A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than usual. Originally, it was going to be a part of chapter 6, but I ran into some blocks just getting Summer and Pyrrha into the clearing with everyone else near the ruins. So I separated it off as its own thing. I still had troubles and only just finished this last night. So sorry about posting it up a bit later in the day than usual. My plans moving forward is to keep up on 2 chapters a week, Tue and Sat.

AurelLor: No need to really know much about the Buffy-verse up front. What information is important I've tried to explain as the story progresses and will do the same with new information as it is required for understanding anything related to Slayers or the Buffy-verse in general.

Monsterking: Glad you are enjoying things.

GL119: We already talked, but again no worries. Just DM me with the rants when you feel the urge. I'm happy to discuss, debate, and lament alongside you.

That goes the same for all my readers. If you want to comment about something related to the story directly, leave me a comment. I love reading them. If you want to debate, discuss, or just vent about something in either the RWBY or Buffy fandoms in general, feel free to DM me. I'm always happy to talk about things with new people.

Now, on with the story.

Chapter 7

Teammates

Pyrrha wasn't sure what had gotten under the skin of her new partner. Since they had left the clearing where they had battled the Beowolves, Summer Dawn had seemed nervous. The cat ears on top of her head had been swiveling back and forth nervously and the blonde's tail had been twitching much as she had seen her grandmother's cat's do whenever grandma had sat in her rocking chair. She didn't like to superimpose animalistic behaviors on Faunus as a rule but her partner's behavior was certainly reminding her of such.

She had thought to ask about it several times. Communication was key to a successful partnership, after all. Then she'd start to open her mouth only to ask herself what she should even say. She couldn't come out and accuse her partner of losing her nerves. Not after fighting back to back with her against 20 Beowolves only to find out afterward that her partner had done so without her aura unlocked. The idea of bringing up animal instincts was equally unimaginable to Pyrrha. Her parents had raised her to be polite to an almost unhealthy degree.

Then the idea formed that perhaps it was the fact that Summer's aura was still locked that had given rise to the visible nervousness. Pyrrha didn't imagine that her partner was nervous about her ability to take down more Grimm. Her confidence back in the clearing would disabuse anyone of that notion quickly if they only saw it. What Pyrrha was starting to think Summer was nervous about was actually having to do so again. Summer had mentioned having paid a price for power once. How great was that power if it allowed her to fight like a Huntress without aura?

Pyrrha wasn't a fool. Many people thought her nieve to the way the world works. They thought that since she had been somewhat of a minor celebrity that she was sheltered from just how vile the world could be. It was really the opposite. She had seen how cruel humans could be to one another behind closed doors more than once. She could imagine someone learning there was a girl like Summer and coveting that power. What means would they use to obtain it? What end would they use to justify it?

She shook that idea off with simple logic. If Summer was afraid of others discovering her abilities, she wouldn't be here. Beacon, any of the Huntsman Academies really, would be the last place she would go. Any student in the Academies would be under scrutiny from so many angles that any attempt to hide an ability like Summer's would be doomed to failure. She simply couldn't blend in with the other students without her aura unlocked.

Pyrrha filed that idea away under 'arguments to get Summer to agree to have her aura unlocked' and moved on.

That brought her back in a circle. Asking her partner what was the matter. Deciding there was nothing for it, Pyrrha set her mouth in a tight smile and said, "Summer, what is..."

Pyrrha paused, as she absently noticed they had walked into a larger clearing. Ahead of them was a series of pillars that looked to be beyond old. Cracked and crumbling, the white marble pillars had a sheen of green to them that darkened closer to the ground. Pedistoles were arranged in a semi-circle inside the larger circle of marble, each with something sitting on them. The objects were too small to make out at that distance, but she could make out several other students. Most of them were girls. A blonde, a redhead with lighter red hair than her own, a dark-haired girl with a bow in her hair, and another, younger girl with a red cloak. Standing off to the side of them was also a young man with dark hair.

A scream further interrupted Pyrrha from asking her partner what had been bothering her. Tracking the source, Pyrrha realized quickly it was coming from above where the Schnee girl appeared to be falling out of the air. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, waiting for the daughter of the wealthiest man on the planet to use her glyphs to slow her fall as Pyrrha had seen the Blanchette due during their original launch into the forest. As seconds passed, Pyrrha started to realize that for some reason, the girl wasn't going to save herself.

"Pyrrha, give me a boost," Summer suddenly called out.

A quick glance at her partner, and Pyrrha worked out what the blonde was going to do. Akouo was quickly brought to bare with both arms supporting it as she bent as low as she could at her knees. Summer simply lept upon the shield, grasping the edge before calling out, "Fire!"

