Chapter Three: Initiation
Robin POV
Robin sat up in her cot, stretched and yawned. She'd had better starts to her day. She looked towards Morgan's cot. He was already up, it was likely he had gotten up with the sun, as Faunus tend to do. They tended to have stronger internal clocks than humans.
Robin wasn't the last to get up but she was far from the first. She picked up her bag of clothes and her weapons and made her way to the co-ed locker room a couple hallways down from the ballroom, hoping to find Morgan to apologize for the night before.
She had spoken out of turn without realizing the emotional significance of her words and she needed to salvage her relationship with him if they were to remain friends.
She refound her locker, Number 518, and proceeded to change quickly. Once her boots were tied, bodysuit zipped and dagger belt clipped on, she started to look for Morgan again. She looked through nearly the entire locker room but couldn't find him. She was about to give up and recheck the ballroom when a Faunus girl with wasp wings stormed past her. She looked ready to kill, Robin wondered why she looked so upset.
She glanced back where the girl had come from and saw Morgan, tail lashing and ears flattened and looking a bit annoyed with his arms crossed. He was staring after the girl, seeming to make sure that she wouldn't come back. He noticed Robin and his expression visibly darkened. "Hey, friend." he growled, spitting out the word with as much venom as possible.
Robin flinched. Morgan's molten eyes were glaring right through her soul, it seemed. "Morgan, I-" she began but trailed off, fiddling with her hands as she struggled with the words.
The Faunus narrowed his eyes. "Well? What is it? Spit it out!"
She flinched again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did without knowing the whole story. It was wrong of me to make that joke and I deeply apologize. Can we still be friends?"
Morgan leaned in to inspect the young ninja girl. His seemingly trademark scowl deepened. After a few moments, he straightened back up and sighed in exasperation. "Ugh, fine. Somethin' in my gut's telling me to give you a second chance, anyway. Don't know why, though. Anyone else, and you'd be shit outta luck. Whatever." he grumbled.
Robin giggled. Her smile fell, though. "Who was that girl?"
Morgan shrugged. "Don't know. Said her name was Wasperia Yellowjacket. Sounded like she wanted to team up. But I could smell her arousal. All she wanted was to sate her own desires at my expense. No, thank you. I ain't a plaything. For anyone." he growled.
Robin shook her head. "You are without a doubt the most guarded person I've ever met. It wouldn't hurt you to open up a little, you know."
Morgan sent her a sidelong glance. "Like I did last night?"
Robin sighed. "That's not fair and you know it. I've already apologized."
The feline warrior sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. It's just that, whenever I open up to anyone… I end up getting burned. If you'll pardon the pun there. You're one of the few people, and fewer humans, that I don't hate. I wish I could tell you why. All this 'friends' stuff is kinda new for me. You're only the third friend I've ever had." he sighed.
The young ninja raised her eyebrows. "Who're the first two?" she asked.
Morgan flashed her a playful glare. "Don't you remember the last time you pried into my life, Robin? I don't know about you, but I'd rather not repeat the experience. In any case, they were… good friends. But I don't want to talk about them right now. Maybe later." he said.
Robin raised her hands in a mock defensive posture. "Okay, okay, fine! Let's grab a quick bite to eat before we're supposed to do this initiation thing."
Morgan flashed her a toothy grin. "Fine by me, I'm starving!"
Robin just rolled her eyes and they made their way to the cafeteria for food.
A little while later, they had eaten breakfast and were chatting in the cafeteria, exchanging weapon maintenance tips, favorite Dust types and rounds, different combat strategies and things like that.
It's amazing how quickly he warmed up to me again. I thought he'd be angry for weeks, with how furious he got last night. Being friends with him is going to be interesting. Robin mused. It really was amazing. With Robin's seismic sense, she could feel Morgan practically vibrate in pure fury. She couldn't understand where all that went.
Morgan's ears swiveled upward as Professor Goodwitch's voice came up on the PA. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
Morgan groaned. "Damn, I was comfortable! Oh, whatever. Let's go, Robin."
