Initiation:
Each of the first year students stood on a small stone board, each with the Beacon symbol on them. Jay stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest. Nick simply stood, arms at his side, waiting. Sasha stood ready, preparing herself for what she suspected would happen. And Anna stood a little loose, trying to get a clear look over the edge, fearing how far down the bottom was...She couldn't see over the edge, and was made even more nervous. Headmaster Ozpin stood next to Professor Goodwitch, and they were speaking about the assignment of teams. Professor Goodwitch was saying that they were being assigned teams that day. Ozpin continued by saying that these teammates would be with you for the next four year. Then he said something they didn't expect.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with, after landing, will be your partner for the next four years." A girl down the row gasped out a loud
"WHAT?!" Ozpin continued to explain that in order to succeed here, they would have to remove all opposition. He stated that they would in fact be graded for the Initiation, but that they would be given no assistance from the instructors. Ozpin was very clear that not destroying the opposition would most certainly result in their demise. He finished by explaining that at the northern end of the forest, there was an abandoned temple they were to find. From there, they would retrieve one of the relics from there and return to the cliff.
"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked. The blonde haired boy from earlier tried to speak up, but Ozpin ignored him. He was persistent however, and continued to question Ozpin about the landing strategy. Ozpin was clear however. It didn't matter how. You just had to land safely. The platforms began to launch the students off of the cliff, one by one. As Jay's platform came up, he uncrossed his arms and put his right foot forward, crouching on it slightly. The platform shot up, and Jay threw himself from it. Nick let himself simply be launched from the thing, preparing for wherever he landed. Sasha timed herself and pushed off the platform at the moment of it's launch, soaring higher than the other students. And finally, Anna, kept her knees loose, so as to not break anything as the platform launched her from the cliff.
The whole first year of students was free falling. All moving down towards the tree line below. Nick didn't even worry in the slightest. As he fell, he simply put his left arm out in front of himself, bracing to slam through one of the tree branches. He went right through one, and his strong prosthetic caught the next with ease. The last branch had slowed his momentum enough to catch it without breaking it. From there, he simply dropped himself, branch to branch, until he reached the ground with a small thud. He stood straight, looked around for a moment, then began moving in the direction of north. Sasha removed her Loachsamhail claymore from her back, and aligning it with herself, she flipped forward in the air. As she did, the blade crashed through every branch on the way down, slowing her enough to roll to her feet when she landed on the ground. She stood for a moment and looked back at the fallen branches. Then looked up for a moment before continuing forward. Anna removed her Felemina Fattale, and used the hooked blade end to catch a branch. The branch snapped in a second, and she used the hook end again, catching another, and another, and another on her way down. She landed, but didn't hesitate to begin moving towards her destination. Jay removed Photos and Umbra and glanced down. He knew what he would do, and quickly found what he was looking for. 'The only water in the forest is the river,' he remembered from an old book he'd read.
"Perfect..." he muttered, as he fired shots to direct himself towards the bottom of the water fall where the river was. He shot towards the river, both slowing himself down, and lessening surface tension on the water significantly, so he could fall into the water safely. After landing with a huge splash, he quickly swam to the surface. He swam to the edge, and climbed out of the water. He looked at his weapons. It didn't worry him. The water wouldn't damage the mechanisms, nor would it hinder them. The water flowed off of his coat immediately, but not his clothes. He sheathed his weapons. 'That's alright,' he thought. 'I'll be dry by the time I reach the temple.' And then he began trotting in the direction of north...
Nick walked along in the Emerald Forest. He was only half sure of what he'd find when he got to this temple. As a former thief, he could find things like this easy enough...But in this giant forest, the only direction he was given was "north"...Which means if he didn't walk right into it, he risked walking right past it, or even not walking by it at all. Nick liked this though. This felt like a great challenge. Then there was the other part of this...Finding a partner. What was he going to do about that. He wasn't much of a people person. His thoughts skimmed over the possibilities. There was that blonde girl. The one who was sleeping next to the purple haired faunus girl...She was...A possibility. But...What about all the others? He stopped for a moment. Looking around, he realized that the trees in this piece of the woods were...Particularly huge. His gut wasn't really happy with that. It told him something wasn't right...He thought about drawing his sword...His nerves twitched, and he decided it was best, so he drew the blade, Redemption from it's sheath, and stood glancing around. From the woods, he saw the thing. It came quickly from the trees. One of the heads was dormant, so that the other could lead it through the trees, and followed the first with its eyes closed. Then they stopped around Nick. Both heads now had their eyes open, and were looking at Nick.
"Motherfucking, son-of-a-bitch..." Nick muttered. He ran forward towards one of the heads, and as it moved to strike him, he jumped up, and buried the fingers of his left hand in it's skull. It hissed in pain, and began to throw itself around. The second head looked like it wasn't sure what to do. Nick straightened himself on it's head, and placed his sword at the base of his palm, ready to drive it through the thing's head. But the other head wouldn't have that. It lashed out at Nick, slamming into the shoulder armor he had on his right arm. He was almost thrown from the head he had a hold of, but he held his grip. His sword, however, had been thrown from his hand. It stuck, blade first, in a tree nearby. "SHIT-FUCK!" He shouted...He hung on to it's head, and the stocks of dust in his left hand rotated to the fire canister. He let loose two blasts at point blank range...The skull cracked. Nick smiled...Ok, I can do this, easy. However, before he loosed the next blast, he heard a shout,
"BELOW!" Nick looked around, and then looked at the tree where his blade had been. The blade was gone, however. Nick's eyes widened, and then he looked around more frantically before he saw it...
