Hello once again, coming at you now with the latest chapter. I present to you all the second and concluding part to the Initiation arc. Without any further ado, here it is. I hope you all enjoy it.
Jaune watched the skies with great anticipation, a huge black bird wheeled around coming to bear down directly on him. A Nevermore, the raven-like species of Grimm and currently angry as all hell at the blonde knight. He gulped as it loosed a shriek, a war cry, and began its dive towards him. This was exactly what he had wanted, or thought he had wanted. His plan was a solid one, it was his job to lure it down low enough for them to strike at it.
Allowing himself a quick glance around he saw his fellow initiates all crouched out of sight behind the ruins and various trees, all awaiting his signal to make their move. Seven pairs of eyes all watching him with single-minded intensity and determination the likes of which he had never seen before.
He shifter his deep blue eyes off of them and back skyward to find their foe a lot closer than he had expected and closing fast. Jaune raised his shield and hoped by all the gods that it wouldn't choose to feather-shot him. To his slight relief it raised up its feet and opened its talons as though to grab him and carry him off to gods only knew where.
Cerulean blue eyes locked with hate-filled red as the ungodly avian flew ever closer to him. Steeling his nerves Jaune frantically began to try and gauge the distance, his mind crying out in blind terror for him to turn and flee but he couldn't his whole plan was currently hinging on him for it to work, besides, it was too late for him to run now.
He narrowed his eyes and watched the Grimm dive ever further and faster over the lip of his shield, only mere moments from it taking him off into the sky as its prize and killing him.
'Steady now Jaune, not yet... Just a little further...Just a little bit... Now!'
"Now!" He shouted.
Out from behind the ruins darted the ever energetic and slightly mad Nora Valkyrie, her gargantuan hammer Magnhild drawn and ready. Behind her and with more than the one grunt of exertion Yang hefted one of the ruins' ancient stone blocks, aided by one of Weiss' glyphs. The brawler hoisted the rock over her head, her eyes burning red as those of the Grimm.
With one final hoarse cry she hurled the rock skyward, not at the Nevermore but rather in front of it. Weiss using one of her glyphs to aid in both accuracy and propulsion, angling it in between both Nora and the soulless raven.
"Nora, nail it!" Jaune gave the order the Valkyrie had been waiting for. With a giggle she jumped onto the head of her hammer and with a pink explosion launched herself up and shooting towards the aged boulder mid-flight. She cocked back her hammer and with and almighty swing slammed it into the rock.
Another explosive report sounded out as she augmented her swing with one of her grenades. In a mere instant the once solid reminder of man's architectural past was converted to powder. The huge cloud of dust was sent flying forwards and into the eyes of the approaching Grimm. Nora landed and both she and Jaune threw themselves out of the path of the now temporarily blinded Nevermore.
Looking up from the ground Jaune just caught the bird flying straight into the fringe of the forest, ripping trees right out of the ground in a cloud of dust and earth with a cry of anguished pain. The initiates set off at a run towards the spot of the monsters impromptu landing. The dust settled as they approached.
The Nevermore had gouged a huge strip of the ground out, churning up the soil beneath. Trees once strong, deep-rooted and immovable against the ages now lay strewn about the beast's crash site. At the end of this trail of destruction lay the monster in question. It seemed dazed and confused. Both wings jutted out at awkward angles, the bones within having shattered after colliding with so many of the trees.
Jaune looked on in disbelief, astonished that the first part of his plan had paid of quite as well as that. Whether it was due to his plan being a solid one or sheer dumb luck he didn't know or care. He looked to the initiates running alongside him and barked his orders.
"Yang, Ruby Weiss and Blake. You guys go take out its right wing... Completely. Pyrrha, Nora and Ren you're with me!" The initiates listened intently as he spoke and called out the affirmative, their wave splitting effectively in two with each half swerving off and towards their respective sides of the Grimm.
The Nevermore itself seemed to have recovered from its confusion and was flailing its maimed wings around in what appeared to be an effort to take to the air again. Pained screeches were the only result of its efforts. It was clear that with wings that badly broken it wouldn't be flying anywhere anytime soon.
It gave up trying once it caught sight of the eight teenagers running full pelt towards it. It folded its wings awkwardly and ruffled its feathers in a warning. The eight ignored it and bore down on the beast spreading out and approaching from as many different directions as possible. For the oversized bird manoeuvres in between the trees were greatly restricted. Every move it made stripped several of the surrounding trees of their bark and brought a fresh wail of pain as its severely crippled wings were pressed against the trees.
