I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Enjoy.


Chapter 4: Initiation

It is early in the morning and Velvet is the first to wake up from her sleep. Sitting up she stretches her limbs before standing up and folding the bed sheets Ruby gave her. After that, she looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7:00 in the morning.

"Well, might as well get some breakfast. Wait, where do you get food around here?" she wonders. She looks around before her eyes fall on Ruby's bunk. "Should I wake her and ask? Velvet thinks as she walks up to Ruby's bed to see the scythe wielder sleeping peacefully. "No, I should let her sleep," she decides as she gazes at her a moment longer.

Unbeknownst to her, Blake was already awake, watching her from her bed. She watches as Velvet looks at Ruby. When Velvet turns around, she notices Blake staring at her, but if she was surprised, she didn't show it.

"Good morning, Velvet," Blake whispers as she sits up.

"Morning, Blake. You wouldn't happen to know where to get some food around here would you?" she asks.

"There's the school's cafeteria. You want me to show you where it is?" she asks.

"That would be nice," Velvet replies.

"Alright. Just give me a minute to get changed and I'll show you. I'm a little hungry myself anyway," Blake says.

"Thanks," Velvet says.

Blake gets up, grabs her clothes, and enters the bathroom to get changed. While she's getting changed, a sudden thought occurs to Velvet.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that I can't taste food because of my curse. Well, since Grimm aren't demons and they dissipate into smoke when they die, I can't eat them. And it would be weird if I don't eat regular food here. Guess I'll just have to get use to eating tasteless food for a while," Velvet thinks.

Blake comes out a moment later in her regular attire and the two head out to the cafeteria for breakfast. The walk is quiet since the two made no attempt at conversation, which wasn't really a problem since both girls weren't that very talkative. A few minutes later, they enter the cafeteria and grab two trays for their food. Blake grabs some tea and waffles with butter while Velvet gets orange juice and some bacon and eggs. Finding a spot to eat isn't difficult since the cafeteria is mostly vacant except for a few students. The two girls find a spot to sit down and Blake begins eating her food. However, Velvet is more hesitant, which Blake notices.

"Aren't you gonna eat? You did ask about food earlier," Blake asks.

"Y-yeah, I am…It's just been a while since I've eaten normal food," Velvet lies. "Well, might as well get it over with," Velvet concedes and uses her fork to grab some bacon. Velvet takes a bite, and her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. "I…I can taste it. I can taste the bacon. But how? I could only taste the blood of the demons I ate before and that was all," Velvet wonders how this is possible and shortly one theory comes to mind. "Did…did that woman have something to do with this…Well, even if she did, I can't say I'm complaining now that I can tastes real food again," Velvet concludes before she starts eating her food with more vigor.

Blake raises an eyebrow at Velvet, "You must really haven't had regular food in a while if this is your reaction to regular bacon and eggs. How long has it been exactly?" she asks.

Velvet stops and looks at her, "A…a long time I guess. I've been traveling through the wilderness for a while now and had to live off the land to survive," Velvet replies.

"I see. Must've been rough," Blake says as she sip her tea.

"You have no idea," Velvet mutters before they finish their breakfast.

After finishing their breakfast, the two walk back to Blake's dorm, making mild small talk along the way. Once they reach the dorm, they notice Professor Goodwitch walking towards their dorm from the opposite direction. Goodwitch notices them and meets them in front of the dorm.

"Good morning, Miss Belladonna. Miss Crowe," Goodwitch greets them.

"Good morning Professor Goodwitch. Did you come to speak with Velvet?" Blake asks.

"Yes, I need to discuss something with her before she begins her initiation. Also, Professor Ozpin wants your team, along with the rest of the first year teams to come to the amphitheater to watch it take place," Goodwitch explains.

"Okay, I'll let them know," Blake turns to Velvet. "Good luck in your initiation. We'll be cheering for you," Blake says and enters her dorm.

"Alright, let's go," Goodwitch says, to which Velvet nods, and they leave as well.

A short while later, the two are outside and on their way to the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Velvet asks.

Goodwitch turns to face her, "I need to ask you if your aura has been unlocked yet," she explains.

"Aura, a manifestation of one's soul. It acts like a shield, but loses strength as you take more damage. I guess that would be a no for me since that wasn't possible back in my world," Velvet mentally notes. "Uh, no I guess not," she shrugs her shoulders.

