Hey guys, welcome back. I'm not sorry to say but it looks like I'm wrapping up initiation this chapter. For some reason it has been just awful trying to write though it. As always I hope You will all enjoy and keep reading the future chapters

I do not own RWBY. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum, rest in peice. I do, however, own all original characters in this story unless they are specifically pointed out.

Chapter 6: A Bottomless Tomb

In a split second, all four turned toward the source of the sound. There, just at the forest's edge, was the Queen Thera. It looked awful, more than it would have under normal circumstances. The spider emerged from the forest, its originally beautiful ornate ivory plating on it's head was shattered and cracked from the repeated blows from rocks and the sturdy trees. Many thick gashes remained in its unarmored areas along with thick tree branches which unnaturally jutted out. It was a shell of its former magnificence as it broke out into the clearing.

Around the legendary beast's hairy black legs stood the remnants of its spawn. Many of them, like their queen, had the white glossy eyes of blindness. However, more than a few of them smaller monsters had almost fully maintained their sight, only slightly impaired by the sun. These Grimm would occasionally chirp and make other sharp noises, something theras didn't do under normal circumstances. The spawnlings gathered around their 'mother', seemingly an attempt to regroup. The more soldier-like of them stood on their own from the Queen but still nearby.

"We need to go, NOW." Aidan said as he surveyed the grimm. He noted that despite having exterminated a considerable amount of them, they were still a force that could easily overwhelm them

Aidan turned and ran toward the cliffs that peaked up just over the treetops in the far distance. Megan lovingly tapped her brother on the shoulder and ran after her partner. Bruce knew certain death awaited him if he remained to fight the horde by himself and so, despite all his instincts and desires telling him to fight, retreated along with his comrades. Ran, knowing time was running out, settled on the first chess piece that caught her eye as her artifact: a black rook which unlike all the other pieces seemed to have fallen to its side. Why choose this one? Deep inside she knew exactly why, but let's just say that she found the image of a fallen tower relatable. She unceremoniously grabbed it off of its overturned position and ran after the others.

Having its spawn finally consolidated around itself, the Queen walked forward with long spidery strides. The smaller theras raced after the fleeing initiates at a slightly faster rate than the queen all the while continuing their loud chirping. While in the clearing the huntsmen and huntresses to be would have an advantage of speed, but the moment the spiders grimm reached the forest they would be in their element and would quickly overtake the four.

…

Megan whipped around and slashed one of the pursuing theras across the 'face' with one of her silvery knives. Bruce ran beside her, his shield battering away the enemy while his axe chopped any that got past that.

"Where are Aidan and Ran?" Megan asked over the chirping as she leaped over a fallen tree trunk and dodged a smaller spider leaping from the trees above.

"I saw Foxy in the treetops a little while ago, but it looks like Whats-his-face got separated somewhere. To be honest I wasn't really paying attention." He wiped some ash from his shoulder looked back up to the branches above, hoping to see a glimpse of his partner.

High above in the trees, out of the sight of her friends or the enemy, Ran leapt from branch to branch. She never missed a step or slowed, keeping her feet swift and her eyes sharp all the while. Only a little ways ahead she could see the grey cliffs. The wind had picked up considerably, with the hot sun disappearing behind the dull clouds causing the temperature to drop noticeably.

"I hope it doesn't rain." Ran thought to herself, as she had never been one to like the rain. Carefully, she dropped down from the upper branches and slowly descended, branch by branch, back down the the forest floor. As she caught back up to her normal speed, she could feel the ground trembling as each of the Queen's feet stuck the ground. Far behind her she could hear the almost silent scuttling of the Theras spawn chasing their prey. Simply the thought of the horde and Queen would fill anyone with chills, so Ran had an excuse.

Finally she burst out from the trees and stopped short of a large crevice separating where she was and the cliff face. The chasm dropped down into a seemingly endless void with the bottom bottom hidden behind a thick mist. The gap was extremely wide and was impassable by normal means.

"Uh oh, that's not good." Ran whispered to herself. Carefully she weighed her options and more closely observed the chasm. Remains in the form of stone pillars lurked right above the mist, as if a small bridge had collapsed a long time ago. Across the gap, near the base of the cliffs, a steep staircase seemed to be etched into the rock which rose up to the tops of the cliffs.

