Naomi's Point of View.
As I observed Odin's subtle nod, I felt a small glimmer of warmth sweep throughout my body, however it was easily replaced by a cold, nervous feeling as I felt the gears under my launcher begin to turn. Before I could give a proper response back to Odin, I was launched into the air with the rest of the students. This replaced that cold feeling with an even more frigid one. I wanted to say I was sweating from the nervousness, but the massive amount of wind that I was seemingly cutting through made it difficult to tell.
I ended up getting so caught up in my fear of heights that I was at least half way to the ground when I finally managed to get myself back together...in a way. I began to steady myself out in the air, attempting to focus as I rapidly searched for a place to land. However it seemed that everything was moving to fast, making me unable to focus on the current major task of safely landing.
I was easily around seven seconds away from a very painful meeting with the side of a tree when I remembered something very important that could help me out of this dangerous situation...my semblance.
My semblance was a rare one; The ability to slow time. Now this may seem like a very powerful ability, but it has its drawbacks. For one, I can only use this semblance for around a total of five seconds until it begins to drain me of any type of energy I have, making it very dangerous if I use it at the wrong time. However five seconds in real time feels more like twenty seconds in slowed time, so that much extra time to concentrate can prove to be a major perk.
Just as quick as the thought of my semblance came to mind, I began to activate it, watching as the entire world around me began to slow itself. I then began to look around at my surroundings, this time almost immediately noticing that the tree I was originally worried about colliding with was my best bet of landing safely. However the tree was not what I was wanting to land on, as it was not big enough to withstand me landing on it at this speed. What I was focused on was the large pond of red hued water that was off to the right of the tree. I could use the tree's rather large branches to change my direction towards the water. Sure, I was going to get a bit wet...but that was far better than a face first impact with the trees.
I used the remainder of time I had of my semblance to position Silver Divides handle to loop around my selected branch, then went back into real time. I looked around as the world caught up with me, closing my eyes as my speed went back to its original velocity.
I squinted my eyes out of fear as Silver Divides handle looped around the branch, successfully curving me towards my desired location of the red pond. As I rapidly approached the body of water I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then waited for myself to become submerged in the liquid. The feeling came a bit sooner than I wanted, and I could tell that I was unscathed from the landing. I opened my eyes under the water and then began to swim towards the small glimmer of dim sunlight that signaled the surface, eventually breaching the surface and taking a deep breath of relief as I began swimming to the near shore. I eventually reached land and pulled myself out of the cold pond water, almost regretting my decision as I realized that the water was way colder than my body originally told me. I wrapped my arms around myself as I placed Silver Divide back in its resting place, then noticed that I began to shiver as I breeze went by.
"Alright...new goal. Find warmth." I quietly said to myself as I frantically rubbed my hands together, beginning to walk deeper into the forest.
The forest was a very beautiful place, the crimson hued fauna and large trees gave it a sort of elegance. Then again I should try my best to not get comfortable, as it is said that anything non-human in this deceiving place was supposedly out to kill me. Giving me all the better reason to find warmth so I can focus on my main subject on finding warmth.
Truth be told, I really wanted Odin as my partner. At least then I would have a friend to help me out in this situation. I could settle for Xion as well, he seemed nice. But in the end, I wanted to find Odin...there was just something about him that made me feel safe and warm inside.
This gave me even more of a reason to find warmth, that way I can actually focus on finding someone. However as I slowly trudged through the forest, I overheard I rather odd sound come from one of the larger bushes off to my right. I wanted to investigate, but something deep inside was telling me not to. I began to continue walking, but was cut off by the same noise, this time it was a bit louder than the last. I stopped in place and deeply stared at the bush, watching for something to move or at least see if the noise would occur again.
But this time there was nothing. Nothing moved. No noises. Just the silence of the forest, something that proved to emit an odd, eerie feeling. I began looking around...something was definitely off about the current situation. Was someone else here? Was I being watched? Other questions like that echoed throughout my mind, all to be interrupted by a different sound coming from the same large bush from earlier. However this time I was able to make out the noise to be a very particular snarl...a beowolf...or perhaps beowolves.
I slowly started backing up as I watched the medium sized pack of beowolves creep out of the thick of the forest, almost immediately noticing that I was now surrounded. I slowly drew Silver Divide from my back, causing me to draw even more attention from the vile creatures. However I could tell that my movement was far slower than usual due to the fact that I was still dripping with cold pond water, and the fact that the cold breeze of the forest seemed to make that far worse. I had a feeling that the beowolves didn't care about this hindrance though, and I had a worse feeling that this wasn't going to end well for me.
