Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of Ruby & The Beast. Now this is where you get to see the Tiger-Faunus in action! This'll take place during the initiation, and there'll be a small Ruby x OC moment. Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a comment!
Chapter 2: Initiation
In was dawn in the city of Vale. While everyone else was still fast asleep, a certain Bengal Tiger was awake and active. Rajah was always an early riser, due to people being after his head for years and conquering a living hellhole filled with constant dangers combined with his heightened senses. In a grassy meadow, which was a few feet away from a thick, lush green forest, deer were peacefully grazing on some grass, completely unaware of the danger.
Meanwhile, glowing green eyes with slit pupils were peeking through the tall grass. It was Rajah, he normally hunts around dusk, dawn, or even at night. His stripes helped him blend in the vertical shadows of the grass, which made him very difficult to be seen. As he scanned the meadow with his cat-like eyes, he spotted a large, muscular buck that stood out from the rest of the herd. It was the biggest one out of all of them and to Rajah, it meant one thing…food.
Grinning wildly, he slowly crawled his way towards the large buck, without making a single sound while doing so. As the deer buck rose his head up, Rajah stopped. It then looked around and listened for any signs of danger.
After the coast was clear, it went back to grazing. Rajah then continued to stalk the deer and crept closer and closer. Then, he jumped out of the grass and pounced on the deer buck, knocking it to the ground. The seemed herd noticed this and ran away. The buck cried as it struggled out of the Bengal Tiger's iron grip, but he was far too strong.
With that, Rajah opens his mouth, and sinks his canine teeth deeply into the buck's head, with his jaws crushing its skull in a single bite, killing it instantly. Satisfied with his work, he stood up, slung the deer over his shoulders, and heads towards the lush green forest.
Half an hour later…
After catching and killing the deer buck, Rajah built a fire with his semblance and roasted it slowly. His training gave him a lot of experience in hunting prey and cooking in the wild, having spent all of his time in the jungle. He sat by a nearby tree while taking a huge bite out of a piece of meat, which is the last one. As soon as he finished, it was nothing but bones. He crouched on all fours and stretched, while licking his lips in delight.
"Damn…that hit the spot." The Bengal Tiger groaned as he stood up. He walks to a nearby river bank and crouched down to drink. His tongue calmly scooped up the small amounts of water. The Tiger-Faunus drank his fill and stands up as he slowly walks away from the river bank. He looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was rising, meaning that the others were waking up. With that, Rajah zipped through the forest at speeds that no full-fledged Hunter or Faunus are able to follow. He was currently heading towards the Cliffside by…Emerald Forest...where the other students would be. It won't take him long to reach his destination.
Cliffside…
All of the students were gathered in the Cliffside by Emerald Forest where Ozpin and Glynda waited for them. Each if the students were standing on a platform that would launch them high into the sky and into the forest. Rajah looked down at the applicants, and was able to recognize a few. Ruby and some Blonde bimbo were standing in line. What was her name? Yang? He remembered her from last night. Rajah felt sick to his stomach when he saw Weiss Schnee. He had a very bad history with the Schnee dust company, and her father downright hates his species.
Then there was the black haired girl. He assumed that her name was Blake Belladonna, since he encountered her last night as well. Last but not least, the red haired armored woman. Rajah correctly guessed that her name was Pyrrha Nikos, since he heard about her reputation during his time as a criminal. He turned to his attention back to Ozpin, who was giving out instructions on how to accomplish this initiation.
"For years you have trained to become warriors. Now today, your abilities will be evaluated in Emerald Forest." The headmaster trailed off.
"I've been trained to wipe out the entire human race." Rajah thought.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment if teams." Glynda started. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates."
"I don't need to work with these lowly humans, they'll just slow me down. I always worked best alone." The Bengal Tiger scoffed mentally. One of his Tiger ears twitched as he heard Ruby whine. He could tell that she wasn't thrilled about the idea of having teammates either. Maybe Ozpin was right, they might be kindred spirits.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well with."
He heard another whine from the red-clad Huntress.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years."
Rajah scoffed at this. He never needed to work in teams, he always was, and always will be strictly solo.
"But…" Ozpin said, getting everyone's attention. The headmaster took a sip of coffee from his mug. "This year, one person will be an exception to this rule. This is a one-time opportunity that'll most likely never happen again, so be sure to listen carefully to what I say near the end." He finished.
