*A moment in History: Eden*
June 28th would prove to be a day to remember in the history of Eden. The day the beloved King Charles XII of Aiden was assassinated. The assassin and his collaborators were captured and tortured, eventually giving up who had hired them: Florence.
Florence was a city-state on the southern end of Eden, it was a center of art and a beacon of power. But deep down Florence was corrupt, ruled by a council of greedy lawmakers who would see their people burn in order to line their pockets with money.
When the Light of Aiden was formed, it scared them. Their position of the top dog on Eden was threatened. So, while the fledgling nation fought back to reclaim lands lost to both Grimm and other city-states, they schemed.
They amassed power, concentrated on developing technology, built more weapons, raised more armies. They believed themselves superior, but their military was just as corrupt as they.
They struck when the King was delivering a speech in remembrance of the fallen. Killing him and launching a surprise attack against the forces of Aiden.
They ran headlong into an immovable object, their armies stopping cold before the might of Aiden. Their air fleets knocked from the skies, their ships sank beneath the waves, their armies drowned in tides of blood.
They begged for forgiveness but found that Aiden and the rest of Eden were fresh out of mercy. In a matter of months, Aiden was knocking on the gates of Florence itself. When no one answered, they burned it down; storming into the city with force comparable to that of a Typhoon.
Florence was so totally defeated that they surrender unconditionally 84 days after the death of King Charles XII.
*the morning before*
Beep
Like clockwork, Naruto's eyes cracked open. He stared listlessly at the dark ceiling, taking in the sounds of the dozens of other sleeping teens around him. Over the course of the last twelve years, Naruto had trained his body to wake up to the sound of a single beep. Be it from his scroll, a watch, or his digital combat display. It was a skill he both enjoyed and hated, Ino having found particular joy in abusing it.
How was your rest? A gravelly voice echoed between his ears.
Reminiscence, why?
You were moving in your sleep.
Oh. He's only ever done that for nightmares.
Nightmare?
No...an old memory.
Oh? About what?
Naruto stared at his hands, deep in thought.
My old team.
Kurama hummed. Naruto has had many dreams about his old team, but none lead to the amount of unconscious activity that he displayed during the night.
Is that all?
No. Naruto grimaced, Operation Cathedral.
Ah. Kurama narrowed his eyes, remembering the event clearly. He wasn't with Naruto at the time but had just started to awaken from his slumber. He remembered the feeling of many hundreds of thousands of souls crying out only to vanish into the void.
In a matter of months, Aiden had wiped out a whole civilization. Burned whole cities to cinders, all for the death of their beloved King: Charles the Twelfth. I suppose when you don't play nice with someone who can wipe you out, the end result is extinction.
The burning of Florence had a profound effect on Naruto, with it being his first taste of total war. Where he bathed in the blood of thousands, and where he unlocked his Semblance is all its glory.
Go wash the night off, prepare for the day ahead.
Naruto blinked before smiling, that sounds like a great idea bud.
He stood up and stretched, feeling all the kinks and pops work themselves out. Sighing happily at getting most of them; he turned to grab his pack, having used it as a pillow through the night. Only to find that he was not the only one with that idea. Blake was curled into a loose ball, her head resting on one of the softer parts of his pack. She had taken the opposite side of it, to where the soles of their feet pointed away from the pack. The cat faunus is disguise was snoozing soundly, shuddering from the cool air every so often.
She looks cold, Naruto smiled softly.
He channeled Aura into the seal on his shoulder blade, feeling the weight of his travel cloak settle on his broad shoulders. Naruto shrugged it off and laid it over the sleeping faunus.
One nice and refreshing shower later Naruto sat down on the bench in front of his locker. Dressed in a pair of orange PT shorts with his towel draped over his shoulder. His tail swayed gently behind him.
Naruto brought his legs up, crossing them on the bench. He laid his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. His breathing leveled out, falling in synch with his slowing heartbeat. The fox faunus cleared his mind; no worries, anger, fear, or joy.
Red eyes snapped open, seeing that he was no longer in the locker room at Beacon. Naruto gazed around, seeing that he was standing on a body of water that stretched endlessly every direction.
A rush of hot air washed over him, blowing his towel off and into the water. Naruto turned around with a smirk, eyeing the massive fox style Grimm laying before him. A single massive red eye drilled into his equally blazing eyes. Kurama's' massive white lips parted, revealing huge glistening fangs.
What brings you here, Naruto?
"Just getting my gear from hammerspace." Naruto grinned, "And, ya know, to say hello to my second favorite fox."
