Chapter 4: Launch
M
Mondy's tail swished around behind her as she stood anxiously at the edge of the Beacon Cliff. Now, she wasn't afraid of heights, but she was afraid of the unknown. And what she didn't know was what she was standing on, why they were brought to a cliff overlooking a Grimm-infested forest, and, most importantly, who she was going to be partnered up with!
She silently prayed that she'd end up with her best friend Reyn. That would make life sooo much easier! It's not that she couldn't make friends, or didn't want to, far from it. She just wasn't sure if the other person would even want to be friends with her. What if she got partnered to a bully? Would she become a bully too? What would happen to Reyn? Would she bully him too?
"Hey, are you alright?" a boy next to her said worriedly. He probably had a worried expression too, but Mondy couldn't quite tell past his goggles over his eyes and bandanna pulled over his mouth and nose. Mondy remembered seeing him on the flight to Beacon. He looked like a noble. turned desert wasteland bandit. Underneath the goggles and bandanna he was a dark skinned boy with bright purple eyes. His hair was sloppily parted along his left side and a brassy gold color, his bangs barely eye length and swept to the right, almost making it seem like his head was lit with golden fire. Behind his fiery hair a gold headpiece was resting on his brow with five bright sapphires set into it. The goggles were black with gold rims around the protective glass and the bandanna was a faded tan color. Around his neck was a gold necklace with three rubies set into it. He wore a thin, worn, brown leather vest with two buttoned chest pockets over a faded pale orange shirt. A brown bandoleer was slung over his shoulder with several large dust sniper rounds inserted along its length. He also wore a belt with pockets for additional ammunition. On his back hung a large sniper rifle with a long barrel with a long blade attached to the underside. He also wore khakis and light brown desert combat boots. He stood several inches taller than her, then again most people did. Except that Tsuta guy... he was cool, easy to talk to too. If I can't partner up with Reyn, he'd be my second choice.
"I hope you aren't afraid of heights," the boy asked, jarring Mondy from her thoughts. She smiled at him reassuringly, "Oh please! Cats always land on their feet. Name's Mondy, what about you?"
"Saphron, it's nice to meet you Mondy."
Suddenly, Mondy heard Ms. Goodwitch saying something about partners and tuned in. "... Each of you will be given teammates... today." They went on to say that they'd be partners for the next four years and that their partner was whoever they first made eye-contact with.
Mondy took a moment to observe those around her. She saw Reyn further down to the left, next to a crimson-haired girl wearing aviators. Standing between him and Tsuta was a girl with short choppy purple hair. Her eyes were two different colors, one was a dark blue while the other was an equally dark red. Her expression seemed wholeheartedly disinterested. She wore a simple, form-fitting, violet colored coat with an upturned collar that was zipped to a spot just an inch or two below the collarbone. She wore purple, tight fitting pants and purple tabi shoes similar to Tsuta's. She had a leather strap and a bowstring across her chest that held a quiver and bow onto her back. There were more people beyond those four she would have to step out to see.
Mondy turned to the people on her right starting with Saphron. There was a girl in all black and white with a black bow atop her head, she seemed to give off an air of antisocial-ness. Next to her was a white-haired boy with a similar antisocial air about him that she recognized from the flight over to Beacon. Are they siblings? No they don't actually resemble each other despite their similarities. I wonder if those two would make great partners with each other or terrible ones. I just hope I don't get one of them, I just know I won't be able to deal with that level of antisocial. Beside him stood an older silver haired boy with a broadsword sheathed on his back who she saw on the flight as well. Beyond them stood an ivory haired girl and several more students she couldn't make out
It was only when Headmaster Ozpin said, "Are there any questions?" Mondy realized she hadn't been paying attention to anything they were saying... again. Just as she was about to speak up, because boy did she have questions, Ozpin cut off the opportunity with a "Good." She heard a mechanical sound and saw a student fly past her over the cliff. Then another. And another. Mondy looked down at the metal plate she was standing on and it clicked. She looked to her left to see Reyn in a readied stance as he was thrown off the cliff into the forest with the rest. Then the purple girl, followed by Tsuta.
