The forest surrounding Beacon was calm, the sun shining down from the blue sky above as the creatures that lived within the foliage went about their business. Completely unaware of what was about to come crashing into their midst.
Though the last thing anyone or anything would expect would be a group of teenagers flying overhead and landing among the trees after being launched from a cliff from miles away.
Each student using their own method to either try and gain more distance, or land in the Emerald forest as safely as possible.
Ruby's sister Yang seemed to have the best method of gaining more speed, using her shotgun gauntlets to launch herself even farther with each blast she fired behind her. It would get her closer to the temple where their objective was located.
As for Rios, his cloak flapped loudly behind him as he flew. Tilting his body to the side in time to avoid a tall tree, he scanned the surrounding area for a safe place to land and found a small body of water not too far from him. Snapping his arms and legs out to slow his momentum, the Faunus angled himself so that he was aimed in the right direction.
Taking out his axe, he slammed the blade into several passing trees. Each landed hit slowing his momentum as he drew closer to the pond, flaring his aura and surrounded his body with it like a shield as he tucked his arms and legs into himself seconds before he crashed into the surface. Sending water spraying in all directions as he disappeared from sight.
Everything settled in moments, leaving a still silence throughout the forest before Rios broke through the surface. Breathing in the fresh air before swimming toward the shore not too far away.
It wasn't the first time he had done something like this. And he had more than enough experience to avoid hurting himself out in the wilds. Stepping out of the pond and looked at the surrounding trees to get his bearings.
The sun was higher in the sky, meaning it was just past noon, and the cliffs where he had been launched from was to the North-East, and the temple was supposed to be farther to the North away from the academy campus.
Looking up at the sun and its position in the sky, the wolf-Faunus calculated the direction he needed to go and headed that way. Shaking a bit of water that was still on him, he removed his axe as he moved toward the trees...
Stopping when he heard growling come from where he was going in time to see an Ursa lumber out into the open. It's glowing red eyes locked onto the hunter while drawing itself up onto its hind-legs.
Clenching his weapon, Rios smirked before throwing the axe straight at the Grimm. The blade burrowing into its left shoulder making it roar in pain and fury as it dropped to all fours again and charged forward.
The Faunus snapped his hand out, the axe ripping from the monster's body and flying back to his hand, sidestepping the frontal attack and bringing the weapon downward hard. The Ursa's head coming off and flying away as the rest of the body collapsed to the ground almost instantly where it began to dissolve.
With the threat out of the way, Rios started to head out once again. All the while wondering what else would happen during the initiation.
X
Pyrrha slashed her weapon in its sword-form as she took the head off of an attacking Beowolf. Bringing her shield up in time to deflect the claws of another that attempted to attack her flank, giving her the chance to swing upward and take it's right arm off.
It had been several minutes since she had landed in the forest, and in that time she had been venturing in the direction she though the temple was roughly in. All the while searching for other initiates along the way.
So far she'd encountered no one, and when she stopped to get a sense of where she was located when the pack of Beowolves found her. Six total, but more than enough for her to warrant caution as she stood ready, shield in front of her with her sword at the ready as she started down the remaining four she had yet to slay.
The closest one roared and lunged, claws outstretched. Pyrrha ducked, avoiding the attack and swung her sword across, leaving a wide gash along the Grimm's stomach and splashing its black blood across the grass.
Coming back to her feet, she blocked a claw-strike to her back and bashed the Grimm in the face with her shield. Giving her the space to drive her sword through its chest where a heart would have been if it had one.
Yanking the blade from the now dead Beowolf, Pyrrha spun around and threw her shield like a disc. The sharp outer edge taking the head off another, leaving her with only one Grimm left standing with another laying on the ground bleeding heavily.
Narrowing her eyes, the beautiful champion prepared to finish the fight. The Grimm growled ferally and prepared to attack-
An arrow head suddenly exploded out of its left eye, its mouth hanging open mid-growl for a fleeting second before it collapsed, dead.
From the treeline behind it, Rios lowered his bow before stepping into the small clearing. "Making new friends?" he asked, using the same line she had said to him the day before.
Pyrrha smiled, "In a matter of speaking." she replied, looking toward the wounded Grimm that was still struggling, she mecha-shifted her sword into a long spear and threw it at the creature. The blade piercing through the center of its bone-mask.
