AN: Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter. Before you read, I just want to inform you that this chapter had to be cut into two parts. I try to keep my chapters under a 10k word count but it sometimes goes beyond that. I've already threw two chapters with a 16k word count at you guys and I don't want to do that again. Even though people say that there is no limit.
So this chapter and the next chapter will build a bit on character relations and reveal things that will be used in the story. Also for a bit a heads up, the second part will be posted pretty earlier but not right away. So we can get to the chapter that was meant to be chapter 11.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
"These are the five you mentioned last week, correct?" Ozpin, sitting in his chair, asked Hope who is standing in front of his desk within his office. On Ozpin's desk is a hologram screen displaying the pictures of Kazato, Rize, Elisa, Yang, and lastly, Ruby.
"Yes sir. Those are the ones." Hope gave an confirming nod as she spoke. "I apologize that it took me this long to get to you about this. I wanted to observe these five more closely before making any assumptions. Being a Cursed Hunter myself, I was able to confirm the first three."
"I'm already well aware of those three." Ozpin told her while looking at the pictures of the Cainhurst siblings.
"Then there is the fourth one." Hope pointed towards the picture of Yang. "Her scent is like the first three but it seems to be very faint compared to them. I think her supernatural abilities are lying dormant."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he brought his attention to Yang's picture. "Dormant? You believe that shes a Cursed Hunter as well?" He asked which the Silver haired woman gave a confident nod. "I'm certain." She answered. The more Ozpin looked that Yang's picture, the more he realized that shes look a lot like Raven, who he knows is also a Cursed Hunter. 'She may be a natural born...'
"Lastly..." Hope said, regaining Ozpin's attention. "Is the fifth and last one that still boggles my mind." Both of their gazes are now on the picture of Ruby. "The moonscent I picked up from her is...well...unique. It's a lot stronger than the other four, a lot stronger than any other Cursed Hunter I've met so far."
Ozpin raised another eyebrow of curiosity. "I'm assuming that it's because shes a Silver-eyed Hunter."
"Maybe" Hope shrugged her shoulders. "I've heard about the Silver-eyed Hunters and what happened to them. This is my first time seeing a Silver-eyed Hunter, so I not sure. Speaking of which, is that why you took her into your school despite her being two years behind the other students?"
"Shes the last of her kind Ms. Valentine." Ozpin told her. "Aside from the Cursed Hunters, it was also her kind that stopped the previous Nightmare from swallowing Remnant. With that said, surely you understand what will happen if certain individuals find out that one is still alive."
Hope's expression frowned a little. "I've heard about the Nightmare from other Hunters and I've never seen it before. I hope I never will."
"Believe me when I say Ms. Valentine, that you do not want to." Ozpin told her, his expression turning a bit grim due to the memories of 'The Hunt' still fresh in his mind. Just then, a red and black portal suddenly opened up in the middle of the office, causing Hope to instantly gasp. "It seems that my next guest has arrived." Ozpin said with no hint of surprise or shock in his voice.
Soon after the portal opened, Scarlet casually stepped out, making her appearance in front of the two. "Hey there Ozzy. Sorry to have kept you waiting." The Vileblood said in her usual alluring voice.
"I take it that you had a bit of a detour Ms. Cainhurst?" Ozpin asked the woman.
Scarlet closed her eyes as she rubbed the back of her head with a cheeky smile and nervous laughter. "Hehehe. YYYeah, I may have made a few stops." Hope silently examined the long raven haired woman standing next to her. 'Cainhurst... That name sounds familiar.' She thought as she looked at her attire, realizing the black crow feathered hooded cloak. "You're...a Black Winged Hunter, are you?"
Scarlet made eye contact with the silver haired woman, scarlet red meeting emerald green. "Indeed I am. Judging by your scent, you're a Cursed Hunter as well." The Vileblood extended out her hand to the woman. "I'm Scarlet. Scarlet Alkeldama Cainhurst. You must be one of our members from Atlas."
Hope's eyes widened with surprise as she slowly shook Scarlet's hand. 'She knows about me?' "Scarlet?! Y-You're...The Blood Crow of the brotherhood?" Hope called her by the nickname she is known by.
"Yeah thats what they call me now a days."
"Ms. Valentine..." Ozpin called out to the woman, regaining her attention. "You can return to your class. I need to speak with Ms. Cainhurst."
"Y-Yes sir, of course." Hope said with a respectful bow before entering the elevator and exiting the room.
"Any luck on your investigation Ms. Cainhurst?" Ozpin asked the queen as she walked up to his desk.
"Yeah, about that..." She started as she began to rub the back of her head again. "It's hard to hunt someone without any leads or a trail to follow, nothing but dead ends." She then brought her attention to the hologram screen on Ozpin's desk, seeing the pictures of her kids.
A warm smile appeared on her face upon seeing them. "Hey, why are my babies on display? Are they giving you trouble Ozzy?"
"No, not at all. Like many other students, they've shown that they can become promising hunters." He replied as he pressed a button on his desk causing the hologram to deactivate. Just before the screen disappeared, Scarlet caught a glimpse of Ruby and Yang's pictures. "Hmm..." She then brought her attention back to Ozpin "How about your investigation? Any luck?" Scarlet asked the headmaster which he shook his head in response. "Unfortunately we're coming up empty handed as well."
"Oh boy..." Scarlet sighed as she put her hand on her hip. "At this rate, we're never gonna get anywhere."
Ozpin let out a sigh as well as he rested his elbows on his desk, locking his fingers together, and rested his forehead on top of his heads. He knows what Scarlet says is true, but what can they do? Ozpin have been collaborating with the brotherhood for the past week and even with their combined efforts, they still can't get one solid lead. "First, the Fall Maiden is attacked. And now the Arcana's portion of the medium is stolen. Not to mention that the happening of both events are too close together."
