AN: Quick heads up about this story. I received several messages about the lack of Jaune in the last few chapters. He will return soon into the focus, but I want to use the initiation test to establish a few other characters (Mostly RWBY and CRDL). Afterwards there won't be another stretch without him this long again.
RWBY
Some people were just born unlikeable.
Pyrrha Nikos began to genuinely believe that sentiment when reflecting on the common theme of her interpersonal relationships. Outside of her family, the redhead couldn't name a single person maintaining meaningful contact once they've got to know her better. People were just repelled when getting past the shiny facade and saw the young woman behind.
She tried to be courteous, nice and generally pleasant, but it all broke down sooner or later, some way or another. Sparring partners she tried to befriend ignored her outside appointments, schoolmates using her name to get cloud among their peers, business people trying to make her promote their products, the list went on and on. Nobody cared beyond what she could do for them.
The worst people were those who actively tried to harm her out of base motives like jealousy or greed, although today marked a special opportunity to move the measuring stick higher.
Getting physically attacked out of the blue was a new highlight.
Weirdly enough, she wouldn't describe the young man assaulting her as especially threatening looking. He was almost a head smaller than her and had what Pyrrha would coin as the boy next door look, sporting light brown hair combed to the left framing a boyish face. Eye color was hard to pinpoint due to his constant squinting, which didn't seem to impede his ability to see.
The attack hadn't been surprising because of his actions. Signs couldn't have been more obvious with him walking up to her with his sword drawn and telegraphing the first swing from here to the shattered moon. It was the complete neutral expression without any emotion that made her question his intentions until metal struck her raised shield. He could have folded laundry with the same absentminded countenance and it wouldn't look out of place.
His complete silence during all of it also didn't help. She hadn't heard him grunt let alone speak one word so far. That's why she couldn't figure out the motivation behind this attack even one minute into their exchange.
Although she lacked information about his motives, Pyrrha could already tell a lot about his fighting ability. He used the most basic form of the valean one handed style, a poor pairing against her mistralian hoplite technique. The flawless execution on his part was the only reason she hadn't overwhelmed him thus far. Her inability to do so puzzled the champion enough to push further than usual to see him finally falter and capitalize on a blunder.
But the opportunity never came.
She went faster and he followed suit immediately. Her strikes became more vicious and his blocks stayed consistently perfect. Somewhere along this gradual upward spiral, Pyrrha lost herself in the flurry of blows as actual sparks began to ignite when their weapons clashed.
Her opponent chose to finally speak after an especially fierce string of attacks. "You haven't increased your speed, strength or technique for several minutes. Are you holding back or have you reached the limit already? "
The change happened gradual, a subtle shift in posture and redistributing of weight, before holding his sword pointed straight at her. The textbook stance of atlesian fencing and new source of headache. Mistral countered Vale, but Atlas destroyed Mistral. Through trial and error in the arena she had adapted certain ways to get by against this style, but never had to actually fight against somebody using it at a high level.
Her hopes of him being not as good at fencing were dashed at the first exchange, putting her immediately on the back foot. Atlesian fencing consisted of precise pokes for an opening, quick and sudden like a gunshot. The weapon in his hand wasn't made for this kind of fighting, which should have resulted in a subpar performance.
It simply didn't.
A tipping point was reached where she came up against a combination she couldn't counter perfectly. She took a glancing hit against her shoulder, the first in their whole fight and a scratch her aura barely recognized as a threat. Almost nonconsequential for most, but a giant chink in the armor of the invincible girl.
It made the decision of her opponent to switch again immediately all the more puzzling.
Vacuan marauder style at this point in the fight was just a bad call. Arms wide open, swaying motion with lots of bobbing and weaving, the user had to implement a rhythm almost like a dance. Besides being the least refined of all styles of Remnant, it was also the most physically taxing through all the intense movement necessary to pull it off. A lot more room for error where every slip up could cost you everything.
And despite that, she didn't manage to use this chance for anything more than stopping her imminent defeat.
