In this chapter, the Nevermore is going to show up. You know, the really big one. It's going to be flying through the skies, raining death from above. Not much fun for our protagonists.
In other words, they're going to have to try to take it down. Hopefully they have a bird hunting license...on the plus side, Yang and Ruby both have guns in their weaponry, oddly enough.
Chapter 7: Nevermore Grimm
Quickly, Yang and Cardin noticed the shrine where all the chess pieces were. It looks like they had managed to reach their destination...after encounters with Grimm that would probably be haunting their nightmares in the near future.
Now all they needed to do was pick a piece and head back to Beacon Academy, however dangerous that was. Hopefully it would be about as smooth as it was when they reached the shrine.
Of course, they wanted to get out of the forest before it got dark. Not only was it scary in a forest at night time, as she knew, Grimms did get more aggressive at night, with more powerful species of Grimm showing up in places they would not otherwise. Yang had read about that in a book detailing surviving the world of Grimm. She blessed the author of that book.
"Yes! Finally! Now I can get the rook piece and team up with my friends...well, except for one..." noted Cardin. It looked like someone was going to get left out. It felt funny working with someone who wasn't his friend...but maybe he could simply hang out with them later.
Suddenly, Yang grabbed the knight piece. Incidentally, it was about as yellow as her hair was. She was expecting it to be white instead of yellow, but she decided it wasn't a big deal.
"Alright! It looks just like a horse!" exclaimed Yang. It made her feel rather excited. However, she did wonder if there was a horse Grimm somewhere.
Cardin sighed. Now he was going to have to tell his friends that they were going to be collecting knight pieces instead. He wasn't sure how they would react to that.
At least, that's what HE would be doing...if Ruby and Juane didn't decide to take the knight piece as well. As it turned out, Ruby also liked horses...and Juane would not mind the idea of riding a horse onto the battlefield. It would make him look more like a hero...and it would make transportation easier too.
"Well, crap." stated Cardin, realizing who he was going to be working with along with Yang.
"Is something the matter?" asked Yang.
"I'm going to be stuck with these losers for the next four years!" exclaimed the bully. This was so unfair. He deserved better than this. At least, he THOUGHT he deserved better than this.
"Hey, don't call my sister a loser! And you shouldn't call her potential boyfriend a loser either!" demanded Yang, putting her hands on her hips. Unsurprisingly, she hated it when people insulted her family, especially her mother since she hadn't seen her in so long.
Ruby and Jaune began to blush on the mention of a "potential boyfriend".
"Can we...just get back to Beacon Academy?" asked Cardin. He supposed he might as well since his team had already been decided...even if it wasn't exactly the team that he wanted.
"Alright, but mind the attitude. Grimms are attracted to negative emotion." warned Ruby. Her uncle had told her that once.
"Yeah, right. What's the chance of a Grimm showing up here?" questioned the bully.
Suddenly, they began to hear the familiar cry of a Nevermore...and a rather big one at that.
"Pretty good, actually." stated Yang.
Cardin gulped. This was not going to be fun. It was times like this when he wished that he had his friends backing up...of course, they were rather cowardly themselves.
Sure enough, the Nevermore began to rain feathers on top of them, forcing Ruby and her friends to scatter to avoid being hit.
And to make matters worse, the Death Stalker had shown up as well. It could sense the fear that the four possessed, it seemed.
"Oh, it's you again..." stated Yang.
However, at that very moment, Nora showed up along with Russel. She was still riding the Ursa...or as she called it, the Nora Express. It couldn't seem to shake them off.
"Yeehaw!" exclaimed Nora.
"Aah!" screamed Russel.
Yang was rather surprised at the occurrence. Since when did hunters ride Grimm to get around the world?
"How is she riding an Ursa?" asked Ruby. Personally she would rather use her semblance to get around instead. It was probably...safer.
"I have no idea either." answered Juane. Maybe Nora was simply awesome like that.
However, at that very moment, the Ursa collapsed from exhaustion. It had never run that hard before in its life.
Meanwhile outside the Emerald Forest...
"Interesting." stated Headmaster Ozpin.
"What is it?" asked Glynda Goodwitch.
"It appears that one of the students is riding an Ursa..." stated the silver-haired man.
"An Ursa?" questioned the woman who was usually dressed in white. She had never seen a student do that before...and she had been watching the Emerald Forest tests for about ten years.