"Exactly. They're too damn close. It could be most likely that it's the same culprit." Scarlet said with her left hand still on her hip and her chin between her right thumb an index finger, thinking hard on the situation. "Things were already bad enough when Summer suddenly went missing and now this. Speaking of the medium, are you sure it is a wise idea to keep your portion here at the school?"
Ozpin looked up at her. "I thought we were over this Scarlet." He called her by her first name. "Beacon is not just a school. It is also a fortress, secured with the most well-trained huntsmen and huntresses that this kingdom has. I assure you that my portion is secured."
Scarlet let's out a small chuckle. "Hell, the Arcana's portion was well secured by a family of hunters and assassins, yet someone slipped past them and took it."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming that the brotherhood knows a more effective method in securing their portion?"
"Look Ozpin..." Scarlet sighed as she said his name correctly. "I'm not trying to criticize your decision making, I'm just worried. If someone is able to slip pass the Arcana family and take their portion, I can't help but imagine what might happen if and when Beacon is targeted. Even though it acts as a fortress, bottom line it is a school filled with students, children. We, the brotherhood, have children of our own. And we know that keeping our portion with us will endanger them, so we're currently making countermeasures to ensure the safety of our village. The only differences between Beacon and Dusk Haven is that only a hand full of people know that the village exist and it's not a place that you can just stumble upon. For someone to find out about it's exists, they must have done a lot of digging and searching."
"So you're implying that since my school is known through out Remnant, all it'll take is someone finding out that I have a portion?" Ozpin asked her in which the Vileblood nod as a response. "Just like with the Arcanas."
"I understand the reason behind your worries, but its best that we keep our shares close to us as possible. It's our best option." Ozpin told her.
"More like our only option." Scarlet said as she rubbed the back of her head. "These other individuals you're working with. Your allies. Are they aware of the Nightmare's existence?"
"They are not. The attack on the Fall Maiden already has everyone on edge. Finding the right time to inform them about this has proven to be difficult."
"Well, they have to know some time soon. Well Ozzy, I'm off. Back to working by my lonesome self." Scarlet said as she turn to walk away from the desk.
'Shes right. I can't hide it forever.' Ozpin thought before speaking out the queen. "You said that you're working alone. I may have someone who you can collaborate with." This caused Scarlet to stop in her tracks and look over her shoulder at the headmaster with a raise eyebrow.
"Really? Do tell." The Vileblood said as she turned around to face him, interest clearly in her voice. "Who do you have to work with little ol'me?"
"He is an informant of mine who is currently tracking down the Fall Maiden's assailants. He can be a rather...difficult individual to work with, but he is reliable. He tends to work by himself and he moves around within the criminal underworld, so finding him can be tricky."
"Oh, don't worry about that. Just tell me his name and give me a picture of him, then leave the hunting to me."
"Ruby, you have to keep your concentration at all times or you'll never get it!" Weiss scolded the silver-eyed girl who is standing a few feet away from a tree in front of her. Under the supervision of Glynda Goodwitch, the students are currently training on how to use their aura in other effectives way within one of the school's outdoor arenas that provide a wooded landscape.
"That's easy for you to say. I've never done this before." Ruby replied back to the heiress with a bit of a wining tone in her voice. The class is currently learning how to use their aura to allow them to stand on surfaces such as walls and trees. Well, it's mostly for those that don't know how to. Since the class's teacher, Professor Alexander Clark, still hasn't fully recovered from his sickness, Glynda agreed to assist Hope with the class's aura training.
"It's only as hard as you make it Ruby." Blake told her young team leader. "Once you've focused your aura to the bottom of your feet, don't lose concentration even if you starting running up the trunk of the tree. If you do, you'll fall."
"I know that you're trying to help Weiss, but don't you think that you're being a little strict on her?" Yang asked the heiress.
"In cases like this, being strict is totally necessary." Weiss told the brawler before giving her a look, noticing that she has stopped training . "By the way, are you trying to learn this as well? I don't see you practicing."
Yang looked away to avoid making eye contact with the heiress as she runs a hand through her hair, knowing that the Schnee could get on her case at any moment. "I'm getting the hang of it."
"Alright Ruby. Let's try this again." Blake told the silver-eyed girl as she brought her attention back to her. "Remember, if your aura is too weak you won't stick to the tree. If it's too strong, you'll end up breaking off the bark. You have to keep it in between." Doing as Blake instructed, Ruby closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before trying to concentrate again. The rest of Team RWBY watched as Ruby's aura began to become visible. Her rose colored aura flowed from her body as it began to travel to the bottom of her feet.
"Okay, I'm ready." Rudy said as she readied herself.
"Remember what I said, maintain your focus." Weiss told the girl before she took off towards the tree.
"You can do it Ruby!" Yang cheered her sister on. When Ruby's right foot touched the trunk of the tree, she felt as if the bottom her foot is a powerful magnet as it stayed in place to allow her to get her other foot off the ground. With that, Ruby is now running up along the tree with her aura allowing her to stay attached to it.
"She's got it!" Weiss shouted with surprise and amazement clearly in her voice.
"You're doing it Ruby!" Yang cheered once more, seeing her little sister managing herself pretty well.
Ruby gasped from the realization her own progress, seeing what she is doing. "I am doing it..." Just as soon as those words left her mouth, Ruby's foot slipped, causing her to complete lose focus of her aura. Ruby gasped again but this time obviously with horror as her silver eyes widened.
"...And she's lost it." Blake stated Ruby's slip up.
"SOMEBODY CATCH ME!" Rudy yelled as she began plummeting towards the ground below. The silver-eyed girl closed her eyes tight, waiting for the painful impact to come. The moment she closed her eyes, she feels herself land into a pair of arms, catching her. "Who...?" Ruby opened her eyes only to make eye contact with the lilac colored eyes of her sister, who is holding her bridal style.
