A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had a few nasty writer's block for the last few months and just recently was able to overcome them. Also to all you moms out there, I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. Now onto the story.
[...]
"Congratulations on unlocking your Aura, Aaron." Jad held out his hand and smiled while enjoying the surprised look on the Rider's face. The two stood there for a moment before Aaron turned his head back towards the starting point of the initiation. Did I surprise him so bad that he's thinking of dropping out? Jad mentally asked himself. It was then he noticed how the Rider began to look at his surroundings.
"I take it that everything around is starting to feel different for you now. Am I right?" the young silver-eyed man asked. Aaron turned around and simply nodded. "Well then partner, let's go meet up with the ladies and retrieve those relics we need to find."
The two began to trek further north for about a quarter of a mile striking up a conversation here and there.
"So Aaron, I've been meaning to tell you something." They both ducked under some low hanging branches as they walked down the worn natural trail through the Emerald Forest. "Thank you for helping stop those kidnappers the other day."
Aaron turned and faced his partner. "I don't remember doing much that could have helped."
"Didn't both you and Ruby help free a young Faunus named Violet and make a citizen's arrest on her kidnapper? Didn't you help free the others from the chains that were binding them to that place? You both distracted that other kidnapper long enough so I could use my semblance to protect the children." Jad pointed out. "You did more than you think."
The look of the Rider's neutral face barely changed at all but Jad could see the look of surprise and realization in Aaron's eyes before changing back to normal a few seconds later.
"Something tells me you have something on your mind."
Aaron nodded. "In all honesty, I wanted to thank you for helping us out of that situation. I didn't expect you to be thanking me."
"We all did our part to help free those children from those kidnappers. I would be surprised if we didn't thank each other," Jad responded.
"Although, I was wondering about a couple of things."
"Feel free to ask and I'll try to answer any questions."
"How did you even discover those kidnapped children? Everyone else arrived the same time as us, you were already in the building. And how did you disable the gun that coward had?"
Jad's smile faded away and a look of sorrow filled his eyes. "I grew up in Kuo Kuana, which is in Menagerie. I was the only human born there in a long time and I easily got picked on when I was a kid for not having any animal features. Some of the other kids liked to pull some pranks on me now and then, but I had to learn how to avoid the pranks or defend myself if I didn't want to be laughed at. A friend of mine suggested that I start listening to the sounds around myself. I did just that and my sense of hearing got sharper as I grew up."
A look of sorrow appeared in his silver eyes. "Two months after that, some people, like those from that building, broke into my parent's house. They kidnapped me and my friend as they murdered my parents. I still remember the sound my mother made after they slit her throat. That sound is something I want to forget for the rest of my life, but I heard it two more times in my life. The second time was when my friend was murdered by that man and his brother." Jad punched a nearby tree and left a sizable crater in the trunk.
After a few seconds, Jad calmed down just enough to continue his explanation. "An hour before you and I met in that building, both me and Dahlia were taking a shortcut from the forest to a pizza shop I had heard about. Dahlia literally grew up helping out in hospitals all around Remnant, so we both knew what had happened when we heard that sound when we passed the building. I told Dahlia to go get the police while I tried to see what had happened. I managed to climb up to one of those boarded up windows and saw those children inside."
"As for how I disabled the coward's gun," Jad looked at the V4 Aaron had with him. "Can I borrow your rifle, it will help explain a few things."
The Rider raised an eyebrow before simply nodding and handed over his gun.
"There was something Uncle Ghira, Blake's father, had once told me," Jad said as he took the V4. "The safest way to rescue someone who is being used as a hostage is to follow the three D's. Distract the person holding someone hostage. Defend the hostage while the bad guy is distracted. And finally, immediately Disarm the situation. Those butterflies I had made not only defended the other children in that room but also distracted that coward enough for three bits of my Aura to get into the pistol and effectively left him unable to use his weapon."
