Chapter 3
A few months before Desmond came to Beacon.
It was the day of the initiation for Beacon's newest initiates, like Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long or Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, though the current story did not focus on them. After everyone had woken up in the Barn where they stayed the night prior and having gotten breakfast, they went into the co-ed Rocket-Powered Locker Bay to pick up any weapons and armor they had left there the previous day.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation," Glynda spoke over the intercom to any remaining initiates in the Locker Bay that housed the Rocket-Powered lockers; more on that later. "Again, all first-year students, report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
At this announcement, the remaining would-be students hurried to collect their things for the initiation-to-come. One of them was a petite girl with long brown hair and brown eyes by the name of Velvet Scarlatina, a pair of long brown rabbit ears making her easily-identifiable as a Faunus. Her attire consisted of a beige T-shirt, tan-colored shorts with cargo pockets, and a brown traveler's cloak, a belt holding a number of pouches around her waist. Grasping a silver wand-like object featuring a green spherical gem in a C-shaped head, the kind-hearted Faunus girl was suddenly shoved into her locker by a passerby.
"Why don't you just go home you animal-eared freak? Beacon isn't a place for the likes of you," a very tall human male with burnt-orange hair combed backwards and indigo eyes taunted as he walked by. In contrast to the Faunus girl whose attire lacked any form of protective armor, the indigo-eyed human was clad in silver-gray armor with gold trim, featuring a bird with its wings outstretched across his chest, a large mace hanging from his hip.
As the snickering human left, the Faunus girl pushed herself out of her locker, straightening her clothing before leaving the room dejectedly while sighing sadly- "Why do humans always treat me this way?"
A few lockers down, another human male slightly shorter than the one that had pushed Velvet, was getting the last of his equipment he had left behind. He had tanned skin, eyes the color of blood, and black "feathery" hair that looked like a mix of bedhead and a crow's plumage. His attire consisted of a dark olive green short shirt kimono with matching pants, mesh armor underneath showing at the chest, forearms, and shins, a simple black belt around his waist, and a rust red haori over that, a pair of gray ironwood geta on his feet. While the clothing Ogata Hiroyuki wore was a little out-of-place in the western region of Vale, to the far east where he originated, clothing like his and Lie Ren's was more common.
"Why can't we all just get along? Is kindness and understanding really in such short supply these days?" the feathery-haired teen asked himself after seeing the mace-wielding teen shove the rabbit-eared Faunus into her own locker. He wanted to go over to her and help, and not just because she was really cute, but she rushed out of the room before he could. Letting another sigh leave his lips, he reached into the bottom of the locker and pulled out a thick breastplate resembling the head of a toad; its primary coloration was a dull rusty red, its eyes yellow with horizontal black bars for pupils, and brighter red markings around the eyes and lips, a "scar" running over the left eye and revealing the gray-colored metal underneath. To the trained eye, one would be able to tell that the armor's composition was rife with Gray Dust, a very strong, incredibly dense, form of Dust seldom uses because of its sheer weight. If the dent left in the bottom of the locker was any indication, the weight of the thick armor plate must've been quite substantial. Holding two handles on its sides and placing it on his chest, four flat snake-like bands of segmented metal shot out of slats in the back of the plate and synched the armor to his body. The sound his ironwood geta made as he walked out, nary a weapon on his person, was quite loud, and thus few would notice the rectangular indentions his footfalls left in the room's tiled floor; or at least for a few steps until no more appeared.
Another few lockers down was a guy sighing as he took out his long sword from his locker. He had a peach-colored complexion, short black hair that was combed to his right side, and emerald green eyes. His attire consisted of a well-used black hoodie, light blue leather bracers on his wrists, a short-sleeved blue shirt with a white tree design on it, dark blue sea pants, and black shoes. His clothing was more common far north, among his kin, the Remnant Rangers. He took out the sword from its sheath looked it over before placing it back into the sheath and attached it to his side. Along with the sword was a dagger and a collapsible compound bow. He looked around the room at the remaining students. "I wonder what dad and my friends say about this?" he thought as he checked his bow, pulling back the the string and letting it go with a *thwang*.
If one saw his blades, they would recognize it was not made out of iron nor steel. If one has been in the far north of Vytal, they would know what it is. It was made from a metal more rare than even the rarest Dust; Mithril ore. Found in small veins in dangerous Grimm-filled caverns, it was mined by the Remnant rangers by hand, which would then be refined and processed. One brick-sized ingot would be able to buy a two-story house in Vale. It was light as leather, but harder than titanium. He also had a mithril chain armor beneath his shirt for protection. For Logan Frost, this would be the start of a great journey for him. He pulled his hood down, put his quiver of various arrows on his back and started walking towards the door. He accidentally bumped into a wolf eared faunus girl as he walked to the door. "Sorry," Logan apologized to her as he walked.
"At least he apologized," the silver-grey wolf-eared girl said looking over her shoulder. She had a peach-colored skin, a teal-colored eye with a cloth bandage covering her right, and silky silver hair that passes her shoulders. She wore a black bustier with gold trim, burgundy-colored sari-skirt, black open-toed sandals going to mid-shin, and leather armor on her forearms and biceps. Thalia Hatari took a deep breath in and twitched her wolf ears on top of her head as she pulled out a pair of gold-colored brass knuckles, affixing a pair of silver rapier-like knives to the sides turning them into knuckle dusters, before sheathing them at her sides.
"I can't wait to do this," said Velvet as she walked to a launch pad. She looked at the pad for a bit and looked at the Emerald forest and the pad again. "Looks like we're being launched into the forest," thought Velvet as she stepped on the pad. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to make herself more alert for the initiation. She took out her Dust wand and took her stance. She wanted to be paired up with someone nice, not the one who shoved her into her locker nor the girl dressed in white who is too snappy in being paired in partners.
"Alright, time to fly," thought Velvet as she readied to be launched. She was beside by the guy who pushed her into her locker.
He smirked at her, "You won't survive the initiation you faunus trash," he said as he was launched.
Velvet sighed and her rabbit ears went down. "Why won't anyone be nice to me?" she thought. She dismissed the thought and readied herself again and was launched.
As the faunus girl flew through the air, she adjusted her body towards an area thick with trees, and far away from the mace-wielding human that kept mocking her; if the two of them wound up being teammates, the next four years at Beacon would be completely miserable. Drawing her Dust Wand from her hip, with a twist and a pull it came apart in the middle, connected by a collapsible chain. From the C-shaped head, a scarlet-colored curved blade shot out of the top before angling downwards 90 degrees, while from the weighted bottom end, a number of scarlet-colored spikes stuck outwards. Swinging the weighted end of her wand-turned-kusarigama in her hand, the girl let it fly through the air to catch a tree branch. Drawing the line taut, the girl turned her downward momentum into an upward swing, and releasing the tension on the weighted end pulled it back to her before taking the bladed end and stabbing it into a tree, the blade digging a trench as she slowed her descent to the ground before she landed in a crouch.
