The group of nine ran a beeline towards Beacon Cliff. Just before the finish line, they found themselves among another set of ruins. Ancient buildings lined both sides of the path they were following. Further down the road was a tall stone spire, built right in the middle of a vast gorge. A single footbridge connected the tower to their current location.
As the group made their way towards the goal, the Nevermore decided to perch on top of the spire, obstructing their path to the cliff. It let out a horrifying wail. The party split in two, hiding behind the structures in case the giant grimm decided to fire another volley of feathers.
"Well that's great!" Yang said sarcastically.
Suddenly the Deathstalker burst out from the woods behind them, still hot on their trail.
"Ah shit." Gabe said.
"Oh man run!" Jaune shouted. The group ran toward the spire.
"Nora Distract it!" Ren ordered, pointing toward the Nevermore. The grimm fired it's feathers towards the girl. Nora narrowly dodged several of them before taking aim with her grenade launcher. She opened fire towards the grimm, with one round hitting it right in the face. The attack managed to drive the bird off its roost, leaving an open path for the group.
The Deathstalker managed to reach them and charged at Nora from behind. Blake and Ren leapt in to repel the beast. Weiss used the opening to grab Nora and get her to safety.
The group had now began crossing the bridge. Pyrrha looked behind her, and saw the four running from the scorpion.
"Go! Go!" She instructed, transforming her weapon into a rifle and firing a couple of shots to slow the Deathstalker's advance. Ren joined her with his twin machine pistols, raining suppressive fire on the beast until Blake made it safely on the bridge. The Deathstalker did not follow them further, wary that the fragile walkway may not be enough to support its wait.
Just as when they thought they were finally in the clear, the Nevermore came circling back toward them. It was descending at a rather high speed. Ruby realized what it intended to do.
"JUMP!" she shouted. Using its massive size, the Nevermore smashed into the walkway, destroying part of the bridge and splitting the party in two.
Jaune had managed to make it to the other side. He looked at his companions. "Is everyone here?"
Joining him were Ruby, Weiss, Nora and Yang. Looking back to the other side, Pyrrha, Ren and Blake were fending off the deathstalker, which left one person missing.
"Where's Gabe?" Jaune asked worriedly.
"HEEEEERE!"
The group looked above them, and saw Gabe clinging onto the Nevermore. He had failed to jump on cue, but managed to grab hold of the creature as it flew towards them.
"Don't mind me for now, help the others!" He shouted to Jaune.
Turning to back to the other side, he saw the other three struggling against the Deathstalker.
"Let's do this!" Nora said.
"Yeah, but, uh… I can't make that jump" Jaune said.
Nora gave him a mischievous grin. Knocking Jaune backward with her grenade launcher, the gun transformed into a large mallet in her hand. She then jumped off the bridge, turned around mid-air and brought the hammer down the walkway with all her strength. The blow was powerful enough to catapult Jaune to the other side. She followed suit, using her weapon to propel her over the gorge. Upon landing, she swung her hammer down on the grimm.
"AH, SMASH!"
She hit the scorpion right on top of its head. The force of the blow managed to stun the Deathstalker for a brief moment. Enraged, the creature countered with its stinger. Nora successfully blocked the attack but was knocked a few feet back, accidentally bumping Blake off the bridge.
Thinking quickly, Blake threw her weapon towards what remained of the walkway. The blade managed to embed itself in one of the stone pillars. She took advantage and used it to swing across the ravine. Spotting the nevermore above her, she released the blade off the stone pillar at the top of her swing. Blake then utilized a clone to propel herself toward the large bird. Reaching its head, she managed to land several blows. She flipped towards the back and spotted Gabe clutched tightly on its feathers
"Need a hand?" Blake asked.
"Just a second." Gabe took the Junkyard off its holster. Sighting the group facing off with the Deathstalker, he threw the sword towards their location. The red sword lodged itself firmly on the ground near the gorge's edge.
"Ok let's go!"
Blake then threw her weapon again and latched it by a pillar near the the central structure. She took hold of Gabe's hand the two jumped off the Nevermore, swinging towards the central spire. Gabe let go early and landed with a somersault within the building itself, while Blake joined Ruby, Weiss and Yang atop the spire.
"I'll go help the others! Keep that bird off our backs!" Gabe he yelled before rushing towards the edge of the broken bridge. He jumped off the structure and made use of his semblance to launch himself towards Jaune and the others.
"Its tougher than it looks!" Blake informed them.
"Then let's hit it with everything we got!" Yang said, prepping her gauntlets.
