"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning~!" a redhead girl sings directly in the face of another boy as Hunter wakes up from the Hunter's Dream in annoyance, standing up from the spot where he slept sitting straight up.
"Urgh, morning already?" the boy in white armour, Jaune if he recalls, grumbles as he rubs his eyes, "Was that even a full eight hours?"
Most of the students went to the locker room to change out of their sleepwear and into their hunting garbs, but fortunately for him, he had slept in his hunting garbs so it meant he could grab something to eat soon.
However, Jaune looks at him oddly as he went in the other direction, "Uh, shouldn't you go brush your teeth first? Or get some mouthwash at least? Good hygiene is important, and you won't want to chase away girls with your bad breath, do you? At least that's what my mom always told me."
The Hunter pauses and pulls down his mask, breathing into his hand before inhaling. He didn't know whether this smelled good or bad by Remnant standards but if 'brushing teeth' was what normal humans did in this Remnant, he supposes he should do as they do.
He follows Jaune to the washroom with the other boys and finds them looking into mirrors as they used tiny brushes on their teeth with white foam spraying out. For a moment he thought it a sign of beasthood but noticed some boys squirting out some paste from a tube on the brushes before using them on their teeth.
He spots Jaune doing the same and gestures for the Messengers to scrounge around for a spare brush and that strange paste, receiving them in a moment from an eager Messenger.
He does as the other boys do, brushing his teeth for a moment, finding the taste rather strange as it chills his tongue before swallowing. However, this just causes any boy glancing at him to look at him weirdly, as he looks back confused about what he was doing wrong.
Then he spots Jaune also looking at him weirdly holding a bottle to his mouth and gets the Messengers to grab him a stray bottle. Maybe you were supposed to wash it down with a drink? This mouthwash thing?
He takes a huge gulp from the bottle handed to him by the Messenger, finding the taste worse than the blood vials he had to consume. This however causes the boys in the washroom to look at him like he grew another head with a bit of disgust in their eyes.
Wasn't this supposed to be hygienic?
"...You drank mouthwash?" Ruby asks with a sigh as she facepalms with both hands. Yang just looks at him disturbed and confused as the Hunter shrugs.
"Yeah I kid you not, he just drank an entire bottle of mouthwash in one go, looked at me and smiled. All the while I just keep wondering…why?" Jaune mutters, still shocked by what he saw before looking at a note, "And where the heck is my locker? 636? I think I'd remember counting that high."
"You're supposed to spit it out. That and toothpaste." Ruby explains tiredly.
"How are you not dead already?" Yang asks, amazed as the Hunter again shrugs as he continues cleaning his pistol's barrel with a brush, wanting his weapons to be in peak condition before a Hunt commences, "You look like you take better care of your guns than you do your body."
The Hunter scoffs. Of course, he would, a Hunter without a weapon is as dangerous as a toothless beast. Besides, Evelyn was a lady and deserved to be treated as such. He conveys that to Ruby who snickers as Yang looks between the two.
"Right, you have to teach me how to understand all that." she says gesturing to the hand gestures, "How'd you understand it anyways Ruby?"
"Er…Well I…It's just easy to guess what they mean?" Ruby tries to sound casual as her sister looks at her oddly, "Hey Hunter! Whatcha got there?"
The Hunter gestures to the collection of knives, syringes and miscellaneous items he has set on the bench.
"Tools of the trade. They are not meant to directly kill prey, but aid in a hunt." he signed. He meant to teach Ruby their use after the initiation since they only had enough time to teach her the basics of a Hunter's combat doctrines with weapons.
He remembers something and pulls out a bunch of Quicksilver bullets, handing it to Ruby after she spent most of her supply last night training in her skills to parry his blows. They were mostly a failure, but once he slowed down enough for her she started to get the idea.
"Oh, thanks!" Ruby exclaims as she accepts them, "I can't wait to see some action! No more awkwardness and socialising. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking. Can't wait to see how those new moves do against some Grimm."
