RAVN
Chapter 3
The First Step
As was habit by now, Raven had risen with the sun. But even so, he was still not used to such vigorous activity so shortly after he rose from oblivion. Which was why the extremely loud voice took him so completely by surprise.
"Wake up, lazy butt!"
Eyes widening behind his mask, Raven leapt to his feet, sword held by its sheath in his left hand and ready to be drawn, his shield clattering to the side by his sudden movement.
He slouched with a groan when it became clear to him that he was in Beacon's ballroom with the other student hopefuls and nothing was going to suddenly attack him. Sleeping in metal armor didn't come highly recommended, as his aching back could testify to.
Securing his sword to his belt and picking up his shield, he looked around for who had yelled, only to see an orange haired girl who looked far too bubbly to be appropriate so early in the morning. Thankfully, she wasn't talking to him, as she looked to be busy annoying a lethargic looking boy. Shaking his head, Raven placed his shield on his back and made his way through the labyrinth of students, some still sleeping and some shaking away their drowsiness so that they too could get up and start their day.
Raven almost tripped on his feet when he came across a boy putting on underwear. The young boy, about Ruby's age (maybe even a little younger) with shaggy gray hair, pointed canine ears and a fluffy canine tail was putting them on, meaning he had gone the entire night without them.
He stopped in his tracks, just staring in disbelief at the naivety and foolishness of this boy who would sleep in the nude in a ballroom full of people.
"Huh?" the boy said when he noticed him staring, and he skipped over to him and extended his hand, ignoring the fact that he was still half naked. "Hi, I'm Virgil. Will you be my friend?"
"Umm... I," Raven couldn't form a proper response, so shocked was he by the abruptness of that question, that he just said "sure."
"Yay!" Virgil's grin grew so wide it split his face and he jumped in place, "my second day at Beacon and I already made a friend! I can't wait to tell my mo-" he started to say before he cut himself off with a depressed look on his face. Raven blinked in surprise that the boy, smiling and full of joy at one moment was now looking so sad.
"Are you alright?" Raven asked, concerned at the look of naked hurt in Virgil's eyes.
"What? Oh no, I'm fine." the boy replied quickly, his earlier chipperness returning to his voice, but the hurt remained. No, it had been there all along, he just hadn't bothered to notice it. Raven winced in disapproval of himself, his left hand grabbing his right elbow and squeezing.
Raven stood by in silence as the boy finished getting dressed. Part of the reason he had come here was because his father wanted him to make friends, and maybe this boy could be a start to that, even if he had just dropped the friend question on him with so suddenly. But, weren't friends supposed to help each other? The damaged couldn't help the damaged, could they?
"Well, lets go!" the boy said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him along toward the dining hall. Raven followed obediently, staring at his and Virgil's conjoined hands in thought.
"Right. I mean what was I thinking?" the orange-haired girl who's voice woke him up earlier mumbled through the pancake that was hanging out of her mouth. Raven's head was plopped into his hands, his hands nursing a growing headache. The girl at the next table just droned on and on and on. Virgil was happily scooping up mouthful after mouthful of oatmeal at his side, seemingly unaware of the loud girls ranting.
The girl had short orange hair and turquoise eyes. Her clothing was a mix and match of some sort, with different colors and themes, making it hard to tell where she was from. She wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist with a pink emblem depicting a hammer and a lightning bolt was embroidered on the back. Under the vest and around her waist was two layers of clothing forming a sort of waist cincher, colored red and light-blue the back of her skirt was a large and slightly transparent turquoise bow.
She also were a white sleeveless top with a small cut out heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm, with matching pink fingerless gloves on each hand. She wore a pink thigh-length skirt. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, with her emblem on their soles.
Lastly, she wore strangely styled armor that began in the middle of her shoulders and neck and ended at her waist.
Seated next to her was a male teenager with long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back, with a magenta streak going down the left side of his head. His eyes were magenta, and he imagined that the girl next to him must have put the streak there for him as a flight of fancy.
He wore a dark green long-sleeved tailcoat with a red, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs, and the coat fastened diagonally down the front with gold frogs.
Looking at his wrists, he appeared to be wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the coat, and lastly were light-tan pants with stylish black shoes.
Raven wasn't wearing his mask, but his face was still obscured by his hood. His mask, helmet actually, was propped up on the table in front of him, staring at him with its empty black eyes.
"But still, I hope we end up on the same team together." She said to the pony-tailed boy at her side, slurping up the remains of her pancake and swallowed it without chewing. "Oh! We should come up with some sort of plan," the girl clamped down hard on the boys shoulder who went about his business without showing any reaction, "to make sure we end up on the same team together."
She lifted him bodily from his chair and carried him out of the room with her. Raven stared after them in astonishment.
'I have so many questions.'
But instead he shook his head and focused back onto finishing his oatmeal.
Setting down his spoon with a sigh, he bent his back to pop the stiff joints of his spine. After a far higher number of cracking sounds than would be normal for the usual person, he let out a relieved sigh and picked up his helmet with both hands, and only showing off enough of his face to see that his skin was pale white, he slipped on his helmet and pulled his hood up to keep his features obscured once more.
No sooner than he had done that Virgil finished his breakfast and tugged on his sleeve once more, signaling that it was time to go. Raven picked up their trays and silverware went to put them with the trash. On the way Virgil spoke up "that was really good! I've never had oatmeal before." Raven turned to see Virgil's smiling face, "if you never had oatmeal before, why did you get it when we were in line?"
"Well because you did," Virgil said, and he blinked in surprise. Raven was so used to people lying to him of giving such selfish reasons for doing what they did, this completely simple and honest response threw him for a loop. "You look like you know what you're doing, so I just got the same thing as you."
Raven couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he just smiled and gave Virgil's hand a light squeeze.
"What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school." The... energetic girl said, holding her chin in thought. "I know! We'll have some sort of signal. Like a distress call. A secret signal so that we can find each other in the forest." She poked his cheek. "Can you imitate a sloth?"
"Nora," the boy said in a flat tone.
Nora quieted at stood to attention. "Yes, Ren?"
He held up his bladed pistols, which collapsed in on themselves and disappeared in his sleeves. "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."
Nora squinted her eyes in thought before saying "that's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together."
Ren closed his locker and walked past her. "Come on Nora, let's go."
"But not 'together' together," Nora said with a musical sounding giggle as she followed Ren outside.
Raven could feel another headache coming. The search for potential teammates was already looking disappointing. Virgil was already in if the way he was clinging to his hand was any indication. This Ren boy might make a suitable teammate, but he suspected that he and Nora came as a package deal, and he suspected that close proximity to Nora for more than a few weeks would end in murder charges rather than a hunter's license.
Ruby and Yang had made their way into the locker room shortly before Nora and Ren had left.
Raven's eyes were drawn to the tall blond whose street clothes managed to be reveal more than her pajamas. Part of him wanted to shake his head in exasperation, part of him wanted to stare in appreciation, and the rest of him wanted to get to Virgil's locker, get his things and leave.
Yang and Ruby had arrived at the younger sister's locker when Raven noticed the yellow-tinted aviator glasses dangling from the blond's shirt, their slight weight dragging the fabric down to reveal more of her cleavage. Raven shook his head and tried to walk away, but Virgil wanted to stay put. He hoped Ruby was what had drawn the boy's attention, because it would just be inappropriate if Yang was the one who had caught his eye.
Ruby was a lot more conservative where bare skin was concerned, and Raven was very thankful for that. One, because Ruby was too young to be showing that much skin, and two, because he didn't want Virgil getting drawn in by that kind of indecency.
"Wonder what they were so worked up about," Ruby said, looking towards the two who were walking toward the exit. Or, to be more accurate, one was skipping and the other was lazily keeping up with her.
