Hey everyone, it is time to wrap up the Emerald Forest adventures, with some twists near the end. Let's-a go!
As all three quads raced through the Emerald Forest, they finally reached the shrine as they entered from three different areas. When they got to the temple, everyone saw that the relics were nothing but chess pieces, with some of them already being taken. "Those are the relics?" Ryu muttered.
"Well, seeing as some pieces are still missing, they have to be it." Damien thought.
"And whatever chess piece we grab will determine how the teams will form." Sergei figured.
"All right, so let's just grab a piece and go already!" Francesca pointed out, as six of them dashed to the shrine. Neos and Gwen grabbed two golden Bishop pieces, Naomi and Francesca grabbed two Black Knight pieces, while Lee and Rockwell grabbed two Black Rook pieces.
"That was easy. Let's get the hell outta here!" Neos shrugged.
Iskandar was about to head out when he noticed two familiar students looking up, the duo of Yang and Blake. "Yang? Blake? What's the matter?" He addressed them.
The two girls turned as Yang gasped, while she held a Golden Knight piece. "Izzy! Well..." She was about to explain, until they heard a shrill voice calling above them.
"Head's up!" Everybody looked up and saw Ruby plummeting towards the ground while she flailed her arms helplessly. However, before she hit the ground, Jaune had collided with her as they both crashed into a tree, while they were miraculously unharmed.
Everyone was surprised, until Blake faced her partner. "Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" She asked as the blonde was unable to answer.
Suddenly, an orange-haired girl came riding in on an Ursa like a rodeo bull, until her weapon accidentally shot it in the neck, killing it easily. "Aww, it's broken..." She pouted.
Afterwards, her partner, a black-haired boy with shades of magenta in it, slowly approached her while out of breath. "Nora... Please... Don't ever do that again." He panted, expect she had already disappeared. Nora saw a golden Rook piece and grabbed it while singing about being a queen of the castle. "NORA!" He called her out of her trance.
"Coming, Ren!" She giggled as she skipped towards her.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked, as Yang was once again unable to answer.
However, another event occurred, in which the red-paired gladiator, who saw Jaune before the assembly, ran away from a large scorpion Grimm known as a Death Stalker. "Pyrrha!" Jaune called her from the tree.
"Jaune!" She called back as she kept running.
"Whoa..." Ruby mouthed as she climbed down and rejoined everyone else, leaving the blonde knight behind in the process.
"Ruby!" Yang cheered at the sight of her younger sister.
"Yang!" Ruby yelled out as she was about to embrace her.
However, Nora cut in between them while announcing her name. "Nora!"
"More pointless name shouting...!" Lee sarcastically cheered.
As Pyrrha continued to run, Blake asked her third question. "Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?"
However, Yang grew fed up with all the interruptions as her eyes glowed red and her hair was ablaze in a small explosion behind her. "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
Exactly two seconds later, everyone walked towards the group as Yang calmed down once Ruby pointed upwards. The gang looked up they saw Weiss perched on the giant Nevermore's talon. "How could you leave me behind?!" She screamed.
"I told you to jump!" Ruby defended herself.
"She is most likely going to fall." Sergei calculated.
"No, I'm sure she'll be fine." Naomi assured.
"She's falling." Ren bluntly stated.
However, Jaune recovered from his crash and leapt off the tree, as he heroically caught a falling Weiss in his arms. "Just dropping by..." He smiled at a stunned heiress. Sadly, reality ensued as the two of them held each other tightly before they started to plummet.
Fortunately for them, Janey swooped in and grabbed them through their shirts, as she barely held them. "Ouuugh! ...I gotcha!" She strained.
Weiss was at a loss for words. "Well I guess that works... Careful you don't stretch my shirt!" She whined.
"Stop struggling and we'll be fine! (Man this is heavy...)" She muttered to herself, as she airlifted them to everyone else, just in time for Pyrrha to jump and land on her side with them.
"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang spoke.
Ruby faced the Death Stalker while she readied Crescent Rose. "Not on my watch!" She yelled determinedly as she dashed towards the giant scorpion Grimm.
"Ruby, wait!" Yang called out in a worried tone. Unfortunately, the Death Stalker knocked her back towards a tree, as she dropped her weapon in the process. "No!"
"I'm... I'm fine!" She weakly assured. The Nevermore above them rained down a volley of feathers onto the defenseless scythe-wielder. Thankfully, a wind barrier formed around her to shield her from the attack. She turned and saw Lee conjuring up said barrier. "Phew! Thanks!" She waved.
"Yeah, whatever. Just shut up and get over here!" Lee bluntly yelled, as Ruby grabbed her Scythe. However, a large rustling came from behind everyone as a dark shadow lunged towards the young samurai.
