Chapter Seven: The Emerald Forest, Part Two

Wind was whistling up and over Beacon Cliff as Ozpin stood surveying the forest. He glanced down at his tablet, switching between students as he measured their progress.

Glynda approached him from behind, wielding a scroll of her own. On her screen, Nora Valkyrie dangled upside down from a tree and playfully poked her partner, Lie Ren, on the nose. "The last team has been formed, sir. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy. I can't possibly see those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos." The visual feed switched to show the pair of Pyrrha and Jaune as they trekked through the woods.

Glynda sighed. "I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat." She deactivated the scroll and turned away from the cliff, leaving the headmaster staring down at his own screen. "I guess we'll find out soon enough," she said over her shoulder. "At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes." Glynda turned back to the silver-haired man. "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year? Professor Ozpin?"

Ozpin didn't reply. A thoughtful "Hmmm" escaped his lips as he watched the scene playing out on his tablet. On screen, Ruby Rose was sitting cross legged in a clearing, picking at grass and fallen leaves as Weiss Schnee paced back and forth, seemingly trying to get her bearings.

"It's definitely this way," Weiss said as she began walking in a certain direction. She stopped short. "I mean… this way," she said as she turned around, "it's definitely this way!" She stopped again and came to a stop in front of the seated girl. "Alright, it's official. We passed it."

Ruby stood up, her annoyance written on her face. "Weiss, why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?"

"Because I know exactly where we're going," Weiss protested. Her voice became uncertain as she continued, "We're going… to… the forest temple!"

Ruby gave an exasperated sigh.

In response, Weiss said, "Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are either!"

Ruby shot back, "Well, at least I'm not pretending like I know everything!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" the heiress snapped.

"It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby said in her face.

Weiss sighed to herself. Turning on her heel, she called angrily over her shoulder, "Just keep moving!"

Ruby began to mimic Weiss in a high-pitched voice. "'Oh, just keep moving! Hurry up! Waaah! Watch where you're going!'" She switched back to her normal voice. "Why are you so bossy?"

Weiss turned at that, indignation flaring on her face. "I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that!"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well, stop acting like you're perfect!"

"I'm not perfect!" Weiss shouted. She calmed herself and regained control of her voice. "Not yet," she said, quieter. "But I'm still leagues better than you." With a scowl, Weiss turned away and began to once again make her way through the brush.

Ruby's face fell, and her mouth twisted into a sad frown as she watched the other girl walk away. "You don't even know me."

A tall, stone structure had come into view below. In the center of a large clearing, the forest temple awaited. Large, grey stone bricks supported by a large ring of chiseled columns formed the structure, and the stone was covered in moss and overgrowth, indicating its age. The structure seemed to be the ruins from some past culture, but there was no way to be sure.

From their perch on the hill overlooking the clearing, Yang and Blake took in the sight of the monument. In the stone semicircle of columns and brick, several pedestals were standing straight up, though from this distance, it was impossible to tell what was on them.

"You think this is it?" Yang asked her new partner.

True to form, Blake didn't speak, but merely regarded the golden girl with a look that said, "Obviously," as she began to make her way carefully down the sloping hill.

When the two girls reached the bottom, they approached the temple warily, keeping an eye out for Grimm. Once they were inside the ring of columns, they took a moment to examine the gold and black objects that rested on top of each pedestal.

Blake looked down at the item. A small, wooden game piece, painted black and with a cross on top. Clearly, the item was a king piece. "Chess pieces?" she mused in confusion.

Yang looked around too. There were other pieces on the other pedestals, some different, others similar to Blake's. However, a few pedestals bore no chess pieces. "Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well, I guess we should pick one," Blake said.

"Think this is it?" Jaune asked as he and Pyrrha looked deep into the mouth of the cave. They had stumbled upon the cave a few moments ago, and Jaune wondered if perhaps the relics were inside.