Jad held up the V4 to the Rider and pointed towards the barrel. "First, I filled the barrel of the gun with my Aura so that if something did go wrong and the gun misfired, it would stop the bullet from exiting the barrel. In doing so the bullet would push enough of my Aura out so that it would shield little Azure from getting hurt if the gun ever exploded."
"That explains why you called him lefty," Aaron said.
"Indeed." A smile began reform on Jad's face. He then pointed towards the very back of the firing chamber of the V4. "Next, I had to make sure the hammer wouldn't hit the firing pin. So with a bit more of my Aura I made a little wall that would absorb the impact of the hammer."
Finally Jad pointed towards where the firing pin would be. "Finally, I had to make sure the firing pin wouldn't move at all. This usually is the most dangerous part, but I managed to surround the pin with my Aura and effectively stopped it from ever harming anyone by bending it enough that it would damage the gun even more."
"I hope that answers all your questions." Jad said as he returned the V4.
"It does, thank you."
"Oh and don't worry about the small pack of Grimm that's been heading our way for the last five minutes." Jad quickly drew Empathy from his back and swung the blade in a vertical arch as he turned around. A Creep appeared out of the brush just as the blade came down and cleaved its skull in half. Another Creep and a couple of Beowolves jumped out of the brush only to be quickly decapitated mid jump.
Jad spun his claymore a full rotation in his hand before resheathing the sword. As he turned back to face the Rider, Jad couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he saw the look on Aaron's face. The word 'How' practically screamed itself from the look the Rider was giving him.
"Did Ruby ever tell you about a sixth sense she had?"
Aaron nodded. "She mentioned it before I found out Cerise had hatched for her. I honestly didn't believe it was possible until I saw one of professor Silver's extra classes that Ruby was taking."
"Has Ruby ever told you how far she can sense Grimm around herself?"
"No, but from what I've seen she can sense Grimm about thirty to forty feet around herself." Aaron responded.
Jad simply smiled and pointed towards the north west. "There's a large pack of twenty Grimm in that direction five hundred and thirty seven feet away. Three are Ursa Minors, four Boarbatusk, two Ursa Majors, two Beowolf Alphas, eight normal Beowolves, and a King Taijitu." He then pointed towards the south. "A small pack of three Beowolves just found where you had unlocked your Aura." He then turned around and pointed north and towards the sky. "There's a fully grown Nevermore flying above an area that just reeks of Yoki one thousand eight hundred twenty six feet away. From what my sister has told me, I believe that is our destination."
"Also," the silver-eyed man faced a bush on the east side of the trail and put his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder. "It isn't nice to try and sneak up on someone out here Elena!"
The bush suddenly started to shake and Elena's head popped out in a cartoonish manner. "I was just trying to take a short cut." The bush shook again and Dahlia's head popped out in a similar manner just above the young Claymore's.
"I told you it's nearly impossible to sneak up on him like that," Dahlia deadpanned. Both the young Claymore and Faunus stepped out of the bush and walked up to the guys.
"She's right you know," Jad pointed out. "With that Yoki in your body, you kinda stick out like a pink Beowolf in a sundress." All four of them snickered at the thought of a Beowolf having pink fur instead of it being black, while wearing a dress.
"Alright, I may not be the best at suppressing the Yoki in my body," Elena admitted. "But mom has been training me everyday since Aaron arrived on Remnant. I'm going to surprise my sister with how far I've come when I see her again. I just hope I can discover my semblance by then."
"Oh! That reminds me." Jad placed a hand on Aaron's left shoulder. "Aaron here, just recently unlocked his Aura.
"Really?!" both of the girls asked in surprise.
Aaron simply nodded.
"Oh you have to let me get a scan!" Dahlia blurted out, while a smile that Jad had seen more than a hundred times, formed on her face. He walked over to his childhood friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Down Dahlia, you don't need to overwhelm him like that." There was a slight sigh in his voice.
