A/N: First thanks to you guys reviewing and your feedback, but a really big thanks to AnubisGundam0 for the beta work he did on the chapter.

This chapter as everyone is tested with new teams about to be formed you guys will get to see Kallen, Suzaku and Rolo's weapons and semblances in action.

And for those of you who guessed that Lelouch's semblance is similar to his Geass then you are correct. BUT it does have its own set of drawbacks and limitations (same, but very different from the series). I will expand upon it in the upcoming chapters when he uses it against his first victim in the story which I think some of you will probably enjoy.

So enjoy the chapter…

Chapter 3

The Emerald Forest

The following morning Lelouch was standing in front of his locker getting ready for the upcoming initiation ceremony, or a trial by fire it should be called. Lelouch was dressed in his usual grab as he readied his sword 'Garden Dahlia' while making sure he had extra Dust vials on his person for his weapon. Once he was finished, he closed his locker and began walking away when he came across Ruby and Yang.

"So, you seem awfully chipper this morning!" Yang said as she finished getting ready for today's events.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or getting-to-know-you stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said happily as she deployed her weapon Crescent Rose before stroking it affectionately.

"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Yang said which instantly soured her younger sister's mood prompting her to sigh in frustration.

"You sound like Dad!" Ruby shoves her weapon back in her locker. "Okay, first of all: what do meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!"

"Drinking milk alone won't help you, but if you want to grow bigger than maybe consider a healthier diet and less junk food," Lelouch said in passing.

"Oh come on you grew like a tree growing up." Ruby shot back annoyed.

"Uh, what about when we form teams?" Yang said deciding to change the subject before Lelouch and Ruby began an argument.

Realizing the complication that would lead to Ruby became nervous. "Um, I don't know, I…I'll just be on your team or something."

Yang crossed her arms over her chest before looking at the younger girl with a concerned expression. "Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"

"My dear sister, Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

"What? No! Of course, I do!" Yang replied quickly almost defensively. "I just thought…I don't know, maybe it would help you. Break out of your shell!"

"What the-?! I don't need to break out of my shell! That's absolutely ridiculous!" Ruby shouted losing her patience.

"Well, you are going to end up on a team with possibly some complete strangers, so you better work on those social skills." Lelouch pointed out sagely.

"What are you talking about we chose our teams right?" Ruby asked hopefully before Lelouch decided to explain a key detail she has yet to be made aware of.

"I guess no one told you but during the trial in the Emerald Forest today whoever you meet while fighting your way through the forest will become your teammate for the next four years…no changes and no exceptions."

"WHAT!?" Ruby said wanting to deny it or hear that Lelouch was joking, but she knew Lelouch wasn't the kind of person who would joke about something like that. "That's crazy, how can they do that?"

"They have been doing it for years, and I confirmed it with Kallen who found out from her friend who is attending her second year here…Velvet went through the same thing." Lelouch answered folding his arms over his chest.

"But…that…that can't be right." Ruby said worryingly as she was now fearful she would end up with a team full of complete strangers.

But Ruby wasn't the only who was having a bad morning so far.

"This is ridiculous!" Jaune said frustratingly as he walked past a row of lockers looking for his. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?"

Elsewhere Weiss had finished readying herself and closing her locker before turning to her neighbor.

She was the same age as her, but she was taller wearing bronze armor complete with greaves and armor that covered her forearms and her torso leading part of her shoulders and upper torso exposed. The girl had long red hair tied into a ponytail with green eyes and wearing a skirt as part of her attire. She carried a shield and a weapon that resembled a sword she was carrying together on her back.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!" Weiss said to Pyrrha Nikos hoping to gain her as a teammate.

"Hmm...I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha said as she seemed indifferent to whom she might end up with as a teammate, which was likely due to the fact she didn't really know anyone among the new students.

"Well...I thought maybe we could be on a team together." The white-haired girl said whose hopes of recruiting the red-head went up.

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied, which was just what Weiss was hoping for.

"Great!" Weiss exclaimed happily, but on the inside, she was grinning while adopting a scheming pose as she thought. "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!"

