Sorry for the delay! We have the Beacon initiation wrapped up with this chapter, though, and we can start on the other schools and their students! I hope this chapter was worth the wait at least, and the character list for Beacon is at the bottom of the chapter! Thank you for waiting and bearing with me so far.
IV.
Beacon: Initiation (II)
"I have to say, we're making for remarkably good progress so far."
"A tad disappointed by the lack of Grimm, though."
Ever since they'd happened upon each other, everything could be best described as smooth sailing thus far. Calluna and Silver had come across each other rather casually, landing on the same tree and locking eyes instantly, and it seemed almost to be fate that they would be paired up. No sooner had they introduced themselves did Silver notice Calluna's flair for the dramatic, and the two meshed together like oil and fire.
"Indeed. Perhaps we'll have a grand battle to retrieve our relics and escape with our lives hanging by a thread," Calluna boasted, gesturing mildly but still with emphasis on the grandeur of it all. "Ozpin would surely be impressed by such a performance on his watch."
Silver nodded along, approving of the idea of being made famous in the eyes of their peers for such a grand battle. They were at Beacon, so it only made sense they deserved a bombastic entrance on their first—no, pre-first day. Though it wasn't out of character for him, it was still why he had Double-Take in his hands and loaded with discs already; this was do or die time, even if the duo was having fun with it.
He glanced at Calluna, eyed the flagpole she carried, and wondered how it would serve her in battle. The only blade appeared to be the spear tip at the top of the pole, and if anything the four-foot flag would get in the way. But he didn't miss the signature purple of gravity dusted imbued in the weapon—and Calluna's sole gauntlet. What remained to be seen was how effective it was.
And Calluna was more than eager to answer, pausing her walk to proudly set the flagpole upright in all six feet of its glory. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she said. "I call it Gloryseeker—an ode to my home and, perhaps, the last thing I have from Gloryseek to call my own."
"I see," Silver hummed, stopping as well to admire the flag. He couldn't see the symbol on the banner before, but it was clear now that the black flag's silver emblem was Calluna's own emblem. Perhaps her emblem was derived from Gloryseek's own, he pondered. Even if it wasn't, the moon and stars were almost complimentary to her appearance.
Silver may have been more bright in his presentation, but Calluna was the opposite. Black, shaggy hair shaved at the side; skin so pale that it made Silver look healthy in comparison, and he was pretty pasty; and it stood out all the more with the blacks and silvers she wore in her clothing and armour, with the minimal purple accenting it and matching her eyes. If he could cast her in a play, regardless of the single horn she had on one side of her head, he'd give her the role of a moon goddess, or perhaps a knight of the stars.
Perhaps that was what she was aiming for.
"It suits you," he finally said. "I must say, the design of the flag even compliments your armour perfectly. I'd love to see how the silver would look on you in the moonlight, honestly."
Calluna laughed—a nervous, but flattered laugh that was accompanied by a quick shuffle of her feet. He'd clearly said something right, though a little embarrassing. "I thank you, Silver," she said, quieter than before. "To be told I would match the moon, it is the highest compliment I could ever hope to receive."
She was definitely aiming for it, then.
"Now," she went on, relaxing once more as she pointed the tip of Gloryseeker towards his weapon, "I've recounted the lore of my own weapon, but I've yet to be introduced to yours."
"Oh." Silver cleared his throat and nodded. "How rude of me. Calluna, I'd like you to meet Double-Take."
He held up the double helix sword much like a knight presenting a blade for his lord, kneeling down in front of Calluna with just as much grandeur as she had used to introduce Gloryseeker. It was a moment worthy of a theatre performance, and Silver was rather proud of himself for his gesture and the quick thinking he displayed. He'd hoped to partner with someone he'd met the night before—Nyx and Liath had been such interesting people—but with how well he meshed with Calluna, he was more than satisfied.