The pair followed the rest of the students making their way to the cliff near the prestigious academy. The massive tower in the center of the school made Robin feel exceptionally small when she looked up at it. She wondered how long it took to build it.
"Why do you think we're going to a cliff?" the young ninja asked Morgan.
He shrugged. "Dunno. Could be anything, really. Personally, I'm hoping for a combat test. That's the whole point of this school, right? To learn how to fight? Well, I'm really lookin' forward to fightin' stronger and stronger guys!" he said, tail waving in excitement.
Robin laughed. Morgan's ears flattened to his skull and he shot a glare at Robin. "What?! What's so funny?!" he demanded.
Robin waved him off. "Nothing, nothing! It's just that your thought process is so simple."
The Faunus shrugged again. "So what? I ain't got time for complicated thoughts. Won't help ya in a fight. Ya either do or die. No room for thinkin', is there?"
Robin thought about that. "I suppose you have a point there. But not thinking before you speak or act could lead to some major problems. Like, hurting people's feelings without meaning to or jumping right into a Grimm nest."
Morgan sighed and rolled his eyes. "I speak my mind. Ain't my fault other people take offense. Grow some thicker skin, I say. To your other point, I'm more than strong enough to fight my way out of a Grimm nest. Total cakewalk."
It was Robin's turn to roll her eyes. "Point: missing it. But whatever. Let's just get to this cliff." she said.
Morgan glanced at her, confused, but looked forward and kept walking.
The Mistral girl closed her eyes and reached ahead with her seismic sense to see how much further to the cliff. Professor Goodwitch was not joking when she said "cliff." The thing was massive! It overlooked a forest that stretched for miles, far exceeding her half mile radius. The cliff itself was at least a couple hundred feet tall and Robin thought she could feel caves deep under the cliff and school but that could just be her senses playing tricks on her. They were skirting the edge of her radius, after all, and her sense tended to get fuzzy that far out.
She also felt two people on top of the cliff but couldn't tell who they were. Her sense couldn't give her facial features. Her sensing was interrupted when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked to her right.
It was Morgan with a very confused expression. "Hey, you alright? You were walkin' with your eyes closed. How did you know where to go? We turned a couple times there."
Robin widened her eyes. She didn't know they had turned. Her body must have gone on autopilot. "I can sense seismic vibrations. I can 'see' out to about half a mile. It's how I'm able to manipulate earth without causing a rockslide or cave in or sinkhole. I instinctively reach out to detect which rocks to use that won't cause disaster for the area.
"However, for things outside my general vicinity, it requires more concentration. Hence, the closed eyes. When that happens, my body tends to go into autopilot to keep up my previous path, avoiding dangers and now, apparently, keeping up with a group." she explained.
Morgan blinked. Blinked again. "Huh. So, you're kind of like a human badger. How come you're named after a bird, then?" he asked.
Robin shrugged. "No idea. My mother said I reminded her of brown and immediately thought of a robin. She liked the name and it… stuck."
Morgan chuckled. "That's funny. Anyway, I think we're almost to the cliff. You spaced out for a while." he told her.
Robin looked in front of her. He was right. She saw the edge of the clifftop and Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin standing in front of, or behind, depending on your perspective, a series of silver tiles arranged in a long line, on which was etched the Vale insignia, two green axes set over two green sets of laurel leaves.
"Students, please step onto the tiles." Professor Goodwitch commanded.
The twenty some students complied with the command and stepped onto the tiles. Robin could sense some sort of catapult device under hers and guessed that they were going to launch her and the other first years into the forest below. Different than what she had planned for, but not impossible to manage.
Professor Ozpin cleared his throat. "Now that we are all here, I believe we can begin. For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." he began.
Professor Goodwitch stepped forward. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today." she explained.
Robin heard Morgan make an odd humming sound from her left.
The aged headmaster spoke again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
"Makes sense. That's standard for groups." Robin heard Morgan say to himself.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." the Professor continued. His words sent a wave of shock through the line of students.