Jay, blackened blade in hand, was running around to the front of the thing's body. He stopped and turned, his eyes had turned gold, and the color wasn't fading. Jay raised his chin, and tapped it with the back of his left hand, and shouted again, "Below! There's no hard bone there, jab the blade up, and sharply towards the brain!" Nick could only nod as the snake he held continued to struggle. Jay watched the thing struggle, and watched it's movement pattern. The other head was moving towards Jay now, but he ignored it. Instead, he timed himself...And threw the blade. Nick put his right hand out across his chest, and caught the blade. He did as Jay instructed, and drove the blade up and through the brain. The thing immediately slumped to the ground. Nick removed the blade before they hit the ground, and landed on his feet, removing his hand. The other head looked back, and Jay took his chance.
"My turn, toss the blade here!" Nick threw the blade, without hesitation. Jay caught it and ran towards the head, just turning back to him. Jay crossed his arms across his chest, and jumped up towards the head. Jay then threw his arms out, bringing the blade through the thing's neck. The head fell behind Jay, who landed on his feet. The blood from going through the thing's head was still on his coat, and he brushed the blood off of the blade as Nick walked over. "Here, and thanks." Jay muttered. The blood ran down his coat and dripped off, like water from a duck's back. Jay caught Nick staring at it, and spoke up. "A gift from my mother, on the day I left. It's made of a special material that binds molecules and releases them from the cloth. Dirt, dust, oil, water, blood. All of them flow off of it without damaging it. It was a little big when I got it, but I grew into it, as you can see."
"What else does it do, time travel?"
"No...It has some qualities of stealth...I'd assume a thief would know about that, but you're no longer either a thief, or stealthy, are you?..." Nick was silent.
"...I could've taken that thing on my own, ya' know." Jay smirked at him again.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's why you were dangling from it's head, with your sword stuck in a tree..." Nick smiled at him,
"This is fun, this back-and-forth thing. Let's at least try to get along, though. You seem like a...Nice enough person. Like I said. Let's try to get along, eh?" Nick offered his hand. Jay considered it for a moment. Then took it.
"Ok then...You're willing to get along, so am I." Nick started to walk off.
"Uh...Nick? Where are you going?" Nick turned
"To the temple." Jay smiled,
"Ok...But you're making a big mistake..." Nick stopped,
"And what might that be, my genius king?" he said sarcastically.
"That's not north...It's south-west." Nick's smile disappeared...'It's going to be alot harder to get along with this guy than I thought...' Nick said in his head.
Anna moved towards her target at a light jog. At least...She thought it was her target...Was she going the right way? Which way was north again? Wait, how could she tell?! 'Oh god,' she thought, 'Where am I going?!...Calm down...It's morning. Sun is in the east...Which means this is north...' She tried to reassure herself, and calm her jittery nerves. She still felt the tingle in her upper arms from the very start, and it wasn't going away...Was that going to interfere with her combat ability? Suddenly there was gunfire in the distance...'OH GOD! Was that close?! Are there Grimm in the area? Should I arm myself? I don't see any...There can't be...Unless I'm missing them...No. No. Have some confidence...' She shook the thoughts from her head, and remembered that she was top of her class in Signal, during her year. She could handle this. Then, off to north east, she heard howling...'Beowulves? How many...' She still wasn't sure, and if she could help it, she'd rather avoid them. perhaps that was too much to ask for though...Then there was a small explosion...Anna stopped and held still a moment...Then she smelled smoke. She muttered to herself "Did someone set the forest on fire? Why?! What would posses them to...Fire...Fire would probably scare off the beowulves...But...Which direction would they run? She hoped to herself that maybe they would be running away from her...But unfortunately...She heard them moving through the trees in her direction. She pulled her poleaxe from her back, and the staff extended out to it's full length. She took a wide foot stance, axe blade out in front of her, right hand two feet in front of the left. She could see the smoke above the trees now, and the fire through the brush, and then they came upon her in a great pack. They all stood watching her for a moment. Her nerves tightened into her steel grip, and face became calm. The beowulves that had run from the fire started to spread out, getting ready to attack the prey they'd found.
Anna closed her eyes and listened closely. One of them came from the right, and quickly, her axe came up, and swiped clean through it's neck. Another tried to take the opportunity while she was distracted, but she quickly turned the staff of the poleaxe around her right arm, catching it in her right hand, and releasing the left, the blade swung through the body, again, cleaving it in two. Three more attacked in a fan-like pattern behind her. But Anna wouldn't have that, and released her Semblance. The three creatures saw her roll under them, and stopped. All of them turned, and Anna swiped the heads of all three straight from their shoulders. She then activated the mechanism to change the poleaxe, and the blade slid down to form the handle guard as the sword edge folded out of the staff. She gripped the large but light sword in both hands, and swung in a huge arc motion, cutting through two more as they came at her from the other direction. She turned and used the handle guard to block an attack from another, and using the axe's edge, cut through the hand, then swung the blade down, in through the skull, bringing it all the way down through it's body. But this time, she couldn't stop the attack from behind her. The attack threw her to the side. She immediately stood, and looked around. Her eyes widened. 'Haven't I made a dent in their numbers? Why are there still so many! What is going on?!' She thought...She wasn't sure what she'd do about the 17 or so beowulves still present...Suddenly one of them was hit by a shot in the head. It fell dead, and Anna watched as the same happened to 6 more.
