Nick finally managed to open his eyes against the wind hitting his face. The glittering green of the trees shined below him. He was no longer gaining altitude. He looked around, most students were beginning to descend and doing their best to control it. Nick pulled his feet up closer to his body and stretched out his arms so his palms faced behind him. He willed his semblance to activate.

An explosion blasted out of his hands and feet, propelling him forward as trails of smoke glided off of him, making him nervous of leaving an obvious trail. He squinted as the wind blew into his face. He heard a few students complaining about his explosion behind him. He ignored them. He was farther ahead from the pack of students and was now steadily losing distance towards the thick tree line.

Just as he reached the sea of tree leaves, he quickly drew his swords. He hit the treeline hard, swords extended as he slashed through the smaller branches. He landed on thicker branches when possible to stabilize himself and jumped down to the next one. He worked his way closer to the trunk by doing this. When he finally reached the trunk and realized he ran out of branches that could support him. He jumped. He watched the ground grow closer. He took a breath and stabbed his swords into the trunk. His arms hurt from the impact but he didn't let go. His fall rapidly came to a stop as the blades sliced through the trunk. He pushed his feet against the trunk and pulled the swords out, flipping himself down onto the ground.

He sheathed his swords as he ran in what he hoped was the direction he was supposed to be going. The distant sounds of leaves rustling and tree branches snapping indicated the rest of the students were landing. He looked around as he slowed into a jog, looking for others. Quickly, the sounds of the students landing stopped quickly after the sound of a whole tree breaking in half. He decided to keep going, and it wasn't long before it felt almost too quiet. He stopped to take a break in a small clearing.

It felt weird having not run into anyone yet, and the silence of the woods was unusual. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as if he was being watched. He had learned long ago his instincts were usually right. He drew his swords and looked around. He began registering the sounds of leaves crunching, sticks breaking and low pitched growls. It wasn't long before the cause showed itself.

Grimm began emerging into the clearing. Ursa's, four of them. Nick smirked, not too hard. The first one charged him head on, it stood on its hinds legs and slashed down with his claw. Nick was ready, already in his fighting stance. He cut up, the powerful stroke cut through the Grimm's flesh like butter. It's entire claw separated from the body, dissolving instantly. He launched himself at the roaring Ursa, it's claw now missing. He spun around in the air, and his other sword met the beasts neck. It's head sliced off with as equal ease.

Before the creature could dissolve, he brought a sword down on what was left of the creature. The blade buried itself into it, and he catapulted himself over it in a whirlwind. His blade coming lose with him. He let his semblance create a small blast from his legs, propelling him towards the next one. He overshot the blast a little and barely managed to time the strike right. He spun in the air and brought both blades down onto the second ones head. The swords went through the creatures skull with a little more resistance. Which he used to push himself off the body and in an act of gymnastics, slice off its head as he landed behind it. The Ursa fell to the ground as it dissolved, and the first one already almost gone.

He turned his attention to the third one, it gazing at him in enraged caution. He allowed himself a smile. This felt good. It felt like he was finally strong enough. Strong enough to take his life back, and strong enough that he didn't have to be afraid of the Grimm. He launched himself again towards the third Grimm, his propelling explosion just right for once. The third Ursa began to slash in the air to stop him. Nick cut one sword up in the air and thrusted the other forward. The first blade cut into the arm of the creature, while the second stabbed into its face. He pulled the blade up, cutting through it's head while he tugged the other blade out. He landed on his feet as the beast fell backwards and began to dissolve.

Nick almost forgot about the fourth. The fourth Ursa roared behind him. He turned his head to see the Grimm with it's claws raised and closing in to slash him. He had an opening to strike, but couldn't bring himself to move. He stared in sudden shock at the Grimm. The feeling of power washed away, images of his home village being destroyed flashed before his eyes. The Grimm charged him, poised to strike him while he stared helplessly. He braced himself for the attack.

It never came. A blue light cut through the Ursa's arm, slicing it off and stopping on the ground. The source took a disc like shape large enough to cover his arm. A dust projection. The blue disc disappeared, and the smell of ash filled his nose. A dark grey cloud practically flew out of the trees at the same angle as the disc a moment ago. The dark cloud dispersed when it landed on the ground a few feet away after passing past it. The Ursa dissolved, after its head began to roll back.

Where the dark cloud of ash once was, stood a familiar figure in equally familiar lose clothes. Nicks senses finally returned as he sheathed his swords. The figure turned to face him.

