Right now I sit with the other professor on the Auditorium. The new students already gather in front of the stage while Ozpin and Glynda are readying the microphone. The noisy place suddenly become quite when Ozpin start his speech.
"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Before the students even could understand what Ozpin is saying, he immediately walk back and seat beside me.
"Just as cryptic as ever, old man." I whisper to him.
"Well, it's better to keep my image like that, don't you agree?" He said jokingly, making the both of us laugh silently.
While Glynda replace Ozpin and announce the timeline for the future, I notice few of the students are looking at me. Well, I could understand where they are come from. From what they seen, I'm not that older from them and instead I already seat with the other professors. At least that is the reason for most of them, except for the black haired girl with the cat-ear headband. Realizing I already notice her gaze, she immediately avert her eyes, let just give her a smile for now.
The day after that, we are at The Beacon Cliff, overlooking The Emerald Forest, where several students — some old, some new, and some unseen — are standing on silver tiles in front of Ozpin and Glynda with her tablet. I and several professor also there, but we are just standing on the sideline.
"For years," Ozpin began, "You have trained to become warriors and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
"Now, I'm sure all of you are aware of the four-person teams Hunters-in-training are assigned to." Glynda continued. "Some of you may even be aware that Hunters have a specific partner on their team who they work most closely with. You will be assigned to your partners and teams today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon and will undoubtedly be your closest allies going forward afterward. Your partner, meanwhile, will work with you whenever pairs are required and will often share in your success and failures. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
At Ozpin's revelation, confused murmurs broke out among the students. Ozpin clearly heard the confusion from the way his vague smile had morphed into an almost imperceptible smirk. An old prankster, well I do also enjoy the reaction from the student, I guess.
"After you're partnered up," Ozpin continued, "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."
'Always one for the dramatic,' I thought, suddenly I notice the male student that yesterday talk to Ruby Rose laugh nervously, only making me more curious what would happen.
"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. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah, um, sir?" The boy raises his hand only to be promptly ignored.
"Good! Now, take your positions."
As the boy started to ask some rather peculiar questions, the other students started being launched into the air. While the idea seemed absolutely absurd, it actually had a lot of merit. It was very common for Hunters to be airlifted to their mission zone and they had to make a long fall more often than not. Being thrown through the air by a Grimm also wasn't terribly uncommon so the ability to safely redirect and dispel your momentum so you can land without too much strain on your Aura was a very valuable skill. This logic was also apparent to nearly every other student here as all but one of them were prepared when the time came. The fact that boy had no idea what was going on raised a lot of red flags in my head but there was nothing to be done as the blond was quickly catapulted into the air, screaming all the way.
Ruby hit the ground in a deep crouch before immediately taking off at a light jog. Her first thought had been that she needed to find Yang and fast but suddenly slow down as what she said before. While Ruby was nervous but her sister was right. She needs to make a new friend, and maybe by being a partner is an efficient way to makes friend. So lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the other person she was running towards until it was too late. With a cry of surprise and a mighty crash, Ruby found herself lying on top of the absolute last person she wanted to literally run in to.
"Get off me, you dolt!" White, that now I know has name Weiss, scream as she pushed at Ruby. In a flash, the black-haired girl was on her feet and trying to help Weiss up.
"I'm sooooo sorry, Weiss! I was thinking and wasn't watching where I was going and then I saw you but it was too late and—"
"It's… alright," Weiss said testily as she stood up and dusted herself off. "I was equally distracted and didn't hear you in time." Ruby let out a sigh of relief and let her shoulders slump only to jump back when she suddenly found Weiss' finger in her face. "Still! This is the second time you've run into me or my belongings! Watch! Where! You're! Going!" With each of those last words, Weiss thrust her finger towards Ruby, forcing her further and further back until she was flush against a tree.
"I-I-I-I I'm sorry! I-I-I I really will be careful from here on out! Promise!"
Weiss sighed as she let her hands drop to her hips, "Worse yet, because of that stupid rule, this means you'll be my partner for the next four years." Ruby started to relax again and pulled herself off from the tree, a hopeful expression creeping across her face at Weiss' words, only to end up right back where she started. "Listen up! I won't accept anything less than the best from my partner so you better shape up or I'll shape you up! You got that‽"
"Y-yes ma'am!"
"Good!" Weiss spun on her heels and started walking off. "Come along, then. I don't want to stay in this forest longer than necessary."
"Coming!"