Everyone on the Cliffside perked up at this announcement, especially the Bengal Tiger-Faunus.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You'll meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die."
"Now you're talking." Rajah thought with a feral grin, showing off his fangs. He always enjoyed being in life or death situations when he was a cub, and took pleasure in destroying anything or anyone that got in his way.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard the item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." The headmaster finished. "Any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand. "Yes, umm sir…I have a question."
"Good, now take your positions."
With those words, everyone prepared themselves who wanted that relic, except for Rajah. He never gave a damn for anything special like that, all he cared about was busting some heads. Suddenly, the platform launched a student high into the air and into Emerald Forest. He suddenly felt the platform under his feet shift slightly, signifying that it was about to launch him in the air.
Before the launch pad even went off, Rajah crouched down into a cat-like position. Then, the Bengal Tiger-Faunus jumped several stories high into the sky and blasted off the pad. In fact, the strength of his legs from jumping completely destroyed the launch pad, causing the students to look over at it in slight fear before looking into the sky to notice that Rajah is flying much higher than usual.
"Umm…sir, what just happened?" Pyrrha asked, watching Rajah fly higher into the air.
"Hmm…It appears that the platform has malfunctioned." Ozpin said calmly. "Oh well, I'm sure Mr. Rajah will be alright." He took a sip from his mug before noticing that most of the students were looking down at their launch pads with uneasiness. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't happened again."
Even though Ozpin didn't really see Rajah move he could tell what happened. Rajah focused all the power in his legs to launch himself several feet in the air before anyone saw him move. He didn't even use his aura, just his sheer physical strength.
"Umm…sir, did he forget his parachute?" Jaune asked fearfully.
"No, there will be no parachutes Mr. Arc." Ozpin replied. "You will be using your own landing strategy."
"What exactly is a landing strategYYYYYY!" Jaune screamed as he was thrown helplessly in the air, leaving a twinkling light in the sky. Soon, all of the students were launched into the sky.
Meanwhile, Rajah was soaring through the open air. Looking around his landing point, he saw Emerald Forest. Right when he was about to land, he did a few acrobatic flips while gracefully weaving through the tree branches. As he continued to fall, his legs and arms slammed into the forest floor, creating a crater and making dirt flying into the air. Just as the dust settled, the Bengal Tiger-Faunus stood up and used his heightened senses to pick up the bloodlust of some Grimm to tear apart.
His ears twitched as he heard rustling in the bushes. What came out was half a dozen of Beowolves that were, like most Grimm, dumber than a rock. Rajah was disappointed, he expected to be fighting non-stop, just like the old days. "Well, it's better than nothing." The Tiger-Faunus thought smirking.
The first wolf came from his right, lunging forward with its teeth and claws bared, ready to strike. Its life ended with a spinning hook kick to the snout. Blood sprayed on the heel of Rajah's boot as the Grimm fell to the ground lifelessly. Seeing their pack member's lifeless body fall to the ground, the six remaining Beowolves charged forward, determined on tearing the Tiger limb by limb.
Ducking beneath one's claw swipe, the Bengal Tiger grabs its arm, breaks it, and delivers an open palm strike, crushing the wolf's chest cavity and killing it instantly. He flipped over the next wolf, grabbed its head with his legs, plants his hands firmly into the ground and performs a German Suplex, shattering its skull and ending its life. Another wolf lunged from behind him, but before it could strike…
CRACK!
Rajah instantly snapped its neck with a quick squeeze, before dropping it to the ground, watching as it dissolves into black mist. Another Beowulf charged behind him with its jaws ready. With that, the Tiger crouches down, uproots a massive tree, and swings it at the Grimm like a baseball bat, sending it flying into the sky, leaving a twinkling light.
Turning to the lesser Grimm while putting the tree down, Rajah's smirk turned into disappointment. He was expecting to fight an entire army of Grimm, even though he knew they were weak and fragile, most of them anyway.
Hell, he was looking forward to burning something. Deciding that he's wasted enough time, The Tiger-Faunus unsheathed his claws and zipped forward at blinding speed, instantly appearing in front of the two wolves before they even saw him move. With both his hands, he rips a hole through their chest, grasping their hearts. Blood dripped from the hearts he held hind his hands
"Pathetic." Rajah muttered, crushing the hearts in his hands before the two Grimm collapsed to the ground, leaving blood smeared into the grass before evaporating into black mist. It has been so long since he had a true challenge in battle, ever since he was born he had been through the most torturous training that no man or Faunus could endure.