"So you did go training last night?" Yang asks before scratching her chin, "Weird. You went to sleep the moment you closed your eyes and right before I slept I saw you were still sleeping like a log. Did you set an alarm or something? Where did you even train, hard to think you found a spot that the teachers couldn't find you."
"Oh well, Hunter knew a place." Ruby chuckles awkwardly, "And he was just teaching me a couple new moves I could do with Crescent Rose."
"It looks…different." Yang mutters as she looks at the scythe, "Kinda thinner like you gutted it. But you love that scythe!"
"Yeah, after that night I figured all the gears were impractical." Ruby says, putting a hand on her scythe somberly, "The old Crescent Rose was cool and there's no replacing it, but if something like that ever happened again I want to be prepared in every way possible."
Yang pumps her hands together, sounding confident and protective, "Heh, if anyone tries messing with my baby sis ever again you won't have time to use those new moves. I'd tear their heads off and shove it up their-!"
A bang interrupts them as they turn to find Jaune suddenly pinned to the wall on the opposite end of the room by a spear to his hoodie, before Weiss Schnee and a redhead in bronze armour walk by, the latter grabbing the spear and meekly apologising before walking off.
"Ugh…" Jaune groans in a daze from the sudden impact, "A little help here?"
Hunter walks up to offer a hand up and Ruby was about to follow when Yang grabbed her hand,
"Hey Ruby, can we talk for a moment?" Yang asks, concerned.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I just…is there something wrong? You know you can talk to me, right?" Yang says, her face full of worry.
"Yang, where is this coming from?" Ruby asks, confused as Yang sighs.
"It's just…you love Crescent Rose. You talk about the dang thing as a parent talks about their gifted and talented kid! And all of a sudden you decide to make a couple big changes to it just felt…weird." Yang says as her hand grasps Ruby's, "And your skin, you were pale before but now you look like you haven't seen the sun in months. And it all happened after that night. I might be overthinking this, I hope I am, but I just think that night changed you more than you say it did…"
Ruby swallows a gulp at how accurate that was, for a moment almost worrying her sister knew about what happened to her. Her hand subconsciously rubs the arm where a needle had been attached, and where the strange blood had transfused inside her, burning her from the inside. Just the memory of the pain itself causes her to shudder.
Mistaking this for something else, Yang places a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Ruby, when whatever happens later, come find me alright? I'll protect you."
Ruby sighs, "Yang, I appreciate it, but I want to handle myself. We're going to become Huntsmen, we're going to be looking at dangerous scenarios every day once we graduate. I have to learn to take care of myself in the real world so I can protect people, protect my family."
"You shouldn't have to." Yang mutters, "You and Dad almost got killed while I was out in the city. That shouldn't happen in the first place, and I should've been there for you when you needed me most. It should be my job to take care of you."
Before Ruby could respond, she hears Jaune and Hunter approaching them with the former supported by Hunter.
"I don't know what I did wrong, my mom always said a girl looks for confidence in a guy," he complains as the Hunter shrugs and signs,
"My mother told me you must always be respectful and polite to a lady."
"I'm gonna just assume those were words of comfort." Jaune groans as Hunter carries him to where Ruby and Yang were, looking at the sudden change in the atmosphere around them, "Hey, what did we miss?"
"It's nothing." Ruby quickly says before moving forward, "Come on, we're going to be late for the initiations."
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated here in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin explains as they all stood on strange metal tiles on the cliffside pointed towards said Emerald Forest.
The Hunter grumbles at the sight before him. He's only ever seen one forest but that was enough to dull his enthusiasm for any future sights of forests. He can only hope that this particular forest had less ginormous venomous snakes than the last one, snake parasite-infested men, or balls made of several snakes joined together.