Pyrrha pushed with every ounce of strength she could dig up from her aura. Right as they neared the apex of her rise, she felt Summer's legs uncoil and push back against her. Pyrrha never slowed, holding against the force and launching her partner into the air.

It didn't take long until Summer had made contact with the Schnee girl, snatching her out of the air with perfect timing. Pyrrha could only smile at the skill her partner was showing as she reached the ground, still with her precious cargo in hand, and dropped into a perfect roll to bleed off the excess energy. Summer didn't even stop until she was back on her feet and setting the Schnee girl down on hers.

Pyrrha raised a hand in congratulations towards her partner, a bright smile on her face. She decided right then that whatever was causing her partner nerves, whether it be her concerns about her aura or something else, she'd do the best she could to be there for her. Summer had the heart of a Huntress, throwing herself into danger to protect others. Someone like that deserved to be supported completely.

The look of absolute horror on Summer's face came only a split second before Pyrrha heard the chittering scream and the sound of trees being torn up behind her. Later, when she was calmer and more rational, Pyrrha would swear to Summer that only that look saved her life. As it was, Pyrrha was already in motion before the ancient Death Stalker came crashing out of the woods behind her.

She rolled forward away from the Creature of Grimm as it came into the clearing, bringing Akouo up to block the Grimm's first strike. Its claw slammed into her shield with enough force to send her airborne for a moment before her feet touched back down to the ground. Even then, she still slid at least three feet before the momentum from the angry Death Stalker's claw bash was bled off.

Milo was out before her feet even touched back down. As Pyrrha found herself staring down the giant scorpion-like Grimm, she couldn't help the rather silly thought that crept through her mind asking why the starting buzzer had not sounded. She pushed the thought aside and focused on what was in front of her, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this.

She knew somewhere behind her, her Partner was already moving forward, racing to her side. In the here and now, she was alone as the Death Stalker's stinger lanced down at her. Pyrrha lept to the side enough to let her shield deflect the deadly spike into the ground and get her away from the creature. It wasn't enough to push her out of the range of its claws as one slammed her again, harder than before.

Pyrrha found herself in flight again. That voice in her head was questioning if this was what her opponents had felt like fighting her. Then her momentum was suddenly arrested as she slammed into something warm and most certainly fleshy. In a tangle of limbs, she found herself rolling on the ground until she came to a complete stop only to look into Summer's own green eyes.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha suddenly blurted out. Her cheeks were turning red in embarrassment. Thoughts of her partner, who had proven both skilled and kind demanding to be paired with someone not so clumsy raced through her mind only to be met with Summer laughing out loud.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha, I've been tackled by worse," Summer finally said as they both untangled themselves from one another and stood.

A scream from behind them caused Pyrrha to look back. It only took a moment to realize one of their number was missing, the girl in the red cloak. Looking back, she saw the girl sprawled on the floor, having tried to take the Grimm on herself while she and Summer had been on the ground. The blonde girl standing back by the ruins was yelling for the girl, Ruby, to get back over to them when a loud cry from above sounded.

"A Giant Nevermore," Pyrrha whispered, seeing the massive Grimm bird flying in. "She's going to be trapped," she said, realizing what the Grimm was about to do and knowing there was no way to get to the young girl before it happened.

Pyrrha was still moving to try and get to the young girl before it happened. Beside her, Summer was also sprinting forward in a mad dash to get to the girl.

Then the girl stood and started to race away from the Death Stalker as the Nevermore launched its feathers out like a cluster bomb. One of the feathers struck, catching the girl's cloak and bringing her back to the ground. The Death Stalker took her immobility as its cue and raced forward, it's tail with its deadly venom in it arched over its back.

Before the Death Stalker's tail could slam into Ruby, Pyrrha watched as a white blur flashed by her and Summer, causing them both to skid to a halt. The Schnee girl moved faster than either of them could and appeared just behind Ruby and swung her rapier out, creating an ice wall that caught the Death Stalker by one claw and its tail only inches from Ruby's body. A look above showed the Nevermore flying out over the forest once more.

Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief that the youngest of them was safe and turned back to her partner. "Shall we retrieve our relic, Summer?"

A nod from Summer was good enough for Pyrrha and she turned back to the ruins. As they arrived, they found chess pieces waiting for them. Pyrrha looked to Summer, who just shrugged her shoulders.

Pyrrha gave her a smile then reached out and took a...