"Oh, who knows," Yang brushed her off, "so, you seem awfully chipper this morning."
Ruby laughed. "Yep! No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff." She took her collapsed weapon out of her locker and cradled it in her arms like a baby. "Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."
"Well, Ruby, remember that you're not the only one going through initiation," Yang said sounding surprisingly mature and serious. "If you want to grow up, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together."
"You sound like Dad!" Ruby groaned, putting her weapon back into her locker and facing Yang. "Okay, first of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting?"
Raven could sympathize with that. If he could, he would avoid anyone but the faculty until graduation.
Before Yang could reply, Ruby said "and secondly, I don't need people to help me grow up." Ruby stood tall with her arms crossed. "I drink milk!"
Raven was dumbfounded. There seemed to be an unwritten law with the sisters about following up every smart and sensible comment with something childish and unreasonable.
"But what about when we form teams?"
Ruby averted her eyes and stammered nervously, "I don't know, I'll just be on your team or something…"
"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"
If her wavering voice wasn't enough of a giveaway to Yang's conflicted feelings, seeing her hug her wild golden mane like a security blanket was. A caring older sibling pushing the younger sibling out of the nest for her own good no matter the pain it would cause to herself.
Ruby didn't see the hidden meaning in Yang's gesture, though. "My dearest sister Yang," she said in what was supposed to be a honeyed tone, "are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"
"What?" Yang stammered, throwing up her hands in defense. "Of course, I do. I just thought, I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of your shell."
"What the—?" Ruby shrieked and stormed off. "I don't need to break out of my shell! That's absolutely-" Raven stopped listening in. He was scouting potential teammates, he had no interest in the going ons of teenage girls.
Jaune passed by mumbling about his locker number, and Virgil left with him since his locker was right next to Jaune's, saying how he would see Raven in a little bit.
Raven sighed and began to walk toward the exit. He already had everything he owned on his person and had no intentions of relying on a locker. He may be in a supposed safe zone right now, but he had no illusions about safety. He could not drop his guard for a second, huntsman and huntresses in training they may be, but they were still every bit as capable of unwarranted violence or deadly machinations as any of the fugitives he had hunted down and captured or killed.
A couple of rows down from Ruby's locker stood two girls: one dressed almost entirely in white, the other in red and bronze.
Weiss Schnee had her hair pulled back into an off-center bun and tail, and pinned in place with an icicle shaped ornament.
She were a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat at the front of her neckline, and the hem of the dress was scalloped and embroidered to resemble snowflakes, with layers of white tulle under the skirt. Over this she wore a bell sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar. On the back of the bolero is the Schnee family snowflake in gray.
She also wore a small apple pendant on a silver chain and thin, rectangular silver earrings.
Her boots were white with wedge shaped heels. They had a small silver decoration across the top of the foot and are lined in red. A thin white sash was tied around her waist with a pouch attached to the back.
The tall scarlet-haired girl from yesterday wore her hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into loose ringlets. She also wore light-green eye shadow around the far upper corners of her eyes.
Her top was a light-brown, leather strapless halter top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns. It appeared quite stiff, maintaining its shape around her busty figure without support, meaning it was likely a bronze armor plate with a leather outer layer. Pyrrha wore a tight fitting elastic, black, A-line miniskirt and brown opera gloves. She wore a scarlet sash that wrapped around her waist and went down to her ankles on one side.
There was a small circular bronze plate with a shield and spear insignia by her right hip opposite two leather pouches with both connected to a belt. She wore a bronze tiara, with a pair of small teardrop-shaped emeralds hanging from the circlet on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm.
She had elaborate bronze greaves that start below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots, and a pair of cuisses that begin mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm, which had a groove down the center for her shield to attach to. Her high-heeled boots were brown leather with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, and reached up to mid-calf.
Both of them were to be avoided for very different reasons. Weiss's family connection alone was enough to give her a wide birth. Her questionable personality only added to Raven's apprehension. Pyrrha Nikos was the only one of the first-year students that had shown up in Raven's research on Beacon. On paper, she was a good a choice for a teammate: smart, polite, serious, humble, and famed for being one of the most talented fighters of their generation.
Pyrrha stood a couple of inches taller than Yang who was already on the tall side for a teenage girl. The redhead's body was similarly toned, and her figure, while smaller, could give Yang a run for her money. So could her outfit, which was almost as skimpy as Yang's. She wore pieces of bronze armor and jewelry in combination with bright red fabrics that were an almost perfect match for her impossibly-long ponytail. Pyrrha projected the air of a serious warrior that shouldn't be messed with rather than that of a party girl out for a good time.
"So, Pyrrha," Weiss asked in an obviously false confident voice, "have you given any thought to whose team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual, such as yourself."
Pyrrha hummed in though, either not catching onto the Schnee's attempt to butter her up or being too polite to mention it. "I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."
"Well, that sounds grand," Pyrrha said, though her voice was notably lacking in enthusiasm.
Weiss turned away from Pyrrah with a calculative look on her face... or just a constipated one. She started on a schpeal that, frankly just sounded like she didn't know how inner monologuing worked.
"You know what else is great?" Jaune asked the girl in a 'suave' tone. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."
Raven sank his masked face into a hand at the cringe-worthy display that lived up to the worst romance novels he had ever read.
"You again?" Weiss asked, sounding ready to bite his head off.
Pyrrha jumped in between the two of them. "Nice to meet you, Jaune," she said with a sincere smile on her face.
"Yeah, yeah." Jaune pushed Pyrrha out of the way without so much as a glance. "So, Weiss," he flexed his biceps, "couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me the other day."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"
"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed." He crossed his arms nonchalantly. "So, been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"
Weiss turned her back on him. Raven could have sworn she saw a small shudder run through her, and his sometimes irrational hatred of all things Schnee made him want to shoot her in the head. Leave it to a Schnee to think herself so far above anyone else, even an Arc, their social equals, that they were beneath her notice.
"Actually," Pyrrha said, "I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so—"
"You don't say," he cut her off before throwing his ladies-man routine at her, "Well, Hot Stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."
Weiss pushed them apart and shoved him back. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"
"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."
"This is Pyrrha," Weiss said.
"Hello again," Pyrrha said happily with a wave.
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." How did an Atlas native know that?
"Never heard of it."
Weiss scoffed. "She has won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row—a new record!" That was impressive, but some people were too busy to pay much attention to televised events.
"The what?" Unseen by either Jaune or Weiss, Pyrrha's smile grew.
Cheeks bulging in anger at Jaune's ignorance (which would have looked almost cute if she had not been a Schnee), Weiss exploded into a tantrum wildly flailing her arms. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes cereal box!"
Jaune gasped. "That's you?" He recognizes that of all things? He sighed in disappointment as the drama continues. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"
"Yeah, it was pretty cool," Pyrrha said bashfully. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."
"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"
Jaune deflated. "I guess not. Sorry."
Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. "Actually, Jaune, I think you would make a great leader."
Raven raised an eyebrow behind his mask.
"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune cooed.
"Seriously," Weiss said, "stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"
Raven had to disagree with her. Arcs were natural leaders and warriors, and even if he was... inexperienced as he appeared, all he needed was a bit of training and experience and he would excel.
"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune." He turned his chin up smugly. "Spots are filling up quick."
Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Now I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you." He leaned in close. "What do you say?"
Raven had enough pattern recognition to recognize what would happen next. Weiss would ask for help to get Jaune away from her, someone would try to jump in to try to get on Pyrrha's (because she was famous) or Weiss' (because her family is rich) good side, and violence would have been used, because whoever intervened would've been looking to impress as this was their second day at a combat school, so Raven decided to intervene himself.
Taking a deep breath to help gather his confidence, he pushed off the wall and barged in to the noise.