"Oh come on Jad! I need to start a medical file for Aaron," Dahlia whined. "If there's anything wrong with his Aura, it would be disastrous if his Aura failed. Especially during a fight in the middle of a mission."
Jad pinched the top of his nose and let out a long sigh. "Just promise me you won't get too happy about it. You remember what happened last time. Right?"
Dahlia chuckled nervously while scratching the back of her head.
"Uhh, should I be worried about this?" Aaron asked.
"I don't think you will need to worry about a thing," Elena reassured the Rider. "If it's like what happened when she scanned me. Nothing bad will happen."
"This won't hurt at all. Trust me I'm a medic." Dahlia said as she started messing with the high tech arm brace on her left arm. Moments later, two small drones ejected themselves from the bottom of the arm brace and flew over to the Rider. As they flew around Aaron, a light turned on each drone signaling the scan had begun. About a minute later the lights turned off and the drones flew back and reinserted themselves into Dahlia's arm brace. The data the drones collected uploaded into the computer in the arm brace and a moment later the screen showed the results.
"Huh? What the… This can't be right."
"Something wrong Dahlia?" Jad asked.
The young medic ignored her childhood friend and held up her hand towards the Rider. Wisps of red Aura began to form and merge together in the palm of her hand. A split second later a steady stream of wispy Aura launched itself at Aaron's chest. Instead of impacting the Rider and sending him flying, the stream of Aura seeped into his body.
"This should help keep your Aura levels around normal during this initiation." Dahlia explained as the last of the aura stream left her hand. "That or when I figure out why your new Aura is outputting at such low levels. Whichever comes first."
"What?" Both Aaron and Elena asked.
Before the young grizzly bear Faunus could explain, Jad interrupted the conversation. "Guys, we have to go. We need to find those Relics and there's a pack of Grimm getting too close to where we currently are."
He's right, you all need to focus on your mission. Nalia mentally told the group.
"Come on guys, I believe I already found where the relics are." Jad said as he turned around and started walking through the forest again. Aaron, Elena, and Dahlia nodded and took off after him.
"Anyway, as I was saying," as Dahlia continued the conversation. "Aaron your body is producing less Aura than any normal person should after recently unlocking it. Much less someone trying to be a Huntsman." She looked at the Rider. "As for what my semblance, Medi, did to you. It has this temporary overheal effect that can affect both natural health and Aura healing. Should your Aura shatter during a fight, that little bit of extra health could save your life."
"Trust her on this," Jad added. "That semblance of hers has saved my butt more times than I care to admit." The young silver-eyed huntsman-in-training continued to look towards their destination. With every step they took, they drew closer towards that large patch of yoki he sensed. Though more like seeing it than sensing actually. For some weird reason during the training he underwent when he was younger. Jad's sixth sense at times would merge with his sight. Most of the time, this would benefit him in a fight. Though right now it made him feel uneasy. Every creature that he fought that had Yoki flowing through its body usually disappeared after death along with any trace of that energy. But now, even though the creature was long since dead, the area ahead was still blanketed by a thick amount of Yoki. What made it worse was that once inside the area, his sixth sense would almost be completely dampened until whatever remained of the body was disposed of. Add in the Nevermore that was already there, he was glad Dahlia had the right mindset to use her semblance like that on the Rider.
Jad felt a slight tapping on his right shoulder. He turned his head and looked at the young Claymore. "Do you have a question for me Elena?" he asked.
She nodded. "It's about your claymore. Where did you get it?"
"Compassion has been in my family for generations since the first person who wielded the blade. Why do you ask?"
"It's just, I've never seen someone who isn't a Claymore wield these blades." She unsheathed her own claymore and showed it to the silver-eyed man. "And I've never seen a claymore with a silver grip. Normally they are either red, green, or blue. Did you or someone in your family change its color?
Jad shook his head. "It's been that way since my ancestor first wielded this sword." he gently tapped the claymore on his back.
