All four Initiation episodes will be condensed here as a sort of apology for the past three chapters being copy-pasted. Chapters probably won't be this on until later in the series or unless a big event in the series transpires.
BLWU
CH.5 Initiation / Team Blue
{-Glynda-}
Glynda came to her superior's side, following Ms. Xiao Long's journey through the air by cameras scattered across the forest. She asked worryingly, "Sir… are you sure it was such a good idea to send Ms. Xiao Long into the forest? Her sister's disappearance is clearly weighing her down. Though she hides it, she's different from the girl you know from Signal."
"Yes… She isn't. If she cannot keep her emotions in check and rise above them, then she's not ready to enter Beacon. You know as well as I that you're fated to lose comrade's in this line of work."
The witch frowned, "Yes, but the other students could be caught as collateral… There are times even I question your judgment. This is a bit much, isn't it? They're just children."
He shook his head moderately, "It is regrettable… but they will face far greater adversity in the future. Initiation was made to... separate... the unprepared" Ozpin frowned. "I'd rather be held accountable for the deaths of several hunters, then be responsible for the massacre of a village, or town, or even a city because I allowed them to believe they were prepared." The headmaster pulled his scroll and watched through his expressionless porcelain mask. "This will be a learning experience for us all." Ozpin stated gravely.
{-Yang-}
Yang saw Umber flying away from her and collide with a sickly dark crow on the way down. With a sigh of relief, she refocused and pushed aura into her arms and launched herself forward using shotgun blasts, narrowly avoiding trees by utilizing Ember Celica's recoil. Yang grinned as she gained several hundred yards on her competition. Closing in on the ground, she kicked off several trees leading into a roll to break the fall. "Nailed it." She stated proudly, That should be more than enough distance. The dragon broke into a sprint destined northwest, away from Faere's landing as she saw him on her right during the launch.
Ok so, who do I know… There's Vomit Boy… but probably not the best in a head to head fight. There's the Ice Queen, but no that risks blowing the bet... What about Phyrra? she seemed nic- Rustle Rustle Grinding to a halt, Yang looked over to the bushes and drew her Ember Celica in paranoia. "Hello?" … No response. "It's rude to peep on a girl you know. Come on o-" The brawler rolled out of the way as a massive black and white claw swiped at her from the bushes.
"Woah!" Blasting herself backward, she readied Ember Celica. ROAAR! Another ursa sprung from the bushes, catching Yang by surprise. Narrowly avoiding another fatal blow, she backflipped and sized up the bear-like grimm. Ursa, slow, and not much plating. They're just cubs. Yang growled and launched herself aggressively at the first bear blasting its chest and kicked it backward. Spinning, she grabbed an attack from the other ursa and flipped it over her head, tossing it through several trees snapping like twigs.
Rocketing forwards, the dragon landed on the bear's throat and got to work. "I need to! Blow! Off! Some! steam! " Inbetween words, her shells sent viscous black blood everywhere obliterating the grimm. The second ursa charged the blood-stained dragoness, their shared blood-red eyes meeting. "Bring it on! I've got plenty more where that came from!" Yang roared at the top of her lungs. Shing! It stopped… and fell to the ground dead. Awoooo! Not bothering even to check who saved her, Yang found an enormous pack of beowulf staring her down, an alpha standing behind them. Yang grinned wildly as her heart raced in an exhilarating frenzy.
{-Blake-}
Blake had already dispatched two ursa and several wolves. They were drawn to this area for some reason, and she now saw why. She watched from the trees in shock as the kind brawler from the night before emanated tremendous bloodlust. Her clothes were muddied by viscous black blood evaporating off her body like a veil corrupt black mist. Covered by the ursa's shadowed black blood, the brawler stood victorious over her fallen foe. The ninja's ears twitched and turned like sonars beneath her bow, Beowulf… lots of them. I need to end this quick so we can move to the temple. Hopping down, Blake silently crossed the field. In an instant, she launched gambol shroud and drove gambol's sickled katana blade through a vital spot in newborn ursa. Its muscles relaxed as it collapsed to the ground. Awoooo!
Looking around, both her and Yang were surrounded by over 30 beowulf, led by an alpha at the back. "Do you think you can take them?" Blake called back, checking for status.
"Not a problem…" The blonde snarled ferally and let her empty shells fall. Tossing new ammunition airborne, they magnetically clipped into her golden gauntlets. With a roar, the berserker was off, "Wait!-" But she was already gone. What's up with her? Is she really the girl from last night? She's all wrong. She readied herself against the packs onslaught.
Leaving a clone, she ducked under a wolf and drove Gambol Shroud through its chest. Years of White Fang training and knowledge of grimm's vulnerabilities paying off in full. Using its corpse, she launched the body at her enemies and ran opposite, creating a wolf and chain type weapon from her ribbon. Impaling enemy after enemy on the beowulf's spiked body, she retracted Gambol to evade an attack from behind and shot a grimm through the skull's eye socket. Slash Blake melted, and a katana went through the fauna's attacker's chest. Evading attack after attack gracefully, she interwove attacks seamlessly with masterful dodges, slowly cutting down their numbers. She felt exhausted. Blake's aura was crippling in on itself from semblance exhaustion.