Then, crashing through the trees, she appeared in a huff, appearing to have ran here. Sasha stood, out of breath, next to Anna. Anna looked at her, and they made eye contact.
"And now...We're permanent team mates." Sasha said matter-of-factually.
Anna smiled, "Well then, teammate, care to give me a hand?" Sasha smiled, having Loachsamhail already out and ready for combat. She spoke curtly as the remaining ten beowolves spread around them.
"You take the five on that side, I'll take the five on this side, then we'll go get ourselves a fuckin' relic!" Anna's smile turned confident
"Yeah." They both moved forward, into the group. It didn't take them two minutes together. Sasha swung as she moved, cutting right through one, then shooting another, and turning on her heel to cut the body of another in half. Then, with one mighty spin, she chopped the heads from the final two. Anna, moved forward, stabbing the blade through one, then bringing up through the head, she quickly brought it diagonally through another. She quickly had the blade fold into itself, and the axe head shifted forward back into it's poleaxe position, and the blade chopped the hand off of the one who tried attacking. She spun, the axe head moving through two more, and the staff came off of the back of her neck, as she took it in her right hand, and swung it upward through the last beowolf standing. Both Anna and Sasha looked around for a moment at the pile of creatures slowly evaporating into nothing. Then they looked at eachother, and Sasha smiled
"Well that was fun...And easy." Anna nodded in agreement, and looked around, determining north.
"Let's go, I'm pretty sure it's this way." she said.
"Ok then. Let's get this damn thing over with." And together they walked towards the temple at the end of the forest.
Jay and Nick walked quickly, not wanting to waste time. Jay looked over at Nick. He could tell Nick was slightly annoyed with Jay, and Jay didn't like that. Considering they'd be partners for four more years, Jay had hoped to be friends. He didn't want to be arguing with this guy for...'Ugh,' Jay thought, 'I have to try and make this easier.' The Dark Voice in his head spoke up, 'Why? Didn't this guy literally make the mistake of blowing his arm off? Why should we be friends? I'd love to show this guy up for four years...' 'Shut up. I have no intention of being that kind of person. He's already expressed a desire to get along, and so will I.' 'How fuckin boring you are...' He talked to himself in his head. Nick had noticed Jay glancing over at him every few seconds, and decided that this was going to murder him if it kept up.
"So, penny for your thoughts...What's going on in that...Head of yours?" Nick asked.
"Hm? Oh...I'm just...considering our situation."
"Is that so? And what's your conclusion?..." Jay thought for a moment longer.
"I think that perhaps your first impression of me was not very good. And I think I would like to revise this vision you have of me. I'm not actually an asshole...At least not all the time. I may be a bit arrogant, but I'm also smart enough to know that it's going to be hell at this academy if we hate each other. I'd rather not have that...It wasn't easy getting into this academy, and my...Uh...My guardian would kill me if I made this into...Well, you know." Jay said, without slowing their pace. Nick spoke up, after considering Jay's words.
"I...Agree. I'd rather us not be enemies. But you have to know...You are so fuckin' condescending. I get that you're intelligent. I can...see that in you. But something else I have a problem with is that that's all I can see. You are...Some freaky kind of covered. You said you're an open book, but I got to tell you...That's one of the biggest fuckin lies I've ever heard in my whole life." Jay stopped smiling, and they walked in silence a minute before Jay spoke up again.
"Ok...If we're teammates, then I suppose it's best to not lie. I do keep alot hidden. But that'll come to light in time...I'm not so immediately open about my inner thoughts."
"Ok, but you'll have to say something about it sooner or later." Nick said.
"And you, Nick? What's in your head? What do you think about our situation?" Jay asked, clearly just trying to make things less odd.
"Me? I'm a thief...A thief walking through a forest...It's little more than another target right now...And while that'd normally make me feel a little more comfortable...It's a forest full of Grimm. Not machines, not people, not traps. Grimm. Much different than what I'm used to. And to top it off, I have a partner. About whom I know...Nothing." Nick finished quickly.
"...I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, this'll probably be over soon." Jay said, looking over at Nick and trying to sound reassuring.
"And how do you know that?" Nick asked. Jay nodded his head towards a break in the trees.
"Because we're here."
Jay and Nick walked through the trees. They stopped, and stood a moment. Looking at the the temple, there were twenty pedestals, set up in a circle. They walked over to examine the things. On the right side, the pedestals held black chess pieces. On the right, there were white. Nick and Jay looked around. None of the pieces had gone missing.
"Cool...We get first dibs." Nick said. "What do you think we should take?" Nick looked at Jay. They were chess pieces, so it didn't matter which they took. Jay looked around. There was a King piece, a Queen piece, and for each side, there were two of every piece, including two pawns. "Jay...Which of these are we taking? You play chess, don't you?" Jay glanced over his shoulder at Nick,
"And how would you know that?" Jay asked.
