Chapter 4. Emerald Forest Shenanigans
Weiss's start at Beacon was not ideal. Ok, that was an understatement. It had so far been a complete disaster.
Before she got to Beacon, her expectations were that the school only consisted of the elite, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. Professionalism was to be the standard.
Now Weiss could have gone to Atlas Academy like her sister Winter did. After all, Atlas was one of the four Huntsmen Academies and had a good reputation; but, since Weiss was expected to inherit the Schnee Dust Company, it was important she made foreign connections. Being away from her father was also a perk.
The biggest decider though, was Beacon was the best of the four schools. It was the starting point of many elite Huntsmen. The winner of the last couple of Vytal tournaments had come from Beacon. If one wanted to become a Huntress, Beacons education was second to none in providing that. Schnee's only accepted the best.
Huntsmen were brave, Huntsmen were strong, Huntsmen were loved. If Weiss were to become a Huntsmen from Beacon, she would be able to gain a name for herself and bring back honor to her family name.
At Beacon there would be no time for silliness or those with no potential, that was for combat school to sort out. All that was supposed to matter was the last defenders of Remnant were given the proper education and training to be a service to the people.
Weiss's expectations were soon ruined.
Too start with a child ran into her and got her luggage all over place, then said child blew them up and while Weiss was telling the little girl off another girl popped up and essentially lectured Weiss on her family's practices.
It hurt Weiss, they were true, but she had nothing to do with the fact her father was a piece of shit.
When she met Pyrrha, Weiss finally met a student in the school who fit the definition of someone who belonged there. Hopefully, they would combine and show the world their talent and might.
Then even that got ruined when she met the two buffoons, A and B. They had no knowledge or class. Buffoon A couldn't take a hint that she wasn't into him and kept hitting on her, and Buffoon B was so dumb she wondered how someone like that could have possibly made it into even a combat school.
Nonetheless the poor abilities of the other students stopped bothering Weiss and instead she decided, as long as her teammate fit the standards, she would be fine. Let those buffoons fail, it didn't matter to her how they did.
Sadly, that plan went to the gutter. As soon as she landed using her glyphs to slow down her descent, Weiss immediately went to look for Pyrrha, they would be the perfect team. Pyrrha was strong and well-respected, finishing at the top her class and winning multiple tournaments she was just born to be a Huntsmen. It would only make sense for them to work together.
Weiss's was able to make eye contact with a redhead…It just wasn't Pyrrha.
That child Ruby suddenly ran out of a bush, almost scaring Weiss into drawing her weapon. As both of them were staring at each other, Weiss turned around and walked away.
"Wait where are you going? We are supposed to be teammates..." Ruby cried out sadly.
Weiss did not care.
They didn't really make eye contact, right? At Best they saw each other's shoulders. There was no way her partner for four years was going to be…be that child. It was a mistake; she could not have someone like that carry her down. Weiss needed someone that she could show to Winter and proudly say "This is my partner." That child was not it.
As she was in the middle of convincing herself, a loud noise rang out, Weiss took a look up and her day just got worse.
It was Buffoon A, Jaune. He was trying to get out of a tree. It took a while of struggling before the idiot finally noticed her.
"Hello there," Was all the blonde could say as he awkwardly waved at her. He tried to make it sound cool, but he just failed.
"Nope, nope, nope." Weiss was saying in her head as she quickly turned around and went back to Ruby.
"By no means does this make us friends." Weiss clarified as she grabbed Ruby and started along the path.
"You came back!" Ruby happily cried.
If Weiss had to choose between the child or Buffoon A, at least the child looked competent at fighting. That and she wouldn't have to worry about getting hit on by this one.
As Weiss continued the pathway the child Ruby called out to her.
"What's the hurry?"
Did that girl really not know? They were being graded on initiation, if they did not do well, they would get a bad grade, and Schnees don't get bad grades.
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-" Weiss was suddenly cut off by her new partner appearing in front of her.
"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!" Ruby said with a smile.
How did the girl close the distance that fast, was it her semblance?
"When did…" was all Weiss could say as her voice trailed off.
"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 says as she puts her arm around Weiss's shoulder.
Weiss was really tempted to shove it off.
"You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool...'"
Weiss highly doubted she would ever say that.
"And I want to be her friend."
She would rather dye her hair green.
Though, based on her semblance and the fact Ruby was at Beacon, Weiss had to admit even though she was a child, she had potential.
Just as Weiss about to respond a loud noise rang out a couple of seconds later as the pair turned to look what it was. It was the largest cloud of dust cloud (not the energy) that Weiss had ever seen.
"Weiss! Mori is in trouble we need to go help him." Ruby yelled out.
Mori…was that Buffoon B?
"How do you even know who it is, you can't even be sure that's him?"
"Anytime that something weird happens, Mori is involved. Besides if it isn't him, someone could still need help." Ruby stated matter-of-factly .
That…that didn't make any sense, and besides everyone here was a Huntsman in training, they didn't need someone to baby them.
