A Meeting of "Friends"

Mazon: And I am back again! This is part two of my initiation trilogy, hope you enjoy. Also, *drumroll* ...disclaimers! Nothing except the OC's and my additions to the lore of RWBY belong to me, everything else belongs to Monty Oum.

Song: Blackheart

Artist: Two Steps From Hell

Drake knelt down in the temple, waiting for a potential partner to arrive. He tuned his mind into his surroundings, listening. Hearing cicadas chirping, birds singing, and the far-distant howling of beowolves, he drifted off into a meditative state, the Nightingale held in his hands, ready to deal with anything. Hearing a branch snap beside him, he got up and turned around in one motion, swinging his weapon at the same time. Drake was looking into the eyes of the person that had followed him in the forest, after that, called in trained hunters after they were exhausted from fighting, and who had downed their airship in their attempted escape. Drake and Abraham had made eye contact. Lowering the Nightingale, Drake came to grips with the reality that this was who, of all the people in the Initiation, he was teamed with. Abraham tried to say something, but he bent over and started coughing up blood.

'Darn. This doesn't look good.' said Drake, moving to feel Abraham's mauled side. Hurriedly, he sat Abraham down against one of the pillars, and got to work. Looking around in his provisions pack, Drake tried to find a medical kit, finding out unpleasantly that Ozpin had only given them food, and containers. Drake sighed. 'There's no medical kit, Abraham was it?'

'Yeah, it was. Wait, pass me my staff.' Abraham said weakly, having lost a lot of blood. Confused, Drake passed him his staff.

Taking his staff in his hands, Abraham drew upon its knowledge, finding a plant that could be used for binding a wound. Turning his attention to his partner, Abraham asked him to find the plant, detailing its physical appearance to him.

'Okay?' Drake responded, still confused, but not wanting to question his wounded partner any more. Walking out of the temple clearing, he searched for the plant, looking in cracks and crevasses like Abraham had told him to. Walking to the foot of the cliff, he looked around. The cliff was grey, with rubble from old landslides dotting the area around it. The plant was growing in bountiful numbers in and around these piles of rubble, finding shelter from the unpredictable weather. Drake collected the leaves from the broad plants, wanting to return to the shelter of the temple as soon as possible. In the forest, water started to fall from the sky. 'Oh great. This day keeps on getting better and better. First a crazy fourth-dimensional lizard, then I've been partnered with someone who might want to slit my throat in my sleep, and now it's starting to rain. Wonderful.' Drake muttered. Finally getting back to the temple, he was drenched to the bone. He rushed over to Abraham, handing him the leaves.

'T-t-thanks.' said Abraham, shivering from the rain.

Drake quietly got up and walked over to the idols, while Abraham tended his wounds himself. Luckily they're laminated. Drake thought as he touched the tarot cards, feeling the distinct texture of plastic as droplets of rain occasionally splattered onto them. Thinking over each card, turning it over in his hand, and looking at the mysterious paintings, the cards always feeling to represent something more than himself. Looking at the final card, he eventually chose the knight of swords. A warrior, like myself. Walking back to Abraham, he sat down. 'G-got an idol?' questioned Abraham, teeth chattering from the cold.

'Yeah, they were tarot cards.' Drake said, noticing how drenched and cold Abraham was. 'You're soaked, come on, we need some shelter.' Drake said, helping Abraham up, and letting him lean on him, walking through the forest going nearer to the cliff, knowing that they would most likely find shelter there. They eventually found a small hollow in the rock, enough for a few people. Abraham sat down on the uneven stone, making himself as comfortable as he could, while Drake cut down a tree for firewood. Drake dragged bits of the tree back to the hollow, cutting them into smaller logs and creating a fire pit with some nearby stones. Drake dismantled the Nightingale, and using the energy crystal that powered it, he struck a spark, starting the fire. They both sat in front of the fire, letting their clothes dry off, while they sat in silence.

'So, can I see the tarot card?' Asked Abraham, breaking the silence that the two often had between each other.

'Sure.' Drake said, passing over the tarot card. Abraham looked at it for a while, turning it over in his hand.

'Interesting choice.' Abraham said, passing it back.

'Thanks.' Drake replied, taking it.

