Chapter 3 Initiation Time
Slate had awoken to darkness. Rubbing his eyes, he allowed them to adjust to the darkness. As he looked around, he saw he was in a cage with many other people. People of all ages, primarily women and children, were sitting with him, looking dirty and starving. He looked out and saw dozens of other cages with various humans and faunus. Looking back into his cell, he spotted a child around his age. He had thin, coarse, brown hair filled with dirt and a rat tail from his back. He looked like he hadn't eaten much in the last week. Slate inched towards him to talk. As Slate approached, the child looked at him with dark brown eyes. When Slate saw him look up, he said,
"Hey there, what's your name?"
"It's Dawson. You?" the rat boy said.
"Slate," he responded. Slate's silver eyes met his yellow, and there was a silent agreement. A kinship had been formed.
Slate's eyes fluttered open at the fleeting memory. He sat up and looked around the room. It was still early in the morning, given the small peaks of light coming through the windows, and he could see some examinees starting to wake up. He sat up from his sleeping bag and noticed both Ruby and Yang were still asleep. Not seeing the need to wake them up, he slipped out of his bag quietly and went to the bathroom to freshen up for the day.
Having just taken a short cold shower, Slate didn't take long to get dressed in his blue jeans, white shirt, and denim jacket and ready for the initiation. Making his way out of the bathroom, he saw that a few more people were starting to get their things together. He saw Weiss packing up her expensive-looking sleeping bag and mat. He noticed Blake was nowhere to be seen, and Ruby was trying to get Yang to wake up. Looking at his scroll, Slate saw he had a few hours to kill before he had to make his way to the locker rooms. So he made his way out towards the garden that he had found yesterday. Once he had made it to the garden, Slate spent his time reading and trying to calm his mind for the upcoming initiation. Eventually, he noticed he had been out there for a few hours and decided to head to the locker rooms to get ready.
When he entered the locker room, he could see a few students milling about as they got their gear. Some were socializing, while most were psyching themselves up for the coming initiation. When he got to his locker, he used his scroll to open it and retrieve his weapon, Bitterheart; a dark grey blade collapsed to fit on his lower back with a black handle and guard with a small red scarf attached at the crossguard. He took its collapsed form, which looked much like his mentor's sword, and strapped it to his back. Behind where his weapon was kept was his black denim jacket, which had the benefit of earth dust woven into the material, as well as a red t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. After getting changed, he looked down the locker bay, saw Ruby and Yang getting ready together, and walked over to them.
"Hey, Slate! Where've you been?" Ruby asked as she latched Crescent Rose to her back.
"I was getting ready for the initiation, which should be soon."
Looking over the familial trio saw Jaune, who Slate had seen talking with Ruby and Weiss yesterday, talking about teams with Weiss. Then from the left, Pyrrha shot her spear, pinning the blonde to the back wall. After that fiasco, there was a chime from the P.A. system followed by the announcement to make their way to Beacon Cliffs to start initiation.
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When Slate arrived at the cliffs, he noticed some students already there. Given the lack of student volume, he assumed that multiple initiation attempts would happen. Looking down the line of students, he noticed that each of them was standing on a metal platform, but before he could give it any more thought, Ozpin began to speak.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and you will be tested upon it. Today, you will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Then the Depute Headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch, took over.
"I'm sure you've all heard the rumor of teams. Well, let me put that rumor to rest. You will be put into teams… today." Ozpin then took over.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. It is in your best interest to be partnered with someone you can work with... That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years. There is an irregularity with this year's initiation. However, due to the odd number of students, one group of three will be partnered." As Ozpin finished, Slate heard Ruby's world shatter.
After Ozpin finished, Slate started to shut out the rest of the world as he got ready. He heard Jaune ask a few questions as the other students were launched from the cliff. Soon enough, Slate was launched into the air at high speeds. He blinked and was suddenly hundreds of feet into the air, hurling toward the forest below. As Slate flew, he spread himself wide to help control his descent. He flew a few hundred feet before he was low enough to find the right tree for his landing. Reaching around his back, Slate drew Bitterheart. Pulling a lever near the crossguard, the blade extended, reaching one hundred-forty centimeters. As he neared the tree line, Slate swung the dark grey blade into a tree trunk to slow him down. As he reached the bottom of the trunk, he launched himself off the tree and finished with a roll to dissipate his momentum.