"Arise, Sirs Silver and Double-Take," was Calluna's authoritative reply. Silver played along, towering over her as he rose, and she planted Gloryseeker into the ground like a proud warrior waving a banner on the battlefield. "Let us dispose of the pleasantries now and continue on our mission. We've yet to figure out what the relics actually are."
Silver glanced around. Right, that was what they were meant to be doing, wasn't it? No one had thought to ask what the relics were, either, though Silver assumed Ozpin would never say outright what they were even if asked. If the relics were somehow related to teams forming, then perhaps he could eliminate a few different possible items as they travelled.
"It has to be something themed," he said, confident. Calluna nodded in agreement. "Where they'd be is another matter. We're testing to enter Beacon, and the best idea I can come up with on the spot… Perhaps where the Grimm are, we'll find the relics?"
"Now that's an astute observation," Calluna praised him. Silver's pride swelled, his enjoyment of praise—earnest praise, not the half-baked participation ribbon praise—coming out in full force as he blushed and held his head high. Yes, he was rather smart to think of that. Calluna was blessed to have him for a partner. "How goes the saying again? Carpe diem? I see no other option before us, nor a more reasonable idea to propose. Leaving the relics with Grimm is a sure-fire way to test one's capabilities for such a prestigious school."
At this rate, they were bound to be the first ones to finish. Ozpin was probably praising them as he observed from the cliffs, parroted by the blond beside him all the while. Now that he thought about it, she hadn't introduced herself, had she? She was rather young for a teacher. An assistant? Newly graduated? Whoever she was, she was bound to be just as impressed as Ozpin was right now.
"With that said," Calluna went on, "it would be wise to recall the habitats of various Grimm. I've my doubts that one will simply fall from the sky—"
The timing was almost too comedic. In Silver's mind, many passages from famous plays and musical scripts passed him by as they both gazed upwards—Exit, pursed by Ursa; he goeth down; enter a Messenger, two heads and a hand—at the sound of branches breaking under the weight of a sudden force from above. For what it was worth, both Calluna and Silver were in combat stances almost as soon as they'd looked up. Calluna jumped back with Gloryseeker at the ready, and Silver was more than ready with Double-Take's dust discs loaded into the blade already. They had their eyes peeled, cautious and excited all the same as the trees groaned and branches began to rain down.
He wasn't sure what manner of beast he'd been expecting, but a King Taijitu wasn't near the top of that list. It barely broke the top ten. And yet there it was, descending through the treetops of the Emerald Forest and leaving a massive gap in the ceiling of the forest in its wake; it seemed distressed, just as confused and stunned as Silver and Calluna were, but it seemed to recover just as fast once the ground got closer.
One of the branches the King Taijitu landed on was a rather sturdy, thick branch high above their reach. It swung to and fro, not unlike a warm pierced by a fishing hook, and both Calluna and Silver graced each other with a glance that was only accompanied by one single statement.
"Hold that thought," was Silver's response.
The instant he finished saying it, the black half of the King Taijitu took notice of them and hissed with the same aggression a cornered cobra would show. The black half coiled, the white half still limp and unaware of the applicants nearby, and it was an advantage they weren't desperate for quite yet. King Taijitus were land Grimm, and being suspended from a tree was bound to make it more difficult for this one to move. Not to mention, the branch was bound to give way under all the stress of the Grimm's movements.
Jumping into combat was easy. For Calluna, it was a literal jump as she readied Gloryseeker, hurling it towards a nearby tree just out of the black half's reach and, as her gauntlet glowed purple, her body following behind to meet the flag were it embedded itself into the wood of the tree. Silver smirked, impressed by the versatility of the weapon and how Calluna made use of it, but his focus was on himself very quickly. The white half was slowly becoming aware, and as soon as this thing hit the ground it was going to be a bit more of a challenge to take care of.
Silver skated along the forest floor as he aimed Double-Take downwards, the ice dust loaded inside flowing in front of him as the wind dust propelled him along. It was an elegant method of transportation, Silver's movements too quick and fluid for the black half to keep track of; he practically breezed past it, weaving circles around the tree as the black half tried to follow and catch him at intervals. The more he circled, the closer the white half was to becoming aware—and when it finally took notice of him, Silver skidded to a halt. The white half reared its head, aggressive like its black counterpart, and large red eyes trained onto Silver as he got into a proper stance and held his ground.
