Chapter 10: Calm Before the Storm
Link and Zelda were quite entertained by the movie they saw last night. The struggle of the hero to conquer the villain resonated with the two given what they've been through. Now though, it's the morning and the sun is shining through their dorm window as birds can be heard chirping away outside. Link's the first to awaken from his sleep as the early mornings in the royal guard and his travels across Hyrule gave him the power to trudge through his most severe tiredness. Opening his eyes, Link noticed that his scroll was lit up. Trudging over to his desk in where he left it, he saw there was a message from Ozpin lighting up the screen.
"Please come to the Bullhead landing platform by 10:00 for initiation. RWBY has been notified as well, tell whoever else you like but keep it limited." Looking over to Zelda's scroll on her desk, she seems to have gotten the same message. A glance at his scroll showed the time to be just past seven on a Saturday morning. Normally he'd bee more shocked at the technology but the Sheikah slate helped mitigate that. Leaving his thoughts, Link not being one to disturb the princess while she slumbers, decided to give her a bit longer to sleep. She visibly needed it so he decides to head to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast on his own.
In RWBY's dorm, Weiss, Blake and Yang sleep soundly in their beds as a mysterious reaper looms over them. Bringing something up to their mouth and they take a deep breath, Blake's eyes shoot wide open moments before a loud whistle rings out across the room.
"Ahh!" Weiss cries out.
"What the," Yang groggles out, still half asleep.
"Good morning!" Ruby cheers.
"Ruby, it's Saturday." Weiss exclaimed.
"I know that," the young leader says as she blushed slightly in embarrassment for not checking the date, "But check your scrolls."
The three all went and saw a message from Ozpin "Team RWBY, Link and Zelda will be participating in their initiation today. You are invited to observe alongside anyone that they choose to inform. Please come to the Bullhead landing platform by 10:00."
"Well I'm up now." Blake said, getting off her bunk.
"Seeing how they fight alone, count me in." Yang said with new energy.
"I just hope we'll be able to gain important knowledge from this." Weiss said while rubbing her eyes awake.
"Still wanting to see the competition, eh?" Yang shot to the heiress.
"I-Wha-I'm just hoping we can learn more about them." Weiss quickly backpedaled now fully awake.
"Come on guys, no matter the reason we should be there for them." Ruby said, all eyes on her.
"Oh our fearless leader brings us together yet again." Yang said as she went over and ruffled up Ruby's hair.
"We do still have time to kill." Blake stated, looking back to her scroll.
"Some breakfast would be nice then." Weiss said.
"Waffle Weekend." Ruby spoke in a trance like state imagining the sugar goodness that awaits them.
Meanwhile in team JNPR's room, Nora suddenly shot awake, "Someone's talking about Waffle Weekend!"
"Go back to sleep Nora, it's the weekend." Ren said as he was barely awake.
"No! I must have waffles, WE must have waffles." She said with a truly fiery passion.
"Alright." Sleepily, Ren begrudgingly agreed to his partner's declaration. They was no stopping her when it came to waffles and pancakes.
Back in the team RWBY dorm, "Alright, let's get going." Yang said as the girls were now changed and ready.
Soon, RWBY was out and making their way down to breakfast. As they entered, Weiss was the first to spot Link sitting alone, biting into an apple and taking a swig of fresh orange juice.
"It seems the knight's here as well." Weiss said directing the rest of her team's gaze onto him.
The four girls went and got their trays of food, Ruby's was loaded with waffles, Weiss had a bowl of cereal, Blake had a few pieces of bread and a yogurt cup and Yang had a few granola bars with some waffles herself to boot.
Ruby, with the help of her semblance, dashed over to Link and appeared directly opposite of him in a flurry of rose petals.
"Good Morning!" Ruby declared indiscreetly.
The sudden appearance of the red reaper caused Link to choke on his drink in bewilderment with his eyes bulging out of their sockets. He quickly was able to swallow before choking too much and hit his chest a few times to make sure it was fully down.
"Oops, sorry." Ruby said apologetically.
"Are you alright Link?" Blake asked as the rest of RWBY came running to the table.
Link responded with a thumbs up, still regaining his breath.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Yang asked with her tray in hand.
They got an accepting side wave of his hand in response, him just now just regaining a steady breath. They took it as their cue they could sit.
