I'm not even bothering with apologies for not sticking to the plan. I am horrible with managing my time, duly noted. Now let's get straight to the story.
Yang liked Beacon quite a lot.
Of course, it might have been a bit too early to say, since she only got to spend a single night in the school, but from what she had seen thus far, the place was pretty damn great. For one, Beacon was a one, huge castle, which was unusually cool even for a combat-oriented school. The location was great too, with the cliffs and the appropriately named Emerald Forest just outside the walls. Yang could only imagine how fun it would be to just venture into the woods one day and hunt for Grimm without having to worry about teams and Relics.
In terms of her initial experience with Beacon, it seemed as though everything was going her way. Aside from the awesome surprise of having Ruby attend Beacon on the same year as her, Yang was lucky enough to meet some interesting people on her very first day, her partner being one such example.
Blake Belladonna, that was how she introduced herself when asked. While the girl was annoyingly quiet – with her dark outfit she looked kind of like an emo – she did manage to make that somewhat cool, since she was seemingly a strong combatant and she was definitely scorching hot – these hips were simply a work of art.
Still, that quietness could become a problem. No matter how strong Blake was, she couldn't be a good teammate if she wasn't willing to communicate a bit more. Right now they were marching through the forest in silence, neither of them having spoken a single word for the last five minutes.
If all her teammates ended up being like that, Yang's team would surely be a failure. Maybe teaming up with Ruby would be a good idea after all…
Yang was only snapped out of her musings once she and Blake entered a large clearing. In its center there were some ruins, presumably the temple headmaster mentioned while giving his instructions. The structure was circular, over a dozen meters in diameter and made entirely out of stone. Several columns supported what perhaps was once a roof, but now was nothing more than a couple of rectangular rocks raised several meters above the ground. They were all arranged around a platform on which several large podiums could be seen.
"Think this is it?" Yang asked her partner. It earned her no verbal response, as Blake simply threw her a quick glare that seemed to say 'What do you think?' and then descended down towards the ruins.
To be fair, Yang's question was sort of dumb. Unless the forest was filled with ruins of strange buildings, this had to be the temple they had been looking for. It was just a little strange that finding this place had been so easy. It would be quite hard to get lost considering how visible the temple was from above and how close it was to the cliffs.
Following her partner, Yang ran down the hill and entered what remained of the building. After stepping onto the stone floor she noticed something she hadn't been able to see from a distance – on several podiums there was a chess piece standing, either golden or black. Presumably these were the 'relics' they had been looking for.
"Chess pieces?" Blake seemed confused by the recent discovery. Yang could see where her partner was coming from – she had also been expecting something more spectacular – but she supposed some people would think it clever to make a chess reference like that.
Actually, it was something of a cool system. There were two pieces for each combination of type and color, meaning that, in order to form a team together, two pairs would have to pick the same piece – at least that was how Yang interpreted this setup. There was one thing that sort of annoyed her…
"Some of them are missing." Yang pointed out. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."
"Well, I guess we should pick one." Blake replied, her eyes scanning the relics around her. She was clearly trying to determine which relic they best off choosing, even though there really was no difference.
They had no way to know which pair would choose what piece. Heck, they didn't even know what any of the other pairs was. If Yang had more information at hand, maybe she would try to manipulate the outcome so that she would end up in a team with someone cool, but she didn't have any information like that. The selection process was completely random even know when they technically had a choice.
Still, they had to pick something. Maybe she should just choose the coolest color and type, that being…
Yang's attention was turned away from the chess pieces as she spotted something out of a corner of her eye. Two people – presumably other students – emerged from the treeline and marched towards the temple. Though it was hard to see the details from a large distance like that, Yang could still recognize both of them.
One was a rather handsome boy in a green suit – Ren, if she recalled correctly. He stood out from the crowd of other initiates in that he didn't seem desperate for attention and didn't behave like a gorilla looking for a mate, but that was just about all Yang could say about him. She never got the chance to speak with Ren or even hear him speak with anyone for that matter, so she barely knew anything about the guy.
The other person Yang knew a little better.
Weiss Schnee, with her princess-like attire and a matching posture. Yang really didn't know what to think about the white-haired girl. She was willing to have a casual chat with a person she hadn't known prior, to show a middle finger to authority when the reason was good enough and to promise friendship to Ruby, all of which Yang could certainly appreciate. Weiss could feasibly be a good teammate to fight alongside and a very good one for Yang to tease.
