The Freelancer

As Seti plummeted towards the ground, he quickly ran his landing options; it didn't take him long to settle on one. Taking out Wadjet and Nekhbet, as he came down to a tree, the curved blades hooked on a branch, as he flipped up onto it. Seti took a breath, and would've wiped his brow if he could sweat. Looking out over the distance, he saw several other forms descending into the forest. And he could feel like he could hear what sounded like a little girl screaming, or maybe it was Jaune.

As a snake Faunus, Seti was a great climber. With a flexible body, and a long tail, he could slither up and down trees as easily as walking down the road, which was exactly what he did after hooking his swords on his belt. After getting back to terra firma, he looked around. Nothing distinguishable, but he remembered Ozpin's terms, and what he had to do. Seti also remembered that the first person he makes eye contact with, was to be his partner. With that in mind, Seti descended to the ground, and pressed his ear to it. As a snake, he could detect tiny vibrations in the ground, which alerted him to a nearby presence. He could feel plenty of vibrations, but none of them close enough to be discernible. So with that, the mamba darted into the forest.

His tongue lashing through the air, Seti kept alert for any possible threat. He knew that these forests were well populated with Grimm, and he'd rather not run into that many if possible. Grimm had relatively little scent, but what little scent they did was very distinct. Seti also kept his tongue alert for other students.

"Who would I want as a teammate?" he asked out loud. He ran down the list of people he had actually met and interacted with. There was Blake; she was a Faunus like him, and was also apparently a fellow fan of the color black, but she did seem rather withdrawn, and Seti wasn't 100% sure he trusted her yet. There was Ruby; she said she liked snakes, and she seemed nice enough, but then again, Seti's experience with mammals said that the smaller the mammal, the weaker they were; he'd love Ruby to prove him wrong, but he wasn't going to gamble on that in this. There was Yang; Seti knocked her off the list rather quickly; he hadn't interacted with her nearly enough. Finally, there was Jaune; but Seti would rather not have the blonde slowing him down; besides, it would probably be best for Jaune if he ended on a team with Pyrrha.

"Wow," Seti said, stopping dead in his tracks, "I really have no one to be my partner, do I?" The snake sighed, as he leaned back on his tail, and stared at the sky, thinking about what to do. Forming a team was apparently a sort of requirement for the initiation, but from the looks of things, Seti wouldn't be joining one. He wondered what would happen then. Chances are he'd be kicked out before he even enrolled. Well, at least he was used to being kicked out of places by this point.

Seti's attention was then claimed by new scent. His tongue lashing out, probing the air. The scent was unpleasant, like bitter smoke with an acidic undertone. He knew that smell.

Diving out of the way just as a Grimm sprung at him. Seti drew his swords, and held them at the ready. The Grimm attacking him was called a "Wendigo". It distinguished itself from other Grimm with its almost human-like, white face, only with much sharper features, like a pointed chin and a hooked nose, with red markings. It had long arms, ending in large hands with long thin claws. It had powerful legs that bent back, ready to jump, and when at its full height, it was a little taller than twice Seti's height.

"Well at least something's happening," Seti said, as he noticed three other Wendigos emerge from the trees. Cracking his neck, Seti took a battle stance. The Wendigos then all sprung at him. Seti easily avoided the attack, and clicked his khopesh into their gun forms, and started firing at the beasts. However, since both Wadjet and Nekhbet were low calibre, they didn't do much damage as they were, and the Wendigos attacked again.

Deciding to change tactics, Seti fell to his belly, and actually slithered across the ground like the snake he was, twisting through the legs of the Grimm faster then they could see. Seti's speed wasn't a semblance, but a natural ability. As a black mamba, Seti was exceptionally fast, capable of outrunning any human, or in this case, any Grimm.

As he came under one of the Wendigos, he took Wadjet and used it to take the beast's leg off, causing it to collapse to the ground, after which Seti rose to his feet, and plunged Nekhbet into its neck. Not bothering to watch it die, Seti then slithered out of the way to avoid another Wendigo's claws.

