Honestly, how hard is it to find a boy with bright pink hair in the forest? Weiss wondered irritably as she walked through the forest. Her pace was brisk and deliberate, which made it difficult for her "partner" to keep up.
"What's the hurry?!" Ruby shouted, finally catching up to the annoyed heiress.
"I will not let your sluggishness be what makes me fail this course." Weiss retorted. "I swear if I get a bad grade because of you I-"
In a haze of what looked to be rose petals, Ruby appeared in front of Weiss. The sudden movement almost gave the snow-haired girl a heart attack.
"Wha-what in the…how did you-?"
"See." Ruby pointed her thumb at herself, beaming with pride. "You don't have to worry about me slowing you down, Weiss."
Weiss looked behind herself again. "When did you-"
"Just because I don't know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters." Ruby stated.
Weiss crossed her arms in a showing of doubt but Ruby leaned over and pulled her in.
"You're going to see a whole different side of me today." Ruby proclaimed. "And when it's all said and done you're going to be like: 'Wow. That Ruby girl is really, really cool…and I want to be her friend.'"
Before Weiss could voice her opinion, Ruby whooshed away again.
The heiress batted away petals left by Ruby away from her head. "You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!" she called out. Soon an uneasy quiet settled around Weiss. "Ruby?" she called, but received no audible answer. She was all alone now. All that she heard were the sounds of the bushes and leaves rustling.
"Ruby?!"
The rustling got louder and closer, but there was still no sign of hooded girl. Fear starting to set in, Weiss called out the only other name she knew. "Natsu? Is that you?"
Hearing the growl of something not human, Weiss quickly got on guard. In the bushes around her she could see red lights. Each one getting closer and gorwing brighter. She heard a twig snap behind her and turned around, her eyes meeting with the white mask and of a Beowolf.
"Hello~?! Anybody out there?! Hello~?! I'm starting to get bored here."
In another area of the forest, Yang Xiao Long walked through the thick mists in search of any signs of intelligent life. Suffice to say her search had turned up nothing in the past thirty minutes. Stopping for a moment, Yang took in her surroundings in an attempt to get a feel for where she was.
"This sucks." She sighed.
Hearing a bush rustling she quickly turned in the direction of the sound.
"Someone there?"
She walked to the bushes, slowly peeking through them to see what made the sound on the other side. Thinking it was her sister playing a joke, Yang called out to her.
"Ruby, is that you?"
Hearing a low guttural roar, Yang's eyes trailed upward to something that was indeed not her sister.
"N~ope."
Yang dove to the left, narrowly avoiding the swiping claws of an Ursa Minor. Yang readied her Ember Celica just in time to avoid another Ursa Minor lunging for her from out of the bush she had rolled in front of.
The first Ursa dashed forward to attack again, but this time Yang was prepared.
She drew back her fist, her Ember Celica firing off a round as she plunged her fist into the creature's exposed stomach. She knocked it flat on its back. The other Ursa took its shot next.
Yang ducked under the beast's claws and answered with an uppercut, raising them both into the air. In one fluid motion she fired her Ember Celica again, the force turning her body so she could kick the monster in the chest; sending it rolling backwards onto its stomach.
"You guys haven't seen a girl with a red hood anywhere have you?" Yang playfully asked.
The Ursai rose from the ground and roared in the blonde's face.
"Geez. You could have just said no."
One of the Ursa charged again, this time standing on its hind legs as it slashed its claws at the flippant blonde. Yang ducked under the first swipe. When the Ursa swung downward Yang pushed off her feet and did a back handspring. Satisfied by her ability to avoid being slashed in two, the girl laughed at the Ursai.
"Wow. You guys couldn't hit the broad side of a…" Yang trailed off when a strand of her hair floated in front of her face. She watched in horror as it touched the ground.
Slowly her upbeat demeanor faded, giving way to an anger that confused the Ursai.
"You…" she snarled. Yang looked to the beasts, her eyes glowing as red as theirs. "You monster!" Yang raced forward, attacking the Ursa that cut her precious hair with a furry of blows. Round after round fired from her Ember Celica, her punches and kicks moving and faster by the second. With one final punch she annihilated the Ursa, sending it barreling through a group of trees in a violent trail of fire.
The other Ursa charged, but when Yang – eyes still red – glared at the beast, it stopped in its tracks.
"You want some too?!" She challenged. "Come on!"
The lone Ursa prepared to strike when suddenly, there was a sound of the air being cut. The beast stood still for a moment before falling onto its stomach. Dead.
Yang looked past the fallen beast and saw Blake, holding in her hand a black ribbon that was wrapped around the hilt of the blade stuck in the creature's back.
The bow-wearing girl tugged on the ribbon, the blade easily slipping out of the Ursa's back and into the air. Blake effortlessly caught the hilt in her hand on the way down.
