"For years you have trained to become warriors. And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well… That being said, the first person that you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your 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 choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately… Are there any questions?.. Good. Now take your positions."
Kallo slid one boot back on her platform and did just as Ozpin had instructed her to. Her bladed gauntlets were polished and readied on her arms for whatever was going to be meeting her down below. Her focus was solely on those two things, though she couldn't help but overhear a young man who somehow didn't seem to understand the position all of them were in, asking a question that he clearly already knew the answer to.
"No, you will be falling."
One by one they were being launched up into the air and heading towards the forest down below. Kallo found herself excited and anxious as she waited for her own platform to launch her out above the forest. But of course, here the young man was still not accepting what was about to happen to them. Well, he was either going to step off of the platform or he was going to learn very quickly what was happening.
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy."
Her eyes were practically forced to roll at him, but as soon as they did, her feet felt light and her whole body was jettisoned right up into the air with all of the others. The screaming of that boy was not far behind her, but at this point she couldn't focus on something like that. Now she was in the first do or die situation of this test and it was time to put up or shut up. Good for her then that she was exactly the type to go in swinging.
Kallo didn't have much of a choice but to be this way, all forward and upfront about her strength. She learned from the get go that being a faunus with obvious traits like her ram horns was always going to put her in… difficult situations. Maybe that was why her fighting style was so aggressive and brutal. If she was going to get the worst that life could throw at her, she might as well grab life by the horns and flip it onto its fucking back before breaking said back.
Though now as she was descending down towards the ground, she knew she didn't have to take that approach immediately. Her semblance was going to allow her to land here with much more grace than she ever carried herself with after all. Still plummeting towards the hard ground, she stuck her feet out in front of her and held out her arms to her sides. After taking a deep breath, a sharp whistle filled the air around her.
That had been the trigger for her semblance which rocketed her up into the air with a swing down of her arms. Once she had done that all of the momentum carrying her down had been reduced dramatically and she was able to land on her feet without much trouble at all. Standing there for a moment she made sure her bladed gauntlets were still attached to her arms and secured, also reassuring herself that her outfit was still all together and not disheveled in the process.
She wore a leather jacket that had coattails down past the back of her knees, colored white with some red sprinkled in. Her dark pants and black boots looked just fine as well and as she shook her head, her wild hair settled back into place. This tan skinned faunus was ready to go, ready to pierce whatever came her way and make for the northern part of the forest, her red eyes leading the way as she moved forward.
Between now and then there was the possibility of running into both the grimm and other students, which reminded her that she'd be finding a teammate soon. There was that blonde with an attitude that she had been in class with back at Signal and the Invincible Girl had enrolled here as well. Other than that she did see some others from Signal like her, and many others that she didn't recognize at all. No matter who she would run into in the end, that person was going to be who she would be paired with for the duration of her time at Beacon
What fun...
Kuroku Pongas was one of the first to be launched from her platform and she was perfectly fine with that. Unlike some others who needed to be told how this was going to work, she had figured it all out the moment she saw the forest. The only part that did take her off guard was how she was going to be paired with another. But she didn't care, as long as they didn't slow her down.
This samurai wasn't here to waste her time and have to carry the weight of another for four whole years. She had too much to focus on for herself to be burdened with another person on top of all that. If she had known it was going to be such a simple process she would have scouted out some of her peers and figured out who would fit her team the best. There was that heiress from Atlas and the Invincible Girl… either of them wouldn't be too bad.
Shaking this from her thoughts though, she focused her mind on the fall below her. Clearing her mind of nothing but the distance between herself and the harsh ground that wouldn't be very forgiving to a small piece of flesh like her, her eyes scanned the nearby area as she got closer and closer. And then she spotted her landing. There was an ursa moving throughout this specific landing spot and it would provide the perfect platform if she timed this just right.
So she leaned forward in its direction and aimed straight for the beast. Her hand on the handle of her katana, she brought her knees forward into the chest of the twisted bear. Thrusting her blade deep into it's chest right above that, the two slid to an abrupt stop. Safely landed in the forest. Kuroku took a moment to catch her breath while she stood up on its chest and pulled her blade free from it.
There wasn't much life left in it, but it was still weakly roaring at her and slowly raising its paws up to strike at her. So, obviously not out of pity but out of the want to move on and raise her score, she swiped her blade at the ursa's neck. Finishing it off, the smoke of its corpse began filling the air and the samurai slid her blade back into its scabbard, walking off of the beast and blowing some of her blue hair out of her face.