I managed to get Silver Divide from my back, but by the time I did that the creatures were already within slashing distance. All I had to do was wait for one of them to attack...and then just hope I get lucky. However no attack came. Just an awkward stare off with a group of beowolves. I began to slowly move my head, attempting to see if there was a reason for the lack of being mauled right about now...but there was nothing out of the ordinary. I could feel myself shaking for more than one reason now.
I grasped Silver Divide's handle as tightly as my body would let me, then just watched as the Creatures closed in. I guess I needed to make the first move if I wanted this to go anywhere.
I quickly opened up the blade of Silver Divide, slid it around the waist of the closest beowolf, then closed them. The upper half of the creature fell to the ground, the lower half soon following. Upon exiting the creature, I noticed the others recoil back...like they were scared. This was odd...creatures of Grimm don't behave like this. They're suppose to attack on sight, not just observe and watch. I was not scared anymore, but instead confused. I slowly brought Silver Divide back to a resting state, then watched as the creatures slowly backed away. The forest was silent once more, the only noise were the footsteps of the slowly retreating Grimm and the continuing breeze. I began to slowly back away myself in hope of escaping this confusion.
But before I could escape the area, the silence was cut off by a anger fueled scream. I turned in its direction, spotting a very familiar, wolf eared face...Xion. He looked very enraged, almost unable to control what he was doing. He began to walk towards me, his metallic claws at his side. I noticed that he wasn't looking at me however, but instead the beowolves...and they were staring back. It wasn't long until Xion was at my side. It looked as if he had already seen combat as his clothes were very scuffed up.
"What are you doing here?" I noticed myself blurt out.
He slowly looked over at me...then smiled. "I'm here for the same reason you are." He said. It was good to see that behind his look of anger that his cheerful personality was still present.
"What do you say about helping me finish off these things?" He laughed, bringing his claws up to a combative stance.
"You might not have to..." I paused.
"And why's that?" He asked, looking over at me with confusion.
"Well, as crazy as it sounds, these ones appear to be passive." I said, gesturing over at the creatures.
"What?" He responded out of disbelief.
"Just look." I said, this time pointing at them.
We then watched the creatures once again, observing as they slowly backed away from us. It wasn't long until they were completely submerged back into the forest.
"What the hell is that all about?" Xion spoke up.
"I have absolutely no clue. You think anyone else is having this problem?" I asked, once again realizing that I was extremely cold.
I wrapped my arms around myself once again, noticing that I began to shiver.
"What's wrong?" Xion asked.
"Not sure if you noticed...but I'm a little wet." I sarcastically said as a cold chill went down my spine.
"Hmm...Lucky for you I can fix that." He said, grabbing a group of broken sticks from the ground and throwing them into a pile. Then igniting them with the flamethrowers attached to his claw gauntlets.
"That's about as good as I can do without lighting a few trees on fire." He smiled.
"Umm...thank you." I giggled as I sat down beside the fire.
"We shouldn't stay here long though, we still have a task at hand." He said.
He wasn't wrong. We may have just partnered, but we still had the task of finding the relics that Ozpin spoke of.
"Your right." I paused, shivering once more. "But can I have at least five minutes?" I begged.
"Your on the clock starting now." He said, this time in a more serious tone.
"Thanks Xion." I responded, rubbing my hands together. "Anyway, back to the original question. Do you think anyone else is having that problem with the Grimm?" I asked.
"Not sure. I had an encounter with an Ursa a bit ago, they seemed pretty hostile to me." He grinned, as if taking pride in the hinted accomplishment of defeating an Ursa.
"That's odd. Why would it just be beowolves?" I asked, looking up at Xion.
"Maybe its not. I mean we really cant say." He responded.
"Good point, but its still odd none the less." I said.
The two of us then fell into an odd silence, once again greeted be the sounds of the forest. However time must have went by faster than I had expected, as Xion's voice interrupted the silence.
"Alright, there's your five minutes. We should get moving." He said.
"Five minutes went by that fast?" I responded.
"Afraid so. Hope your at least warmer than before." He said, reaching his hand down to help me up.
"Well...I'm still wet, but I'm not cold anymore." I said, grabbing his hand as he pulled me up. "Lets get moving then!" I continued.
We then began walking off deeper into the forest. Guess initiation was truly about to start.
AUTHORS NOTES:
Well guys, I'm glad I got this chapter up...but will admit that I had trouble with it. In the end, I hope you enjoy!