She sheathed her weapon in the scabbard on her back, smirking at Yang as if to say: "You're welcome."
Yang - unfazed by this - shrugged her shoulders. "I could have taken him."
"We should be getting close by now."
Natsu stepped through the shrubs, holding them open so Pyrrha could follow.
"Thank you." She said after passing by him.
After a rather awkward meeting from the redhead's perspective, Natsu and Pyrrha were on a journey to find Juane.
Pyrrha was hesitant to ask Natsu for his help at first, but after explaining the situation, she was pleasantly surprised at how eager the pinkette was to help. Following a somewhat uncomfortable moment where Natsu had to sniff Pyrrha to get the scent of her weapon, the two unlikely partners were on their way. Natsu naturally leading the excursion because of his nose.
The trip was a relatively silent one, the only words exchanged between the two since they met being the explanation of their mission, as well as quick thank you when one helped the other along the path in some way.
Pyrrha was rightfully uneasy with following behind Natsu. Her mind was still reeling from what he said to her before the exam.
He is completely different than he was before. She thought. Did I imagine what he said to me? Pyrrha recalled their meeting in the locker room.
"I'm going to kick your ass."
The words were as clear as day. No. I definitely did not imagine that. So why is he so calm and…nice now?
"Don't worry. We're not lost."
Natsu's sudden words brought Pyrrha out of her head.
"I-I'm sorry?"
"That's what you've been wondering isn't it? That we're lost?" Natsu moved more branches out of the way."It's ok. I've got the best nose a non-Faunus could have. We're almost there."
"O-oh. That's good." Pyrrha nodded. "But that's not what I was thinking about. Something has been on my mind. A question."
"Shoot."
"Well…I've been meaning to ask…have I offended you in some way that I am not aware of?"
"No? At least I don't think so. Why do you ask?"
"It's just that back in the locker room, when I attempted to shake your hand, you said that you were going to…" Pyrrha cleared her throat so she could speak more clearly. "You said that you were going to kick my…'butt'."
Natsu suddenly started to laugh, confusing the redhead.
"Did I say something funny?"
Natsu stopped and turned around, wiping a tear from his eye as he settled down. "No. You didn't say anything funny."
"Then why are you laughing?"
"I just remembered I said that."
Pyrrha's eyes widened. "You just remembered?" she repeated in shock. "You said it less than an hour ago."
"Sorry. That happens sometimes. When I meet someone strong I just blurt out the first thing that pops into my head." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"That's a rather rude way to introduce yourself to someone." Pyrrha said.
"I know. Weiss said the same thing, but I can't help it. I hope I didn't make you mad or anything."
"No. You didn't offend me. It was just caught off-guard. No one's ever been that…blunt with me before."
"So…you wanna do it?"
"Do what?"
"Fight me."
"I hardly think now is the time to be battling. Especially while we're in the middle of searching for someone who could be in danger."
"Not now. Later. When this initiation thing is done."
Pyrrha looked at Natsu straight on. He was practically bouncing up and down at the prospect of fighting her. It was a bit odd. She had never seen someone so eager to fight with her. After so many victories in the Mistral tournament, Pyrrha had gained the unwanted reputation of being a person that was hard to approach. No matter where she went people always shirked back as if she had the plague. They viewed themselves as lower than her. It was frustrating.
Natsu, however, was different. He knew full well who Pyrrha Nikos was, but he wasn't afraid. He didn't view her as better than him. In fact he found her reputation all the more enticing. The look in his eyes oozed confidence. He didn't care about her esteem at all. If anything he thought beating her would knock her down a peg or two.
"I…I don't usually engage in non-sanctioned battles." Pyrrha said quickly, unable to meet Natsu's gaze.
Natsu's shoulders slumped, his confidence fading into disappointment. "Really?"
Pyrrha nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Fine." Natsu sighed in acceptance. "I can't force ya to fight me. Sucks though. I think it would have been pretty fun." He started moving through the bushes again, Pyrrha following behind.
"Did you only partner with me because you wanted to fight?"
"No I partnered with you because you were the first person I saw. Those were the rules the old guy said right?"
"Oh yes. Those were the rules."
"Besides…I was thinking we could be friends."
Pyrrha's eyes widened. "F-friends? You wish to be friends…with me?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I? You seem like a pretty nice person, and my sister likes you – which is actually kind of impressive since she barely likes anybody. Also…" Natsu looked over his shoulder at Pyrrha and smiled wide. "We're partners, right? Can't be good partners without being friends first."
Pyrrha was speechless. Her cheeks turned red. "I…I-"
"We're here."
Pyrrha quickly the stars out of her eyes and stood next to Natsu – albeit at a manageable distance.
In front of the pair was a large tree.
"Is this where Jaune was?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah this is where the scent ends. If your spear did catch him he would have been stuck to this tree."
