In this chapter, more people are going to partner up...in fact, everyone's going to have a partner by the end of this chapter. Of course, there's still the matter of getting the chess pieces to see what the team of four is going to be. And yes, things will be different than they are in canon.

And unfortunately, Nora's not partnered with Ren...don't worry, she's still going to have a bright future ahead of her in Beacon Academy. I promise!

Chapter 6: Partnering Up

Lie Ren sat near a waterfall in the forest. Fortunately, it appeared to be rather quiet here. In fact, there didn't appear to be any Grimm in this area of forest. Maybe they hanged out somewhere where it was more peaceful.

Since Nora was more energetic than he was (much, much more energetic), he figured that rather than look for her, he should simply wait for Nora to find him in the forest.

Little did he know that at that very moment, someone else was approaching him instead.

"Hmm...according to my nose, there's another hunter here...I wonder who it could be." stated Blake. Taking a closer sniff, she noted that this particular hunter smelled like a lotus flower. Maybe he was some sort of gardener?

Oddly enough, despite being a cat Faunus, Blake did not mind the water much. She in fact was a fairly decent swimmer. It wasn't something that she would openly admit to the cat Faunus...just like she wouldn't admit that she was a Faunus to humans. She was not looking forward to having rotten tomatoes thrown at her every time she tried walking down the street.

Curious, she noticed Lie Ren sitting by himself in the forest. Since he appeared to be rather lonely, she decided to talk to him.

"Shouldn't you be looking for the chess pieces?" asked Blake. Due to the fact that she had a rather good sense of smell, it wasn't difficult for her to find them.

However, she decided that she should have a partner just in case. Sometimes her sense of smell could be thrown off by something else.

Curious, Lie Ren looked around...

...and realized his mistake.

"Darn it." murmured Ren.

"Is something the matter?" asked Blake.

"Nora was hoping to meet with me...but it looks like I'm not going to be her partner..." stated Ren.

"Sorry about that..." apologized the cat girl.

"It's alright...I'm sure that she'll understand." said the black-haired boy. Even if they didn't end up on the same team they could always interact with each other when they weren't on missions.

"Just for the record, I don't think the chess pieces are far from here..." noted Blake.

"At least that's something..." stated Ren.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of mice squeaking.

"Did you hear something?" asked the quiet boy.

A few minutes later, some Rattlers showed up. They resembled giant rats...but of course they also had familiar Grimm characteristics, such as black fur and red eyes.

Older Rattlers tended to be a problem for farmers, as they had gotten the idea of attacking the human's food supply in order to handicap them.

Fortunately, these particular Rattlers were younger Grimm and therefore weren't very dangerous.

Oddly enough, Ren noticed that they seemed to be going for him and that none of them seemed to be going for Blake. He wondered why.

Of course, Blake already knew the answer to that.

Since they were partners, the two of them quickly found themselves working together to take them down.

Fortunately, it appeared that they combated each other's fighting style rather well, though they both had a tendency to fight defensively instead of offensively.

Eventually, the Rattlers were all exterminated.

However, shortly afterwards, they were attacked by one of the Grimm's underwater predator. Yes, the Grimm had adapted to the water so that they could attack boats...though like the Grimm they had encountered earlier these Grimm were rather young and inexperienced.

In this case, they were Piranha-like Grimm known as Munchers. As with other Grimm, they were black and had red eyes. Also, they could smell blood.

Immediately, they leapt out of the water and attempted to bite Ren and Blake.

"I didn't know that some Grimm were aquatic..." answered Ren.

"Let's just say that you need to be careful when you go fishing..." noted Blake. It was a good idea to try to be patient during fishing...even if there weren't Grimm in the water.

Fortunately, it appeared that they could avoid them simply by staying away from the water.

"Can you pick up Nora's scent?" asked Ren.

"What would you say that she smells like?" inquired Blake.

Ren questioned why Blake was asking that, but he decided to tell Blake anyway.

"I'd say that she smells like maple syrup judging from all the pancakes that she eats." stated Ren.

Curious, Blake decided to look for that sense of smell.

Sure enough, she COULD smell the stench of pancakes.

Oddly enough, she could also pick up the stench of sweat socks. What was going on?