"You just seem like that kind of guy...The kind who plays chess in his spare time." Jay thought to himself...
"Well perhaps I do, but is it right for you to assume such on that basis that I just seem like that kind of guy?" Nick responded in kind,
"My gut tells me something, I go with it. That's just me. My gut said you were a guy who plays chess, and imagine that: it was right." Jay frowned.
"Fine. Well...When I play chess, I prefer to play as black. White moves first, and I'm much better at reacting than making the first move." Nick didn't look interested,
"Ok...So I'll ask for the third time now...Which motherfuckin piece are we taking?!"
"We'll take my favorite piece...The black Queen." Jay walked over to it's pedestal, next to the King, and picked it up. "There. Was that so hard?" Nick rolled his eyes,
"Then let's get the fuck outta here." Jay walked over next to Nick,
"By Castiel, you do love cursing, don't you?" Jay pointed out...Though he probably sounded like an asshole with that comment. He didn't sound that way in his head...Nick laughed loudly,
"You got a fuckin problem with that, fuckface?" Nick said casually. Jay didn't make a comment. Instead, they just continued walking.
Eventually, they came to a clearing at the side of a smaller cliff. The cliff-face was littered with large holes. Each hole appeared to be connected with another hole through a curved tunnel, and there was clearly a much larger hole at the top. Jay stopped...His eyes flashed gold, then widened in worry. Nick noticed Jay stopped, and turned.
"What? This ain't our cliff man. You should know that..." Jay took a step back. Nick frowned at this. He looked up at the cliff side."What? The holes? What about them?" Nick asked. Jay looked over at him, and motioned him to quiet down. Jay spoke,
"I'm not surprised you don't know about these...Few people do. Very few. They normally live really deep in the Forever Fall. And no one sees much of them...This is a Griffon nest."
"Griffon?" Nick asked silently.
"Yes. They have sharp bony beaks, and..." Jay stopped, looking up at the cliff as one of the Griffon Grimm came to the opening at the cliff. It was easily much bigger than Nick or Jay...Nick's gut turned as he thought something.
"Uh...How big do these things get?" he whispered over at Jay. They watched the one that had come to the opening, as it stood and shook its body, and glanced around...
"You see the humongous hole there at the top?" The Griffon looked down at Nick and Jay.
"You've got to be fuckin' kidding me..." Nick said quietly as the beast raise it's head, opened it's beak...And screeched as loud as he could.
Sasha and Anna didn't feel rushed to find the temple. In fact, after their encounter with the beowolves, they felt like they'd move slowly. Instead they continued to talk at random about anything they felt like talking about. In truth, this was quite an exciting experience for Anna. She'd never really had a friend who was like Sasha before. The conversation shifted back and forth, but they knew they wouldn't have long, as they'd probably come upon the temple soon. Anna was asking Sasha about her Semblance,
"Well, I have strength…My aura can amplify my strength by a lot. It's the way I heave around Loachsamhail. It's nearly the size of my body, so it's lucky I have a Semblance like this." Anna considered this a moment.
"Well perhaps not. Maybe the reason you have a blade like that is because of your Semblance."
"Actually that sounds plausible…You're pretty smart, you know. But that's to be expected from someone who graduated top of her class at Signal. By the way, you never told me your Semblance…" Anna glanced over at Sasha.
"Me? I can mess with people's senses. Make them feel things that aren't really there. See a shadow, hear a noise, smell sulfur, even feel like something's touched or bitten them. It was really helpful for dealing with people at Signal." Anna continued to speak. She'd never been one for words though, and she wasn't sure why she was now. Something about having a friend like Sasha just made her content though.
They broke through the trees, and they both looked down at the temple.
"Well look at that….An abandoned temple…." Anna and Sasha walked down the hill, and examined the artifacts that had been chosen. Sasha frowned, "Dammit…I don't play chess. Do you?" Anna could recall learning about the game at Signal, though she'd never been very good, and only played it on a few occasions. Anna looked around.
"Only one piece is missing….One of the black set." Anna looked at the pedestal where one of the pieces was absent, and looked to its right. That pedestal held what Anna recognized as the King piece. She picked it up from the pedestal. Sasha glanced over,
"So that's the one we're taking? Once you pick it up, there's no putting it back down, I assume." Anna's eyes widened
"But….Oh….I didn't know! Maybe we can still-"
"Calm down, Anna…." Sasha interjected. "It's not the end of the world. Look. That one's the one you grabbed, so let's just go with it. I doubt it will damage our grade any…Ok?" Sasha reassured Anna, and with the piece in hand, they walked from the temple. As they walked, they could hear gun-shots. Encounters with more Grimm, they both thought. They only hoped they didn't encounter any themselves….It would be better if this went smoothly. As they walked, they tried to avoid sounds of battle. At one point, there was a huge sounds not to far away from them, and when they looked over, they saw a red-headed woman running from a Deathstalker. Sasha could swear she'd seen that girl on a cereal box before...
"Well...looks like she's gotten herself in one Cas-awful situation...I do not envy her."
"Hm...Hey Sasha, she just ran all that way with that huge thing chasing her, right?" Sasha looked over at Anna, "Riiiiiight..."
