Chapter 2 - We're Vagabonds

Emerald Forest, 12:30 PM

I felt weightless for a slight second before my mass arched me into the ground. Thinking of something fast, I pulled out my longsword, aiming for a tree to the right, to hook onto. I hold the sword out tight, widening my eyes to precise the aim. The sword then slaps into the branch, but instead of hooking onto the tree, it rebounces, sending me into a violent spin.

"PU-FF" I screamed as my arm flung out in a weird direction. Then I realized, i slowed myself down, sending me plummeting into the ground. With a last chance ditch effort, I spread my limbs out and hope for a wave of branches to catch me. Vision was out the door since i was spinning, so I shut my eyes for the worst. The world went dark for what seemed like for a minute, then suddenly, I slapped back first into a large branch.

Letting out a painful scream, i landed onto another wave of branches. Then, without a warning, I slapped into the ground. Rubbing my eyes open, sore and awake, i stood myself up with encouragement, and looked around just to find trees and bushes.

It was silent. No bugs rang, no birds chirped. Suddenly, a person who flung farther flung over my head. Unknown who it was, I darted to their direction. It seems like they've landed miles away from me. Enabling my semblance, my senses came to life. People were shouting all over the place left and right. Some people were definitely in danger, screaming for help. Others were just looking around for their friends.

Suddenly, caught off guard, bushes to my right shuffled, and a pair of wolf ears shuffled out. Silver's head popped out with a couple of leaves stuck onto him. "Wasup." He said calmly.

I gasped in shock. I ran upto him giving him a big hug, "Oh my god dude! You're alive!"

"Of course I am." He said casually. "Landing strategies." He waved his hand up in the air dramatically. "I knifed into a tree and climbed down from there." He looked at my state, in which was obviously in poor condition. "Yikes, what happened to you?"

"Longsword didn't go as planned." I said lifting up my golden sword, which was somehow still intact after a big blow. "Also, what would a use of a gun do?"

"Wait, you have a gun as well?" Silver asked.

"Yeah, but I keep it as a sidearm." I said. "Speaking of which, i need it." I reached for my backpack, and grabbed out another gold-themed gun.

"You're in love with gold, aren't you?" Silver tapped me on the shoulder.

"Meh." I shrugged. "Nothing too great." I grabbed out three mags, shoving them in my pocket. I took out the sidearm holder and clipped it onto my waist. "Let's head out."

"Yeah." Silver agreed, heading north. "So what happened with your landing again?"

"I clipped a tree wrong and fucked up everything." I said, sighing."

"That sucks." Silver said. "Oh by the way, I found you because of my ears."

I noticed he didn't have his hat on. "Where's your hat?"

"It's here." Silver spun around to see the hat tied onto his pants.

"Oh." I said, continuing up north.

"We can find Yi and Alice north." Silver said, twitching his ears. "I can hear them, but they're nearby a couple people."

Growls were heard behind us suddenly. "That's why I brought a long a couple friends."

I spun around to see at least three grim. "Friends?"

The grim growled as they crawled closer to us. "We can use these as distractions to the others as we find Yi and Alice. It's clever, but risky."

My heart raced as the grim pulled closer. "Risky…"

"Hurry, we barely have any time." Silver dashed forward. I hesitated, but them started to run. The grim were somehow on pace with us mazing through the forest as we dodged branches, roots, and all sorts of bushes. Suddenly, we ran into a clearing, in which there were three people standing in place, bored out of their mind.

"Ah, shit." I said to Silver.

"We ain't partnering with them." Silver said. "Watch this." Silver spun as the grim went to a holt. He pounded his hands on all four, then started to growl. His ears peaked up as I watched him go to work. He inhaled hard, then let out a cry of a wolf, which was heard around the Emerald forest.

I slapped my hands over my ears of how loud it was. The howl died down as Silver pushed himself up onto all fours. "How was that?"

"Loud." I stated blandly. I spun back around, the three people have discovered us. They started to run up to us, attempting to earn a partner. "We gotta dash left now!"

Immedietly, we went left of the clearing, leaving the three with atleast twelve grim. Screams were heard behind us as we left the clearing. "Damn…" I cursed under my breath as Silver guided me through the woods.

He then suddenly stopped feet from a girl in pink hair, "Yi."

"S-Silver?" Yi stuttered. "How- What?"