She wore what would be considered pieces of more modernized samurai armor all over her body. Unlike the clunky and ineffective armor of the past this version was far more form fitting and the armor itself was made of some of the best metal that Mistral could get its hands on. She was certain that it was imported from Atlas, but unlike some of her peers from Atlas she didn't care if it was. She was willing to do and wear whatever it was going to take to see her mission through to the end.
That's what her sensei would want her to focus on above all other things. So next on the agenda would be to fight her way through this forest and find someone that would be a decent asset to her. She had considered the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company before. All that she had ever heard were great things about the Schnees and the way that they carried themselves in battle, so she wouldn't be a bad one.
Then there was the famed Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, who had won the Mistral Regional Tournament about… four times in a row. Kuroku was quite aware of who she was since her sensei had taken her to watch a handful of those tournaments that the girl had been victorious in. The only issue with her would be the fact that she'd be spending most of her time here living in the shadow of another. But that didn't matter, she would just have to push herself and surpass even the likes of the Invincible Girl.
After all she was gifted with the sword, according to her sensei, and she possessed a semblance that gave her lots of defense and offense all at once. All of the balls were in her court, so to speak, so it was going to be on her to see this through. If she wanted she could be the best student at this school, she just had to be willing to put a lot of hard work into what she was doing now. That wouldn't be too difficult though. Hard work and determination had basically been the only life that she had ever known.
Her thoughts were soon cut short though as another ursa had made its way over to her position. Maybe it was here to check on the condition of its companion that she had brought an end to. She was sure that if she just kept her emotions in control and didn't disturb it that she could just slip right past the beast, but to be honest that just wasn't how Kuroku liked to operate.
It didn't take her another moment before she pulled her sword free of its scabbard and landed a cut on the ursa's arm. It roared to life after that and attempted to smash her by bringing both of its paws down on top of her. However she was ready for such a slow attack and was able to just roll out of the way, kicking off of the dirt behind her and using her momentum to swing her blade at its downed arms.
This time her strike had been enough to fully remove one of its paws and go about halfway through another. The only problem with that was that the sword was now stuck in the, now definitely raging, ursa's arm. It lashed out by swinging its arm around wildly and she was left with no choice but to hold onto her sword and try to tug it out. Pulling it free with a bit of effort, she was tossed down to the ground below.
She rolled over her back before quickly jumping back up to her feet and locating the grimm as soon as she could. It was full on charging her now and unfortunately for the grimm that was quite the mistake. Quickly, her sword became engulfed in blue aura and seemed to grow in size rather significantly. Her whole upper body and head were all being covered in a similar blue aura that resembled large armor, only her face being visible from her hips up.
This was her semblance and also the end of this ursa as she swung forward and cut cleanly through its upper body. And so the grimm was reduced to a smoky corpse on the ground by Kuroku's feet. She took a moment to let what just happened sink in. She had used her semblance already, that might not have been good. After all once she activated this form she was only able to use it twice more on the same day.
But she had been smart to keep it on since she heard the steps of something behind her. It was too large to be another student so she knew that she was being snuck up on for an attack. Then as whatever it was that was behind her leaped at her, she spun around and swung her blade once again. It was a Beowulf and now it was cut clean in half by her aura powered blade.
"Badass." She said, her voice a little altered, crackling, deeper when she wore this semblance of hers. Then after taking a look around her and making sure there weren't any more grimm, she allowed the armor and sword of aura to fade away. Her sword found its way back into its scabbard and she headed back down her path, checking nearby trees, the ground, and the sky to make sure she was headed in the right direction.
For now she thought about how to best use her semblance from here on out. She was going to have two more opportunities to use it and she still had to get a teammate, grab a relic, and get back to the top of the cliff all in one day. It would be best to use it sparingly then, and at least have one more go of it after she held a relic in hand. That seemed like a good plan, now she just needed to keep her head on her shoulders and follow through with it.
Seki Rodu was smaller than most of the other seventeen year olds who were here for their first year at Beacon Academy. She had walked around and around that campus, but she really did have a hard time finding anyone of the same smaller stature. That was until she had overheard a commotion from the sleepover. There she noticed a girl with dark red hair, who had been just about the same size as Seki, and that did put her at ease a bit.
