Hello again! I wanted to say thank you once again as this has become the most well received work I have made yet! I feel very honored by each and every person who views my works and humbled by the follows. I always had ideas in my head, but never really felt comfortable enough to write them down before or share them with others. So thank you all for reading my work, as I have said before please feel free to tell me anything you find wrong, as I still wish to improve upon my writing style.
As for this chapter we go back to the original style of writing, it will still be heavily Ruby focused as she is the main difference and thus the changing factor of the others. So I hope you enjoy the ride.
Ruby felt the rush of air crossing her body as she sailed into the air above Emerald Forest. It was a cool refreshing gust that helped remind her body of her actions to come. Soon she hit her peak and started descending to the forest below. From her height she could see some of the other students already entering the forest with all their different types of landings. Soon she pulled out Crescent Rose and turned it into its rifle configuration and began shooting it at a forty five degree angle in front of her. That way it could slow her forward momentum and slow her descent. Once she was just above the tree line she turned it into a scythe and wrapped it around the first tree branch that she encountered. Using her aura to dull the blade so as to not cut clean through the branch and twirled around it a few times to further bleed her momentum.
Once she bleed enough momentum she flung herself off the branch and landed onto the ground with her hands up into the air and scythe above her. If there were any judges they would have given her gymnastics a ten out of ten. Alas there weren't and anything that would have been eyeing her would soon find itself dead as almost immediately as she landed a few Beowolves jumped out of the bushes at her. Without even missing a beat Ruby spun and slashed the first Beowolf in half, and shot the second one through the head during the spin. This just left her and the third one all alone as its companions slowly turned to dust. It must have been a juvenile as it still charged her without any thoughts or plans after watching its pals die. Just like the others it would end up dying before it could even reach the small girl.
After expertly killing the Beowolves that engaged her, Ruby felt a lot more relaxed and began her mission. She just decided to head towards the temple and find a partner on the way or wait for one there. The best way to avoid any ambushes by Grimm was to use the trees so she decided to do just that. Turning her scythe back into a rifle she hoped from branch to branch northward she kept her eyes trained for any signs of movement. Eventually she caught movement in a small clearing between trees. She stopped on her branch and looked down her rifle's sight to see… Weiss. She was in the middle of the clearing looking all around herself and deciding what way to go by the looks of it. Of course the heiress didn't know how to guide herself in a forest, she most likely only got trained in the best of places.
Of course Weiss was not alone, no she just so happened to be in a clearing surrounded by a pack of twelve Beowolves. Now this Ruby had to see, how will the heiress fight? Seeing the threat before her she pulled out her dust rapier and prepared her stance. Like really prepared her stance that took literal seconds compared to the split second decision needed in battle. As she did this the Beowolves continued to inch closer to her, and luckily for her they seemed cautious. She slid forward in a thrust and the Beowolf in front of her exploded into flames. That caught the others by surprise and gave Weiss the time needed to start the process over again and do it to the second one. By this time the Beowolves decided it was enough and two came from behind to attack her.
She handled well on dodging the incoming attacks as she slid by the first swing and under the second. Scoring a swing against the first Beowolf as well, causing it to lose an arm. Though she was fast at dodging she was not fast at taking them down, and soon more joined in on the offensive. She was soon getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks and Ruby knew she had to help the heiress out. So she did just that, she lined up a shot against a Beowolf flanking Weiss and pulled the trigger. Said Beowolf's head exploded and caused the others to look towards Ruby's direction, allowing Weiss a little breathing room to kill another. Of course the Beowolves turned their attention back towards Weiss as she was the closest target, but that didn't stop Ruby from downing another before they started up their attack again.
Eventually the Beowolves were too close to Weiss to risk shooting her on accident, so Ruby dashed down and turned her rifle back into a scythe. With one swing she cleared the spot behind Weiss and the two worked together to clear the remainder of the pack. That eventually led to Weiss trying to thank whoever helped her out by saying that she had it covered and didn't need any help. That was when the two accidentally locked eyes.
"Ugh, it's you!" Wiess's shrill voice shrieked.
"I am not excited about this either princess." Ruby retorted, her voice oozing venom. "I just couldn't leave you there to become Grimm food."
