A/N: I am considering applying Nautilus's Amor from LoL as the base and the picture I have as its décor, let me know what you think! The link is also in my account page, I do not own either!
Also this chapter will be far longer than all the others, please tell me if you prefer this length, shorter or longer!
[Forever Falls], a massive forest of trees that perpetually sheds leaves. These leaves possess a withered quality and reddish tint that suggests the season to be in the fall, but it is not so. They perpetually fall from their branches, coating the ground, filling the air and covering the view with falling leaves all year long.
Hence the name: [Forever Falls]
These trees however contain something special that sets them apart from any other tree in Vytal, only occurring in this particular area of the continent. They each contain an abundance of incredibly nutritious sap the same color as its falling leaves.
The forest also sports an overabundance of Grimm inhabiting it, explaining the lack of sap collectors that would've swarmed the place by the thousands if that wasn't the case.
But, instead of civilian sap collectors or Grimm, today the students to Beacon Academy would be collecting the sap for the upcoming Vytal festival. This task would be dedicated to the First-Years in particular, a task of great importance, of exemplary action, of-
"THIS AGAIN?"
The person in particular shouting their mouth off would be none other than Jaune Arc, which was out of character of him due to his inferiority complex. Of course, one has to remember the near-traumatic events in this particular forest that turned his world to the side. The day Jaune saved Cardin from being mauled by an Ursa Major, despite knowing the former bully fully deserving it that day for his actions.
But why wouldn't he be happy about it? Of the day his bullying stopped? Well, that would be because of the chosen method of transportation into said forest. He didn't hate the forest despite the life-changing events that took place in it. Jaune simply didn't know how to land, even after several months at Beacon Academy. Which made sense in a twisted sort of way, as this was the elite school for future top-tier huntresses and hunters; something as simple as a [Landing Strategy] seemed much too trivial to go over in anywhere but in practical applications.
"Alright my cute little students, today we will be collecting sap from the forest. I trust that each of your respective team leaders have already briefed you on the mission and distributed the supplies among the rest?" Amongst the students were the usual three teams, and the individual students themselves were all carrying the tools needed to find, extract, and store the sap of the trees in [Forever Falls]. Some like Cardin and Nora carried excess supplies simply due to their greater strength, while those like Weiss and Blake handled lighter, note-taking material.
"Did Professor Ozpin just call us his 'cute little students'?" Ruby asked her sister disbelievingly, who was carrying almost half he teams supplies with her. The blonde simply giggled, giving little response other than that.
"Well it is the Headmaster we're talking about here right?" Weiss replied relishing in her greatly reduced load. The other students that were within listening range simply made grunting noises of acknowledgement.
Everyone agreed that one had to have a few screws loose to teach such a stressful job, calling them pet names probably served as a psychological relief mechanism of some sort.
"Forget that! What about this platform? Can't you all see that's the real problem?" Jaune hissed quietly to Ruby before addressing the others. "We're going to be launched off-!"
"If there isn't, then good luck!"
Jaune Arc never got to finish his complaint on the ground, as the all the pads simultaneously activated rather than separately, all due to the little remote in Ozpin's hands. He was however given a generous minute-and-half in the air to finish his complaints and whatever tension he had before Phyrra saved his posterior using her shield to protect it from the scraping, unforgiving ground.
"Now then, let us make haste to the [Forest of Fallen Giants], I assume you know where it is, Professor Desruc?" Ozpin's cheerful mood quickly diminished as he turned his attention to more serious matters, namely getting some answers from the [Fire Keeper].
"It is exactly where it is described as, 'where blood falls from the branches and Nectar flown in veins'. We will head to the very epicenter of this forest, to the heart of the [Forever Falls]." Desruc explained to both Ozpin and James, who would be attending the meeting as well.
[Forever Falls], its leaves are perpetually a shade of light-red. But at its center lay an alcove of trees far larger and older than the rest, with wood that seemed to resist damage, nectar sweet enough to drive any man into instant addiction, and falling leaves the color and scent of freshly spilt blood. These trees seemed to guard the center of an inner forest far too thick and tightly packed for even air to pass through. Its roots reached unknown kilometers under and its branches wove itself into a tightknit, optimal for dozens of much older Nevermore to roost or nest in, all after countless centuries of growth. It was one of the rare natural barriers that even the Schnee Dust Company had declared a waste of resources to open up, but after only splintering half a tree with a million Lien worth of equipment and Red Dust in an attempt to breakthrough. That tree then proceeded to heal up fully within the week, as if mocking the SDC's attempts.