"That was a little too close for comfort there Rub." Yang gave her sister grin as she sat her down. Ruby let out a breath of relief as her feet touched the solid ground underneath her. "Thanks Yang." Her moment of relief is short lived when Weiss approached the two with a very unpleased looked.
"Ruby, what did I just tell you!" Weiss began to scold her again. "You have to maintain your focus at all times! You could've hurt yourself or worse!" Weiss let out a sigh of frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'She's suppose to be our team leader but she can't even do the basics.! Along that, she goofs in class! I wonder how she, of all people, got picked instead of me?!'
"I'm sorry that I slipped up. I don't know what happened." Ruby began to apologize to the frustrated Schnee.
"I can tell you what happened." Blake spoke up, gaining Ruby's attention. "You became surprised that you finally managed to anchor yourself to the tree, but you lost focus which is why you fell." The fanus told her bluntly.
"Geez guys, she managed to get a decent ways up the tree. Could you at least cut her some slack?" Yang told the two with a hand on her hip.
"You do realize that if you hadn't caught her, she could've broken her neck." Blake told the brawler with the same blunt tone. Ruby's eyes grew with a look of terror as she swallowed. Yang on the other hand let out a sigh before backing off, just this once. "Alright. Just make sure she doesn't hurt herself." With that said, she walked off to resume her own aura training.
"Uh...Yang?" Ruby looked back at her sister before Weiss pulled her back by her hood. "We're not done with you yet."
As Yang walked away from her team, she scanned the outdoor arena for any trees that are not occupied by other students. While scanning, she spotted a nearby tree that she can resume her training with. But right next to the tree, she can see someone lying under it. Due to her heightened eyesight, she is able to see who it is from a distance. Under the tree, she sees Kazato lying down with his hands behind his head.
"Hey, it's that guy again." She said to herself when she sees him lying under the tree. 'Come to think of it. I still haven't thanked him for looking after Ruby during the exam. I'm gonna go say a quick hello.' With that thought in mind, the brawler made her way over to the tree where Kazato is lying under. When she approached him, she noticed that his eyes are closed and a textbook, which is opened, is resting on top of his chest. "Is he seriously sleeping during class?" Yang raised an eyebrow, seeing the textbook gently raising up on his chest before going back down.
Kazato's face twitched a little as he awoke. Instead of feeling the warm rays of the sun shining on his face, which put him to sleep, he now feels the slight coldness of someone's or somethings shadow blocking the sunlight. "Who's blocking my light now?" He groaned with a bit of irritation in his voice as he awoke up from his nap. "Elisa? Rize? Or is it you Lucilia?" He called out the names of the girls, thinking that the vibe he is sensing is from one of them.
"Nope. Guess again." Yang replied to the napping Vileblood.
"Huh?" Kazato opened his eyes to see Yang standing a couple of feet away him. "Oh? You're that chick." 'The vibe came from her?' He thought, but he pushed it to the side to elaborate on later.
"You're looking pretty comfy down there. I'm surprise that Ms. Goodwitch hasn't gotten on you yet."
"Yeah, well if you already know how to do the stuff the teachers are teaching, then they won't bother you. It gives me time to get some studying in." Kazato mentioned to the textbook he has as he sat up.
"By sleeping under a tree?" Yang chuckled with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey. Try lying out in the sun for a few minutes, you'll sleep like a baby."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind when I'm looking for a place to relax." The brawler replied as she watched him get up and stretch, letting out a yawn as he did. "We never did tell each other our names, didn't we? I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long." Yang re-introduced herself as she extended out her hand to the young man.
"Kazato. Kazato Cainhurst." He told her his name in return as he shook her hand. "Yang huh? Oh, I remember now. You're Ruby's sister, right?" He asked with caused a slight look of surprise to appear on Yang's face. "You already knew about me?" She asked as they let go of each others hand.
"Rub told me a little bit about you when we were together in the forest. I remember her telling me how her sister ditched her in front of the school." The young man mentioned which made the brawler slightly wince with a nervous laugh as she began to rub the back of her head.
"Yeah, well..." Yang started to trail off. Kazato let out a snickered. "Some older sibling you are."
"Hey, you're one to talk." Yang pointed a finger that him. "If I remember correctly. After you grabbed my shoulder, you outright hit one of your sisters for ditching you in front of the school too."
"Okay. First, I apologize for grabbing your shoulder. I really thought that you were my youngest sister. Second, the one that I hit, Rize, deserved it. Shes like a ghost. Always vanishing on me without warning." Kazato said with his arms crossed.
Yang put her hand on her hip. "Well I guess you deserved the nut shot she gave you later."
A look of surprise instantly appeared on Kazato's face when she mentioned about Rize kneeing him in the groin. "Wait? How did you find out about that?"
Yang smirked. "Elisa is your youngest sister, right. She told me about it recently. Sounded like Rize got you good. I like how she thinks."
"Argh! Dammit puppy!" Kazato said Elisa's nickname in irritation.
"Why do you guys call her by that nickname anyway?"
"Do you have a dog or a puppy at home?" Kazato asked her.
"I do" Yang raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side, crossing her arms.
"Is he or she always full of energy and has a short attention span?"
"Full of energy? Yes. Short attention span? Hmm, sometimes, but yes. So thats why you call her that? Shes like a little puppy?" Yang asked which Kazato nodded in response.
"I understand the energetic part, but she doesn't seem to have a short attention span to me." The brawler added in. Kazato gave a small laugh. "Oh, just wait and see. Do you have any nicknames for Ruby?"
"No, not at the moment I don't." Yang shook her head. "I'm still thinking of one. I thought about calling her puppy eyes a one time."
