Chapter 5
Initiation-1
(Beacon Ballroom) [Morning of initiation]
Ruby P.O.V.
The first thing I notice when I wake up is Yang standing above me, looking down with that knowing smile plastered on her face. 'Gah! That is the last time I let Blake convince me to stay up with her until midnight. No doubt Yang has some blackmail material now. What a weird-ass dream though. It felt real. Almost too real. No! There's no time to worry about that now! I need to get dressed!' Quickly shoving last night's dream into the back of my mind, I raise a foot and use it to move Yang away from me. As I do so, I reach over to my bag, grab the strap, and use my semblance to rush to the nearest bathroom. When I safely close and lock the door to my stall, I let my ears assume their normal position. I have never had to consciously hold them down in my sleep before, and it fucking hurts! As my ears stop hurting, a quickly rummage through my bag to grab my corset, combat skirt, combat boots, and cloak. With that sorted out, I also grab a change of underwear and take a peek under the stall door to make sure the way to the showers are clear. When I am convinced, I rush as quickly as I can without drawing attention to myself to the shower stall furthest from the door, taking my clothes with me. I make the shower as quick as possible, after hiding my ears in my hair when I thought I heard someone heading towards me, and get dressed with a little help from my semblance. As soon as I get my cloak fastened, I pull the hood up over my ears, leaving it a little open so I can still hear all around me, and I head towards the locker room with bag in hand. Once I enter, I make a beeline for my locker, which is right next to Yang's. I notice that she is wearing golden bracelets I hadn't seen before.
"Hey, Yang?"
"Yes?"
"What are those?" I ask pointing to her bracelets.
"Oh! That's right! You never did get to see my weapon!"
Upon saying that, Yang clenches her fists, causing her bracelets to transform into shotgun-gauntlets that stretch to her elbow.
"Ruby, close your mouth, you're drooling. Meet my babies, Ember Celica."
'Oops! Didn't even realize it. Heh.' After Yang points that out, I shut my mouth and rub the back of my head in embarrassment. "Heh… sorry."
"It's okay, Rubes! Now who's a good girl?" At this, she starts to rub my head through my cloak, but I abruptly push her hand off.
"YANG! NOT HERE!"
"Aww! Come on!" Seeming to forget about my faunus heritage, she adds in a whisper, 'I have ten years worth of wolf puns to go through.'
"You better not go through any of them if you value your hair."
"NOT MY HAIR!"
"Then don't make any canine pun around me, otherwise I will use my Sweetheart to cut your hair like Vomit-boy over there," I say, pointing over my shoulder towards said blonde who, at this moment, was trying to flirt, and failing, with the Ice Bitch and an unknown red-head. After a couple of minutes, the red-head took her weapon, a spear by the looks of it, and sent him into a locker, holding him off the floor by his hoodie, with the red-head yelling after him, "SORRY~!"
"Well, that was a thing," I hear Yang say to me.
"Yup."
After Weiss left, the red-head let vomit-boy down, putting her spear away as soon as it was in hand. Upon seeing that, I remember I still have to grab MY Sweetheart from my locker. Quickly punching in the code even Blake could never guess, I open the locker and switch my bag with Crescent Rose. As I close my locker, I realize that there has been a constant voice in the air that hasn't shut up yet. I turn to my right and see a girl with orange hair talking non-stop to a dude with hair like mine, only he has a magenta streak instead of red tips. 'So that's who was talking. They act like they are childhood friends as he isn't getting annoyed in the slightest.' Shrugging my shoulders, I walk towards the cliffside with Yang. As we near, I notice Blake, Weiss, and some others are already there, each standing on top of a square platform, along with Ozpin and Glynda standing off to the side. As I take my spot between Blake and Yang, I see the red-head take a spot three down from Yang, with the two in-between being taken by the two childhood friends. Vomit-boy is the last to arrive and takes the last platform available. When he steps onto it, Ozpin stepped forward and started speaking. I didn't take notice until I saw someone at the far end get sent flying, and the platforms working their way towards this end means it is a timed delay.
"–on't destroy everything in your path, you will die. Now, we will be dropping you off in the Emerald Forest. When you land, make your way north towards the forest temple and collect one artifact. I know there have been rumors as to the prospect of teams, so let me put them to rest. You will be given your teams today. With that said, the first person you make eye contact with upon landing will be your partner for the next four years. Any questions?" Vomit-boy raised his hand. "Good."
"Uhh… Sir? Are we taking a Bullhead?"
"No, you will be launched."
I didn't hear the rest as I got launched through the air. The wind was threatening to tear my hood off my head, so I quickly took my headphones out of my pocket and put them on, pulling my hood off in the same motion. In my distracted state, I didn't see the bird until I hit it.
"BIRDIE NOOOOOOO!" 'Well… shit!'
When I was about five yards above the tree line, I pulled my Sweetheart from my back, putting her in her sniper form, and fired a couple of shots in front of me to try to slow down. When that didn't work, I unfurled her into her scythe form and started using the trees to slow down. Suddenly, I hear Yang above me, yelling in joy as she fires her babies behind her, trying to get as far into the forest as possible. As soon as I know I can land safely, I put Crescent Rose away and tucked into a roll, landing safely, and then sprang to my feet, running in the direction I heard Yang head, with a little help from my semblance.
'Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang! Gotta find – '
"YANG! YA~ANG!"
While I was running, I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, that is until I saw a flash of white in front of me. Upon seeing it, I skid to a stop, only to make eye contact with the last person I wanted. Now that I think about it, I suppose having the Ice Bitch as a partner wouldn't be that bad. Suddenly Weiss turns around and stalks off.
"Wait! Where are you going?! We're supposed to be teammates!"
