Hey another chapter! Also you should check it out on my Ao3 account for an awesome artwork from MRK50!
Adding this in as an addendum but credit and thanks to Selene_Sokal for proof reading!
Jaune had so many questions, like why was he here? Why wasn't he asleep in a nice and warm bed! Why in the world were they on top of a massive cliffside. Why did it look like he was on some kind of ejection platform?! Why had he not taken his air sickness medicine?!
These were all great questions, ones he however didn't have the answers too. He turned towards the headmaster, who was currently monologuing or something. He had been so much of a mess that he'd missed almost everything he said, well everything but, "you'll be sent flying through the air." Why would anyone do this?! Was this why mom told them to be worried about the headmaster? Was he a nutcase?! Jaune was starting to think that was in fact the case.
"Any questions?"
"Sir?"
"Alright good."
'What a dick!' Jaune couldn't help but think to himself. Thankfully he wasn't the only one, as his sisters noticed this too.
"Sir! Can I… can I get my sickness medicine?"
He watched the headmaster turn to him, a smile on his face as he brought his cup of coffee? At least Jaune thought it was coffee anyways, to his face.
"No…"
"Hey hold on!" It was Joan that yelled out this time, however she was interrupted when everyone, yes every single person there was launched into the air all at the same time.
"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Jaune couldn't control himself, this was not going to end well.
"YOU DICK!" Joan couldn't help herself either.
"Rude…" Ozpin said as he smiled to himself, taking another sip of his warm beverage.
"Sir… do you think it was wise to launch them all into the air at the same time?"
Ozpin glanced at the retreating students, "I'm sure everything will be fine."
Though, he noticed a small, thin object jettison towards Mr. Arc, hitting him and sending him towards the forest below. "I think…"
Jaune was not fine, he was anything but fine. He hadn't prepared his stomach for this, and the sudden ejection had caused his insides to turn in ways he really didn't want them too. Thankfully he had a lot of Aura, so he'd simply take the blow and recharge it once he was safe on the ground.
At least that was the original plan, "Is that a rocket?" He heard the sound of burning air getting closer and closer to him. He felt it before he saw it, a crimson javelin caught onto his hoodie, changing his direction drastically.
In an instant he found himself pinned to a tree, thankfully he hadn't been hurt. Whoever had thrown that spear at him had to have been amazing because he hadn't even needed to activate his aura! Well whomever it was had his thanks, this was a much better plan than taking a massive hit on the ground. "THANK YOU!"
"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Oh! He blushed a little realizing it had been Pyrrha.
Though now… now he had to wait, that shouldn't be so bad… right?
Joan was going to kick him in the dick, she was going to find a way to kick their headmaster in the dick if it was the last thing she did. Thankfully she'd taken her airsickness medicine, so she wasn't as disorientated as her brother. However, she still didn't appreciate being launched into the air, as unfortunately, she also had an issue with her landing strategy.
As she continued to soar through the air she did her best to search for Jaune, though she apparently had no need to worry as an orange stick seemed to have caught him mid air. "Dang… I guess his flirting finally worked…" She couldn't help but smirk to herself, good, he could use this. However, she didn't have much time to contemplate the situation as she was getting awfully close to the ground.
She prepared to grab her blade, at least till she heard something woosh next to her.
Ozpin was a big fat meanie! How dare he do that to her big brother, when mom heard about this she would definitely have a fit. As much as Ruby wanted to dwell on the terrible things her mother would do to the headmaster she had more important things to concentrate on. Such as making sure she didn't splat on the ground, or making sure Jaune didn't make a massive crater.
Though, that didn't seem to be a problem? Apparently Pyrrha had thought ahead, she knew she was amazing! You don't get to be the mascot of an amazing cereal without being that awesome. OH OH OH! Maybe she and Jaune would hit it off! Maybe she'd have another sister! That'd be amazing, though… she was a lion faunus, Ruby had read things, but she was curious how that might go from what she'd read she knew her brother was going to be in for a lot!
Ruby scowled at the dark memory, feeling uncharacteristically violent at the thought of 'her'. Shaking her head she realized she had more important things to do. Like make sure that she and Joan got partnered! She obviously wasn't going to get in the way of a lioness on her hunt. A smirk touched her lips at the pleasant thought, though as she noticed the other yellow blur she smiled.
She pressed a button on her spear which she'd already drawn, the back end burst open in fire dust sending her flying towards Joan. She felt her momentum increase as she held onto her specially made spear.
"HEY!"
"Ruby!" Joan had apparently not been expecting her!
"Looks like we're partners!"
"YEP!"
Ruby grabbed her sister's arm, and as they drew closer to the land their bodies suddenly burst into yellow and red rose petals. In an instant they were on the floor below, Ruby felt awesome right about now.
Pyrrha hit her target first somehow, possibly because of how low angled her launch pad had sent her. Using her shield she made sure to guard herself as she fell through tree after tree. Finally she landed on a sturdy enough branch, falling into a full rolling flip. Instantly she grabbed her bearings, years of training and practice honing her perceptual skills.
Like a predator hunting their prey she found her target. She wasted no time as Milo turned into its javelin form, with a powerful throw she launched her precious spear. Believing in her aim she dashed forward not wanting to waste any time. She wanted Jaune as her partner, she felt things, things she'd never felt before.
