Chapter 6: Into the Woods
Roland spread his arms out as he was falling into the forest. He then released a couple of energy waves from his sword at the ground to slow down his fall before raising his shield to deflect the incoming branches. He then plunged his sword into a tree, kicked off of it, and used his shield to cushion his fall to the ground. He then got onto his feet and checked for any enemies nearby. His surroundings were clear and he proceeded to his objective after sheathing his sword. Elsewhere, Ella was falling and turned her lance into a rifle and shot at the ground in order to slow her fall. She then turned her rifle into a lance and speared a nearby tree and flipped around her lance before releasing her lance from the tree, landing on the ground gracefully. Yeah, perfect! she thought. After assessing her surroundings she made her way to her objective. Scarla loaded wind dust into her bow and shot an arrow to the ground, creating an upward gust that slowed her fall. She then turned her bow into her two daggers which she used to spear a tree, sliding down the ground. Oh thank goodness… she thought and moved on after checking the area. As Téa fell, she stabbed a tree with her katana and twirled around the tree as she continued to slow her fall. She then leapt from the tree as she pulled her katana out of it, and rolled as she hit the ground, katana ready for any enemies. Seeing as the area was clear, she sheathed her sword and moved on.
As Roland moved through the forest, he began to think about suitable teammates for himself. Hmm, who would be a good teammate? he thought. Obviously I'd like to find Scarla and Ella but that might not be the case. Let's see, there's Ruby: the two of us would get along well but I think she might suffer from a lack of experience. There's Yang: she seems confident and talented but I detect recklessness in her. Weiss seems capable but prideful as a result, and Jaune seems like he wouldn't be too great in a fight. That leaves Pyrrha and Téa… Roland continued to walk through the woods as he thought.
As he walked, he heard a twig snap and stopped, hand on his sword. He looked around, ready for anything, and all went quiet. After about thirty seconds, which felt like an hour to Roland, five Beowolves leapt out of the bushes at Roland. He avoided the strike from the first Beowolf and drew his sword, decapitating the next two Beowolves in a single stroke. The remaining three then all rushed Roland at once. He carefully watches their attacks and blocks two with his shield and the remaining one with his sword. He then rolls forward to get out of the bad position he was in and proceeds to counterattack. He avoids the attacks of two of the Beowolves and blocks the attack of the third with his shield. He then cut its legs before delivering two fatal cuts to its torso. He jumped to avoid another strike from one of the remaining two Beowolves, decapitating it as he was over its head. As Roland lands, he sees the last Beowolf coming at him, and quickly deals with it with an upward cut, splitting it in half. He then examined his surroundings and sees that the area is clear. He then put away his shield and sword, twirling his sword in his left hand before sheathing it.
However, just as he began to proceed, an Ursa leapt out of the bushes, blocking his path. As the Grimm charged at him, he gripped his sword, ready to fight once more but saw a strike almost as fast as lightning take down the Grimm from behind. He looks in surprise as he saw Téa with her katana raised, showing that she was responsible for the strike. Her katana was made with what looked like the finest technology and that the edge of the blade glowed with energy, far too futuristic than her traditional samurai look gave. "Whew, made it!" she said.
"Impressive," Roland said. "While I could've handled the situation, your help is appreciated." His ego took a bit of a hit from having to be helped with a single Grimm.
Téa giggled at Roland's reaction and said, "Well I'm happy to help, even at the cost of your pride." She clearly saw through Roland's attempt to maintain his pride as a huntsman.
Further humbled, Roland said, "Let's just go. From now on, we're a team."
"Alright, after you," Téa said with a wink, further embarrassing Roland.
As the two of them walked on, he heard fighting in the distance and had a worried look on his face. "What's wrong?" Téa asked.
"I can hear fighting in the distance," Roland replied. "It seems we're not the only ones who have encountered the enemy. I sure hope Scarla and Ella are alright…"
"They'll be fine," Téa reassured. "They made it here didn't they? If so, I believe they can take care of themselves."