Either tempted by fate or outright bad luck something came between them threatening to dash Weiss's hopes of acquiring Pyrrha as a teammate.

"You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc…nice to meet you." Jaune said coming between them and trying to charm Weiss.

"You again?" Weiss said already irritated with the young having dealt with him yesterday when he overheard his comment about him.

"It is nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha said politely greeting the blonde haired young man.

"Yeah, yeah," Jaune said pushing Pyrrha aside to talk to Weiss while posing hoping to impress her unaware his actions had the opposite effect. "So, Weiss couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" The white-haired girl said before doing a face-palm out of annoyance wishing she could not deal with him.

"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed! So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?"

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" Pyrrha began to explain before Jaune interrupted her.

"You don't say," Jaune said speaking to the red-head. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right, and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

An annoyed Weiss had enough, so she stepped in-between them. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, snow angel."

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" Pyrrha replied in another friendly greeting.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" Weiss explained, but her annoyance grew when Jaune expressed his lack of knowledge about Pyrrha's reputation.

"Never heard of it."

"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!" Weiss said trying again almost certain that even someone like Jaune must have heard of the Mistral Region Tournament.

"The what?"

Weiss's jaw nearly dropped to the floor as she couldn't believe what she'd just heard as she tried to comprehend how on Remnant that Jaune couldn't have heard of that accomplishment.

As her patience reached its end, Weiss gave up and tried something that she was sure any fool would recognize as she began waving her arms in anger. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasped finally recognizing her. "That's you?! But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha admitted with a sigh because even she didn't find the cereal very appealing.

Weiss calmed down at finally getting through to Jaune. "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"I guess not...sorry," Jaune said sadly hanging his head in shame.

"Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!" Pyrrha said kindly.

Jaune's mood improved instantly. "D'oh, stop it!"

"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Weiss said disapprovingly.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?" Jaune said with renewed confidence, but Weiss was at the point where could not tolerate anymore.

"All right, that's a bit too close!" The heiress said raising her hands defensively. "Pyrrha, a little help, please?!"

In an instant that took less than a second as Jaune was quickly pinned to a row of lockers a distance away by Pyrrha's weapon, Miló, in spear form.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized at her rather direct intervention.

At that moment Suzaku approached the pair prompting Weiss to recognize him.

"Suzaku…well this is a surprise I didn't know you were coming to Beacon."

"Likewise Miss Schnee, although I thought you were going to attend Atlas?" Suzaku said while politely greeting Weiss while he was just as surprised by her arrival here as she was at his.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Oh, I am Suzaku Kururugi from Altas, a pleasure to meet you," Suzaku said followed by a polite greeting.

"His father is a member of the Atlas Council, and his family has done some business with mines in the past, so we met during formal gathering," Weiss explained before Pyrrha recognized the name, but realized something else.

"I remember I heard about your family. I think your cousin has been elected to the Mistral Council as its youngest member," Pyrrha said with a matter of fact tone.

"Yes, that is right?" Suzaku answered without hesitation before his expression saddened. "Kaguya Sumeragi is my cousin, and I have to admit I was surprised to hear she became part of Mistral's council despite being younger than me."

"I heard about that too, but I was surprised to see someone who is fourteen years old being elected to the council of a major kingdom is quite the achievement," Weiss said as the appointment of the Mistral council's youngest member was something that made international headlines.

"I guess Kaguya has always had a natural affinity for politics," Suzaku admitted modestly.

"Anyway, Suzaku," Weiss asked as she narrowed her eyes at the young man, "any thoughts on which team you might be joining."

"Well," Suzaku began appearing thoughtful for a moment, "I was kinda hoping to join Lelouch's team?"

"Lelouch?"

"Oh," Suzaku said remembering something. "I forgot you never met him before I should introduce you two later. He was an old friend who lived in Atlas before coming over to…"

Suzaku stopped himself upon realized he overlooked an important detail he should take into account.

Weiss is heiress of the Schnee Family and Lelouch, despite being effectively cast out, was still a member of the Lamperouge Family by blood.