After rising to his feet, one Wendigo tried to come up from behind, only for Seti to move out of the way, and catch the Grimm's neck in Nekhbet's curve. Then quickly clicking Wadjet into its gun mode, he stuck it in the Grimm's eye, and fired, blowing a hole in its head. At this point, there were two Wendigo left. Seti cracked his neck and flexed his tail.

"Who's next?" he asked. Both Wendigos leapt at him, and Seti darted between them. He then quickly slithered back, and then began to actually clamber up one of the beast's back. As the Wendigo reached back to claw him, Seti opened his mouth, and sank his fangs into the beast's shoulder. After injecting as much venom as he could, Seti leapt off. The Wendigo slashed at the air, stumbling as the venom took effect. It wasn't long before it collapsed, incapacitated, but not dead yet.

The last Wendigo, let out an enraged howl, and charged Seti, but this time the mamba only slightly sidestepped it, avoiding the claws. Seti then grabbed the Grimm's wrist, and before it could do anything, he activated his semblance. The Wendigo's arm then seemed to wilt and wither, before it moved up to its body. The Wendigo could only howl, as it soon was nothing more than a withered husk, as it collapsed to the ground. It wasn't dead yet, but a quick stab to the head remedied that. Meanwhile, the envenomated Wendio hadn't died yet, but it had no hope of surviving, so Seti ignored it, leaving it to moan.

Seti's semblance was an unpleasant one: desiccation. He was able to drain moisture from anything he touched at will. It wasn't instantaneous death, and it was relatively easy to reverse, but if one didn't get water soon, death was a certainty. Seti's venom was also very potent, capable of blinding someone in twenty minutes, paralyzing in thirty, and killing in sixty, unless someone got the anti-venom, which Seti always carried on his person. Fortunately for him, Seti couldn't run out of venom, he simply produced it like someone produced spit, and as long as he bit in the right place, quick death was guaranteed. A "good" place, constituted in the body, or neck. A bite in the arm or leg, however, could take longer. But Seti was nothing if not precise.

There was a saying amongst snake Faunus: "A strong strike can be rendered useless with bad precision". That held very true for many snakes, and Seti was no exception. Snake Faunus came in two variations: the stronger but slower constrictors, and weaker but faster envenomators, and while the two were fundamentally different, they both relied heavily on precision. That was the way of the snake, strike with precision, and decisiveness.

Seti cracked his neck, before diving back into the forest. He needed to find his way through here if he didn't want to be expelled.

(sometime later)

After wandering around for an extended period of time, Seti was tasting the air, before he decided to check the ground for vibrations again. Falling to the ground, and pressing his ear to ground, Seti could faintly sense some vibrations in the distance again. With that in mind, he head in that direction. As he got closer, Seti could start to hear the sounds of fighting, and the screech of a Nevermore.

Eventually, the snake Faunus emerged from the trees, and saw a series of ruins. Within the ruins, Seti could notice a group of people gathered in the ruins. Instinctively remaining inside the trees, Seti looked closely. Aside from the group by the ruins, there was one person, who Seti recognized as Pyrrha, being chased by a giant Death Stalker. Glancing up, Seti noticed a Nevermore flying over head, and he thought he could see a girl in white hanging onto at one of its claws. Flicking his tongue, Seti scanned the people present: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and the two who were talking about sloths.

As those humans and the cat Faunus did whatever it was they were doing, Seti debated what to do. Seeing as there eight people, chances are they all had their teams dictated, so Seti would end up being a fifth (or potentially seventh) wheel. There was also the matter that Seti wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to get involved in what was a mammal's battle. They were the ones who had brought the Grimm, why should Seti get involved? Besides, they seemed to be doing fine on their own. So with that in mind, Seti leaned on a tree, and watched.

