Chapter 4) Meanwhile…
A/N: I took the names of the other Professors from the Wiki. I haven't read After the Fall, so I have no idea what their canon personalities are like, so I've taken some liberties here. See the A/N at the end for a bit more context.
Glynda observed the goings-on in the forest below with growing interest. Video from the numerous cameras they had set up in the trees afforded her and the other staff plenty of vantage points to observe the children as they made their way towards the assigned objective. Some of the would-be Huntsmen and Huntresses were making excellent progress, some were quite clearly lost, and a few were…
"Is that girl riding an Ursa like a horse?" asked Ann Greene, sounding utterly incredulous at what she was seeing.
"It would appear that she is doing just that, Ann," commented Bartholomew Oobleck with amusement. "Certainly more efficient than simply walking, I might say."
Peter Port chuckled along with his friend's joke. "Well, Miss Valkyrie will certainly be one to watch out for, it seems. I'm looking forward to having her in my classes!"
"Her poor partner, though," mused Thumbelina Peach, concern evident on her face. "They did not seem too keen on her idea."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine," chimed in Harold Mulberry with a nonchalant shrug. "From what I gather, those two have known each other for quite some time already."
Initiation day was always like this, every year. The seven Professors of Beacon Academy would all gather at the top of the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest and make a day of enjoying the proceedings, offering up their own commentary throughout. As per usual, several holoscreens had been set up to allow for multiple points of view at once, and Peter and Bartholomew had even set up a refreshments table for everyone.
That was not to say that they weren't taking this seriously, of course. Despite what they had told the students, there were a number of measures in place to prevent things from getting too out of hand. A detachment of Atlesian Knights, donated by James Ironwood after he had insisted they accept them, were on standby to be sent in if required, and a pair of bulkheads were fuelled up and ready to go at a moment's notice if the staff themselves needed to step in at all. But until and unless that was required, the seven Professors were quite content to have a day off from teaching, perhaps even more so than their students were to have a day off from classes.
"What opinion do you have on those two, Glynda?" asked Ozpin.
Glynda didn't need to think about that for very long. She had already read every student's file, and had already drawn some initial conclusions about each one of them. With regards to this particular pair…
"I believe their partnership has the potential to be a strong one, if only Miss Valkyrie can reign herself in a little and allow her partner to have more of a say in what they do."
Ozpin hummed at that. "Perhaps their fellow teammates, whomever those end up being, can help with that."
Glynda nodded, making a few more notes on her Scroll, her mind already working away at the potential problem, sifting through potential solutions.
"Ah, it would seem that Miss Belladonna is about to showcase what she is capable of," announced Peter, drawing everyone's attention back to the holoscreens.
Glynda lowered her Scroll and adjusted her glasses. Blake Belladonna had been one of only three students this year to not have any prior records from a combat school. While her surname may have carried a few connotations with it, she was almost a complete unknown in terms of actual capabilities, besides what she had demonstrated during her entry examinations.
Glynda, as well as her colleagues, watched with some mild anticipation as the girl approached the Grimm, weapon drawn and poised for combat. It was time to see for themselves what Blake Belladonna could do.
…
As it turned out, her exam results had not been a fluke in the slightest.
"Wow. That was quite something," said Ann with a small smile. "She certainly has a lot of talent, and by the looks of things she also has the experience to back that up."
Glynda and the rest of the Professors all voiced their agreement. Miss Belladonna had not wasted any time in dispatching her opponent, nor had she wasted any effort in doing so. Her movements had been precise and meaningful, and the Ursa had gone down in less than half a minute.
"And she's paired up with Xiao Long's daughter," added Harold. "That's going to be an interesting dynamic to see. Their different approaches to combat should compliment each other quite well, assuming they can get along."
"I don't think that will be an issue," Ozpin mused. "Miss Xiao Long strikes me as the kind of person who gets along well with most people. I believe we have the makings of a very strong pair here."
Ann raised an eyebrow at that. "Already eyeing her up for a leadership position, Headmaster? Can't say I necessarily disagree, but she'd need to check her own impulsive tendencies to be effective."