"Then where is he?" Pyrrha looked around the area. "Do you think he found some way to free himself?"
"Maybe." Natsu's eyes caught something on the bark of the tree. "I see something."
"What is it?"
Natsu scaled the tree with impressive speed. He felt the bark, his fingers rubbing along the three deep indentations.
"Claw marks."
"Claws?!" Pyrrha gasped. "That must mean a Grimm found him!"
Natsu jumped down from the tree. "Yeah. That's what I was thinking."
"I should have found him sooner!" Pyrrha cursed herself. "If I had then he-"
"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Natsu said, putting his hands on Pyrrha's arms. "We'll find him."
"But how? We have no idea where he was taken."
Natsu grinned and tapped the side of his nose. "I got this remember? I'll find him in no time."
"Of course." Pyrrha smiled. "Thank you, Natsu. I lost sight of myself for a second."
"No worries, partner. Now let's find Jaune."
"Right!"
The two searched the ground, looking for anything that might have belonged to the blonde. Pyrrha found a shield not far from the tree.
"Natsu, I found something!"
She held the weapon to him.
"Awesome! Let me see." Natsu sniffed around the shield. He then closed his eyes, lifted his nose into the air, and sniffed again.
"Well? Do you smell anything?"
Natsu's nose twitched and he opened his eyes. He looked past the tree and pointed.
"That way. Smell's still pretty strong. That means he wasn't nabbed too long ago."
"Then we should hurry." Pyrrha advised.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Weiss slid back on her heels, coming to a full stop a few meters away from the Beowolf that attacked. She slowly stood up, her Myrtenaster rapier in hand as she took stock of her surroundings. She was surrounded by Beowolves – six at her last count. Unafraid of the monster's snarling at her, the dignified heiress readied herself for battler.
Remember your training, Weiss. Head up. Shoulders back. Right foot forward.
She slid her foot back a couple of centimeters.
Not that forward. Her eyes narrowed. Slow your breathing. Wait for the right time to strike. And…
She held her blade close, the rotating of the dust cartridges sounding in her ears. When it stopped she was ready.
Now!
Weiss sped forward, prepared to strike down the Beowolf ahead of her until Ruby suddenly reappeared.
"Gotcha!" the hooded girl announced, cutting into the beast with the blade of Crescent Rose.
Her concentration broken, Weiss lost her balance and stumbled forward. She cut her weapon away from Ruby, creating a trail of fire that scorched a nearby tree.
"Huh?"
Ruby heard the noise and looked to Weiss, allowing the Beowolf to counterattack. It swiped at her, Ruby barely managing to block with Crescent Rose as she was sent flying back into Weiss.
"Hey, watch it!" she sniped at the heiress.
"Excuse me? You attacked out of turn. I could have killed you."
"You'll have to try harder than that." Ruby muttered under her breath.
The two stood back to back as more Beowolves arrived. The situation was growing worse by the second. Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose's chamber and prepared to attack, but was stopped by Weiss when an ignited tree fell near them.
"We have to go."
The heiress grabbed her reluctant partner and pulled her away. The Beowolves also escaped into the forest, frightened by the growing flames.
The two students managed to escape the beasts, briefly stopping at the top of a hill to catch their breath.
"What was that?!" Ruby demanded, pointing at the rising smoke in the distance. "That fight should have been easy!"
"Perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest bit of caution with the placement of your strikes, then perhaps I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Weiss retorted. "I swear you're worse than my brother."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It mean that I find it amazing that someone who talks so much, could communicate so little during a fight!"
"Well I'm sorry that you need my help to take down a few mangy Beowolves. I'm just fine on my own."
"Well then congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon." Weiss – fully fed up with this conversation – started to walk off. "Bravo."
In her anger, Ruby cut down a tree, a large black feather slowly falling to the ground as she followed the heiress.
"Please, Mr. Beowolf, you really don't wanna eat me. Honest. I'm really stringy and gamey. I also sweat a lot. That ruins the meat, you know. You don't want something like that to eat do you?" Jaune looked to the two other Beowolves. "Come on, guys. Help me out here."
The first Beowolf roared in Jaune's face.
"Y-you're right. My bad." He quickly apologized. He hunched his body over the monster's shoulder as it carried him to parts unknown.
Is this really how it ends me? Jaune wondered. I haven't even been in Beacon a week and I'm going to get eaten by a gang of Beowolves. That has to be some kind of school record. So much for living up to the Arc name...
"Jaune!" he heard a voice call.
The blonde looked up. His eyes widening when he saw a redhead and a young man with pink hair running towards him.
"Pyrrha, is that you?! Help!" He frantically waved his arms around.
"Hold on! We'll save you!"
"Look!" Natsu pointed at the spear in the hand of the Beowolf holding Jaune. "Is that your weapon?"
