The ramp of the lander eased down. The harsh light and choking air of this hive world hit Him almost immediately. Looming spires cast shadows across the parade boulevard.
The massed gangs of hive barbarians stood in awe at the figure come in golden splendor to their world. This crowd alone thousands strong with millions more watching from afar. Waiting breathlessly for what was to come, as their greatest leaders stepped forward with the giant from the stars that had appeared on their world decades ago to meet this man from the ship.
He smiled as the first of his rediscovered sons stepped forward to meet his sire, standing tall and proud. Ready and willing to begin the task he had been made for and follow his father up to the stars.
Kad could multi task like no one else he knew. Capable of holding a half dozen separate thoughts and ideas in his head and acting on them as well. But if these new dream memories were going to start happening at just random moments while Kad was awake instead of asleep and might be doing something important.
Like following his teammate through the woods to claim a relic.
They were going to become more than just a mystery. They were going to become a problem.
Kad and Alicia jogged along a narrow hiking trail through the shadowed trees. Occasionally freezing whenever there were distant sounds of gunfire or explosions carried in on the afternoon wind. Things were getting interesting for their comrades already.
Yet no more Grimm blocked their through the forest. All the monsters probably all out looking elsewhere for the freshmen dropped into their laps. But only meeting a similar fate to this Boarbatusk with its skull nearly split in two.
This part of the forest was on relatively high ground. Through the gaps in the trees they could almost see the clearing where they assumed the temple was. About another two miles or so away, twenty or thirty minutes' walk if they weren't attacked or hurried Kad estimated.
The sudden cacophony of Beowolf howls echoing over the forest seemed to indicate that was unlikely.
"Are they close?" Alicia asked, laying a hand on the hilt of her knife.
"No," Kad said, focusing his hearing, "But that could change, let's hurry."
Voices to their right made them pause however as two male Faunus walked into the clearing from the east.
"I don't care if you think it's that way." The lion Faunus said pointing his Mistral rifle spear behind him." Caves are never good."
"Come on Jax. Are you afraid of the dark or something?"
"Shit lives in the dark Co'Balt, and don't call me Jax."
"Fine then mister proper now," Co'Balt huffed crossing his burly arms. "We're back to square one."
But the two of them suddenly froze in the middle of their conversations like startled deer. Slowly turning their heads to gaze over at the newcomers in the glade. Jaxon and Co'Balt quickly assessed these two.
Only one obvious problem they could see.
They were human,
Like almost any Faunus both of them had incidents in the past with some particularly unpleasant people. Incidents which hadn't exactly made either of them completely unconditionally accepting individuals. Yet they knew Faunus would probably not be the most common demographic starting this school year. So given the small number of their kind at Beacon in their class they were lucky they had found a Faunus teammate. The two of them glanced back at each other, and Co'Balt shrugged. Similar thoughts running through both of their minds. It was a small price to pay to be at Beacon to have to deal with these two.
One was a tall girl in a leather jacket studying the two of them in the shadow of the big guy in orange and black. While the girl seemed to be almost hiding behind the giant he stood tall and tried to seem friendly.
Kad had quickly learned during his time in the slums and abroad that the Faunus were no different from Humans. Many people saw them as violent and vengeful, but Kad knew put enough pressure on anyone and they would eventually snap. Kad found there was nothing in their nature that made them more violent than humans.
And discrimination flowed both ways between species.
The young Primarch just wondered if the two could fight. But decided to make introductions first, he raised his right hand and called out to them.
"Morning, you two lost?"
Jaxon decided to take a chance and stepped forward. "No we know where we should be going…."
Co'Balt coughed into a fist and chimed in
"Yeah south."
Jaxon turned back and snarled, "I told you we not going near those damn caves!"
Alicia stepped from behind Kad, intent on putting a stop to this before any argument drew attention to their little group.
"For god's sake you can see the temple from here." She tuck out her left arm pointing through the trees.
Jaxon and Co'Balt followed her hand, the bull Faunus was dubious,
"Out in the open like that? I thought we were going to have to look for this place."
"I say an hour wandering around counts as looking," Alicia replied. "Unless you really want to go through those caves."
"Could be something in there."
Kad laughed, "Yeah probably a Deathstalker, or worse. No offense. Have you got any other ideas?"
With that comment Co'Balt was now thinking anywhere but with these two. Jaxon however liked that they shared his opinion on the caves, they might be good teammates.
He would decide what he thought of them really after initiation.
"North sounds good." Jaxon said
"Northeast." Alicia corrected
"Meh, what's your name?"
"Alicia Redstone."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Jaxon Peridot, and this is Co'Balt."
Both of them looked at Kad waiting,
"My name's Kad Amaranth," He paused for a heartbeat, casting aside delicacy in his words. "You guys don't really have a problem with Humans do you?"
The two Faunus were visibly taken aback. No one they knew ever just brought that issue out into the open like that. Too afraid of being politically correct or making implications.
Jaxon however just shrugged then waved his right arm north. If the giant was going to be blunt then he could appreciate that.
"Not with you two at the moment. Shall we?"
To make up for lost time they all took off swiftly through the trees. Kad plowed through the dense underbrush, crushing shrubs and knocking over small saplings in his path by his sheer bulk and momentum. The others wove nimbly through the obstacles taking to the lowest branches where necessary. Or falling into Kad's wake when there was no other way through the forest.
Despite the blockage it was clear to the three of them that Kad could have left them behind any time he chose. But Kad had no intent of being just a lone wolf during this test or anytime at Beacon. That was in no way the good leadership which Cinder had told him to show. Plus if anything was guarding the temple Kad would take all the help he could get when he got there.