Ozpin simply offered a noncommittal shrug in response. "We shall see, Ann. The day has only just begun, after all."
Glynda had known Ozpin for long enough to know that he had indeed already made up his mind, and if Glynda was right about his train of thought, she was in complete agreement with him. Like Ann had said, Yang Xiao Long was a very impulsive and headstrong individual. Her school records had had plenty to say about her tendency to cause trouble, her recklessness and her thrill-seeker tendencies. She may have been an excellent fighter and people-person, but she was not responsible enough to lead a team.
She's going to be a headache all year, isn't she?
Glynda let out a sigh that she was sure would not be her last where Yang Xiao Long was concerned, and pre-emptively resigned herself to a long and tiring year of additional stress.
"Now there's an interesting pairing," announced Peter. "Miss Nikos and Mr Arc."
Glynda couldn't quite suppress the small frown that made its way onto her face at the mention of the Arc boy's name, but she quickly schooled her expression into a neutral one before anyone could notice. It would not be professional of her to show such bias.
"That was the boy with the fake transcripts, wasn't he?" asked Ann, who had made no attempt to hide her own disapproval. She had been quite vocal in her opposition to allowing Jaune Arc to enrol, even after his surprising showing in the entry exams.
"Ann, you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss him outright," chided Thumbelina. "He may yet surprise us, if we only give him a chance."
Glynda was not so sure about that, but chose to keep her thoughts to herself for the time being. She trusted Ozpin, and if he said the boy deserved a chance, then she would not refuse him that opportunity.
After all, Jaune Arc had managed to pass the same entry exams as everyone else. That had to count for something. And not everyone had the luxury of being able to attend a combat school. Miss Belladonna was one example from this very same year.
But Miss Belladonna didn't try to cheat her way in. This boy did. He will need to work hard to earn any trust here.
Glynda made a few more notes on her Scroll next to Jaune Arc's name, before bringing up the student profile of one Pyrrha Nikos.
Prodigy was not a word anyone ought to use lightly in this particular line of work, but Pyrrha Nikos undoubtedly fit the description. Her successes in numerous tournaments in her home Kingdom of Mistral had made her quite the celebrity at home and abroad. In official matches she was undefeated for three years straight, and her school instructors had not had anything to say about her other than glowing praise for her abilities.
And the girl herself was a delight to speak with. Glynda had been the one to interview her, and she had been unfailingly polite and courteous to the Professor. Modest too, downplaying her accomplishments and insisting that anyone could have done what she did.
A leader, born and forged. She will be an outstanding Huntress.
"Hold on, there's a fire a mile into the forest."
Bartholomew's words had everyone alert, and all eyes turned towards the third holoscreen. Sure enough, a roaring blaze was consuming the entire area, and spreading fast.
"Harold, deploy the Knights to that portion of the forest," ordered Ozpin. "Let's get this under control before it can spread too far."
"Yes Headmaster," Harold replied, already tapping at his own Scroll to direct the robots to take action.
Thumbelina let out a sigh. "Would it be too much to ask for us to go one year without someone starting a full-on forest fire?"
"Look of the bright side, Lina," said Ann, patting her colleague on the shoulder. "At least this time we caught it early. I mean, you can't even see the smoke from here yet!"
"I can," commented Peter, pointing out the rising plume of smoke that was making itself known in the distance.
Thumbelina simply lowered her head and began massaging her temples, while Ann shot Peter a dirty look. Peter at least had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.
"The Knights are on their way there now," announced Harold, stowing his Scroll back in his pocket. "Do we know what caused the fire to start?"
"I can find out," replied Glynda, using her own Scroll to take control of the feed from the camera and directing it to rewind the footage.
…
"Isn't that girl supposed to be a Dust Company Heiress?" noted Ann. "Why would she think that using raw fire Dust in a forest would be a good idea? Even if her partner hadn't thrown off her aim, she still could have set her surroundings on fire regardless."
"Indeed," agreed Peter. "I can say from experience that setting Grimm on fire to kill them is best attempted when you aren't also in a flammable area. The now-on-fire-but-not-dead-yet Grimm tend to spread the fire around as they thrash about in agony."