"I see. Makes it all the more surprising that you took down over two dozen Beowolves, by yourself, and without your aura unlocked. If that's the case, then before you can begin the initiation, we'll have to unlock your aura. I can do that myself right now if you wish," Goodwitch offers.

"Well, it would provide me with extra protection when I fight. I just hope this works for a demon like me," Velvet thinks. "Alright, let's get this over with," she says, waving her right hand around.

"Good. Now, I need you to close your eyes and concentrate," Glynda instructs her. Velvet does as she is asked and closes her eyes. Goodwitch then places her hand on Velvet's chest, closes her own eyes as she focuses her aura and then opens them wide. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee," she mutters as Velvet's body glows with her aura being unlocked.

Goodwitch removes her hand and hunches over in exhaustion.

"Are you alright?" she asks, showing a little concern.

"I'm fine. I merely used my own aura to unlock yours. However, now the power that protects you is your own. But you must remember to always be careful when you're fighting. Your aura will not always be enough to keep you alive," she says as she stands up straight again.

Velvet raises her hands and sees a faint dark red glow emit from them.

"Interesting," she mutters. "I guess maybe I do still have a soul," she thinks to herself.

"Looks like you have quite the large amount of aura in you. That's quite uncommon. Well then, enough about that. Let's head to the cliffs. Professor Ozpin is waiting for us there," she says.

A few minutes later, they see Ozpin standing by the edge of the cliff, with his cane and his coffee mug in hand. Velvet takes notice of several pads with the Beacon Academy logo on the ground in front of him. Velvet steps onto one of the pedestals while Goodwitch tales her place beside Ozpin.

"Good morning, Velvet. I hope you've had a pleasant morning so far," he greets her.

"Eh, nothing too special. So this is where I'm supposed to have my initiation?" she asks, hand on her left hip without much of a care in the world.

"Yes. Your mission is to reach an abandoned temple in the forest and retrieve a relic located there. After you retrieve the relic, you are to return here with it. Guard it at all times. The Emerald Forest is full of Grimm, so do not hesitate to destroy anything that gets in your way…or you'll die," he explains is if that wasn't a bad thing.

"Gee, is that all? Shouldn't be too hard," Velvet says nonchalantly.

"Well, you'll find out soon enough. Also, you should come up with a good landing strategy quickly before you land in the forest below," he says.

"Landing strategy? What do you mean by that?" she asks, confused. A clicking sound is suddenly heard beneath her feet and she looks down. Her eyes go wide as she realizes what he meant. "Oh, you conniving, little-," she couldn't finish as she is suddenly launched into the air.

Ozpin watches on while sipping his coffee, "Ah, that never gets old," he says with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, all the first year teams were in the amphitheater, watching Velvet get launched into the air for her initiation. Team RWBY sat up front along with their friends and fellow team, Team JNPR.

"I'm pretty sure Professor Ozpin likes shooting people into the air like that," JNPR leader Jaune Arc says nervously.

"You think?" Yang flatly replies.

"I hope Velvet will be alright," Ruby mutters, concerned.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Pyrrha Nikos assures her as they all look back to the screen.

Velvet flies through the air and starts falling towards the forest floor.

"Gotta think fast!" Velvet says. As she approaches the tree line, Velvet activates her demon arm and imbeds its claws into the side of a tree and twists around the tree before jumping off to land on the ground with a roll. "I find it hard to believe that that crazy old fart is the headmaster if this is how he treats his students before they even become his students," Velvet mutters.

She retracts her demon arm and starts heading towards the old temple.

Back at the school, the audience are in shock a little bit at seeing Velvet's demon arm.

"What was that? Was that her semblance?" Weiss asks, eyes wide.

"It could be, but I've never seen a semblance like that before," Blake says. Equally shocked.

"Wow! That was awesome! It's like she has a sloth arm of death!" Nora shouts, having a different opinion.

"Nora, I hardly believe that was a sloth's arm," Ren tries to calm her down.

"Woah," Ruby mutters, amazed at Velvet's ability.

Velvet continues her trek through the forest, searching for the temple.

"Pretty quiet out here…That's never a good sign," she thinks as she looks around.

Her instincts prove right as a few minutes later, three Ursai appear from behind the trees and stop her advance. Velvet brings out her arm blade and lowers her stance, preparing to fight. All three Ursai charge at her, and Velvet jumps over them while landing on the back of the one in the center. She swings her blade and slices the Grimm's head off before jumping off as the second one takes a swipe at her with its claws. Velvet lands on the ground and runs at them. The second Ursa runs at her was well and jumps at her when it gets close. Velvet ducks and slides under it while slashing its body down the middle through the slide, killing it. After she stops, Velvet jumps up and kicks the third Ursa in the face, staggering it and then thrusts her blade into its skull. Velvet pulls out her blade and the dead Ursa falls to the ground, evaporating into smoke. With the battle over, Velvet retracts her blade and moves onward.

