Dozens of students gathered on the cliff overlooking Emerald forest, all of them eager to begin. They had trained for this day for most of their lives, and now they had their chance to prove themselves.
Ozpin and Glynda took up their positions in front of the collected teens, and he began his speech about their teams and objectives. Ruby tuned him out; trying to figure out how, exactly, they were going to make sure they formed the same team this time.
The first of the students were launched, and Jaune had begun to ask about his landing strategy. Yang looked over at Ruby, whispering at her, "Try and aim towards me or Weiss, alright?"
She nodded, and Yang was flung off into the sky. Crouching slightly, Ruby tried to slow down her breathing.
Three, two…
She heard the launch pad's gears whir, and it started to rise.
One.
She flew off into the morning sky, a red blur amidst the blues and whites. It felt so, so fantastic up here! She forgot just how much fun it is to fly like this, with the wind slicing through her hair, the sounds of the world silenced.
She closed her eyes, relishing in the flight, but too soon it came to an end. She hit a tree branch with her scythe, spinning around it, before dropping to the forest floor with a muted thump.
She breathed in, adoring the smell of pine trees and the sound of bird calls. The Emerald forest was easily one of her favorite parts of Beacon. Who wouldn't like a few hundred square kilometers of beautiful forest and deadly monsters?
Ruby began to prance through the forest, giddy after her morning flight. Maybe it was nerves, but it felt so good to be doing something again, even if it was just fighting off a few Grimm. The forest made for some excellent prancing grounds, full of lush trees. Spring was in full throttle, and Ruby had never been happier to see it.
She had decided something, just now. She was going to have fun with this. Oh, she was going to stop Cinder of course, but why not play around a bit? Maybe mess with team JNPR, seeing as she knew most of their deepest darkest secrets. Oh! Maybe she could—
Distant gunfire echoed out, ripping Ruby back to the present. She pulled out Crescent Rose and scanned the surroundings. Shadows danced across the forest floor, but they appeared to be from clouds, not Grimm. The gunfire stopped, leaving only the sound of forest fauna and her own breathing.
She started walking once more, her weapon ready. Maybe it was Pyrrha catching Jaune, or one of the others landing. But she could feel something out there, watching her. She spun around, but there was no one behind her.
Her hands slipped, Rose nearly falling out of her grip. The formally warm forest now felt cold and dark.
She holstered her weapon and started running. It was probably just a Grimm taking it's time, and she wasn't going to waste hers.
She never noticed the red eyes following in her wake.
Although there were many misconceptions about faunus biology, there was differences beyond the ears or tails. In Blake's case, she was lighter and more agile than a human would be at a similar physical condition.
This usually meant she could move faster and jump higher, and with more control. But when she flung by something, like the launchers at the cliff, she, well, flew. But gravity soon grasped her, and she found herself plummeting. Really, really fast.
Despite the whole 'cat' thing, she really didn't like falling. Especially not when she was nearing terminal velocity. Yang had said that she had reached similar speeds during their food fight with JNPR, but she had a crazy strong aura. Blake's… it was above average, sure, but not that good.
Luckily for her skeleton, a black glyph popped up in front of her. Acting somewhat like a reverse parachute, it slowed Blake down, allowing her to drop the trees without a scratch.
The pointy branches were thankfully cushioned by the thick layers of leaves. She wormed her way through the canopy, eventually dropping in front of a rather proud looking Weiss.
"Thanks," she said, brushing away leaves and twigs.
"Oh, don't mention it." Weiss examined her fingernails, "I only put up an extremely powerful and complicated glyph in a matter of seconds. Nothing major."
Blake rolled her eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll try again." She cleared her throat, "Oh thank you Weiss! However shall I repay you for your magnificent rescue! It was absolutely divine!"
Weiss stared at her, her mouth falling open. Then she started to laugh. She buckled over, hands on her knees. When she looked up, her eyes were wet in the corners.
"You've spent far too long with Yang," she said, wiping away her tears.
"And you've spent too much time with Ruby." Blake smirked, "Really, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh like that before."
Weiss froze, shock clear on her face. "That's… that's not true! I laugh!"
"Right. Of course, my mistake." Her ears perked up, and she pulled out Gambol Shroud, "You hear that?"