"Alright..." she panted as she caught her breath. "Now I just have to find a nice partner who won't treat me like a freak," she said to herself as she ran into the forest.
"Alright... let's do this thing," Ogata said as he squared his stance and shook his wrists. Standing atop Beacon Cliff and overlooking the Emerald Forest to the north of Vale, he looked to his left to see the rest of the Initiates standing atop dull gray platforms bearing Beacon's crest, a pair of crossed hatchets atop a laurel wreath, while to his right there was no-one else, the blond-haired teen that had almost puked on his sandals to his immediate-left. Breathing in and out at an even pace to keep his mind calm and pulse even, the feathery-haired teen processed what he was being told by both Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. Teammates were being assigned today, as in right there and then, and who he would be paired up with for his next four years at Beacon would be dependent on who he first made eye contact with after landing in the Emerald Forest. He seriously hoped it wasn't the blond to his immediate-left who almost got puke on his sandals the day prior, or the younger girl in mostly-red who appeared to be crumbling under the pressure if outward appearances and her frantic squeaking were anything to go by.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene," Professor Ozpin, Beacon's headmaster, advised. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, um, sir-" the blond to Ogata's immediate-left spoke up, raising his hand as though he were still in highschool math.
"Good," Ozpin said completely ignoring the blond. "Now, take your positions," he instructed, the students all along the row readying their weapons and crouching, ready to jump at the last second. If it went from left to right, then he'd be the last to launch, which meant he could get a sense of the timing if it wasn't completely randomized. As students were flung from the catapult-like platforms one by one in three-second increments from one another, the blond at his left continued talking, seemingly ignorant of what was occurring around him, right up to the point he was sent flying haplessly through the air three seconds after the girl in red, the sky above the Emerald Forest now filled with falling students. Were they civilians, they would all leave greasy smears when they hit the forest floor, though if they couldn't survive something as trivial as a couple-hundred-foot-drop, then they really didn't have any business being at Beacon in the first place.
'Showtime,' Ogata thought to himself as his platform bucked underneath him... only for the sound of groaning metal to meet his ears as he was raised a few inches from the ground, before his platform fell down flat. The sound of breaking machinery bouncing up against the underside of his platform drew the attention of Ozpin and Glynda, who were the only remaining occupants of the cliff alongside him. "Eh heh heh..." Ogata chuckled weakly as he scratched the back of his head. "Welp..." he said clapping his hands. "Seeing as how I didn't leave the ground... I'll just be doing this the old-fashioned way," he said nervously as he ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped. Grasping the two side-mounted handles on his chest plate, the snake-like bands retreated into the toad-shaped face as the armor was pulled free. From the top and bottom of the armor, plates of metal folded and shifted around one another until the breastplate had transformed into a dull rust red-colored tower shield featuring a perforated line at the top just above the toad-like crest. With its shape now smoothed, the teen rode it down the cliffside like a board with relative ease, its weight cleaving a groove through the rock. As the ground came into sight, the teen leaped into the air with shield in hand, and landed with a loud *THUD* that shook the ground and nearby trees while leaving a crater where he stood. Had he not uses his Aura to displace his weight, he'd have been ankle-deep in the forest soil.
"Got milk?" the teen chuckled to any instructors who had been watching as he ran off. Contrary to popular belief among non-Hunters, having Aura did not give you direct superhuman abilities unless it's what your Semblance was attuned to. The feathery-haired teen's strength was all-natural, and displacing his weight with Aura so he didn't leave footprints everywhere he went was great exercise in calling upon his for repelling outside force, which made his Gray Dust-made tower shield even stronger than it already was.
As the teen used his chest plate-turned-tower shield as a surfboard down the rocky face of the cliff, Ozpin's cup of coffee almost missed his lips as he tried to process what just happened. Both Ozpin and Glynda were dumfounded for a bit until coming to their senses.
"I wonder how the launch pad wasn't able to launch that student, Prof. Ozpin," Glynda said as she pondered what had just occured.
"I believe his equipment was forged with Grey Dust, Ms. Goodwitch. If you remember, that particular color ofDust is extremely heavy, but one of the most durable known to Humankind," Ozpin said as he adjusted his glasses and calmly took a sip from his mug. "Still..." he contemplated, thinking back to the armor, or rather, the scratch that ran across the left eye of that plate. "The Gallant Jiraiya, is a weapon I have not seen in a long time."
"Weapon, sir?" Glynda asked, thinking back to how the feathery-haired student had not displayed any weapons on his person during the launch, or lack thereof.
"Let's just say that if he's anything like his grandfather, Beacon will require more funding directed towards the infirmary," Ozpin hummed. "Of course foryour sake, I hope he didn't inherit all his traits from his grandfather, that pervy old toad," he said with finality. His last words however caused Glynda to look up that particular student's family tree, particularly his grandfather, a small blush creeping up on her face upon discovering Ogata's grandfather was the author of a certain line of ninja-themed erotica. However, she evened out her breathing and turned her attention back to the students. If the boy was like his grandfather, things would sort themselves out. By the looks of things, the female initiates this year wouldn't be pushovers in the slightest, though she still had her doubts about the red-hooded girl that skipped two years.
Logan walked out and raised his hand up to shield his eyes from the morning sun. As he walked, he took his hand down and looked at the Emerald forest. "Wow, this is gonna be some initiation," he said with a whistled. Pulling his hood to see better, his black hair swayed lightly in the morning breeze. He stepped on to a launch pad and he stamp his foot a couple times on it. "Must be gears and stuff underneath this," he thought as he listened to Prof. Ozpin talking about the initiation.
The pads are now launching the would-be students. Logan grinned and pulled his hood down. He took out his bow and activated it. His bow, Arathorn, quickly took shape and he took a stance. "Time to do this," said Logan as he saw a girl with long blonde hair who put on her sunglasses being launched. He was finally launched and he took a spread eagle dive, slowing down his descent. He took out an arrow and drew it. He aimed for a tree and shot his arrow, with a rope tied to it. It stuck into the tree and he pulled the rope. He circled around the tree and landed on a branch. He took out another arrow and looked around. He lowered Arathorn and placed the arrow back in the quiver. "Better get down and find a partner," and with that, Logan started climbing down the tree.