Back at the amphitheater, the crowd continues to watch Velvet's initiation.

Yang whistles, "Not bad. I'm starting to see why the headmaster accepted her," she says.

"She's definitely got some experience with fighting. That, I am sure of," Pyrrha notes.

"You can do it, Velvet," Ruby cheers her on, pumping her fists in the air.

After traversing through the forest for a while, Velvet finally makes it to the clearing where the abandoned temple is located. Velvet looks around to check for any more Grimm. Seeing no signs of them, Velvet moves towards the temple and reaches the center. There, she sees chess pieces laid out on the pedestals.

"Guess these must be the 'relics' Ozpin told me about. But chess pieces, huh? Someone has a twisted sense of humor. Better pick one and head back then," she says.

Velvet looks through the pieces and eventually decides on a white knight piece. After choosing her relic. Velvet prepares to head back, but then hears a loud screeching noise from the tree line. Looking to her right, she sees trees moving…meaning something big is coming. A moment later, a large Deathstalker breaks through the tree line, screeching as its eyes lock on to Velvet.

Velvet's eyes widen for a moment, "That might be a little too much to handle on my own. Luckily, I only needed to get the relic and head back. No point in fighting this thing now," Velvet concludes before she starts running towards the cliffs.

The Deathstalker gives chase. Velvet runs through the forest, using the trees to help slow it down as she tries to escape. The tree manage to slow it down, but only a little as Velvet continues to run towards the cliffs. A few minutes later, Velvet exits the forest and races towards the cliffs, passing by some old ruins along the way. She sees some ruins ahead of her and races towards it. However, she quickly stops as she reaches the edge of the cliff to see a destroyed bridge, with the ruins standing in the center of the canyon, and the cliffs on the other side. Velvet looks around, trying to find a way across, but to no avail. She turns around as she sees the Deathstalker come out from the trees, coming towards her. With no way out, Velvet has no choice but to fight.

On top of the cliffs, Goodwitch immediately becomes worried as she watches on her scroll the situation below, while Ozpin remains as calm as ever.

"Ozpin, we have to stop this. She can't possibly be able to defeat a Deathstalker all on her own!" Glynda exclaims.

"We cannot interfere, Glynda. This is her test. Besides, I have faith that she will prevail. All we can do now is watch…and hope," Ozpin replies.

Glynda grits her teeth in frustration as she watches on.

Back at the school, most of the people in the amphitheater become worried at the scene in front of them.

"How is she supposed to defeat a Deathstalker by herself? When we fought it, it was the four of us, and even then, we almost died," Jaune says, worried.

"Come on, we can't count her out just yet, can we?" Yang says, trying to stay positive.

"I honestly don't know if she can Yang," Blake replies.

"Oh well, so much for the newbie," a new voice is heard.

The two teams look back to see a tall guy with orange hair and a smug look on his face; Cardin Winchester and his team, Team CRDL.

Immediately, they all get a little agitated, with Yang being the angriest at him.

"What's that supposed to mean, Cardin?" Yang asks, growling as she said it.

"Exactly what I said. She's gonna fight a Deathstalker on her own, so it's easy to see that she's going to die. Fight s like that should be left up to real warriors, like me," he smugly replies.

"Oh please, you've never even fought against a Deathstalker yourself, or with your team, so you have no room to talk," Blake retorts, getting aggravated.

"I don't need to. I'm already a student here, in case you haven't noticed. It's too bad that that girl's gonna die, really. A smoking hot body like that would've been real fun to try out," Cardin says, with his teammates laughing behind him.

It quickly gets hot in the amphitheater as everyone looks at Yang, with her hair on fire and her eyes red. Yang rushes Cardin and blindsides him with a punch to his face that sends him flying into his teammates behind him, sending them all to the ground. They all groan in pain and look up in fear to see Yang standing over them.

"One: woman aren't your playthings, Cardin. Two: Don't count Velvet out just yet. She'll make it out alive, one way or the other. And three: the next time so say something like that and I'm around…I'll burn 'it' off myself. Got it?!" Yang threatens him, flames burning hotter. The four idiots quickly nod their heads. "Good, now sit down and shut up!" she yells and walks back to her team as she calms down. "She WILL make it out of this, right?" she asks, losing some of her confidence earlier.