But then there was also that outburst the previous day… was that Weiss showing her true colors the moment anger hit her, or had Ruby simply hit a particularly sensitive topic? Yang couldn't really blame anyone for turning rude once someone pressed their weak spot. Jaune didn't appear to be a bad guy by any means, but there could still be a legitimate grudge between the two siblings. For all her screwed-up family situation, Yang couldn't claim to know how Weiss was feeling, whether anyone would behave better in her situation or even what that situation was.
She could give Weiss a chance. She needed to get teamed up with somebody, so why not form a team with the first couple that came around?
For whatever reason, Blake didn't seem to share that opinion. She noticed other students approaching as well, but she looked at them with suspicion, almost hostility. It was as though she thought they were all in some competition… or a battle to the death.
Yang didn't pay much attention to her partner at the moment, however, since she remained largely focused on the approaching pair. The blonde stepped past the stone columns and raised her hand in a greeting.
"Sorry guys, that place is ours. We got here first!" She yelled with a smile on her face.
"Perhaps we can still negotiate?" Ren offered, extending a hand towards Yang. "My name is Lie Ren, as I believe we haven't met before."
"I'm Yang." The blonde said, returning the gesture. "As for negotiations, I want a pile of gold and a princess. It seems like you have the latter with you."
"It's good to see you, Yang." Weiss sighed, not very appreciative of the joke. "And it's nice to meet you…?"
The last sentence was clearly directed at Blake, who up until now was standing behind Yang and silently observing her fellow students. When Weiss addressed her, the brunette blinked as though she was snapped out of some musings. It took her another second to finally say something. "It's Blake. And it's nice to meet you as well."
The way Blake was staring at Weiss – that is with some major distrust – put the sincerity of her words in question. Luckily, none of the other three students decided to point that out.
Well, maybe not entirely luckily, as right after Blake finished introducing herself, an undisturbed silence descended upon them. They just stood there like a bunch of distant colleagues who had nothing to talk about – which was pretty strange, since they had an excellent topic at hand.
"So, are we a team now?" Yang decided to break the awkward silence by cutting straight to the chase. She pointed towards the ruins behind her. "Because we can team up just by picking the same type of relic from that temple. It looks like there are two of each kind and there are still a few pairs remaining."
"So that's how it works…" Weiss said, more to herself than to anyone else present. The way her brows furrowed suggested that she was thinking intensely, which was kind of weird, since the system was pretty damn easy to understand.
"Are we going to do that then?" Yang suggested. "Because, you know, there are four of us and we are alone here and forming a team is kind of the reason we are here, so…"
"Actually, I would like us to think for a while before making such an important decision." Weiss was quick to reply.
"Yes. We shouldn't be too hasty." Blake agreed vehemently.
"They say patience is the key to success." Ren stated philosophically.
Uh-oh. It looked as though nobody save Yang was interested in forming a team. Which was sort of to be expected, there was no rule saying that two pairs would have to become teammates immediately upon meeting. If only a single person refused to be a part of the team, Yang would assume that they are simply waiting for one of their friends to come or that they have a bad history with a person from another pair. But how could all three people around her be so opposed to the idea? Was there some reason only Yang couldn't see?
"I mean, we have to complete the initiation eventually." She pointed out. "And we are not advancing by standing here and talking. Even if we don't get attacked by some super-strong Grimm or anything, the teachers are watching us and they probably won't appreciate us wasting time."
"I believe that we can defeat any Grimm that attempts to harm us." Ren stated calmly.
"Why do teachers matter that much? I can live with having a low grade." Weiss said, although it came out forced, as if she didn't truly believe the things she was saying.
"Yang, it's alright." Blake told her partner. "Don't try to force them into anything."
"I'm not… ugh, fine." Yang groaned. "If you are so against teaming up, nothing's really lost. Me and Blake will just take one of the pieces and head back towards the cliffs. Right Blake?"
"It does sound reasonable." Blake nodded.
"Farewell then." Weiss said, looking straight at Yang's partner for some reason. "I will wait here until my brother shows up and see what piece he will pick."
So that was the reason. It seemed strange, since Weiss didn't seem to have the best relationship with her brother, but maybe they still thought that they should stay together despite everything. Or maybe she had some more pragmatic reason to be on the team with Jaune. It wasn't Yang's business, really.
