"No one said being a Superhero was easy," Ruby said to herself as she watched the video she recorded on her scroll the night before.
The White Fang was planning something big, there was no doubt about that. It was only a matter of what they were planning. Ruby knew that it had something to do with all the dust Roman Torchwick was stealing. It was only a theory right now, but Ruby didn't think it was a coincidence that she found the White Fang near all that dust while Roman was stealing it. It was likely that they were working together.
That would actually make her life easier. If Roman was working with more criminals, then that would mean there were more people to give up information.
It was then that Ruby realized she had made a small mistake.
I probably should've interrogated those White Fang grunts last night... Ruby repeatedly slammed her head on her desk in frustration with her stupidity.
Ruby would need to do more investigating if she wanted to figure out where Roman Torchwick was. The White Fang would never work with a human unless they had a good reason. In the past, there were many humans in the White Fang, because many wanted to fight for their freedom. But the White Fang began to discriminate against the humans and commit violent acts that they disagreed with.
That's when all their human members left, and a good portion of their faunus ones too. A few were willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goal, and that included becoming terrorists. Eventually, more faunus joined that were willing to commit to a life in the Fang.
Ruby didn't understand why they resorted to violence so quickly though. Actions do speak louder than words, but when your actions are stealing, lying, murder, assault, and a bunch of other negative things, then the message you're trying to get across will be misinterpreted. It wouldn't convey that the White Fang wanted equality, it would convey that they hated humans.
They should've started to help people like she was doing, although not to the same extreme. People would almost always appreciate a random act of kindness from a stranger. Whether it be helping a cat out of a tree or helping someone carry their groceries to their car. A little help would go a long way to make the White Fang a name that Faunus could be proud of.
Alas, it was way too late for that now.
Ruby scribbled down multiple notes on a sheet of paper beside her. The video she took showed multiple documents from an office in the warehouse she raided last night. She left the documents there purposely for the police to find them, but she made sure to take a video of them all so she could gather information as well.
As it turns out, most of it was useless. It was mainly quantities of dust that they had on hand, and schedules for members that were working that day. But there was one bit of information that proved useful. She didn't get much information out of it, but she did manage to get a name for the project they had been working on.
At the very top of one of the documents, was the name of their operation.
Operation Breach
Ruby had no clue what that could possibly mean. A breach meant a large gap in a wall or something but that didn't exactly give her much to go off of.
My only option is to keep chipping away at the White Fang and hope that I get more useful information to take them down. Ruby took a large drink from her water as she allowed herself to relax after a hard day's work
I guess I'll call Jaune to see how he's feeling after yesterday. Ruby had put Jaune through the wringer yesterday, he could barely walk on his own after they were done training. He showed real promise when it came to combat, he picked up skills very quickly, certainly quicker than her when she had started. The first day of training is always the easiest, it only gets more intense as you get stronger.
The scroll rang a few times before a familiar voice called from the other end of the line.
"H-Hello?" Called out Jaune. He sounded out of breath for some reason.
"Hey Jaune, How're you feeling? I bet you're sore all over."
"Well, I was practicing my aura control last night and this morning. I'm all healed for the most part, but yeah I felt like crap this morning," Jaune explained. It was quite impressive how quickly he managed to grasp controlling his aura. It took her an entire day to even feel it, although she was quite young at the time, and Jaune's aura is so much larger than hers, so he must've had an easier time finding it. "I'm actually jogging right now. Just like you said, I'm training whenever I get a free moment."
Ruby felt an odd sense of pride as he said that. He was taking her teachings to heart and actually listening to her advice. He didn't brush her off because she was so young. He acknowledged her skill and bettered himself because of it.
"That's great!" Ruby exclaimed with pride in her voice. "I'm glad you're feeling better after last night. I'm even more glad that you're exercising in your own time."
Jaune's panting got louder as his running pace increased. "I won't give up that easily, it'll take a lot more than that to get rid of me." Jaune chuckled at his joke.
Ruby laughed along with him. "I'm glad," she said. "Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing, I'll call you later to set up another training day."
"Sure, I'll be doing some strength training by myself but my schedule is pretty open at the moment, so whenever you're ready give me a call."
"Will do," Ruby said. "See ya Jaune."
"Bye"
The next few weeks flew by faster than Ruby had expected. Spider-Woman had become a well-known figure in Vale by that time, with most citizens knowing her name and various abilities. She was particularly popular with children and teenagers. It wasn't a surprise really, her life was basically one straight out of a comic book, so it was only natural that the younger generation had taken a liking to her.
Of course, everybody had assumed she was a faunus. It was the only logical conclusion to make, she had all the abilities of a Spider, so assuming that she was a spider faunus was only natural. However, a faunus only shared a single trait with their corresponding animal. For instance, a dog faunus would have either dog ears or a tail, not both. A spider faunus could have eight eyes, shoot webs, or stick to things, but not more than one ability.
This caused some confusion among the populous, how could a single faunus have so many different abilities? Most people just assumed she was either an anomaly among the faunus or she had a weird semblance that caused the change. The rest just had other crazy theories to try and discover her secret.
But not a single one of them had assumed she was a human.
Of course, it wasn't just Vale that knew about the Spider-Woman, the surrounding Kingdoms had also known about the masked hero for a while. While there was still the majority of citizens who either believed she was dangerous or had no opinion of her, a few had expressed their gratitude for the vigilante, publicly thanking her for her acts of heroism and for saving their lives.
Some kingdoms liked her more than others. Vale was definitely the most supportive of her. It only made sense, with Vale being the kingdom she works in, it was only natural that the people that lived here would have the best opinion of her. Maybe she would do some stuff in other kingdoms at some point once she becomes a professional Huntress and has money to travel, but for now, she would stick with Vale.
Atlas was the worst by far, almost no one there liked her at all. Atlas was infamous for being the most racist kingdom by far, so them not liking Spider-Woman was exactly what she had expected. Also, General Ironwood, head of the Atlas Military as well as Headmaster of Atlas Academy, was a total hardass. Or at least that's what her Uncle Qrow had told her. She never met the man herself, but her uncle had described their numerous encounters in detail.
Apparently, the man was a total stickler for the rules, which wasn't exactly a bad thing, but this caused him to be much more apathetic than he should be. But this made him an effective general first and foremost, which made him perfect for the job. Ruby didn't agree with his motives, but it was the results that mattered and nothing else.
Ruby believed she was actually making a difference in the world, while she still had a long way to go to keep her promise to her mother, this was a pretty good start. The name Spider-Woman would soon be one that would make everyone feel safe.
Jaune's training was progressing at a frightening pace. While he still wasn't at the level of a year one signal student, he was progressing faster than she had ever seen before. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge absorbing water. He got better every time they sparred, each time he was a little stronger, a bit faster, and had better control of his aura. He still wasn't even close to being a challenge to her, but that was to be expected given her powers.
She just hoped that he would be able to handle being in Beacon when the time came. She wouldn't be able to train with him much while he was there. All students lived in the Beacon dorms, and visitors were allowed, but Beacon was much farther away and visitors couldn't stay past a certain time. Hopefully, he'll get all the training he needs from combat classes.
This was all assuming that he actually made it to Beacon in the first place, passing the entrance exam would be difficult, especially for someone with little training. But Ruby had faith that he could pull through.
Speaking of Beacon, Yang had graduated from Signal and was getting ready to take the Beacon entrance exam tomorrow, while Ruby was entering her next year of Signal and was still at the top of her class. She knew she would make it into Beacon, her secret powers would make the practical exam no problem at all, and she was smart enough to pass the written exam easily too.
Her main concern was how she would be able to sneak out to be Spider-Woman while she was enrolled. The students didn't have a curfew but they still had to make it to class the next morning. She was sure there were cameras all over campus that would catch her sneaking out. Thankfully, her Spider-Sense alerted her when there were cameras nearby, that had saved her from unmasking herself on multiple occasions. Maybe she could find a path without any cameras to catch her in the act and sneak out that way, destroying the cameras was an obvious no, as that would just put everyone on high alert.
She'd worry about that later.
While she was easily strong enough to get into Beacon without difficulty, that didn't mean that she would skip out on training, oh no no no, not at all. She had doubled down on her spider training to make her as strong as possible when it was time for Beacon.
Ruby had previously established her limit to be about 15 tons, though she suspected she could push herself to 20 if her life depended on it.
With all the intense training that she had been doing, as well as her advanced healing factor combined with her aura healing, she had successfully managed to increase her strength. Her new limit was 17 tons!
It wasn't a drastic increase in strength but it meant that her hard work was paying off, also she was getting stronger faster than she had expected. She wasn't going to stop her training as long as there was room to grow.
For someone so small to be capable of sustaining that much weight was insane. It wasn't just her strength that she had been training, her speed had increased as well, though that was less from getting faster and more from a better running technique. Ruby had been fast before because of her semblance, but it had occurred to her that she had never learned how to actually run properly, she fixed that very quickly.
Her suit had been upgraded a little bit too. She made the costume more resistant to extreme temperatures so it wouldn't burn up while she was running. She also added a muffler in the mask so no one would be able to recognize her voice.
Her latest upgrade would be finished very soon. Like right now soon!
"Finally all done." Ruby wiped the sweat from her forehead and removed her welding goggles. After taking a long drink of water, she marveled at her latest invention.
Web-Shooters!
The two wrist-mounted devices didn't actually shoot webs, but her natural webbing would pass through them and allow her webbing to be modified with various types of dust that would be loaded into interchangeable cartridges. These Web-Shooters would give her much more possibilities in battle. The devices would be modified and upgraded in the future to incorporate ways to change the way her webbing was discharged, but this was a good start.
She had a few ideas, she wanted to make a grenade made out of webbing that would explode in a shower of sticky spider silk to trap multiple enemies at once. But she would worry about that later.
She had decided to start patrolling during the day as well. She could help more people this way and there were very few Hunters that could catch her. Even if they did catch her, then what? They had to deal with a girl who could dodge bullets and deadlift a bus without even trying. How many Hunters could deal with both at once?
She donned her costume and was in Vale a few minutes later. Swinging through the city in broad daylight as civilians watched her do her thing. She felt a little self-conscious performing in front of an audience but it's better she get used to it now rather than later.
Her Spider-Sense alerted her to danger in the crowded streets below her. She obeyed it and switched her gaze to the traffic under her feet. It wasn't long before she spotted a large armored car in the streets barreling past red lights and other drivers. There were multiple police cars following it, showing that they were definitely up to no good.
"Finally, some action," Spider-Woman said to herself as she dove toward the street. Someone could get seriously hurt or even killed if this continued for longer, so she didn't even hesitate before leaping into action. Shooting a few web lines to slow and adjust her descent, Spider-Woman landed on top of the armored car.
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure this is over the speed limit." Spider-Woman crawled along the side of the vehicle before making her way to the driver's side window. One powerful punch shattered the reinforced glass and startled the driver and passengers enough to distract them from the road.
"Hello, license and registration please." Spider-Woman didn't receive a license or registration, all she got was the barrel of a fully loaded gun to the face. "Fine, let's do this the fun way," Spider-Woman said as she whipped her head to the side to avoid the bombardment of bullets that blasted from the barrel of the gun.
In one swift motion, Spider-Woman jumped away from the vehicle, shot a web-line to the driver's door, and pulled with all her might. The result was her being slingshotted through the broken window and colliding with all the criminals. The force of her impact caused the criminals to be launched through the passenger door as it was blasted off of the vehicle. She disarmed all the criminals in midair and shot a net of webbing behind them to save them from any serious injury.
With all the bad guys taken care of, she still had to deal with the truck that had yet to slow down. Attaching a web to the back of the truck, she allowed herself to be pulled along with it as it continued forward. Using her Super-Strength, she launched herself forward and ahead of the runaway vehicle.
"Please don't die." Spider-Woman landed gracefully and braced herself with all her strength.
CRASH!
The vehicle slammed into her with great force. Pushing back with all her might, she stood her ground as the runaway truck pushed her backward. She dug her feet into the ground in an attempt to slow down. Her Spider-Sense was buzzing louder. She didn't need to turn around to know that there were innocent civilians behind her in danger of having a 25-ton truck crash into them.
"RAAAAGHH!" Spider-Woman yelled as she exerted herself. Her muscles were bulging in her costume and she dug her feet even further into the asphalt. The metal of the truck buckled around her small frame as it continued forward.
But it was slowing down, and that's all that mattered.
She only pushed harder as her Spider-Sense got louder. After what felt like an eternity though it couldn't have lasted more than ten seconds, the slowing vehicle managed to come to a complete stop with smoke rising out of the engine.