"You missed one." She said, Amber. She was holding the handle he remembered she gave Glynda yesterday. Only now, a curved blade in the shake of a hooked sword sprouted out of the ends. The blade itself was rather see though, shown in the same blue dust projection light. The blade dissolved, and she hooked the handle onto her waist.

"I had a big breakfast, so I'm feeling slower then usual."

"Three dead Ursa's in under a minute say otherwise. Those were big ones too." She arched her eyebrow. "How long have you been following me?" He asked,

"Long enough to tell that you're good as far as combat is concerned."

"Fair enough. The temple shouldn't be too for from here. Shall we?" He asked, she nodded.

Before the two could take a step, the sounds of more Grimm, along with the sounds of miscellaneous gunshots could be heard throughout the forest.

"I'm not too interested in meeting the rest of these guys' friends." Nick said sheepishly.

"Agreed, we should hurry then."

"We can speed up as we go. Let my aura recharge a little faster." He said. She shrugged and the two began to walk out of the clearing in the same direction Nick was traveling earlier.

Nick walked ahead as they picked up the pace, pushing though the branches. The sounds of fighting surrounded them. He felt her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"That one was close," she said. He shrugged her hand off him.

"Noted, let's give them a hand." He said, she shook her head.

"Are you sure?" She asked. He turned to her and gave a slight smile.

"It's in the job description. Let's show we can get it done." He said. He actually was hoping he was pushing towards Indigo or even Velvet. Having them at his side would be reassuring, even if he didn't know Velvet all that well.

He pushed past the next set of shrubbery blocking his view. Only to come face to face with a boar shaped Grimm. His mind almost froze at the instant memory of the time he killed his first Grimm, one of a splitting likeness. He forced himself to move before he could freeze up again. He brought his hand to his sword, ready to draw it and bring the heavy duel blade onto it's head.

He didn't get the chance. He growled and began to charge. It was quickly cut down in a spinning orange blur. The Grimm dissolved. It took Nick a moment to process what happened. Someone with orange blades strapped to his arms had slashed in across the beast, cutting it's head in multiple places with plenty of force to kill it. The one who killed it was slightly strange looking. His hair, similar to Nicks was pure Orange, almost to the point of red. Matching his skin tone, shirt, and the blades attached to his armed. Only contrasted by his black jeans and shoes along his pure white eyes. "He's almost as fast as you." Amber commented.

Nick felt uneasy about that, he was never sure how fast he moved, but he was told it was fast. Though it still took him a moment to process that guy's movements.

"Thanks for the save," Nick said pulling his hand back toward his side.

"No problem. I'm Fox," The guy said, holding his hand out.

"Nick and this is Amber." He said, shaking the boy's hand. Amber nodded in recognition, but said nothing. The sound of something falling over made everyone turn their attention.

The fashionista girl form earlier today, holding a black briefcase, was walking over towards them away from a dissolving Grimm. Her head held high.

"Honestly Fox, we trudged all that way in that messy forest only to find an easy made path we could've taken instead. Now I have to wash the grass stains off my new clothes." She complained. Despite the fact Nick couldn't see any on her. Fox shrugged.

"Sorry, didn't know." He responded calmly.

"Oh, it's fine, oh hey it's you two again. I don't think I ever caught your names." She said, turning to Nick and Amber.

"Oh, it's Nick." He said, noting her possibly staring at him under her sunglasses.

"Amber." She said simply.

"Ohh, pretty name. I'm Coco." She said.

With the introductions out of the way, Nick looked around the new area. They had obviously reached the edge of the forest, the wall of green replaced with clear, rolling hills. The next tree line was a good distance away. Though they didn't go far before a cliff similar to the one they launched off. In the center of the giant clearing, stood a circular wall of stones that used to be a building. Though now most of it was gone and grown over with moss. A section of the wall was missing, revealing an entry to the stone building.

"Think that might be it?" Nick asked, pointing toward the stone structure.

"One way we'll know for sure." Coco replied, beginning her walk toward the structure.

Once they got into the structure. Mossy stone pillars stood, almost perfectly spaced out. However, on top of them stood statues that looked brand new. Small, black, white, red, and blue statues of various animals were placed on each pillar. He took note of each relic and each variation. The Red and Blue statues of a cat resembled more of a puma while the black and white ones resembled a lion.

Nick walked over and picked up a black lion statue. It was small enough to fit in one of his jacket pockets.

