Chapter 7: Initiation
As the groups met up on the cliff outside the eastern wing of the school, each person lined up on their own platform as Ozpin addressed the group.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Ozpin paused to give Glynda an opportunity to speak as well. "Now, I'm sure many of you have been hearing rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it would be in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Some of the other students voiced their opinions on the matter, mostly in shock and protest
Well. Damn. Axel thought. This should be interesting. He looked around at his fellow classmates. I REALLY hope I'm not stuck with that Ruby girl. Or Damien. That would SUCK.
I'm going to skate my way through this and no one can stop me, Cyrus thought with a smirk, already getting ideas.
Sebastian took a look around him, eyeing the other students. No. Nope. Too obnoxious. Too loud. Too edgy. Too… thoughtless. I guess one of the three people I already know will have to do. Except that Damien kid. That dude has issues.
Pfft. Partners. I don't really care who I'm paired with, I just hope they can keep up. Damien thought, a confident smile forming on his face.
Ozpin continued his lecture. "After you've partned up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… Or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene."
"Jeez. That's kinda harsh," Axel muttered shakily.
"That just means we gotta beat everything down," Sebastian replied, placing his hand on Axel's shoulder. "I wouldn't fret too much. It should be the lower-end-of-the-totem-pole Grimm anyways."
"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics." Ozpin continued. "Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand.
"Yeah, um, sir-"
"Good," Ozpin interrupted. "Now, take your positions."
The groups all took stances on their respective platforms, and were launched into the air over the forest, one-by-one.
Damien turned to the rest of the group and gave them a wink, putting his hands behind his head in typical anime fashion before his platform shot him off into the distance.
"Instant karma." Sebastian laughed at seeing Damien get shot into the sky. "Wait a second." He paused looking to his left and then below him. "If he was there and I'm right here, that means that I-". Before he could even finish, Sebastian was launched straight into the air still in a standing position, his face contemplative. Well. Shit. He thought as he floated off.
After watching the others fly off, Cyrus turns to Axel, finger guns at the ready.
"I got this." He was then launched as well.
Axel just shook his head and laughed to himself. Yeah, thanks Dad. "Go to school," he said. "It'll be fun," he said. "You'll make new friends." Yeah, Well I didn't expect them to be so-
His platform sprang from its frame, and he was launched into the air before he could finish his thought.
As the students were flying through the air, Cyrus immediately put his landing strategy into effect. ...By landing in the sky, thanks to one of his barriers.
Heh, what's a landing strategy, am I right? His thoughts were interrupted by a message on his scroll, sent directly from Professor Ozpin: "Nice try."
"Wait, wha-" He said as he was knocked off of his barrier by a blunt object.
"Thank you for that, Glynda."
As Cyrus started to hurtle toward the ground, he took a moment to rethink his strategy, then took out Sweet Liberation and took aim at a distant tree. And this is why we have backup plans. He immediately switched to the flail mode and shot at the tree, latching onto it and easing his descent with his barriers.
"See? I said I got this." Cyrus said to seemingly no one as he began to make his way through the forest. Now all I gotta do is find someone with whom I won't regret making eye contact. Suddenly hearing something rustling in the bushes behind him, Cyrus turned around, only to see a few Creeps making their way towards him.
"I'm pretty sure you guys aren't supposed to be my partners, but how about you make eye contact with this instead?" he laughed, immediately firing the spike ball directly into the face of the first Creep, crushing its head instantly. As the other two began to charge him, Cyrus used his barriers to shove one off to the side, allowing him to focus on them one at a time. Switching back to gun mode, he fired a few shots at the Creep to weaken it then ran up and kicked it to the side. Once that was taken care of, he dropped the barrier holding off the last Creep, only to create a barrier directly above him and grapple onto it. The Creep stopped, confused, allowing Cyrus to let go of the barrier and land on top of the Creep to crush it.
"Okay, next time I see Smithy I really gotta thank him again for how freaking cool this thing is." Now returning to the task at hand, Cyrus proceeded to keep using his flail to grapple onto trees and swing through the forest rapidly, hoping to find someone to be his partner.
Damien, however, would not be so lucky. As he rapidly approached the canopy of the forest he readied his daggers. Preparing to drive them into the side of a tree. He covered his face as he cannonballed into the top of the trees, and prepared to drive the dagger in his right hand into a tree. He thrusted the blade into the wooden bark. Success!