Kurama stared down at him unflinching,
Second favorite?
"Of course, I'm my favorite Fox. Gotta have pride in one's self."
A rumbling chuckle echoed in his mindscape, Kurama's eye peered at him amusedly.
Very well, young fox. Now bring forth your armory, I wish to pick out your weapons this time.
Naruto laughed, his tail swaying happily. "I'm picking the gear then." He spun around and focused on his mindscape. It began to rumble, ripples appearing in the watery surface. Slowly, rows upon rows of stone displays began to rise from the murky depths.
Matching grins of savagery stretched across the pairs' faces, spelling the desire of bloodshed and destruction shared by the foxes.
*-* "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." *-*
Pyrrha Nikos laughed nervously. Having run into Weiss in the locker room, the white themed girl all but jumped her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Ms. Schnee." Pyrrha shook the offered hand.
"Oh please, just call me Weiss." The Heiress smiled pleasantly at her. A smile Pyrrha knew all too well, having come to Beacon just to get away from it. With a mental sigh, she put up a brave face and listened to the Heiress go on about teams and whatnot.
Ultimately, the Spartan's mind wandered and she discreetly studied other students in a vain attempt to find a way out of the conversation. About to give up and resign herself to the Schnee's whims, she made eye contact with an oddly colored faunus. Dressed in a lot of tans and greens that simply did his hair and eyes no justice. Bright crimson eyes stared back, amused at her plight, red fox ears twitched in the spiky blond hair. Deep dark whisker marks donned his cheeks, and she swore she saw a shadow of a tail.
Pyrrha gave him a nervous, almost hopeful, smile.
She was genuinely surprised to her smile returned with a very real smile and a wave.
With wide eyes, she watched as the fox faunus trekked out of the locker room after throwing her one last amused grin.
Before Pyrrha knew what she was doing, she was chasing after the Faunus, her desire to have a genuine friend outstripped any pleasantries she had to endure from the Schnee Heiress. She heard said Heiress shout something at her, but she didn't care to listen to what was said.
Coming to a halt in the Ballroom, the Spartan woman scanned the crowds, looking for the sunshine hair.
Spotting her target, Pyrrha made her way over. He was conversing with another female, this one still shaking the sleep out of her amber eyes. The blonde fox rubbed the females head, only for her to swat his hand away.
A smile began to work its way onto Pyrrha's face. Maybe I could make two friends! Was the hopeful thought bouncing around in her head.
The blonde faunus turned towards her as she approached, the black haired female gazed at her with indifference.
"Hello there!" Pyrrha waved nervously.
The blonde grinned at her, "What's up?"
The black-haired female smiled at her, "Hello."
The spartan froze, not really knowing what to do. She's never gotten this far before people bombarded her. The blonde seemed to notice her plight and took pity on her.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. And this here is Blake Belladonna."
The now named Blake glared at the blonde faunus, "I am capable of introducing myself, Naruto."
"Wow really? Your anti-social ass can introduce yourself without glaring at them? Color me impressed Miss Belladonna~." Pyrrha felt the sarcasm dripping off that retort.
Blake's glare intensified.
Ignoring her with practiced ease, Naruto turned towards Pyrrha once more, who was slowly getting nervous from the heat of Blake's glare.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss…"
"Pyrrha! Pyrrha Nikos." The Spartan blurted out, embarrassed for forgetting to introduce herself.
Naruto extended his hand, "Well Miss Nikos, it's nice to meet you."
Pyrrha took it with a beaming smile.
"There's where you went Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha felt her smile shatter like glass at the sound of Weiss's voice. The three of them looked towards the Schnee Heiress making her way over. Weiss noticed who Pyrrha was talking too and stopped short.
"You!" She pointed at Naruto.
Naruto looked around before pointing at himself, "Me?"
"Yes, you! First, you disrespect me and now you have the audacity to speak with a woman of Pyrrha's caliber!"
Naruto was baffled! "I'm not the fucking retard that was waving a vial of explosives around like a baby waving its rattle! And last I checked, you don't make decisions for others, ya dumb bitch."
"Excuse me! Do you know who I am?!"
"Didn't we go over this yesterday? Or are you just that stupid?" Naruto snapped back.
"I'm not the stupid one! You're the stupid Faunus!"
Naruto's eyes sharpened, burning holes into the white themed girl.
"Okay Cunt." Weiss visibly recoiled, "Since when does being a Faunus make me stupid?"
"I-it doesn't! You're just stupid!"
"Says the one using the same insult over and over again. Go refresh your vocabulary before we continue this, comprender?"