"Yang, I need help over here!" She called, but the blonde was off in her own world butchering the wolven horde like lambs, blood staining her sunny yellow clothing. Turning, the cat leapt over an incoming attack and rolled forward, Roaa-! The wolf whimpered in agony when Gambol went through the roof of its mouth and ate lead. The wolf corpse slumped disgustingly, falling silent. Blake took advantage of the grimm's black smoke screen and escaped from the fight, obscured by the foul blood black mist of wolves. With a momentary reprieve, she panted heavily and evaluated the scenario. Peeking from her grimm veil, she saw the alpha covered from head to toe in bony plates. She recalled a white fang mission where adam had her isolate an Atlezian captain. "Yang! Focus on the pack. I'll distract the alpha until your clear!"
"Thanks!" Finally, the blonde gave an affirmation as she shattered another skull over her fist. With the alpha away from the group, Yang could fight uninhibited.
Breaking from the corpse-made mist, Blake deflected the alpha's attack on Yang and kicked it backward. Glaring at the wolf, they began circling as shotgun shells echoed around them. Making the first move, blake kicked a rock at the wolf, darting after it.
Surprised, the wolf knocked the bladed rock away and caught Gambol. Snapping at the faunus, her clone fell dead as she removed gambol's bladed sheath. Dropping her primary weapon she arced the sheathe round slipping through a chink in the grimm's plates sheering into the alpha's tendons. Howling in pain, it dropped Gambol Shroud and backed away cautiously, snarling. Good…be cautious, I just a bit longer. She was panted heavily, muscles burning.
The wolf charged again and cut Blake's lie in two, and with a dishonest twirl to the side, she grabbed her firearm and unloaded the magazine. Her opposition raised an arm in defense, deflecting all but two shots as they pierced its furred arm. About to run again, the alpha reeled back in pain as Gambol's bullet shells mechashifted into spiked balls within its arm. AWOO! Blake stood back, waiting, but no howls echoed back. Now on edge, the alpha got on all fours and bounded away. Blake grinned slily.
"OH NO! YOU! DONT!" BOOM! Yang fell on its spine like a blazing meteor, the wolf's bone plates shattered like porcelain from sheer force. Her body seemingly burned with golden black flames, mixing wolf blood and her radiant fire. Dried red blood also painted the dragon's figure. Yang furiously wrestled the howling creature as the dust settled through the snarling and growling... they both fought like beasts. Blake felt her knees give out as the two monsters in front of her murdered each other with reckless abandon. The cat winced as the alpha's arms buckled and snapped loudly. Whimpering, the wolf's darkened life left its eyes.
Yang huffed breathlessly, standing atop the corpse disintegrating in atrophy. Blake was horrified, curious, and worried. "...Yang? Are you-"
She couldn't finish as the brawler grinned widely and extended her arm, eyes still blood red. "Good job… so guess this makes us partners now." The unrelenting hatred the blonde irradiated betrayed Yang's tender. Blake knew what masks looked like, and her partner's wasn't going to fool anybody. But the worst part was that mask was her true nature. Yang... Has your sister truly broken you that much?
Blake took the hand and got to her feet. With a silent, sorrowful nod, and began walking off. Both of their auras were weak, but they could manage if she could avoid any more grimm encounters until they found the temple. In the distance, a massive forest fire had started dividing the sky in two.
"Looks like someone had a bit too much fun… Think Ozpin will deduct points?" Yang responded jovially. Blake's head swayed in confusion, how her partner was so confusing…
"Look… Yang. We need to avoid further fights. I followed those Ursa to you. They tracked you from across the forest. I won't say I know what you're going through, but you're attracting a lot of dangerous grimm to the area... We can't keep fighting like this." Blake explained.
"Psh… I'd like to see em tr-" ROAAAAR! Blake cringed at the cry of a beringel, covering her ears protectively. It was almost certainly heading straight for them. "Fine. Let's just get going." The blonde turned and made her way off to the forest. The sky above filled with smoke and nevermore.
The pair spent the next half hour stalking the forests, avoiding the monsters hunting them relentlessly. How is this an initiation for first years. This is looking more and more like a suicide mission… We need to regroup or we're all as good as dead.
{-Weiss-}
Falling towards the trees, Weiss pushed aura to her heels, allowing her glyphs to break her fall like cushioned landing pads before catapulting to the next. Flipping orderly from one to another, the heiress reached the ground and surveyed the area. Now… which direction is west? She wandered through the forest almost aimlessly… … … She stomped her foot irritably, I'm from Atlas! There are no landmarks to use that I know of!
Weiss persisted and decided the best way to make progress was to go forward., and marched through the forest boldly. Thump! Drawing Myrtenaster, she readied a glyph and glyph-slid towards the sound's origin. "Hey." She halted, blade merely centimeters from Umber's throat. Her eye twitched as he snorted, devolving into senseless laughter.
"... No." Weiss turned stubbornly and walked in the other direction as he continued laughing. Pushing through some bushes, Weiss arrived at yet another clearing only several dozen feet in distance to Umber. Dangling helplessly in a tree above her, was Jaune. He waved foolishly. Something inside her broke. I'm… so sorry Yang. But I'll take confidence over stupidity… It's only 35,000.
She turned, "Hey, wait! Come back!" The knight pleaded, "Who's going to get me down from here!?" The knight struggled in futility before hanging his head shamefully, moaning in disappointment.
Grabbing her partner by his jacket's hood, she dragged him along. "By no means does this make us friends." She dragged him along.