"I figured that there was something special about the students that are participating in this exam..." noted the headmaster.
"Is that why you invited Ruby to Beacon Academy two years ahead of schedule?" asked Glynda.
"It's not every day when a fifteen-year-old manages to thwart a dust robbery..." answered Ozpin. Especially one that had been concocted by the evil criminal mastermind Roman Torchwick. Of course, he would have been more impressed if Ruby managed to bring him to justice, but he couldn't have everything.
"Well, you've got a point there..." noted the blonde woman. Still, she got the feeling that Ruby needed to be less reckless. It was a good thing that she wasn't going to be hunting Grimm alone.
Meanwhile, back inside the forest, Nora was unhappy that she couldn't ride the Ursa anymore. It had been fun while it lasted, that was for certain...though Russel did not agree. He was worried that the Ursa might have bitten his face off.
"Darn it! I broke it!" exclaimed Nora. Now she was going to have to find another vehicle. Were they any other Ursa in the forest?
"Thank goodness..." stated Russel. Never in his life had he been more terrified.
Suddenly, Nora noticed the rook piece on the pillar.
"Where are you going?" asked the teen with a mohawk.
She decided to pick it up, a wide smile forming on her face.
"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" sang Nora, balancing the rook piece on her head.
"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever." answered Russel.
At that very moment, Dove and Sky showed up.
"Hey." stated Russel as they picked up the chess piece.
"Yes! Now we can team up with our leader and rule this school!" exclaimed Dove.
"There might be a problem with that..." stated Russel.
"How come?" asked Sky, scratching his head.
"I ended up getting the wrong partner..." said the teen with a mohawk.
Dove raised an eyebrow. He...didn't get paired up with Cardin?
"Who'd you get partnered up with then?" asked Dove.
"This energetic girl over there..." stated Russel.
Suddenly, Nora ran up to Dove.
"Hello! Have you seen Ren?" asked Nora. She was under the impression that he would be at the shrine right now. She sure hoped that nothing bad happened to him. She would be crying her head off if Ren ended up being badly injured.
"How the heck should I know?" inquired Dove.
"Sorry to say this...but I don't think you're going to be on the same team as him." apologized the knife wielder.
"What? Aww...well, at least I got partnered with a friend!" exclaimed Nora.
"Er, yeah..." nodded Russel. Somehow, he wasn't sure how he felt about Nora yet. But at least she was friendly enough.
Suddenly, the Death Stalker noticed the bullies and began to attack them.
"Run!" exclaimed Dove.
Naturally, the bullies began to retreat. They would rather flee than spend time on the battlefield, despite technically being hunters. It was rather ironic.
They seemed to have forgotten that Grimm were attracted to fear.
However, Nora was left out of the loop, and was left behind as a result.
"Huh? Why is everyone running away?" asked Nora.
She then noticed the Death Stalker, snapping its pincers at her.
"Oh..." stated the energetic girl.
Immediately, she whacked the Death Stalker on the head with a hammer. It was rather painful, as it began to screech.
Curious, Russel, Dove, and Sky heard the Death Stalker screaming.
"Hmm, it looks like that Death Stalker is in pain..." noted Russel.
"I wonder whose attacking it?" asked Dove.
"Maybe we should go check it out..." suggested Sky.
They decided to go check on Nora...and were rather impressed with her fighting skills, to say the very least.
Though admittedly she was technically a girl, they couldn't help but cheer her on.
"Yeah! Show that oversized scorpion whose boss!" cheered Russel.
"Show them that you don't mess with the toughest guys in the Beacon Academy!" bellowed Dove.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Weiss were still fighting the King Taijutu. Hopefully they didn't end up being bitten in case the two-headed snake turned out to be poisonous.
Alternatively, it was probably in their best interest to avoid being constricted.
Fortunately, Pyrrha was able to stab the black head with her spear.
It began to screech in pain. It looked like it had been wounded. Pyrrha certainly knew how to wield her weapon, it seemed.
Likewise, Weiss used her ice dust to impale the white head.
It began to screech in pain as well.
However, the screams of pain began to attack more Grimm. Apparently, they knew at some level whenever another Grimm was being attacked.
In this case, a Shellshock showed up. In case, it's not obvious, these Grimms resembled turtles...though one could also say that they resembled tortoises. As with other Grimm, they were not friendly...at all.