"Com-what now?"
"Exactly. Piss off 'til you figure it out."
"Ugh! You are so annoying!"
The Schnee stormed off and Naruto turned back to his lovely company, his anger dissipating.
Blake was busy glaring holes in the retreating Schnee and Pyrrha looked torn between hilarity at the exchange and horrified at the language the blonde was dropping so casually.
"Sorry, you had to see that, Pyrrha." Naruto poked Blakes cheek, snapping her from her trance. "You good Kitten?" He asked, giving Blake a concerned look.
Blake sighed, "Yeah. I just need a shower to cool off."
"Well, you'd better hurry. We have half an hour to be at the cliff."
Blake's eyes widen before she dashed off, leaving Pyrrha alone with Naruto.
"...You know we have an hour and a half, right?" Pyrrha questioned.
Naruto smirked at her, "Yup!"
"That's mean Naruto." Pyrrha gave him a disappointed look.
The blonde faunus gave her a grin, a glint of mischievousness coming to life.
"Ya know what? You're totally right! Come, let us rectify this mistake!" Naruto declared before practically skipping off.
The redheaded Spartan stared mystified at his retreating figure for a moment before scrambling after him.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
*-* "I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light." *-*
Opzin smiled behind his mug. It seemed his new foxy friend had made friends of his own. Interesting choices though: a former White Fang terrorist and the idolized Mistral Champion.
Given his long and bloody history with Eden's own terrorist organization, Miss Belladonna was a very odd choice in friendship. Maybe he didn't know? Or maybe Naruto just didn't care. Given how volatile and unpredictable the fox was, Ozpin was willing to bet that he just didn't care.
Miss Nikos was another strange choice. A prodigy that was isolated by the very people that adored her. The four-time Mistral champion was an individual of incredible skill and relentless training, but beneath all that armor and fame she was just a lonely girl in desperate need of a friend or two.
It would be interesting to see the three of them on the same team.
A little red blur zipped across the cliff, nearly slamming into Naruto.
It seems that Miss Rose has found a friend in Naruto as well.
Ozpin's smile widened, watching the scythe wielder talk a mile a minute.
His brown eyes panned across the rest of the teens, spotting Yang Xiao Long following after her sister.
Ozpin snorted, remembering the police report of a nightclub that got roughed up by the blonde brawler. She had quite the temper when it came to her hair it seemed.
Looking further, he spotted Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. A company led by a man seemingly hellbent on driving it into the ground. Hopefully, the Heiress proved to be a better person than her father, something only time will tell.
Moving on swiftly.
Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, old friends from a village long gone. Children of powerful Huntsmen and Huntesses, driven by their desire to never see a repeat of their home they trained themselves into the dirt. The eccentric Valkyrie was going on about pancakes, the quiet Ren simply nodding along.
What an odd thing to go on about.
Ozpin glanced at his watch, seeing that it was time to begin.
"Miss Glynda, would you mind rounding the potential students up?" Ozpin spoke to his deputy.
"Of course, Headmaster." Glynda replied, moving to complete her task.
Ozpin smiled once more, before going over his speech in his head, making sure he wasn't missing anything.
It took only a minute or two for the blonde witch to round everyone up school circle around the Headmaster. Nodding to himself, Ozpin began:
"Good morning children. I hope everyone had a good night's rest?"
A round of nods amongst the student body.
"Excellent! I, am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. And this-" He gestured to Glynda, "is Professor Goodwitch, deputy Headmaster of Beacon. I would like to welcome you all to Beacon."
A murmur echoed in the crowd.
"You have come to my school in search of knowledge. Of direction, and of purpose." Ozpin paused. "Many of you seek fame and glory. I promise you, you will not find any of it here. What you will find is a rigorous and brutal schoolhouse, with every aspect of it designed to ensure your success both on and off the battlefield.
A few of you," Ozpin made eye contact with Naruto, "Know what the battlefield is like. An unforgiving environment that cares not for who you are or what you have done; only what you bring with you.
I promise you all, that we here at Beacon will do everything we can do to set you up for success. But we will not hold your hand. We will not baby you!
You will become the future defenders of Remnant, a bulwark against the Creature of Grimm. This is not a glamorous lifestyle, many of you will die before you reach thirty. You will spend many nights sleeping in the dirt, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. That is your mission.
We, here at Beacon will teach you the skills needed to accomplish this mission. But it will be up to you to know yourself and seek self-improvement.
Behind me," Ozpin gesture to the forest below, "Is Emerald Forest. Your First Step. This is your initiation into the life of a Huntsman.