Until it wasn't.
Damien would realize that the tree wasn't wide enough to support his descent until after the dagger had exited the bark. Exclaiming in surprise when he felt the weightlessness, tumbling into a backwards roll.
"Shit! Bad idea!"
Thinking quickly, he regained control mid air, finishing his flip and landing backwards on the ground on his feet.
"Well, may not have been the graceful landing you had intended, but I'll just be thankful that that tree took out a good portion of the energy out of the fall, or I'd be a red smear on the grass and a memory." He thought, regaining his composure. "Alright, gotta find a partner." He said as he started running into the forest. "Just gotta keep in mind which way north is."
While floating in the air, Sebastian took a look at the forest surroundings looking for a clear spot to land down. I could float all the way to the temple but that doesn't sound like fun. Besides, it would be nice to fight something non-human for once. Spotting a large clearing, Sebastian lowered himself to the ground casually, hands in his khakis' pockets.
"Phew," he exhaled loudly, his voice echoing amongst the clearing. "I hope it's a cakewalk there but knowing the luck of black cats-." Sebastian stopped as he heard a rustling noise coming from behind him. Four boarbatusks emerged from the trees and bushes behind him and Sebastian turned around to face them.
"That was awfully fast. Not like it matters too much." He cracked his knuckles and got into a fighting stance. " Cause these boars won't last long." The end two boarbatusks began to roll and curve around Sebastian to corner him from behind, while the other two simply charged straight forward at him. Sebastian quickly noticed an opening left by one of the rolling boars and dashed in that direction. The boars skidded to a stop and locked back onto their target.
"Seems they aren't that dumb after all." The steel ball floated from his pocket and stabilized itself by his side. "Let's have some fun." Sebastian motioned his hand and threw his arm to the side, and the ball flew off and struck one of the boars on the face. Sebastian, constantly on the move to avoid the charging lunges from the boars, analyzed the plating on the Grimm. "The underside is exposed. So, if I just do this!" He motioned his arm in a downward swing, and the steel ball flew off and struck the exposed belly of one of the boarbatusks, making its mark and piercing straight through the boar's hide. Then, the creature dissipated into black smoke and dust.
"One down. Three to go." Another boar lunged at him, Sebastian put his hands on its face and leapt over it. "Arrrrriba!" Sebastian shouted as the steel ball flew under the second boar and wiped it out. Noticing another rolling right at him at the last second, Sebastian quickly used his semblance to send the boar crashing into a tree.
"That- was too close." The fourth boarbatusk stared him down, scraping one of its cloven-feet across the ground, getting ready to charge. Sebastian took no time in using the steel ball and sent it straight through one of the boar's tusks as it began to charge, sending a piece splintering off. That could be useful, Sebastian thought as he used his semblance to grab the tusk and fly it into his hand. He rushed at the boar head-on, but leapt at the last second, turning himself around with his semblance, and drove the tusk into one of the Grimm's eyes. He landed on top of the creature as it reeled back on its hind legs, then proceeded to use his power to drive it further into the creature's skull until it dissipated and died. No longer having anything to sit on, he fell on his stomach. He got up and began brushing himself off, only to see that the Grimm he'd flung into a tree had gotten up. Looking around, Sebastian took note of the crack along the base of the tree from the impact. Ah. good. He reached out and clenched his fist, then threw his arm down. The tree snapped and broke, falling onto the last boar and killing it instantly.
"Not too shabby, if I do say so myself." He gave himself a pat on the back. "I just hope there's more of a challenge, because I'm getting excited here." He rushed off in the direction of the abandoned temple.
Axel, still flying through the air, spotted Cyrus hurtling toward the ground, and was debating on whether to try to save him when he saw him stabilize and take out his weapon. Nah, he's got this. Axel thought to himself as he turned back around, scanning the ground below for a spot to land. The ground was littered with grimm, and he wasn't too keen on trying to land in a tree. Screw it. If there isn't room, I'll make some. He closed his eyes and focused, his mind buzzing with energy. He reopened his eyes, and they began to glow, and his body sparked with electrical energy. He spotted a relatively open area where a small group of Ursas were skulking around. He surged toward it and crashed down, slamming his fists into the ground, releasing a massive discharge, vaporizing the Ursas in the process. He rose up from the scorched earth and brushed himself off. Not bad for my first landing. He thought to himself as he turned around and inspected the scene. And definitely not bad for my first kill either. He chuckled to himself. Well. Kills.