Naturally, these Grimm had rather good defense, and their jaws were rather strong too. On the plus side, they weren't the fastest Grimms in the world.
However, this Grimm had decided to play it smart and wait for a target that was already occupied with another Grimm, due to it being an older member of its species.
Slowly, it began to approach Weiss, hoping to bite her.
But at that very moment, Blake and Ren showed up.
Together, they began to attack the Shellshock, who closed up into its shell in retaliation.
"How are we supposed to take it down?" asked Blake.
"It's closed up in its shell..." answered Ren.
Fortunately, at that very moment, Weiss managed to kill the white head of the King Taijutu by impaling it with several icicles.
She then noticed Ren and Blake's situation.
"Can I...help you?" asked Weiss.
"We're trying to take down this Grimm..." explained Blake. It certainly was a fighter, to say the very least.
"It's holed up in its shell..." stated Ren. From the looks of it, they were going to need stronger weapons if they wanted to break it. Too bad they weren't second or third years.
Weiss noted that there were openings in its shell, and decided to send her ice dust through them.
This worked rather well, and the Shellshock died.
Its shell disappeared shortly afterwards. Grimm had a peculiar tendency to disappear shortly after they die. It was rather disappointing to those who would want to keep the Grimms that they killed as trophies.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha had managed to kill the black head. Now there was one less Grimm in the world...or maybe two?
Quickly, she noticed Blake and Ren, and smiled. It looks like she managed to find potential teammates.
"Would you be interested in being on the same team as us?" asked Pyrrha. If they wanted to work together, they could simply collect the same chess pieces and then they would be on the same side.
"Sure, why not." nodded Blake.
Together, they set out towards the shrine.
Meanwhile, Ruby, Jaune, Yang, and Cardin found themselves facing the giant Nevermore. It was the biggest Grimm that they had seen yet, that was for certain. From the looks of it, it had lived for quite a few years. Just how long did Grimm live to be, anyway? Perhaps they were immortal in that sense.
The Nevermore circled the sky, ready to strike whenever the opportunity presented itself.
It was rather perplexing how they were going to take it down. None of them had wings, unfortunately.
Once again, the giant Nevermore began to rain feathers down on top of them.
Fortunately for Yang, Cardin, and Jaune, they were able to avoid the feathers that could potentially harm for them.
Unfortunately for Ruby, one of the feathers ended up hitting her cape, pinning her to the floor.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Ruby. Maybe she should have listened to her costume designer about wearing capes. Of course, she was rather impulsive.
Seizing its opportunity, the Nevermore began to fly towards Ruby.
"Ruby!" shouted Yang.
Ruby began to worry. Was the Nevermore going to use her as bird feed? She felt like she so much more to live for, especially if she managed to make it out of the Emerald Forest alive and pass the initiation test.
Suddenly, Jaune pointed out what Ruby should do.
"Ruby! Try cutting your cape!" suggested Jaune.
"Huh?" asked Ruby.
Curious, she decided to do just that.
As it turned out, it wasn't difficult to cut her cape at all. She might need to visit the tailor to get a new cape though...though admittedly she didn't need to cut much.
Shortly afterwards, she sped out of the way...just as the Nevermore flew towards her.
Caught by surprise, the Nevermore ended up crashing into the ground.
"I think it's injured!" exclaimed Yang.
Sure enough, the Nevermore did appeared to be injured. It was having trouble getting back to its feet so that it could fly again. Why did Ruby have to dash out of the way at that particular moment?
Seizing his opportunity to kick his opponent while they were down, Cardin started hitting the Nevermore with his mace, causing it to scream.
However, it flew back into the air shortly afterwards, though it seemed a bit tired from its beating and crash landing earlier.
"Darn it! I was hoping to beat down on it some more!" exclaimed Cardin.
"I guess we're just going to have to shoot it down..." suggested Ruby.
"You got it, sis!" exclaimed Yang.
Immediately, Ruby and Yang opened fire on the Nevermore with their weapons, causing it to screech once again.
Meanwhile, Nora was still fighting the Death Stalker. Though the Death Stalker appeared to be losing energy, Nora did not appear to be exhausted in the slightest.
Cardin's friends were rather impressed with Nora's stamina, to say the very least. How much sugar did she have before she came to the Emerald Forest?
However, Russel noticed that while she was occupied dealing with the Death Stalker's pincers, it was getting ready to strike her down with the stinger.