I have placed several relics in a temple in the northern part of the forest. Your mission today is to locate and retrieve one of these relics and return to this very cliff. There are enough relics for everyone; that being said, you will only take one relic from the temple.
Take heed children, there are many creatures in this forest that will seek to stop you. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...or you will die."
Ozpin observed the student hopefuls. Many were eager to prove themselves, a select few were afraid.
"Here at Beacon, you are taught and trained in four-person teams. Those teams will be decided upon today. That being said, your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with upon landing.
I bid you all good luck. For many of you will need it."
*-* "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." *-*
Naruto laughed as he flew through the air. Whatever he was expecting those pads were, he certainly didn't think they were springboards! Naruto rolled right with a whoop, spotting a pack of the most common type of Grimm on Sanus: Beowolves!
In general, the Creatures of Grimm on Eden are not as numerous as the rest of Remnant, but they are much trickier and difficult to deal with. Each species with an extra trait or four that made them much more dangerous to deal with.
He grinned savagely, excited to finally fight something after all the stress of meeting new people and having to play nice. Now he can let his combat skill speak for him.
With a puff of smoke, his armor was donned with the addition of black greaves, forearm guards, and a burnt orange waist cloak. Naruto reached back, a sheathed sword materializing in his hand.
Angling himself towards the pack of Beowolves, Naruto increased speed. Just before impact, he flipped around, a brown sigil appearing over the scabbard. Slamming into the ground, he drove the scabbard into the dirt with a shout:
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!"
Dozens of rock spears shot up from the ground, impaling everything in the clearing with impunity. The pack of Beowolves was caught by surprise, unable to avoid the sudden assault from below. Many died before they knew what had even happened.
"Ha! Get Fucked!" Naruto laughed, happy that the age-old attack was still effective.
"Hah~ Whelp!" He spun around, yanking his sword from the ground. "Whaddya think Kitten?"
Amber eyes blinked at him, a grin stretching across owners face.
"I think we're partners, Naruto."
"You followed me, didn't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Blake smiled at him, "Maybe you just made a lot of noise."
Naruto burst out laughing, "'Admit Nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter Accusations.' Eh?"
Blake's smile gave nothing away.
"Very well Partner." The disguised faunus preened, "What is the next plan of action?"
Blake glanced around at the dissipating Beowolved, "We find the temple, grab a relic and get back to the cliff." She paused, "I saw the temple, it's not too far away."
Naruto nodded, "I LARFIB'd it on the drop. Hopefully, that'll set us straight."
"Larfib..? What's that?" Blake questioned.
A puff of smoke obscured Naruto's face. He waved the smoke away, showing that a black visor rested over his eyes, obscuring them from Blake.
"LARFIB stands for Laser Range Finding and Bookmarking. Basically, I can tag a coordinate on my display."
"Oh." She wasn't completely lost, but she can ask about all that later. When they weren't in the middle of a Grimm infested forest. Taking a test in order to study at Beacon. You know, the important stuff.
"We're about a kilometer out, in the north-northwesterly direction." Naruto stated, pointing in a generally northern direction.
The two of them set out at a sedate pace, in no immediate rush to get to the temple.
The faunus pair walked in silence, content in not speaking but taking comfort in each other's presence.
On the outside, Blake was calm and focused, but on the inside, she was celebrating. Out of the dozens of potential partners, she had gotten the one she wanted! She didn't follow him per se, Blake just happened to have landed in the same area as he did; and if anyone asked it was a pure coincidence.
She had very little idea on how well he fared in combat, but the tidbit she saw earlier was very promising. While using Dust spells and casting mediums isn't exactly rare, that doesn't mean it common either. Generally, the practice is regarded as a very time consuming and difficult style of fighting. Most use it to supplement an already existing combat style.
Blake glanced at her partner. She couldn't see his eyes, but a grin was plastered across his face. Blake couldn't help but wonder if he was happy with having her as a partner.
Several minutes had gone by with no disturbance to the peace, only for a pair of teens to sprint by screaming their heads off.
"...The hell?" Naruto could only question the wisdom of running through a monster-infested forest screaming like a pair of little bitches.
Blake was more concerned with one of the boys' hairstyle.
"...Does he seriously have a mohawk?" She questioned out loud.
Naruto turned towards the direction from which they came, peering cautiously into the trees. The reason for their panic soon made itself apparent, in the form of a Deathstalker.
"That's not even a big deathstalker, what a pair of pussy boys."
Blake turned towards her partner with a dry look, "Really? Couldn't choose a different insult?"