They were racing down a path that split the Emerald Forest, two giant Grimm on their collective tails. Pyrrha glanced behind and grimaced. 'If only we could divide them,' she thought. As it was, they couldn't take time to deal with either before the opposite Grimm would come in and break up any attempt at dispatching its cousin. They were quickly running out of solid ground themselves, coming upon the last vestiges of a bridge that once crossed the quickly approaching ravine. If they didn't get the Death Stalker off of them soon, they were going to be fighting it on unstable ground and it would be even odds on who fell first.

Ahead of them, Pyrrha saw that the four other girls were preparing to get the attention of the Nevermore. Ruby had already brought her weapon out in its sniper configuration, firing at it in an attempt to draw it away from the rest of them while calling out directions to the other three. Pyrrha smiled and glanced at Summer, realizing the red-cloaked girl had realized the same as herself. Summer's own vicious grin let Pyrrha know that her own young partner had not missed the opportunity that the other group was giving them.

"Ren, distract it," Summer suddenly called out as she skidded to a halt bringing Pyrrha up short as well.

Ren lept to the side of the nightmare monster, firing his weapons until the magazines emptied. Pyrrha noted that the Death Stalker had taken notice of him as it raised one of its claws up to smash the quiet young man. She started to move towards him, shield already lifting to intercept the blow once she was in position. Then her partners voice carried over the sounds of gunfire.

"Pyrrha, take out the stinger," Summer said next even as Pyrrha recognized the sound of automatic fire from Willow. "Nora, help aim for its legs!" Explosions immediately started sounding, pink clouds lifting into the air.

It was less than a second, but Pyrrha hesitated. She saw the claw coming down, the boy still fervently sliding fresh magazines into her weapons. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and everything seemed to stop for just a moment. She couldn't move, couldn't react, but neither could anything else. In the back of her mind, Pyrrha knew this was all an illusion. Time hadn't stopped, it hadn't frozen to give her a chance to think. Her body was simply being overloaded with adrenaline, her synapses firing so fast that time seemed to have stopped. In that moment between breath and heartbeat, Pyrrha knew what she had to do.

Pyrrha spun Akouo off her arm and into her hand. With a spin flick of her wrist, she launched Akouo into the air with as much spin as she could manage. Her shield flew towards the stinger, currently arched for another strike but held back by gunfire. The shield found purchase as it struck, hitting directly between the chitinous armor of the Death Stalker's tail and the more fragile flesh underneath that connected the stinger to it. It took a push from her Semblance to finish the job, but the stinger fell, slamming into the back of the Grimm. Pyrrha couldn't help her own vicious grin as it slid across its face.

In the corner of her eye, Ren flipped away from the Death Stalker's claw at the last moment, weapons reloaded and firing once more.

The Death Stalker wasn't down, yet, as Pyrrha took the time to notice that Summer was unloading all she had into the eyes of the monstrous Grimm. The beast's screamed in pain, a never-ending cry going from crescendo to crescendo over and over again. No sooner did Akouo slap back into her hand than her partner was calling out, "Pyrrha, give Nora a boost."

This time, Pyrrha didn't bother to hesitate or even acknowledge anything other than the order called out. She dropped low and raised Akouo with both arms above her as she had earlier for Summer. She heard a joyous laugh, as Nora lept upon her shield and was launched in the air. As the other redhead flew up, Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh as she noticed Nora was sitting on the shaft of her hammer as she rose up, launching a few grenades to boost herself higher. Then she was back into the fight, helping Summer to fend off the Death Stalker's claws as it tried to drive them further back, toward the cliff's edge.

When Nora came slamming down on the head of the Death Stalker, Summer let out a cheer of victory that Pyrrha found herself caught up in. She had always been so reserved in her matches, never celebrating any victory she had earned. Her coaches had said it would be unsportsmanlike. That it might make the other person feel poorly about themselves. So she had refrained even when others did not.

Now she couldn't help but cheer. She was tired, she hurt in places she didn't think she could hurt before the start of the day. She was partnered with someone who was likely the only person in the Academy that did not have an unlocked aura. Yet as she let out a cheer to the sky, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel that not only was this a victory worth celebrating, it was a day worth celebrating.

"Summer Dawn, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkrie, the four of you chose the white rook pieces as your relics. From this day forward, you will be team Sylvan," Ozpin said as Pyrrha felt her eyes remain glued to the overhead screen. A picture of each of her teammates was now up there, shifting into the order to spell their team name and settling into the SLVN that made up the official spelling. "Led by Summer Dawn."

Pyrrha glanced to her side and caught her partner's shoulders slumping even as her eyes closed. She was talking to herself too quietly for Pyrrha to overhear over the applause of the crowd, so she didn't try to. Instead, she wrapped one arm around the shorter girl and led her off the stage even as she leaned in to whisper, "You will do wonderfully. Summer. I believe in you."