Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 4 of God of War: Remnant. I'm happy to see that a lot of you seemed to enjoy the last chapter so let's keep this train going. As for the person who told me that Mikros mean Little Boy in Greek, I looked it up and everything I've found points to it meaning little one, small, petite, etc. so if someone can maybe confirm this then that would be appreciated.
"Birdy no!" Those were the words of Kratos' younger daughter as she flew through the air and the bird. Kratos' reaction was to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. He watched as Ruby fired off several rounds to slow her descent before using her scythe to swing off a branch. She was followed by Weiss, a black-haired boy in a green outfit, his eldest daughter Yang who, to his annoyance, showed off, Pyrrha who ended up having to save Jaune with a throw of her weapon which Kratos admitted to himself was quite impressive, an orange-haired hammer-wielding girl, and a black-haired girl who wore a black bow on her head.
"All of the Initiates have successfully landed," Glynda stated, earning a nod from Ozpin. He grabbed a Scroll and watched as he sipped on his coffee.
Ruby hit the ground running, mumbling to herself that she had to find Yang which eventually turned to her calling out her name. "What are you doing," Kratos mumbled, referring to how she was blindly running and shouting without knowing if there were any Grimm in the area. Ruby eventually skidded to a halt and locked eyes with the Schnee who turned her nose away from her and walked away. "Who is the pampered brat," Kratos asked.
"Hmm? Oh, that would be Weiss Schnee. She is the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Corporation in Atlas. I'm sure you remember them," Glynda said.
"I remember them trying to buy me for protection against Faunus."
"Do you remember how embarrassed the President, Jacques, was when you declined his offer? When you laughed in his face in front of all of Atlas," Ozpin asked.
"I do not concern myself with such trivial as that."
"Well, he remembers. All of Atlas remembers, and I am constantly being reminded."
"That sounds like your problem." Kratos ended the conversation and continued to watch as Weiss came back to Ruby and began dragging her along, apparently having chosen to partner up with her rather than the boy stuck in a tree. "Who is this? The clumsy blonde-haired boy?"
"That would be Jaune Arc. Though I have my suspicions about him and his abilities, his paperwork was in order," Glynda explained. "And there, partnering up with him, would be Pyrrha Nikos. She's a bit of a celebrity. It's a shame the poor girl is being partnered with that boy."
"I care not for her social standings nor who any of them are partnered with. They will all be treated and trained equally." A roar over the Scroll's mic caught Krato's attention and he was greeted to the sight of multiple Beowolves surrounding Weiss. "And this is what happens when you're not paying attention. Now, the big question is, how will you get out of this?"
(Meanwhile)
Yang walked through the Emerald Forest, calling out to anyone who could hear her. "Come on, I'm getting kinda bored here!" She then heard rustling coming from a nearby bush and she eagerly investigated it. "Ruby?" A low growl answered her question and she said, "Nope," before dodging to the side away from an angry Ursa. She recovered and readied herself only to have to backflip away from a second charging Ursa. The two Grimm stood side-by-side and growling hungrily at the black-haired girl. "Well, let's not just stand around here," she smirked. "Which one of you is first?" The second Ursa growled and charged her only to receive a powerful punch to the stomach. The attack blew the Grimm past the first Ursa who charged in only to receive an uppercut. A follow-up attack led to Yang spinning in the air and kicking the Ursa in the chest. It was sent flying and as Yang landed, she immediately had to backflip away from the second Ursa who raked its razor-sharp claws through the air, narrowly missing her. She recovered and smirked. "Heh, is that all you guys have? Come on now, I was hoping for a chal...lenge," She trailed off as she witnessed a strand of black hair floating to the ground.
Yang angrily clenched her hands into fists as heatwaves rose from her body. "You..." she angrily whispered. The two Ursa looked at each other in confusion which turned to startlement when the girl exploded. "You bastards!" Flames licked from her fists and traveled up her arms as her hair levitated and her eyes turned fiery red. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of the first Ursa and punched it. With her flame enhanced fists, her punch incinerated the upper half of the Ursa. The other Grimm looked surprised and took a few steps back from the enraged girl. Yang glared at it and shouted, "Where do you think you're going?"
The Ursa growled and readied itself when something hit it in the back of the head. With a weak whine, it fell to the grown, revealing a blade sticking out of its head. The blade was attached to a ribbon which led to the black-haired girl, Blake who smirked. "I had it under control," Yang said before she suddenly, and violently, began coughing.
"Are you alright," Blake asked as she helped the girl sit down under a nearby tree.