The battle progressed relatively smoothly, moving to a cliff face, as Seti watched continued to watch from the shadows, observing their fighting styles. One fighting style that particularly intrigued him was Blake's. She may have been a cat, but her fighting style was almost like that of his own: fast and precise. She seemed to know exactly when and where she needed so strike, like a snake. Of course, snake and cat styles of fighting were not that different to begin with, when Seti thought about it.

"Enjoying the show?" Seti turned, and saw Ozpin coming up behind him.

"Professor," Seti said respectively. Ozpin looked him over.

"A snake Faunus," he noted, sipping his mug, "You're the first of your kind to come to Beacon."

"Will that… be an issue?"

"No reason it would be. If anything, you're kin should be proud." That may have been a compliment, but Seti felt somewhat offended. This guy clearly didn't know where his kin were, and what life was like for them. Seti wasn't doing proud by them, if anything they probably saw him as sucking up to the mammals. But it wants' like Seti could say that.

"Thank you, sir," he said instead. Ozpin took another swig, watching the teams do battle.

"Seems you don't have a team of your own, though." Seti winced. Here it came…

"Yes it does."

"Relax, not having a team doesn't mean you'll be expelled," Ozpin said, "There is nothing saying that a team can't have five members. So with that, which team would you think would be ideal?" Seti blinked, as he looked at the others. He thought about being on the team with all girls. Being on a team with a Schnee? Not on his life. The half and half team? Seti knew that he'd just be a fifth wheel in a group that clearly had lots of synchronicity.

"I… don't know," he admitted, "I honestly don't think any team would really suit me."

"Is that so?" Ozpin asked.

"I'm a snake," Seti said, "I don't mesh well with others." Ozpin thought about that for a team.

"Very well," he said, "Then there is a simple solution. You will be a free lancer."

"A free lancer?"

"A hunter who has jumps from team to team, fully pledging himself to none. You would go work both of those two teams as you see fit, as well as any other teams you might wish to hunt with." That caught the mamba off guard. The idea of being mostly, if not completely, independent of a team seemed strange. But it also seemed like something that would be right up his alley. Seti worked well alone, and was not one to really fit into a singular station, which being in a team would probably give.

"Alright then," Seti said, "Then that's what I'll do. Thank you, Professor."

"Think nothing of it," Ozpin answered, taking another sip, and glancing at the team, which had slain both Grimm, "Seems that these two teams are going to go forward in life."

(later, in the assembly hall)

Seti watched from the sidelines as all the teams were formed. He took notice to Team RWBY and Team JNPR, the two teams that he watched the fight. He couldn't help but smile. As a free lancer, Seti got to choose which teams he would work with, and both those teams seemed like they ould be good to work with. Of course Schnee still din't seem particularly good to work with.

After the ceremony was over, Seti decided to approach the teams. Coming up to RWBY, he waved.

"Yo!" he said.

"Seti!" Ruby said with a smile.

"Congratulations on your team," Seti said.

"I didn't see you up there," Ruby said, "What team are you on?"

"I'm not on any team," Seti answered, "Ozpin decided I would be a free lancer. I'd work with alone, mostly."

"So you're on your own?" Yang asked.

"In a sense yes, but I can actually work with any team I want," Seti explained.

"That's cool," Ruby said, "So you can work with us, right?"

"Working with a snake, I don't think so!" Weiss said. Blake just shrugged at the notion.

"Well I'd get used to the idea," Seti said, grinning, before walking away. As he did, Ruby looked at her teammates.

"I guess that would make us Team RWBYS," she said.

Note: I would like to thank a friend of mine, who worked as my storyboard, helping me think of certain details, including making Seti a free lancer. I knew he wouldn't really work on either team, and making a completely new team for him would call for another three OCs to be made, in addition to the one I've already got, and the ones that will appear in the future.

It stands mentioning that the black mamba is one of, if not the fastest snake in the world. Its also one of the most venomous, top 5 easily. And since Seti's a black mamba Faunus, he has mamba capabilities.

Be sure to review. I notice I'm getting plenty of followers and faves, so if you're following, you can review.