"His ears." I poked them. He slapped my hand as he growled. I flinched as i jumped up. "Eep!"

"They're sensitive…" Silver said.

"Alice is just at least a quarter of a mile from here." Silver said. My senses picked her up from the right. As soon as i realized it, Silver already had dashed off. I looked at Yi, who looked in perfect condition.

I then started to run towards Silver, "Hurry before we loose Silver!"

"Got it!" Yi dashed of beside me.

Silver wasn't as fast as i thought. We caught up to him within a few minutes of running, "Alice is going to be to the rig-"

BAM- Silver slammed right into a person who let out a painful cry. "AH-"

It was Alice, who had her clothing ruined before hand. "HEY! Watch where your-" She stopped mid sentence, looking at all three of us. "Oh, Hey."

"What in the hell happened to you?" Yi asked, looking at Alice from head to toe.

"I landed in a pond full of mud." Alice sighed. "How about you?"

Yi replied, "I landed somehow perfectly."

Silver chimed in, "Same here."

"I'm another story." I laughed, dusting off the remaining debris on my pants. "I landed hard."

"Ouch." Yi and Alice said simultaneously. Alice then took out a small pouch, which transformed into a white longbow. Arrows came out as the bow completed it's transformation. Yi took out her a pencil, which started to transform into a long spear. Silver brought up his two knives, spining them around his fingers.

"Man, why do you guys have some type of cool transformation?" I complained. I brought out my longsword and pistol, and stabbed the sword in the ground, hanging the gun on it's guard. The three laughed, but was shortened by a growl from east of us.

"Here they come…" Alice stood herself up, breaking into stance with her longbow. She pulled out an arrow, shutting an eye to aim towards the growling. Yi aimed her spear in a charging downward position while Silver snuck his knives into place on his hands.

"I got this." I swung my sword like a baseball bat through the bushes and trees, exposing the three grim that lie vulnerable now. "NOW!"

Silver threw his knife into the head of the right grim. He charged in with a battle cry, dodging a strike from the grim, and stabbing it in the chest of the grim. He then got a hold of his other knife, slicing them through the grim, killing it with a passion.

Yi charged up, digging her spear into the ground making it act like a vault pole. She flung herself up in the air, throwing the spear down into the grim, piercing it into the ground also. She put all her might into coming down, pounding on top of the spear, digging the spear deeper into the grim, killing it.

Alice's kill was swift and easy. A couple shots to the head, and it was down. She suddenly flung one more behind it, putting a hole through the bushes, into a hidden grim.

"Nice." I complimented their work. It sucks i didn't get to kill any grim.

"Erm…" The three of them grunted.

"Hm?" I asked.

Silver frowned, "It seems like we're doing all the work."

Yi added, "You still yet have to kill a grim."

"Pff…" I shrugged off nervously. "I'll kill one eventually." I walked off, leading the three northbound. Hopefully I can stumble upon a grim, proving i'm worthy of admission of a member.

We stumbled upon our second clearing, this time more bushier. There were a couple of dead grim snakes here, so we decided to push forward. "Wonder who killed those." I asked myself as we ventured forward.

We then came to a holt, where we encountered a group of two. It was the girl with the bow i saw earlier, alongside a blonde with gauntlets. The girl's bow twitched as she turned around to see whom it was.

"Oh." The blonde said. Holding one of the chess pieces in her hand. Wait a moment, chess piece? I flipped up my scroll. As the mission says, find the relic, which is probably the chess pieces, and bring it back to the cliff. There were many laying in a circle around them, all laid out organized.

"That's it!" I ran down the slope entering into the ancient circle. I snagged one of them, glancing at the two as they observed us.

"A black horse." Yi stated.

"Mornin'." The girl in blonde said.

"H-hey." Silver said. I looked on him, and he had his arctic hat on now. He glanced at the girl with the bow suspiciously, who glanced him back the same way.

"Sorry, he's shy." I nudged him. "My name's Ezeckiel." I held out my hand to the girl with the bow.

"My name's Blake." She shook hands with me.

"Yang." Yang stated her name bluntly. "Yang Xiao Long." She held out a fist. I bumped her fist back. "Nice to meet you."

"Thanks." I said. "That's Yi, Alice, and this is Silver." I pointed at them.

"Awesome." Yang nodded.

To our interruption, shuffling came from the left. An ursa appeared, falling face flat onto the ground. A boy in green and a girl in pink hopped off of it.

