(June 19th, 2015)

Chapter 5. Players and Pieces

Thistle shot down another Beowolf, while Larimar cut down two Ursai with a single swing. The two have been traveling together for quite some time searching for the temple and a relic hidden within. Right now they were encountering waves of lesser Grimm and killing them.

Suddenly they heard noises of battle in the distance. They looked around and noticed a giant Nevermore charging at some structure.

"Is it fighting other students?" the purple-haired boy asked.
"How should I know?" the blue boy replied. "But if that's the case they might have came across the temple."
"Let's go and see!" Thistle's eyes shone with a strange glimmer.
"'Let's go and see'? Do you hear yourself!? It's a large Grimm, it could kill us with ease!"
"What about the others?"
"Ozpin did imply that some of us may die here, but why should it bother either of us?"
"We need to form a team, right? A team is a four-person group, correct? Then we can't afford to loose potential teammates," Thistle reasoned. "I'm going to see them safe."

And just like that Thistle run off towards the battle. Larimar growled in anger as a response to his partner's behavior: doesn't he see how dangerous it is? They are hunters-in-training, people who chose to protect the weak. They were inexperienced in fights against such large creatures so it was a suicide strike at the current point.

Larimar sighed, "Better make sure he won't die," and he followed his partner's trail.

The trees started to get thicker and thicker with each step and Bruin and Zelony started to have trouble navigating. The deeper they went the less Grimm they encountered, something that picked their interest. The monsters of darkness usually liked such dense forests and safety of shadows they provided. Now it appeared rather hollow.

"Where are all the Grimm?" Bruin asked. "You don't think they're planning an attack, do you?"
"Do you really think of them so high? Sure, one should 'expect the unexpected' but that's just silly," Zelony laughed it off.

Then something in the bushes moved. The boys readied their weapons expecting an attack. Much to their surprise, Rouge and Nicandra appeared; they looked tired.

"Hi, guys!" the brown-haired boy greeted. "What you're doing here?"
Nicandra shot him an angry glare as if he asked a really stupid question, "We are in the middle of the initiation if you haven't noticed."
"Well, I guess you're right," he replied with a sheepish smile on his face. "Umm... why were you running?"

Suddenly a screech sounded in the distance. With every moment it grew closer.

"What kind of Grimm makes such a noise?" Zelony pondered.
"An angry two-headed snake who was frozen solid," Rouge replied.
"A King Taijitu is coming!?" Bruin exclaimed quite scary.
"We need to get to some open space if we hope to beat it," the blue-haired girl said.

Then a King Taijitu appeared and swung it heads at its opponents, but didn't hit them as they timely dodged its attack.

"Let's run for the temple!" Bruin suggested and ran off getting Nicandra angry:
"Just how that is supposed to help us?!" she shouted after him and followed him. Zelony and Rouge quickly joined the escape.

Pearl and Maize arrived at a ruined circular object with little problem. The Grimm didn't prove to be difficult; it was quite the opposite: they seemed to be too easy.

They looked around and noticed black and gold chess pieces placed on pedestals: this year's relics it would seem. A moment later they noticed a group of fellow students fighting against a Nevermore and a Death Stalker further in some ruins.

"We should help them!" Maize exclaimed and took few steps towards the battle.
"Hey! What about the relic?" Pearl asked annoyed.
"Grab it and join us!" and he went on.
"'Charge in, guns blazing,' it's always the same," the Faunus girl muttered under her breath.

She grabbed a white bishop piece and followed her partner.

When she arrived at the scene, she noticed an all-girl group fighting with a Nevermore in ruins beyond a destroyed bridge. A two-girl, two-boy group was fighting against a Death Stalker. And then there was Maize with two other boys fighting with a few spare Grimm which followed the battle sounds.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she sighed. "Two large Grimm and support from the lesser ones." She took a leap and landed between a blue-themed boy and an Ursa. She performed a series of quick strikes at the creature which dissipated into black fog. "Seems like you need help, boys."
"Like I need any help from you," the blue-haired boy shot back.
"Save the chit-chat for later, guys!" Maize shouted from distance, few of his cards blocking an attack from a Boarbatusk which was charging at the arguing pair.

Then an Ursa Major appeared and roared loudly. Few Grimm around him also roared and charged at the group. Pearl also rushed and quickly stabbed a few Beowolves with her claws. Few of the injured monsters dissipated into the fog while the rest started to frantically wave their paws. One of the Beowolves hit the purple-haired boy who was thrown at Maize, interrupting his attack.

"Thistle!" the blue-haired boy cried out and cut down the remaining Beowolves with wild swings from his dualblade.

Pearl kicked a few Ursai and scratched them and the blue-haired boy joined her in the attack and shot an arrow at them. Few Grimm exploded, while some where wounded quite badly.