The white half lunged. The branch groaned, Calluna pausing her climb higher for a mere second, before she resumed and zeroed in on the black half. Silver swung Double Take, leaping as he did so, and the rush of air that slashed out at the white half snapped off two of its fangs as the force threw Silver back, skidding along the ground as he resumed his ice skating. The white half hissed, shook its head. The lack of fangs didn't deter it, continuing to pursue Silver as it forced its black half to prioritise the boy.
The black half, however, was more focused on the goat jumping about so close within its reach, temptation hanging from a low branch and begging to be snatched up. As the white half pulled it along, the black half protested and attempted to follow Calluna around and up the tree. It refused to let its prey go, to give up such a readily available meal, and it was clearly angry enough from the fall to demand such a feed. Calluna was clearly leading it on a wild goose chase, taking advantage of the general lack of intellect in Grimm, and waved Gloryseeker about to keep its attention on her. She vaguely took note of Silver's weapon and how it worked, forming a plan in her mind, and she finally came to a hanging stop in the middle of the tree's base.
With its prey seemingly pausing for rest, clinging to the bark of the tree for dear life with one hand, the black half shot out with its jaws wide open. As soon as it did, Calluna began to move again—legs crouched under her body, she sprung backwards into the air with Gloryseeker in both hands. The jaws narrowly missed her, the fangs sinking deep into the thick wood of the tree, and as Calluna sailed through the air mid-flip, she twirled Gloryseeker in her hand and reared back her arm. From within the vamplate of the lance, a glow emitted—and then a combustion worthy of a missile launcher, packing more power into the strong throw Calluna levied at the black half.
Gloryseeker sped through the air as Calluna descended gracefully. As her feet touched the ground and she stood back up, Gloryseeker rammed straight though the black half's skull and further pinned the King Taijitu to the tree, black smoke leaking up into the air from the wound Gloryseeker was embedded into.
The whistle Calluna made at Silver caught his attention, and he switched tactics in an instant; he aimed the ice in Calluna's direction, one hand held out for her to take and follow him with, and her dust-infused gauntlet slotted into his hand perfectly. Silver kept the momentum going, not pausing as he guided himself and Calluna along the sheet of ice he'd left in his wake from circling the tree. All the while the white half gave chase, becoming angrier and angrier as its prey made it work for the reward.
What the white half failed to realise was that the more it gave chase, the more Silver and Calluna made it circle the tree and wrap itself around it. It never truly realised until it had hit the point of making the tree groan once more under its pull, and the white half noticed it couldn't reach Silver or even Calluna like it could three laps prior. It calmed itself, watched Silver skate away with Calluna behind him, and finally it began to retreat. Uncurl itself from the tree.
Smoothly, with zero hesitation and pause, Silver spun Calluna around like they were figure skating and built up momentum. Calluna slowly lowered and lowered until her feet were practically flying about along the ice, circles drawn by the heel of her shoes around them, and Silver dipped for a fraction of a second before redirecting his strength. Calluna circled him one last time, and then her body was up in the air again, flying up above Silver weightlessly as he used the wind dust within Double-Take to aid her ascension. She held out her gauntleted hand, the gravity dust glowing within it, and as the white half continued to unfurl itself, Gloryseeker tore itself free from the smoking black half and flew back to Calluna's grip with a metallic hum.
By the time the white half had unfurled itself enough to move, Silver was back in place as Calluna began her descent. The white half was tunnel-visioned, focusing on Silver all along on the ice, and it reared its head back with a wild hiss. Silver twirled Double-Take, sucked in a deep breath—and when the white half lunged, both he and Calluna moved in tandem.
