Very quick note. There's one swear word in the chapter, but it is rated T, but it won't be a regular thing, more so when it's needed (comically or perfectly explaining the situation) ;)

Chapter 5: A Jaded Forest Part II

Ravens yells of protest reverberated through the woodland environment. The ebony haired woman paced back and forth, complaining and reprimanding herself on running into the blonde headed dolt. Yeah, it was her fault, she should have heard him coming. If it had been a hostile enemy she could have been dead where she stood.

"Looks like the lost puppy isn't so lost anymore." Qrow taunted. Raven shook with pure annoyance. It wasn't the time for her puny brother to be making his snide remarks. She had to find a way out of this.

"He is not my partner nor is he my mangy puppy!" Raven yelled to the three, but mostly at Qrow. "I choose you as my partner brother." She pointed to him abruptly.

"That's not how this works, you just can't just choose a partner." Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. "Besides I found my partner." He jerked his thumb to Summer, who was now pale faced as Raven glared at her, and she waved sheepishly to the enraged woman. "This isn't like the tr- village we live in Raven. You can't just demand respect." Raven growled at him and began pacing again. The two things she didn't want happening today, happened. One, Qrow already found a partner. Two, 'It' was still around AND 'It' was her partner. Then she had I great idea. An idea the tribe would applaud. She drew her katana and chuckled.

"Fine, then I'll kill him. Dead partner means new partner."

"WHAT?!" TaiYang screamed.

"NO, NO, NO!" Qrow stood between TaiYang and Raven. "Raven, he could be useful. Have you seen him fight?"

"No… but we could see it when he's fighting for his life."

"I've got too much to live for before I die… like take you to see… a… Movie?" TaiYang added trying to smooth the situation over in the only way he knew how.

"Not helping." Qrow hissed.

"Sorry." TaiYangs mouth now sealed firmly shut. Summer finally stepped in.

"Ok look, guys, we all just need to calm down and get this assessment over and done with, then we can deal with Ravens little problem." Summer nudged her head towards TaiYang.

"The name's TaiYang by the way, not puppy or it." They all however seemed to ignore him.

"Fine." Raven spoke through clenched teeth, sheathing her katana again. Summer nodded and lead the three toward the artefacts. Qrow leaned over to TaiYang as whispered.

"She loves the name Ray by the way."

The group trudged through the murky forest. The dappled sunshine waltzed along the swishing grasses. Some of the grass seemed to have been trodden down, by the other initiates, hopefully. A tense silence hung over them. They could even hear the birds twittering above them. Qrow was walking beside Summer up front, though he was constantly glancing back in case Raven hadn't followed the peace treaty they'd agreed. TaiYang very, very wisely was keeping his mouth shut. Raven just barely able to control her rage. Qrow playing baby sitter. Summer leading the way without knowing what was ahead. 'This is going great' Qrow sarcastically thought to himself.

"So TaiYang, was it?" Summer looked behind her. He nodded. "Tell us about yourself." Summer then continued to look forward.

"Oh, erm ok. I'm from the east coast of Vale. I learnt how to fight at Signal Academy and then came here." TaiYang answered sensibly. "I used to live in a small village. But when I was ten it got raided by some cult or tribe. Then we went to live at the east coast." TaiYang looked out into the forest as a quiet echo of a pack of Beowulf's roar chorused through the woodland. Qrow's shoulders tightened. Summer glanced to him and narrowed her eyes.

"What? Got an uncomfortable night's sleep last night, on the floor and in combat clothes not a great mix." Qrow tried to cover up his posture. Summer then continued to look forward. Great, now she was suspicious. As they neared to edge of the woodland they saw the fallen temple. The four stopped and surveyed before they proceeded all clear, no Grimm, so far. The grass itself was up to their waist and was too thick to even see the ground. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. No howling or screeching. There were no chirps or twitters however. Raven made her way to the front of the group and they all looked around the clearing. Tai doing the same but staying away from the still annoyed woman. None of them could sense anything.

"Looks clear." Summer mumbled to them. The others nodded and the four of them started wading their way through the long grasses. Still no sound of Grimm. The smell of eroding ancient mortar wafted over to them. Still the only sound was swishing grass. Qrow silently signalled them to stop. The swishing of the grass continued. The wind, maybe?

"Over there!" TaiYang yelled. The grass to their left was being disturbed a hundred yards away from them. It then accelerated towards them. The group ran to the temple. They can't fight something they can't see. As they ran another creature was approaching them from the left. Both of the, now assumed Grimm, began to accelerate. They weren't going to make it. Qrow ran through many plans in his head, each scenario ending in fighting the beasts in the green sea of grass.