"Haahh Haahhh, piece of...cake." Spider-Woman took a second to breathe before ripping the metal off of her body. Turning around, she was relieved to see that not one civilian had been injured, she stopped the truck just in time.
"Talk about crashing the party huh?" No one laughed. They just stared at her with eyes wide as dinner plates. "Jeez, tough crowd."
Walking around the truck, Spider-Woman reached the back doors and prepared to check for anyone hiding inside. Shooting two webs at the doors, she ripped them off in one shot. Her Spider-Sense warned her just in time to duck below a bullet that only barely managed to miss her head. Her aura would've protected her anyway, but she wasn't about to get careless.
Spider-Woman shot a ball of webbing that clogged up the gun and left the criminal defenseless. Releasing another web that attached itself to the woman's torso she ripped her out of the truck and grabbed a hold of her before she could escape.
The woman opened her mouth to beg for mercy, but a quick punch to the face ripped the words right out of her mouth. Spider-Woman gently placed her on the ground against the destroyed truck as she admired her handy work. The truck was full of cash, which was exactly what she had expected. It's always about the money, some people would do anything for it.
"FREEZE!" Spider-Woman spun around and came face to face with the barrels of about 20 guns, and the scared faces of all the cops that wielded them. "Hands up!" Spider-Woman always found it weird that in the movies and comics the police would constantly fire their weapons at someone who clearly wasn't affected by them. Then they actually acted surprised that their guns didn't do a damn thing.
Now, Spider-Woman was definitely vulnerable to bullets, at least when she didn't have aura left, but she was also fast enough to avoid all of them, so she didn't feel threatened in the slightest.
"I just did 80% of your job and this is how you repay me? BOO!" Spider-Woman joked before jumping away from the scene of the crime.
No one dared fire a single shot at her.
It has been a long time since Headmaster Ozpin had genuinely been surprised. It has been so long that he honestly can't remember the last time, it was a few lifetimes ago at least.
When you lived at long as he had, you tend to experience the same events multiple times, and eventually, you would get used to it. Ozpin had seen and been a part of many different wars, he had fallen in love more times than he can count, he had seen multiple Kingdoms rise and fall, and he had even seen the first faunus.
He had even seen the first silver-eyed warrior and the incredible power they possess. The power to destroy hordes of Grimm with nothing but a glance. Despite his numerous lifetimes, Ozpin had never been reincarnated with silver eyes, which was disappointing but expected.
But now, Ozpin could safely say that he was surprised.
Very surprised.
Ozpin stared intently at his computer screen, watching an amateur video recording of a masked vigilante stopping a bank robbery. The way she effortlessly dodged bullets was like nothing he had ever seen before. She had the grace of a ballet dancer and the power of a veteran Hunter.
She incapacitated each criminal with impossible ease one after another. She didn't even break a sweat, it was as if her actions were less than a warm-up.
She had also not taken a single hit throughout the entire ordeal.
She left right as the police arrived, leaving behind a job well done.
Headmaster Ozpin was surprised.
"Spider-Woman," he said softly to himself. This wasn't the first time that he had heard of this hero, she had been making a name for herself over the last few weeks as a proficient and powerful vigilante. Ozpin assumed that this would end the way it always had, either the vigilante would get captured by the police, get overconfident and perish during battle, or simply realize that she was in way over her head and just quit.
None of those things happened.
Ozpin was no stranger to vigilantism, he had seen his fair share of vigilantes in his many lifetimes and had even become one at some point. But never had he seen a vigilante quite like this.
For starters, she appeared to possess multiple strange abilities. She could shoot sticky webbing from her wrist, stick to walls, jump super high, has incredible strength, and is faster than the eye can see.
This didn't make any sense, he had never seen a semblance so versatile before, and he had a feeling that she had more abilities hidden away.
One thing was certain though, this Spider-Woman was powerful, if she truly was on the good side as she has shown, then she could be a powerful ally. But if she wasn't, however, then she would become a very dangerous enemy.
Ozpin needed to gather more information before he would be willing to trust Spider-Woman. She has only been active for a few weeks, so information about her is very limited. Her identity was something that interested Ozpin greatly, but he had no clue where to begin looking.
She had almost unmasked herself in front of security cameras on numerous occasions, but she always stopped herself and spotted the camera before she could be identified. It was as if she knew it was there.
Prying into her personal life wasn't something that Ozpin wanted to do anyway, if they grew to trust each other then she would willingly reveal herself to him in time. For now, he needed more information.
Luckily, he had the perfect person for the job.
DING
The elevator came to a halt and the doors smoothly slid open, out stumbled a man with greying spiky hair, faded red eyes, and a slight stubble along his jawline. Ozpin could never tell if the man was sober or not, he was wasted so often that he had gotten quite good at hiding it from everyone.
"Qrow, good to see you again," Ozpin said with a smile. He took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "I trust that everything has been well for you?" He asked.
Qrow Branwen took a sip off whatever concoction was in his flask before he responded. "About as well as I can be considering all the shit that's happened. But I'm hanging in there."
Qrow took a seat across from Ozpin's desk and kicked his feet up with a complete lack of regard for the clean mahogany.
"So, whatcha call me up here for? I get the feeling you didn't call me all the way up here just to say hi."
Ozpin typed away at his keyboard for a few moments before spinning his monitor to face the drunken Huntsman. "I'm certain that you've already seen the news, but I had to be sure. You've heard of this vigilante correct?"
Qrow lazily glanced at the monitor while sipping from his flask. "Spider-Woman? Of course, I have. I don't think there's a soul in Vale who hasn't at least heard the name before. I've never seen her in person though. Though I know people who've seen her before. Some officers I know have had a few run-ins with her. They say she's quite young too, can't be any older than 16."
Qrow removed his feet from the desk and moved his chair closer to Ozpin. "She's quite the celebrity these days. Powers straight outta a comic book and a cool costume to back it up. I'd be more surprised if people didn't take an interest in her."
Ozpin's fingers drummed on his desk as he grunted in confirmation. "Correct. She's been making quite the name for herself in the past few weeks. She made her debut by saving five people from a burning building. From there, she stopped crime all across the city with a vast array of unusual abilities. Webbing, sticking to walls, super strength, super speed, crazy agility. She's quite the fighter."
Qrow's fingers ran through his messy black hair as he regarded the immortal across from him. "So? What about her? I doubt you called me over here because you want me to kill her, I'm not in the business of butchering children anyway. I also doubt you would be so immediately trusting as to want me to bring her to you."
Ozpin finished off the last of his coffee before responding. "Correct, You're not as dumb as you look Qrow," Ozpin said, talking right through the obvious insult. "I simply want you to gather some information on this vigilante and tell me what you think based on what you've gathered."
Qrow nodded in understanding. "Now that makes more sense. Sound's easy enough too, just as long as I don't have to fight her. Any idea where I should start?"
Ozpin took a minute to think before answering. "I'd try the less-than-savory parts of Vale first. She's most likely to be wherever the crime is. That's a good place to start. Don't approach her though, not unless you think it's safe. You should be able to blend in as a bird though. Maybe you could give her something to convince her to trust you.
Qrow downed the rest of whatever was in his flask. "Ok I'll start tomorrow, it's getting late and I want to see Yang and Ruby. I'll call you when I get something."
"Goodnight Qrow." Ozpin bid his friend a farewell.
Instead of going down the elevator like a normal person, Qrow instead decided to walk over to the open window behind Ozpin and launch himself out of it.
After a few seconds, all that could be seen was a single Crow flying into the sunset.
"I put that elevator there for a reason."
Spider-Woman found a secluded alleyway to change out of her costume and she became Ruby Rose once more. She was still getting used to the whole 'Secret Identity' thing. It was harder than it looked in the comics, especially with her being so young and still living with her family. She had to hide her costume where no one would ever think to look. She had debated just leaving it in a corner of her closet but eventually decided on throwing it inside another set of clothes and hiding it in a suitcase on the top shelf of her closet.
It was a pain to retrieve it whenever she wanted to put it on, but it was better than her getting discovered so she dealt with it.
Ruby waited a few minutes in silence by herself before exiting the alley and slipping into the crowd. She had gotten used to blending in with everybody else so she wouldn't look suspicious.
"I'm in the clear," she said when it was clear that no one had noticed her.
The sun was still high in the sky, so she still had plenty of daylight left before she had to head home. She needed to pick up some dust for her new web-shooters, as well as test them away from any civilians.
Ruby was surprised to find out how many minor inconveniences there were when it came to being a superhero. For one, the suit chafed a lot. This was an easy fix, she just needed to pour a crap ton of baby powder into the suit whenever she put it on, especially in the joints.
The suit needed to be washed frequently too, with how much she was sweating in that suit, especially in this heat, it made it smell pretty bad if she neglected to wash it enough. She would need to weave some ice dust into the spandex fabric to keep her cool during the hotter months.
That also meant that she would need to have multiple suits ready depending on the weather conditions.
Money was also a problem. Being a vigilante isn't a full-time job, so she would need to find a way to make money to continue her hero work. She didn't like taking money from criminals, considering that a lot of people probably died or suffered for them to make that money. So she would do it the right way, she just needed to figure out how.
The public wasn't fully supportive of her yet either, but that wasn't a big deal. She would gain their trust in time, but for now, she just had to hope she was making a difference.
Ruby spotted a familiar dust shop in the distance, the very same shop that she had saved from a robbery during her second night as Spider-Woman.
From Dust Till Dawn.
The door opened with an audible chime as the bell above the door was lightly tapped when it swung open. There were multiple employees in today, some stocking shelves, others cleaning, and a few at the register.
Ruby was glad to see that this place was still doing good after what had happened that night. It wasn't a huge deal, but if she could help just one person, then she thought it was worth it, even if she received nothing in return.
The owner of the shop was grateful for the actions of Spider-Woman that night too. Considering that there were dust vials stacked on top of each other in front of the window that formed the familiar face of her alter ego. It was pretty impressive how accurate the picture was to the real thing.
"Hello, welcome to From Dust Till Dawn, how may I help you?" Greeted the man behind the counter with a friendly smile.
Dust was a very tricky thing to handle. There were multiple ways to prepare it depending on how it was going to be used. There were multiple grades of dust that are used for different applications. Grade S dust is the highest quality dust you can get, it's also not worth it at all considering how expensive it is. It's mainly bought by rich people that wanted to show off their wealth.
Grade A dust is used for clothing with dust weaved into it. It's non-combustible so it's perfect to wear clothing weaved with fire dust in the winter for example to help keep warm.
Grade B dust is what most hunters used. This is where dust got explosive, it's used in guns to amplify the power of bullets and apply elemental properties. It only blows up if you intend for it to or if something goes terribly wrong.
Grade C dust is dangerous. This type of dust is highly explosive and can only be bought with a special license for hunters. Ruby didn't have a license to buy the dust, but she did have a license that proved she was authorized to use it. That was standard when she applied to Signal. This dust was only used in powerful explosives like grenades. It's also used in some fireworks.
Grade D dust is the most dangerous dust available. It's illegal to possess and purchase it, it's only used by the military in very specific situations. Ruby had only ever seen this dust online, the explosions that it produced were crazy.
"Hello, can I please have three vials of Grade B Fire, Ice, Earth, and Electric dust?" Three vials of each should keep her going for a while, it took very little dust to have a big reaction to her webbing, it was like it absorbed the dust as her webbing transformed.
"Absolutely," the man replied with a smile. "Just give me one moment." Reaching under the counter, the man pulled out 12 empty dust vials and began to fill them up with their respective dust. Some dust only worked when combined with other types. For instance, Ice dust was created by combining Water and Air dust together. So it was no surprise that he began pulling dust that she didn't order.
The man filled the vials with practiced ease, he had clearly been doing this for a long time. It only took two minutes until the man completed her order. "Thanks for waiting, your total is 120 Lien." Ruby reached into her wallet and pulled out the appropriate amount of Lien before handing it to the nice man.
"Thank you, Please come again!" Ruby grabbed her dust, waved goodbye, and exited the store.
Testing her new Web-Shooters while on patrol was a bad idea waiting to happen, she would need to make sure they worked and that they were safe before using them on criminals. She didn't want to blow someone up by mistake.
She made her way to her usual training spot to test her new invention. No one ever went to this area, so she could test her Web-Shooters without fear of anyone spying on her. Even if someone did figure out someone was here, her Spider-Sense would warn her before they could see her.