The four girls took aim with their weapons and began peppering the sky with anti air fire. The Nevermore responded in kind and crashed right into the tower, destroying the fragile edifice. The girls made their way through the falling debris up to safety.
"None of this is working!" Weiss complained.
Ruby looked to her companions. Blake had just gotten back up using her ribboned weapon while Yang was already retaliating with shots from her gauntlets. Taking mental note of the position of the remaining stone pillars, she quickly formulated a plan.
"I've got an idea, cover me!" Ruby ordered.
Things were getting rocky for Jaune, Nora, Pyrrah and Ren. They had been pushed back near the edge of the broken bridge. The Deathstalker smashed its tail on the walkway. The fragile structure that they were standing on started to give way.
"We gotta move!" Jaune yelled. The group wasted no time running towards the the other side. The Deathstalker raised its claws and stinger in anticipation. Suddenly a couple of explosions went off on its left side, knocking it off balance. The looked off to the side, wondering where the attack came from.
"Looks like I just made it in time." Gabe said. He knelt down on one knee while holding the Junkyard down like a rifle, sights locked onto the large scorpion.
The group on the bridge used the opening to mount a counter-offensive. The Deathstalker recovered from Gabe's opening volley and lunged its right claw forward. Pyrrha blocked the attack and slashed back. It struck back with its left claw reactively. Jaune blocked the incoming strike and Pyrrha landed a blow once again. Ren followed it up and peltered the creature's face with bullets. The creature brought down its stinger to attack. Ren dodged it and took hold of the golden appendage as the scorpion brought it back. Clinging onto its tail, he fired relentlessly at the stinger point-blank.
At this point the Deathstalker was thrashing about wildly, overwhelmed by the group's successive attacks. Seeing an opening, Nora fired a couple of rounds off of her weapon aimed straight at the monster's head. The huge creature managed to block the attack with its claws, blocking the grenades and knocking back Pyrrha and Jaune.
Pyrrha immediately recovered and transformed her sword to a Javelin. Taking aim, she threw it right at the creature as it lifted its guard. The spear found its mark, and got lodged into one of the creature's eyes. The Deathstalker screamed in agony and began to flail around wildly. The jerking around was too much for Ren, who lost his grip on the tail and got sent flying.
"Ren!" Nora cried out.
Luckily for Ren, Gabe was there for the assist.
"Gotcha!" Gabe said, catching Ren before he slammed to the wall.
"Thanks." He replied.
Ren's efforts weren't in vain, and Jaune noticed that the stinger was now dangling precariously off the creature's tail.
"Pyrrha!" he called out, pointing at the stinger.
The girl realized his plan. "Done!" she acknowledged, throwing her shield like a boomerang. It managed to slice the stinger off. It landed right on top of the scorpions head, piercing through its thick armor. The creature wailed in agony.
"Nora, nail it!" Jaune ordered.
"Heads up!" Nora jumped up and landed atop Pyrrha's shield. Using it as a launching pad, she rocketed through the air with the help of her hammer, before coming down and smashing the stinger through the Deathstalker's head, killing it off once and for all. The impact destroyed what remained of the bridge and the grimm's carcass fell off into the abyss.
Ren and Gabe ran to the others.
"I'm going back to Ruby and the others, you guys okay here by yourselves?" Gabe inquired.
"We're fine, good luck!" Jaune said. Gabe gave a final nod before blasting off with his semblance.
Yang positioned herself atop the remains of the spire, firing shot after shot at the Nevermore. One round connected to the bird's face. The grimm screeched angrily. It adjusted its trajectory and flew straight into the blonde fighter, beak open in an attempt to eat her. Yang fearlessly jumped to face it head on, ending up right in front of the Nevermore's mouth. Holding the beak open with one arm she fired a relentlessly into the beasts mouth.
"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUNGRY!" She shouted in between shots.
Yang then looked behind her to see where she was headed. The giant bird was about to crash into the cliffside wall. Having dealt pretty substantial damage, Yang took it as a cue to jump off. The Nevermore slammed hard into the stone and fell right at the base of the cliff. Recovering from the collision, it let out a violent cry.
"HEADS DOWN!"
Yang looked up and saw Gabe soaring through the air, poised to strike with his sword. The attack found its mark, and the swordsman landed an explosive blow to the creature's head. It knocked the bird silent.
"Still not enough." Gabe growled, looking at the Nevermore as it started to regain its footing.