"Hold on!" Summer yelled and grabbed onto all three of them. Before the others could react, she burst into white rose petals. The petals skimmed over the trembling grass and headed straight for the temple. Summer got them to the crumbled temple in time before the Grimm reached them. The groups landing wasn't as great. Summer just about landed standing however the others were now behind her on the stone floor. They all looked at her in amazement.

"What was that?" Raven piped up. That surprised Qrow more than what had just happened.

"My semblance." Summer answered, straight to the point.

"Oh." Raven shrugged.

"OH?!" Tai exclaimed to Raven. "That was awesome. Can we do it again?"

"No!" The other three answered in unison.

"Well, when we've dealt with those things?" Tai smiled in question. Summer sighed heavily.

"Sure." Summer rolled her eyes. "We're getting off track." She shook her head. The four glanced out to the sea of deadly grasses. The Grimm, whatever type of Grimm they were, started coiling the temple. Not good. And on top of that, there were probably two of them. "They aren't going to leave are they?" Summer grumbled out what everybody else was thinking. Qrow looked behind them. Perhaps they could get out over the back. No the grassland seemed to go round the back of them as well. The relics!

"Guys, the relics are here."

"No shit." Raven commented sarcastically, he scowled back at her. Qrow walked over and picked one up. The statue looked like a glorified chess piece. A horse to be exact. Or if one wanted to be politically correct, 'a white knight piece.' Without a second thought, Raven picked up the other piece and then they turned their attention back to the circling Grimm.

"Erm. Raven?" She turned to TaiYang, a small scowl on her face. "What does your weapon do?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"No." Qrow tapped his chin. "He may be onto something. Maybe..." Raven tilted her head in confusion, then realised what he was thinking. She pressed a button on her blades sheath. The dust blades rotated so a fire dust imbued blade was attached to her katana. Raven walked to the edge of the crumbled temple and took her sword out of its sheath, the fire blade she now controlled in her palm. She swung from left to right, right to left and straight down the middle. The phantom fire blades scorched the, now black, grasses. The fire spreading the most of the other blades of grass.

"Go!" Summer yelled and practically pushed them forward. Just as they started to sprint away, a head of a king Tijitu crashed into the floor of the temple. The dark snake shook its head and screeched at them. It then ducked back into the grass and started surging towards them. This Grimm no long wanted to hide. The four ran towards the forest. They were going to have to fight this thing. Summer turned and confronted the first serpentine menace. "Tai, Raven. You take on the other one. Qrow and I will deal with this one." They all nodded in agreement.

Now it was their time to shine.

TaiYang flicked his wrists and gauntlets appeared on both wrists. He then punched a shot gun bullet towards the other approaching King Tijitu. The bullet hit it in the right of its ribs. It slowly weaved its head out of the grass and looked straight at him and Raven. He taunted the beast by waggling his index finger back and forth. "This way big boy!" He yelled. It too screeched in frustration and slithered furiously toward the partners. Tai and Raven ran into the dense forest. The snake followed them. The two hunters weaved in and out of the trees, disorientating the Tijitu. The Grimm stopped. Its tormentors had disappeared. TaiYang, using his gauntlets to propel himself, flew feet first into the side of its head. He then landed on its head and used overhead shots to batter the living hell out of it. As he was punching the beast however, a shadow crept over him. The other head was now joining the fray. As it went to strike him, a sword was sliced into its jaw. Raven, now controlling the white headed end of the Tijitu, forced its head into a giant oak tree. She then sliced downwards, amputating the white jaw off of the King Tijitu. The ashen head wailed in pain and blindly slithered through the forest floor, dragging the other head along with it. Raven ducked as low lying branches rushed towards her. "Just slice its head off!" TaiYang yelled. A thundering bang came from the direction of the temple.

"I would have done that already if I could, idiot!" She retorted. Then she had a plan. "Oi! Get over here!" TaiYang began to traverse the raging Grimm towards her. "Hold on!" She thrust her sword into the beasts head. It again screeched and began to accelerate. They looked at each other and nodded. TaiYang held onto the katana and readied his gauntlets. "NOW!" She yelled leaping off into the undergrowth. TaiYang using both shotgun gauntlets propelled himself forward, running the katana through the Grimm's neck. He landed a couple of feet away from Raven, her katana in hand and they watched as the Grimm blindly skidded into a giant sycamore tree. The creature crumpled up like an aluminium can, the ebony head crushing on impact. After a couple of moments the Grimm's body started to disintegrate into a plume of black smoke.