The Bengal Tiger-Faunus was taught multiple forms of Chinese martial arts and had mastered all of them when he was just 10 years old. Before he had his aura unlocked, he had to build up his own strength by undergoing gruesome bodybuilding exercises and severe body conditioning.
Hearing a small whimper, he turned to see a Beowulf cowering in fear. His eyes turned into slits and his lips curled into a sadistic smirk as he bent down on all fours, his tail thrashing wildly. In the blink of an eye, he pounced on the Beowulf and pinned it to the ground. The wolf struggled to free itself, but no avail.
Raising his right hand, he grabbed its head, sunk his claws into its skull, and rips its head clean off, with spine included. Crushing its skull and dropping it to the ground, the Grimm's head was nothing more than a bloody smear in the grass. Not wanting to stay in one place for too long, Victor made a dash through the forest on all fours, looking for an actual challenge.
Glynda POV…
Glynda felt her body shake a little as she watched the Bengal Tiger effortlessly take down the small pack of Beowolves in his own. His fighting style was brutal, straightforward, and ferocious. To literally rip out a Grimm's heart with his bare hands was barbaric.
His attacks, though feral, were swift, graceful, and fluid. She didn't even see him move when he attacked. The blonde teacher heard of his opponents being brutally slaughtered, but witnessing it...was the most horrifying sight to behold.
But when she saw his last kill, her body temperature dropped. The way he ripped off the Grimm's head along with its spine nearly made her throw up.
Then there were his eyes, they were...bloodthirsty, he looked like a predator ready to pounce on his prey, even though he was killing Grimm. The suffocating amount of killing-intent in the air could be felt through her scroll.
"Like father, like son." Ozpin thought with amusement as he observed Rajah who slaughtered every Grimm on sight.
"O-Ozpin...are you certain that he won't harm the students?" Glynda stammered slightly, slowly turning her head to the headmaster of Beacon.
"I'm certain of it Glynda." Ozpin responded calmly as he continued to watch the massacre from his scroll.
Rajah Pov...
Rajah had the look of boredom and slight disappointment on his face as he stopped an Ursa Major's paw swipe with his forearm. While the Bear was trying its best to overpower the Tiger, it was failing miserably. Rajah, on the other hand, wasn't even trying at all, he clearly had the advantage in brute strength. Wanting to end this fight quickly, he grabbed the Ursa Major's arm and rips it off in one fluid motion, making it roar in pain as blood spurted out wildly. All of a sudden, a loud sickening crack was heard as Rajah slammed his boot into the bear's jaw, sending it flying while killing instantly.
Turning around, he looked to notice that the Grimm's corpses were dissolved into black mist and was now nothing but a bloody mess. There was blood in the grass, bushes, and even the trees. Even Rajah himself was covered in blood. He lets out a tch of annoyance as he licked the blood off his bandaged hands in a cat-like manner, he didn't even break a sweat while killing off the Grimm one by one, not that he ever does anyway.
His ears rotated slightly as he heard more Beowolves coming at him. Once he turned around, he saw that it was a swarm of Beowolves. There were like, 80 or 90 of them! Finally! Some excitement!
"Now this is what i'm talking about." Rajah muttered with a bloodthirsty grin. With that, he cocks his arm back and engulfed his arm in flames. With that, he shoves his fist forward as a pillar of fire rocketed towards the wolves, burning them into ashes along with some of the trees. The grass and bushes were scorched and burned.
"Better." He muttered to himself with a smirk. Though he only used a tiny portion of his power, he was satisfied. Turning around, he saw Yang and Blake step into the temple ruins. He stood back to observe them while they glanced around as the four boy's picked up from the selection of the relics.
That's when things became chaotic.
His sensitive hearing picked up girly screaming that echoed through the forest. Rajah looks up to see Ruby and Weiss hanging on the back of a giant Grimm known as a Nevermore
"How the fuck she get up there?" Will he didn't give a damn about the Schnee heiress, he was concerned about the silver-eyed Huntress for some reason. Ruby suddenly lets go an plummets to the ground. It caused Rajah to tense, instinctively readying himself to catch her. Luckily, Jaune instantly flew out of nowhere and crashed into the scythe wielder, sending them flying into a nearby tree.
