Hey readers! I hope you're liking the story so far! Also—again in advance I'm sorry—I know I'm moving at an unforgivable slow pace here but life is still taking up most my time, so I'm trying to make do with what time I have in-between events.
CH8 - End of the Beginning.
"I THOUGHT YOU TOOK CARE OF THAT BEAST!" Ritsu shouts, looking back to his Mistralian brother.
"I DID!" Kluá shouts in reply, "YOU CLEARLY DON'T REALIZE THERE'S ALWAYS MORE THAN ONE, GENIUS!"
At that, the Titanist looks at his brother with disbelief for a brief second before throwing his hands into the air and then turning his attention back to the small herd of Boarbatusks, which consisted of eight normal sized ones and one single Giant Boarbatusk.
It was clear to the brothers that this herd of Boarbatusks must have been not that far from the first giant Boarbatusk that they encountered when they were about a little less than half-way reaching through the section of the forest that led to the ancient stone structures that they are now defending. Since it appears that Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Jaune have the Deathstalker taken care of.
Both brothers would have easily killed the Deathstalker, but with the sound of more trees crashing down and what sounded like the marching of an army, which actually turned out to be this small herd; they had more pressing matters to attend to.
With a roar from the giant Boarbatusk, the smaller ones moved to run pass their leader and charge the two brothers. Half of the herd decided to run an all fours, while the other half chose to roll.
Ritsu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at these weak Grimm creatures, since they slightly caught him by surprise with this kind of tactic.
So this is how Smart Grimm fight. Ritsu thinks.
At that, the Titanist turns his whole body, except his head, to the right at ninety degrees, and then places his right foot behind himself, then his left foot in front, and then widens his stance before bending at the knees; he then also places his left fist down low at his side, while his right fist stays up high and leveled with his face.
But if you ask me, they're still dumb for fighting a Titan.
It was then that Kluá, who was also in a battle stance, which comprised of him turning his body to the right. Yet unlike his brother, the Elementist's stance seems more relaxed, in the sense that he only raises his left hand at his side while summoning a small green flame in his open palm that's aimed towards the Grimm herd.
Woah. Kluá thinks, this flame…i-it's my Aura!
Seeing the technological marvel that is the armbands his brother gave him, the young Mistralian boy couldn't tear his eyes away from the fact that the archaic weapons have given his Aura—his semblance—a physical form that he can manipulate.
"Kluá!" Ritsu shouts.
For a moment, Kluá seemed shocked with confusion over the fact that his brother's tone of voice seemed a little different than when he usually shouts to him.
It was then that the young Elementist realized that his brother shouted his name not to get his attention, but as a queue.
With both hands, Ritsu roars as he stops two small Boarbatusks in their tracks by timing his grasp perfectly and gripping a horn from each beast. With the Titanist occupied, Kluá extends out his palm in the direction pass his muscular brother, only to aim the green flame at the other two Boarbatusks that were only seconds away.
Alright, here goes nothing!
Just then, the Elementist activates his Semblance and concentrates his Aura into his palm, causing the green flame to get bigger, and then with which he forces it away from his body as a projectile, thus releasing a portion of his Aura. Though to the boy's surprise, he doesn't feel any type of weakness since the weapons his brother gave him only forced the energy from the crystals stored in the small capsules on the armbands, thus returning his aura to his body like a bungee cord. Yet, now the young boy is even more surprised over the fact that once he let go of the green flame, it launched at the speed of a ballistic Dust-round.
Now, it's Ritsu's turn to be surprised once he saw the green flame whizz pass his head and impacting only one of the two remaining rolling Boarbatusks, and engulfing them in green flames and smoke for a few seconds before dissipating.
Just then the Titanist lifts the two Boarbatusks in his grasp off the ground and spins only once.
With the muscular boy starting to build up enough momentum, he then releases the Grimm creature in his left hand, only to let it fly at a high speed and impacting one the remaining four Boarbatusks. While the other creature of Grimm gripped in his right hand, was then slammed into the ground, creating a large crater in the ground that caused minor tremors. And at the same time caused the remaining small Boarbatusks to tumble and fall into the crater.
Once again, Kluá stares in amazement over his brother's overwhelming strength and ability to cause a crater with the radius of a semi-truck towing a cargo bed.