"That's enough" his serious baritone voice cut in, interrupting the silly, childish discussion. Everyone's eyes went to the new arrival, taking in the dark, armored, masked figure. "Exactly who do you think you-" Weiss started to say with her hands on her hips before Raven covered her face with his hand, the metal of his gauntlet irritating her skin. "Don't push me Schnee," he said, lightly shoving her back. He pointed a clawed finger at her face and said "you have no idea how much bad blood there is between your family and the rest of the world.
"I wouldn't go running my mouth." He said, and Weiss regained her bearings and narrowed her eyes "is that supposed to be some kind of threat?"
"No, that was just advice." He removed Hild from its holster and held it up so that the gun's barrels were facing up toward the ceiling "this is a threat. Every member of your wretched family has a target painted across their back, figuratively or-" a black blur flashed behind Weiss as the tip of his tail tapped the center of her snowflake crest. Weiss jumped in fright and looked around her "-quite literally, and eventually the blades or bullets of, perhaps not myself, but someone will meet them." He holstered his gun and said "and I do so hope those blades or bullets will be mine."
Fear and anger in her eyes, Weiss rounded on him "what is your problem with my family? Are you White Fang? What did I ever do to you!?"
"You? Oh no," he sneered "you're not important enough to hate. You're your fathers daughter, and that's all anyone would need to want you dead. Oh, and the White Fang, really? Do you want me to tell you how many of their operatives I've killed?" Weiss gulped and, if it were possible, she would have gone whiter. She may have been taught how to fight, but she was too sheltered to even think of killing anyone, even a animal from the White Fang.
"Alright everyone, just calm down." Yang's loud, playful voice cut in as she walked over and threw her arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Lay off the poor girl why don't you. I'm sure she's a Weiss girl once you get to know her." She said, grinning widely at her pun while Ruby groaned.
Raven hesitated for a second before he put his head in his hand and laughed at the joke, dispelling the aura of seriousness around him, and everyone could breath easy once again. Pyrrha took her hand off of Milo's hilt and sighed in relief. She didn't want to fight anyone, but she wouldn't stand by while a girl was bullied, even if he was kind of right.
Weiss cringed and pushed Yang away from her, "did you just use my name as a pun!?" "I sure did short-stack." "What the," Weiss backed away incredulously, hands covering her chest. "You're an idiot!"
Yang leaned back, insulted, before she grinned even wider. "Damn girl, that was" "Yang, no!" " Weiss cold!"
Raven laughed harder and Ruby let out a squeaky "why?"
Jaune hung his head with a noise not dissimilar to the noises he made when back on the airship, and Pyrrha looked caught between laughing out of politeness and scrunching up her face in a cringe.
Weiss growled with an angry blush and yelled "stop using my name for your stupid jokes, and you!" she pointed at the still laughing Raven, no longer frightened of him now that he was laughing at the blondes awful puns "stop laughing! This is not funny!"
When no one listened to her she let out a muffled scream and stomped her way toward the exit. "You're all morons! Every last one of you!"
Raven only laughed harder, wanting to pat Yang on the back for her amazing trick of making the Schnee vanish.
Far away from the exit and facing away from the rest of the school was a high cliff overlooking the vast Emerald forest. Named for the rolling verdant hills and the many, many trees. From on high, the forest looked beautiful and peaceful, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It was filled with the creatures of Grimm, and even though the teachers did their best to regularly empty it of old and powerful grimm, even they couldn't get them all. As it was, it was still an extremely dangerous place, one where the average civilian, and even trained policeman and soldiers would be afraid to go. What better place to train the next generation of huntsman and huntresses?
The first-year students just a few feet away from the edge of the cliff, each of them atop a square gray panel, waiting for the headmaster and his assistant to kick things off.
Raven lifted his foot and lightly stomped on his platform, and there was an audible clack. So it was some sort of mechanism. His gaze swept over the out over the rolling green hills spanning from the foot of the cliff to the horizon in all directions. So a launching pad then. Professor Ozpin meant to launch them into the forest, but for what purpose? The forest was filled with grimm, so maybe their initiation was to survive in their for some length of time?
He looked to his side to see Virgil, his hand holding onto Raven's sleeve. All hints of sadness had dissapeared and the boy was back to the happy bundle of energy he met that morning.
Virgil was happily bouncing on his heels, eager to get things started. Looking down the lineup a ways, he could see Ruby doing the same. Idly, he thought that the boy at his side and the girl would make good friends, if what little he had seen of them was a good indication of their personalities.
"Hey" Jaune had arrived and picked the open spot next to Ruby.
"Hi, Jaune!" Ruby chirped.
He looked miserable and nervous. The kid must be thinking of the trials ahead. The ultimate fear was of the unknown, and not everyone could handle their fears responsibly. Letting go of Virgil's hand briefly, walked out of his place in line to stand in front of the young Arc. Weiss glared spitefully at Raven when he stepped into her field of vision.
He grabbed the strap of Jaune's breastplate and pulled on it to make sure it was fitted properly. He gave Jaune a reaffirming nod and went back to his place in line without seeing the blonde's grateful look.
Once he was back in line, Virgil grabbed his sleeve again. Looking at Virgil from her spot near the edge of the cliff, Glynda allowed herself a small smile.
'Looks like he found a friend'. After what happened with his parents, the boy desperately needed all the positive contact he could get. Her eyes gazed over the line-up, checking off their prospective students. She saw a tall, red-haired man in a scarlet coat with long fringe, in his right hand was a halberd, and in his left was a familiar black book.
Notable about him was the ring on his left hand. So he was already married then. Not many people came to this school having already found their spouse.
Even so, it was still distasteful to read such a book in public.
Last in line was... She pinched the bridge of her nose at the garishness of the boy's outfit. Nefartem Gild, a lion faunus from Vacuo. Loud and eccentric, he was entirely far too obsessed with fashion. Or at least his interpretation of it.
When the rest of the prospective students arrived at the cliff side, she lowered her scroll. "We're ready, sir."
The headmaster's gaze wandered up and down the lineup of students before taking a sip from his cup of coffee.
He cleared his throat and the last few hushed whispers among the students died down. "For years now, you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Professor Goodwitch took over. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about how teams will be assigned. Well, allow us to put an end to your speculations. Each of you will be given teammates," she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with the index and middle finger of her free hand, "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," the headmaster continued. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Raven frowned. They hadn't even been given the time to get to know their classmates. Now, they couldn't even look at each other without being chained together? They might as well roll dice or pick numbers and save themselves the trouble.
"What!?" Ruby yelled in shock from her place in line.
Then again… These people have been doing things this way for years, so it must have been a working system.
"Speaking of which," Professor Goodwitch cut in, looking at Raven. "Mister Lenoreah, I'm going to have to ask you to take off your mask for the initiation" she said in a tone that left no room for argument.
Inwardly shrinking in on himself at being put on the spot like this, he reached his hands up to his face before stopping and reaching his right hand up to the left side of his neck. Grabbing the zipper for his hood with his middle and index fingers, he drew it around the back of his neck and pulled the hood from his coat, folded it up and put it in one of the larger pockets in his coat.
His hood no longer covering his head, his mask was revealed to be a helmet, stretching over the top of his head to the bottom of his skull, but not covering his slightly pointed ears. He gripped either side of it with his hands and lifted it away to reveal pale white skin and a feminine heart shaped face.
Lifting it completely away from his head, he revealed snow white hair tied into a tight bun at the back of his head, and undoing the not on the tie, the long tresses of his hair fell down his back, the tips of his long hair falling halfway down to his waist.