"So, what's your Semblance?" Ruby asked after they had been walking in silence for a few minutes.
"I suppose you should know. My Semblance is the ability to create Glyphs. They can either be used on their own or alongside the Dust stored in my rapier for a variety of effects. I'll give you a more detailed explanation later."
"That's really cool! It sounds like you can do a lot of things!" Weiss smiled slightly at that.
"I suppose I can. What about you?" Ruby smiled and was suddenly gone, replaced by a flurry of rose petals. A startled Weiss blinked a few times before following the trail to its source: one Ruby Rose now standing a good twenty feet away.
"I'm really, really fast!" Ruby said with an excited wave. Weiss shook her head and made her way over to the younger girl.
"I see that. Simple but effective. A few of my Glyphs would work especially well with that. Tell me, do you always leave rose petals behind when you run?"
"Yep!"
"Why?"
"I dunno! But, hey, my name's Ruby Rose so it fits!"
"Fair enough. It's a bit of a shame you can't use it for stealth, though."
"I'm no good at that sneaky stuff anyway. I'd much rather fight things head-on."
"Yeah, I figured as much. Regardless, we've wasted enough time. We need to get going. I refuse to start the term off by getting a bad grade."
"Hey, did it just get darker?"
"The sun must have gone behind—" Weiss fell silent as a low growl came from somewhere to her left. In an instant, Weiss drew Myrtenaster while Ruby readied Crescent Rose in its scythe form. The two girls remained silent, their backs to each other, as they carefully scanned the area. Several red eyes could be seen peering at them from the darkness.
"I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or grateful," Weiss said as she tensed her body, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. "On one hand, this is going to slow us down. On the other, killing a few Grimm should only improve our grades."
"This also gives us a chance fight with each other. Might as well get used to that now," Ruby replied as she drummed her fingers.
"True. In that case, I suggest we—" One of the Grimm, a Beowolf, launched itself from the shadows directly towards Weiss. Without any hesitation, Weiss took two deep steps forward, her body low to the ground, and lashed out with Myrtenaster, the tip of the blade flashing like quicksilver as she drove it into the Grimm's chest in three places. A graceful spin took her well out of the Beowolf's range and out of the way of Ruby's scythe as she slammed it down into the monster's skull.
Ruby's attention shifted from the fading Grimm before her to the one charging from behind. She shifted her stance, ready to dodge at the right moment, when movement from Weiss made her change her plans. A white glyph bearing an elaborate snowflake appeared before her and acted as a barrier. The Grimm collided head-on with it and was quickly forced onto its hind legs. Acting quickly, Ruby hooked Crescent Rose around the glyph and behind the Beowolf's neck. Aided by a shot from her weapon's rifle, Ruby jerked Crescent Rose towards her as Weiss released the glyph. As the headless Grimm fell to the ground, Ruby twirled Crescent Rose back into a ready position and returned standing with her back to Weiss as the remaining ten Beowolf surged forward.
Ruby met her half of the charge head-on. With a war cry, she knocked the swiping claw of the nearest Beowolf aside and countered with a quick slash to its torso before following up with a spinning slash up its back. She fired off another shot and let the recoil carry the butt of her weapon into the face of another Beowolf moments before it could grab her. A retreating slash to its temple was enough to finish it off but she was quickly forced to spin away from the previous one and then leap backward to avoid an overhead blow from yet another.
For her part, Weiss adopted a reactionary position, Myrtenaster held low with a slight upwards tilt, and let her prey come to her. Two of the Grimm came at her at once from the front as she smoothly shifted her weight to her back leg. The instant she saw their bodies tense for a leap, she sprung forward between them and let Myrtenaster lash out with flawless accuracy. She punctured the inside leg of both Beowolfs at two key places before following up with a spinning slash while they were midair, up the side of one and down the other. When the Grimm hit the ground, they immediately collapsed towards each other and on to a pale blue glyph. Weiss quickly stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground at the edge of the glyph and released the white Dust from its chamber, combining it with her Semblance to cause a series of ice spikes to spring from the glyph and tear the Grimm to shreds.
Ruby swung Crescent Rose with her whole body and sliced clean through the arm of a Beowolf before using a recoil swing to ram the blade through its chest. Another one leaping at her from behind forced her to relinquish her hold on her weapon and roll backward between its legs. She lept out of her roll with her hands and nailed the Beowolf in the back with a dropkick. The Beowolf staggered forward into the shaft of Crescent Rose and toppled forward onto it. The force and positioning of the fall swung Crescent Rose back into Ruby's awaiting hand where she then raised it into the air and used the recoil of a shot to crush the Grimm's head with its butt.
