Journeying the Emerald Forest with this Jin girl proved far more taxing than what Hue bargained for. The girl seemed to have the attention span of an actual feline, stopping every few seconds to look at some passing animal, or smell a flower nearby. How did Jin even FIND those things, Hue had not a clue, but regardless, she found herself playing the role of a glorified babysitter more than anything else, constantly being on the watch of the giant and her antics.
"Oooooh..." She heard Jin murmur, and turned in place, only to see her with her knees bent, watching a snail slowly pave its way across the grass, dirt, and leaves, leaving a slightly slimy trail in its wake. Hue shook her head, already being at wit's end, and closed in on her, shaking her by the shoulder.
"Jin... Can we please cease with this baseless dribble and move on? We do not have all day you know..." Her voice trailed off, pondering what this girl even found in such trivial observations. Granted, her patience to remain in one place for what seemed like hours was something Hue couldn't help but admire to a degree, if that capability wasn't wasted on such a simpleton.
"But it's pretty! Look! Loooook!" Jin wobbled with her hand's shaking, staying her ground and keeping herself close to her new slimy friend, pointing to it with her finger to attempt and get Hue's attention.
"You could look at snails all you want after we get to Beacon, okay? I will come with you if you oh so desire." Right after uttering those words, Hue realized the grave error she had just made in her calculating, depending Jin was as childish as she anticipated.
"Promise?" Jin's eyes sparkled, looking back at Hue, her ever-present smile growing even wider than usual. Realizing this was the only feasible path forward, Hue nodded.
"Yes, Jin. I promise. Now may we move on?" She repeated her question, and this time, Jin left the snail behind, getting back up and glomping Hue, giving her a big, warm, and albeit bone crushing bear hug.
"Okay!" She cheered, Hue being thankful for a change for her upbringing in Vacuo. Several minutes after, and somehow managing to shake Jin away from her body, the two moved on, and at last, the sight of a small shrine, with several chess pieces laying on pedestals revealed itself to the two of them, several of the pieces already missing. Hue gave a faint smile.
"This seems to be our destination. Come along Jin, let us pick one of the relics and return to Beacon." Before she could even finish her sentence, Jin was already next to the relics, taking a white pawn and swirling in place with it, knocking over the rest of the relics, and making Hue audibly groan in one of the only instances of her life.
"Jin..." She walked over, picking them up after sitting the giant down, placing them back on their proper pedestals and making sure their position was perfectly centered as she could make it. After making sure the last of the pieces was perfectly aligned, she turned to Jin, asking for the pawn she took back, thinking this was not the way to properly chose it, only to find the girl grew attached to the small plastic figure in the few minutes she had it. Sighing, Hue resigned, content to let the giant have her way if it meant moving on with the trial.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
She turned her head, her train of thought cut, only to see the suit-clad girl from the first night in Beacon scream with her finger pointed at Jin. Next to her, the nun she argued with appeared, scolding her for pointing at people. As the two of them started to bicker about the proper use of fingers and their placement in space, Hue couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the two of them being on the same team, as partners no less.
"Well, if this is how you are going to act, then I will pick our relic." Leila gruffed, heading towards the small shrine.
"Fine! See if I fucking care!" Perci shouted at her, and turned the other way around. Leila, on the other hand, approached Jin first, giving her a polite bow.
"I apologize for my teammate's actions. I am sure she was just..." She then took a glance of her own, realizing the girl had dust growing out of her skin. "In the name of all that is holy..." Her thoughts left her, as she stared at the girl, jaw agape, before shaking her head and snapping back to reality. "Oh, please, forgive my staring." She apologized again, and Jin looked up at her, fascinated with her silver eyes for some reason.
"Okay!" She called out, playing with her small pawn in her rather huge hands. She had so much fun, and meeting new people always managed to lift up her mood, so seeing this nice person come and say hello was very sweet of her!
From there, Leila turned back, paying attention to the shrine once more. She went up to it, examining the pieces available, and picked another one of the white peons, heading back to Perci afterward.
"Really, a fucking peon? At least you could have picked a queen or some shit..." Perci sighed.
"We are all peons for the Lord, at the end of the day. Regardless, I believe you said it didn't matter to you." She reminded the delinquent, who's face turned a particular hue of red in response.
"And I DON'T, thank you very much!" Perci gruffed loudly again. "Whatever... let's just get the fuck out of here..." She turned back, Ash and Melody appearing behind them as she started to walk.
"You two really oughta pay more attention to your surroundings..." Ash muttered, Perci rolling her eyes. "Or at the very least look back every few seconds."