"Yes!" Pyrrha nodded. "I have an idea. You go on ahead and rescue Jaune."
"Ok!"
Natsu continued to race forward as Pyrrha slowed down.
Coming to a full stop, she held out her hand. Her spear started to wiggle in the monster's claws before forcing itself out and zooming back to its rightful owner.
Natsu jumped into a tree and watched the spear return to Pyrrha. That have to do with her Semblance? I want to fight her even more now. He looked back to the trio of Beowolves. But first things first.
Natsu leapt from the tree as soon as the first Beowolf turned around, his gauntlets forming over his hands. Falling through the air at a fantastic speed, Natsu's fist landed square on the creature's face. Forcing it to let go of Jaune as it was sent flying through the nearest tree.
Natsu caught Jaune as he fell.
"Thanks." The blonde said in gratitude. "I thought I was done for sure."
Natsu lifted Jaune into the air.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Pyrrha! Catch!" Natsu shouted.
"Wait!"
Natsu slung a screaming Jaune to his partner, the redhead catching him in her arms with little difficulty.
"Are you alright?" she asked the dizzied blonde.
"Yeah…just great…" Jaune replied weakly. "Thanks for asking…"
"Now..." Natsu slammed his fists together, flames briefly firing out from his gauntlets. "On to you guys." He grinned cockily at the roaring Beowolves. "Bring it."
The second Beowolf leapt forward and took a swing, but Natsu ducked. Forcing his head upward, Natsu hitting the beast under the chin.
While the monster was off-balance, Natsu punched its chest. The impact created a shockwave that came out of the creature's back, sending it flying back.
"Whoa." Jaune gasped.
Pyrrha nodded. I've never seen someone hit that hard.
The third Beowolf lunged at Natsu but this time the pinkette sidestepped, allowing the creature's arm to barely miss him. Natsu grabbed the monster's claw and hefted it into the air – once again shocking Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Man, you're heavy!" Natsu said as the Beowolf flailed around in the air. "Down you go!" he threw the beast, its body colliding with the second Beowolf that was just starting to stir. "That all you got?!" Natsu taunted.
The Beowolves slowly rose up from the ground, their angered roars echoing in the air. Jaune and Pyrrha covered their ears from the harsh sound but Natsu stood unimpeded.
"That's more like it." He smirked. "Come on!"
The Beowolves sprinted forward, as did Natsu. He held out his hands to his sides, his gauntlets forming into claws over his hands. He swiftly cut through the monsters, leaving his claw marks in their bodies.
The monsters stood still for a few more seconds before falling over dead, their bodies emitting smoke.
Natsu turned to face the fallen creatures. A disgruntled look on his face. "I thought they would have put up a better fight than that." He grumbled with a pout. "Are there any more around here?"
Giving up his search Natsu shrugged his shoulders and walked to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Guess it's time to go."
Suddenly the first Beowolf burst forth from the rubble, heading straight for an unsuspecting Natsu.
"Look out!" Jaune shouted.
Natsu turned around just as the Beowolf prepared to strike when a gunshot went off. The bullet hit the creature right between the eyes, causing it to fall over. Finally dead.
Natsu turned and saw Pyrrha standing with her rifle pointed towards him, smoke rising from the barrel. He smiled wide and gave her a thumbs up.
"Nice shot, partner!"
Pyrhha smiled softly, returning his thumbs up with one of her own.
"It seems our last pair has been formed, sir."
Glynda walked to Professor Ozpin as he sipped his coffee on the edge of Beacon Cliff. She showed him the screens on her tablet. Each one showed a different group of students.
"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy. I can't imagine those two getting along in the least." Glynda directed Ozpin's eyes to the screen depicting a young man with long black hair tied in a low ponytail, and a light pink streak. He was looking at a girl with short orange hair as she hung upside down from a tree. For some reason she chirped like a bird and poked the young man's nose. Despite Glynda's words the two seemed to enjoy one another's company.
"Still…" Glynda clicked over to another feed, this one of Pyrrha, Natsu, and Jaune. "He's faring better than Miss Nikos."
"Hm?" Ozpin uttered. He was now slightly interested in what she was saying.
"I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. And that Natsu Schnee or Dragneel or whatever his name is is no better. While I will admit he is more than capable of handling himself in a fight, it still baffles me that you let him in the school without so much as one passing grade from his previous institution."
By now Ozpin had tuned out.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Glynda started to walk back to the school. "At their current pace they should reach the temple in a matter of minutes. Speaking of which…" Glynda stopped walking and looked over her shoulder to Ozpin. "What did you use for relics this year?"
The professor remained silent.
"Professor Ozpin?" she called.
Ozpin again ignored Glynda, looking at his own tablet feeds. He watched Natsu's trio for a moment before switching over to Ruby and Weiss.
"It's this way. No its way. On second thought it's definitely this way."
