Chapter 10
" I'll handle it !" Ruby ran off before anyone could say anything. Equipping her Giant Scythe, she charged at the Death Stalker while firing her sniper rounds at it. Only for the Death Stalker to ignore her sniper rounds by relying on its hard bone plated armor to absorb the damage. Screaming out a battle cry the Death Stalker charged towards Ruby because of her attacks. Meeting each other half way through their charge Ruby swung her scythe trying to slice into the beast head. Only for the giant scorpion to swat her back with its pincer claw. Ruby crashed into the ground before she groggily got back up.
Seeing that her attack had failed Ruby turned around and began retreating back to our group for safety.
Announcing its presence suddenly with a unbelievably loud bird cry was an enormous Grimm in the shape of a black bird called a Nevermore. Looking up at it I could see that it was flying down, and targeting Ruby just like the Death Stalker. I watch as the Nevermore pulls it's wings backwards and then flings it forward to launch a wave of black feathers as sharp as swords.
Realizing that Ruby is in serious danger and something needs to happen fast, I start sprinting as fast as I can towards her.
I'm not going to get to Ruby in time.
I split off a large blade from my fusion sword and hurl it so that the sword lands right in front of Ruby to act as a shield. The black feathers fly down like rain towards Ruby but bounce off of the sword shield she is now hiding behind.
I continue to charge forward as I bob and weave or strike out with my sword to protect myself from the rest of the barrage of black feathers.
Now that the Nevermore attack has ended, I switch to focus on dealing with the Death Stalker and charge at it myself.
As soon as I get close enough to the Death Stalker, it swings out its left pincer at me. Standing my ground I swing my giant sword to smack its pincer aside and deflect the attack. I take another step forward only to have to swing my sword again to deflect the other pincer. The large size of the Death Stalker and the way it winds up to swing it's pincer makes it easy to read it's attack and deflect it's blow. Furthermore, the strength behind it's pincer strikes aren't quite enough to push me back. Pressing forward once more I suddenly sense danger and duck to feel a rush of air blow my hair backwards. Flying through the air where my head used to be is the tail stinger of the Death Stalker. The real danger that comes from fighting a Death Stalker is the tail stinger which I'm constantly trying to keep track of to dodge. Deflecting and dodging its attack, I keep trying to press forward close enough to be able to attack it's head.
After a few moments I start channeling my mana to use a spell. Seeing an opportunity between it's attacks I cast Haste on myself. Feeling my body surge with new strength, I use my new faster speed to roll to the left and dodge to right to avoid it's pincer attacks instead of blocking and deflecting. Instantly closing the distance before it can react I swing my sword as hard as I can to be rewarded with a boom as my sword connects at last. It staggers backwards slightly from my blow and I can see that it is dazed. Looking more closely, I see a small crack in its bone white skull armor created from my heavy sword strike. Not letting the opportunity go I channel my mana for another spell as I jump onto its head. Once on top I lift up my left claw gauntlet, and pierce it into the crack of its skull armor and cast Bolt to electrocute the monster.
The Death Stalker twitches and screams in pain as I pour lightning into its insides in an effort to fry it. As it buckles back and forth in its attempt to dislodge me, I focus too much on not falling off while continuing to electrocute it and react too late to avoid the tail strike. Moving my sword so that it is just in front of me the Death Stalker is unable to pierce me through but I'm smashed backwards. Being hit so hard cancels Haste as I'm sent flying back with a nasty bruise on my chest.
Landing on my back with a boom, my breath is completely knocked out of me. Getting back up a moment later with a wheeze I turn to see the silver haired girl had dashed forward to attack after I was knocked off. Using some sort of ability she was able to encase the scorpion partially in ice and pinned it to the ground. The Death Stalker struggles but is completely unable to escape it's ice shackles.
Taking a deep breath I relax a bit as our group is temporarily safe for now. Looking up I see that the Nevermore is still there but quite a ways away.
Turning back to look at Ruby, I see the white haired girl talking to her in frustrated concern. As I'm walking towards the two of them, I see that they seemed to have resolved their disagreement.
I guess the two of them must be partners. Joining the two of them shortly is Yang who hugs her sister and looks her over to confirm that she was unharmed.
Once I'm near the three of them Ruby notices me, " Wow, Cloud thanks for the save !"
Nodding my head, "No problem".
"Seriously that was awesome. It was crazy to see you fight the Death Stalker on your own. You just kept charging it and then you smacked it in the head before jumping on and zapping it."
I grab the sword that had been Ruby's shield and recombine it with the fusion sword.
"Oh, I almost forgot. This is my partner, Weiss.", as Ruby pointed at the white-haired girl.