"Like that time you decided to set fire traps in Forever Fall, Peter?" added Bartholomew with a smirk.
"That was you!?" exclaimed Ann, while Thumbelina just buried her face in her hands and groaned.
Glynda tuned out the resulting argument that erupted between her colleagues, focussing instead on following the goings-on between Miss Schnee and Miss Rose on the holoscreen. The pair seemed to be involved in quite the heated argument of their own, with Miss Schnee being especially furious if her body language was anything to go off of. Without any audio, there was no way to know for certain what was actually being said, but it was clearly not friendly conversation.
Eventually, the two girls walked off in separate directions. Glynda decided to have the video feed follow after Miss Schnee for the time being, who had set off in entirely the wrong direction.
"Those two will be disappointed to learn that everyone else has already paired up," said Bartholomew. "Their only options left now are each other, whether they like it or not."
Bartholomew was right. The partnerships had all formed very quickly this year, and every student had found a partner within the first twenty minutes of the initiation, compared to the full hour it had taken in the previous year. Like it or not, these two girls would have to work together from now on.
This sort of thing wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence. The entire point of the paring system they employed at Beacon was to force the students to learn to work with people they wouldn't ordinarily work with otherwise. Being able to cooperate with people who had different approaches to your own was vital if one was to be a successful Huntsman or Huntress. One would not always have the luxury of being able to choose your allies out in the field.
If anything, Glynda would have been more surprised if there were no disagreements at all at this stage. It took time for teams to become tight-knit units, and even then there were some who never became close enough to call themselves friends.
Her own colleagues were presently demonstrating that well enough.
"Alright everyone, let's not waste the whole morning arguing. We do have a job to do, after all."
Ozpin's words cut through the bickering between Peter and Ann, and the pair grumbled apologies to each other before turning back to the screen, where Miss Schnee had now decided to start climbing up a tree, presumably to get a better view of her surroundings.
"Where did the other girl go?" asked Thumbelina.
Glynda cycled through the different camera feeds until she found where Miss Rose was. The younger girl still had her hood up and was walking very slowly, but at the very least she was heading in the right direction.
Glynda pulled up Ruby Rose's student profile and scrolled through it, refamiliarizing herself with some of the details. Her fellow Professors all began discussing Miss Rose among themselves, but Glynda tuned them out, pondering to herself instead.
Many of the things that could be said about Pyrrha Nikos could also be said about Ruby Rose. Both were immensely talented and hard-working girls, who had both achieved much in their combat schools. In fact, considering Miss Rose's younger age, her achievements were arguably even more impressive, if not quite as plentiful. However, Glynda would not describe Miss Rose as a prodigy like she did Pyrrha, for one simple reason: confidence.
Pyrrha Nikos was polite and modest, yes, but she was also very sure of herself and incredibly driven. She knew what she was capable of and, while she downplayed it to be polite, she embraced her potential wholeheartedly, and enjoyed being in the spotlight.
Miss Rose, on the other hand, shied away from all that. She hated being the centre of attention, and downplayed her abilities not out of courtesy, but out of fear. She certainly had the passion and drive to push her forwards, but without the confidence and self-assuredness, she would never be able to reach those same heights.
Glynda tapped away at her Scroll, making more notes next to Miss Rose's name.
Fixing someone's confidence was a challenging prospect, but Glynda had a few ideas that might be able to help.
"Headmaster, might I discuss a proposition with you regarding Miss Rose?"
Ozpin quirked an eyebrow at that. "What did you have in mind?"
Ruby untangled the end of her cloak from the branch it had snagged on, taking care not to rip the fabric as she did so. Once freed from the clutches of the pointy stick, she continued to meander her way through the forest, hood up and feet dragging, not really caring that she was probably taking far too long to get where she needed to be.
"Just spit it out already! Can't you even talk properly!?"
Ruby had heard those exact words many times before, so they shouldn't have hurt as much as they did.
