"Oh this is bad..."
Team RWBY looked to be in a really dangerous situation. Deathstalker rampaging on the ground, Nevermore causing havoc in the skies, and still no Pyrrha. Last time, both teams were able to deal with these monstrosities. But their last encounter didn't include me. I was a FAR-CRY from being able to replace Pyrrha. Without her here, there would be a lot more pressure to deal with than the previous battle.
"We have to go help!" said Jaune drawing his sword.
"Wait!" I shouted, stepping in front of him. "We can't just jump in there willy-nilly! If we do we'll get crushed!"
My fighting prowess isn't very impressive right now, so rushing in against these kinds of grimm was out of the question. What am I supposed to do, I don't even know my own semblance.
"Come on." Nora said giving me a pat on the back and trying to be reassuring. "You don't know that for sure."
"Yes I do! I watched...the...show..." Wait a minute.
"What? The show?" The orange-haired teen seemed taken aback by my words. Her teammates standing around her looked similarly befuddled.
That's IT! I watched the show! I might not be a great fighter, but there IS still something I can do! I know just about everything about the characters present here. Their backstories, their fighting styles, their semblances! All of it! This kind of knowledge is invaluable on the battlefield. We might still be able to win without Pyrrha! I'm not a fan of running headfirst into danger, but sitting back and watching while Team RWBY got hurt was even more out of the question.
"We'll go out there." I said to my confused teammates "Just...give me a second to think." What's the best way to handle this? I took a deep breath making a praying gesture with my hands and resting the tips of my fingers on my face. "Let's see...Ren's...no. Yang, Weiss. Nora...Nora. But how..."
My teammates' expressions gradually became darker, watching Team RWBY struggle as I murmured to myself.
"Well?!" Jaune asked impatiently
"Alright alright. I've got something." It's not a GREAT plan, but it's the best I can do on short notice. "Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna rush out and cause an enormous commotion. Ren, try and take the Deathstalker's attention by shooting it with your pistols." "Nora." I said turning to her. "Save your ammunition, when I give the signal I want you to hit that grimm with your heart grenade formation thingy."
Nora blinked in surprise, probably about how I knew about her weapon, but then she gave a confident grin. "You got it!."
"GO!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
We all burst out of the forest and into the grassy clearing yelling at the top of our lungs. Not the most majestic appearance I'll admit. Everyone froze at the sudden outburst. Team RWBY had puzzled looks on their faces. The Deathstalker perked up at our hollering and swiveled around to face our group, even the Nevermore high in the sky turned to cock its head at us.
"WEISS! NOW!" I yelled cupping my hands over my mouth. "FREEZE THAT THING'S LEGS!" The white-haired princess took a second to compose herself before shaking off her surprise.
"Listen you! I don't need help from-"
"JUST DO IT!"
With an irritated sigh, Weiss took a graceful stance, aligning her sword to the middle of her face. A spiraling white glyph appeared under the Deathstalker who was too busy with its attention on us to notice.
"SCCCCRRRRRAAAAAAAAW!"
The grimm cried out in surprise as an enormous chunk of ice materialized right from under it, freezing its legs to the ground.
"GRAAAAAAH!" I lifted my silver spear and slammed the pointed end diagonally into the ground with as much force as Aero's muscles would allow. "NORA!"
"With pleasure!" Nora leaped high in the air landing on the end of the spear and springing forward. She giggled, sailing over the restrained Deathstalker as Magnhild shifted from a large hammer to a grenade launcher which then opened up its front end. "Say ahhhhh..." Nora clicked the trigger sending a deceptively cute stream of grenades in a heart formation.
"Take cover!" Ruby yelled as she and the rest of her teammates scattered from the unlucky beast.
Explosion after explosion occurred as the Deathstalker let out horrified shrieks with each one. When the pink smoke cleared, the giant grimm let out a creaking sound as its legs gave out on it, dropping with a thud.
"Did...did that do it?"
"Look out!"
I was barely able to turn my head in time as I saw a mass of black shadows streaking towards me. Instinctively, I covered my head and dove forward as the Nevermore rained down feathers skewering the ground. In the midst of that, someone grabbed my hand and yanked me over to cover behind the stone ruins. Taking a second to catch my breath I turned to thank my helper and saw Yang cautiously peeking around the edge at the large flying grimm.
"Here!" she said, thrusting a spear into my arms. "You forgot this."
"D-buh...thanks." As usual, I had a natural talent for being ultra suave and knowing exactly what to say to the ladies in any given situation.
