Anyone's excited for the RWBY anime made by studio Shaft?
"Miss Rose is a special case and therefore, her partner will be decided differently. Since we have an uneven number of students this year, miss Rose will be partnered with whomever cannot find a partner." Said the headmaster which sent Blake into a flurry of thoughts.
"Would it be possible for that to be me? Would she even want me? Her sister's right here after all. How long would I have to wait? Then again, I can't exactly spend the whole day waiting. If I stick to the trees then I could avoid fighting any Grimm." She shook her head. "No, we're probably graded on our fighting capabilities too. Problem being that it's impossible to predict how many grimms I'll end up fighting." She glanced at the two women standing besides her. "What if the three of us stick together? Two could protect the one without a partner, but it doesn't guarantee that it would be me."
"Wanna let me in on what got you girls, thinking so hard?" Yang whispered gaining her attention.
"Wait, she said girls." Remembered the bow wearer turning towards Weiss. As soon as their gaze met, it was as if a direct connection to each other's thoughts had been established. They nodded and turned back towards the blond. "Let's try to find each other to keep one of us partnerless."
Yang was stunned by the proposal, but quickly recovered. "I'm in."
Blake tried to ignore the fact that she could hear Ruby giggling as they continued to listen to the headmaster's instructions. Once done they all took a stance, ready to be launched by the platforms under them. As they awaited for their departure, the three woman exchanged a nod before they finally took to the air.
"Alright, now what?" Thought the hidden faunus as she scanned her surroundings, trying to find her two associates while they soared through the sky. Nervousness crept in as she couldn't find any of them when suddenly, blasts mixed with the whistling of the wind reached her ears. Turning towards the source, she could see Yang boosting herself forward using her weapon. "Alright, that's one. Now for the next."
"What a waste of ammunition." Said the familiar voice of the heiress which Blake barely managed to catch.
With Yang on one side and Weiss on the other, she gazed at her weapon strapped to her hip before turning towards the brawler. "Yang! Catch!" She shouted as she spun in the air to throw her weapon's ribbon towards the blond.
Yang had barely managed to hear the ashen-haired woman's sentence when she realized that an object was heading straight for her head which she caught reflexively. Noticing the ribbon which connected her to Blake, she gave the woman a questioning look before seeing her mouth the words: 'trust me'. The amber eyed woman then spun in the air which pulled both towards one another. Once close enough, she shouted. "Grab Weiss!"
The blond gained a confident expression as she fastened the ribbon's weight to herself before blasting herself towards the heiress which made her panic.
"What are you idiots planning now?!" Screamed the blue eyed fencer as she braced for impact. Only for it to never come as Yang managed to grab her before giving a thumbs up to the bow wearer, who pulled herself to them.
"Alright! Now that we're close enough, we should try to-" Blake said, trying to separate herself from her associates as the ground started to get uncomfortably close before the brawler grabbed both of them and brought them close, contributing to their peaking panic.
"Brace for impact!" Screamed the blond in glee as both of her associates screamed in terror. All three of them concentrated as much as they could onto their aura as they landed directly into a tree and causing a fair amount of damage around them. The monochrome duo slowly recovered, their legs shaking as Yang proudly scanned their surroundings. "Nailed it."
"You nailed nothing!" Screamed the heiress. "That was one of, if not the most idiotic thing I've ever had to live through!"
Yang laughed as she shrugged. "Hey, but you lived through it, right?"
Weiss fumed in anger as she raised an arm to point at the brawler. "You...!"
Both of them stopped their bickering when when they noticed that their eyes met. Clicking their tongue at the same time, they turned towards Blake with anger and jealously. "Don't make me regret this."
Amber eyes nervously darted between the two as the woman backed away. "Y-yeah, well, we still need to find those relics while making sure that I don't meet anyone else's eyes in case that they're also alone."
Weiss adopted a pensive stance. "We can't exactly have you blind folded since you'll need your sight to fight, yet not doing so leaves the possibility for accidental eye contacts."
"What if she stared at the ground the whole time?" Suggested Yang much to the Schnee's annoyance.
"Now how would that-" She tried to argue before being interrupted by Blake.
"I think I could do it." She said, slightly hesitant. "I could use sound cues and shadows to guide myself during the fights. I can always get into a higher position if I need a clearer view."
Weiss paused before scowling at the blond. "You win, this time."
"It wasn't a competition, princess." Replied Yang with a smirk.
As they indulged in their banter, Blake gathered all of the willpower she had to prevent her cat ears from moving. "I'll have miss Rose as my partner? We'll be spending four years together! This leaves plenty of time for me to... to..." Her face reddened as she thought of the various possibilities that could happen in the next couple of years as she hid her face in her hands.