I turn towards Weiss to introduce myself, "Cloud Strife".
Weiss frowned as she looked at Ruby in disapproval for the way she had provided a less than stellar introduction before turning to look at me with a slight smile, "Nice to meet you Cloud. I'm Weiss Schnee and you have some impressive swordsman skills".
Interrupting our conversation, suddenly I'm given a hug from the side by a happy blonde. "Cloud ! Thanks for jumping in to help Ruby.", says a brightly smiling Yang. I gently pry her arms off as Weiss makes a suggestion, "We should get back to everyone else and figure out what we are going to do next".
After we all regroup to discuss what we are going to do, Jaunne in obvious panic points up towards the sky, "That Nevermore is circling back for us. What are we going to do ?"
Weiss shakes her head and answers, "Look, our objective is to get the artifacts which is right here in front of us. We don't need to dilly-dally anymore"
Ruby nods her head in support," She is right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and head straight back to the cliff. Fighting the Grimm isn't something we need to do" .
With no objections, those who had yet to grab and artifact quickly retrieved one and we all immediately began retreating in the direction of the cliff with Ruby leading the way.
Following Ruby we ran through the forest surrounding the artiact location and soon found ourselves deeper in what seemed to be the remains of an ancient ruin. Looking ahead I spot what looks like a stone bridge over a chasm leading into an abandoned and decrepit temple made of stone.
*CAWWW*
That damn bird was looking for us.
Hearing the bird cry of the Nevermore everyone quickly moved to hide behind different nearby building remnants to hopefully avoid the Nevermore's detection.
As we hide quietly, we abruptly hear the battle cry of the Death Stalker that we had left behind close to our location. Shortly after, the group of trees from behind us explode into splinters as the Death Stalker emerges. Screaming in range from being imprisoned in ice earlier it rushes forward to find us. Based on the short distance and our positioning, its only a matter of time before it does.
Ruby seeing that continuing to stay where we are will accomplish nothing makes an immediate group judgement call. " Everyone run for the bridge !"
Abandoning our attempt to hide, our group makes a mad dash to get to and cross the stone bridge I saw earlier. Briefly turning back I see that the Death Stalker has been increasingly closing in on us and it won't be long before it gets within attacking range. Pyyrha who was at the front of the group had just about reached the stone bridge turned around to spot the approaching danger.
" Keep going! Don't stop! ". Transforming her weapon into its rifle form, Pyrrha encouraged the group to run while firing at the Death Stalker to slow it down and buy us more time.
Making good progress, our group is about halfway through the process of crossing the stone bridge. Only to be interrupted by the screeching Nevermore that had easily spotted us while we were running out in the open.
" Everyone watch out ! ", cried Blake in warning.
Turning to the right my eyes widen when I see the Nevermore growing larger as it swoops in for a head on collision with us on the bridge. Just as it's about to reach us I push myself and leap forward just in time as the Nevermore bashes itself into the stone bridge and destroys the part I was just at.
I quickly check to see if anyone had gotten hurt or fallen into the chasm, and luckily everyone was safe. However the attack by the Nevermore had split up our group. I had managed to get to the ruins of the stone temple alongside Yang, Blake, Weiss and Ruby. Stuck on the other side with no immediate way to cross over to us were the others who had no choice but to fight the Death Stalker now.
Hearing another screeching cry from the Nevermore those of us who crossed the bridge could easily see that it was coming back to attack us. We'll just have to trust that the others can handle the Death Stalker for now as we need to deal with the Nevermore.
"Hit it with everyone we've got! ", yelled Ruby as she took the lead and jumped to higher ground to begin firing at the Nevermore.
I attach the fusion sword to my back before taking out Cerberus to shoot the Nevermore along with the group. At this distance there isn't much I could do with my sword. Distressingly, although we are all firing devastating projectiles at the Nevermore, it's speed and maneuverability in the air is helping it avoid any serious damage.
"Watch out! ", yells Blake just before the Nevermore begin's a new dive attack and charges itself into the part of the temple we are standing on. We are all blown into the air along with the platform we were standing on as it drops into the chasm below. Having seen the attack coming and prepared myself, I use all my strength to hop from falling debris to debris to reach the still stable part of the temple ruins. Proving the groups skill, no one was hurt from the attack and we were all able to use our own individual abilities to recover and regroup.
" We need a new plan! ", states Yang in frustration from our lack of ability to do significant damage to the Nevermore.
I quickly start thinking about what I could do.
The Nevermore's ability to fly in the air is the main issue. Materializing my wings isn't going to help because I've never tried an aerial battle before and I don't think I have any skills or abilities that I could easily use to fight it in the air and win. No one in the group could probably fly and I would be alone in my fight against the Nevermore without much support.