"Yes, I know that, but still, I'm their brother: it's my duty to protect them."
"Aw, you really are sweet to your sisters aren't you? They're lucky to have such a kind older brother as yourself. Despite that, you won't be able to protect them from everything. Those times will be their times to grow on their own."
Roland's face relaxed as he was reassured by Téa's words. "Thank you Téa. I needed to hear that."
Téa smiled at him. "It's my pleasure! I've been told I have knack for cheering people up!"
"Heh, you sound just like Ella. I have a feeling you'll get along swimmingly with my sisters." On that note, the two continued to their objective.
After Scarla landed, she warily continued to her objective, hoping to find Roland or Ella. Okay, she thought, I have to find Roland or Ella, but if I don't, who'd be a good teammate? Well, there's Ruby and Yang, b-but I'm still nervous around them. Pyrrha would be great teammate: she's kind, pretty, and an excellent fighter. I'm comfortable around her too so she'd be a good fit. Then there's Téa: seems nice but I still have my problem of being nervous around her… She continued to walk along, carefully scanning her surroundings.
She then heard a twig snap nearby. "H-Hello?" she said. "I-Is someone there?" More twigs began to snap followed by the rustling of bushes. She got out her bow in case it was a Grimm. "I-If you're someone, please respond!" She grew more nervous by the moment. She had always fought with either Roland or Ella, so fighting alone was a new experience for her. The bush rattled fiercely as an Ursa leapt out of the bush at her, causing her to scream in terror. She then froze as the Ursa came closer to her. What do I do? What do I do?! she frantically thought. She then remembered a good talk with Roland: "There are going to be times where I won't be around to protect you, Scarla. It's during that time you'll have to fight your own battles, where you'll have to grow on your own. That doesn't mean I won't protect you, I mean, I'm your brother. I'll be there whenever you need me, but there are battles that will by yours to fight." Remembering his words gave her the courage to ready an arrow and fire at the Ursa. Her arrow made its mark and slowed down the Usra. She then turned her bow into two daggers and came at the Grimm, quickly stabbing it in the back and finishing it off. Oh thank goodness! she thought as she exhaled.
She then heard another twig snap behind her, and she turned around to strike what was behind her, yelling in the process. What she thought was a Grimm was actually her sister Ella. "Whoa, hey!" Ella said, as she blocked Scarla's attack. "It's just me sis!"
"Oh!" Scarla said, shocked to see Ella. "I-I'm sorry! I t-thought you w-were…" Her voice quivered until she started to cry. "Oh Ella!" she sobbed. "It was so scary!"
Ella then gave her sister a hug. "It's alright! You handled yourself like a true huntress back there! I watched as you killed that Ursa. You did have me worried there!"
Gathering herself and wiping her tears, Scarla said, "I-It's just…I've never fought by myself before, and I've always been with either you or Roland…"
"But you still managed to fight without us!" Ella cheerfully said. "That's a big step for you!"
"Y-You really think so?"
"Yep! Now come on, we're on a team now! You don't have to be alone anymore!"
Scarla giggled at the kind words of her sister. "Yes! Thank you Ella!"
"What are sisters for?" As she said this, more rustling in the bushes were heard as six Beowolves emerged. "Uh-oh!" Ella said. "Looks like we got company."
"Hmph! Let them come!" Scarla said with surprising confidence. "There's no way I'll let them touch you, Ella!"
"Now that's the spirit! Let's go!" Scarla got her bow ready and Ella got her rifle ready. The two of them shot at the Beowolves, taking down three of them, but one managed to reach Ella. "Upsidaisy!" she shouted as she shot at the ground, propelling herself upward before using a shot to propel herself back down, and impaling the skull of another Beowolf with her lance. She then swung around her lance that was in the ground to kick another Beowolf into an arrow from Scarla, killing it instantly. The two of them quickly cut down the last Beowolf at the same time with a synchronized attack. All of the Grimm were defeated and faded into black mist. "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ella cheered as she high-fived Scarla.