Naruto shrugged helplessly.
The Deathstalker chittered at them, preparing to attack. Before it could, a massive foot smashed into its back, crushing the scorpion Grimm.
The two Beacon hopefuls slowly looked up, following the appendage. Baleful red eyes glared hatefully down at them, seething through the white mask. The bone armor covered its head and neck entirely, trailing off all the way to a swaying tail. Massive spikes of bone traveled down the quadrupeds back in two identical rows. Two fangs glinted in the sunlight, both larger than the two of them combined. Acidic saliva dripped onto the earth, causing it to burn with a hiss. Its shoulders eclipsed the surrounding trees, making the thing well over 15 meters tall.
Eyes wide in terror, Blake whispered to her partner, "W-what is that!?"
Naruto answered slowly, white lines began to appear on his armor, "That's a Silvertooth. Or, as I like to call it, a 'We're-so-fucked-Tooth'!"
The Grimm reared its massive head back, before shattering their eardrums in a terrifying howl.
*AWROOOOOOOOOO*
*-* "Know thyself, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories." *-*
Pyrrha held up a golden bishop, turning towards her partner.
"How about this one?" She asked.
Her adorable partner shrugged, "Sure thing!" Ruby smiled.
Pyrrha smiled back, her partner was simply too cute! She had encountered the girl fighting a pair of Ursa. Ruby was quite skilled with her scythe, having made short work of the two creatures.
Pyrrha was dragged from her thoughts when her partner spoke up, "Do you hear that..?"
The spartan woman listened intently, identifying the sound of someone screaming. The two females turned in the direction of the noise, spotting a flying individual soaring towards them.
Pyrrha identified the person, "Blake..?"
The screaming Blake slammed into the two females, knocking all three of them down.
Ruby groaned, "Blake...why you so heavy…"
Blake could only moan in pain.
Pyrrha sat up, pushing the girl off her. Shaking the cobwebs off, she turned towards the two females.
"Are you two hurt?"
They both groaned in pain.
Blake sat up, wincing in pain. "Where am I?" she questioned. An object fell in her lap, looking down she saw it was a golden chess piece, a bishop to be precise. "What's this?"
"The relic we are supposed to retrieve." Pyrrha answered, "Where's your partner?"
An explosion erupted off in the distance, the blast being felt all the way at the temple.
Blake snapped into full awareness, her stomach twisting into knots as she stared at the fireball.
"Naruto!"
That caught both Ruby and Pyrrha's attention, their gazes snapping towards the dissipating cloud, "That was him?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm not sure." Blake answered, "But that is the general location where we were fighting that thing!"
"What thing?" Ruby asked.
Blake shivered, "Naruto called it a Silvertooth. It looked like a gigantic canine version of a saber-tooth cat."
Pyrrha felt her blood run cold. She had heard something along those lines from some crazy homeless guy back in Argus. He was always going on about this place he called Eden, where the Creatures of Grimm grew to titanic sizes faced off against war machines of equally titanic proportions.
She grabbed Blake by her collar, looking into her terrified eyes, "Are you sure that's what he said?" Pyrrha asked firmly. Blake shakily nodded, confirming her fears.
She let go of Blake, "Then we need to go help him!"
"Right!" Ruby was in full agreement.
The two looked towards Blake, only to find her already dashing off towards the explosion.
"Wait for us!"
*-* "Treat your men as you would your own beloved sons. And they will follow you into the deepest valley." *-*
Naruto flipped backward, a fireball sailing beneath him. Landing, he glared at the damaged Silverfang; after Naruto had stabbed its eye out the fucker had started spitting fireballs at him.
The fox leaped aside, launching a trio of glowing kunai at the monster, the knives sinking into the bone armor on the beast's side. Naruto dodged a paw, only to be smacked aside by the monster's tail. He skipped across the clearing, only coming to a stop after slamming into a tree. His visor had shattered with that hit, much to his annoyance.
"Ugh...that fuckin' hurt…" Naruto blinked the blood from his eye.
"Want some help?"
Naruto nearly leaped out of his skin, placing a hand on his rapidly beating heart his head snapped to the side.
There stood two teenagers, a male, and female.
The male had long black hair pulled in a low ponytail, a single pinkish stripe on the left side and equally pink eyes. He wore a green and black tailcoat, with white pants and black boots. He carried a pair of what looked like green SMGs with long vertical blades coming from the barrel.
