Date POV

I stood and brushed dirt and twigs from my clothes and hair, scanning the area for signs of any other life forms. But other than some snapped twigs and smushed leaves, I seemed to be alone. But I didn't let my guard down. I concentrated and tried to remember which direction the temple had been when I was launched. I guessed that I'd flown somewhere into the middle of the forest and the temple would be something like 2 miles North-East. I buttoned up my trench coat and set off at a brisk jog toward the temple, hoping to find someone along the way.

Spencer POV

I reached the cliffs in no time. I folded my wings tight against my back and slipped my coat back on, dropping the last three feet to the ground. I hit the ground running and slid to a stop before Ozpin.

"Gina told me to tell you that her team has been taken out, and she thinks that the attacker is targeting us 'initiates'." I watched him intently, but his facial expression never changed.

"I am aware of the situation. I have already called in another team to help." I nodded and turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm.

"It's too dangerous out there for you, stay here and wait for backup." I pulled my arm away, shaking my head.

"With all due respect, Professor, hell no. I'm not sitting around and waiting while my future teammates are being attacked by something none of them even know about. I'm going back down there and there is nothing you can say or do to stop me." A faint smile appeared on his lips and he nodded.

"I understand. Do what you need to, and I'll keep in touch." I nodded and left, running back to the edge of the cliff and throwing myself off, feeling the wind whipping past as I fell. I shrugged off my coat and unfurled my wings before I started falling too fast, turning my fall into a glide.

"Hang on guys," I muttered. "I'm coming."

Unknown Assailant POV

I was bent over Gina, taking her weapons, a pair of Assassin's Creed-esque hatchets, from her limp fingers when I heard it. The whoosh of displaced air, lots of it. I stared up into the heavy fog, but couldn't see anything. So, assuming that the object would land in the clearing, I clicked a button that caused the hatchets to fold and compress into baton sized metal rods, slipped them into my waistband, and dragged Gina's unconscious form as far away from the estimated zone of impact as possible to reduce her chances of further injury.

She gave a pained moan and I patted her head like a mother soothing a frightened child. I felt the ground shaking impact of the falling object through the soles of my boots and half-turned back the direction I came. We should probably get on with it. Heiress mused in my head. It seems that one has arrived. I nodded with a sigh and turned to trot in the direction of the impact.

Amber POV

"Owwww." I groaned as I scraped myself off of the forest floor, looking around to find myself in the middle of a sizable clearing, carpeted with thick, soft grass. I brushed down my clothes and winced as a sharp pain lanced through my hand. I brought it up in front of my eyes and gritted my teeth. Crap, a splinter.

I drew a deep breath and pinched the sliver of wood between the nails of my index finger and thumb.

"Here goes," I whispered. "OW!" I yelped as the splinter slid painfully out of my palm, leaving a small, puckered hole. I clenched and unclenched my hand experimentally and nodded, satisfied that the pain was lessened. "Coulda been worse." I muttered.

"Are you well?" I nodded absently, sucking lightly on the throbbing spot.

"Yeah," I said, turning. "I'm fine. I guess this means we're part. . .ners?" I ended in a whisper as I realized that the person behind me was not one of my teammates. They were about a head taller than I was, and dressed all in black. Black sweats, completely zipped up black jacket (complete with hood), black boots, and black gloves. They tilted their head a bit. Are they male or female? After a moment, I decided to think of them as male for convenience.

". . ." He said nothing as I scrutinized him closely, searching for weapons and weaknesses. I reached for the hilt of my father's sword slowly. He has two swords, but they don't seem to be built for dual wielding, seeing as one is significantly longer than the other. Will he use them separately? They have to completely different color schemes. He looks ridiculous! I'd expect that he'd want to have weapons that matched his outfit and each other, because otherwise he'd be less threatening.

He moved slowly to my right, the violet bladed claymore in his right hand dragging along the ground, moving with a barely noticeable limp in his right leg. He's limping a bit. I thought as I watched him intently, my hand firmly wrapped around the hilt of my weapon. I wish I knew how long he's been limping. Is it recent? A thought hit me like a bolt of lightning and a chill shot up my spine. Did he get hit in a recent fight? Does one of those weapons belong to one of my teammates? Are they hurt? Are they. . .dead? My breath began to come faster, and I forced the thoughts away, retreating into clinical observation. Okay, so they're most likely stolen weapons. But if that's true, then he probably won't have much experience with at least one of them. I have a chance.

