Episode 4: Initiation, Part 2
Ext. Emerald Forest Thicket – Day
We see the deep thicket of the Emerald Forest, lush with vegetation. We hear the sounds of screams and destruction in the distance, but quickly approaching. Jaune breaks through the thicket at a full sprint.
Jaune runs at high speed, weaving through trees and bushes to the best of his ability, until a shadow is cast over him. Jaune looks up.
We see an uprooted tree flying through the sky, falling toward Jaune. Jaune screams in terror as the tree approaches him with deadly velocity. At the last moment, Pyrrah dives into view and tackles Jaune out of the tree's path.
We see both teens slam into the ground as the trunk of the massive tree crashes down nearby with a violent explosion of sound.
Jaune and Pyrrah sit up, both out of breath, and look at each other.
PYRRAH
"Are you okay?"
JAUNE
"I'd be much better if I wasn't being forced to dodge trees by a madman in a tracksuit!"
XANDER (O.S)
"If you can dodge tree, you can dodge grimm; Again!"
There's a great ripping sound followed by many rustling leaves. Another shadow is cast over the pair of teens.
JAUNE
"Shit."
Jaune and Pyrrah both jump to their feet and bolt away from the falling tree.
Ext. Emerald Forest Clearing – Same.
We see Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake all charging at Nero with their practice swords held high. Nero is standing with his guard open, waiting for them to approach.
Yang's foot treads on Nero's shadow.
We see Nero's eyes briefly flash a ghostly blue.
All movement in the clearing slows to a snail's pace, excluding Nero's. He sighs as he sees the charging teens' movements slow down to a near imperceptible speed.
He steps forward, walking in between the girls and striking each of them once on their sword hand with his own practice sword.
Once he steps to the rear of the group, time reverts to it's normal speed, and we see each of the girls stumble while crying out in pain and dropping their swords.
We see Yang fall to her hands and knees, confusion and rage painted on her face.
YANG
"What?"
We see a flashback of the events from the girls' perspective. The group charging at Nero in tandem only for him to suddenly appear behind them, having apparently disarmed all four in a single strike.
NERO
"I see."
WEISS
"What do you mean you see!?"
BLAKE
"How did you do that?"
Nero turns to face the group once again.
NERO
"As for how I did that, I'm not going to explain. A huntsman never reveals the secrets of his semblance to anyone other than another huntsman."
Yang picks her sword back up and spins to face Nero, charging him once more with a yell.
Nero sighs.
Yang launches herself into the air, attempting a heavy overhead slash at the huntsman.
We see the aftermath of several strikes appear on Yang's body, and she is pushed in the opposite direction, crumpling on her back a few meters away from Nero. She groans and curls into a ball in the dirt.
RUBY
"Yang!"
Ruby runs to Yang's side.
NERO
"As I was saying, before Ms. Xiao Long rudely interrupted, I see that your auras have yet to mature."
WEISS
"Excuse me?"
NERO
"You heard me right. You may be able to use your aura to tank through scraps with common street-goons, but any fighter with a fraction of my skill can slip right through them."
He looks down to Yang, who has recovered enough to sit upright.
NERO
"That's why Ms. Xiao Long here was able to sucker punch Mr. Arc back on the airship; Novices in the use of aura aren't able to bring it up reflexively, and so the lad went out like a light. The same thing is happening here; Control of your aura isn't second nature yet, and so when I strike you by surprise it passes right through."
YANG
"I think you underestimate how hard I can punch!"
To punctuate her statement Yang lunges forward in an attempt to strike Nero, who casually parries her attack and punishes it with a kick. Yang slides back from the force of the blow, but stays standing this time, her aura crackling yellow across her body as it absorbs the force.
NERO
"Ms. Xiao Long, the entrance exam was pass/fail; Those were the two grades. Since you and Mr. Arc both passed, the two of you are equally worthless to me."
Nero takes a step back once again, this time drawing a line in the sand about a meter away from his feet.
NERO
"Now, if you'd like to prove me wrong, show me that you can cross this line."
We see each of the four girls narrow their eyes in determination.
They grasp their swords once again.
We hear the girls let out a battle cry once more, this time off screen, as we look through the trees to see a glint of reflected sunlight in the canopy.
We move in to see that it's the lens of a camera, hidden within the branches of a tree, recording the whole ordeal.
Int. Dormitory Attic – Same.