"Suzaku," Weiss asked confused by what he allowed his sentence to trail off.

"Weiss, you heard about Marianne Lamperouge?"

"Oh you mean the infamous Marianne the Flash who was among the greatest students Atlas Academy had ever produced who instead of joining the military joined the Lamperouge Family business before marrying the family's current head Charles Lamperouge. She was charged with overseeing expeditions for new Dust Deposits and securing new trade routes when current ones became too dangerous before her unfortunate demise."

"Yes, and you heard about what happened to her children didn't you?"

"I did and," Weiss said before realizing what Suzaku was getting at. "Wait is your friend Marianne's son?"

"Yes, and given relations between your family and his."

"Ah," Weiss said understanding Suzaku's concern. "If what I heard about what happened him I am highly doubtful I would act hostile towards your old friend Suzaku."

"Thank you," Suzaku replied with a relieved sigh.

On the surface, the Schnee Family and Lamperouge Families appeared to be on amicable terms with one another other than being fierce business rivals. However, the truth was there was something of an intense ongoing feud between the two families especially between their respective heads, Charles Lamperouge against Jacques Schnee. In the middle, acting as unofficial mediators of the conflict, were Genbu Kuurugui and James Ironwood, a member of the Atlas Council occupying two council seats and the headmaster of Altas Academy.

"Given how his own father treated him I am doubtful there would be any issues between us," Weiss answered.

"I am glad to hear that, so here," Suzaku said pulling out his scroll and pushing a few buttons to send a message over. "This is a complete map of the Emerald Forest Lelouch he put together and marked it with some points of interest including where the objectives for the initiation are and retrieval points. With our Scroll's internal compass it should be easy to navigate through the forest."

"Wow," Weiss remarked clearly impressed by Lelouch's work while seeing a potential teammate she would want on her side.

"What about me?" Jaune said trying to get Weiss to notice her.

"What about you?" Weiss snapped dismissively.

An announcement over the intercom system interrupted the group.

Glynda spoke over the intercom as her voice boomed through the large locker room. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"We should get moving, but it was nice meeting you Jaune!" Pyrrha said before walking away after retrieving her weapon freeing Jaune in the process.

"Likewise..." A tried Jaune replied as he slumped to the floor.

"Having some trouble there, lady-killer?" Yang said as she arrived on the scene followed by Lelouch and Ruby before the blonde-haired woman offered her hand to Jaune to help back to his feet.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

"Snow Angel probably wasn't the best start," Yang replied.

"I agree…" Lelouch replied stoically.

"Come on, Jaune, let's go," Ruby said gesturing for Jaune to follow their group.

A short time later every new student was gathered on Beacon Cliff, a high cliff overlooking a vast and lush green forest below. Addressing the assembled students were Professor Ozpin and Glynda, with the latter holding an enlarged Scroll that she would be using to monitor the students during their trial. Ozpin held a mug of coffee in his hand while his other hand held onto his signature cane he kept with him at all times.

Lelouch, Ruby and all of the other assembled students each stood on a metal plate with Beacon Academy's emblem upon it.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began before Glynda took over.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."

"What? Ohhh…" Ruby said as she was starting to panic as it all but confirmed that Lelouch was right about how teams would be set up today.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin said which only worried Ruby even more. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ruby's jaw nearly dropped while she began panicking trying to determine how she was going to get around this situation and not end up with someone she didn't know.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...or you will die."

Jaune laughed nervously and then gulped, but Lelouch merely grinned as he had a plan laid out in his mind.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the other end of the forest containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Only Jaune was the only one who tried to meekly raise his hand.

"Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good! Now, take your positions." Ozpin said ignoring Jaune.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um...a question." Jaune said while students were being catapulted into the air one at a time from the platforms they were standing sending them into the sky. "So, this landing…strategy thing…uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

Jaune failed to notice that his answer was right next to him as more students got catapulted into the air.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin replied causally before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

Ozpin was still stoic as he merely answered, "No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

At that moment Lelouch was launched into the air, but as soon as he was high enough, he activated his Garden Dahlia as the weapon deployed. Aiming the sword in the direction opposite of his destination, he fired his weapon at maximum output using the powerful recoil from the blast to propel Lelouch through the air.