Then their fight went completely off the rails when his attack patterns lost any rhyme or reason, mixing and matching everything so far in a hodgepot of random strikes and pokes. The moment Pyrrha saw her own style replicated between interspruced dance moves, she realized something very simple fueled his constant switching.
Her opponent was bored. She, Pyrrha Nikos, was boring him to the point he was fooling around.
Wounded ego raised its ugly head and her weapon glowed in a subtle black aura. The difference was immediately noticeable as the speed, force and general movement of her blade jumped in intensity; strikes coming at angles a human shouldn't anatomically be able to make without dislocating the wrist.
Dove showed a visible reaction for the first time, his eyes widening to normal from the lazy slits he had before. The constant switching of styles remained under the new barrage of attacks, this time focused on efficiency in every situation. A style made from the collective of four nations worth of martial history.
A style of Remnant.
Pyrrha had to face this new reality of somebody going the distance against her best, semblance infusing every action she made. Consequently, the invincible girl had to accept said semblance was the only thing keeping her afloat in this fight. The thought scared and excited the champion to the same extent. Sweat ran down her skin and she was out of breath, muscles shaking from exhaustion. And yet, Pyrrha couldn't point to a moment in her life where she had felt more satisfied. Only her opponent's still calm expression was infuriating to look at.
At least he was panting as hard as her when he finally spoke again. "My name is Dove Bronzewing. I consider myself the most complete swordsman in all of Remnant."
Quite the statement for such a quiet individual.
"I haven't earned this title, since my semblance does all the work for me. It grants me perfect muscle memory and control."
As a seasoned arena fighter, Pyrrha realized what that kind of ability implied about her opponent. A fight consisted of three basics. Decision making, reaction time and correct execution. Mastering all of them meant becoming untouchable and having a power that took care of two parts helped a lot.
"In a straight up sword fight, I can not be beaten by skill alone." Dove frowned at Pyrrha for the next part. "The funny thing is that despite my obvious advantage, you could have defeated me anytime you wanted by using your semblance."
"So he figured it out…" Pyrrha thought, chastising herself for being reckless with the usage of her powers. Polarity was a potent ability, bordering on complete bullshit in her chosen profession. Against other people, the means to take away and crush their weapon with a thought meant she had access to a win button at all times.
"Why didn't you?" Dove asked with genuine curiosity in his voice, the first sign of emotion she got out of him.
"Because it's a cheap and unsatisfying way to win."
Dove changed expression from the emotionless mask to deep thought, looking at Pyrrha as if he was seeing her for the first time. The sword dropped from his hand and so did Pyrrha's stomach from disappointment when his weapon clattered loudly on the ground. Losing the will to fight against her was common among opponents finding out about the polarity semblance.
He grabbed into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small metallic cylinder, the size of a slightly bulkier sword handle. From another pouch he produced a small dust crystal. The handle without blade opened to reveal a small compartment in which the crystal fit perfectly.
It closed again and Dove had closed the distance between them before the accompanying clicking sound had ended. Just before impact, a flash of light ignited from the hilt and Pyrrha instinctively raised her shield to block, but found herself without protection a moment later as it cluttered to the ground in two pieces. She stared dumbfounded at the remnants of Akoúo̱, the cuts at both parts smoldering white hot.
The handle of Dove's weapon wasn't without a blade anymore. Where the sharp part for striking and poking should be, the handle sprouted instead a pale white light pillar with the same thickness and length of his former sword.
"This weapon uses a hard light crystal to create a blade. It's weightless and cuts anything it touches. Even aura won't protect you longer than a few seconds."
He demonstrated his claim on a boulder, cutting through it like paper and making molten rock drop all over the ground
"It's a devastating weapon and completely unique to me."
No argument there, since she never could justify using something similar. A weapon like that was just as dangerous to the user than anybody else. No weight meant no feedback for swings and the light made it difficult to keep track of it's length during a swing. One mistake and you could cut yourself to pieces.
