Twisted~ Hi Pandas! How you doing?
Mika~ And hello, My lovely vixens~!
Twisted~ Pandas are cuter.
Mika~ I'm not talking about animals~!
Twisted~ I am very confused then!
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"So, you walked here, all by yourselves, without any form of support, navigation equipment or supplies?" Ozpin asked calmly, peering at the slightly older girl from across his desk, brow raised thinly in disbelief.
"Yep." I said lazily, my eyes narrowing at the man suspiciously almost on instinct. I knew what the Fandom said about Ozpin over everyone else, now to see if I could fool a memetic legend."And we found anything we needed to eat. Navigation equipment, well, your massive walls are visible from the mountains for miles around. Don't really need a map when your destination is literally visible at all times of every day."
"Ah, so you're from within sight range then?" Ozpin asked, smiling coyly and reclining in his chair. "Well, either way really, that is a long, long way to go. Impressive, even given that circumstance, for two young women to make that trek almost completely unharmed. So what village did you come from? I can send Hunters to check the area for survivors."
"You won't find a village up there. Not anymore, at least." I said, a bit of genuine sadness in my voice at the loss of my own home years before. "...Nothing's up there but ashes and memories. No one else got out, I know that much." And that was true. Several weeks before, Blackhaven, a faunus village, had burned down completely. There were no survivors.
"Perhaps, but all the same, I can still dispatch Hunters to eliminate the Grimm there at the least. Perhaps you simply missed the" Ozpin paused for a moment before grabbing another mug and offering it to her," My condolences, by the way. Coffee?"
"Do you have cream and sugar?" I asked meekly, nervously looking at the older man.
"Of course." He smiled, grabbing a small cylinder and sliding it across to me. "I also have milk in a fridge in the wall. And…. stronger substances as well, if you wish it."
"Thank you… Anyways… There was one entry into the village, our strongest point in the walls. Our plan always was simple- Man the walls, then seal the survivors inside the secondary defenses in the abandoned mine. Issue is…" My breath hitched, and his eyes softened slightly and he raised a hand.
"You needn't say any more if you feel unable. I can understand the issues, and the likely results. Of course, given recent events and your…. Nature, I do need the village's name. For security reasons." Ozpin smiled diplomatically, taking a long sip of his mug, and his eyes narrowed a bit.
"Blackhaven." I said, idly writing down the coordinates from memory, knowing they were correct enough. Ozpin looked at them, entering them into his scroll and looking at a map of the area, smiling oddly after a few seconds.
"Thank you for confirming that for me. Now… Seeing as you so skillfully managed to walk ten miles from your home to Vale, I must ask- Would you assist a teacher as a student teacher?" He steepled his fingers in front of his face, smiling confidently like he'd caught the fly in his web. I didn't like that look, it made me very uneasy in every meaningful way.
"I don't think I'm really qualified-"
"Nonsense. Experience is the best teacher. You will, of course, be compensated for your time with extra-credit." I sighed, looking at my hands. Admittedly, I did have decent enough survival skills, being able to identify edible plants easily, but that was something Blake could do as well. What Blake couldn't do, however, was know which ones to combine to form more potent mixtures for poisons or antidotes to said poisons. That was something I had learned on my assassination missions, killing Schnees and other High-priority targets in varied locations around the Kingdoms was really quite easy if you could spike their food or drink. At least, until the Schnees started renting entire Hotels for security.
"Alright, then. I accept." I took another sip of the coffee, and Ozpin smiled confidently, a look of satisfaction on his face," Can I, uh, go now I'm rather tired."
"Oh, of course. Very well then, I suppose I will see you at Beacon tomorrow." I got up to leave, turning. When I had opened the door and was just about to step through, Ozpin spoke up again with slight amusement in his eyes. "Also, next time you attempt to make an explaination, ensure that the West gate is not the longer path compared to the North one. I await Miss Goodwitch's report as you assist her in Criminal Studies, quite eagerly in fact. Welcome to Beacon, Miss Belladonna."