Ren, Ruby, and a couple of the other students fired off at the Nevermore, their attacks leaving colorful streaks shooting through the air and crashing against their foe, but to no avail. With the exception of Nora's grenade launcher, their projectiles might as well have been spitballs. Another rain of feather blades forced them into cover.
"SCCCCRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
I shuddered at the familiar screech as every student stopped what they were doing and turned to see Deathstalker who we had all assumed was dead, rise to its legs and charge forward.
'Well shit, my plan didn't work...'
Blake and Ren rushed forward to meet the grimm. Jumping and somersaulting over its pincers, their blades impressively flashed against the grimm's hide. The Deathstalker however completely unfazed, swung its pincers once more. There was a shrill sound as Blake suddenly disappeared from its range of attack, quickly reappearing just out the way. Ren was not so lucky. The force sent him flying backward, crashing into Jaune and landing next to me and Yang.
"Ugh..." Jaune quickly picked himself up. "We can't deal with this thing if we have to watch our back every five seconds for raining feathers!"
"Jaune's right, we're gonna have to split the two of them up. If one group finishes their grimm they can go help the others."
I turned towards Ruby and Weiss who's attention was still on the Nevermore. I can't remember exactly how the Deathstalker was killed, but if memory serves, Team RWBY was able to handle the Nevermore themselves by dragging it up a cliff like a guillotine. Problem is, my actions have already changed events a little. So it wasn't GUARANTEED they'd kill it the exact same way. "Can I leave that thing to your team?" I asked Yang gesturing to the flying grimm.
"C'mon, who do you think you're talking to?" she said flashing me one of her signature grins. "You just be sure to take care of 'grumpy' over there."
"Right." I took a deep breath readying myself for what was to come and sprinted out from behind my rocky cover. The Nevermore squawked seeing me and Yang make a dash for our respective teams and turned around for another bombing run.
"Nora!" I yelled. "Still got some grenades?"
The orange-haired girl parried one of the Deathstalker pincers, briefly disengaging from it. "Yeah! Want me to heart bomb it again?"
"No, its hide is too tough. Try and see if you can get it to follow us into the forest. We might be able to slow it down a little there. After that, well..." I'm not really sure what to do after we got the Deathstalker to follow us. I had kinda hoped that my first plan would be enough to kill it. The only thing I can think of right now is taking some pressure off of team RWBY. "I'll figure something out...maybe."
"You got it Mr. Psychic."
Nora put her fingers to her lips and loudly whistled causing Blake and Ren to look in her direction. After seeing her weapon change to a grenade launcher again the two of them immediately understood and pulled back. The Deathstalker turned to follow them but stopped as it was enveloped in a pink explosion.
"Yoo-hoo!" Nora waved at the creature turning its attention on us once more. "Come and get us!"
Me, Nora, Ren, and Jaune sprinted for all we were worth into the forest with that thing hot on our tail. My breath starting to become ragged as we moved, beads of sweat appearing on my body. Though if we're being honest, I was probably sweating more out of fear rather than exhaustion. Once again, pretty grateful I'm in Aero's trained body right now, because there is no way I could ever perform like this under normal circumstances.
The ground shook behind us with the Deathstalker charging at us with full speed. 'Good lord, it sounds like we're being chased by a train!' Making it to the forest on time, I quickly dove to the side. There was a shattering sound behind me as the grimm smashed its way through the trees like they were glass. "Gah!" I covered my face as an explosion of splinters rained down on me and my teammates. Quickly getting back together, the four of us stood before our enormous opponent.
"Okay, we're in the forest, what now?" Nora asked.
Yeah, that's still kind of a work in progress... "I'm open to ideas?" I said with a shrug.
"What?!" Jaune exclaimed.
Ren narrowed his eyes darted forward without another word towards the Deathstalker.
"Hey wait!"
The grimm snapped its pincers at the oncoming target. Relaxing his body, Ren leaped forward and spun like a twisting arrow, narrowly making it through the gap in the pincers before they snapped shut. He somersaulted in the air peppering the Deathstalker with shots.
"That won't work! If Nora's grenades didn't do the trick what makes you think your pea-shooters will?"
The grimm swung its stinger towards Ren the second he landed.
"Look out!"
Me, Jaune, and Nora all responded running in to aid him. Ren's hand's glowed with a magenta light as he caught the stinger with his bare hands, faltering against the strength of the creature. The Deathstalker hesitated for a second then snatched Ren up with his pincers while he was busy holding off the stinger. Once more it raised its stinger to its helpless victim and its tail darted forward.
"Oh no you DON'T!" I raised my spear blocking the stinger again, narrowly catching it by the tip of the stinger point. "Guh..." 'Holy cow!' I could feel my entire BODY absolutely trembling, having to give every possible ounce of strength just to hold off its attack.