"Gabe!" The young man turned his attention to the voice behind him. He saw Ruby, Weiss and Blake positioned in a peculiar manner. "Get up the cliff!" Ruby shouted
"Got it!" Gabe said, deciding it best to play along. He jumped and launched himself up the cliff. Yang ran back to the group, while Weiss sped to the Nevermore. Reaching the creature, the white fencer encased its feathered tail in a block of ice, preventing it from taking to the skies. Her objective done, Weiss jumped back and returned to the others. During the commotion, Yang and Blake had taken opposite ends of the latter's weapon and latched each end on mirrored pillars. Ruby jumped up into the ribbon, pulling it back and positioning herself like a nocked arrow with Crescent Rose. Weiss awaited at the far end and used a black glyph to hold her in place, ready to be catapulted towards the trapped Nevermore.
"Of course you would come up with this idea." Weiss said to her.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.
"Can I…" Weiss said cheekily.
Ruby scrunched her eyebrows.
"Can you-"
"Of course I can!" Weiss shot back.
Without further delay, Weiss released the glyph, launching Ruby through the air like a missile. The ballistic scythe-wielder fired a couple of shots to increase her momentum. She crashed into the Nevermore, catching its neck with her scythe. Weiss wasted no time and set up a line of glyphs straight up the cliffside.
"Gabe, ready?!" She called to the boy on top.
"Whenever you are!" he answered, finally getting what Ruby had in mind. He took a few steps back from the cliff's edge.
Ruby proceeded to run up the wall using Weiss' glyphs, dragging the large bird with her while firing several rounds to increase speed. Gabe then performed running jump high into the sky. Looking down, he saw that Ruby was almost to the top. Using one final explosion, he launched himself directly down, left foot first. As Ruby reached the summit, Gabe landed full force on the back of the Nevermore's head kicking it through Ruby's scythe, beheading it clean. He landed in a cloud of dust at the base of the cliff. The headless body fell down the gorge unceremoniously.
"Wow" Jaune exclaimed, in awe of the spectacle he had witnessed.
Ruby stood atop the cliff triumphant as Blake, Weiss and Yang looked up at her.
"Well, that was a thing" Yang said.
"Wait where's Gabe?" Blake asked.
Their sights turned to the base of the cliff. The dust began to settle, and they saw the boy in question limping towards them.
"Gabe!" Yang cried out, and the group rushed to him.
His face scrunched in pain.
"Are you alright?!" Ruby said worriedly, coming down to check on her friend.
"Looks like I still need to practice landing that" Gabe chuckled, slightly wincing in pain. "I think I twisted my ankle."
The group let out a collective sigh in relief, thankful it wasn't anything too serious.
"C'mon I'll give you a hand" Ren offered. "I still owe you for the save back there."
"Thanks, appreciate it." Gabe said, as Ren holstered his arm over his shoulder.
"WE DID IT!" Nora finally cheered, raising her hands in victory. The group shared a collective hurrah. Laughs and pats on the back were shared as they relished in the high of their first successful mission.
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Ozpin announced. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team Cardinal [CRDL]. You will be led by... Cardin Winchester."
The four boys on the stage bowed in respect before stepping off.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." The group walked up to the stage as they were called. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper [JNPR]. Led by, Jaune Arc."
"HUH?!" The boy blurted in surprise. He had fully expected Pyrrha to be the one chosen to assume leadership. "L-Led by?"
Pyrrha playfully punched him in shoulder in congratulations. However, it was enough to knock Jaune over, earning a laugh from the onlooking audience. The newly formed team then made their leave.
"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long." The four girls made their way to the podium. "The four of you retrieved both White Knight pieces. From this day forwardy, the four of you will be working as Team Ruby[RWBY]. You will be Led by… Ruby Rose."
Weiss looked at her a bit shocked, surprised by the decision.
"I'm so proud of you!" Yang exclaimed, hugging her sister.
Gabe looked at his new friends, happy that everyone managed to pass the test.
"Gabriel?" The boy looked, wondering who mentioned his name. His eyes locked with Ozpin's blonde subordinate, Glynda.
"The headmaster has requested to meet you in his office." the older woman said.
"Uhh sure…" Gabe answered, wondering what this was about.
"This concludes this year's induction ceremonies. To all the new teams, we look forward to teaching and working with you in the coming year!" Ozpin declared, followed by a round of applause.
Gabe sat in front of Ozpin's desk, waiting patiently for the headmaster to return from the amphitheater. He was looking through his scroll surfing the C.C.T. Though his investigation during the exams was a failure, he couldn't help himself and once again began looking through the news for any mysterious occurrences over the past few days.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
Gabe turned around and saw Ozpin come through the door.