Elena sighed. "I still find it a bit odd that you're wielding that claymore. I can understand that your ancestor was a Claymore, given your ability to sense Yoki. But normally when a Claymore dies, their sword becomes their grave marker. Either she passed it down or someone in your ancestry stole it and used it before passing it down."
Jad simply smiled. "She kind of did both."
The young Claymore raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"Back home, there is a large cemetery where every member of the Emberstone family is laid to rest when they die. In the center is the final resting place of the original person who wielded this sword. There is a sword that marks her grave there, but from what I understand the sword belonged to her husband. The same man who the Emberstone family name belongs to. My mom, before she died, told me stories about a promise our family has made to our ancestor. One day, one of us needs to find his body and give him a proper burial next to her. Until then a statue of my ancestor holds her husband's sword close as she waits for him. That is one of the promises my family makes before we wield Compassion," Jad explained as he unsheathed his family's claymore and momentarily looked at the emblem on the sword.
"We also wield this claymore to honor her memory and remember our family's past as we move forward to protect others. That is the main reason why she has asked us to pass down this sword through the generations. My family also honors her by having her emblem as our family crest, which always becomes part of our own individual emblems as well."
"I see," Elena said just before her attention quickly shifted towards the area the four of them were heading to. "What the heck? Why is there so much Yoki ahead?"
"So you can sense it as well," Jad simply commented.
Elena nodded. "The thing is I shouldn't be able to sense anything this far out. This is going to give me a headache later."
The young Claymore turned her head towards the Rider. "Aaron, can I ask a favor from you and Nalia?"
"How can we help?" Aaron asked.
"The area ahead of us is soaked in Yoki which can cause problems later on for everyone. The Yoki is fading, but it's taking way too long to do so. The only way to get rid of Yoki like this as quickly as possible is to burn it away with fire. Can you and Nalia make sure this happens after we are done here?" Elena asked.
"If it helps, from what I can see all you need to do it burn away the surface area of a large clearing," Jad added.
"We'll see what we can do."
The group of four continued their trek for another half hour. All the while the four told each other their stories. While Aaron and Elena explained that they both were not from Remnant and had left their own worlds to escape from those in power who were corrupt and unjust. While they both experienced their own hardship, they were surprised that both Jad and Dahlia had experienced hardships of their own. Jad had come from a Huntress family line that protected those who lived in Menagerie from Grimm and rouge elements since long before the great war had started. But now, he was the last surviving member of that family line. A faunus that tortured and murdered many of the residents of Menagerie had escaped after a lengthy battle with Jad's mother Aonani Emberstone. That same faunus managed to smuggle some humans that enslaved faunus children and they murdered Jad's parents so they could have an easier time kidnapping more faunus children. Jad never had any siblings before the Belladonna's adopted him, so the mantle this family carried was now solely resting on his shoulders.
Dahlia, on the other hand, was the only one of the four that still had a living parent that didn't adopt them. She was the only daughter of Remnant's famous Dr. Autumn Bloodmoon, who could simply look at a person and know their entire medical history and know the best way to treat a person's medical needs using her semblance. Due to the major need of her mother's medical skills and Dahlia's mother being her only known parent, Dahlia grew up traveling from hospital to hospital as her mom treated many humans and faunus alike from major injuries from the Grimm to major diseases. Inspired by what her mother could do, she absorbed as much medical knowledge as she could as well as discovering that she had a healing semblance. This allowed her to help her mother in even the most difficult patient operations. But a few years ago, she started dating a man who had some ties to the White Fang. That man saw what she could do and tried to join the White Fang's cause multiple times. Of course every time she declined his offer, until one day that man carried in a couple of lightly wounded faunus after a major Grimm attack. He demanded that she use her semblance to heal the two faunus that he brought in instead of the very much pregnant more wounded mother she had been treating. Dahlia at the time was so busy focusing on keeping both the mother and unborn child alive that she didn't even face the man and instead told him to grab some bandages from a nearby storage closet. In his anger from Dahlia ignoring him, Dahlia's Ex unsheathed his weapon and decapitated the human mother before turning around and left the hospital all the while saying that the mother was already dead and Dahlia was a race traitor. While frantically trying to deliver the unborn baby from the mother's body, Dahlia swore that she would have his head one day. Later she spent the night apologizing to the late mother's Elephant Faunus husband while he watched his Elephant Faunus daughter fight for her life as she was delivered two months early.
