Remarkably, the two did not run into any more Grimm while they trudged through the Emerald Forest, the only obstacle in their path being the infrequent root permanently stitched to the ground. However, once they found a clearing outside the forest, that would be where complications arose. Two complications, as a matter of fact. The first of which was the blonde knight who Blake ridiculed and that redhead celebrity sprinting away from a rather sizable Grimm. Blake and Ruby observed it closely. It resembled that of a regular scorpion. It had claws and a yellow stinger. Ten deathly red eyes peered at nothing in particular as it continued its pursuit of the students.

"Ruby...do you know what that thing is called?"

The silver-eyed girl's answer was uncharacteristic; it was said in a voice that was equally shocked and serious.

"Yeah...It's called a Death Stalker."

"Well, that's not intimidating."

Despite her reply being of a sarcastic fashion, Blake did not aspire for it to be funny. Ruby herself realized this. She was just as intimidated. But she had a defined resolve. It was a resolve that told her, "Here's your chance, Ruby. You wanted to be like the heroes of all those fairy tales. Well, it's time to show that. Prove yourself. Kill that Death Stalker."

And so Ruby did as her mind told her. Well, at least, she attempted to.

"Ruby, wait!"

Blake's shout was practically a whisper to the scythe-wielder. She placed Crescent Rose over her head, its blade facing down at a diagonal angle. Firing off a round of Dust, it gave her a boost of momentum, a common tactic she employed in her fighting style. When Ruby was mere inches away from the scorpion Grimm's face, she swung Crescent Rose in a wide arc, intending to impale the monster right then and there.

Unfortunately for her, her blade, even regarding the fact that she had recently sharpened it, did little more than leave a scratch on the Death Stalker's hard, almost shell-like face. Consequently, it only made the Grimm even more agitated. It shifted its focus away from its original targets and instead, it's new attacker.

By this time, many of the first-year students who knew each other to some measure had convened in the general area. Ruby and Blake, partners. Both of them recognized Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee. It was obvious that Ruby would discern that her older half-sister was present. Evidently, this was also the case for the girl who caused her much strife when their paths first crossed the previous day.

Elsewhere, Ruby found Jaune Arc, the first "friend" she had made at Beacon. With him was Pyrrha Nikos. Ruby knew who she was, but that was no accomplishment. Pyrrha was famous, so principally, everyone knew who she was to some extent. The other two students in Jaune's entourage were the energetic hammer-wielder Nora Valkyrie and the calm, raven-haired boy Lie Ren. Ruby herself didn't know their names quite yet, but rationalized that that wasn't the chief concern.

The "chief concern" was currently stomping its way over towards the group. The Death Stalker still had its sights set on Ruby, although since it was a Creature of Grimm, it would not be showing any mercy towards any student in the group. It swiped its massive claw towards Ruby in a way that can only be described as the same way the girl tried to swipe at it with her weapon.

"RUBY!" Yang and Blake both yelled in despair and dread. For one of them, the source of such emotion was utmost worry for her half sister. The other one, for her new partner.

Without any sense of thinking, the ribbon on Gambol Shroud was released by Blake. It traveled towards Ruby, on its merry and brisk way. When it reached its destination, the ribbon fulfilled its purpose by wrapping tightly around the silver-eyed girl. The exact instant the Cat Faunus felt the weight on her katana shift, she pulled, expending all the energy she had into that one pull. To call the event a "close call", would be the biggest understatement in Remnant's history.

"Ruby! Are you OK?"

"Yeah...geez. Thanks, Blake, that could've been really bad."

Ruby had taken another tumble on the ground. But, unlike the last time, it was just about necessary. She would have much rather taken a rough landing on some grass than taking a Death Stalker claw to the face. Blake stuck out a hand to her partner. As Ruby stood up, the Cat started peppering her with seemingly trivial concerns.

"Ruby...I'm sorry if that hurt you. I didn't mean to make you fall that hard…"

"Blake, don't worry about it. It was much better than the alternative."

Ruby weakly chuckled at her own poorly constructed joke, pointing off towards the scorpion Grimm who was still very much there, it's new priority being Nora and Pyrrha who began shooting at it with their respective long range capabilities, rifle shots and grenades.

Blake placed a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Well, all that matters is that you're alright."

With their exchange practically done and over with, it came time for Weiss to vocalize her distaste for Ruby's recklessness. Although Blake did agree that trying to fight a large Grimm solo was a stupid plan, she thought Weiss chastising Ruby to the point of crudely insulting her was much too excessive. The words "dolt" and "childish" had been stretched exceedingly threadbare by the time the heiress's rant ran its course.

Both Ruby and Blake were crafting rebuttals to Weiss, but the screeches of both the Death Stalker and a Nevermore drew their attention. They would have to save their squabble for later. Now was the time to kill some Grimm. For a short duration, Blake stayed with Ren and Pyrrha and the Death Stalker, largely because the Nevermore split the group that way by shattering a large chunk of the ruined bridge they were fighting on. Jaune and Nora made it over to that side in due time, willed by a wild scheme thought up by the latter. The girl used her hammer to land a sufficient hit on the scorpion, but was soon hit herself by its large yellow stinger. It made her unintentionally slam into Blake.