"Alright then." The blonde said, turning back towards the temple. "Let's get out of here, Blake. As for the relics, I think of picking a cute little…"
Before Yang made more than a single step, her partner grabbed her by the shoulder. "Actually, how about we stay here for a few more minutes? The weather is really nice today."
Yang barely stopped herself from screaming out in frustration. It seemed like everyone except for her was playing some strange game and Yang was not allowed to know the goal, nor the rules.
Was that how huntsmen and huntresses were supposed to act? Was Beacon actually a school for spies or something like that? No, Yang was fairly sure that her partner and her not-teammates were just weird. Sadly, there wasn't much that could be done about that.
"Fine. Let's just wait for something unspecified to happen before we form any teams." Yang said with a healthy dose of sarcasm in her voice. To her horror, Weiss, Ren and Blake all just nodded, apparently not seeing any problem with that solution.
So, instead of picking a relic or doing anything remotely useful, the four of them just stood there silently under the sun and clouds. Yang's impatient nature started to show as the lack of action – in a place where there should have been a lot of action, no less – slowly became unbearable. After several minutes of standing in one place with a bunch of secretive jerks, she had half a mind to just pick up the closest relic regardless of what Blake thought of that. Fortunately, before Yang managed to spoil the relationship with her partner on day one, something finally happened.
Namely, two people fell from the sky.
One of them Yang recognized instantly, even as they were falling at the maximum velocity. Ruby Rose, Beacon's youngest student ever, was waving her hands wildly and screaming something intangible before ungracefully impacting with the ground and burying her face deep in the dirt. While Yang found that sight incredibly amusing, seeing Ruby hit the ground with such force awakened her 'big sister' instinct and prompted her to run over to the smaller girl.
However, before she could reach her little sister, Yang was force to a halt by yet another person landing on the patch of grass before her. A tall girl in a suit of bronze armor, red hair flowing in the wind. Her landing was far more graceful, as instead of simply hitting the ground with all her body she landed on her feet and then rolled for several feet, negating most of the kinetic force threatening to bury her in the dirt. Immediately afterwards, she turned towards Ruby and moved to help her get back on her feet.
"Ruby, are you alright?" She asked, extending a hand towards the smaller girl.
Pyrrha Nikos. Yang had seen the girl before and recognized her for her fame, but didn't attempt to socialize with the champion. Given how withdrawn the redheaded girl was and how she carried herself, it seemed safe to assume that she was some kind of a rich snob who didn't care to talk with the people she considered lower than her. But seeing how Pyrrha's first instinct after managing a dangerous landing was to help her partner get up from the ground – or rather from under the ground – maybe she was cool after all.
It looked like Ruby had found herself an excellent partner. Someone who was both a powerful fighter and could well make for a good friend.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Ruby said, while slowly standing up. "Though I lost some aura and have some dirt under the… Yang!"
Energy suddenly returned to Ruby as she noticed her older sister and immediately ran over to hug her. Yang obliged, pulling her sister into a tight embrace.
"Hi sis." She said casually. "I see you made another friend. I didn't think you could manage that."
"Yang!" Ruby whined and then tried to free herself from the hug, probably more out of learned instinct than any actual annoyance or a need for breath. Probably.
"I hate to interrupt, I really do," Pyrrha said, true to her words sounding apologetic. "But we have an important matter to take care of right now."
"I do not believe there is anything more important that two siblings…" Ren started, but never got to finish his sentence. A gargantuan, black feather flew right before his nose and pierced the ground right next to Weiss' foot.
Instinctually, Yang looked up towards the sky and saw exactly what she could have expected. A giant Nevermore was circling above their heads, clearly interested in six little snacks down on the ground.
"Did you fall from that bird up there?" Blake asked, also staring at the beast in the sky.
"Indeed. It was our chosen mode of transportation." Pyrrha confirmed. "Now take cover!"
Everyone present trusted the champion's expertise, as they all ran towards the temple. They managed to reach the ruins and hide behind stone pillars just in time to avoid a cascade of razor-sharp feathers that had clearly been aimed at them.
"You flew here on a Nevermore?" Weiss asked, her voice full of indignation mixed with disbelief.
"We had no better idea!" Ruby replied. "Also, hi Weiss."
"Well, do you have any good idea right now?" Blake asked. "Because we are sort of in a bad spot."