As Dahlia finished her story, the four of them entered a large clearing that clearly had evidence that a major battle had taken place in the past few months. Trees were uprooted, small craters and scorch marks littered the clearing. In one location, four large and deep claw marks marked the ground as if something very large had ripped up the ground to pick something up. Another area had a couple of large craters and one long deep gash in the dirt as if someone dragged a large blade through the ground. Near one side of the clearing was some ruins that looked more destroyed than weather-worn. But what caught everyone's attention was a single six foot tall mutated looking red and purple crab leg with some greenish blue highlights sticking straight out of the ground. It looked like it was severed at the top of the leg and whatever creature it belonged to had to have been huge.
As Jad looked at the leg something deep inside him stirred. Something telling him to draw his claymore. Something telling him to fight. Something telling him that whatever this crab like leg belonged to, it was an ancient enemy. He turned and saw everyone just staring at the leg. Though, Elena's hand slightly trembled at the same time.
"What is that thing?" Aaron asked in a slightly uneasy voice.
"Is this part of the creature that attacked everyone during their own initiation?" Dahlia wondered out loud.
Elena nodded. "This is one of the legs of the Awakened that mom told me about."
"This is part of an Awakened?" Aaron asked in disbelief.
"More specifically, the Awakened known as Rosemary." Elena added.
"Well, whoever this leg belonged to. It's the cause for all the Yoki covering this area," Jad said as he pulled a large burn dust crystal out from underneath his vest.
"What?!" both Aaron and Dahlia asked.
"Jad's right," Elena said. "From what mom has told me, the stronger an Awakened is, the longer the Awakened Being's body will leak out Yoki into the surrounding area after it's killed."
"Let me take care of this thing," Jad said as he activated his semblance and started surrounding the leg with his Aura. "I don't get to use my semblance like this that often, so be careful around this thing. Okay?"
The rest of the group nodded as Jad crushed the burn Dust crystal and a flame traced through his Aura construct and set the Awakened leg ablaze. Immediately Jad could tell that the Yoki in the surrounding area began to dissipate a lot faster. He stepped away from the fire he set and joined the rest of the group as they looked at the ruins. Inside, several black and yellow chess pieces sat on some well crafted pillars in a semi-circle. Although, most of the pedestals stood empty.
"Looks like we have some very limited choices here," Jad pointed out as he looked at the remaining chess pieces.
"Well that would probably because someone made us miss the flight to Vale and we had to take the boat instead," Dahlia griped.
"Hey I said I was sorry," Jad said, defending himself. "Besides if you want to blame someone, blame that guy you always called an idiot back home and whoever made him in charge of Rumi's transport."
Dahlia sighed. "Whoever put him in charge is an even bigger idiot."
"Who's Rumi?" Elena asked as she picked up a yellow bishop piece.
"She's the daughter of a high ranking guard back in Kuo Kuana. Who just happens to be close friends with Blake's father," Dahlia explained. She looked around at the remaining chess pieces. "Do you guys think it matters if we pick these Relics at random?"
Jad noticed a matching bishop piece and picked it up." Might as well bring something that matches just in case." Jad turned around and noticed Aaron staring intensely at a black king chess piece. Something simply felt off about that chess piece. Jad focused his sixth sense through the haze of Yoki in the air and at the chess piece. His sixth sense instantly reacted as he felt a large amount of Yoki emit from the object. But it still felt off. It wasn't until he noticed that the color of the chess piece was a bit off from the rest of the remaining chess pieces. The black king piece had a purplish tint to the color as well as a bit of the pillar it was on.