"HAAA!" Nora jumped over me in my defending position and slammed her hammer on top of the Deathstalker's head. The grimm loosened its grip on Ren due to the impact, allowing him to pull himself free and jump back. I was still struggling with the stinger when I saw a large black claw heading my way.
"Shit!"
Jaune stepped in front of me, deflecting the claw with his shield. He then stepped forward and slashed the Deathstalker in the face with his sword.
"SCRAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW!"
The grimm let out a shriek and took a few steps backward while I stared in shock.
You're kidding me, THAT somehow hurt it!? My joy was short-lived when the Deathstalker slammed Jaune with its other pincer, battering him like a rag doll.
"JAUNE!"
I cast a glance back at Ren and Nora, who gave me a quick nod to go check on him while they kept its attention. Jaune lay motionless on the grass face-down, still not getting up after being hit. To my terror, as I approached, I noticed a small puddle of red by his head. "No..." I immediately got on the ground, turning him over. A small gash had opened up on the side of his temple causing blood to seep out of his head. "This doesn't make sense! Jaune! Jaune!"
Jaune's eyes weakly fluttered open at my shouting voice. "Oh...hey..." he said still dazed. "Did you catch the license plate of that bus..."
What's going on?! Jaune shouldn't have been pulverized by an attack like that! His aura should've protected him! Unless... "Jaune!" I said trying to shake him back to his senses. "Did Pyrrha unlock your aura yet?"
His eyes looked back at me in confusion. "What? Aura?"
Oh my god...Jaune hasn't had his aura unlocked! He never met Pyrrha in the forest! He never met her because of ME! It's my fault Jaune got hurt! I grunted, hoisting Jaune's shoulder over my head, walking him over to a nearby tree and setting him against it.
"Ah...don't worry about me...I'll be on my feet...in no time..."
"No. Jaune, rest here for a moment, when you get your strength back I want you to fall back."
"But-"
"No buts!" I snapped. Glancing over back at the Deathstalker, Ren and Nora were having trouble with the two of us gone. "Listen Jaune. I don't have time to explain it, but you don't have aura right now. No aura, no fighting. PERIOD." I left the injured Jaune on the tree, picking up my spear, and returning to the battle. While I felt bad sending him off like that, a question lingered in my mind as I returned. How did a simple sword strike from Jaune manage to hurt the Deathstalker so badly?
"Where's Jaune?" Nora asked landing right beside me after an attack.
"He's resting. Jaune's in no condition to fight right now. We'll somehow have to manage."
"Well that's...less than good."
Ren dodged a pincer attack, back-flipping, and joined us panting heavily.
"This thing has to have a weakness." Ren said glaring at the Deathstalker. "If this thing really was unbeatable I doubt the headmaster would allow us to fight it."
"You'd be surprised what the headmaster allows." I grumbled, shaking my head. "Anyway, a weakness..."
Looking at the Deathstalker, there wasn't a single scratch on its face. Despite this, it cried out in pain when attacked and stepped back. But what would...
"The eyes!" Jaune must've accidentally hit one when he struck its face. Ren's right. If this thing really was completely armored from head to toe then it would be almost impossible for it to move. "Ren, think you can hit its eyes?"
He glanced at me still out of breath and sweating a bit. After thinking for a moment, gave a quick nod without another word.
'Ren's really pushing himself here, we'd better hurry up and try to finish this pretty soon...' "This isn't going to be easy, I need you two to take that grimm's attention so I can get close to it. There's something that I need to see for myself. But if Ren can hit the eyes, that just might give me the opening I need." Ren readjusted his pistols with a click while Nora and I stood at the ready.
"Go!"
The three of us sprinted off towards our target. The Deathstalker's claws swung towards me. I quickly ducked under it, and kept running. The stinger wasn't far after I'd passed the claws, but...for some reason I wasn't afraid as it closed in. If anything I was feeling...excited. I wonder why that is. Maybe I was hopped up on adrenaline, or maybe I'd finally lost my mind due to the stress of so many life and death encounters...
"Gotcha covered Aero!"
Nora swung her hammer like a bat, deflecting the stinger while Ren raised his pistols and fired. The shots streaked past my body with surprising accuracy, missing me and peppering the eyes of the Deathstalker. The large grimm shrieked and raised its claws to shield its face, stepping backward. I took this opportunity to zip-line to the nearest tree with my grappling spear.
"Now let's see..." I looked down at the briefly occupied creature. "I knew it!"
The back of the Deathstalker was heavily armored but it wasn't completely armored. The white shell-like parts on its back were large segments joined together with a VERY thin line of an unarmored area where the joints met. This was exactly what I'd been hoping for, but hitting it would like be threading a needle.