Before Weiss could retort, the girl ran away quickly, leaving only a trail of roses.
Weiss followed her teammate in a huff. When she finally caught up to her partner, Weiss was greeted to quite the sight, an entire section of the Emerald forest was just gone, with no tree's anywhere, it looked completely barren. At the center of the chaos Buffoon B himself, with her partner trying to make sure he was alright.
"You buffoon," Weiss angrily stated as she marched to the duo "What did you do?"
"I, uhhh, landed." Was all Buffoon B could say to her.
Landed, all he did was landed? Normally when someone lands, they don't cause the topography to change.
"So, I guess we are partners?" Mori turned to Ruby and asked.
"Sorry Mori, no, I'm already with Weiss." The girl apologetically responded.
Well if they wanted to be partners, Weiss would be happy to let that happen. Maybe it could still work…no, no, plausible deniability already left the building when she came back for the child.
"So, I hate to ask this." Buffoon B says as he interrupts Weiss's internal debate on if she could offload Ruby. "But are those grimm? Because, they kind of look a little unfriendly."
What he'd never seen a Grimm before, what kind of idiot was he.
Wait did he just ask if those were Grimm?
Weiss quickly turns around to the sight of a pack of Beowolves converging on the trio.
Apparently, Buffoon B's, dust show decided to attract every Grimm within a mile radius.
"You know Mori, you seem to have thing with attracting Beowolves." Was all her partner Ruby could say.
Weiss on the other hand was debating to herself if she could have lived with the flirting.
So…these were the Grimm, the scourge of Remnant.
Eh, so far, he'd give them a 2 out of 10. They weren't really that threatening, these ones were quite mindless and didn't really have the firepower to injure Mori.
As another Grimm tried to strike him with its claws, Mori once again didn't move and just let it hit him. He could've used his martial arts, but since these Grimm were largely mindless, he didn't feel the need to.
Is what he told himself anyways.
All Mori really needed to do was let it hit him and then he would punch it. It was quite effective.
"You dolt. What are you doing? Get out of my way!"
"Your way? You were in my way!"
"I had that one you just suddenly jumped in there!"
"If I let you take any longer, we'd be here until dinner!"
Speaking of effectiveness, right now, quite the opposite was going on between Ruby and her new partner Weiss.
The communication between the two was lacking, they didn't have any trust, synergy with each other was non-existent and their attacks effectiveness were essentially cut down by half.
Weiss once again attempted to concentrate to unleash a powerful attack on a beowolf, just as she was about to make her move, she was interrupted again by Ruby jumping in and striking down the grimm with her scythe, in a panic Weiss had to redirect her weapon taking out another poor tree.
"Hey watch it!" Ruby cried out.
"Excuse me? You jumped in my way again. There is a proper order and procedure to this. I could've killed you!" Weiss yelled back.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to do that." Ruby muttered.
Ok this was getting ridiculous, before the girls could start turning their weapons on each other, Mori grabbed Ruby and threw her over his shoulder then picked up Weiss by her waist and just started to run.
"Hey what are you doing Mori!"
"You buffoon, let go of me!"
Ignoring their complaints, he ran as far as possible, once he created a safe distance from the pack, he immediately let them go.
"Why did you run away Mori? Those were Beowolves, a combat student could handle them!" Ruby yelled.
"Yes, listen to the child we could have taken them!" Weiss angrily joined her.
"Child! I am not a child; I'm grown up, I drink milk." As Ruby's attention turned back to her partner.
What did milk have to do with being grown up?
"See! That's what I'm talking about!"
"I was afraid if we stayed there any longer, we could've been surrounded by more of those things." Mori explained as he tried to pacify the girls.
What he said was a lie, he was not really worried about those things. He was more worried about the two's bickering.
When teams form, most teams will usually have moments where they will argue as they try to figure stuff out, it is part of the team building process. However, on the battlefield was not the place for that process.
The biggest problem was that they just weren't familiar with each other's battle styles, if they didn't have such a rocky relationship beforehand, they could've at least talked about their strengths and weaknesses and planned for what to do before they got into a confrontation.
It didn't help that their fighting styles were the complete opposite. Weiss was orderly and she had a plan for every single strike. It spoke of the constant training she had but her inability to adapt on the battlefield showed her lack of real-time experience. Ruby on the other hand was impulsive and did what she felt like. She was strong especially for her age, but she wasn't used to fighting with other people, as evidenced by the fact that during the robbery she left Mori on his own and during the recent bout with the Beowolves she kept on getting in Weiss's way.
"Look, Mori, right? I appreciate the concerns you have but we would have been fine. Now we have wasted enough time, so we need to get to the temple to find the relics to finish initiaton." Weiss said as she finally seemed to be calming down.
Initiation, that was still a thing, he still needed to find a partner, if he didn't get one, would he get kicked out? Why was he here again? He didn't even want to be here.
"Yeah, let's get going…Where are we going?" Ruby asked looking around the forest.
