This chapter might end up being a disappointment. honestly i would likw a passionate cowriter to expand and improve this story plu it might help to bounce ieas off of one too. after all two heads are better than one. Anyway here is another chapter and i hope you enjoy it.
Skylar along with Helen Paris and Robin, ran across the plains back towards the cliff, following their allies through the remains of the temple Ozpin had placed the chess pieces in, the Nevermore flying overhead, soaring past the children, before perching on a pillar overlooking a cliff, effectively blocking everyone's path to safety. It let out a loud screech, almost a battle cry in warning.
The 12 students took cover, not wanting to risk being openly assaulted by the Nevermore's attacks, but they still needed a plan, since it was clear they wouldn't leave the area with having to fight the Grimm before them.
Skylar, hiding behind a pillar along with Robin, looked at the menacing Nevermore gazing down at tem from its perch. Much as he hated to admit it, they were in a bit of a predicament though the objective was to get the relics back there wasn't any way to get there without a fight, since the grimm would just follow them until they reached the ends of the earth.
To make matters worse the death stalker that Weiss had frozen in place burst from the trees behind them, bellowing in rage. "Well that's great" Yang groaned in annoyance. It was already bad enough that the nevermore had the advantage from the sky, now the Deathstalker was going to be a thorn that they had to deal with as well. as they all began running again putting them within the Nevermore sight. Skylar didn't know what was worse sure they had strength in numbers but the nevermore had the ariel advantage and the Deathstalkers poisonous stinger would be a problem if it managed to score a hit on any of them. Luckily it would seem that the calm ninja had a plan.
"Nora! Distract it!" Ren called as he and Nora began running across the ruins of the temple. The Nevermore took notice of this and shot several swift feathers at Nora, who managed to dodge the deadly spears with a few quick and acrobatic moves. The young woman then proceeded to take out her hammer, transforming it into a grenade launcher. She fired several shots at the nevermore, one nailing it right in the eye with a massive pink explosion, while the others startled it enough to make it change its trajectory, flying away from the battle. Nora unfortunately failed to notice the death stalker behind her, but luckily, Blake and Ren noticed, intercepting it and using their weapons to slash the grimms face. The Arachnid growled in annoyance, but was stunned by the unexpected attack, giving the others a chance to run, putting some distance between them.
Skylar and his group ran aside Yang and her friends, running across the bridge, the death stalker hot on their trail. That however was not the problem, as the Nevermore's cry caught the groups attention. Skylar looked to his left and to his horror, the Nevermore was flying at the bridge like a battering ram.
"Incoming!" he cried, just as the bird slammed into the bridge, leaving no time for him or any of his allies to dodge the attack. The giant bird collided with the bridge with enough force to shatter it into oblivion. Pain and horror assaulted Skylar's senses as the ground crumbled beneath his feet, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs. He was vaguely aware of, a loud roar in his ears as the nevermore flew past him indicating that he must be flying through the air, though It would seem the Nevermore had decided to attack the others rather than him. A moment later gravity kicked in and he began falling into the canyon, away from the battle with the two tailing Grimm.
Turning over on his stomach, Skylar was met with the sight of Helen Paris and Robin also falling, all of them struggling to regain equilibrium after sustaining an attack like that. It dawned on the young hunter that while Yang and Nora's groups were on the side of the bridge and therefore able to avoid the brunt of the attack, Skylar's group was not so lucky, and were now having to deal with the gravity of the situation. The quartet watched as the nevermore took flight, being attacked by the others on the bridge, while Skylar could vaguely hear the Deathstalker being attacked as well by their other companions.
The others would need help, but first Skylar would need to find a way to get back up after they managed to figure out how to get out of the situation they found themselves in. without much of a choice they fell into the murky canyon below, the wind whipping past them as they fell out of sight.
Robin felt her stomach drop as she fell, the wind whistling in her ears like a bullheads engines working overdrive. Om one hand you think as a huntress in training she would have expected to end in such a situation. On the other hand she couldn't believe that a Giant NEVERMORE smashed a bridge to get to her! Well her and her teammates. It seemed, were the only ones to end up falling to their deaths down the canyon while everyone else had to deal with the deathstalker and nevermore above.
Not that she was complaining with her own problems not exactly being a cakewalk, but she did need to figure out a way to get her friends out of the mess they were stuck in.
