A/N: In the last chapter there was a mistake with the official title of the larger than usual Beringel. I didn't want it to have the same naming as the Alpha Beowulf so from here on out it shall be the Prime Beringel. Thanks, and enjoy!
Blake gripped her scroll hard as the Geist rose from the ground and it revealed itself to the students, causing an audible gasp from the other teachers that were nearby and also watching everything below unfold. Blake handed her scroll to Yang without notice, causing Yang to fumble with it for a moment. They stared at Blake as she compressed one of the launch pads and stood on it.
"Blake," Yang asked her.
"I'm going in!" Blake exclaimed, her eyes narrow as she stared straight ahead, knees bent, preparing to launch. The spring unloaded, throwing her a couple of feet forward before she was quickly caught by Glynda's semblance and placed gently on the ground beside all of them. Blake looked herself over in confusion for a moment before looking up at Glynda. Her face became red and Yang knew that Blake was going to let Glynda have it, or at least try. "What are you doing?!"
"Stopping you from interfering in the exam," Glynda told her in a matter of fact like tone. She reviewed her scroll before looking out over the forest and viewing what she could from where they were positioned.
"Glynda, there is a Geist in there. In addition to a Prime Beringel! You can't expect me to just sit here-" Blake ranted before Glynda cut her off.
"Do you think that your daughter is as good as everyone believes?" Glynda asked. They all grew silent for a moment and looked at Blake. She averted her eyes as Glynda looked back at her and her cat ears flopped slightly.
"Of course I do," Blake replied quietly. "I just… I just don't want her to get hurt." Yang approached Blake and hugged her, holding her for a long moment as Glynda gave a small smile and turned back to watch the forest. Ruby joined them and smiled.
"Don't worry Blake," Ruby told her. "I know she can do this."
"How can you be so sure?" Blake asked.
"Trust me, I know," Ruby replied with a wink.
Titus doubted himself for a long moment, and whether or not he should have been sent to Beacon in the first place. Was this how he was going to die? He had made it his goal in life to be the best that the Atlas Military had ever seen, but now he had been reduced to nothing more than a regular Huntsman, bested by the Grimm that he was trying to slay. Glynda was right, they were much stronger if they worked together as a team, but Titus wondered what kind of team needed a member that couldn't hold his own. Was he overreacting? Perhaps, but after his mind had been refreshed to the nightmare he had long ago forgotten, the idea that he couldn't do anything on his own had a hold on him, and right now it was holding him to the ground, ready to let the Geist destroy him.
"Titus! Come on!" Neela called out to him. His mind teetered towards the flashback. Lightning cracking as he lay on his face on the cold, wet ground. He watched as the Geist's rock foot raised up, and prepared to flatten him into the earth. Someone grabbed him and threw themselves on top of him. It was Ilia… The confusion snapped and he became wide-eyed as he realized that she might be intending to protect him with her body. Why would she do such a thing? All that could be accomplished from where she was positioned was that they would both be killed together! Even if she did have some plan for protecting him, why would she? It didn't make any sense.
He had tried to have her thrown out of Beacon, back to wherever she was from and out of his way. He was justified in his mind, she had tried to steal his wallet, but what did she possibly get from keeping him alive at this point? Ilia grabbed his jaw and moved in, his eyes growing even wider than they already were. What was she doing?! This was hardly the place for this kind of show of affection, and he honestly didn't feel that way about her! Perhaps she meant to snap him out of it? She kissed him hard on the lips, toying with him slightly as she lingered longer than she needed to, before taking his body and rolling out of the way of being crushed. She gripped his swords and clashed them together, the gravity Dust blasting past the Geist with no effect.
"Got him!" Ilia yelled out and ran into the woods with the Geist charging towards her. Neela and Eliana followed the Grimm and they came upon an old fort that led to one of the cliff sides. Titus began to understand what was going on and he pushed Ilia out of his body, sliding to a stop and planting his swords. The earth rolled back towards the creature, giant pikes of rock slamming up through the ground and throwing it onto its back.
"What the hell did you think you were doing back there?!" He demanded. She face-palmed and shook her head furiously in disbelief.
"Can we have this conversation after that thing is dead?!" Ilia asked. He grunted in frustration but agreed as the earth shook and it stood back up, prepared to attack once again. Neela ran by with Eliana and they made a break for the gorge. Titus and Ilia glanced at each other before nodding and following after the girls.
"What's the plan?" Ilia asked. They weaved in and out of the trees as they finally exited on the other side, approaching a large ravine of sorts.
"We push it into the gorge!" Titus shouted.
"We attack it from the other end of the fort!" Neela yelled at the same time. Ilia looked back and forth between the two of them.