Ruby pulled out her dust injector and got to work. A dust injector is a handy device that can be attached to any dust vial making injecting dust much easier. She quickly got to work injecting the dust into their respective cartridges and loading them into her Web-Shooters. It took about ten minutes to fill them all up, and she still had plenty of dust leftover.
Designing the Web-Shooters had been the easy part, the hard part had been figuring out how to switch between dust types mid-battle. She couldn't just manually rotate the cylinder, that would occupy both of her hands and take her attention away from whatever she was doing.
Using her engineering skills, she placed a small microphone inside of her mask that was connected to her Web-Shooters. Her Web-Shooters would only respond if she used the special command "Load Web," and specified which webbing she wanted. Her Web-Shooters would then respond to her command and switch the dust cartridge to whichever web type she chose.
She could also do it manually if something was damaged.
Snapping her Web-Shooters onto her wrist and making sure they were secure, Ruby prepared for her first test.
"Please don't blow up," Ruby pleaded to no one before slipping on her mask.
"Load ice web," she spoke robotically.
The reaction was instant. As soon as she finished speaking, her Web-Shooters made a soft clicking noise as the servos inside obeyed her command and began to load the correct webbing into her new invention. It took all of two seconds before the correct cartridge had been successfully loaded into the Web Shooters.
"Ok, so far so good. Now for the real test." Now was the time to see if the dust successfully combined with her webbing as it was fired. Ruby took careful aim at a destroyed train car and prepared for her test.
She pressed her middle and ring finger to the palm of her hand and prepared for the worst.
She felt her webbing discharge from her wrist, it was a feeling that took a little while to get used to, suddenly having spinnerets mutated into her wrists was a welcome change, but one that certainly felt a little weird.
The ball of webbing was immediately infused with freezing cold dust and soared through the air as it made its way to its target. As the webbing impacted the train car it immediately began to freeze solid and expand as the ice dust did its thing. It only took a second for the ice to stop expanding, all that was left was a solid chunk of ice webbing stuck to the side of the train car.
Ruby gave herself the widest smile imaginable. She didn't expect it to work perfectly on the first test, this was a new high for her.
"Unload web."
As expected, the machine obeyed her command and removed the cartridge of ice dust from her Web-Shooters. Her invention worked flawlessly.
"Load fire web." The machine did its thing and loaded the correct dust cartridge into the chamber of the device.
Taking careful aim once more, she fired another ball of webbing at the train car and waited for the result. She knew exactly what was going to happen, but it was still exciting to see it work.
As expected, as the webbing made contact, it immediately detonated in a shower of red-hot fire. Despite the intensity of the explosion, the webbing stuck to the train car and refused to let go, completely unaffected by the fire.
"Perfect. Another successful invention by brilliant inventor extraordinaire, Ruby Rose," Ruby joked to herself. She knew she was smart, but she didn't like to brag about her intelligence. She wasn't gifted or anything, at least not until she was bitten by a radioactive spider, she was only so smart because she worked her ass off to get to this level, it was hard work and nothing more.
The Web-Shooters will definitely be upgraded in the future, there was no doubt about that. Ruby was really interested in making the devices respond to her thoughts instead of her needing to speak to change dust cartridges. Though this technology already existed, it was quite expensive. It was mainly used for prosthetic limbs and things of that nature, but Ruby was sure that she could make it work with her Web-Shooters once she has saved up enough money.
Ruby rolled her sleeves down to conceal her Web-Shooters and made her way home. A quick glance at her scroll revealed the time to be 5:37 PM. Not too late, but she might want to get home sooner rather than later considering what happened last time she was late, she didn't want her family to get the wrong idea again.
The streets of Vale had started to calm down due to the late hour. Shops were beginning to close down and people were getting off of work. The street lights had flickered to life, and the headlights of approaching cars shone brightly in the dimly lit city.
But Ruby had long since learned that the city of Vale never sleeps.
Most criminals are nocturnal, once the sun has set, the bad people come out to cause trouble. She has encountered all sorts of bad people while patrolling. Thieves, Killers, Terrorists, Drunks, there was no limit to the types she had encountered.
Before she decided to patrol as Spider-Woman, she needed to make her presence known at home.
After an uneventful walk home, Ruby fumbled with her keys for a moment before finally managing to push the door open.
She was immediately greeted by a furry missile striking her in the chest. Her enhanced durability allowed her to stay upright as she hugged the furball close to her.
"Zwei! I missed you buddy!" Ruby began to rub the Corgi's belly as he squirmed happily on the floor. "Who's a good boy?"
"Arf!" The Corgi responded simply.
Ruby made her way inside and was greeted with a sight that she doesn't often see anymore.
Standing by the center island was a man with faded red eyes and stubble along his jawline with a full flask in hand.
"Uncle Qrow!" A small pulse of her semblance rocketed her across the kitchen before she latched onto her Uncle's arm and refused to let go. "It's so good to see you! Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me!?"
Qrow lazily lifted up his right arm with the small girl still attached to it. He appeared to think for a moment before responding to his Niece's question.
"Nope." Was his reply, but the wide smile on his face confirmed to Ruby that he was just messing around. He ruffled her hair for a second before she slid off his arm.
Ruby dusted herself off before speaking, "What're you doing here? You rarely visit anymore."
Qrow's smile didn't falter in the slightest. "I had some time to kill so I decided to stop by and say hi to my seventh favorite Niece."
Yang decided to chime in from her comfortable spot on the sofa. "You're just saying that because we're the only girls that will talk to you, old man."
Qrow visibly recoiled from her words. "Erk! B-Brat! I'm not even 40 yet!"
Yang snickered.
Qrow recovered from the devastating blow that Yang had delivered. "Actually, I'll be quite busy for a little while, so I wanted to say hi while I had the chance."
Ruby was disappointed at the news. Her Uncle was always busy working, she understood that he had to make a living for himself but she wished that he had more free time.
"Don't gimme that look, pipsqueak. Us adults gotta work for a living," her uncle said while ruffling her hair. Ruby sent him a cute pout.
"What kind of work?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head.
"Sorry squirt, but that's classified," her uncle said while patting her back. "Nothing a cute kid like you needs to get involved in."
Damn, I'm so curious.
Qrow walked around the center island to the fridge, presumably wanting to steal some of her fathers alcohol. He stopped before he reached the fridge and noticed a newspaper sitting on the counter, the front page visible.
"Spider-Woman?"
It took every ounce of strength that Ruby had to not flinch at his words.
"You girls ever heard of this Spider-Woman?"
Yang was the first to respond. "Who hasn't? Everyone knows who Spider-Woman is. She's in the newspaper daily, she helps people, and she isn't exactly being subtle with her colorful costume."
Qrow turned to Ruby, clearly expecting her to answer too.
Shit...what do I say? Maybe a little bit of truth to cover up the entire lie would work?
"Uhh, yeah, I've seen the news reports and recordings of her. She's super cool." Ruby praised herself. But there was something that she wanted to know as well. "Why do you ask?"
Qrow brushed her off quickly. "Just curious. I may be old, but I still read comic books as a kid. She reminds me an awful lot of the super heroes from the comics I read, so I wanted to know more."
Ruby's Spider-Sense buzzed faintly in her skull. It wasn't violent or demanding, but just enough to let her know that something was wrong.
He's lying! I didn't know my Spider-Sense could do that. That's just another amazing ability I have!
Ruby was pulled from her thoughts as the sound of her Uncle's scroll ringing reverberated throughout the room. She was pretty sure that her Uncle had the superpower to always pick the most annoying ringtone every single time he changed it.
Qrow reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll. His eyes narrowed for a split second when he saw who was calling before returning to normal.
He sighed. "Sorry girls, looks like I gotta cut this visit short," he said, clearly disappointed. He ruffled Ruby's hair gently before walking to the door and giving a wave goodbye to Yang.
"Goodbye Uncle Qrow," Ruby said.
"See ya squirt. Tell Tai I stopped by." The door softly clicked shut behind him.
"What is it?" Qrow spoke annoyed at his caller.
"Sorry to disturb you so late, but I felt it necessary to deliver this news as soon as possible." Headmaster Ozpin spoke quickly. "I just got word that James Ironwood will be coming to Vale in the near future."
Qrow internally groaned at his words, wishing very much that he had more alcohol to forget this conversation ever happened. He didn't hate James, not even close, but he was such a pain to deal with. He was such a stickler for the rules and never listened to anyone else's opinion because of his experience.
He was a good man, and a damn effective General, but he was way too serious all the time. He was the type of person that never called just to say hi.
Ozpin seemed to sense Qrow's annoyance through the scroll. "I know you don't like having to deal with him, but his control over the strongest military force on Remnant makes him our most valuable ally, also I couldn't exactly say no, he's free to travel when and where he wants."
Qrow relented rather quickly, knowing that there was nothing that he nor Ozpin could do about it. "Do you know when Jimmy will get here?" He asked, wanting to be prepared.
"We still have some time, it won't be until after this Beacon semester starts."
Qrow was relieved to hear that. He still had some time to prepare for his visit by stocking up on alcohol.
"But...there is one problem..." And just like that, Qrow's relief was washed away in an instant. "You know how Ironwood is always very strict about the rules. He might try to take matters into his own hands when it comes to this Spider-Woman."
Ozpin was right. If Jimmy thought that Vale wasn't taking the Spider-Woman situation seriously, then he'd just try to do it himself with the help of his military. That was a situation that was best avoided.
"What can we do?" Qrow asked simply.
Ozpin responded immediately. "For now, just stick to the plan, gather information and report back to me. Play dumb if James asks about her, I don't want him getting involved."
Qrow nodded despite the fact that Ozpin couldn't see him. "Ok, I got it. Keep me posted," Qrow said. "Also, did he mention anything about that machine he was building that could save the maiden's powers?" Qrow asked curiously. According to Ozpin, some smart people over at Atlas were in the process of building a machine that could transfer a soul from one body to another.
"I asked him about it," Ozpin said. "But he said that there were a few problems that he had run into. He had no idea when or if it will get done."
Qrow wasn't surprised. A machine like that had to be incredibly difficult to get right. Not to mention that time was working against them.
"Alright, keep me posted." Qrow hung up before Ozpin could respond. "Ugh, this just keeps getting worse.
Qrow wasn't sure when exactly he lost control of his life. It could be when he discovered his semblance of attracting bad luck. It could be when his bitch of a sister decided to abandon everyone, including her newborn baby girl. Or it could even be when he decided to leave the tribe that raised him.
But ultimately, he knew that the defining moment in his life when everything turned to shit was when Summer died. That was the moment when everything turned to shit. He turned to alcohol to try to forget that pain, but there wasn't enough alcohol on the planet to make him forget the pain of his loss.
He took a sip from his flask.
"MPPPHH!"
The man's cries wouldn't be heard by anyone due to a glob of sticky webbing trapping his words in his mouth. He also would find it difficult to escape due to an equally sticky net of webbing trapping him to the wall behind him. He would think twice before carjacking next time.
Spider-Woman raided the man's pockets before finding the cheap scroll that she had been looking for, along with a single stick of gum, a few keys, and his lockpicking set.
Spider-Woman pressed a few keys on the scroll before holding it up to her ear. A few tense seconds later, the ringing stopped and a feminine voice spoke on the other end.
"VPD, what is your emergency?"
Spider-Woman was pretty sure that all of the emergency dispatchers have talked to her at one point or another. She's very good at what she does, so she called the Vale Police Department often.
"Hello, it's Spider-Woman, just caught a carjacker, he's all webbed up and ready for prison."
"Ma'am, vigilantism is a criminal offense, I suggest-"
"Then you better get over here quickly and arrest me too. Have a good night."
Spider-Woman ignored the protests from the woman and pulled the scroll away from her ear. She left the scroll on so they could track it and placed it in the carjacker's pocket.
"In the future, if you're gonna steal cars, then don't dress like a car thief."
Spider-Woman swung away, ignoring the muffled cries of the criminal.
It surprised her how stupid a lot of the criminals she caught were. A few of them were pretty smart, but most of the time it was either somebody who was desperate for cash or someone who had absolutely nothing to lose. She felt bad for them most of the time.
Spider-Woman had seen things that she had never wanted to see before. She had learned how horrible the world truly was when she donned the mask. The hardest part about being Spider-Woman wasn't dealing with criminals, evading the police, or even keeping her identity a secret.
The hardest part of being Spider-Woman is that she can't always save everyone.
The tragedies she had seen while patrolling had driven her to tears. She had witnessed the aftermath of murders on more than a few occasions. It was almost always a drug deal gone wrong, but the sight alone nearly made her empty her stomach right there.