At that moment Aaron drew his sword from the scabbard on his belt and sliced the chess piece in half. He walked out of the ruins with a soured look on his face.
Jad put the chess piece he picked up in a pocket and quickly followed his partner. "Hey Aaron what's-" Jad's sixth sense suddenly detected multiple amounts of Yoki in the shape of large Nevermore feathers falling from the sky. "EVERYBODY MOVE!" He grabbed the Rider and managed to pull Aaron out of the way before one of the iron-like Nevermore feathers impacted a split second later.
Jad had to admit it. They were all lucky that the Yoki in the area finally managed to dissipate enough for him to detect the incoming attack. A loud bird-like screech filled the air as an enormous shadow swept over the clearing. Everyone looked up and saw a giant Nevermore easily twice the size of Nalia circling just below the cloudline.
"Oh there he is," Jad said jokingly.
"Wait a second. You actually lost track of a Grimm that size?" Dahlia asked in disbelief.
Jad simply pointed his finger at the burning Awakened Being's leg. "Blame the leg and the amount of Yoki it was putting out." At that moment the leg cracked and half of it fell towards the ground. "But now with that thing burning away, I can See this thing now."
Dahlia simply sighed. "You lead, I'll follow?"
"Just like old times," Jad said as he looked at the rest of the group. "I hope that doesn't bother the two of you."
Both Aaron and Elena shook their heads. "To be honest, I've never been a good leader," Aaron admitted.
"And I've never had the chance to fight with friends at my side back where I'm from," Elena said as her eyes changed from silver to the cat-like golden.
Jad closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before calmly exhaling. "Alright. Let's do this."
[Play Otto Knows - Parachute (Fred Dax Remix)]
As Jad opened his eyes, his sixth sense fully merged with his vision. Everything Jad saw was shrouded in black with a white outline of every object in the area. The Nevermore however had lines of pulsating colors throughout its body. From the tip of its masked face to the ends of its tail feathers Yoki flowed throughout these lines. The more Yoki that flowed to certain areas of the Grimm, the easier for him to read and predict its next move.
The Nevermore let out another loud screech before dive bombing at the group. "Aaron, Dahlia! Left, Right! Elena, get down and strike the belly," Jad ordered as he, Dahlia, and Elena drew their weapons.
Just as the giant Nevermore swooped in for the kill, Aaron and Dahlia sidestepped the Grimm and only managed to nick the sides of its claws away with their weapons just enough so that Elena could slide in underneath. She raised her sword and left a deep cut in the underbelly of the Grimm. At the same time, Jad jumped up and ran down its bone face mask and stabbed his own sword in its back. He continued running down the body until he got to the tail feathers before jumping off the Nevermore's back.
The Nevermore roared in pain and quickly took to the skies before circling around overhead. Aaron quickly swapped out his sword and shield for his V4 before he and Dahlia fired up at the Grimm. The bullets hit the Nevermore, both exploding and shocking on contact, but the bird creature never slowed down.
Jad heard Aaron lightly swear under his breath as they all realized that the dust rounds they were using were doing very little to the Nevermore. Nonetheless, Aaron and Dahlia continued firing burst after burst of explosive and lightning Dust rounds at the Grimm.
Suddenly the Yoki in the Nevermore's body shifted towards the wings and the feathers on said wings. "Aaron, don't move!" Jad ordered. "Dahlia, Elena half step back and get down." As Aaron, Dahlia and Elena did what they were told, Jad stepped back and turned to the left at the same time. The Nevermore stopped in the air and shot its iron-like feathers down at the group from its original height. The four of them barely even moved as the feathers impacted mere millimeters from their bodies, but none managed to touch the four.
After the volley of feathers ended, the Grimm once again dove at the group. The silver-eyed huntsman-in-training noticed a smile forming on the Rider's face. "Adur!" Aaron yelled as he raised a hand towards the Grimm. One at a time, multiple Nevermore feathers freed themselves from the earth around them. "Thrysta!" Rapidly, one after another of the feathers flew back towards their former owner. The Nevermore screeched and barely had enough time to change course out of the way before rising back into the air.