Before she reached a decision on what to do, a couple shots rang out from the forest, causing a few small birds to fly away in fright from the trees. Ran stopped short and gripped Onna, her sword, in its sheath. A few yells followed before two red haired individuals sprinted out from the wood. Bruce tried to stop himself and balanced on the edge of the chasm for a second before Megan pulled him back. One of the larger theras emerged after them, ready to pounce on the two unready initiates, only to be 'cut off' by an axe swiping its head from the rest of its body. The beast fell to the ground as the axe quickly wizzed back to its owner.

"Where's Aiden?" Ran yelled over to the twins as they made their way over to her.

"I don't know, we lost him a little ways back." Bruce reverted his weapon from its shotgun form to its halberd version.

"He probably just fell a little behind." Megan suggested as she scanned the trees for any sight of her partner or the enemy.

"Whatever happened to him, we have to get to the other side of this. This should be the edge of the emerald forest if I remember right. Any ideas?" Ran said as she contemplated. Bruce turned away from the forest, as he trusted his sister to watch his back.

"Well, What if we should head down the edge until we find a more narrow crossing. It can't be this wide forever, right?" Bruce grabbed a rock and chucked it into the void as Megan suggested this.

"That's stupid, Megs." Bruce said, mercilessly shooting her suggestion down "We need to get over ASAP. We don't have time to go looking for a better crossing."

Ran chuckled and landed a more the light punch of Bruce's arm.

"I hope you like tightroping." And with that contextless statement, she backed away from the edge a dozen feet and charged full blast at the edge. With impressive speed she shot away and arced into the fog.

"The heck!?" Bruce exclaimed, confused on a variety of levels.

"Did she just kill herself?"

Then the twins saw Ran's axe rise from the fog and hook around on of the stone pillars rising slightly from it. After a few second Ran flew from the void and landed on the far side of the chasm unharmed.

"How do ya' like me now." She shouted back to the two.

…

Aidan brought his foot down hard on the head of one of his grimm assailants followed by a dull crunch. Quickly he scanned the immediate area for his artifact.

Dang it, not here either." Aidan brought Ravager around and ran it up though the chest of a charging beowolf. "Where in the world did it go. I couldn't have lost it that long ago."

Aidan knew the queen was coming. And he felt the dread and panic inside him increase with each passing second. And that theras and beowolves didn't help the situation any.

Aidan jumped over a dead tree trunk and again scanned the ground. Nothing. A small spawnling jumped down from the trees above and attempted to chomp down on his back. A sharp pain ran through his body as he slammed backward into the tree trunk, easily crushing the tiny monster.

"Uh oh, my aura is faltering." As if on cue Aidan felt sick to his stomach in more ways than one. "Ugh, at least these things aren't poisonous."

Getting down on his hands and knees, Aidan searched closely around the area. He was sure that it had to be around somewhere. If he couldn't find it, he risked death or causing himself and Megan to fail initiation. The he spotted the black wood of the tiny tower.

"There you are you chunk of wood." Aidan said gleefully to himself and he snatched it from the shadows and put it away. "And not a moment too soon." An all too familiar rhythmic thudding could be felt in the ground, giving him a chill down his spine. It was definitely getting closer.

With no reason to be chilling in the grass and moss, Aidan quickly got to his feet and hurried toward the cliffs.

…

"Just don't look down." Ran shouted across with a chuckle.

"Shut up. That never works." Megan said, less then happy about the wind shifting the metal tightrope back and forth slightly. At one end of the rope stood Ran who had pulled it tight around a rock that stuck out of the ground. At the other, the spike end had implanted itself into the bottom of one of the tree near the forest's edge. Bruce, wanting to make sure it wouldn't break for his lightweight sister, had already crossed and stood at the far side with his arms crossed. While he was confident in his sister's ability, a slight amount of concern could be just barely be seen on his face.

Carefully Megan put one foot on the thin cord followed by the other. She didn't waste any time and was soon moving one foot after the other as carefully as she could while moving faster than a turtle with a broken leg.

Shots in rapid succession could be heard in the distance, not near enough to be of any concern of the trio but not too far away to be quiet.

"Just focus on what you're trying to do. The faster you get over here, the sooner we'll be out of this stupid forest." Bruce yelled out.

"I'm trying."