The female had orange hair and blue-green eyes. A white blouse with a heart shaped cut out over her cleavage. She had a black armored vest that covered her neck and torso, and a pink skirt with a pair of pink and white boots. To top it all off, she was carrying a really big war hammer.
"I'll never deny some help, but I gotta ask," Naruto focused on the female's hair, "Is that natural?"
She laughed, "Yup!"
The pink-eyed dude spoke up, "I'm Lie Ren, and this is Nora Valkyrie." He gestured towards the now named female.
Naruto nodded, "Soooo, Ren then?"
The teenager blinked in surprise, "Correct. How-"
Naruto cut him off, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
Ren's mouth clicked shut, understanding donning on his face. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Naruto." He held his hand out.
Naruto took it, "Likewise Ren." He replied with a grin.
A roar cut their pleasantries short, the three of them focusing on the Creature of Grimm. It snarled at the two newcomers, excited for the kill.
Ren studied the creature, noticing the amount of damage that seemed fresh. It only had one fang, the other looked broken off, several spikes were broken off its back as well. A number of burns decorated it's armored sides and face, along with several small craters. A knife seemed to be sticking out of its left eye.
Ren had noticed the blood on Naruto, making him wonder if he was out of Aura. Addressing the faunus directly, he voiced his thoughts.
"No." Naruto answered, "It hits hard enough that the blunt force bypasses your Aura shield and deals damage directly to you."
That...was concerning, to say the least.
"Any ideas on how to kill it?"
"The armor on its stomach was pretty weak, to begin with, and I've knocked most of it off. If we can somehow strike it directly with a lot of power we can probably kill it. But it's pretty quick to recover, so watch out."
Ren nodded, "Very well. Nora!"
"Yes, Renny~?"
"You know what to do."
With a cheer, the orangette charged the monster, intent on smashing it to pieces.
Naruto watched blankly for a moment before shrugging. "Covering fire?" He asked Ren.
Ren nodded, opening fire with his dual SMGs.
Naruto launched a flurry of glowing kunai. The flying blades ricocheted off the Silvertooth before exploding with the energy of a bomb, knocking the beast on its side.
The Silvertooth roared in both pain and rage before it was cut short. Nora slammed her hammer into the Grimm's face, drilling its monstrous head into the dirt.
"Hah! Take that!" Nora shouted before being smacked away by the Silverfangs paw.
She landed next to the two boys with a small 'ow'
"See what I mean?" Naruto voice floated over to Ren, the green-themed man nodding.
"Have you ever fought one before?"
"Several times, but we usually kill it with heavy artillery, air strikes, or cruise missiles." Naruto explained.
"Well, that's helpful!" Nora butted in.
*-* "When all else fails: explosions." *-*
Blake sprinted through the forest at top speed. Ruby and Pyrrha had stopped to help another pair of Beacon hopefuls that were in trouble, so it was just her.
She heard the explosions and fighting getting louder, making her push herself harder in order to get there sooner.
There was no way she was leaving him alone to fight that thing.
Blake burst into another clearing, this one full of Beowolves. She came to a halt, pulling Gambol Shroud from her back. The cat faunus glared that the Grimm that stood before her, preparing to attack her.
Hang in there Naruto! Blake thought as the first Beowulf charged, I'm on my way!
*-* "The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." *-*
Explosions rocked the clearing as Nora pummeled the Silvertooth with her grenade launcher.
Naruto and Ren dashed in under the cover of pink fire, charging the massive Grimm. Naruto, wielding his Jian/Scabbard combo, launched a lightning blast from his scabbard, the electric assault tearing into the monster bone armor. The Silvertooth roared in pain, only to eat a mouthful of grenades.
Ren leaped onto it's back, slashing at any opening in the monster's armor. A windmill shuriken whizzed by the black-haired man, who drove one of his blades through the center ring, changing it's course and momentum, driving the spinning weapon into the behemoths back.
Naruto joined him up on the Grimm's back, launching kunai into any exposed spot he could find.
"We seem to be pissing it off!" Naruto couldn't help but comment when the beast snarled and howled in rage and pain.
"You think!" Ren joked back.
Tired of the pests on its back, the Silvertooth bucked and shook them off.
Ren was launched into the air, while Naruto was sent flying across the field towards Nora. Hearing a shout, Naruto spotted the orangette running towards him, war hammer in hand. Crossing his arms over his chest, Naruto braced himself. Nora jumped, planting both her feet on Naruto and pushing off, using him as a springboard.
"Eat dirt Doggo!"
Coming down like a meteor, she slammed Magnhild into the monster's head, driving its head into the dirt.
