And action! Time to see what everyone is made of in the Emerald Forest, good luck down there guys!
I only own my OCs, RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth.
Chapter 3: The First Step
Title Song: The Liberation of Gracemeria (Ace Combat 6 OST)
All the students soon were standing in a line, on a cliff above a massive forest. Every one of them were standing on stone plates, that clearly looked like some kind of mechanism. The line went something like this, it was, from right to left, the boy who threw up on the airship, Koa, Ruby, Yang, Lilo (With Snowfall and Shadow), Jasmine, a male student, the green garbed young man, the orange haired girl, Onyx, then some other students.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin explained calmly, before sipping his coffee.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about assignment of teams. Allow us to end your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today," Goodwitch explained.
"What? Oh…" Ruby seemed nervous.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is within your best interest to be paired with someone whom which you can work well with," Ozpin went on.
"Oh no…" Ruby muttered with dread.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years," Ozpin finished.
"WHAT?!" Ruby yelled, her hopes shattered in an instant.
"See! I told you!" The orange haired girl told her friend.
"After you have partnered up, make your way to the far end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die," Ozpin instructed.
"Heh heh…" Vomit boy chuckled nervously.
"You might need to plant a few new trees when I'm done sir," Lilo grinned.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must take one and return it to the top of the cliff. We shall regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked.
"Permission to go first?" Lilo laughed.
"Denied," Ozpin chuckled, to which she pouted.
"Yeah. Um… sir?" the vomit boy began.
"Good, take your positions," Ozpin commanded.
At his instruction, several students took out their weapons, while others got into their stances.
"Uh… sir? I have a question," Koa's immediate neighbour tried to gain Ozpin's attention, while Weiss was launched first, shooting into the air.
"So… are you dropping us off somewhere?" He asked.
"No. You will be falling," Ozpin answered. More students are sent flying, followed by Onyx.
"Oh, I see… So, did you like… hand out parachutes?" Vomit Boy tried again.
"No. You will be using your own landing strategy," Ozpin said. The orange haired girl, her green clothed friend and Jasmine are launched, the third of the three waving to her friends before suddenly vanishing.
"Uh-huh, that," Koa sighed at his nervousness.
"What's your name?" He asked the boy.
"Jaune Arc," The blonde shrugged.
"Suck it up kid, get ready for a bumpy ride, I'd get that sword out and aim for a tree," He chuckled as Lilo, Yang, who put on a pair of aviator glasses before taking off, and Ruby all left as well.
Koa glanced down at his platform, then up at Ozpin, "Welcome to Beacon…" He sighed, before getting sprung into the air.
The blonde boy gulped, and pulled out his sword, "Ok… what neEEEEEXXXXTTTT!?" He yelped as he was launched.
Onyx Stone flew like an arrow through the air as he shot over the forest, until gravity took him down. He pulled out his weapon, Obsidian Rage, extending it to full and hooking it horizontally around a large tree, the blade digging in. Onyx rode the spin cycle around the tree until he was slow enough to jump free.
Stopping on the closest branch, he glanced up, and spotted several other students coming down. Ruby fired three shots from her weapon before extending it to it's scythe form, hooking the blade around a branch before releasing herself after slowing down. Weiss conjured up some kind of glyphs, hopping off them like trampolines. Pyrrha slammed through two trees with her shield before landing in a rolling crouch, her weapon in a rifle form as she surveyed the area.
Through the lens of her scope, she spotted Jaune falling. However, before she could do anything to help him, he remembered he had out his sword, and angled towards the nearest tree, stabbing his blade into the trunk, before sliding down. Impressive, looks like he has a bit of luck on his side after all, She thought, heading in his direction.
Jasmine Diali pulled out her weapon, Kitsune's Kickback, and opened the lance to full, firing three shots from a gap under the lance tip and slowing her fall. She then closed the lance, and stabbed it into the ground, then coming down to land in a crouch.
Lilo Fuchsia laughed as she angled towards, then bounced off one tree and began her old routine of tree-hopping. Her two wolves were easily keeping up.
Koa Maru activated his semblance, and conjured up a thin but wide enough platform of hardlight, then he planted his feet firmly on it. He then began to remote control the platform, making it go forward and down towards the ground.
Landing on the ground, he glanced up at the sun, which was in the east, with the sun to his left, he started heading north.
Onyx Stone frowned, "Ok… ten minutes and I haven't ran into anyone yet. How?" He muttered. "I miss my books already…" He then heard growls and gunfire nearby, and decided to run in that direction, coming across the wolf Faunus he had seen yesterday surrounded by Beowolves.
"What is it with us and beowolves?" The girl muttered, her claws extended. One beowolf growled, charging, but a shadowy figure suddenly intercepted, with shiny-white and razor-sharp teeth that smashed down. "Thanks Shadow," The girl said to a black wolf, which seemed to nod.
Onyx observed the situation, the girl, the black furred wolf, as well as a white furred wolf, were surrounded by at least ten beowolves, while several more were rotting away. He was sure that she could take care of herself, but then again… his parents had always taught him to help the fairer sex.