We see multiple computer displays showing the various student teams performing their initiations across the forest. The displays are on a desk cluttered with empty snack wrappers and drink cans.
We see a cinder sitting at the desk, half-dressed, sweating from the heat of the attic, her eyes dulled and half-glazed as she stares at the display. She nods off for a moment, her head slipping from its perch on her palm, before she flinches back and slaps herself awake.
Cinder reaches for her scroll on the desk. We see her open a text thread labeled "Boss" and type the words "Hope you're enjoying the show, asshat." She hovers her thumb over the send button for a moment before deleting the message. She then types "Situation seems normal, how's the feed on your end?" and hits send.
She places the scroll back on the desk and groans, swiveling her chair around impatiently.
Ext. Emerald Forest Thicket – Day.
We see another tree fly over the canopy of the forest, arcing over the treetops before crashing back into them in a dolphin dive.
Xander struts through the forest, looking about at the tree trunks for his next piece of ammunition.
In the branches above his head we see Nora perched carefully, quietly observing as Xander ambles over to her hiding spot.
He punches the tree, rocking it back and lifting the nearby roots from the ground.
Nora smiles as she grasps the branch supporting her, the tree falling back and steadying in Xander's grasp. Nora takes the queue to launch herself down the tilted trunk of the tree toward the towering man.
Xander looks up, noticing the girl running at full tilt down the trunk, and smiles back at her as she cocks a fist back to strike him.
She throws the punch, but he catches it in his own massive hand.
XANDER
"You pass."
He the tosses Nora through the air, where she flips gracefully to control her momentum, landing stably on her feet. She lets out an exhilarated cheer.
NORA
"We passed guys!"
XANDER
"No."
Nora turns back to face Xander in confusion.
NORA
"But you just said 'you pass'."
XANDER
"Yes, you passed. Just you."
He launches the tree from his hands, this time parallel with the ground at high speed. It goes crashing through the thicket, an arboreal rocket of death.
We see Pyrrah and Jaune dodging to the side of the tree, rolling through the underbrush to cushion their fall.
Meanwhile in the treetops we see Ren leaping from branch to branch in the direction of Xander, stealthily weaving through the foliage.
Pyrrah and Jaune take cover behind thicker trunks to catch their breath.
JAUNE
"What are we supposed to do!?"
PYRRAH
"Well we can't keep dodging like this much longer."
JAUNE
"Well, at least he can't hit us back here."
As the words leave his mouth there is a great crack; A new arboreal missile strikes the tree he's taken cover behind cleaving the top half of the trunk off and sending it flying.
XANDER (O.S)
"Or so you think!"
We see Ren once again, perched over Xander in the trees. He leaps through the air, tumbling in a tight ball before positioning himself for an overhead heel-kick.
The kick lands on the back of Xander's shoulder, the sound of the impact echoes out through the woods.
We see Xander slowly turn his head to make eye contact with Ren, a stern look upon his face.
Ren's eyes flash with concern.
Xander's expression quickly switches to a broad grin.
XANDER
"Excellent!"
Ren lets out a breath, launching himself off of Xander's shoulder and sticking a landing on the ground. Xander turns back in the direction of Pyrrah and Jaune.
XANDER
"Come on you two, your friends have passed! Get your shit together so we can go home, I'm getting bored!"
He rips another tree from its base as punctuation.
Ext. Emerald Forest Clearing – Same.
We see the four girls huffing and out of breath as Nero stands unmoved from where we last saw him.
There is now a line of footprints and scuff marks on the ground leading up to Nero's line in the dirt, but none have crossed it.
We see Nero tapping his sword on his shoulder rhythmically as he waits for the quartet to catch their breath.
NERO
"Well you're certainly persistent, I'll give you all that."
He considers the marks on the ground.
NERO
"You've certainly gotten closer than I thought you would, but clearly the four of you are at your limits. So I'll say this, I wouldn't blame you if you decided to call it quits."
YANG
"What!? No! We aren't just going to give up!"
NERO
"Why not? You've made a valiant effort, certainly, but you should know to quit when you're ahead."
WEISS
"And waste the opportunity to become huntresses!? No way!"
We see Ruby at the back of the group as the girls stand once more, her eyes fixed on Nero's.
A brief flashback plays of Nero's eyes flashing as they did before, when the girls made their first attempt.
We snap back to Ruby, who tightens her grip on the training sword.