He turned and began walking toward the forest path, looking for anyone he could find. He took a few steps into the forest, cautiously peeking around the trees as he went by. As he was walking, he heard a rustling noise coming from behind him. He stopped in his tracks, turning around to scan the area as he pulled out his staff and pressed the button. The staff extended out on both sides, locking into place to form a proper 6' long steel bo staff. He spun it around a few times and held it out in a defensive stance. He stood there, listening. A few moments passed in silence until he heard a rustling in the bushes about 30 feet in front of him. Axel slowly began to approach the bush, clutching his weapon tightly and scrambling to remember his training.
Suddenly, bursting out of the bushes, a boarbatusk came barreling towards Axel. Stunned and confused, his eyes widened as it came closer and closer.
"OH SHI-"
CRASH.
Sebastian stopped and turned, taking on a fighting stance while scanning the area. He heard a sound. It was getting closer.
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH-"
WHACK.
It was Axel, flying through the air and crashing into a tree. He stood up, shook his head, and regained his focus. He spotted Sebastian standing there, looking very confused.
"One moment." Axel said, holding up a finger.
He pulled out his staff and spun it, generating waves of electrical energy. A boarbatusk came streaking out of the trees, headed straight for him. He jumped back, planting his feet on the base of the tree, and launched himself. His body crackled with electricity once again, and he flew directly at the incoming boarbatusk. Axel reached back with his staff, directing all of the electricity into it then swung it in an uppercut motion, driving the now-electrically-toasted boarbatusk into the air where it exploded into bits. Axel came to a screeching halt, leaning on his staff and panting in exhaustion. He turned to Sebastian who looked at him smiling.
"Hey Axel," he said nonchalantly.
Axel flicked his head up in a "'sup" motion, still breathing heavily.
"Guess we're partners, huh?"
"Seems that way."
The two hear a loud roar from behind them, and the two turn to see a massive ape-like Grimm emerge from the treeline. Sebastian began to laugh with excitement.
"You're laughing," Axel pointed out. "We are about to be pummeled by a gorilla, and you're laughing?!"
"Come on. I haven't had fun like this in a while dude!"
"Yeah, and all we've got to fight this thing is a ball and a stick!"
"Correction. A STEEL ball and an ELECTRIC stick."
"Like that's gonna help?" Axel asked, confused. "Look at the SIZE of that thing! This thing is a freaking joy-buzzer to that monstrosity. It'd just piss him off and he'd rip me into more, smaller pieces than he would normally."
"Relax, Axel. I have another plan in mind. It requires a lot of wood and your electric staff."
The ape-like Grimm began to dash towards the duo, throwing a wild haymaker towards Sebastian, but he dodged under it, repeatedly bashing it with his steel ball. He was covered by Axel, who pressed a button on his staff, transforming it into a sniper rifle.
"I need you to give me some cover and shoot at the trees, Axel!"
"What? Why not shoot at, I don't know, the HUGE-ASS GORILLA?!" He shouted back, still blasting away.
"Just trust me on this one!"
Axel switched over to shooting the trees that Sebastian ran by, the ape still chomping at his heels.
Damn thing is tough. No way Siberia is gonna pierce that hulking mass of muscle any time soon. I just need some more ti-. Before Sebastian could even finish thinking, the Grimm rushed forward and grabbed a hold of him, slamming him into a tree. He crashed into it with a loud thud and fell to the ground. The ape Grimm immediately looked in Axel's direction, hoofing it over to him.
"Alright. So. I'm low on ammo, we've done nothing but piss the thing off and effectively pump lead into some trees, and now he's coming straight for me." Axel muttered. "Any other bright ideas?"
"So you're electrokinetic, right?" Sebastian shouted as he got up and flung his steel ball at the ape, trying to get its attention.
"Yeah. I figured that was obvious by now."
"So you can throw lightning bolts and shit?"
"In my sleep. Why?"