Morgan made a sound that suggested he nearly choked on his spit at that news. "WHAT?!" he nearly screamed. His expression was a mix of shock and abject horror.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." It seemed that Professor Ozpin's words did little to restore Morgan's faith in the headmaster's sanity.
"What the fuck is with this guy?" he whispered.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" the Professor explained while pacing the edge of the clifftop.
Morgan raised his hand, still looking very shocked and horror-struck. "Uh, yeah!"
However, Professor Ozpin steamrolled right through what Morgan had to say. "Good! Now, take your positions." he commanded.
It seemed Robin wasn't the only one to guess the professors would launch them into the forest, because the rest of the students settled into a ready pose, ready to draw weapons to execute their landing strategy.
The first student was launched as Morgan continued to try and ask his question. "Uh, Professor Ozpin? Did you say our partner will be the one we first make eye contact with?!" the Faunus demanded.
"I did." the white haired man replied nonchalantly.
Morgan swallowed and was not paying attention as more and more students were launched at high speeds toward the forest below. "Don't you think that could form a few problem pairs?" Morgan supposed.
Professor Ozpin kept his expression blank. "I suppose that could happen, but this method of forming Hunter teams has been implemented since long before either of us were born and has worked well over the decades." he explained.
The professor seemed to contemplate something. "Good luck, Mr. Rubrum." he added.
Morgan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What? 'Good luck'? Why do-" he began but was cut off as his own catapult was activated, sending him flying. Robin could faintly hear him scream something along the lines of, "You are such an asshole!"
Robin barely had enough time to giggle before she herself was launched. Unlike Morgan, however, she was ready for it. She grinned as she prepared to make her landing.
Donna POV
Donna sailed through the air, gaining incredible lift despite the weight of her armor and muscle mass. As she started to lose that lift and fall into the forest below, she readied her valued trident and pressed a button on the shaft. The side prongs retracted into the weapon and the middle prong extended and formed a hook. A hook she used to grab hold of tree branches as she descended.
She hooked onto a final tree branch and spun herself around it to bleed off excess speed and launched off of it, landing on the forest floor with impeccable grace. She returned the weapon to normal and ventured out into the forest to complete her given task.
Lilo POV
As Lilo fell toward the ground at incredibly high speed, he extended his right hand to unleash a blast of air that slowed his acceleration and allowed him to set down onto his feet gently. He brushed off his clothes and looked up to see that-
Morgan POV
Morgan was tumbling through the air. "Shit! Fuck! Gods-dammit!" he shouted as he let off small puffs of flame to try and correct his trajectory. Once he was falling feet first, he let off two massive pillars of flame from his hands to slow himself down.
Once his speed was low enough, he cut power to the infernos and dropped onto a branch directly below him. He jumped from branch to branch, descending lower and lower into the forest. He jumped off a final branch just in time to see Robin raise an earth pillar to grab her feet and slowly lower her to the ground. Once her feet touched the ground, she kicked apart the pillar of rock and walked toward Morgan and placed her hands on her hips.
"That was a really badass entrance, you know." Morgan stated.
Robin chuckled. "I know! Guess this makes us partners, then."
Morgan shrugged. "Guess I'm okay with that, then." They turned northward and ventured off to gather the "relics" that Ozpin had mentioned.
Donna POV
The tanned heiress scanned the treeline as she searched for her longtime friend. Her senses were on high alert as she searched the forest for any sign of Grimm activity.
She didn't see anything currently but she knew that could change at any moment. Sparks played about on her hands as her anticipation for combat grew, her tensions rising. Her mother was expecting her to be team leader, so she couldn't fuck this up.
She ignored the various sounds of songbirds and squirrels, as she knew they were inconsequential in the long term. She ran a hand over her plaited hair to smooth it, to correct any imperfections. She was an Aquaria and that meant being perfect.
She saw a flash of purple and lilac to her right and whipped around, weapon instinctively on the ready. Once she recognized who it was, she stood down. "Lilo!" she cried out while crushing him in a tight bear hug.
Lilo made an odd choking noise. "Ah, Donna! Hey, I'm glad to see you, too, but you're wrinkling the blazer!" he exclaimed.