Then suddenly I remember that in the past I had fought a larger flying dragon monster called Bahumut. I had used one of the first Limit Break attack that I had unlocked called Braver to successful bring Bahumut to the ground. The Limit Break hadn't killed Bahumut but it was highly effective at sending it to the ground.
The Limit Break Braver was a simple but devastatingly effective boost to a swordsman downward strike. It worked similarly to Gravity materia where the mana is used to help create a dense gravity field. In this case, the gravity field surrounds the sword so that you can strike downwards exponentially stronger. Not ending there, upon sword contact with the enemy the mana then continues its destruction by charging into the attacked target as a magical gravity attack that forces the target to drop downwards like a meteor. However, the limitation to the Limit Break attack is that it needs to be a downward sword strike.
" Ruby I have a special attack that can bring down the Nevermore. However, it probably won't kill it and I need some time to prepare it "
Ruby seemingly getting an idea began to take lead on organizing our counter-attack against the Nevermore, " Alright I have a plan. Weiss, do you have enough Ice Dust to freeze it like the Death stalker and pin it in place? "
" Of course I have enough Dust. "
" Perfect. Yang, go distract the Nevermore and buy us sometime so we can prepare. Cloud do what ever you need to do to bring it down. I'll need both Weiss and Blake to help, but I think we'll be able to finish it with a combination attack once its down. "
As we set out to our respective tasks I think about what Ozpin had said during the announcement before initiation. He had said that it was expected that we don't hesitate to give it our all as we could run into situations where we might die... Would they really not intervene to save students? Thinking about our current situation, we were facing real danger. We are fighting an enemy that could fly while having to defend ourselves on a ruins of a temple that could easily collapse while overlooking a chasm that I'm not sure we could survive a fall from.
Yang's role in the next few moments would bear the majority of the danger due to her needing to distract the Nevermore for the rest of us. I may not know her well at all but right now we were a team.
"Yang wait... I can do something to help you fight the Nevermore". Turning around to look at me curiously she waited as I approached her.
Deciding to no longer hesitate, I placed my hand on her shoulder to cast Haste. Channeling my mana, it began to flow into Yang's body and envelope her in a bluish sparking glow.
"W-w-wow ! I feel really good ... Like stronger and things are moving slower". Stunned by her changed state I continued to feel the drain of my mana as I passed a quarter of it onto her.
"It's an ability of mine. I'm passing on my... Aura energy to you and it'll support you by boosting your speed and reaction time. It'll put a strain on your body and it won't last forever but it should help".
" Don't worry, with your help I got this! ", replied Yang while trying to reassure me with a confident and thankful smile.
I hope my support spell would be enough to help Yang stay safe as she distracted the Nevermore. Now I need to focus on myself.
Taking a deep breath I began funneling my mana to fully charge my Limit Break. I watched as Yang dashes out onto higher ground to get a clear view of the flying Nevermore and begin firing her unique flaming shotgun rounds at it. Successfully attracting its attention, the Nevermore dived towards Yang only for her to dodge by leaping into the air and launching herself around using her weapons recoil.
Yang began to lead the Nevermore around the temple in a wild chase. For now she was doing well and was safe. However, it would only take a single mistake for that to change.
I needed a plan to get within striking range with my sword against the Nevermore for my Limit Break Braver attack to work. Looking around at our environment I quickly come up with a rough plan as I feel my Limit Break become fully charged.
I start my preparations and switch my fusion sword for Cerberus and grab one of my few remaining Lightning Dust Crystal with my other hand. Watching the Nevermore as it chased Yang around I finally saw an opportunity to jump in. Predicting the path of the Nevermore, I threw the Lightning Dust Crystal where it was heading next and shot the Dust crystal to create an explosive electrical storm. Screeching in pain from my shocking attack it instantly locked onto me as its new target in it's rage.
"Yang! Meet me at the top of the temple ruins. I need you to give me a boost!". Trusting that I knew what I was doing, Yang immediately ran off towards the top.
The Nevermore eyeing me viciously for my earlier attack from above raised its wings and and flung them forwards to send a rain of black feathers at me. I quickly caste Haste on myself and take out my sword to dodge and deflect the barrage. There were simply too many. I fail to dodge a few and feel one of the feathers slice into my cheek and another one biting into my exposed shoulder. Although the shallow cuts stinged painfully, none of them were going to impede my battle capabilities.