Flipping to land on his feet, Naruto dashed off towards the downed monster as soon as he touched down.
Channeling his Aura into his sword, he unsheathed the orange glowing blade for the first time this battle.
The fox Faunus launched a flurry of strikes against its facial armor, each hit left a glowing orange line across its face.
The monster howled in pain as its second and last eye was cut out, rage spiking to levels not yet reached.
Nora and Naruto leaped back away from the enraged Grimm.
Suddenly the lines on the Grimm's mask lit up and exploded, the blast hurling its head to the side and snapping its other elongated fang off. Shards of bone launched themselves across the field, leaving the right side of its head devoid of armor.
Ren, falling from the sky, aimed for the beasts exposed head. He crashed feet first into its now unarmored head, driving his twin Stormflower blades into its skull, just above the eyes.
The monster howled for the umpteenth time that day. Shaking Ren from its head, it tried to stand. Only for the dozens kunai buried in its body to explode, destroying most of its bone armor and burning away much of the monster's flesh.
Naruto launched his sword at the wounded Silvertooth, the blade burying itself into the remnants of its eye.
"Now Nora!" Ren called.
Nodding, the hammer-wielding girl sprinted back towards Naruto. Channeling Force Dust, purple lines appeared on his armor. A purple sigil appeared before him, humming with power. Nora flipped onto the floating sigil as Naruto launched a sidekick on the opposing side. The sigil absorbed the power of the kick and amplified it tenfold, redirecting the energy into Nora.
Nora shot off like a rocket, swinging her massive Warhammer with a battle cry. Driving the hammer home into the swords pommel, forcing it through the Silvertooth.
With a final cry of defiance, the monstrous Silvertooth dissolved into nothing; leaving nothing but three Beacon hopefuls and a scarred battlefield.
Naruto turned towards the teens, a smile on his bloodied face.
"So, Friends?"
Nora cheered, both in victory and gaining a new friend.
*-* "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much" *-*
Blake barged out of the treeline, skidding to a halt. Her wild eyes scanned the blackened field, almost instantly zeroing on Naruto. Who was covered in blood.
Zipping across the clearing, she made her way over to the trio of student hopefuls.
"Hey Kitten!" Naruto waved at her, "Why do you look so out of breath?"
Blake stopped in front of her partner, studying him for any grievous wounds. "Maybe because I sprinted through the forest after that thing slapped me with its tail!"
"Ouch, you hurting anywhere?"
"A little sore, but my Aura absorbed most of it." Blake answered, "Now where are you bleeding from?"
Naruto waved her off, "I already bandaged the worst of it up, I'll take care of the rest when we complete the mission."
Blake searched her partner's eyes and saw that he was dropping the topic.
She crossed her arms, "Fine."
Naruto smirked at her, before gesturing towards his companions.
"This Lie Ren," Ren waved.
"And this is Nora Valkyrie."
"Hiya!" was Nora's exuberant response.
Blake smiled lightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I am Blake Belladonna. Thank you both for helping Naruto out."
Ren responded first, "It was no problem, he was doing just fine on his own and would have eventually defeated the beast by himself. We simply sped up the process."
"Yeah!" Nora agreed, "We kicked total ass!"
Naruto chuckled, "We sure did Nora."
*-* "We're a team. It's part of our job to help each other out, and to forgive each other quickly. Otherwise, we'd never get anything done." *-*
"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. You four collected and returned the black bishop pieces. From this day forth, you shall be known as Team Cardinal (CRDL). Led by Cardin Winchester!"
A cheer emitted from the crowd, many not really caring about any other team aside from their own.
Blake leaned over to the patched-up Naruto, "Aren't they the two that were running from the Deathstalker?" She stage whispered.
"Oh! They are, aren't they! Pussy boys~" Naruto sang out. The students around them heard and laughed along with them.
"Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie. You four retrieved and returned the golden rook pieces. From this point forward, you four shall be known as Team Winter (WYNR). Led by...Weiss Schnee!"
Slightly more enthusiastic applause echoed in the room. Weiss preened under the attention they were showering her with, Yang looked mildly bored, and Ren and Nora were just happy to be on a team.
"And for the final team of this year, we have Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos-"
The room erupted into cheers for the Mistral champion. Said champion looked absolutely embarrassed at the interruption. Ozpin waited patiently for the cheers to die down before continuing.
"-Naruto Uzumaki, Blake Belladonna. Your four reclaimed the golden bishop pieces and returned to the cliff. Henceforth, you shall be known as Team Raspberry (RPBN). Led by…" Ozpin paused, feeling the burning glare of a particular fox. He knew the faunus did not want to be the team leader, having expressed it on the trip from Eden. Respecting his wishes he cast a dramatic look at the three females of the team, his eyes landed on the shortest of the four.