Ruby quickly took in the position of the remaining five Beowolves and she could practically feel the gears in her head turning as she considered what Weiss told her not moments before and what she had caught of glimpse of her doing. "Weiss! Can you shoot something that'll punch through them?" she called out to her new partner.
Weiss spared Ruby a quick glance, "Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"Then get ready!" Rose petals surrounded Ruby as she dashed towards and then past her first target as she nailed it with the side of Crescent Rose's blade. She then used the blade as a pendulum to swing around a tree and towards her second target. With lightning speed, Ruby struck the remaining five Grimm with stunning blows that made them stagger and Weiss watched on, mildly impressed, as she realized Ruby's plan.
"Now!" Ruby screamed as she struck the last Grimm and moved out of the way. The remaining five Beowolves were now in a fairly neat line before Weiss and she immediately carried out her role. A yellow glyph appeared in the air as she held Myrtenaster vertically in front of her and spun the barrel over to yellow Dust. With a deep thrust into the center of the glyph, several bolts of lightning shot out and tore through the Grimm before striking a tree deeper in, the heat from the electricity super heating the sap inside and making the tree explode. Ruby casually walked back to her partner, flourishing her weapon before holstering it.
"Hey, I saw we make a pretty good team!" Weiss looked at the rapidly fading bodies of the Grimm around.
"So, we do. I must admit that your plan wasn't a bad one." Ruby giggled happily as she swayed side-to-side, her hands clasped behind her back,
"Aw, it was nothing! You're the one with that big awesome lightning bolt thingy!" Weiss smirked as she sheathed her weapon.
"Indeed I am. Well, let's be off. We've spent long enough here."
"The last pair has been formed, sir," Glynda said as she walked up to us, Scroll in hand. Ozpin and I, for our part, barely acknowledged her approach as we focused on our own.
"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy… I can't possibly imagine those two getting along."
"They've been close friends since childhood and I suspect that there's something more between them," Ozpin remarked as he took the last sip of his cocoa. He grimaced as he realized it had cooled in all the time he had been standing atop the cliff. Thank goodness it's my second cup so it's still warm.
"I'm must say sir, that I kind of worried about the elder Nevermore." Glynda paused for a moment and considered her words carefully realizing I was here as well but pressing on, "Sir, don't you think it's too dangerous to have 3 elders Nevermore against the children? I understand you want to see their capabilities Mr. Yussuf but isn't this went too far?"
"It's okay Glynda, you don't have to be so worried. Like I said before, you, professional hunter, could always interfere if thing get side way." I assure her between my sip of cocoa. I glance at her for a second but she doesn't seem convince. I smile wryly at her and look back at Emerald Forest, eyeing the elder nevermore that had been released. "And if things do go that bad, I'll lend a hand as well."
Realized what did I just said, Glynda cant even continue, doubt still could be seen from her face.
"Just like what Yussuf said Glynda, while this is dangerous, it also shown us which one is capable and which one is not." Ozpin give his though about the matter, without looking back. "Fear is part of being a hunter, if they can conquer fear, then there will be no problem ahead of them."
Glynda shook her head with a sigh. She hated when Ozpin started to go on like this because she understood exactly none of it and it more often than not just made her head hurt.
"Oh, ya Ozpin, I want to know what your plan for Roses?" I suddenly asked. I look at Ozpin from the corner of my eyes, I could see the change of demeanor from him. "What you say before is just to convince me, now I want to know what the real reason. What did that shitty eyes show you?"
I though Glynda would correct me for using those words, but instead she keeps silent. Its seems like she, just like me, want to know the reason
"What are you saying, Yussuf? What I want is to protect and raise her so she could protect herself from The Queen." Silent fill the air, no one believe that, not even Ozpin. "While I do want to say that, there is indeed something that these eyes have shown me. I will die Glynda Yussuf."
"W-what!? Sir you must be-"
"While my foresight is most of the time inaccurate, but I can not just discard this vision just as the other possibilities." Another silent, Ozpin let a heavy sigh. I can see he really feel the burden of this vision. "Thats why I hope I can teach her, no, not just her, but a lot of students as I get the chance. So, they will ready when the time comes."
"Heeeehh, so you gonna die, huh? Have you search the body for your reincarnation?" Silent fill the space once again.