"I told you, I had it handled!" Weiss yelled back.
"Say that to the Beowolves that would have attacked you from behind." Ruby spat back.
"There were no such Beowolves! You are just trying to show off when you have nothing to show for." Weiss replied.
"Show off! Show off! I was trying to save your life and this is how I get repaid!" Ruby scoffed. "Let's just get this stupid relic and get out of here. The sooner I am away from you the better!"
"Yes, let's! Let's head this way." Weiss said. Of course the way that she was heading was northwest, but Ruby didn't want to get into another argument with the heiress. The less she had to talk to her the better in Ruby's book.
Glynda just finished up telling Ozpin of the last pair, a Miss Valkyrie and a Mr. Lie Ren. She then went on to ask Ozpin about what the relics were this year but he was more focused on his scroll. She peered over his shoulder to see that he was looking at Miss Rose and Miss Schnee having an argument about where they were heading and how Weiss had sent them in circles. The two just kept getting in a hotter and hotter argument, enough so that the drones overhead could start to hear their conversation. For the first time since the pairs had come out she felt like Miss Nikos or Lie Ren were not the worst off. This pairing had all the signs of a major disaster. The two quite literally couldn't work together on the barest of levels. Weiss kept insisting she was right and Ruby, while proving that Weiss was wrong, would not try to help the poor girl.
The two just kept getting into an argument and eventually Ruby just sat down, unwilling to move until Weiss was actually taking them in the right direction. On Weiss's part, she simply would not accept that she was wrong and blamed everything on Ruby. Saying that she was simply a child that sneaked into Beacon. Oh Weiss was wrong, in Glynda's opinion the only person that sneaked into Beacon was Jaune Arc. Ruby above all else got into Beacon on recommendation from the headmaster himself, so she definitely did not sneak in. Though Glynda was still on the fence about letting her in two years early, the girl had the lowest aura levels of every student at Beacon since its inception. She could see letting the girl come a year early after she got the boost of aura levels when she turned sixteen, but two years was a little too much. Though Glynda did trust Ozpin so she wouldn't go past her initial voicing of concern.
"This does not bode well." Ozpin muttered out. Mainly to himself, but Glynda easily heard it as well.
"No it does not, those two aren't moving and most likely attracting Grimm to themselves at this rate." Glynda replied courtly.
"Plus Miss Rose isn't showing any desire to take charge." Ozpin chimed in.
"Did you want her to? Are you trying to make her like her mother?" Glynda asked as her eyes narrowed on the man.
Ozpin had a guilty look on his face and shrugged "I thought she would like to be like her mother in that regard." This man was trying to have Ruby live up to her mother's reputation, and that did not sit well in Glynda's stomach. She was not her mother and that showed best in her weapon and fighting style. Heck even her semblance was different from her mothers. Yet here was Ozpin trying to force that role on the girl, he isn't seeing Ruby for herself. All he is seeing is a silver eyed warrior and that made Glynda doubt the headmaster for the first time in her life. Something that she will not admit, but will haunt her none-the-less.
As they continued to watch the screen the two huntresses suddenly stood up and bolted away. They were bolting in the right direction, but what caused their sudden departure? As if to answer that question a giant black feather floated past the screen, easily the size of either of the two that were there just moments ago. That was going to be one big Nevermore.
Blake and Yang had easily arrived at the ancient temple with only having to face the two Ursa Minor's when they first met. It was to be described as quite a boring trip for the two. Upon entering the circular temple that showed its age through the missing columns and walls, even some of nature started to reclaim this lost relic in itself though growing over what little remained, they noticed the relics that they were supposed to retrieve. The relics that the mission had described were simple chess pieces, some black, and some golden. As if to symbolize the very duality of Remnant and man. Of course this mighty metaphor was lost on the blonde who instinctively grabbed the golden knight and proclaimed "How about a cute little pony!"
Of course Blake was trying to understand said symbolism but the enthusiasm of her new partner brought her out of her thoughts. She turned to look at the blonde and said "Sure" while giving off a faint smile that seemed to peak out a lot more often since she met the blonde. The two walked up to each other in the center of the ancient temple and listened to the world around them. The symphony of crickets and wild birds were music to their ears as the noise meant no Grimm were nearby.
