The four victorious members of Class VII sheathed their weapons.
"It was a good fight." Rean commented, turning around to face Patrick, who had risen into a kneeling position. "You are really strong, Pat…" He offered the blond his hand to stand up, but the noble slapped it away.
"Get your filthy hands of me." the boy raised to his feet, pure anger on his face. "Don't you dare start acting like you're above me, Rean Schwarzer."
"HEY!" Yang's angry voice interrupted Patrick's tirade. "What's the big idea?" The blond brawler's fury was terrifying enough to make the blond noble shiver in fear. "Rean and the rest beat you fair and square. So take it like a man." She stepped closer to the son of house Hyarms, her whole demeanour promising pain.
But be it by courage or stupidity, Patrick retaliated. "Stay out of this! What does a commoner like you know about us nobles? We live in completely different worlds and if you even think about comparing yourself to us, then…"
"Then what?" the calm voice of Gaius interrupted. "It is true, that Yang and I stem from outside of the empire." In comparison to Yang's burning fury, Gaius distain felt cold. "Please, tell us, what makes a noble better than a commoner?"
The combination of Gaius' calm demeanour and Yang's threatening presence was an effective combination. Every reason Patrick brought up was something he had lacked during the fight. Power, grace and knowledge, Rean and his team of commoners had demonstrated all of these abilities far better than the representatives of Class I. And to add insult to injury, Sarah promised the white clad students that she would examine the entire fight and every mistake they made in every detail in front of their own class. In the end, the nobles left completely beaten.
With the intruders now gone, Instructor Sarah turned towards the class. "All right, let's continue." she said in high spirits. "Alisa, Emma, Fie and Laura. You four will take on our newcomers."
All female members of Class VII nodded and entered the ring. The zemurian girls took a formation with Laura and Fie in the front and Emma and Alisa in the back. Team RWBY on the other hand stood side by side in a straight line.
"The same rules as before." Their Instructor explained while raising her hand. "And begin!"
Yang shot Ember Celica backwards, propelling herself forward in the process. She swatted an arrow fired by Alisa aside, just to find herself face to face with Laura. The daughter of the Radiant Blademaster used Yang's now open flank to land a strong hit with her two-handed blade. And as a result, Yang was thrown to the side. But the huntress in training turned her body around and managed to land on her feet, still sliding a few meters before coming to a stop.
Ruby was the next on to attack. She planned to use the opening from Laura's attack against Yang to her advantage and used her semblance to appear in the blue haired girls blind spot. But before Crescent Rose could score a hit, Fie intervened. The petit girl blocked the steel of the scythe with one of her gunblades and used the other one for a shot in Ruby's midsection. Thankfully Ruby's Aura protected her from most of the attack, allowing her to continue the fight without any drawbacks.
At the same time Alisa and Emma started casting. Having witnessed the power of an art in the previous battle, both Blake and Weiss knew what to do.
Multiple Glyphs appeared at the Schnee Dust Company heiress' feet, propelling her towards the back row of the opposing team. Having closed the distance much faster than the other two girls had anticipated, Weiss unleashed multiple attacks at the girls, scoring some good hits.
The same couldn't be said for Blake. Laura and Fie were remarkable fighters in their own right, and even though they were busy dealing with Ruby and the recovered Yang, these two still were capable of stopping Blake's advance. This left them with a three vs two situation, leaving the supporting fighters duking it out between themselves.
The Faunus spoke a small curse, as another one of her clones was destroyed. She felt unfit to fight either of the opponents. Laura's blade gave her enough range to prevent Blake from getting to close after using a clone. And Fie's speed allowed her to react and counter the black-haired girl's attack even if she used clones as a distraction.
Yang had a similar problem. Her shotgun shots were blocked by Laura, who used her giant sword as a makeshift shield. And even with the power boost her Semblance granted, the erebonian noble had enough strength to potentially end the next in one hit, if Yang got unlucky. On the other hand, Fie danced around her attacks both close range and long ranged ones. Her fist connected with Laura's blade once more, before the blond girl jumped back to let Ruby attack.
