Ladies and Gents welcome back to 'A Rose for the Champion'. I do apologise for the lack of progress with this fic so far, to tell the truth I wasn't fond of how I'd written it. It seemed very half-assed and like I was rushing it, but I believe that stagnant period is at an end. I have for you a completely re-written version of the initiation, one that I genuinely loved writing. Hopefully you'll find it a little bit more exciting. Without any further ado, please do enjoy.
Beacon cliffs, the official border of the school campus and the final frontier before the wild, untamed, Grimm infested and sprawling sea of green that was the Emerald forest. Jaune and the other initiates all stood upon these cliffs, before them was a harsh thousand foot drop descending into what Jaune was sure to be a seething ocean of orange eyes and gnashing teeth, all of which would rip him apart without a moment's thought.
It was chilly to say the least, gusts of icy wind blew across the cliff top whipping his hair around as though it were a sea of snakes and sending shivers down his spine. He pulled on the cords of his hoodie, drawing it in tighter around his neck in an effort to seal in whatever warmth he could. It didn't work anywhere near as well as he had hoped, if anything it had made his situation worse for now his hands were cold too. He jammed them back into his pockets. Looking around, none of the other initiates seemed to be effected by the cold.
Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were stood just in front of him, grimaces on their faces. It was Ozpin that was the first to speak although it was difficult to make out his words through the relentless howling of the wind. The knight strained his hearing and if he closed his eyes could make out his words.
"Initiates. I have gathered you here this morning for your initiation, your first assignment as potential students here at Beacon. Your respective training has prepared you for this very moment. In a few moments we are going to launch you into the forest you see behind me. You will be falling and it shall be up to each of you to fix that." He smirked and continued. "Should any of you feel that you aren't up to this task please feel free to step away now. You shall not be judged for doing so."
The professor left a short pause for those whom might want to bow out to do just that. Jaune looked around at his fellow initiates but none of them seemed to so much as move. They all stared straight ahead with single-minded determination etched onto their faces. Jaune looked deep within himself and wondered whether or not he should just leave now and save himself the trouble. If what the Professor had said was true then he was about to be catapulted into a forest teeming with monsters that wanted little more than to rip him apart for their own amusement.
He was just a squishy seventeen year old human boy, he had yet to kiss a girl or even hold hands with one. What business did he have at Beacon? This was a school for people that had dedicated their whole lives to training to be huntsmen and huntresses. He didn't have that behind him, he had cheated, faked his transcripts and lied.
Yet, for some reason his body refused to move. It stayed, solid and resolute against his commands. Deep inside himself, he felt a burning desire to go on and prove everyone else wrong. He may not have had the training or transcripts but if he had one thing it was passion, desire and heart.
"Good."Ozpin nodded cutting his deliberations short. "As I said, you shall be falling and it will be down to yourselves to devise a landing strategy for yourselves. Once you are safely back on solid ground within the forest you shall be sent a message on your scrolls containing the instructions for your next task. Good luck to you all." He finished and stepped back allowing Goodwitch to move in and say her piece. Unlike the soft spoken headmaster, Jaune had no troubles hearing Goodwitch's voice over the gale swirling around them.
"Good morning, you may have heard news and rumour concerning the assignment of teams. This is indeed the case. Once you have landed in the forest, you will be assigned partners. Given that this person will remain your partner for the next four years it would be a good idea to choose someone you can work well wi-"
"Your partner will be the first person you make eye contact with after landing." Ozpin chimed in, interrupting and cutting off Goodwitch mid-stream. If she was annoyed or surprised at his statement she didn't show it. Her poker-face held up well save for a couple of slight twitches of her eye. Jaune however was utterly flabbergasted, surely this couldn't be the case. It had to be some kind of cruel joke. It seemed that he wasn't the only one of the initiates to believe so, murmurs went up between them carried along to him by the wind. Yet no punchline was forth coming.
"Yes, as Headmaster Ozpin said, your partner will be the first student that you make eye contact with upon landing. A final word of advice, this forest is filled with Grimm of all kinds so be prepared for anything. Do not hesitate to cut down any that stand in your way or you will die. You shall be monitored along your way by our instructors, however, they will not intervene. Best of luck and prepare yourselves for launch."
