Ravus pushed past the branches and held them for Aero to follow him into the clearing. They looked out over trees, seeming to be on the top of a hill. Taking in their surroundings Ravus spotted a circular stone structure below them. He also spotted two figures, looked like girls, from the right heading toward the structure as well.
"Who do you think they are?" Ravus asked Aero, directing his attention to the red and brown haired girls.
"Well, there are other students going through initiation." Aero pointed out. Ravus rolled his eyes.
"Hey." Ravus awkwardly called over to them. The two girls turned around at the sound. They quickly spotted the boys and the red head waved back in acknowledgment. "Well, they seem nice enough." He commented as they walked down the hill toward the temple and girls.
"Not everyone is going to be like that first girl you ran into Ravus." Aero responded back as the reach the bottom of the hill.
"Nice to see that we're not the only one's left in this forest." The brown haired girl commented.
"Yup. Vivian, right?" Aero asked, looking at her. She smiled and nodded in agreement.
"How do you know her?" Ravus asked confused.
"Classmate from Signal and friend of Yang's. Speaking of which, have you seen her?" He asked returning to Vivian.
"Not yet. Natasha and I haven't seen anyone other than you two this whole time." She responded looking over as the red head walked over from the stone podiums.
"What's that?" Ravus asked, gesturing to the objects Natasha held in her hands.
"I'm guessing the relics. But they look like chess pieces. These are the bishops." She held them up so the rest could see.
"I think you only need one per pair to complete the task." Aero noted.
"Oh, well do you two want the other?" Natasha offered, holding out the matching white bishop.
"Sure." Ravus said with a smile. I guess Aero was right. Not everyone's got a chip on their shoulder like Weiss. As Ravus pocketed the relic he looked back at Natasha who was looking him over. "Eh, everything ok?" He asked confused.
"Just curious." She asked, putting her finger on her chin. "How old are you?"
"Oh, uh, I…" Ravus trailed off, looking over at Aero for some support.
"Eh, doesn't matter." Natasha suddenly said with a smile. "You made it Beacon so that shows you've got the right stuff!" She finished enthusiastically.
"Yeah, heh." Ravus laughed nervously. "Well, uh, now that we've got the relics, we just need to find a way out of the forest."
"Professor Ozpin said to return to the top of the cliff." Aero pointed out.
"But that can't mean where we started." Vivian interjected. "We would have to travel all the way back through the forest."
"Well, he does seem crazy enough to make us do that." Natasha commented with a smirk.
"No, he would have told us if we needed to turn around." Ravus countered. He looked around and spotted a stone in the distance. He jogged lightly in its direction, spotting more stones leading down a clearing. "I think that's the way we need to go." Ravus said, pointing slightly in the direction. The others joined him and looked in the direction of the clearing.
"Sound reasonable enough to me." Vivian said with a smile.
"Really?" Ravus asked.
"Yeah, don't sound so surprised." Natasha affirmed, walking past Ravus in the direction of the stones. The four huntsmen walked along the pathway, spotting the cliff in the distance.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Vivian suddenly asked, stopping in her tracks.
"Hear what?" Ravus asked. All he could hear was some rustling leaves. Probably just some wind, right? However, just as he was about to speak, a low rumble sounded from behind a patch of trees, following by snapping wood.
Ravus suddenly felt a firm hand latch onto his upper arm and was quickly pulled into a patch of foliage. He looked over to see Natasha, still gripping his arm, staring wide eyed through the leaves. A sudden crash brought his attention back to the trees and standing before them was a Grimm he had never seen before. It stood nearly as tall as the trees and was as wide as a car. It had curved tusks protruding by its mouth with a long snout between.
"Wha...what's that?" He asked, trying not to let his nerves show.
"I thought they didn't live this close to the school." Vivian whispered quietly next to Ravus.
"It's a Goliath." Aero explained. "A slower, more ancient Grimm normally found in packs." Ravus looked back over at the creature. Aero wasn't lying that it was slow. Ruby could outrun it, even without her semblance. As it walked, it stopped in the center of the pathway to the cliff, blocking their way.
"Looks like we're going around." Vivian said.
"I think we can keep moving forward." Ravus suggested.
"Ravus we can't just take on a Grimm like that." Aero -. "That think is twice as large as a full grown Ursa. Our best bet is to go around it and avoid being spotted." Ravus turned back toward the Goliath. I've taken on two Ursa's before back on the island. This thing is slow and a massive target.
"Ok, it looks like there's some more covering about…Ravus what are you doing!" Aero shouted. Vivian and Natasha looked in horror as the Goliath stared at Ravus as he casually walked up to it.