"That was awesome!" TaiYang yelled handing Raven katana back to her. "You got to admit it that was awesome!" Raven looked him up and down and huffed in amusement.

"Yeah it was 'Awesome'."

Summer and Qrow glanced as the other King Tijitu frantically went into the forest after Raven and Tai. The Grimm hissed and launched towards them. The two sprung apart. "Look out!" Summer called to him as he saw the white headed Tijitu open its jaws under him. His semblance being useful for once, caused the snake to miss him. Qrow landed on the head of the Grimm and sprinted down its spine, slicing left and right with his broad sword as he went. The darker head of the two spun around and aimed its fangs at Qrow. A sound the like the crack of thunder reverberated through the air. The head then recoiled as hit was hit with a bullet, then other. Qrow looked into the direction of the sound. Summer was now back at the temple, lying down on one of the pillars. Her dual swords had now converted into a 50CAL BMG sniper rifle. The next hit sent the head into a disorientated state. The other end of the snake took control and quickly started to surge towards Summer. Her Sniper rifle now practically useless at this close a range, she disassembled her swords into their previous form and hopped down the pillars. She landed on the grass and the Tijitu rammed her towards Qrow. The two heads, working in coordination with each other now started coiling the hunters. Too quick for them to realise the two were now trapped. Qrow looked around frantically. No opening. One weak spot at the top of the coil. The space in the beast began to constrict its coil. "Got a plan!" Summer yelled over the scales rumbling against each other. "Stay in the middle or you'll get hurt!" she placed her hands on his shoulders, manoeuvring him so he wouldn't get hurt. Summer then burst into white rose petals and began circling inside the coil, her swords slicing into the beast. Quicker and quicker she went. The Tijitu started to slow down its coil. Summer however surged upwards towards the top of the coil and sliced the weak spot of the beast. It screeched in agony and undid the coil. The white head of the Tijitu was decapitated in the grass. The charcoal head looked to its fallen half and reared its head ready to strike Summer.

"Give us a boost!" Qrow smirked. Summer smirked back and transformed her dual swords back into her sniper rifle. She crouched and pressed her rifle against her chest. Qrow ran towards her, leapt and planted both feet onto her back. Summer jumped and at the same time fired her sniper rifle. The recoil caused Summer to fling Qrow faster than he'd anticipated. He however transformed his broad sword mid-air into his scythe and began to somersault towards the dark headed Tijitu, becoming a spinning wheel of death. Before the Grimm could even react Qrow had sliced through the beast's neck. He landed in soft grass and stood up, looking at his handy work. Summer rushed up to him and clapped him on the back.

"We did it!" She danced in triumph. She held up a hand to him and they high fived.

"Yeah we did!" Qrow chuckled loudly.

The hall was filled with all the students who had participated in the assessment and the students who had completed it in the years before. Qrow felt an elbow nudge him in his side just as he was dozing off.

"Wake up!" Raven grumbled. He heard Ozpin's voice over the speakers.

"Bartholomew Oobleck, Patrick Port, Lucy Harington, and Bailey Kingstone. You in your pairs collected the white rook pieces. Therefore you have come to form. Team PBBL. And the leader is Patrick Port." The crowd roared as the four bowed and made their way off stage. A teacher motioned for Summer, Qrow, Raven and TaiYang to take to the stage. As they climbed the steps, Qrow saw Summer shrink back into her cloak. "Qrow Branwen, TaiYang Xiao-Long, Raven Branwen and Summer Rose. You in your pairs collected the white knight pieces. As such you have come to form. Team STRQ. With Summer Rose being the leader."

"Me?" Summer stuttered. The crowd hollered in welcome.

"Her?" Raven gaped. She looked over and saw Qrow and Tai congratulating her.

Here it is the chapter which I was looking forward to. In on time (ish) and over 2000 words. Thanks for sticking with the story. Just thought I'd clear up, I'm a brit so things may be spelt differently (i.e. colour instead of color or Mum instead of Mom). A lot of you seemed to like Tai being called it which I loved XD

Hope you liked the chapter! Follows and Favourites are more than welcome ;P Don't forget to comment about the story, what you like about it, what you want to see in it or any story ideas! (Any criticism is welcome but be polite please XP)

THANKS FOR READING! :D