'It's moving around too much, I can't hit it at this rate.' "Nora, do you have any more grenades?" I called down from the tree.
"Just one."
"Try and shoot in front of that thing's face"
Nora loaded Magnhild and aimed, firing the last of her rounds causing a pink explosion in front of the Deathstalker. Briefly unable to see with the cloud in front of it the creature paused.
"NOW!" I jumped off of the tree above the grimm with my spear tightly clenched in both hands. Adding the momentum of my drop to the attack, I narrowly drove the spear into one of the small spaces between its segments, sinking in the spear by about a foot. "Ha! Eat that you stupi-WHOOOOOOAAA."
The grimm thrashed under me, throwing me off of it with my spear still lodged in its back. I landed right in front of it as the smokescreen disappeared.
"AERO!"
The glowing stinger flashed towards me as I closed my eyes, desperately covering my face with my hands. Hearing a loud metallic sound, I opened my eyes to see Jaune standing in front of me with both hands on the shield, fending off the attack. "Jaune?!"
"Hey..." Jaune looked at me with a forced smile, visibly struggling with defending against the grimm's attack but trying to play it cool. "Looks like you were in a bit of trouble there huh?" He angled his shield to the side, causing the stinger pressing down on him to slide off of his shield and strike the ground. "Come on!" Jaune grabbed my shoulder pulling me back while Ren and Nora kept the grimm's attention.
"Jaune, I thought I told you to leave! You're not protected like the rest of us, if you take another hit you could get killed."
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I know you told me to stay back but...I just couldn't leave." Jaune looked up at me, meeting my eyes. "Besides, I came here already knowing that I could get killed. This aura stuff or whatever it is hasn't changed anything. I can still help!"
Wait, who is this person? Because it certainly can't be Jaune.
"If I can help out then I will. I'm not running away!"
Wow...well what do you know, Jaune DOES have guts. I'm actually...impressed.
Still, there's a difference between courage and foolishness. A Huntsman or Huntress without aura to protect them might as well be a ripe tomato. The fact Jaune managed to get this far without aura is nothing short of a miracle. I SHOULD send him away anyway but...
Jaune looked at me with an unusually determined look in his eyes waiting on my next words.
'I can't say no to that...'
"Fine..." I said giving up. "Against my better judgment you can stay, we're gonna need you anyway."
"Great! I knew that you guys couldn't go on without me!"
Not two seconds in, and I'm already regretting my decision. "I need you as part of a distraction with me and Ren. ONLY the distraction got it? Don't actually try and fight that thing. If you want to get yourself killed, do it when our lives aren't on the line. I'll explain the plan when we're with the others." I turned back to the other two and cupped my hands over my mouth. "TEMPORARY RETREAT!"
Ren and Nora perked up at my shout and disengaged from the Deathstalker, following me and Jaune in the retreat. The creature roared behind us as we fled, sounding like we were being pursued by a freight train. "Look!" I said pointing to the spear still lodged in its back. "I found a chink in its armor. If we can give my weapon a good hard smack, it'll drive that thing into its back and we can end this once and for all!"
"I get it!" Nora exclaimed. "Like a hammer and nail right?"
"Hammer is right. Me Ren and Jaune will try and give you a clear shot, so make it count." The four of us broke off, with Nora excitedly leaping onto a nearby tree and waiting. "Jaune, left! Ren, middle! I'll take the right."
We all stood on different sides of the Deathstalker, ready to act. One person attacking to draw its attention while the other two wait until it looks like the attacker is being overwhelmed. With three prey attacking from three directions the large grimm would have to switch its attention back and forth.
'Sorry Ren.' I thought. 'I put you in front of that thing because honestly, what are me and Jaune gonna do? At least I'll be safe over-'
The grimm immediately turned to the right facing me.
"What?"
It let out a cry and chased after me.
'WHAT?! What are you doing?! I put REN in front of you, go after HIM!'
I ran towards the tree Nora was on when I felt something clamp onto my legs as I was running, and lifting me in the air. As I dangled in front of the Deathstalker's face, its pincers tightened around my body, slowly clamping down.
"Shit...where's...Nora?!"
And right when things were looking bad.
"WA-HOOOOOOO!" Nora descended from the sky like a meteor, her hammer crashing down onto the end of my spear on the grimm's back. There was a loud crunching sound as the spear sunk entirely into the Deathstalker's back. The very ground itself trembled at the terrific display of force from her.
With one last pitiful wail, the grimm dropped me and collapsed, finally meeting its end. The four of us stood quietly as our seemingly undefeatable opponent died. The silence persisted until...