It was at that point that I knew. He knew I was White Fang, and my reaction probably solidified it in his eyes, stiffening in the door and nodding jerkily before ducking into the hallway hastily.
The two of us settled down into the corner, surrounded by the luggage of a hundred complete strangers and supplies. The two of us were down here to avoid the large, bustling crowd on the upper decks, our Faunus eyesight letting us read even with the dim lights of the airship. Sleeping on a crate was the only real option we had, since we had decided to come down here, but I had slept on and in much, much worse conditions before.
One situation I could remember distinctly was when I was surrounded by falling and knee-deep snow, a blanket overhead, protecting me and my sniper rifle from sight, the only warmth coming from the heated air under the blanket, warming herbs I had made, and a few hotpads I had squirreled away. I liked to collect warm things for… personal reasons. The warmth had absolutely nothing to do with it, beyond the obvious survival benefits.
"Hey, sis…" I said, my ears feeling a bit cold and twitching uncomfortably as a result. "Can I borrow your bow for a while? My ears are getting kinda cold."
"But, I, well, I need it…" She muttered, reaching up to touch it protectively," I can't take it off."
"Did you superglue something to your ears again?" I said with the straightest face I could muster. "Other than that, I don't see a reason why you can't take it off."
"I was six! Besides, you got some in your tail. And no, it's just… I kinda don't want people to know I'm a Faunus..." Blake's bow - and therefore her ears - flattened to her head nervously, and she started twiddling her thumbs out of habit.
"Blake... That's what you're afraid of? Some racist humans bullying you? They don't matter at all and you know that." She seemed to wilt slightly under my gaze after several seconds, and I sighed and rubbed my forehead, more worried about her now than my ears.
"But everything the White Fang has done…" Blake trailed off anxiously, bow still flattened and fingers still moving a mile a minute," I just want to… To start over."
"We aren't White Fang, though. Not anymore, and probably not ever again. We're Huntresses." I said calmly, grimacing after half a second," Well, sort of Huntresses, at least."
"I'm still keeping the bow on, though… I can't do it, sis." And then she gave me the look and I broke, like always.
"If you insist, sis." I sighed, rubbing my eyes and collapsing onto my crate tiredly," I won't say a word about it, anyone asks and our mum was a Human."
"Thanks." She whispered back, and I watched her curl up for warmth and a short nap. Blake really did enjoy those quick little naps.
"Everyone is staring at us, sis," Blake muttered, sitting beside the wall with me and trying to read while I brushed my tail, ignoring the looks I got regardless of type and from who. The speech had been short and boring, which was… odd. And now we were all supposed to sleep, together, in the ballroom.
Annoying…
Thankfully enough, only a handful of the glares were actually racist in nature, most of them most likely concerning the fact that I was wearing a tanktop and gym shorts and not much else. Less a Human problem and more just a problem that arises inevitably whenever women and men are together like this. Truly they were less actual glares and more leers, mostly coming from the males in the room. Blake and I were, of course, almost completely used to such looks given our past affiliations with the Fang, but that didn't exactly lessen the annoyance it caused.
Sensing Blake's anxiety, I smiled slightly and turned to her to whisper," Relax, they aren't looking at your head. They're looking at everything else you have going on." She blushed brightly, diving into her book with renewed vigor, and I laughed lightly," I can still go kick their asses if you want me to."
"No, that's... It's fine if that's all they're staring at. That, I can live with, even if it's relatively annoying at times." She smiled slightly, eyes regarding me with that minor glint of happiness I had learned to pick out," It's… nice, not to be seen as a freak by anyone."
"Those guys don't matter." I said calmly, grimacing slightly. "Could go without the leers though, honestly. Better than the racist glares though, I'll admit that much." She curled up on her side next to Blake, starting to sleep for the next day's events," Night, Blakey."