"Well that wasn't too hard!" Yang enthusiastically stated with her bright smile to her dark haired partner. Not being used to such a cheery attitude by her partners of the past Blake was almost blinded by the smile alone, but still felt her mood raise. She instinctively knew that this woman was going to be a good partner and even thought of one day revealing her heritage to the blonde.
"Well it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake replied calmly.
Suddenly off in the distance a girlish scream echoed throughout the forest. It caught the attention of both huntresses-in-training and they tried to pinpoint its location. Yang yelled out "Some girl is in trouble!" Then she quickly added "Blake, did you hear that!?" Of course Blake heard it with her much keener hearing, but just like Yang could not pinpoint it through all of the echoes of the trees that surrounded them.
Suddenly a blonde scraggly man went flying past the two and slammed into a nearby tree, eventually falling. He landed gut first on the branch below where he hit the tree and hung there while groaning loudly. At this same moment Yang caught the sight of her sister breaking through the tree line followed by the white haired heiress that Ruby had gotten into a fight just yesterday in the auditorium. The two quickly made it to the temple, Ruby acting normally while scanning the skies, and Weiss panting for the life of her. If they had a race here Yang actually felt sorry for the heiress, Ruby had some amazing stamina that even Yang herself could not beat.
Before anyone could even react to what was happening they heard an explosion from the otherside of the clearing and saw a Ursa swinging around randomly before falling down and revealing an orange haired girl that had been literally riding it here. She quickly jumped off and said "Awe I think it is broken." Then a black haired man came panting off to the side and said in between breaths "Nora… Please never do that again." Of course before their very eyes she zoomed to the temple past them and grabbed a golden rook chess piece and excitedly proclaimed "I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle." Then she was once again yelled at by the black haired man "Nora!" To this she just laughed and said "Coming Ren" before zooming back to her partner.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked Yang. At this point Yang was thoroughly confused on what was currently happening. It was too much all at the same time and was easily overloading her brain. Of course as if the world wanted to overload it more as at that moment a red haired warrior woman came sprinting out of the tree line with a deathstalker right on her tail. She only stopped every once in a while to take pot shots at it to slow the monster down.
"Did she just run all the way here with a deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked. At this point Yang was getting angry at all the stupid stuff that was happening around her. First a girl screaming, than her baby sister was paired with the woman that even Yang could not get along with, after that a girl literally came in riding on an Ursa and said girl had even more energy than said baby sister, and now a woman came running in being chased by one of the fiercest Grimm in all of Vale. She just couldn't take it any longer.
So she exploded, not one of Yang's proudest moments of her life but all the same she still exploded. Literally and metaphorically. "I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for just two seconds before something crazy happens again!?" Her eyes were now red, from the rage at these continuous crazy events happening in less than one minute. After the two seconds were up the world just had to deal another crazy blow to her as Blake tapped her shoulder causing the blonde to look at her partner. Without even saying a word Blake points up into the sky and Yang follows the finger to see a giant Nevermore hovering over the temple. Great now they had to deal with two extremely dangerous Grimm at once.
Ruby immediately moved to give the red haired woman a chance to get away from the Deathstalker chasing her. Ruby knew she had no chance in a straight up melee against the beast as her aura levels were nowhere high enough to deal with. So she did what she did best and used her finely crafted weapon to deal with it. She immediately used the partial wall in front of her that was at chest height to position her rifle and fire shots at the beast's eyes. This caused it to block with its pincers so it would not go blind from the rounds impacting its most vulnerable area. This in turn allowed the woman to get a safe distance away and she yelled out "Thank you!"
Once everyone grouped up at the temple there was a small pause in the battle. Well for everyone other than Ruby herself, she was still firing to hold off the Deathstalker from getting any closer. It chose a defensive stance in hopes to outlast the rifle's bullets and then move in for the kill. This did leave the others to strategize the current issues that they were facing, something that Weis was quick to pick up on. While she might not have liked who she was partnered with she could appreciate the small reapers combat ability with her weapon. Will she ever admit this, no but that was besides the point.
"Guys that thing is starting to circle back.. What are we going to do?" Jaune stated while pointing at the Nevermore.