True words had been spoken. Nevermores were some of the most dangerous Grimm around – it was really hard to fight something that could fly at high velocity – and the one they were dealing with was unusually large. Yang wouldn't have been able to damage the colossal bird even if she was able to get close to it. Still, with Ruby and Pyrrha to help out their group would likely come out of the battle victorious.
"Um…" Ruby was clearly thinking intensely about the issue at hand. "I can dish out some major damage with the Crescent Rose. Weiss, could you use your shining circles to get me up there?"
"They're called glyphs, thank you very much." Weiss replied snarkily. "And I don't think it will work. I don't feel confident using them on other people. I might end up harming you somehow."
"Alright… so maybe we can just stay here and try to shoot the thing?" Ruby suggested. "Yang's guns don't have good range, but me and Pyrrha have long-ranged rifles. We will kill it eventually."
"Do we have the time though?" Weiss objected. "If we stay all here, other Grimm will soon join the fight. Then we will be assaulted both from ground and air level and probably surrounded as well. Let's just grab the Relics and run back to the cliffs.
"I guess we could just bail out…" Yang said with uncertainty. Weiss was making fair points, but it still seemed like all of them together could win the fight. Six huntsmen initiates made for a deadly force, one that even an horde of Grimm would struggle with. They wouldn't even draw that many monsters towards them as long as they kept their emotions at bay.
Weiss clearly wanted to avoid confrontation regardless of how dangerous it really was. Either she was just a coward, or she was hoping to gain something out of retreat.
"Are you sure we can't just…" Ren tried to suggest something, but he was forced to dodge another feather which almost impaled his torso. The rest of them were protected by the pillars, though Ruby did yelp when several projectiles flew dangerously close by her.
"We need to get out of here!" Weiss said, this time more firmly. "Every pair choose a piece, now. The four of you can form a team here and now, if you changed your mind about that."
"Have it your way." Ruby conceded, now more willing to abort. "Yang, do you want to be on a team together or not?"
Yang pondered about that for a moment. She had half a mind to agree and team up with her little sister – having Pyrrha Nikos on the team would be a nice addition – but on the other hand, Ruby could really use some more friends. Weiss and Ren would be excellent for that purpose – the former had already expressed a desire to befriend Ruby and the latter just seemed like a swell guy, even if he had some unexplained aversion to her and Blake.
"Actually, maybe you should get on a team with someone else." Yang finally said, not without reluctance.
"What? Don't start with this whole…" Another cascade of feathers served as a reminder that it was no time for lengthy arguments. "Ugh fine!"
"Does that mean that we will be forming a team with our peers here?" Pyrrha asked, turning towards Ren and Weiss.
"Well, if they want to…" Ruby said without much certainty. "Weiss, do you still…?"
"I would feel honored to have you as a teammate, Ruby." Weiss replied. "But I'm not sure if that's a good idea."
"Why is so?" Pyrrha asked, raising her eyebrow. "Is there anyone you'd rather form a team with?"
"Well…" Weiss clearly struggled to find the right response. She turned towards Ren and stared at him, as though she was asking some silent question.
"Weiss... can't we wait a moment?" Ren asked after a moment of silence.
"I'm sorry, Ren, but there is no guarantee we will survive that long." Weiss replied. "And if we run away without having formed a team, there will be no telling who will end up with us."
Yang was desperately trying to understand what was happening. Was Ren the only one of these two who didn't want to form a team? Weiss didn't seem opposed to the idea at the moment, but she had been quite reluctant to team up earlier. Maybe she really did like Ruby and wanted to be on one team with her? Except, she suggested that Ruby should form a team with Yang and Blake just a moment before.
It felt horrible not to understand what other people were talking about or what they wanted. Yang considered herself to be a socially adept person, but this mess was just... something else. It was as though everyone around her had some agenda and wanted to achieve it by any means necessary – other than simply telling others what they wanted.
Ren's expression looked troubled. It was as though he still wanted to argue, but couldn't find the right arguments.
"Fine." Ren finally said, or rather sighed with resignation. "Ruby, Pyrrha, I suppose we are a team now."
"Awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, seemingly unaware of... whatever shenanigans were going on at the moment. "What piece should we take? Oh, maybe a pony?"
"It's called a knight." Weiss stated. "And while I don't think that really matters, I feel like picking the strongest piece. It might bring us luck later on."
