Welcome to the next chapter of RWBY: Team DUSK, before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
TorrhenWintry: And that is another that you've got correct. A lot of the people related to him will allude to a certain character from there as well.
Clarent excalibur: Glad to hear that you liked the weapons, I was kinda on and off about how to make the sword but I decided on that in the end.
Ancalog .Calamity0King: Alright, thanks for leaving the review.
Beacon Initiation Pt. 1
A lot of the students spent a portion of their afternoon walking through Beacon to get a better understanding of its layout. It soon came time for them to go to the cafeteria where they'd be served lunch, but at that point, Weiss had split from Daniel. He was lucky enough to find Pyrrha and Hunter, so at least he was able to sit next to people he knew enough already.
Nightfall soon arrived, with the students getting dressed in their nightwear since all of them would be spending the night in the empty ballroom. Daniel walked inside of the ballroom dressed in a simple dark blue sleeveless shirt fitting his frame showing off his rather toned build with his emblem on the shirt and black shorts.
He hauled around a rolled-up sleeping bag underneath his arm and his pendant still rightly around his neck.
'This is just the first request. You don't have to be in such a rush.'
Those were the exact words from Weiss before she walked off wearing a slight smile on her face, which caused him to give a wry laugh.
"Why do I have the oddest feeling that she's getting even with me for leaving Atlas three years ago," he surmised in his head with the answer to that question already entering his head. "Well, I guess that we can settle our situation a little later. I think that I should find somewhere to sleep."
Daniel scanned the entire ballroom where he noticed that some of the spots were claimed already, including the one where Pyrrha and Hunter were situated; both were dressed in burnt orange and green two-piece severally. He didn't think that the latter would be comfortable since Hunter still seemed a little nervous around him and was far more used to being around Pyrrha.
"Huh, I wonder if this would be a chance to get to know more of my fellow students before going to sleep."
Daniel wondered to himself as he looked around the ballroom, which was filled with upcoming students who were looking forward to becoming huntsmen.
Most of the spots he saw were already occupied by students, who were getting acquainted with the people they would be sleeping beside. Daniel wanted a spot where it wouldn't feel as if he was bunched up or taking up someone else's space. It wasn't until he caught sight of at least one secluded spot with enough space where he wouldn't be bothering anyone. Realizing there were few open spots around, Daniel chose it as the spot where he'd be sleeping.
Arriving there, he noticed that there was someone else who had thought the same thing and chose the same spot. It was a young woman who was, of course, the same age as himself since she'd be a first-year.
"Sorry, I didn't know this spot was taken," Daniel said gaining her attention. "You don't mind if I take this spot next to you?"
Though her attention was caught towards him for a moment, she continued to focus on setting up her sleeping bag.
"I don't mind. It's not like I personally own this spot."
She replied stoically without turning to face him.
Taking note of her desire not to talk right now, Daniel began setting up his own sleeping bag at a comfortable distance from her, so he wouldn't invade her personal space. Once they finished, they both turned toward the person that they would be sleeping next to for the night.
A fair-skinned beautiful young woman with long black wavy hair, and amber eyes. Placed on top of her head was a black ribbon tied into a bow and cats eye style purple eyeshadow. Her sleeping wear consisted of a black long-sleeved yukata with white edges, a purple undershirt, and a black obi wrapped around her waist.
Said woman stared back at Daniel for some time, curiously raising her eyebrow, which didn't go unnoticed by Daniel. He couldn't deny she was quite attractive, but the way she was staring at him made him feel a little self-conscious as if a cat was staring at him.
"Is there's something on my face? 'Cause, I can kinda feel your gaze on me."
Daniel questioned pointing a finger toward his face jokingly.
"No, it's not that. It's just that…," Blake sighed noticing that her explanation would sound weird before pointing toward the emblem on his shirt. "You wouldn't happen to be related to the Norden Family?"
"Huh? Yea, that's good ol', my proud family," he had replied in a joking manner as he held out a hand. "But, I'd rather you call me Daniel instead of something formal like most people would."
The unnamed woman stared at his hand for a moment almost wondering whether or not she should, but she chose to return the gesture.
"My name is Blake," she introduced herself and finished. "Blake Belladonna."
"Well, it's great to meet you, Blake," Daniel added after their hands separated from the handshake. "It might be a weird question to ask someone you just met, but do you have some kind of problem with my family."