She had seen children not much older than her overdose on whatever substance they had been addicted to. To think that could have been her if her situation had been different. How many families had been torn apart by a single mistake like that? One more kid who would never go to school, fall in love, have a family, and make something of themselves. All because of one mistake.
But it was through these tragedies that made Spider-Woman appreciate how fortunate she was to be born into a loving family with great opportunities. She swore that she would never take it for granted.
She owed it to her mother. She had made a promise, and she fully intended to keep it.
A mighty tug on her webbing caused Spider-Woman to be launched above multiple buildings before gravity took hold of her small form once again.
Spider-Woman spread her arms wide and allowed her Web-Wings to unfold from her costume. Instead of plummeting to her death, the wind caught her wings and her fall was noticeably slowed as she glided safely through the air. The addition of Web-Wings was definitely a good idea.
Spider-Woman soared through the air for a few minutes before retracting her Web-Wings as she landed on a random roof.
She lifted her mask above her mouth to allow the air to flow much more smoothly to her lungs. She took several deep breaths as she took a seat on the roof's edge.
"What a day." She muttered to herself. "I'm glad that I'm making a difference, but I never expected it to be this emotionally draining. This is nothing like the comic books." Comic book heroes would always need to get their hands dirty to stop the villain, but in reality, it was so much more difficult.
It wasn't the fighting that was difficult for her but having to deal with the aftermath of when she didn't make it in time. This wasn't a fantasy world, this is real life, and in real life, you don't always get a happy ending.
Despite all of the terrible things she had encountered, Spider-Woman had never once thought to quit doing her job. If anything, these tragedies only served to strengthen her motivation to help people. She knew that it would only get harder as more serious threats came about, but she would do whatever it takes to protect her city.
No one can win every battle, but no one should fall without a struggle.
Spider-Woman slid her scroll out of her pocket and thumbed through her notifications. She was glad that she could use the screen with her gloves, otherwise, that would make things much more challenging.
She sent a quick message to Jaune, wishing him well during the Beacon entrance exam. He was almost definitely asleep by now, but he was sure to receive the message once he woke up.
Spider-Woman had briefly considered creating a social media for herself that fans could follow if they wished, but she soon realized that would only make figuring out who she was much easier.
She liked to look herself up on the internet often, it was fun seeing people talk about her online. Most of the time it was just someone mentioning how she had prevented a crime from taking place. But the larger news websites sometimes liked to bash her if she didn't do everything perfectly.
It was both uplifting and disheartening at the same time.
What was quite interesting was that no one was able to get a clear high-quality picture of her. It was always people in a rush to take a picture of her before she swung away, and it was never taken on professional equipment, always a cheap scroll.
This was why it was no surprise to her that there were a few ads that were requesting pictures of Spider-Woman. She had seen them multiple times but had never taken them very seriously. She preferred to remain out of the spotlight for now anyway.
That was until her cash ran out.
Between purchasing dust for Crescent Rose and her Web-Shooters, as well as buying materials to build her Web-Shooters in the first place, her savings had managed to run completely dry.
Her wallet was sad, and when her wallet was sad, she was sad.
Which was why she was actually considering a particular ad she had come across.
REWARD! FOR PHOTOS OF SPIDER-WOMAN!
The ad was posted by one of the most popular news outlets in Vale.
The Daily Bugle.
In Spider-Woman's mind, she knew this was a bad idea, but her wallet didn't care right now. She would need to take pictures of herself and sell them to The Daily Bugle if she wanted to increase her funds.
She sighed deeply to herself before making her decision.
"Now I need a camera."
In a list of things that Ruby had thought she would be doing as a Super Hero, fighting crime and saving the day were at the very top of that list. Because that's what heroes do right? They save the day with a smile on their face.
Now, somewhere at the bottom of that list, what she never thought she would be doing, was exactly what she was doing right now.
Dumpster diving.
Ruby didn't have a high-quality camera at home and she definitely wasn't in a position to buy one at the moment considering she had no money left. So her only option was to 'borrow' a camera from someone who had thrown it away.
The only problem was that finding a good-quality camera in a dumpster is a lot easier said than done. Who would want to throw out high-quality equipment anyway?
Ruby made sure to change out of her costume before she started searching dumpsters for a camera, if someone captured a picture of Spider-Woman rummaging through the trash then the news outlets would definitely have fun with that.
Ruby Rose on the other hand had always rummaged through the trash searching for parts that she could recycle for Crescent Rose or some other project she was working on.
Ruby already had a camera, but it was a small cheap one that didn't have the greatest quality lens. If she wanted to make money selling pictures of herself then she would need a much better camera. Even if it didn't work properly, she could always tinker with it to try and fix it later.
As it turns out, finding a good-quality camera in the trash is much harder than it sounds. Ruby had already come across a few cheap ones and a nice one that was unfortunately busted beyond repair. Perhaps it would be best to ask her father for money to buy a camera, but if she did that then he would undoubtedly ask her what she needed the money for, and there was no way she could tell him that she needed a new camera to take pictures of Spider-Woman, especially considering that she is Spider-Woman.
Upon rummaging through her fifth dumpster, Ruby was starting to think that it was just about impossible to find a good-quality camera that someone didn't want.
"Ugh...I'm going to need a really long shower after this," she complained to no one in particular. "Why can't the universe just throw me a bone every once and a while?" She said while moving a busted television.
Ruby was just about to give up before she noticed a small reflection of light off of a small piece of glass in the corner of her vision.
Praying to whatever god existed, Ruby reached over and gently grabbed hold of the mysterious object.
Ruby allowed the wide smile to overtake her features as she rotated the machine in her tiny hands.
"Finally."
In Ruby's hands rested a large camera with a massive lens and a dirty neck strap attached to it. The camera definitely wasn't a modern camera, it was probably 10 years old at least but that wouldn't be a problem as long as it functioned.
Attempting to power the device on revealed exactly what Ruby had been expecting. The camera screen failed to Illuminate at all, indicating either a dead battery or some internal problem. Ruby desperately hoped it was the former.
Fortunately for her, it looked like the charging port was a fairly common type that everyone had seen at least once. Ruby had a few of those cables lying around somewhere.
Dragging her gaze around her revealed that she hadn't been seen by any nosy bystanders. She was in the clear.
Ruby ran up the side of the building to where she had stored her spider suit and backpack and prepared to head home.
Ruby always hid a backpack somewhere in the city that no one would be able to find while she was doing her thing as Spider-Woman. This allowed her to change quickly and head home with no one being suspicious of her. She also had some snacks in there in case she needed a quick pick-me-up.
Ruby slipped into her costume and gently wrapped her camera in her other clothes before zipping up the backpack. Ruby jumped off the building and started swinging home.
Spider-Woman was swinging for a few minutes before a thought occurred to her.
I wonder how Yang's doing right now. She's staying at Beacon tonight with the other prospective students so she can take the practical exam first thing tomorrow morning.
Ruby knew that Yang had the skills needed to get into Beacon, there was no doubt about that. But there are a bunch of skilled trainees there that wouldn't give up without a fight. It all depended on what kind of practical exam they would be taking. Ruby had no idea, but she assumed it would involve Grimm.
Jaune would be taking that test too, she was more worried for him. There was no doubt that he was getting stronger at an explosive rate, mainly due to his unfair reserves of aura, but would that be enough to pull it off. He would have to rely on his teammates a little if he wanted to progress, which wasn't a bad thing, but Jaune would no doubt say he wasn't strong enough to make it on his own.
There wasn't much use worrying about it now because there was nothing more for her to do. It was all up to Jaune now.
Spider-Woman climbed through her window and stealthily crawled on her ceiling without making a sound before entering her bathroom.
She hopped in the shower to rid herself of the stench of garbage that had clung to her while dumpster diving and changed into a comfortable pair of Pajamas.
She fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.
"It's too early for this."
Jaune Arc wasn't a very accomplished person. Not even close in fact. He also wasn't very smart either, but what he was really lacking was common sense. Why did he think it was a good idea to sneak into a school designed to teach already trained warriors how to further their abilities despite the fact that he had zero training, no skills whatsoever, and not even an aura to use? Jaune didn't know.
But while Jaune may be an idiot, he was not stupid.
...ok...maybe he was stupid too.
But never mind that. It was a big day for Jaune and for lots of others in a similar situation. Today was the day of the Beason practical exam, today he would either be accepted into the best Hunter school in the Kingdom or be sent home with a sheath filled with broken dreams.
Jaune didn't make a very good first impression, his dumb motion sickness forced him to expel the contents of his stomach all over the shoes of a pretty blonde girl. Needless to say, Jaune would do his best to avoid her from now on.
He had been working very hard to build up some muscle and learn a few tricks that may help him barely pass the exam if he got lucky. There were rumors about when each student would get their partner, but one thing was certain if Jaune wanted to pass and make it at Beacon then he would need to rely on the help of his team to make it as a Huntsman.
But above all else, Ruby was by far the biggest contributor to where he was today. His father had refused to train him and there were no Hunters at home that were willing to train him either. Luckily he managed to befriend an incredibly talented and adorable Hunteress-in-training that was willing to help him get stronger.
Jaune wasn't too confident in his abilities right now, but according to Ruby, he was progressing much faster than she thought he would. That managed to boost his confidence a little bit.
He doubted that he was the only one nervous about the test coming up, there were a lot of students that wanted to go to Beacon, but only the best would get in. Jaune wasn't even close to being the best, but maybe he would be able to fake it until he got strong enough.
The other students woke up with him as the intercom released a ringing noise that woke up the entire room of annoyed teenagers. Jaune luckily got a good night of sleep due to him being exhausted from training yesterday, but that didn't mean he wasn't tired.
Jaune grumpily forced his body out of his sleeping bag and prepared to start his day. After cleaning up his sleeping space, Jaune hobbled his way into the men's changing rooms to get into his armor.
Jaune was very fortunate that he was as tall as his father, otherwise, he wouldn't have any armor to wear for the test. He still had to 'borrow' the armor from him, but his father couldn't do anything about it now.
After getting dressed, Jaune headed into the locker rooms to retrieve his weapon. "Let's see, locker 616? That can't be right, I would've remembered having to count that high. Why does this have to happen today?" Jaune grumbled in displeasure as he walked through the locker room.
There weren't many students here right now, probably because most of them were enjoying breakfast in the cafeteria. There was the pretty blonde girl that he threw up on yesterday strapping some gauntlets to her wrist, Jaune made a mental note not to mess with her. There were also two girls conversing next to each other just ahead of him, one with hair whiter than fallen snow, and the other with hair redder than blood.
Jaune was about to walk past them before he noticed that they were standing right in front of his locker.
Living with seven sisters, Jaune knew he shouldn't interrupt a conversation between two women, but the red-haired girl was blocking his path to his locker. He needed to get his weapon, so he didn't really have a choice.
He gently tapped the woman on the shoulder to grab her attention. She spun her head to acknowledge his presence and listen to what he had to say. "Sorry, I just need to get to my lo-" Whatever Jaune was going to say never made it out of his mouth as the words were forced back into his throat when the white-haired woman got right up in his face.
Upon further inspection, the white-haired woman was actually very pretty. She appeared very fragile with her small frame and very pale skin, but Jaune knew better than to assume, considering that this woman was obviously a Huntress-in-training just like everyone else. Her clothes were obviously tailored to fit her frame perfectly, they looked very expensive too. Her eyes were a pale blue, almost like crystal clear ice, she also had a small scar running down her left eye. Her hair was done in a very long ponytail with a tiara resting around it.
Jaune thought that she was very pretty, her appearance was almost doll-like. She appeared to be the perfect woman.
Then she opened her mouth.
"Excuse me! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" She spoke in a very haughty tone of voice. "Do you truly believe that your social status is high enough to allow you to speak to her so nonchalantly?"
"I just ne-" Jaune once again was cut off by the scary lady.
"This is Pyrrha Nikos."
The redhead who was apparently named Pyrrha appeared much nicer than the scary lady. She offered him a small smile and a wave. "Hello," she said happily. She actually did look a little familiar, but Jaune couldn't put his finger on where he had seen her before.
"She graduated top of her class at Sanctum." The scary lady spoke again.
"Never heard of it," Jaune spoke honestly. He really didn't want to have this conversation right now, he needed his weapon and he was hungry. "I just wan-" Once again, he was cut off.
"Ugh, she's won the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row, a new record!"
"The what?"
The scary lady was getting very frustrated at this point. Despite living with seven sisters, Jaune still had no clue how to talk to women.
"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She yelled waving her hands in the air like a crazy person.