"Puppy eyes?" Kazato chuckled while raising an eyebrow.
"When she gets sad or begs for something, you'll see." Yang snickered, the image of Ruby's puppy eye look in her mind.
"You know..." Kazato began to grin. "While we're on the nickname subject, I actually came up with a nickname for you. Well, based on what I've seen from your semblance."
"A nickname? For me?" Yang raised another eyebrow as she tilted her head slight.
Kazato began to rub the back of his head as he looked way, feeling a little weird that he even mentioned it. "Yeah but I rather hold off on it. I don't want to seem that I'm getting too familiar. I mean, besides the occasional word exchanges. This IS our first actual conversation."
Yang let out a small giggle to herself seeing the awkwardness on Kazato's face. "Sure, why not throw in a few nicknames. We gonna become familiar with each other eventually, right? So shoot."
"Well, okay..." Kazato took a breath before continuing. "Since your semblance apparently let's you take damage and dish it back. I thought of...Tank."
"Tank?" Yang gave a slightly confused look.
"You said that you use to play Remnant Online, right? Do you remember the tank role?
"Oooh. I get it now." Yang nod her head, remembering the purpose of a tank role in the RPGMMO game. Normally grabbing the enemy's or boss's attention and taking the most damage for the rest of the party. "So in your eyes, I'm like the tank of my team."
"Yup. Weiss being the magic user. Ruby and Blake being DPSs. I thought of some other names since you also bust out the flames when you fight. I thought of Fire Queen or Phoenix, but I was a little iffy on those. The name Hothead came to mind, but-"
"No, don't use that one." Yang cut him off after hearing the name. Kazato responded with a 'huh?' expression on his face. "It's something my dad always calls me. Anyway, it's my turn to come up with a nickname for you."
Kazato put on a smirk as he crossed his arm. "Alright. Give it your best shot."
Yang put her chin between her right thumb and index finger as she began to analyze the young man standing in front of her, remembering what little she knows about him. "Hmm. He came up with three nicknames based on my semblance and fire. In that case...' With that thought in mind, Yang snapped her finger upon coming up with a nickname. "I have just the perfect nickname for you." She said with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Alright. Let's hear it." Kazato said.
"Ashtray." She said with a snicker.
"Ashtray?" Kazato blinked with slight confusion. "Wait a minute! Don't tell me you..."
"Yup" Yang said the word popping the 'p' at the end. "Since your semblance let's you create ash, you're a walking ashtray to me."
"Go find a building or something to burn down Fire Queen." Kazato called her by one of the nicknames he has for her.
"Only if you'll be there to clean up the ashes Ashtray." Yang gave a wink. The two began snickering at each other which eventually turned into laughter. "Anyway..." Yang recovered herself from her laughter. "I came here because I wanted to thank you for looking after Ruby for me. She told me everything that happened. About the dungeon. Where that skeleton monster came from. I would've lost my mind if something happened to her."
"I understand you there. I would go insane if something happened to my sisters."
"Speaking of which. Where is your team?" Yang asked him, causing Kazato to beginning scanning the wooded arena. "They're...uh..."
At that time, Hope had returned from Ozpin's office and is exchanging words with Glynda. After receiving a nod of approval from Glynda, Hope spoke aloud to the class. "Attention class!" She yelled to make sure she gains all of their attention. "Ms. Goodwitch and I have decided to end the class with a quick 4-on-4 sparring session. All teams, please follow us to the school's newly installed arena." With that said, the two women walked off leading the class.
"I have to get back to my team. I'll catch you later, okay?" Yang told the young man as she started to walk back to her team.
"Yeah, catch ya later Tank." Kazato gave the brawler a two-fingered salute. Yang looked back at Kazato as she is walking and made a gesture as if she is puffing out smoke from her mouth, mimicking his semblance.
Just then, Kazato felt someone lightly karate chop him in back of the head. "I see that you finally woken up from your nap." Came Rize's voice as she walked up beside her brother.
"Where have you been?" He asked his sister without looking at her.
Rize gave a sigh. "All I have to say is that Lucilia truly is Claire's sister. That head strong and determined personally does run in the Arcana family. Despite Elisa and I already knowing how to do this, she still made us practice."
"What? Your's and Elisa's can't match her's?" Kazato raised an eyebrow which Rize gave him a look in return. "Shes an Arcana! Shes like her sister! You better step up your game or else Professor Ozpin might resign her as leader of the team."
Kazato's expression frowned. "Look, I'm trying to get use to this leadership role, okay? Now come on. Let's find the rest of our team."
Following Glynda and Hope, the class is lead to a large room dimly lit by security lights. As they all walked in, the motion sensors detected their movements therefore turning on lights that gave a bit more lighting to the room but the area is still a little dim. The students noticed numerous rows of seats on their left and right as they walked down the staircases of one of the aisles. At the bottom of the staircase, are large glass windows that circled a large arena that lies below. Upon seeing the arena, right off the bat the students noticed something completely different about this arena.
Unlike the other arenas in the school, this one has a metallic futuristic look to it. The arena's walls and floor are made for a black metallic colored metal with green glowing lines that runs out from the center of the arena. Bickering can be heard from the class as they gazed upon this never-before-seen arena.
"Wait a minute..." Weiss said as she walked up the glass window in front of her and placed her hand on it. "Is this a..." Hope gave her a confirming nod before the question is asked. Since both of them are from Atlas, they already know about the particular arena. "Class. Say hello to the state-of the-art Atlas technology. The world's first simulation arena!" Hope announced proudly as she introduced the arena.
"Simulation?" Jaune said with a raised eyebrow.
"This arena will generate and place you into a virtual environment." Glynda began to tell the class. "There is more to hunting than tracking your prey and confronting it. You must always consider the possibility that you're being hunted as well. You must constantly be aware of you immediate surroundings."