Ruby sat on the ground with her legs crossed, pulling out grass and messing with leaves out of boredom as Weiss paced back and forth. They had been lost for over twenty minutes. Ruby was starting to lose patience.
Finally Weiss stopped wandering and stood in front of Ruby.
"It's official." She said. "We passed it."
At this Ruby chose to stand up.
"Why can't you just admit that you're lost?"
"Because I am not lost." The heiress retorted. "I know exactly where we're going." In truth Weiss had no idea where they were going. At times like these she wish she had her brother's sense of smell.
"Then where are we going?" Ruby inquired.
"Easy. We're going to…the forest temple."
Ruby groaned.
"Oh stop. You don't know where we're going either." Weiss said.
"At least I don't act like I know everything!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're a big, stupid, jerk and I hate you." Ruby fumed.
Now it was Weiss' turn to groan. She turned her back to Ruby and walked away.
"Just keep moving." She ordered.
"Oh just keep moving. Hurry up. Watch we're you're going." Ruby mocked. "Why are you so bossy?!"
Weiss turned around. "How dare you? I am not bossy. Don't say things like that."
"Then stop treating me like a kid!"
"I will the moment you stop acting like one!"
"Stop acting like you're perfect!"
"I'm. Not. Perfect! At least not yet, but I'm still leagues better than you." Weiss began to walk away. "Hurry up. Once we meet up with my brother and the others...this partnership is done."
"You don't even know me…" Ruby said sadly.
Yang and Blake emerged from the trees and came upon a cliff. The pair saw what appeared to be an altar with small pillars housing some sort of artifacts below.
"Think this is it?" Yang asked her silent partner.
Blake jumped down from the cliff.
"Guess so."
Yang followed Blake onto the ruins. Upon closer inspection the items on the pillars were chess pieces. The ones to the right were black, while those on the left were gold.
Blake was confused.
"Looks like some of them are missing." Yang noted. "Guess we weren't the first ones here."
"Well…I guess we should pick one then." Blake suggested.
Yang walked over to the gold knight piece and picked it up. "How about a cute little pony?"
Blake grinned. "Sure."
The two met in the middle of the temple.
"That was easy." Yang smiled.
"Well it's not like this place was hard to find."
Explosions fired off in the distance.
"You hear that?"
"Gunfire. It seems that some of our comrades have encountered the enemy."
"I wish we encountered some more of them. I'm already bored."
Natsu, Pyrrha, and Jaune continued to travel through the forest in search of the temple.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Jaune asked Natsu.
"I've got this whole forest figured out. The place we're supposed to be is around here…somewhere." He answered.
"That doesn't sound very reassuring." Pyrrha said.
"Just trust me. I know where we're going."
"I almost forgot. Thanks for saving me earlier, you guys. I thought I was gonna be Grimm food." Jaune spoke up.
"Don't mention it." Natsu waved dismissively. "I was just helping a friend in danger."
"Friend?" Jaune repeated. "We're friends?"
"Yeah. We're motion sickness buddies. You don't go through something like that without making friends with the person."
Jaune's face fell. "Can we not mention that…ever again? Please?"
Pyrrha was confused.
"That aside. You were pretty awesome back there." Jaune complimented. "I've never seen anyone beat Grimm so fast."
Natsu beamed with pride, rubbing his finger under his nose. "Yeah I was pretty cool, wasn't I?"
"Good thing you're modest." Jaune joked.
"Oh, Jaune, you're bleeding." Pyrrha walked to the blonde, her eyes focused on the cut just under his left eye.
"Huh? This?" he felt the cut. "Guess I got it when those Grimm nabbed me. It's just a scratch."
"Why haven't you activated your Aura yet?"
Jaune tilted his head. "My what?"
"You're Aura."
"Still not following."
Pyrrha sighed. "Jaune…do you know what Aura is?"
"What? Of course I know what aura is." Jaune said defensively. "Do you know what aura is?"
Natsu started to snicker.
"Hey, don't make fun of me."
Pyrrha grinned.
"Aura is the manifestation of our souls." she explained to Jaune. "It bares our burdens, as well as shields our hearts. Have you ever felt like you being watched, but saw that no one was there?"
Jaune nodded. "Uh…yeah, actually."
"That is what Aura is. With practice, it can become one's protection. Everyone has it. Even animals."
"What about the monsters? Do they have it?"
"No. The creatures we fight have no souls. They are the creatures of Grimm. The very manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light."
"And that's why we fight them?"
"It's not about why. It's about knowing."
"Knowing what?"
"Knowing about both darkness and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By bearing your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. As such, all of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. In essence you project both your soul and yourself while fighting."
Jaune was still having trouble understanding.
"It's like a force field." Natsu spoke up. He had been sitting on a rock during the time Pyrrha had been talking to Jaune.
"That's a simplified way to look at it, yes." Pyrrha nodded.