"Night, Lulu." Blake said gently, reaching out to scratch at my ears slightly before returning to her book. It was to this scene that Ruby Rose And Yang Xiao Long met Blake, though I tuned out the conversation entirely and simply went to sleep.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated to the fullest in the Emerald Forest." Professor Ozpin said easily, sipping his coffee.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Goodwitch said easily, and I smiled ever so slightly as I put the magazine I had been holding in the hilt of my sword, the rifle clicking as it accepted it.
I bit back a sigh as I heard Ruby's whine, inwardly wanting to hug her. I, myself, was standing on a spot of ground that did not have a spring, every other one taken by another student.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Goodwitch continued in her ever-crisp tone."That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"Whaaaa-?" I heard Ruby say, smiling slightly at the girl's reaction.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." he warned, taking a final sip from his coffee. I heard Jaune gulp, which I ignored, knowing that he would be fine in the end. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Any pair that meets Miss Belladonna here-" He pointed at me with his thumb- "Will have her join that team. Are there any other questions?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other candidates.
"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune said, holding up his hand hesitantly.
"Good! Now, take your positions." A spring fired, and the first student was flung into the air and I laughed lightly when Jaune kept trying to ask Ozpin questions and kept getting mostly ignored. One by one, they fired, and more and more students went flying. As the final student was launched, Ozpin looked at me, sipping his coffee as the springboards slowly reset. "I hope you and Miss Goodwitch work well together, Miss Belladonna. Please step onto the plate."
I stepped onto the plate as it fired, and sighed when it flung me into the air with a dull bang, reaching up to cover my ears from the wind that inevitably tore against my head and ears. Soon enough, I was forced to twist my body to the side to avoid a branch of a massive tree and I dug the teeth of my blade into the hard oak wood to force myself to a stop, grunting slightly.
Finally back on the ground a few minutes later, after having climbed down the at least two hundred foot tall tree, I finally stretched and rolled my slightly sore shoulder before the ache finally subsided, either healed by Aura or just stretched and mended on its own. Hearing a quiet snarl, I sighed and spun, the Creep's head dropping from its shoulders as a girlish scream came from far enough away that it was a waste of time to even try looking for it. The next three suffered much the same fate as the first, and I quickly slid my sword into its sheathe and turned to head North.
The journey itself was truly rather peaceful, few Grimm venturing this far towards the city that were of any real danger or consequence. About half an hour later, my ears perked up as I heard gunshots close enough I could do something, so took off running towards them, and I entered the clearing just fast enough to see Weiss save Ruby with a wall of ice.
"Sis!" I heard Blake yell, running towards me from the ruins with her blonde partner headed in the direction of the angry, stuck 'Stalker and the equally stuck Ruby, as jumped down, my sword shifting into it's much more powerful rifle form. The hilt slid around on the to form the handle of the rifle as well and the back end of the blade slid back as it expanded vertically into a small stock, another section of the blade hitching up to form a scope along the top. With an exhale, I raised my sniper rifle, lining up a shot with the Deathstalker's eyes in the hopes of hitting it with a painful shot at the least.
I pulled the trigger with an exhale, the stock bucking against my shoulder sharply, and the Deathstalker's yip of pain was audible to my ears as the others turned towards me and I cycled the bolt.
"So what's the plan?" I said to Blake when she got to me. "Apparently, I'm with your team, so I'll follow your lead, I guess." She nodded, and I winced when the Nevermore started circling around," Some ruins down the cliffside we could probably use to get some open area to fight in." She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of shattering ice startled us both and we simply turned to run as fast as our legs could carry us, the others quickly following suit when we ran past.
We ran, panting, as our eyes dart overhead at the searching nevermore, the nine of us hiding behind the stone. "We can't just keep running from the Nevermore." I whispered, staring at the others. "At some point, we'll have to drive it off or kill it if we want to leave." As if to prove my point, the Nevermore flew overhead, perching on a high column and cawing to the Deathstalker.