Ruby shook her head at how much of a show-off Lelouch was while Yang took it as a challenge.

"I'll match that."

Jaune had yet to take the hint even as Lelouch blazed a trail through the sky.

Next Suzaku's turn came, but he decided to follow suit and do what Lelouch did as he transformed his 'Lancelot' into its shooting mode firing shotgun-like bursts from his weapon propelling him forward.

"Oh come on I was going to do that!" Yang said annoyed as Suzaku preempted what she was going to do.

Yang was next who let out a cheer as she was launched into the air, but she was determined to beat both Lelouch and Suzaku to the temple. Mere seconds later Ruby was launched into the air next while Jaune was the last student left to be sent into the air.

"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY-!?" An oblivious Jaune was saying before he was interrupted when he was haphazardly launched into the air.

Ozpin merely watched the catapulted students fly (Or in Jaune's case tumbling) through the air before taking a sip from his coffee.

Meanwhile, Lelouch was soaring through the air as the blast from his Garden Dahlia in its cannon mode was almost expended. Lelouch quickly shut it off as the black-haired young man began his descent. Using his cape, he glided through the air heading straight for the temple. Following behind him was Kallen using her claw-like weapons firing off focused rounds of dust-based energy blasts to propel herself through the air.

As Lelouch got closer to the ground, he used his weapon again to fire another focused blast using the resulting explosion to slow his descent.

A couple of trees were felled by the blast that resulted from his landing, which also cleaved an Ursa Grimm in half before Lelouch landed on the ground a short walk away from the temple. Smiling Lelouch proceeded to walk to the temple with his sword in one hand, but he took a moment to swap out his dust cartridge with a fresh one in the event his landing drew any Grimm.

"Excellent that worked out better than I thought." Lelouch thought as he approached the temple, which was the remains of a small circular-shaped structure with some stone pedestals, each one held a Chess piece which amused the young man. "Heh, how unexpected, but regardless the plan's preliminary conditions have been cleared."

Examining each of the pieces, Lelouch decided to take the Black King piece for himself.

"This one is the most fitting for me, so all that is left is to make my way back to the cliff, and I pass."

Suddenly growling could be heard as a trio of Ursa emerged from the forest seeking to avenge one of their own that Lelouch had killed following his initial landing.

"Of course I would face opposition." Lelouch mused with a shrug of his shoulders. Although it would have been better for him to avoid confrontation he knew getting through this initiation without a fight against the Grimm was all but impossible. Deciding to end this quickly Lelouch extended his left arm before firing a solid liquid-like prism projectile from a launcher concealed on his forearm before aiming his sword at it.

As it reached the ideal position in the middle of the charging Grimm, the black-haired young man fired a narrow-focused beam from the sword hitting the prism-like projectile causing the beam to disperse and scattering the beam of energy throughout the area as it traveled through the air cutting through the Ursa. Some of them lost their legs while parts of their upper bodies were severed cleanly through by the scattered focused beam.

Only one Ursa was still alive as it tried to crawl towards Lelouch to attack him, but the young man beheaded the creature killing it.

"That was almost too easy…"

Suddenly either tempted by Lelouch's words or it was merely fated more Grimm began to emerge from the forest, but this time it was a pack of Beowolves.

Lelouch sighed in resignation, "I shouldn't have said anything."

Lelouch readying himself for a grueling battle was about to attack first and thin the enemy numbers before they could surround him, but suddenly one of the Grimm was affected by a surge of red energy causing the creature to expand like a balloon before it exploded. As the dust and the black smoke settled from the exploding Grimm, it revealed that Kallen had been responsible for killing it with her twin claw-like gantlets dubbed 'Guren' and 'Seiten.'

"Heh, I was almost expecting Suzaku." Lelouch mused with a grin.

"His weapon I guess didn't give him the same kind of push as mine does," Kallen answered with a smirk of her own.