But even so…
A fresh start…
Ruby had gotten her hopes up, allowed herself to believe that Yang was right, that things could be different here. But no. No, nothing had changed. She hadn't changed. She was still the same screw-up who couldn't even string a sentence together without making a fool of herself. She still got in everyone's way and made people angry. She didn't deserve to be here…
Sunlight broke through the canopy above her, causing Ruby to squint and raise a hand to pull her hood a little lower and shield her eyes from the light-
Ruby paused. There was no canopy above her. She had reached the edge of the treeline, and had emerged into a clearing.
A clearing that happened to contain some very impressive ruins.
Ruby lowered her hood and stepped out into the clearing, casting her eyes over her new surroundings. Broken pillars were dotted here and there, large chunks of crumbling marble scattered in between, and in the centre stood a large stone platform, upon which was some sort of alter.
And placed atop the alter, on little pedestals of their own, were a number of chess pieces.
I made it.
Despite her situation, Ruby allowed herself a small smile.
BOOM!
ROAR!
Smile vanishing in an instant, Ruby spun on her heels and drew Crescent Rose, unfolding her weapon into its full scythe form, ready to face… whatever was coming her way.
"WO-HOOO!"
Out of the shadows of the trees on the other edge of the clearing emerged an Ursa… being ridden by two people, one of whom was cheering while the other looked like they were about to throw up.
With a final roar, the Ursa collapsed, and its two passengers tumbled off and landed in a heap on the grass.
"Nora… please… let's never do that again."
"I make no promises, Ren. But look, we're here! I think? I'm upside-down right now, so I can't quite tell."
Ruby remained where she was, unsure what to make of these new arrivals. She vaguely recognised them from earlier in the locker room. The girl, Nora, had orange hair and was carrying some sort of grenade launcher on her hip, while her companion, Ren, was dressed in green and didn't seem to have any weapons on his person.
"Oh hey, someone else is here!" Nora waved at Ruby before rolling over and jumping to her feet, a few blades of grass sticking in her hair. "Hi there, are these the ruins?"
"Uh, I think s-s-so? I'm n-not s-sure, I only just g-got here m-m-myself."
"Good enough for me!" replied Nora, shooting Ruby a bright grin. "C'mon Ren, let's get our relic and get out of here!"
Ren rose to their feet, much more slowly and unsteadily than Nora had done, and brushed of some grass that clung to their clothes. "Alright, but we're walking back this time. No more Grimm rodeo."
Nora didn't reply, having already sped off towards the alter and grabbed a chess piece.
"Look Ren! I'm Queen of the Castle! I'm Queen of the Castle!" Nora sing-songed as she danced around the alter, white castle in hand.
Rook. I think it's called a rook. Or was that the other one?
Ren reached the alter and swiped the piece out of Nora's hands. "I'm holding onto this. We can't afford to lose it."
"Ren!" gasped Nora. "I would never lose something so important!"
"You lost our keys every week for a year."
"… OK, fair enough. Lead the way, Ren!" Nora gave Ren a salute, and the duo made their way down off the alter.
"Hey, are you gonna take one?" Ren asked Ruby. "There's not many left."
Ruby felt her face flush and averted her gaze. She had been staring, she realized, watching the pair as they bantered with each other while she stood off to the side. It was something she did often when she was around people she didn't know.
"R-right." Resisting the urge to pull her hood back up, Ruby walked up the steps to the alter and across to where the remaining chess pieces were laid out.
So, Dad and Uncle Qrow said that the pairs who take the same relics are put in the same team. So if I took the other rook…
Ruby glanced back over at the other two, Ren and Nora. They were walking slowly back towards the edge of the forest, Nora continuing to talk a mile a minute to her partner.
Ruby briefly imagined what it would be like to be in their place, and while she was sure that the other girl was probably a very nice person, Ruby didn't think she could handle being around someone with that much energy all the time.
Mind made up, Ruby instead grabbed one of the two white horses.
Knights. I'm pretty sure these are called knights.
Ruby was not much of a chess player. Video games were more her thing.
Stowing the chess piece in one of her pockets, Ruby descended the steps and left the alter behind.
Well, I guess I should try and find Weiss.
Ruby's mood soured once again at the thought of having to confront the older girl once more, but she knew she didn't really have any choice. They were partners now.
For the next four years.
"What is wrong with you!?"