Jaune was still in shock even as the other students readied themselves. He stood slack-jawed with his eyes flitting between the two professors. It seemed so mad, so harebrained for those to be the conditions of their initiation. There had to be a mistake yet before he could voice his concerns the ground under his feet clicked and emitted a high pitched whistle. With the sudden rush of air running past his ears he and the other initiates were catapulted up and away from the cliffs, high into the blue of the skies.
The professors watched them go, their eyes tracking the students' progress across the ceiling of the world. As they faded to little more than specks against the vast blue backdrop Goodwitch turned to her old friend.
"Ozpin, do you really think this partnership method is wise?" She asked.
"I don't see why not, it should at the very least add an... interesting spin to the proceedings."
"These are the hunters and huntresses of the future, shouldn't they be with the people they chose? Wouldn't having the teammates they want influence and aid their studies?"
"And how often to people of their age know exactly what they want? Glynda I have made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this earth. I do not believe this to be one of them. Let us at least watch how it plays out."
"As you wish Professor Ozpin." She replied taking the professional tone she often did whenever he had succeeded in agitating her. He merely smirked and opened up his scroll to watch the initiates' progress.
The whole world span in sickening circles as Jaune flew, driving his stomach to madness. He felt a mixture of sensations made up mostly of; exhilaration, fear and the greatest desire to hurl that he had ever felt. He assessed his situation grimly and was far from fond of his findings.
He was spinning out of control over a thousand feet from the bone shattering ground below, not a good start. His first port of call was to stop his world from spinning quite so violently, that would at least increase his chances of survival from 'zero' to 'virtually non-existent'. He threw his arms and legs out wide just like he had seen skydivers do on television back home. Gradually he stopped somersaulting and levelled out. That was better, now what was his situation.
Looking down, Jaune estimated that he had a good thousand feet's worth of free-fall left before he plowed face first into the dirt and ceased to exist. That gave him maybe a minute at most to compose himself a 'landing strategy'. Looking around frantically he caught sight of what appeared to be a lake set within a large clearing. His eyes lit up at the sight that looked to be his way of surviving this mess.
With great care he angled his body to control his descent and move himself forwards. He would only have one shot at this so by the gods he couldn't afford to mess it up. As the ground came closer Jaune began to panic, it still seemed so damned far away, he would never make it in time! He leant forward as much as he dared, lending speed to his path. His whole body began to ache as he fought against the air and its efforts to send him spiralling out of control once again.
Three hundred feet. Jaune braced himself for what would undoubtedly be one of the worst baths of his life, the water was crystal clear but looked painfully cold. Two hundred feet. He grit his teeth and braced for impact. One hundred feet. Was it deep enough? No time now! He closed his eyes, drew into a cannonball and fervently hoped for survival. Splash.
There were many words that Jaune would later use to describe his 'quick dip' in the lake during initiation yet cold never seemed severe enough. It felt as though his whole body had been put into a tailored suit of ice, snow and every other cold thing he could name. It took the breath straight out of his lungs. He fought his frozen body to begin swimming up. His lungs burned for want of oxygen and for a moment it seemed as though he might never break the surface.
He flailed and swam his way to the lake shore. He got the sand beneath his feet and crawled his way up and out of the water, chest heaving as he drew in lungfuls of air.
"There was no way...In hell...That... Should've worked..." He managed to whisper between breaths. It was true, it was a miracle and sheer blind luck that the lake had been deep enough to break his fall and prevent his body ending up a broken mess at the bottom of an unknown lake.
He lay on the shore looking up at the sky watching the clouds float by through the sky. As he lay there, he almost forgot that he was in a Grimm infested forest on an initiation assignment for the most illustrious hunter school in all of Remnant. It was also the reason he failed to see the ripples run across the surface of the water, or hear the water begin to lap at the shore with increased vigour.
Bright red eyes, burning with hatred watched from below the surface. Multiple appendages clawed at the lake bed pulling a foul black beast towards the shore. The first of these tentacles slid out of the water, soundless save for the sound of the multitude of drips cascading off and back to the surface.