Nero sighs as the girls charge at him once more. His eyes flash.
Ruby notices, tensing her whole form. A burst of air emanates from her.
Time slows as before, but Nero frowns as he sees that Ruby continues to move at near normal speed.
Nero widens his stance and puts a hand forward to stop Ruby's forward momentum, simultaneously swatting her sword out of his own path and into the ground.
Ruby's sword swings down, carving a mark in the earth, before Ruby is catapulted backward from Nero's strike.
Nero swats back the other girls as time begins to resume it's normal pace.
Ruby lands harshly, sliding across the forest floor with a groan. The other girls collapse back as before, huffing with exertion.
NERO
"That was a neat trick, Ms. Rose. But your reaction times are still sloppy. You're going to need to…"
Nero looks at the ground to see that Ruby's sword mark in the dirt intersects his line.
He clenches his fist for a moment, then loosens it again.
Ruby rolls over onto her back in the dirt, clutching her abdomen as she recovers from the blow. After a moment she regains her composure enough to sit up, and is immediately covered by Nero's shadow as he stands over her.
NERO
"Tell me something, Ms. Rose, if my fist had been replaced with a beowolf's claw, what would have happened to you just now?"
Ruby blinks, dumbstruck by the question.
RUBY
"Um…I'd be…"
NERO
"Holding onto your insides so that they don't become your outsides."
Across the clearing, we see Yang and Weiss still reeling from the most recent blow, but Blake is nowhere to be found.
NERO
"As impressive as that little trick of yours was, Ms. Rose, it was still a trick done faultily. You used your speed to overcome my superior reflexes, but you threw away the advantage by coming at me from the front in a brash assault the same way you have the past dozen attempts."
RUBY
"I was trying to make it a fair fight."
Nero sighs.
NERO
"That's the problem, Ruby, a fair fight is one that you'll still lose half the time. That was the whole point of this exercise, it was to…"
BLAKE (o.s.)
"To teach us not to fight fair."
Nero tenses, reflexively raising his sword to cover his back. There's a loud clack as Nero and Blake's practice swords collide.
We see Blake standing behind him, her sword locked with his, a smug smirk on her exhausted face.
BLAKE
"Not bad for a first tr-huh…"
Blake is unable to finish her sentence as Nero drops low to sweep her legs out from under her, causing the girl to hit the dirt mid gloat.
Nero stands again and straightens the lapels of his jacket.
NERO
"No monologues, Ms. Belladonna; That's my thing thank you very much."
He turns to the other two girls who have sat up to watch.
NERO
"I trust that you two have been listening?"
The two girls nod, a little confused.
NERO
"Good, then I think we can call this a successful initiation. Fall in girls, let's go see how professor Blackburn is getting on with your friends."
Ext. Emerald Forest Thicket – Same.
We see Pyrrah, Nora, and Ren all sat on a large stump behind Xander as he hefts another tree.
XANDER
"Come on kid, stop being sissy! Arms are getting tired, and stomach is grumbling like babushka after mahjong night!"
Jaune is curled up in a ball at the bottom of a ditch, his back to the mound of dirt that serves as a barrier between himself and Xander. He shivers, unable to respond.
Nora sits with her chin in her palms. We hear her stomach growl, and she groans in response.
NORA
"I wish he would just nut up and attack already, everyone else has figured it out."
REN
"Not everyone learns at the same pace; But you are right, he is taking quite a bit longer than expected."
Nora sighs and turns to look at Pyrrah, who's on the edge of her seat watching the treeline. Then realization strikes. Nora leans back over to Ren.
NORA
"I think what our little knight in shining armor needs is some…motivation."
REN
"Don't do anything rash."
NORA
"Already in motion."
Nora grabs both of the shoulders of Pyrrah's shirt.
PYRRAH
"Wait, what are you…?"
NORA
"Sorry, but he's gonna make us late for lunch."
Nora yanks down.
From Jaune's ditch of self pity we hear Pyrrah scream out a string of curses off-screen, causing Jaune to perk up.
JAUNE
"What's happening over there!?"
XANDER (o.s)
"Wouldn't you like to know, sissy boy?"
We see Jaune redden with anger and climb out of the ditch. He sees Nora and Pyrrah wrestling on the ground, hurling insults at each other and pulling each other's hair. Jaune is so distracted by the spectacle that he nearly doesn't see the tree being launched in his direction at mach one.