Yang noticed the hidden faunus' state as she gave her a concerned look. "You feeling alright? Want to sit down for a minute?"
Blake shook her head as she walked in the general direction they were launched in. "It's fine, we should hurry."
As they traversed through the forest, killing any grimm that blocked their path, Yang tried to fill the moments of silence with casual conversations. "So what exactly can your semblances do?"
"I leave behind a shadow of myself which can take a hit while allowing me to reposition. I can make it move as long as I maintain physical contact with it and fusing it with dust allows for various utilities." Started Blake still staring at the forest's grass.
"My family has had the same semblance for generations. It allows us to create multipurpose glyphs which can be fused with dust to expand their usefulness further, to list it all would take too long. Although I am not there yet, a greater mastery of our glyphs allows us to summon various entities that we have defeated, though grimms are the simplest according to my sister." Followed Weiss, impressing her associates.
"Your family can make grimm?" Asked Yang to which Blake nodded, impressed and slightly afraid.
"Not exactly, they are temporary manifestations in the shape of a grimm." Explained the heiress before glaring at the bow wearer. "And you, keep your eyes down unless you want to have made all this effort for nothing."
Blake did as asked with a scowl on her face, not particularly ecstatic at taking orders from the Schnee. Her bow twitched slightly as she heard the sound of disturbed branches close to them.
A few seconds later, the other two seemed to have heard it as well as they both took a combat stance. "Speaking of effort, looks like we got company again." Commented Yang with confidence as a couple of beowolves surrounded them.
"Less talking, more killing." Replied Blake as she unsheated her weapon, ducking under one that lunged at her before shoving her blade into its stomach.
Yang whistled, impressed as she pummeled another into the ground. "You're really something, huh? I don't think I could do that while staring at grass."
Weiss scoffed. "Maybe if you actually thought before acting, you could." She took a stance and was about to dash towards one of the grimm in front of her as the blond suddenly dashed behind her, delivering a heavy blow towards one that had crept behind the heiress.
"I'd say that you think too much, Princess." She replied with an arrogant smirk.
Weiss glared at the brawler until a grin appeared on her face as she created a glyph behind Yang which threw her towards the last two remaining grimms. Her amusement was short lived however, as the blond quickly adapted and used her new momentum to crush her targets.
"Thanks for that." Mocked Yang as she dusted her hands.
The heiress groaned as she walked away, to the brawler's entertainment. It didn't take long before the three women found themselves in front of old temple ruins.
"Hey, looks like we made it." Said Yang.
"Yes, we can see that." Dryly replied Weiss.
"Sure wish I could." Commented Blake.
They entered the ruins and could see a few podiums with a singular chess piece on each of them. Yang picked up a knight piece and inspected it. "I'm guessing that those are the relics?"
"I don't see any alternatives." Replied the heiress as she looked at the other podiums. "It would seem that we weren't the first ones here."
Blake was about to reach for a piece of her own when the brawler dropped another knight into her hand.
"Now we match!" She enthusiastically said making the bow wearer smirk while Weiss shook her head in disbelief.
The three of them suddenly raised their weapon when they heard a feminine screech in the distance.
"Some girl's in trouble! Shouldn't we help them?" Asked Yang in concern.
Before any of them could answer, the sound of breaking wood and heavy stomps turned their attention towards an ursa stampeding towards them with a ginger haired woman on its back, screaming joyfully. The grimm suddenly collapsed, throwing the woman off of it and revealing that a man was ridding the beast with her.
"Nora! Please, Don't ever do that again." He said, exhausted while the girl prodded the ursa's disappearing corpse.
She then dashed towards the chess pieces, picking up a rook and singing a jingle which was interrupted by the man who screamed at her impatiently.
"Coming, Ren!" She happily shouted back, leaving the trio confused as to what they just witnessed.
"That happened." Said Yang as they lowered their guard.
A scream, ascending in volume, brought their attention back towards the direction they were looking at earlier. Their eyes widened when they saw a blond man soaring through the air in their direction before Yang jumped to catch him.
"Oh, hey Jaune." She greeted as they dropped back down.
"Yang?" He asked, still shaken from his flight as she set him down on his feet.
"What happened?" Questioned the brawler as she went back to her companions.
His eyes widened as he turned towards where he came from, but before he could say anything, Pyrrha jumped out of the forest and ran towards them as a Death Stalker knocked down a couple of trees while pursuing her.
Weiss sighed, exasperated as she buried her face into one of her hands. "That explains a lot."