Jaune felt a change in the wind, flocks of birds flew up and out of the trees. His eyes narrowed in suspicion something wasn't right. Before he could work out what was happening he felt a sudden pressure on his ankle. Quite before he could react he was pulled along and up into the air left dangling. A long black tentacle had wrapped itself around his ankle and ran back into the water. Even as he watched on, the lake's surface churned violently as a black bulbous head emerged, two bright red eyes glared at him as the monster roared. Row upon row of teeth ran down the beast's throat. The white bone plating covered the upper part Grimm's face He flailed wildly trying to break the creatures hold.
Jaune's eyes landed on his sword, by some miracle it was still in its sheath, a fact he was eternally grateful for. Swinging his arms he latched onto the blue leather wrapped hilt of his family's sword and drew it. The blade gleamed in the light of the clearing as he brought it to bear on this marine Grimm's tentacle. Crocea Mors skittered across the monsters hide with every swing, he simply couldn't get the force behind his blows.
It seemed hopeless, his eyes widened in fear as the Grimm moved him so that he was dangling over its mouth. This was it, he was about to die right there and then. Eaten by some god awful beast of the depths without ever having kissed a girl or experiencing love. Yet he wasn't going out quietly, he had come into this world kicking and screaming and he would be damned if he wasn't going out the same way. He hacked away at the tentacle for all that he was worth, doing his very best to at least hurt the beast in some way.
The loud crack of a gunshot rang out through the clearing and almost almost in sync with the sound, a small hole roughly the size of a penny was ripped into the tentacle just below where it held his ankle. Blood exploded out from the wound and the beast loosed a blood curdling cry of pain, he covered his ears with a cry of his own. The roar covered a further two shots that rang out tearing into the monster and cutting off the portion holding his ankle.
Jaune seemed to hang in the air for a moment before the tip of the tentacle separated in a spray of blood. The blonde gave a cry as he began to fall back towards the lake surface. He collided with the Grimm's face plating and off into the icy waters once again. For the second time that day chills flew through his body.
He made his way to the bank once again and was seized by the collar of his hoodie. With surprising strength he was pulled out of the water shivering and bedraggled. He struggled to force his feet under his unruly body. And jogged along with his saviour, he looked up to see bronze coloured metal and a the brightest red hair of all.
He collapsed back to the dirt when they stopped moving. He lay there panting heavily, struggling to suck in the oxygen he needed. His scraggly blonde hair lay in a thick wet mat across his forehead. With the seeming respite in their struggle he took the chance to look up at his saviour, and got his first good look at her, for it was indeed a she.
She was tall and of the fairest skin. Bright red hair cascaded down her back like a river of liquid fire and was held back by a golden circlet. She was adorned in a bronze armoured corset with gold trim. Her waist was covered by a short red combat skirt with a flowing red drape. Three black leather ammunition pouches hung from a leather belt around her waist. She was stood low in a 'ready' stance. In her hands she held a red and golden spear and on her left arm was a golden bracer and a bronze round-shield. She looked elegant and regal, a true goddess of battle.
Using Crocea Mors for support he climbed to his feet, she seemingly heard him and turned around to face him. He wasn't expecting however, the deep emerald eyes that met him. They were incredible, the most prized gems in the four kingdoms. All words left him as he looked upon her face.
"T-thanks for saving me... I thought I was done for." He managed to croak out past the lump in his throat.
"It was my-" She was interrupted by the Grimm's roars of anger. Oh yeah... There was still that to deal with. She frowned and looked over to the monster almost analytically. She seemed to look at the Grimm for any sign of its weaknesses.
"What is that thing?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Its a Kraiken. A rare form of Grimm only found in water."
Jaune nodded and returned his attention to the Kraiken. It was flailing its tentacles around violently and perhaps most disturbingly it was pulling its horrendous form out of the lake and across dry land towards them. The lake in which it still half rested was murky and darkened by the blood oozing from the damaged tentacle, long gone was the once clear blue of the waters. Jaune gave a groan and for the first time readied himself in earnest for battle. He looked over to his saviour who gave him a confident smile.
"Any ideas?"
"None, other than its tentacles there isn't anywhere we can really harm with our weapons."
Jaune found that hard to believe, he looked over every bit of the creature trying to determine where its weakest points were. Armour plating covered its entire face save for the eyes, taking those out would be difficult and yet not totally impossible. He dismissed the idea, given how erratically the creature was behaving it was unlikely that his savour would be able to hit her targets without expending the majority of her bandoleers.