Ruby was busy firing off Dust rounds at the Nevermore from far away, the scope built into Crescent Rose assisting greatly in that regard. She whirled around to see how her comrades were faring. That was when she saw something falling.

"Maybe it's a piece of debris? Probably…"

She didn't know why, but something compelled her to look closer at whatever was falling, to see what it really was. Whatever this "something" was, Ruby listened to it and peered into her scope.

"Wait, if that was debris, it wouldn't be black and white. Or, purple, for that-Oh my gods…"

Tragic reality presented itself to Ruby.

"BLAKE!"

Ruby screamed, for that was all she could do. Even if she wasn't frozen in shock, what exactly could she pull off? Maybe there was a chance she could use a combination of her Semblance and her recoil to reach Blake? It would be nearly impossible to line up a catch like that. She, under no circumstances, was allowed to mess such a solution up. Weiss may call it impetuous, but in the heat of the moment, Ruby couldn't have cared any less. She was getting ready to fire herself off the ledge she was perched on, and then…

Ruby looked up to the cliff that overlooked the bridge and the battle, and eyed another peculiar sight. Using her tried and true scope, she found a black katana embedded in the cliff's edge.

"A black katana? But that means that…"

A feeling of both relief and elation coursed through her body as she saw Blake swinging up from near the bottom of the abyss up to the Nevermore's back. An exhilarating journey, indeed. What Ruby most admired wasn't necessarily how Blake had recovered from nearly dying, it was how she did it with no fear at all. Not one trace of it could be seen on Blake's pale skin or her amber eyes.

Blake slashed at the Nevermore several times, but her katana had a minuscule effect on the bird Grimm. Landing on a ledge of her own, she told Ruby, Weiss, and Yang the obvious, that it was tougher than it appeared to be.

"Then let's hit it with everything we got." Yang proclaimed.

All four girls silently concurred. Multiple kinds of Dust rounds hit the Nevermore as it swooped down to their position. It was clear that blindly shooting at it wouldn't be doing them any favors. As pieces of ruins dropped down from the Grimm's crash, the girls magnificently found their way back up, with support from their weapons and/or Semblances. Still, losing footing like that may become an issue.

Weiss voiced her frustration in how they couldn't seem to crack the code known as "killing the Nevermore". Ruby studied their surroundings for a few quick seconds, before speaking to her rapier-wielding ally.

"I have a plan! Cover me!"

The plan was crazy, sure. But it was a good kind of crazy. It was coordinated. Yang was up first. Like some kind of madwoman, she jumped into the Nevermore's mouth as it flew at her. Blake had figured that may have been some kind of weak point, as when the brawler leaped off after punching multiple times, it crashed into a nearby cliff. As Weiss froze the thing's tail in place, Blake was stumped trying to figure out the logic of Yang holding its beak open with just one hand.

"Now that's something you don't see everyday." Blake mused.

Hearing the Nevermore screech in its struggle to free itself from Weiss's ice prison, its tail being the captor, Blake readied herself. She was up. Literally. On a pillar. Throwing Gambol Shroud to Yang on a pillar parallel to hers, they created a slingshot out of the remarkably long and durable ribbon. The Cat sighed. She sure had been using that damn ribbon a lot during the whole initiation. But that didn't really matter. What mattered was if it helped her in combat. And that was a benchmark that the ribbon passed with ease.

Blake had nothing more to do in the plan. Her partner would finish it, she would be the metaphorical "icing on the cake". Both she and Yang watched as Ruby, with help from Weiss's Glyphs, bounded off the slingshot and pinned the Nevermore against the wall of the cliff, Crescent Rose firmly situated on the its neck. The heiress created more Glyphs all the way up the aforementioned wall. Ruby ran upwards, Nevermore in tow. When they reached the top of the cliff, she fired one more shot, not meant to hit the Grimm, but rather, to push her scythe's blade even further into the thing's neck. Ruby gave it her scythe a final tug, completely removing the Nevermore's head from its body.

Blake watched the lifeless body of the bird Grimm slowly crumble for hardly even a second before looking even further up to admire Ruby as she struck a pose with Crescent Rose. No fear. In fact, she looked more thrilled than anything. Blake felt her cheeks flush and her cat ears twitch, although no one else but her would know the latter, for she kept her Faunus trait concealed with a black bow. In any case, the Cat acknowledged that she was becoming flustered towards Ruby's triumphant posing, but didn't understand what its origin was. Was she just that flabbergasted by how skilled her partner was, with a quality of nonchalance to boot? Or was it something else?

That's Chapter 2 of my Ladybug fic. Truth be told, this chapter has been done for a few days now, but I didn't publish it, simply because I couldn't figure out how to. Now that I have a decent understanding on how to add chapters, an issue like that shouldn't come up again. There's still the possibility of writer's block though...In other news, the recap may go on a bit longer then I expected. I had another idea that ties into that whole sort of thing, so yeah. Third and most of the fourth chapter will probably be recap.