You know what, he was fine never seeing another snake again in his entire life. Of course, he was a Hunter and he will not question if his quarry must be a snake, but if he had a choice…
As he internally rants to himself about damnable snakes, Glynda Goodwitch spoke up,
"Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone you can work well with." Ozpin continues for her as Ruby quickly glances at Hunter a few tiles away from him and waves.
He guesses her plan to be in the same team as him, and he concurs. It would be easier to work with someone that can understand him and can quickly explain to him how he was supposed to act in this new world.
However Ozpin quickly crushes their plans, "That said the person you first make eye contact with will be your partner for the rest of your four years in Beacon."
"What?!" Ruby yells out loud in shock before quickly looking embarrassed as it got the attention of everyone.
Hunter shared her worries somewhat, they won't mean anything if he finds her first but if she does he needs another partner then.
Yang? Her sister seems competent but it remains to be seen. He knows next to nothing about her besides she was Ruby's sister.
That Weiss girl? An uncooperative individual if he ever met one, and likely has hostilities with Ruby and him.
That Blake girl that Ruby told him was the cat-eyed girl staring at him? Again he knew nothing about her, but the way she carried herself felt similar to that of some Hunters he fought. Even while they were plagued they still carried themselves with some grace that he finds in her movement.
Jaune? Unlikely.
"After you've landed and partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die." Ozpin warns grimly as a few students, mostly Jaune, look nervous at that warning, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. 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 the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Any questions? No? Good."
Jaune meekly raises his hand, "Er, hold on, what did you mean when you said land-?"
Before Jaune could finish Ozpin taps a button on the tablet he was holding and everyone hears a click under the tiles they were standing on, most only having a moment to react before they were all launched through the air instantaneously.
"Hm, did Mr Arc have something to ask?" Ozpin mutters not having heard the boy before shrugging, thinking it was probably unimportant, as he takes a sip from his cup of hot chocolate.
"Birdie no!" Ruby cries out as she slams into a crow mid-fall.
It was definitely surprising but she has to hand it to Beacon, they knew how to really test them. Trying to figure out how they should land would show just how adaptable they are. All around her, she can already see her fellow students adapting, some using recoil from their weapons to slow their fall, or using their unique Semblances, some with questionable mindsets like her sister choosing to accelerate faster into the Emerald Forest using her weapon's recoil.
She pulls out Crescent Rose to slow her descent, first, she'd slow down using the recoil and then find a tree to hook with her scythe before making her way down. As she thinks this, she sees Hunter rocket past her.
She wonders what kind of landing strategy he would come up with before remembering something.
Hunter didn't have Aura, nor did he use the recoil of his weapon to slow his fall.
All she could do was wince as she saw the Hunter smash through the treetops into a likely painful landing.
The Hunter grunts in annoyance as he feels his bones start to remember what shape and form they were supposed to be in after most of them broke during his fall. Limbs realigned properly, ribcages withdrew from his internal organs and their punctures were stitched up by themselves. Lastly, he cracked his neck back into position.
He checks his belt and coat to find all the tools he had prepared beforehand, thankfully intact. Now with that unexpected start out of the way, the hunt will begin.
He draws the appropriate weapon from a pool of mist forming at his feet, a Saw Cleaver, the very same that he set out on his first Hunt with. It was only fitting he use it to begin a new Hunt in the form of these creatures of the Grimm.
He finds the concept enticing. Creatures of shadow and bone, borne of pure malice, drawn to fear and negative emotions, with their only goal in their unholy life to be the destruction of both mankind and those strange Faunus.
It was somewhat ironic that here he will fight to protect Beastmen as well as mankind, instead of protecting mankind against Beastmen.
Then he hears the crack of a branch and crouches in anticipation, slowly sneaking towards the source of the noise to find a small clearing where to his joy he finds a medium-sized pack of wolf-like Grimm, Beowolves he heard Ruby call them.