"Kluá!" Ritsu shouts once more, though this time to get his brother out his reverie. "Roast the pit!"
Well that's a little dark.
Although as evil as it did sound, Kluá did just that seeing how they are just creatures of Grimm. Thus, burning the remaining small Boarbatusks only after they squealed and frantically made attempts to climb over one another to get out of the pit unsuccessfully.
After witnessing the brutal massacre of its own kind, the giant Boarbatusk lets out a loud enraged roar. The roar was able to get the attention of the two brothers, though it only made them battle hardened since the two have already dealt with worse. And seeing how the two brothers focused, yet unfazed by the giant Grimm creature, it only made the giant Boarbatusk even angrier, and thus making it charge at full speed at the nearest brother…which happens to be Ritsu.
Ritsu, who's been itching for a better fight, takes a huge leap over the pit to meet the large Grimm creature on the other side.
"Come on!" Ritsu shouts as he takes a wide stance and gestures with his hands to make the beast come to him.
Taking the bait, the giant Boarbatusk runs even faster at the young muscular boy.
Ritsu, feeling satisfied with the Grimm creature coming after him, changes from his normal battle stance to a pitcher's stance. Though as calmly as the boy switched his stance, a grin crept up on the boy's face.
"I've always loved doing this." The Titanist says lowly while making eye contact with the Grimm creature.
At that, Ritsu raises his left knee higher than his waist line, while his right fist remains covered in his left hand.
"Let's makes this a fast ball!"
With only seconds to react, Ritsu slams his left foot down away from his body, allowing the momentum take him with. Thus, adding more velocity to his fist as he pulls it back and then thrusts it forward.
Using his Semblance, Kluá dissipates the green ongoing flames and blows the smoke away to clear the area around the pit.
"Yo, Ritsu!"
Just then the sound of bone crushing noises that are quickly deafened by the sound of something breaking the sound barrier makes the Elementist brace himself for the blowback caused by air going in his direction as well.
"Holy hell Ritsu." Kluá manages to say through gritted teeth.
It wasn't until the blowback receded that Kluá could take his arms away from his face and reform back to a more relaxed stance while dusting himself off, and readjusting his bandana.
"You know Ritsu!" The Elementist starts, "it didn't have to be that…extreme…"
The Mistralian boy's voice trails off as he gazes upon the amount of damage his Titanist brother has caused to the Emerald Forest.
Before the Elementist, the section of the forest that him, his brothers, and the rest of the participating students ran through to get away from the giant creatures of Grimm, now lie in ruin. For the destructive force created by Ritsu's one punch had created a large half-pipe formation in the ground of the planet, wide enough to start a foundation for a freeway system for a quarter-mile; while leaving scattered debris of trees, rocks, and other plant life all over the place.
It was only then, that when Ritsu landed next to his brother did the Elementist finally break out of his reverie.
"Holy crap, Ritsu." Kluá says has he turns to his brother, whose eyes are focused on his right fist.
"It's still not enough." Ritsu mutters absentmindedly.
In that moment, Kluá could see a pained expression on his brother's face. A look that the young Mistralian boy has never seen before.
How strong does he plan on being? Kluá thinks as he watches his brother carefully, I mean he's clearly the strongest one here if he can do that to the land…and I don't think he even used his semblance at all.
Catching his brother's stare in peripheral Ritsu turns his head to face Kluá.
"What're you looking at, nature boy?" Ritsu asks sharply.
"This ugly abomination that I'm related to." Kluá grins wryly.
"Why you-!"
Ritsu reaches out to grab his brother by the collar of his shirt, but as he did so…his hand fazed right through Kluá, and at the same time brushed away and distorted the Mistralian boy's body.
It was then that the muscular boy pulls back his hand into a fist again, before looking up into the sky and quickly realizing that his brother had made an after-image using his semblance.
"Get down here and fight me like a Titan!" Ritsu shouts up at his brother.
Kluá grins. "Only if you can get me at the top of that cliff!"
At that, Kluá gracefully flies away from his brother and in the direction of the ancient structure where the remaining half of the students, that Fang and Shieri were helping, still fight the giant Nevermore.
"DON'T YOU FLY AWAY FROM ME!" Ritsu shouts as he charges after his brother.