"This is rich! Ahahahaha!"
Now a safe distance away, she tossed him to the floor, glowering. "Shut up and walk…"
"Pff, what's the rush princess?" He removed her arm and walked at her side.
Weiss spoke doggedly, "Heiress! And I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow. I swear if I get a bad grade because of your-"
"Funny, I believe were walking the same speed." Umber noted with a smirk, clasping his hands behind his back. Growl "You know you could be a bit less obvious when you're angry."
Grimm. "That… wasn't me." Weiss warned.
"... You hungry?" He tried again. Idiot! Roar!
Sigh "No you dunce!" She readied her blade and pointed it towards a pair of glowing red eyes. "Please tell me you at least know how to fight." She looked around at the pack of beowulf surrounding her.
He shrugged mechanically, "Please tell me you at least know how to take a joke." … I can't believe I paired myself with this lunatic. But I can't afford to be held back by anybody. It's a small price to pay.
Just remember your training Weiss. Head up, Her actions mirrored her thoughts, shoulder's back, right foot forward… not that much. Slow your breathing… wait for the right time to strike. Weiss brought the rapier up spinning to fire, now! Right as she charged, Umber's shield flew past her, killing the Grimm. Bwah!? Surprised, Weiss misfired Myrtenaster in a line of burning flames.
Click. The shield returned with a click as he punched a beowulf with his right arm, and blocked its claw with his shielded left. "Oops." He said comedically.
"What was-..."
Ducking, he grasped the beowulf's neck, choking it. In a flash a curved black blade cleaved outwards from Umber's elbow, severing the grimm's head clean off its shoulders. "It was grimm. I killed it." His eyes narrowed at her as the wolves head rolled to the ground. "Is there a problem?" He asked, dropping the headless corpse in his hand.
Weiss' temper flared. "I swear if the grimm don't end you, I will." The battlefield isn't a place for the quarreling. For now… we're allies. Weiss looked around to see the forest burning. The wolves were in a panic, and the sky clouding with horrid smoke. "We have to leave Umber! … Umber?" She turned back to see her friend slaughtering his way through hordes of grimm, a manic grin cut across his face.
Umber punched a wolf in the mouth and tore it's jaw off, and hammered it with it's maw across the forest. Turning he veered under a swipe and snapped another's neck and crushed it's skull mercilessly underfoot, splattering it's vile blood everywhere. 'Umber!" Weiss screamed.
Her partner glowered hotly… retracting his arm's blade and threw his shield at her. "Duck!" Crouching, the bladed buckler flew overhead and decapitated a small nevermore. Clicking back to his arm, he groaned. "Fine… We'll leave since you can't seem to take care of yourself." The two ran off as a lenore of nevermore haunted the skies above them.
{-Umber-}
Now far enough away, his partner held her knees, gasping for air. "What was that?" He asked. "You're Weiss Schnee, can't you fight beowulf at the very least?"
"Ugh- Well perhaps if you exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" She wailed.
Faere rolled his eyes, "Says the girl who almost got her head ripped off by the Grimm equivalent of a pelican."
"Grrrrr!"
Umber facepalmed, "Oh, what an adorable little puppy, bad dog!" He pointed to the Schnee mockingly, "Look, your flames broke their pack apart. They panicked! We could've torn them apart if you exercised the slightest amount of caution in general."
"How does someone that talks so much! Communicate so little during combat!" Weiss scowled.
"I said duck..." He shrugged.
"AAAAGH!" Weiss stabbed a nearby tree, flash freezing it solid, causing it to shatter in a delicate hail. Umber looked up as his partner marched away. An evil grin gradually grew on his face. "This should be fun." Following after the dualist, a gigantic black feather landed gracefully on the ground.
{-Glynda-}
Glynda strolled up to the headmaster, informing him of the situation. "Our last pair has been formed sir. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren… Poor boy... I can't possibly see that pair working out. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos."
"Hm." Ozpin mused.
"I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat… But I am impressed he's still alive… We've had 2 casualties sir. Both from different partnered groups." They should be arriving relatively soon. Just a few minutes… I hope they pull through this without any-
"It's necessary, Glynda." He spoke, deep in thought as always.
"Of course…" She felt sick, "It's just difficult… What did you use for relics this year… if you don't mind my asking… Professor Ozpin?" He was looking at a pair of students no doubt. I'm killing these children…
"Hmmm." He deliberated as he watched on, troubled by his students pairings.
{-Umber-}
Umber was relaxing, back laying against a tree watching his partner pace back and forth, too prideful to admit the truth. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a small, prismatic, rainbow white dust crystal. Thought it was just the size of his palm, his eyes widened slightly. With a wolfish smirk, he pocketed the dust and looked back to his partner. "It's definitely this way…" Halting, she looked around, "I mean… This way, it's definitely this-"
"Would you just shut up and admit you're lost and have no idea how to fix the situation." Faere groaned annoyingly.
"I'm not lost." She refuted pointlessly.
Giving up on her, Umber tossed his arms in the air and fell on his back, groaning. "Your stubbornness is truly unequaled. Fine then Ms. Compass, prove it. Where are we going." He entertained.
Her brow twitched at the new alias. "Were going… to… the forest temple!" She stated obviously.
"What was I expecting…" Umber's hand smacked his forehead. "That's the type of answer I'd write on a test, but that's not what I want to hear right now."