He was just out of sight, and he doubts the Beowolves can sense him. There was a total of twenty of them prowling their territory, but some looked agitated. It appeared they might have sensed the arrival of the batch of students and were readying to strike out and perform a hunt of their own.
He'd give them no chance.
A throwing knife was flung at the closest Beowolf, punching through its bone jaw and making it roar as it spins its head to face his back as he walks away from the pack. Enraged, it roars and charges after him, the rest of the pack following once they all realise one of their own has found prey at last.
They charge blindly, lost in the Hunt as they ignore the delayed molotovs he had set up until they exploded, not killing any but setting many of them alight, scattering and disorienting his foes.
And while they were stunned, it was then he struck. In a burst of mist, he appeared in the middle of the scattered and flaming pack of Grimm, striking at the closest with his Saw Cleaver in its cleaver form, bisecting it in half before switching back to its previous module and delivering quick slashes at the other recovering Beowolves, leaving deep gashes from its serrated edge, causing the black tar-like substance to bleed in place of blood.
While they weren't the slick red blood of men or plague-infested beast he was used to, or the yellowish-pale blood of Kin, this black tar was still blood and he felt the echoes as he absorbed them.
Rage. Pure undiluted rage and hatred directed at every living human and Faunus. Like Ruby said these things only exist for their destruction and now he sees it was no exaggeration. In Yharnam the slaughter of Beasts was a solemn duty, those that had become corrupted with the Old Blood.
But these things? They deserve no such pity, only extermination.
He danced between the flaming Grimm, exchanging partners left and right, leaving each dead or dying from heavy cuts and missing body parts. They tried to rally and use their superior numbers but by the time they could, he had torn apart more than half of them, leaving a trail of black blood and mist in his wake. The other half fared no better even as they tried to swarm him, only making it easier for him to paint the woods black with their blood.
Then one larger and more armoured-looking Beowolf attempted to claw at him, but he quickly drew Evelyn and fired a Quicksilver bullet, smashing into his target and causing it to stumble, knocked off balance, as he drops his Saw Cleaver and plunges a hand into the Beowolf's guts, before ripping upwards and splitting it nearly in half from its stomach up to its shoulder, bathing in their black blood.
A good warm-up, in anticipation of his True Prey that he will eventually face. They may not have been men once, but still, he curtsies slightly to his fallen foes in thanks for helping him learn more about their kind from their deaths.
Once again he sees the corpses fade away, like dust in the wind, as even the thick tar-like blood that drenched him from head to toe was starting to fade, leaving only their bones as a sign a Hunt ever happened. He looks at the largest of the Grimm, possibly having been a kind of pack leader before his death, observing the fine set of teeth in its jaws.
The Old Hunter tradition would be to pry the teeth of their first Hunt to create a badge, and seeing this was the beginning of a new Hunt against a new type of Prey…
"Ugh, that was a bit rougher than expected." Ruby groans having been just distracted enough by Hunter sailing through the sky and smashing through the treetops that it happened to her as well, but she was able to use Crescent Rose and hook onto a tree branch and break her fall.
"Alright, alright, time to get your head in the game." she slaps herself on the face twice before splitting Crescent Rose into her two components, the blade and the rifle, holding each in both hands.
She was in her prey's territory now, as Hunter would say, she has to keep her weapons at the ready even if she doesn't see any creatures at the moment. Once she was sure there would be no ambush, she picks the direction she thinks Hunter fell at and starts jogging towards it.
She has to find him as quickly as possible so they could team up, next to Yang he was the best partner she could ask for. But then her mind flashes back to the talk Yang had given her just a while ago.
Why does her own sister not have any faith in her? She doesn't want to be coddled by her older sister for the next four years as she trains to become a Huntsmen, or maybe even beyond when they become fully trained Huntsmen! Imagine being a deadly Grimm-killing machine but can't go five feet without your older sister looking over your shoulder.
She knows Yang was scared after what happened that night, but she was stronger now! Yang just needs to see how much she's improved and soon she'll relax.