The Mistralan hugged him even tighter. "Don't care. I'm just glad we're partners."
Lilo rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Donna. We do still need to get one of those relics." the lilac haired duelist pointed out.
Donna sighed and unwrapped her arms from around him. "I guess you're right. Have you seen any Grimm in the area?" the heiress asked as she scanned for the monsters herself.
He shook his head as he drew his saber and revolver. "No, which is odd. From what my older brother, Wein, told me, the Emerald Forest is supposed to be crawling with Grimm."
Donna snorted. "Isn't Wein the one who seemingly can't put down a bottle of wine?"
Lilo rolled his eyes. "Yes, my family's company is being handed over to a functional alcoholic. I have, indeed, made the connection. Being the youngest of five sons has its disadvantages. I fucking get it. Now, can we please make our way to the temple?!"
Donna laughed again. "Okay, okay. Did Wein say what kind of Grimm are usually here?" she asked as the two teens worked their way through the forest.
"Beowolves and Ursai are the most common. But there have been Boarbatusk, King Taijitu and Nevermore sightings in the forest proper and Death Stalkers and Creeps have been seen in the caves. Best to limit our contact with Grimm altogether and make our way to the temple ASAP." he explained.
Donna again scanned the treeline. "Agreed. Let's move."
Morgan POV
A few miles away, Morgan and Robin had just about the same idea. "I don't suppose you can sense Grimm, huh?"
Robin turned to face him as they walked. "Actually, I can. I just can't sense any in the general vicinity. It's real odd. The population of Grimm has always been very densely packed. For Grimm activity to just stop, even in a small area, is highly unusual."
Morgan crossed his arms and sniffed the air. "They're there. I can smell 'em. Two Beowolves and an Ursa. Don't think they're movin', though, if you can't sense 'em."
Robin scoffed. "Oh, that is not fair. How far away?"
The Faunus teen scented the air again. "Hard to tell. I'd say about… thirty feet to our left. Just in those bushes there." he said, pointing.
Robin followed his finger to the bushes he was pointing to. "Hmm. Gameplan?" she asked, sending him a sidelong glance.
Morgan bared his teeth in a feral grin. "I kill 'em." he growled before launching himself at the bushes. He landed a devastating uppercut to the smaller Beowolf that sent it flying into a tree and narrowly dodged a swipe from the Ursa. He pulled his sword out and flung it into the larger Beowolf's face, killing it. The sword dropped to the forest floor as the creature dissolved into black smoke.
He returned his attention to the Ursa as it swiped at him again. He dodged strike after strike, not because he needed to, no, he wanted to make the fight interesting. He decided he would kill the Ursa and remaining Beowolf with just his feet.
He backflipped to dodge a strike from the Beowolf and side kicked it in the face, cracking its mask of bone. It roared in pain and rage and swiped at him with a heavy paw. He dodged and roundhouse kicked it into the path of the Ursa's claws as it attempted to maim the young Huntsman. The Beowolf was slashed in half as the larger Grimm's claws shredded its hide like a knife to warm butter.
The Ursa charged at him as its packmate dissolved into black smoke. He again effortlessly dodged the bear like monster's swipes as it tried in vain to maul him. He kneed it in the gut and then axe kicked it in the face, snapping its neck and killing it, causing it to disintegrate. He took a moment for his adrenaline high to wear off and turned back toward Robin. "Well, that was fun. Let's go get those relics, now." he said, turning northward.
Lilo POV
The pair had stopped outside of a dark cave entrance. "Donna, this isn't where we're supposed to be. Ozpin said an abandoned temple. This is a cave." the uniformed teen pointed out. He was really quite annoyed. Donna had a way of getting sidetracked.
She scoffed, poking around the entrance with her trident. "Yes, Lilo, I know its a cave and not a temple. But who's to say there's not a temple inside it? Come on, let's explore! See what we can find." she countered.
Lilo rolled his eyes. "Fine, since you won't drop this until I agree. But I have a bad feeling about this cave. Something feels off." he said.
