Well one review is better than nothing, though it was related to a spelling issue. Still, I want to thank COBRS Darkness for making me aware of that little typo.
Anyways, onto the story. Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 4: The First Step
While everyone else slept with dreams about the initiation, Galen was greeted by Summer Rose once again. "I was wondering when you were going to pay me a visit again." Galen said to Summer as she materialized in front of him.
"So, have you found my daughter?" Summer asked.
"You mean Ruby? Yeah, I found her and I have to say she's got a lot of potential as a Huntress, despite being only fifteen-years old and accepted into Beacon earlier than most new students." Galen answered.
"I assume that was Ozpins doing. But as they say, 'like mother like daughter'"." Summer said with a chuckle.
"You still didn't tell me everything. Why do you want me to protect her? Why is she in danger and from who? Cause I know its not just the Dark Side." Galen demanded.
"I've told you all that you need to know right now. The less you know at the moment, the better off you'll be when you learn the truth." Summer answered. "All I can tell you is that is the threat lurks in the shadows." She added and disappeared.
"What does that even mean?" Galen asked but Summer didn't answer. What he got was a vision of Vale being attacked by the creatures of Grimm and the White Fang attacking Beacon with various types of battle droids. They were fighting against several students, many of whom he didn't recognize but some he did recognize like Jaune and Weiss. Then to his surprise, he heard the familiar sound of twin ion engines and watched as cannon fire streaked towards the students, each of them diving for cover as Imperial Dropships touched down and dozens of Stormtroopers exited the vessels and started to fire at both sides.
TIE fighters flew overhead and started to attack several airships and the fighters they launched while a familiar TIE fighter touched down behind the school and a familiar figure walked out and headed towards Beacon. "Vader." Galen growled as he watched his former master walk towards the school killing anything that got in his way before Galen watched again as Vader killed Ruby right before his eyes. "NO!"
Galen soon awoke in a cold sweat and looked towards the direction of Ruby and her sister. "It was just a dream." He said with a sigh of relief. "Does this mean the Empire is going to come to Remnant? Why would they do that?" he asked himself. He decided to not to dwell on it for the time being and went back to sleep.
The following morning, a girl by the name of Nora Valkyrie stood over her friend Lie Ren, fully dressed in her pink, white and black clothing with a smile on her face. "Wake up, lazy butt!" she said cheerfully and dashed to the side as Ren got up with a groan. "It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" she sang.
Ren sighed again and as he went on with his morning, Nora continued to talk. "I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're perfect student and I'm… well, I'm me! But its just crazy you know?" she began as Ren brushed his teeth.
"We've been friends for so long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not 'together-together…' Not that I'm saying you're not handsome; you are handsome but that'd just be weird right?" Nora continued as Ren tightened the strings on his sleeping bag after they returned to the ballroom.
"Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together!" she said with a pancake hanging from her mouth before slurping it. "Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bride the headmaster? No, that won't work, he has the school." Nora suggested before dismissing that idea.
"I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal!" she said, this time right behind Ren in the locker room where the boy in green was readying his weapons. "A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?" she asked with a gasp.
"Nora?" Ren said after being silent for so long.
"Yes, Ren?" Nora asked.
"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." He answered, sheathing his weapons in his sleeves.
Nora thought for a moment before she answered. "That's why its perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!" She said. As Ren left, Nora giggled while the two passed by Galen who finished putting his gear on. Galen looked to the two with a little confusion towards the orange haired girl.
Clipping his lightsabers to his belt, Galen looked to several other students. One of them was a male rabbit faunus with tall white ears, tan skin and wearing a dark green collared shirt, light green overcoat, khaki pants, black shoes, blue bow tie and dark green top hat with holes for his ears. A top hat symbol was positioned on the right-hand side of his partially covered by his right ear. Aside from his sword, the boy had two bandoliers of ammo around their chest. A quick glance at the sword told Galen that it functioned almost similar to the FA-3 flechette launchers used by Evo troopers and the ACP Scatter Guns used by Trandoshan slavers and mercenaries.
Another person was a tall boy with a lean muscular body, short black hair, brown eyes and tan skin. A scar ran across his lower left jaw, one over his right eye and one going down the left side of his neck. Their attire was all black knight armor with a white trim, on the center of the armor was a red cross with a wolf head over it on a black background. Galen gave a glance at the boy's wrists showed that he used bladed weapons such as gauntlet blades which had a ranged mode and a long sword stored in a sheath.