In her using, Robin unfortunately failed to realize just how far she had fallen, almost not hearing Skylar's cry of "Ground incoming!" thankfully however this snapped her out of her stupor and in a moment of panic activated her semblance. She suddenly stopped in mid air floating gently. Telekinesis, one of the many abilities she was granted with her semblance. Thankfully she was also able to stabilize her falling companions and together they all gently floated to the ground landing softly as apposed to a crash landing. (at least with the earlier catapulting they were able to see where they were going unlike the heavy fog within the canyon), nor was there anything to catch there fall with.
Skylar being the closest was the first to land on the ground, followed by Paris Helen and finally Robin. After the quartet managed to regain their senses and stop their stomachs from doing flips as though they were still falling, Skylar glanced up through the fog hoping to see some trace of how far they had fallen; alas they could no longer even hear the sounds of battle from the Cliffside where the others were. They definitely fell a long way.
Skylar glanced at Robin, his eyes hopeful "robin, you think you could get us back up there?" he asked. Surely if she was able to hold them for so long going down she might be able to get them up there with the same method? Robin shook her head "I'm only able to hold my semblance for so long. Plus with the amount of objects I would have to hold, we'd probably end up falling long before we'd make it halfway up the side of the mountain." She said honestly.
Well there went that idea. At least she was being honest Skylar looked at his other companions "I don't suppose either of you have semblances that would get us up there?" he asked them the duo shook their heads "our semblances revolve around waves" Paris said, "I can make shockwaves and earthquakes, Helen can produce sonic waves." He said sullenly "and yours?"
Skylar flinched not wanting to answer the question. Truth be told he didn't KNOW what his semblance was as he was never able to activate it in the first place, at least not at any time he knew about it. even when training with his family he could never seem to unlock it, so he focused on training with his sword instead and he was pleased to say that he was able to make remarkable progress after so many years.
That didn't help in the situation though so he honestly didn't have much of a choice in the matter "I cant tell you…." he replied sheepishly. "I'm afraid my semblance was never unlocked."
Paris didn't look impressed by that, giving his ally a scathing look. Before he could continue however Skylar was quick to hut him up "you want to measure sticks Princeton? Well we don't have the time the others need our help so you can either sit there and act high and mighty or shut up and do something useful
Paris opened his mouth, likely to argue but before he could do so much as utter a single sound there was a loud deafening roar and the four turned to see a massive Bourbatusk emerging fro the mist lumbering towards them, eyes dripping with a savage bloodlust. No doubt it was attracted to their unease.
"well" Skylar muttered "this might end up being a problem" he quipped sarcastically as he drew his sword, his allies following suit.
Ozpin glanced at his tablet, watching the events in the ruins unfold, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. The way the Nevermore reacted to the students wasn't out of the ordinary, yet something about it still seemed off to him, almost like it was directly aiming for one of the students in particular. Then there was the fact that the Bourbatusk attacked Skylars group later on in such a manner only to… no it couldn't be a coincidence. Something about this situation just seemed completely off to him. Glynda it seemed shared his sentiment feeling uneasy about the whole ordeal as she turned her piercing gaze towards the gray haired male "Ozpin… you don't think….
The Headmaster turned to Glynda a wry smile on his lips ""Only time will Tell Glynda…. We don't know for sure. Best we see how the grimm handle fighting our students while thy are out on combat missions.. Only then will the truth reveal itself." he muttered though his tone was unusually grave as I the whole idea made him sick to his stomach, which seemed obvious to her despite his collected demeanor
Glynda bit her lips feeling unnerved by the answer in question. she certainly trusted Ozpin with more than just her life, but his cryptic attitude towards this predicament left much to be desired, especially since this was not the first instance where they had this very same suspicion, even though it had been years since the previous event had occurred all together.. They had been searching for answers for many years but hadn't yet found anything despite claims to the contrary. Glynda didn't want to get her hopes up but it still felt like the best lead they had. Ozpin was right about one thing. Only time would tell if their hunch was correct. The only problem was where would it lead now that all the pieces were falling into place?
