energy hit the monster in the chest, knocking it to the side. Luka turned in the direction the shot came from to see Daniel running towards the last two Beowulves, his right arm extended and his weapon, Lion's Claw, showing signs of having just been fired.

Daniel drew his parrying dagger in his left hand and deployed Lion's Claw's chainsaw as he rushed forward. When one of the Beowulves swung at him, he ducked and skewered the monster in its midsection with the chainsaw. The beast howled in pain as Daniel moved his arm in a way that the chainsaw cut it in half. By this time, the other Beowulf had recovered and attacked Daniel. He easily parried the monster's attack with his dagger, and then swung his saw at its neck, cutting through it with ease.

After his two opponents were dead, Daniel turned to Luka, who looked at him with a smile and her right hand on her hip.

"Hey Luka," he said as he approached her.

"'Hey' to you too Danny-boy. How'd you find me?"

"A little birdie showed me," he responded. As if on cue, a small sparrow landed on his shoulder. Luka laughed, getting the joke. Daniel's semblance allowed him to communicate with animals to an extent.

"Can I assume that the same birdie knows where the temple is at?" She asked sarcastically. Daniel responded by reaching up to the sparrow and grabbing it gently. The sparrow knew he didn't mean it any harm, so it didn't resist. Daniel brought the sparrow up towards his mouth and whispered to it. After that, he let the sparrow go and it started flying off in a direction as if it had a purpose.

"That's a 'yes' I believe," he told Luka. She giggled and the both of them proceeded to follow the sparrow. This was easier said than done, as the sparrow was moving quicker than they thought. It would occasionally stop and wait for them, but Luka and Daniel both felt that there was an easier way to do this. And that's when Daniel spotted two large stags…


Yuri was sprinting his way through the forest, positive that he was heading the right way. However, he wasn't just sprinting to make it to the objective. Not long after landing, Yuri had stumbled upon a large nest of Creeps. Yuri knew he wouldn't stand much of a chance fighting them in their nest, so he took off westward. A pack of fifteen Creeps were now chasing him and showed no signs of letting him go.

After a while however, Yuri took in his surroundings and saw that he was in a more open area now. This would give him more of an edge. So he stopped, skidding as he did so, and drew his weapons. His sawed-off lever-action shotgun Mishka, and his flame mace Ogon' Molot.

"All right you ugly freaks, COME GET SOME!" He shouted as he took aim at the charging Grimm. Taking a few snap shots, most of the incendiary buckshot hit two of the Creeps, setting them ablaze. These two veered off from their charging pack in a panic, trying to put themselves out. As this happened, the pack had closed in on Yuri and the leading two creeps pounced at him. Yuri action rolled out of their path as they landed, one of them within reach of him. Taking this opportunity, Yuri swung his weapon down on the Creep's head, killing it.

At the same moment though, with his left hand, he holstered Mishka and removed one of his grenades from his bandolier. Pulling the pin with his thumb, he threw the grenade at the other Creep that had pounced at him. It hit the monster dead on its back and burst into flame on impact. Like the other two Creeps that Yuri had set on fire, it began to panic and run around in an attempt to put itself out.

Yuri smirked underneath his bandana as he jumped back in time to avoid another Creep slash at him. Yuri quickly looked for the other two he set on fire and saw their corpses, still burning, in the distance. That was four down.

Yuri still had use for the flames that were currently devouring the lifeless Grimm though. Raising his now free left hand in their direction, and then directing it towards the Creep that had just slashed at him, the flames left the others' corpses and flew to Yuri's target, catching it on fire. This was Yuri's semblance. Like the others, the Creep panicked and ran off. Five down.

Two other Creeps jumped at him, but Yuri drew Mishka in his left hand again and blew the midsection of one of them away. The other was about to make contact with Yuri, when at the perfect moment he swung Ogon' Molot at its head, crushing it and swatting the beast out of the air. Seven down.

Unfortunately though, Yuri failed to notice one of the last eight Creeps charging at him from behind. Ramming him hard with its head, it knocked Yuri to the ground, causing him to drop Ogon' Molot. Quickly turning on his back, he attempted to shoot the creep that had just assaulted him, only for a click to sound when he pulled the trigger. His magazine was empty.

"Crap!" Yuri cursed under his breath. The same Creep that knocked him down then leapt at him, claws drawn and jaws open. Yuri held up his arm in an attempt to prevent the monster from chomping on his head. However, the Creep never made it to him.

About midway through its leap, something wrapped around the beast's neck. What looked like a semi-thick, metal cord. Almost instantly after that, the cord yanked the Creep off to the side. Yuri and the other seven Creeps followed where this cord pulled the other with their gazes.