"How did you even get into beacon!?" Weiss demanded. He growled at the increase in noise but kept his cool.
"Not the point."
"Well... You don't know where we're going either!" The snowy dualist countered
"No I do, the forest temple…" Weiss grit her teeth bitterly, "How's it feel snowflake. Good? I hope so."
"You're insufferable…" The heiress seethed through frigid lowered eyes.
"I'm not pretending to know everything princess, because I don't. And I may not know where we're going, but I've got the next best thing."
"Oh, and what that would be?"
"Typically when you want to find something, you use a map." Faere shrugged.
"You had a map!?" Weiss exclaimed vehemently.
"No."
"Then why-!?" She sighed, inhaling and exhaling. "Ugh just... keep moving…"
Umber assumed a feminine posture and balled his fists at his eyes, "Waaaah! I'm Weiss, I hate being called out for what I am, I keep slaves, my family sucks. Keep moving, watch where you're going… Why've you gotta be so damn bossy."
"I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that!"
Sigh "That's what you took offense to… seriously?"
That was the last straw for her, "Oh! my! gods! Why do you have to be such an a-!" The heiress SCREEECH! ... that.
"This is why." He smirked, "Congratulations Weiss, thanks to your top-notch piss poor attitude we've got ourselves a first-class seat on nevermore airlines. Fasten that seatbelt and take some notes while you're at it. Negativity is as much a tool as it is a weapon. I may not have a map, but a birds-eye view of the forest is a close second. Wouldn't you agree?" Umber gibed, extending his hands as a nevermore towered behind him, ready to gobble him whole.
The heiress gawked, "I cannot believe you! You stupid barbaric son of a-!"
{-Yang-}
Stepping out from a cluster of trees to a clearing, Yang and her partner stood at a ridge overlooking a small, mossy, ruin. "Think this is it?" She asked. Blake's eyes lowered into a sideways glance as if to ask 'seriously?' and made her way down.
Could've just said yes. She thought for a moment before following after, accompanying her quiet friend. Yang blinked as she approached the ruins, are those- "Chess pieces?" Blake unknowingly finished for her. Rooks, Knights, Pawns, Bishops… No royals.
"Some of them are missing…" The dark royals are gone too. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."
Sigh "They've already left… It'll be a miracle if they get out alive." The gothic ninja looked back to the forest, wondering where the others had gone. "Well… we should
probably pick one and wait for the others… Going back the way we came without help would be a disaster."
Yang looked over the pieces… her eyes settled on the knight.
"Checkmate." Her baby sis grinned at her maneuver
"What? How?" The pigtailed dragon asked.
"Uncle Qrow taught me to use the pony!" Ruby exclaimed happily, beliving to had won "See, you moved your bishop to take my bishop, but that left your king unguarded. I win!"
"Hm… yeah you sure beat me... or so you thought!" Yang took her pawn and performed an Enpassant, taking the knight from the board. "Your plot has been foiled." Her sister's eyes widened disbelievingly. She dangled the knight over the board, taunting her reaper sis.
"Ba-whaa? You cheated! Give that back!" Yang raised her hand, using her height to hold the 'pony' out of her sister's reach. "Mr. pony noooo! You will be avenged!" Ruby cried innocently. "This means war!"
"Bring it on sis!" Yang challenged.
"Hmmm" Yang smiled warmly at the memory and took the white knight piece. "How about a cute little pony?" She lifted the knight to her friend.
Blake rolled her eyes and at the girl's childish word choice. "Sure." She noticed a lilac color overtaking the blonde's eyes.
The girls came back together. "That wasn't too hard... "
Blake's eyes narrowed, "We were almost eaten by a pack of 20 Beowolves, hunted by an ancient beringl, tracked by half a dozen ursa, chased by a horde of borbatusk, and had to hide from flocks of evermore in the middle of a burning forest." She replied, clearly unconvinced.
"... Were still alive?" The brawler suggested nervously. A horrified feminine shriek cut through their conversation. Exhausted, Yang and Blake readied their weapons, preparing for the worst. "What should we do, you did want backup ri-"
"Look out belooooow!" Umber cried out, plummeting towards the ground, "ugh!" before colliding with a blur of white, gold, and black, taking a hard right turn and flying off in another direction.
"Was that… the guy from the Auditorium?"
"... Umb-" Crash, snap! Oh for- how can so much happen at once!
"WEERE! HEEERE!" An Ursa Major barreled through the trees in an explosion of pink electricity and smoke. A short, orange-haired valkyrie rolled off the defeated bear.
"Awww… It's broken..." She poked at its head. "Eeeeeew~"
A jade Mistralian stepped out from behind the girl. "Nora? ...Please… Don't ever do that again…" He wheezed, exhausted from something. Wait, where? The girl pulled a vanishing act. "NOOORA!" He shouted.
Pausing, the girl… in front of them!? When did she get there? How did I not notice- Giggling unapologetically, the rook balancing atop her head fell directly to her palm. "Coming Ren!" She giggled, skipping over.
"Did she ride in on an ursa" Blake questioned
"I-" Yang started.
"Heeelp please!" Trees shattered as Phyrra Nikos came running, a goliath of a deathstalker at her back and several massive nevermore at her back dodging both falling quills and the razor-sharp pincers of the stalker.