"Lee, look out!" Ryu shouted as he tried to parry the attack from him assailant. Sadly, their foe was too strong as it knocked him back towards his cousin as they both toppled over.
"Ryu! Lee!" Gwen called out, as they got up. The source of that attack had come from a Royal Reaper fluttering its insect wings as it landed and screeched.
"What?! Another one of those things?!" Naomi gasped.
"Wait a minute! Look at the spikes on its body, and those wings. This one is not like the other Reapers." Iskandar deduced. "If anything, this one might be looking to avenge its fallen comrades."
"In other words, we just pissed off their older brother?" Neos muttered.
"Yeah, pretty much." Damien shrugged.
Yet another roar went off in the distance, followed by some loud footsteps. "Ugh, now what?!" Blake growled.
The next foe to appear was the Triclops that managed to free itself from its underground tomb. "Oh man, not three-eyes again!" Leonidas grumbled.
"Things can't get any worse, right?" Jaune tried to be positive, but another roar went off as everyone else glared at him.
"You had to open your mouth..." Rockwell sighed.
Grimm number five was a large two-headed Dragon with a jewel in the middle. "What is that?!" Weiss gasped.
"A Hydravoc!" Iskandar glared at the beast. "It was a Grimm me and Naomi encountered and escaped from before."
"Yeah, but why does it have two heads instead of one like before?" The blue-haired girl thought.
All twenty students looked at the five Grimm that surrounded them. "So let's recap here for a second. Basically, we have five high-leveled Grimm closing in on us, and are the main obstacles in preventing us from passing initiation. This is getting out of hand way too quickly." Sergei pondered.
"Yeah... so what do we do now?" Jaune gulped.
"Isn't it obvious? We fight!" Lee stated.
"Yeah, but to make things easier on everybody, four of us should face one Grimm." Damien figured.
"True. Plus, let's keep them as far apart from each other." Iskandar added.
"But first we should take this fight somewhere else. We wouldn't want the rest of these relics to be lost for the rest of the other students." Janey pointed out.
"All right then, let's do this!" Ruby nodded. "Oh! But first..." She dashed to the shrine and grabbed a second golden Knight piece while Jaune nabbed a second golden Rook piece. "Now let's do this."
And so after a moment of diversion and separation, everyone made it out of the forest as they confronted the Grimm. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang squared off against the Nevermore near some cliffs; Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren fought against the Death Stalker on a stone bridge; Iskandar, Naomi, Francesca, and Leonidas confronted the Hydravoc near a gap; Janey, Lee, Rockwell, and Sergei faced off against the Triclops near some dead trees; and Damien, Ryu, Gwen, and Neos were left against the Royal Reaper near a small river.
The Royal Reaper took to the skies as Damien fired a torrent of flames from his Flamethrower Gauntlets, which the Grimm blocked with its sharp scythe-shaped claws. Ryu took the chance to transform his Yahto Blade into a long-range rifle and fired a few shots from a distance, as Gwen assisted him by shooting some ice arrows from her bow. As the large insect parried the projectiles, Neos took the opportunity and climbed onto the Royal Reaper's back, before slashed it from behind with his razors.
The Reaper screeched out as it rammed its back into a tree, knocking Neos into it. "Neos!" Damien shouted out, as he dashed towards the Reaper to push it back. "Stay away from my friend!" He grunted, before his jacket got caught as it chucked him into the river.
"DAMIEN!" Neos shouted, as the Reaper diverted its attention to the crimson haired lad. As he quickly recovered, the Royal Reaper lunged at it, only for the attack to be halted by Gwen's Ice Elemental Knight.
"Nice save, Gwen!" Damien gave her a thumb's up, as the giant fought the Grimm. "If we're to take this thing down, we need to combine our strengths. C'mon, let's move in!" He ignited his fists, as he and the others provided back-up.
Meanwhile, the Triclops grabbed three trees to use as makeshift clubs to duke out against the other team. Janey took high to the sky as she fired some bolts from her bowguns, Lee fought against the Triclops' wooden weapons with his own steel, Rockwell hacked at it with his axe-guitar, and Sergei shot out some icy blasts from his Dust crown. However, the three-headed titan roared as it fired its laser blasts from its three eyes at them, knocking them back.
"Ouch!" Rockwell grunted. "So I guess that's how it freed its eyes from Leon's sticky arrows..."
"Hmm..." Janey thought as she created a fog from her Bluebird wings, to distract the Grimm. However, it swung its arm at her and knocked her out of the sky.
"Janey!" Rockwell exclaimed, as the Triclops fired its eye lasers at the Bludbird Faunus again. However, once the guitarist got in front of her and played a heavy-metal tune on Baile de Fuego, his entire body was metalized which allowed him to reflect the laser blasts at the Grimm.