Thalia walked out and bit her bottom lip as she saw the launch pads. "Really? We're being launched into the forest?" She nods her head and claps her hands together. "Well, uncle Icarus did tell me about this. At least it helps in making landing strategies," she said as she stepped on a pad. She twiddled her thumbs as she looked at the forest. "The Emerald Forest, the place were initiates go and become students of Beacon," she said as she popped her knuckles and cracked her neck.
Thalia got in her stance as she saw other people being launched into the forest. The pad launches her and she starts diving down from the sky. She sees other students using their landing strategies while she saw the blonde guy with a sword falling from the sky. Clicking a pair of buttons on her knuckle duster's handles, the rapier-like knives on the ends suddenly extended on monofilament wires, which she flicked towards a nearby branch, letting her swing to a lower one. As she regained her bearings, she saw a spear come out of nowhere and caught the guy by his hood. "...Thank you..." she heard from the guy as she heard a thump from the spear.
"That guy is not ready for this level of combat," Thalia said with a shrug as she hopped down from the tree.
Velvet had been trekking through the Everfree Forest for around half an hour, her DAWS/Dual Action Wand Sickle, the "Scarlet Fever", clenched tightly in her hand. Like most faunus, she had near-perfect eyesight in the dark, giving her an edge through the darker parts of Everfree. However, seldom few knew this ability could also be a double-edged sword, as sudden bursts of bright light would momentarily blind them. This was especially evident when she suddenly burst into an open-aired clearing, and didn't notice the presence of a large rhino-shaped "Charger" until it did so in turn, snorting hot air from its nostrils as it narrowed its eyes at her. Like most Grimm, it was shaped like a pre-existing animal, but was larger and far meaner than anything that existed naturally either in the wild or the few zoos scattered throughout Remnant. This particular Charger had thick bone-like armor plates covering its face, shoulders, sides, and hips, a trio of sharp horns set in a row atop its skull.
Scraping at the ground with its foot, the beast charged with horns lowered, its narrowed eyes settled solely on the brunette faunus. Drawing her wand, she gave it a swing sending a plume of green-colored Dust towards the ground in front of the Charger, an array of vines shooting up and snaring it. Velvet pumped her fist in victory when the beast seemed to be stopped, only for the vines to snap like dry twigs and the beast continue its charge. Crouching down, the faunus girl leaped to the side and avoid getting gored. The tree behind her on the other hand was not as lucky, because the Grimm's horns punched clean through it, before with a shake of its head the beast tore it clean from the ground. With a twist and a pull Velvet sent her sickle through the air and at the junction between the Charger's skull and shoulder, only for the blade to bounce harmlessly off the thick armor plating. Rearing up on its hind legs, the Grimm charged at her far faster than before, clipping her in the side with a *crack*and sending her tumbling through the air, her kusarigama sailing out of her hands. Velvet tried getting to her feet, but an intense pain shot through her side and brought her down to the ground, a hand going her injured side.
"No... No, not now," Velvet cried as she tried getting to her feet, only for the pain to pull her back down. Looking up, the Charger was turning and coming around for another charge. 'This is it, isn't it?' Velvet asked herself as the world slowed to a crawl. 'I wanted to get into Beacon... make things better for my siblings...' Images of her family flashed in front of her mind. 'And now... I won't even make it to my first day...' she thought as a tear slid down the side of her face, closing her eyes and resigning herself to her fate.
"GUURAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The next moment an unearthly roar accompanied by a massive surge of Aura washed over her, Velvet's eyes snapping open in time to see the Charger brake into a stop inches short of hitting her. Trembling in fear, the Charger's hot breath on her face went completely ignored in lieu of the thing standing in the shadows off to the side of the clearing. Humanoid in shape and bathed in a flame-like corona of rust-colored Aura, a shadowed figure with piercing red eyes slowly stepped into the clearing, the Charger now completely ignoring her in wake of it. "GURAH! GURAAAAAHHH!" the figure bellowed, his Aura flaring with each roar and drawing the Charger's attention further and further from her. With a snort the Grimm charged, the Aura-bathed figure effortlessly leaping to the side as the Charger shot past and into the woods. For a few seconds, the rustling of tree leaves was all that was heard, but the Charger was quick to burst through the woods and straight for the Aura-bathed figure. This time however instead of dodging the figure met the Grimm head-on, his feet digging trenches in the ground as he caught it by the horn, before to her shock, the Charger was stopped dead in its tracks. As the Charger grunted and snorted trying to push against its prey, the Aura-bathed figure remained stoic even as he was pushed back inch by inch. Suddenly, in a tremendous show of strength, the Aura-clad figure twisted the Grimm's neck with a loud *CRACK*, shattered fragments from Grimm's armor flying through the air as the beast dropped dead, its head twisted at an odd angle and black smoke rising from its form as it rapidly decomposed.
"Ah... Ah..." Velvet gawped, her mind trying to comprehend what she'd seen. One moment she was about to be trampled to death, the next an Aura-coated figure bursts from the woods and draws the Charger's attention from her, before stopping a charge that could topple buildings bare-handed and snapping its neck. When the figure suddenly turned its gaze towards her, the rabbit-haired girl let out a small squeak as he strode towards her, her eyes instinctively snapping shut as she flinched back.
"Are you alright?" a concerned voice suddenly asked as the overwhelming Aura suddenly dissipated, causing the girl to open her eyes and look up at her savior, who was down on one knee with a hand extended towards her.
The Everfree Forest, having been used as the proving grounds for Beacon initiates for many years, was easy to navigate in some places, impossible in others. The would-be students were pretty much encouraged to destroy everything in their paths on their way to the abandoned ruins at the north side of the forest, and if the fire, screams, and explosions ringing off in the distance were any indicator, these words were being taken to heart. Occasionally a Beowolf or even a Boarbatusk would leap out at him, but a shield bash from the Gallant Jiraiya would usually overwhelm lower-class Grimm in a single hit.
By rank, Grimm were divided into five classes, D, C, B, A, and S. The raven-shaped Krows and the rat-shaped Vermin were D-Class and could be taken down by a civilian with a broom or a pitchfork with minimal combat training. Boarbatusks, Beowolves, Ursa, and other like-sized Grimm were usually C-Class, requiring a fledgling Hunter-to-be with prior combat experience to handle. Greater Beowolves, Ursa Major, and other like-sized Grimm fell into B-Class and required the attention of one or more above-average Hunters to contend with. The higher echelons of the Grimm hierarchy were A-Class specimens like Death Stalkers and Nevermore, while S-Class Grimm were things out of legend that only popped up once every couple of decades, and for good reason. The true origin of Grimm was still mostly unknown, but study of captured corpses before their rapid decomposition could take place showed that, should Grimm remain left alone by Hunters, they were capable of growing to tremendous size. While people tended to have romanticized views of what Huntsmen and Huntresses were all about, at the bare bones they were a form of population control to ensure that king-sized Grimm didn't completely overwhelm humans as they did in the past. The kingdoms of old disappeared for a reason after all.