"So you have your initiation today?" Weiss asked.
Link nodded as he took another bite from his apple.
"You excited?" Yang questioned.
"Depends on what it is." Link said with a shrug.
"How does Zelda feel about it?" Ruby asked sheepishly now for another reason.
"She seemed optimistic in the discussion with Ozpin." Link replied. RWBY started to glance between each other anxiously.
They saw in the fight with the guardians that Zelda wasn't one made for combat. She could barely hold the sword that Link had given her, doesn't know how to fight in a pinch and is a princess on top of that. It's comparable to being worse than Jaune when he first came to Beacon, but they could see passion in her, they don't know what for, but it is there. All that she needs to do is find it.
"You do know that this is a combat and exploration examination, don't you?" Weiss questioned.
Link stopped instantly as he was about to take another bite of his apple as realization and regret instantly flooded all over Link's body. This is a combat exam, they train to kill, they learn to destroy, of course the initiation would be combat based and Zelda is nowhere near ready for that. Yes she has potential but only that, potential. She isn't a soldier, she's a princess. A princess… that has been thrown into a new world who wants to kill them all. A princess of a kingdom that had died one hundred years ago and now is rising again from its ashes. A princess who has lost everything but kept on going for everyone's sake. A princess who shows that she cares about others and wants to help those she can. She may be a princess but she's also a hero. She will make it through this initiation, she will make it through Beacon, she will make it through this world and he will help her every step of the way.
They will make it, Link thought, they both will.
RWBY watched Link's emotions run across his face. In the short time they knew him, he didn't show much in the way of emotions. They were taken aback by the stress he showed and even more surprised as it turned into confidence which turned to a prideful smile.
"We will make it." Link whispered to himself.
All but Blake couldn't hear what he said, but she could hear in his tone, he had just been through a lot and has gained the conviction and resolve to do anything on Remnant.
"What?" Yang asked innocently.
"We will make it." Link said again, louder, raising his eyes to meet those of RWBY, "We WILL make it in this world, so help me Hylia, we will." He now declared with a tamed fury, surprising the team with words had far more emotion than anything they had heard before.
"Okay... But are you willing to make it with friends?" Ruby asked lightheartedly as Link slightly chuckled to himself, his expression shifting from that of a fiery passion to that of amusement.
Link simply nodded, still with a smile.
"So, follow up question, you thinking of inviting anyone else to observe your initiation." Wiess asked now that everyone's emotions were back to normal.
Link quickly chuckled to himself and then pointed his thumb towards the door just in time for.
"WAFFLLEEEESSSSSS!" Nora yelled at the top of her lungs as she kicked down the doors to the cafeteria.
The Norse goddess immediately dashed to the line to get the sweet Belgium goodness as the rest of JNPR followed shortly after as they all took their place in line. Soon they were done getting their food and started approaching the table.
"Hey mind if we sit with you guys?" Jaune asked with the rest of his team beside him. Jaune took four waffles, Ren had some health concoction with granola bars, Pyrrha had an apple and cereal while Nora had a stack of waffles that stood to the ceiling.
Link waved out his hand in a be-my-guest manner while JNPR took their seats, two on either side of the table.
"Uhh Nora, are you sure you can finish that?" Blake asked with her finger pointed going up and up and up until she was looking straight up.
"Is that a challenge?" Nora accusingly asked.
"N-no." Blake tried to respond but Nora was already digging deep into the mountain infront of her.
After who knows how long, Nora finally finished the stack with a noticeably larger tummy which she patted in a sugary euphoria.
"So Link and Zelda are doing their initiation today." Ruby said to JNPR.
"Oh, well I hope for the best then." Pyrrha said as she turned to Link.
"Can't be any worse than mine." Jaune said to himself but everyone picked it up.
"You've been improving Jaune." Pyrrha said reassuringly to her leader.
Link put a hand on Jaune's shoulder in a reassuring manner also to show he had his support. When they were talking yesterday, everyone talked about each other and the stories they knew so Link knew that Jaune had potential himself.
"Ooh can we watch?" Nora asked excitedly.
"Nora, please, it was only the teachers who saw ours." Ren said to his lifelong friend.
"Sure." Link said, folding his arms.
"What?" JNPR said in unison.