She knew they weren't emotions of romance, no it was something else, a closeness. She felt like she could become friends with him, well him and his sisters. But more than them he didn't know who she was, and he seemed to care the least. He'd also made the most effort to reach out to her… well him and the Schnee.
She didn't… she didn't hate the Schnee… not yet anyways. Pyrrha hadn't experienced the issues other Faunus did, her abilities spoke for themselves. No, what she felt was a deep desire to not be around the woman herself. Not because of her lineage but because of how she'd come up to her. How she dared to come in 'friendly' terms. Pyrrha was genuinely creeped out. She hated when people came up to her for her title, for her abilities. She hated the way that she wanted to use Pyrrha. It made her uncomfortable, almost made her feel like not a person. Then… then she had the gall to get after Jaune! Like he'd been the one after her for ulterior motives?! Seriously?!
Pyrrha felt herself fume at the thought, how dare that… she needed to stop, she didn't like letting her anger get the better of her. She was more than just a lioness, she was a warrior, she was more than just a title or her name. So, hopefully she'd be able to experience that here.
"THANK YOU!" Oh he was so sweet.
"You're welcome!" She shouted back as she made her way towards Jaune, making sure to stay to the treetops as she did.
Weiss couldn't believe the day she was having, she had plans, plans which involved Pyrrha Nikos. Despite her… special traits… she was still an incredibly influential person and most definitely the strongest person of their year possibly of the entire school. She wanted to have her as her partner, she wanted to make sure that they partnered up. Though, now that she knew the rules she found the task incredibly daunting.
She just hoped however, that she wouldn't end up with any of THAT group, especially that big woman. How… how did she grow so much? 'I… I'm not Jealous…' Weiss was in fact jealous, she had… issues? With her stature, but that woman, she was huge. She was tall, muscular, well built… she had nice hips… and an ample bust… and she had such chilling sapphire colored eyes that stared down at her when… "What am I thinking?!" She felt her face heat up, she'd never been scolded like that. When her… when her father did it, it was always full of anger and something else. But her… she was stern with her, it was obvious she cared about her family. Something Weiss felt another bit of jealousy on.
As she landed gently on the ground her glyphs allowing her just the right amount of resistance she began to search. For now she didn't have any plans, other than hope to run into Nikos.
"SUP SNOW WHITE!"
And there went any chances of having a happy school life.
Nora sailed through the sky, this was so much fun! She hadn't expected to make this many friends already, and everyone was so great! She wondered if they'd end up on the same team, oh oh! Maybe they had teams of eight? No, she knew they were only four. She just hoped they'd all be bunched together. She loved the idea of having all her friends together.
She hoped she'd end up with Joan… not for any specific reason! She was just really cool, and really big. Like ,wow those muscles, she bet that if she got a look at her abs she'd be able to grind meat on those babies! She wouldn't mind any of the others, her little sister seemed like a lot of fun too! Also her brother! He got along with Rennie! That meant so much to her, he was cute too, a little small for Nora's taste. 'Despite him being a near foot taller than me, but still!' Nora couldn't help but chuckle at her own thoughts.
She wouldn't mind anyone, even that Snow White girl! She looked sad, like she was putting on a facade or something. Oh! She finally got to use that word Rennie taught her a few days ago! There was no way someone could be that mean! And if there was one thing Nora liked, it was helping people. Just like how Rennie had helped her, she couldn't help but confirm to herself as she made her way to the ground, using her hammer to hit the floor with all her might causing a shockwave stopping her impact.
Now to find someone, anyone she would want to! As she made her way through the trees she spotted her target. "Not my first choice! But… we'll see what we can do!" Joan had accepted her as a friend, so it was time for Nora to be a friend to someone else!
"SUP SNOW WHITE!" And like that the Nordic Winter partnership was formed.
Ren was having a heck of a time, though he wasn't fond of such words he couldn't really use anything else to describe his situation. He hadn't expected to hit it off with… well with anyone if he was being honest. But to meet not only 1 but 2 people that he could be friendly with? Well that wasn't a bad thing at all. Though, if the rest of the little group was anything to go off of, everyone else seemed just as friendly. Minus Weiss Schnee, he wasn't sure how he'd handle her if she was his partner.
Still, he supposed that finding someone wouldn't be so bad, his thoughts ended as he hit the ground. "Mmm, now what to do from…" He paused, taking a deep breath he felt the sinister presence. Without missing a step he ducked, as a white snake head soared above him, fangs bared and ready to strike. Thankfully he'd sensed the beast and prepping himself and waited for it to draw closer. As the snake-like grimm lunged at him he avoided it with, having prepared himself he was able to make his own counter attack. A quick slash at the snake's neck proved to be rather ineffective. Jumping to his left he was able to barely dodge the black head. Now that he had gained some distance he prepared himself to fight the King Taijitu.
At least that was the original plan, "Yo! Need some help there?" Turning to his left he smiled, seemed like he wouldn't have to do this on his own after all.
"If you please." He didn't, but having Nora along taught him just how important it was to reach out to people.
"Awesome!"