Back home to the far east of Vale, the largest Grimm he and his childhood friend, Lie Ren, had ever fought were C-Class, while they had only seen and watched their parents slay B-Class. While before it took the two of them to take down a single C-Class, now he was batting them aside off the flat of his shield like flies, and could only assume Ren was just as if not more capable. In all honesty, he hadn't seen the magenta-eyed teen in a few years since they moved to the west, so he was looking forward to seeing how far he'd come as a Huntsman. Though he'd seen his childhood friend back in the Barn, Ogata chose not to approach him at the time because Ren appeared to be entertaining other company at the moment. Speaking of which.
"Ren!" Ogata called out in greeting.
"Ogata!" Lie Ren called out in return.
"Nora!" the orange-haired girl whooped as she popped up between the two of them, surprising both and causing them to fall backwards.
"I see you've already found your partner, eh, Ren?" Ogata asked getting to his feet.
"Yeah. Oh, Nora, this is Ogata, my childhood friend from before we met," Ren said getting to his feet. "Ogata, this is Nora Valkyrie."
"Nice to meetcha!" the girl greeted enthusiastically. "Soooo... What kinda weapon you got?" she asked as she hefted a silver war hammer over her shoulder.
"None I'm afraid, save my iron defense," Ogata said shifting his tower shield on his arm. From what he saw in the bathroom as he brushed his teeth that morning, while Nora was a bit... quirky, she seemed like a good person overall, and was glad his old friend had found someone familiar to pair up with the next our years.
"Huh. I thought for sure you'd take up a kanabo like your dad, or a zanbato like your mother," Ren thought to himself. Whenever their respective training regiments came up in letters, Ogata tended to clam up, but he didn't push it. He'd talk when he was ready. "Anyway, sorry we can't stick around and help you find a teammate, but Nora and I have to get to the temple before all the relics get taken."
"It's cool. We'll chat later," the feathery-haired teen said waving the two off. "Now then..." he hummed to himself as he compacted his shield and slung it over his shoulders. "Who's left out there that's a solo act," Ogata said to himself as he closed his eyes, opening his senses to the world around him. After a minute of standing meditation, he came across a single Aura signature a few minutes out of the way, and if his intuition was correct, it was that cute rabbit-eared Faunus girl from before. "Well, at least she isn't paired up with that guy and his stupid hair," he thought as he trekked through the woods. Just because she was alone doesn't mean she'd stay that way. Making his way through the bushes, he came across a clearing right in time to see the rabbit-eared Faunus girl clipped by a B-Class "Charger", her weapon sent flying out of her hands.
"That is not good," Ogata said to himself seeing the Charger come around for another pass. 'Hope it didn't have to come to this so soon, but it looks like I've got no choice,' Ogata said inhaling deeply, digging deep into his Aura before letting loose a loud- "GUURAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" -and forced as much of his rust red Aura out of his body as he could. His "Howl" had the desired affect, as the Charger stopped dead in its tracks; unfortunately, its attention was still on his primary target. 'Oh no you don't!' he thought as he stepped out into the light, letting loose another- "GURAH! GURAAAAAHHH!" -, and finally drawing the Grimm's attention completely away from her. 'Come and get me,' Ogata said cracking his neck as the Grimm charged, leaping to the side as the Grimm rushed past him and into the woodline. Because Grimm didn't possess a soul, using Aura to sense them would do no good, so he had to rely on his other senses to tell him when it would come charging at him again. 'Now!' his eyes snapped to the side as the Charger burst through the foliage, its horn lowered to gore him. Reaching one hand to its horn and the other around its jaw, Ogata caught the charge head-on, his ironwood geta digging trenches into the ground until he wrested the beast's momentum from it. 'Urgh! This one's got some fight in him!' Ogata thought as the Grimm pushed him back, inch by inch. 'Come on... Just a little more,' he thought as he pushed against the Charger and flared his Aura, cracks beginning to appear in the Grimm's armor.'NOW!'
Wrestling the Charger to the ground, he snapped its neck with a loud *CRACK*before it could get up, his Semblance having done its job as shards of bony armor flew through the air. 'Man, no matter how many of these things I kill, I can never get used to the smell,' Ogata said curling his nose as the Charger began to rapidly decompose, as did all Grimm that weren't chemically treated postmortem. Some theorized it was because they didn't have a soul, or their bodily composition was inherently different from the animals they were shaped like. 'Now then, I'd better get us out of here before the Grimm start piling on,'Ogata said turning around to face the brown-haired Faunus girl, who flinched back and clenched her eyes shut the moment he turned to face her. 'Why's she scared of- Oh, right,' he said looking down at his hands, his Aura still flaring off his body like an incandescent flame. 'Better turn this off,' he said exhaling deeply. A person's Aura could be deeply terrifying to others if it overwhelmed them too much. His Aura fading away, the teen slowly walked towards the brown-haired girl before getting down on one knee and asking- "Are you alright?"
Timidly, the faunus girl opened an eye, making eye contact and establishing the two of them as partners at Beacon for the next four years. "I... I'm fine, thank you," she said in a whisper as she took his hand and let him help her to her feet.
"I saw that Charger clip you in the side. Are you hurt?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"I'll be fine in a few minutes," she said gingerly rubbing her side, a scarlet-colored Aura surrounding her midsection and easing the pain from before. 'I'm glad I found someone nice to be my partner,' she thought with a smile. That smile faltered however as her sensitive ears caught the sound of snapping branches and crunching leaves coming from all around, and by the look on his face, her new partner heard it too.
"We can't stay here, it isn't safe," the feathery-haired teen said taking her by the hand and guiding her out. The next moment a large shadow passed over them, causing the two to look up as a black object drifted down to the ground in front of them.
"Is that... a feather?!" Velvet gaped in shock at the size of the feather that landed in front of them, easily twice as long as she was tall.
"Alright... Stay calm... No need to-" Ogata said before the same massive shadow from before circled around and passed over them; his little "outburst" earlier must've drawn it out from its lair. "Panic!" he cried out as he quickly scooped the girl into his arms. "Hold on!" he said running into the forest, not noticing the blush spreading across the faunus girl's face as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Humongous bird-shaped Grimm aside, the name's Ogata, Ogata Hiroyuki. What's yours?" he asked looking down at the girl he held in the "princess carry".