"Alright got our relic." He said.

"Isn't it bad luck to pick a black cat?" She asked, Nick shrugged.

"We'll make our own luck, plus it was closer then the others." Nick said dryly. Amber sighed.

"Hey Fox, this is cute." Coco called out, she was holding a red Fox. She handed it to him.

"It's a Red Fox, just like you. It matches!" She said. Fox ran his hands over the statue before handing it back.

"Very funny." He said. Though he was smiling slightly.

"You're no fun." She complained, pocketing the small statue.

Nick smiled at the pun, though with their mission only halfway done, he held back the feelings of accomplishment. They weren't done yet.

"Let's get out of here, Coco, you said there was a path back right?" Nick spoke up.

"Well, there were a few paths, but one led directly back to the cliff." She responded.

"Alright, guess we'll head back that way, plus is might be safer if we all stick together. He said.

"You didn't have to tell me twice, ugh I'm not trudging through that gross forest again." Nick wondered to himself her reason for being here, but decided it didn't matter for now. He turned to step out of the temple ruins.

He barely took two steps out of the ruins before things went sideways before his eyes. Trees began falling out of the forest with loud snaps and cracks. The source of this quickly reveals itself. A large scorpion Grimm was pushing it's way into the clearing. Two people stood on it's back, holding its tail down to its body, the barb of its stinger barely stabbing into the creature. Nick realized the two people who were riding the Grimm were Navy and Indigo.

"Now!" Navy yelled, they jabbed the stinger into the Grimm. It hissed in pain. Indigo let go of the tail and ran up its body toward its head. She jumped off its body and turned in the air, raising her clenched fists in the air.

As she fell, she brought them down onto the creatures head, it's legs buckled and it came down with her. The creatures head slammed into the group, spewing dirt in all directions from the force of the blow. An almost invisible wave rippled through the air, indicating Indigo's aura attack. She wasted no time. She raised her hands off the head of the scorpion and her gauntlets claws sprouted of them. She stabbed them back down into the beasts head. It struggled and began to smoke, indicating it's fate has been sealed. She pulled the blades out of its head and dodged one of its claws. Navy let go of the tail and jumped off the Grimm. The two ran away from the dissolving beast until it had fully dissolved. They slowed their pace toward the temple.

Nick gave a wave to the two partners. Even though they trained together, he was still slightly chilled by Indigo's raw powerful strikes that contrasted his style of fighting. By now, the others had made their way out of the temple, having caught the tail end of the fight. Nick faced Indigo as they walked up, her claws retracting back into the gauntlets.

"You're late." Nick said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"Not our fault, that stunt you pulled during the launch knocked most of us off course." She responded. Navy grunted.

"I'm surprised these four are still standing. They do not appear to be skilled warriors," He said. Indigo glared at him.

"Just go get a relic." She said.

"I do not take orders from you."

"Fine i'll do it then." She muttered, and marched into the temple.

Nick walked in with her, hoping to catch up with her and leaving the others outside.

"Did I miss something?" He asked. She shrugged, looking at her selection.

"He's lucky I haven't snapped his neck already. He's done nothing but irritate and insult me." She complained.

"Ah."

"Though on the way down I hit him with a tree so I don't feel too bad about it." She shrugged, picking a white cat statue.

"Wait, what?" Nick asked with slight concern.

"I landed by grabbing into a tree trunk and bending the whole thing. It snapped, and he happened to be right below the tree I used to stop my fall." She explained. Nick laughed briefly.

"Well, it's only four years right?" Nick asked jokingly.

"Shut up" she snapped back as they made their way out of the temple again.

When they walked out, Navy approached them.

"Do you have the relic?" He asked, looking at Indigo, she nodded.

"Good. Give it to me," he grunted. Indigo gave him an angry glare.

"Now why would I do that since you wouldn't even go in and get it yourself?" She asked, her tone slightly frustrated.

"It will be safer with me rather then you, as-"

She didn't let him finish. She grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up in the air, despite being shorter then him, she definitely was a lot stronger than she appeared. Her claws formed, almost nicking the side of his face.

"Let me make one thing clear to you. If you finish that sentence or continue insulting me, I will remove your head and toss it over my shoulder without a second thought. I refuse to do all your work and let you take anything from it. So shut up." She said at him, her voice dangerously cool.

"Put... Me down... Before... I remove that arm..." Navy growled, grabbing at her arm.

"That's enough, both of you." Nick snapped.