"Oh, that was you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters." Now Jaune knew where he had seen her before. He didn't particularly like that cereal, but his younger sisters were big fans, so he had seen that box a lot.
"Yeah, it was pretty cool, sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha didn't sound too disappointed at that fact.
"So after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" The scary lady said.
Jaune had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, he never even mentioned teams, he just wanted to get his stuff and go. Where did this lady get all of this nonsense from?
"And who are you?" Jaune asked.
Wrong thing to say.
Somehow the lady seemed to get even angrier at him. "UGH! Just how ignorant can one person be? I am Weiss Schnee, I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers and exporters of dust in the world."
That probably meant that she was pretty loaded too. Sadly her ego was much larger than her net worth. Jaune knew that engaging in conversation with her any further would only serve to waste more of his time and make him too late to grab breakfast.
He ignored Weiss and turned his head back to Pyrrha. "Sorry, I just need to get to my locker real quick." Jaune pointed behind Pyrrha to indicate that she was standing right in front of his locker. Weiss at least had the decency to look mildly embarrassed upon realizing what he was actually doing.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Pyrrha hurriedly moved out of the way so Jaune could access his locker and grab his weapon. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with the combination written on it.
After inputting 6-18-28, the locker swung open, almost smashing into Jaune's face. Luckily his Ruby-trained instincts saved him at the last second. His sword and shield were sitting right where he had left them the previous day. When he had first 'borrowed' Crocea Mors, it had felt alien in his hands. The weight of the weapon wasn't all that high, but the responsibility that had come with it had made it weigh on his soul.
After his training with Ruby, he had managed to feel much more comfortable holding the sword. He wasn't a master with it, not even close in fact, but Ruby had taught him how to use his incredible defensive capabilities to open his opponent up for a counter. The trick was to use his shield to block their initial strike, and then use the opening that he created to deal a blow.
Of course, this never worked on Ruby, she was just way too fast for him to even see move, also he had never fought a Grimm before, but Ruby had explained that they were mindless beasts that knew only how to kill, they lacked the ability to strategize.
He would need to train a lot more if he wanted to stand as an equal with his fellow students, assuming he even passed the exam in the first place. He wasn't very confident in his abilities compared to the rest of the students here, but that wasn't going to stop him from giving it his all.
Jaune shut the locker with his equipment in hand and prepared to leave.
"E-Excuse me," Pyrrha called out to him. "Can you tell me your name?" She asked politely.
Oh right, he hadn't introduced himself yet, he blamed his hunger. He raised his right hand over his heart as he introduced himself. "My name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, ladies love it." Jaune joked.
He knew that introduction was a little corny, but it never failed to make someone laugh, this was once again proven correctly when Pyrrha raised her hand over her mouth to cover up her chuckles. Weiss on the other hand only rolled her eyes and looked even more annoyed with him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Jaune, I look forward to training alongside you in Beacon." Pyrrha held her hand out requesting a handshake, Jaune obliged and gripped her hand firmly but not tightly, and shook her hand.
"Likewise, good luck on the practical exam today." Jaune turned around and walked away to find that cafeteria but was surprised to find that Pyrrha had walked up next to him, apparently deciding to walk with him. Jaune didn't mind, he appreciated the company, also he had absolutely no idea where he was going, so a guide would be helpful right now.
"I don't suppose you know where the cafeteria is?" Jaune asked slightly embarrassed.
Pyrrha only smiled back at him. "Yep, It's not too far from here."
"Thanks, I really don't want to be getting lost before I even make it into Beacon." Jaune scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I hope you don't mind me sticking with you for now."
Pyrrha's bright reassuring smile was all he needed. "Not at all, I actually appreciate the company."
Jaune and Pyrrha continued conversing all the way to the cafeteria.
Leaving a dumbfounded Weiss alone in the locker room.
All things considered, the cafeteria was actually pretty normal compared to the rest of the school. Everything else was built with such attention to detail that Jaune was positive that it cost much more than it should've otherwise. There were also extra commodities for hunter use, like a smithing shop and machining shop, not things that you would find in a normal school.
But the cafeteria just looked like a normal cafeteria. There was nothing extraordinary about it except maybe its size. Jaune didn't expect students to be having target practice while eating or anything, but he expected more when the rest of the school was so extraordinary.
That's not to say it was a bad thing that the cafeteria was so plain, not at all, the familiarity was quite nice. There were lots of tables and chairs set up in the main area, with counters over to the left where students and faculty could get their food. Jaune noticed that the line was quite small which meant that he was probably one of the last to arrive, along with Pyrrha.
"You seem to know your way around this place pretty well. Have you been here before?" Jaune asked the red-haired girl.
"Yeah, my father took me here when I was checking out different Hunter schools to see which one I wanted to enroll in. As you can see, I chose Beacon."
Jaune supposed that made sense, Weiss said that Pyrrha is a championship fighter, so she probably got a ton of offers to join other schools. He didn't know a damn thing about Hunter academies considering he never went to one so he wasn't going to assume anything about them.
Jaune walked up to the counter and was surprised at the variety of foods available to students. It wasn't the standard carton of milk and mushy pizza that schools normally offered their students.
Instead, Jaune saw eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hash browns, home fries, pancakes, waffles, fruit platters, orange juice, fresh milk, and even hot chocolate.
Jaune was in breakfast heaven.
Pyrrha giggled audibly at Jaune's goofy smile and the drool that was dripping down his lips. Jaune rapidly wiped the drool from his mouth while blushing lightly. "S-Sorry, I'm really hungry."
Jaune grabbed a plate and filled it with a hearty amount of food. He still had to take the practical exam later so he made sure not to fill it too much so he wouldn't feel sluggish later. After grabbing a tall glass of orange juice, Jaune made his way to an empty table and dug in with reckless abandon.
Jaune's appetite has always been a little large, it made sense considering his height and build, but after he had begun training with Ruby, his appetite had skyrocketed, either due to his aura consuming more energy or his training making him more hungry. Jaune didn't know or really care.
He was halfway through his meal when he noticed that Pyrrha had taken the empty seat across from him. He had no clue how long she had been there, but judging by the look on her face, she saw the way he dug into his meal without proper manners.
Jaune blushed upon noticing Pyrrha's expression and quickly apologized. "S-Sorry! I didn't even know you were there." Jaune grabbed a napkin and cleaned up his face before he could embarrass himself further. Fortunately for him, Pyrrha didn't appear too perturbed by his eating habits.
"Don't worry about it, I'm Just glad I have someone to talk to." She said with a reassuring smile.
Huh? That sounded odd. She was just talking to the scary la- uhh, Weiss just a few minutes ago. They appeared to be on friendly terms. Come to think of it, why had she chosen to hang with a complete stranger over a friend?
"What about Weiss?" He asked with an inquisitive wave of his eyebrow. "You two aren't friends?"
The smile that Pyrrha had evaporated in an instant, and Jaune immediately knew that he said something wrong. Living with seven sisters gave him a sixth sense of a woman's emotions. Her facial muscles relaxed too much, she no longer looked him in the eye, and she slouched slightly after he asked his question.
"Uhh, no. Weiss and I aren't friends," she started. "She just wanted us to team up. I think that she wanted to combine our fame to boost our reputation."
That sounded like a pretty egotistical thing to do, you should be paired with someone you work well with, not someone that will make you look better.
"Oh...You must be a pretty big deal then." Somehow, Pyrrha's expression worsened.
"Y-Yeah...I guess so."
Jaune knew that he was messing this up horribly somehow. His interactions with women have been limited to his sisters, mother, women in his small town, and most recently, Ruby. He was terrified to screw up even further, so he decided to just keep his mouth shut for the rest of his meal.
They finished their meal in silence.
Jaune was never particularly good with heights.
He wasn't scared of being high up, it was just he was scared of what that normally meant. His bad motion sickness most often acted up when he was high up in a bullhead. Emptying your breakfast all over yourself was never fun, no matter the situation.
Which was why Jaune isn't particularly excited to be standing where he currently was.
He could at least admit that the view was pretty nice, even if there wasn't much to look at. He was standing on top of a cliff overlooking a huge forest. Jaune wasn't the smartest person in the world but even he knew that the test would be taking place here.
He wasn't the only one either. There were many students lined up in a row along the cliffside. Each one of them, including himself, was standing on a metal platform with a crossed axe design in the center. Jaune was pretty sure that it symbolized a call to arms.
"Attention future students!" Jaune directed his attention to an older blonde woman with a tablet in one hand and a scary-looking riding crop in the other. Jaune was pretty sure that at some point he would end up fearing every female in this school.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, I am the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy. Welcome to the Emerald Forest. This is where your skills will be put to the test and determine if you truly are worthy to become Hunters." Jaune knew damn well that he wasn't ready for this, he needed to be very lucky in order to secure a spot in this academy. "I ask that you pay close attention to us as we speak so we may explain the rules of this exam."
It was only then that Jaune noticed the man standing next to her. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with messy silver hair and thin brown eyes. His facial features were very sharp, making him look a little more intimidating. Though the soft smile across his lips conveyed his friendly character to Jaune. He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trousers, shoes, and long, dark-green pants. In addition to his cane, his other hand held a plain white mug with steam rising from the top.
"Thank you Glynda," Ozpin spoke softly. "Hello future Hunters of Remnant, my name is Ozpin, I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and I will be the one grading you on your performance today. Let's not waste any time and get right into it."
Jaune listened intently to the man's next words. He would need to know everything he could to ensure the highest possible chance that he would make it into Beacon.
"For years you have trained to become warriors."
That might've been true for everyone else, but Jaune had been training for just under a month! He would need more than just luck, he would need a miracle!
"Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Glynda spoke up again from beside Ozpin. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."
...Shit...
Ozpin continued after taking a sip from his mug. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
Or in Jaune's case, someone who can save his ass whenever he's in trouble and doesn't mind doing it all the time.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
...
...
...
I'm fucked.
Jaune ignored the annoyed cries of his fellow students and instead tried to calm himself down.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way so do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will most certainly die."
Jaune regretted not writing his last will and testament before coming out here.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene."
Jaune hoped he meant that they wouldn't intervene unless someone was truly in danger.
"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of this cliff. We will regard that item as well as your standing and grade you appropriately."
"Now, are there any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand.
"Good."
Jaune lowered his hand.
"Now, take your positions."
Jaune pulled out his sword and prepared for the fight of his life. This was the moment he had been waiting for. But he needed to confirm something crucial first.
"Uhh...Sir? I've got a question."
The first student rocketed through the air.
"So this 'landing strategy thing, uhh, what is it? Are you gonna be dropping us off or something?"
The evil smile across Ozpin's face did little to comfort him. "No, you will be falling."
Jaune knew he was going to get that answer, but it was still discomforting to hear.
"Oh...I see, so, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked as the seconds ticked by.
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy," Ozpin replied. He no doubt noticed the boy's mounting horror but decided to stay silent for some reason.
"Uhh huh...Yeah," Jaune mumbled.
Jaune didn't have time to continue asking useless questions that wouldn't get answered. So instead, he bent his knees to limit the force of the launch and flooded his aura to his entire body to prepare himself for what was sure to be a rough landing.
"I'm gonna die..."
Jaune was catapulted through the air.
All things considered, soaring through the air to certain death wasn't the worst way to go. At least he got to experience this incredible view before he became one with the forest floor. Jaune just hoped that his aura control was enough to keep his body intact upon landing.
As it turns out, trying to right yourself mid-air without any way to propel yourself was quite difficult. So instead of soaring like a superhero, Jaune just ended up spinning around like a frisbee with no way to control his descent.
With the ground rapidly approaching, Jaune needed a plan fast.
It was only due to instincts drilled into him by a psychopathic scythe wielder that allowed Jaune to just barely hear the noise of something approaching him at very high speeds.
Using every muscle in his body, Jaune forced himself to twist like a pretzel to avoid the projectile. Jaune identified the object to be some kind of spear as it whistled past his ear and embedded itself in a tree.
Jaune hit the ground one second later.
Aura flared and sparked as Jaune impacted the ground and skidded along the forest floor to protect him from any damage. Jaune had long since learned that aura didn't protect from pain, this was clear from the many times that Ruby had kicked the shit out of him.
The impact from the landing hurt like hell and the subsequent skipping along the ground hurt just as much. Jaune's journey came to an abrupt and painful end as he crashed into a boulder that impeded his path.
The large rock cracked as the human-shaped projectile collided with its hard exterior. Jaune's vision was blurry and his entire body was in pain, luckily his aura was already hard at work soothing his aching bones.