"V-Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina," she stammered.
"Well, Velvet, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a smile, magnifying the girl's blush.
Elsewhere in the Everfree Forest, Jaune Arc and Phyrra Nikos who had been paired up for maybe half an hour now, were walking to the north where the abandoned temple was supposed to be. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud, beastial roar ripped through the forest, causing the hair on both their necks to stand up straight.
"Wh-What kind of Grimm was that?" Jaune stammered as the roar passed by him, the blond teen shaking like a leaf and hiding behind Phyrra.
"That wasn't a Grimm. That was an initiate like us," Phyrra said putting a calming hand on his shoulder. She'd heard tales of Huntsmen and Huntresses using Aura-enhanced bellows during hunts, she just never thought she'd hear one so early in her prospective career as a Huntress.
"Okay then, next question," Jaune said calming down a bit. "Why would someone make a noise like that? Don't they know they'll attract Grimm to them like moths to a candle if they make that much noise?"
"I believe that's precisely why whoever it was flared their Aura like that," Phyrra replied.
"Come again?" Jaune asked. He'd only had his Aura unlocked a few minutes prior, and his knowledge on the topic only extended to it being like a "forcefield".
"Contrary to popular belief, Grimm do not attack people indiscriminately, but select their prey based on those that have the strongest soul," Phyrra explained. "Aura is the manifestation of our souls outside our bodies, and thus a Grimm, which does not possess a soul, will often choose to attack a Huntsman or Huntress over a civilian, even if the latter a more tempting target. In the past, some have manipulated the Grimm's propensity forattacking those with the strongest soul as a means of diverting their attention away from their comrades."
"Hmmm..." Jaune hummed to himself before a lightbulb went off above his head. "Oh! You mean like the Tank in RPGs?"
"I... assume so," the red-head replied, as she never played video games herself. "Even when a Hunter is right in front of them, if another were to "Howl"," she said making air quotes, "even off in the distance, the Grimm are most likely to abandon their present quarry in lieu of those with the strongest aura."
"Ooooooh," Jaune nodded in understanding. "Wait, how come this isn't a thing then?"
"Let's just say that most "Tanks"in our occupation... never get to reach retirement age," Phyrra said not wanting to scare Jaune. Those that utilized "Howl"were invaluable in the field, but because the technique did not discriminate, those that use it are more often than not completely overwhelmed.
Being a ranger had its advantages for Logan. For one instance, it was not that hard to navigate through a forest and second, knowing and seeing signs of danger before it comes. He's been walking for at least a good half an hour, letting out a yawn as he looked around. The Everfree Forest wasn't that hard to go through, already trekking through numerous forests before he came here.
A growl came from Logan's stomach and he sighed. "I already had breakfast," he groaned as his stomach growled again. He reached for his sling bag and took out a piece of cloth. He unwrapped it and it revealed some biscuit-ish food. "It may be cram, but at least it's something," he said as he took a bite of the biscuit. Cram is very nutritious and was made by the rangers for long sustaining journeys. The backfire on cram is that it's very hard and tough to chew, more like a chewing exercise than a meal.
Back home far up north from Vale, in the small settlement of Argonath, in the 'Boreal of the North', being attacked by Grimm was very common, so Logan was capable of taking down a B-Class Grimm by himself while with a couple friends can take down an A-Class Grimm. He was getting bored, and wanted something excited to happen. "So far no Grimm. Just keep walking Logan, you'll find some action in a bit," he muttered to himself as he saw a girl in a red cloak go overhead with the sounds of a high caliber sniper shots going off.
Logan kept on walking when he heard a loud, unearthly roar of in the distance. He shook his head as he thought of the poor sap who did that. "I hope you know what you're doing," he thought as he sensed the aura of the one who did the 'Howl' technique flare up.
After what seemed like forever, Logan made it to a small clearing, still chewing on the cram he was eating ten minutes ago. He swallowed it, looking around the forest. "Alright, the temple should be somewhere near here." He closed his eyes and took in deep breath's, opening his senses to his surroundings. "Alright, the temple is...at least a few miles from here, ummmmmm, about westwards from here... wait a minute," he thought in his conscience. He opened his eyes, turning around to see the wolf eared faunus girl he bumped into earlier in the locker room.
Before Logan could say anything, a Beowolf was creeping up behind the girl. He took out his bow and drew an arrow at the Beowolf. The girl was in the way of his shot. "Get down!" he yelled at the girl. She didn't go down which made him lean to his side and shot the arrow at the Beowolf. The arrow went straight into its head and fell with a loud *Thud!*. The girl looked behind her and saw the dead Grimm, turning her head back at Logan who had another arrow drawn. "Not the best first impression I'd say, but right now, we have to fight before we can be acquainted," Logan said as he shot one behind him without looking. The girl nodded and rushed one of them, a purple Aura surrounding her brass knuckles as they struck a nearby Grimm, a horizontal tornado sending it sailing through the air and crashing into a tree.
Not wanting to waste arrows, Logan folded Arathorn and took out his longsword then took a defensive stance. He eyed one of them circling him. He gripped Elendil, letting out a war cry and charged at the Beowolf. The Beowolf swiped its claws at him, he dodged it, bringing his sword up, slicing it in half on the torso. He turned around, seeing one getting ready to pounce him. He saw another one was running towards him from behind. He stabbed the Beowolf in mid air as it jumped for him. The body went limp with the momentum still going, making Logan fall to the ground, with the body on top of him. He placed his hands on the body and started pushing it off. He saw the one from behind getting closer, making him widen his eyes. "C'mon, get off!" he yelled as he pushed it off. It jumped for him and he closed his eyes. He didn't feel the pain, with that he opened his eyes and saw that the girl was attacking it. She was growling at it, her aura flaring at it, saying that she's the alpha. Logan let out a sigh of relief, "Good thing that she came," he thought as he spun his longsword.
"This is way too easy," he said to himself as he sliced the head off of another one. He looked around to see himself surrounded by Beowolfs. He grinned as he stabbed his longsword into the ground. Ice started coming out, surrounding him. The ice reached the Beowolfs, encasing them in a sheet of ice. Logan took his sword out and started breaking the ice, killing them. He turned around to see the girl getting bit by one of them. She let out a cry of pain before she punched it in the face, making it fly into a tree, breaking it. It fell on a few of them, dwindling their numbers. Logan ran for the girl, only to be pounced on by a Beowolf. He had his hand keep its head away from tearing his head apart while he used his free hand to grab his dagger, Pelenor. He took it out and he wreathed it in flames thanks to Red Dust in the forging process. "You hungry? Then eat this!" he shouted as he stabbed the flaming dagger into its head. The body went limp and fell on him like last time. He pushed the body off and stood up, dusting himself off. The pack scattered, running away from the two. Logan turned around to see the girl holding her arm as she sat down on a tree stump.