'I still don't trust you, you know that right?'

Drake sighed. 'I expected it.'

They sat there, staring at the fire. Drake remembered a question he had. 'So, how did you get that wound anyway?' He asked, curious as to what could hurt a soon-to-be huntsman in training.

'Balamau. Got the jump on me. Had to fire my weapon with one hand, which is why I have a broken wrist.'

'Damn. What's up with the staff, anyway?'

'It's called Arboria. It helps me navigate woods, find plants, the like. So, why the mask now? To be frank, everybody already knows your face.'

'Good point. I usually wear it because it doubles as…other things. But I guess that's not really important right now.' Drake explained, taking the mask off.

'Fine. All this talking has made me hungry. Do you think it's time to take out the provisions?'

'Yeah, I'm starving.' Drake said, taking out his pack, and organising the food, while Abraham started to hold one pot above the fire, heating up, and another collecting rainwater.

'So, a stew?' Abraham asked.

'Alright, sounds good.' Said Drake, taking out some of the ingredients in the bag.

Eventually, Abraham collected enough rainwater, pouring it into the other pot, which was now hot, while Drake put in some onion, leeks, carrots, and chicken. Finally, he took out a piece of bread and split it in half, giving each of them one piece. Content, they sat down and watched it cook as the silence reasserted itself.

"Wolf" listened to the growling of beowolves from somewhere in the trees. He had heard sounds in the caverns that only a human could make, and had pursued them, wanting to find a partner so he could finish the Initiation quickly, doing this for he had nothing else to do, except watch and wait. The sounds had led him to an exit, and there he stood.

Flexing his claws, "Wolf" stalked through the forest, towards the growling. He was invisible in the damp underbrush, blending into the shadows perfectly. His true home. "Wolf" burst out of the clearing, firing shards of Grimm Dust before charging into the battle, stabbing his stinger into the back of an unknowing beowolf's head, before pulling on his stinger, rocketing towards them. Using his momentum to full effect, "Wolf" slashed diagonally across another one of the beowolves' faces, leaving only tatters of flesh. Ducking under a lunge, he quickly disembowelled the beowolf, turning to another one, the spark of battle just barely being created and spread through his body, warming his veins, making his heart beat faster, his claws even more connected to him, cutting into beowolves as a wolf would tear into venison. But before he could lunge at another beowolf, a bullet went through its head. "Wolf" turned around, only to make eye contact with the weakling from the airship in a white tuxedo. He couldn't make out what he said, but it sounded coarse.

Getting back into the battle, "Wolf" jumped onto another beowolf, blocking a few of its swings before ripping its throat out. Turning around, he went for a killing blow against another beowolf, only to be knocked off by his partner shooting at the same target. Getting up and barely evading a swipe from a beowolf, he got back into the combat, still getting hit by his partner whenever they went after the same target. Dragging in a beowolf with his stinger, he uppercutted it, flinging it into the air. Jumping up as well, "Wolf" dragged his claw through it, splitting it from head to bottom, and watched as it fell to the bloodstained ground, once one, now two pieces. Turning around to face another enemy, he saw that the rest of the beowolves were dead, limbs and guts strewn across the forest floor. Not even speaking one word, "Wolf" made for the temple, passing Nathan without a glance.

Nathan collected some of the Dust that was left from the battlefield, and hurried after the monster who was now his partner. It was, admittedly, quite fast, and so he had time to reminisce. He had come to Vale in the hopes of joining Beacon academy, and here he was. Too bad it had to be under such strange circumstances, and with a freaking monster as a companion. Sighing in resignation, Nathan followed after it, needing to complete the initiation, no matter if his partner was a six-armed snake Faunus or not.

"Wolf" strolled into the clearing, his eyes fixing upon the rubble as he quickly glanced over the ruined arches and clinging moss that defined the pathetic excuse for a temple. He stopped for the merest of instants, only to let his partner come through into the clearing, before stepping up over the small raise into the stone circle of the temple. Scanning the area, he looked almost passively for prey, before looking more closely at the artefacts. The cards were resistant to the rain, and a few inches thick. Out of some instinct, "Wolf" took the knight of swords.