"Just be ready." Sebastian slid under the Grimm knocking its legs down with Siberia and causing it to fall on its knees. Sebastian propped himself up and raised his arm above his head, Axel noticing chunks of wood and splintered pieces of trees hovering above him.
"Now!" Sebastian moved his arm forward causing the mass of tree parts to fly in the ape's direction.
"Here goes nothing!" Axel said as his eyes began to glow with electricity. He started spinning his staff, channeling the lightning through it. Then he spun around and thrust the staff toward the hovering pieces of wood sending a surge of lightning into them, igniting them instantly. The flaming chunks of wood pelted the Grimm, burning it on contact. It roared in pain, flailing to put the flames out. While the creature was stunned, Sebastian got another idea.
"You ever play baseball before, Axel?"
"Yeah, I used to. Why?" Axel responded, a little too excited by the idea.
"Well, BATTER UP!" Sebastian pitched his steel ball right at Axel, who started spinning the staff, charging it with electricity. He planted his foot and let loose a mighty swing, sending the electrically-charged ball scorching into the apes mouth, where it erupted with a wave of electrical energy, vaporizing the Grimm entirely. The ball returned to Sebastian's hand, giving him a slight unwelcomed shock in the process.
"Yowch!"
"Oops. sorry. Must've been some residual electrical charge. My bad." Axel said, chuckling nervously.
The two came together, and Axel held out his hand.
"Pleasure working with you, partner." Axel said.
"I do say we make a pretty good team. Partner."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" A pathetic wail echoed through the forest. The two turned to face the sound, and Axel sighed.
"I'm gonna assume that was one of ours. Probably that Jaune guy." Axel said
"Sounds like he could use some help." Sebastian replied.
"Do we have to?"
Sebastian glared at Axel. Axel sighed again.
"Fine." He groaned as the two started walking in the direction of the incoherent shrieking. As the duo walked off, Axel looked at Sebastian quizzically.
"By the way, I'm fairly certain we've established that my semblance is electrokinesis. I'm assuming yours is telekinesis?"
"Yeah it is. I mean, that is how I cheated when we all played rock, paper, scissors." Sebastian laughed.
Axel let out a light chuckle.
"Ass."
"Cyrus! Cyrus! Heads up!" Cyrus heard Damien's voice call out as he saw Damien standing still directly in front of him. He did his damndest to slow down but it didn't matter. He had already gained too much momentum and couldn't slow down in time!
Fortunately, Damien was quick to move out of the way, dodge-rolling to the side. As for Cyrus, he used a barrier to stop himself from going further, although he still took the impact at full force and collapsed onto the ground.
"Cyrus? Buddy? You good?" asked Damien. Cyrus responded by shooting his spike ball straight up at a tree branch above him, slowly lifting himself up until he was standing up straight again. He looked a bit dazed, but seemed okay for the most part.
"You know you could've just gotten up normally, right?
"Shut up, we're partners now. And, as my partner, you should respect my decision to abuse this beautifully crafted weapon in any way I desire."
Damien looked at him, confused and slightly grossed out.
"Whatever you say, man," He said, shaking it off. He gestured to Sweet Liberation. "You really love that gun, huh?"
Cyrus turned to face Damien, definitely not caressing his weapon. "What makes you say tha-"
Their interaction was cut short by the sound of rustling leaves, and large footsteps. Two sets of large footsteps. The newly-formed duo turned to face the noise and were greeted by the sight of a massive Ursa Major emerging from the trees, followed shortly by an equally-large-and-intimidating Beowolf. The two boys looked at each other, and then back to the Grimm.
"While I'd love to discuss your unnatural infatuation with that piece of metal in your hands, but it seems that we have… BIGGER… Problems at the moment," Damien said.
Cyrus shuddered.
"Dude. seriously? Right now?" he said, disappointed.
Damien shrugged. Then, he turned and started sprinting directly at the Ursa. He drew his sword, slashing at the Grimm's legs. The Beowolf lunged at him, but ran headfirst into a barrier, courtesy of Cyrus. In response, Damien turned his focus to the now-stunned Beowolf, running up the hindquarter of the Ursa and leaping from it onto the Beowolf's back.