As it turned out, Nora was still dragging Russel by the arm.

"Can you let go of my arm already? It's getting rather sore..." stated Russel.

"Alright. Let's find another method of transport!" exclaimed Nora.

"Like...what?" asked the school bully.

"Like that Ursa over there!" bellowed the hammer wielder.

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea..." warned Russel.

"Come on! It will be fun!" exclaimed Nora.

Once again, Nora dragged Russel with her.

She then hopped on the Ursa's back.

"Come on! Get going!" bellowed Nora, whacking the Ursa with a hammer.

Immediately, the Ursa began to run towards the chess pieces.

"All aboard the Nora express!" cheered the hammer wielder.

"Choo choo?" questioned Russel.

Meanwhile, Weiss was trying to come up with a way to find Pyrrha.

Suddenly, she remembered something. She happened to have a wind-up plushie of Pyrrha that was on sale the other day.

Maybe she could use that to draw Pyrrha out.

Immediately, she began to pull on the string.

"I have a really magnetic personality!" exclaimed Pyrrha.

"Hahaha." laughed Weiss.

Weiss pulled the string again.

"I love Pumpkin Pete's!" bellowed the huntress.

"Of course she does. Why do you think she's on the box?" asked Weiss.

Weiss pulled the string once more.

"Do you want my autograph?" inquired the plush.

"I won't be getting your autograph unless YOU show up." stated the ice huntress.

At that very moment, Pyrrha did show up.

"Yes!" cheered Weiss.

"I see that you're a fan of my work." stated Pyrrha.

"Of course I am. I figured that since I was the smartest and you were the strongest student in the academy we'd be unstoppable together." said the ice huntress.

"I can see that logic...but being smart and strong isn't everything." pointed out the popular girl.

Weiss sighed. She supposed that Pyrrha did have a point.

"Perhaps we should also try to find someone that's agile and someone that's stealthy...that way the party will be balanced..." suggested Pyrrha.

"That would be a good idea. Perhaps there's more than you than your popularity and strength..." noted Weiss.

"Of course there is. I have a life outside the fame and fortune, in case you were wondering." answered the redhead.

"Right..." nodded the ice huntress. Now that she thought of it, as a heiress of a Dust company, she was rather popular herself...and of course, there was more to her than that as well.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of a snake hissing.

"Oh dear...it looks like a Grimm has found us..." noted Pyrrha.

"I wonder which species it is?" questioned Weiss. Her big sister told her that there were many types of Grimm...but they all had it out for humanity one way or another.

Of course, they also had it out for Faunus, but so did the humans. They probably shouldn't judge them for THAT.

As it turned out, it was a King Taijutu. Weiss wondered why it had two heads. Added intelligence, maybe?

"Hiss..." said the two snakes.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" asked Weiss. It was a good thing that it wasn't two against one or it might be more difficult.

"Well, technically it is cold-blooded...I heard that you have ice dust, do you not?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Huh? Oh yeah..." stated the ice huntress.

Immediately, she tried hitting the King Taijutu with ice dust.

This worked surprisingly well. Apparently, the King Taijutu was having trouble keeping its body heat all of a sudden.

"Since there are two heads, maybe I could take on one and you can take on the other..." stated Pyrrha.

Ironically, it was starting to become apparent that Pyrrha was more strategic than she was. Perhaps she had misjudged her.

Well, it was too late to change her partner now. Besides, she got the feeling that she would enjoy working with Pyrrha regardless. She just wondered who her two other teammates were going to be once she got out of the forest.

She was a bit worried that one of them might be Ruby due to how reckless she was. And yet, she got the feeling that she was surviving the Emerald Forest about as well as she was. Maybe she was misjudging her a bit.

Speaking of which, Ruby was dashing through the forest to get to the chess pieces.

However, she quickly realized that she was forgetting something.

"Wait for me..." stated Jaune.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Ruby. In her haste, she had forgotten that Juane couldn't keep up with her...his shield and sword were probably slowing him down.

Oddly enough, Ruby's scythe never seemed to slow her down...she was just as fast with it than without it.

"Can I spend a minute to...catch my breath?" asked the blonde.

"Of course!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Thanks." said Jaune, panting heavily.