"Well maybe we should walk on the path they were running on. After they ran through, there wouldn't be many people or Grimm on or near that path..."
Sasha smiled,"Now that...Is genius." They moved over, and followed the path of fallen trees and destroyed rocks, and it turns out, Anna's theory was correct. They didn't encounter anything...Until they cleared to tree line.
They walked to up the destroyed entrance of the cave where the the Deathstalker would have been, until it chased that girl off into the forest. Now, however...Something else stood in front of it. Neither Sasha nor Anna recognized this type of Grimm, but as soon as they came upon it, it noticed them. They stood frozen, unsure of what to do. The Grimm's legs stood at about Sasha's height, and the body itself was massive. It looked like a lion of some sort, but had huge spiked boned shoulders, and bones covering its back. What really caught there attention though...Was its tail. It had the tail of a Deathstalker, with a stinger at the end of a long tail that curved upwards. The thing blinked red eyes at them, and turned from the cave to face them. Both Sasha and Anna took a step back
"Anna, I think your plan was brilliant and all...But this...This is a major fuckin' trap..." Anna didn't turn and spoke to Sasha
"Had I known what waited for us, I wouldn't have suggested it...I am so sorry..." The thing had turned its entire body to face them now, and was crouching down, looking like it planned to pounce at them.
"Thanks for the sentiment, but I believe the proper course of action now...Is to run like hell!" They both turned and dashed off into the forest. The Grimm roared and jumped, nearly catching them, but they were just fast enough to be a step out of reach. The continued running, and couldn't stop. They leaped over roots, and plowed through bushes, not letting anything slow them down, or else let that creature catch them in it's claws. After a minute of running, they came to another cliff, but they couldn't slow down, and immediately jumped from the top. Luckily, in between them and the ground, were a dozen or so winged creatures, also looking like lions, but with sharp beaks instead of a mouth. Each landed on one, then dropped safely to the ground. They looked back, and stood face to face with the redhead in his long black coat, and the man with the prosthetic arm. They both had out their weapons, and appeared to be fending off the beasts. Anna and Sasha looked back up at the cliff, where their pursuer had stopped, and was now walking back and forth, considering what to do next. The Griffons, having noticed the great thing. started to fly away from the cliff. No one wasted any time, and they all came together and stood in a circle.
Jay was the first to speak up
"Uh, thanks for getting the Griffons off our tail, but what in Castiel's name were you thinking bringing a Manticore with you?!" Sasha spoke up, even now not content to deal with Jay's tone.
"Hey, look asshole, we didn't mean to bring that thing, and look, now we're both safe, so you owe us thanks." Nick, who had been staring at Sasha for a few seconds, spoke up
"Maybe they're right Jay, I mean look around." Jay didn't look content, and turned to Nick,
"They got rid of the small ones! Now there's only the one left! And he's the worst of-" Anna interrupted Jay, "You're talking about that thing, right?" They all turned to see the great Griffon come to the edge of it's hole in the cliff face. The thing was just a little larger than the Manticore, and it was already looking down at the four of them.
"...Yes...That one." Jay said in a slightly discouraged voice. Suddenly, the Manticore jumped from the cliff, and landed on the tree line behind them. The trees it had landed on were flattened instantly, as the thing stood and turned to face them. The clearing was large, and the had room to stand together though. Jay's eyes had already turned gold, and he examined the situation.
"Ok...Ladies and Gentleman, pick a monster..." Nick turned towards the Manticore
"I want that one." He said. "Ok then. Listen up, I'm only saying this once,"
"Why the hell should we-" Sasha immediately began to interrupt, but Anna silenced her.
"He seems to have a plan, and right now, that's one more plan than we have..." Anna said to Sasha. Sasha's face registered that she knew Anna was right, but she still hated the idea of taking orders from this guy.
Jay continued "Me and Nick will handle this thing. Long range combat isn't optimal for the Manticore, and we wouldn't be as effective with it against the Griffon. So we're best served fighting the Manticore. You two ladies handle the Griffon...That claymore-rifle of yours looks like it's high powered, and your Semblance should come in handy..." Sasha almost spoke up again, wondering how he knew her Semblance, but then she remembered his eyes turning gold, and connected the two...
"You," Jay turned to Anna, "Your weapon has no long range capacity, so I'm guessing you're quite mobile. You should be able to get up the cliff face, and close enough to do something. Those holes in the cliff will help you. We all clear?" Everyone nodded, and faced their beast. The manticore crouched, and it's tail shifted this way and that, ready to pounce. The Griffon adjusted itself in the opening, and spread it's humongous wings, ready to fly. Anna's confidence began to return as she faced the situation, and she pulled Felemina Fattale from her back. Sasha pulled Loachsamhail over her shoulder and held it by the handle and the barrel, down the back of the blade. Jay clipped on the bayonet endings to Photos and Umbra, and Nick turned his Redemption blade over in his hand, and put his left hand out in front of him, palm open. Nick spoke up to Jay,
"If this doesn't work...I'm punching you in the face when I meet you in hell..."