"We did it!" Scarla cheered as she high-fived Ella. The two of them checked their surroundings and proceeded further into the forest.
Meanwhile, Roland and Téa made significant progress after running into more Grimm and spotted some ruins in the distance as the trees cleared out. "You think that's where we need to go?" Téa asked.
"Looks like it," Roland replied. "Only one way to find out." The two of them continued to the ruins. "I must say," Roland continued. "You display excellent fighting ability and a cool head in battle."
"Aw, thanks Roland," Téa replied. "I had to undergo strict training when I was growing up. Speaking of which, you're not too shabby either. You took on those five Beowolves like they were nothing!"
"Oh, thank you." Roland blushed a little from the praise. "I also have to undergo strict training growing up. Also, I had to fight a hard battle to get my sword." He gestured to X-Calibur that was resting on his back.
"How did you get that anyways?" Téa asked. "It looks far too fancy for a student."
"That's a long story, one that I wouldn't mind telling when we're not in Grimm-infested territory and as long as you tell me about your sword too."
"Deal, I always like talking about my sword." As they finished speaking, they made it to the ruins and found Yang and the black-haired girl from the previous night. "Oh hey Roland! Hey Téa!" Yang cheerfully said. "You guys made it!"
"Hey there Yang," Roland replied.
"Hello Yang," Téa replied.
"Have you seen Ruby at all?" Yang asked
"Sorry but no, we haven't," Roland replied. "I don't suppose you've seen Scarla or Ella?"
"Sorry, we haven't seen anyone except each other," Yang sadly said.
"I see." Roland had a troubled look on his face.
"Don't worry," Yang's teammate said. "If they're strong enough to make into Beacon, they'll be able to cut it out there."
"Thanks," Roland replied, uplifted by her words. "By the way, I never got your name."
"It's Blake," Yang's teammate replied.
"Roland," Roland said as he shook Blake's hand. "This is my teammate."
"I'm Téa," Téa said also shaking Blake's hand.
"Well, with that out of the way," Blake said, "why don't we address the matter at hand?"
"Agreed," Roland replied, and the four of them examined the ruins ahead of them. Chess pieces were scattered all around the ruins and a few were missing. "Chess pieces?" Blake asked.
"Hmm, this must be what we're looking for," Roland added.
"It also seems other teams have been here already," Blake continued.
"But which one do we take?" Téa chimed in.
"Well…" Yang said walking up to one of the white knight pieces and picking it up. "How about a cute little pony?" Blake nodded in agreement.
"I see, the white knight, good choice," Roland said.
"Huh? Why?" Yang asked.
"In the game of chess, the knight is one of the most versatile pieces. Unlike all the other pieces, the knight does not move in a straight line and its movements can be tricky to deal with. It's also famous for its fork moves which targets two opposing pieces."
"Uh okay, I just liked the cute pony look…" Yang replied, a little weirded out by Roland's wealth of information.
"Sorry, I just love the game of chess. I can get a little carried away." Roland began to blush in embarrassment.
Yang giggled. "Y'know, you're funny when you get embarrassed!"
"Anyways," Roland said, quickly changing the subject. "Since you chose the white knight piece, we'll take the black knight piece. What do you think Téa?"
Téa nodded her head, in agreement with Roland's choice. He then put the knight in his bag to take back. "Alright!" Yang cheered. "We've got this done! Let's-" Yang was then cut off as she heard voices and footsteps approaching the ruins. "C'mon, almost there!" a cheery, female voice said.
"Hah…hah… I'm not sure how much further I can go without a break…" another female, but calm voice said. Roland brightened up as he recognized the voices as his sisters' voices. As Scarla and Ella cleared the ridge, they saw their brother. "Roland!" Ella cheered as she ran to give her brother a hug.
"Roland!" Scarla happily said as she gave him a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"I should be saying that to you two!" he happily said, hugging his sisters back. "I'm proud of you two making it here on your own."
"Aw, they're so cute!" Yang said to Blake. Blake smiled a bit at seeing the love between the siblings.
