I don't own RWBY. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum. I only own my OCs
Jayden woke up quite early the next morning. He, of course, had that habit from being in the White Fang since they could stay in one place to long or allow themselves to be caught off guard. Jayden, however, didn't wake up early because of instinct. This time, however, he woke up because of nightmares. The likes of which he hadn't seen in quite a while
In Jayden's head. The scene of him getting branded on the back of his neck replayed over and over again. Each and every time, Jayden would feel just as hopeless and low as he did the last or even worse. The worst part, however, was that the person branding him wasn't an overseer, guard, or even a human Schnee miner. The person branding him in his nightmare had manifested itself as Adam, glowing red and wearing the White Fang mask he wore oh so often
Jayden shot up out of his sleeping bag, shirtless and eyes wide at the nightmare. He was drenched in sweat that didn't make him comfortably cold, but rather deadly freezing. Jayden quickly reached around and touched his neck to see if the blindfold he had around his neck was still there, which to his comfort was. He looked at his surroundings and swallowed hard
'Beacon. That's right. Beacon. Adam kicked me out, so I went to the next place I thought of... which was where Yang was and thus Beacon. Not in the mines or near Adam, who'd threatened to kill me.' Jayden repeated in his thoughts to calm himself down, which succeeded to the extent where he was able to think straight
Jayden stood up and slowly walked towards the changing rooms, feeling like he was going to puke, even though he shouldn't have been feel that way. The changing rooms had bathrooms, which was why he went there. He opened the door, stumbled in, and closed the door before taking a shower. He had, of course, brought clothes beforehand. Otherwise, he'd have been stuck in the bathroom until Lou, Yang, or Blake woke up
Jayden got out of the shower and dressed himself. However, as he leaned against the sink, he noted that the sick feeling in his stomach hadn't disappeared. He also noted he was shaking. Quite violently, in fact
He let out a shaky breath and checked the time. It was 3:00am. Jayden woke up two hours early. Chances were, Jayden wouldn't fall back asleep, especially after the nightmares and the nervous breakdown. The chefs probably wouldn't serve breakfast until 5-7, which was when most people would probably get up or were already up
So, Jayden's only options were to wait or start training
And Jayden being... well Jayden, he chose the latter, which probably wasn't the best choice
Jayden let out grunts of effort and frustration as he found himself unable to get any of his usual combos and techniques down or preform them correctly. He'd been covered in a sheen of sweat and he was panting, obviously overexerting himself
It'd been two hours. For two hours, Jayden trained and practiced. Be it combos or fighting tactics or physical endurance, strength, and speed. Jayden found himself more and more frustrated, however
Because, try as hard as he may or was, he still couldn't get the nightmare out of his head. While Jayden didn't doubt that Adam's threat of killing him was legitimate, Jayden knew Adam wouldn't torture his brother or even make him suffer. After all, Jayden doubted Adam even had enough hatred for Jayden to do such a thing
'So, why does it bother me so much?!' Jayden shouted in his mind as preformed another combo, this time effortlessly
"Jayden?" A voice called to him, thus causing him to look at it's source. He saw Ruby standing in the doorway of the training room, looking at him with gleaming and excited eyes
It was now Jayden noted the calm, serene smell of rose petals that he picked up with his faunus senses. He also noticed his hands weren't shaking anymore. He took a deep breath in and out before spinning Bloom and sheathing it in Scatter
"Yeah?" Jayden answered with a question as he stared back into the silver orbs that were her eyes
"That. Was. COOL!" Ruby shouted as she rushed towards his side and started shaking Jayden, asking him questions that he couldn't make out because she was talking to fast
"Whoa, calm down." Jayden said as he put his hands on Ruby's shoulders to force her to stay still
"I'm sorry! It's just that you were all like-" Ruby started making hand gestures that resembled fake fighting as she made several sounds to go with them
Jayden, however, sat and listened. He took a seat and watched Ruby preform her antics, as he needed to rest from practicing his swordsmanship. He chuckled after a few seconds
Immediately, she froze in her tracks and looked at Jayden, whose own deep blue eyes stared back. She chuckled nervously and started rubbing the back of her neck. Before long, her flustered face came about
"N-Not that I-I'm not freaking out- oh, this is embarrassing." Ruby staggered in her speech as Jayden listened, amused at her ramblings
"Indeed. But, I suggest we move past this. It's... 6:44, so breakfast must be being served by now." Jayden said as he walked there, leaving Ruby behind for a second since she didn't realize he was walking away
As he walked through the halls filled with eager students and happy faces, along with Ruby's cheerful voice, his thoughts still drifted to the nightmare... and Adam. He still wondered why Adam had kicked him out in the first place. Sentenced and banished Jayden away from himself considering Jayden was Adam's brother. Jayden did understand Adam hated desertion from the day their parents died, but even then Jayden didn't understand why Adam cast away the only source of love that had consistently stayed in his life since then and would've continued to do so
By the time Jayden had snapped back to reality, he'd already subconsciously gotten a plate and had began eating it while seemingly listening to Ruby ramble on about something
"And so Yang jumped into the mouth of an Urs-" Jayden took a spit take at Ruby's words, causing him to fall over coughing out of sheer suprise
Ruby rushed to his side and started to help Jayden up, who was still coughing pretty damn hard considering what he'd just heard. When Jayden was finally seated on the bench again, Ruby patted his back before going back over to her side of the table. Jayden did stop coughing after a minute or two
"Ouch. I knew she was reckless before I started teaching her how to control her temper, but into the mouth of an Ursa? That's a whole new level of crazy."