"He speaks." Nora said in surprise. During their movie night, he let Zelda do the talking, she after all, was far better at it than he was.
"We were given the right to invite anyone we want to watch." Link answered.
"When is it?" Jaune asked now onboard with the idea.
"Ten O'clock." Weiss answered "Bullhead dock."
"That's in less than an hour." Jaune realized as he looked to his scroll.
Link and RWBY's eyes shot open hearing that. Link immediately got up and sprinted out of the cafeteria.
"Where's he off to." Yang asked no one as the knight of Hyrule was dashing away.
Link quickly made his way back to his room to see that Zelda was just waking up when he slammed the door open. She jumped in surprise but calmed down at seeing who it was.
"Link, you scared me half to death, what's the matter." She said then asked as Link quickly got her scroll and handed it to her.
She read the message and her eyes went wide in shock at seeing the time.
"That's in forty five minutes." She realized, "Do you know what this initiation is." she continued as she started getting ready.
"Combat and exploration." Link quickly said as he secured the Master sword to his back.
"What!" she said in shock.
"I know." Link said in seriousness.
"I don't know how to fight, you just barely taught me the basics." she said, causing Link to stop and walk infront of Zelda.
Slowly taking out the master sword, Link held it in two hands and plunged the point to the ground, eyes never leaving Zelda's. The princess herself feeling fear, confusion and self doubt all simultaneously. Fear of the initiation, confusion as to what Link was doing and self doubt for not thinking she could survive.
"I swear on my Life to protect and serve the kingdom of Hyrule. I will fight to the very end and die for my King and Queen and with Hylia as my witness, I will keep the powers of evil at bay so long as I may live." Link recited the Oath of the Knight to Zelda, never taking his eyes away from hers, "I took this oath to protect the royal family and that's what I'll do. I will protect you with my life, I have done so before and will continue to do so for as long as I shall live."
This calmed Zelda as she knew he was being sincere in what he said. She knew he would fulfill it even at the cost of his life. She won't let that happen, not again, she will stand up and stand by him in battle and fight, he had done so much for her that she needed to return that favor herself.
"Thank you, that helped." Zelda said, emotions now fully in check as Link smiled.
"Come on, we've got an initiation to do." Link said.
With those words, the two Hylians prepared themselves as best as they could. Soon they made their way out to where they had initially landed, Beacon shining behind them, they could see both RWBY and JNPR. A quick glance at their scrolls show the current time to be 9:50am.
"Good Morning." Zelda greeted.
The two teams greeted the Hylians in return, all ten together again.
"How are you today." Pyrrha asked.
"Good, good," Zelda said, not fully invested in the conversation.
"Is everything alright?" Ruby asked now.
"Yeah, just, thinking of home." Zelda replied vaguely.
"Hmm, and what might be on your mind?" Ozpin said as he approached the group with Mrs. Goodwitch by his side.
"Nothing of importance." she lied.
"Alright, if ever you need to talk of anything, you know where I am." Ozpin said sincerely, "Now then, is this everyone you invited."
Link nodded as Zelda gave him a look of slight confusion.
"Excellent, I see no point in taking more of your time." Ozpin said without another word as he boarded the Bullhead. He was followed by Glynda, JNPR, RWBY then Link and Zelda.
"You invited them?" Zelda asked curiously.
Link shrugged his shoulders to convey that she was partially correct.
"Alright, good pick." Zelda complimented, happy that their new friends will be with them, everyone that was one board knew of their true origins so they didn't need to hide as much which made Zelda happy.
As they talked, the bullhead lifted from the ground and took to the air, the engines roaring up as they increased in speed.
"So, you guys got any plans for this." Yang asked.
"We still don't know much about this world." Zelda said somewhat sheepishly.
Link suddenly remembered that he had the sheikah slate and himself and Zelda had yet to look at that creature team RWBY rode in on when they first met just under a day ago. Turning, he retrieved the device gaining everyone's attention as they looked on at the device Link now held.
"Ughhhh, What is that?" Jaune asked somewhat queasy.
"This is the Sheikah slate," Zelda said, "Link, what are you thinking of?"
Link scrolled through the different functions until he landed on the Hyrule Compendium. Zelda now realized what link was getting while the Remnantians looked on in curiosity.
Link stopped and passed the slate to Zelda.