"Guys!" Ilia demanded. "Can we not do this right now?! Am I the only one who realizes that we need to get our shit together?" Neela thought it over for a moment and glanced back at Titus as they approached the bridge and stopped.
"We can do both," Neela told them. Titus smirked and nodded. He was willing to compromise and he appreciated that she didn't completely disregard his suggestion. Maybe some of the students here were sensible after all.
"How?" Eliana asked. The Geist exited the forest and threw boulders at them which they dove out of the way of, Titus opting to stand his ground and smash them apart using the Dust in his swords.
"Elli, come with me. You and I can distract it from her and Titus. We'll be safe at the far end of that bridge. If it tries to follow us, it'll fall into the gorge on its own," Neela told them. They all agreed and Neela and Eliana opened fire as they moved towards their mark. The Geist seemed mostly uninterested in them until Neela fired several gravity arrows off at it, tearing apart its right arm and causing it to panic. It screeched as it swung back around, moving quickly towards the forest and choosing a new arm. Neela had its full attention now and she smiled. This is what they needed.
"What about us?" Ilia asked.
"You're going to have Titus launch you towards it! It'll probably be easier if you use your semblance!" Neela called out. She smirked as she turned back to him and he raised his hands backpedaling.
"Really?" Titus asked, his face turning red.
"You heard her…" Ilia replied. He grabbed her by the shoulders and she glanced at his hand. "That'll work too." She jumped into his body and held the swords against each other, charging up the gravity Dust and preparing to jump out. Neela glanced at Eliana who continued to fire at the beast as it drew nearer to the gap. She smirked as she loaded a lightning arrow and took a deep breath. She calmed her nerves and watched as everything around her came into focus. She could hear her pulse, beating in her ear. Eliana's guns, each blast distinct and precise, the sound of the bullets chambering filling her mind. She activated her semblance.
As a young child, Neela was often filled with great wonder and awe at the stories that her Aunt Ruby would tell her whenever she came to visit. They were amazing adventures, tales of exotic Grimm, killers, and thieves, and the battles against Salem and Cinder. Neela loved it and stored every last word, down to the syllable, in her memory, hoping that one day she would tell her children of Ruby's adventures, and her own. One of her favorite stories, however, was the story of RNJR versus a Geist, a Grimm that Ruby had described to her as a ghost that could possess objects of the earth. Here it was. Standing before her.
Its foot planted along the ledge, where it decided to stop and she took another deep breath, focusing even harder now. She could hear Titus's breathing despite his distance away from her. She could sense the Dust building up inside of his kopides, on the verge of overloading and destroying everything in its path. She could feel the breeze drifting out over the canyon, and the stone bridge swaying ever so lightly. She knew in an instant, down to the exact inch and elevation, where she needed to fire the arrow to hit its mark with complete accuracy. Her hand steadied and she prepared to release the arrow. So this was a Geist…
Ruby had told her that Jaune had discovered that if they destroyed all of the limbs, it would give them their best shot at its face. Neela had something slightly different in mind, but in principle, would work exactly the same. Eliana loaded her next set of six bullets into the gun and turned to her teammate, her mouth opening to yell at Neela. She only needed a moment longer, and when she used Hunter's Gaze, that moment seemed to last an eternity despite lasting only a couple of seconds.
"It isn't stopping!" Eliana shouted out. Neela tensed up for a moment as the Grimm decided that it would take another step forward and test whether or not the bridge would be able to take the weight.
"Now!" Neela shouted. Ilia shot out of Titus and he threw his arms out, sending her screaming towards the beast. Her blades penetrated the side of the temple and she climbed up as Neela fired an arrow towards her. Ilia snatched it out of the air and held it for a moment.
"What…" Ilia began to call but was cut off as one of the monster's tree limbs swept over its head, trying to knock her off. Eliana quickly opened a force field, putting a dent in the tree and it pulled its arm away.
"Lodge that into the body near its face!" Neela called out. Ilia shrugged and ran to the other side of its head, slamming the arrow in. The stones that made up its head shifted on the top, sliding upward to form new pedestals and slamming into Ilia's chin. She fell limp on top of it. Neela quickly used her electronic arm brace and activated the arrow, but it didn't explode. Neela's eyes grew wide. Had it misfired or been improperly coated? The Geist thrust its arms forward and branches extended from the top of the tree, growing out towards Neela and Eliana and wrapping around the bridge, destroying it.