Dropping his helmet down to the grass, he opened his almond shaped eyes to reveal his sky blue irises, split down the center by long slit pupils. He removed a small rectangular metal case from within his coat and opened it to reveal glasses of all things. They were elegantly designed with a thin, silver frame and rectangular lenses. He removed them from the case and put it back in his coat, and slipped the glasses onto his nose.
Yang, who had leaned forward so she could finally see Raven without his mask, was almost buzzing with eagerness as he revealed himself. She wasn't a particularly patient person, so not knowing what his face looked like was driving her crazy. But this... she was surprised. He was both more and less than she had built him up to be in her mind. He was so intimidating, she kind of pictured this ultra manly guy with a heavy tan, short black hair, red eyes and a bunch of scars. But then he reveals himself to be this girly looking boy with long white hair and glasses?
This was... actually a lot better.
But then she had to ruin the moment. She grinned widely and shouted "Woohoo! Take it off!"
Professor Goodwitch grunted in annoyance at Yang's shout. "Enough Miss Xiao Long! This is not a strip club!"
"Now now Glynda," Ozpin cut in with an amused smirk "let the children have their fun."
Yang grinned and clicked her tongue at Raven, who put his face in his hand in embarrassment.
"Now," Ozpin said with a serious voice, taking the small bit of levity out of the air. "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."
Jaune chuckled nervously. Yang shook her head and took a peek at him. She noticed the state Ruby was in. Her little sister looked like a broken puppet. Her eyes were half closed and lifeless, her arms were hanging down dejectedly, and her entire body was swaying in place ready to fall over at the smallest breeze.
Yang put a hand on her shoulder and tried to encourage her with a smile. The small gesture brought her back to the world of the living, but her worries were still written all over her face.
Do or die. Yang put on her aviators. That, she could handle.
The redhead tightened his grip on his poleaxe and put his book away.
"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." The headmaster took another sip of coffee. "Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, uh, sir?" Jaune raised a hand.
"Good" he said abruptly, and he had to suppress a laugh at how Jaune went ignored, but a few others in line weren't so polite. "Take your positions."
The students got ready. Raven allowed himself a quick glance at Yang, who must have felt his gaze because she slid her aviator glasses down her nose, and Yang couldn't help giving the formerly masked man a seductive wink before pushing her glasses back in place. Raven looked away with an uncomfortable gulp.
"Uh, sir? I've got a question."
The headmaster finally acknowledged Jaune with a nod.
"So, this landing strategy thing, what is it, exactly?" Jaune asked with a shaking voice as the launch pads started to eject students into the forest. "You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
"No, you will be falling" he said simply, not making Jaune feel any better about it.
"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us or something?"
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy."
"Uhuh, yeah… So, uh, what exactly is a landing strateg—" Jaune's question turned into a high-pitched scream as the platform launched them into the air.
Raven sighed. So far he had been underwhelmed by the Arc boy. He wasn't seeing him at his best though, so he was still giving him the benefit of the doubt.
The next one to be launched was Virgil, who flew off with a similar terrified scream as Jaune. Raven's eyes trailer after him, calculating Virgil's trajectory, his own potential trajectory, and how he would need to correct it in order to lad close to the boy so that he could pair up with him.
His own platform launched him off the cliff, and now was the time to put his calculations into action.
Raven allowed himself to simply fly through the air aimlessly for a few moments. His plan need not be put into action until he neared the canopy. Vigil was some feet ahead still, and safely within his reach. Though if he had to guess, he would say that the boy did not have a landing strategy prepared, nor could he improvise one, at least on such short notice.
He raised a hand to his face and held his index and middle finger to hold his glasses onto his face as he came nearer to the canopy and, fully extending his tail, he wrapped the tip around a tree. He gasped as the sudden halt to his momentum caused a jolt down his spine, but his tail remained firmly wrapped around the treetop. He swung around the tree once before the tree snapped.
He accounted for this, he knew that a thin treetop wouldn't be enough to stop his forward momentum, but that was never the plan. He simply shifted his flight a few inches to the left, sending him on a direct collision course with Virgil. He tucked his arms against his waist and held his legs together so he would fly faster, and his speed increased and he began to fly like a missile toward the flailing wolf faunus.
Virgil and Raven entered the canopy and started to near the ground, and Virgil started to panic, thinking his was going to slam into the ground and fall unconscious and become easy prey for the grimm. His aura was powerful, but unfortunately not powerful enough to protect him completely from such an impact.
Closing in on the boy, he extended his arms in front of him, he caught the surprised boy in an embrace. "Who-" came Virgil's shocked cry before he turned his head and saw who caught him. "Raven, you saved me!" Virgil cried happily, and Raven smiled, showing his long fangs to the boy, and nodded, saying "of course I did. Now, climb onto my back and hold on tight, this is going to get a little rough."
The wolf faunus nodded with a serious look and adjusted his grip on the older teen so that his chest was against Raven's back, his arms lacing themselves under his arms and clasping in front of his breastplate. "So what's your landing strategy going to be?"
"Hold on" Raven simply shouted in response, bending and stiffening his legs beneath him. His feet met the ground and Raven gritted his teeth as he fought to keep his body upright. His feet dug trenches in the dirt as his forward momentum was suddenly halted by the ground. Virgil squeezed his arms around Raven's chest in alarm at what was happening underneath him, but the older boy didn't feel it through his steel armor.
After sliding about a dozen feet and the trenches reaching toward his knees Raven finally stopped. The teen released a relieved breath and fell into a seated position on the dirt.
Holding his breath for a moment longer before letting it out in a wild laugh "that was completely crazy! I was expecting something so smart from you, and you..." Raven smiled tiredly over his shoulder at the excitable boy's boisterous laughter
"Well" Raven said, lifting his legs from their trenches "we don't have forever, let's get going." Once he extracted himself from the ground and stood to his full height he started to walk forward, but turned to look over his shoulder to look at the boy who was still piggybacking him. "You can get down now.
Virgil rubbed the back of his head nervously "oh yeah. Sorry about that" giggling, the boy jumped from his back.
"Well" Glynda said, her eyes wide with surprise as she looked at the live feed on her scroll, "I didn't expect any of our students to try to land that way."
At her side, Ozpin smiled. "If you recall, Peter tried the same thing when he was a boy."
Glynda glanced at him out of the corner of her eye "yes, and he broke his leg doing so."
Ozpin hummed in thought, bringing up Raven's dossier on his scroll. "Ah, well that explains that." He said, showing the contents of the page to Glynda, and her eyes narrowed as she had to push back a distant memory at what she was seeing. "Yes, it also explains why he requested to modify his uniform so heavily."
Ozpin hummed in thought once again, minimizing the young Lenoreah's dossier but keeping it tabbed.
At a growling in the trees, Raven took his sword and shield in his hands and focused in on the noise. Virgil took his greatsword in both hands and tried to summon his wolves, but screwed his face up in frustration when none came.
An ursa came bounding out of the trees and Raven unsheathed his sword and rushed it. He ducked under a swipe of its paw and stabbed his sword to the hilt into the grimm's stomach. He raised his shield above his head to keep the ursa's gnashing teeth away from his head, and the creature's claw went for his right shoulder, but the blow was deflected by his armor.
He pulled up on the hilt of Balmung and bisected the ursa.
Behind him, Virgil was fighting two more ursai. The boy leapt back and swung his greatsword horizontally, slicing halfway through one of them. The bodies of dead grim dissolved leaving their bones and masks behind, but they didn't do so immediately after death, and Okami was stuck in the corpse. The other grim, taking advantage of this, tackled Virgil.
His aura protected him, but he was knocked away from his weapon. The ursa leapt after him, but a gunshot halted its momentum causing it to fall toward the ground. Virgil looked to see Raven pointing his tri-barreled revolver at the Ursa in his left hand, his shield replaced on his back and his sword held almost lazily in his right.