"Just like what the hunters told us." Elisa said in a low tone to her team who only gave a nod in response as they listened to Glynda.
"This arena is actually a prototype." Hope told the class. "Beacon, along with the other schools, are given this to record the simulation's performs as data for the final product that will be used for the up and coming Vytal Festival."
"The Vytal Festival?" Ruby said with a small gasp, knowing that the Vytal Festival is the biggest festival in Remnant and is the celebration of the anniversary of when the peace treaty was made between the Kingdoms.
"If it shows good results, it'll certainly replace the arena that is usually used for the festival. Now..." Hope's emerald green eyes began to glow as she activated her semblance to interface with the arena's system. "As I said earlier, this will be a 4-on-4 sparring match. So let's see what teams will be facing each other." With that said, a green hologram screen appears shuffling various pictures of students. Eventually, the faces of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang appeared on the screen. "Looks like we have Team RWBY, and they are against..." Sooner after Hope's words, the faces of Kazato, Rize, Elisa, and Lucilia appeared as well, sealing the match up. "Team RWBY vs. Team KREL!"
"We're against Kazato's team?" Ruby gasped with slight surprise.
"Looks like it." Yang said as she looked over to the opposing team's leader. "Lucky you. You get to see how we handle things first hand." She said with a fist pound and a cheeky grin.
Kazato let out a small laugh. "Don't get ahead of yourself. You have to test the waters first. Right guys?" Kazato said to his team.
"Uh-huh" Rize nodded with her arms crossed. Elisa pounded her fist into the palm of her hand and cracked her knuckles as she looked towards Yang. "You're my mark in this match. I've been itching to fight you."
Hearing those words put a big smile on Yang's face with a look of determination in her eyes. "Then I'll do the honors of scratching that itch." She cracked her knuckles as well. Lucilia didn't bother responding to Kazato due to her and Weiss exchanging glaring looks.
Upon stepping out onto the field, the two teams gazed in awe at the sheer size of this highly advanced arena. It looks a lot bigger than what it seems from above. "Alright teams! Time to set the playing field!" Hope spoke through the intercom as another hologram screen appeared, scrolling with various environments from the different Kingdoms. The screen stopped on a great forest area, deciding the setting for the match. "We have the Great Shrouded Wood!"
Immediately, the green lines on the arena's floor began to grow even brighter underneath the team's feet, gaining a few gasps and startled jumps. The world around the teams began to change. The simulator began constructing a ginormous forest landscape onto the field. Ruby and her team gawked in awe at the environment they are suddenly in. The sheer size and dizzying height of the forest's partially moss covered trees are rather breath taking. A thin fog also lingers within the forest and there is are small amounts of sunlight shining in, giving little illumination and a dim look. But the one thing that Team RWBY noticed the most is the chilliness of the forest's cold, damp air. The arena must also have it's own weather control system.
Blake placed her hand on the gigantic root, which is sticking out from the ground, of one of the trees. To add on to her surprise and amazement of the this new technology, the root is ACTUALLY solid. Along with that, she can also feel the cold moisture of the tree bark against the palm of her hand. "It's...real?"
"It's like we're not even in Beacon anymore." Ruby said with surprise still in her voice. Weiss only smirked at everyone's reactions. "As expected from state-of the-art Atlas technology."
"Alright guys." Yang spoke aloud to gain her team's attention. "We can finish being amazed about this later. Right now, Kazato's team is probably already on the move. So, what's the plan Ruby?" Every eye on the team is now looking towards their leader.
"Hm" Ruby took a minute to think as she analyzed their surroundings. "Well, we're in a forest for starters. Ms. Goodwitch said that we have to be aware of our surroundings. And seeing that we're not facing with the other team right away, we have to find them. So..." Ruby looked up towards a nearby tree branch. "Hey Blake, since you're the most agile of our team. You can keep an eye out from above on the trees." She said pointing up towards the tree branches. "You should be able to see them coming from that height. If we're quiet enough, we might catch them by surprise."
"Right" Blake received Ruby's order as she jumps on top of one of the gigantic tree roots and runs up the tree trunk until she reached a branch that is a high enough height.
"Weiss and Yang. You two stay on the ground."
"Got it" Yang responded to her sister's order.
"What about you?" Weiss asked the silver-eyed girl, since she never did tell them what she'll be doing. Ruby looked up towards another nearby tree branch. "Yang. You think you can throw me up there?" She asked her sister as she drew out her Crescent Rose in scythe form and held it in reverse.
Yang looked up towards the branch her sister is looking at. "Heh, can I?" She chuckled as she positioned herself, mustering strength in her right arm as she held it out. Ruby jumped onto the brawler's arm and landed with both feet. The moment Ruby landed on her arm, Yang gave a mighty throw which sent Ruby rocketing through the cool damp air. Pulling the trigger on her sniper scythe, Ruby used the recoil to give her an extra boost to reach the tree branch, which she landed safely on.
After the brawler and the heiress received an thumbs up from their young leader, Team RWBY proceeded on to hunt their targets.
Team KREL is currently freerunning and jumping from tree branch to tree branch as they all moved close together. The four of them stopped on a tree branch to take another look of their surrounds.
Elisa stretched out her arms and took a deep breath of the cool forest air before sighing in relief. "Ah! Smells and feels just like home."
"Home?" Lucilia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The simulator generated the Forbidden Woods, well, thats what the brotherhood calls it." Rize told the Arcana. "To get to our village, you have to navigate through there first and hope that you don't get lost. Anyway, this is kinda like giving we the home turf advantage."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that sis. This may look like the Forbidden Woods, but its still a replica generated by the simulator. So the landscape and layout may not be 100% accurate." Kazato told his sister. "Anyway, you girls know what to do, right?" The rest of his team gave him a confirming nod. "Alright then. Let's play us some hide and seek. And remember, no Grimm." He said looking towards his sisters.