"Regardless I am glad to see you, so shall we deal with them," Lelouch said gesturing to the Beowolves as they were reforming their ranks after being broken up by Kallen's surprise attack.

An aura of fiery red energy began to surround Kallen as her semblance became active.

So that must be her Semblance the Heat, which allows her to channel and increase her body's own heat to use as an offensive or even defensive weapon. Lelouch thought as he remembered hearing about Kallen's semblance, but this was his first time seeing it in action. She can focus the accumulated energy into her gauntlets to transfer that intense heat converting it to radiation causing the target to heat up and expand until their body explodes.

Of course, Lelouch knew those claws were capable of more than acting as a potent focus for Kallen's semblance.

Lelouch fired a volley of quick shots from his swords before swinging his blade to cleave an incoming Grimm in half before it could attack him.

"Kallen, what kind of Dust cartridges do you have loaded in those claws?"

"I got lightning, earth, ice and wind dust rounds."

"Ok," Lelouch said before using his hands and a coded message through quick hand signals he had taught Kallen when he told her about her friendship with Suzaku.

"I got it!" Kallen replied as she went on the offensive.

Kallen loaded a dust cartridge into one of her weapons before punching the ground to advancing surge of icicles erupting from the field towards the Grimm. One of the creatures got impaled by the ice when it didn't move fast enough to dodge Lelouch fired another shot from his sword melting the ice to create a blanket of steam to throw off their enemies.

But the resulting attack also left a pool of water that a couple of the Beowolves walked right into, which Kallen was quick to take advantage of by using a Lightning loaded dust cartridge to electrocute them.

"Kallen get down!"

Kallen ducked before Lelouch unleashed a wave of energy from his sword as he swung the blade to release a cutting beam against the Beowolves cutting a good number of their own down allowing Kallen to begin picking them off one by one using her semblance in conjunction with her weapons to put them down. This allowed Lelouch time to prepare his sword again for another shot while he didn't have to worry about being attacked too often.

Not unless they got through Kallen first.

Kallen was already on the offensive as soon as Lelouch ended his attack as she proceeded to rake her claws into the nearest Grimm before using her semblance to channel energy through her claws to finish it off. A small number of them remained as the two teens pressed their attack determined to keep the Grimm from having a chance to counter-attack.

One Beowolf was attempting to lunge at Kallen, but Lelouch quickly shot it through the chest with a well-aimed shot from his sword.

Lelouch smiled as he counted only a few Grimm remaining, with Kallen moving to claim another kill for the day and Lelouch was ready to help her finish them off. Kallen dodged and side-stepped one of the few remaining Grimm with an impressive display of speed and agility. Kallen was quick to follow up her attack with a red energy-blade she emitted from one of her claws to slash the Grimm through the torso putting it down before clawing out the eyes of another Grimm with the other when it tried to slash at Kallen with its own claws only to miss.

The last Beowolf was swiftly finished off by Lelouch who blasted its head off when it attempted to attack Kallen from behind.

"I think that is the last of them," Lelouch said as he took a deep breath.

"You probably shouldn't say that otherwise, you might jinx it." Kallen joked with a half-serious and amused expression.

"I suppose you have a point, but just the same we should get out of here then."

"What about the others?"

"Well," Lelouch began before taking a moment to survey the damage he and Kallen had caused in the course of fighting off the Grimm, "I would say we shouldn't have to worry about them."

"Is that because you think we probably killed a good portion of the Grimm living in this area?"

"Maybe, but we should be mindful to avoid a cave that is located nearby. According to records and surveys were taken in this area it's supposed to be the dwelling of a Death Stalker as cave drawings found by the cave itself act as a warning." Lelouch explained as he took a moment to take out his scroll reviewing his map of the area. The Grimm likely living in the cave had been left alone as far as Lelouch had heard since it hasn't bothered anyone, which was probably because no one was foolish enough to waltz into a cave where there were warnings drawn on its outside.

"You really did your homework on this area didn't you?"