"O~h." Jaune finally understood. "That makes much more sense."
Pyrrha walked to Jaune, placing her hand against his cheek.
"Now. Close your eyes and concentrate."
Jaune did as he was told and felt energy gather within his body.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality." Pyrrha chanted.
Natsu watched as both Pyrrha and Jaune's bodies started to glow. Hers red and his white.
"Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." Pyrrha finished and stepped back.
Jaune looked at his hands. They were still glowing. "What's happening?"
"I used my Aura to unlock yours. The energy that protects you now is your own." When she saw the cut on his face heal, she smiled. "You have a lot of it."
"Wow." Jaune smiled. "Thanks."
Pyrrha looked over to Natsu. "I can unlock yours as well if you wish."
"Uh ok. Sure." Natsu stepped forward and did just as Jaune had.
Pyrrha closed her eyes as well and placed her hand on his cheek. Her cheeks briefly turned red. He's very warm. She focused her Aura, her body glowing red once again. She soon found her consciousness entering Natsu's.
It's so dark in here.
Pyrrha floated around, trying to find the wellspring that housed Natsu's Aura. Where is it? When she ventured deeper, she felt something odd.
"That's strange."
"What?" Natsu asked. "What's strange?"
"I feel…another presence within you. Another soul."
"Another soul?" Jaune repeated.
"What does that mean?" Natsu asked.
"Please stop moving." Pyrrha instructed.
As she descended deeper into Natsu's mind, the force that she felt grew stronger. Eventually Pyrrha came upon where the feeling was strongest, but still she saw nothing but darkness.
What? There is nothing here...but I still feel the presence.
Suddenly there was a rumbling.
What's going on?!
Pyrrha watched in shock as an eye opened before her. It was massive. Almost as big as her entire body. It's piercing black pupil was surrounded by a bright yellow sclera.
Pyrrha's breath left her as she floated before the eye. Wha-what is this?
The eye began to glow, and a loud roar broke through the darkness, forcing the redhead out of Natsu mind.
"Agh!" she screamed.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called, running to her side.
Natsu caught her before she hit the ground. "Pyrrha, what happened?! Talk to me!"
She slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Natsu she instinctively backed away to the nearest tree.
"What's wrong?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha realized what she was doing and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "I-it's nothing. I-I'm fine."
"Why did you freak out like that?" Jaune asked, helping her to her feet.
"I thought I saw something."
"What? What did you see?"
Pyrrha thought back to the eye of the creature she saw inside Natsu. When she replayed its roar, her blood ran cold.
"Nothing. I didn't see anything." she lied.
"But you said-"
"I was just exhausted from unlocking you Aura beforehand. I imagined things."
"Are you sure you-"Natsu moved to Pyrrha when he suddenly felt a burst of energy. The next instant his body burst into flames. "What's going on?!"
"Natsu, you're on fire!" Jaune panicked.
"Quick we have to find something to put him out!" Pyrrha shouted.
"Y-Yeah! You're right! We need water!"
"It's ok, guys!" Natsu said, stopping the pair. "It...it doesn't hurt…" he looked over his burning body and smiled. "Actually it feels kind of good."
"How does being on fire feel good?" Jaune questioned.
"He must have gone into shock." Pyrrha surmised.
Natsu clenched his fists and the fire ceased - much to the shock of his partners there wasn't a burn anywhere on his body, even his clothes were fine. When he opened them it came back. He slammed his fist into his open palm and the flames stopped again.
"This is awesome!" he screamed in delight. "I've never felt so powerful before. I feel like I could beat anybody!"
"Is that his Aura?" Jaune looked back to Pyrrha. She was also at a loss for words.
Natsu ran to his partner and grabbed her hand. "Thanks, Pyrrha! You're amazing!"
"Y-you're welcome." She blushed. "I'm glad I could help."
"Let's get moving!" Natsu pointed into the forest. "The others probably found the relics!" he ran off, leaving Pyrrha and Jaune behind.
"How can he be so happy after being on fire?" Jaune sighed. "Come on, Pyrrha."
"O-ok." Pyrrha nodded and followed Jaune. The pair now chasing behind Natsu.
I've never seen an Aura like that before. Is this because of that creature I saw inside of his body? Pyrrha looked at Natsu's smiling face in the distance. What is he?
"You guys are too slow!" the pink-haired teen shouted.
Jaune and Pyrrha finally caught up with Natsu. All three of them now standing in front of the entrance into a cave in the side of a cliff wall.
"A cave?" Pyrrha questioned.
"Is this where we're supposed to be?" Jaune asked Natsu.
"If I was hiding old relics, I'd put them in a cave." Natsu answered.
"Good point." Jaune found a stick to use as a torch. "Now we just need to find something to light it with."
"Coming right up."
