RWBY: Paths of Light and Dark
Chapter VI: Team Meetings
A/N: I'm just going to go out on a limb and say everyone enjoys my writing. I have to make this assumption because hardly anyone leaves a review regarding their thoughts or opinions. My drive to write isn't based off of reviews but having them helps me to grow as a writer because I'll get feedback into which areas of my writing need work. It's not like it takes long to do one, just saying. Anyway enjoy this string of multiple updates because my creativity refuses to be contained.
Iselia Forest
Sunlight glistened on the morning dew left behind by yesterday's rainfall. In a large artificial clearing of the forest a group of young men and a woman awoke. More precise to say, that three of them woke as the fourth had been awake and standing guard over the camp.
One of the members of the quartet, the young woman who had light dusty red-colored hair, looked at the person who had stood guard while yawning.
"Damn Crimson, do you ever sleep?" she asked aloud as she continued to stretch.
The young man named Crimson opened his left eye, the only one visible due to the spikey bangs of his silver-white hair covering the most of the right side of his face. The blood-red iris stared ahead into the trees before scanning over the camp. Crimson adjusted the dark ruby-red scarf that covered the lower-half of his face while the two ends trailed down past his waist.
"Sleep lowers your defenses to practically nothing. Someone must keep watch at all times so as to disrupt an ambush." Crimson finally answered although his smooth deep voice was heavily muffled behind the scarf he wore.
"Leave him be Lavi, you know how ninja are." A male's voice called out from Crimson's left side.
A young man with black fox ears protruding from the side of his head smiled at his two companions as he walked to the center of the camp. Crimson looked at the male with slight contempt in his eye.
"Taz Argent, you fell asleep during your shift." Crimson mentioned with an aggravated tone.
Taz Argent merely shrugged and smiled as his ears wiggled slightly. "Carmine, Carmine, Carmine. I knew you were awake which is why I felt comfortable falling asleep." The young fox faunus explained.
For a faunus his age Taz was built heavy, at five foot eight and two-hundred pounds of raw strength. One look at Taz and you could tell he was a fighter. His slanted green eyes had a hidden fire in them; combined with his warrior-styled black dreadlock hair with silver tips gave off a dangerous aura. He was currently dress in a silver tank-top with a black lightning bolt styled in the center underneath a black aviator jacket with silver fur lining; as well as slim black plants with silver streaks traveling down the sides and silver boots with black lining across the bottom.
Crimson looked at Taz and narrowed his eyes. "Does your immaturity know no bounds?" he asked venomously. "I've told you not to call me by my last name. We are not friends." He continued before walking up to Taz and starring the faunus directly in the eye.
Crimson Carmine stood four inches taller than Taz but the shorter male didn't flinch. Crimson's attire was meant to be intimidating, but was having little to no effect on Taz. The young hunter was dressed in loose fitting black pants made of flexible materials with twin white streaks running down the front and back. The pants strapped near the ankle by Crimson's obi sandals. Wrapped around his waist was a black cloth belt with a golden skull for the buckle. His top was an open-chested long-sleeved jacket made from the same flexible material as his pants.
Over the jacket was an armor strapping consisting of two bone-like pauldrons attached to a partial ribcage. The armor for the most part prevented blunt force damage to Crimson's torso. He also wore a pair of full bone-plated gauntlets that covered both his forearms as well as the backs of his hands. The armoring on his hands had the added effect of including natural bone protrusions over his knuckles for added offense capabilities.
Looking at the two males square off the young woman sighed and walked in between them. "Look you two, just cool it ok." She spoke to them using her arms to physically push them apart.
"We didn't survive those three days together just to kill one another now." She continued looking between Crimson and Taz. Her two companions however never broke their gaze. She looked around for the final member of their group and saw the young man sitting down silently eating a bowl of fruit.
"Viridian, come over here and sign some sense into Crimson." She called out.