He stopped and neither of us moved of a moment. Then my scroll beeped and we both flinched. I slipped it out and opened it with one hand, keeping the other on my sword. He didn't move, and seemed to be waiting. I glanced at it quickly, still not willing to chance a sneak attack.

From: Spencer Stone

To: Amber Drake, Date Kirimaru, Skye Delacour

Subject: RUN!

Guys, I don't know what exactly is going on, but something went wrong and there is someone in the woods who seems to want to attack us, so if you see anyone who is not a teammate, run as fast as you can, as far as you can. It would be preferable to meet up at the temple, but anywhere away from them will do. Despite the extra danger, we still have to finish the mission. But BE CAREFUL. This is extremely serious, this person has already taken out the entirety of team KING.

I felt an inexplicable rush of relief. So those weapons belong to team KING, that's good. I momentarily felt bad for thinking that, but my relief outweighed the fleeting guilt. I put my scroll away and stared at the mysterious boy.

"You. . .You took out team KING, didn't you?" He hesitated, then nodded. I shook my head slowly. "Why?" He stared at me for a while, then he attacked.

Skye POV

I stared up at the crumbling ruins of what used to be the temple, wondering if I was the first to arrive.

"Hello?" My scroll beeped in response. I pulled it out and looked at the message. It was from Spencer. "Oh fuck." I shuddered as I read, remembering the loud crash in the woods, not too far east from here. I turned and ran, praying to everything I knew that I wasn't too late.

Date POV

I stepped out of the foliage and onto a cobblestone path flanked by trees, winding its way into the distance, no doubt right up to the temple ruins.

"Here goes." I muttered, jogging up the path hoping to run into someone friendly on the way. I hadn't been running long before I heard rustling in the bushes. "Skye? Amber? Spencer?" No answer, just more rustling. Getting attacked on this narrow path would suck. I thought, picking up the pace until I was almost full out sprinting. The rustling grew in volume, suggesting that whatever it was, was growing in number. Then I guess that means the Grimm are here. No sooner had I finished the thought, than a large Alpha Beowolf prowled out of the trees ahead and planted itself in my path. I reached into my trench coat to my hip sheath and unsheathed one of my katanas.

The Beowolf charged in response. I dodged a swipe of its paw that could have taken my head off and swung, beheading it with a single swing, but more kept pouring from the trees, blocking off the path behind me and in front of me, I could hear more coming and I wondered briefly why they were attacking me. I sheathed my katana and did a quick 360. No way out of it, looks like I'm gonna have to do it. I sucked in a deep breath and-

Unknown Assailant POV

The girl Amber was holding her own. Not that I was surprised, I'd heard of her accomplishment. She had immense natural skill and raw talent. Though she could use a bit of strategy and practice. I swung the claymore with blinding speed, but she was already blocking, stepping forward and holding her sword at such an angle that it caused the claymore to scrape down the length of her blade and embed itself in the ground. She leaned back, then headbutted me, sending me stumbling back a bit, unfortunately leaving the claymore behind.

She is thrashing you quite handily, if I do say so myself. Heiress commented, clearly amused. I gripped the black long sword with both hands, but she was too close. All I could do was block as she followed up with a combination of lightning fast strikes that had me hard pressed to defend. She slipped into my guard and kneed me in the stomach, causing me to double over, grunting.

She then kicked me in the exact same spot, sending me stumbling backward some more, panting. I underestimated her a little, that's all. It won't happen again. I stabbed the long sword into the ground and retrieved Gina's hatchets, watching her closely. I lunged forward and slid to my knees as a horrendous sound rang out through the forest.

It was like a mix between the howl of a wolf and the scream of a human in pain. I suddenly felt scared, scared like I hadn't been for years. The primal fear made my skin crawl and my gut churn. The fear was suddenly joined by profound sorrow and loneliness. Cover your ears. Heiress said, sounding panicked. Cover your ears, quickly! But I couldn't, even if I wanted to. I clutched my head and bent over my knees, the awful sound pervading my every sense and causing an almost physical pain.