No, that wouldn't do. The only other unarmoured place on its body, aside from the tentacles was the back of its bulbous head, the large sack type part which he could only assume contained the brain. The issue was exactly how to get there without being ensnared and eaten by the Kraiken. Not an easy task.
With a hoarse cry he charged at the creature and began to swing at any tentacle which seemed brave enough to come near him. His plan seemed to be working until one of them flew in and grasped him, yet rather than going in for the kill as he might have expected. It flung him high into the air and behind it. The world span as he reached the arc of his flight and began to once again hurtle back towards the ground. He landed in the lake for the third time that day behind the beast.
The Grimm seemed not to notice his presence behind it, his saviour keeping it occupied from infront. The back of its head wobbled about not ten metres away from him. With a grimace from the exertion he swam his way over towards the beast. Its hide within his reach as he switched the grip on his sword to one better suited to stabbing.
He drew back his arm and with a hoarse cry brought his arm forward and plunged it into the back of the Grimm. To say the beast's blood poured out would have been a severe understatement, it erupted. A fountain of blood, back as night flew from the beast as he dragged his blade downwards further rending the Grimm's flesh and creating a gaping chasm from which the Kraiken's life essences poured.
The Kraiken flailed its tentacles as one last terror instilling roar tore from its mouth. In an effort to silence the sound, Jaune drove his sword deep into the monster and ever further into its brain. With a final squeal and a weak yet futile flail the colossal marine grim ceased thrashing and lay still. Dead.
Jaune swam his way to the shore and hauled his sorry self out, collapsing once again on the solid ground. His saviour made his way over until she stood over him. He looked up at her with soft eyes, a gaze which she seemed to eagerly return.
"P-please...No more baths today...I'm clean now." He whimpered. His third escapade into the lake's waters had been anything but pleasant, nor had it been any warmer. At his remark the girl's look turned to one of amusement before she broke into a fit of giggles. To Jaune it was one of the nicest laughs he had heard. It was crystal clear and melodic in nature, seeming almost to resonate within him. She offered him a hand up which he eagerly took. Crocea Mors was returned to its sheath though he knew he would need it again.
"An excellent kill. Not many encounter a Kraiken and live to tell the tale."
"Thank you, though I doubt I'd have been around to tell the tale if you hadn't have shown up." He smiled wistfully. Quite suddenly he offered her his hand "I-I'm Jaune by the way. Jaune Arc"
"Pyrrha Nikos. Pleased to meat you." She beamed back shaking his hand. The smile never left her face the whole while.
"So, I guess this makes us partners." He grinned glad to have ended up paired with someone so confident. She seemed nice enough. As though to confirm his statement, both their scrolls bleeped simultaneously. Jaune retrieved his to find a message from Ozpin.
"Congratulations to Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos on the formation of your partnership. It is my firm hope that you enjoy your time together at Beacon academy. As a further point we would like to extend our gratitude to you for removing the Kraiken from that region of the forest, it was beginning to prove quite troublesome to say the least. Your next task is a simple enough one, you are to head North working your way through the forest until you reach an ancient ruin. It is within that ruin that you will find a selection of relics. Retrieve one of these relics and return to the top of Beacon cliffs. Do not hesitate to cut down anything that gets in your way. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."
Jaune groaned as he finished reading the message, they had survived the fall and now they had to hike for miles through some gods forsaken forest to retrieve a relic, only then to walk the whole way back through the forest to climb the cliff and finish initiation. Great.
He looked to his new partner with a fatigued smile this was not how he had imagined things going, he had imagined initiation to be relatively easy. Oh how wrong he was. Blood rolled down his forehead and into his eye from a hitherto undiscovered cut. He caught his partner's gaze as she looked at him curiously.
"Jaune, why haven't you used your aura to heal that cut?" Came her question.
"My what?" He asked in return, thoroughly confused.
"Your aura? You do know what an aura is don't you?"
He blushed brightly and tried to hold her gaze but in the end he couldn't. He had no idea what aura was, and once she found out she would most likely not want to be his partner anymore. It sounded important whatever it was.
"N-no..." He said barely above a whisper and looked down at his feet. To his surprise she didn't seem annoyed or upset, rather she stepped forward and hooked a finger beneath his chin bringing his eyes to meet hers once again.