Ruby noted that Jaune was sweating all over.

She was starting to wonder if there was a way for Juane to keep up with her somehow.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

"I know! Why don't I grab your hand?" asked Ruby.

Juane began to blush. He had never held hands with a girl before...except for his mother, of course.

But before he could say anything, Ruby grabbed his hand.

She then began to dash her way through the forest.

However, she realized that she was forgetting something once again.

Quickly, she let go of Jaune.

But at this point, he was already vomiting.

"Ugh..." murmured Jaune, clutching his stomach.

"Darn it! I forgot you had motion sickness!" exclaimed Ruby. This was a rather ironic teamup, wasn't it?

"Sorry about that..." apologized the blonde. Apparently, they were going to need to make their way to the chess pieces...CAREFULLY.

"It's alright. It's not your fault..." stated the brunette...though she did admit that she probably COULD outrun a moving vehicle.

Suddenly, she began to hear the sound of roaring.

"Wait, what was that?" asked Ruby.

As it turned out, it was a Bagheerah...a panther-like Grimm that was rather agile.

Fortunately, it appeared that like most Grimm in the Emerald Forest, it was rather young and not very threatening. However, Ruby did note that it did seem to be older than the Beowulves that she had encountered earlier...which meant that it would put up a fight.

Suddenly, she heard Jaune scream like a little girl.

"Whoa! Was that you? Or did I just scream?" asked Ruby. She didn't want to scream too loudly since that would attract more Grimm...since they feasted on fear.

Sure enough, she noticed two Beowulves nearby. Perhaps they had heard the scream.

"That was me..." stated Jaune, rubbing his hand behind his hand.

"You scream an awful lot like I do..." noted the scythe wielder.

Speaking of which, Yang also heard the scream.

"Oh no! Ruby's in trouble! I have to save her!" exclaimed Yang.

"But what about getting the chess pieces?" asked Cardin.

"We can do that after we save Ruby!" bellowed the blonde.

"Alright, fine. But once we save her we'll go back to looking for the chess pieces...alright?" questioned the bully.

"Yes! Thank you, thank you!" exclaimed Yang.

"Where do you think she is, though?" asked Cardin.

"Maybe she's in that dark cave...it seems rather scary." noted the blonde.

Sure enough, there was a cavern nearby.

"Maybe the chess pieces are in there?" inquired the bully.

"I was thinking Ruby was inside...but I suppose that could also be it." stated Yang. It would be nice to kill two Nevermores with one stone.

Curious, Yang and Cardin investigated.

However, they quickly noticed that it was getting harder and harder to see anything.

"Did you bring a light?" asked Cardin.

"I don't need a light. I have my semblance." stated Yang.

Immediately, Yang lighted herself up.

Curious, she noticed that there was a light in the distance. Hopefully it wasn't the light in the end of the tunnel...though they didn't seem to be dying yet.

Quickly, Cardin grabbed onto it, assuming that it was the chess piece.

Unfortunately for him, that wasn't it at all.

As it turned out, it was a Death Stalker...which wasn't too happy with Cardin for intruding in its territory.

Cardin gasped in shock.

Shortly afterwards, he ran out of the cave screaming.

Sure enough, Yang quickly noticed this.

"Huh. I guess he's more bark than bite." stated Yang. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering that Cardin liked to bully students that he considered to be weaker than himself.

Still, she quickly realized that she was going to have to cover Cardin so that he could make his escape.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to be a heroine." stated Yang.

Immediately, she began to fire rounds from her Ember Cecila at the Death Stalker.

Fortunately, it appeared to be rather effective, as the Death Stalker began to screech. Either that, or it was getting rather angry...or maybe both.

However, she got the feeling that since the Death Stalker was much older than the Grimm that they had encountered earlier, it probably wasn't going down without a fight.

As such, she decided to both RUN and shoot, since it lacked ranged options.

Eventually, she ran out of the cave with the Death Stalker in far pursuit.

However, she was still worried about her sister. Would she be alright without her? She got the feeling that she could fight for herself, but she wasn't sure.

As it turned out, she was trying to fight the Bagheerah.

"I sure hope that my curiosity is going to kill the cat this time..." stated Ruby.