"Yes, and I haven't found one."
"I'm sorry sir, but don't you think another precaution should be made? Don't you think it is better for us to increase the security?"
"Perhaps but that would only raise question from the students. For now, it is better for us to focus on what on our hand." He took a long sip and continue. "After all, we have you on our side, isn't that right Yussuf?"
There is no seriousness in his voice, we both know that I wouldn't even protect him if the chance came out.
"Jokes on you," I said, without even look at him. "I'm here to drove off the White Queen, not to be your babysitter."
"Very well then," Glynda said as she returned to her Scroll and switched the feed to one of Pyrrha and Jaune. "What about this Jaune fellow? I don't care what his transcripts say, he's simply not ready for this level of combat. I honestly feel sorry for Miss Nikos. That boy will only drag her down. I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes."
"Speaking of which," Glynda deactivated her Scroll and turned back towards Ozpin, "What did you use as relics this year?"
We both smiled.
"So, that white one is your Semblance without any Dust?" Ruby asked as she and Weiss continued through the forest.
"More or less. I could use Dust with it but, since it isn't primed to channel it, doing so would produce less than useful results."
"So, you just use it as a wall, then."
"That's one use for it. I can also use it as a midair platform for jumps and a few other things. For example, I can control the surface friction of it to do this." Weiss took off in a sprint, white Glyphs appearing on the ground in front of her, but something about her movement seemed odd to Ruby. It took catching up using her own Semblance for her to realize that Weiss was no longer running but was skating on her Glyphs as if they were made of ice.
"That is so cool!" Ruby said as she ran alongside her partner. Weiss basked under the praise, grateful that someone actually approved of this travel method for a change. Wanting to impress Ruby even more, Weiss decided to end things with proper flourish and executed a picture-perfect double Axel before coming to a stop. "Hey, do you think I could try?"
"I don't see why not. I have an excellent range with these after all."
"Cool! You're the best, Weiss! So, what do I gotta do?"
"Nothing too complicated. Just copy my movements and you should be fine. Just be sure to get a running start so you'll have good momentum."
"Got it! Whenever you're ready, Weiss!" Ruby said as she got into a running stance. Weiss created a few Glyphs about fifteen feet away from her and then watched as the younger girl disappeared into a flurry of rose petals.
It was at that moment that Weiss realized she had made a terrible error. It was also at that moment that Weiss realized there was nothing she could do since, for all of her abilities, rewinding time wasn't one of them. All she could do was watch helplessly as Ruby took one step on the glyph, slipped and fell on her butt, and was sent rocketing uncontrollably forward, flipping and tumbling as she collided with the ground, trees, rocks, and low hanging branches.
"Ruby!" Weiss cried out as she took off after her partner, skating as quickly as she could in an effort to keep up with the other girl. She was immensely grateful that Ruby's Semblance left a trail of rose petals in her wake and that it had evidently not turned off for she was afraid she would have lost her otherwise.
When Weiss finally caught up with her, Ruby was laying upside down in what looked like a pile of leaves and long grasses, her eyes almost visibly swirling as she moaned in pain.
"Are you okay?" Weiss asked as she skidded to a stop.
"I am never doing that again," Ruby replied as she looked up at Weiss and tried her best to make the world stop spinning.
"Jeez, I can't believe how much of a complete dolt you are! I know I said to get a running start but that didn't mean to run into it with your Semblance!"
Ruby shook her head and pouted up at Weiss, the expression looking very odd as she was still upside down.
"Hey, so I like to go fast! Big deal! I didn't know that'd happen!"
Weiss groaned and massaged the bridge of her nose with her left hand when a nagging feeling forced her to stop and look around. There was something really off-putting about this little clearing they found themselves in. In fact, if she wasn't crazy, it looked just like a—
"Hey, did it just get darker?" Ruby asked as she rolled backward into a sitting position.
"Oh great," Weiss said as she went back to massaging the bridge of her nose. "You managed to stumble your way into a—" The sound of cawing and large wings flapping was heard overhead and was growing steadily louder.
"Oh great..." The pair looked up as a very large Nevermore slowly but surely started making its way down to its nest which they just so happened to be standing in the middle of. "Do you want to fight that?"
Weiss asked a rather pale and wide-eyed Ruby, causing her to slowly shook her head.
"No, not really."
"How about we run, then?"
"Yeah, running seems like a pretty good idea."