He walked over to the girl who was sitting down on the ground, looking at her wound. Logan knelt down, looking at the wound as well. "You okay?" he asked her.
The girl eyed him. "I'm fine."
Logan reached for her arm, who then jerked it away. "Let me help you."
The girl growled at him. "I don't need your help. I can take care of myself." She then placed her hand on her wound and winced at the pain she got from it.
Logan looked at her for a bit, he then reached his hand out again. "Please, let me help you. I know how I can ease your pain."
The girl looked at him, only seeing concern in Logan's eyes. She pondered her thoughts for a moment. Well she did make eye contact with him which means he's her partner for the next 4 years. She looked at him again and nodded her head. "Okay."
Logan nodded at her, standing and looked around for any useful herbs and plants around. "C'mon, the wound is a bite wound, so it has bacteria so I need a cleaning agent and a healing one as well. Which is a good one, kingsfoil? No, thats a poison cure. C'mon...ummmmm, that's it!" He used his senses to find a scent and came to an orange rose with red pollen. Logan picked it, checking it. "Yup, the red pollen will be useful." He came back to the girl, shaking out the red pollen on to his hand. He looked into his sling bag if he had a piece of cloth to use as a bandage. "Damn it!" he cursed himself when he didn't find a spare cloth. He proceeded to placed the pollen on her arm. She winced when he placed it on her wound.
"It burns." she said to him.
Logan gave her a smile. "It will pass. The pollen will numb the pain and heal it."
Logan then lifted his hoodie up, he reached for his shirt and ripped a piece of it off. He wrapped it around her arm, tightening it to keep the pollen in place. He placed his hands together as he stood up. "That should do. The pollen should kick in bit." He gave his hand and pointed it towards her. "The name is Logan. Logan Frost."
The girl took his hand and stood up. "I'm Thalia Hatari."
Logan smiled again at her. "Nice to meet you Thalia. Its an honour to be along side a Hatari."
Thalia was confused, why did a human say it was an honor being alongside her? "What do you mean? My ancestors killed many humans during the Faunus war. Why do you say that?"
Logan just gave her a warm smiled that could melt gold. "I say its an honor because your family has fought for what was right. The Remnant Rangers tried their best to stop the people from imprisoning the Faunus in Menagerie, which only lead to our exile. Your family, the Hatari, rose up and took the call to say what is right. And you are carrying their name, and that by itself is courageous."
Thalia tried to hide a blush from him. "Anyway, why did you help me?"
"Oh. That, well its just something that Remnant Rangers do. We help others in need." Logan replied to her as he fixed his quiver. He took out Arathorn, drawing an arrow into it. "We should get going and find the temple."
A short hike through the woods later, and Ogata carrying Velvet burst through the treeline into another clearing, this time coming upon an abandoned temple with a number of chess pieces atop small pedestals.
"Alright, that should be enough distance," Ogata said looking over his shoulder, relieved that no Grimm were following behind. "Velvet, can you walk?"
"Y-Yes, I can," she nodded, Ogata setting her down on her feet. "Ah! My wand!" she suddenly cried out as she pat herself down, realizing its absence.
"Don't worry, I picked it up before we left," he said handing the girl back her wand, Velvet wrapping her arms around his frame in appreciation before stepping back, a blush on her features.
"So, um... We made it," she said trying to change the topic, hoping he wouldn't notice her blush.
"Yeah..." Ogata replied looking over the remaining relics. "It looks like Ozpin used chess pieces this year, and there seem to be a few missing," he said looking over the pedestals. "Which one should I grab? Maybe... this?" he asked picking up a Black Knight.
After a quick walk through the forest, Logan and Thalia made it to a clearing, with an abandoned temple with numerous chess pieces on top small pedestals. Logan already saw two other figures there.
"Looks like we're not the first ones here," Logan said as he folded Arathorn.
"Looks like it. How about we go get one of the relics then?" Thalia asked as she popped her knuckles again.
The two partners walked up to the temple, looking at the numerous chess pieces. "Chess pieces? Well that's something you don't see everyday," Logan observed. The one that caught his eye was a Black Knight. He reach his hand towards it. "How about...this?" he said as he took it, throwing it from one hand to the other.
Thalia was about to answer, but saw a fellow Faunus alongside a human wearing Oriental clothing and had a large toad-faced breastplate strapped to his chest. Walking over to her, the wolf Faunus tapped the rabbit Faunus' shoulder, getting her attention.
"Oh, ummmm, can I help you?" she asked.
"What's your name?" asked Thalia.
"Oh, I-I'm Velvet Scarlatina," replied the girl now named Velvet.
Thalia nodded at Velvet. "Hi, Velvet, I'm Thalia. I'm just wondering, is your partner giving you any trouble?"
"You mean Ogata? He's nice," replied Velvet.
Thalia was confused. "Really?"
Velvet nodded at her. "Yup, how about your partner? Is he okay?"
Thalia looked back at Logan who is looking at the chess piece he took. A slight blush forming on her cheeks. "Logan? He's, fine," she replied.
"There's no reason to linger here," Ogata said rolling his right shoulder. "We've got what we came for, so let's get back to the cliff and finish this initiation."
"Right," Velvet nodded. "I hope to see you again," Velvet said waving to Thalia. Before the rabbit-eared girl could leave however, the ground suddenly shook, causing her to fall onto her butt, the others almost made to lose their balance.
"The hell was that?!" Logan called out as he drew his compound bow and looked around. Ogata too looked around, before dropping his breastplate to the ground and leaping above the nearby treeline, causing those below to gape. As the feathery-haired teen looked around, he saw trees being knocked down to the horizon, flocks of Krows leaving their nests as a massive form charged its way through the forest and towards the temple.
"We have to go. NOW!" he said synching his breastplate to his body, before grabbing Velvet's hand and running out of the clearing.
"Why? What did you see!?" Thalia demanded as she and Logan followed, the sound of toppling trees and mighty footfalls drawing ever close.
"Something I really don't want to be around for!" Ogata shouted in return as the four ran through the forest. The next moment a trio of Boarbatusks appeared in their path and rolled into a balls, charging at the four like buzzsaws made of bone and meat. "Get out of our way!" Ogata said removing his breastplate and transforming it into a tower shield. Putting all his weight behind it and shield bashing each one, the three Grimm were left in broken piles off to the side, while the thing approaching behind them was drawing closer.