Jaune ran up until the Nevermore cast him in shadow, sword drawn and poised to do his part. He leapt out of the way as a beak crashed into the ground where he had just been. It seemed the Nevermore had given up on its ruined wings and sought to peck them into oblivion. A wise move for the bird indeed. The Grimm backed up further until its tail feathers scrapes against the forest behind.
Jaune watched in horror as the Nevermore landed a direct hit on Ruby, the tip of its beak plowing directly into her chest and sending her flying. There was a cloud of rose petals as Ruby was thrown back. She hit the dirt with a dull thud, for a moment it seemed like she might not be getting up but slowly, she staggered back upright. Yang gave out and anguished cry as the Rose was hit, the relief on her face was palpable at seeing her sister recover. The Nevermore was in for a world of pain.
Yang stomped her way towards the beast at a slow and terrifying pace. Her eyes burned crimson signifying her semblance had kicked in. Her gauntlets were deployed and her fists formed into tight balls trembling with suppressed rage. Her long blonde hair seemed to be aflame, a more intimidating visage Jaune couldn't have imagined.
The Nevermore paused with what seemed to be a brief flash of fear in its beady eyes. It shook its head as though to clear it and dove forward to peck her again, she was moving slowly in a straight line after all. The other initiates had stopped dead, all seven pairs of eyes fixed on the blonde in a mixture of concern and intrigue, curious to see these two immovable titans clash head-to-head.
The beak shot forth straight at the blonde's chest and for a moment it seemed a dead cert that it would strike her again. Time seemed to slow to a snails pace as the tip of the beak drew closer and closer to her. Quicker than the eye could follow she brought her wrist up and knocked the attack aside in a shower of sparks. The other fist she brought up into the underside of its beak. One of her dust shells discharged on contact causing an explosion of bright red fire.
The Nevermore's head snapped back with a series of sickening crunches as its spine compressed sharply effectively converting its vertebrae into powder from the sheer force alone. The Nevermore collapsed forward, seemingly paralysed, the brawler stepped out of the way calmly, the fight appearing to be over. Jaune relaxed a little.
Yang wasn't done there though, oh no. She took a step or two towards the raven-like Grimm and smiled innocently. The nevermore looked into her eyes in terror, all anger long since having disappeared from its eyes. With a roar she proceeded to launch a furious assault on the creature sending a flurry of heavy punches directly into the avian Grimm's face, each one irking a new pained cry from the monster. Deep cracks appeared in the thick bone plates on its face until one heavy, dust augmented punch shattered them and sent fragments flying in all directions and burying them in the surrounding foliage.
The enraged fist-fighter continued to pummel the Nevermore's head even after its skull had collapsed and the burning red eyes had been extinguished. At last she stopped, black blood spattered all over her outfit. The blonde beauty took a calming breath extinguishing the flames in her hair and returning her eyes to lilac. In defiance, she spat on the corpse of her foe and dropped to one knee as fatigue washed over her. The seven initiates shot over to her side.
"That was incredible! I've never even heard of someone fist-fighting a giant Nevermore before! It was the most scary thing I've ever seen but it was just so cool!" Ruby squealed running over, wincing in pain with each step. She launched herself at her sister, arms like bands of steel around the blonde's waist.
"Relax little sister, I'm fine..." She said standing up again, she looked over to Jaune. "Sorry I messed up the plan."
"It's alright." He laughed "I'm just glad you're still in one piece. Just remind me never to upset you... like ever, even slightly."
"Damn straight." She chuckled "So what do we do now?"
Jaune thought for a moment, the cogs in his mind whirring as he fought to concoct a plan. Before he got the chance to voice his ideas however, Weiss stepped forward with a stern look on her face. If looks could kill, the forest would have wilted then and there.
"Just what did you think you were doing you brute?!" She demanded. Yang just gave her a questioning look, it lacked any real interest. If anything it seemed as though she found the heiress boring.
"We had a plan! By trying to play the hero you broke the plan and put us all in jeopardy! What would have happened if you had been hurt or even killed?"
"Relax Ice Queen... I killed it didn't I? That's all that matters." Yang waved the Heiress off.
Jaune took a small step back away from the squabbling two. He could see Weiss' temper rising by the moment, a single vein bulging in her forehead. The struggle to maintain her cool was showing clearly on her face. Fire and Ice, the two couldn't be any more different if they tried.