The champion approached, placing her heeled boot against the monster's neck and pulling her weapon free before turning to the one who had become a good friend as of late, and now, had just become her partner at Beacon.
"I guess we're partners now." Pyrrha said smiling at Rios.
"Guess so." the Faunus said back with a small smile of his own. "We should get moving. The temple shouldn't be too far from here."
Nodding, the native of Mistral fell into step beside her new partner as they set off back into the forest.
"Have you encountered any of the other initiates?" the champion asked as they picked their way through the foliage, keeping their senses sharp encase anymore Grimm were in the area.
Rios shook his head, "I've picked up a few scents and trails in various spots, even a few signs of combat, but nothing else." his left wolf-ear twitched and he came to an immediate stop, holding up his hand, silently telling Pyrrha to do the same as he looked back where they had come.
Both his ears twitched and shifted, all his senses perking up before he slowly relaxed his stance.
"What is it?" asked the red-head.
"Thought I heard something." Rios replied before they started moving again.
Back in the clearing where the smell Beowolf pack was still dissolving, a large claw pressed into the dirt. Razor sharp ends digging into the ground while a deep, rumbling growl reverberated through the silence.
X
On the cliffs overlooking the Emerald forest, Professor Ozpin stared down at his scroll in tablet form. Monitoring the progress of the young huntresses and huntsmen that had been catapulted into the vast landscape nearly half an hour ago.
Behind him, Professor Goodwitch approached with her own scroll in hand as she came up and stood next to the headmaster. "Our last pair has been formed, sir." she said waving a couple screens aside that depicted what the cameras within the forest were broadcasting. "Nora Valkarie and Lie Ren. Poor boy, I can't possibly imagine the two of them getting along." she lamented.
She moved on to another screen showing Rios walking through the trees with Pyrrha. "It seems Soterios and Miss. Nikos will make an interesting pair. Though time will truly tell with those two." Ozpin hummed as he kept his focus on the screen before him.
Closing down her scroll Goodwitch turned and began making her way back to the school. "At their current pace, they should all reach the temple in a few minutes." She turned and regarded her boss, "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?" he didn't answer her which made her a bit concerned. "Professor Ozpin?"
The headmaster kept his eyes locked on his scroll, watching the progress of two students in particular as they continued on with their mission.
X
Rios stopped and knelt to the ground, finding footprints in the dirt leading in the direction they were heading.
"Trouble?" asked Pyrrha curiously.
"Footprints, two different sets." said the Faunus, touching the center of one of the prints and finding a little red mixed with the dirt. Rolling it between his finger and thumb before smelling it slowly, "Explosive dust, recently used. Roughly eight minutes old. We just missed them."
He then saw something hanging from a nearby low-branch. A thin strand of gold that reflected brightly in the sun.
Picking it up slowly, he took in the silk-like softness and caught the strong smell of lilies and citrus. "Yang." he thought while looking at the strand of hair. Recognizing the scent of the buxom blonde he'd met almost instantly.
The champion looked ahead of them, "We must be heading in the right direction."
Nodding, Rios stood up. Bow in hand with a fresh arrow knocked and ready as they continued on. Coming out an opening in the trees on top of a hill that overlooked a small valley below.
And in the middle of said valley was a structure built with crumbling stones.
"That's gotta be the ruins." said Rios. "With any luck we'll find some of the others down there. We'll get our relic and..."
His left ear twitched, the sound of leaves moving and twigs breaking getting his attention as he snapped his bow up and aimed back into the forest. Eyes narrowed and sharp as he looked for any sign of movement.
"Rios?" asked Pyrrha, who also prepared herself for combat with her shield on her back and her spear in rifle-form.
The Faunus was silent, his enhanced hearing focused around them has he tried to listen for the sounds again. But nothing happened, no movement, nothing at all. But his sense of danger wasn't easily fooled.
Something was out there, watching them.
"We're not alone." he said lowly. The whisper sounding a bit too loud given that there wasn't any other noise around them. No birds, insects or small animals, as if all the wildlife was attempting to keep quiet as well.