Jaune dodge rolls out of the way of the tree, but this time he lets the roll carry him into a forward sprint directly at Xander.
Xander breaks into a broad grin at the sight of Jaune charging headlong at him through the underbrush.
XANDER
"Yes! Finally!"
Xander breaks into an uproarious laugh and squares himself up to engage in melee with the sprinting Jaune.
Jaune cocks a fist back a few feet away from Xander, letting out a war cry.
Xanders prepares to parry the blow.
Jaune runs past Xander at full speed, aiming his punch at Nora, who at the moment is on top of Pyrrah. The hit connects, and Nora is knocked clean off of Pyrrah and launched onto her back on the forest floor.
Ren winces.
Jaune catches his breath and looks down to Pyrrah.
JAUNE
"Are you okay?"
Pyrrah looks away, still red in the face.
PYRRAH
"Yeah, I'm…fine."
XANDER (o.s)
"You little shit!"
Jaune turns to regard Xander, who stares at him with a genuinely hurt look on his face.
XANDER
"Why do you leave me hanging!? I squared up and everything!"
Jaune's face contorts in confusion.
JAUNE
"I…huh?"
XANDER
"You charge in to fight, I get my hopes up, and leave me hanging like sock on doorknob to break up a cat-fight!? What happened to bros before hoes!? Fucking rude bitch!"
JAUNE
"I was worried about Pyrrah! She sounded like she was hurt."
XANDER
"The only thing hurt is my feelings."
Xander turns away dramatically, clutching his fist to his chest and closing his eyes, a stream of manly tears flooding down his cheeks.
NERO (o.s)
"Oh good, you hurt his feelings; Now I have to deal with that later."
Jaune turns again to see Nero and his four students standing at the edge of the group.
Pyrrah sits bolt upright clutching her chest.
PYRRAH
"How long have you all been standing there?"
YANG
(smug)
"Just long enough to get a confidence boost."
Pyrrah reddens further in rage. Nora groans off-screen as she begins to come to.
NERO
"Alrighty then; Xander, how'd they do?"
Xander snaps out of his dramatic pose.
XANDER
"Oh yeah, initiation. Uh…they pass."
Jaune sighs in relief. Nero cocks an eyebrow.
NERO
"Xander, did you forget that you were supposed to be grading them?"
XANDER
"No!"
Nero stares at him.
XANDER
"Maybe…a little bit…toward the end."
NERO
"I see. Well it's clear to me that my team performed better, considering how long I just watched you throw trees at vomit boy over there."
XANDER
"Are not! My pupils are strong like bull!"
NERO
"I don't believe you."
WEISS
(raising her hand)
"But, Professor Sapphirus, didn't you say earlier that we were equally worhtle…"
Nero appears beside Weiss in a blink, leaves whirling around him.
NERO
(through gritted teeth)
"Don't you dare finish that sentence I never get to do this."
XANDER
"What was that?"
NERO
"Nothing!"
On the other side of the thicket, Ren helps Nora to her feet.
REN
"You took a solid right hook there, are you okay?"
NORA
"Yeah, I just wish somebody else would hit me like that."
She bats her eyes at Ren, who stares back at her like a brick wall.
REN
"You need to learn to be more subtle about things."
Nora pouts.
NORA
"I wasn't raised for subtlety."
REN
"You weren't raised."
NORA
"Excuse me!?"
Ren grimaces as he realize the gravity of his error.
Int. Dormitory Attic – Same.
Cinder sits with her chin on her hands, the camera feed reflecting in her eyes. The scroll on her desk lights up and vibrates. She picks it up.
On the screen is a message that reads "Looks like we have some promising talent this year. Keep an eye on them and keep me posted."
Cinder groans, and types out a reply before dropping her scroll back on the desk. She strikes a few keys on the keyboard, switching through live cameras stationed at various parts of the campus, before finally landing on Ozpin's office. The room is filled with a handful of cloaked and masked figures standing in a circle.
Cinder perks up, the oppressive heat forgotten, and she turns up the audio in her speakers.
CLOAKED MAN
"Brothers and sisters of the Circle of Masks, blessings of the gods unto thee."
A broad grin spreads across Cinder's face as she hits the record button. She picks her scroll back up and frantically begins typing message after message.
She looks back to the screen, a new enthusiasm burning in her eyes.
CINDER
"Jackpot."
End of Episode 4