The young man ignored her causing the female to sigh and walk over to him. Viridian looked up as the woman began to charade her command to him. Grabbing his twin sawn-off lever action shotguns Viridian stood and placed them into the holsters on his back before walking over to Crimson and Taz. When he was sure that they could see him Viridian began using sign-language to communicate with Crimson. Taz watched the two of them go at it and shook his head before walking away towards the female.
"I can't make heads or tails of what they're doing." He stated as he reached her and began eating some of Viridian's fruit.
"I can only make out bits and pieces but from the looks of it, everything will be fine." The girl informed Taz.
Taz looked at the girl sitting next to him and tilted his head to the side slightly. "What is it about you Lavi that makes you want to keep the peace?" he asked her.
Lavi looked at Taz and smiled in response. Lavi and Taz had run into one another during the first day of the trial after fighting off multiple packs of beowolves. It was strange to Taz that a human would be so open to trusting a faunus but Lavi had explained to him that she was raised by a faunus couple after being orphaned at a young age.
Physically Lavi was pretty average, she stood about the same height as Taz. She had an attractive thickness to her and dusty ash-colored eyes. Her dusty-red, almost rust colored hair had the tips dyed yellowish-orange and was styled in a short cut to just above her shoulders. The right side of her face had twin burn scars streaking across her cheek from temple to chin.
She was currently wearing an open red sleeveless trench coat over a black short sleeve midriff cut shirt with a volcano in the center along with a pair of lava colored denim jeans and slate-gray shin high boots. The exposing midriff section of her shirt showed large X-shaped burn scar across her stomach. She lay her head against Taz's shoulder and continued smiling.
"Do I need a reason to want peace?" she asked the young faunus while the two of them continued to watch Viridian and Crimson communicate via sign language.
After a few more minutes Crimson stopped and turned towards the duo. He and Viridian had joined Taz and Lavi at the end of the first day after a small scuffle over the clearing with each duo wanting it for themselves so from the get-go Taz and Crimson had locked horns. The group had been able to fend off Grimm attacks for the next two days under Taz's leadership which Crimson had trouble admitting was actually decent. Today however marked the end of the seventy-two-hour survival portion of their entrance exam.
"How do you think they'll let us know where to go after this?" Lavi asked the group. Crimson translated her words with sign language for Viridian. The young man was partially deaf, from what Lavi and Taz had learned. Viridian could hear sounds but to him everything sounded exactly the same, a dull thumping.
They had asked him whether or not he thought being deaf increased the danger of being a hunter. Viridian told them how when he was young he had doubts as to whether he could be one or not but after specialized training under another deaf hunter whom he called, Mr. Frame, he got the skills and confidence needed to help him achieve his dream.
"They'll probably send extraction pods into the forest and have us go reach them." Crimson stated with a bored tone in his voice. The ninja-esque hunter had revealed very little of himself to Taz or Lavi aside from his name and that he had been personally called to attend the academy by the headmistress herself.
After seeing his skills first-hand over the past two days, Taz and Lavi didn't doubt that he had been scouted. Crimson had a lithe muscular frame built for speed. It also deceptively hid his true strength as the young man chose to wield a massive double-bladed great sword.
The handle of the weapon was easily four or five hand lengths. Its pommel was trapezoid in shape with claw-like spikes protruding from the bottom. The base of the blade connected directly to the handle with no cross-guard in-between. The base was rounded as there was a hollow space in between where a golden disk rested and was anchored to the inner sides by four rods.
On each side of the rounded base were armor-like protrusions which acted as handguards. From the base upwards the fuller ran almost five feet long. The actual bladed edge of the weapon consisted of multiple serrated teeth that ran on each side of the blade. The tip of the blade was an enlarged crescent shape that gave the weapon an almost axe-like appearance.
One look at the weapon and it was easy to tell this sword wasn't meant to slice its victims but to shred and mutilate them. The mystery of how Crimson was able to wield such a beast was still lingering in both Taz and Lavi's minds.