Yang nodded and replied, "Yeah, sorry, it's my Semblance. It gives me a massive increase in pretty much everything from speed to durability, but the pay off isn't so good."
"I can tell. Perhaps it would be best if you refrained from using it for now," Blake responded with an outstretched hand. Yang nodded with a grin and took the girl's hand and let herself be hoisted to her feet. With that, they continued with their Initiation.
(Meanwhile)
Glynda walked up behind Kratos and Ozpin and said, "Our last pair has been formed. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren." She switched to the camera showing Nora and Ren and said, "Poor boy. I can't possibly see those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Pyrrha Nikos." She switched her feed over to the two and said, "I don't care what his transcript says, this level of combat is far too much for Jaune."
"Something we can agree on it seems," Kratos said as he switched his feed over to Ruby and Weiss who were debating which way to go. Well, sort of at least. Weiss was walking back and forth, going in every direction only to stop and second guess herself, while Ruby just sat on the ground and fiddled with a leaf. "What are you doing Mikros," He mumbled to himself. "Stop waiting around for someone else to decide for you." She eventually stood up and began arguing with the Heiress which ended in the Schnee walking away and his daughter looking sadly to the ground. Perhaps she wasn't ready for this after all. She was only fifteen years old trying to fit in with those who were older and more experienced than she was. He should never have agreed to let her come to Beacon. He watched as she perked herself up and followed after the white-haired girl before moving on to observe someone else.
(Meanwhile)
Yang and Blake came upon the Forest Temple and saw that no one else was there. "Think this is it," Yang asked Blake who didn't answer. Instead, she walked down the hill they were on and toward the broken temple with Yang following behind.
While Yang was examining one of the broken columns, Blake looked at the pedestals and picked up one of the artifacts. "Chess pieces?"
"Yeah, and it looks like we weren't the first ones here. Some of them are missing."
Blake looked around and saw she was right. "Well, I guess we should pick one then."
Yang examined the pieces before picking up a golden Knight piece. "How about a cute little pony?"
Blake rolled her eyes and said, "Sure," with a small smirk on her face.
The two gathered at the center and Yang said, "Well, that wasn't too hard. But, I wonder where everyone else is."
"We probably landed closer than the others. I mean it's not like this place is hard to find."
Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha were coming upon a glowing floating object to which Jaune immediately exclaimed, "The relic!" He reached up to grab it only to have it move out of his reach. "Hey, stay still relic!"
"Uhh, Jaune, I don't think that's the relic," Pyrrha said, getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Of course this is the relic Pyrrha. We just...gotta...get it. Aha, gotcha," Jaune shouted triumphantly after having finally grabbed hold of the object. He was then lifted and pulled closer to a form which was lit up by red marking and multiple beady eyes.
A loud girly scream echoed throughout the forest. Yang and Blake turned in the direction of the scream and Yang said, "Some girl is in trouble. Blake, did you hear that?" Blake didn't answer her as she was more preoccupied with what was above them.
Pyrrha rushed out of the cave with a giant angry scorpion Grimm right on her heels and hanging from the stinger of said Grimm was a screaming Jaune. "Pyrrha, this is not the relic! It's not! Please do something!"
"Whatever you do, don't let..." Before she could finish her statement, the Grimm whipped its tail and flung Jaune through the air and out of sight. She turned back to the Grimm which hissed angrily at her before nervously scratching the back of her head and retreating.
(Transition)
"Blake, did you hear that? We've got to do something," Yang said and when she got no reply, she turned toward her partner and said, "Blake?" She saw her looking up and followed her gaze to find Ruby following from the sky. "Ruby!? Hold on little sis, I've gotcha!" Yang readied herself to catch her younger sister only for a body to come sailing through the air and smack right into Ruby, sending both her and said body into the trees.
Ruby, after recovering asked, "What was that?"
"Ahem," Ruby looked up to see Jaune hanging upside down from a branch. "Hey, Ruby. Long-time no see."
"Ehh, did Ruby just fall from the sky," Blake asked but before she could get an answer they hear roaring which was followed by laughter and someone shout, "Yee-haw!" An Ursa came stomping out of the forest before giving a death cry and falling to the ground. From its back rolled the orange-haired girl, Nora and following behind her, though out of breath, was Ren.
"Awe, it's broke," Nora said sadly as Ren stopped to catch his breath.
"Nora...please...don't ever do that again." He looked up and saw she had vanished. "Err, where'd you go?"
