Chapter 2: Sunny with a Chance of Gruesome Death
A bell rang throughout the ballroom, waking Sandy with a small yelp. She shook her head and stood up as Glynda's voice came on over the intercom. "All new recruits must prepare for initiation. Check your scrolls to see which group you were assigned to. Group one will meet Professor Ozpin at the cliff facing Emerald Forest. Group Two will meet Doctor Oobleck at the cliff facing the northern woods, and Group Three will meet Professor Port at the western fields. Be sure to report to your assigned professor at 11:00. Good luck."
Sandy checked her scroll; she was in Group 2. Nearby, Richard got up with a groan. "Really need to work on getting up early." His green eyes were slightly bloodshot as he looked at his scroll. "Group two. Where was that again?"
After everyone had showered, eaten and gotten their weapons and armor ready, they set off to the north end of campus. The cool, moist morning air helped calm Sandy's nerves as she wondered what type of "initiation" was being planned here. When they got to the cliff, there were several launchpads lined up at the edge. A tall, spindly man with green hair and spectacles stood beside them, holding a mug. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" His speech was almost too fast to understand. "I'm Doctor Oobleck. Let's get right down to business. Is there anyone here who is NOT in group two?"
He waited a good two seconds for anyone to raise their hand. "Splendid!" He took a sip from his mug. "If you would all pick a launchpad, I'll give you the details."
The initiates surged forward and everyone stood on a pad. Sandy widened her stance and bent her knees. Oobleck spoke up again. "Momentarily you will be launched into the forest, starting with those closest to me. Keep in mind that you must devise your own landing strategy. When you land, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the rest of your time at Beacon. Your mission is to reach the structure in the heart of the forest, where several relics are waiting. Also remember that the forest is filled with the creatures of Grimm. Fight your way through, collect a relic, and bring it back here before the day is up. Any questions?"
Sandy ran through the speech again in her head. Halfway through Oobleck took another sip and pulled out his Scroll. "Excellent! Let's begin, and good luck!" He pressed a button and the boy next to him was immediately thrown off the cliff.
Richard was next. Sandy heard him sarcastically yelling "Wheeeee" as he flew. Three more launched initiates later, Sandy was thrown from her spot and sailing through the air toward the forest. She loved the feeling of flying; the wind blowing into her face and the sensation of weightlessness. Once she was getting closer to the ground, she took a deep breath and activated her Semblance. There was a familiar tugging feeling in her gut as gravity started to pull her in a different direction, away from the ground. When she had slowed down enough, she set it back to normal and dropped safely to the forest floor.
Richard took out his spear and clutched it in both hands as he flew. When he was below the canopy, he jabbed the spear to the side, impaling a tree with the elongated point. His momentum made him swing in a circle around the shaft, bringing him to a stop. Bracing his feet against the trunk, he pulled out the spear, dropped to the ground, dusted himself off and leisurely strolled into the forest.
Sandy had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she heard howling coming from a short way away. She headed toward it and broke into a clearing, where a blonde boy dressed in blue was surrounded by a pack of Beowulves. She didn't see a weapon on him, but he was using Dust to throw shards of ice and lightning bolts to keep the Grimm at bay. Sandy drew her pistols and started firing, peppering the monsters with bullets. The boy fought harder upon seeing her, launching streams of fire that disintegrated several more. The lone Beowulf left jumped toward Sandy with its claws outstretched. She holstered her guns and drew her katana, cutting it down with a single upward slash.
The blonde boy put his hands on his knees and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks a lot."
"Don't mention it." Sandy said. "I'm Sandy. What about you?"
"Marco." he answered. "Looks like we're stuck together for a while, huh?"
Sandy nodded. "Where's your weapon?"
"Oh, I don't have one. I'm pretty lousy at melee combat, so I just use Dust." Marco held up his hands; his fingers were lined with eight rings of different colors. "My Semblance lets me store a huge amount of Dust in metal, so I've been building up reserves in these rings for years."
"So you're basically a wizard." Sandy summed up as she reloaded her pistols.
Marco shrugged. "That's, uh, one way of looking at it. Oh, we'd better get moving. I think we're getting close to the structure. Over here!" He started heading deeper into the forest. Sandy sheathed her sword and followed him.
Richard broke through an underbrush. Standing in front of him amongst a bunch of trees was an enormous, muscular guy in brown armor with dark skin and a massive, single-edged battleaxe slung across his back. A pair of small, round, fuzzy ears poked out of his short black hair. "Heya." said Richard. "Name's Richard."
The Faunus turned toward him and nodded. "Theodore." He said. "Call me Teddy."
Richard nodded back. No further words needed spoken. They turned and started heading deeper into the forest.