The tanned heiress scoffed again. "Lilo, you always have a bad feeling about something."
"I do not. You just don't listen to me."
"Whatever. Let's go!"
They entered the cave. Before they went too far in, Donna gathered some cave moss that was oddly dry and wrapped it around the prongs of her weapon and lit it with a small spark of lightning. She held it up like a torch.
As they went deeper into the cave, Lilo took the time to study the walls of the cave. It looked like they were carved by more than just water. And if he remembered correctly, and he was sure he did, dark caves were the preferred habitat of several types of Grimm.
"Donna, I think something lives here. These walls look like they've been scratched up by something. I think we should turn around." he told her.
She shook her head in annoyance and turned to face him. "Lilo, it's fine. Nothing is going to just pop out and get us. It is just a fucking cave. Okay?" she said.
Lilo heard something large shift around further in the cave. Donna must have heard it too, as she whipped around to search for its source. Dust and water fell from the ceiling as whatever the large thing was disturbed the cave. The water doused the makeshift torch on Donna's trident.
"Ah, shit!" she swore as she tried to relight it to no avail.
"Donna, it's too wet. You'll never get it to light." Lilo pointed out.
By the dim light of her electricity, he saw her glower at him. "Shut up! It isn't my fault it got wet!" she growled.
Lilo rolled his eyes. "Kind of is if you think about it. If you had listened to me, we'd still be outside where it's light out and we would be able to see. There's something in here, Donna, I know you heard it too. We need to get out of here."
"Lilo, you-! Wait a second. What's that?" Donna asked pointing to a big glowing yellow teardrop shaped object.
Lilo's stomach dropped. "That's not good!"
Morgan POV
The pair had finally made it to the temple, if you could call it that. It was more like some weathered bricks arranged in a circle in a clearing with some columnar pedestals inside the circle. There were small game pieces on some of the pedestals. The pieces looked similar to weapons, a couple of green swords, a yellow armored gauntlet, something that looked like a couple of gold wasp stingers stuck together, with the exception of a brown handbag. The pieces on the other pedestals had seemingly already been taken.
"Think these are the relics we're supposed to get?" Morgan asked Robin.
She nodded. "I'd say so. We're at the temple, these are relics. No brainer to me! Now, which one do we get?" she answered.
Morgan contemplated it for a couple seconds. "One of the swords." he said while picking up the sword piece closest to him. "Feels right."
His ears swiveled to his left as he heard screaming, weapons fire and something large moving through the forest. Fast. "You hear that, Robin?"
She shook her head. "No, but I sense it. Two other students, one guy and one girl, being chased by a Death Stalker. We're gonna have a big fight on our hands." she warned.
The feline Huntsman bared his teeth into a feral grin and drew his weapons, unfolding his sheath into a shield on his left forearm and readying the razor sharp sword. "This is gonna be fun!" he exclaimed.
The young ninja also drew her weapons and stared at Morgan like he was crazy. "You and I have completely different definitions of the word 'fun'. Whatever. Let's make this thing die."
He saw the students break the treeline first. It was Aquaria and Ehre! Ehre was just flat out running but Aquaria kept firing off bolts of lightning from her trident behind her. "Donna! I'm gonna kill you for this! I told you we shouldn't have gone into that fucking cave!" the purple haired teen, clearly upset.
"I got us to the temple didn't I?!" the tanned heiress screamed back, still firing off lightning bolts.
"And now we're getting chased by a giant fucking scorpion!"
Said scorpion monster broke through the treeline at that moment, its white bone armor cracked and covered in moss. The thing was huge, at least three times the size of the Ursa that attacked him in Atlas four years ago. It had to be very old, it was covered in scars.
Morgan shook his head. "Hey! Get out of the way!" he commanded.
They obliged him by rolling to the side, Ehre to the left and Aquaria to the right. Morgan drew his hands back and thrust them forward and let out a massive plume of flames from his palms that enveloped the giant scorpion monster. It roared in pain as the flames licked its exoskeleton.