"Got it" Rize replied back.
"Elisa, repeat what I said back to me.?" Kazato told his youngest sister, knowing how she can sometimes do the exact opposite of what he says.
"You said no Grimm, I heard you. Geez." The young blond rolled her eyes with annoyance before the team took off.
As the two teams are prowling the forest for each other, the rest of the students watched the match on the hologram screen in silence as suspense began to fill the atmosphere. At that time, Ozpin makes his appearance into the simulation room, wanting to see the performance of the school's newly installed arena.
"I see that you two didn't waste any time to test our new arena." Ozpin spoke to Glynda and Hope as he stands next to them. "Who do we currently have inside?"
"Have a look for yourself." Glynda mentioned towards the hologram screen, showing teams RWBY and KREL. Ozpin raised an eyebrow seeing that the two teams are facing against each other, due to the fact that the members of these teams have caught his eye of interest. Aside from already knowing about Team KREL's secret, there are some things about Team RWBY that caught his attention. One being the last of the Silver-Eyed Hunters to start off the list. The next one being a member of a family that is in a bitter conflict with the Arcana family, who also has a member attending his school. The third one having a hardened personality usually caused by a checkered past, and the last being a Cursed Hunter as well, from what Hope revealed to him.
"Everyone's vitals are in the green Ms. Goodwitch. Professor Ozpin." Hope announced the teams status while keying in a few commands on a green hologram screen in front of her that is linked to the arena's systems.
'Let's see what the outcome will be in this match.' Ozpin thought as he continued to watch.
Rize and Elisa, who are traveling from tree to tree, are currently hiding behind two separate tree trucks as they used their heighten eyesight to scope out the area ahead for their team, a command given by Kazato. Even though they're not allowed to use their supernatural abilities, they can't help that their eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell is enhanced by their Grimm. Rize didn't make a move as she took a moment to listen to her surroundings. All she can hear is the tree leaves rustling in the wind. It is quiet, too quiet. Just then, her heightened sense of smell began to pick up four distinct scents, but two of them stuck out as a sweet fragrant type smell. One that she is familiar with.
"That scent. It smells like the moon. Could it be from Elisa and Kazato?" She asked herself, use to smelling this particular scent from the brotherhood. "Wait? One smells way too strong to be Elisa's or Kazato's, plus its a few distances away along with the faint one I picked up." Rize then remembered that she picked up this same scent before, but where? Then it hit her. "Wait a minute? Could it be..." She then gave out a whistle to her sister, gaining her attention.
Looking over, Elisa sees her sister signaling her to go check out the location of one of the scents. With a nod, Elisa looked down below seeing Kazato and Lucilia on the forest floor. Receiving a whistle from Elisa, Kazato gave a thumbs up before moving on.
"What do the whistles mean? Some form of communication?" Lucilia asked as she followed along.
Kazato nodded. "Yeah. It's a system my sisters and I have. Different types of whistles means different things. We use it when we're hunting."
"So what did the previous whistles means?"
"In short, they picked up something. And thats our que to go catch it out. Obviously its one of Ruby's team, so let's go about this quietly so we can catch them by surprise."
Lucilia gave a nod along with a raised eyebrow. "I have to say that I'm rather impressed with your leadership so far. I may have misjudged you."
"Oh really?" Kazato's eyes widened a bit. "Does that mean you'll take back the things you said earlier?"
Lucilia gave a smirk. "I'll retract some of the things I said."
Kazato gave a sigh to her response. "Better than nothing, I guess."
"Argh. I'm starting to get sick of this game of hide-and-seek." Yang said impatiently as she and Weiss hides behind two separate trees.
"Then what do you suggest we do? Go crashing through the forest like a bunch of elephants?" Weiss, who is across from her, asked in response to the brawler's impatient behavior. Yang looked at the heiress with a cheeky grin. "Ya'know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."
Weiss just shook her head with a frustrated sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'She really is Ruby's sister.' Just then, Yang's acute sense of hearing picked up a slight sound of a twig snapping underneath someone's foot. "Huh?" Yang looked around, trying to see where the sound came from.
"What's wrong?" The heiress asked as she got on guard, placing her hand on her Myrtenaster.
Ruby is knelled in a spot within the tree leaves with her sniper rifle, keeping an vigilant eye out for her team along with Blake who is else where nearby. Elisa, hanging from a small branch just above the one Ruby is on, dropped down and landed without making a sound. Trying to contain her snickers, she tiptoed up behind the silver-eyed girl who is unaware of her presence.
"Hey Ruby. Whatcha doing?" Elisa said in a low tone as she bend over to look over Ruby's shoulder. Ruby recognized the voice but she is so caught up in her concentration that she didn't immediately react the way she should. "Hey Elisa. I'm- Wait a minute?" Ruby looked back at the corner of her eye to see a smiling Elisa waving at her. With a gasp, she immediately transformed her Crescent Rose into scythe form and turned around with a swing, which Elisa evade with a backflip.
"Whoa, you're pretty quick with that thing." Elisa grinned as she got into her fighting stance, beckoning her to come on.
'How did she...? I didn't even hear her behind me!' Ruby thought in shock.
"Watch out!" Came Weiss's frantic voice which caught Ruby's attention. Yang had ducked the Burial Blade that is thrown at her from the bushes, the curved sword striking the tree trunk behind her. As soon as that occurred, Lucilia appeared in front of Weiss with her art of quickening, readying her Reiterpallasch to attack. Quickly drawing out her Myrtenaster, Weiss blocked Lucilia's surprise attack, resulting a deadlock between the two. Both locking glaring eyes.