So that section of the forest had been left alone, labeled a hazard to both finance and health. No one had approached the place since then.
Until now.
"Isn't that place forbidden" James Ironwood asked, his lack of knowledge of local lore showing his Atlantian heritage. The trio simply began moving, following the giant's lead, discussing as they walked.
"No, it's just impossible- until now- to even get in. Every attempt that aimed to breach that cluster of trees has failed spectacularly, if you recall the 'Abandoned Dust Cache', its news made headlines as the Schnee Dust Company's first ever failure to retrieve a potential Dust vein." Ozpin responded, enjoying a sip from his mug of coffee as he did, it was so energizing. "Rumors then spread about this place, while most of them seems outlandish and out right ridiculous…the best lies have a grain of truth in them."
"Yes, now that you mentioned it do remember something that my contact in the SDC mentioned in his reports" James mused, smirking in anticipation soon after, "Perhaps our friend here will prove us to be the first ones to enter this so-called 'Dust-Cache', where the even the SDC has failed."
After an hour of strolling across the Grimm-infested forest- in which they surprisingly encountered no Grimm-and reached an empty band of grass clearly separating the [Forest of Fallen Giants] from [Forever Falls] like Nature's own exclusive club, Destruc paused on the spot, placing an invisible gaze toward to wall of trees that barred their entry. Behind him the two men began to gossip out of boredom. He seemed to be in a trance anyway, it would last quite some time, so why not.
"So, I never had time for this when I came, but now that we do, I feel assured in the question I'm about to ask." James stated somewhat out of the blue, eyeing the giant's form shadow over the two. "Just what is he?"
"James, I've known Professor Desruc for the better part of the decade, but in all honesty I think he's known me and my team for far longer", the Dean began as copied the General's gaze upon the giant. "I wouldn't be surprised if he may the one that allowed my batch to graduate in the first place that time"
James Ironwood blinked, turning to the Dean.
"You mean the stampeding Goliath incident?"
"Indeed, if you've forgotten I'll remind you. That day was our graduation day, and it just so happened that my team was paired with Qrow's on a test to bait a Goliath… and attempt a capture. We only needed observations to pass since capturing any Grimm- let alone one as powerful as a Goliath- was very dangerous for even seasoned Hunters." The white-haired man sighed, recalling the stressful memory "But Taiyang Xiao Long was as impulsive as ever, he wanted to do the impossible. And as you can probably imagine he thought that dropping the cage on the Goliath would work, guess what?"
"What, the he missed?"
"No, it worked surprisingly well, the cage held. The problem however, came right afterwards" Ozpin shook his head in disappointment, "But things would not end smoothly, I failed to properly reign in his habits as I should have done. Did you know that the Goliath we captured was an infant? I bet you can guess what happens next?"
"I think I see how that goes now. Baby Goliath cries, Mama comes and sees what's wrong and instead sees its baby all caged up. It then gets mad enough to lead a stampede." The General derived, he sighed upon seeing his friend nod.
"But he was not the only one to blame, as fear causes anyone to make mistakes, I made another mistake that day that almost wiped out several team's worth of Hunters and Huntresses. "Regret was plain as day in his voice as he spoke "In my panic, I thought that the Professors could handle the Goliaths. I ran back to Beacon with a massive herd of stampeding Goliaths on my tail."
James flinched. It was well known that Goliath's were relatively nomadic Grimm that somewhat avoided humans, they were colossal in size with strength and durability to match. A relatively new one could hold off a whole team of seasoned Hunters until help arrived, but a whole herd of seasoned Goliaths?
Beacon Academy and its faculty should've been wiped off the map within the hour. But it had miraculously survived, how? No-one knew the answer as the case had been known only to the Headmaster at that time as well the teams directly involved. That meant either Ozpin knew, or had more pieces of the story than most considering his odd position as both perpetrator and investigator.