"I'm sure nothing in this weapon can be affected by your semblance. Say the word, and this whole thing ends with me stepping aside and letting you pass. I won't force you to fight me anymore. "
Pyrrha answered by getting into a defensive stance and received a small smile from Dove in return.
Defense was the word of the hour. Against a weapon that made blocking and parrying useless, dodging became the only course of action. Instead of affecting her weapon, Pyrrha used her semblance on the various metal accessories on her body. Moving the circlet on her head made sure it stayed connected to the rest of her body, the same with the bracelets, steel boots and reinforced corset. A nerve wracking game of tag began, where one mistake could cost her everything.
The nameless style of Dove contained only fluid motions with no stopping points and no regards for blocks or parries, which made sense considering those options weren't possible for his opponents without losing their weapon or worse a limb. Every doctrine of combat drilled into the tournament fighter advised her to change tactics against a foe superior in close combat. She could change her mechashift weapon Miló into its rifle configuration and take potshots until his aura gave out. As gifted as Dove was at close range, nothing on him showed any regard for compensating against ranged attacks.
Selfish pride stopped Pyrrha to act upon better judgement, a feeling wholly unfamiliar to her. Without an avenue to attack, her loss would be inevitable. Regardless, she refused to back down against these staggering odds. Pyrrha welcomed them even and desperation made her remember one detail he had revealed about his weapon. She rushed him in a complete mirror of his earlier charge, seeing confusion on Dove's face from the suicidal action. His weapon raised to meet her sword head on and he expected to slice her weapon into two pieces.
Light and steel connected. Steel didn't vaporize to Dove's astonishment and Pyrrha's great relief.
The young man stared in awe at the metal sword pressing against his light equivalent, glowing faintly through a force field surrounding it and preventing the blade from suffering the same fate as her shield. She was feeding her aura into the weapon, which granted short clashes before fizzling out. A crazy and unsustainable tactic, but for all its recklessness, it allowed Pyrrha to get offensive again.
Getting blocked wasn't anticipated when Dove created the weapon and the style. Genuine excitement filled him when faced with something he didn't already have a way to answer. This whole farce of an initiation test had already paid out. Coming to Beacon had already paid out.
The writing was on the wall for this fight. It could only end in two ways and it would end at their next exchange. She had to find a way through his currently imperfect style, before the remainder of aura surrounding her sword was spent or Dove had enough time to adapt.
One final clash, throwing everything she had at him and hoping for the best, something Pyrrha never imagined being her last option for a victory. Hard light blade against her aura-enforced sword in a desperate gambit. Dove saw it as well, receiving her attack head on in full collision. Light and lifeforce sparked and flared against each other. She could feel herself weaken, pushing every remaining drop into maintaining the thin barrier standing between herself and total defeat.
Eventually, she fizzled out and had to watch in slow motion as her weapon was eaten away millimetre by millimetre, ready to see her beloved Miló reduced to molten slack. Dove's weapon turned off halfway through, surprising both of them with its abruptness. Without resistance, Pyrrha's sword came down unopposed towards his exposed neck and she lacked the reflexes to correct the course.
It was then, where Dove revealed the last nation to complete the set. Although Menagerie wasn't recognized as a country by most, their culture didn't lack behind any of the established kingdoms. Including but not limited to a thriving history of unarmed martial arts, focused on disarming an opponent.
Two palm strikes and an elbow later, Pyrrha nursed a weaponless hand with an aching wrist and a busted lip, her breathing heavy and uncoordinated. Burning through her aura had halted any damage reduction. Both stared at each other, unarmed and momentarily perplexed about the outcome.
Dove found his bearings first. "My weapon ran out of juice. I forfeit."
I took a moment for his words to register through the red haze of her battle lust, but when it finally did, the response was visceral in nature as her gut bubbled over with outrage. "No you don't!" her arm lifted towards his dropped sword on the floor, the metal enveloping in her semblance's black signature aura before it flew towards him. "Take up your other weapon and continue!"
