Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Well, here we are, guys. This is the final stretch. The time has come for these guys to do what they were asked to do. Once we get past this, we can get to the more varied bits of the story. We've put a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort into this, so let's do it!
NOTE:
-This is a collaborative effort between me, Noctis Gaelum and Alastar the hawk. We claim ownership over nothing except our own original characters.
SMWK
Of all the ways an initiation could go…
The young man with the scarf tied around his head was contemplating how things could have possibly turned out the way they did.
…It just didn't make sense. Any of it. Things just seemed so easy earlier.
After fighting off a pack of Beowolves, he had managed to make his way through the forest with relatively minimal difficulty. Despite forcing himself to not see anything, he was feeling confident that the situation would turn out well for him.
And then he heard her.
As he ran past all the bushes and trees he could hear, a particular sound brought him to a halt. He stopped and tried to pay attention to it, but he was eventually able to hear it clearly.
Singing? Here? Why would anyone—
Rather than dwell on that thought, he tried to calm himself down and concentrate on the origin of the singing. After a few moments, he was able to pick up on what seemed to be… a girl.
Not too far away from his current location, it sounded like there was a girl, seemingly skipping along as she travelled through the forest. However, he also picked up on the presence of what seemed to be some nearby Grimm; judging by the sounds they were making, he could only assume they were Boarbatusks. He could've sworn she was saying something, but he was too fixated on how they sounded like they were slowly approaching her to care.
The young man turned his head in the direction that all of this was apparently coming from. The Grimm seemed to get closer and closer, but she didn't sound like she cared about the danger.
Is she insane?! Those Grimm are going to eat her alive!
He started to run towards her location. After a short sprint, he managed to reach the pack of Grimm, but before he could even think about what he would do, he suddenly heard the girl directly talking to the Grimm.
"Just so you know, I know exactly where each and every one of you is hiding right now. And wow, you're a really, really, really big group!"
Confused by that, the young man decided to hide in a nearby tree, jumping up to a branch and standing there. As he waited for either the Boarbatusks or the female to make their move, he realized that he recognized that voice.
It was the Faunus girl that was pestering him last night.
Oh, great…
He didn't get any more time to reflect on this, as the Grimm began to attack her.
He fully expected to jump out and take care of them in a matter of seconds. As he listened intently, however, he was beyond surprised as he found himself actively paying attention to the way the battle was unfolding, intrigued by her battle style.
Impressive. It's like she's only being half-serious, but it's working out for her somehow. And to be able to detect so many Boarbatusks so quickly… that girl must be skilled at smelling or hearing… or she's an expert tracker.
For a second, he felt concerned, as he realized what that would mean for him.
…Heh, no problem. Whatever trick it is she's using, it will not work on me. As long as I'm focused, I'm virtually a ghost. There's just no way she will notice my—
Before he could finish that thought, he was surprised to hear only one set of footsteps. The girl must've finished them all off while he was lost in thought. Although they seemed to be getting closer for some reason…
"Hello!"
Upon hearing that, the young man froze.
Impossible! She couldn't have detected me. There is no way she could… oh no, no, no!
Much to his horror, she started to walk even closer.
I can't let her see me…!
Right then and there, he could not only hear what she was doing, but he could also feel it… she was knocking on the tree.
"Hey, I don't know how much you heard or saw, but I know you're up there!" He could swear she was giggling for a moment before stopping herself. "Oh, b-but don't worry! I'm not a telepath! I swear I have no idea what you're thinking right now!"
Thinking fast, he jumped from branch to branch, trying to get as far away from her as he could.
"Hey, wait! Where are you going? We need to stay together!" She exclaimed. "Don't be afraid. I don't bite, I promise! Come on, let's be friends!"
He started to get more and more agitated by the second. No matter where he tried to hide or how quietly, it was as if she could tell exactly where he was standing.
How is she detecting me?! It's like she knows what I'm going to do before I do it! I need to distract her. Think… think…
As he escaped, he tried to focus on his surroundings, hoping to detect any other students that might be close by, or anything else that could grab her attention.