"Please stop. If we continue to bicker and squabble among ourselves then not only will it bring down morale, it will also attract Grimm to the area. We mustn't forget that they are attracted to negativity." The two girls clamped their mouths shut as new voice joined the fray, louder than the others and yet possessing an air about it that served to calm the warring huntresses. The party looked around in shock to find that it was in fact Ren whom had spoken, it was the first time he had uttered a word since they had all met back at the ruins.
"He speaks!" Yang teased with a wide smile.
"Yes and so do you, a little loud for my liking..." Weiss scowled.
Jaune could sense the two getting ready to commence their verbal onslaught anew. Before they could, he stepped in between them pushing them apart. It couldn't go on, especially if their bickering would bring fresh Grimm into the area. That was something he wasn't willing to risk.
"We should begin making our way back to the cliffs, we have completed our primary goal after all." Ren stated and turned to walk off with Nora skipping alongside him. His voice had sounded monotonous, almost as though he were fed up or bored of the brawler and the heiress. His idea was accepted by them all, as one by one they followed on after him. Ruby tugged lightly on her sister's elbow, Yang shot the ice queen one last glare before following her sister off to the South and in the direction of Beacon cliffs.
Glynda stared incredulously at her scroll, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. It sent shivers down her spine to see the pulped remains of the giant Nevermore. Never before in over a decade of watching initiations had she ever seen a student punch one of the gigantic avian Grimm to death, to do so would require extraordinary strength.
"Ozpin, did you..?" She asked, her voice a little shaky. He smirked slightly, it was a rare occasion that Goodwitch was this perturbed by anything.
"I did, it seems we have quite the impressive group of students..."
"It seems we may have underestimated them."
"And what of Mr. Arc, what do you think of his performance thus far?"
"I...I may have been a little hasty..." She admitted, her cheeks colouring pink. "It seems that while his combat skill may be lacking, by a considerable margin might I add, that he does possess an impressively tactical mind. It took him little time at all to plot the downfall of the Nevermore, although it was incredibly reckless."
"Sometimes, reckless plans are the best for a situation. It makes you spontaneous and helps to keep our foes guessing. It may have worked had it not been for Miss Xiao-Long's outburst."
Glynda frowned once again and sighed. Though it pained her to admit it, the wizened old headmaster did have a point. Up until the young brawler had gone on the offensive, the knight's plan had been going well. They were mere moments from swarming the monstrous raven and bringing an end to it. Indeed, she would have to keep an eye on the young Arc boy it seemed.
"They are on the approach to Beacon cliffs, they should be with us again in a matter of minutes." She informed him.
Ozpin didn't say a word in response, he was deep within his own thoughts. The headmaster watched the holographic screen of his scroll with great interest, his critical eyes analysing the eight teenagers as they made their way back towards him. He idly sipped his coffee with a smile, it seemed to him that these eight teenagers would play a part in shaping the future of both Vale and the entirety of Remnant. It was only a matter of time.
The return journey towards the cliffs had been hard going to say the least. It had long since passed midday, the sun on the final stretch of its journey across the sky. Already the once blue sky had begun to shift to orange in the face of the approaching dusk.
Jaune and his friends were still walking back through the forest towards their cliffs and the end of their trials. Progress had been slow as they weaved in between the thick trunks of the trees. Roots and thorn bushes had tripped them and grasped at their clothes with unrelenting persistence leaving them hot, bothered and fraying at their patience.
At first, conversation had flowed between them as easily as water from one side of a lake to the other. They had discussed many things from their upbringing and family (Weiss and Blake remained silent throughout and listened despite urging from the others), their hopes, dreams and other things down to the tiniest details such as favourite foods.
The story exchanges were good for morale, none of them so much as Jaune. His stories of his life with seven sisters had them laughing on more than one occasion, often to the point of tears. In particular they seemed to enjoy hearing about the times his sister forced him into wearing girl's clothes including one particularly uncomfortable incident involving a maid's outfit. The struggle between his sisters and he had been legendary and woken up half of the street before they had managed to subdue him
Ren and Nora had brought in the stories of their time growing up together, tales of their youth living next door to one another and how they had found true companionship in the form of each other. Hearing their words formed a pit in Jaune's heart, he desired the self-same companionship they had described. As a child things had been lonely, the human children had exiled him because he was seen as a faunus sympathiser and the faunus children didn't trust him because he was human. It was a vicious circle of rejection.