While they were focused on the lesser Grimm, the Ursa Major was charging at the two boys who were still shaken from the previous attack. When it was about to swipe them with its large paws, a girl dressed in a revealing armor appeared and shielded them from the attack. She then proceeded to strike it with assault of slashes and knocked the monster back.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune came running after her. "We just thought a giant scorpion! Aren't you tired?"
"Come help these two up!" she instructed and went to fight the large Grimm.

Jaune approached Maize and Thistle and pulled them up.

"Thanks for the save," Maize said.
"Thank Pyrrha, not me," Jaune replied and pointed towards his partner.
"I'll go help!" Thistle exclaimed and rushed to the battle, shooting a flaming projectile from his shotstaff.
"What about you?" Maize asked the other blond. "Surely you'll want to protect your partner."
"I... uh..." Jaune stuttered, but Maize was long gone.

Pyrrha was handling the battle pretty well, although the aftermath of the previous one was taking toll on her. Just when she was about to block another attack from the Ursa Major, Pearl appeared clawing off its paw. Then Larimar popped up, swirling his weapon around him and cutting a few bruises on the large Grimm.

"We're here!" Maize said as he and Thistle appeared. "Take a break, Pyrrha. Our four will finish the job."

The warrior girl briefly fought the thought to stay and help, but she had to get to others and make sure the were safe. She then left hoping they were okay.

"Anyone got any plan?" Maize asked, nervousness could be heard in his voice.
"I thought you had something in mind," the blue-themed boy said with disappointment.
"Hey, Blue, Thistle, your weapons can shoot, right?" Pearl asked.
"It's 'Larimar', not 'Blue'," the boy who named himself 'Larimar' glared at her. "Yeah, so what?"
"You and Thistle shoot him from sides, then Maize will stab this bastard into that large tree, and I'll do the rest," she said.

Thistle just nodded while Larimar huffed. The two then took haste and positioned themselves at the sides of the Grimm and awaited a signal from the Faunus. She yelled, "Now!" and the two shot aiming at the head and hitting it. Despite getting shot in the head, the Ursa Major was strangely still standing, but looked a bit dazed. Then a deck of cards charged at the Grimm and their speed was so high it embedded it to the tree like Pearl said.

Now it was Pearl's time to shine. She assumed a running-ready position and then started her charge at the monster. She first scratched it furiously leaving many cuts. To finish things quickly she dipped her claws in the Grimm's chest and then ripped it apart. The Ursa Major started to disintegrate into black fog and soon after completely disappeared.

"Brutal," Larimar commented.
"It's not like this world is sugar and rainbows," the Faunus girl retorted.
"Not sugar and rainbows..." Thistle whispered to himself.
"Let's get outta here. This initiation is turning more dangerous than it should," Maize offered.
"Only strong survive at the end of the day, remember that or you'll be next one to die," Pearl said and left.

Larimar and Maize followed after her, not sure if even she herself knew where she was heading. Thistle looked at the battlefield and closed his eyes for a moment. He breathed deeply taking the scent of the forest as a breeze blew. Then he followed the others.

Bruin, Zelony, Nicandra, and Rouge were running as fast as they could through the dense forest. The King Taijitu was slowly getting closer to them, its shadow feeling heavy on the four's backs.

After few more minutes of running they came upon a glade with a ruined building and chess pieces on pedestals.

"This must be the temple!" Zelony noted. "Let's grab those relics and get outta here!"

Then the two-headed snake Grimm appeared and threatened them with a hiss.

"Rouge, you and Zelony keep this thing away from us while me and Nicandra grab those pieces!" Bruin instructed and grabbed the blue-haired girl by her hand.

They snatched the nearest relics: the black pawns. Just when they were to call their partners, Rouge was sent flying by the Grimm's powerful tail swing. Nicandra rushed to her on her ice emblems and caught her midair. Bruin pulled out his collapsible staff and changed it into a crossbow and shot several bolts at the white head. Zelony ejected blades on his yoyo and slashed the monster a few times then swung on the same head and from above delivered a punch to it.

Nicandra had landed with Rouge and charged at the black head. She conjured several lightning bolts and a magmatic blade which struck it a few times. Rouge soon joined her and with her weapon in whip mode she slashed the black head.

The Grimm then suddenly performed a half-spin and started to try and bite its enemies. Bruin shifted his weapon into staff mode and hit the incoming black head throwing it off the loop for a moment. Nicandra conjured an ice wall in front of her which the white head hit and was stunned for a second.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Zelony exclaimed. "At this rate we'll be its supper!"
"Then how do you suggest to resolve that issue?" Nicandra asked as she conjured some steam, it had quite an effect on King Taijitu.
"I have an idea!" Bruin said. "Keep that steam on, Nic! This Grimm doesn't seem to like it!"
"It's 'Nincandra'," she corrected him with a crossed look on her face.
"Do we really have time for that?" Zelony asked as he slashed the black head a few times.
"Rouge, launch it into the air!" Bruin commanded.