When Weiss is out of my field of view, I give a relieved sigh while slouching my shoulders. When I hear the bushes rustle from the direction Weiss walked off in, I quickly look like I was dejected as Weiss came back, grabbed the hood of my cape, and dragged me off.
"By no means does this make us friends."
"YOU CAME BACK!"
As I was dragged away, I noticed Vomit-boy hanging from a tree, yet again by that red head's spear. When my vision was obscured completely, I heard someone ask Vomit-boy, "Got any spots left on your team?" Once we were well out of earshot of Vomit-boy and his new teammate, Weiss let go of my cape and kept walking without slowing down. As I try to catch up with her, I decide to pass the time with some chitchat.
"What's the hurry?"
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow. I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your– What the?"
I couldn't help but show off when she called me slow, so I used my semblance to get in front of her. "I'm not slow see? You don't have to worry about me!"
"When did– "
"Look, 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. You're about to see a whole different side of me today!" With that said, I pull the Ice Bitch into a one-armed hug. "And after it's all over, you're gonna be like 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool… and I want to be her friend'."
When I saw her roll her eyes, that was enough for me, so I used my semblance once again, this time to leave Weiss behind. Only, I went up a nearby tree to wait for her to notice her mistake of brushing me off. When the petals from using my semblance were gone, I could hear her yell at me, again.
"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!"
'We'll see who wastes time the most Weiss. Oh we will see.' As I rushed up the tree, I happened to notice fresh Beowolf tracks, indicating a pack was still in the area. When I hear the leaves start to rustle off to my right, I am proven to have been correct in my assumptions. 'I hope they won't smell me.'
"Ruby?"
I want to yell at her so badly, but I figure that she needs to learn she can trust me to have her back, so I stay silent as the pack approaches.
"…Ruby?"
That is when I see the Alpha step out into the tiny clearing from my right. When Weiss turns around, they make eye contact for a split second before Weiss goes into panic mode.
"RUBY!" 'FUCK! Why does she have to scream so loud all the time?! This is starting to get annoying!'
Soon enough, Weiss allows herself to get surrounded by the rest of the pack. As I watch, I see the Beowolves sizing up Weiss while she gets into her fencing form. I watch as she goes through motions drilled into her head from a young age, until I catch some motion out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turn my head and see one of the smaller Beowolves trying to sneak up on my partner, so I silently drop down to the ground, simultaneously unfolding Crescent Rose fully, and rush towards them. As I approach, I notice Weiss turn around to intercept the incoming Beowolf, but I am already in motion so I can't stop myself. As Weiss moves forward, I reach my destination and slice the Grimm in half, causing Weiss to falter in her approach, and sending a wave of fire from her rapier off into the forest. 'Oops.' As I was distracted by the wave of fire, the Alpha tries to slash at my abdomen. Seeing this, I quickly pull my Sweetheart up to black it, but the was more force behind the blow than I thought, causing me to get sent backwards into the Ice Bitch.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"Excuse me, but you attacked out of turn! I could have killed you!"
"I was talking to the Grimm, Ice Bitch. Plus, you're gonna have to try harder than that."
As Weiss was struggling to find the right words to express her frustration at my tone, I reloaded my Sweetheart and got ready to dash at the alpha… until the tree Weiss' flame dust hit fell into our path, scaring us and angering the Beowolves. With the tree separating us from them, Weiss grabbed my hand and quickly dragged me away, yelling, "We have to go!" After running what feels like a mile, Weiss finally loosens her grip on my arm.
"What was that?" I yell at her. "That should've been easy!"
Somehow, even out of breath, Weiss manages to retain her air of dignity. "Well, perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution, I wouldn't have started a forest fire!"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little in battle."
"Well I'm sorry if you need my help to win! In case you didn't notice, you would have died if I hadn't come back for you!"
After hearing myself say this, I immediately regret it, mainly due to the hurt displayed on my partner's face. Turning on her heel, she walked away as fast as her heels would allow her.
"W-Weiss! I didn't mean that! Come back! Please?"
After not hearing a response, I felt a rising anger, so I let it out the only way I knew how. Unfurling Crescent Rose completely while letting out a shriek of annoyance, I cut clean through the nearest tree and stalk off in the direction I saw Weiss go.
[Forty-five minutes later]
"Ru-u-u-by! I told you this was a terrible idea!"
'At least I can barely hear her screaming.' Thanks to the wind whipping past us at high speeds, Weiss' voice barely reached my faunus hearing.
"We're fine! Stop worrying!"
"I am far beyond worrying! Tell me again, why I let you convince me to jump onto a Nevermore's back?"
Yes, I admit, it was a foolish idea to begin with, but anything to get us to the temple was worth a shot, right? Besides, as long as the Nevermore doesn't try to attack us, we're fine. Right?
"Because it's the fastest way to the temple! Now jump!"
I didn't hear Weiss' response as I had taken my own advice. Unfortunately, I did not take into account the wind, and soon lost all sense of control in my fall. Luckily, I saw Blake and Yang below me. As I got closer to the ground, I could hear them talking. Well… Yang was talking while Blake was looking me in the eyes and pointing at me with shock in her eyes.
"Blake, did you hear that? What should we d– "
A/N Alright guys, I know this is just retelling the videos with my own twist, so don't complain. Please, I got enough PMs about that to last a lifetime. You know who you are. Now, seeing as how I have told this with alterations here and there, I decided to mix up the next chapter. If all goes according to plan, then it will be a Halloween special of sorts. Please review and all that junk. Reviews help me to improve my writing so any comments will be greatly appreciated as long as it has nothing to do with the storyline. See you guys later, probably around Halloween.
=Ciao=