"It's alright Jaune, close your eyes."
"P-Pyrrha?"
"Just trust me." She smiled. Jaune did as he asked and as he did the air around them began to hum with energy, a hidden power he had never felt before. It was then that he first heard her begin to speak though not externally. Her voice was in his head, resonating throughout his very being. The words she said would stay with him for the rest of his life.
'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.'
A rush ran through his body filling him with new-found energy and sending a shiver down his spine. The aches and pains of his body faded away as a cooling sensation bloomed around his various cuts, bruises and scrapes. The cut above his eye sealed itself in mere moments, he felt incredible! He could even go so far as to say that he felt better than when he had entered the forest.
"W-what was that?" He asked, exasperated.
"I unlocked your aura and It got to work on healing your body." She smiled.
"That's incredible! What else can it do?" He was eager to learn more about this mysterious power within himself. What else was he capable of doing with it?
"Aura can be used to heal us and protect us from harm."
"L-like a forcefield?"
"I guess you could say that yes, however it is limited by your aura reserves and these vary from person to person. The bigger the amount of aura a person has, the more they can do with it before exhausting their reserves. You have a lot." She smiled. "Come on, we should make our way to these ruins, I'll tell you more about it on the way."
She set off walking at a leisurely pace out of the clearing and into the densely packed forest. He followed after her listening intently as she explained the uses and variations in aura, he was determined to learn all that he possibly could about it. After all, his very life may one day depend on it.
Before long they had left the clearing far behind them, the dissipating corpse of the Kraiken little more than a distant memory, and a foul one at that. Yet despite their hostile environment undoubtedly brimming with evil monsters, Jaune couldn't deny the beauty of the forest, the way the sunlight shone through the canopy overhead, bathing everything in a wholesome green light. It was stunning.
Meanwhile back on top of the cliffs, both professors Ozpin and Goodwitch stood watching events unfold with avid interest. The brutal wind still swirled around them seeking to drive its chill into their very bones.
"The final pairs have been established professor. Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. Poor girl, I simply can't imagine that working out."
"Perhaps Glynda, we shouldn't be so hasty in our judgement. The two did bring down a Kraiken and that is no mean feat."
"You saw him, he was getting knocked around like a rag doll! He didn't even have an aura."
"Yes, and I also saw him seize advantage of an opportunity and kill the beast. Everything is subjective. Despite not having a protective barrier he still charged the beast in order to kill it, that is bravery. We cannot judge them fully until we have seen them taxed to the very best of their abilities."
She growled in frustration earning yet another smile from her old friend. He had a point however, perhaps she was being overly hasty to cast aspersions on the young blonde. He was an Arc after all, that had to count for something didn't it?
"Either way, we will find out soon enough. They will be arriving at the ruins shortly."
Crumbling and shattered stones lay in a half circle before them, the last remaining evidence of a lost era. Jaune grinned at the sight, glad to have finally made it through the woods and onto the next part of their initiation. The forest itself seemed to end abruptly leaving them on a grassy plain. The treeline stood almost unnaturally straight behind them, as though the forest knew not to grow any further.
As they approached it seemed they weren't the only ones to have gotten this far, this was to be expected of course, Several other people were stood in the centre of the ruins looking over a ring of monoliths, each one with a small statue on top. They looked to be... Chess pieces?
"How about a cute li'l pony?" One of them said stepping forward and seizing the white knight piece. It was Yang, there was only one person with such an incredibly well kept waterfall of golden hair.
"Hey guys!" Jaune called out as he jogged over to meet them. Yang turned around to see him.
"Hey there Vomit-Boy." She grinned.
"I'm never gonna live that one down am I?" He groaned hearing his 'nickname'.
"Nope!" She chirped back. "Oh, this is my partner Blake." She gestured to the girl next to her. She was pretty enough, dressed all in black. On her back she carried a large bladed weapon and ribbons wound round her arms all the way up.
"Hey, I'm Jaune." He offered his hand, yet she didn't respond at all. He looked to Yang for help.
"Ah don't worry about it, she's always like that. Heck she's barely spoken a word since we got partnered." Blake rolled her eyes, but a slight smirk grew on her face, hardly noticeable but it was certainly there.