His salvation came in the form of two other students, both of them male. Judging by how close they seemed to be while walking, he could only presume they had made eye contact and decided to stick together. As he listened to them talk, he realized that they were also familiar.
…Bingo.
It was the two who were too busy gawking at Beacon Tower to actually make their way inside. The same ones that the Faunus girl was with when he had the misfortune of running into her last night. The gods could not have given him a better distraction.
Making a left turn, the man guided her toward the two brothers. He could hear her bumping into one of them; taking that as his opportunity, he kept on moving, thus making his escape into the heart of the forest easily.
"Oh, hi, Set! Nice to see you again!"
Maza had tripped and crashed right into Set, having been so focused on her search that she completely failed to notice his presence. Both of them were lying on the grass, with her casually on top of him.
"Hey, pancake. Good to see you too." Set spoke with a straight face, almost as though being tackled by a joyful girl was part of his day-by-day.
She turned her head to the side, and she noticed that Kale was also there.
"Hey, Maza." He waved at her.
That made her smile. "Hey, you found your brother! Does that mean you two are partners now?"
"Luckily, yes. He's already my battle partner too, so everything keeps adding up." Set just kept speaking to his female friend while casually lying on the forest floor. "Plus, I would have just hated to be partnered with Chess McDiscipline. Too by-the-book for me to get along with him. So, you can imagine my relief."
"That's awesome." Her excitement was clear as she stood back up. "Hey! Since we're all partnered up now, all four of us can form a team!"
She offered her hand to Set and helped him rise from the floor, only to notice something she hadn't picked up on yesterday.
"Hey… your eyes… they're two different colors!" She tilted her head to the side. "How come?"
He shrugged at this.
"I dunno. Genes?"
Maza looked at him curiously. The way he said it, it came across like he was used to that question.
"My pops told me once that people with white eyes were special. Wish I knew what he meant." After covering it up with his bangs again, he turned to his brother. "Anyway, let's keep going. That relic is just waiting for us to pick it up."
"Oh, you mean the chess pieces? They're not too far away. About twenty or thirty yards away from here, in that direction." Maza casually pointed to her right.
Kale's eyes widened at that. "That was… pretty exact."
"Thanks." She smiled cheerfully at her friend. "My Semblance can come in handy when it comes to tracking Grimm or people."
"And… you know that these relics are chess pieces somehow?"
She nodded rapidly. "I can pick up these weird sort of… brain patterns?" She stopped to think for a moment, looking about as confused as her friends were. "I'm not exactly sure what to call them, actually, but I can tell when people are close, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can even hear bits and pieces of things they might be thinking." She turned in the direction she was pointing at. "It's not always exact, but I'm pretty sure I got something about chess pieces just now."
Kale couldn't help but stare at her for a moment.
"…Sounds like a useful ability to have, actually."
She started giggling. "Yep! I used to be the nightmare of kids playing hide-and-seek when I was younger."
"Must have been a lovely chil— wait, did you say four just now?" Set quickly bounced back to Maza's previous statement.
Kale turned to her. "Hey, he's right. You said 'all four of us'."
"Yep! I found my partner too! Well… more like they found me. I haven't seen them, but they definitely saw me, so it counts. They are… they are…" She tried to locate the person, and pointed towards various directions, to no avail. "…That's weird. I can't find them. They must be outside my range already."
As though in response to that, Set suddenly started sniffing the air.
"I'm catching a whiff of a familiar scent… it's coming from the heart of the forest. Think it could be your friend, Sunlight?"
"Most likely." She suddenly frowned. "Poor thing… must be really shy. When I tried to speak with them, they just ran…"
Then her eyes widened, much to her friends' confusion.
"Actually, I think they just led me to you guys…" She stopped to think for a moment. "Maybe they want to be left alone for a bit."
Kale tilted his head, clearly still confused. "Well, that's going to be nice as far as avoiding the Grimm goes, but if you're partners already, they're going to have to show up at some point."
"Yeah… you're right." Right away, she perked up again. "Why don't we go pick your chess piece and let my partner come to us?"
"Sounds good to me." He looked at the other Faunus. "What do you say, little brother?"