"Well, that's great!" Yang said testily, ignoring any pretense of stealth. I turned as the Deathstalker entered the area loudly, cursing to myself as I saw that I hadn't blinded the Deathstalker like I had hoped.
A chink in the chitin oozed Ichor, but it was nothing compared to the damage a missing or damaged eye would do. The Nevermore took to the air, circling around for an attack.
"Nora, distract it!" I heard Ren shout as the nine of us scattered to avoid launched feathers, and a few grenades hit the Nevermore, only a few impacting and even less doing any meaningful damage.
Blake and Ren attacked the Deathstalker, ruining its would-be ambush on Nora. As they jumped to the side and started to run towards us. "Go, go!" Pyrrha shouted, our rifles sounding out as the Deathstalker slowly inched towards us.
Ren fluidly reloaded his Stormflower as we scattered, dodging a claw, while Pyrrha and myself reloaded as quickly as we could, and I swapped my rifle into its sword form and put my sheathe onto my hip. I looked to the side, seeing the Nevermore that was going to plow into the bridge at any second, and my mouth opened in a warning. "Nevermore!"
The others heeded my warning as the future Team RWBY - With exception to Blake, and the addition of Nora and Jaune - stopped in their tracks as I started to run with the nevermore, running the way it was going- Off the bridge.
I heard the crack of the stone as the Nevermore barreled into the bridge, and then I was airborne.
My claws gripped feathers in a death grip as I dug my sword into the grimm, slowly but surely deepening the wound I was making as I put all of my weight on the sword, my Semblance forming spikes on my three-inch heeled boots that helped me grip onto the Grimm's bulletproof feathers.
I lost my footing as the Nevermore dove, turning and bucking, and then the grip my sword had had in the flesh gave way. I swore, gripping onto the feathers, and then I let go, falling roughly next to the soon-to-be Team RWBY. As I got up, they opened fire, no longer concerned over accidentally hitting me.
I shifted my sword, lifting my rifle and take a few shots towards the Nevermore, most of them hitting but none of them doing much damage. As I reloaded with AP rounds, I remembered something I had seen in RWBY.
"Weiss, I have an idea! Put an Ice Glyph in front of my Rifle!" I shouted, as she caught on and complied. A big crash was heard as the nevermore toppled a pillar, and she swore primly and silently. As I took aim, a large Glyph appeared, and I fired. The round hit the glyph, a small crystal following it as the round hit the Nevermore, piercing into its wing but stopping midway through.
The second part hit just afterwards, the ice crystal hitting it's wings and causing a thick layer of ice to form that shook it in it's place. Blake swung in with Gambol Shroud, slashing at the Nevermore and landing easily as the real teams were formed at last, just as I vaguely recalled from long, long ago. "I have a plan! Cover me!" I heard Ruby shout as Weiss re-engaged the Nevermore, Sending out a few crystals that hit harmlessly as it dodged or ignored our rounds, collapsing a wall as it hit it almost too easily to be real.
"Do your plan, we'll buy you some time!" Yang called out to her sister before sprinting up a crumbling pillar to a higher platform.
"Wait! Where are you going?" I yelled as I began to follow after her.
"Height advantage! Seriously, don't wait up!" Yang grinned, driving an explosive fist into the ground and riding the inertial shockwave ever higher.
I couldn't help but smirk a little. Height advantage on a grounded enemy was one thing, but the Nevermore was still fully airborne. This could be entertaining.
Yang scaled the stone tower with ease, standing before the oncoming Grimm like a champ one moment, and unloading a steady barrage of volatile volleys the next. The fireworks display enveloped the Nevermore in a fiery minefield, and it lasted mere seconds before taking a direct hit to the right side of its face. Careening in a drunken circle, the dumb thing charged Yang, beak gaping hungrily.