Hild was a double-action revolver, not a single-action. Single-action revolvers must be cocked each and every time the gun was fired, but a double-action revolver pulled the hammers back into position, the cylinders indexed themselves to the next round, and the hammers were released to strike the firing pin with each pull of the trigger. But the trade off was that each trigger pull was longer and harder to pull off, meaning that accidental discharge from dropping the gun was also less likely.
Raven walked forward, emptying his clip into the ursa, staggering it with each three bullet round and sending it to the ground dead as the revolver clicked empty. With a flick of his wrist, the cylinders swung out of the barrels to hang at varying angles, with three metal discs falling from them. Reaching into a pocket on the inside of his coat, he removed three more metal discs with six bullets attached to each.
Sliding them into the empty cylinders, he closed them with a flick of another flick of his wrist and the barrels spun in place for a second before he holstered the the gun on his left thigh and removed the shield from his back.
"Let's go." Raven said, looking up to see the awed face the boy was making at his weapon.
"Umm..." Raven said, sweatdropping at the boy's expression.
Nefartem Gild was hurtling through the air at breakneck speed, his mind overtaken by panic. Panic, because lions were never meant to fly, and because of what this whipping wind would do to his clothes.
He looked at his suitcase, thinking over what he could possibly do to land safely, before an idea came to his mind. He was always experimenting with new functionalities for his weapon, and it just so happened that the last tweak he had made would give his palm strikes a fiery touch. However, he had never intended to use it for anything like this.
In theory if he could gather enough firepower he could slow his descent enough to land safely, but he would use up all the fire dust he had left doing do. But, seeing as he had no other choice, he grabbed his suitcase in both hands and pressed the sequence of buttons that would divide them into gauntlet form.
Nefartem face bloomed into a vicious grin as he held his hands out to the sides to gather the necessary power to pull off his landing strategy.
The canopy grew nearer and he worried that he wouldn't have time to pull this off.
'Closer' he thought as he neared the trees, 'closer,' the trees crept ever closer until he felt his sandal clad feet brush the treetops.
'Now!' He pointed his palms behind him and let loose with his overpowered fire palms. "Wow!" he yelled in surprise as his body lurched forward at a pace he was not prepared for. He pointed his palms toward his feet and his body shot up like a rocket, then he corrected himself so that he was shooting toward the canopy.
When the ground was in view, he threw his hands out to the side, palms facing out at angles so that he was spinning clockwise. His downward momentum slowing, his feet landed safely on the ground, his body spun once before his supply of fire dust ran dry, twin trails of smoke rising from his still outstretched palms.
'And he sticks the landing!' he thought, remaining in his stylish pose for a full second.
"Well," Ozpin said in an amused voice "young Mr. Gild certainly gets points for style."
At his side, Glynda looked away with a disgusted grunt.
Nefartem rose from his pose with all the grace he could manage while still dizzy from his spin, but the trees behind him rustled as a King Taijitu burst from the foliage and sped towards him. The lion faunus looked toward his fist for a second before shrugging and activating the lightning dust in his knuckles and dodging its lunge, spinning to the side and giving it a lightning powered punch in the eye.
The giant snake grimm screeched and fell onto its side, but as he was winding up for a second punch the second head lunged at him.
Smirking, he focused his aura into his leg and kicked the lunging grimm in the nose, causing a shockwave of force that knocked the grimm back. Now with breathing room, he wound up for the final blow, only for a figure cloaked in flame to descend from the sky, his halberd skewering the Taijutu, sending streams of fire throughout the creature and frying it from the inside out.
Nefartem backed away cautiously as the figure stood from the grimm's back and swiped his weapon to the side. Still cloaked in flame, he floated off of the grimm's back and landed on the ground in front of the faunus. Nefartem crouched in preparation for a fight, at least until the flames cloaking the figure faded to reveal a teen he had seen earlier in the line up.
"Greetings" the other boy said, "I am Agni Vermillion. May I ask your name? We're to be working together after all."
Nefartem looked at the outstretched hand before speaking "Nefartem Gild."
Agni took his metal covered hand and shook it jovially "it is good to meet you Nefartem. Hopefully we will make for a good team."
"Ugh!" Nefartem snorted in derision, and when Agni's face grew confused Nefartem said "I hate your voice. You sound totally conceited!"
Agni's facial features gained a mocking look as he outstretched his hand toward the dark skinned faunus "Mr. Pot? Hello, it's Kettle. He says your black!"
Nefartem glared at Agni until he noticed the human's outfit. The coat, the stylish leather armor, the fringe...
"I think we're going to get along quite well" the faunus said, putting his hands on his hips and emphasizing his own outfit.
Agni blinked in confusion before realization hit him.
'So fashion is to be our common ground then? So be it.'
The wind was rushing past Blake's face as she soared through the sky. Any other day, she might have reveled in the feeling of freedom it instilled in her, but with the headmaster's scheme looming over her, she barely took notice. She was about to be bound to the first person she would make eye contact with. Choice and strategy had gone out of the window to be replaced by the luck of the draw. If only the pool contained a few more winning tickets.
Wishful thinking wasn't going to change anything though, She had to play the hand she had been dealt, which admittedly was not quite as bad as it had first appeared. It took two people to make eye contact, and she had confidence in her ability to fade from sight. Avoiding the wrong partner wouldn't be a problem then.
Although finding the right partner in time was a different matter entirely.
Blake turned around mid-flight to assess her situation. She should have known better than to hope for an easy way out of her dilemma. The students had been spread out over a large area. Some had barely gotten more than a push off the cliff while others, like herself, had been thrown far out into the Emerald Forest.
A bright-red piece of cloth fluttering in the wind caught her eye. Ruby was one of the unlucky ones already about to dive into the sea of green covering the ground. She had been thrown short and was stuck at the other end of the field.
Blake should be disappointed or worried about it. Ruby was clearly the sane and sensible choice. She was dedicated, if a bit naive, and they shared a common interest. Her younger age might also play in Blake's favor. She should go after Ruby.
She groaned and started to scan the flock of students, but there was no sign of anyone she wanted as a teammate.
Time was running out. She could all but smell the leaves below her. One more—
A branch caught Blake's leg and sent her into a tumble as she broke through the canopy. It was too late for any plans or strategies. Her reflexes were all that stood between her and an untimely end on the forest floor.
She drew Gambol Shroud, turning it into its sickle form the moment the blade had cleared the heavy sheath on her back, and flung it with a prayer towards the biggest blotch of brown she could make out in the swirl of colors flashing in front of her eyes.
It caught on to something. Blake's arm was almost yanked from its socket as the ribbon attached to weapon's handle came to tension and sent her swinging through the forest.
The ground was closing in, fast. The ribbon was too long.
She swung her legs forward and drew herself up as high as she could in hopes of avoiding a crippling or fatal crash. Her heels connected with the ground, sending bits of dirt and moss in all directions before she was flung back into the air.
Blake detached the sickle from the branch with a flick of her wrist and sent it back towards herself. The moment it touched her palm, she activated her semblance and threw herself against her momentum.
Her speed dropped considerably.
She spotted a sturdy branch not far from where she was headed. Another use of her semblance later she landed on it with all the grace of a professional gymnast.
Blake took a couple of deep breaths before she cursed herself. Hardly an hour into the initiation and things couldn't have gotten off to a worse start…
Ruby had hardly had any time to enjoy her flight. The stupid platform had barely pushed her over the edge while Yang had disappeared into the sky.
She drew Crescent Rose from her back and let it unfold into its rifle configuration in front of her and fired several rounds into the forest, the recoil of the large-caliber rifle slowed her down before she broke through the canopy.
She shifted her weapon into its scythe configuration and snagged a large branch with the scythe's head, hoping to use it to break her fall. After two rotations around the branch, it was cut clean in half by the razor-sharp blades.