Ruby sighed and pulled her hood back up over her head. So much for a fresh start-
Ruby froze. She hadn't heard or seen anything, but she froze nonetheless. She could feel that something was approaching.
Crescent Rose was already deployed, so Ruby simply remained perfectly still, waiting for any sign as to what had made her instincts scream at her to stop.
Two seconds passed.
Three.
Four.
The leaves of a nearby bush rustled.
But there was no wind.
Ruby pivoted on her heels, took aim at the bush, and fired.
The Beowolf that had been lying in wait leapt out of the foliage, Ruby's shot striking it in the leg and causing it to stumble. Seizing the opening, Ruby activated her Semblance and closed the distance between her and the Grimm in an instant. Crescent Rose's blade came down, and the Beowolf was cleaved in half.
The sound of paws on dirt alerted Ruby to the presence of more Beowolves closing in, and she quickly leapt back into the clearing to give herself more space.
Sure enough, three more Beowolves came barrelling out of the trees and charged at Ruby, growling and snarling and baring their fangs.
Crescent Rose spun in Ruby's hands until the tip of the blade was driven into the ground. Lining up her sights, Ruby took aim at the closest Beowolf and-
"Heads up!"
Just before Ruby could fire upon her target, the Grimm she had been aiming for was hit with the head of a silver hammer. The body of the Beowolf crumpled with a sound like a bag of potato chips being crushed, and the creature went limp and lifeless.
The sound of small arms fire then filled the air, and the second Beowolf was sprayed with bullets from behind. The now enraged Grimm turned and charged towards the one who had dared to attack it, and was swiftly cut to pieces by Ren, whose guns also happened to have large knives attached to them.
That still left one more Grimm to deal with, so Ruby readjusted her aim and took her shot, felling the final target with a single round to the centre of its bony forehead.
As the bodies of the Grimm began to evaporate, Ruby let out a breath and allowed herself to relax. Folding Crescent Rose up, she stowed her weapon away on the small of her back once more.
"Thanks for the h-help," she called to the other two.
"Not that you needed it," replied Nora, hefting her hammer onto her shoulders. "You're a pretty good shot."
"S-so is your partner," Ruby replied. "Ren, was it?"
"Lie Ren," replied the green-clad gunslinger. "And this is Nora Valkyrie."
"What's your name?" asked Nora, leaning forward and smiling at Ruby.
"Uh, m-my n-name is Ruby Rose." Ruby ducked her head to avoid the gaze of the pair.
I can't even introduce myself without stuttering it all up.
"Well, nice to meet ya, Ruby!" replied Nora, straightening up and lowering her hammer off of her shoulders. "Wanna come with us back to the cliff?"
Ruby was about to politely turn down the other girl's offer and explain that she really needed to find her partner, when the ground began to shake. All three stumbled slightly as the rumbling intensified, accompanied by an approaching sound of wood cracking.
Ruby turned to face the direction of the sound. The trees on the other side of the clearing were tilting this way and that, as if they were being pushed aside by something truly massive.
A second later, two figures burst out of the treeline in a frantic sprint, one screaming in abject terror while the other yelled at them to keep running.
"I'm sorry!" cried Jaune. "I didn't mean to wake it up!"
"Don't worry about that right now!" yelled Pyrrha. "Just keep moving! Head for the ruins, we can take shelter there!"
"What has those two in such a rush?" asked Nora, head cocked to one side in confusion.
Her question was swiftly answered when an enormous Grimm crashed through the forest and emerged out in the open. A gargantuan scorpion, covered from head to tail in thick white bone. Claws the size of cars, a glowing yellow stinger on the end of its raised tail, and legs longer than a person was tall that carried it at frightening speed, its weight making the ground shake with each step it took.
The Death Stalker was considered to be one of the most dangerous Grimm native to the area around Vale. Even to a fully-trained Huntsman or Huntress, such a foe was a formidable one to face in battle. Its armour rendered it impervious to all but the most potent firearms, its powerful claws could sheer right through a person's Aura if they were unfortunate enough to be caught in the monster's grip, and the poison it could secrete from its stinger was potent enough to kill in a matter of seconds, assuming the mere act of being impaled on the barb wasn't enough to do the job.