She shakes her head to clear her thoughts. Right now she needs to find her partner first, and the more she thinks about it, the more she worries about whether she'll make it in time? Then what does she do? Who will she partner with?
That Blake girl? Why not, they both love books!
Jaune? He's a friendly guy but…eh, not her first choice. He seemed kinda weak, to be honest.
As long as they weren't that Schnee girl, she doesn't care, because she'll….
She'll…
She'll skid to a stop just a few feet away from the Schnee girl just as their eyes met.
…
The two stare at each other in stunned silence as Ruby racks her head trying to figure out what to do. This was going nothing like she had planned, how was she supposed to spend four years at Beacon with a rude, stuck-up girl like that as her partner? Should she…turn around and act like she didn't see her? Pretend their eyes didn't meet?
Before she can make the decision, Weiss makes the choice for her, turning her back on Ruby and walking off.
Ruby should feel relieved, she got spared the choice of possibly the worst match-up for her.
So why does it feel like the wrong choice?
She lands eloquently and expertly on her feet in the middle of a clearing in the Emerald Forest, as expected. She had trained hard to get here, aced every test Titan Combat School gave her, and even the private tutors hired admitted there was nothing left for them to teach her. She was not going to fail from some surprise gimmick like that.
She was Weiss Schnee, she was supposed to have it all planned out. Get into Beacon, find and assemble herself the greatest Huntsmen team for her to lead, and redeem the family name that her father squandered.
But that little brat was already messing with her plans! She was supposed to be partnered with someone famous and successful like Pyrrha Nikos! To become an unstoppable duo! She wasn't supposed to be partnered with someone that lucked her way into Beacon!
She takes a deep breath to calm down, she needs to find another partner quickly. She can just say she didn't see Ruby that time, and find another partner. Maybe it won't be Pyrrha Nikos but surely there's someone else. Who else did she know here?
That girl's sister, Yang? She seemed strong but seemed like a brute. Not someone that she needs in her team, it needs to be a balance of power, skill and intelligence.
That boy in black, Hunter? Absolutely not, she remembers that look in his eyes when he glared at her at the entrance. That wasn't someone that should be in anyone's team, she won't be surprised he has some kind of criminal record.
So anyone but these three, that was fine with her. As long as they weren't those three people, the absolute last on her list, she can work with them…
Her thoughts trail off as she hears something from above her, looking up to find a familiar annoying blonde,
"Weiss, oh thank the gods!" he says in relief, pinned to the tree via a familiar-looking spear, "I've been stuck ever since this was thrown at me, I think it's Pyrrha's? Do you mind letting me down, it's kinda scary how far above the ground I am from here."
He chuckles awkwardly as Weiss stares at him for a full minute before walking off,
"H-hey, wait! You're not just going to leave me here are you?!" Jaune screams from above, "Don't go!"
Absolutely not. She was a Schnee, her partner needs to be the perfect specimen, not the somehow worse-than-run-of-the-mill type.
"Weiss! Weiss!" Jaune cries out increasingly erratic and frantic to which she ignored, "Stop! Behind you!"
The last one got her attention; she turns back confused before her eyes widen at the Ursa with its paws raised upwards preparing to smash down on her. Had she been so caught up in her own thoughts she was that unaware?
The Ursa smashes down its claw but to its surprise, it found no crushed human underneath it as an icy cold voice was heard behind it.
"Perfect timing. You've caught me in a bad mood." Weiss says as she draws Myrtenaster, taking the stance taught by her tutors to engage with Grimm of such calibre and size category. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward, but not too forward as her tutors reminded her constantly, slow her breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and…
With the aid of her Semblance, she uses a white glyph to launch herself forward while thrusting her blade forward, aiming at the throat of the Grimm to take it down fast. A perfectly executed manoeuvre, that would be what people would say if they saw her now.