Dirt and grass were whirled up as Ruby landed with a heavy thud. Not her best landing ever, but, aside from a bit of dirt on her clothes, she had made it through without a hitch.
There was no time to waste, though. Ruby darted off into the trees, tapping into her semblance for some extra speed. Her mind was consumed by a single thought repeated like a mantra: gotta find Yang!
A beautiful white snowflake formed out of thin air. It shifted to meet a pair of expensive white boots at the perfect angle to lighten the impact. Its duty not yet fulfilled, it moved in unison with its mistress, providing a springboard towards its brethren.
Two runes later, Weiss landed in perfect form, not a hair out of place. Even being flung from a cliff into the wilderness could not deter her from displaying the grace and elegance expected of an heiress to the Schnee family name.
She brushed off her sleeves and made sure that her light jacket sat perfectly before she took account of her surroundings.
They were very… green. Large trees, bushes, grass. Weiss prided herself on many things, but her outdoor skill was not one of them. She was, quite decidedly, not prepared for this.
Going on a nature hike was not the start to her time at an elite hunter academy she had expected. Neither was spending her nights in a drafty room sleeping in the school's ratty old sleeping bags with plebeians and animals.
They should have handed out brochures telling people what to expect, or at the very least, they should have told her to bring her own sleeping bag.
Far worse than her accommodations was the company she had been forced to keep. The little girl and her brute of a sister seemed to be ubiquitous and hell-bent on making her life more difficult. Then, there was that scraggly blond loser who had gotten it into his head that he had a chance with her. He had even interfered with her attempt to convince Pyrrha to join her team.
Then there was that man in the mask. He professed to hating her family, and even to wanting to murder them. He even implied that there were others who felt the same, which was completely preposterous. Her family was the primary source of dust for all of remnant. He claimed to have killed agents of the White Fang, but he was probably a member himself. What other reason could he have had to have drawn his weapon on her?
In which case his proclaimed hatred didn't matter. The hatred of an animal was of little import, he just needed to be taught his rightful place.
Though, of greater concern was his hidden accomplice. Right at the apex of his threat to her, someone had tapped her in the back, right in the center of her family crest, to emphasize his threat. The others in the locker room didn't react, which meant that they didn't see anything, which in turn meant that whoever it was was keeping their presence hidden, probably even from the staff.
While she wouldn't put it past an animal to try to sneak their way into Beacon, she did however recognize that it was a huge security risk. But she needn't be concerned, the teachers would catch them soon enough. Perhaps they would be shown mercy and be sent to her father's mines.
She harrumphed at the thought of it. Being sent to work for her family was more than some rapscallion animal deserved. Personally, she'd just send them to some prison and let them rot.
She shook the thoughts of animals and punishment from her mind, they were unimportant. In the end, the biggest hurdle Weiss had to face was the headmaster himself.
'Partners by eye contact indeed.'
Insanity, that's what it was, but there was nothing she could do to change the situation. Weiss had to find Pyrrha before anyone else could. If only she knew how to go about it. She had no idea where Pyrrha had ended up or how to find her way around a forest.
Ruins to the north. That was a start. Everybody had to go there eventually. And north was… judging by the position of the sun… and the time of the day… and the mossy side of the trees… just about—
Yang loved to fly. She loved the feeling of speed as the wind rushed past her. She loved the freedom that came with soaring through the sky uninhibited by the need to stand on solid ground. She loved the feeling of complete weightlessness as she reached the apex of her trajectory. She loved the sense of dread and excitement that accompanied her free fall as the ground hurtled towards her at a speed that should spell certain death on impact.
In short, if the way the headmaster had kicked off their initiation was anything to go by, it was bound to be a great day.
Yang had lucked out with her choice of platform. She had seen Ruby and a couple of others gently pushed over the edge while she had been flung up high into the sky. Higher than anyone else. She could only imagine what those fun little deathtraps could do if she pushed them beyond the safety limits, which she was going to do the moment she got her hands on the controls.
Unfortunately, the experience was short-lived, even for her. Far too soon, the ground started to close in, and the trees turned back from a hazy green blur into distinct entities.
It was time to consider her options. She could always let gravity do the work for her, but she didn't like the idea of feeling sore for days if she could avoid it.
There had to be a better way. She closed her eyes and pondered her situation for a moment before inspiration struck: There was no need to land if she just kept flying!
Ruby was running through the Emerald Forest in what most people would consider a dead sprint. Thanks to her semblance, it was the equivalent of a light jog.
"Yang!"
Ruby knew that Yang had been trying to push her away in order to stand on her own two feet. Which was totally a silly idea, she could perfectly well do that and be with her sister at the same time.
"Yaaaang!"
After all, what alternatives were there? A partner she could work well with. Yang was a perfect fit. They had grown up together, they knew each others strengths and weaknesses, and their styles mashed. Strength and speed; an almost unbeatable combination.
No one else at Beacon came even close to her sister. Even if they did, how would she know? They had only just arrived a day before and she hadn't had the chance to get to know anyone, yet.
Well, aside from Jaune. He was nice and funny but also kind of clumsy and insecure. He probably wouldn't be any good in a fight, what with the way he kept fumbling with his weapon.
There was Blake. So mysterious, so calm. Plus, she liked books. But then again she might not be able to hold a conversation with her about anything besides books.
Maybe Raven then? He was smart and seemed to know a lot about weapons, so that was a plus. But then again he didn't seem to like her or her sister much, what with the way he had ran away from them on the airship.
There wasn't anyone else, was there? She had run into a couple of people, but she hadn't managed to strike up a single conversation that hadn't ended with her being insulted or looked down upon.
No, there was Yang, Jaune, Blake, and—
Blake walked calmly through the forest, occasionally killing any grimm that wandered into her path, her mind caught up in quite a quandary. In theory, she was in a great position at the head of the pack. By the time the stampede of inexperienced students would be making its way through the forest, drawing out every grimm for miles, she would be long gone.
Reach temple, find partner, pick relic, return. The order of point one and two didn't matter for the overall success of the mission. Staking out the temple was the most sensible course of action.
Certainly more so than canvassing the vast expanse of the Emerald Forest. Everybody had to go there eventually, and whoever got there early should make for an adequate partner. They would be goal-oriented and competent.
The sound of a distant explosion stopped her in her tracks. It was unmistakable. Someone had discharged a dust weapon. Something big and powerful, like a shotgun or a high-caliber rifle.
Moment's later, the sound repeated, only louder. Whoever it was, was coming her way.
Blake merged into the foliage. The threat of the headmaster's scheme was still looming over her, and she was not relinquishing what little control she had left over her fate.
Another explosion. This time, she could hear a faint voice accompanying it.
Bang!
"Woohoo!"
Blake blinked in disbelieve. It couldn't be…
Bang!
Excited laughter accompanied a yellow flash streaking past over her head.
Bang!
"Ali-oop!"
Bang!
More laughter.
The pattern continued, getting quieter with every iteration.
Blake sat on her branch, her mouth slightly ajar, trying to process what she had just witnessed.
Yang was the type of person who, in any situation she found herself in, would try to have fun first and foremost. But this was just too far, her behavior was unprofessional, irresponsible and selfish. She wasn't just a troublemaker, she was a danger to herself and to anyone around her.
Blake's entire life had been dominated by the needs of the cause, never her own. She had felt content, even happy, about well-executed missions, but it was serious work that needed to be done, not something to be enjoyed.
Yang was different. Her expression was genuine. She lived in the moment, following her own desires, and Blake envied her for it. That made her more dangerous than anything else.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she made a decision she might very well come to regret for the rest of her life…
Yang was completely lost in her excitement. The forest canopy was rushing past her in a green blur as she rolled sideways, backward, or forwards with every boost of speed. Ember Celica was built for massive recoil, which she used liberally while fighting, but she had never tried to chain it together in order to fly, before.