"You mean the queen?" Pyrrha asked. "I suppose this might cause our morale to rise subconsciously."
Since neither Ruby nor Ren had anything against the idea – the former had no clue about how chess worked, the latter simply didn't care very much – both pairs picked up a golden queen each. Yang, on the other hand, decided to steal Ruby's idea and pick a golden knight, since it looked rather cute.
"Well, we have that out of the way." Yang said. She tried not to sound too frustrated, but irritation could still be heard in the tone of her voice. "Can we now deal with the..."
The Nevermore was nice enough to essentially finish Yang's sentence for her. Another cascade of feathers rained upon them, this time directly from above, rendering their covers largely useless. While nobody got seriously injured – they still had their auras 'in the green' – a few of them, including Yang, got painfully scratched by the sharp projectiles.
"It is learning." Blake observed, after skillfully dodging the feathers meant for her. "It adapts to the environment, tries out new strategies. The older Grimm can do things like that, I believe."
"One more reason to leave this place at once." Weiss said firmly. "Are we about to get moving?"
"I would still like to wait for a while in case... just in case." Blake replied, being as vague as ever. Was all that low-key scheming not over already?
"I have to agree with my partner on that matter." Ren said, still sounding somewhat dispirited. "We should get out of here before some other giant Grimm comes along."
And in that very moment, a high-pitched scream pierced the air.
"That is bullcrap!" Jaune exclaimed, barely stopping himself from using some more drastic swearword. He was still in the presence of a young lady after all – though that would soon change if he failed to keep up with Nora.
At the moment, the two of them were desperately trying to lengthen the distance between them and a Giant Death Stalker chasing them. The scorpion-like creature was following several steps behind them, toppling trees along the way just as it had shattered the walls of a cave it had been stuck in. It was large, larger than any specimen Jaune had seen before, and looked extremely scary with its red eyes and rasor-sharp claw grabs.
"How did it even get inside that hole!" Jaune kept yelling as he navigated between the trunks and boulders, hoping to achieve the highest speed possible. "It is larger than a tunnel! Much larger! That doesn't make any sense!"
He expected Nora to be saying something back, lecturing him about how she'd been right and he'd been wrong, possibly in the form of a classic 'Told you so' line. Instead, the redheaded girl stayed silent as she ran through the forest.
Somehow, that annoyed Jaune even more.
"Seriously, was that thing just laying there waiting for someone to come by?" The boy continued his angry rant. "That is absurd! That makes no sense!"
"Well it makes sense to save your breath." Nora replied as she jumped over a large rock lying in her path. Though annoyed, Jaune couldn't really argue with that point, so he limited himself to cursing mentally as he sped up and ran deeper into the forest.
Sadly, even that wasn't enough to leave the Death Stalker behind him. While Jaune was physically fit, he was also wearing a rather heavy suit of armor. Over the course of the next minute, the distance between him and the giant Grimm shortened, while the distance between him and Nora – who was apparently just as resilient as Jaune, but not weighed down by any sort of armor – slowly lengthened.
Was that how it all was meant to end? Would he die on his first day in Beacon, abandoned by his partner and left on the mercy of a big, mean scorpion? That wouldn't be just horrible, but also really, really sad. It wouldn't even be tragically sad, let alone heroic – it would be simply be a hilariously inappropriate end to his short life.
Luckily, Nora wasn't someone who would just leave her partner behind like that. Once she realized that she was significantly ahead of Jaune, she slowed down enough for the young man to match her pace and, once they were running shoulder to shoulder, unequipped her hammer.
"I've got an idea, but you'll have to hold tightly." The girl said, outstretching her weapon towards her partner.
Jaune had half a mind to ask what exactly was the idea and why it required him to hold on to the explosive-loaded weapon, but he decided to just run with it – partially because he had no other idea, but also because he was practically out of breath at that point. He reached for the hammer's handle and gripped it as strongly as he possibly could.
It was barely enough.
Once her partner got a solid grip on the weapon, Nora jumped high into the air – those legs were incredibly strong in addition to being pretty – and once they were high enough in the ground, she fired her weapon off, propelling herself and Jaune even higher into the air.
The speed was literally breathtaking. Jaune felt a gush of wind flowing through his hair and threatening to separate him from the metal handle. For a moment, he wondered how it was possible that a grenade launcher gave off so much recoil, but he quickly decided to focus on holding on to his life instead.