Dove sidestepped the floating weapon and let it hit a tree behind him. "I don't see the point."
"The point is me having the most exciting and thrilling fight of my life, the kind of challenge that doesn't bore me to death. Don't take this from me!"
The sword began to glow black again, this time moving towards him more gently, almost like a needy animal vying for his attention that Dove promptly ignored. "It isn't the same without my hard light weapon fully functional. Anything else is just going through the motions."
"You almost beat me without the fancy light stick!"
Disdain filled his eyes when he stared at the floating sword before him. "So long if you ignore that a flick of your wrist could end it at any time."
Pyrrha grabbed him by the collar and screamed into his face. "Then fix your stupid thing!"
Dove looked at her with a calm expression, their noses inches from touching as minty breath hit his face. She let go of him and sat down with her face covered by both hands. There the girl sat, taking in the air in deep gasps to calm herself.
"You're surprisingly mean under all that fake politeness, Miss Nikos."
"I'm just frustrated..."
He pulled out and stared at his empty weapon. "The feeling is mutual. Do you have an idea how expensive and rare even this subpar crystal of dust has been?"
Before she could make a guess, a new voice answered with authority. "I would assume close to sixty thousand lien, give or take a few thousand depending on market demand and other factors."
Weiss Schnee made her presence known with huge flair. She had remained just out of sight for the duration of their fight, watching the events unfold with great scrutiny. Sky took less interest in the proceedings, rather taking care of their bike after it had to endure a full race and journey through a grimm-infested forest.
"That was quite the showcase of martial prowess. I'm impressed and surprised to find not one but two fighters with such talent."
The exhausting fight and disappointing conclusion had drained Pyrrha of all ability to stay polite against the blatant flattery. "I wasn't clear enough before, so let me be blunt. I'm not considering becoming partners with you, Miss Schnee."
Weiss wasn't perturbed by the open rejection and Pyrrha's refusal to look at her. "Understandable, since I made the mistake of keeping the benefits of a partnership too vague." She waved Sky to join her side. "Mr. Lark, would you be so kind as to hand me back my property?"
Sky earned a raised eyebrow from Dove, but he just rolled with her request and presented the case of dust after it appeared beside him. "Of course milady, as per our honorable agreement."
The heiress turned up her mouth slightly in disapproval of his mocking antics, but took the case from him without commenting further. The case opened, revealing it's valuable contents towards Dove and Pyrrha; several rows of high-grade hard light dust crystals in perfect condition. After seeing the fight, Weiss figured out why Sky stole this particular case of dust and it offered a promising opportunity.
"This should suffice to continue your duel in a satisfying manner, after the initiation test is completed and teams have formed, of course."
Dove was stunned into silence by the worth presented in this small case. He could build ten hard light weapons with this amount of dust and power them for months. Although, a more pressing matter was Sky handing said dust back to the girl. "You stole that from a Schnee? Are you out of your mind?!"
Sky shrugged. "You needed the stuff and she had it. What's the big deal?"
"Her family could hire every hitman in Vale to get this dust back and it would still be a profitable investment. That's the deal, Dove!"
The animated reception from the boys about her offer pleased Weiss, especially the recognition of her family name by Dove. Pyrrha was less enthused, seeing the generous offer for what it was at its core. A simple bribe to get her way like usual and not taking a no for an answer.
"So that is your new way of gaining my favor? A handout?"
A filthy amount of money wouldn't sway the champion to do anything. The Nikos family wasn't short on cash either. If push came to shove, Pyrrha would break her own bank account to make this duel happen.
Sooner rather than later.
"What is it that you want then?" Weiss asked, closing the case with more force than necessary. Any pretense of warmth had vanished as she entered her negotiation mindset. The wait for hearing Pyrrha's demands had the heiress on edge with multiple scenarios running through her head.
With what Pyrrha came up with wasn't one of those scenarios. "I want to make friends."