The Ursa tries to claw at her to defend itself, but she simply ducks under the predictable strike and stabs from underneath its jaw where the armour was weak, skewering into its brain and severing a spine (or she would have if it was a normal bear).
The blow was only enough to stun the Ursa but she wasn't done yet, pulling the trigger on Myrtenaster as it activates a Fire Dust capsule loaded in, burning the head and killing it in a single stroke.
"That was amazing!" Jaune shouts from above, "But what about the others?"
"Others?" Weiss ask wondering what he was talking about before turning to see her slowly being surrounded by a pack of Ursa, circling her as they prowl and wait for the opportune time to strike.
"You idiot!" Weiss shouts as she withdrew her blade from the Grimm's corpse, getting into another stance as she readies herself, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I-I didn't want to distract you," Jaune says weakly as Weiss struggled to keep her emotions contained. The more emotional a human gets the more Grimm they attract, and that was the last thing she needs right now.
Her eyes glance up at Jaune as she scowls, she can't exactly leave him behind, tempting as it is. She was to be a future Huntsmen and leaving those weaker than her to die just wasn't in the cards.
Still, his fear does her no favours, instead making this meal in front of the Grimm look more and more enticing as they growl and snap their jaws, wanting to tenderise their flesh with fear before consumption.
Then they strike, three of them from different directions and she froze. Which does she attack first, what if one of them goes for Jaune hanging in the tree, sure it would be a climb first but can she beat the two before the other chows on him? What if another Ursa joins in before she was done? Scenarios and what-ifs fill her mind as she hesitates too long and braces to block a claw with Myrtemaster and her Aura.
However before they could reach her, a red blur rushes by, faster than even she could track with her Aura-enhanced reflexes. Two of them received grievous cuts to their necks and arms, stalling their charge as the third had a large, curved blade buried into its skull right to the hilt.
"You?!" Weiss shouts in disbelief.
"Me!" Ruby Rose exclaims as she fires off a sniper rifle from her other hand, aimed behind her and striking another charging Ursa, staggering it enough that Weiss was able to leap over it and delivered quick slashes to the back of its neck, severing it clean off.
"You alright?" Ruby asks as she removes her blade from the Ursa's skull and leaps back as a neighbouring Grimm tries to scratch her with its dagger-like claws, throwing away its comrade's body as it does so.
"I'm fine…thank you." Weiss grumbles reluctantly as she gets back to back with Ruby, the Ursas no longer holding back and charging right at them, "So what's the plan?"
"That's a Multi Action Dust Rapier, right? Custom built I'm guessing?" Ruby quickly asks as Weiss gives a surprised nod, "Often used by combatants specialised in Dust usage, so you run interference with them while I take care of the rest. Is that fine with you?"
Weiss looks at the girl in surprise, in a brief moment she figured out a strategy that suited them fine. It was probably easy to guess her specialisation from her weapon, but a quick glance behind her revealed Ruby to be eying each Ursa with calculating eyes and a calm demeanour, like a quiet professional. A stark contrast to the bumbling and careless behaviour she saw at the entrance of Beacon.
"F-fine by me." Weiss scoffs as the cylinder of Myrtenaster rolls and selected a vial of Ice Dust, "Just try to keep up."
She stabs the air, summoning a dozen of ice crystal missiles that sought out the Grimm, striking them and encasing parts of their bodies and limbs with ice that slowed them down causing their charge to stagger and stall.
Then Ruby leapt forward with her blade and rifle, striking at critical areas between the Ursa's bone armour, weakened by her ice crystals that froze and turned them brittle and easier for Ruby to cut through.
Whenever one would get close to Weiss, Ruby would fire off a shot from her rifle and stun it long enough for her to retaliate. And when one went for Ruby while she was distracted, Weiss would use one of the many Dust vials stored in Myrtenaster to fend it off and allow Ruby a chance to counterattack.