Unfortunately, the ride wouldn't last. She was too close to the trees to have any chance of reloading without crashing, but that didn't mean that she would stop before she ran out of shells.
The forest had other ideas. She had just turned on her back, enjoying the sensation of flying blind mere feet above the canopy, when one particularly tall tree fished her out of the air. She was sent into a tumble of green and brown swirls as she smashed through the foliage like a cannonball.
After leaving a trail of destruction through several of the pesky tree's neighbors, she emerged in a small clearing.
Her speed had dropped considerably, and she managed to stabilize her wild tumble just in time to avoid smashing, face first, into a massive tree trunk. She pushed herself off of it with her foot and bounced from tree to tree on her way down until she landed in a forward roll with a cocky "Nailed it!"
The adrenaline was still rushing through her system and her heart was racing fast when she came to a halt. One thought dominated her entire being: again!
The moment she found the controls for those launch pads, she was going to do that again, and maybe drag some (un)lucky boy with her.
A few deep breaths later, she had started to come down from her high and took inventory of her surroundings. She had ended up in a moderately large clearing roughly to the north of the cliffs. Aside from that, she was entirely lost. She didn't know how far she had come or if she had drifted off course. For all she knew, she could walk right past the ruins and wander the forest for days without seeing another soul or finding her destination.
Some leaves rained from her head as shook it in frustration. She brushed her long, golden mane over her shoulder and sighed. She had turned into a shrubbery. Things were just getting better and better. She picked out the biggest branches stuck in her hair and brushed off the leaves clinging to the outside, but there was no way she was going to get it all out of her wild mane without some serious grooming.
She took a peek back the way she had come. A large hole was cut through the foliage in a straight line. The blue sky was shining through the hole in the otherwise almost opaque forest roof. At least the trees were in worse shape than she was in.
Standing around inspecting the damage she had caused wasn't going to get her anywhere though. She held Ember Celica up and slid back the heavy, metal plates covering the ammunition feed. There was one unspent shell left in each bracer.
She sighed again. That stupid tree couldn't have let her have just one more burst before bringing her down…
The unloading mechanism activated. The shell casings, which had been safely locked in a ring just above her wrists, exploded outwards in all directions. Yang picked up the two unspent shells and stuffed them in the leather satchel worn on her belt. No point in wasting perfectly good ammunition... not by throwing it away, anyways.
She had plenty of better, more fun, ways of wasting ammunition.
She pulled out two new ammo belts and locked them into place. The protective plates moved back with a satisfying double click.
Reloaded and ready for a fight, it was time to figure out where to go. She hadn't noticed anyone else in the air this far out, which made it a safe bet that she had turned into the vanguard of their expedition. She could head backward to look for people, but she had no idea where to start.
Well, no point in worrying about spilled milk. Ember Celica folded back into its bracelet form before Yang put her hands together behind her head and strolled off towards the north. Someone or something interesting was bound to come up sooner or later, so she would have to just wait and see.
'I wonder what it would be like to have a cute boy as my partner.'
She trailed off as her thoughts turned to more... lecherous subjects
This could not be happening!
A figure clad in red and black had come to a grinding halt right in front of Weiss.
She absolutely would not accept this!
The little interloper who had hounded her ever since she had set foot on Beacon was staring at her, frozen in place. Neither of them was willing to move a muscle.
It had to be a bad dream. She would wake up any moment now, wrapped in that flea infested blanket the school had handed out.
The little girl broke their standoff. Her surprised expression turned into an uneasy smile before she tried to take a step towards Weiss.
No! Absolutely not! She was supposed to be with someone that could be considered her equal. Someone like Pyrrha. She would not spend the next four years of her life looking after some useless little brat!
Weiss turned on her heels and walked away.
"Wait! Where are you going? We're supposed to be teammates…"
Over her dead body! This was all the headmaster's fault, anyways. What kind of mad scheme was choosing your partner by eye contact? He and his staff should have evaluated their applications, their entrance exams, and their résumés. They should have made an informed decision, which, undoubtedly, would have lead them to the only possible conclusion: The most suitable partner for Weiss Schnee was Pyrrha Nikos.
At least the little girl had the good sense not to follow her. They were far away from prying eyes and it was her word against the girl's. She could deny ever having met her and, as soon as she found Pyrrha, all would be fine.
The path Weiss had taken lead to a dead end. She was surrounded by bushes and greenery, and her only way out would lead her right back to the last person on Remnant she wanted to see. With little choice left, she pushed through and moved on.
Her attempt of traversing the underbrush turned out far less graceful than her landing. Her skirt and jacket kept getting snagged on branches and, more than once, she almost stumbled into one of the thorn-covered abominations dotted throughout the area.
She emerged from the underbrush with a sigh of relief. Green stains and small tears covered her clothes. There was no saving them, but that was to be expected. Her field outfit might have been made from breathable high-tech fabrics and designed to be acceptable daywear in an urban setting, but in the end it was nothing but an easily replaced and expendable piece of equipment, no different from dust or ammunition.
"Come on, come on! Stupid…"
Barely audible rambling drew her attention upwards. Weiss froze for the second time that day. She had been wrong. Things could get worse. There, high up in a tree, hung what had to be the only person she was less keen on running into than the little brat: that scraggly nobody with a crush on her.
The moment he spotted her, he smiled, waved, and laughed in embarrassment. It was too much for Weiss. Two people could claim to have run into her before she could find Pyrrha. Two people could claim to be her partner.
She turned on her heels and walked back the way she had come. Plausible deniability was slipping out of her grasp and, if she had to be stuck with one of them, the girl should turn out to be the lesser evil. She was young, malleable, and must have some talent to be allowed into Beacon at her age. It might take time, but Weiss could mold her into something usable.
She heard the boy groan in dejection as she disappeared into the bushes. The little girl—Ruby was it?—was still standing at the very same spot with her head hanging low. Weiss was not sure what to make of her, but she could worry about that later. For now, they had to move.
She had already failed the first half of her mission, and she was not about to perform poorly on the second by dilly-dallying. Walking past Ruby, she grabbed her hood and dragged her along.
"You came back!"
"By no means does this make us friends."
Jaune was in a pickle. He was in the mother of all pickles. The pickliest mother of all pickly pickles ever pickled.
Maybe comparing his current situation to pickles wasn't the best idea he had ever had. After all, it would have to be one hell of a pickle to come close to being nailed to a tree high up in a forest teaming with nightmarish beasties.
Of course, being nailed to a tree was better than being dead on the ground after having been thrown off a towering cliff by a madman posing as a headmaster. The only reason he hadn't turned into a bloody smear was the serendipitous appearance of the spear that had caught his collar during his wild tumble through the air.
Thinking about it, the spear had been as likely to run him through as it had been to save him. More so actually, there was so much more of him than there was of his hood. Where had it even come from?
He stared at it for a moment. There wasn't much of a point in worrying about what could have been, was there? He had gotten lucky and survived the insanity he had been thrown into unharmed, which was more than he could have hoped for.
The whole idea of him coming to Beacon to become a great hunter was turning more and more into a nightmare. It hadn't even been his idea to come here in the first place, but nobody had paid any attention to that little detail just as nobody had bothered to properly prepare him for the experience.
It was only his second day at the school, but it felt like he could have died several times over already.
The airship ride had conspired with his stomach to not only make him sick but put him in harms way of a very attractive and, apparently, somewhat excitable girl that might still send him on an extended hospital stay the next time they met.