"This is my partner, Pyrrha." Jaune proclaimed proudly as he sought to end the awkward silence between them. Pyrrha waved to the two other girls and smiled brightly.
Once the introductions were made, Jaune stepped forward to see the various relics. Chess pieces, of both colours stood on the monoliths, the gaps present showed that many of the other initiates had already been and gone. His blue eyes scanned over the pieces just as his partner's did. In perfect sync with one another they stepped forward and both placed their hands on the white rook piece. Her hand on top of his.
The redhead darted backwards pulling her hand away from his and blushing bright enough to stop rush-hour traffic. Jaune's own cheeks flushed as well though he kept his hand on the piece. He picked it up off of its stand and placed it in his hoodie pocket
"All right, that's that one done. Now we just have to return to the top of Beacon cliffs right?" He smiled, completely oblivious to his partner's deep embarrassment.
"Awesome! We can all head back together!" Yang cheered.
"I don't see why not, safety in numbers is a good idea." Pyrrha chirped, having finally brought her blush under control and fervently thanking the gods for Jaune not having seen it.
The four of them were just about to set off on their way back, but before they could take another step a shrill and panicked voice called out from above them.
"Look out!"
Four faces snapped up, their eyes on the sky. Jaune couldn't believe it, Ruby was hurtling towards the ground at a breakneck pace. Judging by the speed she was travelling, it was unlikely that her aura would save her. The blonde watched her descent, frantically trying to work out where he would need to be. In a rash move he sprinted forward to just where he believed the Rose might land and held his arms out.
His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he watched her approach. She collided with the blonde with a hefty force, buckling his knees and sending them both to the ground, yet he managed to mitigate most of the impact. He ended up flat on his back with Ruby in a rather 'compromising' position on top of him earning both of them a set of rosy cheeks.
Thankfully Yang stepped forward and plucked her sister off of him by the back of her hood and setting her back down on her feet. There was a pause before the brawler drew her sister into a bone crushing hug. In the background Pyrrha helped her partner up and onto his own feet.
"Y-Yang! I'm fine, let me go!" Ruby cried as she flailed in the Blonde's arms. At last she broke free and looked up to the sky as if expecting something.
"What are you looking for?" Jaune asked curiously.
"Weiss... We kinda rode in on a giant Nevermore... And I told her to jump but she wouldn't so I kinda let go and well... Here we are!"
Jaune winced at the idea. He had heard the shouting match the previous evening and if that was any indication, Weiss was not the kinda girl you wanted to get on the wrong side of.
"You did what? Well, where is it?" Yang asked frantically searching the sky for any sign of the avian Grimm. The others soon joined her, scouring the clear blue for any sign of the evil beast or the heiress. Though which was more fearsome Jaune couldn't decide.
"There!" Ruby shouted pointing a finger up. Jaune followed her indication and found what they were looking for, at first it appeared to be little more than a speck but it soon grew, a little faster than Jaune would've liked.
"It's coming right for us!" They all cried in unison. Up above them the Nevermore shrieked out its hunting cry. A harsh and piercing cry that drove a spear of dread straight through their hearts. The bird drew back its wings pausing its forward momentum almost instantly, before once again bringing them forward unleashing a tirade of feathers in their direction.
"Scatter!" Ruby yelled and bolted behind a nearby tree. The others shot out in every which way they could to escape the barrage yet Jaune remained rooted to the spot unable to run. His legs simply wouldn't respond, fear had a solid grip on his heart.
"Jaune! Move!" He heard Pyrrha call out to him.
His partner's voice jolted him from his stupor but it was simply too late to run, there wasn't the time, the feathers were almost on him. He reached to his sword and drew it the steel shining brightly in the early afternoon sunlight. He expanded his shield and dropped into a crouch bringing it up and ducking behind it even as the feathers plowed into the ground in front of him.
Fortunately for him most of the feathers landed around him, missing by mere feet. One however didn't and collided with the face of his shield full force shattering into tiny pieces. He hissed in pain and the impact jarred his arm sending lances of pain rocketing through his body. His whole shield arm was completely numb.
Snapping his head round he watched his foe fly off, a brief flash of movement caught his eye as a figure, dressed all in white flew away from the bird hopping through the air on what seemed to be giant floating glyphs. Weiss.