Immediately, she slashed the Bagheerah with her scythe to see what would happen.

However, though it did injure the Bagheerah, it appeared that it wasn't going to go down easily.

In retaliation, the Bagheerah attempted to claw and bite her.

Fortunately, she was fast enough to avoid it.

"Missed me!" exclaimed Ruby.

"Yeah! You can do this, Ruby!" cheered on Jaune.

However, in the process, he ended up attracting the Bagheerah's attention.

As it turned out, the Bagheerah was able to determine that Jaune was easier prey than Ruby was...similar to how a cat of prey would look for the easiest target out in the world. For some strange reason, Grimm had a tendency to both look and act like animals...though not all Grimms did resemble animals.

Immediately, it pounced on top of Jaune.

Once again, Jaune screamed.

Sure enough, Yang heard it once again.

"Ruby!" screamed Yang.

Suddenly, she noticed Cardin cowering in a corner.

Immediately, she picked him up.

"What the-" exclaimed Cardin.

"We need to find Ruby now!" bellowed Yang, carrying Cardin bridal style.

"This is...kind of awkward." thought the school bully.

On the plus side, it appeared that the Death Stalker had lost them. Maybe it had gone back into its cave?

Meanwhile, the Bagheerah was looking forward to killing Jaune...or making him terrified anyway. Maybe it could simply wait for Juane to stop being afraid before killing him to spread some more terror.

However, Ruby was not looking forward to the idea of Jaune dying.

"Hey! Don't use Jaune as a scratching post!" bellowed Ruby.

Immediately, Ruby attacked the Bagheerah once again, this time leaving a nasty gash on its side.

However, this made the panther Grimm VERY angry.

Quickly, it pounced towards Ruby...and roared rather loudly.

This made Ruby frightened, and she then dropped her scythe.

"Uh-oh..." thought Ruby. It was times like this when she wished that she was good at hand-to-hand combat like her sister was.

Slowly, the Bagheerah began to approach her.

"Easy there, kitty! You wouldn't want do anything hasty!" exclaimed Ruby, stretching out her arms in front of her.

At that very moment, Jaune wondered what he should do.

He could run around like a coward...or he could risk his life to help Ruby.

However, he then remembered that Ruby had risked her life to protect HIM, and decided that he should return the favor.

Fortunately, he had an opportunity to be a hero.

Immediately, he pulled out his sword...and chopped off the Bagheerah's tail.

A few seconds later, the Bagheerah began to scream in pain.

This gave Ruby the opportunity to pick up her scythe and slice the Bagheerah in half.

Jaune sighed in relief. It looked like the nightmare was finally over.

Suddenly, Ruby beckoned Jaune to give her a high five.

Juane was rather surprised at the occurrence. No girl had asked him to give him a high five before.

Nonetheless, he decided to do so.

"I'm so glad that you're my partner!" cheered Ruby.

"But I'm a weakling..." pointed out Jaune.

"I don't think you're a weakling! If it weren't for you I could have been catnip!" exclaimed the fifteen-year-old.

"If you say so..." stated the blonde. He was rather glad that Ruby was with him too. Otherwise, he'd probably be dead by now.

At that very moment, Yang and Cardin showed up. Immediately, Yang put Cardin down.

"There you are! I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Yang, hugging her sister.

"How come?" asked Ruby.

"I heard you screaming..." explained the blonde

"Actually, that was me..." stated Juane.

"You scream like a little girl? Hahahaha!" laughed Cardin.

"You're one to talk, I saw you cowering in fear after we encountered that Death Stalker." stated Yang.

Cardin frowned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." said the bully.

"Sure you don't." answered Yang.

Cardin sighed.

"Can we please get back to finding the chess pieces? I want to become an official hunter already!" exclaimed Cardin.

"Whatever makes you happy." stated Yang.

Together, the four of them began to look for the chess pieces.

Yes, I'm going to be including some Grimm of my own design. Why you may ask? Well, I figured that Grimms would come in many shapes and sizes like we do...and yes, knowing the Grimm, they WOULD probably consider attacking the human's food supply. Famine would do them a lot of favors...and ironically it would allow THEM to feed rather than the humans.