"I'm Queen of the castle, I'm Queen of the castle," Nora sang while holding onto the golden rook piece.
"Nora!"
"Hehe, coming Ren."
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa," Blake asked.
Again, before Blake could get an answer, a loud screech echoed through the forest. Pyrrha came running out of the tree line and was being closely followed by the scorpion Grimm. "Jaune!"
"Pyrrha, I'm up here! I'm stuck...in a tree...again..."
(Meanwhile)
Kratos watched the scene play out starting from when his youngest daughter fell from the sky and was hit by Jaune. "What is going on now?"
"It would appear that everyone is finally coming together," Ozpin said.
"I meant, why did my daughter just fall from the sky, why did this crazy Nora girl come in on an Ursa and what is that thing following Pyrrha?"
"Your daughter thought it would be a good idea to ride on the back of a Giant Nevermore, Nora is, as you said, crazy, and that appears to be a Death Stalker. A very old one at that," Glynda answered.
"And why was no one informed of a Death Stalker in the area?"
"Because we didn't even know about it," Ozpin said. "Emerald Forest is a big place and as Glynda pointed out, that Death Stalker is old and appears to have been here for some time."
"Speaking of which, Professor Ozpin should we pull them? We weren't expecting a Grimm of this magnitude. They might not be ready for this level of battle," Glynda said.
But before Ozpin could answer her, Kratos stated, "No."
"I'm sorry?"
"I said no. I wish to see how my daughters, and the others, handle themselves when faced with a powerful adversary."
Ozpin nodded and said, "Very well. Glynda, have a team on stand by just in case."
"At once sir," Glynda said before giving Kratos a dirty look and hurrying away.
Kratos ignored her and watched with hidden anxiety as Ruby rushed in to fight the Death Stalker head-on. "No! Fall back Ruby, you're weapon will not pierce that Grimm's armor." She, for obvious reasons, can't hear his thoughts and gets swatted away by one of the Grimm's pincers. He watched as Yang ran to save her sister who fired a round at the Grimm before retreating. To make matters worse, the Giant Nevermore that Ruby and Weiss had ridden in on was now moving in to attack them! It flapped its wings forward and fired numerous feathers at them, pinning Ruby to the ground and trapping Yang. "Take your cloak off and leave it," Kratos thought as he clenched the scroll hard enough that the sides started the crack! Ruby desperately tugged at her pinned cloak as the Death Stalker brought its stinger back and drove it forward, aiming right for her chest. "No!" Kratos shouted inwardly.
Thankfully, however, he didn't have to watch his youngest daughter get impaled by the Grimm due to Weiss' last-second intervention. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief and looked at Ozpin who was looking back at him. "You know, Kratos, you do a good job at hiding your emotions. I was convinced you weren't worried about Ruby's safety. That is until I saw the cracked sides of your Scroll." Kratos ignored him and continued watching at Weiss helped Ruby get unpinned and they regrouped with everyone else.
"So, what are we going to do now," Jaune asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Our objective is right in front of us," Weiss answered.
Ruby agreed and said, "We need to grab an artifact and make it to the cliffs. There's absolutely no point in fighting these things."
Kratos agreed with Weiss and felt a hint of pride that Ruby had seemed to learn from her mistake and was now focusing on their objective. However, his mood was spoiled when Jaune said, "Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind." Yeah, essentially that's what they were doing, but the way he put it made him sound like a coward.
"I think it's time we left," Ren said as he watched the Death Stalker begin to break from the icy hold of Weiss' attack.
"Right, let's go," Ruby said as she took the lead ahead of the group.
Yang looked on with pride in her sister and when Blake asked what was wrong, she said, "Nothing," and ran to join up with the group.
"Sir, the group is on its way back to the Cliff. Should I get some Huntsmen ready to fight the Grimm," Glynda asked.
"No. They're Initiation is still underway and we can't interfere less fail."
"But, Sir..."
"He's right. Part of being a Huntsman is fighting Grimm no matter the size or classification. Besides, I want to see how they do as a team," Kratos inputted. Glynda looked at the two with an unsure expression before nodding and walking away.
"Glad to see we agree on something," Ozpin said with a smile.
"Agreeing with one another has nothing to do with this. You want me to train them? I need to know what they're capable of."
The Initiates ran to the cliffs and took cover behind some cracked pillars as the Giant Nevermore flew overhead and landed on a tower between them and their destination. It gave a shrill shriek that echoed throughout the ruins and shook some of the tower's foundations.