"Ughhh..." Jaune groaned as he commanded his aching body to stand up straight. He knew that he couldn't stay here, that noise was sure to attract Grimm soon, and he didn't want to be here when they arrived. "It's gonna be a long day," Jaune mumbled to himself as he ran away from his crash site.
Ozpin said to head north once he had found a partner, so Jaune ran north hoping to run into someone who had yet to find someone to team up with. No good would come from running around in circles for 20 minutes.
The pain from his landing had been completely swallowed up by his aura after a minute of running, Ruby wasn't kidding when he said he had a lot. No one could tell exactly how much aura they had left by feel alone, that's why devices like scrolls were hooked up to their reserves so they could be accurately measured.
Still, someone could roughly guess how much aura they had by feeling around for it. Jaune guessed that he had only lost 10% of his aura from that landing. He might've lost less if he had better control over his aura, he would need to train more with it.
"GRRRRRAAAA!"
...
Jaune froze.
A terrified glance to his left revealed exactly what he had been expecting, which also just so happened to be exactly what he didn't want to see.
A Grimm.
Jaune had never seen a Grimm before, his father had described them as large black animals with bone armor, but that description didn't do it justice.
The creature that stood before Jaune was many times larger than him and likely many times stronger too. His father was correct about the bone armor that covered its face, but its glowing red eyes still shone brightly through the mask. The creature was on all fours with each paw sporting five razor-sharp claws that could slice him in half like a hot knife through melted butter. Random spikes jutted out through random spots on its body that made attacking the creature even harder.
Needless to say, Jaune wanted nothing more than to run away from the creature that could easily kill him.
Unfortunately for Jaune, the creature was looking right at him. Jaune needed a distraction, something to make the creature look away from him so he could haul ass out of here.
In a desperate attempt to distract the Grimm, Jaune pointed behind the massive creature and screamed.
"What the hell is that!"
His gamble didn't work.
"GRRAAAAAAAGH!"
The massive beast charged for the small knight with the intention to end this in a single blow.
Ok ok ok, don't panic. Don't panic. DON'T PANIC! Jaune desperately searched his brain for all the defensive moves that Ruby had taught him during their training. Jaune raised his shield high but not too high so the shield wouldn't block his vision. He flooded aura to his arms and legs to brace himself for what was sure to be a devastating blow. Jaune's shield was tilted ever so slightly so the impact will be diverted somewhat.
Jaune braced.
The Grimm struck.
The blow was as powerful as he had expected. Jaune used every muscle in his body to stay on his feet. Jaune knew exactly what he had to do next. He whipped his shield arm to the side, throwing the claw that had struck it away from the blonde, Jaune then swung his sword arm with all his might right at the neck of the massive black monster.
Jaune was glad his blade was sharp.
His aim was true, Crocea Mors slammed into the Grimm and sliced through its neck with massive resistance. The head of the creature became airborne as its massive body toppled to the ground. Its body started dissolving into black smoke as soon as its life ended. Its head hit the ground a second later and began dissolving as well.
All Jaune could hear was his heart thumping in his chest. He came back to reality a few seconds later as the widest smile possible covered his lips.
Jaune had successfully managed to kill his first Grimm. Sure, he thought he was gonna get eaten alive the entire time, but he still killed it.
Jaune pulled out his scroll and took a picture of the Grimm before it could completely decay. He would show this to Ruby later, regardless of if he was accepted into Beacon.
The Grimm fully decayed a moment later and Jaune continued on his journey to get his partner and relic. He heard gunshots and explosions from fellow students farther away from him, he decided to ignore those as he was sure to run into more Grimm he didn't want to deal with that way and it would take him a while to get there. The students would be gone by the time he arrived.
Jaune had encountered a smaller Grimm while walking, this one was about his size but not as strong as him, and a single swipe of his sword dealt with it instantly.
Jaune had been walking in the same direction for about 20 minutes without any sign of another student. He was beginning to worry that he wouldn't find a partner and miss his chance.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Jaune heard more gunshots, only this time they were much closer to him. The trees ahead of him had grown so large that they almost completely blocked out the sun. Jaune was sure to find at least one student in there due to the gunshots in that direction. He wasn't very fond of the reduced lighting but he was quickly running out of time to find a partner.
Jaune charged ahead.
Jaune slashed at low-hanging branches that were blocking his path as he made his way deeper into the forest. The gunshots were getting louder so he knew he was going in the right direction.
After a minute, he burst through his last barrier and saw something even more terrifying than the first Grimm he had encountered.
A massive black snake-like creature easily dwarfing Jaune in size was slithering around the forest chasing prey that Jaune had yet to see. What was unexpected about this creature was the fact that it had two heads. Its other half looked exactly the same, with the exception of it being pure white.
Jaune knew that Grimm came in all sorts of forms, even if he had no idea what to expect, he would know that they would resemble animals in some way. But he never expected something like this.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Suddenly, a figure dressed in green vaulted over the massive Grimm with ease and fired a flurry of bullets down into the creature's white head. The black head took the opportunity to charge at the hunter and Jaune was briefly worried for their safety. Before the black head could eat the hunter, they slammed their feet into the snout of the Grimm with incredible force that launched the student and the head away from each other.
Upon closer inspection, Jaune realized the student was a guy and quite the skilled one at that. He would be a good choice for a partner from what he had seen.
Both heads once again charged at the boy without regard for their own safety. The boy activated some strange mechanism on his weapons which transformed them from a pair of guns to a pair of very sharp-looking blades. The boy slid underneath the Grimm as it attacked and raised his blades into the belly of the monster. Momentum did the rest, as the Grimm continued to fall while being sliced open from the underside.
Black blood oozed from the monster's open wound as gravity caused it to come crashing down to the earth below. The boy stood up without a single injury on him and dusted himself off and flicked his weapon clean of blood.
The massive snake Grimm wasn't done yet. Despite having taken massive damage just seconds prior, it got back up as if it didn't even recognize the pain. Both heads blasted forward and quickly surrounded the boy. What followed was a series of incredible flips and strikes from the boy as he expertly used his superior agility to out-maneuver his opponent.
The boy had a thin build so he likely relied on speed and agility most often in a fight, and his skill was clear as he battled the Grimm.
But he couldn't keep this up forever, Grimm don't tire, but people do. A thin sheen of sweat started to develop on the boy's forehead.
I need to help him, Jaune thought. But what can I do? I can't fight that thing. Jaune went through all of his options in his head while the boy was fighting.
Eventually, his luck ran out, the black head forced the boy to jump and the white head took advantage of the opening and slammed into the boy's back. Jaune could see his aura flare to protect him from damage. The boy was shot across the clearing before he crashed into the ground with his weapons nowhere to be seen.
I don't have time to think, I need to act now! Disregarding his own safety, Jaune charged forward to intercept the advancing Grimm and protect the defenseless boy.
The boy's magenta eyes widened as the black head was just about to eat him alive. He raised his hands and flooded them with aura in a desperate attempt to protect himself. He closed his eyes and prayed it would work.
CLANG!
The boy waited a few seconds for the pain to set in only to realize that he was completely unharmed. Slowly cracking his eyes open, he stared at the back of his savior.
Jaune had just barely managed to intercept the blow with his shield but was unable to divert the force of the blow. Aura flared in his arm to prevent it from shattering.
"GRRRRAAAAAHHH!" Jaune yelled as he used every available muscle in his body to launch the Grimm as far away as possible. His aura increased his strength by quite a bit and aided in launching the monster away from him.
Jaune spun around to face the boy who he had saved. Blue met magenta as Jaune stared deep into the eyes of his new partner. The boy appeared equal parts surprised and relieved to see Jaune standing there. But there were more important things to worry about right now.
"Grab your weapons," Jaune commanded the boy. Hopefully, he would have the sense to listen to him. "I'll keep it occupied. Go for the head when you see an opening." Jaune didn't check to see if his new partner decided to listen to him. He charged forward to the monster and prepared for battle.
Jaune knew there was no way he could fight this thing alone, but he could use his insane aura to tank some damage and distract it long enough for his partner to deal a killing blow.
The Grimm didn't stay down for long. Both heads charged at Jaune at insane speeds. One advantage that Jaune had over the Grimm was his intelligence. Grimm fought with reckless abandon, but Jaune was capable of advanced thinking.
As such, he expected that the Grimm would try a simple charging attack. Before the Grimm ate him whole, he jumped to the left and held his sword out in the path of the Grimm. His plan was successful as he managed to score a long deep cut into the flesh of the Grimm as it practically cut itself open.
Jaune didn't waste a single second. While the Grimm was still recovering, Jaune charged forward to the black head and thrust his sword as hard as he could right into the crown of its head. The monster gave a weak whimper of pain before it went completely limp.
Woah...did I really just kill a Grimm like that all by myself? That actually wasn't as hard as I tho-
Jaune's thoughts came to an abrupt end as the other half of the snake Grimm smashed into his back, aura was the only thing keeping his body from being ripped in half. Jaune shot forward like a cannonball from the impact. He rocketed through the air before eventually smashing into a tree.
Aura did nothing to prevent pain, Jaune was constantly reminded of this fact. His entire body hurt, he wanted nothing more than to sleep right where he was.
Jaune felt the ground rumble. The Grimm was getting closer to him, he needed to move or he would die. Jaune slowly began to push himself off the ground as the white head of the Grimm got closer to him. Jaune was on one knee when he realized he wouldn't make it up in time. He held his shield up in a desperate attempt to block all incoming damage.
When the monster was mere feet away from him, Jaune flooded his arm with aura and prepared for the worst.
BAM!
His new partner had arrived just in time to save Jaune's ass. His foot crashed into the Grimm's left eye and diverted its charge ever so slightly to the right. That little diversion was enough for the Grimm to go skidding past Jaune instead of through him.
His new partner didn't stop, he fired a volley of bullets at the downed Grimm. Jaune followed suit and charged with his sword held high. he slashed at the Grimm wildly, he didn't care about hitting vital spots, he only cared about dealing as much damage as possible. Jaune's clothes became more splattered with black Grimm blood as he continued to slash at the serpentine Grimm.
His new partner ran along the body of the monster as he made his way toward its head. Jaune didn't let up his assault either, he kept slashing with reckless abandon.
With one last mighty thrust, his new partner pierced the Grimm's skull with his blade, digging deep into the head of the monster. The Grimm didn't even have the energy to whimper before its entire body went limp.
Jaune allowed gravity to take hold of his body as his back collided with the cold hard ground. He wasn't the only one, an audible thump across from him indicated that his partner had the same idea.
They each took a few minutes to catch their breath and rest their aching muscles. Jaune almost died like 3 times in the last hour, he deserved to rest for a few minutes.
Eventually, he heard the tired grunt of his partner getting to his feet followed quickly by light footsteps approaching him. Jaune cracked his eyes open lightly to see a hand extended to him.
Jaune gratefully accepted his help and firmly grabbed his partner's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet by the boy.
"Thanks," Jaune said gratefully.
"I should be thanking you. You got here just in time," replied his partner.
Jaune bashfully rubbed the back of his head as a light blush spread across his cheeks. "Ah-well, it was no problem. Honestly, I wouldn't have survived without you there to save my ass too."
The boy chuckled lightly. Upon closer inspection, the boy had a magenta streak through his hair that matched his eyes perfectly.
"I guess we're partners now." The boy held out his hand. "My name is Lie Ren, but please call me Ren."
Jaune may not be very good with social cues, but he at least knew what the outstretched hand was suggesting.
Jaune firmly grasped the boy's hand just like his father had taught him and shook it while still maintaining eye contact with Ren. "I'm Jaune Arc, I look forward to working with you for the next four years." Jaune decided to forgo his usual introduction this time.
"We should get out of here, I don't want to miss out on grabbing that relic. Also, I'm not looking forward to fighting anything else that lives here," Jaune suggested.
Ren nodded in agreement before switching his gaze to the sky, likely trying to locate the sun to determine what direction was north. Jaune wished he brought a compass or something.
"Alright, follow me. don't let your guard down," Ren said.
Jaune didn't need to be told twice, Ruby would punish him mercilessly if he failed to get into a proper stance after he had been knocked down. Jaune held his sword tightly in his right hand and his shield in his left as he began to follow Ren.
Things were getting interesting.
"Dammit..."
Pyrrha stared disappointedly at her spear lodged in a tree. A spear that wasn't currently holding a blond boy by its sharp tip.
She knew that her aim was dead on, completely perfect. So the only explanation was that he managed to notice the spear and move out of the way at the last second.
Pyrrha used her semblance to tear her spear from the wooden trunk and bring it to her hand.
