Hello! TheoMidnight here and I lied. The days are not becoming less hectic, if anything they are more hectic. But I still found the time to write this chapter and I hope you like it! Bye!
Neo woke up and saw that she was alone in the cot, turning to the side, she saw Ruby, standing by the cot, clipping on her rose-red cloak, she turned to Neo and smiled. "Good mourning, love" Ruby leaned in and -
Neo opened her eyes into the light of the dawn, Ruby nowhere to be seen. Neo sighed and rose off the bed, Skyler was already awake and tying the laces of his dress shoes, Crimson was cocooned in his blanket on the cot. Skyler looked up at Neo. "Good morning, Neo. Ruby is in the bathroom, in case you're wondering." He stood up and brushed off his jacket. "Well, I'm going for a walk. See you in the cafeteria."
He left with Neo watching him go out of the sides of her eyes. "What's the matter with him? Or does he always go for walks in suits?" Neo propped her chin up with her hand, staring across the ballroom, deep in thought. She broke off when she saw Ruby coming back from the showers with her red cloak trailing behind her.
"Hey, Neo!" She called as she came closer and sat beside her. "Good morning!"
Neo smiled, a little wistfully, but Ruby didn't notice what was behind the smile as she continued on.
"First day at Beacon, item one is to survive being thrown off a cliff, no wait, actually, item one is to eat breakfast!" She looked at Neo.
"Mmm, again no. Apparently, item one is to get you dressed. Come on." She grabbed Neo arm and bag and dragged her down towards the showers. Their spot was quiet for a few minutes before Crimson sat straight up in his cot, looking like a brown caterpillar, he cocked his head to the side and listened.
"Why is someone singing "It's morning"?"
"So, what's the plan to make sure we all end up on the same team together? Because it might pose a problem if the assassin is on a team of actual hunters-in-training." Crimson strapped on his elongated war cleavers, the black leather straps not standing out on his one-sleeved trench coat. "I heard one girl make a plan to imitate a sloth to signal the person she wanted on her team."
Skyler frowned as he polished his golden pocket watch. "Do sloths even have a sound?"
"That's what the other guy said."
"Uh, guys? Me and Neo already have a plan." Both teens turned to stare a Ruby who was pulling the folded version of Crescent Rose out of her locker, she looked over at them. Crimson mouth turned down a faction. "So, no sloths?"
"No sloths."
"I even had a sound lined up. Oh, well! What's the plan then?" Ruby looked back Neo. "To make it up as we go along." Neo nodded frankly.
"So, I could make a sloth noises." Crimson's eyes brightened.
Skyler shook his head. "No, no sloth noises, I refuse to work with a person who makes sloth noises." He slipped his watch back into his vest pocket. Crimson raised a single, thin eyebrow.
"Fine, then. I'll just have you know that you're all missing out on some amazing sloth mimicry." The P.A. system sounded from around the locker room and Professor Goodwitch's voice rang out.
"Would all first year students please report to Beacon cliff for intuition. Again all first year students to Beacon cliff immediately."
Crimson stood up, his deathhawk wilder then ever, and icy blue makeup shocking out from around his eyes. "Well, lets go get launched into a forest by our sadist nut of a Headmaster." As they walked down the length of the locker room, they saw Jaune apparently pinned to the wall by a red and gold spear.
"It was nice meeting you!" A tall girl with flaming red hair that reached down to her waist, said as she pulled out the spear.
"Likewise." Jaune sighed as he slid down the wall. The girl, with Weiss Schnee, left the locker room. Leaving Jaune sitting on the floor.
Crimson's eyebrows raised and a corner of his mouth turned up into a broken half-smile. "Looks like our friend Jaune is a real riot with the ladies."
Skyler looked out after the two girls. "That was Pyrrha Nikos. Jaune Arc just got pinned to the wall by Pyrrha Nikos!"
Crimson patted his shoulder. "Don't be jealous, Snowball, I'm sure, someday, you'll have your chance." He stepped over to Jaune and offered a hand. "Havin' some trouble there? Eh, ladykiller?"
Jaune groaned.
"I don't understand! My dad said all woman look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?!" He took the hand. Crimson's half-grin turned into a full-blown smile. "Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best sway to start the conversation." Jaune pulled himself up and sighed. Ruby tuned back to him and smiled sympathetically. "Come on, Jaune. Let's go."
On a cliff, overlooking a emerald-green forest, stood a line of students. Professor Ozpin and Prof. Goodwitch stood in front of them. Ozpin looked out over his new charges for this year, he noticed Ebon Winter, recently out of the infirmary, and Yang Xiao Long were at one end of the line while Ruby Rose was at the total opposite end. Ozpin noticed that Miss Neapolitan had positioned herself in-between the two half-sisters, her eyes gazing at Ozpin while her grip on the parasol tightened. Ozpin ignored this and started to speak to the students.