It was at this moment that Aidan, came into Ran and Bruce's view. His wavy blond hair blown back out of it natural state, he stopped exhausted at the tree that Ran's metal tightrope remained attached to.

Still mostly out of breath he yelled out to his partner. "Get over as quickly as you can. The grimm are just back there." Carefully lifting off the metal plate on his vambrace, Aidan ejected an empty magazine of dust rounds and tucked it away on his belt before grabbing a fresh mag and jamming it in.

"Hey!" Ran waved slightly from across the way. Bruce furrowed his eyebrows slightly but said nothing. Megan was happy to see that her partner was alright but decided now was not the time to express it. More determined, she turned back and continued her tense and perilous trip.

Aidan turned back to the dark woods just as a beowolf jumped out and smashed into him, almost driving him off the edge. Quickly Aidan slashed left and right with his blade before flipping over behind the beast. Kicking the beowolf off the edge into the abyss, he leaped back into the forest to make sure he didn't receive another close call like that again.

Seeing this, Bruce wished he had gotten his sister to cross first instead of himself. If he had then she would already be out of harm's way and he may have been able to dirty his axe some more.

Megan moved ever closer to the opposite side, drawing nearer and nearer by the second. soon enough, despite the frequent wind gusts that seemed to come from the chasm below and unsettled the cord, she made it to the other side.

"Alright Aidan, Your turn!" Ran shouted out to her friend.

Aidan brought his boot swiftly down on the one of one of the enemy theras, producing a sickening crunch as it smashed through the exoskeleton. Not missing a beat, he whipped Ravager around and cleaved another in half though its midsection. Upon hearing the 'okay', Aidan made his way back to the ledge. The spike at the end of Ran's grapple seemed to still be strongly hooking into the tree but just the thought of the chasm below filled him with an inherent dread.

"Now that I think about this…" Aidan swallowed hard, knowing full well what remained for him if he didn't cross.

Trying not to think about it, he forced his foot on the thin metal strand. Each step thereafter was agonizing, he could just feel his insides screaming at him for this just as he was internally doing. Grimm emerged from the forest and stood at the edge, one or two of the smaller ones falling from the edge. However, Aidan was too far out for them to reach him, and most of the grimm lacked the motor skills to be able to come after him on the cord. The spawnlings that could easily skitter over it after him were not there. And thus he felt at ease, well as much as a person who was afraid of heights could be over heights.

Then the entire cord lurched.

Careful to turn around slowly and keep his balance, he looked back to see the grimm ripping into the tree that acted as an anchor for the cord.

"Great. Just great."

The cord lurched again, the spike anchored into the wood giving slightly away. Ran, at the other end, readjusted herself and pulled the cord tight again in an attempt to maintain the cords tension.

Aidan knew if this kept up that it would be the end for him if he didn't react fast. Quickly he raised his left arm, leveling the small black barrel toward the grimm.

It was, in this moment that a lot happened at once. The Queen's long black legs emerged from out of the greenery, revealing to all four of the initiates that their problems had caught up to them. The cord gave way again slightly causing it to unbalance Aidan's aim, just as he fired a single 44 magnum dust round. The bullet smashed into the wood right next to the anchor, causing splinters to fly and the spike to completely dislodge from the tree. Aidan suddenly felt weightless, as one of his greatest fears suddenly became a reality. All he could feel was a sharp chill go down his spine as he began to plummet downward.

Ran, who had been using her body to leverage the cord, fell onto the ground in an unceremonious clamor as her metal armor smashed into the rock. Megan watched in horror as she watched her partner disappear into the fog below.

"AIDAN!" Megan yelled as she stared down hopelessly into the unknown.

"Did that seriously just happen." Bruce said a little flabbergasted. "Our first time to show our skills and somebody dies. That's just great."

Ran sat on the ground in silence.

The somber mood was cut off prematurely as they heard a loud thud followed by a grown.

"If you guys don't mind. I'd like to come up please." The voice of the blond echoed up the chasm.

As Aidan was falling he had inadvertently grabbed onto Ran's cable. Upon realizing what it was, he held onto it for dear life until he slammed into the side of the chasm.

Bruce smiled slightly. "Darn it, I thought we were rid of you." He yelled down to Aidan as Ran slowly withdrew her grapple, thus pulling Aidan up with it. Aidan slowly appeared from the fog and looked back across to see the cut off pursuers.