He shrugged at this. "Sounds boring. Let's do it."
And with that line, they started heading toward the relics.
"I wonder who my partner is going to be!" Maza made her thoughts clear as she walked all the way toward the altar, right in between the two brothers. "Oh, I hope it's Ruby. I bet the four of us would get along so well!"
Set was quick to do the same. "Y'know, I actually wonder who we're gonna get hooked up to. Hope it's not a duty maniac. I don't think I'd be able to deal with that…"
After taking a moment to try and imagine what he expressed for a moment, he was suddenly interrupted by a funny thought.
"…Heh, 'duty'."
Maza chuckled for a moment, apparently getting the joke.
Meanwhile, back at Beacon Cliff, Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were looking at their Scrolls intently.
"So far, so good." Glynda was looking through the list of people that had already finished the test. "Almost all of the applicants have managed to find a partner, and the teams are starting to get assembled, Professor."
"Good." Keeping his eyes fixated on his subject of interest, Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "What about those that have not finished the test? Have any of them been injured?"
"At the moment, they all seem to be alright." She replied without missing a beat, raising her view to look at him directly. "Even Jaune Arc is doing surprisingly well, despite some… setbacks." She brought her attention back to her Scroll. "He should consider himself lucky Miss Nikos managed to spot him in time."
"I see."
Ozpin finally turned his attention away from his own Scroll to look at her.
"Now, has anyone been left without a partner?" He asked, having picked up on Glynda's wording. "I recall you saying earlier that the last pair had been formed."
She switched the current feed on her device before showing it to him. "This is a… unique situation, Professor."
He paid close attention to what was unfolding in front of him, all the while she continued to speak.
"The two boys became partners after defeating a group of Grimm, but their companion…" She prompted the screen to zoom in on said person. "…Miss Reynard has not actually made eye contact with anyone besides them. She seems to think she has already found a partner of her own, but the only remaining candidate has some… interesting methods."
"Oh? And what method is this candidate using that is so unique?" Ozpin asked with mild intrigue.
In response, the video changed from the walking trio to the person in question. He had his hands together, and both of them could see he was perfectly still.
"A… blindfold, Professor. A scarf tied around his head. He's purposely covering his eyes."
After a few moments, he suddenly started to move, managing to find a hiding spot in order to avoid a group of people who were passing by.
Ozpin said nothing. He merely kept watching, with what seemed like great interest.
Eventually, Maza and the two brothers approached an area which, just as she said, presented the group with an assortment of chess pieces, only a few of which were missing.
"Guys! Look!" She pointed towards the chess pieces, excited as usual. "I told you they were chess pieces! And that I'd find them!"
She walked by the pieces, as though she was inspecting them, before stopping and turning towards her friends.
"So? Any catch your eye?"
"Woof. I didn't expect this." Set expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of chess pieces. "The others already nabbed most of them!"
Kale seemed equally upset. "We must've been the slowest ones out of the whole group."
"Or the ones that enjoyed the test the most!" Maza happily replied, trying to help the mood. "Maybe the others were in such a rush because there were Grimm on their tails and we just got it backwards."
"Uh…" Her human friend looked at her, clearly confused.
The wolf Faunus' face screamed of nothing but snark. "Yeah… I'm sure that's not the reason."
She merely smiled and then looked at the pieces.
"Aw, come on, guys. Don't feel bad. There's still a lot to choose from." She pointed at them. "Go ahead, take your pick."
Rather than argue about it anymore, the two brothers decided to examine which pieces were available to them.
"Well… there is some variety, at least." Kale eventually spoke up. "Any picks in mind, little brother?"
Set looked at the pieces, sharply thinking about which may be a good pick.
Hmm, I wonder… which one draws my eye? Which one might mean something…?
He then stood up straight, took a deep breath, and responded firmly.
"…Black knight."
At the mention of that, Kale's eyes immediately turned to the corresponding piece.
"Ah! Found it." He walked over and grabbed it.
As he headed back to where he was a moment ago, he noticed Maza shaking excitedly again.