Their journey only took about fifteen minutes, luckily they were all sure footed and no one had tripped and injured themselves. As they neared the treeline Kad held his hand up and clenched his fist. Signaling for his companions to stop at the edge of the trees. He wanted to get a good look before he broke cover
It certainly looked like a temple, a circle of stacked blocks of stone and carved pillars covered with ivy around a ring of pedestals upon which the artifacts were placed. Chess pieces to be precise, Kad noted.
Among which Co'Balt was already walking. Giving the pieces an up close inspection, deciding which one he wanted to take.
Collective shock passed through the others
None of the three still in the trees had even seen the Faunus run out there. As far as they knew he was still behind them. Which to their surprise he obviously wasn't.
"How'd he get over there so fast?" Alicia asked, stepping up to her feet, leaning around the broad trunk of a tree.
"Probably his semblance, speed or something." Jaxon offered, then looked up to Kad on his right "Well big guy nothing's eaten him think it's clear?"
Kad merely grunted in agreement, taking his javelin in hand and slowly walking out to the relics.
A full set of all of the important chess pieces were arrayed and displayed. White team and black team, no pawns but two kings and two queens
"Well this seems obvious" Co'Balt thought to himself, grabbing the white kings waving them over his head.
"Hail to the Kings bitches!" He shouted with a smile. "Told you the temple was this way."
"Really…." An exasperated Jaxon muttered.
Co'Balt just grinned, tossing the king in his right hand high at Kad, and shoving the other one into his inner vest pocket. Kad caught the relic easily one handed and studied it for a moment. Nothing out of the ordinary to him, not really white but gold. Kind of big, but small enough to fit in his jacket pocket. None of the other pieces seemed disturbed. Kad surmising they were the first ones here.
Yet his positive feeling quickly took on a darker note.
It was subtle Kad almost didn't notice it. Just a slight tremble in the remaining chess set. He almost dismissed it before the ground beneath his feet shook with a slightly more powerful tremor.
Something was moving. Something big.
Not good,
A dozen separate instincts were screaming at the young Huntsman.
Danger, Kad could sense it in the air. He could feel it in his chest. But he had no time to warn his team.
Over along the nearest edge of the tree line. The ground burst upward, tons of earth and ancient Emerald trees brushed aside with ease as the Giant Nevermore sleeping within awoke to the presence of these intruders. Alicia, Jaxon, and Co'Balt nearly jumped out of their skin as the shower of dirt fell onto the temple. Moving to act as fast as they could.
The claws on the Nevermore's wings gripped the tall stone pillars of the temple as it looked at the four students amid the artifacts, and it let out a blood curdling roar. Its eyes flicked rapidly back and forth between these interlopers. The two Faunus stumbling back reaching for their guns. The girl already moving her arm in a wide vertical rotation, dagger in hand preparing to cast Dust at the bird.
Time seemed to slow.
Reflexes genetically honed to the peak of human capability kicked into action inside of Kad's mind. Those brief moments spent opening his javelin and bringing it back up and over his shoulder gave him enough time to observe this beast in great detail.
It certainly was big. Ancient and powerful. What it was doing next to the temple he had no idea. How the teachers placed the artifacts here with that thing sleeping, only slightly more of an idea,
But that was not important.
His eyes picked out targets. The bulging red eyes, snapping mouth, joints. Quickly selecting the most optimal points for his weapon. Not aiming for the body, as his spear probably would not penetrate far enough to do real damage.
But Kad knew if he could cripple a wing it would be easy to dispatch it.
He had no idea what his teammates were doing behind him, metallic sounds to his left and right seemed to indicate Jaxon and Cobalt preparing to fire. And he could sense the buildup of power where Alicia stood preparing to attack. A small part of the Primarch remarking it would be good to have someone proficient with Dust on their team.
Eyes, big, wide and searching,
Vulnerable
Kad brought his arm back preparing his strength to throw,
The Grimm's hateful daemon eyes locked with Kad's own pale orange irises. The predatory gaze went dull for a moment, but focused again in an instant. Kad had stared the beasts in the eyes often enough to know nothing every crossed them except endless burning hatred.
But this was different.
Kad knew, it was actually looking at him. Like no Grimm ever had before. This was a different type of surprise and a detailed examination he didn't think the Grimm had the intelligence to do.
But this all happened in a fraction of a second. Its eyes shifted back and time speed up as Kad fell out of his trance but not his form. Throwing his javelin at the Nevermore with all his strength.
Alicia shouted, flicking her right arm and dagger forward. Red bolts of light trailing a brilliant tail of color launched off on an erratic path from glyphs on the circle of Dust she made. But flew true and struck the Grimm in a shower of sparks.
Jaxon and Co'Balt opened fire. Rifle bullets and buckshot bounced harmlessly off the feathers but knocked the bird around. Unfortunately this all added up enough that Kad's javelin crunched into its feathered body instead of into its left eye and brain at which he had been aiming for.
Screeching pain to the whole forest, immense black wings flapped once propelled the Nevermore into the air and out over the forest.
Taking Kad's weapon with it.
As the Grimm's cry faded from the morning air the new team tried to find the will to direct themselves again.
"I knew this place would be guarded." Co'Balt exclaimed, voice more than just a little shaken with surprise and fear.
Kad turned around, "It'll be back, let's move.
"Where?" asked Jaxon
The giant smirked.
"Now we go south."
Beyond the veil of reality two alarmed voices began to converse and scheme...
"The anathema's pet."
"Truly… plans in jeopardy."
"Not yet…"
"The mark... The mark!"
"Opportunities a gift from the ever changing one."
"Hssshhss, tests, must prove his worth… Yet how to snare him."
"Gently, we must court his heart and weave our webs."
"No… No. Break his will, trap his soul. Puppet him to our tune,"
"He must aid us willingly,"
"Sssssssss, time will tell. The wheel turns once more on plans within plans, wait and see..."