Now though, while she was plummeting down to the ground of the Emerald Forest such a state of mind would be unthinkable though. It was a moment like this, the moment that she had stepped onto the airship that was taking her here to this school that she had regretted it all. She shouldn't have ever let them convince her that her semblance was one worth becoming a huntress over. She… was going to have to fight grimm and do things that were so much bigger than herself, including sticking this landing.
Seki wasn't even too sure how she should go about that yet…
Quickly she clapped her hands together, snapping out of it and, with her semblance,creating two bat wings that should be large enough for her to use as a makeshift glider. She held them tightly in each arm and slowly started gently gliding down to the ground below.
As she eventually found her footing again, she let her bat wings dissolve into nothing and took a moment to slow her heart rate. Her semblance was a very unique one, since it allowed her to create just about anything with her hands as long as she had an idea of what she wanted to make. The objects she did make were made out of this purple texture that was incredibly strong and could be morphed into literally anything she wanted. However she had learned early on that just because she could create a sword or an axe didn't mean she had any idea of how to use one.
Nonetheless she still let those at the orphanage she grew up in convince her that she needed to use this semblance for something more. And to them that "more" meant enrolling at Signal through that program Professor Ozpin had come up with. It was really meant to help out Faunus get into the academy, but since she was a poor orphan she too qualified for the program. And one the road from there to now she had felt overwhelmed every step of the way...
Her long, red hair had fallen over her shoulders so she stood up straight and put it back behind her. Brushing off her poncho with her dark skinned hands, she tried her best to get her nerves under control. She would need to not be shaking at all if she was going to use her pair of long barreled pistols with any level of proficiency. Or at least, that was what the professors at Signal would always tell her.
There was that one, Professor Xiao Long, who was the best when it came to teaching her. He always had the right words to say when she needed someone to calm her down and get her prepared. All of her best scores, and to be honest the only scores that allowed her to get this far, were the ones that came from his classes. But now here she was and she wasn't going to have him to hold her hand throughout this trial… or any of her time at Beacon.
"With pistols as strong as those all you'll have to do is have a strong hand and steady aim, Miss Rodu."
"I know, professor." She reminisced aloud as she forced one foot in front of the other and headed north. If there were any grimm in her way she'd just have to find a way to get past them and maybe she could get lucky and find that girl with the dark red hair. The two of them could have each other's backs in this world filled with tall seventeen year olds. Regardless, she was building up the courage she needed to continue on.
Beacon and all of Vale had been so much bigger than what Okinaka Chiki could have imagined. That's what growing up in Argus and only ever visiting Mistral would do to you after all. Though if there was one girl who could handle going from the small town to the big city it was going to be her. All of her life if there had been a goal or an obstacle in front of her she never shied away from it and hardly did she ever not overcome it.
And that was what was in front of her now, an obstacle, as she was falling towards the Emerald forest after having been launched from that platform. This wasn't a tough obstacle though, not for her. As soon as she'd known she'd be doing this she'd already known what her plan was going to be. That was why she had one hand on each of her knives on her hips. Now she just had to wait to get clos enough to the ground before using them.
As she got closer and closer she counted down from ten to get herself ready. Once she was at seven her fall seemed to be lining up perfectly. Four. It was nearly time to do it, so she made sure she had a good idea of where her target would be. Two. There wasn't any more time to think!
One. And just like that she threw one of her knives through the air and she herself vanished. A small spark ignited where the other knife was before suddenly, there she was. She had teleported from her knife on her hip to the other knife that was now back in her hand. That was her semblance, the ability to teleport from one object to another as long as they were made of the same material and were roughly the same shape. And she wasn't done using it either, she had slowed her momentum down but now was the time to stick her landing.
So as she fell down past the treetops, she threw the knife down towards the ground below, teleporting through that spark again. Swiftly she reached behind her to pull her bo staff free from her back and smacked one end into the dirt, using it to flip herself over before landing confidently on her feet. It had been a perfect landing, a ten out of ten, and now she was ready to take on the rest of this initiation.
Her knife back in its place on her hip and the bo staff back on her back, Okinaka headed north for the temple. She had the look of a huntress already, that much was certain. The blonde hair that was tied up in a wild pony tail and her blue eyes were a good start when combined with her fair, not quite pale skin. Then she wore a battle kimono, some tight shorts underneath, and a pair of chaps that began at her thighs and ended down by her boots.