The leader of Team RWBY unleashed multiple high-speed attacks, but her attempt to break through the Erebonian girl's defence failed. A counter pushed her back, so she swapped places with Blake and took on the silver haired Fie in her stead. Given her smaller body build she was lacking Laura's strength and durability, but made up for it with her agility and speed.
Crescent Rose met Fie's gunblades, sparks flying through the air as the two girls started their deadly dance. Using an opening after a wide swing, Fie got into Ruby's range and unleashed three strikes with her weapons, before retreating when the huntress in training could unleash Crescent Rose again.
But this retreat gave Ruby a chance of her own. Switching her weapon into rifle mode, she took aim and pulled the trigger. Her target wasn't the girl in front of her, but rather her blue-haired partner, whose back was turned towards Ruby.
The surprise attack broke Laura's stance and concentration, which Yang and Blake took immediately advantage of. And a bullet passing her cheek reminded her of her own battle.
Weiss had to admit that she may have taken on more than she could handle. Her plan had been, that she and Blake would take out Emma first to prevent a repeat of the earlier fight. But not only did Alisa also started using Arts, but Blake had been caught up in the fight with Laura and Fie. This left her alone to face the two girls.
Thankfully neither of them was physical powerhouses and Myrtenaster proved to be a better suited weapon for this fight than Alisa's bow or Emma's staff.
A glyph appeared behind her and protected her from one of the blond girl's arrows. She then jumped back to evade energy orbs released by Emma. 'Just a few more steps' she thought. Weiss had fought defensively the entire time, all in order to get an advantage. Which wasn't made easy by her opponents.
The two Erebonian girl's never left their pincer formation around the heiress, forcing her to divide her attacks to both sides. But while it would seem only a matter of time until Weiss would be overwhelmed, she finally got into the position she desired.
With a smile she created a Glyph below the archer. And from one moment to the next, Alisa was catapulted away, the arrow she had inserted fallen useless to the ground.
"Alisa is defeated via ring out!" The voice of their instructor resounded over the battlefield.
The smile still on her lips, Weiss attention returned to the fight. But she was a second to late.
"Gleaming blades of light!" Four ethereal blades appeared at the class president's side, their aim on Weiss. "Fly!" With this order the weapons were fired.
Acting quick, Weiss created multiple Glyphs in the air, trying to protect herself from the attack. Her advantage against Alisa turned into a disadvantage against Emma, since she stood now with the back to the outer limit of the battlefield.
The blades hit the Glyphs, and Weiss released her breath. She had survived the surprise attack.
Or not, since four more blades appears besides Emma. Overwhelmed the huntress in training reacted to slowly. The projectiles hit her into her abdomen, sending her skidding backwards. But she was still inside the ring. Which changed when she saw the traitorous rings around the class president.
"Lunar Beam!"
The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company had no way to protect herself. A silver beam of light engulfed her and once it disappeared, the white-haired girl laid outside of the ring.
"Weiss is defeated via ring out!"
Laura brought her blade up to block the next series of swings and punches of Yang. Ever since she was shot in the back, she was pressured by the blond and the black-haired member of Team RWBY, preventing her from getting back into the right stance.
And while she managed to protect herself from any move that would have knocked her out, the noble knew that she couldn't hold on much longer. Swinging her weapons upwards she forced Yang back, before jumping back to evade shots fired by Blake.
Fie and Ruby were exchanging blows on their own. It was a peculiar situation, since both girls knew, that their team mates needed them. But they couldn't help them, since turning their back to their opponent would leave them wide open for an attack from the other girl.
But Fie's brain was working at full capacity. She had used different tactics against the scythe wielding girl and yet Ruby manged to match her. And yet, the petit girl wasn't worried. She still had some tricks up on her sleeves. One she was going to use now.