Entry 396: Death Stalker
{Description} Death Stalkers are Giant scorpion based Grimm, that are generally found alone and isolated from each other. Death Stalkers have their entire top side covered in a bone like exoskeleton making them harder to kill than most Grimm of its age. Its two pincers act like those of regular scorpions and are generally used to hold prey for their stinger to finish the job. Like most Grimm, their underside is the weakest point to strike.
{Common Locations} Emerald Forest, Mountain Glenn.
{Recoverable Materials} Unknown
"Might I ask what prompted this?" Ozpin asked curiously.
"The Sheikah slate can record and catalogue any creature, weapon or item it encounters." Zelda explained to the group, "If we're being placed in the middle of 'Grimm infested territory', being prepared would be ideal."
"Interesting." That was all Ozpin said as he went into thought.
"So what were you looking at specifically?" Blake questioned.
"The 'Death Stalker' entry." Zelda said.
"Anything of interest?" Weiss asked now, herself interested in what that encyclopedia of knowledge holds.
"It's a scorpion based Grimm that works alone most of the time with a soft underbelly and a deadly stinger. Common locations being the 'Emerald forest' and 'Mountain Glenn'." She replied.
"What can't that thing do?" Yang asked rhetorically.
"You said that it catalogued weapons, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yes." Zelda confirmed.
"Does it have the weapons of your world?" Ruby asked again with excitement and vigor growing, starry eyes forming.
"We haven't had anything deleted, it should all be there." The princess replied, starting to piece things together while Link grew a small smile.
"Can I see them?" the young leader asked, no, begged as Link's smile grew more.
"Link's the one who knows more about it than I do." Zelda said, looking to Link.
"Emerald forest, two minutes out." Mrs. Goodwitch said, looking up from her scroll before they could share.
"Anything we should know before we go in?" Zelda asked.
"Professors?" Blake asked, gaining their attention, "Will they be facing the same initiation we did?"
"I don't see why not." Ozpin said vaguely.
"They're not going to get it any easier Ms. Belladonna if that's what you're asking." Goodwitch said to clarify.
Link gained a confident smirk when he heard that. That is until he remembered that he will also be protecting the princess as well. He lingered for a moment before stealing any nerves he had, for he won't let her fall, he will stand by her side and protect her from any dangers they will face.
"Well if that's the case, make sure you can land properly. Brothers know I messed that up." Jaune said, mumbling the last part.
"What was that?" Zelda asked curiously.
"Nothing!" Jaune replied hastily.
"He was caught by surprise when we were launched into the forest. Yeah that was a big fall." Yang reminisced nonchalantly while Link and Zelda sat with wide eyes.
"Do you have any landing strategy?" Weiss asked, noticing their reaction.
"No, Hyrule doesn't have the technology like you have here so we have no need to have any." Zelda said, a hint of worry in her voice.
Link, seeing the princess' lack of confidence pointed out the paraglider he had in the Slate. Zelda took a moment to understand what he was getting at but once she did, her eyes shot open again.
"Link, what about you? You can't seriously think you'll survive!" Zelda said.
He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a knowing smile. Though she didn't know much, she could see that he had a plan forming.
"Alright" she admitted, "I trust your judgement."
"Aww." Nora said, breaking up the moment.
"Nora." Ren reprimanded.
Soon the bullhead started it's descent and landed on the grassy plateau overlooking the Emerald forest. Everyone exited and looked out upon the vast canopy of the forest, with birds flying about.
"Right this way." Ozpin said as he started walking off to a lower section as everyone followed.
A/N: 10 chapters are now complete. Our Hylians are about to embark on a new 'quest' if you will, with everyone there to watch. How will they fare in the Emerald forest now that they're the ones on the move. How will they fare when they get split up on launch, soring away from each other through the air. How will they overcome the challenges that are before them. Well, you're just gonna have to keep reading to find out.
As of posting, has been on the fritz, where other's story updates weren't going through, at least for me, so I'm hoping this goes though and made it through without much issue. Remember I'm posting every Wednesday so long as I have a backlog and I will write if anything changes in that department when it comes up but if I was to stop writing entirely, I still have up to the new year of unreleased content. I just hope that any issues with the site will get resolved as soon as possible.
That's all from me, see you next week.