Ruby watched with wide eyes as Jaune and Pyrrha ran as fast as they could. If they could just make it to the ruins, use the tall and sturdy pillars to take cover…
Pyrrha was clearly the faster of the two, pulling ahead of Jaune by a few metres. Even so, as long as they kept moving, both of them would easily make it to safety…
And then Jaune tripped, his foot catching on a small chunk of rubble. He fell onto his hands and knees and scrambled to pull himself back to his feet to continue running.
But it was too late. The Death Stalker was right behind him, its deadly claw reaching towards the fallen boy.
Pyrrha hadn't yet realised her companion had fallen behind, and by the time she did, it would be too late.
Ren and Nora were too far away.
No-one else was in the clearing. No help was coming. They were on their own.
Ruby didn't hesitate for a moment. With barely a conscious thought, she activated her Semblance. In less than a fraction of a second, she had covered the distance between herself and Jaune. The Death Stalker's claw was now closing in on her body instead.
Although Ruby wasn't lying when she said she always tried to keep her weapon's weight to a minimum where possible, Crescent Rose was still a hefty tool, since it needed to be durable enough to withstand the stress of prolonged combat.
The claw of the Death Stalker was unable to close around Ruby's body, as the shaft of her weapon was pinning it open, held horizontally by its wielder.
Ruby then pulled the trigger, and the force of the point-blank shot shattered the claw entirely.
Though thick the Grimm's armour may have been, a high-impact sniper rifle packed enough of a punch to do the job.
With an ear-splitting screech of pain, the Death Stalker scuttled back, putting some distance between itself and the one who had wounded it. Seizing the opportunity, Ruby grabbed Jaune and pulled him back to his feet.
"The ruins, take shelter there!"
Jaune nodded and ran for the cover of the pillars, Ruby following beside. She quickly cast a glance back towards Ren and Nora, and was relieved to see that they had taken cover themselves by clambering up one of the trees.
Reaching the ruins, Ruby ducked behind one of the pillars. Jaune did the same, and Ruby could see that Pyrrha had likewise taken shelter.
OK, so now what?
Ruby leaned out from behind her pillar to take stock of the situation. The Death Stalker, now down one claw, was no longer reeling from the injury. Instead, it was remaining perfectly, almost eerily still.
It's waiting for us to make a move.
Ruby knew that Grimm grew smarter with age. Any Grimm that lasted long enough to reach the size of this one had likely seen a number of battles before, so were less likely to attack mindlessly.
Ruby had wounded it, and it was outnumbered. If it was smart enough to have survived this long, then maybe, just maybe, it would retreat and leave them alone.
"No-one move," Ruby whispered to Jaune and Pyrrha, drawing back behind her pillar.
…
Seconds ticked by slowly. Ruby made a conscious effort to keep her breathing slow. She didn't dare peek out from behind the pillar again, lest she accidentally set the Grimm off. Instead she listened carefully for any sound that would indicate the Death Stalker was moving. Given the sheer size of the thing, it wouldn't be difficult to hear.
…
…
Come on, just leave already.
Seconds became minutes. No movement. No Sound. Nothing to indicate that the Death Stalker was going to move on.
…
…
…
They couldn't stay like this forever. If the Grimm wouldn't move, then they would have to move first, and take their chances with being out in the open.
Ruby chanced a peek out from behind the pillar once more. Sure enough, the Death Stalker was still there, motionlessly waiting. A thin tendril of black vapor was curling off from where its missing claw used to be, a sign that it was beginning to heal. Grimm healed very, very slowly. Something like what Ruby had just done to it would likely take a few weeks to fully recover from.
Slowly, careful to avoid any sudden movements, Ruby scanned the trees until she spotted Ren and Nora. They were still safely perched in the branches, the leaves keeping them mostly hidden from sight, but Nora's bright hair was easy to spot.
With those two, that makes five, but getting any sort of message to them without triggering the Grimm will be tricky.
Ruby took stock of what they had. Her rifle could break the Grimm's armour, and she was willing to bet that Nora's hammer could do the same based on what she saw earlier. They would just need enough of an opening-
SKRAAAAW!