Pyrrha jumped onto her pursuer's head and used it to boost herself towards the ruins, landing next to the group that gathered. "Sorry about that, I don't think I could have took care of it alone." She apologized as she deployed her weapon and shield.
"Yeah, might wanna throw caution into the wind for this one, Blake." Said Yang turning towards the hidden faunus, only to realize that she wasn't looking at the ground anymore.
"Way ahead of you." She replied as the seven students readied themselves to fight the grimm.
Unfortunately, their misfortune did not stop there as a screech in the sky had them all gaze upwards, revealing a nevermore gliding over them.
"That... could be a problem." Commented Ren.
Yang groaned. "Could this day get any worse?"
As if summoned by her complaints, a large shadow towered over them from behind, making them turn around as their blood ran cold. There stood some kind of enormous beowolf with a more powerful build and less feral look.
(I used Demize00zero's Worgen art from deviantart as reference.)
As soon as they met its eyes, it pounced towards Blake at such a speed, that she couldn't dodge out of the way in time.
"Blake!" Screamed both Weiss and Yang when a violent gust of wind from behind had them cover their eyes. They heard a metalic impact followed by a slash and a roar from the strange grimm. Once the wind subsided, they opened their eyes only to be met with a storm of rose petals around them and the sight of Ruby, drape flowing in the light breeze left by her sudden appearance, standing in front of Blake, who had fallen over out of shock and was now staring up at the celebrity. She had two swords in her hands, one was resting against her shoulder while the other was pointed at the grimm which had stumbled backwards as it gazed at its, now missing, forearm.
"Hey partner, mind if I cut in?" Said the silver-eyed woman as she looked over her shoulder towards the bow wearer.
"Ruby?! Why are you here? What is that thing?" Questioned Yang as she tried to approach her sister.
The raven-haired woman narrowed her eyes. "Later. You guys have your own problems to deal with." She said, glancing at the Death Stalker and Nevermore before turning back towards the strange grimm. "This guy's all mine." She then spun around and kicked it right in the chest so quickly that none of them had seen her do it, launching the grimm backwards.
"Now, go!" She shouted before bursting into rose petals and rushing towards her prey.
Blake struggled to stand up until her two associates went over to help her.
"Can you still fight?" Asked Weiss and while the question might have seemed heartless, the genuine concern on the heiress' face showed that she meant well.
The hidden faunus picked up her weapon sparing a glance towards Ruby, who seemed to be fighting evenly with the one armed grimm, before focusing back on the other two. "Yeah, just needed a minute." They exchanged a nod before rejoining the other students.
"Great, the gang's all here! Now what?" Implored Jaune. The Nevermore then shot a barrage of feathers in their direction forcing them to move around while the Death Stalker backed off slightly.
"We can't exactly outrun them!" Advised Ren.
"And as deplorable as it is to say, I do not believe that we can fight both of them at once." Admitted Weiss.
"We shouldn't count on Ruby to help either, whatever's up with that weird grimm was probably unexpected." Added Yang, narrowing their options further.
Blake concentrated the best she could before turning to her allies. "Then we split up in groups! Each will take care of one grimm!"
"That's my girl!" Cheered Ruby in the distance causing the ashen-haired woman to blush while Yang seemed offended.
"What about me?!" She screamed back.
"Now's not the time you idiot!" Reprimanded Weiss before turning towards the others. "Us three will take on the Nevermore while you four go after the Death Stalker, any questions?" Jaune raised a hand, but was ignored. "Good, then get to it!"
Both groups ran in opposite directions while attracting the attention of their targeted grimm. Blake shot at the Nevermore with her weapon's pistol, while Weiss used ice dust and her glyphs to launch ice lances and Yang used her explosive slugs.
"Any ideas on how to beat this thing?" Asked Yang as she jumped over their heads to kick a feather away.
"We have to find a way to bring it down. We can't do anything as long as it stays airborne." Said Blake while reloading.
"What would Ruby do..." Wondered the blond as she stared at the grimm.
"Miss Rose would probably have already defeated it by now. This kind of grimm is nothing for her." Replied Weiss when an idea came to her. "However, we could try something that she does sometimes."
"Spill it already!" Screamed the other two.
"Instead of bringing it down to us, we launch one of us to it." Revealed the heiress which they surprisingly accepted.
"Could your glyphs do that?" Asked Blake.
She shook her head. "Not at this distance."
The amber-eyed woman noticed that they were approaching another set of ruins which sat next to a cliff then gazed at her weapon. "How about this then?"
Ruby watched with a nostalgic smile as the students put their plan into action. "Time sure flies faster than expected when you're working, huh?" She turned back towards the one armed grimm.
