Another chapter for you guys; hope you enjoy it.
Ed and Al were sitting in Ozpin's office. They were getting caught up on what it meant to be a Faunus and how their lives will change with that change.
"You do know the prejudice that comes with your change?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, we do. We have had that for a long time with our position in the military," Ed said.
"You do know there are advantages with your new forms right?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, sir we do," Al said.
"Dismissed, you will have to change your fighting style though," Ozpin said, as they walked out the door.
Ed chuckled at that, "So he thinks."
Ed went down to the armory; Al continued to follow him. He stared into the room looking for what he needed. Ed took some scrap metal and a gauntlet. With these materials and his alchemy, Ed created an extended gauntlet. He figured that the extra weight would be offset since he could use the material to create the blade he was used to using.
Al took a set of gauntlets and changed the metal composition so that they were solid and conformed completely to his hands. Al thought about it, then took several scraps of metal and recreated his old armor so that it was almost form-fitting. He only left the necessities uncovered and under his loin cloth.
"Ready to spar, Al?" Ed asked.
"Yes, brother," Al said.
They sparred and sparred and sparred some more. They got exhausted. They realized that they could keep their old fighting styles. They were ready for the initiation.
Blake was walking by the training room. She was in a hurry to be getting to Vale; Blake needed to meet with Adam in order to discuss the different ways to infiltrate the White Fang. The tiger's tail in the training room door's window caught her eye though. It was that new child, Edward, she thought. She didn't think that he had a tail; then again she didn't remember him having such a bulky right arm.
She also glimpsed the suit of armor looking slightly shorter with a fox's tail. She looked visibly shaken. The last time she had seen a tail like that was the day that Roman Torchwick had executed her brother. Then again, that was the last time she had seen someone with a tiger's tail. She left the organization the next day. Of course, that was long buried in her past, or so she thought. Seeing these Elric Brothers sporting the tails did not help her confidence with the upcoming mission.
She left quickly for Vale, with tears in her eyes.
Initiation day was finally here for the Fullmetal Alchemist and his companions. Al, Ed, Scar, and the others were ready for this, at least as best as they could be. Ozpin was standing out at the edge of the Emerald Forest giving final instructions. Ozpin thought that there should be two teams for this group. He did not want to have a larger team than necessary. And four was all that was really necessary.
He gave the signal and launched the group into the forest.
Al hit the ground hard, but in his armor it was not that bad. He was looking for anyone of his team. He heard rustling behind him. Al took a fighting stance. Hohenheim pushed through the foliage and saw Al. Well, at least I drew a good one for my partner, was all Al could think about.
Ed rolled as he impacted the ground. He was ready to fight, but all the Grimm monsters were dead around him. As he looked for a reason why, he spotted Scar a short bit away. Ed silently cursed; he still didn't trust the Ishvalan monk.
Roy and Hawkeye had made it to the ground without incident. Roy was killing Grimm by the dozens with a single fireball, destroying the surrounding forest in the process. They ran for this temple they were supposed to be looking for.
Oliver sighed when Alex approached her and took him with her on her rampage through the forest. She destroyed Grimm with cold efficiency and continued the march to the temple.
Al and Hohenheim reached the temple first. Al picked up one of the artifacts, a white fang. They set out to continue to the cliffs. Ed and Scar caught up to them shortly after retrieval and were carrying a similar fang.
Oliver finally reached the temple. She wiped the Grimm blood from her blade and replaced it in the scabbard. Alex was uneasy with the temple location. The moved forward and grabbed a black fang from one of the pedestals and continued for the cliff. Oliver saw Hawkeye and Mustang running for the pedestals and grabbed the other black fang. That is when she saw it.
Ed, Al, Scar, and Hohenheim were nearing the cliff. That is when Ed noticed the shadow.
"Nevermore incoming!" Ed shouted.
They turned to face their new adversary. Ed cursed softly; none of them could really take down a Nevermore since it could fly. That was one of the issues that he had planned on, but hadn't expected to happen. The Nevermore destroyed the bridge that they were standing on. Scar however, managed to land on top of the bird instead of on the bridge that Hohenheim had managed to construct. With very little time to get this right, Scar killed the bird and hopped off of it and onto the bridge. They booked it to the top of the cliff, where Ozpin was waiting.
The Deathstalker was closing on the group of warriors. Mustang kept throwing fireballs, but all it seemed to do was make the monster angrier. Alex had tried his alchemy, to little effect. Hawkeye it seemed was doing the most damage, but she could hardly keep a good shot on the eyes.
They ran for it. Mustang would turn occasionally to throw another fireball in an attempt to slow down the beast. They managed to climb to the top of the cliff where Ozpin was waiting.
The ceremony was nothing new to these heroes. They were all warriors of the highest kind and understood the need for teams.
"Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Scar, and Von Hohenheim, you retrieved the white fangs. From now on you will be team ASHE, led by Alphonse Elric," Ozpin proclaimed.
"Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Oliver Armstrong, and Alex Armstrong, you retrieved the black fangs. From now on you will be team ROAR, led by Riza Hawkeye," Ozpin proclaimed.
So there you have it, the teams are together. Will ROAR accept orders from some of lower rank? What is the story behind the tails? How will ASHE accept Al as leader? Come back for chapter 5 to find out. Also, I will try to update on Sunday, if it does not become my D&D day. Otherwise it will be Wednesdays.