"Of course I like to be prepared as much as possible, and the more I know about an area I'll be conducting a dangerous mission in. The better in the event I have to make quick changes to the mission or the path I intend to take through the area itself," Lelouch explained with a sense of pride in his voice. He might not be the strongest Huntsman, but if anything Lelouch prided himself on his tactical capabilities and intelligence gathering capabilities on an area or anything related to whatever he needed.

"Well let's get moving."

"Very well, but I wonder who else we're going to run into?"

"What about Suzaku?" Kallen inquired as she and Lelouch began walking away to make their way back to the cliff.

"Don't worry…even as a child Suzaku was not someone to be taken lightly, so I am confident he'll succeed in his task to reach these ruins and return."

Speaking of whom Suzaku had landed short of his intended landing area near the ruins, but thanks to the map Lelouch had provided him with he knew where to go thanks to the compass he had in conjunction with his map. Even through Suzaku didn't really have a preference for anyone, in particular, he wouldn't have minded being with Weiss's or Lelouch's groups since he knew them already. He had his weapon ready because he knew this area had plenty of Grimm, but Suzaku felt reasonably confident he could handle anything coming his way.

Suzaku continued heading towards the ruins, and according to the map he was about five minutes away, but he wondered if Lelouch had gotten there first.

If he did, he is probably already heading back. The brown-haired young man thought.

Similar to Lelouch. However, Suzaku ran into some serious opposition along the way as he came across a trio of Ursa with one of them being a likely leader of the trio as he had more bone plates and spikes covering its body.

Readying his weapon Lancelot the brown-haired young man assumed a fighting stance.

He allowed the Ursa to attack first before skillfully dodging their attacks and quickly attacking one by impaling it through its chest while the blade of his javelin-like weapon began spinning like a drill allowing Suzaku to stab it clean through and remove his weapon just as quickly from the slain Ursa. The other Ursa was already about to attack, but Suzaku leaped into the air before performing a spin kick to knock it back before switching his weapon into its shotgun mode to blast with two shots to the neck and head to down it.

The last and older Ursa chose this time to attack attempting to blindside Suzaku, but he had expected such an attack, and so he gracefully ducked to avoid it. Suzaku fired a shotgun blast from his weapon before switching it back to its lance mode, but the Ursa recovered quicker than he expected, so it parried the attack with its claws.

To complicate matters the second Ursa began to get back up as Suzaku's attack wasn't enough to finish it off.

The brown haired huntsman realized he needed to finish off the Ursa he was fighting now or risk being caught between two pissed off Creatures of Grimm. When Suzaku couldn't land a melee strike, he switched his weapon to its shotgun mode and began firing off rounds into the face of his enemy to kill it. When the Ursa finally did fall over, he turned around to meet the attack of the wounded Ursa head on, but suddenly it stalled before dropping dead.

Standing behind it was Rolo armed with a pair of dual combat knives that transformed back into a pair of handguns.

"Hello there!" Rolo greeted with a friendly wave.

"Uh, how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Rolo asked with a confused expression.

"I could swear I saw that Ursa just stop before it fell over dead."

"Right, that was my semblance called Suspension."

"Suspension?"

"Yes, my semblance can stop the subjective sense of time of anyone including Grimm caught in the area of effect within proximity of me I can even extend its range to a certain degree," Rolo answered. He didn't mention the more range he adds to his semblance to reach father and snare more targets the more it takes out of him. Using it on a larger group of people and area could leave him dangerously exhausted and open to attack, and he can only maintain it for a very short time.

"Yes, I stopped that Grimm in its tracks with it and I attacked him while he was frozen."

"That is an impressive ability." Suzaku complimented clearly impressed by its capabilities.

"Well thank you, but what is your semblance since you asked me about mine?"

"Mines isn't nothing impressive, but my semblance is called Survival. My semblance gifts me with heightened senses and awareness so even if I don't see it or generally just not aware of it my semblance allows me to easily detect danger when it's active allowing me to react much quicker than a normal huntsman." Suzaku answered since he thought it was only fair he shares what his semblance was.

"It's not bad I can imagine that would be handy in a pitch, which not to mention it probably doesn't put a lot of strain on your aura."

