A/N Thank you guys for being patient with me. As a reward, here is the next chapter. Just a heads up, don't expect this chapter to be like the others. Anywho! Hope you guys enjoy!
P.S. Also, I decided to fuck it. This will be a relatively short chapter. The Halloween special will be one of the next two, and will be longer than chapter 4.
P.P.S. Please don't hate on me for the P.O.V. as this is not really a filler chapter. And once you realize who this is following, don't skip, as this will be relevant later on, and the flashback has a short flashback inside of it, indicated by italics in these fancy brackets {}.

Chapter 6

Initiation-2

(Somewhere in the Emerald Forest) [Unknown]

Unknown P.O.V.

'What is taking them so long!? We should've already gathered and reached the temple!' As I pull away from the tree I was leaning against, I notice the shadow of a Nevermore pass over the trees to my left. As I look up, I see the owner of the shadow. I was about to ask my partner if he saw what I did, but he beat me to it.

"Are those people riding that Nevermore?"

'Okay. So I wasn't just seeing things.' As it turns out, two people were clinging to one of the Nevermore's wings, one of them wearing red while the other wore white. As me and my partner watched, I saw the red figure jump off, leaving the white figure on the Nevermore.

"Did they j– "

"Yes. They left their partner on the back of a Grimm. Based on the size and the plating, a fucking ancient one at that."

While we were distracted by the Grimm, the last of our party showed up. One of them has slicked-back dark blue hair, wearing dark grey armor with a V-neck shirt underneath, and has his grey-black halberd strapped across his back. The other has light brown hair in a bowl-cut, wearing tan colored armor, and has his own short sword strapped to his left hip.

"What are you two looking at?"

While my partner jumped at their approach, I just pointed towards the Nevermore, which seemed to have lost its last passenger and was attacking the general area where the first had jumped.

"That Nevermore had two people riding it, but one jumped off," I told the newcomers.

"Are you sure that they jum – "

"OF COURSE I AM!"

While silently berating the ignorance of my team-to-be, I started walking away from the Nevermore, which I hoped was north.

"Umm…North's the other way…towards the Nevermore."

"FUCK!"

Turning on my heel, I pushed past my partner, who was behind me, and stormed off towards the temple.

(Emerald Forest, Temple) [Ten minutes later]

Upon arriving at the temple, my team-to-be and I happened upon what looked like a battle ground. Off towards the cliff, I noticed a line of trees had been either torn down or trampled by an ancient Deathstalker, which I could barely see in the distance. A little way past it was what looked to be some ruins with the Nevermore circling the central tower. Turning my attention back to the temple, I notice there are only a few 'relics' left. As I got closer, I noticed they seemed to be –

"Chess pieces? What the fuck do they expect us to do with chess pieces?"

*sigh* 'Sometimes I wonder why I keep him around.' "I believe Ozpin has it planned so those who pic the same piece are on a team." Looking around as I say this, I notice there are only three more pairs left available: the black bishops, the white pawns, and the black rooks. "Looks like we're not the first or the last. Hey! Lark! Grab what I do!"

"Yessir!"

Walking up to one of the podiums, Lark, the teammate-to-be with dark-blue hair, followed me as I picked up one of the black bishops, mimicking my motion. Almost as soon as I get back to my partner, I hear a series of gunshots off towards the ruins, and subsequently the cliff. 'What the ? It can't be!' Running towards the cliff, I don't see the Deathstalker anywhere in sight, but I do see a group of four students standing, facing the cliff. As I approach, I see the champion of Mistral, Pyrrha Nikos, with them, so I decide to look also. What I see is not what I expected. Running up the cliff is the red figure I saw jump off the Nevermore, with said Grimm being pulled up behind it. As the figure reached the top of the cliff, I got a vague look at their weapon, which looked to be an overgrown gardening tool. I couldn't help but watch as the red-clad figure kept going skyward, dragging the Nevermore behind them, until I heard another series of shots ring out and could see the Nevermore, minus the head, fall into the gorge. As soon as the figure landed on the cliff, I was able to see their weapon better. 'What the fucking hell was Ozpin thinking!' As I tried to get back to the temple, my team finally found their voices.

"Holy shit!"
"Did you see that?"
"Who is that?"

Deciding that I needed silence to get over what I just saw, I snapped at my teammates, "SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" What followed was the silence I desperately needed. Lost in my memories, I vaguely noticed Ozpin staring at me as I handed him the 'relic' I retrieved. One memory in particular stuck with me for six years.

[Six years ago]

Unknown P.O.V.