Another sweep of the surrounding foliage, and the hunter's eyes caught movement. Bowstring drawn tight and prepared to fire as the leaves of a nearby bush rustled.
A moment later, a Boarbatusk stalked its way out into the open. Grunting like the animal it resembled as it looked at the two initiates, the Grimm scraping at the ground with its front hoof, preparing to charge as the partners readied themselves.
Just as it was about to curl in on itself and charge the duo, a massive claw came down on its back, slamming it to the ground while it squealed in alarm and pain before being suddenly silenced when it was crushed beneath the weight of the new creature.
Rios and Pyrrha looked upon the beast that revealed itself with caution and alarm respectively. It was easily three times as big as an Alpha Beowolf with the head of a goat with three very long horns sticking out of the bone mask.
Armored plates covered in spikes lined its back and ending at a long tail that slithered about, coming around to reveal that it had the head of a serpent with large fangs and piercing red eyes.
It's claws were easily a meter long with four on the front feet and looked to be sharper than most blades, capable of cleaving a man in half with one strong swipe. The hind legs were massive hooves that pressed hard into the dirt.
The creature rumbled, blowing air out its nostrils before rearing back on its hind-legs, revealing a third head just under the goat one. This head resembled a lion, a long mane of black fur surrounding its mask that was thrown back as a mouth filled with sharp teeth opened and let loose a bellowing roar that shook the whole forest.
"A Chimera." said Rios, in equal parts awe and caution while keeping his arrow locked on the beast's center of mass.
"I thought these kinds of Grimm were only supposed to be a myth?" wondered Pyrrha as the Chimera lowered back to the ground on all fours. The Goat-head snorting loudly as it clawed at the ground beneath it.
"Then I guess every myth and legend has a bit of truth in them." replied the Faunus just before the beast began charging.
The two teens lept apart as the beast barreled past them, Pyrrha bringing up her shield in time to deflect one of the Chimera's claws while Rios avoided the serpent-headed tail as it tried to strike him while firing his bow into its side, but the arrow showed no sign of fazing the Grimm as it past by and turned around to face them.
Pulling out another arrow, the hunter fired it at the goat-head only to have the serpent-head snap forward and caught it. Snapping the shaft in half with minimal effort. Pyrrha attempted to catch it's flank with her weapon now in sword-form, but the large Grimm swung its horns in her direction, forcing the champion to leap back to avoid being impaled.
The Chimera reared back on its hind-legs, its lion-head roaring as it came forward swinging both its massive claws at the two initiates. Both of them rolling in different directions to avoid being shredded.
Rios pulled out Leviathan and swung at one of the beast's hooved legs. The ice-infused axe slicing into bone-armor and managing to nick black-furred flesh. The Chimera roared, taking a swing at the wolf-Faunus who brought up his weapon and blocked the attack, the blow sending him skidding back across the dirt and stopping beside Pyrrha.
"The thing's got a strong defense." said Rios. "Hyde, armor, three heads, it's not going to go down easy."
"Perhaps we need a more conventional method in stopping it." replied the red-head, bringing her shield and sword to bare. The Chimera dropped on all fours again and prepared to charge.
Grip tightening on Leviathan, Rios threw the weapon at the large Grimm. The beast leaned to the side, avoiding the axe at it sailed past it and burrowed into a tree. The wolf-Faunus quickly drew Artemis and fired three arrows with blue-glowing heads Each one hitting different points on the creature where ice started to spread rapidly.
"Aim for the ice! Weaken its armor!" Rios called out as he ran at the Chimera, leaping onto its back while it was trying to shake off the ice spreading on its body. Holding out his hand, Leviathan yanked itself from the tree it was stuck in and slapped into his palm where he proceeded to hack and slash at its back.
Pyrrha mecha-shifted her weapon into its rifle-form and fired at the Grimm's frozen joints. Chunks of ice and bone-armor chipping off with every shot. Her green eyes saw movement toward the hunter's back and immediately called out to him.
"Behind you!"
Rios snapped his head over his shoulder and saw the Chimera's serpent-head prepared to strike. He spun around just as the reptilian limb snapped forward, mouth wide and fangs extended, only to be met with the handle of Leviathan. The hunter gritting his teeth as the mouth wrapped around his weapon tried to yank it from his grasp.