Mondy crouched down, her tail moving to help her balance. Then she too was launched into the sky. She extended her legs, keeping her feet together, and spread her arms apart, enjoying the brief experience of flight. She then tucked her limbs in and rolled into a front flip. "Wooooooo!" she exclaimed joyfully. She pulled her weapons off her back, extending the hidden blades. She looked around to see the other students preparing for a landing. The purple girl was about to hit the ground too fast when her velocity suddenly decreased dramatically. Tsuta used his khopeshes to latch onto a tree to slow down his speed before he hit the ground, giving Mondy an idea.
Being lighter than the rest the others, she still had some air time before needing to land. To her right, Saphron was nowhere to be seen, but she did see the dark haired girl veering further to the right before landing, while the white haired boy seemed to slow down his flight using an invisible force. The grey haired boy had his sword in hand and was wearing armor. He flew through some of the taller trees, and then chopped into the trunk of a tree, stopping himself.
Mondy's turn to land was coming up. She adjusted her flight path towards a thick tree in front of her and grabbed her weapons, Zuerst and Zweite, and extended the blades. She sliced her blades into the tree and spiraled around it, using the tree as a braking system. When she slowed down considerably she activated her semblance, teleporting, using her remaining forward momentum to transition into a run as she touched the ground.
After several feet she ran into Boarbatusk. She quietly tried to sneak around the clearing where the Grimm sat. Just as she was about teleport away, her foot fell on a twig causing it to snap loudly. The monster turned to face her, red eyes glowing. "Okay this is happening," Mondy said readying her weapons.
The Boarbatusk charged Mondy bucking it's tusks aggressively. Mondy rolled right and easily dodged it as it charged past. The Grimm made a wide turn and began charging her again. She slid the blade of Zweite into the bottom of Zuerst, making it a blade staff, the Neigen form. When the Grimm closed in, she spun to the left on one foot, dodging the creature again, and slashing at its hide, only to find the hide was too thick and armored to cut through.
Mondy leaped backwards allowing herself more distance as the Boarbatusk readied for a third charge. This time however, it began spinning in place until it picked up enough traction and began to clumsily, and very quickly, make its way to her. Caught off guard, she only had time to react using her semblance and teleported the beast above her, where it's momentum continued to carry it past her overhead and hit the ground with a crash behind her. She turned to see it on on four feet and thankfully not spinning again. The Grimm began to rush her again as it did when she first encountered it. She pointed Neigen's blade to the ground in front of her, in the Boarbatusk's path. As it closed in, she thrusted the blade underneath the monster and, using all her strength, she drove the blade upward. She lifted the Grimm into the air above her, piercing its underbelly. She allowed the dark boar to fall back to earth, on it's back. Unsheathing Zweite out of Zuerst, slashed the creature's exposed underside, finishing it off.
She breathed a sigh of relief, glad her first encounter had gone so well. She smiled as she stood to continue her journey. What she failed to noticed was the two sets of eyes watching her. One was teal, the other was glowing red. The red eyes charged Mondy from behind, who only noticed at the last second, unable to react as the claws closed in. The teal eyes, however, watched and reacted. A gunshot rang out, and a Beowolf collapsed in front of her dead. She turned towards the saving sound, brown meeting teal.
"Well I guess that means we're partners," a boy's voice called out. The pair of eyes stepped out revealing the white haired boy from earlier. "My name's Gavin. What's yours?" Oh no it's one of the antisocial monochromes! What if we don't work well together? What if we end up hating each other? What if he turns out to be a total jerk? What if he turns me into a bully?! "Um... hello?"
So I barely changed anything in this chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it! In the original note here I thanked my first reviewer, and I'd still like to express that thanks to Dissolute, as he taught me the absolute joy of receiving a review.
Please leave a review so I know what you like (or don't like) and I can make this story all the better for you!