The last person he saw was girl with pale skin and blonde hair with blue eyes wearing a long-sleeved beige shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black denim jacket with the sleeves cut off at the shoulders, black gloves and black hat similar to a bounty hunter he heard about who operated during the clone wars. Her symbol was a golden spike which was etched into her satchel and her weapons were a lever-action rifle, lever action shotgun and two cavalry sabers stored in a pair of sheaths. Across their chest were several two bandoliers holding different types of ammo.
"That's probably the most unusual girl I've met so far." Galen said to himself before he walked over to Ruby and Yang, the first of whom was feeling a lot better than she was yesterday. He heard Yang mention that Ruby seemed to be 'awfully chipper' or something and Galen couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I conquer with your sister. What's with the change in tone?" he asked.
"Oh, hey Galen." Ruby greeted before answering his and Yang's question. "Yep! I am excited. No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby answered, stroking Crescent Rose while sighing happily.
"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you're going to grow up, you're going to meet new people and learn to work together." Yang reminded her sister.
"You sound like Dad!" Ruby sighed with frustration before shoving her weapon into the locker. "Okay, first of all: What does meeting people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!" she proclaimed.
"I don't think that drinking milk is going to help you all that much." Galen said unsure of what to make of Ruby's statement.
"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked.
"Um, I don't know, I… I'll just be on your team or something…" Ruby said nervously.
"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?" Yang suggested as she brought her hair around her shoulder and started to stroke it.
"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" Ruby asked, hands on her hips and getting in her sisters face.
"What? No! Of course, I do! I just thought… I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of shell!" Yang tried to explain.
"What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely-" Ruby began.
"You never know. Maybe being around other people aside from your sister might actually do you some good." Galen said interrupting the fifteen-year-old girl. "Don't get me wrong, having your sister on your team might would be good since you know how she fights, but it wouldn't hurt to try and work with someone else and see how they fight, maybe even come up with some new moves combining your fighting styles." He added as Jaune passed by them already with his sword and shield ready for initiation.
Jaune passed by Weiss who was talking to Pyrrha Nikos by the red-haired their lockers. "So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?" She asked. "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!"
"Hmm… I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha answered.
"Well… I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss suggested.
"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha answered, unaware of what Weiss's true goals were.
"Great!" Wiess exclaimed before she adopted a scheming pose and manic smile all in her head. "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!"
Or so she thought.
"You really shouldn't make a look like that. Its not really good for a person like you." Jaune said interrupting her train of thought.
"You again?" Wiess asked annoyed.
"Nice to meet you, Jaune was it?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's my name." Jaune answered before turning to Weiss. "Look, Weiss you really shouldn't make plans for something that may or may not happen. I mean, how do you even know you'll be paired up with. I've heard that teams are comprised of four members each, you have a one in three chance of teaming up with Pyrrha. But I think what you have planned is different than what Pyrrha wants." He stated.
Weiss just rolled her eyes but Jaune wasn't finished. "Oh, and if you even think I don't know who she is, I do know. She's Pyrrha Nikos, she graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum, won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record I might add and she's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box, which I might add isn't really good. Like that means anything to me." He continued. "To me, she's just a person like you and me."
Weiss didn't have anything else to say and just walked away from Jaune and Pyrrha, slightly angered by her attempt to get Pyrrha on her team failed by Jaune. "Some people will do anything to be with the strongest person they see." Jaune said shaking his head. He then turned to Pyrrha. "Trust me when I say that I meant every word of what I said. I don't really care about all the achievements you made, you're just the same as the rest of us." He added.
"Thank you, Jaune. You know, now that I think about it, you'd make a good team leader." Pyrrha answered, smiling that she found someone who saw her as a person.
Soon, Glynda's voice came over the intercom system. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff Immediately." Glynda said over the intercom. Everyone still present in the locker room soon headed for Beacon Cliff ready for initiation, but Galen stopped for a moment thinking about what he saw last night in his vision.
He along with the rest of the students, some new and some old arrived at the cliff, overlooking a forest. Each of the students were standing on silver tiles while they all stood in front of Ozpin and Glynda. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began.
"Now, I'm sure all 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." Glynda explained.
Hearing this made Ruby a groan before Ozpin picked up where Glynda left off. "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 whom you can work well." The headmaster continued.