Blake was oblivious to her partner's suffering, "And she ran all the way here… with a-"
"I don't-" Yang's bottled up emotions went up in flames.
She spotted Jaune hanging upsidedown from a tree.
[Phyrra] "Jaune!?" She screamed.
[Jaune] "Phyrra!" He shouted.
[Umber] "Yang?" He groaned.
[Yang] "Faere…" She growled.
[Jaune] "Fairy?" He questioned.
[Blake] "Umber." She corrected.
[Nora] "Nora!" She exclaimed loudly, propping up from seemingly thin air. Umber's shield nailed Nora across the head and returned to the tree. "Hm?" Nora turned to look at the tree, utterly unphased. Ok... she's definitely weird.
Yang trembled, "Grrrrr!" Boom! "I can't take it anymore! Can we just chill for like 2 seconds before anything crazy happens again!? I literally cannot handle any more of this right now!" Yang's aura glowed as fire snaked around her, incinerating the grass beneath her. Tick tick tick... Ding
"...I knew I heard patience ticking down when we met. Glad I didn't imagine it." Umber smirked. Yang covered her mouth, remembering Umber was present. "Don't bother, were fighting. I don't care. Just watch your mouth."
{-Blake-}
"How could you leave me!?" Weiss screamed at the top of her lungs, hanging onto a massive nevermore's talons. She used her rapier wand to kill any stray nevermore.
"I said jump…" Umber sighed in disappointment.
"She's gonna fall..." Blake warned them.
The copper shielder shrugged, "Snowflakes float, she'll be fine." Snowflake?
"She's falling..." Ren pointed out.
"I fail to see the problem. She was launched off a cliff over 100 feet tall at the speed of a missile. I think she'll be fine." Faere reminded them about why they were all here.
"Phew…" The blonde knight looked around and saw his princess falling from the sky like a falling angel. Grinning, he leapt into the air and caught her. "Just… Dropping in." Really... Yang grinned at the wordplay. Suddenly his expression fell. "Oh god…" Just like him. "Nooooo!"
Slamming on the ground, Weiss came down like a comet onto his back, inspecting her nails. "My hero…" She moaned sarcastically.
"... My back." He croaked out.
Umber snickered as the mistral champion fell at his feet. "I suppose I should go stop that… Weiss, I choose you. Use Freeze Shock."
"What?" Jaune's head perked up.
Weiss snarled to her partner, but surprisingly listened and created a trail fo glyphs. Slipping forward, she darted between nevermore quills and stood before the massive scorpion grimm. With a quick pirouette, the Schnee avoided its massive stinger and stabbed the ground, encasing the Deathstalker's tail to the ground with ice. It tried to break free but to no avail. "I thought you said you were going to do something about it!"
"You are my partner, everything you do reflects on me. That's how you see things, right?"
"Stop using my own words against me!"
"But it's so much fun." He teased. Blake smirked, enjoying the Heiress' zany strife. "Now, come on back."
Weiss ran back over, glaring daggers. "And stop telling me what to do!" She ordered.
"Good girl, sit."
"NO!" She stabbed Myrtenaster at his feet, freezing him on the spot. Blake giggled at their antics, the irony of his words not lost on faunus ears. "There's no kings or queens…" She complained swiping a white knight of an ancient, razed pedestal. "I can't believe so many people beat us here."
"Perhaps if someone wasn't running around in circles and starting forest fires we could've been first. A for effort, F for execution." Faere rolled his eyes boorishly. The Schnee started that? So much for perfection-
SCREECH! Jaune pointed skyward, "Guys- um. That thing's circling back… What are we gonna do?" While the rest looked up, Blake was staring at a pair of infernal red circles leering predatorily through the trees. Beringel... It's old. Her topaz gaze pierced it's own.
Weiss pointed towards Beacon Cliff. "Look, there's no sense in dillydallying. Our objective is right behind us."
"She's right," Blake affirmed, getting an appreciative nod from the heiress. "Suffice to say, we've got enough capable fighters gathered here to cut through the woods in a straight line and make it back to the cliffs in under half an hour. But only if we work together…" Weiss and Yang sighed heavily alongside Umber's shrug. "We don't need to fight the grimm, at least not all of them."
"Run and live… that's an idea I can get behind." The knight answered honestly, taking a white rook from the ruins. Behind them, the Deathstalker's prison began to fracture under the strain.
"Time we left." Ren said. The others nodded in agreement as Weiss freed her partner, albeit reluctantly.
{-Jaune-}
As the students made a B-line through the forest, Phyrra, Yang, and Nora blew up any grimm that got too close with some occasional support from the back. At the front, Blake scouted from the treetops with Umber leading the group. The core consisted of Ren's tranquility, Yang, and Phyrra, while the Rearguard consisted of Nora and Weiss for ranged support guarded by himself.
Coming to a clearing in front of an ancient temple. The nevermore flew overhead, forcing the 8 hunters in training to take cover from an oncoming barrage of quills. SCREEECH! The titanic aerial grimm blocked their path.
"Well that's just great." Yang exclaimed, reloading Ember Celica. Crash! The deathstalker crashed through the forest, still following their trail.
How am I meant to fight that!? Jaune thought horrified."Oh man run!" Both he and Pyrrha broke cover. As they ran by, a massive 19-foot gorilla grimm scarred by flames crashed into Jaune, sending him flying. "Hrk!"
"Jaune!" Phyrra called out. Umber kicked off the ground and caught him.