Jumping back, she sheathed one of her blades and pulled out a small metallic object, holding it right before Ruby's eyes.
"A grenade?" she asked, her voice showed signs of fear. But why would the young girl pull out such a weapon now? Did she want to blow herself up? Then her eyes widened, when she saw Fie's smile. Her target was her sister and Blake.
With a nonchalant "Catch!" the grenade was thrown.
Without missing a beat, Ruby activated her Semblance. "Blake, Yang, watch out!" The leader warned her teammates from the nearing danger, before turning into a flurry of roses, catching up to the thrown object. If she could change the trajectory, she could…
Ruby's thoughts were wiped out by a strong flash of light and a loud sound. In her hectic, Ruby had misjudged the kind of grenade Fie had thrown. It hadn't been an explosive one, but a flash bang grenade. And she had been directly next to it when it exploded. The last thing she felt, was a strong hit at the back of her head, before the light was consumed by darkness.
And yet Ruby's warning had another result. It made Blake and Yang look into the direction of her voice, which let them look directly at the flash of the grenade when it went off. Blake had it especially hard, since her Faunus heritage had given her heightened senses, which led to the young girl to roll around the ground, holding her ears, screaming.
Surprised by the effect of her teammates attack, Laura caught herself quickly and ran pass the still disorientated Yang next to the downed Faunus. With a bitter smile she used just enough force to knock her opponent out, praying to Aidios that the cat girl would feel better once she awoke.
"Ruby and Blake are defeated by knock out!"
Instuctor Sarah's voice pulled Yang back into reality. She saw Fie over the unconscious body of her sister and Laura raising from besides the body of Blake. The brawler felt fury welling up inside her mind. How dare these girls do this to her teammates? They would pay. And the first target was thankfully nearby.
With a powerful combat yell Yang stormed forward. Her fist pulled back to deliver a strong punch into the Laura's face. But thanks to her adrenaline and anger, the last standing member of Team RWBY had forgotten one fact. The distraction of the flash bang had given the swordswomen enough time to get back into her stance. And as a result, she was ready to face the girl from Remnant.
Evading the first punch, then the second Laura used her weapon as a bat, throwing Yang sideways rolling over the ground. Even angrier than before the huntress in training retaliated, trying to overpower her opponent with pure force. But the swordswoman met her head on, countering the blond's every move. And after an especially strong swing, which send Yang skidding back, she had enough. Throwing everything into her next strike, the girl shot forward. And yet she missed. Having predicted such an obvious attack from, the Erebonian noble jumped over her attacker, brining her sword down on Yang's unprotected back. As a result, the last member of Team RWBY fell to the ground and Sarah's voice announced the final result
"Yang is defeated by knock out."
Weiss stared at her defeated friends. While she had known that they could lose, actually seeing it happening gave her a strange feeling in her stomach.
"It was a good match." The heiress noticed, that Alisa had come over and sat down next to her. "Instructor Sarah gave us a few minutes to recover before she will continue the lesson."
The white-haired girl just nodded. She didn't know what she should say.
"What were those things?" the archer suddenly asked.
"What things?" came the reply.
"The things you created to block my arrows and to throw me out of the ring. You aren't in possession of an Arcus-Unit yet, so it couldn't be an art. And it didn't feel like a Craft." The blond-haired girl explained. "I honestly never saw anything like that in my life."
"My Semblance." Weiss answered. After seeing the confused look on her classmate's face, she continued. "In Remnant people can unlock something we call 'Aura'. It's a manifestation of someone's soul, which you can think of as a shield that protects the user and grants them other benefits like protection against extreme weather conditions or heightened senses."
"That's sure sound nice. And this 'Aura' also grants you a Semblance?"