Large spikes of ice shot out from the sheet beneath him, piercing the jaw of the white half and almost tearing the head clean off. From above, Calluna crashed into the skull and buried Gloryseeker deep within its head, much like she had with the black half, as the force of the launcher under the vamplate once more increased the spear's piercing power.
Silver let out the breath he was holding as the King Taijitu went limp, smoke coming out from under its scales and from the wounds on the white half. It wasn't coming back from that. Calluna knew it too, removing Gloryseeker and taking a bow atop its head before jumping down, falling directly into Silver's arms as he opened them to catch her.
"What a pair we make!" Calluna cheered. She twirled Gloryseeker again, before planting it in the ice and cracking the sheet with the butt of the spear. The flag waved like a victory banner in the wind. "Alas, I see no relic for us to collect."
Silver let out a laugh of his own, shaking his head. "We didn't exactly encounter this one in its habitat."
Calluna hummed in agreement. She turned to look at the fading corpse of the Grimm, thoughtful, and Silver pondered what she must've been thinking as well; something big had to have thrown that King Taijitu, perhaps a more dangerous Grimm fighting the snake for prey. As far as Silver knew, though, nothing was bigger in the Emerald Forest than a King Taijitu.
What in the world had made that Grimm fly through the sky, if not a rare Nevermore?
A loud ribbit sounded from a short distance away. Calluna and Silver blinked, surprised, and looked to each other with wide eyes. He paused to take note of how one of her eyes was blown out a the pupil, ironically making the eye resemble a goat's, but shook off the distraction as another ribbit sounded. Quickly, Silver tried to recall if there were frog Grimm, but he couldn't place any local to this area.
And then they finally caught sight of it. A small frog at the edge of the ice sheet, hesitating in its path as it stared down and ribbited to itself. The self-awareness it showed wasn't exactly what had Calluna and Silver pausing, though. It was more the… build of the frog. The way it just stood there with its front legs limp at its sides like a person uncertain of what to do next, all the while its back legs were straight and supporting its fat little body like… not frog legs should.
"That ain't right," Silver said immediately.
Calluna made a sort of nervous sound that spoke leagues of how much she agreed. And yet she still said, "Come now, perhaps it's a wayward soul looking for guidance. We'd be cruel to ignore it in its time of need."
Silver gave her a dubious look.
Shakily, with the pole of Gloryseeker extended, Calluna began to walk closer to the frog and smiled tightly. "Greetings," she said, still obviously nervous. Silver watched her, amazed and pitying her at the same time, because she clearly didn't need to do this. This was just something to look at, turn around, and run away from. And they'd just fought a Grimm. "Might I point you in the direction you seek, perchance?"
As soon as the tip of the spear was in reach, the frog's head snapped up and its arms latched onto the spear. Calluna was startled, screeched at the action, and the next thing Silver knew the frog was gone. He blinked, unsure of what happened—but then he looked at Calluna again, and her stance said everything. She'd just thrown the frog up through the air, through the trees, on reflex as soon as it grabbed onto Gloryseeker.
Calluna glanced at him, still holding her post-swing form, and all she uttered was, "We never speak of this."
Silver nodded quickly. He'd sleep a lot better without that thing on his mind.
Going straight for the closest person in the area was, apparently, a mistake.
Gliding was something Nyx was good at, and with her Semblance, it was easy enough to spot who landed where and pick from those below. And the closest person who happened to have a Grimm nearby—an empty void, to her vision, and swooping in to help would be the right thing to do at least. So Nyx had descended, dropping from branch to branch with her weapon drawn—
And then she had stopped in her tracks at the sight of the King Taijitu staring down a lone girl with one of its heads. Nyx had been ready to jump in, but then she heard the click of a tongue, annoyance from the girl.
The girl's white hair exploded into a vibrant purple, and when the King Taijitu lunged in response, it practically crashed into a brick wall. Two hands had held its jaw open, feet planted firmly on the ground, and then the girl just began… spinning on the spot. Dragging the King Taijitu around like a ragdoll.