Weiss snorted, "Of course not." She trusted Blake's hearing though, and quickly prepared Myrtenaster. The bushes rustled to her left, loud enough that both could hear, and they aimed.
A few seconds passed. Weiss's sword arm began to shake, and she loosened her hold. Blake fingers twitched constantly, the alien feeling of Ruby's rings agitating them.
A large man equipped with heavy armor and a large mace burst through the shrubbery. He tripped over a root, and sent a flurry of colourful swears at it. He turned around to face Blake, his face instantly curling into a snarl.
"Oh, so they let animals join the school now?" He said, pulling up to his full, somewhat intimidating, height. He moved closer in, and Blake found it difficult to not cut him down. She held back though, cursing this world for robbing her of her bow.
"Listen, I don't care what Ozpin says; I'm not working with an EEK!" Weiss shot a fire dust round at his private parts, and he squealed like a pig being slaughtered.
"Good, because you won't be." She stepped in, her face centimetres from his. "Now, if that ever happens again, I'll cut those off myself, understand?" She growled, her sword pressed against his neck. Blake had a feeling that she wouldn't stop there.
He grunted, "Crystal." Weiss realised him, and he rubbed his throat. He pointed at her,
"You'll regret saying that, you and your pet."
She turned around, flipping her head as a dismissal. Once he was gone, her gaze landed on Blake, and softened.
"Why didn't you do something? You can handle Cardin, easy. Jaune could." She asked, sheathing Myrtenaster.
Blake looked away, "It wasn't worth it."
Weiss glared at her, "Yes, it was. I saw him go for his weapon. No one would blame you for—"
"But they would!" Blake yelled, forgetting the dangers of the forest, "They would blame me. That's what people do; they blame the faunus. That's me now. I'm not a huntress in training; I'm always going to be the faunus to everyone!" Her hands were shaking, and she sheathed Gambol Shroud.
Weiss sighed, "You'll always just be Blake to us." She started walking, and Blake fell into place beside her.
Blake closed her eyes, "I know, and I'm sorry. He just…" She crossed her arms, "He reminded me of why I wore the bow. If I was wearing it, you know he'd be perfectly happy to be my partner."
"You really want him to be interested in you in any way?" Weiss said as she clambered over a fallen tree.
Blake waved the thought away, "Not the point."
"If they won't accept who you are, they probably aren't worth talking too."
"Weiss, that's most of the planet."
Weiss grinned, "Exactly."
She snickered, the sound echoing through the forest. "Of course that's what you'd think."
Weiss turned to glare at her, but there was more mirth than anger in her eyes. "Are you accusing me of something?" She started to stomp, "I'll have you know that I—" Blake whipped her head to the left, silencing Weiss.
"Hear something?" She asked.
"A lot of somethings. I…" The ground shook slightly, "Did you feel that?"
Weiss grew pale, "Earthquake?"
Blake shook her head, "I can hear roars. I… I think that we should get moving, fast."
Nodding, Weiss ran towards the ruins, Blake following closely behind her. Soon, even Weiss could hear the Grimm behind them, and feel their steps.
Well, at least it will be challenging.
Ozpin and Glynda stood in slack-jawed shock at the figures their scrolls were offering. Hundreds upon thousands of Grimm were all proceeded towards the forest ruins. Everything from Beowolves to Nevermore's filled their screens, and Ozpin felt a trickle of fear.
"How is there that many Grimm?" Glynda asked as her hand flew across her scroll. She looked at Ozpin, and asked, "Should we intervene? This is far beyond what is expected."
Ozpin merely sipped his coffee. "Not yet. Let's see how they handle overwhelming enemy numbers." Glynda eyes widened into dinner plates, "But prepare some ships for extracting them if things go wrong. Inform team CFVY and the professors that their services will be required for cleanup." Glynda nodded and began to make the calls, leaving Ozpin to think.
It was normal for the initiation to attract Grimm, but this was far, far beyond the normal amount. Something was happening, something more than a simple fluke.
He went to sip his coffee, but he found it empty.
"Damn it." He mumbled.
Yang wasn't sure whether to be happy or annoyed that she didn't meet anyone yet. While it meant that she didn't form a partnership with someone outside of her team, it also meant she was bored out of her mind the whole time.
