Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OCs.
Divine Intervention
Chapter 2: The First Step
The following morning was pretty uneventful: Everyone woke up to the smell of a breakfast buffet and after they got dressed, they were then directed to the locker room to grab their weapons for the initiation.
Dante was just grabbing his sword, Ascalon, while Nora was behind him rambling away. Her own weapon, Magnhild, was already strapped to her back.
"There's gotta be a way we can end up on the same team!" She said before gasping, "we could have a secret signal so we can find each other! Can you imitate a sloth?"
"Nora, honey," Dante said, holding Ascalon behind his back as the sword turned into golden light and vanished in a flash, "do you know what a sloth sounds like?"
"No…" she replied sheepishly before brightening back up, "... that's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're making sloth noises to communicate!"
Dante just chuckled, "come on babe, let's-" he paused as he saw Ruby and Yang gearing up ahead of them. The two saw him and Nora and everyone shared a smile.
"Well, you two look ready to roll," Dante said.
"Sure are!" Yang cheered, pounding her fists, "Ruby here may be ready to roll, but I was born ready to rock!"
Dante chuckled and the two shared a fistbump.
"Yep!" Ruby chirped, "no more awkward small-talk or getting-to-know-you stuff." She cradled her weapon and stroked it like a baby, "today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."
Nora snickered, "that's what she-" Dante promptly elbowed her in the side.
"Kept to herself because that's the nice thing to do," he said through his teeth, "man, your brain is just a landfill, isn't it?"
She just shrugged, "you say trash, I say treasure."
Ruby cocked her head, "what's that mean?"
"Nothing!" both Dante and Yang said quickly, their faces vaguely red.
"Anyway, Ruby," Yang continued, eager to change the subject, "just remember that you're not the only one going through initiation. You gotta be comfortable meeting and working with new people if you wanna grow up."
Ruby just rolled her eyes, "okay, dad. Because meeting new people has so much to do with fighting. And I don't need people to help me grow up; I drink milk!"
Dante raised an eyebrow, "so you're okay being on a team with three complete strangers?"
All the cockiness Ruby had instantly dissipated, "uh, I mean… I could just be on Yang's team…"
Yang then brought her golden river of hair around her shoulder and started stroking it nervously, "well… maybe you could try being on someone else's team?"
Obviously insulted, Ruby stomped up to the blonde, "my dearest sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?!"
Yang started floundering for a second before saying, "o-of course I'd love to have you on my team! I'm just saying that it might be a good opportunity for you to break out of your shell!"
"'Break out of my shell?!'" Ruby snapped, "that's absolutely-"
"Ridiculous!" came a new voice.
Everyone froze and turned to see another girl walking towards them holding a map and not paying any attention to where she was going.
She was bronze-skinned with short black hair and dark green eyes. Her clothing consisted of a white non-restricting tunic with golden trim/lining that looked both functional and stylish, knee-high brown sandals and a golden headpiece with some kind of bird's head at the top.
Dante noticed that she was about as tall as Nora, maybe an inch or two taller. Her figure was that of a gymnast: more aerodynamic curves than muscles, not to say she was scrawny or flabby by any means.
"There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday. I would've remembered having to count that high," the girl groaned, "why does this have to happen today?!"
She then promptly walked right into Dante's chest and looked up to see him staring at her with an arched eyebrow.
Her face went red as a traffic light.
"You good?" Dante asked, not phased by the incident at all.
"I'll be good," the girl instantly said before realizing she said that out loud and shook her head while pushing herself away from Dante.
"I-I mean that I'm good-no, not good-good; just good, like I'm fine-no, that's worse!" The girl floundered, "oh, there's my locker!" She grabbed a pair of golden bracers out and strapped them to her arms before bolting down the aisle and around the corner.
Dante let out a sharp 'hm' before glancing at Nora.
The redhead had a gleeful grin on her face, "oh, she is definitely a thumbs up!"
Before Dante could say anything, the girl peeked back around the corner. "I'm Iris by the way," she called, "nice meeting you all, bye!" before she disappeared again.