"Fortunately the Goliath's seemed to have redirected the path of their stampede, saving the Academy and its inhabitants. I later confessed to the Headmaster after deciding to shoulder the blame and leaving the rest of the school in bliss of their near-death." He gave a musing smile, staring to a place only he could. "Imagine my surprise when the man smiled, said he'd look into it, and figure out a fitting punishment for me"
"What did he do to you?" Curious, James really wanted to know the punishment if it made Ozpin smirk.
"You're looking at the results right now"
Just then, the giant professor seemed to break from his trance and began to move towards the solid wall of incredibly damage-resistant wood. The two cut off their story telling for now and tried to comprehend just what was going to happen to get past. Was he going to climb? Throw a rock? Push some hidden buttons? Use his unknown strength to break the wood apart-?
A pair of jaws unhinged within closed mouths-to preserve masculinity-as the seemingly unyielding wood bent into an open path large enough for the giant professor to fully stretch his whole body and still not reach the half-way mark of the gap. The one being which the forest allowed admittance, easily entered, the entrance beginning to shrink quickly immediately after.
It was fortunate that the two males behind overcame their shock fast enough to sprint through the rapidly closing entrance, else they would either be left alone with a whole horde of Nevermore Grimm, or stuck in the entrance. Fortunate indeed for the two, but not so much for Ozpin's Coffee mug, as it had been left outside in his haste to get in.
Ozpin once again began to stress out over his missing coffee mug.
In the meanwhile, Glynda Goodwich was having the time of her life supervising the First-Years progress on their assignment. It was refreshing to see everyone so uptight and hard at work. Each team was assigned a set number of trees to draw from in a certain area, sampling and marking the high-quality ones while leaving out the others; preventing the over drain of the tree sap. Those that had reached their quota were helping out their peers, and those recently finished marking their trees were busy jotting notes and analysis references to the tree.
It was wonderful seeing such teamwork and diligence. Yes, she was surely in a very good dream.
But all good dreams must come to an abrupt end, and for one Glynda Goodwich it came when she spotted a Goliath infant roaming a dozen meters away from the First-Years' general location.
For one so small, it still had to stay close to its parent. This meant the parent must be close by, half a dozen meters tops.
There was a herd nearby, she had to get her students out of the area since there was no way even she could hold off more than three at a time, let alone a whole herd of them, which could number in the dozens.
Discreetly, she pulled up her Scroll, making great effort to remain calm as she sent an emergency message to the Scroll of every student on the area.
Prof. Goodwich: To all students currently in [Forever Falls], cease all activities immediately. There have been dangerous Grimm sighted in the area. You are to report to your team leaders with all your materials and follow them to the rondevu point for extraction. I will meet you there momentarily to account for strength before we leave. Please make it safely.
Miss Rose: What kind of Grimm was it?
Prof. Goodwich: A Goliath, suspected to be of a nearby herd. Do not engage, they are all extremely dangerous, especially when agitated.
Miss Rose: Orders received, team RWBY is headed to the rondevu point.
Mister Winchester: Orders received, team CDRL will be at the rondevu point.
Mister Arc: Orders received, team JNPR is packing and will meet at the rondevu point.
Miss Coco: Orders received, team CFVY is at the rondevu point and will help account strength.
Mister Wukong: Orders received, team SSSN is accounting strength and will be headed to the rondevu point.
Glynda smiled at their responsible responses, it was nice to see that the future Hunters would not lose their cool under slight pressure and took some initiative. She began walking in the general direction of the rondevu point, putting it away as she did so, and as a result did not see the obstacle in front of her. This obviously resulted in slamming against something, as it always does.
It was simply unfortunate circumstance that the Goliath infant decided to graze on a patch of grass directly in Glynda's path.
The two collided and moved away in shock.
One fell on their buttock.
The other gave a cry of anxiety and confusion into the open sky.
From even within the sealed [Forest of Fallen Giants], an audible beginnings of a stampede could be heard. The occupants both old and new knew that something terrible was going to happen.
Ozpin suddenly had an uneasy wave of Déjà vu wash over him.
His cute little students were in grave danger.
A/N: Wow, 2.7k words, that's really long! I hope you guys enjoy it, and some feedback would be appreciated. Like, don't like? More armor concepts to suggest?
Also I plan to a few LoL characters in for future plot-related reasons, I will have a little poll on my page to see what you guys think. Oh and Shout out to Master Dude the 21st for the great tips! See you next chapter!