Oh yeah, he's here because he looked that girl in the eye's and his will broke. Mori wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she somehow did. Maybe that's why Ozpin mentioned silver eyes. If Mori hadn't seen her speed in action, he would've been sure her semblance was making you unable to say no to her.
"We are going…where are we? You buffoon! Where did you take us?!" the heiress angrily shrieked.
Mori flinched at the girl's angry glare. He didn't know, he'd never been here before.
"Speaking of which, you carried us really far Mori, how did you do that?" Ruby curiously asked.
"Oh, it wasn't too hard, you guys weren't that heavy." Mori casually responded.
He soon found himself on the ground.
The girls for the first time showed teamwork, as Ruby delivered a quick punch to his gut while Weiss kneed him as he ricocheted from the initial strike.
See, it was possible for the two to work together.
"Ouch…I knew you have a tough body Mori, but it felt like I was hitting a rock." Ruby winced as she gingerly held her hand.
"My knee…" Weiss complained clutching her leg "What the hell are you made of? Hitting you took a big chunk out of my aura."
Mori could only shrug as he got back up.
"Mori's weirdness aside, back on topic how do we find the ruins." Ruby said as she still held her hand.
"Based off the location of the sun… it's this way" Weiss stated as she gently let go of her leg.
After walking a while, it was clear Weiss had no idea where she was going.
"Sorry we passed it…it's actually this way."
"Weiss, why can't you admit you don't know where we are going?" Ruby tiredly asked.
"Because I know where we are going…we are going to the forest temple." Weiss replied.
At that, both Mori and Ruby groaned.
"Oh, don't give me that it's your fault we are lost anyways." Weiss accused
"My fault! How is it my fault!?" Ruby snapped back.
"If you didn't go 'Oh no my boyfriends in trouble we got to go save him' we wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place."
"Did you not see the giant dust cloud, I'm sorry I got concerned about a friend after seeing that and he's not my boyfriend." Ruby defended herself.
Mori sighed as he put his ears between his hands and stepped in between the girls, hoping to at least minimize the argument that was developing again.
People kept on thinking Mori was Ruby's boyfriend, and frankly, Mori couldn't really blame them. Ever since he landed on Remnant the girl kept on dragging him around. He wasn't even sure why she got attached this quickly, or why he kept on letting it happen. There was something about her that made Mori just go with it. It honestly kind of reminded him of his relationship with his teacher Xuangzang.
"You think you're so perfect, don't you?" Ruby angrily accused.
Wait when did the argument reach this point? He wasn't paying attention.
"I'm not perfect… not yet, but I am better than you." Weiss retorted as she went ahead with a huff.
That was kind of harsh, Mori took a quick look over at Ruby to make sure she was ok.
"But…you don't even know me." Ruby sadly whimpered.
She was not.
Trying to cheer her up Mori put his hand on her shoulder.
"Just give her time, it'll take a bit for her to get use to you." Mori started. "If it makes you feel better, I thought you were a little strange initially."
"Mori, I don't want to hear you of all people call me strange." The girl said as a little smile crossed her face.
"Says the girl with a scythe as a best friend," Mori shot back "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He quickly added.
"No, no there's nothing wrong with that." Ruby cheerfully replied.
Mission cheer up Ruby accomplished.
"She just needs to see me to do something completely awesome like I did with you." The girl excitedly stated.
Suddenly a giant shadow appeared over the two of them, Mori looked up, it was a giant bird. Suddenly getting chills Mori looked at Ruby.
Oh no… In the short time that Mori had gotten to know Ruby, he could tell when she was going to do something reckless. He called it the look…and she had it on right now.
"Hey Weiss!" Ruby shouted out as she went up to catch up to the heiress.
Mori's fear on the look came true a couple minutes later as the two girls found themselves on top of the bird with Mori chasing after them on the ground.
"Mori!" Ruby yelled out "Why didn't you join us!"
"Because even though he's dumb, he's sane!" Weiss replied for Mori.
Technically she was right, with the terrible weight control with his half of Ruyi Jingu Bang, he doubted that the bird would be able to hold him, but telling them that he had one of the heaviest objects in the universe in his ear would only have gotten him more weird looks.
"I still need to find my partner!" Mori shouted back. "I'll keep up with you on the ground!"
"Keep up with a Nevemore!?" Weiss shouted. "There is no way you can do that!"
Mori just ignored her. Stopping suddenly, he put his finger to his ear where Ruyi Jingu Bang was, adjusting it so that he could run faster. With the adjustments made he started to sprint after the now-named Nevermore.
While, running after the bird he suddenly heard a loud girlish scream.
It was Jaune?
Man, Jaune had a high-pitched voice.
Jaune was interesting to Mori. To be honest when Mori said he wanted to hang out with the guy the night before initiation, his reasons he gave Jaune were were sort of true… but they were not the main reason.
His main reason was that Jaune was one of the few students in Beacon to really catch his eye. Ruby and Yang were two of them, and so was Weiss. That's because they were on a different level compared to the rest of the student body. The same went for Jaune as well…except that his different level was below the average. He looked really weak compared to everyone else.