"Weiss!" Yang shouted when she sees this. Soon after, the sounds of blades colliding from above caught her attention. Blake landed on top of a nearby tree root, having her Gambol Shroud unsheathed. Rize landed on the same tree root, standing a few feet away from Blake with her Chikage also unsheathe.
"Peek-A-Boo. We found you." Rize gave the fanus a grin as she points the red muramasa blade at her.
'How was she able to find me? I was careful?' Blake narrowed her eyes a bit as she readied herself.
"Hey! How's it going down there?" Came Kazato's voice. Team RWBY brought their attention to see Kazato standing on the truck of a tree with his Burial Blade in his right hand.
"What don't you come down here and see for yourself?" Yang challenged the leader of Team KREL. Kazato chuckled. "If that's what you want. Alright girls! Cut loose!"
"Oh this is going to be fun!" Rize shouted, as if on que, running towards Blake. Blake gave a gasp after bring her attention back the raven haired girl just in time the block a vertical slash with her sword. "Let's try to make this fun. Alright Blake?"
Without saying a word, Blake kicked Rize off and took off running to deliver an attack of her own. The young Vileblood readied her as the her opponent used her semblance to move between shadows, trying to confuse her. Using her quick reflexes, Rize clashed with two quick attacks from Blake. One from her sword and sheathe. Rize began twirling her Chikage around from right hand to left hand. Blake's eyes franticly wandered as she tried to predict where the next attack is coming from.
'What is she-' Before she could finish her thoughts, Rize spins around and kicks her in the stomach, causing her to slide back a bit. Rize took off after her, zig-zagging with her art of quicken as she closed in. Blake can see Rize appearing in and out of the fog as she gets closer. Using her semblance to match the speed of Rize's art of quickening, the two clashed with a series of attacks. One of Rize's attacks ended up cutting Blake's side, but it turned out to be a doppelganger.
"What?" Rize blinked with unexpected surprise clearly on her face. Blake appear in the air behind Rize with an attack. At that moment, Rize's Grimm began to react on it's own, a faint Grimm mist starting to emit from her body. Something Rize did not want. "No Grimm! I got this, back off!" She scolded her Grimm in a low tone making the mist disappear. With that, she tightened her grip on her Chikage as she turned around with a fast swift swipe, deflecting Blake's attack. Blake's eyes grew after seeing how fast Rize managed to react.
"You better block." Rize told the fanus with a smirk.
"Wha-" But before Blake could react, multiple unseen attacks began hitting her. She balled up with her arm and legs to protect herself. She grimaced as she struggles to withstand the impact of the attacks. Eventually, the attacks broke her defense and sent her flying off the tree root. "I'll leave the rest of them to you guys." Rize gave a thumbs up before jumping off after Blake.
"Blake!" Weiss shouted the fanus's name while still in a deadlock with Lucilia. Using this moment of distract, Lucilia broke the deadlock by pushing Weiss away and jumped onto another nearby root. "Weiss Schnee." She said her name with a serious tone. "I suggest that we take our dual else where. So that there won't be any interferences."
"Fine. If it's a one-on-one fight you want. Yang, take care of him." Weiss told the brawler before running off after Lucilia.
"Looks like it's just you and me Ashtray." Yang cracked her knuckles with a smirk. Kazato put on a frightened expression. "Oooo. I'm so scared." He jumped off the tree trunk with a front flip and landed a few feet away from her. "Come on. Let's make this fun."
The heated dual between Lucilia and Weiss has already begun without a moments delay. The two collided attacks with their rapiers as they fought throughout the area that they are in. Given the heat and intensity of their fight, one would think that their feud is personal. But given their exchange of words, it says otherwise.
"You Schnees think you're so special!" Lucilia yelled out in a fit of rage. "Because everyone goes head over heels for your Dust and you get whatever you want from the Altas military, you think that your sitting on top of the world! And don't even get me started on that self-righteous attitude that clearly runs in your family!"
"Self-righteous?! You're one to talk!" Weiss fired back in her own fit of rage. "Your family always throw their weight around and think that they can run anyone over! Let's count how many weapon businesses were forced to close down because of your family!"
"Ha, pot meets kettle!" Lucilia laughed. "Let's also count the number of Dust shops that your family ran out of business!" Both of the girls clinched their teeth in detest at the words being exchanged about the families, despite the words being said are partially true.
"This world would be better off without you!" Both of them shouted simultaneously with Weiss processing to deliver the next attack. Rotating the revolving chamber on her Myrtenaster to ice Dust, Weiss spins around to gain a bit of momentum in her attack and sends a glacier of ice at the Arcana. On instinct, Lucilia hurled herself out of the path of the glacier as it nearly misses her, creating a wall of ice beside her. The young Vileblood looked up just in time to see Weiss skating towards her on the ice covered ground. Right before getting to her, Weiss spins around with her rapier and collides with her opponent's Reiterpallasch.
Lucilia grimaces as the impact of Weiss's attack slams her against the ice wall she created, pinning her against it. "We'll burn you all..." Lucilia muttered as she began to slowly push Weiss back, receiving a wide eyed expression from her. "That...is your PLIGHT!" Immediately after those words, an explosion occurred. Weiss winces as the force of the explosion sent her sliding back a few feet.
"Whoa!" Jaune stood up from his seat after seeing the explosion on the hologram screen.
Lucilia sprints out of the smoke and is heading towards Weiss at full speed. Eyes now glowing with a scarlet red hue, she clinches her right fist as it becomes engulf with her own flames of corruption. The Ice Queen gasped with an expression of utter shock, holding up her rapier in front of her as a immediate response to this. Lucilia's fist collides with Weiss's Myrtenaster, causing Weiss to grimace from the impact as she slides back a little. She can feel the hot burst of heat hitting her pale white face as the flames burned around the both them.