"Yeah, yeah..." walked back, leaning on a tree. "Fine, just go and pick your fuckin' piece, K? I don't wanna get stuck here all day." Clearly, her patience for this sort of horseshiterry was at its end, if not way over it. Ash, however, didn't seem to mind her foot tapping on the floor, nor her crossed arms, instead taking her leisure in pacing towards the shrine, noticing Jin on the way, raising an eyebrow and turning to Hue.
"...What's her deal?"
Alas, her query into the origins of the enigmatic person playing about with a chess piece in hand were only met with a wave of Hue's head, signifying her cluelessness.
"Well, I think she looks nice!" Melody muttered, going to welcome the gentle giant. "Hi! My name's Melody, but you can call me Mel." At this point Perci turned her head to the side, making an audible 'tsk' noise. "What's your name?"
"I'm Jin!" Her booming voice echoed throughout the area, reverberating all around them. Melody stepped back a bit, not being one to handle first impressions like some would, thinking what to say next as Ash got back to her, holding a black pawn in her hands.
"Well, despite... that." She gestured at her direction, pointing at the various patches of skin that were remarkably replaced with pure dust, gleaming a rather dull shade of crimson. "She looks nice enough."
"Thanks!" Jin beckoned the complement with another smile, and within moments, many of the present in the party realized that, while being odd and mysterious in her origins, to say the least, she was harmless enough to be around.
"Oh, hey guys!" Finally, another voice, as well as the sound of a pair of footsteps managed to make their way to the shrine, Undine recognizing some of the friends she made the day before. Next to her, Copper walked idly, keeping her blank expression, though at the sound of Jin her walking speed changed, heading directly towards the dust girl and standing right in front of her.
"How did you become like this?" She asked, Jin showing no response. She waited a bit, repeating the question, and after the first time of Jin being too preoccupied with her little toy to give a proper response, Leila nudged her shoulder.
"Jin, she asked you how did you become like this." She mentioned, and to the sound of her voice, Jin perked up, staring at Leila with a smile.
"I was always like this! That's what Mama told me." She answered the question and swiftly resumed her game, making Leila, as well as everyone else present, to raise an eyebrow once more.
"Well, what do you know, a real freak of nature. Go figure, eh?" Said Perci, who finally had enough of standing on the sideline. The others, excluding Jin and Copper, gave her a stern glare, though Copper's seemingly transfixed face fit the situation quite naturally.
"Perci, it's not nice to say something about someone like that when they're here." Leila tried to lecture her, though before she could finish her sentence, Perci's hand already pressed itself firmly on her lips, shutting her up.
"Oh, cut the lectures, will ya? I get it. I'm not a nice person. Welcome to fucking Remnant, Nun." Perci let her go, turning her back on the rest of the group and coming to walk away, as the screech of a Nevermore caught everyone's attention, Jin included.
"We should head out immediately. That screech can only mean one thing." Hue concluded, and the rest nodded in agreement, getting up on their feet.
Before the group could head out and finish their task, rustling voices came from all around them, signifying they were not alone anymore. Jin was the first to stand, dropping the relic on the ground, and seemingly prepared herself for something, back arching slightly, as well as hands raised. The various snarls and grunts that became more and more audible to the others eventually, each pulling out her own weapon in preparation for the incoming attack.
Perci took a quick gaze to see what weapons the others had to work with. Working with others wasn't the best scenario for her, but by the sound of it, they were in for quite the struggle, and every hand on deck would be needed if she learned anything in her years out of the streets. The nun's blade was already a given, and while Ash pulled out her baton, Quick Justice, in one hand and her pistol, Blind Justice, in another, Melody drew her short sword Swan Song, inserting a new cartridge of dust into the hilt. As for the rest, besides Jin's seemingly feral approach to handling tough situations, Hue's katana caught her attention the most. Copper's Proto Drive appendages DID give her a few ideas down the line for some more... creative ways of using them, and Undine's trident, Oceanline, wasn't as impressive as the small girl seemed to think it was.
"You guys ready? This ain't gonna be pretty." Perci grinned, the grip on her cane only growing tighter. The others nodded, though Melody, on the other hand, seemingly had other plans, sticking closer to Ash, knees shaking in fear. Perci gave her a single wink, though instead of the reaction she expected the only response from the Muse was eyes rolling and a sigh.
"Indeed. May the Lord guide us." Leila nodded back, taking the cross pendant on her chest and giving a short prayer, and while Perci would have loved to make a silly face to ruin her moment, the beowulves running towards them from behind the tree line meant it would have to wait.