Many of the grimm knew their prey were beyond their reach and slowly dispersed. Other, most of the younger and inexperienced ones remained at the edge out of simple stupidity. However the Queen, certainly the smartest and most clever of them all, remained still. Its spawnlings remained at its side chirping away with high pitched noises in unknown communication.

"Uh, guys… It's not leaving. I don't know how to feel about this?" Megan said as she rushed over to the edge to help Aidan onto firm ground. As she did, she watched the spawnling theras begin to climb up their 'mother's' legs.

The Queen slowly extended one of its long spikes of feet and hesitantly moved it out toward one of the stone pillars that jutted just out of the fog. Amazingly its foot reached the pillar and the Queen brought another leg forward.

"Its… Its crossing." Ran whimpered out, utterly bewildered at the gigantic creature.

The stone pillars were just large enough and spaced so that the Queen was able to move along them with little trouble.

Bruce and Megan both attacked the monstrosity with Bruce firing round after round from his Halberd and Megan tossing various knives at it as well. Ran approached from behind and, realizing she was of very little use at long range, leaped from the edge and grappled her way over towards the beast. The Queen stopped almost halfway through its advance as Ran swung near and focused more of its attention on smacking the faunus away with one of its black legs.

Aidan raised his arm at the Queen but hesitated as he saw a bit of rock fall from the side of one of the pillars after one of Megan's knives bounced away and exploded nearby. With everyone's various attempts to slay the beast having little to no effect, he reloaded his vambrace with a different magazine decorated with a white band.

"Quick everybody, take out those pillars." Aidan shouted to the other initiates and shot three rounds into the stone underneath the monster. The ancient pillar, however strong and masterfully built long ago, could not stand the test of time. The bullets made impact and exploded, causing large chunks of stone to fly away and fall into the abyss below.

The twins quickly realized what Aidan was talking about and turned their attention to the pillar rather than the distracted grimm. Ran grappled to one of the pillars and arched just over the the bone plating of the Queen. Quickly she slashed a few times, but didn't manage to penetrate the armor. She did this a few times, all the while the miniature grimm trying their best to do damage in return, but only once or twice managed to actually damage it. The Queen let out a high pitch screech and swiped at her once more. Under normal circumstances, this beast would have been much quicker, however that didn't mean it wasn't still fast in comparison. Ran tried her best to deflect the blow but was hit directly and was sent flying back toward her friends, crash landing into the ground.

This whole time however the Queen, clever as it was, did not realize what danger it was in. Thus by the time it turned its attention back to the other three it was already too late. The pillar it had centralized most of its weight on began to collapse. It was already out of reach of the pillar behind it, so there was no longer a retreat.

The pillar, due to the chunks of stone being taken out on the side facing the initiates, began to fall in their direction. Sensing this motion, the Queen rose the tower and pounced in hope of reaching the other side. The remaining spawnlings flew off from the sudden movement and plunged down into the abyss. The Queen, however, rocketed over the last pillar and reached out its front legs for the rocky ledge.

Now, no doubt you have seen something like one of these creepy devils on a vertical surface somewhere watching you while you sleep or something like that. This ability is not something that these creatures have due to their difference in size in places other than on their own webs. You can imagine the result of a beast with a body the size of a tank trying to climb up a ledge with only a few of its legs actually gripping the top.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Aidan, Megan, Ran, and Bruce all just looked at the two branch sized spider legs holding on for dear life. Ran's face had become extremely pale and everyone else was rather shook up as well.

Finally Bruce spoke up. "Uh… Someone should finish it off or something. We can't just leave it here." It was clear that nobody actually wanted to get too close to it.

Aidan, after another few seconds of complete silence, stepped forward toward the edge.

Looking over the edge made him feel more than a little uneasy but not because of the height. The creature of both atrocity and beauty stared up at him with a look of hatred and hunger.

"You'd better hope the there is a bottom down there because you are gonna want the fall to kill you before the flames do." Aidan said to the monster as he reverted his left wrist armor to its flamethrower form. Focusing hard, everything went into slow motion. The small flame coming out of the barrel seemed to form a sharp point and Aidan could feel his aura building up in the weapon. Finally he was ready to unleash its devastation.