With his mind made up, he pulled out his weapon, and extended it to full to fire three rounds that removed massive chunks from the black creatures. He then fired one shot behind him, using the recoil to shoot forwards and bring his axe over his head, cleaving length-ways down another grimm.
He then backed up, so he was stood back-to-back with the girl. "Good morning," He said. "Need a hand?"
"We had things in hand, but you're welcome to help," The girl said, "I'm Lilo, you are?"
"Onyx Stone, now… let's make short work of these mangy mutts," The young man in grey and black said.
Lilo nodded, "Good call, pups, tear them to shreds!" She grinned, her eyes gaining a slight feral appearance. The two wolves barked, and the three sprung out, claws aiming for a beowolf each. Lilo blocked the swipe from one and tore it's arm off with a slash through the shoulder, then stabbing it through the gut, she then ducked under a horizontal swing from another grimm, stabbing both her sets of claws in, and tearing it apart diagonally.
The white wolf squared off with another grimm, then seemed to fake the black creature out by starting to come from the left, then dashing around from the right, claws shredding through the bigger animal's hide as if hot knives through butter. However, when the wolf glanced back, ice started forming from the grimm's wounds, before icicles extended in every direction, turning it into an icy pincushion.
The black wolf on the other hand faded into shadows, then suddenly shadowy lines tore through another two beowolves, filling them both with so many holes it was hard to tell what it was in the first place. The wolf then rematerialized from it's shadowy form, satisfied with it's work.
Onyx swung his axe sideways, cutting through three beowolves with ease, and then fired a slug into the snout of a fourth one. He then blocked a set of fangs by holding the shaft of his axe up. Then he slid the handle down, pulling the axe head towards the head, then firing the weapon and letting the recoil decapitate the grimm, while the slug hit another beowolf about to attack Lilo from behind.
"That was fun," Lilo said once the last grimm was nothing more than a decaying corpse. Her claws slid away, and her two wolves glowed, before shrinking down to small dogs.
"I guess we're partners now," Onyx agreed, he held his hand out, and Lilo shook it. "Hmm… strong grip," he observed.
"Thank you," Lilo took the compliment in stride.
Jasmine's acute fox hearing was the first thing to alert her to the growls coming from off to her right, and she glanced over to see an Ursa, a large bear grimm, bounding out of the bushes. Ok… I guess it's time to fight! She thought. The ursa growled, swinging a paw as big as her head at her. Jasmine blocked it with the side of her lance, then hefted it up over her head to club at the bear over the head.
She then tucked it horizontal to her to roll between another swing and the ursa's body. Then, she popped open the cannon inside her weapon, firing an explosive shot that impacted on the grimm. When the smoke faded, she saw the ursa collapse, dead.
Folding her weapon up, she was about to press on when she suddenly heard rustling above her, and was about to react to the sight of three creeps falling upon her, when a boomerang sliced through the air, bouncing off all three before returning to the hand of one Koa Maru, who swiped his other boomerang, sending an arc of lightning coursing through the creeps, putting them down.
"You ok?" He asked her, causing her to nod eagerly. "Good, let's keep heading north, I'm sure some of our fellow students will meet us there," He said.
Pyrrha Nikos stepped between a pair of trees, coming to see the young man she saw through her scope struggling with a small pillar of ice that had snared his hood to the tree behind him.
"Need I ask?" She pressed.
"That Weiss girl left me here!" He said.
"Jaune, was it?" She asked.
"Yep, Jaune Arc," Jaune was wearing a black hoodie underneath a white chestplate, shoulderpads and bracers. Waist down, he wore a pair of blue jeans and black and white sneakers. At his waist was the sword he had used on the way down.
"Here, let me help," Pyrrha said, taking her own weapon in it's shortsword form, and prying the ice from his hood.
"Thanks," Jaune said.
"So, got any spots left on your team?" She asked him playfully, smiling.
"Very funny," Jaune sighed, but relented and smiled at her.
Nearby, "By no means does this make us friends," Weiss Schnee scowled, dragging Ruby Rose by her hood.
"You came back!" Ruby just cheered happily.
"The last of our teams have been formed, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Poor man, I can't imagine how he puts up with her," Goodwitch noted, watching the video feeds from her scroll. "Still, I imagine they'll be better off than Miss Nikos."
She changed the screen to that of said girl and Jaune. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow clearly isn't cut out for this kind of action," She said. "I predict they'll reach the ruins in an hour's time, maybe less. Speaking of which… what did you use for relics this year? Ozpin?"
Ozpin clearly was paying too much attention to his own scroll, which was split with two screens, one of Ruby and Weiss, the other of Koa and Jasmine. "What did you find out about Miss Diali?" He asked.
"Professor Brick didn't say much, maybe to respect her privacy, but I suspect it's got something to do with the White Fang," Goodwitch said. "Poor girl… she doesn't deserve such a handicap."
"Hmm," Ozpin nodded, before slurping down more of his coffee. Mr Maru was right about her skill… but I wonder how she'll adapt when she needs to work in a team.
Koa: So, that was a thing.
Marcus: Oh don't worry, you haven't seen nothing yet.
Lilo: I like the sound of that.
Onyx: I don't, I just want to read my books.
All: Nerd!
Onyx: Intelectual actually.
All: Next time: The Birth of Team KOLD!