"Scratch that," Nora said, "I give that one two thumbs up!"
Dante held up a hand to keep Yang and Ruby from saying anything, "I promise I'll explain everything once the initiation is over. Good luck out there."
With that, Dante and Nora went into the next aisle to find Weiss and another girl readying themselves.
She had long red hair tied in a waist-length ponytail and bright green eyes. Dante noted that she was tall and quite muscular in an amazonian way. Her outfit was that of a gladiator: all leather and bronze armor worn very practically. A sword and shield were strapped to her back.
"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?" Weiss was saying, "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself."
"Hmm, I'm not quite sure," Pyrrha replied, "I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"Well…" Weiss said, obviously trying to sound nonchalant, "I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."
"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha said goodnaturedly.
Weiss' face lit up, "great!"
"Man, you don't waste any time, do you, Weiss?" Dante said, causing both Weiss and Pyrrha to look at him and Nora. "It's not even time for the initiation and you're already making power plays," he added with a smirk.
Weiss just scoffed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Dante took that moment to step up to Pyrrha and offer out a hand, "nice to meet you, name's Dante."
She smiled and shook it, "likewise, Dante. I'm Pyrrha."
"Oh, please," Weiss groaned, "Dante, do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
Slowly turning to her, Dante replied, "I mean she only just introduced herself and I overheard you saying it earlier, but I believe her name is Pyrrha if memory serves."
"Ha!" Nora laughed and pointed a finger at Weiss, "burn!"
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" Weiss snapped.
"Sounds impressive," Dante said in a flat monotone, "can't you see how much I care?"
"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row!" Weiss went on, "a new record!"
Dante just shrugged, "eh, not big on sports."
Now Weiss was flailing her arms in frustration, "she's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"
"That's you?!" Nora gasped, "but they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"
This actually got Dante to raise an eyebrow and he turned back to Pyrrha, "okay, now I'm impressed."
"Yeah… It was pretty cool…" the redhead blushed and scratched her neck, "sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."
Dante smirked, "marketing at its finest."
"So after hearing all of this," Weiss said, "you must know that she won't be on a team with just anyone."
"And you should know who she ends up with isn't up to you or me," Dante replied.
"I actually wouldn't mind being on a team with you, Dante," Pyrrha said.
"Why thank you, the feeling's mutual," he nodded at her.
It was at that moment that the intercom crackled to life.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" came Glynda's voice, "again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
Weiss was the first one out followed by Pyrrha, who gave Dante a friendly wave that he returned.
"Make another friend, lady-killer?" Yang asked as she and Ruby came up behind them.
"I think she can tell you that," Dante smirked and nodded at Nora holding a thumbs up.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Yang said, clasping Ruby's shoulder… before shoving her aside and dashing for the door, "last one to the cliff is a dry noodle!"
"Yeah!" Nora cheered, bolting after her, "and the first one's gotta eat it!"
"Yang, wait up!" Ruby yelled, turning into a flurry of rose petals that shot out the door.
Dante sighed in the empty room, "rush, rush, rush." He then started casually walking to the door.
dXb
Once everyone was at the Beacon Cliff, the students were instructed to stand on a long row of silver tiles placed on the ground. Standing in front of the first-years were Ozpin and Goodwitch, the former holding a mug and the latter holding a tablet.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors," Ozpin began, "and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams,'" Goodwitch continued, "well, allow us to put an end to your confusion: each of you will be given teammates. Today."
This got Ruby to groan uncomfortably.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin went on, "so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
Another groan.
"That being said," Ozpin said a little more promptly, "the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"WHAT?!"Ruby shrieked.
"Ooh, right into the deep end," Dante said, rubbing his hands together, "I am gonna love it here!"
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin instructed, "of course, you will meet opposition along the way; do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. 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 member 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?"
The air was dead silent.
Ozpin smirked, "excellent, take your positions."
Everyone struck a pose as the tiles they were standing on began launching them off the cliff one by one.
Dante cracked his neck and readied his limbs.
Yang winked at him before donning a set of purple aviator sunglasses and Dante gave her a two-finger salute before the blonde shot into the air.