There stood Lucius, his kasuri-gama, The Beast, at the ready. As the Creep he subdued and pulled towards him drew closer, Lucius shifted his stance. At the right moment, he swung the scythe part's blade at the Creep, cutting it in half as the two halves flew past him. His weapon's cord now free, Lucius recovered and stood battle ready, swinging his weapons maul part in a circular motion.

The remaining Creeps simultaneously roared and rushed Lucius, who stood his ground. When they were in range, two of them pounced, only for Lucius two cut one of their heads off with his weapon's scythe part, and wrap the cord around the other's arms. In the same motion, he swung the captured Creep at one of the others, knocking them both down and untangling his cord from them. Neither were dead, but they were momentarily pacified.

Another Creep slashed at Lucius, only for him to cut off its arm and then cut its throat open in the same motion. Another Creep tried to pounce Lucius only for his cord to wrap around its neck. Lucius pulled the cord in a way that would make the Creep choke, while another rushed him. Dodging the other monster's attack and cutting its stomach open, Lucius returned to the other one he still had captured in his cord. With one forceful pull, Lucius broke the Creep's neck, nearly decapitating it.

All that remained where the two he pacified earlier. Lucius turned to see that they were just now recovering. Lucius raised the scythe part of The Beast, pointing it at them. From the mouth of the decorative dragon on it spewed a torrent of flames. Enveloping the Grimm, the fire's crackle mixing with their howls of pain, Lucius continued to burn them until the howls ceased. When Lucius removed his finger from the trigger, only ashes were left in place of the Creeps.

All the monsters dead, Lucius turned to see Yuri, still sitting there and looking up at him wide-eyed. Lucius approached Yuri and stood over him. He extended his hand as an offering to help him up. Yuri's stunned expression changed to one of excitement and awe.

"Hey, thanks for the assist man!" Yuri told him as he accepted the offering. As Lucius pulled Yuri to his feet, the latter couldn't contain his excitement.

"Dude, that was SO badass! I thought I was done for, and then here you come in like a ninja," Yuri babbled on as he retrieved Ogon' Molot. Lucius stood there and watched him without emotion. After Yuri grabbed his fallen weapon, he walked back to Lucius.

"Seriously man, I owe you big! And now we're even partners! This is so freaking awes-" Lucius held up his hand, making Yuri cease his babbling. Yuri was confused of course, but Lucius spoke.

"I am happy you are unharmed and that I saved you. And judging by your semblance and my weapon's flamethrower feature, it seems as if we will make a good team. But know this: I will NOT put up with constant chattering and talks of whatever was 'badass' or not. Understood?" Lucius was blunt and kind of rude, but not really that harsh. Yuri should have been offended or annoyed, and while he was stunned at this, he was still star-struck.

"Uh, yeah, sure man. Whatever you say," he responded, smile returning back to his face.

"Good," Lucius responded before turning, "Come on. West is this way."

With that, the two of them began to walk. For a few seconds the two of them were quiet, until Yuri ended that.

"So, what's your name man? I'm Yuri Votolom." A few more seconds of silence followed.

"Lucius. Lucius Furon."


Kyle Corvin stalked through the Emerald Forest, feeling pretty confident that he was going the right way. And hey, if he wasn't, he would find out eventually.

However though, Kyle heard rustling in the foliage nearby. Stopping dead in his tracks, Kyle tried to better hear what could possibly be hunting him. He didn't need to though, as not long after he stopped, a Beowulf leaped from a large brush nearby. Kyle jumped back several feet as the monster slashed at the ground where he once stood. Landing from his jump, Kyle was about to extend his claws, Hunger and Slake, when he noticed several more Beowulves emerging from the brush as well. A pack of about ten it seemed.

Kyle felt nervousness creep over him. He felt like he could take them, but at the same time he felt that their numbers were too much for him to handle alone. For a moment he contemplated retreating… when his father's advice began to fill his ears.

"Remember Kyle, this world will not take mercy on you. You must stand strong, and reward brutality with a swift and sure vengeance. Do not let your rage take over – you are the master, above any emotion. When in doubt, trust in your warrior's instincts, they will never lead you astray. Reach inside, channel your beast, then rip, rend, and tear."

Kyle closed his eyes and stood tall. He took a few deep breaths as he began to channel his semblance. The same Beowulf that already attacked him noticed this and charged, thinking it had the drop on him. It couldn't have been more wrong. When the beast was about half its original distance away, Kyle extended his claws, opened his eyes, and snarled. His yellow irises were now glowing slightly. Right as the Beowulf was about to slash him, Kyle drove his right claws, Hunger into the monster's throat, and his left claws, Slake, into its gut. Using both his strength and the momentum of the Beowulf's charge, Kyle flung the beast overhead and brought its skull down on the forest floor, killing it.

Removing his claws from the dead Beowulf and turned to the others. Kyle let out a menacing growl as he charged the rest of the pack. Right after he began sprinting to them, the other Beowulves began to charge at him as well.