Tightening his grip on Leviathan he twisted sharply to the left, he wrapped his arm around the snake-head and held it in place against his body with all his strength. Ripping the axe from its mouth, the wolf-Faunus brought it down hard at the base of the sentient limb.
The Chimera roared, black ichor spraying out from the deep cut made into its tail. Rios struggling to keep it in his grip as he brought Leviathan down again and again until it was almost all the way through. The large Grimm bucked and shook, causing the young hunter to drop his weapon and grab its serpent-half with both hands.
Flaring his aura to enhance his strength, Rios planted his feet and pulled. The sound of flesh tearing could be heard just before the serpent-head was ripped clear from the Grimm's body.
An echoing roar filled the forest, the Chimera shot up to its hind-legs. Throwing the hunter from his back where he landed on his feet behind the beast-
Just before a large claw came back and struck him hard enough to send him through a tree and off into the forest.
"RIOS!" Pyrrha shouted after her partner. Her gaze snapping up at the Chimera who was now standing upright and leering down at her with its lion-head. Sending a nervous grin at the creature before taking off into a dead run in the same direction the wolf-Faunus, scooping his axe off the ground as she went.
X
Several meters away from where all of the fighting had taken place, Rios laid slumped beneath a broken tree. Several others laying in a similar manner after he had been sent crashing through them by the Chimera.
Despite the damage his flight had caused, his aura had taken the brunt of it. But had been depleted a great deal as a means to protect him.
Groaning softly, the wolf-Faunus opened his eyes slowly and took stock of his situation. Nothing was broken, and aside from a headache he was doing okay. But that would change quick if he didn't get out of here and fast.
Rubbing his eyes, His headache suddenly became worse, making him wince as his fingers dug into the bark of the tree laying over him.
The haze left the hunter's vision, along with the headache, he put both hands on the tree pinning him down. Grunting loudly with exertion, the tree rose upward bit by bit before being tossed a couple feet away from him.
Getting back to his feet, Rios glanced around the forest, picking up his dropped bow that he was thankful wasn't damaged. But his axe was nowhere to be found.
"Must have dropped it back with the Chimera." he muttered, preparing to head back to find his dropped weapon and his partner, hoping that Pyrrha was okay.
As if his thoughts were a que, the red-headed champion came running out of the foliage. Leviathan clenched in one hand with her own weapon in the other.
"Rios!" she exclaimed, happy to see him as she handed the axe to him. "The Chimera is right behind me, we need to get moving!"
A roared shook the forest back where she had come, the Grimm in question closing fast.
"The temple isn't far. If it catches up we can fight it in the open." said the hunter as he and his partner began running toward where the relics were located. The two of them jumping over foliage and rocks while trying to maintain a steady distance from the pursuing beast.
Both partners burst from the trees and made a b-line for the temple, quickly noticing that six others were already there. Yang, Ruby, Weiss, the black-haired cat-Faunus, and two others neither of them had met yet. One being an orange-haired girl with a pink/white themed outfit wielding a large hammer and a boy with black hair with a pink stripe running through it wearing a green Chinese-style shirt.
"Rios!" Yang called out when she saw the duo running their way.
"We got company coming!" the wolf-Faunus shouted back, skidding to a stop in front of the group and spun around to face the forest just as the Chimera came barreling out of the treeline. Rearing back on its hooved feet and roaring with its lion-head before dropping down on all fours where the goat-head snorted in preparation.
"A Chimera?!" Weiss shouted in shock, "How did-"
"I got it!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, a red blur that shot past them all and went straight toward the hybrid Grimm. Her scythe extended as she brought it down with all her strength onto the Chimera's head.
The large weapon bounced off the bone armor of the beast's goat-head, the young girl sent stumbling backwards from the rebound.
Rios grit his teeth at the girl's blatant disregard for her own life and ran forward in a dead sprint, Leviathan brandished and ready as the Chimera charged after her.
Ruby fired several shots from her weapon, the heavy sniper rounds doing little to no damage at all before she spun around and started to flee. The large Grimm quickly closing the gap between them as it picked up speed.
The cloaked girl blinked when she saw Rios running straight toward her, his axe glowing from the ice-dust embedded into the blade as he lept over her smaller frame. Bringing the weapon down hard on the Chimera's left shoulder between plates of its bone-armor, black ichor spraying into the air.