As I sat in my bedroom, I could hear my parents arguing, again. Dad was going out on his nightly walk but wouldn't let mom know what all he did. Last week, my dad finally confided in me what exactly he was doing.

{"What I am going to tell you must never be revealed to your mother. Am I perfectly clear?"

I just nodded my head in silence, waiting for him to tell me what I wanted to know. Dad wasn't happy with just a nod.

"I need more than that, C. I need verbal confirmation."

"Okay dad, I promise not to tell mom."

"Good. The past couple of months, I have been searching for that dirty FAUNUS that knocked me out and that bitch who escaped."}

As it turned out, the VPD got a tip about one of the local White Fang headquarters soon after that. It was apparently in the Industrial District in a seemingly abandoned warehouse. As dad left, I snuck out my bedroom window to follow him. Fortunately, dad decided to walk to the warehouse and took the most direct route. About a block away from it, I could already hear the sirens indicating the police were there, when dad suddenly spun around, grabbed my arm, and slammed me into the building to my right.

"What are you doing here?!"

'Shit, how did he know I was here?' "I-I-I wanted to see you fight!"

"You aren't going to go back home on your own, are you?"

Hearing this, I shake my head so he knows I won't leave.

*sigh* "You are not making this easy for me, C, you know that, right? Fine, you can watch, but stay out of sight! I don't want to have to explain to your mother why I let you watch if you got injured! Understood?"

"Yessir!"

With that said, dad let go of my arm and continued his walk like nothing had happened. Following behind him, rubbing my arm as I did so, I saw that the raid had already started. Standing outside the loading bay doors facing inside, I saw two of the VPD officers talking to my dad while pointing at me. As I walked closer, I could faintly hear my dad say, "He can watch, but if any harm comes to him, I will hunt you down myself." After the officers gave dad some hurried, yet fearful, nods, I watched as dad stepped inside the warehouse. Running to the doors, I was yanked just short as one of the officers wrapped an arm around my waist. As I was punching the officer who grabbed me, I was yelling at him, "Let me go! I want to go with my dad!"

"Sorry, kiddo. But your pop said not to let you get hurt."

Giving a sigh of defeat, I ceased my struggling and was lowered to the ground. As soon as I felt the officer release my abdomen, I turned and kicked him in the shin, causing him to scream at the same time a loud gunshot rang out from inside the warehouse. Turning quickly to the other officer, I give him the same treatment before rushing through the doors…only to stop just inside as I beheld a bloodbath. Standing in the middle of the warehouse were two of the filthy faunus, and my dad between them. One faunus, a girl, had a red cloak, wielded a giant scythe, and looked to be two years younger than me. The other faunus, a boy, had red hair, was dressed entirely in black, and looked to be about the same age as me. As I watch, frozen in terror, the girl took her mask off and told the boy, "He's mine." As I watched, the boy backed away slowly, heading to help the rest of the filthy faunus escape, while the girl put her scythe away and took a combat stance. At this point, dad pulled out his dust rifle and already had separated it into its twin sword form. As dad was swiping and stabbing at the wolf girl, she either kept just out of reach, or dodged by a hair's breadth. After a couple of minutes, I could hear dad getting frustrated at the girl, the sign being his yelling, and started swinging faster and faster. As I continued to watch, I saw dad overextend one last swing before the faunus grabbed his forearm and slammed the heel of her palm into his elbow with a sickening crunch, followed by the clanging of one of dad's swords dropping. As soon as she let go, my dad started boasting about how that wasn't going to stop him, but that is the last I heard him say, as the faunus picked up the discarded sword, stuck it in his neck, and pulled the trigger. Dropping to my knees at the death of my dad, I watched as his murderer stood there for a minute before her knees failed her and she collapsed into the waiting arms of the red-haired faunus boy. As I watched them leave through the back of the warehouse, I was distantly aware of the officers I kicked outside picking me up, asking if I was alright, and offering to take me home along with the news about my father. After a minute or two of their noise, I punched one in the gut and the other in the face, and then proceeded to walk back the way I came. In the time it took for me to get from the warehouse to my home, I made a promise.

"I will avenge you dad. I will find that bitch that killed you, and I will avenge you. This I swear if my name isn't Cardin Winchester."

A/N Okay, don't hate on me, but this chapter is important for later in the story. If you don't like how I portrayed Cardin in the flashback, leave a review and I will try to get back to you. In the meantime, if you have any questions about me or "Mercs of a Feather" you can most likely find me in the Deviantart chat room, "Write roomies" or in the RWBY wikia chat room. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.
=Ciao=