"Nice song, Rock!" Janey commended him, before she saw a large tree that eclipsed the Triclops' size. "Of course!"
Lee turned towards her partner. "Got a plan, Janey?"
The Faunus nodded. "Yeah, and it involves using that tree over there!" She directed everyone's attention towards it. "We lead the Triclops to it, and then we drop it on the Grimm right here and now!" Rockwell, Sergei, and Lee nodded as they were ready to lead the Triclops to its demise.
Sergei pulled out some wind and ice dust elements from Royal Duster to create a makeshift bow to fire some wind arrows. "Over here you big bully!" He taunted as the giant Grimm was pelted with the projectiles. The Triclops roared as it followed the small teen, while it fired its laser blasts.
After a while, the two of them reached the giant tree, as Janey created another fog shroud to camouflage Sergei. Once he was hidden, Lee adjusted Takumi Excalibur and fired several icicles from his blade that impaled the Triclops' eyes. The titan screeched in pain, before Rockwell leapt out and chopped off its right arm, which caused it to drop the tree trunk it had wielded before.
"Everything's coming to place..." Janey smirked. "Do it now!"
Sergei combined some Earth and Ice Dust elements to make an ice axe, as he helped Rockwell and Lee cut the tree down. After a few seconds, the giant tree toppled over the weakened Triclops, crushing it with ease.
Back at the river, the brawl with the Royal Reaper continued as the large bug knocked back the others, before it sliced Gwen's Ice Knight through the middle. However, the young archer had an idea, as her familiar shined brightly. "Get back, everyone!" She warned, as the boys leapt back. With a portion of her aura, Gwen made the Ice Knight imploded onto the Grimm, temporarily freezing it in place.
"Quickly, now is our chance!" Damien ordered. "Time to finish it off!"
Ryu gripped his Yahto Blade and swung it, as he conjured up a tornado to trap the frozen Royal Reaper, as it was engulfed by the strong winds. Once it broke through the ice, Neos called down a large thunderbolt as it screeched out. Damien aimed his Twin Dragon Fangs as he shot out a stronger stream of flames from them. The fire set the tornado ablaze, as the electrocuted Royal Reaper screamed out while the flames consumed it, until it was finally incinerated.
"Heh, not bad." Janey called over to him, as she and her group made their way to his group.
"Well, I'm guessing you guys managed to beat that Triclops." Neos figured, as she nodded.
"In that case, let's see how everyone else is doing." Damien spoke, as the eight of them traveled to the bridge.
When they got there, everybody was watching Ruby dragging the Nevermore by the head with her Scythe up the cliffs, with some glyph assistance from Weiss. "Hey, perfect timing." Iskandar waved to him.
"I'll say. I guess you guys finished up too?" Damien asked, as the Dragon Faunus nodded.
After they watched Ruby fire one last shot backwards from Crescent Rose, she sliced the giant bird's head right off, as she landed on the top with the head of the Nevermore, while the body flew into the abyss.
The group was at a loss of words. "Well, that girl's got some skills. Sure wouldn't mind clashing blades with her." Lee commented.
"Must you always be thinking about fighting?" Ryu asked.
"It helps me take my mind off of you." Lee coldly stated, as he walked away from his cousin.
Gwen looked towards him, before she glared as him. "What right does he have to say that?!"
However, Ryu held an arm out in front of her. "It is okay, Gwen. You do not need to worry about it right now." He assured, to a confused Gwen.
At the auditorium, all the students gathered as Ozpin stood on stage and announced the teams. "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 CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" He declared, as everyone applauded the four boys who stepped down.
The next four students stood up on the stage, as Ozpin addressed them. "Iskandar Drakon, Naomi Siren, Francesca Merdez and Leonidas Orion, you four obtained the Black Knight pieces. From this day forward you will be known as team DMON (Demon), led by... Iskandar Drakon! Congratulations young man!" He patted the tall Faunus. Naomi and Yang were ecstatic, as Francesca was thrilled. Leonidas had some doubts, but he decided to let it slide.
As they stepped down, Damien approached him. "Congrats on being the leader, Izzy."
"Heh, thanks man." Iskandar smiled, as they fist-bumped.
Ozpin continued as the next four came up. "Janey Bluebird, Lee Yahto, Sergei von Amethyst, and Rockwell Sanchez. The four of you collected the Black Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BLSS (Bliss)... led by Janey Bluebird!" He announced, as everyone clapped, as Rockwell played another guitar solo.
Janey sighed. "Watching over three boys... again." She gave a half-smile. "Should be fun."