"Alright, you two, you'd better pick a relic!" Roland instructed.
Ella looked around and marveled at all of the chess pieces. "Ooh, which one do we pick?" she said.
"Which one did you pick Roland?" Scarla asked.
"That one, the black knight piece," he said, pointing at the other black knight piece.
"Then, we'll take that one!" Ella said while promptly taking the piece. Shortly after Ella took the piece, a scream was heard from afar. "Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed and then asked Blake, "What should we do?"
"Uh, Yang…" Blake said, looking up and seeing Ruby fly into a tree. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?"
"Not just Ruby…" Roland said, pointing out Jaune flying into the same tree. As soon as he said this, an Ursa came out of the tree line as a loud "YEEHAW!" was heard. The Ursa then fell to the ground after being hit with an explosion. "Aw, it's broken," said Nora, the redhead with the hammer. Behind her was her friend in green, Ren, who was out of breath. "Nora," he said. "Never do that again…" As he said this, she was gone and was at the ruins admiring the white rook. She then picked it up and chanted, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"
"NORA!" Ren called.
"Coming Ren!" Nora replied as she left with the rook.
"Did that girl just ride here on an Ursa?" Blake asked.
Roland sighed and said, "Yeah…" He then shook his head from all of the craziness. Ruby then leapt from the tree and spotted Yang. "Yang!" she happily said.
"Ruby!" Yang replied.
"Nora!" Nora chimed in.
Roland then whispered to his sisters, "Geez, what did that girl have for breakfast, jet fuel?" Scarla and Ella giggled at his joke.
"Hang on, what's that?" Scarla said pointing to the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a Nevermore with Weiss hanging onto one of its talons.
"How could you leave me?!" Weiss called to Ruby as if she was still there.
"She's going to fall," Ren said.
"I said jump," Ruby said to the others.
"And she's falling," Ren continued.
As Weiss fell, Jaune bravely leapt to save her only to be a cushion for her fall. "My hero," Weiss sarcastically said.
"My back…" Jaune groaned.
Finally, Pyrrha was spotted in the distance fleeing from a Deathstalker. As they came up the hill towards the ruins, Blake asked, "Did that girl just run all the way over here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"
"Grrr! I can't take it anymore!" Yang shouted. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens?!" Everyone stood in silence for a couple of seconds as Yang requested and she calmed down. "Happy now?" Roland sarcastically said, somewhat annoyed at her short temper. His sarcasm almost ticked her off again. Pyrrha was then thrown and fell before everyone. "Great! The gang's all here. Now we can die together!" Yang said.
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby said as she recklessly charged at the Deathstalker.
"Ruby no!" Yang said but was too late to stop her.
"Less talking, let's just kill the things trying to kill us!" Téa chimed in as she readied her sword. Before she advanced, the ground below her shook as a big King Taijitu emerged from the ground, bigger than any seen in the forest. "Uh-oh…" Téa said as the Grimm loomed over her. As it struck, its head met with Roland's shield, stunning it and causing it to fly backwards from the defense of his shield. As Ruby returned with Weiss' help from the Deathstalker, everyone regrouped to discuss what to do next. "Uh guys, that thing is circling back again," Jaune said, referring to the Nevermore.
"Look, there's no point in dillydallying," Weiss said. "Our objective is right in front of us." She pointed at the chess pieces.
"She's right," Ruby added. "All we need to do is grab an artifact and return to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Agreed," Roland chimed in. "Not all fights need to be fought and this one isn't one of them."