"Good luck, Red," Dante said to Ruby. She simply gulped before being sent sailing over the forest.
Still smirking, Dante crouched down as he heard the launch mechanism click underneath him.
"Showtime," he muttered to himself.
dXb
Dante sailed through the air, being able to see the forest below perfectly thanks to his sunglasses keeping the wind out of his eyes. Yang truly was a kindred spirit.
He was about to calculate his landing when he noticed that he was falling towards something other than a tree.
Or rather falling towards someone.
Dante could only process that she now had large blade-like wings made of bright blue light coming out of her arms before slamming into her back.
"Woah, hey, hey!" Iris shrieked, trying to steady herself, "you're wrecking my flight pattern!"
"Well, it's not like I was expecting to bump into someone up here!" Dante shot back, instinctively wrapping his arms around her torso.
Iris was probably about to say something along the lines of, 'hey, watch the hands' when Dante saw a glint out of the corner of his eye.
"Do a barrel roll!" He shouted, "quick!"
Iris didn't argue and spun them both around.
At 180 degrees, Dante reached out his hand and caught a familiar-looking spear as it pulled them both off to the side.
The spear found a good place in the trunk of a tall tree. Dante caught his breath and realized Iris was now clinging to him, her now-wingless arms and legs wrapped around him from behind.
"Alright, Iris," Dante said, still panting a little, "don't let go and I'll get us to the ground."
Her only reply was a barely audible 'mhm.'
Summoning Ascalon to one hand and taking the spear in the other, Dante started stabbing them into the trunk, climbing down bit by bit.
Once they were on the ground, Dante made his sword vanish again before looking around.
"Not by best landing," he muttered, mostly to himself, "not my worst, either."
A twig snapped and Dante turned to see Weiss come walking into view.
The moment she saw Dante, she froze… and then promptly turned around and walked back the way she came.
A second later, the sound of Ruby cheering, "you came back!" was heard not that far away.
"Not sure if I should be happy or hurt by that choice," he wondered out loud.
"Dante?" came an equally familiar voice as Dante turned to see Pyrrha wander out of the trees.
She saw Iris still clinging to his back and smirked, "do you… still have any spots left on your team?"
Dante returned the smirk and tossed her the spear, "you tell me… partner."
She caught the weapon and they shared a smile before Dante realized something.
"You can let go now, Iris."
The shorter girl practically teleported to her feet.
"Oh, yeah," she said, scratching her neck and looking away to hide her blush, "uh… yeah."
All three of them were caught off guard by the sound of a weird purring/chirping noise coming from above.
Dante looked up to see Nora hanging from a branch upside down by her knees.
He just smirked and shook his head, "I highly doubt that's what a sloth sounds like."
Her only response was to boop Dante on the nose.
To be continued…
Author's Note:
And that's a wrap!
Sorry about the shorter chapter. Even with the little bit of The Emerald Forest I added at the end, this two-parter was a LOT shorter than I remember.
On the bright side, I was able to introduce my second OC, Iris. She is based on the Egyptian goddess Isis. For a more detailed description of her appearance, imagine a fusion of Cleo from Cleopatra in Space (also sounding like her) and Cleo Smith from Clone High.
Her weapons, the Light-Wings, are based on King Stratos' wing-blades from the 2021 CGI He-Man series on Netflix while also referencing how Isis is commonly depicted having a pair of rainbow wings. Ironically, I got the name Iris from the Greek goddess of the rainbow.
As for her and Dante's Semblances, you'll have to wait until later but I promise it will be worth the wait.
Not really much else to say other than the next chapter will be covering the rest of The Emerald Forest and possibly some/all of Players and Pieces. I might just end up smashing the shorter episodes together to give you guys more to read. Given the amount of character interaction and fighting coming up, I can guarantee that the next chapter will be much longer.
Again, feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. All I ask is that you keep things friendly and professional, both in your praise and your critiques. Suggestions are always welcome, just keep in mind that I might not see or reply to every single review or message.
That all said,
Later Bros!