"I guess that is true."

The two teens decided to continue on ahead together forming a duo group as it appeared that Rolo didn't really have a preference for anyone he wanted to be in a group with.

Might be best if I avoid whatever group Blake ends up with. Rolo thought as the idea of being in the same group as Blake would be problematic especially in the long run.

It wasn't long before Rolo and Suzaku reached the ruins, but upon noticing the destroyed section of the forest nearby, the brown-haired man suspected that Lelouch must have already been through here and had faced some Grimm as well. His suspicions were further cemented when he saw the black king chess piece missing.

"I guess my friend was already here because I can't imagine anyone I know taking anything but the king." Suzaku mused as he decided to take the other black king piece.

"Are you really sure about that?" Rolo inquired as he seemed curious.

"Well, he is the only person I know among the first years who have a weapon capable of that kind of devastation." Suzaku mused with a smile.

As Suzaku and Rolo began making their way back to the cliff where Suzaku hoped to rendezvous with Lelouch everyone else was making their own way to the ruins that Rolo and Suzaku had just departed from. Among those was Ruby who was much further away than some of the other students, but upon landing, despite having accidentally collided with a bird in the air much to her regret, she took off running determined to find her sister so she and Yang could be in a group together.

Unfortunately for Ruby her older sister was further ahead having used her weapons Ember Celica. Not wishing to be outdone by Suzaku and Lelouch the blonde haired girl used her gauntlets and its fiery force to propel her through the air, although she fell short of the distance Suzaku got, still she was far ahead of her younger sister Ruby.

Ruby kept running while her thoughts were on finding her sister.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted out, but after a few more attempts to call out for her sister Ruby began to fear the worst.

Oh, this is bad, this is really bad. What if I can't find Yang? What if someone finds her first? Ruby thought as she began considering her options starting with the people she knew.Well, there is Lelouch, but he seems more like a supervillain who wants to take over the world and he is a bit too critical sometimes.

The girl kept running, but still, there was no one in sight.

Lelouch's friend Suzaku seemed nice,so he might be ok. Oh, I guess there's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny!

Ruby thought before she suspiciously realized something.

I don't think he's very good in a fight, though. Ooh! What about Blake?! The silver eyed girl thought more happily than before as a mental image of Blake came to mind.

So mysterious, so calm…plus she likes books! Then again, I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her...Ugh!

Ruby shook her head in frustration while clearing her mind to think and reconsider her options.

Okay…who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Lelouch, Suzaku, Jaune, Blake, and…

Whenever by chance or some higher power toying with her Ruby Rose came to a sudden halt when she met with the last person she would ever expect to form a group with. Ruby Rose was face to face with Weiss Schnee of all people.

The two girls merely stared at one another for a good whole minute before Weiss turned around proceeding to walk away while ignoring Ruby who protested her departure.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Ruby called out, but when she saw that Weiss wasn't stopping she kicked the ground in frustration. "We're supposed to be teammates..."

It was true that Ruby wasn't precisely happy on the one hand ending up on a team she had less than a friendly relationship with, but she did see it as a chance to make up for the trouble that had happened during their first meeting even though Lelouch assured her she was not at fault for that explosion.

Weiss continued on through the forest pushing her way past some bushes, but as she stopped to brush some leaves off of her, she heard a voice from above. Looking up Weiss saw another face she wasn't expecting, but somehow his situation didn't seem that surprising to her. Stuck up in a tree hanging from Pyrrha's lance that stopped him from possibly falling to his death was Jaune.

"Come on, come on! Stupid!" Jaune said as he tried to free himself, but he wasn't getting down without help.

After stopping to take a break from his struggling, he noticed Weiss at the bottom of the tree he was hanging from. Jaune smiled weakly before waving to hide his embarrassment, but Weiss ignored him and turned around leaving a depressed Jaune behind.

Left with two choices: be partners with Ruby, a girl who caused her nothing but grief or be partners with Jaune.

Weiss returned to where a saddened Ruby was, but her mood brightened when Weiss grabbed her by the hood and began dragging her away from where Jaune was stuck. "By no means does this make us friends."