Nyx regretted picking this person when she watched the girl throw the King Taijitu up into the air, breaching the treetops entirely and disappearing from view. She regretted it even more when she realised she couldn't even leave without drawing attention to herself, having landed so close in the hopes of helping.
So now Nyx was at a crossroads: Leave and catch the girl's attention, or stay and pray she overlooked her. Neither was going to end well for her—this was her partner for the next four years, obviously, and Nyx just had to suck it up. That was what Lapis would say, at least.
Ugh.
Nyx put away her weapon, sighing to herself, and she finally dropped from the tree to let herself glide to the ground. Her wings broke her fall some, and the now purple-haired girl turned to look at her over her shoulder with an almost disinterested expression. Like she wasn't even surprised Nyx was there at all. Nyx rubbed the back of her neck, ready for the sass to come from not helping, but none came. The girl just pulled the goggles down from her eyes, leaving them around her neck loosely, and brushed some thick curls out of her face.
Oh. Nyx recognised her now.
"You're the—" she started, only for the girl to cut her off.
"Vomit girl. Yes. I know." The response was quick, clipped. "Vomit girl prefers to be called Marza, FYI."
Well, Marza rolled off the tongue better than Vomit Girl. Nyx shrugged, dropped the topic immediately, and nodded. "Nyx. I prefer that over Faunus, if you're one of those types," Nyx said, just as clipped in her tone.
Marza just nodded once. No objection, no offense taken to being implied to be, well, racist, and just dusted herself off as she brushed some purple hair over her shoulder. It looked like a marshmallow swirl, the kind you could spread on bread, and Nyx was transfixed for a moment before she even thought to ask about what she'd seen. That hair had been white last night, and just before the King Taijitu lunged, right?
As Marza approached, closing the distance so they could figure out where to go next, Nyx pointed to her and said, "Wasn't that white just now?"
"Yep."
Nyx blinked at her. That was it? Marza fixed her gloves nonchalantly while her tonfas remained behind her, strapped to the back of her ensemble. "And now it's purple?"
"Yep."
Wow, a brick wall in the physical and verbal sense. Such a winner for a partner. Not that Nyx could talk, being pretty guarded as well, but this was just ridiculous.
"Any… reason for that?"
"Yep."
Dear God, give me the fucking strength—
"What is that reason?"
Marza paused. She looked at Nyx, sized her up. For a moment Nyx wondered if it was Marza wondering if she could be trusted—but then, as the look on her face turned almost dubious, it dawned on Nyx that Marza was assuming she was stupid. Like what happened was the most obvious thing in the world. God, the silent judgement was worse than the open racism. At least Nyx could ignore the open insults and make the aggressor look stupid for picking a fight for no reason.
"Semblance," Marza finally said. And then she turned around, took off one of her gloves, and practically shoved her whole hand into her mouth with a gag. Nyx dry heaved at the same time as she did, caught entirely off guard by the action, and she had to look away when Marza's hand came out. The wet plops of vomit on the ground were not what she needed to see, let alone hear.
With a hoarse voice, Marza coughed when she was done and said, "Don't be a prude. Look."
Marza crouched down, and Nyx spared a glance as she did so. The girl's hair was white again, no longer the vibrant purple from before, and Nyx blinked again. What? Vomiting on command made her change hair colour? What? And then Marza stood back up, wiping at her face with her bare hand while her gloved hand held up a dirty, smelly shell of purple. A dust shell, designed for a shotgun, missing the casing entirely.
Wide eyes flicked to Marza's face. Nyx was slowly piecing it together now.
"Only gotta hold it," Marza croaked. "But I drop 'em sometimes. Swallowing whole makes it easier to keep the Semblance active."
Nyx opened her mouth. Closed it. So her Semblance was… doing what anyone else could when they used dust in its raw form?
"Body's made to be a conduit," Marza went on. "It won't potentially kill me if ingested or something." She shrugged. "Human dust weapon or whatever."