"Neela!" Eliana shouted. She formed a force field around herself as the branches grew past her and shattered it, sending wood splintering in every direction as she leapt onto the tree. She caught Neela's grappling hook as it reached her and she pulled Neela up who had nearly fallen into the abyss. Eliana gave her a smile as she nodded and they ran down the tree, sliding and leaping over new branches that tried to ensnare them. Neela grappled up to the top of the Geist, watching as Eliana leapt up using several force field platforms. Eliana smirked as she swayed slightly.
"Elli?" Neela asked her. Eliana brushed her off.
'I don't usually use my semblance this much. I'll be fine," she replied out of breath. Neela grabbed Ilia and slid off the back with Eliana beside her. Neela landed on her feet carrying Ilia and Titus made quick work of catching Eliana. Neela set Ilia gently on the ground and she started to come to. She sat beside them for a moment.
"Elli. Any chance you can hit the arrowhead from here?" Eliana smirked as she leapt out of Titus's arms and aimed.
"Neela. Please." Eliana fired one bullet as the Geist turned back around to face them and the arrow was destroyed, sending a blast of electricity into the Geist. It stumbled back as its body crumbled slightly, sliding into the ravine. The tree growth shrunk away, unraveling and releasing the bridge, allowing it to fully crumble. Ilia smiled as she leapt up and down and grabbed Titus, shaking him.
"We did it!" Ilia yelled. Titus smiled for a moment before he regained his wit and composure, pushing Ilia off of him.
"Of course we did," he told her. They turned back to the forest and Eliana sighed.
"That thing kind of wrecked our chances of getting out of here quickly," Eliana stated.
"You and I still need to get a relic," Ilia told her. Eliana glanced back before looking at Ilia.
"Wasn't that thing the temple? The relics were on that Grimm, weren't they?" Eliana asked Ilia. Ilia shrugged.
"They probably fell off back at that first meadow, right?" Ilia offered. She turned to Neela. "I'm Ilia Cherny by the way." As they continued their conversation, a tangle of tree growth quickly crept across the ground and grabbed Titus, dragging him towards the canyon.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as he was scraped across the ground, struggling to reach his swords which he had sheathed. The branches made sure they were pinned to his sides and pulled him over. Neela glanced back.
"Titus!" She shouted. She ran to the ledge and watched as Ilia dashed past, sliding over and quickly spinning her body completely around, using her blades to allow her to slide down the incline. Eliana nodded and Neela leapt over, firing her grappling hook at the top of the cliff. Eliana unloaded a round of ice Dust, ensuring that it was secure and grabbed Neela's hand as Neela reached the end of the immediate tether length. She quickly lowered them down into the pit, Ilia just a few feet ahead of them, and Titus barely out of view, slamming his fists against the wood in hopes of freeing himself. As they reached the bottom the Geist tossed Titus away, planting him into the side of the opposite wall and doing a number on his aura.
Ilia charged the monster, sliding under it as she managed to grab a handful of gravity Dust from her pocket. She wiped it across the ground and leapt through the air as the Geist stepped on the Dust, throwing her forward towards Titus and causing its leg to be removed. It toppled onto its side, panicking for a moment as it looked to substitute something else in for its missing appendage. Ilia grabbed Titus and pulled herself into his body once more.
Borrow some of my aura. Titus didn't understand why she would go to all of this trouble. What was it that made her act this way? I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I think I was drawn to you because you seem safe. I haven't felt that in a while and wasn't sure how to react. He chuckled slightly to himself.
"You've got a strange way of showing appreciation," he told her. She took control of his body and dove out of the way as the tree branches lashed out again, knocking down one of the pillars that rose high above for the fallen bridge. Eliana opened a barrier over them and the old stone slammed off of it and scattered. The Geist flailed about, still unable to find another limb. Its branches attempted to secure Neela but she formed her weapon into its sword form and sliced them away. Ilia leapt out of Titus as he removed his swords and slammed them into the ground, activating them. The gravity Dust coursed through the ground and slammed into the Geist's torso, cracking the temple further. "What do we do?!"
Neela took a deep breath and looked at the three of them. She knew now for certain that they had to remove its limbs before their attacks would be effective, she just wasn't sure how. She fired several fire arrows at the Geist as they regrouped, running away from it as it blocked them with its arm, setting the trees ablaze. What was this? For a moment, Neela wondered if this was a situation that they'd be able to make it out of. Titus grabbed her by the shoulder and she glanced up at him.
"Titus?" He smirked and swallowed his pride. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't have a strategy, and Neela seemed more than capable of leading them to defeating this thing. He looked down at her for a brief moment before looking back up at the Geist.