What made the situation even more terrifying was how Nora acted throughout it all. She didn't appear to be afraid even the tiniest bit – on the contrary, she was clearly enjoying the sensation. She wore a huge grin on her face, her eyes seemed to sparkle and... was she laughing? It was hard to hear due to the air moving so fast.
"What's so fun about it!?" Jaune yelled. Now that he could more or less breath normally, his irritation returned with full force.
"Everything!" Nora yelled back, firing another projectile and accelerating once again. "Don't you enjoy it even a little bit?"
The scary thing was that, while he would never admit, Jaune did somewhat enjoy the situation. There was something exciting about flying through the air with such speed, even if it was utterly terrifying and made him want to puke. That didn't mean he had to approve of tactics such as that, even if he had no better ones at hand.
"Hey, you see that Nevermore up there?" Nora asked, looking onto the distance. Indeed, Jaune could see a black form of a Nevermore, circling around something. It was very large and, by all likelihood, extremely dangerous. "Let's hit it!"
"What?! Why?!" Jaune yelled with exasperation.
"We have to lose speed somehow!" Nora replied, firing yet another shot. "And I bet that birdy is softer than the ground. Sides, killing something so big might mean a better grade."
Jaune was about ask Nora whether or not she was being serious, but then he got a confirmation that his partner was, in fact, being perfectly serious. She speed up even further, now flying almost parallel to the ground below, and took the Nevermore as her destination.
The giant Grimm never had a chance. It had nowhere near enough time to react before two huntsmen initiates crashed into it with the speed that was probably nearing hypersonic. Jaune couldn't exactly see what the impact did to Nevermore, since he was immediately dazed by its force. In all fairness to Nora, the soft feathers did softened the crash somewhat and nearly all the horizontal momentum was lost to the impact. In any case, Jaune's aura was enough to absorb all the damage.
There was, however, another problem. After crashing into the giant bird, Jaune found himself very high in the air without anything to propel himself with or a parachute to open. As he accelerated vertically due to the force of gravity, Jaune searched his mind for anything he could do to somehow improve his less-than-perfect predicament.
He found nothing. There was literally nothing he could do other than shield himself with aura before another impact struck.
And it stroke rather brutally. Instead of hitting the soft grass and dirt as he had expected, Jaune was met with a solid floor of sorts. His aura held on even still, but it was dangerously low – by now, Jaune was a fairly easy prey for any Grimm that would take interest in him as a snack.
Luckily, there were seemingly no Grimm in his immediate proximity. After snapping out of his daze, Jaune realized that he was currently surrounded by people. He recognized each one of these people from earlier. There was Ruby and her older sister Yang, both looking at him concernedly. There was the tall girl with the crimson hair- Pyrrha Nikos herself, if he wasn't mistaken – who stood next to Ruby and also looked at Jaune with concern. There was Ren, whose eyes were directed somewhere else and wasn't paying that much attention to Jaune at the moment. There was Blake, the enigmatic girl who seemed to hate Jaune for whatever reason and seemed more surprised at having him crash next to her than anything else. And then there was...
"It is good to know that you are still alive." Weiss said, looking at her brother rather disconcertedly. "But I don't really like your style of entrance. Were you trying to kill me by falling on me?"
"I'm glad to see you too, Weiss. And everyone else as well." Jaune replied, still lying on the floor. He was still somewhat dazed and didn't want to get up just yet.
"Hi Jaune." Ruby said, seeming less worried now that she knew Jaune was not, in fact, dead or even seriously hurt. "Thanks for taking care of that Nevermore."
"So it worked? I would have never guessed so." Jaune said. After another second of lying on the cold floor, he attempted to lift himself up from the ground. It took some effort, but since he didn't have anything actually damaged, he was soon able to stand up and properly review his surroundings.
It appeared as though he accidentally managed to find the temple Headmaster had been talking about before the initiation began. It was a circular structure made entirely out of stone, with clear signs of old age and the erosion associated with it. There were multiple small platforms placed around the temple, some of which had a single chess piece standing in the centre. Those must have been the Relics, or so Jaune presumed. Using chess pieces as the method of forming teams was actually fairly clever, since it was easy to differentiate between different Relics this way.