Ruby felt her blood run cold at the noise. Casting her gaze skyward, she saw it. Far too massive to be a normal bird, its wings cast a shadow over the entire clearing as its feathered body blocked out the sun.
The Nevermore drew back its wings, and Ruby realised with a surge of terror that it was about to attack.
"RUN!" she screamed, bolting as fast as she could. In her panic, she didn't even think to activate her Semblance.
The air filled with a whistling sound, and a gigantic feather with a point like a spear slammed into the marble floor where she had been standing mere moments before.
But it wasn't just a case of avoiding one feather. More and more deadly projectiles rained down from the sky, piercing the ground and turning what was once a flat clearing into a dark mockery of a forest, where instead of trees grew black feathers that towered over them. And as the feathers began to evaporate like all pieces of Grimm did, a thick black fog filled the air, turning what had been a bright sunny afternoon into pitch black night.
Pitch black, save for the glowing red eyes of the Death Stalker.
The raw panic of its previously quiet prey had spurred the Grimm back into action. The ground once again shuddered and shook with each step the scorpion took as it homed in on its chosen target, the red glow of its many eyes growing brighter as it bore down on Ruby.
Ruby's eyesight may have been better than most on account of being a sniper, but the Grimm fog was just too thick. She had no way of knowing where she was going.
So when she activated her Semblance once more in an attempt to flee, she was unable to see the shaft of the feather right in front of her, and she collided with it hard. Her Aura flared to absorb the impact, but her desperate dash was halted dead in its tracks.
The Death Stalker was closing in, and there was nowhere to run.
For a brief moment, Ruby's mind was filled with the image of her own dead body, torso skewered by the Death Stalker's tail, lifeless eyes gazing up at the sky-
NO!
Ruby shock her head, pushing the horrible image out of her mind. She still had her weapon. She still had her training.
She wasn't going to die!
Ruby turned to face the oncoming Grimm, staring straight up at the glowing eyes as they approached her.
If I can see it, I can hit it. And I can see your eyes!
Ruby stepped backwards until she felt her shoulders hit the feather she had run into, bracing herself against it as she folded Crescent Rose's blade away. Raising her weapon up, Ruby took aim at one of the larger glowing eyes, and pulled the trigger.
CLUNK.
Jammed! The rifle was jammed, and at the worst possible time.
There was nothing Ruby could do. She simply stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide with terror as the slight yellow glow of the Death Stalker's stinger became visible, hurtling towards her.
Once again, that terrible image played in her mind. The stinger ramming home, her body going limp, her form rippling and vanishing into thin air…
Huh?
She was not imagining anything. Ruby watched as her own body disappeared right before her eyes.
"I've got you, just hang on!"
Ruby recognised that voice, and she also was now aware of an arm wrapped around her middle, carrying her away.
The darkness vanished, and Ruby blinked as the sunlight returned in full force. She had emerged from the fog, held firmly in the grasp of a girl dressed in black with a bow in her hair.
"Blake?"
"RUBY!"
Ruby suddenly found herself in a much more crushing embrace, as her sister wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Oh thank goodness you're alright! We saw the fog and we heard all the noise and we didn't know who was in trouble so we came as fast as we could and I saw you running and all those feathers flying around and-"
"Yang… can't… breathe…" gasped Ruby as her sister's hug went from crushing in the hyperbolic sense to quite literally crushing her.
"Sorry!" Yang quickly set Ruby down and released her. "I'm just so glad you're OK!"
"Not for much longer, we're not," said Blake, drawing her weapon from her back and holding both the sword and sheath at the ready. Ruby noted absently that the sheath was also bladed.
The last of the black fog faded, revealing the Death Stalker fully. No more feathers remained in the clearing, having all evaporated. The Nevermore that hurled them was most likely circling back around.
With a screech, the Death Stalker once again charged forwards, seemingly far too enraged to be cautious any longer. Its one remaining claw snapped threateningly, and its stinger was poised for another strike.
"Crescent R-Rose is jammed!" Ruby yelled. "I need time!"