"Tell me about it. She wouldn't stop making bear or mouth puns for the next week. Sometimes both." Ruby replied to Jayden's astonished statement
Of course, Jayden let Ruby control the conversation from there, only listening to what she said instead of speaking as he still just barely knew her and had no idea how to have a genuine conversation with her. So, he sat silent as Ruby spoke her words and finished eating. Soon, he grabbed Bloom and Scatter out of his locker, inspected the red blade that it's sister weapon shared, and sheathed Bloom in Scatter before clipping it to his hip
Jayden looked around at everyone getting their weapons. Jaune seemed to have trouble finding his locker, which Jayden didn't care for. Ruby was with Yang, getting her scythe, or her sweetheart as she likes to call it, of her locker while talking to said blonde. Jayden also happened to note Weiss talking to...
"Pyrrha Nikos?" Jayden mumbled under his breath. He wasn't expecting her to show up here. If anything, she should've been in Haven
'Well, I guess that's one person who can give me a challenge except Yang.' Jayden thought as he grabbed the magazines for Scatter that were filled Dust
He only had one last thing to grab... and that was the black and red banner decorated with rose patterns. He'd woven the banner himself along with Adam, who had a banner of the same design. On one side, it was black with a red outline with the rose patterns at the bottom. The other side was pure red, though it was darker than the red outline
Jayden stared at the banner as memories of Adam flooded through his head. He didn't try to stop them... he wanted to remember a time where everything was simple. Where he knew what he was fighting against. Where his brother wasn't the enemy
"Now leave before I kill you!"
"Jayden, are you coming?" He heard a voice call to him. Jayden looked back to see Ruby slinging one of Jaune's arms over her shoulders
Jayden noticed the lack of people in the lockers. He took a look back at the banner that he'd had in his hands before slinging it between his belts and hooking it over with the rose patterns on the outside for everyone to see
"Yeah, sorry. I was just... I was remembering old times. Anyway, let's go. Ozpin won't wait for us." Jayden said before he shut the locker and started walking towards the exit
As he walked out the door, the first thing Jayden noticed was the stone slabs in the grass and immediately got a bad feeling about them. He felt that they would either slide open or launch them off the cliff. Either way, he still stepped onto it. Jayden watched Ozpin look at the students, including himself, before taking a sip of whatever was in that never-ending mug of his
"Many of you have gathered her as warriors, and today, your abilities will be tested and properly evaluated. And, as I'm sure, you've heard of team assignments. Well, allow me to put the theories to rest. You will be given teammates... today." Ozpin finished with a stern voice
Jayden heard Ruby groan off to his left, and while he didn't mind being assigned teams today, he did find it interesting that they were being assigned today. Jayden thought today was an evaluation of their skills, which it was, and then later pair them together based on which fighting style was the most compatible with another
"These teammates will be with you throughout your time at Beacon and perhaps after. So it is in your best interest to pair with someone who work best with you." Another groan was heard from Ruby before Ozpin decided to continue. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years you are here."