The two other students had already run to Morgan and Robin's side as Morgan blasted the Death Stalker. "You got it! It's dead!" Aquaria cried out.
Ehre rolled his eyes. "It's going to take more than that to kill a Death Stalker, moron!" he berated. "Even young Death Stalkers have incredibly thick armor plating and this one has to be ancient. We're going to need a lot more firepower to bring it down."
Morgan growled from the effort of sustaining his blast of fire. "Tactical assessment is all fine an' dandy, but can we hurry this up and get that firepower?! I'll run out of Aura before I burn through this thing's armor." he snarled.
He felt Robin's Aura spike and the ground shake. He cut power to his attack to see a pillar of earth launch the scorpion creature a few dozen feet, back into the trees. It landed with a very audible crash that scared birds into flying.
He heard someone retch and turned to see Robin drop to her hands and knees, clutching her stomach and coughing up spittle. "That thing isn't going to be dazed for long. You need to kill that thing quickly while I recover." she informed.
Ehre knelt beside her. "You okay? What happened?" he asked.
Robin laughed tiredly. "I can't really use my Semblance offensively, it uses up too much energy. And I put a lot of Aura into that attack. That thing was fuckin' heavy." she explained before going into another coughing fit.
Morgan's ears swiveled toward the trees as he heard the Death Stalker roar in anger and scuttle towards them. "Damn, you weren't kidding, it's already up. Era, Aquaria, what're your Semblances?" he demanded.
Ehre bristled at Morgan's pronunciation of his name. "It's 'Ehre' and I can manipulate air." he corrected.
Aquaria rolled her eyes. "I can manipulate both water and lightning. Why? What's your plan, Faunus?" she demanded.
Morgan growled. "To kick the shit out of you, if you call me that again. As for the Death Stalker, fire as much lightning at me as you can without passing out. I'm gonna flame broil that bastard." he explained, baring his teeth in a feral snarl.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aquaria stare at him as though he'd lost his mind. "You want me to do what?! That will drain all of your Aura and kill you! I'm not going to jail for murder! No way, no how!"
The scorpion monster roared again as it broke the treeline. Thing was the size of a large trailer house and damn fast for that size.
Morgan sent her a scathing glare. "I can absorb energy from attacks, it won't kill me. Just do it before that thing kills all of us! Or do you want to end up a smear on the ground?!" he bellowed.
Aquaria grit her teeth and thrust her right hand at him, palm out, and let loose a massive surge of electrical energy. The pain of it caught him off guard; so much so that he dropped to his knees and cried out in agony. He felt Aquaria about to cut power to it. "No, don't! I haven't collected enough energy yet! Keep goin'!" he ordered.
He was vaguely aware that she was firing lightning at the monster with her other hand, Ehre was blasting the creature back with torrents of air and even Robin had joined in, taking potshots at it with her daggers turned pistols.
"Aquaria! That's enough! I have enough energy!" he yowled, the electricity nearly frying his nervous system. He felt the attack cease. He slowly got up to his feet. "Everyone retreat into the treeline. Now. Things are about to get a little messy." he ordered, little electrical surges playing up and down his body.
All three of them reluctantly did so as he walked up to the Death Stalker, slowly drawing his blade. The creature made to follow them. "Hey, ugly! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you. You're gonna die here. By my sword." he said, diverting its attention to him.
He grinned as his Aura gleamed white as the energy from Aquaria's attack significantly multiplied his power. He placed his left hand on the blade and set it ablaze. He dashed forward, slicing at its bone mask, cracking it even further. But it wasn't dead. Not yet.
It swung one of its pincers at him and he backflipped over it. He shot another gout of flames at it in midair before coming down and delivering a devastating axe kick to its head, breaking off the right half of its mask, revealing its red fleshy face.
It swiped its pincers at him again and Morgan sliced them off at their point of connection, rendering them useless. It launched it stinger at him at lightning speed, forcing him to bob and weave to dodge it. Eventually, he managed to trap it between his left arm and his side and slashed off its stinger with his sword.