"That seems to be the most logical approach, since they did just randomly drop us into the forest." Taz mused as he chewed a blade of grass.
The young faunus hadn't truly asked to lead this group but during the first night when they had been attacked he took charge of the situation since he had been the one on sentry duty at the time. Taz's laid back personality rubbed Crimson the wrong way and he knew it.
At the time of battle however all trace of his antics were gone as he focused on keeping everyone alive. Taz wielded a pair of tonfa blades. The weapons were really a fusion of pistol and swords at the core. The short end of the tonfa acted as the pistol's barrels. The triggers being placed on the thumb side of the weapons handles.
The bladed portion of the weapon ran along the outside of the weapon's shaft which meant it could double as defensive parrying as well offensive striking weapon. By interlocking the handles into the hollow shafts of the two weapons Taz was able to transform the tonfas into a double-bladed battle axe.
On the battlefield Taz and Crimson had taken the vanguard position by rushing in to clear up the initial wave of enemies. It hadn't taken long Crimson to match Taz's flow in battle as the cut down the various Grimm that had invaded their camp.
They were supported by Lavi who despite her small frame wielded a large flamethrower with two separate ammunition canisters. Viridian used hit and run tactics as he wielded his twin shotguns with surprising dexterity. The four young warriors had learned more about each other during the days and nights of combat they endured than they did during the silences in between.
There was a long sharp whistling sound that broke the conversation causing the group to look towards its source. Overhead they saw multiple aircraft flying through the air. Taz smirked and looked at the group.
"Not exactly extraction pods, but I'm not going to complain about a free ride back." He stated as he began to signal one of the aircraft by sending bolts of silver electricity into the sky. All around them they began to see similar signals fly up as other survivors signaled the crafts.
AS the craft touched down and opened Taz and his group were greeted by an instructor who was different from the four that had guided all the groups to the trams just three days before.
"Congratulations on surviving. You'll be taken back to the academy for now to help prepare you for the second trial. Please climb aboard." The man instructed them.
The group climbed into the vehicle and saw that it was occupied by six other passengers.
"Looks like these guys beat us to the punch." Taz joked as he took a seat next to one of the occupants, a female with dark bronze-colored hair. The other members of his group found themselves sitting with the occupants and began to talk amongst them regarding everything they had been through.
The aircraft took off and continued searching the forest for survivors for roughly two more hours. They managed to pick up thirty-seven more people before the aircraft began its return trip back to the academy.
Valethornia Academy - Amphitheater
The surviving members from the first initiation trial sat in the amphitheater and spoke amongst themselves. Their numbers which had shrunk considerable from the initial thousand or so to only a couple hundred between the speech and first trial was now barely topping off at two-hundred. The academy's faculty stood on the raised platform in the center of the amphitheater.
From the left side entrance, the headmistress walked out and caused the students, since that's what they were now to grow quiet. She climbed the platform and turned to address them. Her eyes scanned the group and each student could feel her presence, the weight of her existence, upon their body.
"So, this is what I'm left to work with?" she asked which caused a hushed silence to pass through the crowd. "I've seen worse." She continued as she began pacing back and forth.
"Over the past three days we have observed each and every one of you as you survived what the forest had for you. You were scored and graded based off of your choices and the choices of others." The headmistress informed them causing looks of concern to grace some of the students faces.
"Based off your results you have been placed on teams we feel will be best suited to your talents. For some of you this means forgetting who you have survived with for the past few days and for others it means learning to work with a group instead of surviving solo." She told them.
"We've sent you the room number associated with your team as well as its name and formation to your scrolls. You are all to head to your assigned room and wait for further instructions regarding the second trial. You are dismissed." She told them with a sharp wave of dismissal.
One by one the students began to open their scrolls and leave the amphitheater to find their rooms.
Room 132B
Sable Argotera sat on her bed painting her nails when she heard the door open. Standing in the frame was tall young man with a metallic wolf behind him. Sable looked at the man with a slightly bored expression. "Roanos Stormcloud and that must be your weapon, Fenrir." She stated simply.