Back on the ground Aaron collapsed onto one knee and began to breath heavily. Dahlia rushed to his side and immediately started using her semblance on the Rider. As the Grimm circled for another pass, a crazy idea began to form in his mind. He looked at the Rider and then back at the Nevermore in the sky. This might just work, but how do I get myself up there safely? Jad mentaly asked himself. He turned towards the young Claymore and was surprised at what he saw. The Yoki in her body was actually mixing with her Aura in a unique way and apparently was boosting her strength.
That's it! "Elena, do you think you can throw me onto that Nevermore's back?" Jad asked. The young Claymore nodded. "Dahlia, I'm going to need a quick charge."
The young medic shot him a 'your going to do something stupid again aren't you' look as she helped the Rider to his feet. After a short moment, she sighed and launched a steady stream of Aura into his body. No matter how many times Dahlia used her semblance on him, Jad never could get used to the odd tingling feeling it always gave him.
The silver-eyed Huntsman-in-training activated his semblance and a pair of cyan colored Aura Peregrine Falcon wings formed on his back. A long Aura rope formed around his left arm and extended to the ground with a sharp Aura spike embedding it into the earth. "Elena, get ready to throw me. After I land on the Nevermore, everyone needs to grab onto this rope I made and hang on tight. We are going to use that Nevermore to get back to where we began this initiation."
"What is it with you and riding on the backs of Grimm?" Dahlia asked in a tone that was a mix between a whine and a sigh. "What's next? A Queen Lancer?"
"Hey! That Sea Dragon needed to be pinned down so the ship's cannon could take it out," Jad pointed out. "I Don't plan on riding on the backs of Grimm anytime soon after today." He looked back up at the Nevermore circling overhead. "Alright let's do this."
Elena resheathed her claymore and cupped her hands together. Jad jumped back into her hand and immediately was launched into the sky by Elena's supernatural strength.
Jad had to admit that he was flying through the air faster than he originally thought was going to happen. Once he gained the right altitude, Jad opened his Aura wings and slowed down enough not to overshoot the nevermore but still fast enough to dodge the incoming claws. Curving around the claws and wings, Jad managed to land on the Nevermore's back after three effortless attempts.
Upon landing, Jad set to work to make sure that he wouldn't fall off the Grimm as its flying became more erratic as seconds passed by. The Aura that made up the wings on Jad's back started to move up his body and concentrated into a single sphere of Aura in his right while his left hand held on tight to the Nevermore's back. After all of the Aura he used for his wings entered the Aura sphere, Jad slammed it into the Nevermore's back causing the Aura to wrap around the Grimm's body, creating a makeshift harness. He wasted no time attaching the Aura rope to the harness.
Back on the ground, Aaron, Elena, and Dahlia grabbed a hold of the rope as the anchor point began to unhook itself from the ground. Once free the three were pulled up into the by both the Nevermore's flying and Jad pulling them in. At the same time, Jad manipulated the rope enough so the Nevermore wouldn't harm them.
Once the whole group was secure on the Nevermore's back, Aaron moved up the Grimm's back and placed his right hand on the back of its head. A few seconds later the Nevermore's flying smoothed out and began flying towards the cliffside. Within minutes, Nalia came into view on top of the cliff. She was standing upright, her whole body rigid, ready to spring into action if her Rider and his friends were in danger. There was no need though. The four made sure their blades were at the ready as the Nevermore began to lose consciousness after Aaron said something that Jad couldn't hear do to the wind. Jad reabsorbed his Aura as the bird fell from the sky like a rock. The four jumped off just before the Grimm collided face first with the cliff. Both Elena and Jad raised their claymores and cleaved through both wings, effectively immobilizing it. At the same time Dahlia stabbed the Nevermore in the eyes with Healer's Pride before flipping over its head. Finally, the Rider swung his sword and decapitated the Grimm. The rest of the body crumpled on the ground before it started to slide and fall off the cliff.