Jin was the first to react to the imminent threat. With instinct only honed by years of living in the wilds, she dashed towards the pack on all fours, driving crystallized nails into one of them right through the head. She didn't stop there, quickly jumping and dodging another one's claw, with retaliation quickly coming to the monster in the form of a powerful gunshot from ash's pistol, leaving a clean, round hole in its abdomen, Jin finishing the job with a ground pound.
"Burn, you foul fiends!" Leila called out, turning the barrel on Caliborn to the blazing color of fire dust, raising her sword sky high. Soon enough, a small rain of fire descended from the heavens, the dust in the sword reacting to her aura, felling many of the weaker beowulves with one well aimed fireball and leaving the rest of them weak enough for Copper, Jin, Perci and Undine to get out of their way swiftly, making a path for the group.
"We need to go, immidiatly." Hue called to the rest of them. "Unless we find the alpha and eliminate it this could continue ad infinitum."
The rest nodded, and thanks to the path Leila cleared, the eight of them started to head out, trying to work together and fending off the grimm as they began making their way through the large pack, heading to Beacon as quickly as they could. In situations like these, saving power for later was key, and so, they tried to pave way as efficiently as they could, though after as the sounds of gunfire and grimm dying came from other areas of the forest. The rest of the grimm geared up, moving out in droves to annihilate everything with an aura they could find.
Another beowulf jumped at the group from above one of the trees, using a fallen pack member as a distraction to get the drop on one ravenous Perci, taking her sweet time to bash the fuck out of each grimm unfortunate enough to get in her way.
"Look out!" Undine yelled at her, throwing her Trident to intercept the grimm, successfully impaling it against another tree. Perci didn't bother looking back at her, moving from under the long pole arm and advancing further.
"How rude..." Undine couldn't help but mutter to herself as she ran to her weapon, pulling it out, and quickly stabbing another grimm in her path. From there, the struggle continued, heading in a single direction to try and leave the tree line, before the group found themselves in an open field, with several ruined buildings scattered throughout, obviously ruins from some ancient structure that stood there. However, their attention was quickly taken away but a much more menacing howl, as a tremendous beowulf stood on one of the roofs, bone plating adorning its body in much grander fashion than the average grimm. To its howl, several smaller beowulves reared their heads from the ruined buildings, snarling at the group to their alpha's command and dashing towards the initiates.
"Well WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" Perci called out, adrenaline pumping through her as she stopped one of them dead in their track, lifting the grimm with one empowered arm and throwing it at the alpha, which tore its own minion to shreds in self-defense. "NOW it's gettin' interesting!" Her investment in the fight peaked at the sight of something she couldn't kill in a single blow, and being the reckless person she was, dashed towards the giant beast. She only stopped to hear Melody 'eep!' in fear and hide behind one of the walls, flinging projectiles of concentrated dust from her blade periodically at the swarm facing them, trying to do something without letting her own cowardice get the better of her.
"Hmph!" Leila grunted herself, shifting the barrel to icy blue. At the swing of her sword, a volley of ice flowers shot out, and wherever they hit, an ice flower erupted, freezing the grimm close to it solid or impaling them with icy spikes. Hue took the initiative, moving quickly across each one, slicing them cleanly around the neckline with Lunnos Lamina, making sure not to leave any of them standing, while Copper tended to the ones that managed to break free, her six Proto Drives slicing and dicing each grimm to ribbons. On the other end, those that managed to dodge Leila's volley only met their end at the tip of Undine's Oceanside, as well as the blasts from Melody and Swan Song.
With Hue, Copper, Melody, and Leila keeping the path clear, Jin, Perci, Undine, and Ash blew their way towards the alpha. It shrieked, calling more of its kin to eat apart at the girls, Ash shutting it up with a bullet to the chin, her usually calm demeanor shifting to a more serious, though still laid back one. The bullet hit the alpha, though didn't scratch it entirely, grazing the hardened bone and getting stuck in there, causing it to gaze angrily at Ash, who replied with a smirk. It jumped down, bellowing before the group, Jin jumping right in, delivering a fist straight to its face, the alpha dodging it and replying in kind with a large claw, sending Jin flying away, only to land on her feet, a feral expression on her face.
"Not bad kid!" Ash called out to her, reloading her pistol Blind Justice, though as she did the alpha targeted her, coming straight for her face as payback for the previously well-aimed bullet, now stuck in its chin. Undine lunged at it from the side, coming to stab the foul beast in the side with her trident, though being unable to pierce the bone plating forced her to shift directions quickly, jumping away as Perci dashed in.