The situation until now had me watching in impressed amusement; As Yang leapt to greet the bird, however, my mood became that of dumbfounded shock. I had to do a double-take to make sure she hadn't been swallowed outright, and was relieved to see bright bursts of light escaping the corners of the Nevermore's mouth, accompanied by a beautiful battle-cry: "I! Hope! You're! Hun-gry!" With a final shot, Yang's blonde form fell to the ground gracefully. The Nevermore, not so much.
CRACK!
The entirety of the cliff that loomed overhead shook violently as the great bird ate stone at terminal velocity. It fell in a heap on the roof of a dilapidated temple, shrieking a mournful, injured cry. "Sis!"
I turned to see Blake waving me over, and I returned to the situation at hand. What are you doing? There's still a fight going on, dumbass! I scolded myself as I rushed to meet them. "What's up, Blakey?"
"A plan. Here's what we need to do…"
As Blake spoke, I watched Weiss move with unnatural speed to the Nevermore, which was recovering unexpectedly fast. As it began to rise once again, a sudden cold pressure on its tail made it squawk in surprise, a casing of thick ice rooting it to the ground. Meanwhile, the Schnee girl had returned to our end of the bridge.
"Blake!" Yang cried.
"Right." My sister turned to me with the lightest of smiles on her lips. "So, you got all that?"
"That's the plan?" I asked skeptically, grimacing slightly. "I mean, I see how it would work, but…"
"But you've got it?" She repeated urgently, glancing at Yang again, who motioned a universal, hurry the fuck up.
"...Yeah."
"Good." Blake leapt onto a pedestal, tossing her weapon's ribbon across to Yang, who stood opposite her. They both then stretched it taut, allowing Ruby to land, Crescent Rose and all, on the makeshift slingshot.
I joined Weiss, the uncomfortable feeling of irony falling on me as I worked with my lifetime enemy to lock Ruby in place. I didn't really feel like talking, but gritted my teeth just in case.
"Of course you would come up with this idea…" Weiss sighed as Ruby tensed herself in anticipation.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked quietly, seated on her scythe relatively uncomfortably.
"Hmm… Can I…" She asked cockily, smiling slightly and adjusting her position.
Both Ruby and myself looked at Weiss worriedly. My promise of silence going out the window quickly, enough so to surprise even me. "Can you?" We asked in unison.
"Of course I can!" She snapped quickly, rolling her eyes as if it was our fault for doubting her. I shrugged as Ruby cocked her weapon, putting a bullet in the chamber as the last step of preparation. Weiss thrust her hands forward, her locking glyph shifting from black to red with an admittedly impressive flourish, and I released my hold on the ribbon as the ungodly amount of tensile force was unleashed, the small, red-hooded girl flying faster than I had ever thought possible for a young girl.
"I'm betting she cuts the head off before they even hit the cliffside." Yang observed.
"I'm guessing halfway up the cliff." I said absentmindedly, still focused on the red smear flying across the sky, trying to remember the episode I'd seen so long ago it had become fuzzy in my mind.
"Are you honestly taking lots? That's so…" Weiss started, but felt the pressure as Yang and I glared in her direction. "I-I say the top of the cliff."
"What about you, sis?" I asked Blake, smiling when she glared lightly back. All three of us looked at her expectantly and she swallowed nervously.
"...Top of the cliff." She muttered quietly, more to get us to stop staring then anything else most likely.
"You're taking Weiss's side?" I asked in mild surprise.
"No. Look." She pointed at the scene we had all taken our eyes off of, revealing to us the outcome of our wagers. A small speck of Ruby stood at the peak, capping the view of a dismembered Nevermore's head behind her and a falling mass of blood and feathers.
"Oh. It was the top of the cliff." Yang said flatly. "I guess I lost."
"Ha. I knew it." Weiss said proudly.
"But we didn't bet anything, so it doesn't count." I reasoned, hoping I wouldn't have to pay off the ice queen. Giving money to a Schnee…
"Oh…" Her shoulders slumped sadly.