With him being that weak Mori wanted to see if he was actually hiding his strength by getting to know him.
He wasn't hiding his strength.
He really was that weak. So why was he here?
Mori wasn't wondering about Jaune's motivation for being there, from talking to him it seemed like that he wanted to be a Huntsmen to follow his family name, that and like Ruby he wanted to be a hero. It was childish, but that dedication he had to follow that dream even though he was weak, was something Mori couldn't help but admire.
Mori genuinely liked Jaune, he was a bit of a dork, and Mori never thought it was possible for someone to be matching Ruby's nervous energy yesterday, but he was a nice guy who was easy to talk too. That's why when Jaune got launched, Mori was getting ready to go quickly catch him, questions be damned. Thankfully, he didn't have to do that because that really strong student named Pyrrha saved him. Even though Jaune turned out fine, that didn't stop Mori from giving an evil eye to Ozpin for risking the poor boy's life for whatever plan he had for him.
What did Ozpin want with Jaune? The enigmatic professor was the reason why Mori was wondering about Jaune's placement in Beacon. Did he have a big plan for him or was he just a kid to be sacrificed at a moment's whim. Either way that incident with Jaune only furthered Mori's distrust of the headmaster.
Mori's thoughts were interrupted suddenly as a fist was thrown at him. He was about to just let it hit him and let them break their hand when he realized who it was.
It was Yang.
"Mori!" Yang yelled as Mori got out of the way. "Don't scare me like that, I thought you were a Grimm."
"Sorry about that Yang," Mori apologized. "…so, I guess we are partners than?"
"Actually no, I'm with Blake over there." Yang stated as she pointed out her partner to Mori.
It was the girl with cat ears that helped Ruby with Weiss yesterday. She was wearing a bow to cover her ears, but it was poorly covered. That girl was another person that Mori noticed that was on a different level than the other students. Based on her posture and the way she held herself, it seemed like she had a lot of fighting experience. Especially against other people.
Mori just waved hello at her.
Blake waved back, a little apprehensively though for some reason.
"So, by the way porcupine," Yang started "Was that huge dust cloud you?"
Porcupine? Looks like Ruby told Yang his nickname he got from Jaune.
"Yeah, that was me." Mori apologized as he sheepishly rubbed his head.
"I figured that was you, anytime something weird happens, I think to myself 'What did Jin Mori do this time.'" Yang replied as she gave Mori a playful punch on the shoulder.
Mori could only snort at the hypocrisy of that.
"So, you still don't have a partner?" Blake asked, chipping into the conversation.
"Nope, I got found by Ruby and her partner Weiss and-"
"Wait," Yang interrupted, "Ruby's partner is Ice Queen? Is she still alive? And where is she now?"
"I think she's fine, last I saw of her she was riding a big bird." Mori answered back.
"What?" Was all the duo could say.
Speaking of which, where were Ruby and Weiss, he should have been following them, did he over shoot them?
"Heeeaaads uuuppppp!" A voice from above called out.
Looks like that question of where Ruby was got answered.
However, what happened next could only be described as chaos.
Just as Ruby was about to land, Jaune suddenly appeared, flying through the air, knocking the two into a tree.
Hmm something about Jaune felt different, like he was still really weak, but he was exuding an energy he didn't have before.
"So is that what you meant by a big bird." Blake asked Mori.
Mori nodded.
Yang herself was speechless, just as she was going to talk, suddenly a loud a noise from the forest.
It was an orange girl crashing what looked to be a bear, then a boy who looked oriental following her muttering something about never doing that again.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa." Blake asked confusedly.
So that's what it was called.
Before Yang could even asnwer that, the really strong student named Pyrrha ran into the clearing being chased by what looked like a scorpion.
As Ruby got down from the tree, suddenly everyone started yelling names. Mori was pretty sure his name was in there as well, but he wasn't sure who yelled it. It was either Ruby or Jaune. They both had high pitched voices. Either way Mori got some new information, apparently the newcomers from the Ursa were named Ren and Nora.
Mori was getting crazy vibes from Nora. He would get along with her.
"Did that girl just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail." Blake for the third time asked trying to make sense of what was going on.
Yang on the other hand finally blew up…literally.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" She screamed as her eyes actually turned red and fire started blaring out.
"Huh so that's Yang semblance in action." Mori thought to himself.
It seemed like all the people that Mori thought looked interesting were in the general area right now…except one.
Wait…where was Weiss?
"How could you leave me!" As the girl shouted down answering Mori's question.
"Should someone do something about that?" Mori asked
"She's going to fall." Blake chipped in.
"She'll be fine." Ruby answered.
"She's falling" the oriental boy named Ren flatly stated.
"I'll save her!" Jaune confidently stated as he leapt to Weiss's rescue.
Mori noted a couple of problems with that declaration.