His ears twitched as he heard a nearby roar, which was a massive Ursa crashing through a tree line with an orange-haired girl, Nora was it? Riding on it like some type of horse. She then zipped over to the relics while completely ignoring Ren and her peers staring at her.
"I'm starting to like this place already." He thought with a fangy smirk as he jumped onto a tree branch and relaxed against the trunk.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!" Yang screeched.
"Kill joy." Rajah thought dryly. He looks up to see the Ice Queen still hanging on the back of a Nevermore, much to his delight.
"How could you leave me?!" The Tiger heard her screeched. His smirk grew bigger as she fell from the massive Nevermore, plummeting to her death. However, his smirk vanished as Jaune jumped from the tree and...sort of caught the heiress, by doing a belly flop with Weiss landing on his back.
"Smooth." Rajah deadpanned. Weiss had similar thoughts.
"My hero." She said sarcastically before getting off his back. Rajah saw as Pyrrha was dodging a Deathstalkers' claws with graceful agility, the final strike sent her sprawling in front of the group. He looked at the group of the students as the were forming a plan to take down the Grimm.
Well, most of them...
Ruby activated her Crescent Rose and launched into action, using her sniper Scythe to propel herself forward. Rajah's eyes widen slightly as he saw her do this, she's going to get herself killed! He thought himself to be crazy, but this was a whole new level of crazy!
Just as he predicted, the Deathstalker flicked her away like she was just an annoying fly. Though the armored Grimm began to approach her, his concern died down since he saw how fast she was. He stiffened once again when a loud screech overhead caught his attention. The Nevermore circled around and was flying in Ruby's direction. later, it thrusts forward its wins before a cascade of feathers fell from the sky, sinking into the dirt as if the feathers were made of steel.
As Ruby dodged most of them, the last feather had imbedded itself into her cloak. Rajah's eyes became wide as dinner plates.
"Damn it!" He screamed in his mind as he instinctively pushed himself upward until he was crouching on the tree branch in a cat-like position. His concern for the scarlet-clad girl began to increase as the Nevermore launched another shower of feathers.
"Come on stupid! Get yourself free and get the fuck out of there!" Rajah shouted in his head. The situation became disastrous for Ruby because the Deathstalker raised its tail, preparing to strike her. With that, the Tiger blasted off the tree with a single jump.
Ruby POV...
Ruby tugged onto her hood, trying to free herself from the feather that held her down. The giant shadow of the Deathstalker towered over her, its glowing stinger raised high into the air, intent on striking its target.
In that moment, Ruby couldn't help but feel completely helpless. She recklessly shot forward because she thought she might be able to handle the armored Grimm on her own. She wanted to prove to Weiss that she wasn't a powerless child and by doing so, she would die right here, right now.
Ruby closed her eyes, waiting for the strike to end her life.
Someone, please save me..." She silently plead to herself.
BOOM!
Ruby heard a loud crash as she felt the dust blowing across her face. Everyone had to shield their eyes as the dust, dirt, and rock flew everywhere. Everyone lowered their arms to see the dust clearing up, but what they saw stunned them.
It was safe to say that Ruby was stunned the most. Her savior was...
"Rajah..." She whispered in awe. The Deathstalker was crushed like a bug under the Tiger-Faunus' fist, with its armor completely shattered. The force from his punch created a large crater in the ground around the scorpion. Blood seeped from it's head and soaked onto Rajah's bandaged fist. Ruby couldn't help but turn slightly red as she looked at his chiseled torso. His chest was heavily built and had one of the most perfectly well-sculpted abs she has ever seen. Though not too big, Victor's muscles were definitely not small and his skin could barely contain them.
"Holy..." Yang began.
"...Shit" Jaune finished.
"He just destroyed a Deathstalkers' armor in a single punch..." Pyrrha thought in awe of the Bengal Tiger's destructive power.
Soon, The Bengal Tiger-Faunus stood up as the Deathstalker evaporated into black mist. As the two made eye contact, Ruby opened her mouth ready to speak, but was cut off by aloud screech from the Nevermore. The group saw a pack of Beowolves heading their way, but Rajah was focused on the gigantic bird-like creature, ignoring the horde Beowolves that headed straight for him.
