The Emerald Forest, Kingdom of Vale
The wind whipped around Wren's sprawling form as he hurtled through the air, towards a sea of trees below. Someone was screaming as they fell, and it definitely wasn't him. No way. Definitely not Wren.
How the hell did this happen? He thought, as the trees came closer and closer.
A few minutes earlier, at Beacon Cliff…
"For years, you have trained to become huntsmen. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Oscar Pine stood near the edge of a cliff overlooking a sprawling forest, facing the students gathered on the edge with him.
"Now, you all know that you'll be forming teams during your time at Beacon. You will all be given teammates," he paused, seemingly for effect, "today." The assembled students began murmuring excitedly.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, and likely beyond as well. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone you can work effectively with."
"That being said, following the tradition of my predecessors, your partner for the next four years will be the first person you make eye contact with upon landing." At this, some of the students paled or expressed their shock.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. Do not hesitate to destroy any opposition you may encounter, or you will die. At the end of your path, you'll find an abandoned temple containing several relics. Each pair must select one of the relics and deliver it back here. You will be monitored and graded accordingly upon your return."
"I do hope you spent some of your time developing an appropriate landing strategy." He smirked, and there was a faint hissing and a click sound from the tiles the students were standing on. Then, the one furthest to the right catapulted the student atop it into the forest.
"If that's all, then I'll be off, Professor. I'd prefer to enter the forest on my own terms." A large, imposing student with long white hair and brass armor wielding a massive axe spoke, quietly but with purpose. He stepped forward and leapt off the cliff. A crumbling sound was heard a second or two later. Oscar looked slightly surprised for a moment, but regained his composure as more students were launched.
Then, Wren heard the plate underneath his feet making noise, and before he could react, he was already in the air.
The present, several hundred feet above the Emerald Forest…
Wren twisted his body around and concentrated, which was a feat in and of itself, as he was currently falling rapidly. He shot his arm out towards a gnarled tree that was taller than the rest, and green tendrils jumped from his arm and wrapped around the top of the tree. He began to spin around the tree, slowing down as he did. He reached the end of the tendrils and released them, accidentally landing in a heroic, one-arm-and-knee-to-the-ground pose before falling over as nausea overtook him. After the dizziness from his landing passed, he rose to his feet and looked around.
"...shit, where am I?" he mused aloud, as he heard a rustling from the bushes nearby. "Hmm?"
He walked over to the source of the noise, and a large, wolf-like Grimm, a Beowulf, erupted from the foliage in an attempt to tackle Wren. He bobbed out of the way and delivered a punch reinforced by Aura and unstable energy to the Beowulf's jaw, knocking it off cleanly. The Grimm disintegrated shortly afterward. However, as growling rang out from around him, Wren noticed that he was surrounded.
"Huh." He banged his knuckles together as the light reflected by his sunglasses shimmered. He slammed a fist into the ground, causing a fissure of green light that traveled towards one of the nearby Grimm, exploding into the Beowulf's face as it neared. "That's interesting. Didn't think that would actually work. Now…"
Wren's energy tendrils emerged once more, this time towards a low, dead-looking branch. It snapped easily, and Wren drew the tendrils back, branch in tow. He grasped the tentacles in one hand, twirling the ropes to build momentum and letting them fly towards a nearby Grimm like a makeshift rope dart. It lodged into the Grimm's ribcage, though not enough to dispatch it instantly. But that's what Wren was counting on. He used the tendrils from his other hand to grab another Beowulf and fling it into the first one, managing to line them up front-to-back. He ran towards the pair and snapped his foot towards the branch in the first one, forcing it further into the first Grimm's body enough to where it poked through its back. Before it could disintegrate, Wren hit the branch again, impaling the second Grimm as well. Both of the Beowulves vanished in a spray of dark ashes.
More rustling from behind him.
"Shit."