"And with that, we've officially finished the first part of our test!" She laughed for a few seconds. "Oh, I wonder who else already finished it. Hey, do you think there'll be a celebratory party afterwards? If not, what do you say we go for muffins? My treat? I know a great bakery we can visit after this."
Watching as she went on, Kale let out a chuckle.
"I really like her."
"I repeat, I keep thinking of pink cupcakes when I'm around her… not that that's a bad thing." Set answered his brother in whisper, before going a little louder for his cheery friend. "Hey, smiles! I'll take ya up on that offer!"
"Yay! Let's not waste any more time then!" She ran up to the two. "If we hurry up, maybe we could convince Professor Ozpin to come along too, and we can get him to buy the cupcakes for us!" She then started to walk back to the forest, still with a spring in her step. "Nah, okay, I'm just kidding. But it'd be nice to have him there!"
Kale decided to follow without anything else to say, just being pleased that they'd make it through without too much of a hassle.
Set, who remained behind, started to sniff the air again.
"Hmm… that scent again. And it's getting closer…"
Shortly after, though, Maza called out to him. He decided to ignore the scent, and just hurried toward the rest of the group.
Forget about it. It's all in the past now. Just keep your eyes on the prize.
After making sure the three individuals were far enough from the area, the young man with the blindfold scarf approached the area and stood still, paying close attention to his surroundings.
…Good. Not a single soul for miles.
He walked toward each one of the altars, and he started to examine them very carefully with his hand, eventually stopping at one in particular. After making sure it was the one he wanted, he picked it up and started to caress it with his thumb.
There you are. Perfect.
Seemingly pleased with his prize, he put the piece in one of his pockets and promptly headed for the base of the mountain.
And I didn't see a single applicant. I'm sorry, Professor Ozpin, but it looks like I'm going to be this year's special case.
After a short trip, the blindfolded man managed to reach the top of the mountain, where Ozpin and Glynda were waiting. After taking a deep breath, he removed his scarf and tied it back around his neck, before looking at them and showing them the chess piece he collected.
"Here it is, just like you said." He handed the relic over to them, with a proud smile on his face. "Looks like I'm the last one to reach the finish line."
Professor Ozpin, seemingly unimpressed by what the young man had accomplished, gave a rather simple answer.
"It would appear to be so, yes."
Glynda's expression was equally devoid of any outward emotion. "Very well. Make your way to Beacon Tower. Professor Ozpin will address you in his office soon. You are dismissed."
"As you wish." He gave them a quick bow before leaving.
Once he was out of range, Glynda turned to Ozpin.
"What are we going to do, Professor? In all these years, no one has ever finished the test without making eye contact with another person. How are we going to pair him?"
He didn't give her an answer immediately, as she noticed that he seemed to be focused on something else. Once she turned her attention to it, she was surprised to find a group of students heading in their direction… the same group that she had brought to his attention a while ago.
They heard the female cry out. "Professor Ozpin!"
"Yo! We got somethin' for ya!" The young Faunus boy spoke to the professors next, with seemingly little regard for their position of authority.
After the three came to a stop, right in front of them, the taller applicant spoke to them while the others were catching their breath.
"We're really sorry about the delay. We ran into a really big pack of Creeps and a Death Stalker." Then he offered his hand. "But we've got the relic." He started breathing heavily as well.
As he opened it up, Ozpin was surprised to see the piece that the boy and his teammate had chosen, although he didn't show it outwardly.
"You have performed amazingly." His voice was much warmer than before, much to the surprise of the three teens. "I believe a moment of rest would suit you all. Go to the lobby. I shall head there myself shortly."
As the team walked away, Ozpin smiled lightly, something that Glynda was quick to notice.
"Professor Ozpin… is something the matter?"
He provided her with a simple response. "I believe we've found the solution to our… special case."
There we are. We've finally gotten past the complicated part. The test is over, and they all managed to survive it. There have been plenty of laughs, scares, action, and just about the strangest ways someone could've thought about when getting through a task like this.
Next time, we'll be following these guys back to the academy. What is Professor Ozpin thinking about? Well, if you've made it this far and want to know, just stay tuned for our next update.
This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.