"I'm okay!" He called back, But their broken cover wrought a screech and another nevermore hail. The two shielders stared down the beringel.
Away from them, their friends were fighting off the Nevermore. "Nora Distract it!" Ren called out. The ginger girl complied, running out into the open, jumping gleefully over the nevermore's feathers. Swiveling, her turning her hammer into a… grenade launcher!? With several pink explosives, Nora forced the Nevermore to fly off. Can it's feathers not take blasts? Coming up from behind, the Deathstalker swiped at Nora, but she had already been taken to safety by Weiss. Ren and Blake slashed at the arachnid's face in hopes of taking out its eyes, but to no avail.
"Hey um… Umber? Were being separated." Jaune stated worryingly.
"I'm aware…" Faere grunted, "What am I supposed to do about that? If the beringel gets to the bridge the rest are screwed. Three grimm this old cause even professional huntsmen problems." What does being old have to do with anything?
Jaune looked back to see his friends retreat. "Ok… well can you get me to the bridge?..." The two looked to each other.
"... Yeah." Umber tossed Jaune skyward and threw his shield at the knight. "Catch!"
"What!?" This wasn't what I had in miiiiiiind! Jaune screamed gabbed the shield's handle and flew off to the bridge. Letting go, the shield had him collide with Yang and circled back to its owner. Why can't my shield do that... "ohhh so dizzy... why are there three of Yang?"
As the group was escaping across the bridge, The nevermore rose from the fog and smashed the bridge in two. Their group was divided in half. "Jaune? Where's Umber?" Weiss questioned.
"He's... hrk!... fighting the… beringel? Maybe?" He struggled to keep his motion sickness under control.
"ALONE!? What is he thinking!?" Weiss yelled.
Jaune shook of his sickness and looked across the gap. Blake, Ren, and Nora were cut off on the opposite end of the bridge. "Man, we've gotta get over there." Nora ran to his side.
"Let's do this." the hammer girl said excitedly. Yeah… Jaune agreed mentally... wait.
"Yeah… um- I can't make that jump." He looked across the great divide created by the monstrous flyer. She giggled amusingly and smacked him backward. "Woaah!" He shouted, surprised. Was she about to… "Wait! No no noOOO~!" But her hammer already collided with the floor catapulting him across the gaping space with nigh-perfect accuracy. With a hammering salute, Nora rocketed herself over with remarkable ease. He looked to his sword with a frown.
{-Blake-}
"Nora~! Smash!" What? Metal collided against bone in an earsplitting crack. The heavy blasted herself backward, accidentally pummeling Blake off the side of the cliff.
As blasts resonated distantly in the sky above, Blake tossed Gambol in sickle form hooking onto the ruins and swung across the foggy ruins right into the nevermore. Ting! Slash! Slash! Slash-slash! Running along the back, Blakes aura enhanced strikes barely phased it, shaving off only several tailfeathers. Blades aren't going to work… but it's tail is soft.
"It's tougher than it looks! We need more a weak spot!" The faunus announced to her two allies.
"Then we hit it until it dies!" Yang said.
"What type of strategy is that?" Blake questioned.
"You have one better?" Blake rolled her eyes and changed to her firearm. What I wouldn't give for AP rounds right now... The rest followed, readying their long-range attacks and unloaded at the Nevermore. The grimm screeched in anger flying directly at them, shattering the temple ruins.
Flaring their aura, the girls scaled the falling debris. Dodging not only boulders but another round of razor feathers aiming to skewer them or break their footing. Blake resorted to running directly up a wall using gambol occasionally, Weiss danced across her glyphs, and Yang outright rocketed into the sky and landed with a backflip.
The heiress pouted, "None of this is working. We need a strategy." I did say it was stronger than it looks…
{-Jaune-}
Crumble… The stalker tried breaking apart their footing. "We gotta move!" Jaune called out. Phyrra led the charge, a brutal claw grated off her bronze shield and parried with her spear, causing the deathstalker to hiss in agony. Angrily, it raised the other claw, Phyrra! Jaune barely blocked the other strike allowing the crimson spartan to flip over him and strike back.
Ren followed with a storm of flowery pink bullets. Striking downwards, the stalker tried impaling the mysterious ninja. Hooking his blades onto the stinger's base, Ren was brought along for the ride, firing down at the stalker from it's raised tail. Nora growled like an ursa, launching pink grenades. The grimm blocked, creating a smokescreen of pink.
Phyrra took tossed her xiphos javelin through the stalker's eye, causing true blindness and a wailing screech. In a panic, it moved erratically. Its tail slammed Ren on the ground and swinging him off to a ruin pillar, cracking it, him, and his aura along with it. "Ren!" Nora cried out in worry as stone blanketed her friend.
The stinger drooped disgustingly, "Phyrr-" Before she got the chance, Umber's bronze shield came from nowhere, slicing it off. Running from the corner Umber caught his shield with the beringel hot on his tail.
"Nora nail it!" Nora grinned maniacally and with a smirk leapt atop Phyrra's shield.
"Head's up!" She launched herself skyward at the same time as Umber. The girl bubbled int he air innocently as Umber and the valkyrie kicked off each other. Empowered further by blasts from Magnihild, Nora whirled downwards and drove the last nail in the Deathstalker's coffin. The force rebounded The spartan/knight combo right into the beringel, Phyrra catching her spear midair. Oh come on!