"Let me show you how it's done, bitches!" She called, channeling some of her massive reserves of aura into her palm, empowering her blow as she readied her cane and swung it like a hammer at the alpha, the strike powerful enough to actually crack its side. The alpha shrieked in pain, turning quickly to send a claw at Perci, who raised her hand to block it, a maniacal grin forming on her face. "Oh, you think you're hot shit, huh?" She grimaced, as the claws of the alpha started to tear into her skin, blood slowly seeping out. At this point, if it weren't for the extra aura she had on her, her arm would have been chopped right off.
A slow cackle found its way out of her dry, cold lips. The grimm stared at her, roaring with strength and might, only getting a hardened fist into its stomach as a response.
"Useless..." She sputtered, sending another punch out. "Useless useless useless useless useless!" She kept repeating herself, her smirk growing to a mad grin, sending fist after fist at the alpha, mercilessly burning through her aura to damage the grimm as much as she could. As her aura ran out, not paying attention mid-rampage, the alpha lowered its claw at her again, aiming to rend her asunder. At the last moment, however, Jin managed to get to it, catching the grimm by the claw, giving it a severe looking expression, before catching the aura-less Perci and throwing her out of harm's path, Ash catching her before she hit the ground.
"The fuck?!" Perci, caught off guard, couldn't help but yell as she felt the giant's hand grab her by the collar of her suit, throwing her away, straight into Ash's, who let her down.
"Just lay low, okay?" Ash told her, and being Perci, she didn't have any of her shit, grabbing Ash's arm and trying to draw extra aura from her directly. "Hey what're you-?!" Ash gasped, feeling her aura being sapped away from her very body, quickly breaking Perci's grab. "What's your problem!?"
"My problem is that I don't have enough aura, moron." Perci got up, fixing her suit, returning her attention to the alpha, which Jin seemed to handle quite well. She pushed it on, and before long, the alpha was on the ground, as Jin pounced it, driving hardened claws into its now exposed flesh, making the monster howl in pain, and opening its jaw, coming to bite her head off.
"Oh no you don't!" Undine caught it in time, using the pole section of her weapon to block it off from getting to Jin, playing it between its jaws and pulling it away.
The fight didn't last much longer than that. With the alpha being fully restrained and pinned to the floor, nothing stopped Jin until she managed to claw her way through its body, leaving it dead and decaying slowly into the air. The pack that came with it, without the alpha to direct it, didn't stand much of a chance, and Leila, Copper, Hue and Melody managed to round out the remaining numbers without any major issue, dispatching them quickly and leaving the ruins empty and barren once more. As the dust settled, and the group could finally relax, Ash came to Perci, giving her a small slap to the face.
"Oi, what was THAT for?" Perci looked at the trench coat wearing girl with a rather angered expression.
"That's for trying to sap my damn aura while we're fightin' a huge grimm..." Gruffed Ash, and Perci, not one to apologize, quickly turned her head to the other way, the pain really not being a big of a deal.
"Whatever..." She rolled her eyes, though sighing with relief as the battle finally drew to a close. "Guess we can finally head back now?"
"Indeed. Let us make haste." Leila agreed with her, as the group, bonded over the recent strife, walked to Beacon together...
The first to greet them were Ozpin and Glynda, waiting for the group at the destination, much like they did for the rest of the students who passed initiation successfully.
"Oi. We're back." Perci grumbled as the headmaster finally came into view. "I'm goin' for a fuckin' shower." She muttered, going past Ozpin before he could even say anything, heading out to do her own thing.
"Well... Ms. Valiére's behavior regardless, it is nice to see you all managed to get back in one piece." He congratulated them, Leila bowing in response and Ash tipping her hat, though his attention soon shifted back to Jin, who had her small chess piece with her again. He approached her, smiling, and Jin turned her head towards the headmaster, tilting her head to the side in curiosity to something none of them could see.
"Hello. My name is Professor Ozpin. What is yours?" He asked her, and Jin smiled back.
"Hi! I'm Jin!" Her loud as ever voice echoed all around them. Ozpin, unphased by her tone, simply returned a smile to her own, still holding the small chess piece.
"The way you handled the grimm and protected your friend... It was quite impressive, for someone of your age." He complimented her, though the words of praise seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Jin didn't blush, nor reply directly to them. "Either way..." He continued, getting Jin's attention again. "How would you like to come to my school? You could learn a lot here about protecting others from the grimm."
"Okay!"