"Ruby Rose."
The room was filled with confused and disappointed applause, not really understanding how the shorter girl was chosen over Pyrrha. There were a few exceptions obviously, Yang being the loudest as she cheered for her sister.
The source of the confusion was just as stumped as the rest, staring at Ozpin like he had grown a second head. Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder, startling her. She looked up to see Pyrrha smiling widely at her, approval shining in her green eyes. Ruby looked at the rest of her new team.
Naruto was grinning widely, his fangs shining in the light. The faunus winked at her and gave her a thumbs up, showing his approval for the decision.
Blake was smiling softly at her, nodding in support.
Her team had given her their full support, and that meant the world to her. Smiling back, her eyes hardened in determination. Turning back to Ozpin, she saw the appraising look in his eyes, not just for her though. He approached the team, addressing her directly.
"You have been given a daunting task Miss Rose, it will be up to you to act upon your position and do what is best for your team. I wish you the best of luck, but I get the feeling you won't need it." He chuckled
Ruby led her team off stage, only to be swept up in a hug from Yang. Everyone laughed as she tried to make her escape from the crushing embrace.
Ozpin smiled, watching the children. It seems that this will be an interesting year.
*-* "To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill." *-*
Hey guys! Broadside here. Before I begin, I would like to apologize for being late with this chapter.
And, I'm going to push my updates back to every two weeks, some changes occurred at work and I won't have the amount of free time that I did when I first started this fic.
Anyways, in this chapter, we saw a little bit of Eden's history; Naruto and Blake became partners; Naruto, Nora, and Ren killed the Silvertooth; and the teams were formed.
As to why Ruby was made the team leader in this fiction despite seemingly doing nothing will be explained next chapter.
Naruto's sword is a Han-era Jian, and it's pretty neat. The scabbard is a dust medium (basically a magic wand for dust) and that allows him to utilize to different types of dust between it and his armor. The blade is nothing special for now, just a regular Aura channel. I've narrowed its name down to Corrupt (the sword) Obsidian (the scabbard).
Onto reviews!
Ninjawithafro:
Thanks for the shoutout my guy! And sorry about some of the typos in the last review. I wrote it at 4 am when I was half delirious from exhaustion.
Love the new chapter! The subtle character building you made was absolutely genius! "Good men and women have died in that uniform." I love it! Not only did it show Naruto having immense respect for his cause, but it also speaks to the fact that he personally has seen death in uniform, which was confirmed when Kiba was mentioned in the flashback. So subtle, but the delivery hits you right in the face.
I shudder to think about the antics Yang and Naruto will have, but I can't wait to see it happen!
My only suggestion is to try not to make Naruto too powerful too quickly, or if you do, add some sort of caveat to it. He can be a powerful guy, but every story character, especially protagonists, need some sort of visible and tangible setback to their actions. (Like in canon how using the Kyuubi chakra burned his skin off his entire body or the Rasenshuriken left permanent damage on his arm)
Love the story, and keep up the good work!
Me too my dude, I posted that chapter at midnight before I went back and checked my work, so there's plenty of typos. This chapter is a day later than promised because I didn't want a repeat of last time.
I'm not confirming anything, just know that the two teams will be close.
Naruto will be powerful, but to offset that I will be adding other powerful characters to Salems cause. And, well, not to spoil anything; Salem will not be the biggest fish out there to fry. You'll learn more about that particular threat around chapter 19ish or so.
Another thing about his semblance, is that it will physically harm him under certain circumstances. Add in his training, he will be more of a tool/weapon fighter more than anything.
The True Skull
I would like to point out Ozpin is an amalgam of souls as in many souls more so than what the Lost fable would indicate...You can quite literally play with that when one takes account how aura works...And semblances as well
I could, but I think I'll leave that till Oscar makes an appearance.
Old Steamer
Say do you write on other sites and if so could you name them as I would love to see your other work if you have any.
I do not, this is the first work of fiction I have posted.
GamerX568
I love this story and I agree that you shouldn't use the term Kemonomimi. Also, it makes more sense to use the term Faunus for this story anyway because Faunus is part of one of the world's you crossovered with. I feel like the person who wants you to use Kemonomimi doesn't know that Faunus is a RWBY term and thought it was a term you made up instead.
Again, who is saying his tail is Natural?
Anyways, thanks for reading! Please review!