"Ogata! What is that thing?!" Velvet cried as she looked over her shoulder, a massive silhouette looming over her as a quartet of eyes narrowed upon the four of them.
"It's right on top of us!" Thalia called out. Though she was a fighter by nature, every cell in her body told her to run as massive bone-armored black legs that crushed trees like toothpicks made their way towards them.
"Move! Move! MOVE!" Logan ordered as he notched an arrow and shot it between the creature's eyes, an explosion ringing out from the impact that sent the Grimm stumbling back for a few seconds, giving the four of them a few second's head start. That head start however didn't last too long, as the massive Grimm began storming towards them once again, each footfall almost knocking them off their feet until-
"Eyah!"
"Velvet!" Ogata cried as he whirled around, the rabbit-eared Faunus girl having fallen to the ground, a massive foot now bearing down on her. For the second time that day she closed her eyes and expected death, but a few seconds later, she saw Ogata standing over her, holding the massive foot away from the ground with everything he had. "I can't... hold... on..." the teen gasped as he was pushed down to one knee. "You have... to get out of here...!"
"No, I won't leave you!" Velvet cried out, only for a pair of wires with knife-like ends to wrap around her abdomen and haul her away, the foot coming down soonafter. "OGATA!" she cried out with wide eyes as Thalia pulled her to her feet, Logan firing exploding arrows one after another to slow the Grimm's advance as they ran. "Ogata... Ogata..." Velvet cried with tears streaming down their face as she was dragged away.
"Velvet, show some spine! Do you think your partner would want you tearing up like this?!" Thalia shouted into her ear.
"There's a clearing up ahead! We have to stand our ground and fight!" Logan shouted as the party of three ran into an open clearing with a number of rocky outrcroppings rising up. A few seconds later, the Grimm that was chasing them burst through the treeline as well and let out a trumpeting bellow, a sense of dread filling the three teens as the entirety of the beast came into the light. Easily thirty feet tall at the shoulder and clearly A-Class, the Grimm that had nearly killed Velvet and stomped Ogata into the dirt was shaped like a massive elephant. Wearing a four-eyed skull-like helmet, the "Crusher" had a massive pair of red-accented tusks jutting out the sides of its mouth with a smaller pair of sub-tusks right above them. At the front of each foot was a trio of bone-like slabs for each toe, bone-like spikes lining the edges of its blackened ears which also bore red accents, and a bony vertebrae-like line of armor running along the top of its back. Easily bigger than anything the three had ever seen, its massive bone-armored trunk wrapped around one of the nearby rock formations, ripping it from the ground and sending it flying towards them. "Hit the deck!" he cried out as he dodged to the side as the column of rock threatened to crush them, Thalia dragging the unresponsive Velvet behind another of the rock formations, Logan drawing the beast's attention away from them.
"Velvet, get your head in the game!" Thalia said shaking the girl's shoulders.
"Ogata's gone... It's all my fault... all my fault... all my fault..." she droned on before Thalia slapped her across the face.
"You have to snap out of it!" she said grabbing the girl's hair and forcing her to make eye contact.
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!?" Velvet screeched, her eyes puffy and red. "Ogata was the only one who didn't treat me like a freak... and now... *sniff* Now he's gone," she cried, her hands going to the ears atop her head.
"Do you want his sacrifice to be for nothing then?!" Thalia demanded, before the Grimm's trunk suddenly wrapped around the rock formation they were hiding behind, ripping it from the ground and raising it into the air above its head. Explosive-tip arrows impacted its side one after the other, but to the Crusher they were nothing more than flies against its side.
"OI OI OI OI! DON'T GO WRITING ME OFF SO EASILY!" a voice Velvet thought she'd never hear again cut through the air. The next moment a black object sailed into the slab of rock the Crusher had hoisted above its head and caused it to crumble, dropping a veritable avalanche down onto its head and stunning it. As she was dragged out of the way, Velvet looked to the side, tears of joy streaming down her face as she saw Ogata storming the field, almost as if he'd come back from the dead. Even with mud caking his form and his clothing in tatters, the foreigner looked as gallant as when they first met. When her eyes landed on his tower shield, she saw that the toad-like face in the center had opened up its "mouth", a large barrel jutting outwards while a scope slid out between the ornamental yellow eyes. "This thing's set its sights on us! The teachers won't help, so our only option left is to fight!" he shouted as he reached into his haori, drawing out a small black sphere with a button on the top, which when pressed caused the sphere to expand to the size of an orange. Opening a hatch on the back of his shield and shoving the black sphere in, he sealed the back of the built-in cannon before peering into the scope and pulling a large revolver-like trigger, firing another ballistic shot. As a charge of Yellow Dust detonated within the toad's mouth, the black sphere was sent sailing through the air before impacting between the beast's four eyes, kicking up a cloud of smoke while its ears rung. As the massive Grimm shook its head and flailed about, the four re-grouped behind one of the rock formations, Velvet wrapping her arms around Ogata's waist and crying into his chest.
Logan's mouth was wide open, wondering, how the hell did Ogata survive? "Ogata...? How did you...? Never mind that, you okay?"
"If I didn't have my Aura, I very well may have been crushed," Ogata said with a grimace. "Ugh. Guess that's where it got its name," he said rubbing his head.
"What do we do now?" Velvet asked, holding onto Ogata as though he'd disappear if she let go.
"We have to stand and fight. Even though the odds look grim to us," Thalia answered.
"How many more of those mortars do you have?" Logan asked as he peered around the corner, noticing the Grimm was still a little disoriented from that shot to the face.
"Four," Ogata answered revealing a set of ammo pouches on his belt. "I didn't know what I'd be fighting today so I packed light. What about you?"
"I have at least a dozen left," Logan answered Ogata as he looked at his quiver. "It may've been an initiation, but I had more than four dozen when we've started."
"My knifes are still sharp and the wires are still strong," Thalia said to the group. "I can fight better now thanks to Logan patching me up. My wound feels much better now."
"I don't know how much it'll help, but my Dust Wand is still nearly full," Velvet spoke up, hoping to contribute in some way.
"It'll have to be enough," Ogata said peeking around the corner, the Grimm having since recovered from its shock, and was now swinging its armored trunk about and felling rock formations like toothpicks. "We've got maybe two minutes to brainstorm before that thing finds us, so before that happens, I want you all to know that it was an honor to meet you all," he said putting his hand out into the middle of their huddle, Velvet placing her hand atop his before Logan and Thalia did the same, the four clapping their free hands atop one another before calling out- "Break!" -as though they'd been doing it for years.