Natsu snapped his fingers and a flame flickered on the edge of his index finger. He used the flame to light the torch.
"Thanks."
Jaune lead the way into the cave; Natsu and Pyrrha not far behind.
The deeper into the cave they went, the murkier and more unsettling the walk became.
"I don't think this is the right way." Pyrrha voiced her concern.
"Yeah, something in here doesn't smell right." Natsu added.
Jaune sighed. "I'm holding the torch. Could you guys humor me for at least five more feet?" Suddenly he tripped, dropping the torch into the muddy water below. The darkness quickly enveloped them, but Natsu quickly ignited his hand to illuminate the path again.
Jaune picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off. "Ew." He said when his hand rubbed over the water on his sleeve.
Pyrrha looked around the cave. Something didn't feel right.
"Do you two feel that?" she asked the boys.
"Soul-crushing regret?" Jaune answered sarcastically.
"Hungry?" Natsu said, placing his hand on his growling stomach.
"No." Pyrrha said to both. "It's…warm."
"What's that?"
Natsu pointed ahead, spotting something gold glowing in the distance.
Jaune's eyes widened in excitement. "That's the relic!" he ran to the glowing object, but when he reached for it, it moved away. "Hey. Bad relic."
He tried again, but the object moved a second time. Fed up with this game, Jaune jumped and latched onto the object.
"Gotcha!"
"Jaune…" Pyrrha warily called.
"Aw crap." Natsu voiced.
Jaune was slowly lifted into the air, and a host of red lights started to glow. When Jaune realized what it was he actually caught, he let out a high-pitched scream.
"What is that?!" Pyrrha shouted.
"We gotta go!" Natsu grabbed his partner by the arm and the two ran out of the cave, the monster inside following them.
When they cleared the cave entrance the creature burst out soon after, revealing itself to be a Death Stalker Grimm. It hissed angrily; snapping its claws while Jaune hung onto its stinger for dear life.
"It's not the relic!" he yelled in fright to his partners. "Guys, do something!"
"Jaune, hang on!" Pyrrha called. "And whatever you do don't let-"
Just then the Death Stalker whipped its tail, flinging Jaune further into the forest.
"Go." Pyrrha finished, watching helplessly as Jaune soared through the air.
"I'll go get him." Natsu volunteered. "You handle this thing."
"Natsu, wai-"
In a flash the pinkette was gone, leaving Pyrrha on her own to face the Death Stalker. She turned to confront it, holding her Milo javelin tightly as she slowly backed away. Seeing no way to defeat the creature on her own, Pyrrha took off after Natsu, the Death Stalker giving chase.
"Ruby! I told you this was a bad idea!"
"We're fine! Stop worrying!"
"I am so far beyond worrying!"
"…In a good way?!"
"No! In a bad way! A very bad way!"
Ruby and Weiss were currently soaring thousands of meters above the forest…on the back of a Nevermore.
Not long after the two resumed their search for the temple, the reluctant partners were descended upon by the angry Grimm - it having been an inhabitant of the tree Ruby angrily cut down earlier.
After a few minutes of fruitless battle, young Ruby had what she thought was a marvelous idea at the time. She and Weiss would cling to the Nevermore's feathers and ride it into the air, hoping that the view from the sky would aid them in finding the temple ruins.
If their current situation was any indication, then clearly this plan was a well thought out one.
"Well why don't we just jump?!" Ruby suggested.
"What are you?! Insane?!" Weiss looked up, and Ruby was gone. "Oh you insufferable little-"
On the ground below, Yang was trying to get through to a somewhat unfocused Blake.
"Didn't you hear that scream earlier? We should do something about-"
Blake pointed to the sky.
Yang stopped talking and looked up, her eyes widening when she saw her sister falling towards them.
"Heads u~p!" Before the hooded girl splatted to the ground, she was hit by a flying Jaune. His force proved to be greater than hers and the pair shot into the canopy of the closest tree.
Ruby sat on a high branch, her head spinning from the impact.
"What was that?" she groaned. Shaking the dizziness away Ruby heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking up, she saw Jaune hanging upside down in front of her.
"Hi, Ruby." He weakly waved.
Blake and Yang stared for a while at the tree, still unsure of what they just saw. Blake was the first to break the silence.
"Did your sister just-"
"Jaune?!"
Yang and Blake watched Natsu run up to them.
"Oh its the black-haired chick and Ruby's sister. You two haven't seen a guy with blonde hair fly by here have you?"
"My name is Blake." The dark-haired girl irritably corrected.
Just then an Ursa emerged from the forest. It flailed around, roaring in pain before a spark of purple lighting erupted from its back. When it fell over dead, a girl with short orange hair rolled from its back to the ground.
"Aw." She moped, looking at the dead creature. "It's broken."
"Nora!" A young man with long black hair stepped from behind the Ursa, one hand on his knee and the other on the dead monster while he bent over to catch his breath.