Later that day, the student body gathered in the beacon amphitheater, where every new coming student was to be sorted into teams following their retrieval of the chess pieces that they had gathered earlier. A majority of them had already been sorted, with only a dozen students left. Ozpin being the headmaster of Beacon, was the one to announce them all, though in may 's opinions the current team up to be announced looked less like model citizens, let alone hunters in training and more like the punks that would steal lunch money from a baby and use it to buy beer when no one was looking. "Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester Dove Bronzewing Sky Lark" Ozpin announced, "the four of you retried the black knight pieces. From this day forth, you shall be known as Team CRDL led by Cardin Winchester"
After a momentary round of applause, the newly formed team CRDL left the stage to take their place among the crowd, replaced by Jaune Pyrrha Ren and Nora. The Quartet made their way to the stage all of them looking quite reserved, but one could tell that even the revered Pyrrha Nikos looked nervous as one should wen being presented in front of a group of people while being recognized by the Headmaster "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos Lie Ren Nora Valkerie" Ozpin announced once again "the four of you retried the white rook pieces. From this day forth, the four of you will work together as team JNPR," Nora completely forgetting about regality took the opportunity to glomp Ren, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and though visibly annoyed the young man did nothing to stop her nor did Ozpin seem to concerned about it either for he continued with his speech. Led by Jaune Arc"
Said blonde was immediately taken by surprise, as was everyone in the room. Sure Jaune might have some skill as a hunter (though his actions and performance left quite a lot to be desired, but for him to be chosen over the great Pyrrha Nikos?! That was very unheard of, and quite frankly almost insulting. Fortunately it didn't seem that Pyrrha took any offense to it, quite the opposite. She turned her gaze to her bewildered leader a wide grin on her face.
Jaune unfortunately didn't take this news with much grace staring at Ozpin lie a deer caught in headlights. "Led by?" he muttered softly unable to comprehend the idea. He was just a nobody who could wield a sword and nothing else. He wasn't a world-renowned fighter nor a ninja. How could he lead a team comprised of people that were better than him in every way? Just what did Ozpin see in him that was anything worth him being a team leader over any of his teammates. It might be most hunters at Beacons dream come true but for Jaune? He already had a lot to live p to he did not need the stress of being a leader thrown on top of it. Ozpin on the other hand gave the boy a soft smile "Congratulations young man"
Pyrrha on the other hand was a little more, physical with her reaction, slugging Jaune in the shoulder in what was supposed to be a good natured punch, but Jaune unfortunately didn't see it coming, resulting in him being knocked off balance and landing on the ground. Pyrrha gasped, looking at the poor man, who stared at her incredulously. Blushing slightly, Pyrrha helped Jaune up and with her teammates all but fled the stage to make room for the remaining students.
The first of the remaining students was Yang and her friends. If anything Skylar was glad to see that they had made it out of the situation alive, and he wouldn't say he wasn't impressed by the way they took down the nevermore. They may be one of the better teams at beacon and he couldn't help but get excited at the idea of testing his skills against them ore often. "Blake Belladonna Ruby Rose Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long" Ozpin announced once more "the four of you retried the white knight pieces. From his day forth you will work together as Team RWBY led by Ruby Rose"
While the room exploded in applause, especially a the idea of the 15 year old being chosen as a leader instead of her older more qualified partners., one member in particular looked at Ruby in shock and subdued jealousy, almost to the point of wanting o throw a temper tantrum. Weiss couldn't believe it, her opportunity as leader was shown up to the immature brat who almost cost them their lives more times than she had cared to count during the initiation? She was going to have a talk with Ozpin about this as soon as she got the chance to do so.
Yang on the other hand was unable to contain her joy and tackled Ruby with the enthusiasm of a giant dog greeting their owner after not seeing them for so long. "I'm so proud of you!" she screamed with happiness and for once, Ruby couldn't complain about her sister's affection for her. Unfortunately they did have to make room for Skylar group, who was the last group that needed to be sorted into a team.
As Team RWBY walked past them, Yang caught Skylar's eye, sending the boy a flirtatious wink "I like what you did with the Bourbatusk" she mouth to him, causing Skylar to blush from the praise. It wasn't really anything special. That being said he shook off the blush and stood alongside his friends in front of Ozpin.
Finally Skylar Caelum, Robin Grayson Helen Morcan Paris Princeton" Ozpin announced, "The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forth, you shall work together as Team SPHR, led by Skylar Caelum"
Yang blinked upon hearing Skylar's name for the first time surprised. Nothing was wrong with it of course it was quite beautiful, but… it almost felt like it didn't suit him at all yet worked at the same time. If there was one thing she was sure of though it was that she definitely wanted to get to know Skylar more now.
Skylar blinked surprised by Ozpins choice. Unlike with Jaune, he had no problems with being a leader, but he still had to question as too why HE was chosen. Then again HE WAS the one who did the most work in taking out the Grimm he encountered with his friends and at the very least Paris seemed too obnoxious to be a leader while Helen and Robin, despite being independent and knowing how to act based on their own judgments, didn't seem to have the determination to be a leader acting more like followers. Only time would tell.
One thing was for sure. This year at Beacon was shaping to be an interesting one.
Yes the fiht was cut on purpose but it will be shown in the next chapter. as always leave your thoughts and have a great day!