Shooting his head up, Slate scanned his surroundings for any threats near him. After a beat of silence, he put away his weapon and started getting his barrings. Looking toward that sun, he determined where north was and started towards the ruins. Slate began with a lite jog while listening for any sounds. He could hear some other initiates fighting in the distance, and some were still making their way down from their impromptu flight. During his jog, he started to hear the sounds of growling progressively getting closer. Taking a moment to stop, Slate looked toward his surroundings to find the source. Just as he turned to the left, he saw a beowulf jump out at him. Its red eyes glowed with fury, its fur as black as the darkest night, and the bone mask and armor were pristine white. Its jaw was opened wide, ready to strike. Just as the beowulf was about to strike, Slate activated his semblance. The world around him turned into shades of grey as the beowulf stopped mid-air. Acting quickly, Slate drew Bitterheart and extended it to its entire length. Ducking under the wolf and positioning the blade under his adversary, the world regained its color, and the beowulf flew towards the blade and was sliced in half.
Standing up, Slate's head was on a swivel. Listening for the rest of the pack. Slate could hear a distant rustling toward the left and quickly climbed the closest tree to gain a better vantage point. Once he made it up, he saw three more Beowulfs enter the clearing. When one approached the tree he was in, Slate jumped down with his blade at the ready. Coming down with gravity on its side, Bitter heart slashed clean through the beowulf's neck. Turning to the second grimm as the last one turned to dust, Slate dashed forward, ready to attack. The grimm, in turn, jumped towards Slate. Thinking quickly, he adjusted his grip on Bitterheart and parried the attack. With the beast off balance, Slate swung his sword, but the third beowulf intercepted the blow by swiping at Slate's side, its claws scraping against his aura. Rolling to mitigate the damage, Slate quickly brought Bitterheart in front of him in a defensive position. The two grimm launched themselves toward the young man. The first swiped at his torso, which Slate quickly blocked with his blade and got ready to counter. However, as the young trainee was about to strike, the other monster launched itself toward his neck, mouth agape, ready to tear his neck open. Before the beast could reach the young man, a thin black blade attached to a black bow stuck itself into the beast's neck. Quickly taking advantage of the lack of danger, Slate swiped his blade at the remaining grimm and watched as it slowly disappeared into dust.
Turning around, his silver eyes locked with shining amber. Blake sheathed her blade and rewound her bow as she approached him.
"I could've gotten someone worse," she said once she was standing next to him. "And you're welcome."
"Well, I'm happy I didn't end up with the Schnee. And I had it covered." Slate countered as he looked around to regain his barrings.
"North is this way. We shouldn't be too far from the ruins."
"Then I guess we better get going soon; don't want to miss out on getting a relic."
As the two newly named partners jogged through the forest, they slowly started to hear combat coming from the direction they were heading. Slate could hear the faint sounds of shotgun shells blasting into what he could only assume to be grimm. As they reached the source of the noise, they both saw Yang quickly finish off one last Ursa before turning to see them.
"Oh hey, Slate! I see you found a partner; you're Blake, right?" Yang addressed the two newcomers.
"Hey there, Yang, honestly a string of luck that it's the two of you I found and not some of the more annoying students. Do you have a partner yet?" Slate asked.
"Well, I didn't before you two showed up, but that probably means we'll be the group of three the headmaster was talking about."
"Hello again, Yang. I'm sure it's nice for the two of you to catch up, but we still have an initiation to get through." Blake interjected, trying to get them back on the right track.
"She's right, Yang. We're not too far from the ruins; it should just be a short jog.
On that note, the three now partners made their way north towards the ruins. While they ran, they noticed a meager amount of grimm in their way. After a short while, the trio exited the tree line and into a clearing. In the clearing was a small group of old stones with a ring of pillars in the middle. Making their way to the structure, they saw a different chess piece on each of the pillars.
"These must be the 'relics' that the headmaster was talking about," Slate noted.
"Well, we weren't the first ones here. I hope the other students are safe." Blake said as she looked at all the different pieces left.
"Well, how do you two feel about this cute little pony?" Yang inquired as she held up the white knight piece.