The dark pink-haired girl nodded knowingly and summoned Sylph. It created a whirlwind which shot the Grimm high into the air.

Then Zelony was emanating a green aura from him and King Taijitu was surrounded by a purple one.

"Wooow... Is that your Semblance?" Bruin asked impressed.
"Yeah, Time Freeze, but it won't last long against Grimm this strong!" Zelony replied, a drop of sweat running down his face.
"All right, time for me," the brown-haired man said.

He changed his weapon into crossbow mode and shot several bolts at the enemy. Then in his weapon's spear mode he performed a jump and descended on the Grimm. He struck it right into the middle severing King Taijitu into two.

"Shred it to pieces!" Bruin commanded his companions on the ground.

Nicandra conjured an icy blade which continuously attacked the black half. Rouge opted for her weapon in whip mode and partnered up with Zelony with whom they mercilessly slashed at the other half.

The halves fell on the ground with a loud thud, followed by Bruin who performed a free-point landing, staff in his hand. He then activated his Semblance, his weapon elongated and shining with a bright light. He swiped at the heads sending waves of energy which finished them off.

He deactivated his Semblance and abruptly sat down on the ground, "That was exhausting!"

"Good job," Nicandra commented.
"Thanks?" Bruin asked; he couldn't say if she was mocking him or what.
"Yeah, splitting it in half was a good idea, one that worked out really well," Zelony said.
"It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, heheh," the other boy replied while scratching behind his head with a sheepish smile on his face.
"Next time leave some room for me. I have needs you know," Rouge said playfully.
"Okay?" Bruin was once again lost. He felt like only Zelony was not making fun of him or anything of the sort.
"Let's go, we got what we came for and more," the green-haired boy offered his hand to the other. He accepted it and stood up, sweeping some dust from his clothes. "You're dusting off? That should be me, considering all this is designer," he smiled and gestured to his dirty clothes.

Then Goodwitch appeared out of nowhere, instructing them to follow her. Bruin looked at her surprised but complied with her orders along with his companions.

It was evening after the initiation that happened just few hours ago. Professor Ozpin was currently announcing newly formed teams in the auditorium. Among the many teams were names like CRDL [Cardinal], AZRE [Azure], BLZE [Blaze], and JNPR [Juniper]. There was still a dozen of people to team up.

"Maize Guy. Larimar Mikulio. Pearl Ivar. Thistle Sophie," the four people stepped up, their portraits appearing on a large screen above their heads. Maize was a bit nervous, but the rest of the group remained composed. "The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team PLTM [Platinum]. Led by... Pearl Ivar!"

The fox Faunus was slightly surprised, but quickly composed herself. Thistle was smiling at Larimar who was just glaring into a distance with an angry look on his face. Maize looked at Pearl with a morbid look on his face. A moment later they stepped back.

Eight more people were now left without team.

"Bruin Brown. Nicandra Nepal. Zelony Zomp. Rouge Rhodolite," the four called out people stepped up. Their portraits appeared on the screen above. "The four of you retrieved the black pawn pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BRNZ [Bronze]. Led by... Bruin Brown!"
"Wait, what?"

The brown-haired boy was surprised by the news: he was leading a team? Nicandra was also taken aback by the announcement, pinching her temples in disbelief. Zelony patted Bruin on head, much to the other boy's displeasure. The three were then pulled together in a group hug by Rouge, strangely a cheerful smile painted across her face.

With just four people left it was quite obvious who formed the last team.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long," the four girls stepped forward. Final four person images appeared on the screen. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY [Ruby]. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

Weiss is surprised with the appointment of Ruby as their team leader. However the young girl's sister has a different opinion:

"I'm so proud of you!" she tells her as she hold her tied to her chest, nearly breaking her bones.

With this last announcement the people gathered in the auditorium cheer. Finally the team revealment has ended and they will finally get able to eat something and go to sleep.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year," Ozpin says more to himself, rather than to the public.

Author's Notes

So after more than four months I finally close the initiation arc where I hoped to have it last three chapters, not two, but writer's block is a truly terrible curse and I just wanted to continue with the story already.

I'm not really fond of the battles described here; I know I could do better, but here they are.

Also, I mentioned/inserted two team OC groups which will have more appearance in future chapters: Team AZRE, property of Ace Wolfblade, and Team BLZE, property of J. Van A.