"For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Prof. Goodwitch stepped forward. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors of the assignment of the teams." She looked at them all. "Well, allow us to put a end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."
Ozpin picked up. "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." Ruby rolled her eyes. Not a problem. Me and Neo have fought together since we first met. "-That being said the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"What?!" Ruby stared in shock. First person you make eye contact with?! Where was the logic in that?! This is kinda of a problem! Making sure me, Neo, Crimson, and Skyler all end upon the same team will be hard enough, but now this?! Ruby's brain was trying to figure out a plan, so far the only thing that came to mind was closing her eyes and trying to find Neo by sense of smell.
"See, I told you!" A girl at the end told to a calm-looking boy with long black hair.
Ozpin plowed through. "After you've partnered up, make your way towards 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 before gulping in fear and Ruby heard Crimson mutter. "Sadist maniac."
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene." Of course, they won't. "You'll find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must chose one relic and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." He looked down the line of students. "Are there any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah, um..sir-"
"Good! Now take your positions." The students stepped into various landing positions, well, everyone but Jaune, who still had his hand raised. "Uh sir, I got a question." The metal bases at their feet started to catapult students into the air, the white figure of Weiss Schnee gracing the sky her presence's as she was flung nearly out of sight.
"So, this landing strategy thing uh-" The other students of Beacon begin to fly through the air. "Uh, w-what is it? You're like d-dropping us off or something?
Ozpin looked at Juane. "No, you will be falling." More sounds of catapults releasing. "Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes or something?"
"No, you will be using our own landing strategy." The sounds of whooping filled the air as a girl with short hair was sent flying off the cliff.
"Uhhuh...yeah." Jaune brushed the back of his head nervously. "So, um, what exactly is a landing strate-GYYYYY-YY-YY-YY!"
Ozpin blinked and turned around to watch the students fall into the trees of Emerald Forest, he sipped his coffee.
Landing Strategies. They are either really awesome stunts of incredible prowess or spasms of flinging limbs and confusion. Or, in some cases, headbutting a bird at Mach 5.
Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose, using it's blade to catch a thick tree branch and swinging around it to break her fall, a lone feather the size of a pencil falling off her cloak as she flung herself off again.
Crimson just opened up his arms wide as he plummeted through branches and leaves, landing heavily on the ground without even his hair ruffled. He picked a leaf off his coat. Still alive!
The sounds of explosions made him look up, a blond figure shot across the sky. Soon followed by a small girl in pink, white, and brown. Crimson grinned. Hey, Neo.
Neopolitan was flying through the air. Her parasol clutched tightly in her hand as she squinted her eyes to see in the rushing wind made by her supersonic gild. She started to dip down, towards the forest. Just as she was about to hit the trees, she opened her parasol in front of her and crashed into the foliage of the forest, the Dust-enhanced fabric of her parasol breaking her fall. She hit the ground lightly, rolling into an standing position, she closed her lacy weapon of choice and set off to the north.
Skyler took his watch out of his pocket and looked at the hands as he fell through the air. About time. He started to twirl the watch chain in-between his fingers, the golden length of metal growing longer with each rotation, soon it seemed that he was twirling a giant lasso, he whipped the chain and it wrapped itself around a tree branch like a golden whip, swinging Skyler around the tree and sliding him along the ground, the chain even longer then before. He looked around. Not bad. He pulled the chain which cut through the tree truck like paper, one quick flick of the wrist and the watch chain was it's proper length. Day one at Beacon is a go.
Ruby hit the ground and looked up, nothing. OK, off to a good start. She looked around carefully. I wonder just how many people actually listen to that rule about eye contact. She stood still a moment before setting off into the woods.
"Neo! Neo!" She started to make backup plans in her head. I could be paired with Crimson and Skyler without a problem because at least they know about what I'm doing here. Jaune is nice, but I don't think he'll take the news of me being a criminal very well...plus, I don't think he would last long in a fight.
"NEOOO!" Something snapped a twig behind her.
"GRREEWWOL!"
"Uuggh, you're not Neo."
Neo walked calmly around the trees and pushed her way through bushes. "Come on, Ruby. You're taking forever!" Neo had no doubt that it would be Ruby who would come crashing through the brush to find her. Ruby had a tendency to do things like that. Neo remembered with fondness on one time when Ruby had literally driven a truck through a wall of warehouse because a group of thugs from a rival crime lord had been blocking the door. Neo had been inside and Ruby hadn't.
"I didn't like the thought of being apart, so I stole their truck and made my own way in." The eleven-year-old Ruby had shrugged when asked why a wrecked truck was lodged in one of Roman's shipments. Neo looked around. "I wonder if that was when I first started-" Neo jumped back as a decapitated Beowolf corpse flew past her. She looked at the hole made in the brush and spotted a girl in a cloak the same color as the red petals that were flowing all around her as she slayed Grimm with ease. Neo stood there, smiling at the sight of her.
"WILL YOU STOP LOOKING AND HELP ME?!" Ruby roared as a Grimm nearly slashed her across the chest. Still smiling, Neo joined the fray, dooming the remaining Grimm to total annihilation.
The last corpse dissolved into smoke as Neo walked over to Ruby and helped her up. Her body shaking in only the way it does when Neo is laughing.
"Shut up." Ruby grumbled. "That Ursa came out of nowhere!" Neo patted Ruby shoulder's condescending way. "It's a Ursa, Ruby. They're not exactly the stealthiest things on Remnant." Ruby pushed her playfully as Neo continued to laugh. "Come on, we have stuff to do." Neo walked beside Ruby, the now partners headed north.
"So, that's the temple?" Ruby asked pointing to a amphitheater of stone which contained a dozen pedestals, Ruby couldn't make out what they had on them. Neo lounged in the tree, spinning her parasol around her finger. She nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, probably." She jumped down and jerked her head towards it. "Let's go."
They walked down the steep hill, into the confines of the temple. Ruby could now clearly see what the relics were. "Chess pieces." Ruby picked up a Rook. "Guess we should take one, uh?"
Neo made a agreeing noise, looking around she noticed that three pedestals were empty. "Apparently, we were not the first ones here." She turned back to Ruby and gestured at the entirety of the temple. "Well, which one do you want?"
Ruby mused as she looked around, something cute and funny or something cool and symbolic-like? Finally, Ruby strolled to the pedestal which held the black queen. Cool and symbolic-like it is. Taking it off and turning to show Neo, Ruby spotted a pair of people make their way into the temple.
"Oh, it's you." Weiss Schnee said crossly, still not believing that Ruby hadn't stole her Dust. "When did you get here."
Ruby shrugged. "Four minuets ago, more or less." Ruby glanced over at Weiss's partner and froze, a snarl forming on her face. Weiss Schnee's partner was Ebon Winters, the best friend of Yang Xiao Long. Ebon's face mirrored that of Ruby's, a snarl of hate on it and hard black eyes glaring at even harder sliver ones. Ebon's swarthy hands gripped the handle of her huge sword, a nodachi the weapon dork in Ruby noticed absently. Ebon started to pull the blade out, but was stopped by a light poke on the shoulder. Ebon looked over and saw no one, confused, she looked down and saw Neo, smiling sweetly as she started to tap the point of her parasol on the stone floor. "Try and pull that out, go on. Try."
Ebon winched at the sound of the parasol and let her sword slid back into it's sheathe. She turned back to Ruby her face set in a mask. She opened her mouth. "We-" Whatever genius thing that was about to leave her mouth never had a chance as Weiss saw what was happening and came storming back from the relics. "What is going on here?" She demanded, seeing the obvious hostility between the three girls. Ebon answered her. Her gaze never leaving Ruby's.
"This is the bit-" Black eyes flicked to Neo, who was staring up at Ebon like a cat might stare at a mouse. "-This person is the same one who tried to kill my friend on the main road and sent me to the infirmary!" Weiss stared at her in shock and then turned on Ruby.
"That was you?! You cost nearly thousands of lien in damage! You nearly killed two people and injured dozens of others! You-HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE?!" The last part was shouted.
Ruby was spared from answering by a pricing scream that sound like Weiss in pain. The scream was soon followed by others and then an gigantic crash.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Weiss looked to the west where the sounds of screaming and large objects falling were coming from, she drew a Dust Rapier from her waist. No one answered her however, because at that moment, Skyler fell screaming from the sky and hit the ground with a hard, nosiy thud. Ruby rushed over to him, followed closely by Neo. Ruby dropped to her knees beside the gasping boy.
"Skyler?! What happened?!"
He grabbed Ruby's shoulders and gasped out. "Nevermore...Crimson..is insane! Said it was too slow to walk. Wanted to lasso it...He succeeded, but..." He took a deep breath before shouting the last part.
"THE NEVERMORE ATE CRIMSON!"
"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN A NEVERMORE ATE CRIMSON!"
The last thing Skyler saw before he blacked out was the view of a screaming, flying blond boy go over the heads of Ruby and Neo.
Okay...that is a bit of a weird chapter ending. Still, I hope you liked it and leave a review if you think I could make it better or just to comment on it! See you in the next chapter!