Roanos narrowed his eyes at sable and growled slightly. "How do you know who we are?" he asked walking into the spacious room before sitting on the couch near the center.
"I'm a second year student. You and others were assigned to me because you are exceptionally well-versed hunters in some way shape or form." Sable answered still bored.
"So what, you were given a dossier of some sort on all of us?" Roanos asked as Fenrir curled up into a ball and went to sleep.
Before sable could answer the door opened once more and revealed two more people. A girl with red hair and child-looking young man with long wavy black hair that was currently tied in a ponytail.
"Hi there, my name is Lavi Southwark. This guy is Viridian O'Neill." The girl introduced pointing first to herself and then to her companion.
At this Sable dropped down from her bed, which had been hanging off the wall and walked over to Lavi and Viridian. "A pyromaniac, a psychopath, an antisocialist and a deaf kid, the headmistress must really hate us if she thinks we'll function as a team." She stated while scratching the back of her head.
"Whatever, welcome to team SLVR, I'm your leader Sable Argotera. Just try not to get yourselves killed ok?" Sable stated as she looked over her new teammates.
Room 149C
Roane, Orpheus, and Jett all walked together down the hall looking for their room. When they found it they were surprised to see that they weren't the first to arrive. Standing in the center of the room was a young man dressed as a ninja. The trio looked at one another and then at the young man.
"I guess he must be our fourth guy, Crimson Carmine." Orpheus stated aloud. His two companions nodded and together they moved towards the stranger.
"Hey there I'm-" Jett started but was interrupted by a swift punch to the face. In a split second Crimson was fighting all three of the other males and in less than five had already put them on their backs.
"Pathetic, this is who I'm stuck with?" the silver-white haired warrior asked from behind his scarf.
Jett stood angrily and glared daggers at Crimson. "What the fuck is your problem, we're on the same team!" he exclaimed.
Crimson closed his eyes and turned away from Jett to look at Orpheus. "I needed to test you all to see if you were even suitable to be on the same team with me." He answered as Orpheus and Roane stood to their feet.
"My initial thought is that you guys will prove adequate meat shields." He continued causing Jett to clench his teeth. Roane placed a hand on Jett's shoulder and shook his head.
"Let it go man, he's not worth it." Roane said calming his friend down.
Orpheus sighed and shook his head. "This, this is how Team ORCJ first meets. God damn it all." He mused.
Room 169C
Taz Argent walked into room one-sixty-nine "C" along with his new teammate Amber Isolon. He had briefly met Amber on the aircraft earlier but during the walk from the amphitheater had gotten to know her better. Inside he and amber saw two young women already inside. One of the woman was in the middle of undressing while the other lay down on the couch in the center of the room.
"Maly, our teammates are here." The woman who was undressing said and continued as if nothing had changed.
Malyganya lifted her head and looked at Taz and Amber with an inquisitive expression. "I like the look of you guys." She stated simply before laying her head back down. "We're Team MTAL. I'm Malyganya Oregenera, your leader. I'm officially making Taz Argent second-in-command." She told them as the neutral tone of her voice never changed.
The girl who had undressed was now down to her underwear and smiled at Taz and Amber. "I'm Layla." She introduced herself. "Don't mind Maly, she kind of antisocial but she means well." Layla explained before grabbing a towel and heading out the door.
Headmistress' Office
The soft blue glow of the monitor illuminated the otherwise darkened room. In front of the monitor a middle-age woman sat. Her eyes scanned the screen before her as she analyzed the data from the first trial. The woman smiled to herself and leaned back in her chair.
"Well this is certainly an interesting batch of recruits. Let's see how they do during the second trial."
A/N: This was an interesting chapter for me to do since it was just plot and exposition. Team Names and Colors for those who need translation. SLVR – Silver ORCJ – Orchid MTAL - Metal