She burped into the back of her hand and shook her head. Nyx wondered if throwing up the dust had been necessary—if she had to do that every time—or if, by some miracle of mercy for Marza, she'd just been showing off or asserting a weird sort of dominance over Nyx by throwing up on command.
Either way, the regret was coming back in spades.
At the very least, moving on from that mishap had been easy. Nyx let out a slow breath and ruffled her feathers, looking around for where to go next. Marza cleaned herself up and armed herself, her tonfas in her hands now and slotted up against her arms. They were in agreement that they needed to go further away from where they'd dropped in, especially if the relics were part of a scavenger hunt, and they walked in silence for the most part. Nyx wasn't game to ask more about the Semblance, and Marza showed no interest in Nyx at all aside from moving in the same general direction.
After a while, though, Nyx paused and hummed in thought. It would probably help to have an idea of what was ahead of them, especially if they had to fight more Grimm—or, in Nyx's case, start fighting Grimm. She held a hand out, stopping Marza, and the disgusted look Marza gave her hand made her wings shake with annoyance. Ugh, maybe she was one of those racists. The kind who hated Faunus touching them in case they caught "the animal".
"I'm gonna have a look," Nyx said, doing her best to keep her annoyance out of her voice. Marza nodded once, clicked her tongue, and glanced around. When Nyx didn't move, she looked back at the Faunus with brows furrowed.
"Well?" Marza demanded. "Are you going up to look or what?"
Nyx gave her a dry look. "If you'd asked about my Semblance like I had yours," was her curt reply, "you'd know why I'm staying on the ground right now."
Marza's brows raised, head titling back a little. Her expression was hard to read, but Nyx didn't care enough to decipher it beyond that first second she saw it. She just looked ahead, blinking angrily, and inhaled sharply as she activated her Semblance. Marza would see her eyes begin to glow, and her answer would be right in front of her.
She could see a few spots of aura in the area. Not a lot of voids, meaning less Grimm to worry about than she'd expected at this point in the Emerald Forest, but there was one that stood out. Nyx furrowed her brows, frowned, and focused on the void moving about to her right. As she shifted on her feet, turning to face it, Marza moved in tandem to stay by her side with her weapon drawn.
Two distinct auras were chasing the void. Not fighting it, but chasing it. It wasn't the hit and run tactics Nyx used, and the void wasn't knocking any of them back. It was running away from them, clearly weaker and trying to avoid danger, and Nyx chewed her lip. The white aura stayed back, trailing behind the red aura, but every time they got close they'd find themselves having to pause—just in time for Nyx to hear faint snaps of tree branches.
Nyx blinked, the glow fading from her eyes, and she rubbed them with a hiss. "Range is half a mile," she told Marza. "Someone's nearby and chasing a Grimm. It's not fighting back, so it's probably weak, but there's no reason to chase a Grimm when it can't hurt someone."
"And how many are chasing it?" Marza rolled her shoulders.
"Two people. They keep getting stopped by the trees, I think."
"It probably has a relic they were about to take," Marza surmised. "Shame. They'll have to find another one when we're done with the Grimm."
She jogged off in the direction of the Grimm and the applicants. Nyx watched her. Was she… serious? Sure, dirty tactics weren't beneath Nyx, and she would've done it anyway, but this girl was just proving to be more and more unpleasant for everyone around her by the second.
She sprinted after Marza. With her twin falchions drawn, Nyx caught up quickly and readied Twilight Oath for action. Even though the Grimm was weak, she wasn't sure what kind it was yet. For all she knew, it was a small Death Stalker running amok with a relic in its pincers. Those things were a pain to catch and a bigger pain to avoid being stung by.
As she ran, Nyx searched once more to see how far they were. She was caught by surprise at how much distance the Grimm have covered, but Nyx was quick to shout, "Above you, past those trees!" as she skidded to a halt and slotted the grips of her falchions together. As Nyx pressed the button that triggered the bowstring mechanism in the joined blades, Marza exploded into a glow of fire through her hair. The Grimm breached the trees, at first a mass of Grimm faces that Nyx couldn't decipher, but as soon as Marza lunged for it with her tonfas, it floated above her and wobbled about erratically.