"Out of the ruins of humanity, a hero is forged," spoke a disembodied voice. "Wolf" stood there frozen, as he saw an image of a flaming white blade in front of his eyes while he heard the words as if they were a part of his very essence. Shrugging off the vision and its strange portents, he looked over to see Nathan writing something on a stick-it note on top of one of the tarot cards. Grabbing the back of his tuxedo, "Wolf" jerked him into the forest, intent on finding a place to stay the night, dragging a confused and angry Nathan along with him.

After a few minutes, Nathan struggled out of "Wolf's" grasp, turning around to face him, furious.

'What the hell do you think you're doing!?' Nathan yelled, before sighing, continuing after he was ready to speak. 'We're partners now, and there's nothing we can do about it. I know that you may not like it; I certainly don't, I mean, you are quite literally a lady killer, and that's not a compliment. But anyway, we need to work together, not just for now but for four years, and maybe even longer after that. Now, we still have an initiation to pass, and we can only do it together. Are you in?' Nathan raised up his hand, but before he could do anything, "Wolf" was already walking away into the forest. Nathan muttered something under his breath, before rushing up to his partner, ready to figure out what the hell it was doing anyways.

Nicole stood over the clear blue pool, watching as the water was stained with red as the blood bloomed throughout it. Taking one last look at her hands to make sure that they were no longer bloodstained, she looked around for the bird that she had befriended. Looking over the small clearing, she saw that it must have ventured into the forest. Sighing, she picked up Moonlight, and with one final look at the blood-stained pond, she set off in search of her friend. She didn't go far before her friend burst out of the bushes, giving her only a few seconds warning before she heard a war cry sound from the bushes. A Judicator, with a modified rifle raised over his head like a maniac, screaming something that sounded like 'chicken', ungracefully bashed the underbrush aside as he ran after her friend. Before he could do anything, Nicole stepped in front of him. He rammed into her with the force of a rhino, the squelch of the slimy mud alerting her to the newly-inflicted state of her clothes as they toppled into the not-so-solid ground. As they realised their awkward position, so too did brown eyes meet onyx, setting in stone their partner who they would be studying, eating, sleeping, and fighting alongside with for the next four years.

Above the Emerald Forest, Ozpin felt a twinge of sympathy for the unfortunate pair, almost regretting the sadistic method of choosing the student's partners. Not quite though, he smirked, as he secretly relished the chaos that would be wrought because of this.

'Seriously?!'

'It looked like a chicken. Pretty sure it would've tasted like one.' Defended Leroy, whilst hungrily staring at the bird whose head was peeking out of Nicole's embrace.

'Uggh, just follow me.' She turned away from him, put down the bird, and walked off into the forest again. Shrugging, Leroy followed her, still looking at the chicke- bird.

Nicole facepalmed. The idiot just had to make enough noise to not only wake up a pack of beowolves, but also an elder Ursa! Those things slept like rocks! 'Goddamnit Leroy, you are sure you're not descended from a bull, right?'

Her insult went to waste, as Leroy had already charged into the battle, screaming like a madman as he blew beowolves to bits with his shotgun. Sighing, Nicole continued walking, taking an arrow out of her quiver and firing it without looking. The Ursa dropped dead, a single arrow lodged in its throat. Grumbling, Leroy followed Nicole once again, shaking off disintegrating beowolf body parts as he went.

As they continued onwards, Nicole noticed the sky darkening. Better find one of those idols, fast. And then a cave. Hopefully a warm cave. A very warm cave. And dry.

Nicole groaned and turned over again, the bedroll offering scant protection against the driving rain. It turned out that after they had collected the Knave of Coins, it had already started to rain. Leroy had tried to find shelter, but the idiot had only found a shallow hole in the ground, only protecting them from the rain by the slightest amount. She turned over again, and then got up, only to glare daggers at Leroy. He ignored her and went back to looking at the leg of chicken in his hand.

'This is all your fault. Again.' She said. Leroy was still looking at his chicken, while trying to start a fire, albeit unsuccessfully.

'Are you even listening to me? We have nothing. It's raining, we're completely unprotected, it's cold, we can't start a fire, we can't even get to sleep!' She shouted.

'At least I have my chicken.' Leroy finally responded after a long silence. Defeated, Nicole shut up and tried to sleep.