"I'm on it, little sis!" replied Yang, cocking Ember Celica. "This big ugly bug is gonna regret ever-"
Something shot past the three girls, and there was a sound like breaking glass. In an instant, a wave of glittering pale blue ice erupted from the ground, encasing the Death Stalker's legs, and pinning it in place.
"Were you seriously going to try and punch a Death Stalker in the face?" quipped Weiss, pulling her sword out of the ground and walking back towards the trio. "You're lucky I showed up when I did."
"A few moments ago would have been even better," Yang quipped back. "But better late than never I guess, princess."
Weiss looked like she was about to respond, when a loud cracking noise alerted them all to the fact that the Death Stalker was trying to break free.
"We should go," Weiss said. "I don't have enough Ice Dust for another technique like that."
Yang nodded. "Then let's grab a relic and get outta here!" She and Blake began to run towards the ruins.
"Come on, Ruby, we need to get ours as well."
Ruby blinked at that. "Y-you s-s-still w-want me as your partner?"
Weiss sighed. "Look, I may have said some things that were… unwarranted, before. And I will apologise for that when we get back to the cliff. But right now, we need to focus."
Weiss turned to face Ruby. "So I'm willing to give us a chance if you are."
Ruby said nothing. She didn't know how to respond. Was Weiss really offering her another chance?
Crack.
"OK, at the very least, can we just grab a relic and go?"
"Oh, I-I already h-have it." Ruby pulled the knight out of her pocket and showed it to Weiss.
Weiss just nodded. "Then let's go already!"
Ruby put the knight back in her pocket, just as Yang and Blake came running towards them.
"Got ours," Yang announced. "Now let's get the heck outta here!"
The four girls, relics in hand and weapons at the ready, ran into the forest together.
I hope Jaune and the others made it out OK.
"It's coming back!"
SKRAAAAW!
The Nevermore screeched as it continued its pursuit of the four of them. Ren carried on running as fast as they could, their three companions likewise keeping up the sprint.
"Just keep moving!" cried Jaune. "We're almost there!"
Sure enough, the four emerged from the treeline once again, and found themselves standing on one side of an old stone bridge over a canyon. On the other side of the bridge lay a towering stone structure that looked like it had definitely seen better days.
"Alright everyone, across the bridge. We're only gonna get one shot at this!"
"This is a terrible plan," Ren mused, mostly to themselves.
"I love this plan!" cheered Nora. "This is gonna be great!"
Hello to everyone who read chapters 1-4 in one go! And hello again to those who are returning! I'm Not Scot!
So the teams are all together, and ready for some action. Only this time, JNPR are facing the Nevermore, while RWBY have to deal with the Death Stalker. How will they fare? Will our heroes make it out alive, or is this where they meet their doom? Find out next time in chapter five of RWBY Re:Mixed!
In all honesty, this chapter was supposed to be entirely from the Professors' point of view up on the cliff, but that didn't wind up panning out (it was kind of boring). So I kept the parts that I felt worked, threw the rest in the trash, and started from scratch. The end result is what you see here.
As I said up front, I got the names of the offscreen Professors from the Wiki, as I haven't read After the Fall. If you haven't either, here's a brief run down on who these extra people are:
Ann Greene is apparently a teacher of stealth and security. I like to imagine she looks a bit like a gender-bent Aizawa from My Hero Academia, but I could be way off. Either way, that's how I'm head-cannoning her for this fic.
Harold Mulberry is the teacher of weapon crafting. I'm thinking giant man with huge arms and a warhammer taller than even he is.
Thumbelina Peach teaches plant sciences, which seems like an oddly specific position to have. I would have thought survival skills would be a better fit, and it covers all the bases the rest of the staff don't cover, so I'm changing her position to survivalist teacher. And since she's named after Thumbelina, I choose to believe that she's really short, like Cordovin from Volume 6.
The next chapter is going to wrap up what I'm calling 'Act 1' of this volume, so look out for that when I get around to uploading it. For now though, I really need some sleep, so I will now take my leave.
Until next time,
Not Scot.
P.S: the Atlesian Knights have fire extinguishers, that's how they put out the fire. And yes, someone does set the forest ablaze every single year. Last year it was Coco.