The way Ruby fought, the way she moved, it was something she hadn't seen before. When approaching an Ursa, never moved anywhere faster than a brisk stroll and whenever a Grimm tried to attack her she didn't truly dodge, instead only taking the necessary steps in a direction to avoid the blow before striking back with a ferocity unmatched at the opportune moment.
When the last Ursa was left, an Ursa Major. Ruby slaps both her weapons together, transforming it into a scythe as she somersaults over the Ursa, slamming the scythe into the back of its head before firing the rifle, launching her upwards thanks to the recoil and tearing off the Ursa Major's head off.
With that finished, the two surveyed their surroundings one more time before Weiss lowers her blade and pants, "That was…intense."
"Tell me about it, I never fought that many Grimm all at once before." Ruby says looking no worse for wear, not even a drop of sweat after all that, "What was that, like ten of them?"
"Eleven if you count the first I killed." Weiss sighs before looking at Ruby up and down, "...I misjudged you. What you did was admittedly impressive. I've never seen anyone fight like that before."
"Oh, that was nothing." Ruby chuckles embarrassed at the praise, "Compared to all the sparring matches against Hunter, having all of them attack me at once like that was more manageable."
Weiss blinks at her wondering if there was a screw loose up there, or if her friend Hunter was so terrifying in combat that fighting ten Ursas and an Ursa Major was a more manageable experience. But then she focuses on a question she's been wanting to ask ever since she saw her jump in to save her,
"Why did you do that?" she asks, surprising Ruby, "There was no reason to intervene, I think it was clear none of us wanted to be partners with each other."
"So I should've just let you die?" Ruby looks at her in shock before sighing, "Look, I really didn't want to be partners with you. You're far from my first choice, and I wanted to pretend like our eyes didn't lock just now…But I wouldn't have been honest with myself. I wouldn't be able to become the Huntsmen in my dreams no matter how hard I work."
Skill, power, intelligence, and integrity. She truly underestimated this girl and a modicum of respect grew.
"...Come on then, according to my best guess we're still a long way to the temple where the relics are." Weiss points in a direction, "We should get going…partner."
Ruby beams at that and jogs to catch up with Weiss, "I'll be right with you, partner."
Before they could get far, Jaune shouts from above,
"Er, hey, that was really badass and heartwarming and all, but can one of you let me down?" he pleads, "My neck's kinda hurting."
Ruby looks up in surprise and disbelief, "Wait, Jaune, you were up there this whole time? How?"
"Pyrrha must've thrown her spear to help with his landing strategy." Weiss guesses pointing at the spear.
"Well, we could've used your help just now." Ruby points at the rapidly dissolving Grimm bodies in a bit of annoyance as Jaune sighs,
"I know, but this thing's stuck really deep," Jaune says as he tries to pry the spear out with what leverage he has, to no avail.
"...We should hurry to the temple in case there's a limited amount of relics." Weiss says after a pause and glance at Ruby, "It'll take too long to climb up there and bring him down safely, and since no true Huntsmen-in-training would leave behind their primary weapon, it's safe to say Pyrrha will come after him. He should be safe up there from Grimm as well."
"Can't we bring him with us?" Ruby asks worriedly.
"Pyrrha's likely looking for him and her spear as we speak. It would be ill-advised to bring him with us and lead Pyrrha on a wild goose chase for both, as she may run into a pack of Grimm without her primary weapon making it dangerous." Weiss explains rationally, "Our best bet is to leave him here for her to find easily."
"Huh, you have a point." Ruby mutters before waving at Jaune, "Sorry, but we're gonna head to the temple now. If any Grimm shows up, just remember it's only the Ursas you have to worry about, they can climb pretty quick but just give them a stab with your sword and you're good!"
"Wait, what?!" Jaune cries out as the two leave, "You can't just leave me here! Come on, this isn't funny!"
He cries out to no avail, the two waving and wishing him luck as they disappear into the forest.
"Guys?" he tries one last time before sighing, "Aw man."