"Run and live," Jaune said. "Now that's a plan I can get behind!" Ruby and Jaune went to the ruins and took relics for their teams: Ruby grabbed the other white knight piece and Jaune grabbed the other white rook piece. With the relics in hand, everyone retreated towards the cliffs, but the Nevermore, Deathstalker, and King Taijitu pursued them. Everyone ran and arrived at a ruined bridge but the Grimm continued to chase them. As everyone made it to the bridge, Pyrrha, Ren, and Ella provided covering fire for everyone to cross, until the Nevermore destroyed the bridge. "It looks like we'll have to fight after all!" Roland said. "Defensive positions!" Everyone formed up to take on the approaching Grimm but became separated: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang dealt with the Nevermore, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha dealt with the Deathstalker, and Roland, Scarla, Ella, and Téa dealt with the King Taijitu. The King Taijitu attempted to flank Jaune and the others but Roland and the others with him stood to guard their flank. Scarla and Ella continued to fire shots at the Grimm but they had minimal effect. Téa and Roland advanced on it but could not land a decisive blow. The other half emerged shortly, making their battle difficult.
"Argh! What are we gonna do?" Téa asked with frustration. "Nothing seems to be working!"
"Just give me a second!" Roland said as he analyzed the enemy before them. "Okay, its weak spot is below its neck. The belly isn't as tough as its back, so we need to aim for those spots!"
"Okay how are we gonna do that?!"
"Just follow my lead! Everyone else lay down covering fire while I draw the other half towards me! Téa, do you have any ranged attacks?"
"Heh, just watch me!" She sheathed her sword and hit a button on her scabbard and her sword and scabbard began transforming. They changed into an energy assault rifle and began to fire on the dark half of the King Taijitu along with Scarla and Ella, while Roland engaged the light half. The dark half attempted to counter but was stuck on the defensive due to the constant barrage of Ella, Scarla, and Téa. Téa especially brought pressure due to the fully automatic fire of green energy shots from her rifle. "Lead them to us as a whole group!" Roland commanded.
"What?! Is he crazy?!" Téa protested.
"No he's not!" Ella protested. "My brother has a plan!"
"Yes, he hasn't let us down yet!" Scarla added. After hearing the protests of Roland's sisters, Téa reluctantly complied and lead each of the King Taijitu heads to a single location. Roland continued to avoid, block, and counter the attacks the light half threw at him and everything was set. Seeing as how all four of them were caught in a pincer, both halves struck at once to deal the final blow. Roland smirked as they fell in his trap. "Now!" he commanded. "Move out of the way!" Everyone complied and dodged as the heads ran into each other. "Scarla, now!"
"Right!" Scarla complied as she fired and lightning dust arrow while Roland released an energy wave from his sword to boost the power of the shot. The arrow landed and shocked the King Taijitu, stunning it. "Scarla, Ella, go!" Roland commanded. "Téa, you and I will finish this!"
She smiled upon seeing Roland's strategy coming together and said, "You got it!" Scarla and Ella attacked each half, striking them with their weapons, exposing the soft underside of the Grimm. Roland and Téa then came in with their swords and decapitated each half simultaneously. The King Taijitu then faded into black mist as it was defeated. Roland and the others with him all looked around and saw that everyone dealt with each Grimm that was attacking them, thus ending the initiation with victory.
Everyone met in the auditorium later that evening to receive the final verdict on teams. Ozpin announced what teams grabbed the same pieces and declared those four individuals as a team for their career at Beacon. He then called, "Roland Rigorm, Scarla Rigorm, Ella Rigorm, and Téa Green. The four of you retrieved the black knight piece. You four will be known as Team RSET (russet) and will be led by…Roland Rigorm!" Roland was astonished and overjoyed that not only will he be on a team with his sisters, but that he was chosen as its leader. Scarla and Ella hugged him in pure joy of the moment. "Yay! We get to be with you big brother!" Ella cheered.
"And you're our team leader!" Scarla added. Téa simply smiled at the moment and at the great team she was placed on. The four of them then left the stage and heard the formation of the final two teams: Team JNPR, led by Jaune, and Team RWBY led by Ruby. Everyone was surprised by the choice of leaders of these two teams, but Roland congratulated both Ruby and Jaune for being chosen as team leaders just like himself. Everyone was thrilled about the teams they were put on and retired to their designated rooms for the night. Everyone slept well knowing the wonderful day they all had.