This time, however, instead of another Beowulf, an odd, bipedal dragon-like Grimm standing around eight feet tall wandered out, unmoved by the violence Wren had just wreaked. Its forelegs were almost as long as its body was tall, ending in wicked claws. It stood on digitigrade haunches, with similar claws, and had a tail that flicked about occasionally, ending in a keen barb. It walked with a hunched back, with its bony head and horns on display. Its eyes glowed with a reddish-orange light, same as the marks scratched into the exoskeletal plating that decorated its pitch-black body. It turned towards Wren, who dropped back into his stance, ready for a fight. However, instead of blindly charging towards him like other Grimm, this one looked him dead in the eyes, and turned away. As it slowly plodded back into the foliage, it made a sound, one that sounded almost like a person saying,
"No."
It disappeared into the underbrush. Wren blinked in surprise. What just happened?
Wren didn't spend much time wondering before deciding to move.
"Now, which way is north?" He pondered aloud.
"In the other direction." A new voice called out from behind him. Wren screamed for a split second and turned around.
Across the clearing stood one of the girls Wren met before orientation, the one he didn't collide with. She rested her hands on one of the katanas in her belt.
"Sorry." She said.
"Nah, it's fine, but man, that was sudden. What are you, anyway, some kinda ninja?" Wren asked.
"Taiga Xiao Long. And yes, something like that."
"Taiga… Name's Wren Branwen. Nice ta meetcha."
"Wait, Branwen? Then you're…"
"Hold on. Xiao Long? That's…"
Realization dawned on them both. "You're my cousin?" They said at the same time.
"Huh. Small world." Wren mused.
"I was gonna say the same."
They stood there, silently.
"We should get going."
"Yeah. You said we're s'posed to go that way?"
"Right."
-XNTW-
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest…
Niko Asterius hated to admit it, but even he had a breaking point. And he had just reached it.
Too many Grimm here. Could've planned this better.
He sighed and hefted his axe out of a dissolving Grimm. He swung it towards a distant Grimm as a disc dislodged itself from the axe's blades and decapitated its target. It bounced off a tree behind the Beowulf and reentered the axe head.
A large, bear-like Grimm, an Ursa, reared onto its hind legs and roared. Niko dropped his axe and did the same. As the two approached each other, Niko sprouted reddish horns and fiery eyes, and slammed a fist into the Ursa's jaw, before putting his head down and goring the Grimm on his horns. Both the Ursa and the horns in its gut disintegrated as Niko stood up. He turned to face the assembled Grimm, an animalistic growl escaping his throat. He readied his axe, crouching down to leap forward, but before he could leave the ground, the Grimm at the front of the pack fell over as a gunshot rang out from nearby. Niko cocked his head quizzically as a lavender figure sped through the pack, leaving dark ashes in her wake.
"Hiya! How's it goin'?" The lavender-clad girl asked.
"I could've handled that." Niko replied.
"So? Still nice to have some help, riii~ght?" She said, the last part in a sing-song tone.
"I guess."
"So what's your name?"
"Isn't it considered more polite to give your name before asking for somebody else's?"
"...So it would seem! I'm Kira Xiao Long!" The girl said after a brief pause.
"Niko."
"Nice to meet you, Niko! Now, we're gonna get to those ruins the headmaster mentioned?"
"Guess so."
This is gonna be one helluva year… Niko thought, and unbeknownst to him, Wren was thinking the exact same thing.
A/N: Thank you all for reading RWBY: XNTW! I meant to put this author's note in the first chapter, but it slipped my mind as I was writing it… Anyway, thank you! I mean it. This is actually my first fanfic, so I hope there aren't any major issues with the writing. All of these chapters were beta-read by my friend Mudchip.
On an unrelated note, while I was writing the cliffs and landing strategy scenes, my playlist gave me "She's So High" by Tal Bachman and "Fly Octo Fly" from the Octo Expansion OST and I lost it for a moment…
Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this story so far! I'll see you all next time!