Again, Ruby groaned, but Ozpin wasn't finished. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
In her mind, Ruby's world shattered like glass before she shrieked. "WHAAAAT?!"
"See? I told you-!" Nora said to Ren.
Ozpin soon gave each of the students their instructions. "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. 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 they any questions?" the headmaster explained.
No one said anything and Ozpin instructed them to take their positions. Each student took a pose on their tile, Nora crouched low, Ren whipped out his weapons, Yang raised her fists, Ruby readied her body and Jaune took a deep breath before putting his left foot in front of his right foot, his shield at the ready. As for Galen, he was confused by how they were going to get into the forest.
He soon had his answer when he noticed the tile under Weiss rose up like a springboard and rocketed her into the forest. The other platforms followed shortly afterwards, before it was finally Galen's turn. "Are you sure this is safe?" he asked as his tile readied itself for launch.
Ozpin just shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, you've got to be…." Galen began before he was catapulted into the air and too the forest. Ozpin watched as the students made their way down into the forest while taking a sip of his coffee.
"Birdie, no!" Ruby called out after she crashed through a black bird which left only its feathers left as she plummeted downwards. Firing off some rounds from her weapon to slow her down, she turned her weapon into its scythe mode, catching a branch with the blade and slowed herself down even slower.
Using Myrtenaster, Weiss summoned a snowflake glyph beneath her and leapt off it and landed in the forest below.
Ren on the other hand spun around in the air before using the blades of his weapon, StormFlower to spiral around a large tree and hit the ground, brushing his clothes off before he looked to see Yang soring over the treetops.
"Woo-hoo! Yeah! Alley-oop!" Yang shouted with excitement, using her gauntlets to push her through the air further north, spinning and laughing with each blast she fired even after crashing through the leaves of another tree and leapt off two trunks before tumbling to the ground. "Nailed it!" she said running off.
As for Pyrrha. She turned her spear into a sword and raised her shield as she crashed through several tree's before rolling on a branch. Shifting her weapon into its ranged mode, she spotted Jaune through the scope, using his shield like a surf board and grinding it on a tree branch before coming to a stop.
Meanwhile, Galen allowed himself to get closer and closer to the ground before launching several blasts of force energy downwards, creating a sort of jump board several times before he landed on his feet, skidded a bit, grabbed his sabers and ignited them as he came to a stop. Raising his head, Galen looked around for any Grimm, but didn't see any. Deactivating his sabers, Galen started to head north towards the temple which he saw from the air.
He didn't get very far before he noticed the blood red eyes in the shadows of several nearby trees. Coming to a stop in a clearing, Galen scanned the area and soon found himself surrounded by numerous Beowulf's and a few Ursa's which emerged from the shadows and looked towards him. Igniting his sabers again, Galen assumed a Jar Kai combat stance as the creatures of darkness charged him.
Rolling out of the way as a pair of Beowulf claws swung at him, Galen swung his sabers across the Beowulf's chest, killing it before backflipping out of the way as an Ursa took a swing at him. Grabbing the bear Grimm with the force, Galen threw the creature into several Beowulf's before shocking them with a surge of force lightning. The creatures were killed and evaporated into black mist before Galen turned his attention towards the other creatures which were now starting to charge towards him.
Gripping his sabers tightly, Galen charged towards creatures and attacked them with a combination of the force and his lightsabers. Slashing one Ursa down the middle, Galen threw his sabers towards another Beowulf, cutting it in half at the torso. Another Beowulf charged at him and swung its claws at him, only for Galen to stop its claws with the force before his sabers returned to him, killing the creature.
More Grimm started to emerge from the shadows of the forest and Galen just glared at the creatures. Before the young Jedi could move in, fire from behind him slammed into the creatures killing a few of them. Looking back, Galen saw the same girl from earlier up in a tree with her rifle in hand firing on the Grimm.
Galen barely had time to blink before the same Rabbit Faunus from earlier ran towards the Grimm with his sword drawn and slashed at several Beowulf's while the armored student soon arrived and whipped out their gauntlet blades, blocking the claws of one Ursa with their left blade, plunging their right blade into the Ursa's stomach, killing it.
The Rabbit Faunus soon shifted their sword into its shotgun form and fired at several more Grimm. Pausing to reload their weapon, an Ursa appeared behind them and was about to swing their claws at the Faunus boy, but to Galen's surprise the boy quickly turned around and stabbed the bayonet part of his shotgun into the Grimm's head, before swiping it out and beheading the Grimm. "Are you insane!?" Galen asked the Faunus boy who looked towards him and shrugged his shoulders.