One, Jaune was still in the tree, so instead of being able to catch her from the ground he leapt from the tree to catch her. That led to problem two…
*crash*
"My hero..." Weiss enthusiastically said as she walked off.
"My back…" Jaune cried out weakly on the ground.
Physics, it existed, Mori wasn't quite sure what Jaune was thinking trying to catch Weiss in the air, Mori suspected it wasn't with his brain.
But unless Jaune was the one that took Mori's cloud Kinto'un, physics was going introduce a harsh lesson to him.
"Great." Yang stated as Pyrrha joined the group still running from the Deathstalker, "Now we are all going to die together"
"Not if I can help it." Ruby confidently stated.
Oh no…Ruby had the look again.
Ruby once again decided to be reckless as she charged at the Deathstalker only to be met by its hard armor as it repelled her attacks. As Ruby tried to retreat, the Nevermore from above attacked by shooting its feathers, none made a direct hit; but one of the feathers caught onto Ruby's cape.
Yang immediately screamed Ruby's name and went to go save her but the Nevermore once again attacked and prevented Yang from helping
As Ruby was struggling to get out, the Deathstalker brought its tail down to strike her.
Renewal Taekwondo: Bo-Bup
As if on instinct, Mori used the flash step of his techniques to come to Ruby's aid.
Just as he took a stance ready to deliver another technique, a blur of white entered his vision as Weiss used what looked like a massive amount of Ice dust to freeze the Deathstalker in its place.
Well, looks like he would not need to use his martial arts after all.
"What the, when did you get here!?" Weiss asked, suddenly realizing Mori's appearance. "You know what, never mind I think I understand what my partner meant by weird stuff always going on with you."
Weiss then turned to Ruby.
"And You! You are so childish!" She started yelling at Ruby. "And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style."
Really, was she starting a fight right here?
"And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So, if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer." Weiss finished alleviating Mori's concerns over a new fight.
Well looks like some progress was being made.
"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." Ruby meekly replied.
Mori was wondering why Ruby was being more reckless than usual, turns out she just wanted the girl's approval.
"Your fine." Weiss softly answered back, turning back to the group.
At that, Ruby a breathed sigh of relief muttering something about knees.
Then suddenly, Ruby immediately turned to Mori with stars in her eyes.
"How did you do that Mori! I didn't even see you until Weiss called you out, did you remember how to use more of your amazing semblance." The girl asked rapidly as the two followed Weiss back.
Normally he would indulge the girl and go along with her questions; however, now was not the time for that.
Instead, he gave her the most disappointed look he could muster. It seemed to work, as the girl's excited look seemed to drop.
"Ruby," Mori started in a harsh tone. "You are strong, especially for your age…but you've got to stop being so reckless. Be aware of your surroundings, people won't always be there to bail you out when you make a mistake."
This was the first time he had scolded Ruby since he met her. But if she did not fix her flaw of not paying attention in battle, it would one day bite her in the butt… hard.
It felt a bit hypocritical criticizing Ruby, while being annoyed at Weiss. But it wasn't like Mori disagreed with Weiss's statements, he just felt like there was a better place for them.
Ruby only responded by looking down at her feet dejectedly.
"Ruby!" Yang yelled out as she pulled Ruby into a hug. "I'm so glad you are safe."
"…Yeah…" Ruby replied softly.
"Uh guys," Jaune cried out breaking up the sister's moment. "I think that things coming back, What should we do?" He asked as he pointed out the Nevermore circling back.
"Also, that thing is breaking free." Ren calmly stated as he pointed out the Death Stalker freeing itself from its icy prison
"We need to stop dilly dallying and grab the relics and go." Weiss stated.
"Agreed" Ruby joined in breaking free from her sister's grasp. "Our mission was to grab the relics and get out, no need to fight these powerful Grimm."
Powerful Grimm…really? These things were considered dangerous? Sure, they were stronger than those Beowolves but he could still take them on easily, the only reason why Mori didn't annihilate them was because the students were supposed to fight these things as a test.
Is what he told himself anyways.
The group however, seemed to agree with the sentiment as they went to grab what looked like Chess pieces. That's when Mori realized he still had a problem.
"So, does anyone here still need a partner?"
He was greeted to a chorus of no. Well… looks like he failed initiation. Oh well.
"Mori… we still need to find you a partner." Ruby said as she looked at Mori for the first time since getting scolded by him.
"Ruby, I'm glad for the concern." Mori started "But it looks like we won't have the time for that." He said as the Nevermore roared in the background.
"But if you don't have a partner won't you get kicked out?" Jaune asked.
Mori only nodded. It was fine though, He didn't want to be in Beacon in the first place, he had no reason to be a Huntsman, he only joined to keep up his charade of being amnesiac. His only regret was that this would be the end of his time with Yang, Jaune, and Ruby.
Ruby seemed to want to argue more, but the rest of the group reluctantly agreed with Mori's choice, and they made their way back to the starting cliffs.