Its body was now generating a large amount of smoke from all the cuts the silver-eyed warrior had done to it. It knelt down seemingly exhausted as it stared at Ruby, analyzing her.
The ravenette, understanding its action, posed while giving it a confident smile. "About time you decided to use that evolved brain of yours." The grimm's eyes suddenly widened as it took a step back. Ruby, in turn, took a step forward. "Oh, yes. You remember now. I don't know how you managed to hide so well from me yesterday, but you must have watched me slaughter all your little alpha minions didn't you? You thought you were safe when I left?"
She continued to step towards the grimm as it tried to back away until its back hit the forest's trees. Its eyes darted around, trying to find a way out before settling back on the red-draped woman, desperate.
"Good." She said lowering both of her swords to her sides, ready to strike when need be. "You might be smarter than average, but in the end, you're just a beowolf that lived longer than it should have." It roared as it slashed at her which she blocked by crossing both of her swords and lodging them between its fingers. "A beast is most dangerous when trapped in a corner and I have a some time to kill, so show me how a Worgen fights when in despair!"
It removed its claw before dashing head first towards her while swinging wildly which Ruby dodged with occasional close calls. However, she would easily recover by using her swords on the grimm to reposition herself.
"Maybe I shouldn't have cut its arm off, I don't even have to use my semblance..." She thought slightly disappointed before shrugging and humming an upbeat song to herself.
"You remember the plan?" Asked Blake while she held her weapon's ribbon like a rubber band around two rock pillars while Weiss held it back with her glyphs.
Yang waved dismissively as she placed herself in the middle. "Get launched at the bird then beat it until it crashes. Did I miss anything?"
"If it seems like you might miss, use your gauntlets to change your direction." Replied Blake. "We get one shot at this."
The Nevermore screeched, gaining their attention as it circled back towards them.
"Now or never, guys!" Screamed the bow wearer.
"Try not to die." Commented Weiss as she let go of her glyph, sending Yang towards the grimm as it got closer.
The flying monster opened its beak, trying to catch the approaching woman. However, it was surprised when it found itself unable to close it and was now feeling immense pain down its throat.
"Hope. You're. Hungry!" Shouted the brawler as she shot a barrage of her explosive slugs into the grimm's mouth while holding its beak opened.
Once it tried to shake her off, she let herself get thrown over it before shooting upwards to blast herself back down onto its head, her fist realed back to deliver a powerful hit. Her eyes widened when it was about to move its head away when a bullet that came out of nowhere, hit it back into position.
The two girls on the ground, having seen it all transpire, turned towards where the bullet came from, only to see Ruby still fighting with her grimm far off on the horizon.
"Look out below!" Screamed Yang while riding on the neck of the crashing Nevermore which was heading straight towards them.
The girls nodded at each other before jumping right as the beast crashed under them. Weiss supported herself with a glyph while making another over the grimm's neck then more along it's spine. Blake landed on the first one, switching place with Yang, before angling her sheated weapon down onto the Nevermore's hide.
Weiss made a gravity dust mixed glyph on the hidden faunus' weapon allowing it to pierce through as Blake ran down the creature's spine, dragging her weapon along. As she reached the end, Weiss created a path of glyphs allowing the bow wearer to quickly run back to the Nevermore's neck as she jumped into the air and aimed her bladed sheath downwards.
"Yang! Now!" She screamed.
The blond appear next to her. "On it!" She replied before punching her weapon, giving it enough force to cut clean through half of it's neck.
The grimm was now completely immobilized yet still lived as it twitched and screeched in pain. Weiss landed next to the two girls before taking out a red dust canister from her combat dress. She then threw the vial into the grimm's open neck then shot it with a fireball, blowing its head off. As the corpse slowly disappeared, the three girls exhaled in relief as they all sat down.
"That, was awesome." Said the brawler before raising an eyebrow towards the ashen-haired woman. "You know that the point of a sheath is to keep the sharp edges inside right?"
"Well, it certainly allows me to do heavy duty slices without the fragility of a katana blade. Though it does come with the price of it being less sharp." She replied with a grin.
"Nonetheless, it allowed us to defeat the Nevermore. I'd say that it earned its unusual design." Commented weiss as they watched the last remains of the grimm evaporate.
"We should probably get back to Ruby." Said Yang as they stood up and left.
When they managed to get back to the relic temple, the girls noticed that the four other students had came back at the same time.
"Looks like we all made it." Said Ren as the two group approached one another.
"What about miss Rose?" Asked Pyrrha, looking around. Her eyes landed on a red-draped figure, sitting on a rock, supporting their head with a fist as they looked at something with boredom.