He decided that maybe he should do something.
Immediately, he tossed knives at its tail.
The Death Stalker began to screech. It looked like Russel had done a number on its tail.
This gave Nora the opportunity to crush its exoskeleton with her hammer, killing the Death Stalker.
"Yes! I did it!" cheered Nora.
Russel smiled.
"With some help from my friends!" exclaimed the hammer wielder, looking behind her.
Apparently, she had noticed Russel tossing knives at the Death Stalker's tail in order to give it a handicap.
Immediately, she decided to head back to Beacon Academy along with her new friends...who were a bunch of school bullies.
Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, and Ren showed up a few minutes later.
"Hmm...it looks like the rook and knight pieces have already been taken..." noted Pyrrha.
"Well, why don't we take the bishop pieces then? We can't just stand there..." stated Weiss.
"Right...of course not." answered Blake.
Ren picked up the white bishop piece...while Weiss did the same.
"I guess we should get going now..." stated Pyrrha.
"Is there someone fighting out in the distance?" asked Weiss.
They began to wonder who it was. Hopefully they were going to make it out of the initiation test alive. It sure seemed to be a rather fierce battle, judging from the fact that several trees had been cut down.
As it turned out, Ruby and her comrades were still fighting the Nevermore. It was a rather tough bird indeed.
"Why isn't it going down?" asked Yang.
"Maybe we just need to keep fighting it a bit longer..." answered Ruby.
"I'm getting impatient..." complained Cardin, dodging another shower of feathers.
"Maybe we need to find a way to take to the skies..." suggested Jaune.
"Any ideas?" questioned Yang. Sometimes she wished that she could still ride that airship that they took to Beacon Academy. Of course, none of them knew how to pilot that thing. So much for the auto pilot.
"Maybe you could toss me at the Nevermore!" exclaimed Ruby.
"Isn't that, you know, rather reckless?" stated the blonde.
"Well, I'd probably survive if I fall...I'm made of iron..." pointed out the huntress.
"Good point..." nodded Yang.
Immediately, Yang picked up Ruby and tossed her at the Nevermore.
She landed on its back.
"Yes!" cheered Ruby.
However, the Nevermore wasn't going to play along with her plan. It began trying to shake her off.
"Whoa!" bellowed the brunette.
"Be careful, Ruby!" warned Yang.
Oddly enough, Cardin found this to be rather entertaining. Who would have thought that Ruby would end up riding on a giant Nevermore's back.
Jaune was glad that Ruby hadn't sent him for that particular task. He would get motion sick for sure.
However, he noticed that the Nevermore was heading towards a cliff.
"Look out!" warned Jaune.
"Huh?" asked Ruby.
As it turned out, due to the fact that the Nevermore was still trying to shake her off, it wasn't paying attention to where it was going.
Fortunately, Ruby noticed where she was going, and she immediately leapt off.
As she said, she wasn't hurt at all...though it was a rather exciting descent.
She landed on the forest floor and dusted herself off.
As for the giant Nevermore, it kept on going and crashed into the cliff...at about 150 miles per hour.
"Did we kill it?" asked Ruby.
The Nevermore disappeared into darkness shortly afterwards.
"I'll take that as a yes." stated the brunette.
Yang gave Ruby a hug shortly afterwards.
"Way to go, sis! I'm so proud of you!" cheered Yang.
"I can't breathe..." murmured Ruby.
"Way to go, Ruby! You slayed the Nevermore!" cheered Jaune.
"Good job...I guess." stated Cardin. He couldn't believe that a girl could take down something that big...though he will admit that it was rather impressive regardless.
"Right then, let's head back to Beacon Academy now, shall we?" asked Ruby.
Immediately, the four of them headed back towards the academy.
Sure enough, everyone else was heading back as well.
Headmaster Ozpin told them that it would soon be time before the results were in and they could see which team they were on. Of course, they all had a general idea as to what team they were going to be on.
The only question was who was going to be leader. It could be any one of them really.
Of course, whoever was leader had a responsibility ahead of them. Hopefully they could manage.
"Whoever becomes leader...I'll be rooting for them!" exclaimed Ruby.
I hope that you liked this chapter...you may be able to guess who's going to be leader of their respective teams, but maybe not.
In the next chapter, there's going to be some team assigning. Whose going to end up on whose side?