Slate was about to say something when the three heard someone yell excitedly. Looking over, they saw a ginger-haired girl wearing a pink skirt and breastplate ride into the clearing on an Ursa. Not long after, a young man with long black hair with a streak of magenta followed, having had enough of the woman's antics. From the right, the trio saw Pyrrha being chased by a scorpion grimm the size of a bullhead. Along with a girlish scream? Slate didn't know who that could have been, but he wished them luck. With everything seeming to happen at once, he forgot to ask what relic Yang had grabbed, and before he had the chance, he heard Blake mutter something about falling. Looking up, he saw a red dot falling from the sky and quickly approaching. Just as he realized that it was Ruby quickly plummeting, Vomit boy flew in from the side, hitting Ruby and sending them both into the tree line. Quickly he and Yang ran over to Ruby's side.
"Are you insane! What made you think it was a good idea to jump from the back of a nevermore?" Yang asked incredulously.
"You're not hurt, are you? Who am I kidding? You at least have a minor concussion from that hit." Slate said, finishing more to himself than to Ruby. Before Ruby could fully respond, they heard a thud and saw Vomit Boy on the ground with the Schnee on top of him, clearly annoyed.
"C'mon, Rubes, we need to get you a relic," Yang said before any other distractions could come up. As they approached the ruins, Slate could hear the other trainees discussing what to do about the incoming deathstalker. Before anyone could react, Ruby rushed into the giant scorpion, hoping to take it out herself. During her sprint, the nevermore from above shot down feathers sharper than razors, catching the young girl's cloak. Yang rushed after in hopes of freeing her sister before the scorpion got to her. Before she could get to her sister, however, a white blur shot from the group and encased the scorpion's stinger in ice, giving the necessary time to free Ruby.
With the rest of the huntsman in training grouped up, Jaune spoke up, "So I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but we've got more grimm incoming." pointing toward what looked to be a large pack of beowulf coming into the clearing.
"We have our objective already. All we needed to do was grab a relic and return to Beacon—nothing about killing the grimm." Ruby stated, making the group turn to her.
"Run and live; that's a plan I could get behind." Jaune agreed.
With that decided, Slate and the other students started running towards the Beacon Cliff. While they were running, Slate was keeping tabs on how close the grimm was to their position. They were outrunning the deathstalker decently well. However, the nevermore was almost upon them, and the pack of beowulf was not far behind it. Looking forward, Slate saw them approaching another set of ruins at the base of the cliff. 'We're not getting out of this without a fight.' Slate thought, debating on his next course of action.
"Blake, you and I need to try to stall the pack before the deathstalker gets here. We're nimbly enough to make it out relatively unscathed." Slate shouted before doubling back and rushing toward the pack of grimm. Looking back, he saw Blake following behind him, ready to engage. 'I'd have preferred to do this alone, but I know I'd be biting off more than I could chew here.' Slate thought as he readied his blade.
Meeting the first grimm head-on, Slate dodged the lunge and quickly cut down the beast before immediately turning to his right and parrying another blow. With the grimm staggered, Slate beheaded the beast. Seeing another one coming from his left, he pulled a lever on his sword's hilt. The pommel quickly shot to a length of six feet while the blade shortened to fifty-five centimeters. Slamming the shaft of the glaive onto the ground, Slate heaved himself into the air, dodging the strike by the wolf. Flipping the glaive behind his back, he came down with a mighty swing, killing the beast under him. Taking a quick glance at his new partner, he saw Blake elegantly weaving in and out of the beasts. Using her ribbon to strike at odd angles and keep them at bay. Occasionally she would use the built-in machine gun pistol in her weapon to pepper down grimm farther away before quickly reengaging in close-quarters combat. Slate watched Blake fight with a bit too much attention because a beowulf quickly slashed him and would have been pounced on by another had he not activated his semblance. The world once again became shades of gray as everything stopped. Slate bent his body diagonally, and as the world returned, the wolf flew by him into another grimm. Continuing the fight, Slate used his glaive in wide swings, slicing multiple grimm at a time. Slate was brought out of his focus by the ground starting to rumble.
"The deathstalker is almost here. We have to group back up!" Blake shouted towards him. With a quick nod, Slate ended the beowulf he was fighting and made his way toward the ruins with Blake. The two quickly approached the others and prepared to face the scorpion. Charging at the group, the beast slammed its pincers into Blake, sending her into the chasm below. Worried for his ally, Slate tried to grasp her hand and missed. Only to see her swing herself to the other side using her bow. Seeing she was okay, he turned around and ran to help the other four participants fight the giant grimm.
