"Yellow Beauty Burns..."


Chapter 7: Emerald Forest Introduced

"WOOO!" Using the dust from his gauntlets, Cody flew higher into the sky. He did a back flip and shot a jet of dust sending him downwards. There are a few trees up ahead. Ozpin did say we could destroy anything in our path right? Cody lifted his arms and spun in a top-like motion, cutting the tall forest trees with his blades cleanly. Upon landing, he saw a black figure fly right passed him. Cody stood up and approached the object. Is it... Alive? He leaned forward to take a closer look and the object seemed to be a crow that was shot to death.

"BRIDIE NO!" shouted Cody as he picked the crow up, kneeled and embraced it dramatically.

Ruby took out her weapon and shot the trees a few times before unleashing the Crescent Rose. She grabbed the thick branch of a nearby tree with her scythe and spun around it, allowing the force to push her upwards to create a safe landing. On the other hand Weiss used her white dust to create panels where she could step on and jump off from.

Ren used his Jade Dragons to catch the trunk of a tree and spin around it, quickly landing on the ground without even cutting the trunk at all. He then puts away his weapons and wipes the dust off his long sleeved green suit.

Unlike the way Cody used his Mizu Rapier to land, Yang flew through and above the trees by using Ember Celica to shoot explosive rounds, letting her move forward. "Wooohooo!" exclaimed Yang as she dashed through the top of the forest. Soon she began to head downwards, doing wall-kicks off of a few tree trunks and finally rolling across the forest floor upon landing "Nailed it!" said Yang.

Pyrrha used her shield to break through tree trunks easily, then landed on a branch. With her weapon, Xifelin, she searched the area incase of any adversaries. While looking, she caught Jaune pummeling into the the forest. Quickly, her weapon transformed from a shotgun into javelin and she throwed it, measly using her thumb to pinpoint Jaune's location. Using the knockback from her shotgun, Xifelin rushed to Jaune, pierced his hoody onto a tree and was saved from falling to his death.

"Thank you!" said Jaune from afar. Pyrrha replied "I'm sorry!"

...After Cody buried the crow, he continued to walk to his destination; the abandoned temple. He carefully observed the area as he walked through the thick bushes and vines of Emerald Forest. Alright. I better be careful with what's around me. The first person I make eye contact with will be my partner for the next 4 years... Let's see. Who should I be on the look out for..? Maybe Daniella would be okay with m- Cody brushed a large bush aside and saw a woman with black curly hair and a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white sleeveless shirt. He quickly hides from the figure and takes cover behind a tree. Blake... She seems strong but I don't think I can be good friends with her. Better keep searching.

Then, Cody hears a rustling sound coming from the leaves above. He quickly dashed forward and gets ready for battle. Suddenly, a white dual-bladed halberd falls from above and cuts the tree Cody was hiding behind in half. Within a blink of an eye, Cody saw a boy with dark blue spiky hair kept back. He wore a light green shirt with a brown hiking vest and dark brown pants. The boy turned around and looked into Cody's eyes with his yellow eyes.

The boy pushed his red rectangular glasses back onto his nose. "Uh... Hello. I guess I'm you're partner now. The name's Harris Yarkon." Harris clipped his halberd on his back and extended his left arm towards Cody. "M-my name's Cody Grimoire. Nice to meet you." Geez. This guy scared the living daylights out of me. Oh well, he seems nice.

Cody walked passed Harris and stopped to turn around."We better get a move on. We're being timed by the instructors." said Cody.

"Yeah, but let's be sure to do things efficiently at the same time." The two pushed forward into the forest, jumping onto branches and kicking off tree trunks. But then, Cody made an immediate stop.

"Something wrong? We shouldn't stop now." asked Harris.

This feeling. It was just like before. That night... Cody detached his blades from the gauntlets and placed them in the rapiers. He unsheathed the one on the right and faced Harris. "Do you feel that? It's getting harder to breath..." said Cody. The area where the two were began to darken...

"Now that you mention it, I can feel something. You have a pretty good 6th sense!" Harris turned around and unclipped his halberd. He searched the area but failed to find anything suspicious.

"There!" yelled Cody. Harris swiftly turned about and saw a black figure with a skull head emerge from the bushes.

"A Grim, huh? Good thing you saw him coming Cody." said Harris.

So that's it. That's the thing that killed Caroline. "You're mine." Cody instantly dashed towards the Grim, slicing it's stomach with the rapier on his right hand. The monster began to spew out red-like petals. Red petals? Where's the blood? He looks like a shadow but he feels... Solid.

"Cody!" Harris jumped and hit the Grim's armor with his halberd. The Grim quickly spun, knocking back both Cody and Harris. *RAAAAAAARGH* the beast looked at the boys with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Cody! We're supposed to work together as a team! Don't go off doing risky stuff like that..!" Cody got back on his feet and without a word, continued to attack the Grim. Cody tried to slice the Grim's upper body by attacking from below but was blocked by the Grim using both it's hands. Harris then got up and grabbed Cody's jacket with his halberd and tossed him back.

"Snap out of it." Harris slapped Cody in the face twice. "If you keep attacking without any formation or help, you'll die. Now it's either you listen to what I told you and let me help, or die on your own." Cody shook his head and slowly got up.

"Heh, sorry for causing you all this trouble. I was just eager... To beat it. Shall we go?" He took out the second rapier.

"Good. You've come to your senses. Now you go down and I'll go up." said Harris.

"Gotcha." Cody ran towards the Grim, ducked and cross-sliced it's legs while Harris jumped onto Cody's back and leaped into the air. Harris landed on the Grim's shoulders and spun his halberd cutting it's left arm then it's right. He swiftly took a back-jump and let Cody do the finishing blow. The Grim fell on the ground with red petals seeping from his limbs. Cody stabbed it with both rapiers and carved an X onto it's body. The battle was over.

"See? Now wasn't that more fun?" said Harris. Cody chuckled.

"Haha, yeah but we should move on before more of those come by."

"Good idea." The two then hurried through the bushes and trees; into the deep area of Emerald Forest.