Ripping Leviathan free, the hunter slashed sideways. Cutting a deep gash into the side of its face and destroying its left eye.
Rearing back on its hind-legs, the Grimm roared from the pain inflicted on it. Bringing its claws back and swiping back and forth at the wolf-Faunus who jumped and rolled out of the beast's attack range.
The battle between the two paused when an echoing screech emitted from high above. Chancing a look to the sky, Rios spotted by far the largest Nevermore he had ever seen. The avian Grimm angling itself toward the ground on what he could recognize as an attack run...and going straight for Ruby's retreating form.
Yang called out to her sister as she started sprinting toward her just as the Nevermore hovered in the air, flapping its massive wings and sending out a barrage of hardened feathers. The projectiles spearing into the ground in a straight line, one of them pinning Ruby's cloak and stopping her cold while several others cut off Yang several meters away.
A roar from the Chimera snapped Rios' attention back around to see the Grimm drop back to the ground where it then went after the now defenseless teen.
"Shit." the hunter cursed as he ran after it, putting everything he had into his legs to cut the beast off before it could get to the cloaked girl who was desperately trying to free herself...
He wasn't going to make it in time. The Chimera would have her in pieces before he could get close enough to head it off.
Closing his eyes, Rios focused deep inside himself while he kept running. Finding that small, flickering flame deep within that was always burning and mentally latched onto it. Heat began coursing through his body, spreading through his limbs like an out of control wildfire.
On the outside, his aura was blazing with the same intensity like the feelings within his body. His hazel eyes shifting to a shining gold as his face morphed into a snarl, a deep rumbling growl vibrating deep in his chest.
His speed increased by a large margin as he closed in on the Chimera as it stopped in front of Ruby and stood with its claws raised to cut her down.
X
Ruby's silver eyes widened in terror at the approaching threat before clamping them shut, covering her head in preparation for her coming death. Thinking about her family in what would have been her last moments as the razor sharp claws came down...only for a loud metallic ring to echo loudly.
Chancing a look, the cloaked girl cracked her eyes open to see a familiar wolf-Faunus standing before her, his axe in hand having deflected the Chimera's strike as it came down.
With a wide opening, the hunter swung his axe back around and carved a deep gash in the beast's stomach just below its lion-head. Sending it stumbling back.
Grip tightening on the handle of Leviathan, Rios let loose a war cry that bordered on a feral roar as he unleashed the full force of his semblance. His aura became more intense, dark orange energy flowing around him like flames before he launched forward, burrowing his axe into the gash he had just made deep enough to grant him leverage to bring himself up to grip the armor of its shoulder.
From here, he proceeded to punch the Chimera's lion-head. The force and strength behind the blows hard enough to crack its bone-armor and send out small shockwaves, the hunter's semblance granting him a great deal of strength and endurance along with speed.
The beast tried to fight back, but the strikes kept it stunned with each impact. When the white and red marked armor was damaged enough, Rios ripped his axe from the Chimera's stomach and slammed the blade into the center of the lion-head with enough force to completely and nearly bisect it in two.
Leaping off the Grimm, the wolf-Faunus landed in a crouch with his aura still blazing around him. The Chimera dropped down on all fours, the red eyes of the goat-head narrowing in rage at the one who caused it such damage and killed two of its three heads. It's oil-like blood making a pool beneath it.
Rios remained firmly where he stood waiting for the beast to make the first move. He didn't wait long as the Chimera charged, claws and hooves digging up the ground as it closed in on the young hunter.
Slipping his axe on to his back, his aura flared again as he brought up his hands and planted his feet as the large Grimm crashed into him. His boots digging small trenches in the dirt while his hands gripped the goat's horns. Rios gritted his teeth, muscles bulging as all his strength slowed them both to a stop.
A deep growl raised to another roar as the wolf-Faunus clenched the Grimm's horns before suddenly twisting to the right. Planting the beast's head into the ground, pressing his boot to its neck as he pulled even harder, a series of loud cracks could be heard just before the horns broke away.
Flipping them around so that the sharp points were aimed downward, the hunter brought them both down hard. Spearing them through the Chimera's front legs and pinning them to the ground.