Weiss nodded. And as she continued, her voice took on a teaching tone "Once person has their Aura unlocked, he or she can manifest a Semblance. A superpower in generic terms." She created a small Glyph in her hand, holding it in front of Alisa's face. "What you saw, was my Semblance. It allows me to create different types of Glyphs, either for defensive or offensive purposes."
The Erebonian girl nodded. "A terrifying ability to go up against." she commented.
"Not that it helped me much in the match." the huntress in training responded. "I let my guard down for a second and even my power couldn't save me."
"But you weren't fighting with all your power, right?"
Weiss looked confused at the archer. "Why do you think that?"
Alisa pointed towards Myrtenaster, which was resting at Weiss' side. "While fighting I couldn't help but notice that your weapon has a unique design." She explained. "The hilt looked different from other rapiers. And I doubt that the colourful objects inside of it are just for decoration."
The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company could only compliment the girl in her thoughts. "You're right." She opened the chamber and pulled out a red container. "These are vials of Dust, the energy source we use on Remnant." She told the blond girl. "It allows me to use elemental attacks and it can even increase the powers of my Semblance."
"It's like your own version of an Orbment then." Alisa mused.
Weiss nodded. "But I had only a limited amount of Dust with me when we stranded here. As such I have to use it wisely, since once it runs out, I won't be able to get new one. That's why I didn't use Myrtenaster's full power during the match. It felt like a waste of resources."
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to make it sound like you were holding back on purpose." Alisa apologized, but Weiss just waved it away. There way no way that the girl could have known about her predicament before this conversation.
The two girls watched as the rest of Class VII took care of Ruby, Blake and Yang. Blake was the first who was back on her feet, since both Emma and Elliot casted a healing Art on her. They hoped, that it would also lessen any aftereffects of the flashbang grenade. They then turned to Ruby.
"Can you tell me more about Dust?" Alisa suddenly asked.
Seeing no problem in it, Weiss complied. "Dust is a power source, plain and simple. It represents pure energy of a certain type and can be found either crystallized or in powder form. The energy can be used for all kind of things, from powering engines to being used in weapons."
Alisa listened carefully, as Weiss listed all the different types of Dust and their properties. After the girl from Remnant finished her explanation, the girl from Erebonia fell silent.
"Maybe you can use Septium for a similar effect." she thought out loud, catching the heiress of guard. "Since it is a crystallized energy source, it may trigger a similar reaction like Dust if used in a similar way."
"You think, that will work?" Weiss asked, but Alisa just shook her head.
"I don't know. Normally Septium is formed into Quartz to achieve certain effects. And I have no idea, if powdered Septium can be used in the same way as Dust. And using Myrtenaster directly for an experiment would be dumb, since we don't know what will happen. Worst case scenario would be that you lose your weapon entirely."
Weiss swallowed. But then she got an idea. "What if we create a new weapon to test this theory?" Seeing Alisa's confused look, she continued. "In Remnant many huntsman and huntresses craft their own personal weapon." the blond archer nodded. "With the experience I have creating Myrtenaster, I should be able to create a blueprint and maybe even forge another weapon."
Alisa caught on to her train of thought. "But since you have no experience with Orbal Energy, you will need assistance in creating it. You also have to account for certain resources to be unobtainable, so you need someone to look over the blueprints and check for changes, if needed."
The two girls smile at each other as a plan formed in their minds to help Weiss.
While these two girls were talking, another conversation took place.
"What are you looking at?" Fie asked Blake. The Faunus hadn't taken her eyes from the small girl ever since she regained consciousness. "I won't use another grenade, so you can be at ease."
"And what makes you think I'm not at ease?" the answer of the Faunus sounded harsher than it was intended to.
"Your entire body is tense. It's like you think about attacking me or running away." the silver-haired girl simply answered. She had no ill intend towards the black-haired girl, but being stared could be quite irritating.
After a few seconds, Blake couldn't hold it in any more. "Why do you have a flashbang grenade? How do you even know how to use such a thing?"
