Chapter 5: Setting of the Pieces
-Emerald Forest, with Ruby and Weiss-
"I knew I shouldn't have listened to you and your crazy idea!" Weiss yelled over the screaming wind as she and Ruby held onto the Nevermore for dear life as it flew in the air.
"My crazy idea?! You were the one who said to climb the tree in the first place!" Ruby retorted as they kept flying.
"Because we were being chased by rabid animals! Riding a Nevermore was not my plan!" The heiress shot back.
"Yeah well you should have said that earlier, O omnipotent leader!" Ruby barked back, which made Weiss seem personally insulted at how she was being talked to. "There's the ruins! If we jump now, we should be able to get there just fine!" She added as they neared the temple.
"Are you insane?!" Weiss yelled, but got no reply. She then noticed that her partner had actually jumped. "Oh, you insufferable little red-!" She nearly screamed.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile down on the ground, Jaune and Pyrrha were making their way towards the temple, when they saw Cardin and Russel snooping around a cave of some sort, prompting them to go up to them.
"What're you two doing?" The redhead questioned. The two jumped a bit before turning to them.
"Careful, would you?!" Russel hissed. "There's something in the cave and we don't wanna spook it!" He added.
"Yeah, so shut it so we can figure out how to kill it." Cardin told them. But as he said this, an idea entered his head. An awful idea, a wonderful awful idea. "Say, why don't you two go ahead of us and see what it is that's in there, that way we can figure out what it is, how to kill it, and if this cave is a short cut to the temple—all in the same go?" He suggested, though it didn't sound like a suggestion. "Think of it, three birds, one bullet." He added.
"I guess that doesn't sound too bad. Gimme a bit to make a torch." Jaune shrugged before he started looking around for some materials for a torch. A few minutes later, he and Pyrrha were heading into the cave while Cardin and Russel stayed at the entrance. After a bit, the two took off into the woods.
"… They'll be okay, right?" Russel asked his teammate.
"Hell if I know, not our problem now though." Cardin responded as they kept moving.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in another part of the woods, Ren was trying to sneak around a King Taijitu, who was flailing around whilst trying to hit him. This continued for a couple minutes, until Nora came in while riding a freaking Grizzly bear before killing one of the snake's two heads.
"I'm here, Renny!" She exclaimed as she grabbed her childhood friend before they rode off toward the ruins, the giant Grimm following them. After a sizable amount of running, they came across Cardin and Russel, who were surprised by the turn of events.
"Oh crap!" Cardin shouted with wide eyes as he and Russel ran by Ren and Nora. The snake Grimm tried to follow, but this same flock of Leafwings that Yang scared got in its way and forced it to change direction.
Back with Pyrrha and Jaune, the two soon found themselves face to face with a glowing teardrop looking stone. "Uh, Pyrrha, what the heck is that?" The blonde asked as the two looked at the glowing object… right as four pairs of red eyes opened and stared right at them.
"A sign for us to run!" She exclaimed as the apparent stinger flew at Jaune, only for him to just barely dodge and grab onto it… Bad move since he was now dangling from it as he screamed. The redhead ran out of the cave with the Deathstalker on her tail as her partner continued screaming before he was flung into the distance.
"AHHHH HO HO HOOIII!" The blonde yelled as he flew through the air again.
Pyrrha looked at the direction her partner flew and back at the old Grimm with an awkward look on her face before she turned around and ran in the blondie's direction.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back at the ruins, Fenris was busy examining the relic he and Luca retrieved, when Sun and Neptune came walking out of the forest as if they hadn't needed to deal with anything particularly nasty.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Sun asked casually.
"Did you two fight anything at all?" Luca asked with a raised eyebrow, finding it hard to believe that they got to the ruins without incident.
"A few mutant animals here and there, but mostly small fries." Neptune told him.
"How did you two avoid the Grimm that've been popping up?" Fenris questioned, getting a pair of confused looks from them.
"What Grimm?" Neptune asked before a scream was suddenly heard, right before Weiss fell on top of the Mistralian boy—almost breaking his back in the process.
"My hero." She said sarcastically, though she was still a bit shaken by the fall.
"You're welcome." The boy groaned before passing out, right as Ruby came flying out of nowhere and right into Fenris's arms… in a perfect bridal pose.
"Where'd you come, heaven?" The wolf faunus asked the girl in his arms, who giggled at his rather predictable pun.
"Flatterer." She said with a smile. It was at this moment that Jaune crashed in front of everyone with a groan while Pyrrha burst out of the trees with the Deathstalker following her.