The heiress touched down daintily onto the ground, a tiny puff of dust flying from underneath her. With a single-minded determination and anger seething in her icy blue eyes she stomped over to the tiny reaper.
"Ruby! What were you thinking leaving me up there alone!"
"Sorry! I-I told you to jump..." The little Rose hung her head in shame drawing circles in the dirt with the tip of her boot. She looked reminiscent of a toddler being chastised by her parent. The heiress opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted before she could get her words out by a low and rumbling roar. Out of the treeline burst an Ursa Major, huge white spines of bone protruding from its back. The beast was huge!
Before it had even gone two steps it collapsed down dead. Off of its back hopped a tiny girl dressed predominantly in pink with bright orange hair and a gigantic war hammer in her hands. It was a fearsome sight to behold. She nudged the dead Ursa with her foot, not even so much as a twitch from it.
"Awh... It's broken..." She whined, a frown growing on her face.
From behind the beast staggered what looked to be a male, dressed all in green and panting as though he'd just run the grand national. His hair was long and black as night save for a single lock of magenta just above his left eye.
"Nora... Please don't ever do that again..." He managed to gasp out between breaths. His words fell on deaf ears however, the girl had already skipped over and past the others until she stood in the ruins. Nora was leant forward scrutinising the remaining white knight piece, her nose only centimetres away.
She picked it from its perch and held it aloft triumphantly.
"Renny! Look how cute the pony is!" She shouted with childlike glee and a twinkle in her eyes. She skipped over to him and presented the piece to him.
"Well, I've always been more of a rook man myself but I like it." He nodded with a smile.
"Uh... Guys? It's coming back..." Jaune said pointing to the Grimm banking round above them, making ready for another strafing run. His words fell on deaf ears however as Weiss stomped off, finally finished chastising Ruby and seized one of the pieces. It was a the matching rook piece to the one in Jaune's pocket.
"Guys! It's coming in again! Scatter!" Jaune bellowed cutting off the others even as he dived behind one of the pillars for cover. The other initiates soon cottoned on to what he meant and found cover of their own even as the feathers struck, burying themselves into the earth and stonework alike.
"You seem to have upset that Nevermore." Ren said, his voice sounding remarkably calm despite everything that was happening.
"Blame her!" Weiss said with a scowl pointing at her partner. This was too much for Jaune, and by the looks of it Yang wasn't too far off herself. This had to stop, they couldn't bicker among themselves now.
"Just stop!" He snapped. "What is your problem? We can't bicker among ourselves, there will be plenty of time for that once we've dealt with our big bird flappy-"
"Nevermore?" Pyrrha offered.
"-Nevermore problem. For goodness sake you're behaving like a child. Now we can only do this if we work together." He finished, blushing slightly. It wasn't like him to step up and calm down a situation.
"He's right..." Blake said surprising them all. "We have bigger problems right now."
"Alright... Fine." The heiress sighed. "How do you propose we deal with that thing?" They all looked to Jaune expectantly, why? Why did things always backfire on him so badly, he had no idea what do do. He looked up and watched the bird as it swooped around for another pass. If only they could reach it to get a hit in on it.
"That's it!" he cried quite suddenly, startling the others.
"Well? Spit it out already." The impatient Schnee insisted.
"It's main advantage is its ability to fly right?"
They nodded. But said nothing so he continued.
"So all we have to do is bring it to the ground and finish it off down here. As long as it can fly we will be at a sever disadvantage."
Ruby saw the triumph in his eyes and stepped forward drawing Crescent Rose, the mechanical scythe unfolding with a series of clicks and whirs.
"You have a plan?" She asked, her eyes wide. He nodded in response.
"I have a plan."
There it is, the revamped and much better version I believe. I plan to split initiation down into a couple of chapters rather than just the one. There will be canon elements, however I will seek to apply my own take on things as it progresses. For those of you who were wondering the Kraiken was based off of the watcher from LOTR. As always please do follow, favourite and most importantly review. Please do let me know what you thought of this version.
Next time we shall have the Nevermore fight. As some of you may have noticed, I will be switching the teams around somewhat to both make things more interesting and allow for easier RoseArc and Arkos development.
Many thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter.