Chapter 7

"Ruby!" shouted Weiss as she held on for dear life, "I told you this was a terrible idea!"

"It's fine!" Ruby shouted, "Stop worrying!" The two were the back of a Nevermore. Not just any Nevermore though. This one had, in his talons, one Theodore Constantine who was struggling to get out of its grip. Ruby had the idea to jump on the Nevermore, climb to where Theodore is and pry him out of the things talons. Sadly, they couldn't go anywhere with all the wind in their face and the fear of falling.

"I am so far beyond worrying!"

"In a good way?"

"In a bad way! In a very bad way!"

"Well, why don't we just jump?"

"What are you? Insane?" Weiss never got an answer. Wondering why, she looked to her left and saw no Ruby. The girl had literally jumped off the Nevermore.

"Oh, you insufferable little red- "

"CAN YOU PLEASE SAVE THE COMPLAINING FOR LATER AND HELP ME?!" Theodore shouted for fear that the Nevermore would decide to drop him at any minute or land at its intended destination and eat him for lunch.

Blake and Yang had arrived at the temple earlier and found chess pieces at the temple. These must have been the relics, because some of them were missing. Some the students must have gotten there first and taken the pieces they chose. Looking around they chose a white knight to which Yang called it a 'cute little pony.' Just as they were about to head back they heard what sounded like a girl scream (It was Jaune).

"Blake, did you hear that?" Yang asked, "What should we do?" Blake's attention wasn't on the scream, however, but on the sky or precisely what was falling from the sky. Looking at Yang, she pointed up for her to focus her attention upwards. Looking up, Yang saw her sister falling straight towards them.

"Heads up!" Ruby shouted while falling. Thankfully, her plummet was canceled with the help of Jaune who crashed into her and both fell into a tree. Both were unharmed, but Ruby was dizzy and Jaune was hanging upside down on one of the branches. Ruby shook the dizziness out of her head and looked around realizing she was in a tree. Trying to figure out how she got up it, her attention was turned somewhere else when she heard a 'ahem' and looked to see Jaune hanging from a branch like a monkey.

"Hey Ruby." He said.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.

"I- "Yang didn't get to answer as they heard what sounded like an ursa. Looking towards the woods, it was an ursa, but it looked like it was dazed. Behind it came a shot and someone shouting "YEHAW!" The ursa fell revealing Nora riding it using her weapon, which was a grenade launcher, as a whip. When it fell, she rolled off it with a sad look.

"Aww, it's broken." She said. Ren followed close behind, out of breath from running. Finally catching up, he placed a hand on the dead ursa to stabilize himself so that he could catch his breath.

"Nora, please." He said while gasping for air, "Don't ever do that again."

Looking around, he saw that Nora was gone. She had dashed to the old temple to look around. She eyed a white rook before grabbing it and holding up like it was a trophy.

"I'm queen of the castle." She sang while placing the rook on her head like a crown, "I'm queen of the castle."

"NORA!" Ren shouted.

"Hehehe, coming Ren." She answered while saluting and placing the rook in her hand. She then walked off to him.

"Did that girl just ride in on an ursa?" Blake asked.

"I- "Yang, once again, didn't get to answer as they heard a screech from the woods. Looking in that direction they saw Pyrrha getting chased by a deathstalker. She dodged each of its pincers while maintaining her speed. Looking around she saw her partner in the trees.

"JAUNE!" She shouted.

"Pyrrha." Jaune said while trying to get out of branches. Ruby got up letting out a 'Woah' and jumped down from the tree. Jaune called her name hoping for help but it was in vain. Ruby did a roll and stood up.

"Ruby?" asked Yang.

"Yang!" replied Ruby going to give her sister a hug, but an individual got caught in the excitement and decided to get between the two and shout her name as well.

"NORA!" she shouted. The focus of the girls was once again on the deathstalker chasing her.

"Did she run all the way here with a deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Yang shouted, her aura flaring, eyes red, and flames dancing around her, "COULD EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!"

Everyone calmed down after Yang's outburst, except Nora who laughed gleefully when Ren hobbled over to join them. Ruby and Blake were looking up in the sky at something.

"Um…Yang." Ruby said to her sister while pointing up. Weiss was no longer on top of the nevermore but she was holding on for dear life to Theodore's free hand. Both wanted to get away from the Grimm but not at the cost of their lives.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!" Weiss shouted to Ruby.

"RELAX ICE PRINCESS!" Theodore shouted, "AT LEAST WE'RE NOT FALLING TO OUR DEATHS!" He would soon come to regret saying that because the grip on the nevermore's talon began to loosen. "OH, COME ON! THERE'S NO WAY MY LUCK IS THIS BAD!"

"I said jump." Ruby replied.

"Their gonna fall." Blake said.

"They'll be fine."

"They're falling." Ren said.

Falling they were, with Weiss holding onto Theodore for dear life. Seeing how close they were to the trees, Theodore pulled out his grappling gun and fired toward one of them. When the hook latched onto one he immediately activated the reeling mechanism and both he and Weiss were being pulled to safety. Sadly, however, there was a problem in the way.

"JAUNE!" Theodore shouted, "HEADS UP!" The warning was a little too late for the blonde. Just as he saw who had warned him, all three-people collided into each other, simultaneously, falling out of the tree. Theodore landed on his face, while Weiss landed on Jaune's back. Weiss stood up while dusting her dress from any dirt, followed by Jaune who bent backwards to make sure he hadn't broken anything. Theodore got up last making sure his grappling gun wasn't broken. Seeing that it wasn't, he placed it back in his coat pocket. Out of nowhere, Pyrrha collide into Jaune after taking a hit from the deathstalker that was chasing her.

"Great the gang's all here." Yang said sarcastically, "Now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it." Ruby said before charging after the deathstalker with her weapon ready.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted. Sadly, her plea landed on deaf ears. Ruby charged forward with a battle cry ready to cut the deathstalker to pieces. The deathstalker had other plans, though, using its right pincer to swat Ruby away.

"Don't…don't worry." Ruby said while getting up, "Totally fine." Her assurance, however, was not backed up when she heard something coming up from behind her. Turning around she saw the deathstalker walking up to her with killing intent. Out of instinct, she shot the Grimm in the face and turned the other way, running. Morphing her weapon in a comfortable form and placing it on her belt, she ran as fast as she could to her sister. Yang, seeing her sister running back, started running to her as well. Ruby, sadly, had another problem on her hands. The nevermore was following her in the sky. It then rained a barrage of feathers down at the poor girl, one of them snagging her cape, and the rest nearly piercing her sister who was some feet away from her.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang shouted while getting up off the ground.

"I'm trying!" Ruby shouted while tugging on her cape, trying to pry it lose. Hearing a hiss, Ruby looked up to see the deathstalker right in front of her with its stinger in the air. Fear gripped the girl as it came down at her. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted out of pure shock and fear, seeing her sister at death's door. Hearing footsteps, she saw Theodore pass her, with his sword in hand, and swat the stinger away, just before it could hit Ruby. The deathstalker took a few steps back which gave Theodore time to pull a grenade from his left pocked, using his mouth to pull out the firing pin and thumb to start the countdown.

"HEY, SCOPINOCK! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" Theodore shouted after he spit out the firing pin. Throwing the grenade, it exploded right in the deathstalkers face dazing it. Turning around he saw the feather that stuck Ruby's coat into the ground. Ruby was looking at him with a surprised face.

"Cover your head and duck." He told her. Obeying Theodore, Ruby placed her hands on her head and ducked as low as she could. Hearing a slashing sound, followed by something falling and being pulled out she looked to see that the feather was cut and her cape was free.

"Run!" Theodore exclaimed as the deathstalker regained its senses. Ruby didn't have to be told twice and took off with Theodore following close behind. The Grimm gave chase and was slowly gaining on them. See the dilemma, Theodore decided to slow it down a bit more. Reaching into his left pants pocket, he pulled out a land mine. Activating it, he threw behind him and heard the boom when the deathstalker had foolishly stepped on it. Yang ran straight to Ruby and hugged her with a smile on her face.

"I'm so happy you're okay." Yang said to her sister after letting her go. Looking to Theodore, who was checking on the Grimm, she walked up to him. Tapping his shoulder to get his attention, he turned around to look at her.

"Thank you, for saving my sister." Yang said.

"You're welcome." Theodore replied. Their talk was interrupted, however, when a screech was heard from above. Looking up, everybody saw the nevermore flying in the sky.

"Guys, that thing is circling back." Jaune said while pointing to the nevermore, "What are we going to do?"

"Look," Weiss said "there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right." Ruby said, "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fight these things."

"Run and live." Jaune summarized, "That is an idea I can get behind."

Walking to the temple, Ruby and Jaune picked their pieces. Jaune grabbed a white knight and Jaune grabbed a white rook. Theodore walked up to pick a piece after they were done. Everyone, including Weiss, expected him to pick one of the pieces with great importance, like a queen, king, or black knight. They were surprised, however, when he chose a white pawn piece instead. They didn't have time to ask him when they heard a roar. Looking back, they saw the deathstalker had regained its senses once again.

"Time, we left." Ren said.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Theodore said while placing the pawn in his right pants pocket.

"Right. Let's go." Ruby said and ran ahead to the cliffs with everyone else following her. Yang hadn't followed immediately. She was watching her sister lead everyone with a proud smile on her face. Blake stopped right beside her, thinking that something was wrong.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing." She replied with the smile still on her face. She then ran to catch up to everyone with Blake right behind her. Soon everyone could see the cliffs half a mile away. They were home free, or so they thought. The nevermore had followed them all the way to their exit and was blocking it. They hid behind the pillars to avoid being seen by it.

"Well that's great." Yang said sarcastically. A noise caught everyone by surprise. Turning around they saw the deathstalker charging out of the woods.

"Aw man, run!" Jaune shouted running towards the cliffs with Pyrrha following him. Everyone did the same, seeing no other option but to fight their way through. Seeing the students running towards it, the nevermore took flight at them.

"Nora, distract it." Ren told Nora who listened. The nevermore, seeing the pink skirt girl alone, focused its attack on her by sending a barrage of feathers at her. To its disappointment, not one hit its mark and the Grimm was reward with a pink grenade in the face. She chased the Grimm away only to almost be pierced by the deathstalker if Blake and Ren hadn't intervened. While those two distracted it, Weiss used her glyphs to get Nora to safety.

Jaune and Pyrrha were crossing the bridge with Blake and Ren following them, as well as the deathstalker. Fearing that the Grimm would cross the bridge with them, Pyrrha turned her weapon into a rifle, and took aim at the deathstalker.

"Go, go!" she shouted to Jaune and started shooting. Doing a roll, Ren followed suit and started shooting at the deathstalker with his weapons which were mini machine-guns. Seeing the Grimm was getting too close, they fled from it thankful that it was too big to cross the bridge. Their relief, however, was short lived as the nevermore came flying back towards them. Using its head as a battering ram, the nevermore broke the bridge separating the students. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Theodore, Nora, and Jaune were closet to the cliff while Pyrrha, Ren, and Blake were stuck on the other side fighting the deathstalker.

"Man, we gotta get over there." Jaune said, "They need help."

"Let's do this." Nora said, her grenade launcher at the ready.

"Yeah, but uh," Jaune replied while looking at the broken path, "I can't make that jump."

Nora gave Jaune a smirk and accidentally hit him when she transformed her grenade launcher into a hammer. Running a bit forward and then jumping into the air, she turned around looking like she was ready to hit something. Jaune looked up just in time to figure out what Nora was going to do.

"Oh, wait!" he pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears as Nora hit the piece of the bridge they were on and catapulted him to the other side. While flying he was shouting "NO, NO, NO, NO!" Nora then stood on her hammer and with the grenade launcher mechanism still functional, flew over with a smile on her face. As she made it to the other side, along with Jaune, she brought the hammer down on the deathstalker's head causing it to screech in pain and attack her with its stinger. Seeing the danger, Nora blasted herself away just in time, but accidentally bumped into Blake knocking her off the bridge.

Blake threw her weapon, with a rope attached to it, into one of the pillars and swung between two others. Seeing her chance when the nevermore flew by, attacked it by slashing at its face and slashing its back while running on it. She got off it by jumping and landing on a structure.

Did she just teleport to it? Theodore thought to himself. He recorded the whole thing with his scroll but decided to look at it later. Putting it away, he joined Ruby, Yang, and Weiss near the edge of the structure on a rotted stairway, watching the nevermore fly by to turn back to them. Blake joined them shortly after.