"We're never going to get anywhere with that Grimm in the way," Ren noted.
The ground rumbled beneath their feet and out of the forest came the angry Death Stalker, shrieking and pinching its claws at the group. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," Jaune yelled as he and the others ran away.
"Nora, distract it," Ren shouted as the two ran from their cover. Nora jumped and dodged the Nevermor's feather attack before rolling to safety and aiming her hammer turned grenade launcher at the flying Grimm. With a gleeful laugh, she began firing grenades at the Nevermore and continued doing so well after it had left its spot on the tower. As pink smoke filled the air Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune all made their way to the bridge while Ren, Blake, and Weiss stayed behind to protect Nora from the Death Stalker that had been creeping up to her. Ren and Blake parried its pincers away from her while Wiess formed a white glyph under her and Nora and jumped away from the Grimm to safety.
The sounds of the Nevermore combined with the explosion's from Nora's weapon echoed through the air and reached the top of the cliff where Kratos, Ozpin, and Glynda stood and watched on their Scrolls as the Initiates split up and worked briefly as a team. "Hmm, a little rough but overall not bat," Ozpin said and looked at Kratos.
"Hmph, it could always be better. For instance, Ren could have taken that time to destroy its eyes. Weiss could have frozen it then Nora could've hit it with her hammer."
"Have you ever fought a Death Stalker," Glynda asked. Kratos said no and she continued. "Well, it's carapace is stronger than steel. Their weapons would never be able to pierce through it. I mean you saw how Ruby's blade bounced off it. It's impossible."
"Everything has a weakness even something with "stronger than steel" armor. The spaces between its plates, it's eyes, it's underbelly and those are just to name a few."
"How would you know if you've never fought one before," Glynda asked.
"Just look at how it attacks and defends. While attacking it uses its pincers and never it's tail save for that one time with Ruby and what happened? Weiss froze it and its underside was left vulnerable. An experienced Huntsman would have taken that opportunity to kill it then and there. It seems to have learned its lesson and is refraining from using its tail. As for defense, it uses its pincers as a shield to protect what is vulnerable which would be its eyes and face." As he says this, the Death Stalker on-screen tried to use its tail again only for it to fail once more. Glynda smirked at Kratos who said, "Then again even I can overlook things. Like how I said this Grimm had learned its lesson. It hadn't.
Impressed, Ozpin asked, "And you got all that information just by watching them fight it?"
"I said I no longer fight. That doesn't mean I don't observe and understand my enemies." Kratos left it at that and went back to the Scroll which showed that the bridge had been damaged and the group was now separated into two groups. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were fighting the Nevermore while Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren fought the Death Stalker. "And by observation, I can tell you that this battle is over." Not long after Kratos said this, Nora hammered the Death Stalker's severed stinger deep into its head. The power of the impact was enough to break the bridge loose and send its corpse falling into the abyss below and following behind it was the Nevermore. Ruby, with the help of Weiss, ran up the side of the cliff, dragging the Grimm behind her before decapitating it at the top. She landed gracefully and turned to look down at her friends with a victorious smile.
Kratos put away his Scroll and turned to leave. "Kratos? Where are you going," Ozpin asked.
"I have seen what I need to see. Now, I am leaving to prepare for tomorrow."
"But we still have a few more students out there," Glynda argued.
"I do not wish to sit here and watch every child run around looking for game pieces. I have seen my daughters and that is all I have come here to do. Send me the feeds of the rest and I'll go over them." With that, Kratos left to return to his room and began coming up with different exercises and routines a lot of which were very reminiscent of his Spartan training though less violent. Later in the evening, he got the video feeds of the rest of the students plus the team names and leaders. One could imagine the shock on his face when he learned his daughter was the leader of her team, just like her mother. One could imagine an even bigger shocked expression when he learned that JAUNE of all people was a leader. "This is going to be a long year."
And with that, we come to the end of the chapter. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. This chapter is a lot longer than previous ones but just know that not all chapters will be this long. I did it A.) as a Christmas gift to you guys since you enjoy the story and B.) because it's a major event. I will be doing long chapters for future major events, like the fall of Beacon which I may throw in an alternate route that I think you all are going to love. With that said, a spoilerish question/task for you guys. Can anyone tell me if Kratos can change the fates of those around him? I've been researching his abilities and can't seem to find it anywhere but I distinctly remember, in GoW 2 I think, that he was able to change the fates of those around him since he is no longer bound by fate itself. I don't know, maybe he can't but I can't seem to get it out of my head. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you thought of this chapter.