Yet as time wore on and their energies began to wane, the sounds of laughter became softer and more lacklustre, the smiles had become more half-hearted and their eyes had dimmed until they eventually gave up telling stories all together and focussed solely on putting one foot infront of the other.
The trees before them began to thin out until they emerged into the dying sunlight at the foot of the cliffs. They stood as the final thousand foot barrier between them and rest. Jaune's heart sank as he looked up at the rock face, he wasn't afraid of the climb. Given time he was sure that he could do it, it was the thousand foot fall to his inevitable death that terrified him.
"We can't climb that..." Weiss frowned looking up at the sheer rock wall. "We'll have to find another way up there..."
Jaune thought for a moment, he looked up and down the base of the cliffs for any way that might have been left for them to return to the top. To his dismay none presented themselves. His eyes trailed down the cold stone to the base of the cliff where they settled on the heiress...
"Weiss, what is the range on your glyphs." He asked slowly, thinking about the likelihood of his half-formed plan actually working.
"I can summon them anywhere within sight, provided that I have the time to concentrate." She answered in a very proud manner.
"Then do you think you can set us up with steps to the very top of the cliffs?"
"Can I?" She repeated confidently.
"...can you?" Ruby asked a little confused.
"Of course I can!" The heiress snapped.
Weiss gave a hefty sigh and closed her eyes. After taking a few moments to calm her breathing she flicked her wrist and pointed to the cliffs. Almost instantaneously a series of white glyphs appeared in running up the rock-face, they hummed slightly and resonated with energy.
"Well? I can't hold them forever, get a move on!" She huffed.
Jaune nodded and gestured to the glyphs, they were pulsing slightly. The seven teenagers made their way over to them. The knight gulped and stepped onto the first glyph. There was a mad rushing sensation and the sound of gale force wind in his ears as he was propelled upwards faster than he dared think.
He soared up and high above the cliff top, he hung there for a brief moment before dropping down fifty feet and onto the plates from which they had all been launched from that morning. He rolled to dissipate the impact of his rather abrupt landing. He was followed in short order by; Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Yang, Blake, Ruby and finally Weiss. The heiress landed with a soft 'hmph' and stepped over to the knight.
"Told you I could do it." she stated proudly, Jaune stepped over and place a hand on her shoulder with a smile.
"Thank-you Weiss, you saved us all a dangerous climb and an awful lot of effort." She smiled at that, a slight one, barely noticeable but it was there. Before they had the chance to discuss anything further they were met by the familiar visage of Ozpin and Goodwitch, both had warm smiles on their faces and what seemed to be pride.
"Congratulations to you all on your successful completion of the initiation task. We have monitored your progress and are satisfied that you are all ready to continue your training to become huntsmen and huntresses here at Beacon combat academy. As the school's Headmaster it is my pleasure to offer you all places as first year students. Do you accept?"
"Yes thank-you Sir!" Eight voices replied simultaneously with great enthusiasm.
"Then all that remains is for me to say 'Welcome to Beacon'. Now, if you would be so kind as to hand over the relics that you retrieved?"
The four pairs all searched briefly in their pockets before producing and handing over their oversized chess pieces. Two white knights and two white rooks. Ozpin raised an eyebrow as Goodwitch stepped forward to collect the 'relics'.
"Thank you. You will return to the ballroom for now where you may wash and change until all of the students have returned. Once everyone is assembled and prepared we will host the initiation ceremony and decide the final teams of four. You are dismissed."
Jaune stumbled on tired feet back towards his bedroll from the previous night. It may not have been luxury but after the day he had had, it was more inviting that the finest hotels in all of Remnant and the way he saw it, he had earned it.
Pyrrha was sat on her own bedding next to his with a smile on her face, having relocated it the moment they had returned arguing that they were partners and that it meant they simply had to stick together. Not that he minded of course, he was still thanking each and every one of his lucky stars for being paired up with her.
"So Jaune, you must be happy to have been paired with the Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss said with a smile as she came over to sit with them, Ruby in tow behind her, a plate of cookies in hand.
"What do you mean?" He asked confused.
"You're partnered with Pyrrha Nikos, four time Mistral regional tournament champion?" She answered, her tone showing how thin her patience were staring to wear.
"The what?"
"She's on the front of every 'Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes' box!" She cried out flapping her arms. Jaune looked at her in disbelief before turning to look at his partner, she had a fed up expression on her face and was shooting a less than friendly glare at the heiress. He thought back to the cereal box and just like a flash of lightning, it clicked. His eyes grew wide in shock, how could he not have seen it sooner?