Seriously, not one person or Grimm in the entire forest?
Luckily, she landed close to the ruins, and it was only a short walk to reach them. Once she arrived she saw Ruby, who had already picked out a chess piece for them.
"Hey! You picked the pony again! Also, you missed me. By a mile." She crossed her arms, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Ruby had the decency to look sheepish at least, "Sorry! I guess I wasn't looking where I was going and…"
Yang laughed and pulled her into a hug, "Don't worry about it, I'm just messing with you. Find anyone else?"
She nodded, "Yeah, Jaune and P-Pyrrha are just over there." She pointed towards the bushes, where the two appeared shortly afterwards. Yang noticed how she struggled with her name. It reminded her far too much of Dad after Summer died.
She patted her hair, Causing Ruby to blush and push her hand away. Ah, the easiest way to pull someone out of a funk, embarrass them.
Their sisterly bonding was interrupted by the sudden explosive arrival of Nora. Apparently the Ursa that she rode on last time was busy, as she crash-landed right in the centre of the ruins. She jaunted out of the crater she created, leaving a dizzy looking Ren.
"Nora, don't ever do that again," he said, after he managed to get stabilized.
She appeared in front of, and poked his nose. "No promises!"
The future team JNPR picked up their pieces, the castle, again. Ruby let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. JNPR was going to be the same, and so far it looked like RWBY would be as well.
She paused and looked around her. Weiss and Blake were still nowhere to be found. Were they okay?
A crash brought her attention to the tree line off to west. Blake and Weiss flew out of the forest, and Ruby grinned like a maniac.
That grin was quickly destroyed when she saw the dozens of Grimm following them. Arming herself, she saw literally thousands of Grimm began to circle them. Weiss and Blake made it to the ruins before they were boxed in, and picked up the chess piece.
"We got the piece Ruby, now can we please get out of here!" Weiss yelled, throwing off a Beowolf with a glyph. The team grouped together, weapons outwards.
"How?" An Ursa charged, roaring like a banshee. Ruby spun her scythe, lodging the blade in the beast's head, before throwing it out of the way.
"I don't know, think of something!" Weiss blocked a snarling mouth, before ramming her blade through the monsters eye. Yang and Blake both slid around the two arguing warriors, doing their best to keep the horde at bay long enough to come up with a plan. It was clear that they couldn't handle this many on their own, and JNPR clearly had other issues to deal with at the moment.
The ground began to shake again, only this time with louder, deeper steps. The trees shed anything loose and even the Grimm seemed to pause in their attack.
The tree's split open to reveal a Goliath in all its glory, roaring like a kaiju at the four. Ruby nearly dropped her weapon.
"Oh, oh crap."
"Crap crap crap crap CRAP!" Jaune yelled as he swung his sword. He was pressed on all sides by the Grimm, and even his slow and predictable slices were cutting through two or three at a time. Pyrrha passed beside him, swinging her weird javelin/sword/rifle/thing around her, decapitating dozens of monsters.
Ren, the guy wearing green, and Nora, the one with the giant hammer, danced around each other, building off each other's movements. He herded them into little clusters, and then let Nora smash them to pieces.
A wolfey thing charge him, and he tried to pull up his shield. Even he could tell that it was too slow, and he watched as the snarling maw of the monster grew ever closer.
Suddenly his shield was surrounded by a black glow, and it pulled itself up, crashing into the beasts jaw and sending it flying into the air. Pyrrha fired out several shots.
He scrambled to her side, blocking another Grimm.
"Was that you?" He asked, bracing his arms for the next hit.
She stabbed a piggish looking thing in the jaw, pulling it over her head and throwing it into the crowd. "Yes. My semblance is polarity. I can control metal."
He crouched beneath his shield as a bear thing landed on top of him. He pushed, but it didn't budge until Pyrrha rammed it off.
"Good to know, whatever a semblance is," He said between breaths.
The sound of tree's being smashed brought his eyes towards the other four. A massive elephant thing was attacking them, smashing the ruins around them and roaring loader than a jet engine.
"Oh no." Pyrrha said, causing Jaune to whip his head towards her. In the entire time he'd known her, she never sounded that scared. "That's a Goliath! They're… all but invincible."