On the way back, it was decided that since they couldn't make it back safely, it would be best to split into groups and separate the grimm so that they didn't have to deal with both at once. The first group was Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang who would take on the Nevermore. While the second group consisting of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren would take on the Deathstalker.
Mori decided to join the second to make up for Jaune in case the blonde needed it. Ruby and co would be fine, it looked like the chemistry issues between Weiss and Ruby were getting solved, Yang and Blake also seemed pretty strong, and Ruby seemed to have a new calmness about her, Mori had a feeling he wouldn't have to worry about the look this time.
As the group Mori joined was getting ready to confront the death stalker Jaune suddenly spoke up, asking Mori a question.
"Mori would you be able to take hits from the Death Stalker?"
"I think so." Mori replied, wondering what Jaune was wanting.
Unless the thing that can blow up a planet, he would be fine.
Jaune explained his plan. "Apparently, I have a lot of Aura and can take a hit, along with this shield I'm going to be diverting the grimms attention. Based off what I've gotten to know about you, you are really, really tough, so if you are ok with it, we are both going to be tanks along with Pyhrra to distract it."
Mori nodded in agreement with Jaune's plan. It was a good plan, under the information Jaune would know, it would be the best idea to go with what he suggested. Outside of Mori, none of them had the fire power to break through the beasts armor, and since Mori was being cautious of what he showed, Jaune could only assume that Mori didn't have the fire power to break it either.
He really didn't want to answer more questions about his abilities if he didn't have to.
Is what Mori told himself anyways.
All Jaune knew about Mori's abilities were that Mori was incredibly tough and could take a hit. Being a tank and distraction would be the perfect spot for someone like that.
With the plan now set up and the participants willing, the group immediately started their counterattack.
Nora and Ren split off to the sides bombarding it with their weapons. Nora shooting what looked like to be grenades from her hammer, while Ren would pepper the monster with his smg's. Mori and Jaune distracted the beast as it focused most of its attacks on the tanks. Jaune would dodge, or block with his shield while Pyhrra counterattacked while Mori would anger the beast by making faces at it while letting the thing occasionally hit him.
As the group continued their assault, Ren go hit by its tail, as the thing then directed its attention at him, Jaune immediately came to Ren's aid, blocking the tail of the death stalker with his shield, while Pyhrra fended off the claws. As the Death stalker went for another attack Mori jumped in and grabbed its tail.
"Now, Pyrrha!" Mori yelled as he threw the beast up in the air.
Even though he didn't want to show his techniques, his strength probably didn't need to be hidden, Aura seemed to grant an increase in strength after all.
Pyrrha reacted to his statement as she was able to use her spear to pierce the flying beast's weak underside, finally killing as it hit the ground with a loud thud.
As the group started recovering from the battle, Mori noticed he was getting weird looks from Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha.
"You threw a Deathstalker in the air." Ren stated in bewilderment.
"That was awesome!" Nora excitedly joined in.
"Wait is that not normal?" Jaune confusingly asked. "I thought aura increased strength."
"…You are right Jaune it does." Pyrrha joined in after staring at Mori for a while. "But usually not enough to throw a grown Death Stalker that far in the air."
Oops, looks like Mori used a bit too much strength to be believable, in his defense his body was still a mess and he couldn't properly control it.
"Well either way…" Jaune happily started as he raised his hand in triumph.
Mori joined him, and the rest soon followed.
"Mission accomplished!" Jaune yelled out with a smile.
At the beginning of the day Mori was wondering why Jaune was even let into this school. He was far below his peers in combat ability, didn't even have experience fighting, and he seemed to mostly be ruled by his hormones.
After seeing Jaune's courage, leadership, and strategy in his first battle, Mori couldn't help but smile to himself, even though Jaune was weak right now, he belonged at Beacon.
She was strong, but right now she didn't belong at Beacon.
Those were Ruby's thoughts on herself as her group was trying to lure the Nevermore away from the other group.
Hearing Weiss nag was annoying because the girl didn't even know her. She only wanted to prove she belonged here, and she was just trying to show that even though she was two years younger than everyone, she belonged. Thankfully, it seemed like Weiss seemed more accepting of Ruby based on their last conversation.
But Mori telling her off really hit Ruby. That look on his face was an expression Ruby had never seen before on him. It felt like her dad or Uncle Qrow telling her off. The worst part was Ruby couldn't argue back with the boy.
Mori and Weiss were right. She had been completely reckless, from her fights with the beowolves, to jumping on the Nevermore, to that stupid charge at the Deathstalker, she had been lucky that people had been bailing her out. Her mistakes were being covered for her and she needed to grow up and learn from them. If she wanted to be an awesome hero she needed to stop making stupid mistakes.
She needed to calm down, look at her surroundings and not jump into things immediately.
As Ruby, started to plan, she first needed to know what the group she was in could do. She already knew Yang's fighting style, Blake looked like her weapon was versatile, and Weiss had a variety of things she could do with dust and her semblance.
She then looked at her surroundings, was there anything they can use to help. They were surrounded by cliffs and ruins, so the mobility of the nevermore would be limited. As Ruby continued to observe everything, a plan formed in her head.
