Initiation (Part 2)

There was a tense silence as the wildling and I stared each other down.

Finally, the young man looked up to the sky with a sigh before shaking his head and sheathing his shimmering sword.

"Come on..." He sighed once more.

Excuse me? This savage should be grateful that he is privileged to be my partner! And where does he think he's going?

"We're supposed to be headed North, towards the ruins!" I told him.

The blonde pointed a hand towards the direction he was walking.

"North. Ruins." He spoke simply, as to be expected from one as lacking as he is in the civilized world.

"No, it's this way!" I point towards our right.

He turns back to me with a quizzical expression before reaching into his pockets to reveal a compass. The wildling then pointed in the direction he was originally going.

"North."

He then resumed walking.

"Come on..."

Cheeks red with embarrassment, I hurried to follow after my new partner, stumbling a little on the roots and fallen branches.

Couldn't there have been at least a trail or dirt path to follow?

(-/Line Break\-)

"Sooo... You think the relics are in there?" I ask my new partner while pointing at the dark mouth of a cave.

"Maybe...?" Ruby shrugged.

After crashing into her on my way to retrieve Milo (and hopefully Jak) Ruby and I made our way to the tree to find both my spear and Jak gone. Assuming Jak had Milo, the two of us began making our way in the direction we believed to be our objective.

Ruby was a nice enough girl, if not a bit awkward. Which is okay! She's not making a big fuss over my celebrity status, which is a plus. If anything, she seemed more interested in Campione rather than my fame... She's also pretty handy in a scrap against the Grimm, as I learned shortly after (quite literally) running into her when we were ambushed by some Beowolves.

I could definitely see us becoming good friends in the near future.

"Well, let's check it out..."

(-/Line Break\-)

"So, how long have you and Jak known each-other?" I ask my fluffy new partner.

I will admit, I has seen Pyrrha 'assist' 'Jak' and planned to meet up with them at that point. I was not planning to meet this buxom fox there with 'Jak' missing. After retrieving Pyrrha's Milo, we began making our way towards the ruins and collected pur 'relic'. A chess piece. A knight, like my Jaune would've been if not for the Fall of Ansel, specifically.

Now, we were just waiting for some of our fellow students to come along.

Might as well interro- er, learn some things about my long-lost love from Yang.

"We just met yesterday," she shrugged. "He's mostly just Ruby's friend at the moment."

Oh. Well that's no use... Maybe I can learn more about Ruby.

"Okay, so how long have you and Ruby known each other?" I ask.

"She's my little sister, and before you ask, we have different moms and share the same dad," Yang said with a tone that indicated she has had that conversation multiple times.

"And how long have Jak and Ruby known each other?" I ask. Maybe I'll get more info from her?

"What is this? Twenty Questions? I think it's my turn to ask you something," Yang deadpanned.

"Fair enough. What do you want to know?"

(-/Line Break\-)

"We should check out the cave," Weiss suggested.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because the Relics might be in there, obviously. Don't you see the markings on the entrance? The ruins are in here." She confidently declared.

I looked at the markings and saw what looked like a skull and crossbones and a bunch of people fighting or fleeing from a giant scorpion.

"Don't think the Relics are in there. Looks like a warning."

Weiss gave an exasperated sigh. "The faculty probably put those there to trip us up. Come on!"

She then moved to enter the cave when a rumbling emanated from it. Then, out came Pyrrha running like a bat out of Hell.

Deeper inside, I saw the telltale glow of a MASSIVE Deathstalker's stinger with a screaming Ruby clinging onto it for dear life.

It was charging right at us.

Whether Weiss was frozen in either shock, fear, or awe, I couldn't tell.

"Get out of the way!" I shouted while diving at my partner, shielding her with my body as the Grimm stormed past us.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha called out in worry from the other side of the entrance as the monster carried her partner out in a mad rush into the forest.

She then gave chase to rescue our friend.

I looked down at the stunned girl beneath me.

"You okay?"

She took a moment to register my words before silently nodding, her eyes never leaving me.

"Good. We've got a bug to squash. Let's go."