"I honestly don't know Yang. I just don't know," Weiss replies as they all look back.

Ruby has her hands clasped in front of her chest, "Velvet…" she mutters.

Velvet gets ready as the Deathstalker comes at her. It attacks with its right pincer first, which Velvet ducks under, and then attacks with its left pincer, making Velvet jump back. Velvet engages her arm blade and jumps over the pincers to strike at the Grimm's head. However, her attack bounces off the Grimm's thick armored skull. Velvet jumps back as the Grimm attacks with its pincers again. She rolls to its left side and tries to attack from a different angle, but the Deathstalker swings its left pincer around, making Velvet jump and spin over the pincer to land on its back. Velvet tries to break through the armor with her arm blade, but her weapon can't pierce the armor. The Deathstalker shakes its body to get Velvet off its back. Velvet jumps off to land in front of it again, and the Deathstalker thrusts its stinger at her. Velvet jumps to the left and jumps at it again, this time using her right foot blade. Unfortunately, the Grimm blocked her attack and then swipes at her with its right pincer, knocking her to the ground. As she gets up, the Deathstalker slams its skull into her, sending her rolling towards the edge of the cliff. Velvet quickly gets up and looks over to see the sheer drop behind her. Velvet then looks back at the Deathstalker, which runs at her again.

Trying a different approach, Velvet jumps over the Grimm's pincers again, lands on its head and starts swinging her blades at one point on its skull to try to break through its armor. However, the Grimm attacks with its stinger again. Velvet jumps off its head, but gets knocked back onto the ground by its left pincer. As Velvet struggles to get up, the Deathstalker closes in on her, ready to finish the job. Velvet looks up as the Grimm readies its stinger for the final strike.

"Is this the end for me? To be defeated by an overgrown bug like this? Before I could really do anything in this world?" Velvet thinks as she closes her eyes.

Team RWBY look in on horror as it looks like Velvet is about to be killed. Ruby even starts shedding a few tears.

"No, it can't end like this. We were just beginning to become friends. It can't end like this…Velvet…Velvet," Ruby mutters, and then… "VELVET!" she screams.

The Grimm launches its stinger at Velvet, just as the image of Ruby enters her mind.

"No…"

The Deathstalker is suddenly knocked back as Velvet activates her demon arm to push it back. Velvet stands up as energy builds around her demon arm.

"No…I won't die yet. Not when I have this second chance…And not when I have something important I need to do. You overgrown cockroach. It's time you find out just who you're dealing with," Velvet says, narrowing her eyes.

Velvet releases her fire arte attack at the Grimm, knocking it up of its front legs. Velvet Jumps up and grabs the underside of its skull, sending it falling onto its back. With the Grimm immobilized, Velvet heats up her demon claw, screaming, and starts burning through its skull with her fire arte. Eventually, the armor starts to crack from the heat, and Velvet raises her claw, clenching it with fire around it, and then slams it through the Deathstalker's skull. The Grimm's body quickly stops squirming as it dies and dissipates into smoke. Velvet lands on her feet, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. With the battle over, Velvet looks up to see an airship fly in and land in front of her. The side opens up to reveal Ozpin and Glynda inside, the former with a calm smile, and the latter sighing in relief. Velvet walks to them and gets in the airship before it takes off to take them back to the school.

"Well done, Velvet Crowe. I must say that was truly an impressive display," Ozpin praises her.

"Yes, it was. But honestly, I'm just glad you're alive," Glynda adds.

Velvet just allows a small smile on her face as the airship returns to the school.

Back in the amphitheater, everyone is cheering at Velvet passing her initiation, with many as shocked as they were excited.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Yang yells, pumping her fists. "She totally burned right through that Deathstalker like it was made of paper. I really hope she gets placed on our team," she cheers.

"I agree. That was incredible. She managed to defeat a Deathstalker on her own. I don't think I've ever heard of something like this happening before," Pyrrha adds.

"Oh, I hope she joins our team! Think of all the fun we'll have. Right, Ren?" Nora asks excitedly.

"While I think she would be a great teammate, I'm not sure that sounds like a good idea, Nora," Ren says.

Everyone talk about how they think of Velvet's display, but Ruby is the only one who says nothing, just keeping her focus on the screen with the airship.

"Thank goodness she's okay," she thinks while wiping her tears away.


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