Yang had not expected her partner to be the cute dark haired boy, but hey she'd take it. She was mightily impressed with how well he handled himself. Even though he wasn't able to see the Taijitu, he was still able to dodge it fairly easily. She couldn't help but make a mental note of that for the future, could be useful if she learned something like that.
As she landed next to her new partner she took up her normal boxing stance, the one she'd trained with her father. "Shall we go together?"
Ren nodded, putting away Stormflower he prepared to use his Aura to combat instead.
"Oh what's this? Going to go hand to hand as well?" She couldn't help but smirk at the proposition.
"Yes, my weapon isn't suitable for handling large Grimm such as the King Taijitu."
She simply nodded, well looked like things were going to be interesting.
"Move to your right, 15 inches." She was going to question what he meant but she saw the Taijitu strike towards her, in an instant she followed his directions. She watched as it sailed past her, it was then she realized she was in perfect striking distance.
"Hey! NOT!" Her right fist soared downwards as she met the Taijitu's upper jaw. "BAD!" The shotgun in Ember Celica went off as she blasted the snake down. She was prepared to move when the black head began to strike towards her.
"Don't move." She listened, he hadn't been wrong the first time, so she didn't move.
Before the head could strike her, she watched as his palm met the beast's eye, his aura flared as it just stopped. Then all of a sudden the head began to grow in size, exploding into black tar which soon started to turn into black dust scattering in the wind.
"Dang! That was impressive!" She smiled, reaching her hand out, Ren took it with very little hesitation.
"Thank you."
"How'd you do all that, I mean using your aura like that, and knowing where it would be?"
He simply smiled, "Just something I picked up along the way, training one's senses is important. It helps keep you calm, and lets you analyze the situation."
She simply nodded, "Neat! Mind teaching me in the future?"
He simply smiled, "I advise it requires lots of patience, but if you can keep up, then yes."
"Awesome! I could really use somethin' to help calm me down… I get a bit too gung-ho for my own good, or so my dad says at least."
Ren simply nodded, "That can come in the future, let us get going then. We should pass first." And so he began to make his way towards the direction they had originally been pointed.
"Right behind ya partner!" Yang followed closely, though a thought came to mind, "I wonder how the others are doing?"
"I'm sure they're doing fine."
"WE ARE NOT DOING FINE!" Weiss was not doing fine, not in the slightest, how had she been convinced by this… this GIRL! That climbing on a Nevermore was the smart idea, how in the world did her life get to this point. She had thought that Nora knew what she was doing earlier, when she easily dispatched the Beowulves with rather impressive strikes and blows, but now she was dragging her across this wild ride.
"Oh don't worry Snow White! We're almost there!"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Weiss really didn't like being called that, it was way too on the nose. It was such a literal translation of her name!
"Oh it's fine! Besides we're already here! Time to Jump!"
"Wait what?!" She didn't get the time to respond as she felt Nora's impressively strong arms wrap around her waist pulling her close against her… impressive bust. Seriously, what did these girls eat? Why was she so… ugh nevermind, still she didn't have the time to think as she felt herself descend. This was not her day, she was not in fact doing fine.
"Ruby… this is a terrible idea, I want you to know that… there is no way the artifact is in this cave." Joan stared at her sister incredulously as she attempted to have the two of them enter an obviously dark and not at all where the dang thing was cave.
"It could be! You don't know that! Come on! Where's your sense of adventure Joan! Imagine what treasures we could find there! Besides, I doubt it's dangerous at all!"
Joans limply cocked her eyebrow, giving her sister the most incredulous look as she simply turned her head to the obvious warning painting that was outside the cave.
"Okay! That could mean anything, and what's to say that it's still here?"
"Really? You're going to jinx us too? Ruby we're not going in there, I'm your big sister and what I say goes.
Ruby bit her lip, she really wanted to check it out. She started to ponder on what she could… do?
A smile crept upon her lips as she stared at the sign, "Hey Jooooooan?"
Joan didn't like that tone, she didn't like what it implied, it was Ruby's-got-a-plan tone and they were almost as bad as Jaune-has-a-plan tones. "What?"
"Sooooo I bet whatever's in there is really strong. I bet it'd give you a great fight, don't you think?"
Joan felt her eye twitch, oh damn it, "Ruby…"
"Oh I bet you could take it! Or… Or maybe you can't?! Do you think it's too strong for you? Something the great strong Joan Arc can't fight! Whatever would our sisters think?! They look up to you sooooo soooo much!"
That twitch was getting worse. "Ruby…"
"BUT YOU KNOW WHAT! I BELIEVE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU CAN TAKE ON WHATEVER IS IN THERE!"
"I…" Joan couldn't help but sigh.
'Got her.' Ruby's grin grew into a full on smile.
"You know what? I know you're playing me, but you're right." Joan's sardonic face turned into a massive slasher like grin as she began to walk into the cave.
Though, that plan ended up not going exactly how they had wanted it too. In a matter of minutes the two of them dashed out, "OKAY THIS WAS A BAD IDEA! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME JOAN?!"
Joan was nearly speechless, "SERIOUSLY?!"
Ruby giggled to herself as she grabbed her sister, "Joking joking! Let's go!"
In a flurry of yellow and red the two vanished, hopefully not having to deal with the deathstalker any longer. Though… deathstalkers were called deathstalkers for a reason. They chased their prey till one or the other died.