"What. The. Fuck?!" Sun, Luca and Fenris gasped in that order as Nora, Ren, Cardin and Russel followed with the King Taijitu not far behind them, and the Nevermore from before also making its way after them.
"Weiss! Grab a relic and let's get out of here before we're Grimm chow!" Ruby told the heiress as she grabbed her weapon and everyone else started grabbing theirs and a relic. With a cry, the scythe user charged at the Death Stalker, only to get swatted back by it. She got up and tried to run, but a feather from the Nevermore trapped her by the cape.
"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang called in alarm.
"I'm trying!" The silver eyed girl called back as the scorpion Grimm scuttled toward her, stinger poised to strike.
However, before it could land, Fenris suddenly appeared in front of it and caught the stinger with his bare hands. His crimson aura flaring as his anger grew and grew at the arachnid's audacity to attack his Ruby, his treasure.
"Schnee! Why don't you get off your high horse and make yourself useful for once!" The lupine boy barked at the white haired girl rather angrily.
"Why you-! Ugh, nevermind." The heiress started to yell before sighing and pulled her rapier out before she dashed forward and froze the Grimm's stinger. Fenris didn't hesitate to rush to Ruby and rip out the feather pinning her down and hugging her tightly.
"Never do that again!" He told her as sternly as he possibly could right now.
"Sorry." She said, before looking at Weiss. "I just wanted to show that I could do this." She added.
"You're fine. A bit on the impulsive side, but you're still learning." Weiss shrugged.
"So are you." Fenris retorted as they started backing away from the Grimm.
"I never said I wasn't you—." The girl hissed before attempting to calm herself. "Let's continue this after we get these things off our backs." She said as everyone reconvened, and saw that the three Grimm were blocking their way to the extraction site.
"Well guys? Any ideas?" Luca asked as the four teams huddled up.
"I do—." Weiss started to say before Ruby cut her off.
"No offense, Weiss, but between you almost setting the forest on fire, not watching the line of fire during battle, and suggesting we get in a tree with a giant Nevermore in it. I don't really think you're the best one to come up with a plan right now." Ruby told her, standing her ground.
Weiss seemed hurt by this, but after a moment of thinking realized that the girl was mostly right, about her mistakes at least. "Then what do you suggest?" She questioned.
"Right now, we need to figure out a way to split them up. That way we can deal with them without worrying about them teaming up on us." The red tipped girl explained. "Who's willing to take which Grimm?" She asked.
"I'm more than willing to take the Taijitu." Cardin spoke up before looking at his team. "You boys up for kicking some tail?" He questioned, getting a trio of nods from his teammates. "So leave that to us, short stack."
"Don't call her that." Yang warned.
"We can handle the scorpion. Right, guys?" Jaune asked as he looked at Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, getting nods from them. "We'll deal with it, Ruby." He told her.
"I guess that leaves us to help you out with the Never–" Neptune started to say before a screech was heard, prompting everyone to look in the direction it came. What they saw shocked them.
It was a massive Grimm, and it seemed to tower over both the kids and the other Grimm. It looked like a giant Arma Gigas, but this one had a blood red hood and scarf, and it also had a giant white sword in one hand, and a similarly colored spear in the other. But what really shocked them was the pair of red bird-like wings it had coming out of its back. It looked like an armored Angel!
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile with Ozpin and Goodwitch, the two's eyes widened in absolute terror. They knew exactly what Grimm this was!
"A Watcher?! Here?!" Glynda yelled, fearing for the kids' lives.
"It's the Watcher of War, Azazel—he must be after—oh no." Ozpin said before dread hit him as he looked at Fenris and his newly formed team as the four boys brought out their weapons and everyone got ready for a battle… A battle for their lives.
Dragon Emperor0: Ya know, ever since we came up with the idea of the Watchers and the Four Horsemen, I came up with a Remnant Fairytale that actually ties into the Four Maidens story for them. Should we do a one shot of it?
ThermalsniperN7: Sure. Four Maidens, Four Horsemen. Sounds like a good system to me.
Dragon Emperor0: And in case you guys already pieced together, yes. Fenris is one of these Horsemen, more specifically he's the horseman of war. But given his name, who he is based on, his semblance, his weapon and his color scheme—I'm pretty sure you guys would have figured that out by the time you read this.
ThermalsniperN7: I should also take this moment to point out that Luca is NOT one of the Horsemen, though he is a failed attempt at one. What he becomes so he can still be Fenris' lancer is undecided at this time. However, what happened to him will become apparent in the future as the story progresses.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah, expect Luca to be way more important than Pyrrha in Vol 3 due to his connection with Cinder. As well as Vol. 3 being very different from canon in general. Anyway guys, see you next time.