This would work.
"Weiss, Yang, Blake." Ruby yelled out "I have a plan!"
A moment later the group immediately started implementing her plan.
Yang started out immediately, getting the giant bird's attention as she peppered the thing with her shotgun gauntlets Ember Celica.
While doing that she was able to get the Nevermore close to the cliffside, where Weiss immediately used a massive amount of dust to freeze it in place.
Once it was in place Blake immediately detached her weapon and threw it too Yang as they put the ribbon in between two pillars to make a giant sling shot.
The projectile of that shot was Ruby, who was running, firing off Crescent Rose, so that she could gain as much momentum as possible, she then bounced straight into the ribbon stretching it as far as possible.
As Ruby reached the maximum stress point Weiss reappeared, finished with her job of limiting the Nevermores mobility, she used her Glyphs to hold Ruby in place so that they can get a steady shot.
"You think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked Weiss.
"Hmm can I." Weiss responded,
That worried Ruby a little bit, could she?
Just as she turned to ask Weiss seemed to understand what she was going to say.
"Of course, I can." Weiss said in an annoyed tone.
Whew that was good.
And with that Weiss launched Ruby straight into the Nevermore. Using Crescent Rose Ruby hooked the neck of the Nevermore with her blade as she started to go up the cliffside, she then used her semblance to gain more speed and that generated enough power to decapitate the giant grimm at the top of the cliff.
Before she looked at the corpse, she first made sure there was nothing else to worry about, after checking her surroundings, she finally took look at the team's work with only one thought passing her mind.
"THAT…WAS…AWESOME!"
The faces on the girl's below only seemed to agree with the sentiment.
After finally making it back to the school the group were immediately called for the next event. Thankfully, it was less dangerous as it was only Ozpin stating the kids that passed initiation and announcing teams.
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark," Ozpin announced.
Four boys then walked up to the podium.
"The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" The headmaster finished.
"Next up." The headmaster continued. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkeryie."
Ruby's four new friends walked up to the podium.
"You have retrieved the white Rook piece and from this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR led by…Jaune Arc!" Ozpin dramatically stated.
"What?" Was all Jaune could say, so shocked that he was made team leader that he collapsed on the ground.
"Congratulations young man," Was all Ozpin offered as a response.
Ruby on the other hand was happy for new friend. She thought that he would be a good leader, even though he was a bit dorky, he was nice, she had a feeling that leadership was exactly right for him.
"Finally," Ozpin stated. "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao-Long,"
Looks like it was her turn, as Ruby then stepped on the podium with her sister and new teammates.
"The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces, from this day onward you will work together as Team Rwby, Led by… Ruby Rose!"
Oh cool, the team was named after her…wait who was the Leader…
She was!
"I'm so proud of you Sis." Yang said as Ruby received a hug from her sister.
Ruby wanted to respond and be happy, and she was, she was going to be on a team with sister and be its leader, but that look on Weiss's face did not look happy with the headmaster decision.
Ah biscuits, just when progress was being made.
"And that is the last of the Teams," Ozpin finished,
Hearing this Ruby couldn't help but feel sad, as she turned to find Mori in the back, giving a thumbs up at her in congratulations.
She gave one back, but reluctantly. It looked like Mori wouldn't be going to Beacon after all… and it was so unfair!
He couldn't find a partner because of her mistakes and he was the one paying for it.
In the short time Ruby had known Mori there was one thing that she was absolutely be sure of, he would make an awesome hero and Huntsmen.
Even though he was amnesiac, he was smart, no matter how matter how much Weiss called him a buffoon, in actual combat Mori was smart, being able to read situations accurately and also making snap decisions, he also had the ability to make a calm judgement, such as when he retreated when Weiss and her were arguing, and finally there was his amazing semblance, not only was he as durable as a rock, but he was also super-fast, maybe even faster than her semblance, Ruby did not see Mori at all when he came between her and the Death Stalker, lastly, he was super strong, from what she heard from Team JNPR he threw a Death Stalker with only his strength in the air.
A Death Stalker!
Yang couldn't even lift one up!
Mori was like, the perfect Huntsmen material…and he wouldn't be attending Beacon…and it was her fault…
Was there any way for Mori to still become a Huntsmen?
Maybe he could come next year?
Yeah!
Just because Mori failed today, didn't mean that he wouldn't become a Huntsman, it just means he'll need to wait.
Ruby just needed to get him into Signal. He would easily be the best student there, all Ruby needed to do was convince Uncle Qrow and Dad to let him into Signal for a year, and there they could cover Mori's biggest weaknesses, his lack of weapon.
Then after he trained and gained more skills, he could come back next year and completely ace initiation! Now, how to convince Mori was the next problem-
"Before we finish," Ozpin said interrupting Ruby's schemes on getting Mori to Signal. "Recently there has been… talk on changing certain parts of Beacon traditions,"
Ruby was confused, she wasn't the only one, as the audience and the faculty also seemed to have no idea what was going on.