"You're supposed to be partners and Huntsmen. We don't kill each other because we don't like one another, so save it for the Grimm." He stated angrily.

The two looked at him, she sighed and released him, dropping him to his feet. Which was only an inch or two in the air anyway.

"You stay out of-" Navy began, but was cut off.

"Uhh, boys. Hate to cut your measuring contest short, but look." Coco said, pointing into the sky. Two bird like Grimm, Nevermores, were circling the area. One seemed to have something in its claws.

"What is it?" Fox asked. Coco whispered something in his ear that was met with a simple 'oh'.

"Think we should help them?" Indigo asked.

"What?" Nick responded, confused. She pointed at the one that was holding something in its claws.

"Those are people." She explained. Nick understood now, looking at it for a second, he could make out two people in its claws.
"Yeah, we probably should..." Nick said, but before they could do anything, The Grimm squawked in pain, and released the two people it was holding. The two fell, stretching out their bodies and slowing their fall. The bigger guy, his form matching Navy's form with green armor and an orange great-sword on his back landed first. He landed right into the ground with a thud. He stood slowly and proceeded to catch the second one in his arms before putting her down. Nick realized the smaller one was Velvet.

He jogged over to them. The rest of the not formed group behind him.

"Jeez, everyone's here now." He said.

"Hey Nick." She said. "This is Yatsuhashi." She said. Her partner said nothing but nodded in recognition.

"Perhaps we should save the introductions for later." Amber finally said. Nick almost forgot she was still here, but she was right.

"We'll catch up." Velvet said, and beginning to head to the temple. Her partner following behind her. One of the Grimm began to dive towards them. Nick remembered something about this type of Grimm.

"Scatter!" He said quickly, jumping away from the group. The Grimm flung its wings, sending feathers speedily flying towards them like darts.

Everyone got the message and narrowly avoided the barrage of razor sharp feathers.

"Enough of this." Navy grunted. He pulled his large axe off his back and twirled the handle over his shoulder. The weird looking axe began to transform as he twirled it until a large cylinder with a hole pointing out of it like a barrel pointed out into the air. He aimed the end of it towards the Grimm and the sound of what almost sounded like a cannon going off exploded from the tube. A harpoon with a rope attached between the projectile and its launcher flew threw the air and impaled itself into the neck of the giant bird. Navy grabbed the rope and pulled it down towards the ground, the rope went taunt and the Grimm stopped in the air.

Coco walked past Nick, having dived away in the same direction as him.

"Hold it there." She said, she pushed a latch on her briefcase and it opened up. The case also began to transform, until she was holding a large minigun. The barrels began to spin as she aimed it towards the flying Grimm. A torrent of bullets fired, her shots were a little off at first but she adjusted without stopping. They ripped through the Grimm and tore it to pieces. It disintegrated and she stopped. The harpoon Navy fired began to fall to the ground, he pressed a now visible red button on the side of the launcher the rope began to retract into the weapon, bringing the harpoon with it. He caught it and put it back inside the launcher. He twirled the launcher back in the direction it formed and it transformed back into an axe, which he promptly put over his shoulder.

Coco's minigun began compacting and folding back into it's briefcase state. Velvet and Yatsuhashi emerged from the temple and began their way towards the group. The other one screeched as it circled the area.

"Well, shall we leave before the other one decides to attack?" Coco said.

"I can get behind that." Nick said. She smirked slightly.

"Cowards, is it not our jobs to kill these beasts." Navy grumbled.

"There's a difference between running and living to fight another day." Nick said, "Besides, it might just follow us through the forest anyway if someone else doesn't deal with it."

When everyone had regrouped, they retreated back into the forest on the discovered path before the other Grimm could begin firing more feathers at them. It was an uneventful walk back through the forest, and wasn't long before the group was back at the other end of it. Instead of the path leading them straight up the cliff like they hoped, instead, ruins along with a ravine greeted them. The steep cliff loomed over them, with no clear way up.

"So, any ideas on how to get up there?" Coco asked. Nick smirked.

"We'll figure it out on the fly." He said. Before anyone else could say anything, he broke into a run. He ran onto the ruins bridge. As the bridge ran out, he activated his semblance again. He leaped off the bridge and used a blast from his legs to send himself onto the roof of the ruined building. Without stopping, he launched himself between pillars on the ruins.