Jay smiled, "You know for an ex-thief, you're a terrible liar...Or perhaps it's just me. I'm fairly certain we'll be shaking hands on the ride down, no violence required." Sasha looked at Anna,
"Let's do this...We can totally take this thing's head off." Anna smiled, trying to hold her confidence "And if not, it was good to know you, Sasha." They all stared their monsters in the face, and readied themselves to fight for their lives.
Nick wasted no time running across the clear field towards his target. Jay's golden eyes watched him move, and he followed at a slower pace, hanging back to watch Nick's actions and there effectiveness. The Manticore roared and charged forward towards Nick. Nick paused mid-run, and leaped up. With both of them moving towards each other, Nick easily landed onto it's head. The Manticore immediately stopped moving, and Nick took his opportunity to move onto it's neck, and grab one of it's large shoulder bones. Nick attempted to jam his sword into the Manticore's neck, but it began shaking it's body in an attempt to remove Nick from himself. Nick held the shoulder bone tight, but was nearly thrown when all of a sudden the thing's head jerked back. Nick looked over it's shoulder to see Jay shooting at the Manticore, and at the same time, walking slowly towards it. The Manticore removed it's focus from Nick, who was still on it's back, and jumped swiftly at Jay. Jay jumped up as it swiped it's claws towards him, and landed on the paw. He jumped again, attempting to land on it's back, but the stinger on it's tail moved towards him. Jay blocked it by crossing the staves of his Tonfas over his body, but the blow threw him back. The Manticore stood and almost tried to attack Jay again, but Nick had blasted the tail with his arm's beam.
"Fuckery...That thing won't come off..." The Manticore tried to reach it's fangs back and attack Nick, but it couldn't reach. The tail came down, and Nick jumped off of it's back to avoid the stinger. 'Ha, it'll only sting itself,' Nick thought. But the bones on it's back served to protect itself from it's own stings. Nick landed and shouted more curses, "You fucking FUCKFACE!" Jay looked over at him with annoyance, and the Dark Voice spoke up in his head 'The fuck's with that prick? Why is he cursing like a motherfucker...' 'Says the sailor in my head...' Jay responded to his own thoughts. But the Manticore had recovered, and for a brief moment was looking back and forth between them, as if picking a target. 'Well look at that...What do we think of that, eh Jay? Do you know what to do now?' The Dark Voice said casually to Jay. Jay smiled...
"Nick, run that way!" He shouted, pointing the opposite direction he was facing. Nick looked back, but didn't argue, and simply began running, and at the same time, Jay began running back and around the Manticore. The beast turned to look at each of them in turn, as though becoming a little confused. Then it turned towards Nick and began running in his direction. "Perfect," Jay muttered.
"Jay, you fucker, you better have a fucking plan!" Nick shouted back.
Jay began running towards the Manticore's back. Nick looked back, and saw the beast running after him, and Jay running after it. Assuming Jay needed to catch up, Nick stopped and turned to face the Manticore. He raised his palm level with it's face and switched the cartridge to Ice Dust. He let loose a blast that hit the Manticore in the face, and it roared as it stopped and staggered a moment, blinded by the ice covering his face.
Jay saw his opportunity, and yelled "Thanks, Nick. That was perfect!" Jay jumped up, onto the things back, crossed his arms over his chest, then gave one giant leap. Throwing his arms out, the blades swam through the joint where it's tail connected to the body. Jay landed on one of the giant shoulder bones. The stinger fell, and rolled off of the bones on it's back onto the ground. The Manticore roared in pain and Jay jumped forward over its head and landed next to Nick, who had began running forward, hoping to retrieve the stinger. His gut said that it would come in handy. Jay turned and looked up at the face, where the ice was coming off. He looked down at Nick, moving past it's two forward legs, and frowned. He raised his tonfas and as the ice came off, he shot it in the eyes. It screamed again and stumbled, but stayed on it's feet. Nick grabbed the stinger, rolling under one of it's paws that almost came down on the both it and him. He came to his feet, and turned to look over at Jay, who was still shooting at its face. The Manticore continued to stumble and walk backwards, "Hey Nick, that joint at it's neck you stabbed at earlier, that's a weak point. Why don't you try again, I'll cover you..." Jay said.
"Sounds good to me." Nick jumped up, onto the thing's shoulder, and grabbed it's shoulder bone. Steadying himself on it's side, he jammed the stinger into it's neck. The Manticore roared a gurgled, almost muffled roar. Jay motioned for Nick to come down, and Nick used the Manticore's head as a kick-board to jump up, and landed next to Jay.
"Ok, go for the chin, all your strength, hold nothing back." Nick looked at Jay and grinned a huge grin
"Fuck yeah! If you fuckin' say so." he said with pure joy.
"Please tone down your cursing for Cas sakes..." Jay ran forward, and jumped up onto the Manticore's head. The beast had begun to get tired, and wasn't struggling nearly as forcefully. He switched the orientation of his Tonfas, so the staff was out, and the blade was against his arm. His aura protected himself from the blade edge as he raised his arms over his head. Nick ran forward until he was just under the chin, and pushed off of his feet with all his might. He raised his left arm and uppercut the beast. It came off of it's feet, and Nick loosed a blast of Fire Dust. As he did, and the Manticore's head bent back, and Jay brought the tonfas into the stinger, and it went through the neck. Nick could see the point of it on the other side as he continued blasting, beam after beam, flipping the thing over. As it came down, Jay jumped of it's head, and rolled forward before it came down on him. The Great Manticore fell onto it's back, dead. Jay turned to Nick, and smiled. Nick shouted in victory
"WOOOOOOO-HOOO! TAKE THAT, YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! WE. OWN. YOU!" Jay shook his head, deactivating his Semblance. They came to stand next to their kill, and looked over at Anna and Sasha.