From atop a tall column, both Fang and Shieri watch intently as Ruby's earlier plan that she had previously came up with, come into fruition.
"This is...farfetched" Fang says to his brother, while resting a hand on his sheathed dai-katana.
Shieri takes a moment to glance at his brother before averting his eyes back the four girls down below on the bridge that connects to a part of the structure embedded within the higher cliff that they need to climb soon.
The Atlesian boy now folds his arms across his chest. "Blake's ribbon is made of elastic spider silk, dyed black." Shieri starts, "and combined with Ruby's sniper modification, and Schnee's glyphs. They can make a human slingshot with the launch speed of a cannon."
Fang snorts. "Or the speed of our brother, Ritsu, throwing a rock."
Just then, Shieri regards his brother in silence as he thinks to his HUD monocle to have it set for speed tracking.
In the moment, the Silver Knight had reconfigured his monocle, the four girls: Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, had already trapped the giant Nevermore with a large ice cluster that froze the tip of the creature's tail feathers in place…though before they could launch Ruby from Blake's Ribbon, a familiar figure flies over the young red-hooded girl at high speeds, while another leaped once over her head—only to jump once more.
It was then, that everyone in the immediate area knew that the two were none other than: Ritsu and Kluá. Though their brother's Fang and Shieri both had an accurate idea as to why one was angry and the other was laughing.
"Is it possible—"
"—That Kluá aggravated Ritsu?" Shieri interrupts. "Then yes."
Fang sighs as he rests a hand on his dai-katana. "Their quarrel is never-ending."
Shieri snorts, "Just like this exam if they keep this up."
"You're too slow, Ritsu!" Kluá shouts.
Just then the young Elementist stops on a dime just below the giant Nevermore, before launching himself upward at break-neck speed. This caused the creature of Grimm to roar its loud screech while reeling its head upward after the boy as he flies by.
As the giant Nevermore continues to roar and flap its wings to free itself from the ice trap, set by the Schnee girl, the young Titanist—only moments later—finally reaches the same area his Mistralian brother once stood, and with his Aura, he builds up intense energy into his legs. Though as the young Titanist channeled his Aura, the lower part his body had started to form the black rocky textured skin, as well as the large surfaced veins.
Just then, the young muscular boy leaps high into the air at roughly the same speed as his Mistralian brother did.
"OUT OF MY WAY BIRD BRAIN!"
To everyone's surprise, Ritsu lets out a loud roar as he soars high into the sky with his fist tight, and his arm cocked for a huge uppercut. Also, again—to everyone's surprise, the giant Nevermore never had a chance to get a quick glance down to see what made that loud sound since its head was quickly thrusted back by the hard impact of the young Titanist's fist making contact to the under-side of the creature of Grimm's lower beak. On contact, Ritsu's fist made a low deafening sound that had appeared to cause the students—with the exceptions of Fang and Shieri—to cringe at the sound, and yet still be amazed by this ferocious feat.
Also, it was then, that both the Black Fang and the Silver Knight watched their brother, Ritsu land on top of the cliff behind the creature of Grimm, where their other brother, Kluá resided momentarily.
With the Giant Nevermore's head being knocked back into the cliff, Ruby was able to see another opening to attack the creature.
"Now!" she shouts.
As if on queue, the young white-haired girl disengages her semblance, which sets the Faunus girl's black ribbon free from the glyph, allowing it to sling Ruby at the speed of sound, all the while she fires her gun mechanic built into her scythe behind her for extra boost.
"Impressive." Fang says as he looks to his Atlesian brother. "Her speed matches Kluás' flight speed—as well as yours."
"But this is not done on her own." Shieri replies. "Plus, knowing what Kluá's semblance is capable of. Not one being here can match his speed."
At that everyone watches as Ruby flies at supersonic speed towards the Giant Nevermore before it could regain its bearings after being knocked back into the wall of the cliff.
In the same instant as the Nevermore composed itself; it once again gets knocked back into the wall of the cliff as Ruby's scythe bites into the neck of the creature, trapping it completely.
Now looking down from atop the tall pillar, Shieri catches a glimpse of movement coming from Weiss Schnee; and with such notice, the young Atlesian realizes that the white hair heiress was making a gesture with her hand. It was then—through the boy's HUD—that an anomaly indicator popped up on-screen, revealing the location of where a Semblance was being activated.