"How's your ankle?" Ozpin asked.
"Eh could've been worse." Gabe said coolly, trying to downplay the discomfort he currently felt.
"Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering why I had you sent here."
Gabe nodded as Ozpin motioned to sit in his desk.
"First off, don't worry, you passed the test. With flying colors as a matter of fact." Ozpin said smiling at him.
Gabe let out a deep exhale. "Okay, that's one thing off my chest" Gabe sighed, deflating into a slouch in his seat.
"Secondly, it has to do with your team assignment."
Ozpin's words caught his attention. Gabe suddenly sat upright, intent on hearing what he had to say.
"As you are aware, the initiation was supposed to be accomplished in pairs, but as we both know things didn't go exactly that way for you." Ozpin began.
"You got that right." Gabe replied.
"Truth be told, I had hoped you'd manage to find a way home." Ozpin said with a morose expression. "Unfortunately that wasn't the case."
"Well like I said last night, I already prepped myself if I came out empty handed" Gabe said. "I guess at least now I get to spend some more time with my new friends."
Ozpin smiled. "I take it you got along well with both Team RWBY and Team JNPR?"
"I'd like to think we did." Gabe answered, recalling how their final encounter in truins went. A small smile traced his lips.
"That's delightful to hear." While Ozpin knew that Gabe was beyond being an adolescent, it still did him good to know that he was finally able to make some friends. He had heard from Qrow that Gabe often distanced himself from his peers at Signal, usually keeping to himself in his dorm room.
"Headmaster." The two men looked to the door. Glynda appeared behind it. "They're here."
"Good, send them in."
Glynda nodded and opened the door. Jaune, Ruby, Blake and Yang stepped in.
"Gabe! There you are!" Jaune said. "We were wondering where you went."
"Yeah well Ms. Goodwitch told me the headmaster requested that I see him here." he replied.
"How's your foot?" Ruby asked. She felt a bit guilty since it was thanks to her plan that Gabe got injured.
"Still hurts a bit, but nothing to lose sleep over. It'll get better." Gabe reassured her.
"By the way, we never saw you go up on stage during the ceremony!" Yang remarked. "Didn't he pass?" she inquired turning to Ozpin and Glynda, clearly worried.
"Everyone here will vouch for him." Blake added.
"Don't worry." Ozpin said. "In fact that's the very reason why I called you all here." The five teens looked at him confused.
"Now then." Ozpin stood up and turned to Gabe.
"Gabriel Steppe, you retrieved the the black rook and managed to pass the trials posed by the Emerald Forest, working in conjunction with the companions you made along the way." he began.
"Due to your performance and the results of the test, we have decided to induct you into both Team JNPR and Team RWBY."
"What?!" Gabe said, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Everyone else more or less reacted in the same manner.
"How this works is, there will be times when you will be assigned to either teams to work on tasks or accomplish missions. Seeing how well you managed to work with both of them during the initiation, I take it there won't be much problem with this arrangement?" Ozpin asked.
Gabe took a moment to process everything that Ozpin just said. After taking it all in, he looked back at the older man.
"No sir." Gabe assured, smiling back. His friends nodded in agreement.
"In addition to the two teams, Miss Belladona and Miss Xiao Long." Ozpin looked to the two girls. Both returned his gaze curiously.
"You two were the first to encounter Gabe during the exam. Seeing how well the two of you performed along with Gabe's own results, we have decided that the three of you will be grouped together into a seperate, smaller team, Team Gabby [GBY]."
Ozpin turned to Gabe. "You will be in charge and act as the leader whenever the three of you are called upon. Do you accept?"
Gabe gave the man a determined look.
"Yes." he said without hesitation.
"Very well." Ozpin sat back down on his desk. "Congratulations on passing the initiation Gabriel. We look forward to working with you."
Gabe bowed to Ozpin in response.
"Well look at you! Congrats!" Yang said happily, giving him a pat on the back. "Looking forward to working with ya boss!"
"Same here." Blake said.
"Thanks. I'll try not to disappoint." Gabe replied.
He then turned to Jaune and Ruby.
"Looks like I'll be under you guys too."
Jaune laughed nervously. "If anything, I feel like we should be the one following you."
"Yeah, I kinda agree." Ruby commented.
"As long as you don't have me breaking my ankle again, I'm sure you guys will do great." Gabe joked, garnering chuckles all around.
Ozpin smiled as the group continued to chatter and laugh among themselves. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.