A Geist? Nyx trained Twilight Oath up at it, gaze darting from face to face on the body. All it had to distinguish it as a Geist was its floating capabilities and its long, clawed hands sticking out from the mass
of faces. A new type of Grimm? No, Ozpin would know if there was a new type in his own backyard. Shit, which face did she strike if it was a Geist? Did they have to get all of them? What if it got away before then? It was already out of reach for Marza!
A bang sounded from further into the trees, the two applicants who'd been chasing the Grimm caught up already. One of the faces on the Geist split in half, the wooden pieces descending to the forest floor, and a flash of white rose petals blurred Nyx's vision for a brief second. A flurry of white appeared above the Geist, before finally the flurry took form—two people, a girl in a white cloak clinging to a boy in black, and the boy hastily switched his weapon from its previous shooting mode to the standard sword it had folded out from. He swung down as he descended, but the Geist simply swiped at him, knocking him aside, and hurriedly looked for a way to escape.
Marza ran for the trees as they duo disappeared in a flurry again, reappearing above the Geist to keep it from floating any higher. "The faces are masks!" Marza called out. "It's using the relics to hide its real face!"
Nyx clicked her tongue. She just broke one of the relics. She'd better not suffer for this, or she'd never hear the end of it from Marza or Lapis.
"Do you know which face belongs to a Geist?" Nyx called back. From above the Geist, as they reappeared once more, the boy swung his large sword at the Geist and finally, finally held it in place instead of being thrown aside like old junk.
"Geist faces have a glowing eye in the middle!" He was struggling as the girl who clung to him fumbled with her weapon. The polearm was far too long to use, even if she collapsed it, so high up and so close to the Geist and her partner. "Just get the—the glowy one!"
Marza shot up into the air, balls of fire propelling her as her body conducted the burn dust. The tree she'd used as a prop was burnt harshly from the force, the sizzling fading to a dull stench of ash, and Nyx watched as Marza extended her arms to snatch at one of the masks on the Grimm. Her grip found an Ursa mask, the girl throwing her weight about to keep her balance as her other arm sought another mask, and Nyx readied her bow for when the Geist face was found.
One by one Marza pulled masks off of the Grimm's body, throwing them harshly to the ground, and the Grimm was torn between fending off the boy and shaking off Marza. Finally, one of the masks Marza grabbed refused to budge—a pained sound came from the Grimm as she flared up once more, and then it was moving around even more frantically to shake her off. The mask she had her grip on currently gave way, and she dropped to the ground with it as the Geist focused on the duo once more.
With the scorched hand print on its face, Nyx knew exactly which one to aim for. Even as it turned its head to deal with the duo, Nyx pulled back her arrow and let out a long, slow breath. As soon as she did, the girl clung to her partner again and distracted the Grimm with another burst of white petals, keeping it in place as the duo crashed into the ground beside Marza and the masks already gathered.
Nyx let the arrow fly. The Grimm turned around, scorched face searching, and it barely even knew what hit it when the arrow pierced it. The Geist disappeared into a puff of smoke, and every single mask it had gathered rained down onto the forest floor with loud, clunky thuds.
Nyx groaned with relief and jumped out of the path of the falling masks. All the while, Marza and the duo were covering their heads and groaning in pain as they were pelted by thick wooden slabs.
The duo, Summer Rose and Qrow Branwen, had been chasing the Geist since they found it near the empty plaques where the masks should've been. It was actually the first Grimm they'd encountered, and most of their hardships had just been aged, dying branches falling down and making them take different routes to avoid other branches in the process. Finding the Geist had been a fluke, but the fluke hadn't paid off when the Geist fled in the direction of the falling branches upon seeing them.
Summer picked up the damaged mask, explaining that she felt guilty that one of them got destroyed and that she'd hate for someone to miss out because of it. Marza, meanwhile, picked up a mask modelled after a Nevermore and handed it to Nyx. "Your kill, your prize," was her logic.