"So… you have seven sisters?" Pyrrha couldn't help but feel rather curious, what would growing up with seven sisters even be like? How could his mom have so many kids, did his parents not have hobbies? Would he have that many kids? The thought alone was overwhelming.
"It was… uhm it was something alright." Pyrrha noted the small smile on his face, though she also noticed that he seemed somewhat… saddened?
"Is everything okay?"
Oh, he hadn't meant to make her worried. "I… yeah… sorry just… having seven amazing sisters is kind of hard to take some times." He put on his best smile, hoping that would be enough to dissuade anymore questions she may have.
Pyrrha could tell he obviously didn't want to talk about it, which was fair, they had barely met one another. If she felt the need, she'd bring it up with him later, for now she figured it'd be smarter to drop the issue. "Alright." She smiled back at him.
Jaune couldn't help but stop, her smile was absolutely gorgeous, he felt his face turn red. Though he quickly shut his thoughts down, despite how he'd suddenly become infatuated with the gorgeous redhead, he knew better than anyone that it'd be an impossible partnership.
Turning around he took a deep breath, "So uh… is this the right way?"
"Yep, we're heading North now."
He wasn't quite sure how she was able to tell that without a compass, but hey he didn't know where they were going, so he figured it'd be better to just let her guide them.
"So, you didn't go to a school?" Pyrrha was hoping to keep some form of conversation going, she'd rather not have an awkward silent walk as they made their way towards the artifacts.
"Oh yeah!" He seemed to beem proudly at this, that was good, finally something that wouldn't make him sad. He was like an adorable golden retriever puppy, one that was sad because he wasn't getting any head pats. She really didn't like that thought.
"Our parents taught us, our Mom was a big time Hunter back in the day, and so was our Dad… I think?" He couldn't help but chuckle at that bit, his dad always told such overexaggerated stories, he had a hard time telling the real from the fake most of the time.
Pyrrha simply nodded a long, "That's nice, so they had time to train all of you?"
"Yep! Well, except for Saphron, but she didn't want to become a huntsmen, she's the only one that moved out and is living with her wife." Jaune couldn't help but have a fond smile on his face.
"Oh that's sweet!" Pyrrha always loved to hear about other people's happy relationships. She wouldn't know what one was like,
"Yep! Though-" His voice was cut off as he was hit by a powerful swipe of a massive claw. His body was sent flying backwards, crashing into and snapping a large tree, which thankfully broke his acceleration.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha didn't have the time to check to see if he was alright, as another powerful blow was sent her way. With barely any movements she avoided the claw, ducking right under it as it clipped a bit of her hair.
In an instant, Milo was already in gun form. Without any hesitation, she jammed the barrel of the gun against the beast's jaw, pulling the trigger a few times, watching as she scattered its jaw to the winds. It didn't last long as she turned the remaining portions of its head into swiss cheese.
Pyrrha wasn't happy, not in the slightest, how dare these things hurt her friend. A low growl escaped her throat as Milo turned back into xiphos form. Dashing forward she made sure that they couldn't respond to her, and tossing Akuo, she made sure to concentrate her aura into it. Guiding it, she was able to slam into one of the beasts, causing the shield to bounce towards the other. Letting her semblance go she let the following momentum do it's trick as she concussed both bears. Pulling the shield back she made her way forward, she didn't give them time to react as she drove her blade through the closest ones throat causing it to fall immediately.
As the other one began to gain it's barings she shifted into javelin mode, tossing it she let it rocket forward pinning the beast from the head into a tree behind it. As all three began to scatter into black dust she prepared to turn towards Jaune, though stopped when she felt a gust of wind pass by her, a golden and red blur vanished from her view just as quickly as it came.
Pulling Milo back she began to feel as if something wasn't right. In an instant the tree's behind her parted and a massive Deathstalker was on her, it's right pinsir coming down on her. She brought up her shield to deflect the blow but when she felt nothing she peered past it.
"Jaune?"
"Heya! Sorry bout that! Shoulda been paying better attention!"
Jaune had gotten up apparently, she examined him and realized he had no damage. The tree behind them was practically splintered in half, and here he was without a single tear on him. She was going to question it, until she literally felt what had happened.
Her skin tingled as she felt a rush of energy flow through her, it was hard to see in the light, but golden wisps of… of AURA! Golden wisps of Aura were surrounding her. Upon a closer inspection she realized they were coming off of Jaune, he was radiating aura, "Wow." She was nearly breathless, she'd never seen, no she'd never felt this much concentrated aura ever. He had… he had so much. Were all his siblings like this? Was it just him? Then it hit her, while she'd been thinking, he was just standing there, practically pinning down the Deathstalker by himself.
She realized that instead of golden wisps surrounding the deathstalker, it was more like a raging river of gold. He was extending his massive aura pool, using it to pin the beast down. "You… you have a lot…"
"Yep! Way more than anyone in my family at least! And we all have a lot." He was doing his best to hold down the Deathstalker, unmoving as it pressed against him, the beast did it's best to break free from his hold. Jaune was proud of himself, sure he felt that he couldn't match up to his sisters, but here he was a wall protecting a friend. This was what he wanted to do, what he wanted to be. Gripping his shield handle it began to sputter, the more the deathstalker slammed into it, the redder the shield got.