"I'm not sure this is it," Pyrrha responded a few minutes later as they walked through the darkness. Jaune has found a sturdy branch from outside that he had fashioned into a makeshift torch, and her was currently lighting their way through the cave. However, Pyrrha had noticed something as he had gotten the fire lit. On the side of the cave had been scrawled messily a scene that crudely depicted humans with spears surrounding some sort of beast. The warning had made her less than optimistic about entering the cave, but she had decided to at least examine it.

Jaune sighed. "Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least humor me? For like, five more feet?"

Suddenly, Jaune fell forward. A large rock that he had missed due to the gloom of the cave had tripped him up, and he felt water splash onto his face as he fell into a small puddle, the torch sputtering out from the water.

He got back to his feet, still able to feel Pyrrha next to him. "Do you… feel that?" she asked.

Jaune made a small attempt at humor. "Soul crushing regret?"

"No. It's… warm."

"Hmm," Yang said, as she surveyed the chess pieces. She came to a stop in front of a pedestal with a small, golden knight piece resting on top. She turned to Blake.

"How about a cute little pony?" she asked brightly.

Blake shrugged with a small smile. "Sure."

They each pocketed one of the small wooden horses as they met in the middle of the temple.

"That wasn't too hard," remarked Yang.

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find," Blake replied with a smirk.

In the cave, Jaune and Pyrrha felt their way along the walls, trying to find a familiar place. Suddenly, in front of Jaune, a golden glow appeared. A large, curved object that glowed gold in front of them seemed to hover in the air.

Jaune's face lit up. "That must be the relic!" he exclaimed.

Pyrrha hung back a bit. Something about the object appeared slightly off. She could swear that she had seen it somewhere before.

Jaune tried to grab the object, but it retracted from his outstretched arms. "Hey!" he complained. "Bad… relic!" He took another swipe at it, before grabbing onto it with both arms. "Gotcha!" However, as he did so, he was yanked off his feet by the object, and Pyrrha finally remembered where she had seen the supposed 'relic' before. "Jaune?" she said carefully.

In front of Jaune, there were suddenly several small, red lights that glistened in the darkness. Between the shaking of the relic and his own distraction, it took him a moment to realize that those lights were eyes that were attached to a long, bony face. The large face was lined in red, and had a mouth of serrated mandibles clenching beneath it.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

A shrill scream echoed across the forest. Yang turned towards the sound, concern on her face as she said, "Some girl's in trouble! Blake, did you hear that?"

Blake didn't answer her partner's question, eyes fixed skyward at a rapidly approaching blur.

Whimpering cries of fear escaped the mouth of the cave. As Pyrrha exited the darkness, Miló already in hand, the stone around the cave exploded outwards. From the darkness emerged a terrifying Death Stalker, a large, scorpion-like Grimm that had sharp jaws and enormous frontal claws. From behind, its long tail rose over its head, and dangling helplessly from the golden stinger at the end of that tail as he wailed in fear was Jaune Arc.

Pyrrha turned towards the insectoid. Jaune was tossed from side to side as he hung on tightly, sobbing all the while, "Why? Why? Pyrrha! This is not the relic! It's not!"

Pyrrha called out to him from below, "Jaune! Whatever you do, don't let–"

Suddenly, the large tail snapped forward, and Jaune's pitiful cries faded away as, for the second time that day, he was slung out over the Emerald Forest.

"–go," Pyrrha finished futilely to herself, as she turned to regard the large creature. The scorpion hissed at her threateningly, claws snapping. Pyrrha gave it a sheepish smile, but without any backup, she was outmatched, and she took off through the trees, sprinting after the direction Jaune had been thrown while the monster behind her began its pursuit.

Back at the temple, Yang was still worried. "Blake, did you hear that?" she asked as a second scream was heard. She turned to her partner. "What should we do?"

Blake was still silently looking up as she pointed a finger to the object of her interest. Yang looked up, and her eyes widened as she recognized a small girl falling towards the earth above them, steadily closing in on the ground.

"Heads uuuuuuup!" Ruby shouted as she hurtled downward, desperately trying to slow her fall.