A deadpan look was her reward. With a sigh Fie started talking. "Since I told the other members of Class VII, I may also tell my story to you. I was a Jaeger. A mercenary." She ignored Blake's look of disbelieve. "I most likely fought on more battlefields than the rest of Class VII combined. And as a result, I learned one or two tricks to stay alive."
Blake didn't know what to say. In a way it felt like she was looking into a mirror, seeing her past self staring back at her. Could she have become someone like Fie if she didn't leave the White Fang?
"You were good." Fie's next words pulled the Faunus out of her thoughts. "Your overall fighting ability is solid and your cloning trick can be very useful in a fight. But you don't grasp one of the fundamentals of the battlefield." The former Jaeger passed the Faunus and started walking towards the rest of the group. "Honour only helps you in a fight, if you are strong. Every one else has to use each advantage they can get. Throwing your enemy of balance by disrupting their senses is one of the first things you learn. And the second important rule on a battlefield is: keep your head in the fight or you will lose it." Having no words left, the petite girl walked away, leaving Blake to her thoughts.
Around the same time, Emma and Elliot managed to patch up both Ruby and Yang.
Feeling something akin to a gentle stream passing along her body and reducing her pain, the blond brawler opened her eyes. She was greeted by the worried expressions of Laura and Elliot. Giving them a small smile she asked "Did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" she tried it with a joke.
"I'm sorry." Laura was the first to speak. "I underestimated my power and…"
But Yang interrupted her. "Do you really apologize for winning a match?" she asked.
"But…"
"You would need more than that to keep me down." She reassured the girl, before standing up. "And don't think this is over. Next time, you'll be the one lying in the dirt." her grin got wider.
"I'm looking forward to it." the blue-haired girl responded, a smile forming on her face that matched Yang's. "But I won't make it easy for you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." The brawler said.
All these talks allowed the girls to get over the loss quickly. And as a result they all swore to themselves loudly, that they wouldn't lose the next fight.
"Well, colour me surprise. Only a few days here and already the full package?" a joyous voice came from the entrance of the field.
Turning towards the newcomer, Ruby and her friends were greeted by the sight of four individuals. A petite girl with brown hair wearing a green uniform, a chubby boy wearing a yellow suit and carrying a metal briefcase, a violet haired girl dressed in leather and the one who had spoken, a boy with silver hair wearing a bandana.
"But damn, maybe I should think about switching classes." the same boy continued while looking over Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.
"And you think they would allow that, Crow?" the girl in biker clothes responded, before turning her attention towards the four girls. "But seeing them myself and up close, I must say, they really are a special kind of flower."
"Come down, Angie." the smallest member of the group called the now named Angie out. "Or else you will scare them away."
"Ehm, who are you?" Yang was the first to ask, which flustered brown haired girl.
"Oh, excuse me." she apologized quickly. "My name is Towa Herschel. I'm the student council president of Thors Military Academy." the girl introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, my name is… Student Council President? How old are you?" Ruby suddenly shouted.
"She may not look like it, but she is 18." the chubby boy answered. "I'm George Nome. And the other members are Crow Armbrust," he pointed at the bandana wearing boy "and Angelica Rogner."
"Oh man, couldn't you let us introduce ourselves?" Crow whined. "Now it feels like we are just the entourage."
"You are named Crow too?" Ruby had appeared before the bandana wearing boy in a flash, looking at him with a big grin.
"You bet. It's nice meeting a fellow crow." the older boy responded.
Ruby shook her head. "No, no. My name is Ruby. But my Uncle is named Qrow. He is super strong and super cool." she stated explaining.
This resulted in a laugh of the violet-haired girl. "Super strong and super cool? It seems you have a reputation to live up to now." She teased Crow, who laughed.
"Well, I'm already cool. And when I unleash my secret power, I will beat you into submission and free the hearts of all the maidens you have captured." he responded.