It hadn't deterred him, though. He had done as his father had told him to and shown confidence no matter the situation. Great advice that got him rejected by half the girls in his class already. Confidence was not all women were looking for, it seemed. In fact the only girl he had gotten along with was Ruby with whom he had mostly been himself.
He would have to have a word with his father about that.
But it all paled in comparison to the general madness that seemed to affect just about everyone he had met at Beacon.
Ruby was nice, but she was swinging around that monster of a scythe like it was a toy rather than some wicked tool of death and destruction.
There was her sister who, if Ruby was to be believed, balanced beauty with excessive amounts of violence dished out for no good reason other than for self amusement, and if she was anything like his sisters, perceived perversion on the part of any and all males.
And then there was the headmaster who gave weird speeches and his assistant who carried a riding crop wherever she went. There wasn't a single horse at Beacon, just herds of students. So, what exactly was that thing for?
The two of them were the ones responsible for the whole getting thrown off a cliff without a parachute thing. And the students had just gone along with it without complaint. Worse, most of them had been excited at the prospect.
He shook his head. There was one ray of hope on the horizon: Weiss. Glorious, beautiful, fair Weiss. His Snow Angel. The girl of his dreams.
And Pyrrha. He still couldn't believe it. The Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes model, a real life celebrity, right there among his classmates. He took a closer look at the long, pointy stick standing between him and a very unpleasant drop.
It looked awfully familiar.
That solved the issue of finding himself a partner. He could just… hang around until Pyrrha dropped by to reclaim her weapon. She was beautiful and famous. He could do a lot worse for a partner, like a certain violent blond or that hyperactive orange-haired girl.
She was no Weiss, though, and being found stuck in a tree unable to get down wouldn't do much for his reputation. He had his armor, his shield bearing his family's crest, and his sword. What was supposed to happen was obvious to him: The knight in shining armor should save the day and the beautiful maiden in the nick of time from the evil dragon.
He looked down at himself. His armor wasn't exactly shining, it could do with a bit of a polish, his shield was dinged up and sword were covered in nicks and scratches from their long use by past Arc warriors. That would have to do. After all, legends were always a little bit embellished. By the time he would tell Jaune Jr. and the little Snowflake about how he and Mommy had met, he would be the perfect picture of a heroic knight.
Should be easy enough. All he had to do was get down from the tree, find Weiss, preferably threatened by something like a lone beowolf, he could deal with a lone beowolf… probably, and save his damsel in distress to earn her eternal gratitude. Easy-peasy.
He grabbed the spear with both hands and tried to pull it out. It didn't budge. He tried waggling it up and down, left and right; nothing worked. The thing was stuck.
He sighed. The first hurdle on his epic journey, and he was failing already.
He tried again with more vigor.
"Come on, Come on! Stupid pointy stick!"
Jaune had been so engrossed in his struggle, he had almost missed the white figure that had stepped out of the underbrush close to his tree.
He stared at her for a moment. She stared back. Both of them had frozen in surprise. There was his Snow Angel in the flesh. It wasn't the way the story was supposed to go, it would need a lot of embellishing, but they had achieved eye contact. That sealed the deal.
He waved at her trying his best to make a good impression, but he failed miserably. Weiss turned on her heels and walked back the way she had come. He was about to call out to her when he spotted Ruby on the other side of the bushes.
Weiss was headed straight for her. It dawned on him then that he wasn't the first person she had run into. The woman of his dreams and his only female friend at Beacon were off the market in one fell swoop. Not to mention the demise of his starring role as knight in shining armor.
"You came back!" Ruby said as she was dragged away by Weiss.
No doubt about it, he had lost his chance and he was still stuck in a tree.
"Wait!" He flailed his arms wildly in hopes of drawing their attention. "Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?"
Neither Weiss nor Ruby seemed to notice or care. He sighed and resigned himself to his fate.
"Jaune?" a familiar voice called out to him.
He looked down and found Pyrrha standing next to his tree with her arms crossed. His eyes widened and he quickly averted his gaze with a blush. Her shoulder-less, low-cut armor wasn't designed to be viewed from his angle. Especially, when her crossed arms helped to perfectly accentuate... things.
"Do you... have any spots left on your team?"
He crossed his arms and scoffed at her. "Very funny."
The last thing he needed in his situation was someone to make fun of him, but he quickly realized how silly his reaction was. Pyrrha had saved him from falling to his death, she was one of the nicer people he had met, and she actually wanted to team up with him. If anything, he had gotten lucky.
He looked down, putting a lot of effort into keeping his eyes on her face, and smiled shyly at her. She smiled back with a gentle expression.
Yep, a lucky break for sure.
Weiss's dream of dominance over the student body with Pyrrha at her side had gone up in smoke. Even if she could manage to get into a team with Pyrrha, Ruby would always be her partner. She was stuck with her no matter what.
"What's the hurry?" Ruby asked as if it wasn't obvious to anyone with half a brain.
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you are too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your—"
A red blur passed her by.
"What the?"
Ruby appeared out of nowhere with a stupid grin on her face. She looked like a silly kitten, or perhaps a puppy, standing on its hind legs and waiting to be praised.
"I'm not slow, see?" Ruby put her hands on her hips and looked at Weiss with a self-satisfied smile. "You don't have to worry about me."
"When did you…?"
Against her better judgment, Weiss was impressed. Ruby had good control over her semblance for someone her age, but her attitude needed a bit, no a lot, of work.
"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people, doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters."
Weiss crossed her arms and eyed her skeptically. Being able to flit around a battlefield was not enough to make her a good fighter, but at least, she was honest about her abysmal social skills.
Ruby jumped to Weiss's side and put her arm around her shoulders. "You're about to see a whole different side of me today."
"Ugh" she made a noise of disgust at the contact, but Ruby either didn't notice or care. She couldn't believe the little brat's audacity. How dare she touch her so casually.
"After it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really, cool…'" she lowered her voice, almost like she had noticed how much of a fool she was making of herself, "'and I wanna be her friend.'"
Weiss rolled her eyes. Friends? She had come to Beacon to prove herself as a huntress, not to play schoolgirl and make friends. Before she could raise her objections, she was engulfed in a storm of rose petals.
Ruby was gone again.
Weiss sighed. It all was just one big game for that stupid girl.
"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!"
Weiss waited for Ruby to pop up in another red blur.
"Ruby?"
Nothing happened and worry was starting to creep in. She might not like the girl, but she was her partner. Losing her would, undoubtedly, ruin her grade.
Leaves rustled behind her.
"Ruby…? This is not the time to play games!"
A faint grumble rose from the underbrush.
Author's Notes;
This chapter was plagued with writer's block, which might show during Blake's scenes. Specifically, the one where Yang zips past her, which was rewritten five times before I gave up on it. Sorry if the quality is not up to par.
I do think Weiss and Jaune's first pov scenes worked out reasonably well, which is surprising, since Weiss is a pain in the ass to write. There's a fine line between likable bitch and genuine bitch, and up until season 2 she is a genuine racist bitch, though I want you all to know that her views on faunus, among other things, are not her own views, but those imposed on her by her family (especially her father, the crown prince of douche bags) and while I personally like Jaune (he's my favorite character), I unfortunately have to write him as a weakling who was taught some questionable things growing up.
As far as the action scenes are concerned… well, I'm sorry. I tried. Action scenes are one of the things I'm normally good at, but I'm forcing myself to write through my writers block, and I'm afraid its showing.
I thought about it, and since faunus only have 1 animalistic trait, when I had to decide to get rid of Raven's fangs or his tail I decided on neither. I decided I could keep his tail, and justify the presence of fangs by making him venomous (venomous snakes have slit pupils and nonvenomous snakes have round pupils). He is a snake after all. Faunus having venom shouldn't just be a villain trait. Could even become a plot point later on.
That is all. Please review and let me know what you think.