Upon further examination of her surroundings, she noticed a long destroyed portion of the ground which eventually came to an end at a large rock.
"That must've hurt," Pyrrha said to no one in particular. She could only assume that Jaune crashed into that rock before running off to find his relic.
Pyrrha didn't have time to sit around for no reason, she needed to get her relic as well. Pyrrha dashed off north to find Jaune and a relic.
A few Grimm tried to impede her progress with zero success. She didn't even have to look at them to plunge her spear into their skulls. She had killed so many Grimm that she remembered all of their weaknesses perfectly. Most of the time she didn't even need to take advantage of those weaknesses. A simple attack on their head would suffice most of the time.
She heard the distant sounds of combat from her fellow applicants, she ignored them and continued forward.
GRRRAAAA!
That roar was much closer than the others. Pyrrha came to a complete stop and listened very closely to her surroundings. This was a technique that took a long time to master, but it was very useful for locating Grimm, as well as not getting snuck up on.
GRRRAAAA!
Pyrrha whipped her head to the left where the noise came from. It was clear that there was more than one Grimm, in the area. Pyrrha slowly and quietly advanced on the Grimm's position and prepared to attack.
Only for a loud crash to surprise her.
BOOM!
Pyrrha knew what metal striking Grimm sounded like. This was exactly like that, only much louder. Peering through a few shrubs, Pyrrha witnessed more than a dozen Grimm advance onto a single figure. A massive hammer in her hands, and hair a brilliant orange.
The most terrifying thing about this woman was the predatory smile on her face. This wasn't the face of someone focused on fighting Grimm. This was the face of someone who enjoyed killing them. There was no fear in her eyes, just anticipation for the fight to come.
Pyrrha almost felt bad for the Beowolf that attempted to attack her from behind. A single swing of her hammer crushed the head of the Grimm with terrifying ease as she smashed its skull into the ground.
Of course, Grimm didn't feel fear. Instead of running away from a superior opponent, all of the Grimm charged at once.
Calling it a fight would be an insult to the girl's strength. She killed every single Grimm that dared challenge her with strength that made Pyrrha jealous. Pyrrha's skill was incredible, but her strength was nowhere near this girl's level. It wasn't a fight, not even close.
It was a slaughter.
More Grimm advanced on the much smaller figure and met a similar fate. This girl was strong, but strength could only do so much against numbers like this. All the Grimm weren't very strong, likely due to Beacon faculty clearing out the more destructive Grimm from the forest before this test began. But if more Grimm kept advancing then Pyrrha wasn't sure the Hammer wielder would be able to hold up.
Pyrrha gripped Milo so hard that her knuckles turned white. She knew that she would have to help her before she got seriously hurt.
Pyrrha let loose her javelin at an Ursa that prepared to attack the girl from behind. Her aim was perfect as usual, and the Grimm died immediately as the spear blasted a hold through its skull. Before her semblance could recall her spear, she threw her shield at a group of Grimm that were advancing on the girl. The shield ricocheted off of the bone masks of the Grimm. The shield failed to kill the Grimm, but Pyrrha's intention had only been to stagger them for a moment.
The orange-haired girl took the opportunity to fire multiple grenades at the Grimm which exploded into a cloud of pink dust and black blood.
She spun her head to the side and locked eyes with Pyrrha with that maniacal grin still over her features. Pyrrha had wanted to be partners with the blonde boy, but at least she got someone strong enough to hold her own against a horde of Grimm for a while.
Pyrrha didn't waste a second as she recalled her weapons using her semblance before advancing on an Ursa. The bear-like Grimm raised its massive paw up in the air and prepared to crush Pyrrha in a single blow. Pyrrha transformed her weapon into its sword form and sliced off the paw with minimal effort as it descended. The Grimm didn't even have the time to roar in pain due to its head being sliced off not a second later.
Pyrrha plunged her sword into the ground before a Creep could even emerge from the depths and attack her. At the same time, she threw her shield at an approaching Beowolf and added a pulse of her semblance that caused the shield to spin faster and faster as it approached. The torso of the Grimm was severed from its legs as it collapsed into a dissolving mess when the shield made contact.
Pyrrha heard the sounds of explosions from behind her while she was fighting, at least the orange-haired girl was still fighting strong. The number of Grimm was getting smaller and smaller with each swing of her blade. A small nevermore attempted to impale her with its beak, but it ended up impaling itself instead as Pyrrha merely held her javelin in its path.
"WHOOHOO!" Pyrrha looked over her shoulder to see the hammer-wielder being launched in the air from her own explosion with that same smile on her lips. She descended and spun with her hammer in hand, and used the centrifugal force of the weapon to slam an Ursa's skull into its torso breaking its neck in the process.
There were only a few Grimm left, they simply couldn't compete against Pyrrha's skill and her partner's strength.
Pyrrha let loose her javelin and subtly controlled its trajectory with her semblance, causing multiple Grimm to be left with massive holes in their head. A Creep attempted to lunge at her but completely failed when Pyrrha ducked under the Grimm and rocketed her fist upwards into the face of the monster. Its mask was immediately shattered and its face got caved in from the blow.
Her javelin blew through another Grimm before Pyrrha caught the blade and spun it around to clean off the blood.
The last Grimm remaining was a decent-sized Ursa. It was barreling straight at her with murderous intent. Pyrrha raised her spear and shield in preparation to defend herself.
She needn't do anything. Before the Grimm reached her, its entire torso was caved in by a massive hammer followed by an explosion that sent Grimm parts everywhere.
"Wow," said the girl. "That was a blast." The girl laughed at her own joke while Pyrrha internally groaned at it.
She hefted her massive hammer onto her shoulder and advanced toward Pyrrha. Upon further examination, Pyrrha noticed that the girl was very short, Pyrrha was almost a foot taller than her, she couldn't be much taller than five feet.
"Nice to meetcha! I'm Nora Valkyrie, let's be friends." The girl now identified as Nora held out her hand to Pyrrha.
Pyrrha stood still for a second before sheathing her weapons behind her back and gripping Nora's hand firmly but not tightly. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, the pleasure's all mine." Pyrrha was surprised by how gentle her handshake was. She was incredibly strong, such was obvious by how she handled the Grimm, but her hand was small and her grip was surprisingly light.
Nora was also very friendly, which was a plus in Pyrrha's book. It would be very easy to get along with her.
"Anyway, common common common! We gotta get a relic before they run out!" Nora gripped Pyrrha's wrist firmly and started dragging her through the forest. "Oh! You gotta meet my friend Renny! We've been together forever, but not like together-together. He's super smart and junk, you'd love him!"
Pyrrha had the feeling that she was in for a wild ride at Beacon.
Jaune had to admit, he was already sick of this damn forest. The forest itself was quite nice, bursting with beautiful trees and large rock formations. This was the type of place where he would love to find a quiet spot under a tree and fall asleep. The forest was beautiful.
There was just one problem.
This beautiful forest was packed with vicious bloodthirsty monsters that took every opportunity to try and bite his head off.
Jaune ripped his blade out of the dissolving carcass of a smaller Grimm that he couldn't identify. Ren was busy dealing with a Beowolf a little ways ahead. They were both getting sick of running around looking for this damn relic. The only hint that Ozpin had given them was that the relics were north.
The dull thud from ahead alerted Jaune that Ren was finished dealing with that Ursa. The Grimm had mostly dissolved by the time he arrived at the scene.
"It can't be much further ahead, we've been walking for a while," Ren spoke up while sheathing his weapons. "They can't make us walk forever."
"No they can't, but I get the feeling that they're enjoying watching us walk around like headless chickens. They wouldn't send us here alone without a way to monitor us."
Ren only nodded in agreement at Jaune's statement.
Jaune and Ren continued forward in silence. There was the occasional Grimm that attempted to eat them alive, but they were dealt with quickly.
Jaune decided to try to make conversation. "So what made you decide to be a Huntsman?" Jaune asked with a raise of his eyebrow.
It took a moment for Ren to gather his thoughts. It was as if he was recalling some terrible memory, Jaune was about to apologize before Ren spoke up.
"When I was a kid, my entire village was overrun with Grimm. It was a massacre that we weren't expecting. My family perished during the attack as well." Ren's face appeared solemn as he spoke. "It was only thanks to my semblance that I was able to survive."
Jaune really needed to learn to stop asking sensitive questions. His social skills were really lacking.
"Sorry for bringing up bad memories," Jaune said apologetically.
"Not your fault," Ren shrugged off his apology quickly. "The only survivors were me and Nora, she's taking the test today too. Maybe you'll see her later."
Jaune hoped so, he wanted to be on good terms with Ren, so being on good terms with his friends too can only be a good thing. But there was still something Jaune needed to know.
"You said your semblance saved you? What does it do exactly?"
Ruby had explained to him that a semblance was a special ability that was available to anyone with access to an aura. Although some people go their whole lives without ever discovering theirs. Ruby's semblance allowed her to explode into a flurry of rose petals and move at extremely high speeds. It made fighting her even harder, not that he ever stood a chance against her without her semblance.
Jaune was a little scared that he would never discover his semblance, that it would be useless, or that it could only be activated under very specific conditions. Jaune had done a little research on semblances and had discovered an interesting story revolving around one.
Apparently, there was this woman that had never discovered her semblance before when one day a massive tornado headed straight towards her home in Atlas. It was only when she was smack in the middle of that tornado that she discovered her semblance was the ability to completely control a tornado, but only while in the eye of it. Using this ability, she was able to sap the tornado of its power and save thousands of lives.
It was a very useful semblance, but it was also only useful if there was a tornado nearby. Jaune wanted a semblance that was useful anytime. But if he was going to be partners with Ren for the next four years, then it would be best to know his capabilities.
"My semblance is called Tranquility. When it's active, I can mask all negative emotions for myself and anyone near me. It allows me to avoid detection from the Grimm. When I use it, they don't even know I'm there." Jaune could tell by Ren's smile that he was proud of his semblance and that he wouldn't trade it for anything.
"Wow," Jaune replied. "That's really useful. Being able to walk right past Grimm sounds pretty nice."
Ren nodded politely to Jaune before they fell into a comfortable silence.
A few minutes later, they finally found what they were looking for.
Jaune and Ren came across a small clearing with an abandoned temple at the center. Scattered around the temple were what appeared to be Black and Gold chess pieces. Each piece was placed atop a pedestal in a circular formation around the temple. A few of the pedestals were empty, showing that they weren't the first to arrive.
"I think this is it," Jaune exclaimed as he brushed a branch out of his path.
"Has to be," Ren replied. "It's too out of place for it not to be." Ren began examining the relic scattered throughout the temple. "Ozpin said that each pair has to take one of these relics. So let's choose one."
Jaune doubted that choosing a particular chess piece would grant him an advantage so he just grabbed the one that was the closest to him. He had no idea what the piece was called because he knew nothing about chess, but that wouldn't matter.
"Got one!" Jaune exclaimed. "Ok, now we gotta get back to the cliffs."
Ren ran up to Jaune and nodded. "Let's hurry. I don't want to be out in the open any longer than we have to.
Jaune and Ren made to leave when a pair of figures burst from the trees and landed gracefully in front of them.
Jaune would never tell anyone how badly that scared him.
"Hmm, oh? We're not the first ones here," said a girl with long blond hair.
Long blond hair...oh...That's the same girl that Jaune threw up on earlier. Dammit, Jaune hoped that she didn't remember him.
"Hmm? Oh, it's vomit boy," the girl said grumpily.
Shit
The figure next to her rose to her full height. She had long black hair with a bow sitting on the crown of her head. She had a mysterious sense to her. "Oh, Hello," she said.
Jaune was about to introduce himself when a massive Ursa burst from the treeline with a mighty roar. Jaune and Ren both unsheathed their weapons in preparation for a fight.
Their caution was unneeded as the Ursa promptly collapsed dead on the ground.
"YEEEHAAAWWW!" Cried a mysterious voice from behind the Grimm. A figure with orange hair tumbled off the Ursa and landed on her feet. "Aww, it's broken," the girl said disappointed when she looked at the decaying Grimm.
A second figure appeared from behind the Grimm very clearly out of breath. "Nora...Please...Don't ever do that again."
Her words would go unheard, as Nora vanished from her position and appeared in front of a relic. "Oooh." Nora examined a shiny relic sitting atop a pedestal. She didn't even take the time to look at the rest, she just grabbed the relic and held it over her head like a video game character obtaining a new item. "I'm Queen of the castle, I'm Queen of the castle," Nora sang to herself.
Jaune was pretty sure that this girl was crazy.
"D-Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" The black-haired girl questioned.