It seemed to be causing Amber pain too, though she'd managed to cover her ears. What. . .Is. . .This?! I could hardly think, much less move. I toppled over and writhed on the ground, screaming along with the sound, feeling tears leaking from my eyes. Heiress. . .Help. . .Me!

Her presence brushed against my mind, but what would normally soothe me didn't help at all. I cannot. She said sadly. I wish I could, but I cannot. Fortunately, it stopped and I was left panting and whimpering on the ground. I lay motionless for a long while, feeling the cold leaching through my clothes and into my skin. I struggled to lift my head, but I couldn't see much because my vision was blurry. By the time it cleared, I still did not see Amber anywhere. I rolled onto my back and stared up into the churning gray mist. Heiress, where did-

She escaped. Heiress informed me. But that is not important now. Are you well? I nodded.

"I'll live. What in the world was that?" I could read her emotions well enough to know that if she had shoulders, she'd be shrugging them right now. I have not the faintest idea. Maybe one of the Grimm? I didn't think so, and told her as much.

"I've never heard of Grimm howls reaching that kind of pitch, so probably not. I'd be more inclined to think it was another initiate." More confusion from Heiress. But that would mean he or she was hurting their own teammates. I puzzled it out for a moment, then climbed shakily to my feet. We had work to do.

Amber POV

I ran hard, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure he wasn't following. Just to be sure, I poured on more speed, ducking branches when possible and hopping over protruding roots. When I heard the footsteps, my first instinct was to run faster, but as soon as I realized they were coming from in front of me, I thought: I should slow down.

The thought registered and I dug in my heels, seconds before someone burst through the fog and we collided head on. I rubbed my forehead and sat up, watching as Skye did the same. Her face was red and she seemed to be breathing just as hard as I was. The only difference was that I was running from someone, while she seemed to be running to someone.

"Amber?!" She scrambled to her feet and hauled me up off the ground, pulling me into a quick hug. "Gods, I thought you might have been in trouble! Are you okay?" I nodded and wheezed, trying to tell her about the guy in the woods. She rubbed my back as I gasped for air like a fish on dry ground.

"Person. . .In the. . .Woods." I managed. Her eyes widened and she glanced behind me.

"Holy shit. Are you okay?" I nodded, getting my breathing somewhat under control.

"They attacked me, but I wasn't doing all that bad holding them off, if I do say so myself. I think I surprised him." Skye nodded, pulling me back the way she came.

"It was a guy?" I shrugged.

"No idea. I think so." Skye shook her head.

"Geez, I hope we don't find out." All I could do was nod in agreement.

Date POV

I nudged the limp corpse of one of the Beowolves, but it didn't so much as twitch in response. Dead.

"Well that's good," I sighed, relieved. "I was running out of breath." I stepped over the bodies and jogged on down the path, keeping a sharp ear out for more Grimm. I ran for about a minute before I reached the temple, whereupon I stopped and took a break, studying the crumbling structure a bit. Should I go in? What if the enemy is waiting inside for us? If they knew about our initiation, and about team KING's involvement, they likely know our objective. Should I risk it?

"Date! Good, you're here." I looked around, confused. Where is that voice coming from? "Up here, dude." I looked up and blinked.

"Spencer?" He waved and jumped, floating down to land lightly on the cracked tiles. I snorted. "Show off." He grinned.

"Jealous?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Maybe a little.

"Not on your life, Stone." He shrugged, not at all concerned about it.

"Have you seen Amber or Skye?" I shook my head.

"Over here." We looked over at the edge of the tree line, from where Skye and Amber were approaching.

"Well, that's a relief." Spencer said, grinning. "No one has fallen prey to the mystery attacker." Skye smirked.

"Besides team KING of course." He nodded.

"There's also that." He sobered immediately. "Ozpin said he was sending in a back-up team, but I think we'll be on our own for at least the next half hour." Amber glanced around at all of us, and gave a shaky smile.

"Well, at least we're all in the same place now." We all nodded.

"Indeed." I stared at my teammates, dread building in my gut. None of their mouths had moved. In unison, we turned and stared at the person standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the entrance. The figure in all black to a single step towards us. "That makes this much easier."

Uh-oh. Who is this Mysterious Assailant? Why is he targeting the initiates? Will they survive? Why am I asking questions I already know the answers to? Find out next chapter! Which I will be uploading right after this one.

TWAD #6: Guess who's sitting next to me? :D