The Grimm recoiled in pain and roared its displeasure. Morgan grinned as his eyes flashed scarlet and he dashed forward, punching a hole into its face, grabbing its brain and ripping it out. The creature twitched for a couple of moments before dropping to the ground and then disintegrating.
Morgan laughed weakly. "Whew! That was fun! Shit, I'm so fuckin' tired…" he said as he suddenly became lightheaded and passed out.
Robin POV
"Morgan!" Robin cried out as she ran out of the treeline to help her new friend. She knelt beside him and checked his pulse.
"Well? What's the prognosis?" Donna asked, coming up behind them with Lilo.
Robin turned to them. "Alive but out cold. You could have held back just a little. All that lightning sent a massive shock to his system, he could've died!"
The tanned heiress rolled her eyes and scoffed. "And just what do you think he would've said had I held back? You heard him; he expressly said it wouldn't kill him. While the Faunus can be many things, they usually know their limits. If he said he could survive a fight with two King Taijitu, he probably could. The Faunus may be mongrels but they're not stupid."
Robin rolled her eyes. "Morgan just risked his life for you and you repay him by sending barbs and insults toward his race? He was right. You are a bitch." she derided while picking up her unconscious partner and making her way south toward the cliff.
Donna POV
Donna was incensed! Outraged! How dare that no name peasant call her such names! Sparks played about on her hands and hair and she raised her right hand and prepared to fire a bolt of lightning at the retreating girl.
Before she could do so, however, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to face her lifelong friend with a stony expression and shaking his head. She came to her senses and slowly lowered her arm.
She turned to the ruins without another word and snatched a green sword piece off of its pedestal and followed Robin to the cliff with Lilo just behind. She still intended to make the other girl pay for this transgression, of course. But later. She could do that… later.
Morgan POV
*A few hours later*
Morgan stretched his very stiff joints to work the pain out. "Fuckin' hell, I've never actually taken a lightning bolt to the chest before. That hurt!" he griped.
Robin scoffed. "Of course it did, you dummy! You're lucky it didn't kill you."
Morgan shrugged. "Eh, you're probably right. Had to do it, though."
The ninja girl shook her head. "Whatever. Professor Ozpin is about to start."
The ceremony in the auditorium was rather long for Morgan's tastes, forming ten teams, including his own. The reactions were… interesting.
"Coco Adel. Fox Alistair. Velvet Scarlatina. Yatsuhashi Daichi." Ozpin called out, forming the seventh team of the night. The screen of the auditorium showed each of their profiles as the boys and girls were lined up for the applauding audience to see as Ozpin continued. "The four of you retrieved the brown handbag pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CFVY, led by… Coco Adel!"
The audience gave another round of applause, while the next set of four students walked up to the stage to take their places in front of the headmaster as their faces filled the screen.
"Ched Caseus. Hazel Holz. Devora Leone. Ranji Narang. The four of you have retrieved the yellow gauntlet pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CHDR, led by… Ched Caseus!" he announced and the audience erupted into applause again.
"Wasperia Yellowjacket. Alex Ble. Scorch Flame. Priscilla Royal. The four of you have retrieved the gold stinger pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team WASP, led by… Wasperia Yellowjacket!" Third verse, same as the first and second. The audience clapped and the next set of students took their places on the stage. In this case; Morgan, Robin, Ehre and Aquaria.
It seemed Aquaria was just as displeased as Morgan to be on the same team.
"Morgan Rubrum. Tori Robin. Lilo Ehre. Donna Aquaria. The four of you have retrieved the green sword pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team MRLD, led by… Morgan Rubrum!" he announced as the audience clapped again.
Morgan was jolted out his bored stupor. "What? Leader? Me?!"
He turned to the rest of his team and saw Aquaria sending him the death glare to kill all death glares.
Amid the last round of cheers, Ozpin glanced at Morgan one last time. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." he said.
AN: Interesting indeed! This was a fun one, if long, to write and I want to know what you thought of it! I can't wait to write Donna's ire at being led by a Faunus. The interactions between her and Morgan will be… explosive to say the least.
Alright, review and let me know what you think of the chapter! Until the next one!