"Well, I'm glad I'm not leader. I really had no intention of being one in the first place." Lee shrugged, before he bowed to her. "I look forward to working with you."
As they stepped down, the next group came up. "Damien Crimson, Neos Xanthos, Ryu Yahto, and Gwen Charlotte. The four of you found the Golden Bishop pieces. Henceforth, you four will work together as Team DRGN (Dragon)... led by Damien Crimson!" He decreed.
As everyone applauded, Damien was a tad surprised. "Me? Leader?"
"Don't sweat it, dude. You've totally got it!" Neos quickly assured as he patted his back.
"Neos is right. After all, you rallied us all together in our battle against that Royal Reaper." Gwen added.
Even Ryu gave a bow, followed by a quick smile. "It is an honour to work with you... leader."
The crimson haired lad sighed, as he smiled. "Leader..." He mumbled, as they stepped down while the second-to-last group came up. When he got down, he was unaware that a brown-haired girl peeked at him through her shades.
"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 JNPR." Ozpin announced as Nora hugged Ren. "...Led by Jaune Arc." He finished, as Jaune was shocked when he was chosen as leader. However, Pyrrha happily patted his back, while accidentally knocking him down.
After he got up, they stepped down as the final group walked up. "Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" He declared, as everyone cheered once more.
Yang hugged her sister happily, while Weiss was shocked that she herself was not assigned the position of leader.
After they all stepped down, Ozpin approached the mic. "Now, before I conclude this year's ceremony, I do have one last announcement. This year, the faculty of Beacon Academy has a brand new staff member on board and he wishes to make an introduction speech to everyone. So, if you would please remain where you are, I will allow him to speak right now." He stepped aside, as a tall white-haired, ponytailed, earring-wearing monk in white-and-blue traditional garb walked to the stage.
Gwen gasped at the man she saw. "N-Nahyuta...?!"
"You know him, Gwen?" Naomi whispered.
"He's... my brother!" She shakily answered, much to Team DRGN's and DMON's surprise.
Nahyuta cleared his throat before he calmly spoke. "Greetings, students and staff of Beacon Academy. My name is Nahyuta Snow Charlotte, and I wish to congratulate all of you on passing initiation today. I know it was not easy to do so, but with the co-operation of your new teammates, you were able to persevere the obstacles. Now that you are together, you will continue to strengthen the bonds between yourselves and overcome any challenge you may face ahead of you." He addressed everyone, as he closed his eyes. "I wish to also express my gratitude towards headmaster Ozpin for welcoming me on board as this Academy's head doctor."
"Doctor?" Sergei asked.
"He was studying to be one, he told me." Gwen answered.
"Not only will I be here to tend to any injuries, my main goal here is to help any students with any issues they face. But you needn't think of me as a mere counsellor or physician, think of me as a friend to you all." He touched his heart and bowed, before he narrowed his eyes. "But do not think for a second you can get away with causing any trouble on my watch!" He gave a small icy glare that sent shivers through the room, before Nahyuta quickly smiled. "With that said, I look forward to getting to know all of you through these next four years. Thank you." He stepped down as everyone applauded.
"Wow, he seems so... serene." Yang muttered.
As he walked pasted the Teams, he stopped when he noticed Gwen looking at him. "A pleasure to see you again, dear sister." He smiled.
"B-big brother..." Gwen trembled, as she was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe it... you're really here!"
"I wanted to surprise you before you left, but I was too late." He addressed her, while he held his arms out, to which she immediately hugged him tightly. He embraced her, as everyone applauded once more.
Ozpin watched, as he thought to himself. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."
*Unknown Location*
As night fell, a masked person wearing a dark-green kimono as well as black stockings was calling someone through her scroll. "I see... So he's leader, is he? ... He sure is becoming stronger..." The masked person spoke, their mask distorted their voice "...He doesn't know yet, does he? ...I didn't think so... ...Well, someday he will find out... ...Thank you for letting me know..."
The person took off their mask, revealing a woman's face that had long crimson hair. "Good-bye, Hanzo..." She spoke, as she hung up. She took out a photo, which was the same family photo at Damien's house. "Damien, my son... I will always love you." She whispered, as a tear rolled down her cheek. "But right now, I have to keep watch for our enemies." She slipped her mask back on, and leapt off into the night.
Phew, that sure was a lot, wasn't it? All the teams are formed, Nahyuta is Beacon's newest doctor, and a certain someone is out there. Now if you've read the original, you obviously know what to expect, but if you are tuning it just now, hopefully it'll be a fun ride. Speaking of the original, I love how I'm now getting more reviews on the older story, yet not a single review on this story. I really hope this story is at least living up to some expectations. Well, I already have the next several chapters planned out, so it is only a matter of time before I start doing it. Okay, bye!