Phyrra shot at the Beringel cautiously and steeled herself. The gorilla backed away, examining the warriors. Only the two girls seemed capable of fighting any longer… but that was seemingly too dangerous for it. It backed away and returned to the forest. It... ran?
{-Umber-}
After trampolining off Nora, Umber landed on the other side, just in time for Yang to land with a backflip. "Took long enough pixie! We have to get rid of this nevermore or we'll never make it back!" Yang shouted, launching herself upwards shooting at the masked bird from a nearby tower.
Having drawn its attention, the nevermore charged the ruins again and tried to eat the blonde brawler whole. "I! Hope! You're! Hung! Ry!" His eyes widened and turned to blake with a smug look. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" Blake asked cautiously with a raised eyebrow.
"You said it first, your idea, not mine." She rolled her eyes and ran towards the opposite pillar. "Just get ready." She said unenthusiastically and a shake of her head. Yang leaped from the nevermore's maw with another backflipped landing and traped spots with Weiss who skid across and froze the bird's tail. Yang seemed to put the pieces together immediately and went for the other tower and caught Gambol, tying it to her pillar. Weiss backflipped and zoomed back.
Umber pointed his shield down and released a pulse of gravitational energy, launching him into gambol like a slingshot, caught by Weiss' black glyph. "Do all girls like to flaunt their acrobatic abilities? Seriously what's with all the backflips." Umber said condescendingly.
"Just… shut up and do your thing… How did you even come up with this." She questioned.
"To be fair, Blake made the plan. I had the idea."
"Keep me out of your absurd ideas then." She launched Umber right into the screeching beak on the nevermore. The next moment, the bird's head slipped in half. Then it's right-wing, it's body sliced in two. The corpse was cut to ribbons, and in its place was Umber, hooked to a wall, arm-blade and body soaked in black, misty blood like a wraith.
{-Blake-}
"From this day forward, you will work together as… Team Juniper [JNPR]" Nora bubbled in excitement and hugged Ren. Led by... Jaune Arc." That makes sense... Jaune knows when to run... He's balanced and quickly made a strategy for the deathstalker. Jaune was stupified. Standing there in shock and awe, Ozpin congratulated him. With a pat on the back from Phyrra the goofy knight fell to the floor, deriving amused laughter from the rest of the initiates. Off to the side, Glynda's eyes circled exasperated. He's not too passive, nor is he too eager...
Blake exhaled... she knew who her teammates were, they're now the last 4 without an assigned color. Her scroll buzzed, and she began walking to the stage alongside the other three. Standing before Ozpin, some less willingly than others, they awaited his call. Her ears barely making out some gossip from the crowd... something about the auditorium disaster.
"And finally… Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Umber Faere. The four of you retrieved the white knight peaces. From this day forward, you shall work together as… Team Blue [BLWU]" Confusion sparked in their group immediately. "Led by… Blake Belladonna…" Of course the scheme... what!? The audience gave a round of applause to the secret Faunus. She went stiff, pupils dilating. Red flags everywhere.
The audience gave a round of applause to their team... everyone except everyone on the team themselves. Blake's expression was plain, but beneath, she was screaming. What! why!? I've never led anyone before... People always rallied to Adam not me! This wasn't how things were meant to go! Umber was tired, Weiss frustrated, and Yang an absolute mess. This team looked, and was, a trainwreck. "Normally naming teams isn't so... problematic, I do occasionally resort to last names." He assessed the last team with an uncertain look. "Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year..." He sipped his coffee and sighed.
"Now would you all please join me in a moment of silence. For the first time in over a decade we have suffered a terrible loss... 11 Initiates fell during this year Initiates of the many that attended." The students gasped, a silent fear spread like wildfire across the first years. The silence felt oppressive.
{-Yang-}
After Initiation, Yang sat in her dorm alongside three other students. Against all odds Umber had successfully predicted the formation of their team, spare for one dark-haired mystery. "Ruby…" Umber, leaned off to the side, his gaze avoiding all eye contact. Another, staring distantly at a picture in her hand. And the third, Weiss, was staring longingly out the window.
"Yang… are you thinking about her again?" Blake asked her caringly. Yang nodded solemnly in response, How can I not...
"Who?" Weiss looked over, grateful at a chance to lighten the uncomfortable mood permeating the room.
Yang regarded the snow colored girl hesitantly before answering. "My sister… Ruby." She revealed a picture of her family to Weiss.
Weiss smiled benevolently, "She looks cute. She reminds me of a fairy tale my sister once told me."
"You? Fairy tales?" Yang teased in disbelief.
"I was a child too you know…" She retorted stubbornly. "Little Red-
"-Riding Hood" Blake finished for her, an iota of hatred burned. "It's quite the fable…" It was one of her favorites.
"So? What's she like?" Weiss asked.
Yang reminisced, her sister's adorable face lighting up at every little thing. Her naive love pushing dad through the hardest of days. Her comforting hugs, and cute pouting… "She's like an angel, the love that pushed us to be better, to help because that's what's right... To me she was the nicest, most innocent, most perfect little sis I could ask for... For dad, Ruby's the thing keeping him grounded... I'm not sure he can handle losing her... his light in the dark." Umber scoffed, earning a glare from blake. "Cheerful, energetic, accepting of others, and always hyped up on chocolate chip cookies." Yang grinned mirthfully, "She was also super socially awkward…."
