Exactly 1500 words. I wrote this a 3am, this time i am updating this chapter based on a bit of costructive criticism from the first review I've gotten. fixed some grammar mistakes, spaced out the block text, and tried to make the ravine scene easier to follow.
Ruby looked over, noticing the sounds of shifting trees and the sounds of running, followed by a skittering noise that could only be a insectoid grimm, most likely a death stalker.
"Where do you think you're going?" the crabby girl, Weiss asked.
Ruby didn't bother to respond, only steeping off to the side and nearing the forest. "Hey dolt, don't ignore me! I will put this blade into your head!"
Ruby only smirked, asking "What blade? I don't see it." and stopped. No sooner than she did, a crashing came through into the clearing, along with another student and a grimm.
Ruby jumped forward, swinging her scythe around and catching the deathstalker's claws in the joint approaching it's body. now unarmed, the grimm swung its poisonous tail forward to impale the young red-clad girl, only to find it lopped off almost before it began to move. it had only it's jaws left, which it couldn't use effectively without its claws.
Ruby turned and jogged back to the group, wary of the defenseless but malicious presence that was the grimm. "Goooooooooooooo RUBY!" cam the voice of Yang, her half sister, and most devout supporter, and Ruby smiled.
Weiss just felt astounded that Ruby even knew something was there, never mind killing a grimm that even Pyrrha Nikos had run from.
Ruby had a very minimalist outfit, consisting of only her nearly trademarked cloak, a pair of goggles on her forehead, a kimono crop top, knee high combat boots, and some harem pants, all of which feature a black base color with a series of red streaks that could be likened to blood.
Ruby stood, slipping her scythe back into a holster on her hip, and headed over, picking up a black King piece from the board. all of this seemed too easy. Ruby nodded to herself when she tightened her cloak, and moved to the right, pulling Pyrrha aside as well, Yang dragging Weiss and moving along with her.
Not a moment later, a flurry of feathers from the dark colored bird demon, the Nevermore circled around, looking for victims. "Fuck that! Pyrrha, the treeline, quickly! It'll hinder the bird."
everyone seemed to be in agreement, and the group of eight raced to the trees and then across it towards the cliffs. Ruby sucked in a breath. she could hear the echoes of a chasm open near them, and she threw out her arms and completely stopped everyone, and not a second too soon, as even then, Weiss and Blake just barged right on ahead ad fell of the cliff. they were lucky that Blake used a grappling hook function in her weapon.
As they fell, Blake had thrown out her chain scythe, and caught the heiress, swinging them both onto an old looking temple. Pyrrha nodded.
"Ruby, there's a temple here, an we're right by the cliff, but I don't know how we can get to it. Do you have any ideas?" Ruby shook her head,
"We could throw ourselves down the chasm but that's all I got, and that's not a good idea. Actually, we could... no that's too risky, but if we... no one would go for that, if we were to get hurt,we'd likely get kicked out, but if it does work... That's It!"
Yang sweat-dropped. "I sense capitals, Ruby."
"Yup, if we launch ourselves up on top of the nevermore, we could get a vantage, have a cushion for our fall, and get rid of the threat. usually they're most weak at the joints in their wings. If we catch it there, we can safely fall to the bottom of this cliff, and climb up from there!" Yang shook her head. "Ruby, there's rapids at the bottom of this hole, I can see them."
"Damn. we could still ride the grimm though." Nora smiled, and jumped up, grabbing the smallest person still there, aka Ruby, and shot her grenade launcher, launching them both to the ruins. Yang followed suit with Ren. Jaune and Pyrrha were mostly just wondering how they could get across. it wasn't a fairly large jump, but it was farther than either of them could make on their own, and the consequences of having one help the other across would be deadly.
Pyrrha copied Jaune's landing strategy from the beginning of Initiation, and threw her spear at him, catching his hoodie yet again, and sending him flying into the wall.
"Ruby, can you stretch your scythe out? I can catch it if I try to jump!" she shouted from her side, hoping Ruby got the message. Yang heard, though, and got Ruby back to the edge.
She extended her scythe, and stabbed the blade into the ground, leaving the handle sticking out several feet from the edge. in the meantime, Pyrrha set up her launch and made her jump, catching a hold of the spike at the end, which wasn't her best idea, but it worked. Yang pulled her up, and she got to her feet just in time for the flying grimm to go crashing through the bridge they were standing on.
They all quickly made their way inside before the thing could hit the right part of it.
Once inside, everyone gaped at the impressive collection of writings and pictures. Ruby ran her hand along the wall, reading the pictographs and nodding.
"Pyrrha, could you take pictures? this one, at least, hasn't been translated yet. It's an important part of my history." Naturally, everyone was confused by this, since everyone knew what these kinds of ruins were used for - mostly human sacrifice or worship of particularly powerful grimm like Izhar or Rhazien.
they were extremely old and intelligent grimm, who had survived long enough in this world to become legends, fall into myth, and be forgotten and rediscovered as a new legend. they were more intelligent than any hunter was, and it could take several teams of huntsmen to kill even one of these monsters. we're getting sidetracked though.
Pyrrha, being the always too kind soul that she was, did so, and followed the building. "Hey, there's a staircase here that seems to lead up into the cliff face!" she said as she cam back into the supposed atrium. "Well that's convenient. at minimum, I won't have to waste dust and aura to climb the cliff." came Weiss' snobby response as everyone made their way around to it.
"I'm just glad we didn't have to fight that Bird grimm. I don't think we would've won." Jaune said, relieved.
Ruby nodded with Jaune's assessment. "that's probably true. I was only able to kill the deathstalker because it relied on the stance on the ground it had, and couldn't attack without making a shift in position. it was probably about the same age as that bird. everyone nodded at that. it did seem kind of hard for a blind girl to hit a flying target. they made their way through the hidden passage.
they made their way up to the plateau, and met with Ozpin, at about the same time as Cardin, Sky, Dove, and Russel. Again, he seemed kind of off, not really paying attention to his words and only barely noting the pieces they gave him.
"Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Jaune Arc. You four gathered the black King pieces, and now make up team RAPL(ripple), led by Ruby Rose." Cue the world-shattering crack. Ruby just looked dumbfounded as Pyrrha and Ren congratulated her while June sighed in relief. 'I'm so glad it's not me'
In their dorm, Ruby pushed the beds into sets of two, stating that she wasn't comfortable without another body next to her. Ruby smiled at her new team, and how easily they accepted her quirks. speaking of teams, she really lucked out with her partner, getting one of the three people who she thought she might be able to survive working with.
Jaune had been found against the tree by Ren, who knew that at least one other person was coming to find this guy. having found him, they were partners, and Pyrrha had made it there just before Ruby did, as Weiss had apparently accidentally made her way west instead of North, and encountered Nora. that would be a nightmare for her. Yang had somehow found Dove Bronzewing, and he was made leader of that merry bunch. especially since he was the only mature one out of all of them. guess where that left Blake? with Cardin and his sheep. Russel and sky. well, the initiation situation sorted itself out. now, let's hope the class workload can do the same. "goodnight, team Ripple." Ruby had said, slipping into her shared bed with Pyrrha, and the two went to sleep.