Jumping into action, Slate ran alongside Pyrrha toward the beast. When the deathstalker raised its claws to slam down on them, Slate activated his semblance to give him time to get inside its guard and lashed out with his blade, aiming for its eyes. The elder beast staggered back, giving Pyrrha time to move in and stab her spear between the carapace. The grimm screeched and backed up, giving the rest of the ranged fighters a chance to rain down fire.
"The stinger!" Slate yelled while distracting the beast. Using this, Pyrrha flung her shield, slicing the stinger off and embedding itself into the beast.
Crouching down and raising his shield, Jaune yelled, "Nora, now!" With his call, Nora leaped off his shield and swung her hammer, smashing it into the scorpion, killing it.
Slate mused to himself briefly as he watched the beast begin disintegrating before assessing the other group. Turning around, he saw Ruby dragging the nevermore up the cliff by the throat and slicing it clean off as she reached the top.
"Holy shit, that was incredible." Slate could hear Jaune mutter to himself, and he couldn't agree more. Seeing that the threats had been neutralized, Slate began to get lost in thought about how this year may turn out. Seeing Ruby do what she did makes him think of what he could do. He was obviously aware that she also possessed silver eyes, but he couldn't help but think that she was closer to unlocking their secrets, all while not genuinely looking for them.
"Hey, you alright in there? We just passed our initiation. No reason to look so down." Blake said as she walked up beside him. "Besides, if you're my partner, I can't have you getting lost on the way back to the school," she stated with a small smile.
"Yea. Yea, I'm alright, just got caught up in the moment, is all," he said as they made their way back to the campus.
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"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. You all collected the white rook pieces. Henceforth you shall be known as team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc." Ozpin addressed the four students on stage. Everyone did laugh a bit as Jaune stumbled after a slap on the shoulder from Pyrrha as they left the stage.
"And finally, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Slate Richmond, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You collected the white knight pieces, and from now until you graduate, you shall be known as team RSBWY. Led by Ruby Rose." When Ozpin said that, Yang went wild, scooping her sister up in a hug in celebration, and poor Ruby had to take the rib-crushing hug. Slate looked over and gave Blake a smile and a quick thumbs up, to which she reciprocated the smile. Behind Blake, however, he saw the briefest hint of distaste on Weiss' face before she quickly replaced it with a reserved expression with a forced smile.
"Congratulations to all acceptance. Info about your dorms will be sent via scroll. In the meantime, feel free to celebrate with your new classmates." Ozpin finished before walking off stage.
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Ozpin POV
As he entered his office, Ozpin let out an exhausted breath. Recent events have taken a toll on his old soul. Learning just a few days ago from Qrow that the Fall Maiden had been attacked has done nothing to help his weathering spirit. As he sat down, he heard the chime of the elevator.
"Are you absolutely sure this was a good idea? You know he is looking for answers and'll eventually come to you." Glynda all but berated the headmaster as she came out of the elevator.
"Glynda, he would look for them regardless of his choice of school."
"That may be so, but you are choosing to put him in more danger than he already is. And I haven't even mentioned the addition of Miss Rose to the roster, which, for the record, I still think was not a wise choice."
"Where you see ignorance in my judgment, I see potential in the two of them."
"Oh please, Ozpin, don't try that with me. We both know the only reason you have an interest in the two of them is so that you can use them for their eyes as if their parents weren't enough."
"I do not intend to use either of them, merely utilize their gift."
"Like that is any different!"
"Glynda!" he rose out of his chair and raised his voice, "We were lucky enough to have two active silver-eyed warriors with Summer and Brock. It's even more fortunate that each of them bore a child with the gift and that each of them wished to be warriors. I, no, we cannot allow this blessing to slip through our fingers."
When Ozpin finished, it was clear that the discussion was over, and Glynda simply nodded and turned to leave his office.
Author's Note: Well, it's been a minute, heh. Sorry for so long without an update. With school and other responsibilities, I didn't have the time, nor the drive, to write that much. That does not mean I want to abandon this project. I will hopefully not have another 5 month wait time for the next chapter. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged, and I hope you all have a good day :)