What is she—
The Silver Knight never had the chance to finish his thought when the sound of his Faunus brother's voice caught his attention.
"Their teamwork is astonishing." Fang says aloud.
At that, Shieri takes a quick glance at his brother before averting his gaze to Ruby…who appears to be doing something that only him and his brothers could only do, before this day.
"It appears that Weiss Schnee is using an advance technique, that only her family are capable doing." Shieri says observantly.
By this time, Ruby had already begun scaling the cliffside with the giant Nevermore at tow—seeing how she continues to drag it with the blade of her scythe.
"What does that entail to, brother?" Fang asks as his curiosity got the best of him.
"Weiss's semblance is similar to Kluás' except it can only be active within the design of each glyph summoned." The Atlesian boy answers. "It's a rare case for most to have a Semblance that remains the same throughout generations…though to make it happen requires…"
"a taboo experience, I would assume" Fang adds as his brother's voice trails off
With Fang's added reply, Shieri only nods to confirm.
Now to Shieri's surprise, it was still hard to comprehend how well he was getting along with his polar-opposite brother. Though, with what Ozpin explained to the four brothers, it only gives reason why they should.
Although the events of the rigorous entrance exams take place down below, Kluá couldn't help himself but chuckle over the way his brother looked at him when he used his Semblance to get away from him.
"Good luck trying to get me muscle-for-brains." The young Elementist says aloud to himself.
At that, Kluá assumes his resting position like he did before—when him and one of his quadruplet brothers, Shieri, were waiting for everyone else to show up at the so-called temple that had the chest pieces.
Now it's only a matter of time, Kluá thinks as he takes exhales after taking a deep breath. Until this is all—
"Miss me, nature boy." Ritsu growls as he grasps his brother by the collar of his shirt.
"Ritsu!" Kluá says aloud feeling startled. "Hey—uh—how's it goin?"
"Thought you could pull a fast one, huh?" Ritsu says he lifts is brother up in the air.
"Well," Kluá shrugs, "I did go fast, didn't I?"
Feeling even more irritated with his quadruplet brother, Ritsu closes his free hand into a tight fist before cocking his arm back.
"woah-woah-woah." Kluá frantically says aloud, "Can we talk about this…please!?"
At this point, Ritsu could feel only rage in the fact that his brother is begging to prevent himself from getting hurt.
"A TITAN SHOULD NEVER BEG!"
"HEY-WAI—"
Ritsu was only inches away from punching Kluá in the face when the sound of a girl's voice and the sight of a large bird head coming into view from just over the cliffside got his attention. It was then also that the young Titanist let go of his brother's shirt, allowing the Mistralian boy to hit the ground flat on his butt, only so he could focus his attention on Ruby Rose decapitating the Giant Nevermore.
But she's not a Titan. Ritsu thought, there's no way she can kill the Nevermore all on her own.
Yet, as these thoughts passed, a few more dawned on the young muscular boy.
As he watches the young red-hooded girl catch her breath, Ritsu suddenly remembers that night when he and Shieri took the girl to see Ozpin. It was that same night his brother mentioned that Ruby had silver eyes. At first, it didn't bother him at all; yet a day later, he also remembered his Fight Master telling him stories about warriors who could best the strongest Titans with ease; and it was these same warriors that endured an ancient mystical treatment that ended the Titanist Rebellion centuries ago, and almost wiped out the underground kingdom of Tartarus in the climax of the Great War when most of them sided with Atlas and Mistral.
Only now, Ritsu suddenly felt a wave of different emotions and feelings: anger, sadness, but most importantly—happiness and excitement…especially since this means Ritsu has found someone who could become stronger than him, yet make himself just as formidable…even if this person is a descendant of an old enemy of his people.
For a brief moment, the Atlesian assassin thinks to his HUD monocle to scan the students' immediate surroundings for more Grimm. Though, as he did, a directional alert notification beeped in his ear, showing where the nearest Grimm was. Yet, since the arrow pointed downward and the distance between him and the creature of Grimm continued to grow in large numbers, Shieri had to quickly remind himself of the fact that the Deathstalker grimm fought by the other four students had fallen into the abyss. This was due to the remaining section of the bridge connecting to the lower mainland collapsing and taking the large Grimm creature with it.