"WHAT?!" Jayden jumped at the sudden shout and rubbed his ears from the pain that followed soon after
Jayden had to admit, it certainly was... interesting. He wasn't to keen on it exactly like Ruby, but he wasn't going to say anything because he personally wanted to see how this played out
"That's dumb." The person next to him mumbled. Ozpin, however, caught it
"You have something to say, Mr. Alabaster?" Ozpin questioned the man who'd mumbled it. Normally, someone would back down at a question like that or even say nothing at all. This Mr. Alabaster, however, didn't back down at all
"Iris, and yeah. It's dumb." The newly named Iris stated, more loudly this time
"And, please explain, why it is dumb." Ozpin said to Iris, who still stood his ground
"Because what happens when we get paired with someone we hate or can't work with? What'll you do? Assign us a new partner or expel us? I doubt it's the former and the latter seems unfair for something that was determined by luck." Iris explained to Ozpin
"Well, I guess you'll have to find out. Anyway, once you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not be afraid to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin said grimly
Jaune gulped at hearing this. Meanwhile, Jayden and Iris smirked at hearing this, figuring that this will be easy
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Once you've made your way north, you will find an abandoned temple containing several relics." Ozpin told them. Jayden looked over at Iris and whispered
"How much you wanna bet these relics is also what determines our teams?" Jayden asked lowly. He figured he might as well become friends with the man in case they got partnered
"A lot. Now don't speak to me until we get paired, if it happens." Iris replied, with a somewhat annoyed tone in his voice
"I'd also bet a lot." Lou whispered to Jayden, who jumped slightly and just now realized he'd been standing next to the man
Jayden let out a small hum of acknowledgement and went back to listening
"Each pair must grab one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked after his briefing. Jaune raised his hand
"Yeah, um, sir?"
"Good. Now, take your positions." Ozpin completely ignored Jaune as everyone got into their stances
Jayden simply shrugged his shoulders, crouched down, and laid a hand on Bloom. Lou simply grabbed the handle of Chairles and lowered his stance a little
"Sir? I've got a, um, question." Jaune called out to Ozpin as he still had his hand raised
Out of ten corner of his eye, Jayden saw Weiss get flung off the cliff and out into the forest. Jayden took a deep breath in and shook his head
'Why do my suspicions have to be right?' He asked himself in his thoughts
"So, this landing strategy... thing. What is it? You'll be dropping us off or something?" Jaune asked
"No. You will be falling." Ozpin answered bluntly
Jayden heard the launching get closer to him. It was nearly time to begin his first test here
"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked
Jayden heard a 'woohoo' as Nora was launched off the cliff, having picked up that name from her ramblings. Jayden tensed as he new it was nearly his turn
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin answered bluntly again
Jayden saw a student to his left get launched before Yang and Ruby both got launched off. Jayden too a deep breath
"Uh huh... yeah."
Jayden watched as Lou got catapulted off the cliff. He turned to Iris
"Good luck." Was all Jayden said
"Good luck to you too." Iris replied before they were both flung off at high speeds
"So, um, what exactly is a landing strataGYYYY!"
Jayden flew through the air with his hand on Bloom. He didn't have anyway of slowing himself down or changing his trajectory, as Blush was to small a caliber to really be used as a method of manipulating his air time. He could use Gravity Dust, but he didn't have any magazines with that Dust in it, nor would he waste a Dust magazine just to slow himself down
So, Jayden waited for himself to fall to the ground. But, it wasn't as simple as that, it would seem, as a pack of Beowolves ended up being right in the spot he would land in. So, Jayden took the advantage. He unsheathed Bloom and let Scatter hang at his hip
To the Grimm below, it was just a normal day before something crashed out of the sky and hit one right in the face. To Jayden, it was quite possibly the best entrance and landing he could've hoped for
Jayden drove Bloom's blade into the Alpha's skull, which he'd landed on and used the momentum from the fall to do so, before wrenching it out and sheathing, turning to the Beowolves that watched their leader get murdered by some faunus that fell out of the sky