As soon as the Nevermore finished it's projectile attack I see that it has started the process of trying to swoop in to attack me. I dash off from my spot in response and head towards the lower platforms of the temple ruins. Stopping when I reach the bottom platforms, I wait for the Nevermore and jump away at the last possible moment as it plunges into the ground I was standing on like a battering ram. As a result of its dive attack, the Nevermore had gone deep below into the chasm and gave me an opportunity to execute my plan.
As fast as I could, I jump from pillar to pillar and ran up towards the top of the temple ruins . While racing to the top I checked behind me to see the Nevermore flapping it's wings and beginning it's ascent to chase after me. So far things were going according to plan and hopefully the Nevermore would behave the way I expected. Reaching the top I saw Yang who was in place waiting for me. Perfect.
"Yang boost me as high as you can! "
Quickly, Yang locked her hands together to serve as a platform. Placing my foot on her hands, she grunted as she launched me straight into the air above like a rocket. The Nevermore upon seeing that I was airborne high in the sky with little opportunity to maneuver around immediately began to dash directly towards me with the intent of skewering me on its long sharp beak. Hitting the apex of my flight through the air, I began to fall downwards towards the Nevermore charging at me.
This is it.
I begin the process of unleashing my Limit Break Braver attack. The stored mana starts to funnel into the Fusion Sword and it get's enveloped in a visible crackling bluish glow that releases tiny sparks. As the energy in the sword builds I can feel the air around me slowly warp as the mana changes into gravitational energy. Raising my arms up in preparation to strike, I feel as if time has slowed to a crawl as I watch the face of the Nevermore grows closer.
NOW ! Swinging my sword down with all my strength I unleash everything I have into my Limit Break Braver attack. The heavy fusion sword accelerates in a downward strike impossibly fast with the aid of gravitational energy and smashes into the beak of the Nevermore. The heavy blow from the attack is strong enough that I can feel it's beak dent inwards and crack. Not stopping there, all of the gravitational energy in the sword had charged forward into the Nevermore upon sword contact. Instantly reversing the upwards momentum of the Nevermore and sending it backwards like a cannon into the rocky wall of a cliff on the side of the Chasm. Clearly damaged from the blow but not dead, the Nevermore falls downwards onto the a bit of shallow ground overlooking the pit in a cloud of dust and rock fragments.
Weiss having prepared exactly for this moment immediately fires off an amazing Ice attack that freezes the Nevermore in place. Stuck on that shallow outcrop of ground with its back against the cliff the Nevermore screams at us in rage and pain.
I watch as Ruby operates as a team together with Weiss and Blake to set up Ruby's finishing blow. I'm amazed by their creativity as Blake and Weiss use their abilities to slingshot Ruby while boosting Ruby's speed to the point she is a barely visible blur. Ruby rockets into the Nevermore and strikes it in the neck with her scythe. The momentum of Ruby's scythe attack so intense that the Nevermore is broken out of its ice imprisonment and dragged upwards along the cliff before having it's head decapitated.
Seeing that the Nevermore is dead I turn to look at the rest of the group to see them kill the Death Stalker and send it falling to its grave at the bottom of the chasm.
The fight against the Nevermore had really drained me of mana. Instead of sticking around with everyone I decide to head to back to the cliff on my own.
Beacon Academy waiting room
Leaning against the wall I stood in the waiting room behind the stage in Beacon Academy's where they were announcing the student teams. Ozpin was conducting the process and currently on the stage calling student names to come up onto the stage. The name of those who were called along with yours would be your team members. Once all the team members are on the stage, your designated team name would be announced along with who would be specified as leader of the team. I had arrived early since I had nothing else to do and it would only be a few minutes before it began.
Hearing the door to the waiting room open I see Ruby and her sister Yang along with Weiss and Blake walk in as a group. Looks like the initiation test had helped them bond together as friends. Spotting where I was, Ruby led the group towards me, "Hey Cloud !".
Ruby was still clearly happy from before. "Cloud you left right after we killed the Nevermore but we were all so awesome together! Everything was just perfect. It was so cool how your sword glowed all blue and then Bang! You smashed the Nevermore down and we combo killed it."
Noticing that she was getting carried away, Ruby rubbed her head shyly. "Ah sorry, got a little too excited. Well anyways, we worked well together and I hope we can find ourselves on a team together somehow.", Ruby said with a genuine smile.
Not letting her sister outdo her, Yang was equally happy and as exuberant. "Ruby's right handsome.! We made a great duo and I don't know what you did to me but I want more! I've never moved that fast before after you powered me up."
"Cloud how did you manage to bring down the Nevermore with one strike? I think I saw your sword had a bluish glow to it before you attacked.". Blake was much calmer than the pair of sisters but smiling none the less. Perhaps a bit more observant than than the both of them as well.