Yang exclaimed, "Did that girl seriously ride an ursa?"

"Holy shit." Yi said.

Suddenly, a girl being chased by a deathstalker appeared. She was dodging it blindly, weaving through it's claws like it was nothing. Then came along a girl in red, hugging to seem what seems like her sister, Yang. "Ruby!"

"Did that girl seriously run all the way here with a deathstalker on her ass?" Blake grunted.

"Jaune!" The armored girl shouted for his name as Pyrrha dove onto the pavement of the relics. "Holy…" The deathstalker stopped in it's tracks, facing all of us.

I looked at Yang, who was on the verge of bursting into flames. Literally, she actually did. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST SHUT THE HELL UP FOR TWO SECONDS AND CHILL OUT BEFORE ANOTHER SHITTY THING HAPPENS AGAIN!?" Yang screamed as her aurora flowed around her like a wildfire.

"Jaune!" The armored girl waved up into a tree, where a boy stood place.

"Pyrrha!" He waved back. Suddenly, a nevermore flew it's way into the area, dragging along a girl in white. Alice's jaw dropped as she saw squirming around.

"Is that really who i think it is…" Alice facepalmed. "God damn it…"

"Weiss Schnee…" Yi said her name.

"HOW CAN YOU LEAVE ME!" Weiss screamed out as she squirmed around.

"I said jump!" Ruby shouted.

"She's gonna fall." Blake said.

Ruby replied, crossing her arms. "She'll be fine."

The boy in green stated, "She's falling." She fell feet down, but moments before she landed, the boy from the tree caught her mid air, but stumbled with his catch, making a comedic scene when Weiss fell onto the boy. They both shuffled themselves up, grouping towards the relics.

Weiss then stopped in her tracks, immediately eyeing out Alice, who had a snarky face on her.

"OH HELL NO!" Both of the screamed.

The deathstalker started to inch its way towards us, but without hesitation, Ruby made a charge. "I got this!"

The nevermore screamed from above, catching Ruby off guard, flinging it's sharp feathers towards the girl. Ruby attempted a retreat as Yang started to follow up on her sister, failing to do so. Ruby's cape got pierced, leaving her pinned as the deathstalker hesitated on flinging it's tail right onto Ruby.

I turned my head away as i heard a large crack. Turning my head back slowly, Weiss was gone, already next to the scorpion like creature. Weiss froze it with her weapon somehow. "What are you thinking?! Charging with no plan?! You're such a child…" Weiss started roasting on the poor girl as she was still pinned down. Yang removed the leaf, frowning upon Ruby. "I know i can be an ass sometimes, but if we're going to do this, then let's do this together."

Ruby nodded her head in defeat, "I'm not trying to show off, i'm trying to prove to you i can do this."

"It's times like this in which we need to group up together." Weiss said, lending a hand to Ruby. "I'll be nicer if you wouldn't like to show yourself off."

Yang and Ruby nodded. Yang then hugged Ruby, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks, but we need to get back to the mission. Grab the artifact, and head back to the cliffs." Ruby stated. All of us nodded. I glanced at my artifact, and placed it in my pocket. Ruby and Jaune grabbed a piece of their own, and nodded at each other.

"That thing's circling back." Jaune pointed out. Then on cue, the ice attached to the deathstalker started to break.

"It's time we leave," The guy in green, Ren, pointed out.

"Right!" We dashed for the cliff. Right behind, the ice then broke, leaving the deathstalker chasing us. Pyrrha and Alice stopped to turn around to cover us with projectiles as we ran across the bridge. All out of nowhere, the nevermore came bashing into the side of the bridge, splitting the group into two.

"GAH!" I screamed as i was flung out to the farther side. Alice and Silver were on one side while i was with Yi. Yang was already on top of the world on a pillar, shooting at the nevermore as Alice and Silver managed to work with Nora, Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha to take the deathstalker out by stabbing it's tail into it's own head. Nora did the rest by pounding the removed stinger into the head, dropping it into the ravine.

Meanwhile, paying attention to Yang, the nevermore came with a charge with it's mouth wide open. Yi then vaulted to the other side, aiding to Ren and the others.

One arrow pierced the side of the nevermore from Alice' arrows, but it failed to stop. Yang then jumped up, perfectly landing inside the mouth of the nevermore.