"Hey Pyr! I uh can't hold this thing much longer, and I sure as hell can't beat it! So I'm going to need us to start running!"
Pyrrha nodded, though she caught the little nickname he gave her, it was nice. Shaking her head she prepared herself, "Okay! Ready when you are!"
He simply nodded, his aura released and instead concentrated on his shield and at his feet. With one more pull the front of his shield exploded, it didn't exactly send the deathstalker flying, but it pushed it back a fair bit. "Gods that always hurts!" Jaune felt his legs buckle a little, but he didn't have time for that.
"Okay now we run!"
With that he and Pyrrha dashed towards their preferred goal, thankfully the deathstalker was still dazed.
"Hey! Whatcha know! Looks like we're the first ones here partner." Yang smiled at Ren, her new partner and teammate.
He simply returned the smile with a nod, "I suppose we should get our pieces first then."
As the green and yellow duo made their way towards the artifacts, they heard a loud boom behind them. Turning around, Joan and Ruby were there, Ruby was currently out of breath obviously exhausted from Running. While Joan looked like she was about ready to throw up.
"Ruby… Ruby we're never doing that again! Do you understand me?!"
"Y… yes ma'am!"
"Hey guys!" Both sisters turned towards Yang, who was already walking up towards what appeared to be chess pieces, "Glad to see ya'll made it!"
Both sisters gave her a tired, but genuine, smile. "Thanks." Joan answered first as Ruby simply nodded along, the two sisters making their way up.
"HELP!" All four individuals glanced upwards, only to see one Weiss Schnee falling from above.
"Did… did they just jump from a nevermore?"
"Yep." Was all Ren added to the conversation. He was already far too used to Nora's antics to be too confused by… anything she did.
"WE SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT!"
"RUBY NO!"
With a thunderous crash both girls landed, Weiss was currently frazzled as Nora simply smiled. "Rennie!" Grabbing onto Weiss' hand she dashed forward giving her essentially adoptive brother a strong hug. "You're alright! I was so worried!"
"Were you really?" He gave her a sly smile.
"Nope!" Popping her p she simply turned to Yang, "You take good care of him ya hear me?!"
"Hahah, of course! I look after my friends!" Yang gave a hearty chuckle as she slammed her fist into her chest.
She didn't even wilt under the smaller girls strong glare, thought hat glare broke shortly after, "I KNEW I'D LIKE YOU!"
"I… I think I've had enough of today." Weiss was incredibly tired, and now she was with the group of… of brutes!
She felt a hand on her shoulder, flinching at the strong hold, turning back she noticed Joan peering down at her. Her strong gaze causing her to freeze in her place, she braced herself for another tongue lashing, however that didn't come. "It's alright, we should be fine for now, we can just get the artifacts and head back." A warm smile on her face, Weiss didn't know how to react to this.
"Oh… okay thank you."
"SCREEECH!"
"We should go before that thing turns back on us! It can shoot it's feathers, so it'll probably attack from a distance." Ruby loved knowing about Grimm, her mother had buried that knowledge into her brain, and her father's stories had filled her head with how dangerous they were!
However, before any of them could move, they heard a loud thump as the tree's began to break apart in the distant forest. "Oh crud… that's right it's a DeathSTALKER."
"Seriously Ruby?"
"YeP."
"HEY GUYS! HELP PLEASE!"
All eyes turned back towards the forest, as one Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc fled. Pyrrha was clearly in the lead, being the faster of the two of them.
"Oh crap!" Joan grabbed her blade, finally ready to draw it but she was topped by Ren who pointed forward.
"Nora, Yang!" Both girls turned towards Ren, "Hit it's pincers! Nora you take the right, Yang you take the left!"
"ROGER!" The blonde dashed forward.
"Aye aye captain!" Nora followed.
At this point neither girls had any reason not to listen to their green friend, Nora already knew what Ren was capable of. He'd led them their entire life, and his combat instincts and use of his Aura to direct a battle were top notch!
Yang had seen what he'd done before, so she guessed he was probably used to these kinds of things.
"Weiss?"
"Yes?" Weiss snapped out of her small stupor, she drew Myrtenaster, ready for combat.
"You can use Glyphs to slow your movement right?"
She nodded, had he seen her do that during the initial Landing Strategy? Either way he was perceptive enough that it impressed her.
"Alright, for the time being I just want you to watch them, if they need help try to use your Glyphs tos low down the Deathstalker."
She didn't like getting ordered around, but she was going to do it nonetheless. She would do what she needed, she supposed. Though, it didn't help that Joan's glaring eye kept her from doing anything.
Jaune watched as yellow and pink ran past him and Pyrrha. He didn't get to see it, but he heard a might crunch behind him. Still he and Pyrrha continued to flee, once they were closer to his sisters he was suddenly hit by two incoming bodies. "You're okay!"
Ruby gripped him as tightly as her little arms could. "I knew you'd be okay! But Joan was worried about you!"
He simply rolled his eyes, he knew that his sisters believed in him, at least more than he did himself.
"Sure sure Ruby… it's good to see you alright as well Pyrrha, glad you took care of our brother."