"You think that's it?" Marco asked. He pointed to a sliver of gray between a cluster of tree trunks. Sandy stepped toward it and broke into a clearing. In the center was a round stone structure covered in moss with numerous pedestals lining the inside, each one holding a black or gold chess piece. She stepped forward and grabbed a black rook. "All right. Now we get back to the cliff, I suppose."
Just as she spoke, four others entered the clearing from other sides. One pair was Richard in his gray outfit, accompanied by a big, armor-clad bear Faunus. The other two were girls she didn't recognize, a blue-haired one with a matching coat a pair of straightswords and a blonde one with a halberd. "Ayy," Richard called when he saw Sandy, "there she is." The big guy and the blonde walked toward the ruin, each taking another chess piece.
"So how was your trip here?" Sandy asked.
"Surprisingly uneventful." Richard said. "A few Beowulves and an Ursine here and there, but nothing major."
A baleful howl split the woods as a full pack of Beowulves and several Ursine broke out of the woods. Richard slapped his forehead. "Anyone else?" he asked calmly. In answer, a giant snake slithered into the other side of the clearing, coiling up and hissing angrily. Richard gave it an exasperated look. "Hi."
"Richard, stop saying things!" Sandy yelled.
"There's nothing else coming!" Teddy called. "Who takes what?"
The blonde girl grabbed a chess piece. "We'll hold off the snake." She and the blue-haired girl drew their weapons and charged. Teddy hefted his axe and swung downward, cleaving an Ursine in half. "We'll get the rabble then."
Marco placed his hand on the ground, causing giant spikes of ice to erupt from the ground in front of him, impaling several Grimm. Sandy smashed one of the icicles with the hilt of her sword, and created a gust of wind that swept the shards into the Beowulves, knocking them back and shredding them. An Ursine managed the break through the storm and leapt at her, but she dodged out of the way and decapitated it.
Richard, however, was surprisingly impressive. He swept his spear in a wide arc, launching a wave of red light that detonated everything in his path. The Grimm hesitated and started to step back, at which point he leapt toward them and began cutting them down with thrusts of his spear or wide swings of the elongated point. The last Ursine started to step back toward the forest, but he dashed into it and stabbed upwards through its chin. There was a slight sizzling sound before he detonated the point of the spear, sending black chunks flying in all directions.
Meanwhile, the blue-haired girl was trapped in the snake's coils while the blonde one was blocking its strikes with her halberd. Teddy braced his legs against the ground and leaped across the field, bringing down his axe on the part of the snake that was holding the blue-haired girl captive. Although he didn't cut through the whole thing, its muscles spasmed enough for her to wrench herself free. She grabbed her swords and leaped onto the snake's neck, stabbing them both through the top of its head to finish it off.
As the monsters disintegrated all around the initiates, there was a collective sigh of relief as they all caught their breath. "All right," Richard spoke up, "good hustle, folks."
Marco leaned against a stone pillar. "I think I would have preferred a written exam."
The six of them took the trip back to the cliff together to avoid any more mishaps. When they got to it, Sandy simply used her Semblance to walk straight up the side of it, as opposed to the others who climbed the stairs built into it. Doctor Oobleck was waiting for them at the top. As they turned in the chess pieces to him, he entered information into his Scroll whilst giving out rapid-fire congratulations. "You've all exceeded expectations and come back alive." He said when the last one had been handed in. "I think this is good cause for celebration, don't you? Welcome to Beacon, everyone. We'll get you all registered, lunch is ready in the meantime. The ceremony will begin at precisely 6 o'clock tonight."
Later at the ceremony, Sandy met up with Richard and Marco to watch the proceedings. Ozpin stood on stage in the great hall, naming the new teams of four and their members one by one based on the chess pieces they had retrieved. "Edward Jade, Zinnia Flora, Artemis Luna, Rina Jade. The four of you picked up the white bishops. From this day forth, you will be known as Team AZRE (Azure), led by Artemis Luna." Four students stepped up to take their place on the stage. Sandy recognized the two girls who had fought alongside them in the forest. Suddenly her face appeared on the screens above the stage, along with Richard's, Teddy's and Marco's. "Marco Phosphor," Ozpin called, "Richard Astra, Sandy Eurus and Theodore Callisto. The four of you retrieved the black rooks. Henceforth, you will be known as Team STRM (Storm), led by Sandy Eurus."
The words hit Sandy like a truck. Her legs trembled as she stepped up onto the stage. The entire rest of the ceremony was a complete blur. A few more teams were announced, some more congratulations, and then the hall disbanded. The new team members tracked down their dorm and collapsed into their beds. Sandy took a moment to think about everything that had happened now that the adrenaline rush was over, and only then did she realize how tired she was. Thoughts of her future as a Huntress drifted by as she fell asleep almost immediately.