Jayden kept an eye on one that was inching it's way behind him, probably to catch Jayden off guard when they began their assault. Sure enough, the first Beowolf to jump at him also caused the one behind him to jump. Jayden cartwheeled out of the way, causing the Beowolf that was behind him to slash right through the other one. Jayden quickly ran up and sliced it in half before it had a chance to recover
Jayden shot one in front of him in the bone faceplate, which the bullet had penetrated, with Scatter before spinning his way out of a swipe before rolling over a Beowolf to his side and cutting it in half before sheathing Bloom. The Beowolf that swiped at him turned at him and went to charge him. At the same time, another Beowolf to his side started to charge Jayden as well. He smirked in response and fired Bloom out of Scatter, causing the Beowolf in front of him to get a face full of Bloom's pommel
Jayden rushed after Bloom in a second and grabbed it out of the air. Jay quickly sliced a Beowulf in half before flipping over one behind him and sheathing Bloom into Scatter in one motion. As Jayden's feet hit the hard ground, Jayden crouched down while hovering his hand over Bloom's hilt. Every detail on Jayden's outfit and body burned a bright red, signaling the use of Jayden's semblance
The Beowulves, however, couldn't comprehend that fact. They rushed Jayden, hoping to overwhelm and kill him before he had the chance to kill. Jayden, however, had been planning on that as he got them in a position where they were all lined up to get rid of them with one swipe of his semblance. So, with a smirk and a scoff, Jayden grabbed Bloom's handle and released all the built up energy he'd stored, causing the world to turn red and make every single thing that wasn't red become a shadow and slowed to a crawl
The seven Beowulves that had been rushing him all tumbled towards the ground slowly as a wave of energy passed through each and every single one of them. Their eyes stopped glowing red, signaling that they were dead before they had a chance to land a hit on Jayden
Right as the first Beowulf hit the ground in front of Jay, he sheathed Bloom, causing everything to speed up back to normal and become normal in color. All the Beowulves that had tumbled at Jayden's feet became wilting rose petals and flew past Jayden
One softly landed on Jayden's shoulder, causing him to look over at it. He stared for a few seconds at the blackened rose petal. Jayden brushed it off as he started walking forward
Well, until a voice caught his attention
"Ahem!" A person cleared his throat behind Jayden. He turned around to find Iris' deep purple eyes staring back into his blue ones
"..." Jayden looked back to where he was headed then back to Iris, who raised their eyebrows
"I guess we're partners." Jayden stated as he shrugged his shoulders
"The last pair has been formed, Sir." Glynda said as she watched Iris and Jayden stare at each other on her scroll that was the size of a tablet
"Hmm." Ozpin hummed as he watched with curiosity on his own scroll. He had expected this outcome. One could even say that he'd planned it. But Ozpin certainly was interested in how it would pan out more than the other match ups. Barring maybe Nora and Ren. When Jayden and his friend had applied for Beacon, Ozpin found himself surprised. Granted, he'd hoped that Jayden would follow in Yang's footsteps when he heard that she'd built a relationship with her. But hopes are just hopes, and Ozpin certainly didn't expect his to come true
"I'm worried about Mr. Alabaster . With that back talking, he's certainly going to find himself in trouble. And Mr. Taurus was apart of a terrorist group. Sure, he may have given whatever information he could on the White Fang here in Vale, including their deal with Roman Torchwick, but I still don't trust him." Glynda listed as she began trying to talk to Ozpin
Said person hummed in response to Glynda's words
"And don't even get me started on Jaune fellow. I don't care what his transcripts say, he's certainly not ready for this level of combat." Glynda said with a certain distaste in her voice. "I guess we'll see soon enough, however. At their current pace, they should reach the temple in a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year? Professor Ozpin?" Glynda asked as she looked at Ozpin, waiting for an answer
Ozpin remained silent
"It's most certainly this way." Iris said to Jayden as he kept walking
Jayden shook his head at Iris' words and took a look at his surroundings. The forests remained the same no matter which way they went. Jay knew it was North, but they didn't really have a direction to begin heading. Jayden stopped and laid a hand on his face
"We're lost." Jayden stated simply
"What?" Iris said after looking back. "No we're not."