When he was a good distance away, Kyle leapt into the air and landed right on the first Beowulf's shoulders. While on top of it, Kyle drove both of his claws into its neck and pulled in opposite directions, ripping the Beowulf's head off. When that was done, Kyle leapt from the monster's shoulders and landed in the middle of the others. As the Beowulves tried to slash and claw at him, Kyle would always parry their attacks and deliver a brutal counterattack. He fought with the skill of a trained warrior, but with the ferocity of a rabid animal.

One Beowulf tried to grab Kyle's tail, but he responded to this by driving Hunger's claws into the top of the beast's head, pinning it to the ground. From there, Kyle fired a couple rounds from the wrist mounted marksman pistol built-into Slake. Both the rounds he fired hit one of the other Beowulf's right in its eye, blinding it. As the monster staggered, Kyle pulled Hunger from the other Beowulf's skull and rushed the injured one. He let loose a flurry of slashes on the blinded monster, to the point that its torso looked like paper after it was fed through a shredder.

As his third kill fell down dead, Kyle noticed another Beowulf circling him. Pointing Hunger at it, he fired his weapon's claws forward, hitting the Beowulf in the chest.

"Come here!" Kyle yelled as he pulled the monster to him, the chains attached to the claws retracting into his vambrace. The monster tried to resist, but it was pointless. When it was in range, Kyle stabbed Slake's claws right through its head, the two side claws puncturing each eye, and the middle one right in the center of its forehead.

Kyle noticed though, even in his frenzied state, that this was going a lot easier than he thought. He was expecting more of them to gang up on him. As he withdrew his claws from the dead Beowulf, he turned around just in time to block an attack from another one of them. Pushing his attacker back, Kyle took the opportunity to stab his claws into the beast's chest. As the Beowulf growled for the last time, Kyle kicked off from it and landed a few feet back. One of the other Beowulves then rushed him, but like with the first, Kyle stood his ground. This time however, when the monster was in range, he drove both his claws into its midsection. Using all his might, Kyle pulled in opposite directions, ripping the Beowulf in half.

Kyle prepared for the next Beowulf, only to realize, the others were dead. He saw three of them laying there among their other pack mates, a single arrow in each of their heads. Not know what was happening, but believing that all was well, Kyle began to calm down, quelling his semblance. That's also when he noticed something. That was only nine dead Beowulves. Where was the tenth?!

That's when Kyle heard a 'thk', followed by pained and dying growling behind him. He turned around to see the last Beowulf, standing over him as if it was about to attack. However, three of the other dead monsters, this one had an arrow logged in its head. With that, the monster fell to the ground.

Kyle looked around franticly, searching for whoever did that.

"Who's there?" He called out. He continued to search around until his gaze fell upon something hovering above a thick branch in one of the nearby trees. A pair of green eyes were looking right into his. Kyle blinked a few time to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, the eyes were real.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, something happened that shocked Kyle a little bit. Another student 'faded' into view where the eyes were. It was a male student, clad in black garb that made him look like a ninja. In his hands was a bow, and slung around his back was a quiver of arrows. Why Kyle immediately noticed about this boy though were the two long, black jackal ears atop his head. This person was another Faunas.

The student jumped from his perch on the branch and landed not too far away from Kyle. After he did, he split his bow in two, the halves becoming twin khopesh swords. He then sheathed them, and stood stoically, eyeing Kyle. Despite feeling like a deer caught in headlights, Kyle was excited to meet another student, especially a fellow Faunas.

"Thanks for the assist," Kyle said. The other student said nothing. He merely nodded.

"You're one of the students from Vacuo, right?" Again, no response. Just a long nod.

"Can you talk?" Kyle asked. Again, nod but no words were spoken.

"Oooookaaay… Well, judging by what the Oz man said, we're partners now. Sound good?" Another nod.

"Cool. So, can you tell me your name at least?" Silence.

"Naasir," the student finally said quietly. His accent was rather thick. "Naasir al-Neith."

"Well Naasir," Kyle responded, extending his hand forward with a smile behind his muzzle, "the name's Kyle Corvin."

Naasir accepted the handshake and nodded as well.

"So, you wouldn't happen to know where to go from here, would you?" Kyle asked. Naasir said nothing, again. Instead, he turned around and signaled for Kyle to follow him, before taking of in a light sprint. Without any hesitation, Kyle followed suit.


All of the students by now had found their partners. All that was left was for them to find the temple.


Chapter 4 is here. Sorry this took so long. It's hard writing action scenes for RWBY. ^^"

Reviews and constructive criticisms are always welcome.

VERY special thanks to the following:

The Reader of Fanficton

Diyaru4500 on deviantART

RHY7HMICW4RRIOR on deviantART

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lightning-in-my-hand on deviantART

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