"That was you?!" He gasped, looking at her with reverent awe.
"Yeah, it was pretty cool... Shame the cereal isn't very good for you..." She sighed.
"That's so cool!" He cried out.
"So you're glad then?" Weiss interjected. Returning to her original question.
"Y-yeah! Not just because she's famous though, I mean that is cool and all but the Grimm don't care if you're famous or a commoner, there is no distinction for them between the two. All I know is that Pyrrha saved my life out there. To me that matters most." He smiled. Besides him Pyrrha seemed to release a poorly concealed sigh of relief, why that was Jaune had no idea but deep down he had the feeling he'd done the right thing.
Ruby grinned and offered her plate of cookies to them, she waited for them all to take one each before she demolished the rest of them with a speed and ferocity seldom seen. Weiss looked as though she wanted to scold the younger girl but bit her tongue smiling apologetically to their company.
"These are good cookies Ruby!" Jaune smiled taking another bite of his. "Where did you get them?"
She shrugged. "I bumped into Professor Ozpin coming back from the shower and he gave me them." The young rose grinned. Jaune couldn't help but notice just how pleasant her smile was, it was so innocent and full of joy that he put him at ease. Why it was that she had such an effect on him he didn't know, but it sent him reeling.
The overhead lights shone brightly down onto the amphitheatre's stage. On stage left waiting to go on were Jaune and the rest of the initiates. The blonde's hands trembles as his nerves once again took over. He prayed fervently that everything would go well and that he wouldn't mess up by tripping on the way onto the stage, or that he was pass out from embarrassment alone.
Ozpin and Goodwitch were stood by the microphone, she had her large scroll out in front of her and was tapping away furiously in the few remaining moments whilst the audience settled in. The audience itself seemed to be several hundred strong, the whole student population of Beacon itself. The initiates were led out onto the stage together and lined up at the back. They had only been told to step forward when their names were called.
The speakers boomed a little as Ozpin cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Thank you all or gathering here on such short notice to witness the start of our initiates journey here at Beacon, along the way, they will face countless dangers. It is only by the mutual support of our peers that we can fight through these dangers and emerge stronger for it. Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie and Yang Xiao-Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forth you shall be known as Team Burgundy(BRNY) led by; Blake Belladonna."
Polite applause from the audience masked Blake's surprised gasp but did little to disguise the expression of shock on her face. Ozpin stepped forward and congratulated each member of the newly formed team personally, lingering a little longer to seemingly offer some words of wisdom to Blake before her team exited stage right to collect their dorm keys and watch the rest of the ceremony.
"Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos and Ruby Rose." Ozpin continued.
At the very mention of his name, Jaune's hands trembled ever more, he balled his hands into tight fists to stop them shaking but was only partly successful. His heart pounded faster and faster as he stepped forward to where BRNY had stood mere moments before.
"You shall form team Jasper (JSPR) and will be led by... Jaune Arc."
"What?!" Jaune cried out in sheer surprise as his heart skipped a beat, this couldn't be right. At his side Pyrrha gave him a playful punch, beaming at him, and sent his arm numb. He didn't even react. He simply watched dumb founded as Ozpin made the rounds of his team, congratulating them all personally. As he had with Blake, Ozpin paused in front of Jaune, and, with a smile shook his hand.
"We're expecting great things from you Mr. Arc, keep up the good work. Don't be afraid of your new responsibilities, I can tell you're a little daunted but you will do just fine. Stand by your team no matter what and they shall do the same for you. Congratulations."
Jaune stumbled off of the stage in a daze, the whole world seemed to spin before him. It was all so very much to take in. Ozpin was certainly right, he felt daunted and lost, unsure of what to do next or what his newest responsibilities were. The blonde was about to embark on a journey of discovery and undoubted adventure. He was sure he would work it out, one step at a time. He had a team now, and he was their leader.
Thanks for reading! Yang is one scary individual, especially where Ruby is concerned. So now we have it, our two teams; JSPR and BRNY (bit of a play on Yang's semblance there too.) Hope you enjoyed this chapter, Next time we'll see how the teams adapt to classes and their positions within their respective teams (Weiss, I'm looking at you.) I'm hoping you are all enjoying these re-written chapters better than the old ones. I'm trying to separate them from the set canon for the show and make them a little more interesting to read. Please let me know what you think and how I might improve on them.
As always, please do Favourite, follow and especially review. All your reviews help me improve my writing and the story as a whole.
Many thanks once again and I'll see you all in the next chapter.