"Look at our surroundings! It's the exact same as it was a few minutes ago. We're going in circles." Jayden stated as Iris looked at his surroundings
Iris shrugged and continued moving forward. Jayden's eyebrows lowered in confusion as he raised his arms
"Where are you going?" Jayden asked
"To the temple. If you wanna stay here and fail, that's fine by me." Iris said before he disappeared from view
"You have absolutely no idea where you're going!" Jayden yelled out
"Yes I do!" Iris yelled back as he continued forward. Jayden growled at his response. Of course, he hadn't really had problems with Iris until now, but he'd seen his interactions with other people. He knew he was gonna be stubborn. But Jayden had to admit that stubbornness was getting to him
"No the fuck you don't, you goddamn idiot!" Jayden yelled again
"What was that? I couldn't hear you!" Iris said despite clearly hearing Jayden
Jayden growled again and put a hand on his face. He took a deep breath in and out before taking the hand off of his face. He took another look at his surroundings, finding nothing to indicate his way to the forest temple. Jayden hummed as he thought of a way to get there. Jayden had an idea. He looked to the sky, more specifically the sun to see where it was at in the sky
'The sun is still rising, which would mean that the place the sun is in is East, roughly. The opposite direction is West. Either my right is North or my left is. The question is which one?' Jayden thought as he looked at the sky
As Jayden was thinking however, the bushes next to him started to move around. Immediately, Jayden grabbed Bloom and Scatter whilst crouching down into a better stance and waited for whatever it was to come out of the bushes
The leaves and bushes kept rustling as whatever it was drew closer. Before long, Jayden was able to hear whatever it was breathe. Jayden's expression became more of an angry look as he clicked Bloom ever so slightly out of Scatter. The sounds became closer, causing Jayden to become ever slightly more tense as he waited for whatever it was to spring out of the bushes at him
Weiss and Ruby came sprawling out of the bushes. Jayden grew a confused look upon seeing this. Weiss looked at Jayden, who's eyes became wide upon realizing his blade had still been unsheathed and it was pointed directly at the two. So, Jayden stood straight and spun Bloom around before sheathing it in Scatter in one fluid motion
Without a word, Jayden walked over to Weiss and extended his hand. Weiss, of course, looked hesitant to take his hand. Jayden gestured once more to it as he shrugged his shoulders. Weiss shook her head and took his hand. Jayden proceeded to lift her up onto her feet. Before let Weiss go, however, he took a few seconds to look her in the eye, seemingly transmitting a message to her. Weiss nodded. She'd understood
Next, Jayden walked over to Ruby and extended his hand out to her. Ruby took his hand in seconds, allowing Jayden to lift her up as well
"Thanks." Ruby said as she panted. Jayden chuckled at her as he gave her a pat on the back
"There's no need to thank me, but you're welcome nonetheless." Jayden replied
"Ahem!" Weiss cleared her throat. "That's good and all but we need to be headed to the forest temple. And it's this way." She said with confidence as she walked towards a random edge of the forest
"No it's not." Jayden quickly shut her down
"Ugh, how would you know?!" Weiss shot at Jayden, to which he replied by walking up to her and saying
"Because Iris and I came from that way." Jayden said as he stared into the forest
"Wait, who?" Ruby asked
"My teammate." Jayden responded simply
"Okay, but you guys must of passed it then." Weiss reasoned
"No, we didn't. We tried headed North, but soon after, we encountered several Beowulf packs. By the time we'd dealt with them, we'd lost our tracks and had no idea where we were going. We've passed through this grove a couple of times, but from there was the most recent." Jayden explained as he looked at the both of them
Weiss let out an indignant hmph as she crossed her arms and looked at Jayden. Ruby only seemed to be confused by the statement
"Well-" Weiss was cut off
"Listen, if you wanna be like Iris and head off in a random direction, then be my guest. But I, for one, am actually going to be thinking about this." Jayden said to Weiss
"Umm guys?" Ruby tried to get their attention
"And what could you possibly come up with?" Weiss asked
"More than you could, that's for sure!" Jayden exclaimed
"Uh guyyys?" Ruby attempted again to get their attention
"Oh, that is not possible! I am far more intelligent than you." Weiss said to Jayden as if it was matter of fact
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent!" Jayden shouted at her
"Oh, you no good, dirty, mangy, ANI-"
"GUYS!" Ruby yelled as she tried one last time to get their attention
"WHAT?!" They yelled back in perfect harmony
"Look up." And so Jayden and Weiss did
Both of them had shocked faces at what was above them. Weiss seemed almost as if she didn't believe it and Jayden was just shocked to see it
"Well, that could work."
To be continued...
Yeah, that is a bit of a dick move, but I think I've put this chapter off far too much. And also, I was actually feeling motivated to write this, so there's that.
Also, fun fact, I wrote the last little section of this chapter in school, so you're welcome
That's about it.
Love y'all and see ya later!