Taking Leviathan off his back, Rios wasted no time in bringing it down on the currently screeching Grimm. The blade cleaving into its neck, black ichor spraying into the air as he yanked the weapon free and brought it down again, going even deeper and sending more of the beast's blood splattering on the wolf-Faunus' face.
Several more swings later the Chimera went still, its head barely attached and only hanging on by a single piece of bone-armor.
Standing over the fallen Grimm as it started to fade away, Rios breathed heavily, axe held tight in his hand with its blood dripping off the blade and down his face. His aura slowly faded as his semblance cancelled out, he closed his eyes as they changed back to their original color and took a slow, deep breath.
When he was calm again, he placed Leviathan on his back again before making his way back toward the others who all stood slack-jawed at what they had just witnessed.
Ruby snapped out of it first as he approached her. "You okay?" he asked, not at all bothered by the black blood drying on him.
The younger teen nodded, not trusting her voice as he reached out and grabbed the feather pinning her cloak and pulled it from the ground, freeing her. "What the hell were you thinking?" the hunter asked pointedly.
"I...um..." Ruby tried to answer, but couldn't come up with anything.
"You put yourself needlessly at risk. That Grimm could have killed you with little effort." Rios continued, his tone filled with disappointment and concern for the girl. "What exactly was going through your head when you ran head-on against something you weren't ready for?"
Bowing her head, Ruby bit her lip as the last few minutes came back to her.
"I...I just wanted to prove that I could do this..." she mumbled.
The wolf-Faunus knelt down to her level, gently raising her head with a finger so he could look her in the eye. "My father taught me many things when I was growing up. One of those things, was that a true warrior, comes from in here." he pointed over her heart, "Tempered by this." he then pointed to her head. "You are very skilled, Ruby. But if you want to become a good huntress you need to use your head and trust your instincts, and not act without thought or doubt. Learn from this."
Ruby blinked in surprise at the advice given before smiling at the older teen.
At that moment Yang jogged over, wrapping her sister in a tight hug in relief that she was okay. Her lilac eyes going to the ichor stained Faunus, "Thank you..." she said with a great deal of emotion in her voice.
Rios nodded to her before making his way toward the temple where his partner and the other initiates were waiting.
"That...was...AWESOME!" the orange-haired girl shouted with a million-watt smile.
"It was certainly impressive." said Pyrrha, "Albeit, a little brutal I must admit."
The hunter shrugged, "It was the fighting style I was raised with. The Grimm don't show mercy, why should we show them any?" he asked as he approached the pedestals set up around the temple, each one with a chess piece sitting on top.
A loud screech drew the attention of the initiates to the sky where the Nevermore was coming back around.
"We should go, we're sitting ducks out here in the open." said Rios as he picked up a gold-colored Rook piece for him and Pyrrha.
"He's right." said Ruby as she and her sister joined them, "We got our objective, we should head back to the cliffs. There's no reason to stick around here and fight anymore if we can avoid it."
Weiss sent a very small smile her way, "I think that's the best idea you've had all day."
The group stuck together and started moving over a nearby hill...unaware that they were being watched from the shadows.
X
Deep within the heart of a dark realm, a pair of black eyes with red irises leered into an orb before them. Images of a young man with wolf ears brutally killing the powerful Grimm causing the gaze to narrow.
"That power..." a feminine voice spoke with a calm coldness that would cause many to shiver. "Could it be possible?"
A pale hand covered in black veins reached up and touched the side of the orb, a pulse of energy channeling through her palm into the orb. "Perhaps a bigger test of skill will determine if this boy is really possesses HIS blood."
A blade-like smile spread across the unknown woman's face as she watched her 'children' answered her call and gathered together within the Emerald Forest.
X
A/N: It would seem brutal combat runs in the family, even after multiple generations. And Rios has garnered attention from someone who may prove to be a threat on par with a God...or, in this case, Goddess.
A lot of people have been asking about whether or not Rios is going to gain the Blades of Chaos. I'm never one to ruin a good story...however, it wouldn't be God of War without the signature blades of death. All I can say is be patient, because those particular family heirlooms will make an appearance sooner than you think.
Keep the reviews and support coming folks, got another update coming soon!