"Burn."

*FWOOSH* (That's right. Flamethrowers make that exact sound in real life. Seriously though it is really hard for me to take my own sound effects seriously, so just laugh with me at my attempt.)

Blue flames covered the black and white figure. It shrieked and flailed but after a few moments it let go and fell noisily into the abyss below with the oddly colored flames flecking behind it.

...

Megan's heart hammered in her chest as she watched team after team go up onto the stage. Each was assigned their team name and were told who among them would lead their team before sitting down. Not much to it, right. Just go up, stand there then leave. Megan's pulse, however, begged to differ.

"What if I do something stupid. What if I humiliate myself in front of them all. Can't we just, I don't know, go into the headmaster's office and do this in a less massively public area. We don't have to do it like this. Oh no... We're next!" Megan turned her attention off her feet and looked back up at the stage.

"... The four of you retrieved the black pawn pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team MAIZ. Lead by… Marygold Meinir." All four members of the new team stood proudly but none of them outshone their leader whose face was lit up with happiness. As they began to walk off the stage Megan knew that it was her group's turn. Aidan walked up first followed in succession by Ran then Bruce and lastly Megan herself.

Thinking back, the chances of both pairs choosing the same two pieces was surprisingly small and that there must have been some force that had caused it to happen. Weather that just be chance, luck, or some unknown being.

All four lined up before the grey haired headmaster Ozpin with their arms behind their back in respect , just as they had seen the others before them do. That is, except for Bruce who simply had his arms crossed over his chest.

"Aidan Iolar… Megan Clancy… Bruce Clancy… Ran Rommel. The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces." His brown eyes went to each new Hunter and Huntress as he said their name.

"From this day forward you will work together as team AMBR. Lead by… Aidan Iolar." Megan turned quickly to see her partner's face which looked more than a little shocked.

"Why are you shocked? You totally earned it." Megan said with an uncontrollable smile spreading across her lips.

Bruce on the other hand was a little less than pleased.

The new team AMBR soon were off the stage and the last few teams went up and went through the same process.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin said finishing up the ceremony.

"Why do I get the feeling that is the understatement… of the year." Megan chuckled slightly at her pun.

"Come on guys. Let's go congratulate everyone."

…

"Foxy, run back and get the last little bit of luggage. I've got these bags but Megan and the other guy are putting stuff away." Bruce commanded more than asked as the two partners navigated the Halls outside the dorms, with Bruce almost dropping a suitcase in the process.

"Sure thing." Ran gave a thumbs up and began to jog back down the hall. "Oh wait! I forgot to give this back." Ran undid the black cloth around her forehead brought it back to her partner.

"I don't want it. It's all bloody and sweaty. Just throw it away or keep it… or whatever." Bruce rolled his eyes as he walked away.

Ran sighed and tied it around her wrist so she would remember to wash it later. Quickly she jogged down the hall. As soon as she turned the corner though she slowed down and looked around.

"Nobody. Good" Ran sighed as she pulled a small grey clip from her hair and stick it in her ear. Slowly she walked over to one of the nearby windows and opened it, letting fresh air in.

"Come in… Hey, I said come in." Ran tapped on the piece of metal in her ear to make sure it was on. After a moment she grinned revealing her sharp almost canine like teeth.

"Yeah. Everything turned out fine. Initiation wasn't that hard and I don't think remaining inconspicuous should be a problem." Ran leaned against the window cile.

"Yeah, Yeah. I found the target… Of course I'm not going to do anything stupid. Just observation and a little snooping is all… But I do have one question. What if she discovers me." She stopped grinning and her face went serious.

"Got it. If it comes to it, I can. But as for now all that's left to do is wait. Ran out."

Ran sighed again and glanced up at the white shape in the sky, her slightly luminescent eyes reflecting the shattered moon back into the darkness

Hey, welcome to the bottom. Wasn't that a twist. Surely Ran couldn't have any malicious intent, could she? In any case I'm really tired because for some reason I wait until like midnight to do the finishing touches on this chapter, so I don't really have much to say here.

I hoped you all liked this chapter alright. If you feel like it give me your opinion, just don't be a butt. Drop a review or even a PM if for some reason you want to get into contact with me for some random reason.

Blacklightning

Next Time: *insert legit chapter name here*