"Really?" Weiss chuckled in a rare display of amusement. "Is that why you are still here instead of finding a partner even after several opportunities to leave? Did the burning desire to become friends made you stay in the fight?"
The words of rebuttal were stuck in Pyrrha's throat.
"I thought so." Weiss rolled her eyes. "Even if you don't realize it, you have your priorities straight and that's why you will act in your best interest."
"And that is to be your partner? Awfully convenient for you, isn't it?"
A noticeable shift in demeanor came over the Schnee heiress. "What makes you dislike the idea so much?" Weiss said, her voice laden with venom and pain. "Do you believe the stories people tell about my family? The Schnee wanting to control the world and shape it in their image? Are you afraid I would use your status and fame for my benefit? Do you think I only choose you because of your abilities, disregarding the human being behind?"
Pyrrha looked down to the ground in shame. She knew how judgemental people can be, being on the receiving end of rumours and slander all her life. They were in a similar position in a way, both put into roles that set good and bad expectations about their character without the chance to ever correct most of them.
Weiss lifted Pyrrha's chin to make her look into frosty pale blue eyes, full of emotion as the smaller girl smiled at the redhead. "If that's the case, you are right on the money."
Silence reigned in the forest, Pyrrha being caught off-guard into an emotional whiplash as the warmth dripped from Weiss's face and revealed the stoic mask from before.
She slapped the hand cupping her face away. "You tricked me!"
"You let yourself be tricked. Excuses are the crutches of the weak minded. I've been honest about my intentions to acquire you since day one."
Acquiring her like a piece for a collection.
The infamous Schnee cold traveled up Pyrrha's spine when she realized something way too late. Weiss and her weren't similar at all to each other, not in the slightest degree. Where Pyrrha resented her place in the world, Weiss accepted and relished in the position she found herself since birth. And now, she had become an asset to ensure and further this position.
"We will achieve great things together. I'm really looking forward to this partnership."
"At least one of us is, Miss Schnee."
"Please, call me Weiss."
"No, I won't."
The two forgotten guys stood a bit lost among the interpersonal drama unfolding before them. Sky pulled out a deck of cards and they used a nearby tree stump as table for a round of Blackjack with him as dealer.
"Should we give them some privacy?" Sky drew the first card and frowned. "I feel like we walked into the middle of a villain origin story."
Dove agreed, looking at his first card with a smile. "Yeah, talk about being a third wheel. That's quite the insane effort to get a roommate you want for four years."
"More than organizing a test within a test to find the perfect partner for Jaune? We have no room to talk, Dove."
Both sighed and drew their second card.
"You two!" Pyrrha came stomping towards them, carrying the case of dust and Weiss in tow who walked in a much calmer gait. "You are partners, right? Let's form a team!"
Any pretense of civility was gone, the champion of Mistral channeling the energy of a desperate woman.
"The thought of my partner has merit." An attempt was made to hide her interest, but the eyes of Weiss couldn't hide the truth. The Schnee heiress stared at them like a piece of meat and both weren't conceited enough to believe it was about their good looks. The ultimate pack mule and a fighter on par with the invincible girl sounded like fine additions to her repertoire.
"Cardin wouldn't appreciate that." Sky turned over another card. "Twenty one."
"No, he certainly wouldn't." Dove clicked his tongue and pushed his cards towards his partner for a new round.
"Then let's have a word with this Cardin and convince him otherwise."
The guys chuckled at the thought, Sky more openly than the reserved Dove. "Feel free to try, but I won't be able to stop him when you piss him off. "
"Same here."
There was no doubt in their voices and it perturbed the two girls. Their leader was above them in strength in both of their eyes and it seemingly wasn't even close enough to attempt. Especially Pyrrha stared at the resigned Dove in deep contemplation.
"What about Jaune?" Pyrrha finally asked.
Sky and Dove exchanged looks. "It depends," the former said. "Without stakes Jaune wins, no questions asked. When they try to kill each other, it becomes anyone's game."
"What makes you so sure?"
Dove answered for both. "How do you think they became friends?"