"You can do this," he told her. I can do this. I know I can. She nodded in agreement. She closed her eyes and activated her semblance, taking a deep breath in as she crouched and reformed her weapon into a bow. She could hear and feel the three of them, all looking to her as the Geist slowly rose, opting to form a sort of shadow limb and moving closer to them. She could see the pillars towering above and knew that they some were still attached to structures. It was their best odds, and Neela had to take them. She opened her eyes.
"Titus, destroy the pillar beside you and as the debris lines up, fire it at the Geist's other leg!" Neela shouted. "Elli, open a barrier behind it large enough to keep it from moving. Ilia, you're riding me!" Neela blushed immediately and Eliana giggled. Ilia grabbed Neela's arm and jumped into her body.
You should probably think of a different way to phrase that. Neela ran away from the Geist and prepared herself, drawing back a gravity Dust arrow and setting her body.
"Now!" She yelled. Titus turned and smashed apart the pillar, diving back as the debris fell, scattering around them. He found his feet again at the last moment, blasting a large rock platform at the Geist, destroying its other leg. It stumbled away from them, falling onto Eliana's force field, propping it upright. Go! Ilia leapt out and Neela nailed her with her gravity arrow, launching her through the air and towards the beast. Neela quickly loaded an earth arrow and hit Ilia again, coating her in a layer of rock. She smirked as she planted into the Geist's body, it quickly reached for her and the two trees crashed together, slamming her between them.
"Ilia!" Eliana called out. Neela quickly ran to Eliana and grabbed her arm before she could take off.
"Wait!" Neela yelled. The Geist's arms shook as Ilia pushed the trees away from her, her own body shaking and still covered in rock. "Titus!"
"Got it!" He called back knowing what she wanted. He slashed both of his blades through the air as he ran towards the Grimm, wave after wave of gravity crashing into its arms and keeping it from hitting Ilia again. Ilia opened fire on it, her bullets ricocheting off of its actual head's bone armor. Titus continued his barrage on its arms, driving them further and further back. Neela spotted openings in the roots as the Geist's arms were now oriented behind it and fired an ice arrow into both. The trees exploded into ice which Titus blasted apart, leaving the Grimm without any defense.
The stone wore off of Ilia and the Geist abandoned its body, throwing her to the ground with its spectral body and flying up to escape. Titus's Dust brushed past it as it weaved by, nearly at the top. Eliana threw her arm up quickly, firing a single shot coated in earth Dust and it slammed into the spirit. Its body became stone and it crashed back into the canyon, shattering as it slammed against the bottom. Neela let out a sigh as she knelt on the ground. She couldn't help but admit to herself the fact that she had never fought that hard before, and that she was worried for a few fleeting moments that she could have died. More importantly, however, was the fact that they had managed to pull it off, and that's what mattered. She shook it off as Eliana stumbled over to her and hugged her.
"Let's not fight any more of those," Eliana gasped, her body weak from exhaustion. Neela nodded and held her close.
"Agreed." They let go of each other as Titus and Ilia joined them.
"You did good," Titus admitted. Neela smirked and nodded at him.
"Thanks," she replied. She looked up towards the top of the canyon. Now they had to decide the best way to get out of there.
"Hey!" someone shouted at the top and Neela recognized the voice as Cobalt's. "You guys all alive down there?" Ilia placed her hand on her left hip, peering up with her right hand shading her eyes.
"Of course! Who the hell do you think we are?!" Ilia shouted up. Cobalt chuckled and tossed something into the ravine, a small trinket that Ilia snatched out of the air. She looked over the Golden Knight before showing it to Eliana. Eliana smiled.
"Well, I guess now we just have to get out of here," Eliana told them. Titus gave an abrupt laugh and looked at them as they were all staring at him.
"What?" He asked. He folded his arms. "Getting out of here will be way easier than anything else we've done today so far."
Cobalt Thénard, Bái Lung, Lykos Asimi, and Tawney Lupara. The four of you showed a most impressive display of skill and teamwork out there in the field as you retrieved the black rooks and returned them to us. You were able to take down a Prime Beringel, which is quite impressive, but you still have much to learn and room to grow. For the remainder of your time at Beacon, the four of you will be a part of Team CBLT which will be led by Cobalt Thénard. Congratulations on passing the initiation," Glynda told them as they stood on the stage and bowed to her as the group of students cheered.
Neela rubbed her hands together just off of the stage as her fingers trembled against each other. They were the last team to be announced, this was it. Would she be leading them, or would it be given to Titus? She had to admit that he was probably the strongest out of the four of them, but there was more to a leader than brawn, right? She glanced at Titus who swallowed hard as Team CBLT left the stage and they were motioned by Blake to step up. They filed on, Neela standing beside Eliana, with Ilia to her right and Titus on the other side of Eliana. Eliana grabbed Neela's hand and Neela looked down at it before looking back up at Eliana who was smiling. Elli, you always know how to get me, don't you?