"Ravus." Natasha shouted again, but he didn't look back. He took out Shooting Star, the sliver blade glinting in the sun.
You made it Beacon so that shows you've got the right stuff. Ravus took a deep breath before launching his first attack. He charged at the creature, dodging its trunk and slicing at its leg as he slid past. As the creature slowly turned Ravus jumped and transform his sword to more of a spear, stabbing it into the Grimm's back between the protruding bones. As he pushed himself off the Grimm, he felt a sudden wind push him into the trees. Ravus groaned and opened his eyes, the Goliath raising its trunk at him. The grimm moaned as it looked down toward its foot, shaking its head in frustration. A black, almost holographic disk rotated around the creature's leg, seeming to keep it in place.
"Ravus get out of there!" Vivian commanded as she dove past the Goliath to keep it distracted. The beast raised it's head and thrust head down toward Vivian, its massive tusks clanging against Vivian's axe head.
"Vivian!" Natasha called, sending green blasts at the Goliath's side opposite her partner. Ravus quickly got up and ran toward Aero.
"Are you ok?" Aero asked, sending dust blasts at the Goliath's behind. The beast roared in frustration, swinging its trunk wildly and with enough force to dent a tree.
"You were right. This is all my fault. We've go to-" Another, much deeper roar suddenly came from the tree lining behind Vivian. Ravus felt his cheeks grow cold as he saw a dozen eyes hidden from the trees and glistening tusks begin to emerge.
Vivian turned around helplessly as a much larger Goliath emerged, its head as tall as the top leaves and its trunk as thick as her body. As if it was swatting a fly, the new Goliath knocked Vivian across the pathway and nearly into one of Aero's dust blasts. A battle cry brought Ravus' attention to Natasha, frantically protecting herself with her weapon from the tusks of both the original and a third Goliath. Suddenly, she jump with a force that pushed the grass away from her feet and seemed to fly through the air as she landed by Vivian. Ravus and Aero rushed over to the girls, Vivian beginning to collect herself.
This is all my fault. I've got to do something. Ravus frantically thought. As all three Goliaths began to charge at the team, Ravus the only thing he could think off. Please work. Crossing his arms in front of himself, he first felt the full force of the massive Grimm and the faint sound of the others' voices.
Stay focused. He willed himself as he felt himself go weightless as they all fell downward. His vision began to blur as they began bouncing off of objects. He felt his head spin as he finally released his arms and dropped in exhaustion.
Is he alright?! What happened?
We ran into a pretty big Grimm.
How long has he been out?
A while. Natasha and I had carry him up the cliff.
Did the Grimm do that?
I don't think so. They sort of...appeared.
Wait, I think he's waking up! Ravus?
"Ravus?" Ravus groaned at the sound of his name and attempted to open his eyes but all he could see was the sun and some blurred shadows. He weakly lifted his arm to block the light and saw his sisters leaning over him.
"Ruby? Yang?" He strained as he sat himself up. "How'd…how'd you get here?" He asked holding his head.
"We climbed the cliff." Yang answered.
"Cliff?" Ravus replied confused.
"Yeah. The final stop in our initiation." Yang explained, gently pulling him up. Ravus winced at her touch on his arm as a pain radiated through his arm. As he stood he saw about a hundred feet away from where they were a drop in the horizon with far of trees below.
"Oh." Ravus looked around and noticed everyone was there, well, everyone he sorta knew. There was of course Aero, Vivian, and Natasha, looking very relieved. Standing near them were Jaune and the tall red head from the locker room along with the quite boy and talkative girl. Farthest from Ravus was Weiss and… the black haired girl? Ravus felt himself tense up a little and go light headed again.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, uh, he has this thing where if he uses his semblance too much it kinda, uh-"
"Makes him pass out." Yang interrupted her little sister as she stabilized Ravus. "Easy there buddy." She reassured him as Ravus shook his head out.
"Right. Sorry." He apologized sheepishly and looked back at Blake.
"What about what's on his arms?" Jaune questioned. Ravus looked down to see a large open blister on his right forearm surrounded by red skin. Ravus grabbed his cap to cover it but spotted another burn on his left hand.
"They, uh, go away eventually." Ravus answered quietly, noticing his hand already beginning to return to it's normal color.
"So, now what do we do?" Jaune asked.
"I guess we go back to Beacon." Ruby offered. "But I'm not sure exactly how." She drew out as she looked around. As if on cue, the whole group covered their ears as the sound of a small airship began descending toward them.
"Looks like this is our ride!" Yang shouted as the engines died down. Soon everyone was inside and on their way back to school.