He gulped, "We're screwed, in other words." But he soon discovered that they were both wrong.
Despite the massive size, the four girls attacked the giant.
Ruby sped around and over it, using the white one's glyphs to propel herself around it and hit its weak spots.
Yellow punched its legs over and over again, each hit with enough force to make the thing buckle under the onslaught.
The faunus girl danced around its head, seemingly copying herself, stabbing everything she could reach. Neither Jaune nor Pyrrha had ever seen anything like it.
But he could tell they had problems. For every blow they struck, they still had to deal with the horde beneath them.
White constantly had to interrupt her casting to deal with a bear or wolf, forcing Ruby to the ground each time.
Yellow struggled to keep up the assault amidst the waves of enemies.
Faunus girl was the best off, but she couldn't keep herself in the air forever, and when she landed she'd be torn apart.
"We need to thin them out!" Jaune yelled, ramming his sword through a monsters head. The flesh squelched as he pulled out the rapidly dulling blade.
Pyrrha jumped over him, ramming her shield down on a bears head, and she said, "How?"
Jaune didn't answer, looking around for some kind of advantage. He couldn't see anything aside from the four girls and Ren firing a burst of—
His eyes lit up, and he asked Pyrrha, "Can you control bullets?"
She looked over, startled. "Probably. Why?"
He grinned, and got bowled over by a pig. Pyrrha launched her weapon, skewering the beast to the ground. He got back up, both his weapons gone.
"Ren!" he screamed, "Put some bullets in the air!"
Ren looked at him, confused, but did as he said. Thousands of bullets flew into the sky. Pyrrha, catching on, grasped them with her semblance. Using her power and the force of gravity, she pulled all of them towards a Grimm.
They hit the monsters with a boom, the thousands of bullets creating a force equal to that of a bomb. Grimm dropped like leaves in the fall, their dying screams forcing him to cover his ears.
Thousands of corpses laid around the battle field, the only thing left standing was the Goliath. Jaune tried to rise to assist, but his legs gave out. Pyrrha, drenched in sweat, soon followed him. Ren was collapsed against Nora, who was only keeping herself standing thanks to her hammer.
Out of the corner of his eye Jaune saw Ruby dodging the Goliath's trunk. It was up to them now to stop this.
He hit the ground with a thud.
Ruby saw Jaune's plan, and she was honestly impressed. Both at the plan, and Pyrrha pulling it off. Dodging the monsters feet, Ruby refocused on the massive Grimm.
It was bleeding heavily thanks to the combined effort of team RWBY, but it was still standing tall. If they were going to defeat the thing, they were going to need a plan.
Ruby was suddenly pulled away by Blake, both of them stopping where an exhausted Weiss and Yang waited.
"This isn't working Ruby! The things got skin like a freaking tank!" Yang gasped, Blake holding her up. "We need a better plan!"
"I've got one. Blake, can you set up a slingshot between the bridge and the ruins?" She asked, while Weiss slowed down the Goliath with ice.
Blake quickly measured the distance, "Sure, if you don't mind it being tight."
Ruby grinned, "Yeah, that'll work. Pollination!"
Weiss turned to her, "What?"
She rolled her eyes, "The nevermore thing!"
Nodding, Weiss fell back from her assault.
Blake threw the sword half of Gambol Shroud towards Yang, who quickly stabbed it into the pillar.
Ruby jumped onto the string, pushing it back a few feet. Weiss set up a glyph, powerful enough that Ruby could feel the energy about to be unleashed.
Yang leapt behind her, Ember Celica cocked and ready to fire, she nervously looked at Ruby.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" She asked.
"Yeah! What could go wrong?"
"…I'm about to shoot you out of a slingshot. What couldn't go wrong?"
"Yang… just do it."
She felt the blow of Yang's punch, and it combined with the forces of Weiss and Blake to send her flying at the Goliath.
She pushed herself faster with Crescent Rose, before unfolding its blade and ramming it into the hide of the Goliath.
Without slowing down she continued running, the blade carving a wide line down the monsters back.
When she started to run out of monster she jumped off, and landed with her team, leaving a small crater.
The Grimm swayed on its feet, struggling to stay standing, but eventually the monster fell. A tidal wave of leaves and dust buffered the quartet, bringing a much needed blast of cold air.