"AWWWWWWW YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!" Jaune jumped in the air pumping his fist in excitement. "Hi five!" Ren and I stopped, just staring at him with surprised expressions. "Well don't get all excited at once! It's not like we just killed a giant monster or anything!"
"I'll take that high five." Nora said running over and slapping his hand, with a satisfying sting. I laughed, joining in as well. Ren, on the other hand, fell face-first to the ground exhausted from our fight. Poor Ren, he and Nora were pretty much the backbone of our team.
"Looks like we finally managed to win." Good lord, can you imagine having to do something this exciting all the time? That...that doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would actually...
Nora chuckled sitting down next to Ren and giving him a pat on the back. "Good job Ren."
"Ren did good, but I'm glad we got a heavy hitter like Nora on our team."
"What about me?" Jaune asked, looking towards me.
"Jaune? Well...yeah, you did well too. Things might've gotten ugly if you weren't around. I'm glad you ended up coming back, even if you shouldn't have..."
Nora helped Ren to his feet. "So how do you think the other team is doing?"
"THE OTHER TEAM!"
I frantically grabbed my spear, making a mad dash towards the stone ruins. I got so caught up in finally taking down the Deathstalker I completely forgot about the others! Bursting through the clearing out of breath, I spotted Ruby at the top of a cliff looking down at a decapitated Nevermore.
"Phew..." They're okay. I let out a sigh and slumped against a stone pillar. I'm glad things turned out like before. The relief reminded me of how exhausted I actually was myself. Still, I felt an indescribable feeling of contentment in my chest. I had really done it, I'd taken down a Deathstalker of all things. Maybe being a huntsman wasn't such a crazy idea after all. I could get used to feeling like this...
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark."
Back at the academy after the exam, Ozpin called the names of students who even someone like ME barely knew anything about. The crowd let out cheers as the four of them were announced to the audience. Several members of the crowd were composed of...you guessed it, shadow people. Am I really the only one who notices this? I gotta remember to ask someone later.
"The four of you have decided on the black bishop pieces. From this moment onward, you will be work together as...Team Cardinal (CRDL). Led by Cardin Winchester"
Right after he spoke Pyrrha walked towards the stage with three other girls I hadn't seen in the show following her.
"Pyrrha Nikos, Jacey Lynn, Sophie Spire, Raelin Greene."
"The four of you have chosen the white rook pieces. From this moment on you will work together as...Team Jasper (JSPR). Led by Jacey Lynn."
This is a little strange, I've never seen those three girls before. I haven't seen them in the show, and they certainly weren't in the exam of the Emerald Forest. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Aero in the show either. Did something happen to him? Did he get into some accident that made him unable to show up? Glynda mentioned the teams being divisible by four, so if Aero didn't originally attend the exam, I guess the other three girls would have to wait.
"Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin said continuing. "The four of you have chosen the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Ruby (RWBY). Led by...Ruby Rose.
Up on the stage, Weiss briefly made a startled expression and looked at Ruby with a slight frown, but quickly regained her composure in front of the audience when she realized everyone's attention was on them. Yang for her part was thrilled, immediately throwing her arms around her younger sister for a hug.
Ren walked forward leading our group snapping out of my daze.
"Lie Ren, Jaune Arc, Aero Cairn, Nora Valkyrie. The pieces the four of you have chosen represent the jack of all trades. From this moment on you will all work together as...Team Argent (ARJN)."
Huh, ARJN? That means the leader is...
"Led by Aero Cairn."
"Me?" Once again the crowd applauded as our team was announced. Nora happily hugged Ren. Jaune for his part chuckled and lightly bumped my shoulder with his fist.
"Ha..." Well, I guess it makes sense. I did play a pretty big role in saving team RWBY and helping lead my team to victory. But still... "Ha ha. Me...a team leader of all things..." I couldn't stop smiling. My chest felt like it was full of butterflies. "This...this is it..." This is what I've been looking for. Purpose. I looked around at the crowd of people clapping for me and my team...the winners.
"Oh yeah! You ready Team Argent?!"
"Yessir!" Nora laughed, happily throwing up a salute.
A contented sigh escaped my mouth as I reflected on recent events. I'd more or less made it through the biggest trial of my life. And if it had taught me anything, it was that I had a long way to go. Fortunately though, I basically held a cheat sheet for the future in my head, so I should be able to plan for every major event...right?
"That will conclude this year's ceremony." Ozpin glanced at Team RWBY and smiled. "Looks like this is going to be an...interesting year."
This year is going to be a lot more interesting than you realize Ozpin, a whole lot more...