At the same time, the Griffon jumped from it's hole, and took flight. Sasha began to shoot at the Griffon. Anna looked at Sasha and back up at the cliff face. What Jay said had been right, she was easily mobile enough to get up the cliff. Sasha's attacks weren't having much of an effect, only giving minor splashes of blood, like paper-cuts. Anna ran towards the cliff face with her poleaxe in hand. Sasha followed slowly, still shooting at the thing, which had begun to turn, and fly towards them. Anna began running up the cliff side, being careful to use light steps and pushing her weight upwards and continuously speeding up, instead of pushing away from the cliff face. Within a few seconds, she made it easily to one of the holes in the cliff. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself into the hole. Turning and looking at the Griffon for a moment, she began to navigate the network of holes, making an effort to move upward. She came to one of the openings and looked out. The Griffon had landed and was nipping at Sasha. She jumped this way and that, shooting at it's head when she had the chance. But this only made it angry, and when one particularly well aimed shot hit it's left eye, it screeched and reared back, flapping it's wings furiously. The gales from this blew Anna back into the cave she was looking out from. She landed hard on the rocks inside the cave. She stood and went back to the cave entrance, and climbed up to the topmost cave above her, the one where the Great Griffon had come from. She looked down at Sasha, who right now was holding back the Griffon who had taken a hold of her sword in it's beak, and was trying to push Sasha back, but wasn't getting anywhere in the face of Sasha's incredible strength. Sasha grunted under the pressure
"You...Can't...Beat...ME, you stupid creature!" The Griffon twisted the sword in it's beak until it pulled the blade from Sasha's hand and threw it towards the cliff. The blade stuck, point first, into the side of the cliff, just under the hole Anna was standing in. Anna saw her opportunity, and jumped out onto the back of the blade. The blade began to come out of the cliff, and Anna balanced over the the handle. She hopped twice on the handle, and the blade came free as she jumped forward, as far as she could. On the ground, Sasha had grabbed the Griffon's beak, and was holding it still after seeing Anna jump and her blade fall from the cliff. Anna landed hard on the Griffon's back, and the beast ripped itself from Sasha's grip. The beast backed up a couple of steps, began to flap it's wings. Anna took her Felemina Fattale from her back, where she'd put it while climbing, and used the small hooked end opposite the large axe blade to hook the side of it's neck. The small sharp hook ripped into the muscles in it's neck and Anna held on tight.
The Griffon raised itself from the ground, and Anna struggled to hold on against the raging winds. Sasha ran over and picked up her sword from where it lay, and ejected the clip. She pulled another from the pouch on the back of her belt, that was full of them. Then, holding the handle in her left hand, and the barrel in her right, pointing the end at the ground, she fired shots as she began to dash up the cliff, taking a page from Anna's book. The Griffon watched her, and began to wave it's wings towards her. The gales produced knocked down trees even behind the creature, but Sasha's strength helped her withstand it, and even better, these gales helped keep her closer to the wall, so she deftly ran around the holes, quickly making it to the top hole. She flipped herself over the edge and took cover from the wind under the eaves of the cave entrance. The Griffon stopped after realizing she wasn't in range, and Anna seized that very moment. She stood on the things back, and pulled her axe from the Griffon's neck. She raised it up, and was ready to bring it down when the Griffon started flying downwards, towards the cave where Sasha was. Anna once again hooked the small end into the birds back to hold on. Sasha looked out and saw the beast coming towards the cave. She thought fast, rearing her blade back over her shoulder in one hand, and pulling the trigger for added strength, she threw the blade towards it. The blade spun fast through the air, and swiped off the Griffon's right wing. Anna saw her throw the blade, and removed the spike. Putting that same spike out into the blades path, she caught Loachsamhail by the barrel as it spun past, but the force of the throw yanked Anna off of the creatures back. The Griffon was unable to keep flying, and immediately slammed into the cliff, just below the hole. As it fell, Sasha jumped from the cave, and slid down the cliff face after the thing, which was sliding on it's right side. Anna, still free falling with Loachsamhail hooked to her axe, quickly maneuvered herself in the air, and threw the claymore back towards Sasha. Anna then landed, rolled to her feet, and began running towards the Griffon, who had also just landed, and staggered to the left, away from the cliff. Both Sasha and Anna saw the same chance. Sasha pushed off of the cliff face and caught Loachsamhail in her hands, and came down, blade first, onto the beast's neck. The blade almost went through, but not completely. Anna switched Felemina Fattale to it's long-sword form, and as she came close enough, gave one mighty leap into the air. She came down as well, blade first into the same cut that Sasha had started, but with her body facing Sasha instead. Anna's blade slammed into Loachsamhail, and Sasha gave as good a push as she could manage, still holding herself above the blade. With all their force combined, Loachsamhail and Felemina Fattale sank through the Great Griffon's neck. Anna and Sasha landed as the Griffon's head did. Both stood up straight and faced each other. Grinning ear to ear, Sasha pushed the point of her blade into the ground, and ran over to hug Anna. Anna was incredibly happy at this, and after, they stood a moment, admiring the head of the Griffon as it lay on the ground. Then they looked over, and saw the Manticore fall onto it's back, also dead. Sasha retrieved her weapon, and they all walked over to stand facing eachother.