As for the Nevermore, it seemed defeated indeed. At the moment, it lied motionlessly on the glade near the temple. The impact with Jaune and Nora must have hurt it significantly – while it was probably still alive, it didn't seem to be in any state to fight, especially not seven heavily-armed huntsmen initiates. It wouldn't be much of a threat even if it lifted itself up somehow.
Jaune then remembered that he had something more important to worry about than the Relics or even the Grimm. In the exact same moment, that thing came crashing down from the sky, cracking the stone floor on the spot right next to Jaune.
"Well, looks like the whole gang is here." Yang commented cheerfully.
"Ugh..." Nora groaned, immediately trying to get up from the ground. "I was hoping that if I spin around twice I would get a better... Renny!"
The girl seemed to experience a massive boost of energy as she shot round and not so much ran towards Ren, as she teleported next to him and pulled him into a tight hug. Ren didn't seem to mind, even though Nora still had a lot of dirt all over her. He didn't seem particularly surprised either, implying that this sort of behavior was more or less normal for Nora.
"It's good to see you in one piece, Nora." The boy said, reciprocating the hug. "But there is a thing..."
The redhead backed off a step. She looked Ren in the eye, stayed like that for a second and then looked around the temple. It was the same sort of wordless communication Jaune and Weiss often performed between each other, though there was no enmity there. Only sadness in Nora's eyes and a twinge of guilt in Ren's. The meaning was obvious, even to an outsider such as Jaune.
"Yes, I already have a team." The boy admitted. "I'm with Weiss, Pyrrha and Ruby. I'm sorry, it just..." Ren's expression was complicated, as though he didn't know what excuse to give or who to blame.
Jaune strongly suspected who was to blame for this situation. Weiss in one team with Pyrrha Nikos and two other skilled fighters... there was no way that came about by chance. There had to be some level of manipulation involved. His sister had managed to reach the temple before him and, somehow, convince the right people to team up with her despite one of said people having different intentions. She likely chose Ren as her partner and then picked whatever pair contained Nikos in it – that was the only plausible explanation for why she ended up with the same team as Ruby despite having a measure of control over the process.
If Jaune was looking at Weiss at the moment, he would have probably seen an expression of smugness and triumph. But instead, remembering one more thing, he looked towards the trees in the distance.
"That's okay." Nora responded to Ren's non-explanation. She didn't sound very convincing, but she didn't sound totally resigned either, which was definitely a good thing. "And hey, I think we have two teammates right here, am I right?" She added, turning towards Blake and Yang.
"I am not sure if it's a good idea. See..." Blake started, but something interrupted her. Namely, the sound of falling trees made as the Death Stalker entered the clearing.
"Oh, right. There is that." Nora said casually, picking up her weapon and preparing for combat.
"You brought a Death Stalker here!?" Weiss asked exasperated.
"Looks like it." Jaune replied, almost managing to keep the embarrassment from his voice. "I was hoping it would get lost or give up, but it looks like it followed us here. Still, I think the eight of us can handle a single Grimm, even one as large as that."
A second after Jaune finished his statement, a loud screech could be heard. A quick look to the side revealed that, contrary to Jaune's assumptions, the Nevermore was not dead or even critically wounded. In fact, it had just stood up from the ground, visibly angry and, despite its injuries, ready to return to the fight.
We are facing one gargantuan Grimm from each side. Jaune realized the severity of their predicament. Not exactly a great situation to be in.
"Well, it might be fun." Ruby said, activating Crescent Rose and assuming a combat stance. Everyone else followed suit, equipping their own weapons.
"Jaune?" Weiss said, reaching for the Myrtenaster. "I really hate you right now."
"Likewise, sis." Jaune replied, unsheathing Crocea Mors. "Likewise."
Now, some of you probably want to crucify me right now for not putting Ren and Nora into the same team. My response to such a sentiment is simple – wait. I have my reasons for arranging the teams in that exact way and while I could start explaining myself right now, I would have to be a rather spoiler-y type of explanation. Just know that while I'm certainly not perfect, I am planning ahead and I have at least a vague idea of what I'm doing.
I would, however, gladly hear an opinion or two regarding other aspects of the chapter, such as using Yang as the narrator. I wanted to show how someone like Weiss or Jaune looks from the outside as they are influencing people around them and advancing their little agendas. It might make some moves look very confusing, but I had to do something like that sooner or later.
And, of course, you can bash me for being lazy. It probably won't change anything about me, but I deserve it anyways.