"Oh, is this a challenge?" Angelica turned towards the boy. "The last time we spared, you were begging for your life after three minutes. And the hearts of the ladies are all mine. Maybe I will start by stealing the heart of this little flower in front of me."
Her face moved closer to Ruby, who jumped behind the bandana wearing boy. "Please, protect me."
For a moment everything was silent, then the four senior students started laughing.
"Hey, don't laugh." the scythe-using girl shouted. "That's not funny."
"Come on, Angie. Apologize to her." Towa finally calmed down. "Sorry for the trouble. Angelica is a really nice person, so you don't have to be afraid of her."
"She won't steal my heart?" Ruby asked, still doubtful.
"No promises here, my little rose. But if I do, it will be gentle." This last sentence earned her a demeaning look by Crow.
"Not that I want to intrude, but why are you here?" Blake asked. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to get to know us after classes are over?"
"I will pick you up on this offer later, little cat. But we are here, because a certain instructor has given my dear little Towa even more work to deal with." Angelica's voice got weeping, while Sarah whistled a song for herself. "And since we wouldn't want our dear little angel to overwork herself, we decided to come help her."
The girls would have believed the leather clad girl if George didn't intervene.
"Come now, Angie, that's enough. It's true, that Towa was asked by Instructor Sarah for some assistance. But I'm here because I have your very own Arcus Units ready for usage with me." he showed them the briefcase. "And since it may take some time for you to get accustomed to it, I will also help you to set everything up."
"By the way, Instrucor Sarah, here are the documents you wanted." Towa pulled out multiple envelops from her uniform and handed them to the Instructor.
"Thanks Towa." The former bracer took the items and turned towards the class. "Before I send you with George to get your new toys, let me tell you about a certain special ritual this class has." she held the envelopes in front of the entire class. "Everyone, step forward and take one. Ruby, you go first."
As ordered by their Instructor, the members of Class VII stepped forward one after the other, starting with the girls from Remnant. The reaction of their classmates told them, that they had experienced this event already. And after each student from the students in red uniforms had received an envelope, they were allowed to open it. Inside was a page with the following written upon it:
Field Study June
Group A: Rean, Alisa, Emma, Jusis, Gaius, Ruby, Yang
Study Location: Nord Highlands
Group B: Machias, Elliot, Laura, Fie, Weiss, Blake
Study Location: Bryonia Island
Confused the girls looked around. Field Study? Study Location? Seeing the confused looks on her new student's face, Sarah gave them a cheeky smile. "This little paper allows you to escape the school for two days and experience life to its fullest. Inside certain boundaries of course"
Ruby looked at the piece of paper in her hand. They would leave the academy so shortly after arriving? And Team RWBY would be split up? She felt a sense of unease. But when she looked around, she saw Rean and the others talking about their new locations. No, she reminded herself, she wasn't alone in this. As of now, Team RWBY had become part of something bigger, they had become part of Class VII of Thors Military Academy. And this Field Study would be their first adventure in this new world. That she promised herself.
xXx
And the next chapter is finished. For all you reviewers that wanted to see Team RWBY taking on Erebonians, this is for you. I hope you enjoyed the fight and the introduction of Towa, George, Angelica and Crow.
There isn't really much to say from my end this chapter. So for once, I won't make a long after comment for a chapter. As always, leave a fav if you like this story, a comment on what's good or bad and I hope to see you again for the next chapter of this story.
Update 07.11.2019: Well, here it is; my first chapter 2.0 for this fanfiction. Thanks to the user 'InfiniteStarz', whose critique gave me some ideas to expand this chapter. After a good night's rest and reading his comment as well as rereading my chapter, I noticed, that it really felt like something was missing. While the fight and the Patrick scene remained unchanged, I added some paragraphs after the fight and during the introduction of Towa and the rest. Honestly, a huge thank you to everyone who left a comment on this story. It not only helps me as a writer, but also motivates me to continue writing this fanfiction. As a result, I wish all of you well and have a nice day.