Yang sat down with a thump, groaning, "That's it then? It's over? Please, please say yes."
Weiss, panting from firing Ruby, said, "It does appear that way." She smiled, her face covered in sweat, at Ruby.
Then a jagged tusk came in from the dust cloud and stabbed her in the stomach, instantly creating a pool of blood on the ground. Weiss screamed out, her face rapidly losing color. Ruby could taste her blood.
The Goliath heaved its head upwards, cheering its victory. Yang struggled to her feet, Blake joining her, but they were too slow. She was too slow.
"WEISS!" She screamed, and leapt upwards. The air seemed to fold around her, and everything slowed. She could see the drops of Weiss's blood falling down, her tears, the monsters fur blowing in the wind.
The Goliath realised the danger it was in and ran. Ruby hit a tree and bounced off it, reducing the tree to splinters. She leapt, once, twice. She could see Weiss, thankfully still alive. The tusks were farther to the right than she thought, so she was only struggling with blood loss.
She unfolded Crescent Rose to its second form. She felt an unbearable pressure within her head. The beast turned to her, stared her straight in the eye. Somehow she knew, deep within her, that it was scared.
She sliced down with the blade, feeling bone and muscle give way as if made of water. The steel rang out from the stress, and the Goliaths dying screams accompanied it.
She landed, the monster quickly disintegrating around her. With the adrenaline wearing off, she felt her muscles break down after pushing them far too hard.
She pulled herself up and ran towards Weiss. Her beautiful snowy skirt stained by the huge volume of blood pumping out of her torso.
Ruby weakly grasped her hand, wiling Weiss to live. Ozpin will be here soon. She thought.
Seconds later, she passed out.
Although Ozpin was faster than anyone on the planet, he still struggled with distances such as the one he just ran. Once the Goliath had appeared, the initiation had effectively ended. He didn't expect students, even graduated students to be honest, to be capable of taking down a full grown Goliath.
Imagine his surprise when he arrived at the scene, and not only found the horde of Grimm dead or dying, but the four huntress he interviewed before fighting the giant, and surviving.
Of course, before long they were nearly defeated, but what he saw… few things could surprise him by now, but this was one of them.
Ruby, screaming out her friend's name, assaulted the Grimm, but that wasn't the incredible part. She jumped, and through that alone shattered the sound barrier.
Going nearly as fast as he could, she bounced from tree to tree, reducing each one to a pile of broken branches.
Then she struck, her blade lit with white light, cutting through one of the strongest Grimm known to man with one hit. The Grimm in question vaporised shortly after words.
He shook his head.
"Unbelievable," he said as he made his way through the decaying corpses. He couldn't imagine what had killed these Grimm. Surely the girls would have been too busy to handle them.
He could see Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie resting near the bridge. Perhaps they were responsible? He hadn't seen any weapon capable of doing this much damage, but they were the only other people to arrive yet.
His theorizing stopped the moment he saw Weiss Schnee's stained clothing. Running at speeds few could see; he arrived at her shoulder, expecting a corpse.
Instead, he found a girl, filthy, and with her aura depleted far beyond what was healthy, but alive. He saw the entrance wound on her skirt, and peered through to examine the wound.
Or he would have, if there was a wound.
He saw Ruby's hand holding Weiss's like it was a lifeline, and Ozpin wondered if that was the case. Ruby was obviously no ordinary girl, but it appeared she was also no ordinary silver-eyed warrior.
He closed his eyes and laughed softly. Ordinary silver-eyed warrior, like there ever was such a thing.
He heard the steady roar of jet engines, and gestured for the medical teams Glynda had the foresight to bring.
It was going to be an interesting year.
Cinder sat; enraptured by the video her drones had planted within the Emerald Forest. It was incredible, truly. She had never seen anyone aside from Qrow defeat a Goliath.
Still, it was concerning. These four were obviously incredibly powerful, and even the idiot blond managed to impress her. She threw the scroll on her desk.
Still, even if she want to kill them yet, now would be too suspicious. She'd have to lure them out somehow, make her look unconnected.
She pulled out a news clipping, one containing a picture of the four. She focused on the one girls cat ears.
Perhaps it was time for Adam to earn his keep.