Pyrrha simply smiled, "He did quite the bit himself. I'm surprised at how much he could take."
"YEP! HE'S THE BEST WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING BEATEN!" Ruby was obviously super excited about her brother's achievements, even if he wasn't, it didn't help that she thought her comment was a compliment. Still he couldn't help but smile at his sister's words of praise.
Though they didn't have time for this, "Ruby, we need to deal with the flying one!"
He watched as Weiss and Ren made their way towards the Deathstalker, Ren simply giving the four of them a nod as confirmation they'd be dealing with the deathstalker.
Ren and Weiss ran forward, now moving to assist their teammates, who were going to town on the Deathstalker. "Nora, jump to your left!" Nora did as she was told, the large Grimm's stinger struck down, missing her by a wide berth.
"Weiss!"
He didn't need to tell her what to do as she was already on her way, she had waited for this moment, allowing her teammates to draw the beast's attention and for an opportunity to strike.
"This is… it's nice." She had issues with being given commands, but having the freedom to move without being targeted? That wasn't so bad, in an instant she was upon the Grimm, she made a quick stabbing motion hitting the stinger with a blast of Ice Dust forcing the beast to stall it's next actions.
Ren ran forward moving past her, grabbing Stormflower he made way towards the tail. As he leapt, he unleashed a torrent of bullets, burst after burst as the Grimm struggled, it's tail began to come undone. As he drew closer he pulled the blade back, his aura began to seep into the blades on his weapons. With a single strike he removed the most dangerous part of the Grimm.
With its stinger severed the Deathstalker tittered backwards, losing its balance in the process.
Nora moved, as did Yang, they didn't need Ren to tell them what to do. Wess herself was already advancing as well, pressing the blade of Myrtenaster into the ground several white Glyphs began to form under the Grimm's front legs, in an instant she flipped the beast into the air. Not enough to fully send it to it's back, but enough that the two powerhouses could get where they needed to be.
"GOOD JOB SNOW WHITE!"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"NO! AHAHAhAH!"
Ren rolled his eyes at the friendly, sort of friendly anyways, banter.
Yang couldn't help but cackle like a madman as she drew closer to the Grimm. Her aura flared, and flames appeared around her. She hadn't taken much in the way of damage since coming here so her semblance wasn't anywhere near it's peak, but it would allow her to do what she needed.
Both her and Nora were under the Grimm in seconds. She pulled back her right arm, and Nora pulled her hammer ready to hit it with a mighty golf swing.
"Ready for this Nora!?"
"HECK YEAH LETS GO!"
With two massive blows the air crackled under the pressure as the large Grimm's body began to crack under two incredibly powerful blows. Both hits smashed into the Grimm's weakest parts, both mighty strikes ripping through it's soft underbelly. With one last attempt it tried to move, tried to do something, but it was all in vain.
The beast was sent a good few feet into the air slamming on its back. With one last cry it vanished into black mist.
"Well done." Ren smiled at the three in front of him.
"It was… satisfactory." Weiss did her best not to fully acknowledge the situation, she wasn't the one giving commands at least… but still they handled themselves… well.
"Oh come on Snow White!" Nora was upon her in an instant, "You had fun!"
"Yeah Ice Queen! Live a little!"
"STOP CALLING ME THOSE NAMES!"
She didn't get the response she expected, instead a loud, "WOW!" Left Nora's lips as she darted towards… a Nevermore… or the scattering remains of one as it fell.
Even she… even she was impressed, "How…"
While the fight with the grim Scorpion started, Jaune watched his sister stare up at the Nevermore, as she started to formulate a plan. "Okay! Okay I got one!" He watched as she paused, and then turned towards Pyrrha, "Pyrrha, can you grab its attention?"
"I can!" Turning Milo into it's rifle form she began to pelt the large Raven. The angered bird turned its attention towards the four of them, flapping it's mighty wings. The air around it warped, and in an instant, massive feathers began to scatter down towards them.
Pyrrha didn't miss a beat, even as she fired she only moved slightly, the large fathers slamming next to her, missing her by a hair's breadth.
Ruby smiled as she swerved in and out of the direction, "Okay! I'm going to bring it down! When I do we'll need to have you cut it Joan!"
Joan smiled, a manic grin crossed her face, "Oh excellent!"
Finally she was able to draw her massive weapon, almost halberd in shape it looked like a massive axe with a blade running down it. However, she slid her thumb across a trigger causing it to shift. Now it was a massive greatsword, gripping it with two hands she smiled.
She didn't need to tell Jaune what to do, he'd figured it out by now, and figured she'd need a lift. "Ruby!"
Without saying anything his aura flared, his shield began to glow a misty green. "Oh! You know me so well bro!" Dashing forward she jumped on his massive shield, with all his might he tossed her forward, the shield exploding in a gust of powerful gravity dust sending his sister flying at high speeds towards the bird.
"How's she going to direct towards it though?!" Pyrrha continued to fire, a little confused at the plan itself.
"She's got this, for now can you keep its attention away from us?"