Upon taking a closer look, they could see that the strange grimm from earlier was now crawling on the ground as its entire body was covered in smoke. The silver-eyed woman noticed their presence and gave them a smile.
"Oh? Are you all done already?" She asked in a warm tone which only managed to scare the students considering the sight that was next to the woman.
"So, uh, what's that, sis?" Asked Yang while pointing at the grimm.
Ruby stood up and walked towards the limping creature. "A Worgen, an evolved version of a Beowolf. Think of them as a alpha Beowolf but better, stronger and faster." She kicked its remaining arm. "If you ask me, a Beowolf is a Beowolf at the end of the day." She then gave them a warm smile. "Though it's a bit too advanced for you guys right now."
Yang placed a fist on her hips as she bucked them sideways. "We just killed a Nevermore and a Death Stalker. I think we would have been just fine."
"No." Quickly replied Blake. "We wouldn't have. That thing was too fast, I couldn't even react in time when it pounced on me."
A pleasant draft passed through Blake accompanied by the smell of fresh roses as two arms wrapped around her neck from behind along a familiar red drape. "You were very brave, today. Not everyone can live through something like that and still fight."
The hidden faunus gazed at the floor and whispered loud enough for only Ruby to hear. "But we both know that I'm not just anyone..."
A soft chuckle escaped the older woman's lips as she leaned into her captive's bow before gently whispering into her faunus ears. "Maybe, but somewhere in there, hides a girl who more than anything, needs to be told that she did good."
Blake's eyes widened as tears gathered into them before she turned around and hugged Ruby back while crying. The others looked confused yet a single look from the silver-eyed woman made them drop the matter.
The ravenette looked back at her younger sister. "To put it simply, that Worgen could have killed both of your preys and then you all without breaking a sweat." She said causing them to feel a shiver run down their spine.
Blake had stopped crying, yet still held onto the older woman. Seeing her predicament, Ruby picked up the ashen-haired woman in a bridal carry, much to the jealousy of some, and walked in the direction of the Academy. "I think you've all proven that you more than deserve to be in this school. Come along now."
They spent the whole walk back making small talks amongst themselves while sometimes, killing grimms that came to them. At some point, Blake had realized how embarrassing her situation was, but couldn't bring herself to face her new classmates if she asked to be let down.
The crowd of students from every year applauded as the various teams of first years were announced by the headmaster. Anxiety rose as he reached the last three 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 announced as four men in armor were lined up on stage, cheering for their new leader before leaving.
Ozpin presented the next team as they took place on stage. "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. Led by... Jaune Arc."
The crowd roared once more as the blond man looked stunned. "L-led by?"
The headmaster congratulated him as his team cheered for the man. Pyrrah bumped his shoulder with a smile, yet the force was too much for the new leader as he fell over, much to the crowd's amusement.
"Interesting choice. Then again, I didn't get to watch you all fight." Commented Ruby while she was darting between the three girls, fixing their appearance to the best of her ability.
"The man can barely keep himself up and they want him to lead a team? Ridiculous." Complained Weiss before her nose was pinched, courtesy of the ravenette.
"Now, now, we don't know what the future holds for him." She said while combing the heiress' hair with her hands.
"As long as he doesn't puke all over his teammates when they'll leave for missions, I'm sure he'll be fine... maybe." Added Yang while Ruby straightened her outfit and roughed up her hair slightly, giving them a slightly puffier look. "Not the hair!"
Ruby frowned as she smacked away her sibling's hands. "Oh would you stop that? It's not like I cut it or anything."
Blake said nothing as Ruby stopped in front of her and gently brought some minor fixes to her appearance. Once the silver-eyed woman tightened her bow, she passed her hands gently through her hair. "This is a new chapter, for all of you." She then held the hidden faunus and Weiss' hand forming a circle. "And this time, I'll be with you for it." They shared a hug before Ozpin called them on stage.
"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The three of you retrieved the white knight pieces." He turned towards the crowd. "Now for those of you who weren't at the cliff for their initiation, you may be wondering why these students are three yet still form a team. As I mentioned to them back then, whomever would end up without a partner will be paired with miss Rose, considering her special circumstance." He then faced Blake. "Blake Belladonna, here, is that lucky person."
The crowd cheered yet some could be heard clicking their tongue as they too, tried to get partnered with Ruby.
"As for the one who will lead, I have the pleasure to announce that Weiss Schnee will be the leader of team RWBY." He ended making the crowd cheer louder.
Yang punched the heiress shoulder in a friendly manner before the blue-eyed woman was engulfed in a hug by Ruby as she made them twirl around. Blake simply smiled and nodded.
Ozpin watched it all unfold as a smirk appeared on his face. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year."