Nora swept her eyes across her surroundings before they eventually fell on Ren. "Renny!" Nora wrapped Ren in a bear hug and refused to let go. Ren was turning blue from the lack of oxygen. "I missed you! Did ya miss me? Did ya? Did ya?" That smile never once left her face.
Jaune needed to speak up before Nora suffocated Ren. "Uhh, Nora? You might wanna let him breathe now." Nora noticed Ren about to pass out and promptly dropped him.
"Oops, sorry bout that. I was always good at taking his breath away." Jaune wasn't sure which way she meant that, but there were bigger problems to deal with right now.
Mainly the human-shaped meteor that was on a direct collision course with his face.
BOOM!
Once again, Jaune internally thanked Ruby for being so hard on him during training. Jaune just barely managed to jump to the left to avoid becoming a splatter of blood painted across the cracked stone.
Dirt and stone exploded outwards from the point of impact. A cloud of dust rose to obscure the figure that had damn near killed him.
"According to the data provided by Headmaster Ozpin, the location of the relics should be right here." The mysterious figure relayed the information to herself as she scanned her environment.
Jaune managed to get a good look at the girl when the dust settled. She had short curly orange hair with a pink bow on top of her head. Her eyes were impossibly bright green, they were so bright that they almost appeared to glow. Her skin was very pale and her cheeks sported a few freckles.
Her eyes eventually stopped roaming when they came to rest on Jaune's figure sprawled out across the dirt.
Her smile grew impossibly wide when she saw Jaune. She appeared in front of him in an instant and hoisted him off the ground without any difficulty.
"Salutations! My name is Penny!" She exclaimed joyfully.
Jaune was pretty sure that 96% of all Beacon students were insane. Him included. Only an insane person would apply for the best hunter school in the world without a single bit of training.
Jaune stared deep into her piercing green eyes. She was actually quite pretty now that he got a closer look.
"Umm, hello," Jaune reluctantly replied. "I'm Jaune," he introduced himself. "Umm, are you okay? That was a pretty big fall."
The girl still had Jaune hoisted off the ground and showed no intention of letting him go.
"I'm combat ready! Thank you for asking!" This girl had an infectious smile and attitude. "Are you okay as well? I sense your aura reserves have been depleted by precisely 13%."
Jaune had absolutely no idea how this crazy girl knew that information, or why she was talking like that. He was getting involved with all sorts of crazy today.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, just ran into some Grimm on the way here, guess I took a few hits," Jaune tried to reassure the girl.
The girl stared at him for a good seven seconds without saying a word, eventually, she seemed to gather her thoughts and say what she was thinking. "Despite taking substantial damage, it appears that you still have well over the average aura remaining. Your reserves of aura must be sensational!"
Ruby had told him about his massive reserves of aura but he vowed to not become overconfident because of it. But also, having a large aura was pretty nice.
"Y-Yeah, umm, could you let me down please?" Jaune pleaded to the strange lady.
"Of course, I can!" Instead of gently letting him down as a normal person would, she instead opted to let him go while he was still suspended in the air. This caused Jaune to land on his feet in an awkward way and slip and fall on his back.
At least this can't get any worse right?
Things proceeded to get worse when another human-shaped projectile was falling through the air on a direct collision course with Jaune. The only difference was that this time he was laying on his back and didn't have the means to push himself out of the way in time.
CRASH
The air was driven from Jaune's lungs and his aura flared as the same white-haired girl from this morning collided with his chest. Weiss didn't appear the slightest bit apologetic upon learning what she landed on. She just inspected her nails for any imperfections while sitting on his chest.
"Great, the gang's all here, now we can die together." The blond-haired girl spoke while looking toward the sky. Jaune really needed to learn their names. He only recognized Pyrrha and Weiss in the entire group.
Weiss finally decided to stand up and allow Jaune the chance to gather back his breath. Luckily, Ren was right beside him and offered him a hand, one which Jaune gratefully accepted.
A massive shadow proceeded to cover the area around the relics. Jaune really didn't want to look up to investigate, but he had a feeling it would bite him in the ass pretty soon if he ignored it.
Jaune hesitantly looked to the sky. What he saw was exactly what he was expecting and also exactly what he didn't want to see. A massive avian Grimm flew through the skies above the students. Its wingspan was at least ten times as long as Jaune was tall, and its feathers looked anything but soft. A beak that large could run him through with no problem if he didn't have aura to protect him.
Simply put, it was terrifying.
And it spotted them.
"Shit."
Jaune knew it was going to attack when it pulled both of its wings back and let out a terrifying screech.
"WATCH OUT!" Jaune yelled. The Grimm shot its wings forward at speeds that were unexpected for a creature so large. Dozens of razor-sharp feathers detached from the Grimm and made their way to the group of students. Everyone thankfully listened to him and ran for cover. Jaune simply raised his shield and crouched down to make himself as small a target as possible.
Razor-sharp feathers whistled past his ears and dug deep into the ground. A couple slammed into his shield and pushed him further back, but the heirloom held strong and didn't break.
The rainfall of feathers didn't last forever. As soon as all noise ceased, Jaune stood up and scanned his surroundings to make sure everyone was unharmed. Luckily there were no injuries among his fellow students, just some annoyed looks.
The blond one reached out to touch one of the feathers that the Grimm had shot out, only to rip her hand away as soon as she made contact. "Ouch! Damn, that's sharp!" She put her finger in her mouth to soothe the pain.
How could they deal with a Grimm that was flying several hundred feet in the air? Jaune was sure that a few of his comrades had ranged weapons, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough to bring it down for good. They needed to ground the Grimm if they wanted a chance of defeating it, but that was much easier said than done.
But Grimm were apparently mindless, so maybe this one would be stupid enough to play directly into a trap without knowing?
"Any ideas?" Jaune asked. "I'm open to suggestions."
It was surprisingly Weiss who responded to his question. "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying, our objective is right in front of us." Weiss gestured to the relics that remained on their podium.
"She's right," said Ren. "Our objective is to get a relic and make our way back to the cliffs. There's no reason to risk fighting that thing."
"Run and live," Jaune exclaimed while nodding his head. "That is an idea that I can get behind."
When each pair had their relic, the group ran like hell back to the cliffs. There were a few minor Grimm that had to be dealt with along the way but Jaune made sure that he was at the back of the group so everyone else could do the fighting.
A massive temple came into view after a while of running. The temple had clearly been there for a very long time. There were cracks in the stone and moss growing everywhere. There were also large sections of stone missing from the various structures littered in the area.
Also, the massive bird Grimm had followed them the whole way, which was unfortunate.
"Well that's just great," Said the blonde-haired girl.
There was no escaping this creature now. Their only choice was to kill it.
"We need to clip its wings," Jaune suggested. "If we can get it on the ground, it'll be easier to deal with."
"He's right," said the girl with the bow. "But how are we gonna get close enough?"
Jaune immediately turned to Ren. "Ren, your semblance hides you from Grimm right?" Ren nodded his head, clearly seeing where this was going. "Think you can get close enough to ground it?"
Ren gripped his weapons tightly as he narrowed his eyes. "I can try," he said. "But that Grimm is much older than normal, I'm sure its wings are much thicker and stronger too. I don't think I'm strong enough to break through them."
That was a problem, there wasn't much point in hitting its wings unless the wings could be cut. It would make more sense to go for more vital spots like its neck.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! I can do it!" Nora waved her hand dramatically despite being less than five feet away. "My semblance makes me super strong, lemme do it!" Nora ran up to Ren and grabbed his arm tightly. "Common Renny, let's kick some Grimm's ass!" Nora dragged Ren away before he could respond.
Jaune turned to the rest of the group. "Anyone who has any long ranged options, keep it distracted for a while." Everyone gave him various degrees of acceptance before hopping into the battle. As it turns out, Jaune was the only one who had no ranged options to speak of. Even Weiss managed to make herself useful through the creative use of her dust despite her not having a gun.
Jaune couldn't do much except offer moral support that no one wanted as dust soared through the air and exploded against the massive Grimm. Its skin was really tough but the monster was clearly hurting from assault. The Grimm proceeded to launch more feathers at the students which they were forced to dodge. Jaune just hid behind a rocky pillar as feathers whizzed by his ears. When the feathers stopped, Jaune ran out to his group hoping to aid them in some way. He wasn't too confident in his abilities but he at least could take a hit meant for someone else. He knew that his aura was much larger than anyone in the group, so he could take a lot more damage.
That was when Jaune noticed two figures completely devoid of all color launch themselves in the air straight toward the avian Grimm. The Grimm paid no attention to them even when they landed on the back of the giant. Jaune knew exactly what was coming when one of the figures roared, "NORA SMASH!"
A deafening boom and a massive shockwave of electricity exploded from one of the creature's wings. The explosion was followed by the sound of shattering glass and a horrific screech from the Grimm. The left-wing had been completely shattered by Nora's massive hammer. Jaune was a little jealous about what a useful semblance she had. He would have to ask her about it later if he survived.
He watched as Nora jumped off of the creature and plummeted down to the ground. The Grimm was close behind, frantically flapping one wing in a desperate attempt to remain airborne. It was in vain, there was no way one wing could support a creature of that size.
The Grimm crashed into the ground hard enough to produce a massive dust cloud. Jaune didn't waste a second in giving out orders. "Weiss, use your dust to make sure it can't move! Nora and Blondie, go for its head! Pyrrha and Penny, provide ranged support! Bow girl and I will go for its neck! Ren, make sure it can't see any of us! GO NOW!" Jaune really hoped that the group would be smart enough to listen to him. He ran ahead to fulfill his role right as the entire torso of the Grimm was encased in ice, at least Weiss was smart enough to listen to him.
Despite getting a headstart, the rest of the group quickly passed him. I really need to work on my speed. I can't stay behind forever.
His comrades landed blow after blow on the giant monster. The blonde-haired girl used her shotgun gauntlets to fire multiple rounds into the Grimms mouth, while Nora hammered away at its skull. He noticed his entire body had been drained of all its color, likely due to Ren's semblance being activated. He slashed away at the creature's neck as he arrived after all of his comrades.
Black blood spewed like a firehose from each hole that Jaune managed to slice into the Grimm. Bullets impacted the eyes of the Grimm, showing that Pyrrha and Penny weren't slacking off. The thrashing of the Grimm managed to shatter some of the ice that encased its body, but Weiss quickly used more dust to make sure that it couldn't escape. The onslaught of attacks thrown at the monster was too much for it to handle. The Grimm was losing strength and blood too fast to recover and its attacks were losing power.
After one last powerful thrust that sank deep into the creature's neck, it let out one last pathetic whimper before going completely limp.
Jaune fell to his knees in exhaustion as the Grimm started to dissolve. He could hear the victorious cheers of his friends celebrating their victory. He felt a light hand on his shoulder and craned his neck to see an exhausted-looking Ren smile down at him. Then Nora took Ren in a bone-crushing hug and spun him in circles with vigor. Jaune had a feeling that everything was going to be just fine.
Jaune had almost died more times in the last four hours than he ever had before in his entire life, but right now it was all about to pay off.
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, the four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester.
The audience clapped politely as Ozpin announced the formation of the new team of successful applicants. Jaune clapped along with them. There were some failed applicants in the audience that had decided to stick around just to be polite, but the majority of them had left to let their failure sink in.
"Blake Belladonna, Penny Polendina, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao-Long, the four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team Plumberry, led by Penny Polendina." Jaune once again clapped along with the rest of the students. Penny had an infectious smile spread across her lips. While Weiss on the other hand appeared mortified at Ozpin's choice of leader.
"And finally, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, the four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team Juniper."
He did it. Against all odds, he actually did it. The first of many steps to achieving his dream. The road ahead was one paved with hard work and dedication, but for the first time in forever, Jaune felt like everything was going to be okay.
"Led by Jaune Arc."
"Excuse me, what?" Jaune was positive he heard wrong. He looked to his team for confirmation, but they all just gave him looks of pride.
"Congratulations young man," congratulated Ozpin.
Shit.
Sorry for not updating. My laptop screen died or something and it can't be fixed. It still works, just not as well as before.
I always used to judge writers for not releasing their work in a timely fashion, but now I completely understand the struggle. Dealing with real-life commitments as well as writing is just really difficult. Needless to say, I won't judge them anymore.
Why do other writers always have to say that they don't own the media that they're writing about? I always thought that was obvious.
This chapter was a bitch to write, I never expected the Beacon entrance exam to be this long, but once I started writing I just kept going.
This was my longest chapter by far, I doubt they'll be this long going forward but we'll see. See ya next time.