"It's tougher than it looks." She informed them.

"Then let's hit it with everything we got." Yang said cocking her gauntlets on her hands. Seeing that the girls were using long ranged weapons, Theodore decided to do the same by pulling his gun out of his trench coat and taking aim with his left hand. It looked like a futuristic shotgun, with a silver color to it. The handle was glowing red, which indicated that was the power source.

"Eat laser, you over grown pigeon." He said and started shooting at the same time the girls started. Some of the shots hit their target while most of them missed. The ones that did hit had no affect at all. Unfazed, the nevermore crashed below the structure where they were standing, causing it to collapse the girls got themselves to safety while Theodore was flung near the cliffs. His back impacted the cliff before he landed on his buttocks below the it.

This Grimm is really getting on my nerves. He thought. He put his gun away and was going to use his grappler when he saw Yang do something daring. She jumped to where the nevermore could catch her in its beak and swallow her whole. That wasn't the case though as Yang held the beak open with her legs and left arm.

"I-HOPE-YOU'RE-HUN-GRY!" she shouted while firing a shot into its mouth with each word. Seeing the cliff coming up from behind, she jumped off the nevermore right before it crashed into it. Seeing that the Grimm was going to land gracefully, right next to him, Theodore ran towards it with his sword in hand.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING A NICE LANDING!" he shouted right as he slashed at both its legs, cutting them clean off, causing the nevermore to land on its face.

"Revenge, is a dish best served sharp." He said to the bird. The nevermore tried to fly away, but couldn't when its tail was caught in a pillar of ice. Seeing this, Theodore looked for the source and saw Weiss jump back to her teammates. Continuing to watch, he saw Blake and Yang make what looked like a slingshot. Ruby then catapulted herself onto the rope while Weiss held her in place.

Oh no, they're not going to do it. Are they? He thought to himself. To his astonishment, Ruby was let loose, flying straight to the nevermore, catching its neck by her weapons blade. She then proceeded to run up the cliff, dragging the nevermore with her. Right as she reached the top, she decapitated the Grimm and landed gracefully. Theodore looked on, ignoring the body that fell past him with a surprised look on his face.

"I would hate to get on her bad side." He said to himself.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Delft Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Ozpin said to the four individuals on stage, "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester."

Everyone clapped hearing the announcement. The four individuals stepped off stage and the next four stepped up.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Nora hugged Ren excitedly after hearing the news. Jaune was surprised hearing that he would lead the team.

"Huh? Led by…?" he asked gesturing to himself.
"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin added. Pyrrha gave Jaune a friendly punch in the shoulder as saying congrats. Doing so, she accidentally caused him to fall making everyone in the auditorium laugh.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin said gesturing to the four girls as they walked up to the stage. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang exclaimed while hugging her surprised sister. Theodore had a smile on his face while watching from the sides. He could tell from the start that Ruby had the makings of a great leader.

You made the right choice Ozpin. He thought.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an…interesting year." Ozpin added. The last part he said while looking at Theodore. The boy looked back at him knowing the headmaster had some questions. He nodded, the gesture saying, 'I'll be happy to answer them anytime, anywhere.'

In a warehouse, somewhere in Vale, Roman Torchwick was on the phone talking to someone. He slammed it on the table after the call ended, obviously disturbed by the news. Groaning in annoyance he lit his cigar hoping to take his mind off the robbery failure he heard about.

How could this have happened? He thought to himself, I was criminal number one in all of Remnant. The police had to camp everywhere, dust prices came through the roof, and we had more dust than we could handle. Until Theodore What's-his-Name came and decided to play as Vale's hometown hero. Now, a whole year has gone by and I've gone down in the world.

Roman was chased from his thoughts when he heard something being rolled into the room. Looking to his right, he saw a member of the White Fang roll a cart with metal crate on it. Doing a trick with some lien in his hand, he placed on the table for the member to take it.

"Open it." Torchwick said. The White Fang member took a crow bar and pried the crate open. Inside were three stacks of dust crystals sorted out by color, orange, blue, white, red, green, light blue, and light orange with some yellow in the mix. Picking up one, Torchwick looked at it, admiring the fact that this robbery was successful but he knew this would not last. Theodore would catch on and stop his next robbery again in a heartbeat.

"We're gonna need more men."