Finally opening her eyes, Weiss finds herself looking into the eyes of a Vileblood, eyes of a burning scarlet hue. 'Her eyes, weren't they purple before? They're red, why?' In a act of retaliation, Weiss began to glow with a blue hue, getting a surprised reaction out of Lucilia. Mustering enough strength, the heiress knocked her opponent's attack away, causing the fire from Lucilia's fist to shoot towards a tree branch.
Blake jumped off a nearby tree branch, using her whip to swing herself towards another. Rize came running down a tree trunk shooting quicksilver bullets at the fanus with her Evelyn. After swinging herself upwards, Blake quickly transformed her weapon into it's gun form and began shooting rounds which countered Rize's shots. Jumping off the trunk towards the fanus, Rize and Blake began to collided blades once again. Seeing an opening, Blake kicked Rize in the stomach, knocking her away. Both of the girls landed on the same tree branch, standing a few feet away from each other and panting slightly.
Rize placed her left hand on her stomach as she rubbed it. "Ow. That really hurts you know."
"Consider that as payback from earlier." Blake gave a small smirk, mentioning when Rize kicked her. The raven haired girl gave a chuckle as she pointed her Chikage at her. Just then, at the corner of their eyes, they can see something bright that seems to be coming towards them. Looking in the direction of the bright object, their eyes instantly began full when they see a fireball hurling towards them.
"Jump!" Blake franticly shouted to her opponent.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Rize replied as they both quickly jumped off the branch moments before it is destroy by the fireball.
"Shit!" Lucilia swore to herself, seeing that her aggressive actions almost got her own teammate burned alive. Seeing that her opponent is distracted, Weiss used this opportunity to kick Lucilia off and backed away a few feet. Using her semblance, Weiss created multiple glyphs that formed a large circle around Lucilia, causing the Arcana to look around vigorously. Without warning, Weiss began attacking her opponent from all direction with inexplicable speed, moving from glyph to glyph as she did so.
Lucilia is having extreme difficulty keeping up with the heiress due to her appearing as a white flash. She knows that if this continues, Weiss will wear down her aura. "Enough of this!" Doing the first thing that comes to mind, Lucilia puts her Reiterpallasch on her left side and claps her hands together above her head. Multiple arcane bolts appeared forming a cosmic display above her.
'What is that?' Weiss thought when she sees this strange move. Whatever it is, she had to keep her from launching it. With that in mind, she went for another attack in a attempt to stop her.
"A Call Beyond!" The arcane bolts shot out in all directions, creating a devastating explosion. The sight of this earned gasps and shocked reactions from the class.
"That was..." Hope said with a surprised look of her own upon seeing this.
"Arcane..." Ozpin finished for her, watching the match with intense focus. Glynda looked that the headmaster with an raised eyebrow. "Arcane?"
"It's a form of magic that is believed to be long forgotten." Ozpin told her. "It's the same magic as Dust but of a different property."
"Unlike Dust, arcane is pure energy." Hope began to explain. "It's faster and more efficient than it's counterpart but it's also dangerous. The arcane spell Ms. Arcana just used will more than likely take a toll on her body if she tries it again."
"In addition to it, those that know about this form of magic speculate that it's the same magic used by the four seasonal maidens. Believing that they are given the gift of arcane." Ozpin added in.
Back to the fight, The force of the explosion caused by Lucilia's arcane spell sent Weiss flying through the air. Blake dropped down from a tree branch she was on and managed to catch her teammate, causing her to slide back a bit. Weiss groaned as Blake helped her to her feet.
"They're a lot tougher than I thought." Blake slightly panted, trying to recover her breath.
"You're telling me. Who knew that she can throw fire?" Weiss mentioned the power she just witnessed from Lucilia. "Come to think of it, haven't we seen this before?" Blake responded to her question with a confirming nod, they have seen this before. "Yeah, from Yang."
Lucilia stumble out of the dust cloud, seeming a bit disoriented, feeling the after affects of the powerful spell. Rize stood beside her teammate, ready to continue the fight. "You're not looking so hot there. Are you alight?" She asked while not taking her eyes off of her opponents. Lucilia gave a confirming nod as she recovered herself.
"Don't you think that was a bit risky using that arcane spell?"
"You're one to talk Rize. When you sacrifice your blood to your Chikage, you intend to give a bit more than you should." With that said, Lucilia reached back and grabbed the handle of a metallic black rectangular box with blue glowing lines that she has hanging just below her lower back. She held the black box in front of her with her right hand and gave a command. "Black Box voice command. Requesting deployment of Vulcanus Sangre."
"Voice command accepted. Deploying 'Vulcanus Sangre'." The black box responded back in a female voice that sounds automative. The black plates on the box began to slide, opening the box and revealing a Rakuyo from within. Like all of the weapons created by her family, the midnight ash colored blades are made of a material stronger than steel. Markings are engraved into the sides of the twinblade and the sharp sides of the weapon are silver.
"Oh? You are a blood weapon too?" Rize said with a raised eyebrow.
"Have you forgotten who my family is? Not only is it a blood weapon, it is also infused with high frequency technology. So even without the use of blood, it can still cut through objects with excellent precision." Lucilia told her as she held her Rakuyo, Vulcanus Sangre, with both hands. With a strong pull, she breaks the weapon into two separate blades.
Both Weiss and Blake gritted their teeth as they prepared themselves to cross blades with the two Vilebloods once again.
"Rize..." Lucilia called out to her teammate. "Let's show them with our blood can do." Rize immediately cracked a cheeky grin after hearing those words. "Done and done." Both of the girls cut their thumbs on their blades, the sight of their blood making their eyes glow with a scarlet red hue. In unison, the two spoke the phrase used for Cainhurst weapons.
"My sword, drink my blood".
AN: Thanks for reading everyone. And I'll see you in the next chapter real soon.