"Time to launch feather-brain out of the sky." With a psychotic grin, he charged at the Nevermore on all fours, but to Ruby he disappeared. Was his Semblance invisibility or teleportation?
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU DOLT! QUIT STANDING AROUND ALREADY!"
Ruby jumped up as she heard the Schnee heiress shout at her. The red-hooded Huntress in training readied her Scythe and ran to help the group. Meanwhile, Rajah jumped up high into the air and delivered a heavy axe kick to the Nevermore's back, sending it crashing into the ground, creating a large crater. Even though it wasn't killed instantly in one strike, it struggled to get up due to it's spine being broken in half. Rajah picked up the speed as he dove headfirst, the wind harshly slapping his face as flames surrounded his entire body. Where Rajah resembled a shooting star, he now looked like a meteor heading towards earth. Jaune frantically turned to everyone else when he saw where the Tiger was gonna land.
"EVERYBODY MOVE!" He shouted as the others didn't hesitate to do so. They began running as Victor neared the Deathstalker and swarm of Beowolves.
Rajah slammed into the ground where the Grimm the group were fighting stood. His crash site turned into in an explosive eruption that burned all of the surrounding trees within a 7 mile center to nothing, the grass was scorched out of existence as a massive crater permanently marked his landing area. Everyone was blasted off their feet by the sheer force from the explosion.
Back on the cliffside, Ozpin and Glynda saw the tremendous explosion clearly from their area. "This is going to be an interesting year." the Ozpin mused as he took a sip from his mug.
Back to Beacon...
Team placements. Rajah really didn't want to work with a team, but looks like he doesn't have a choice.
"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dive Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. You all retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. You will form Team CDRL." Ozpin announced as the four walked on stage and their pictures were being displayed on screen. "Your leader will be Cardin Winchester."
"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. You all retrieved the White Rock pieces. You will form Team JNPR. Your leader will be Jaune Arc." Nora happily embraced the blonde while Pyrrha just smiled, indicating that she was proud of him.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You collected the White Knight pieces. You four girls will form Team RWBY." Ozpin called out. "Your leader will be Ruby Rose." With that, Yang pulled Ruby into a tight hug.
'I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" She yelled happily. Meanwhile, Weiss shit the silver-eyed Huntress a hateful glare while Blake didn't care.
"And finally...Rajah." The BengalTiger scowled as he walked on stage.
"You were the only student who didn't do any of the tasks assigned for the test. Also, due to the extraordinary feats you have accomplished," Here, the screen showed his fights with the Grimm and the Nevermore. "You will be Beacon's first one man team, capable of taking on the most dangerous missions and joining other teams as support." Rajah's scowl turned into his trademark stoic yet menacing expression. "From henceforth, you are all now Hunters and Huntresses in training as students attending Beacon Academy." The Bengal Tiger-Faunus merely walked off stage and disappeared into the shadows.
Hallway...
Rajah walked through the hallways wit his hands in his pockets, heading to the mystic ruins in the forest. His ears twitched as he heard footsteps and looks up to see Ruby in front of him. Silence fell upon them as they made eye contact. Ruby decided to break the silence.
"Hey." She greeted quietly with a meek wave, but Rajah heard her thanks to his sensitive hearing.
"What?" He asked rudely. Suddenly, he felt her thin arms wrapped around his slim yet stocky torso. His well-built chest and abs felt harder than rock.
"I, just wanted to thank you..for saving me." Ruby whispered sweetly. The Bengal Tiger felt heat rush to his cheeks, he wasn't used to kindness from others, in fact, they'd usually either hate him or fear him. Grunting, he pulled himself out of her embrace.
"You've got it all wrong, i just wanted to kill some Grimm, that's all." He scoffed, but it was actually a lie. He was worried about her, but didn't want to openly admit it.
The smal girl just gave him a sweet smile in response. "i'm still grateful though." The Bengal Tiger just grunted and walked past her.
"Whatever, just, don't do something that stupid ever again." He muttered as he disappeared into the shadows. Ruby happily skipped down the hallway to her dorm, she was happy that she made a new friend.
Mystic ruins...
As Rajah arrived at his territory, he climbed the tree and rested against the tree trunk. He suddenly felt a weird felling in his chest, his heart was beating at a fast rate, he didn't know why. He then thought of one of Ruby's smiles, it was a pleasant sight to behold.
"What is this feeling?"
To be continued….