Show off, Nalia huffed, with a hint of pride in her voice.
[End Song]
Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I try." That sparked the four into a laughing fit. A good minute later, they calmed down enough to finish their Initiation. The four turned to face the three Beacon professors. Professor Goodwitch looked genuinely shocked while Ozpin and Teresa merely smiled though Teresa's smile was filled with pride.
"Well done, Elena, Aaron, Jad, Dahlia," Beacon's headmaster said. "May I have your relics?"
Jad and Elena walked over to Ozpin and handed both bishop pieces over. "We went through a lot of trouble to get those, I hope they're worth it." Jad joked.
Ozpin nodded. "It will be, I assure you. All four of you please report to the amphitheater in one hour to receive your team assignment." With that, he turned away and walked to his transport with professor Goodwitch in tow.
"Mom, I have a favor to ask," Elena said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her Scroll. "Can you take a picture of the five of us? I believe we are going to want to remember this moment for the rest of our lives."
Five? Nalia asked. Only the four of you took the Initiation.
"Your part of this new team as well, Nalia," Jad pointed out.
Nalia looked at her Rider and happily growled. At the same time Teresa took Elena's Scroll.
"Come on guys, group up around Nalia," Elena called out.
Jad, Aaron, Dahlia, and Elena stood next to Nalia as Teresa held up the Scroll. "Smile," Teresa said.
[...]
One hour later; Jad, Dahlia, Elena, and Aaron entered the amphitheater and they were surprised at the amount of people there. The entire building was nearing max capacity. Only the first year teams were required to be present, but Jad saw many older students as well as what looked to be a group of soldiers. All eight soldiers wore what looked like advanced armor and all in different colors in what looked like red and blue themes. If I'm right those are the people Blake was freaking out about this morning, he thought to himself.
A moment later, professor Ozpin stepped to the center of the stage and faced the brand new students. "Aaron Benson, Elena Silver, Dahlia Bloodmoon, and Jad Emberstone, please step forward. The four complied, stepping up onto the stage and stopping a few feet in front of the headmaster. They all waited in anticipation as Ozpin continued his speech.
"The four of you have placed us in an awkward situation here," Ozpin continued. "You four are the only new students for this semester, and you all have never attended a combat school on Remnant. Yet here you are, passing your initiation with flying colors and accomplishing what no other first year initiates have been able to do in decades."
"As said, the four of you have retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, the four of you will work together as team JADE, led by… Jad Emberstone.
The crowd roared with applause with Nalia adding in her own roar and Teresa standing off to the side of the stage politely clapping as well. All the while her faint smile was much more noticeable.
[...]
A/N: Honestly, I waited for this moment ever since the idea of Elena arriving on Remnant. Now I just need to start writing chapter 30. And I really can't wait to introduce the next character. I just hope it doesn't take me over four months to write it.
In other news, I have been helping Pokeman1280 with his current story Resistance and making her own appearance in said story is an older version of Dahlia Bloodmoon. I can't wait to see what he has in store for her. If you haven't read it, go read it now!
One other thing that I'm happy to announce is that the doctors are finally letting me go eat fast food and go to open buffet restaurants again. There's some stuff I haven't had in a while that I really, really want to have again.
Now onto the reviews: MarauderPrime12: Thanks, it means a lot.
Jacob9594: Yep and they're official now. I hope you like the team name.
Ultimatrix bearer: After reading this review for the thousandth time, It still brings a smile to my face. And thank you so much. Bring on more memes!
CT7567Rules: Thank you and I'm sorry to hear that.
Kaiju Alpha: All I can say about the Precursors is that they are going to play a major role down the line if not in this volume, they will in the others.
TheSilentChloey: Here's the new chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!
Well that's all the reviews for now. Next time we will see what everyone else was doing when team JADE's initiation was happening. Until next time!