Ozpin came to reply, thinking someone like her would hesitate at first, preparing several ways to try and convince her to become a student of Beacon, only to be surprised at her eagerness to comply with what he asked. In truth, something about the way she talked signified to him she didn't fully understand what it meant to be a student in Beacon, but regardless, keeping her safe in his school was better than let her roam in Vale. With how she looked, he doubted she would manage to fit in, let alone find someone who would pity her enough to give her a home, as dust infusion was taboo at the end of the day.
"Excellent." He smiled, Jin cheering and jumping in place all giddy and happy, clapping her hands like a child that just got a present for their birthday. "Then I welcome you to Beacon, Ms..." He waited for to complete him by telling him her last name, but when the response never came, he just grinned again. "Ms. Jin."
Finally, the acceptance ceremony began. By now, all of the students that managed to get through initiation, with their partners and all, stood in pairs, waiting to be called out to the stage, where Ozpin would assign them another pair, forming the typical four-person team paradigm. Undine stood there, excited, trying to talk to Copper, though the lack of responses from her teammate only made her pout, getting a pat on the back from Ash and a grin from Melody as a compromise. Leila waited patiently with a satisfied grin on her face, believing she earned her place, and while Hue was busy keeping Jin from wandering off again, Perci leaned on the wall, just hoping the shit show would end already.
"...Next. Ash Noir, Melody D. Canary, Undine Maelstrom, and Copper Pirouette." Ozpin addressed the four of them, and the group headed to the stage, standing before him, as the images on the screen above them showed their pictures, alongside the letters forming their future team name. "The four of you retrieved the black pawn pieces. From now on, you will be known as Team ArCanuM. Lead by... Ash Noir."
Several of the people in the crowd cheered and clapped their hands, Ash looking at Ozpin with a slightly cocky grin, a bit surprised someone as laid back as she got the position of team leader. If she had to choose she'd put the silent but calculative Copper in this stead, but regardless, this wasn't her choice to make. The four of them, now a team through and through, stepped down from the stage, clearing the way for the next batch.
"Now... Jin, Perci Valiére, Hue Luminous, and Leila Heavenward." He called them out, and while Jin, Hue, and Leila already got to the stage, Perci had to take a moment, making her way through the other students. Internally, however, she dreaded the second she'd have to stand there, not only because of the people Ozpin called out, but because of who he called first.
"You four have retrieved the white pawn pieces. From now on, you shall be known as team JasPiLite. Led by... Jin." Unlike the former teams, Jin's new team was met with deep silence, as many of the students gazed at her with what could only be described as shock. Some even twisted their face in disgust. Regardless, a few of them still clapped their hands, not wanting them to feel unwelcomed, and the rest joined soon after, giving them an applaud of some sorts, at least.
And so, Perci's worst fears came true. The LAST thing she needed was this fucking hippie running the team, not to mention she had to share a room with her AND the nun for the next four years, Hue at least being tolerable. She was THIS close to just stop giving a fuck and ditching the bullshit, but when all was said and done, she preferred it over solitary.
"Ooh! Oooh!" Jin, seemingly having something on her mind, shook a bit, hoping to catch Ozpin's attention, right before he came to dismiss them.
"Yes, Ms. Jin?" He addressed the dust infused giant, who brought out the chess piece she still carried in her robe. "Can I keep this?" She asked him, excited and giddy, her question just met with a roaring wave of laughter, which she joined soon after.
"Well... Alright, then." Ozpin nodded, and Jin, happy she got to keep the toy, tried to give him a hug. Ozpin silently moved out of the way, wondering just how much she was aware of her situation, though her happy and beaming face made it quite difficult to remain worried for long, at least for now.
The ceremony ended, and the students finally dispersed, new teams heading out to sleep in the grand hall one last night before being given their own room. As Ozpin watched the future generating of Huntsman and huntresses go on their own, Glynda, approached him, concern in her eyes.
"You... Made her a team leader." She spoke, though the question burning on her tongue was obvious. "Why?" Some part of her still found Ozpin's thought process odd. Any one of them would have been perfect for the role, with Perci being an exception.
All Ozpin could do was grin as he watched team Jaspilite head their way, Jin somehow managing to keep the others close to her with smiles. "Because, Glynda... It is going to be the one lesson she would truly need."
A/N: Okay, the teams are finally set up, and Jin was finally welcomed into the fold. God, writing her is just freaking adorable, I swear to god...
Anywhoo, I hope you all enjoyed! Don't forget to favorite, follow and review, and I'll see y'all next chapter, which will hopefully be tomorrow, if everything goes according to schedule for me!