"Please…" he huffed. "Don't ever do that again."
With a whoosh Nora had ran to the temple, her eyes gazing in wonder at the golden rook piece. She yanked it from its pedestal and started to dance. "I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle." She sang.
"Nora!" her partner shouted.
The girl stopped singing and giggled. "Coming, Ren."
She skipped away, leaving Yang and Blake even more confused than they were before.
"Did that girl just ride on an Ursa?" Blake asked.
Natsu on the other hand was ecstatic. "Cool!"
The craziness kept coming when Pyrrha ran into the field, the Death Stalker still hot on her tail. She narrowly avoided the monster's massive claws from clamping down on her. When she saw her partner in the distance she called to him.
"Natsu!"
Jaune heard the redhead's voice from the tree. "Pyrrha?!"
Ruby – having regained her faculties – jumped from the tree.
"Wait! Ruby!"
The hooded girl rolled over to where her sister and the others were standing.
"Ruby?" her sister called.
"Yang!"
Nora forced herself between the two sisters, shouting her own name before the two could embrace.
The group watched Pyrrha barely outrun the Death Stalker.
"I thought you were going to take care of that thing?!" Natsu shouted to the redhead.
"As you can see-" Pyrrha strafed to the right, narrowly avoiding the monster's stinger. "That task is easier said than done!"
"Need help?!"
"I would appreciate it!"
"On the way!" Natsu ran to his partner.
"Thank you!"
"Did that girl just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake pointed.
"I can't take this anymore!" Yang shouted, her Ember Celica firing at the ground as her eyes turned red. "Will everybody just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
The group stood in silence for a little over two seconds – Nora bouncing up down while her partner breathlessly jogged over to join them.
Ruby patted her sisters arm. "Um…Yang?" she pointed to the sky and every looked upwards, seeing Weiss hanging onto the claw of a Nevermore.
"How could you leave me?!" the heiress shouted to Ruby.
"I told you to jump." Ruby reminded.
Natsu jumped back to avoid the Death Stalker's claw. His head craned upward to see the Nevermore. When he saw his sister hanging on to its claw he smiled.
"I wanna go next!"
"You idiot! This isn't a ride! Help me!"
The rest of the group watched Weiss hold on for dear life to the creature's claws.
"She's gonna fall." Blake said.
"She'll be fine." Ruby meekly reassured.
Just then Weiss' grip slipped.
"And she's falling." Ren pointed out.
"Natsu~!" Weiss screamed on her way down.
"Don't worry, Weiss! I'm coming!" Natsu darted off, leaving Pyrrha alone once again.
"Natsu, where are you going?!"
Natsu watched his sister plummet to ground and jumped into the air. Jaune watched Weiss fall as well.
Seeing this as his big opportunity to get on the girl's good side, Jaune leapt from the tree with his arms out to catch her. As he closed in on her, Natsu stepped onto his face.
The pinkette used the added spring to catch his sister in mid-air.
"Gotcha!"
"What took you so long?!" Weiss yelled, tears in the corners of her eyes as she held onto him.
"Sorry." He smiled.
Jaune fell to the ground face first, his legs twitching as they stuck up in the air.
Inexplicably Ruby and the others had scorecards for this occasion. Ruby held up a five, Nora and Yang held up tens, Ren held up a three, and Blake gave Jaune a one.
Natsu landed on his feet soon after. Weiss secured in his arms. They were scored as well.
Ruby, Nora, and Ren all gave Natsu tens. Blake gave Natsu an eight. And finally Yang gave the pinkette a six.
"Are you serious?!" Natsu shouted at the blonde. "A six?! That landing was at least an eight!"
"I agree, that score hardly seems fair." Weiss added.
Yang shrugged. "What can I say? Your dismount was a little shaky."
Natsu sighed. "Whatever." He heard a groan from below and looked down, finally took notice of Jaune. "What are you doing down there?"
"Just picking up the pieces of my shattered pride." Jaune muttered, his voice muffed by the dirt.
In the distance the Death Stalker finally caught up to Pyrrha, using its tail to knock her towards the rest of the group.
"Great, the gang's all here." Yang said. She and the others watched as the Nevermore swooped down, and the Death Stalker skittered over to them.
"Now we can all die together."
New chapter!
A bit longer than the others. I really wasn't shooting for that, but it just ended up happening. I hope it didn't come out too cluttered. I tried to make things as evenly paced as possible.
And for those going to ask, yes, Pyrrha saw exactly who you think she saw. That will expanded upon later, but for now I hope you liked the tease. I also tried to inject more comedy in the chapter since that is one of RWBY's bright spots as a series.
Next time is the end of the initiation as well as the formation of teams. Some of you may be surprised where Natsu ends up.
As always leave a comment/review letting me what know what you think and thanks for reading! :)