"FUCK" Yang shot. "YOU" Yang shot again. "PIECE" Yang shot another time "OF" Yang shot yet again. "SHIT!" She shot one last time, before the nevermore flung itself onto the cliff wall.

Blake stretched out a ribbon onto Yang's side as they both hooked them onto pillars. Ruby then shot up, landing onto the Ribbon, acting like a catapult. Weiss dragged her glyph back as they made a small discussion before launching Ruby. Ruby cocked her sniper back before hooking onto the nevermore. Weiss then used her glyphs as a launch pad for Ruby to drag the nevermore upward. Then I noticed something horrible.

"No bullets." I said to Weiss as i stood beside her. "Ruby cocked her gun and no bullets came out."

Weiss gasped. "RUBY!"

Ruby was already 1/8th up the cliff. Yang's eyes widened, as well as Blake's.

"YI!" I screamed "COME BACK HERE WITH ALICE!"

Yi vaulted again back, grabbing Alice by the neck and flinging her across. "What?" Alice asked.

"Fling an arrow up there, so I can ride it. Ruby's in deep shit right now." I stated as I looked up to Ruby. Alice hesitated with her actions. "JUST DO IT DAMN IT!"

Alice flinched, then nodded. She then took out a long heavy arrow, aiming it upwards. "Grab onto it as soon as i shoot it.

I nodded as I looked up to Ruby, who was halfway. Weiss looked back at me, as well as Yang and Blake.

The arrow then shot, pulling me upwards. Ruby then hit the top, and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

"NO!" Ruby screamed.

I pulled out my longsword, hitting a trigger button to change itself up. "OUT OF THE WAY RUBY!"

Ruby pulled her head up, and at the last second, removed her scythe from the nevermore. With a battle cry, I pulled down onto the nevermore.

Last chance, don't mess this up. I pulled the trigger, igniting my sword in gold. Ruby slid down hooking her scythe as she watched. Yang and Blake froze as Yi grabbed onto Alice's hand.

With one last aim, I swung horizontally right over the neck of the Nevermore, busting the cliff, as well as the nevermore's body. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering my eyes blind. The explosion rocked the cliff, but the impact itself exploded part of it, leaving a dent within the cliff. Boulders of rock came onto the nevermore as it's remains got buried within. Leaves of the bird were raining slowly drifting downwards onto the slope.

Ruby's face lit up as blood came raining down onto her. She covered herself up with her own cape, blinding herself from the falling me.

I fell ontop of all of this mess, somehow avoiding all the rubble. Silence filled the terrain.

"How is t-that… for a kill." I teased Alice, Yi, and Silver.

Beacon Academy, 6:45 PM

"Receiving the black bishop pieces, will be Team CRDL, also known as team Cardin, led by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin stated. Claps erupted from the crowd as the next team switched, which was Jaune's team. They've decided for Jaune to be the leader somehow. Pyrrha decided it for herself actually…

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos…" Ozpin stated. "You will all be receiving the white rook pieces. Jaune Arc will be leading your team, and your team name will be JNPR, also known as Juniper." The crowd erupted into big cheers. Pyrrha's name was being chanted as they shuffled off stage.

Then came up Ruby's team. All equal in destiny and size. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You will all receive the white knight pieces." Ozpin said. Already, cheers from the crowd erupted. "You will be led by Ruby Rose, and your team name will be Team RWBY, also known as team Ruby." Cheers were meant for the team. They did all the hard work clearing out 25% of the grim in the Emerald forest.

Then, I stood up. Walking up the stairs along side Silver with his arctic hat, we stood up loud and proud. Cheers were all around us, giving us a wake up call to rise our standards up. I nudged Silver, who was smiling all the way. We put our hands behind our backs, as Ozpin nodded for continuement.

"Ezeckiel Reyes, Alice Roush, Silver Smith, Yin Murray." Ozpin stated as the crowd died into a silence. "You will all be receiving the gold king piece." Cheers exploded from the crowd as I smirked. "Within you lies a great future. You will be led by Ezeckiel Reyes, and your team name will be EASY."

"WOO!" Jaune shouted from the crowd, waving to them.

"GO TEAM EASY!" Ruby shouted.

Ozpin gave a relief sigh, "It looks like things are shaping up to be, an interesting year."

Satellite Stories - Vagabonds

Please let me know what you think. Again, the story is still under production, so you'll come across a ton of unneeded grammar errors and a ton of time skips. Thanks!