"Look there is no sense in dilly dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." replied Weiss as she nodded towards the relics still in the temple. Some pieces were missing, meaning Weiss wasn't the first one here but at this point that did not matter to her. She couldn't prove she was the best if she ended up dead to the Grimm in her initiation.
Ruby called out over her shoulder as she continued to fire at the Deathstalker "She's right, our objective is to grab a relic and head back to the cliff. There is no point in killing these things." This got a nod of approval out of Weiss as she was happy that her partner understood her command. The girl might be unruly, but she still understood the things on the line. She also listened to Weiss when it mattered, and Weiss was sure that she could eventually beat it into her when she became team leader.
"Run and live, now that is an idea I can get behind." Jaune said with a little mirth in his voice. As he said this he quickly grabbed a golden rook piece and ran up to Pyrrha and got ready with the others. The only pairing at this point to not get a chess piece was Weiss and Ruby, and the heiress was torn between leading their retreat and grabbing the piece.
As if sensing her dilemma Ruby shouted back "Go! I can grab our piece once you get distance. Once I stop firing at this thing it will charge us, and I am a lot faster than you guys." Weiss nodded at Ruby's suggestion and led the group over the ledge back towards the cliff they came from. Shortly after they all heard Ruby's stop in her firing and was shortly greeted by the red haired girl. Weiss looked over to her to see what piece she grabbed and Ruby proudly showed a golden knight piece to her partner before putting into one of her sacks on her belt.
While Ruby was one of the fastest runners there she found herself to the back of the group with Pyrrha during their retreat. The two often switched at taking shots at the Deathstalker to slow it down some more. Eventually the group arrived at an ancient ruin that led up the side of the cliff over a canyon. The bridge was still in quite a stable condition for how ancient the structure was, but unfortunately they were not the first to arrive. No, the giant Nevermore beat them there. Quickly Jaune ordered Nora to give them cover fire on the giant bird so they could continue to move forward. It worked as her grenade launcher pushed the Nevermore to change directions away from them with the blasts, this did however leave her in range to get attacked by the Deathstalker on their tails.
Pyrrha quickly blocked a pincer attack aimed at Nora and Weiss used this moment to grab her, Then the next second she used a glyph to propel them forward out of the range of the Deathstalker. Ruby turned around to once again start laying shots on the giant scorpion allowing Pyrrha to rejoin the group at the front of the bridge. Pyrrha then turned around and started shooting it as well, the two dealing minimal damage while it was still pushing forward, it had decided that its previous tactic was no longer valid in the situation. Pyrrha then shouted "Go" and the group including Ruby started to cross the bridge. Weiss found herself in the front of the group with Blake, Yang, Nora and Jaune. The only three trailing were Ren, Pyrrha and her partner Ruby. That's when they noticed the giant Nevermore swooping in to destroy the bridge below them.
Weiss braced for impact and soon the entire bridge started to collapse below her feet. Using her glyphs she went across and ended on the other side of the destroyed section with Jaune, Nora, Yang, and Blake. She looked back in horror as her partner was trapped with the Deathstalker, as well as Ren and Pyrrha. Yang was shooting at the retreating Nevermore while Jaune came running over to the edge with Nora. He exclaimed "man we need to get over there they need help." Before anything else could be said Nora hit their portion of the bridge with her hammer and launched the two of them over the collapsed portion of the bridge. They arrive to help the others against the Deathstalker. Ruby turns to look towards her partner and sighs, she knows she should help her but does not even want to be close to the heiress. None-the-less she transforms her rifle into a scythe and launches herself across the bridge to land next to Weiss.
Of course even with a sniper firing at the Nevermore they were severely outmatched here and Weiss knew it. But they had run out of places to run and the Nevermore was still trying to kill them, so at this point they had to fight. Soon all four girls were firing at the beast as it came charging at them, and as if to show that they were doing nothing to it the Nevermore slammed and destroyed part of the ancient ruin that they were standing on. Of course all four were trained huntresses-in-training and expertly made it onto a portion of the structure that was still left undamaged. Ruby firing a couple of shots while running up broken parts of the temple, Yang shooting to propel herself upwards, Weiss using her glyphs to easily jump to the new location and Blake using her weapon swing up to the platform.