"You came back!" Ruby exclaimed happily as Weiss dragged her away while unaware of Jaune's predicament.

"Wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!" Jaune called out fearing he would never get down.

"Jaune?" A voice called out prompting the blonde haired young man to look down to see Pyrrha. "Do you…have any spots left on your team?"

"Very funny…" Jaune replied grumpily while crossing his arms over his chest, but after a moment he looks down and smiles at her which Pyrrha returns before proceeding to get him down.

A short distance away Weiss was walking ahead of Ruby who was trailing back behind the Schnee heiress. The white-haired girl barely talked to Ruby and was focused on powering through the forest to reach the ruins as soon as possible to claim whatever was there for them and be done with this test already.

"What's the hurry?" Ruby insisted.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your" Weiss was saying, but suddenly without warning Ruby appeared next to her with a big smile on her face. "What the...?"

"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!"

Weiss was stunned as she was trying to figure out how did Ruby move so quickly to catch up with her. "When did...?"

"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters!" Ruby said trying to reassure her new partner before she put an arm around a still skeptical and annoyed Weiss's shoulders. "You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool…" The silver-eyed girl said before adding at the end. "And I wanna be her friend!"

Suddenly Ruby vanished in a shower of rose petals much to Weiss's temporary discomfort as she waved them away, but she lost sight of Ruby.

Ruby disappears in a shower of rose petals, which Weiss waves away from her face just as she hears crackling and rustling in the bushes around her.

"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!" Weiss shouted, but she got silence until it was broken by the sound of branches and twigs breaking. "Ruby?" Weiss said as she felt a slight chill go down her spine as she saw red eyes looking at her from shadows of the trees around her. "Ruby...?"

At that moment a pack of Beowolves emerged from the shadows having surrounded Weiss.

In another part of the forest, Lelouch and Kallen were walking along an old pathway which according to the map Lelouch had would lead them straight back to Beacon Cliff. Thus far the two had managed to avoid any more Grimm along the way, which was fine for Lelouch as he had no intention of fighting every single Grimm lurking in the Emerald Forest.

"How much longer do you think until we reach the cliff?" Kallen inquired before using her left arm to wipe some sweat away from her forehead.

"Hard to say, but if we keep on this path and don't run into trouble, then we should reach the cliffs in thirty minutes maybe more."

Suddenly the sound of gunfire could be heard off in the distance.

"I guess we're not the only ones to run into some trouble," Lelouch said before moving one hand to the hilt of his sword.

It wasn't that he felt nervous, but if there were already some of their fellow Beacon Students fighting the Grimm nearby, then there would likely be more soon if there weren't any nearby or would probably be drawn to the battle in progress.

"Maybe we should pick up the pace?" Kallen advised feeling a sense of danger around them.

"That is probably a good idea since this area has too many ambush spots for the Grimm," Lelouch said before he and Kallen began quickening their pace.

"LELOUCH LOOK OUT!" Kallen said shoving Lelouch to the ground as a winged creature with the head, wings, and talons of a large predatory bird and the rear legs, tail, and body of a lion or tiger tried to bite his head off after diving down from the sky above. The creature has black fur and feathers, with white bone-like spines on its body as standard with some Grimm, including a row of bony spikes on its wings, as well as a white birdlike skull. On its head, it has a bone-white beak and four red eyes, along with gray webbing on the sides of its beak.

The attacking Griffon collided into some trees just off the path, but it quickly recovered before towering high above Lelouch and Kallen.

"This could be a problem…" Lelouch said as Kallen quickly helped him to his feet as this Creature of Grimm may be more than they could handle.

A/N: Well Lelouch and Kallen have formed one group, and after fending off a bunch of Beowolves and Ursai together the two are now facing a more dangerous Grimm.

I thought a different Grimm that would be on the same scale of the Death Stalker and giant Nevermore for Lelouch's future team to challenge was called for considering what Ruby and Jaune's groups are going to face.

Next chapter the birth of Teams RWBY, LKRS (licorice) and of course JNPR.