The rest of their time in the Emerald Forest, however, was spent doing what good Samaritans did—at Summer's insistence, all four of them took a handful of masks each and followed her back the way they'd come, if only to leave the masks where they were intended to be found. True to Summer's word, a pair had already arrived there to look for the relics and were at a loss of where to find them.
Well, Nyx decided, she supposed Qrow and Summer wouldn't be the worst teammates in the world if Ozpin put her and Marza with them.
"Gretchen Reinart, Minium Hercule, Wismut Fontane, Olivia Phyllon."
Above the images of the four girls on the screen, the acronym of GPWM appeared as Ozpin spoke. The four girls looked proud of themselves, held their heads high, and everyone applauded them as they were given their team name.
"You each retrieved the Sabyr masks. From this day forward, you will be known as Team Gypsum—led by Gretchen Reinart."
The upperclassmen welcomed Team GPWM into their ranks as they descended the stage, just like all the others, and the next team was called out. Everyone had found out who their teammates were thanks to the line they were sorted into, but there really wasn't any time for pleasantries as Ozpin inducted them to his school at a rapid pace.
As the next group lined up, Ozpin announced, "Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen, Raven Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long. You each retrieved the Beringel mask."
The acronym of STRQ appeared on the screen, and both Summer and Taiyang stared up at the letters in awe and excitement. "From this day forward," Ozpin went on, "you will be known as Team Stark—led by Summer Rose."
And so joined Team STRQ to Beacon's ranks.
The next group exited. They lined up quietly as Ozpin announced all of their names for their new peers to know: "Calluna Oldspell, Silver Valentine, Almer Zoen, Liath Khole."
The letters on the screen above them spelled out CSAL.
"You each retrieved the Imp mask. From this day forward you will be known as Team Crystal—led by Calluna Oldspell."
While Calluna and Silver took a bow each, Almer and Liath held back in their appreciation for the applause and quietly joined their teammates as they searched for seats.
Following Team CSAL was the final group. Having waited all evening for their names to be called, the girl were exhausted but held themselves proudly. Ozpin glanced at them, then at the scroll in his hand, and resumed his announcement.
"Marzapan de la Crème, Nyx Yozora, Maddyx Mandragora, Lexa Konjak. You each retrieved the Nevermore mask."
The final team name flashed on the screen, spelling MMLN.
"From this day forward you will be known as Team Melon—led by Marzapan de la Crème."
Maddyx let out a sigh of relief when Marza was announced as leader, and they headed for the last remaining seats with little fanfare.
Ozpin wrapped up his speech introducing his new students, the new teams training at Beacon. Everyone applauded, chatted among themselves, and without delay their assigned dorms were sent to the scrolls handed out to them by the staff backstage. With the toughest entrance exam they would ever have to do over and done with, the first-year teams were permitted to relax and rest in their rooms until classes began.
So began the new year at Beacon.
There's our teams! Let me introduce them to you all!
Team MMLN
Marzapan de la Crème - 17 - Cookies & Cream - Dust Dyeing (nerfherder-han)
Maddyx Mandragora - 17 - Häxa - Arise (ekoshio)
Lexa Konjak - 18 - Obsidian and Morning Star - Matter Control (ekoshio)
Nyx Yozora - 17 - Twilight Oath and Silver Moon - Gleam Eye (ShadowWolf223)
Team CSAL
Calluna Oldspell - 17 - Gloryseeker - Moonlight Napalm (baronuwu)
Silver Valentine - 17 - Double-Take - Shine (Crash Spectacular)
Almer Zoen - 17 - Revol Blader - Nulling Sense (InsertBadJokeHere)
Liath Kohle - 17 - Ask and Answer - N/A (izar ilunak)
With that said, if you notice your character isn't 16, remember I said in the last chapter that 90% of submissions were early admissions. I also said I'd be ageing people up due to how uncommon early admissions is.