Pyrrha turned, watching as the siblings drew close to one another, though they weren't touching she could see their golden auras mix. Jaune's was flowing towards her, though… now that she thought about it she noticed those wisps of aura floating towards her again. She hadn't put much thought in it before, but she felt stronger. Her senses were stronger, it was like she was watching the world in a slower vision. "Is this... you?" she asked. Her aura flared, whileJaune simply smiled.
She didn't say anything more, instead giving him a confidant smile in response. Dashing forward, she continued the pressure, avoiding feather after feather as the annoyed bird continued to assault her. This was much easier than before, it was like her senses and body had grown stronger all of a sudden.
Joan's aura began to pulse, growing stronger and stronger as she concentrated. Jaune's aura continued to flow into her, powering her, amping her abilities and her aura to their limits. She was ready, she just needed Ruby to get that thing even a little lower.
Ruby's body soared through the air, the Nevermore finally noticing her. It's attention turned towards the girl as feathers began to bombard her. Ruby was finally in her zone. She wasn't talking to people, even if these ones were fun. She was against Grimm, and Grimm was something she knew, something she studied thanks to her mom. Her aura began to pulse as she drew her spear close. The first feather came towards her, tilting the spear slightly, a burst of dust erupted from the rear, she zoomed past the feather as it flew past her towards the ground.
She was like a red comet, flying through the sky as the crimson dust from her polearm continued to send her faster and faster forward. She wasn't going to slow down, she was going to move as fast as she could, faster and faster she drew close, the Nevermore had no time to react. In an instant she vanished in a cloud of petals, her body passing through the massive bird harmlessly.
The large bird became confused, at least, until it felt its left wing give out, in the corner of its view it watched as a red cloaked comet ripped through it's wing from above.
Ruby had used her semblance to amplify her speed once more, scattering into petals to get above the massive bird she then shot herself back. The thruster on her spear, no on Fenrir's Rose blasted her downwards.
The Nevermore screeched, whether in terror or something else no one would know as it lost its ability to fly. It's body began to descend towards the remaining trio below.
"It's coming down!" Pyrrha had already prepared to move, but the twins hadn't budged an inch.
Pyrrha watched in wonder as Jaune stepped back. Joan moved, showing the weight of her weapon. "EAT THIS!" She swung in a powerful arc, Pyrrha didn't see what happened but the air in front of her looked warped. Before she knew it the descending Grimm was ripped in half its body scattering into a black mist.
"Whoa…"
Jaune put away his strange makeshift sword and shield, while Joan sheathed her massive blade.
"WOW!" She turned to her side, watching as the four others just finished their own fight.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT! WHAT WAS THAT!?"
Nora was excited, she just watched the super awesome and muscular and tall Joan rip a Nevermore in half! FROM FAR AWAY!
"I… would also like to know." Weiss spoke tentatively, though she jumped in shock when she heard something land next to her, dust picking up as Ruby finally hit the ground.
"WOO!" The young Rose-Arc was on full adrenaline, dashing towards her siblings she threw herself at them. Her larger siblings caught her with no problem pulling her into a hug.
"Good thinking Rubes!"
"I couldn't have done it without Pyrrha holding it's attention for so long, or Jaune following up on the plan, and you ripping it in half!" She smiled, no she practically gleamed in excitement.
"Ahem… I would still like to know…"
"Seriously Weissy?" Yang turned towards her, "You can't actually expect them to tell you what they just did, as… as insane as it was!"
Both twins simply stared at one another and smiled. "Well… Ruby's speed, I'm defense and Support, and Joan. Joan is raw power." Jaune smiled, proud of his sisters, he always was.
"Okay but what happened?!" Nora was pretty much in their faces, or at least as much as she could be.
"I… um would like to know as well." Pyrrha knew she shouldn't ask, they didn't ask her about her semblance, but she was quite curious.
"Sure no problem, we're friends~ My semblance is the ability to project my attacks~ Or duplicate them if you will." She flicked Nora on the nose gently.
"Ow… ow!" Nora felt that twice! "How what?! WHa!?"
Joan simply smiled.
"Right, well my semblance is pretty straight forward, I can amplify aura, my own to make me sturdier or replenish my reserves."
"His stupidly big reserves!" Ruby pouted a little, Ren found that rather adorable, in a small puppy dog kind of way.
"Right that…" Jaune simply rolled his eyes, "Or…" Slowly everyone felt their drained aura's fill.
"Wha…" Pyrrha shouldn't have been shocked, she had experienced it already. But, wow…
"That's wow…" Ren was amazed, as someone who had a relatively low Aura pool, this… this was amazing.
Weiss was thinking the same thing, but she wouldn't verbalize.
"Wait! So you can just like, throw your aura at people?!" Yang was impressed!
"I uh used to not be able to? Mom just taught me how to project my Aura, so I"m basically a massive wall. I can also kind of hold things down with it, make it semi solid if you will. I'm uhm… not so great in one on one situations though." He scratched the back of his head as he attempted to avoid the gazes on him, he also wasn't great when fighting people… he wouldn't mention that though.
He felt a massive slap on his back, and a small one following it, "Chin up bro!"
"Yeah! You're awesome!"
He couldn't help but smile at his sisters' praise, it really meant a lot.
"Indeed, you showed exemplary skills today, despite your uhm, self doubts." Pyrrha wasn't sure how to word it, but she was going to definitely help him with that one way or another.