Thinking about how to explain without telling too much. "Well. I used a special attack but it required that I store up... my Aura before I can use it. You can say its a part of my semblance".
"Interesting. You were able to give Yang some sort of support ability and have some sort of Aura building attack. I remember seeing you electrocuted the Death Stalker previously as well with your gauntlet. Did you use some sort of lightning dust to do that? "
I'm surprised that Weiss remembered and noticed all of that. Perhaps she might be the most analytical of the group of friends and someone I had to be careful around unless I want her to uncover my abilities are completely different from a typical Huntsman in Remnant.
"Yea.. I like to use Lightningh Dust as a part of my battle kit". I'm hoping that my answer gives Weiss enough that she doesn't think about things too deeply.
"I thought you might when I saw you throw and shoot that Lightning Dust Crystal at the Nevermore. Although it was effective, I also hope you do understand how dangerous unprocessed Dust Crystals are. Schnee Dust Corporation never sells Dust Crystal like the one you used because it is extremely easy to accidentally explode and have to be stored properly. To be honest I was shocked that you would use them."
"..."
This line of questioning was starting to make me uncomfortable. The real reason why I have Lighting Dust Crystals is to help with Geostigma. I was having a harder and harder time explaining things. Luckily Blake saved me from further distress.
"Everyone has their own secrets. Let's not grill Cloud to explain why he does everything that he does. As fellow huntsman and huntresses we should trust that he knows what he's doing." To my immense relief after Blake's statement the series of questions stopped.
" Ah sorry Cloud we just can't help it because you were so awesome! I wouldn't mind having all of us be together in a team. What do you think? " said Ruby and brightening up the mood once again.
To be honest when we all grouped together at the Artifact location I thought that we wouldn't be able to work together that well. Its why I was extremely surprised when the fighting began and everyone was able to co-ordinate together to kill the Nevermore. Everyone contributed and the experience really reminded me of my old team back in my world. Back then we had only been able to defeat monsters like Sephiroth because of how well we were able to work together. The whole experience fighting the Nevermore had reminded how it can be great fighting together with others as a team.
" Yea, we did work together really well. I'd like to be in a team together.", hearing that everyone in the group nodded with a smile from feeling the same.
" It's unfortunate though that it would be unlikely. Beacon historically creates four people hunter teams. One of us would definitely be on another team.", Weiss informed us.
"Way to spoil the mood princess", said Yang to chide Weiss for her statement.
Then we heard Ozpin began to speak and call out the teams onto stage so we quieted down. As each team was announce I could hear the clapping and cheering even all the way here in the waiting room. Ozpin also explained that the teams were grouped together based on the chess pieces they retrieved. However, what about the silver wolf miniature that I had taken?
" Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie," Ozpin announced to the audience. Seeing the four of them begin to go on stage I realized that they were the fellow students who had been fighting the Death Stalker.
" The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team JNPR (Juniper), led by Jaune Arc! "
" Sounds like Vomit-boy is leading the team ! "
" Yang! Be nice, Jaunne really stepped up when they were fighting the Death Stalker ".
It wasn't long before the four girls were brought onto the stage.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladona and Yang Xiao Long. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."
As the girls began to get off stage, Ozpin surprised everyone with another announcement. "I'd like to ask that Cloud Strife come onto the stage.".
Finally hearing my name I walked onto the stage and wondered who would be on my team.
"Due to some late enrollments this year we have an odd number of students which made it impossible for every student to be part of a four person team. As a result since Cloud Strife was able to obtain the lone wolf piece, he will be operating as a solo student unless there is a position that need to be filled by a first or second year team. That is all Cloud Strife"
The announcement that I would be operating as a solo Huntsman had attracted everyone attention so I got off the stage as quickly as I could. Walking back into the waiting room I felt... disappointed that I wouldn't be a part of anyone's team. It didn't think it was bad that I would be operating solo as it would make it easier to hide my abilities. Regardless I wasn't as cheerful like the rest of the students who now knew who they would be working closely with.
Upon entering the waiting room I ran into Ruby and the rest of them. " Wow Cloud! I don't think I've ever heard of someone being a one person team at Beacon. Guess Ozpin thinks your too awesome huh? ", teased Yang.
Not in the mood for her banter I shrugged and walked past them to leave.
Author Notes: Let me know what you think with a review. Thank you to all those who have taken their time to do so.
I hope you liked how I've changed the battles to include Cloud in them. Took some creative liberty with creating an explanation for how Braver worked. If you watch Advent Children he did use Braver to smack down Bahumut who looks like a size of a small building. Thought it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Cloud to use it against the Nevermore.