On the last one, he overshot. The blast destroyed the top of the last pillar and sent him flying toward the wall. He felt his aura weakening, and worried a little to himself he wouldn't be able to make it. He shook the doubt out of his mind and twisted his body midair, his feet went onto the cliff wall, he pushed the palms of his hands behind him and sent out another blast. He used the force to propel himself up in a weak run. Consistently sending the flaming blasts behind him.

He barely reached to top of the cliff. He overshot the last blast again and sent himself up the cliff edge. He barely managed to catch it and pull himself up. He sat down a few feet away edge of the cliff onto the ground, panting. His aura has almost run out fueling his semblance, and his whole body felt sore. Particularly his arms which took most of the explosions force.

After a minute, the rumbling sound of rocks breaking sounded from below. Nick managed to stand. Indigo suddenly appeared over the edge of the cliff, dusts from broken rocks coated her hands and feet, and Velvet clung to her back looking extremely nervous. Indigo twisted her body to face the other way and landed on the edge of the cliffside. Velvet quickly let go of her back and climbed off.

"Thanks." She said timidly. Indigo nodded. She was drenched in sweat and her face was twisted slightly in pain like she had just gone through a tough fight. Her body shimmered, a sign her aura broke, and she closed her eyes. Her body began to fall forward. Realizing she had pushed herself too far again, Nick quickly jumped forward as she began to fall, and grabbed at the back of her armor to no avail. Before she could fall over the edge, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled them both back away from the edge. He tripped and fell, her landing on top of him.

Nick grunted and pushed her off.

"Idiot, you overworked yourself again." He grumbled as she laid on the ground, passed out. He sat up, as Velvet offered him a hand.

"I'm sorry, if she didn't help me she probably would've been fine." She said. Nick took her hand and stood up.

"It's fine, she does stuff like this and pushes herself too hard a lot." Nick explained.

"Oh." She said, Nick shrugged.

"Ugh" Indigo muttered, slowly turning herself over. "That sucked." Nick smiled softly. Happy to have gotten out of that without much harm done to anyone. Everyone began making their way up the cliff in their own fashion. Though it wasn't long before everybody was there.

Just as Yatsuhashi made his way up, carrying Coco with him, the familiar screech of a Grimm sounded through the air. The nevermore from the temple had found them, Nick walked to the edge of the cliff. The Grimm was flying up the side of the cliff. He smirked, his aura mostly recovered from the trip up.

"I got this one." He said, drawing his swords.

"Nick, don't do what I think you're about to do." Indigo said. He ignored her and jumped off the cliff. He turned himself around in the air. Just as he was about to hit it, he willed a small blast from his foot, undershooting a little this time but just enough to move him out past it a little as it narrowly missed snapping at him.

He stabbed his swords into its back. The blades cutting downward into it as it cried out. The Grimm flew past the cliff edge as he kept cutting down it. He focused his semblance into his swords. He twisted them inside the nevermore, and a concentrated blast of flames erupted out the other side of it. He pushed his feet against the back of it and pulled his swords out. He felt himself falling, though his eyes were fixed on the dissolving Grimm. Once he was satisfied. He quickly sheathed his swords and pointed his hand out away from the cliff. He overshot the blast meant to push him back onto the cliff, by a lot. The blast sent him flying back uncontrolled and plummeting into the dirt.

His brain took a moment to register the fail. He pulled himself up and began walking back towards the group. He was tired, and his aura was gone from the force of the explosion. He had overworked himself.


Later, in an office surrounded by gears. The headmaster of the school was sitting at his desk, watching back the events of the initiation."Impressive, aren't they?" He asked calmly to the woman next to him.

"Well they certainly have a lot of raw power, but I don't think they seem to work too well together." Glynda commented, as the screen showed the playback of Nick scaling the cliff, the fiery blasts the same size as him propelling him upwards.
"True, though they seem to be figuring it out." Ozpin responded. "This one is an interesting one." He said, showing Nicks fight with the Ursa's to Glynda. "He could be a candidate. He definitely fits the criteria at first glance."
"I doubt it, he doesn't have enough control." "Not yet he doesn't." "Yes well, what about the girl he came with?" Glynda asked.

The clip of her scaling the cliff by punching holes into it, while carrying Velvet on her back played on the screen.
"She definitely is impressive, though we'll have to watch all of them closely." Ozpin responded.
"I hope you know what you're doing." "I do, though there's not much we can do at the moment."

The two continued watching the initiation playbacks in silence. The only sounds being the video and the gears turning solemnly in the office.