This whole outfit was actually something that her mother and her picked out before her first go of it in the Mistral Regional Tournament. She participated in it three years in a row and even made it to the finals in her final time competing. That had been about two years ago and she could still vividly remember the match with the Invincible Girl. Even with all of the confidence one could carry, she had gotten reckless and lost the moment she fell victim to that semblance of Pyrrha's.
Since then she took a year off from both Sanctum and the tournament so that she could focus on only herself and prepare for the beginning here at Beacon. She had had the time to refine her prowess and make sure that she was mentally ready for this day and the four years that were ahead of her. After all it was all on her now, all of her training had to pay off and she was sure it would.
From the looks of it she wasn't going to have to wait to get that started either. There was a beowulf not too far from her and it sure looked as if it had noticed her, since it was fiercely heading in her direction. The closer it got the more speed it picked up, clearly in the mood for some human flesh. Too bad that it couldn't think far beyond the want to kill though, was what she thought as she pulled the bo staff off her back and spread her feet apart.
She was at the ready as the beowulf lunged forward, ready to pounce right on top of her, but it was never going to get that chance. Okinaka stuck one end of her staff into the dirt and with one finger she activated the mechanism on the far end of it. This lengthened that end another several feet and hit the beowulf on the chest. That was what she was waiting for too, as she put her back under the staff and used all of her weight to quickly flip the beast over onto its back.
"To dust you go!" She didn't hesitate with her next move and smashed the other end into the skull of the monster. Okinaka had a feeling that a strike right under the chin up into its skull would be enough to finish it off and her prediction had been proven right. The smoke was all the evidence she would need to confirm its demise. So with a grin on her face she tucked away her staff after shortening it back and turned to go back on her path.
However as she did she was immediately confronted by two more beowolves that must have heard the commotion. Shouting like she had might not have been her best decision, but it wasn't like these two posed a threat to her. Sure, she was just some human girl and they were much larger than her, but her training had prepared her for this.
It would have been a foolish move to just stand there and let them come onto her though, charging like they were, so she threw one of her knives up by a nearby branch. Teleporting up and gaining her footing, she looked down to the beowolves below. The not so intelligent creatures were seemingly confused on where she had gone, but she knew better than to just stand there. She needed to act immediately and she had the element of surprise on her side now too.
Smash! She had jumped down with her bo staff in hand and brought an end down on the head of one of the beowolves. It wasn't dead yet, but it was definitely going to have to recover after that so she focused on the other. The monster was clearly enraged, roaring and slicing at her with it's claws. However she easily smacked them out of the way with a flick of her staff which she spun around with the momentum of the parry, hitting the beowulf on the head over and over again.
Then once it finally pulled its head back she just stopped the staff in place and extended the end nearest to that beowulf. It smacked it on the chin and caused the grimm to lose its balance. She wasn't going to wait for it to fall though as she tossed one of the knives up over its head. Teleporting above it, she struck it across the head in both directions twice. And as she landed on her feet again, she delivered one final blow to the head, finishing off the Grimm.
The other had regained itself by now and was ready to strike her immediately though, leaving Okinaka no choice but to block the strike with her staff. Following up from that, she ran up it's body, leaping into the air before spinning downward and striking it's head multiple times. Finishing it off, she brought the staff down on its head on the ground, having to catch her breath after winning what was a fun warm up.
"You're what's pushing us to extinction? Yeah right."
Kallo pulled her blades out of the head of a beowulf, looking them over to make sure there wasn't any damage. There wasn't any, as she expected, so she retracted the blades to rest on her gauntlets once more. By now she was certain that she had taken out a whole batch of these things, each one not putting up much of a fight to her. The moment she stuck her blades in them they just seemed to buckle for her, which was fine by her really.
Letting out a bit of a yawn, she continued on. She was wondering about how much sleep she had gotten the night before and to be honest she wasn't sure she remembered how much it really had been. Maybe she was yawning out of the boredom she currently experienced, though she should really count herself lucky. The Grimm that she had run into so far weren't anything special compared to what was really out there.
However, just at that moment she heard a scream come from her left. Her instincts kicked in immediately and she took off in the direction of it, trying to locate the cry for help. Or at least, that was what she was hoping would meet her on the other end of this. If some other student had met their demise while she was just yawning out of boredom she'd have to kick her own ass.
"Help me! Heeelp!"
