Chapter Three: Checkmate

After we got to meet the original teams, the four from Beacon Academy and one from Haven, one of the announcers explained how we will be taking our exam and testing our abilities to form the new teams. We all started lining up and head to the back of the school where there was a huge cliff. The tall guy in the green hoodie stood behind me and totally ignored me when I asked for his name.

"I'm sorry for staring at your picture, I just couldn't help but notice. Who was the girl in the picture?" I asked.

"A dear friend of mine. We were close, until…" He stopped speaking. "My name is Louis Evergreen. Sorry for being rude, I just haven't spoken to anyone since I got here. You were the first. What's your name?"

"Titania Crimson. It's nice to meet you, Louis." I said. "Why'd you come to Haven?"

"Personal reasons, but the main one is the same as everyone else. Become a huntsman, get stronger, learn the secrets behind this world. What about you?"

"To get revenge for my village. The Grimm attacked my home. All my loved ones died and I was the only one to escape."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's not your fault, it's mine. I was strong enough to save everyone."

We finally approached the cliff and the announcer from before spoke again.

"Alright, we are here. My assistant will be here to give you all a piece of paper. It will either say one, two, three, four, or five. Those numbers will assign you to a launch pad. When given a number, you stand on that launch pad. You will have five seconds until you are launched. Any questions?"

Nobody raised their hand.

"Alright. Everyone, come get a number and let's start launching. Also, you will be launched in a random spot. I hope you all have a strategy plan in mind and I wish you all luck. When you find your group, come back inside."

Louis and I lined up and when we got to the front, we showed each other our numbers.

"I got three. What did you get?" Louis asked.

"I got five." I said.

"Well, they said they will launch us in random spots."

"Are you saying you want to be my partner?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah, just a bit. I would love to be your partner, but we will only hope."

"Amen to that." Louis got on launch pad number three and looked back at me. "Bye Titania, be careful out there." Then he was launched.

"You, too!" I yelled. I got on launch pad number three and then went flying in the air. I landed safely on the ground and heard a noise behind me. I turned around and it was a Grimm. A Beowulf Grimm. It was the first time I seen one since that day. I took my whip out and lashed at its back. It screeched and ran after me. I transformed my whip into the rifle gun and starting shooting. It kept dodging. I jumped over it, just barely missing his arm swing to my legs and shot him right in the back. It screeched louder and louder, I used my whip and lashed at its face once it turned around again. I heard a knife stab and the Grimm disappeared. I couldn't believe it, but it was Louis.

"Hey, partner." Louis said.

"Louis, thanks for the rescue. I was glad you were there to finish it off for me. My weapons just aren't strong enough yet, I guess." I said.

"No problem. So, what's your strategy?"

"I was going to ask you that."

"I guess kill any Grimm that gets in our way to find a chess piece?"

"I'll go with that." I said with laughter. "Let's go."

For the next half hour, Louis and I fought Grimms together and didn't get a single scratch on ourselves. We found an old collapsed temple and on a plate form was a white queen.

"There's our piece." Louis said.

"Yep, I'll grab it." I said. I walked up to the white queen and as soon as I was about to grab it, it disappeared. I looked around and a girl in a sailor suit was holding the white queen instead.

"Guess you're a little late. Did you like my hallucination? It's my semblance. The name is Lola by the way. See you around."

"Ugh, really, after all this effort, this is what we get? Whatever, Let's go find another piece, Lou…" He wasn't there. "Louis?"

"Right behind you." Louis said.

"Gah! Where did you go?"

"To find another piece. I found a black knight."

"Oh, awesome. Let's go find our other partners then. Shall we?"

"We shall. Hey, Titania?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I...um...you know what, I'll tell you later. Let's go find the other black knight."

"Alright, don't forget to tell me later. Lots of people do that."

"I won't."

We walked down a path and we heard yelling in the distance. It sounded like a girl. Louis and I followed the noise and saw a girl, she wore a purple dress and had blonde hair in pigtails riding a Death Stalker. She had a huge war hammer and was hitting at the Grimm's head.

"Hey, be careful! What do you think you're doing? You're gonna get killed!" Louis said.

"Huh?" The blonde girl heard Louis and winked at him. "Don't worry, I got this."

She jumped off the Grimm and landed safely behind it. The Grimm stopped running and turned around to face the girl. Her war hammer turned into a cannon launcher and she started firing cannons at it. The Grimm became weak and laid down on the ground. Then, right from behind the Grimm, we heard a sniper shot and the Grimm disappeared. A boy in a blue and white plaid shirt with gray pants came out of the bushes and put his sword in his sheath.

"Sorry, did I intrude? Was that your Grimm young girl?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, it kinda was, but my weapon only weakens them. I was glad you were there to finish it off. You are the first person I met after the launch pads. What about you?"

"Fortunately, yes. I guess that means we are partners. I also found a chess piece before I came this direction. It's a black knight."

"Awesome. Let's go find the group with the other black knight."

"I think we just did." He pointed to Louis and I.

"Oh, that's right. I guess we are all a team. Let's all head back inside."

"Sounds like a plan." I said.

"Who do you think is going to be the team leader?" Louis said.

"Beats me, but it could be any of us." The boy said.

"Well, we will find out." The girl said.

We started walking and the girl spoke again.

"Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Evelyn." The girl said.

"My name is Titania." I said.

"Louis."

"Alistar."

Evelyn and Alistair looked at each other strangely.

"Do I know you?" They both said. "What's your last name?" They both said again.

"Evelyn Summer."

"Alistair White"

They looked at each other again and smiled.

"Is that you, Alistair?" Evelyn asked.

"Evelyn?" Alistair asked.

"How long has it been?"

"Ten years? I thought I would never see you again. I'm so glad you're ok."

"Me, too."

"Aww, friendship reunion." Louis said. "I guess this was fate. Destiny thought you guys should see each other again, and look where that brought you."

All of a sudden, I couldn't hear anymore. My vision was going blurry and I started having pain in my chest. I was gasping for air, trying to breathe. I heard these words, 'Do you believe in destiny?' That word, destiny, kept playing in my head. I could barely hear my teammates and eventually passed out on the ground. I had a vision of a red haired girl with green eyes. She looked like the picture Jaune showed me earlier today. She was on her knees and said those words, 'Do you believe in destiny?' I finally woke up and I was inside a building. I sat up and was gasping for air again.

"Titania? What happened?" Louis asked.

"I..I don't know." I said strangely.