Yang started to fire at it once again from the top of a column, trying her best to do any damage to the giant monster. Weiss looked on and a plan shot into her head, one that unfortunately needed her dunce of a partner. She looked at Ruby who was trying to get a hot at its head and said "I have a plan." Ruby just looked at her and nodded, and Weiss went about telling the other two about her strategy.
Yang continued to fire at the Nevermore, eventually hitting it straight in the head. Instead of damaging it all this did was anger the beast and it changed directions to try to eat her whole. It roared as Yang jumped into its mouth and started firing down its throat. She yelled "I hope you are hungry" while doing so. Eventually the Nevermore distracted by blondes' attack was mere feet from the cliff face. Yang jumped out of its mouth and landed on the ruins below as the Nevermore slammed into the cliff. Disoriented it landed down on the ruins below it and screeched out once again. Exactly to Weiss's plan. She dashed forward and used a glyph to freeze the beast's feet to the ruins, which caused it to roar once again and spread its wings to flap again.
That's when a ribbon wrapped around its left wing and held it down by both Blake and Yang. The two were trying as hard as they could to hold the beast down and it was working to keep the wing in one place. Weiss then had a line of glyphs run up the cliffside and nodded for Ruby to do her part. Ruby nodded back and started running, even tapping into her semblance until she hit the cliff. From there she started running up the cliff with the help of Weiss's glyphs until she was half way up. From there she jumped off and sailed down towards the wing currently being held into place, shooting behind herself to pick up even more speed. Weiss prepared a glyph just below the wing to help Ruby's landing and just as she had planned the red reaper sliced right through the wing. The Nevermore screeched out in pain as the severed wing began to disintegrate.
Now unable to fly and its legs still trapped in ice, the Nevermore proved to be no more of a challenge to the huntresses. They stood outside of its range of attack and began to unload on the beast. Ruby aimed for the eyes and the screeches of pain indicated that she had indeed shot its eyes out. Yang aimed at the other wing and after a few rounds huge sections were missing from it. Blake aimed at its mouth everytime it screeched out and Weiss was sending giant ice shards at its torso. After a minute of this a shard finally went through its chest, killing the poor beast and its body flopped forward. This caused more of the ruins to collapse under its weight and it slowly fell into the canyon below, leaving a trail of black haze as it disintegrated. They have just killed an ancient Grimm on their first official day at Beacon, while Weiss may not be the first back she bets that none of the other teams can say that. She hears clapping from behind her and turns to see the others have killed the Deathstalker and were cheering them on for their kill. Pride swelled in the heiress at this display.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you have retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team (Juniper) JNPR, led by… Jaune Arc." Ozpin was calmly saying in the auditorium once all the students had returned. He was currently on the second to last team, which meant that Ruby's team was the last one to get announced. She looked over to Jaune and saw that he was dumbfounded and nearly got floored from a tap from his partner Pyrrha. To this Ozpin didn't even react and said "Congratulations young man." While Ruby felt that Jaune was definitely not ready for this level of fighting, he did prove to be quite the strategist. Though Ruby's mind was not on that at the moment, it was on the fact that her team was next.
"And finally Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. the four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team (Woodburn) WBYR, led by… Weiss Schnee." Ozpin stated and for the first time during the night he actually showed some emotion. He looked rather disappointed and it was directed at Ruby herself. Why was he disappointed in her? Of course Weiss being team leader was disappointing to all, but why was it aimed only at Ruby. In fact only Weiss was the only one looking happy by this, or rather smug. Blake had a deer in the headlights look, Yang was just staring down at the ground while kicking her shoes around and Ruby herself was scowling. Anyone but Weiss, Ruby couldn't handle four years of her bossiness. Especially when she won't listen to a thing that anyone else says.
Ozpin just shakes his head and mumbles "This will be quite disappointing" before walking off the stage. He is right it will be, Ruby doesn't know what will happen first: her exploding at Weiss and doing something stupid or Yang exploding at Weiss and doing something stupid. At this point both options are very viable and look to be in the near future. Something tells Ruby that she should have said no to the headmaster's offer a few days ago.