Clenching her fists, her blades locked into place over her knuckles as she ran forward and used her semblance to go as fast ahead as she could. Arriving at the scene, she saw a student that had been backed up against a tree, and a beowolf clawing at a shield they were holding up. Too bad it hadn't noticed her though, as she brought her fist down on its head at full speed and strength, her blades crushing its skull in and killing it on the spot. Kallo leaned over it as she pulled her blades out, catching her breath as she looked at the student… wait, she knew this one.
The clearly half drunk man was standing there, a clipboard in his hand as Kallo waited. She wasn't alone either, there were lots of others who were around her age just standing there waiting. They weren't just standing there moments ago though. Before the professor had gotten here to split them up, Kallo had found herself punching in the nose of one of these brats.
She had a good reason for doing it though, this smaller girl who was standing beside her now was being picked on by one of the bigger boys amongst them. Why was he picking on the small girl? Probably because of her size and long red hair, but he'd know better than to do shit like that again while this ferocious ram was here. She had seen enough mistreatment of others to not ever stand watching it happen to someone else ever again.
"Alright… that wasn't a good first impression, but I'm sure you're all excited. I want you to know… just because you're here on a special program doesn't mean you're going to get special treatment."
God, his voice was so slow and drawn out. He really couldn't have made it any more obvious that he was drunk off of his ass. But, he did have quite the weapon on his back and he was a professor here so there was a good chance that even he had something to offer her. Or that was her hope anyway, as she stood there and rubbed her knuckles that were still bruised.
"I'm Qrow Branwen, one of the professors you'll be seeing here… during your time at Signal. Now go inside and another professor will show you around."
Of course that bully was one of the first one's in the door. He wasn't going to want anymore of what she had to offer. But she ignored him for now and looked next to her at the small girl with the red hair, offering her a smile. The small girl looked at her, but then looked away before running off inside. She must have been shy, but regardless she needed to get a move on, she was the last one out here. However before she got inside, Qrow Branwen stopped her.
"I'm not supposed to encourage that behavior… but I would have done the same… What's your name?"
Kallo couldn't help but smirk a little. "Kallo Aries."
Seki was stunned that anyone had actually come to her rescue at all. In that moment when the beowulf was bearing down on her she was certain that she was about to meet her parents on the other side. The shield that she had created was just on the edge of being torn to shreds… but now she was… breathing, slowly finding her footing though her legs were certainly about as strong as jelly for the moment.
"Thank you…" As soon as she made eye contact with her savior though she immediately recognized the red eyes and those horns. That was… the girl who had rescued her back then at Signal. She had… grown quite a bit in all sorts of ways, being what would probably be considered average height for a female her age and she was far more curvy than Seki. Though… Seki was a stick in all regards… so that really wasn't something that would be difficult to be.
"You're okay?" Suddenly this girl had gotten up close in Seki's personal space, which she was sure was with good intentions. Her eyes were scanning the small girl all over as she was likely checking her for any injuries.
"I'm fine!" Her response had come out way too harsh, as the girl stepped back in a bit of shock. Seki needed to get herself under control… "I'm fine… thank you. I uh… guess we're teammates now. "I'm Seki. Seki Rodu."
"Kallo Aries, it's nice to meet you." Kallo offered her hand to Seki, which was when the latter first noticed those vicious blades on her forearm. If there was anything that Seki could be glad about, it was that she would most definitely be safe with this one around. So with a smile on her face she took Kallo's hand and shook it. Maybe there was some force out there bringing them together… after all, she had already tried avoiding this once before.
That girl… nobody had ever taken up for Seki like that before. At least, nobody her age anyway. Back at the orphanage the woman who looked after them would always keep the bullies away when she was around and would often look after Seki. But for that girl to just jump in and beat the snot out of that boy like that..?
Then the way she just smiled at Seki, she… wanted to be her friend? Probably, but now it didn't matter. She had just run off the moment that the two of them made eye contact, too overwhelmed to just talk to her savior. After all it wasn't like her and the woman back at the orphanage were friends, why would this girl be any different?
These were the kind of things that she told herself as she sat there in her bed the first night at this academy. Having created her little lion and horse buddies out of her semblance to keep her company once again. This had really been a habit of hers ever since she first discovered this semblance of hers. Something about these little things that she made just made her feel a little more at ease, especially at night.
Maybe it was the fact that they were technically a part of her, being made out of her aura and all. It was almost like they were her little family. Family… that was something she wasn't even sure if she understood the meaning of. Sure, on the outside it just meant living somewhere with a mom and a pop who looked after you, but she was always so curious what kind of feelings came with that.