"Was?" Weiss frowned, followed by Yang and Blake.
"Is." Blake corrected her. "You said she wanted to be a huntress. She's trained, right? Ruby can hold her own until you find her… I wouldn't worry so much." Yang felt… just a bit better at those words.
The heiress frowned apologetically. "Oh… um, I'm sorry… I didn't mean-"
"No, it's alright… you didn't know." Yang reassured her.
"How about we help?" Blake suddenly suggested. Is she… serious? Yang felt her heart flutter. "It's not like we have much to do, the year just started so homework should be light." Weiss nodded comfortingly.
"But- you guys don't even know me. We just got on the same team…"
"But we are on the same team… Besides, She was on your mind during Initiation, right?" Yang winced, conceding the point but conceded.
"We almost died because of that…" Umber huffed irritably.
"... Sorry" Yang apologized wholly. I did try to keep those emotions out of Initiation… But what if this keeps happening?
"So? Are you ready to ask for help?" Weiss smiled caringly…
Yang laughed quietly. "Yeah… I guess. Would you mind helping me look for my sister? Please?" It's not like I've got a reason to refuse.
Weiss gave a satisfied smile. "Of course. You can count on us." She extended her hand as a gesture of trust, accepting for them confidently.
Sigh Umber rolled his eyes, "You do that. I'm not going." Weiss stopped, blinking frigidly to the voice's owner. "She's lost, probably dead. Not my problem." Slap! Umber's cheek reddened from the heiress' hand. In a split second, Yang blew up and charged him. Blake barely caught the berserk rage in a web of black ribbons. She, however, was struggling not shooting the man herself.
"How can you be so heartless!" Weiss yelled incredulously.
"How exactly am I heartless, she's missing and hasn't come back or been found. What other logical conclusion do you want me to draw? She's dead."
FUCK IT! "I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU!" The golden brawler screamed in rage, announcing it to all of Beacon. "SAY THAT AGAIN YOU PIECE OF S-!"
"Who. Cares. Not. My. Problem." He growled back.
Weiss shoved him against the dorm wall with a glyph, "Her family, her sister! is missing! Do you have any idea how that feels!?"
The room flickered darkly, "Oh can it! You think you're the only one who's lost someone!?" Umber's sneered coldly. His glare froze them on the spot. "How fucking spoiled are you two!? People die every day. Devoured, slaughtered, and forgotten by the thousands. Towns turned to ash-filled graveyards." The dragon's eyes softened as the room darkened, covering the girls in hopelessness dark. "History, memories, gone! overnight!" Snap- pop Their dorm veiled itself in maddening shadows, barely staved off by Yang's glow. That doesn't mean she's dead… "Just like that…" Tears burned the edge of Yang's vision.
"But that's only grimm, what about humanity and fauna? Terrorists with a superiority complex commit genocide in the name of equality, and criminal activity is at an all-time high…" Blake shrunk back on her bed on the verge of crying. "Vale's economy is shot thanks to Torchwick and his fucked up followers. Outside the walls, villages are burnt, raped, and hung just for shits and giggles." Umber's glaring words cut painfully into them all.
"Why should I go looking for 'Ruby', she's just a face among millions. Is she some hero destined to save the world?" No... "Will she put an end to all the Grimm?" No... "Perhaps she'll end the White Fang? No." Faere growled, finishing her thoughts. He broke the girl's personal space, challenging the trembling, broken blonde. His bluish, admixed gaze challenged her resolve… She glared back defiantly through eyes flipping rapidly between red and purple. I'm still looking for her… no matter what the hell you say. He smirked.
"Get real Yang. Remnant and everyone-everything in it is out to kill you. What I heard is she dreamed to walk as a huntress. To walk a broken road built from the bones of those that came before. To walk a path running with the blood of monsters, innocents, and grimm. Ruby was dead the moment she chose to be a huntress…" He turned his attention to the black and white-haired girls.
"Now, If you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to sleep. Next time you want to talk…kindly refrain from shouting… like you actually care about the horror around you. Because where I stand, it's awfully hypocritical to call me heartless, Weiss. You sit atop a cushioned throne built from borderline slavery and drink from the success of your ancestor's pride, crushing anyone who just tries to keep the lights on, to feed to their families. All the while you exploit loopholes to dodge responsibility as the world burns around you like fireworks..."
Umber pulled a cylindrical orange container and popped a drug, then slid into bed, not bothering to change to pajamas. "Search for her if you want, but we don't live in a fairy tale." He mumbled to the wall.
{-Torchwick-}
On the opposite side of Vale, the industrial district, Roman Torchwick was in the middle of a conversation, planning out his next heist in a rundown warehouse. The police are like ants. All over the place. The only light was the shattered silver moon's rays barely illuminating the warehouse's dark interior.
Setting down his phone, the thief groaned in frustration. I need a cigar… As he lit a smoke, a cart was pushed up behind him by a white fang rookie. Unfurling several multicolored lien cards, Torchwick motioned to the crate and commanded, "Open it."
Responding, the masked faunus took the cards and propped the case open with a crowbar revealing large chunks of crystalline dust. Torchwick removed a water dust crystal, examining it. Why is she so interested in these rocks… Energy I get, but seriously, who needs this much? … This is a long way from over. "We're gonna need more men" He cursed under his breath.