"Now that the Grimm are dead." Shieri says as reverts his monocle back to viewing his vital signs. "We can move on and finish this exam."
At that, the Silver Knight drops down from atop the pillar, leaving his Faunus brother to follow suit. As the two landed gracefully down next to the three girls: Yang, Weiss, and Blake; the girls watch intently as the two move passed them to get a closer view on the current conditions of their surroundings.
"Although it's over brother," Fang starts, "How will the others reach the top of the cliff."
For a moment, Shieri uses his HUD monocle to scan the structure that the now headless giant Nevermore has crushed after falling from the top of the cliff, only to realize that the entrances into the structure have collapsed. Yet, he could easily clear the doorways. Although, judging by the damage caused by the Nevermore upon landing, it had made the inside of the cliff-face quite unstable all throughout the corridors that snake the inside of the cliff.
"Yeah, exactly how are we supposed to get up to the top?"
Shieri didn't realize how much time has passed until Yang's voice broke his focus. And it was then too, that both Fang and the Atlesian boy turn their bodies just enough to look behind themselves, only to see the three girls.
"With the way you two were looking ahead," Yang starts, "I'm guessing you both had to come up with something."
"You're right," Shieri says, "yet the path that would lead us up to the top where Ritsu, Kluá, and your sister have gone, has been blocked by debris."
"Outside, as well as the inside." The Silver Knight then adds as he turns away to gaze up at the top of the cliff.
"So…what now?" Yang then asks.
"I can carry two at a time to reach the top of the cliff" Shieri replies as he activates his jetpack, making the wings protrude from its sides.
It was then, that after watching the young Atlesian slowly rise from the ground to hover, Blake—who along with the heiress, Weiss Schnee, have been quiet for some time—decided to speak up.
"And what about us, and the others across the bridge?" the young Faunus girl asks.
"With one in each hand, my brother can carry Yang and yourself." Fang replies as he rests his hand on the hilt of his sword again. "And after witnessing this girl's abilites," the Faunus boy then makes a hand gesture towards Weiss, "she, and I, could walk up the side of the cliff."
"Well it sure sucks to be you two then." Yang replies her gazing quickly moving from Fang to Weiss.
As if on cue, Shieri activates his jetpack once again before moving into a hovering position between Yang and Blake. Once in position the two girls reach up to grab the young boy's hands, who then flew them up to the top of the cliff.
For a moment, the white-haired girl looked annoyed over the fact that the Wolf Faunus in front of her had just assumed that she would use her semblance to scale the cliff. Yet, little did she know, the Faunus boy did not mean that at all…but it didn't stop her from speaking out.
"Hey!" Weiss says aloud.
Just now the young snow-white haired girl marches up to the Faunus boy, Fang, while gazing up at him with a stern look on her face.
"Excuse me," Weiss starts "I only used my semblance to help us get out of a ridiculous situation that could have been well avoided." By now, the young girl has already put her hands on her hips, "Also, don't think I'm running some sort of charity program with my abilities just because you think you can use me to get out of this current predicament we're in."
Fang only scoffed in response to the white-haired girl's outburst, before turning his back on her. The girl then looked at the Faunus boy with a shocked look on her face for a brief moment, before suddenly realizing that the he had just brushed her off with a proper response to her earlier outburst.
"Hey!" Weiss exclaims, "Don't turn your back on me when I'm talking to you!"
At that, the Black Fang took a huge leap forward, leaving the shocked white-haired girl behind.
I am beginning to regret this…had I not let myself commit to a human's plans in the first place, Fang thought, I would have taken the price on her head…as well as the traitor.
By this point, the young Faunus boy stands close to wall of the cliff while slowly averting his gaze upwards, towards the top. To where his golden Faunus eyes focus on three figures, but solely on the one on the right.
…and him.
The sudden thought of his Atlesian polar-opposite gave Fang a gut-wrenching feeling, with which slightly turned to anger since that same "brother" had nearly killed him at end of their first encounter.
But that human had me come to realize that the one I fight for has strayed too far from the righteous path set out by the true high leader.
Sorry about the Previous upload of this chapter ladies and gents. I did not think what you all saw earlier would have happened, but it did. So I went back and did a re-edit on the entire document to made sure it came out crystal clear this time.