Neela felt herself starting to calm down as she looked out at the seats that were filled with students, she hadn't noticed them in the Great Hall that morning or night before. She wondered if sometimes this room doubled as one of the arenas, but none of that mattered so much right now, did it? This was it. They were about to have their first grade at Beacon handed to them and the teachers had already sealed their fates as to which team they would be on. Neela was sure that she could live with the students that destiny had paired her with, she didn't know much about Ilia, but the girl seemed okay. However, if Neela was made the leader, was it always going to be a constant struggle for power between her and Titus?
Neela recalled Blake and Yang telling her that when they had first been placed on their team, it took Weiss a little over a few weeks to get completely used to Ruby being in charge. In Weiss' mind, anything less than her leadership was the wrong choice, but after talking things over with her teammates and her teachers, she finally came to accept the fact that Ruby could lead just as well, and that Weiss would just have to be the best teammate that she could be. Neela hoped and prayed that it would be just as easy with Titus if she was chosen. On the other hand, if Titus was chosen, would she be able to accept that fact? It was a toss-up and a lot to ask of either of them, but at this point, it was up to Glynda.
"Neela Xiao Long, Ilia Cherny, Titus Prasinos, and Eliana Latherus. Your team retrieved and returned both of the golden four of you put on an exhibition of power from first-year students, unlike anything that we have ever seen in the history of Beacon, including the years before it was rebuilt. Killing a Geist is one of the most difficult things that a Huntsman or Huntress can do, even after graduating from the academy. With all of that being said, some of you performed quite sloppily and made mistakes that shouldn't have happened. There will always be room for improvement.
Your team is the last team of today's ceremony, and for the rest of your attendance at Beacon, you will be the members of Team NITE. Your team will be led by Neela Xiao Long. Congratulations on passing the initiation and thank you to all of you for coming today! Years 2 - 4, please return to your studies. Year 1 students will be assigned dorms and are advised towards learning their way around the campus as your classes will begin tomorrow. You are all dismissed," Glynda said as she finished addressing the crowd and left.
Neela glanced across at Titus who was clapping like the rest of them, giving a nod of acknowledgment to Neela who nodded back and smiled as Eliana grabbed her and shook her hard by the shoulders.
"You did it! And we're on the same team together! NITE is going to be unstoppable!" Eliana declared as Neela laughed and managed to free herself from Eliana's clutches.
"We did it. I couldn't have taken that Geist down without all three of you with me," Neela explained as they stepped off of the stage. Team CBLT was waiting and greeted them with hugs and handshakes. Cobalt smirked and nodded to Neela as he approached her, shaking her hand.
"Congratulations on becoming the lead for your team," Cobalt told her as they all exited the Great Hall through the main doors and stepped out into the sunlight. Neela beamed in the warmth of the afternoon. Eliana was busy talking to Tawney and they were laughing about something as Neela looked around the group for a moment to try and find Titus. He had disappeared, as well as Lykos from Cobalt's group. Neela shook her head, it was probably nothing. "So, who thinks we should go find our rooms and then celebrate?" Eliana and Tawney's hands shot into the air, Eliana lightly bouncing and waving her arms.
"Great idea!" Tawney shouted out.
"Sounds good to me!" Eliana followed after her. Bái now also noticed that Lykos was gone and moved past Ilia to stand next to Cobalt.
"Cobalt, have you seen Lykos-kun?" She asked. Neela activated her semblance, but there was no sign of them within her range.
"He stepped away with Coco at the end of the ceremony. Apparently, they needed to take care of something that had happened while we were in the forest," Cobalt told her. She bit her lip and turned away, her eyes darting around nervously. Cobalt placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and she shuddered momentarily before looking back at him. His eyes were kind and he smiled at her, calming her down. "I'm sure whatever happened, it wasn't Lykos' fault. He might be an extremely reserved individual, but he seems like he's an alright guy." This was enough to reassure Bái and she gave a slight smile. "So, you think we'll be ready to celebrate tonight?"
"I like pizza," she said quietly. He grinned and turned to the rest of them.
"Who likes pizza?!" He called out to them. Eliana and Tawney once again threw their hands up and Ilia shook her head at them, slowly raising her own hand. He looked back down at Bái. "Pizza it is."
Bonus points to anyone who noticed the call back to an older anime in there! The teams have been chosen, come back next week to see if Titus can come to grips with not being chosen as the leader of NITE. Also, Lykos tells Coco what happened to Bái in the forest in Chapter 14 - Expelled or Worse?!
A big thank you to Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!