Cue - Metal Gear Rising OST: Rules of Nature
In search of its prey, the Crusher stomped around the rock formations, smashing the smaller ones with its trunk. So focused on finding its prey, it didn't notice the thickening carpet of green at its feet until massive spiked roots suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped around its right foreleg. As it leaned to the left trying to pull itself free, a thick sheet of ice suddenly spread across the ground and under its foreleg, its foot slipping and causing it to fall forward as the roots snapped.
"ATTACK!" Velvet shouted as she came out of hiding, sending plumes of Green Dust into the ground beneath the Crusher's head before more spiked roots shot up in a frenzy, wrapping around its tusks and pinning its head to the ground. Off to the side, Logan slashed at the beast's left flank with his longsword, streaks of ice forming accross its hide as he peppered the downed beasts with slashes. Thalia then leapt into the air from atop a high rock formation, a purple Aura glowing around her body, the wind suddenly carrying her body skywards before she dove down, a cone of compressed air surrounding her before she impacted the Crusher's skull with a loud *CRACK*. Shaking its head angrily, the Crusher finally tore itself free from the ground and letting out a trumpeting roar, knocking Velvet and Thalia off their feet.
"Keep the heat on!" Ogata shouted from atop another rock platform, firing a mortar into the Crusher's right ear and disorienting it. While the foreigner loaded another shell, Logan began climbing up the Crusher's rear leg, stabbing his freezing longsword and flaming dagger into its hide as he clawed his way upwards, the Grimm letting out shrieks as it tried to shake him off. Velvet after getting to her feet sent another plume of Green Dust to the base of one of the rock formations, thick vines shooting up around it before she willed them to drag the formation down onto the beast's left ear. As the beast tipped right, Thalia sent her grappling lines around the beast's tusk and swung upwards, withdrawing the knives and diving into the beast's left eye and slashing wildly. The Crusher screeched in pain as it sent its trunk to wrap around her, only for a mortar shell to impact the bony plating and send it away, giving Thalia the time she needed to grab onto the crack in its helmet as the beast slammed the left side of its face into a rock formation.
"I'm open!" Thalia shouted, Ogata reaching into his belt and drawing a yellow cartridge with black hazard lines across it, before chucking it through the air. Catching it, Thalia jammed the canister into the crack before rolling out of the way as the Crusher's armored trunk slammed into the spot she'd just occupied. Reaching its armored spine, she saw Logan jabbing his sword between each vertebrae, thick ice spreading from the longsword's blade and slowing the beast down. The two locking eyes, Logan nodded before throwing his dagger through the air, Thalia catching it between her teeth before she bolted away on all fours in time to avoid another trunk swat. Putting away her knuckle dusters, the girl grabbed the dagger before driving it into the beast's other left eye, completely blinding it on the left side. As she leapt away, her weight dragging her downwards as she drove the flaming dagger into the Grimm's ear, Logan jammed his sword into the junction betweent he beast's neck and skull-like helmet, Ogata firing his last mortar into the beast's armored trunk and sending it away from another grab, ice now locking the beast's head in place.
"Clear out!" Ogata shouted as Logan and Thalia ran clear of the beast, Velvet at his side as she twirled her Dust Wand in hand, charging up a glowing green ball of Dust around the head before letting it fly. Impacting the ground beneath the Grimm's head, the earthen soil shook before a column of black thorns shot upwards, wrapping around its tusks and gripping its head before pulling the beast down. As the Crusher tried to pull free, it found that the ice lining its back was slowing it down, the canister filled with Yellow Dust wedged into its skull-like helmet a tempting target as Ogata drew a similar, neon green canister from his belt and slotted it into his cannon, and took aim before firing it, a bright streak sailing through the air before impacting the Crusher's helmet front-and-center. At the moment the two Dust-filled canisters met, a massive fireball spilled outwards as bone and meat were sent sailing through the air, a yellow mushroom cloud visible from the cliffs a mile away, the echo of the Crusher's body hitting the ground audible even from there.
"Is everyone alright?" Logan called out as he tried to navigate his way through the wall of dust that had been kicked up. The next moment a gale of wind passed by him blowing the dust away, a column of wind sailing out of Thalia's lips as her Aura surrounded her. As the last of the dust was blown away, Velvet and Ogata stepped out as well, a little worse-fore-wear, but still alive.
"What was in that thing you shot?" Thalia asked once she blew away the last of the debris in the air, revealing that the Crusher's head had been blown clean apart, as were its front legs.
"Neon Green Dust. On its own it's only good as an energy-based propellant, but combine it with other Dust types and well..." he said waving his hand at the body of the Crusher, or what was left of it, letting the aftermath speak for him.
"I can't believe we just did that," Velvet panted as the adrenaline passed, her knees giving out underneath her before Ogata caught her.
"Well believe it. Everfree threw its worst at us, and we're still alive," Logan chuckled tiredly. Thankfully the plan didn't exhaust the last of his arrows, but then again nothing he had could've matched a super-charged Yellow Dust bomb.
"Yeah, warm fuzzies all around. Can we just get out of here before something else attacks us?" Thalia asked tiredly as she tossed Logan's knife back to him.
"That..." Ogata paused as he looked up, seeing a large Nevermore sailing through the air, with what appeared to be two people clinging to its side. "Is probably a good idea," he nodded as the four left the battleground and headed for the cliffs.
After Ozpin dismissed the newly formed team of CRDL, he called up the next one. "Logan Frost, Ogata Hiroyuki, Thalia Hatari, and Velvet Scarlatina. The four of you have collected the black knight pieces. From now on, you'll be known as Team VOLT, led by, Velvet Scarlatina." Velvet was surprised, she never expected to be a leader of a team. She looked at Prof. Ozpin who had a smile on his face. "Congratulations," he said to her.
Cardin was frowning. He has his best friends in his team and all, but that faunus girl became leader of a team. He shook his head and made a grim smile on his face. "I can't wait to make her life here miserable," he thought.
Blake was happy that their team is actually supporting that a faunus is a leader. She smiled at that. "At least we're being recognized here," she thought.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
NeoNazo356 wrote some of this if you've noticed a different writing style in this story. He also edited some of my writing.
I regret to inform you guys that the other OC team has to be cancelled due to the lack of OC's. I know that you guys had good OC's but there wasn't that many. Some of them were good while others needed work on. But I'm sorry that the other OC team is cancelled. Hope you people understand.
The 'Classes' are Fanon, just to describe the different Grimm. "Krows" are just crow-sized Grimm, and "Vermin" are cat-sized rats.
Remnant will be a bit AU because of the two countries Ogata and Logan come from.
Cookies for those who have gotten the Lord of the Rings easter eggs, and what stories Thalia is based upon.