Jaune winced a little, though she was right.
She felt bad when she watched him wince, "But! We'll work on that together! I promise! We're partners after all."
Jaune couldn't help but smile warmly at the offer, he wasn't used to other people taking notice of him, it wasn't so bad.
'Oh my, he's like a puppy, a really cute blonde puppy.' Pyrrha thought to herself as a smile appeared on her face.
"Right! Enough flirting! We should get those artifacts and get goin!"
Everyone turned towards Yang, she was absolutely right! Though, that didn't stop Pyrrha and Jaune from blushing.
Everyone went to get their relics, they'd been through a long long day, at least it was over for now. Jaune and Pyrrha grabbed one of the White Knight pieces while Ruby and Joan grabbed the other. Nora and Weiss ended up grabbing the White Rook, or rather, Nora had and Weiss was left dumbstruck.
"Ruby Rose-Arc, Joan Arc, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos. You four found the White Knight pieces, together you four shall be known as team RAYN, RAIN! Led by Ruby Rose-Arc!"
"Wait what?! Why me?!" Ruby didn't dare to look off stage, she could practically feel all the eyes upon her, all the people watching her. But she wasn't allowed to relish in her worry as she felt several strong arms pull her into a powerful hug.
"You did fantastic Rubes! You're going to make a great team leader!" Her elder sister seemed to think so, though she didn't quite agree.
"I agree, you proved your tactical and combat abilities quite well." She felt Pyrrha was just being nice.
"Yeah! You did amazing Rubes!" Jaune just didn't want to do it! She was onto his game!
Still it was her position so she'd have to handle it one way or another.
As they made their way down, they watched as their four friends were called up. Everyone, short of Weiss, gave each other smiles and high-fives.
They would be known as team RWYN, RUIN, led by Lie Ren!
As the four made their way to their rooms, they allowed themselves to enjoy the comfortable silent that had befallen them. They were all tired, exhausted even, but they had made it through. But now they could, at least, go to-
"OH MY GOD! WE'RE NEIGHBORS!" As the eight made it to their rooms, Nora had indeed pointed out the truth. They were all neighbors, who would have thought!
"That is excellent news." Pyrrha was happy, like genuinely really happy, she made friends and they were all going to be close!
"Ugh." Weiss wasn't so happy, though she made a small glance at Nora, then Joan, who were simply standing next to one another, though Nora was hopping in the air.
Ruby wanted to say something, but she'd used all her brain juice already!
Ren simply nodded, Jaune followed suit as they stood next to one another. At least they'd be close, it'd be easier to communicate, considering how well… how many women were in their lives.
Saying their goodbyes, they made their way in, smiles on their faces.
"Hey guys! I have an idea, before we go to bed why don't we take a team photo?"
Pyrrha was practically glowing, a photo?! With friends? And not fans! This was exciting, she had never done that before! "I... would like this." She hid her massive excitement well.
"Sure!" Joan nodded in response.
Jaune's response was a bit slow but he was all for it.
The group drew closer, though Jaune's face turned crimson when Pyrrha grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him close to her to make sure they were all in the shot. She hid her emotions well, but a bit of crimson touched her cheeks as well.
Being the tallest, Joan pulled her scroll out and took the picture of the four of them together.
A few minutes later and the group was ready to go to bed. Pyrrha was happy, she was really happy, things had gone well, much better than she had initially thought, this was going to be fun, she could feel it. Then she heard something, a noise coming from their friends rooms.
Pyrrha jolted as a loud crash came through the side of their wall. Her eyes shot wide open as Yang and Nora wrestled through the once sturdy structure. Though, somehow, that wasn't the surprising part. It was the fact that they were all currently in their underwear, Weiss included. She could make out Ren in the distance, his eyes closed apparently meditating.
A hint of worry hit her chest as she turned towards her own teammates, specifically Jaune. Though to her own relief, the boy was currently staring away, even if his face was crimson.
She didn't keep her gaze long, but she couldn't help but release a quiet "Hmmm..." She'd apparently been audible enough for him to hear.
"Sorry..." Why was he apologizing to her? Despite her question a part of her felt relief.
Turning her attention to Ruby, the girl seemed far more worried about the wall as she dashed back and forth trying to pick pieces up.
Joan on the other hand, "Damn nice!" She was very much oogling the other girls. What followed as an annoying wolf whistle.
"Dang it Joan, you're supposed to be the level headed one of us." That was Jaune.
"Hey... I'm just being honest. It's not like I was the one that broke into our room, and destroyed our wall... at least they're giving us a sho..."
A loud slap echoed through the room as everyone fell silent. Weiss had apparently walked up to Joan giving the girl a well placed slap, "That is incredibly rude and uncalled for, we are ladies..."
"YA! LADIES!" Both Yang and Nora 'agreed', while the continued to try to pummel one another. This didn't help Weiss' statement. She swore she could hear Jaune silently cheer, "Oh thank goodness, wasn't me."
At least Goodwitch wasn't around, this could be, "CHILDREN."
Really bad...
"At least things couldn't get any worse right?" Yang was pretty confident in her statement.
"KIDS!"
The three Arc children had mixed facial features, Ruby was excited, Jaune was confused, and Joan was terrified.
"MOM?!"