"Due to the occasional dropouts, injuries, or worse case scenarios death, we've found that teams have had moments where they were not as balanced and missing team members." The headmasters continued ignoring the confused murmurs from the crowd.
Then the headmaster dropped the bombshell.
"In order to solve this problem of sudden unbalanced teams, we have decided to implement a new policy…there will be students who will not be on a team and will only be here in case of a substitute is needed. I should say this won't be common, it will only happen if an individual fit certain conditions." The headmaster announced.
Ruby was initially shocked by this revelation along with everyone else in the crowd. So, there was going to be replacement students?
Wait…does this mean…?
"As of this year only one student from initiation fit the qualifications of this special substitute…" Ozpin continued.
There was only one person in Ruby's mind that could possibly fit the qualifications, Ruby was convinced of it.
"Mori Jin!" Ozpin declared.
YYYYEEEESSSS!
"You failed initiation by being unable to find a partner, normally that would mean you would have to try again next year; however, you still displayed courage on the battlefield, fit the qualifications and with that you shall be accepted into Beacon as a substitute Student! Congratulations! That is all." Ozpin said as he left the podium, Professor Goodwitch following him with a determined look on her face.
Shocked murmurs went through the crowds as everyone tried to get look at Mori, the apparent substitute. Ruby on the other hand was delighted, Mori was still attending Beacon!
As she looked over to her friend to see how he reacted, sure to see him be relieved that he got in. She suddenly froze, seeing another look she had never seen on Mori.
On the outside he looked happy, all smiles and relief, but with how his eyes looked…he was mad, even madder than Weiss ever was.
Ruby wasn't sure that was even possible.
Ozpin had seen Glynda's anger plenty of times; today, however, she was livid.
"Ozpin!" She yelled as she burst into his office. "What are you doing! Breaking tradition like that and letting him in without a team!"
"Didn't you hear the reasoning for it Glynda?" Ozpin replied. "Sometimes teams…"
"I know what you said Ozpin," Glynda interrupted. "That has never been a problem before and all we've asked is that the students adapt! So…what are you doing?!"
"I felt like it would be quite a shame to not have that boy here this year and it would be a waste of his potential not to get Beacon's education." Ozpin calmly answered.
"So, have him wait next year, that's what we've always done with promising students that fail." Glynda angrily replied. "I can understand why you would want him here because of his strong semblance and believe me I think his feats have been quite impressive."
Glynda continued ranting "When you first let the boy in I thought 'ok the boy is a bit suspicious with no documentation at all but if you think he should be here fine,'" she then stopped to take a breath and continued. " I didn't agree with it but we will see how he does and if he makes it, he makes it… But to change Beacon's traditions entirely just to bring one boy for his semblance…Its…its… madness!"
As the woman finished her tirade, a moment of silence filled the room, a couple seconds passing until Ozpin finally answered back.
"Glynda what would you have me do now?" Ozpin said as he took a sip of coffee. "I've already announced it and the boy is expecting to go to Beacon, would you have me say 'I'm sorry young man, turns out that was lie, you must go now?' Would you do really want me to do that and break the dreams of the poor boy.'"
At that Glynda can only stare in anger as she stormed off.
Ozpin on the hand could only think as he sat back into his chair.
"So, you think I want him for his semblance Glynda."
"That would be true except for one tiny detail that you've seemed to not notice."
Ozpin then turned on the TV playing videos of Mori's abilities.
"In his confrontation against Torchwick…against the Beowolves…when he ran faster than the Nevermore… when he instantly appeared in front of Miss Rose to protect her from the Deathstalker… and finally when he threw the Deathstalker in the air… not once …did Mr. Jin use his aura."
Hey Guys TMT again I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter of Journey to Remnant! Some exciting news is two new GOH X RWBY fics have been released this week, Fresh Start for the Monkey King by Wushy and The God of Remnant by Mango Gango. I encourage you guys check out their fics to help grow the GOH fanfic community. A question I want to pose for you guys this week is something about the story I've already decided but I'm curious what you guys think: Should Mori get Aura and why or why not?
Nox Deus: Yeah Lancer seems to work the best, I thought Assassin could work because RE-taekwondo is based on assasinations, Hopefully I don't make Mori a passenger if you feel like I am just message me your concerns.
Andielgranrayo: Glad to know you like the Latest Chapter!
Momentei: I'm glad that you find the cast interactions genuine, it's what I was hoping for, since the plot was kind of basic I wanted to focus on the characters to make it more interesting. I never thought of the cloud and his abilities as a caster tbh but I can see where your coming from, I thought the cloud was more of a vehicle making Mori a Rider.
Felipe1402XZA: I'm sorry I don't speak spanish, but I think you said it was interesting and too that I say thank you!
DaybitSemVoid: Yeah it's an easy mistake to make, with the conversations about fate, its surprising how much cross there is between the two franchises.
Beta'(s)
Woof28