Loading a single shell into his weapon, the Faunus boy pointed his sword backwards and pulled the trigger sending him flying towards another Ursa. "As a certain queen would say 'Off with your head!'" the boy said and decapitated the creature.
The girl in the tree finished reloading her rifle, aimed at one the Grimm before switching her sights towards four other creatures and didn't even fire once. That changed soon and the girl fired five shots from her rifle all of which were headshots and killed the last of the Grimm. "Damn varmints!" the girl cursed and dropped down from the tree. "Glad you aren't dead. The three of us saw that you had bitten off a little more then you could chew so we'd figured we'd lend a hand." The girl said, loading her rifle with new rounds before slinging it over her shoulder and offered her hand to Galen.
"I had it under control, but thanks again for your help. My name's Galen, Galen Marek." He thanked.
"My name is Rose Henry." The girl introduced. "The knight over there is Arthur Penwolf and the 'crazy rabbit' over there is March Evergreen. Call him Archie." Rose introduced.
"I should have used my semblance and left them a few presents before I killed them!" March said with laugh.
"One must take combat seriously, young one." Arthur reminded the rabbit Faunus.
"What? Giving them a present before they die would have been a blast!" March joked with a laugh.
"Ok. So, I'm going to assume that the three of you had already made eye contact with each other before you saved my butt?" Galen asked.
"Got it in one, partner. But Arthur and March had already made eye contact before I showed up so I guess that you me are partners." Rose explained. "Come on, lets make tracks and get to the temple before more those hombre's show up." She said.
Galen didn't know what Rose was saying, but agreed with her that they needed to get moving, hopefully before more Grimm showed up and out numbered them. Though he did feel like something was off about March.
Meanwhile in another part of the forest, Ruby darted off in hope of finding Yang. As she ran through the forest, she thought about who else she could team up with. Jaune seemed to be a capable warrior while Blake like her had an interest in books so teaming up with one of them would be a good thing for her. However, she soon came to a stop when her eyes meet the eyes of Weiss who soon turned on her heel and walked the other way. "Wait! Where are you going?!" she asked, following Weiss for a bit only to stop and kicked the ground dejectedly. "We're supposed to be teammates.
Weiss on the other hand, struggled her way through the forest, grunting and brushing herself off as she made her way through the forest. She then heard the sound of breaking branches and looked up to see Pyrrha. Weiss smiled but her smile soon vanished as Jaune appeared behind Pyrrha and soon Weiss realized that Pyrrha and Jaune were already partners.
Turning around, Weiss passed Ruby and grabbed her hood. "By no means does this make us friends." She told the young girl who was overjoyed that Weiss came back as she was dragged away.
"What's the hurry?" Ruby asked as she continued to follow Weiss but at a distance.
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your…" The heiress began only to find Ruby standing right next to her, much to her surprise.
"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!" Ruby answered with a smile.
"When did…" Weiss began, slightly amazed by Ruby's ability.
"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters!" Ruby began putting an arm around a skeptical Weiss's shoulders. "You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after its all over, you're going to be like, "Wow that Ruby girl is really, really cool… and I wanna be your friend!" she added before disappearing in a shower of rose petals.
Waving her hands to get the rose petals out of her face, Weiss heard a cracking and rustling from the bushes around her. Thinking it was Ruby, she called out the name of her partner only to here nothing from her as multiple pairs of red eyes appear from the bushes followed by a deep growl as a Beowulf emerged from a bush and approached her. "Ruby!" Weiss shouted as Beowulf roared at her.
And I'll end it right here. Now I want to thank Darth Cody and Spartan-626 for their characters, Arthur Penwolf and March Evergreen. Rose Henry is my own character. She is based after John Henry with her symbol being a railroad spike while her weapons and attire are that of an old western cowgirl. I haven't seen anyone based off the old west in RWBY so I'd figured I'd try it.
Now onto the reviews I got after I started writing.
To the Guest Arc-77: Yes, Fordo is a badass I agree, but so is Rex. Both of whom will appear when the time is right as with Plo and several other veterans of the Clone Wars.
Mr. Shades42: Yes, there will be clones in this story. Rex and Fordo are two of them plus I will be taking a cue from my Lone Wolf series about changing the fates of certain troopers who did die. I love the clones.
Anyway, please read and review and I will see you all next time.