"Now that...Was epic..." Sasha said as they stood together.
"Holy fuck, you guys took it's head off!" Nick stammered, and stared at the thing...
"Please tone down your cursing..." Jay said casually, seeming to have expected the fight to go as well...
"Oh let him curse...Look at this. We took down two incredible beasts..." Sasha said to Jay. Jay looked at Anna,
"It appears you were as skilled as I suspected you were..." he stated matter-of-factly, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Anna felt her face turn red, and looked over at Sasha.
"You know, even complimenting someone, you still sound like a pompous jackass...Go figure." Sasha said. Jay scoffed,
"That's because you simply can't understand my meaning...I'm not surprised. You don't seem the intelligent type...Tell me, were you of any actual help? Or did Anna do it all herself." Nick intervened immediately,
"Guys, guys...Come on...You two are at eachothers throats here...Listen, let's get out of here, ok? And let's all along while doing it. Jay, it's true, your plan was helpful. And Sasha, you were of help during you battle, I can tell that...There. Now let's go." Jay was content to drop it, and Sasha conceded that Nick had a point...They should be...Not killing each other. So they decided not to attack each other, and together, they moved back towards Beacon Cliff...And on the whole walk there, oddly enough, they didn't encounter a single Grimm.
After reaching the cliff itself, they all took the round-a-bout route up a hill to the top of the cliff. They were all happy with their kills, and Nick joked a couple of times that he was going to go back later for that Manticore head...They all laughed and chatted casually, satisfied with the events of the day. Upon reaching the top, they found that they weren't the first to return. It appeared that a total of four teams, eight people, had returned. There was a girl with huge blonde hair, and the girl with red hair standing next to a blonde guy. The white haired girl seemed to be avoiding the girl with the red cape, but didn't seem all that angry. Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch greeted them at the top, and Ms. Goodwitch asked that they turn in the pieces they retrieved to her. Jay handed her the Black Queen, and Anna handed over the Black King. Jay glanced over and noticed which piece it was, and a suspicion crossed his mind...He disregarded this however, and stood listening to the rest of their group talk, as they waited for the other students to return. One hour passed, then two. Forty five more minutes into the third hour, all the students had arrived back at the cliff. Ozpin instructed them to stay with the groups they had gotten in as they returned to Beacon. When they got to the hall where they had first arrived in Beacon, the first year students found the hall was completely full of the other students. They were then taken to a room at the back, where there was a large screen. Ms. Goodwitch told them to wait here and watch the screen. She said that they would be sorted into their teams at this time, and that they should watch the screen. Teams of four would appear on the screen, and when they saw themselves, they were to go out the door they had entered and stand together on the stage, where Ozpin would announce the Team name and the Team Leader. Nick and Jay both stood silent, as did Sasha and Anna...All of them waited, filled with anticipation for their faces to appear. Two teams were formed before them. One included a girl with rabbit ears, and a tall boy off the the left of the room out-right laughed at her. Sasha appeared annoyed, but didn't care, because her face and name had appeared on screen. Along with Anna's, Jay's, and Nick's. They all walked out of the room, and walked towards the stage as Ozpin spoke,
"Jay Overstrand, Nick Cordero, Anna Aristole, and Sasha Scathach...The four of you retrieved, respectively, the Black Queen and the Black King. From this day forward, you shall work together as Team JNAS." He pronounced the name as Jonas. Jay smiled slightly at this...He'd remembered back to his studies, reading about a man named Hans Jonas. A prominent Philosopher in history, who studied religion, bio-ethics, and political sciences...He was a great professor...Ozpin continued, "Lead by...Jay Overstrand...AND Nick Cordero." Jay's eyes raised in surprise, and he glanced over at Nick, who looked at him as well...Jay spoke up to the Headmaster,
"Um, sir? Co-leaders?"
"Indeed. After examining your skills, I have come to the conclusion that both of you would serve as perfect balance for the other, and will be fantastic Team Leaders. Congratulations." Jay closed his eyes and pushed his glasses up on his nose...Nick turned to Jay, and stuck his hand out
"Well...Since there's no escaping it, I look forward to working with you as team leader..." Jay took his hand,
"And I, you." Jay said, still comprehending the situation.
"Fuckface," Nick muttered almost playfully.
"Rebarbative fool," Jay retorted. They both smiled as they walked off of the stage together. Anna and Sasha didn't mind that they weren't team leaders. Anna thought back to Jay's planning and Nick's readiness. They would work well together, she thought. Sasha was annoyed that she'd have to listen to Jay, but was ok with it as well, seeing as Nick would be able to weigh in as well. When the ceremony was over, they all went to the dorm they were assigned. The room was bare, save for the beds. Their stuff had been brought in and laid against the back wall. They didn't bother unpacking tonight...Instead they all got ready, and quietly went to bed, content to get everything together tomorrow morning.