Cyrus stood there, flabbergasted. I do NOT understand this guy. He just throws himself at stuff, he thought to himself. He shook it off, then turned and ran toward the crippled Ursa, his weapon in ball-and-chain mode, and swung upward with all of his might. The flail connected with the lower jaw of the Ursa, making it stumble backward onto its two hind legs. Cyrus pushed a button on his weapon, retracting the ball and chain, and followed up his strike with a shotgun blast directly into the Ursa's chest, knocking it onto its rear. Then, while the Ursa was distracted, he took a second to glance at Damien, who clearly had not thought things through.
Damien rode the Beowolf like a bucking bronco for a few seconds, then was promptly thrown into the air toward the Ursa.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He yelled as he flew through the air toward the Ursa's open mouth.
Thinking quickly, Cyrus made a barrier in front of the Ursa to stop Damien from falling into its mouth. Unfortunately, he didn't think to place a second barrier underneath to catch him. Damien hit the barrier with an OOF and fell to the ground hard. He laid there for a moment, halfway between the two Grimm, trying to catch his breath which had been effectively knocked out of him. Twice. He looked up at Cyrus, who gave him an apologetic shrug. Then, they both turned back to the two massive Grimm and charged. Damien pulled out his lighter and conjured a fireball, which he threw at the Beowolf. It hit the ground in front of it and exploded, blinding the Beowolf temporarily. He ran up to it while it was blinded, but it refocused and lunged at him. He dodge-rolled around it, pulled out his sword and split it in two, stabbing it in the side. The creature roared in pain as it swiped at him, but he rolled underneath the swinging arm and jumped back, looking over to check on Cyrus.
Cyrus was running circles around the Ursa, letting off blast after blast from his shotgun. The Ursa shrugged off the rounds, rising up on its hind legs and slamming the ground, sending Cyrus flying. He landed flat on his back, and he let out a loud OOF.
"Ha, Karma!" Damien said as he ran over and helped him up, and the two retreated a few yards to regroup. "Ok, we started out pretty good, but now they're pissed," Damien said, "Any bright ideas?"
Cyrus looked up at the two Grimm, who were running toward them, gaining ground quickly.
"Actually, I do. Just follow my lead," Cyrus said as the two rolled in opposite directions to avoid the charging Grimm. Cyrus put up two barriers in mid air around the Grimm: one on Damien's side, the other on his side. Damien pushed a button on his daggers, transforming them into pistols. Then jumped back onto the barrier, and leaped over the Beowolf, unloading rounds into it as he flew over. He hit the ground and slid underneath the Ursa, firing into its underbelly.
Meanwhile, Cyrus did the same, leaping from his barrier into the air, firing his shotgun at the Ursa as he went. He then moved the first barrier up into the air between the two Grimm and landed on it.
The two Grimm flailed after them, unaware that they had been led straight into each other. The Beowolf and Ursa collided and fell down on top of each other., giving the boys the opportunity they needed.
"NOW!" Cyrus yelled as he popped out his spike ball again and jumped off of his high platform. Damien pulled out his lighter and lobbed a fireball up to Cyrus in midair, igniting his ball-and-chain. Cyrus slammed down the flaming spike-ball on the two Grimm, releasing a fiery explosion that incinerated both of them and covered the area in a fog of smoke.
Damien gasped.
"Oh shit. CYRUS!" he yelled.
That was a huge explosion, He thought, and if it did THAT to the Grimm, I don't even want to begin to think about what it could have done to him.
The smoke cleared, and he couldn't believe what he saw. It was Cyrus, waving to him from behind a barrier. He was unharmed, but covered in soot. Damien walked up to him, his mouth open in awe.
"Dude. How are you not dead?" Damien asked.
"I have no idea." Cyrus replied.
"Oh, come on. Give me a break." said a voice from off to the side. The two turned to see Axel, followed by Sebastian coming down the path.
"All that noise for an Ursa and a Beowolf?" Sebastian said jokingly. "We just killed a giant-ass monkey, and YOU guys made more noise with an URSA and a BEOWOLF?"
Cyrus laughed, brushing himself off.
"You know, any help would have been appreciated."
"Nah," Axel said, shaking his head. "I enjoyed watching you guys struggle."
Damien shook his head and let out a small laugh, a confident smirk growing on his face.
"So. Which way to the temple?"