Blake seemed confused about that question, in general, wondering what he could mean by that.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, you were kinda staring at me for longer than normal and you recognized the emblem," he replied curiously as he stood up to stretch his arms. "And there weren't that many people with that reaction after finding out that I was a part of the Norden Family."
"I didn't take you for the kind of person to focus on those kinds of details."
"Sorry, if I didn't do that then living in the lower parts of Mistral would've been a nightmare. There were a lot of questionable people there, y'know."
She stared at him unable to get a proper read on him.
Blake found it weird that someone from Atlas would choose to live inside Mistral's Lower Realm, where the most unsavory people ranging from either assassin and criminals would reside as well.
"I don't have any personal distaste toward the Norden Family," Blake replied honestly. "They're one of the people in Atlas who don't treat people such as the faunus as eyesores or make them do menial labor."
Daniel noted there was some hint of actual feeling behind Blake's words when the faunus was mentioned, but he decided not to pursue it.
"Well, as my dear ol' uncle used to tell me and my cousins, 'If you judge or despise someone based merely off of their appearance then it simply highlights ignorance'," Daniel replied saying that last part as if he was attempting to mimic his uncle. "Besides, me more than anyone doesn't have a problem with faunus whatsoever. There's just one simple difference between the Faunus and humans are simple their animal traits like ears."
After speaking his personal opinion in the manner, Blake found herself visibly smile as Daniel noticed that the black bow on top of her head twitched a little, which caught his attention.
"Well, if more people thought the same thing then…never mind."
Noticing that she was talking for too long, Blake picked up the book which was placed on top of her sleeping bag, then started heading toward a corner nearby without speaking another word. There were certain things that he'd found odd about Blake and came up with one guess.
"Is she a faunus," Daniel questioned himself before noticing that Blake struck a match to light a candle and that in itself was weird since faunus can see in the dark due to their night vision. Before he could think about it any longer, he shook his head. "No, I shouldn't pry in her business. If she is a faunus then I'm sure she has her reasons for not wanting to reveal it. Faunus tends to have the worse treatment, so it wouldn't be odd to see one hiding for whatever reason. Besides, I have someone that I need to do too."
Daniel said picking up the journal that was tucked inside of his sleeping back, which had a certain time written on the front cover. He opened it on the last pages before picking up the pen attached to it by the clip on its cap.
"Alright, so what should I write in this entry," he started to muddle over the write as he spun the pen around in his fingers. "Right, I could tell him about the time that I arrived at Argus."
After deciding what he was going to write first, Daniel started writing the first lines of the journal's page but soon stopped at least the second paragraph until hearing a singsong voice.
"Hel-looooo! I believe you two may know each other?"
He looked to see a familiar blonde-haired young woman dragging around a black-haired girl, apparently against her will, which was obvious as she was trying not to go. Daniel just met both of them this morning, well, he met one of them unofficially in the amphitheater.
"Uh, isn't that Ruby and her sister?"
He noticed Yang was dressed in an orange tanktop with her emblem on the front in red and black shorts. And Ruby was dressed in a black tank-top with a beowolf's head shaped into a heart on it, long white pants with pink roses on them, and also a black sleeping mask with red eyes on them.
Both Ruby and Yang were heading in the same direction as Blake, who was sitting down attempting to read her book in peace. Based on what he could see, the sisters were trying to talk to Blake, but it didn't seem that neither of them was making any progress whatsoever.
Deciding to walk over there, Daniel closed the journal in his hand where the pen was placed before setting it down on his sleeping bag. Arriving close enough to the trio of young women, he waved his hand to get their attention.
"Yo, Blake. I thought that you were reading a book?"
"I was until I was interrupted."
Blake replied as her attention went back to the book in her hand.
Seeing this, Daniel beckoned the sisters to come towards him so that Blake could read her book in peace. Ruby didn't need a reason to follow him, more so since she knew him, and Yang followed behind more out of curiosity.
"So, having a little trouble making friends, Ruby?"
Daniel asked, with the younger girl nodding her head.
"Yea, I guess that it was easier talking to you and Jaune."
Ruby replied embarrassed about her previous attempt at talking to Blake since it ended miserably.
"Ah, so this is the other plus one friend that you met in front of the school. I saw you in the amphitheater, but I didn't really get the chance to talk to you."
Yang said causing Daniel to wonder what the plus one thing meant, but he instead decided to roll along with it seeing no problem.
"Yea, this is Daniel. I met him right after meeting Jaune," Ruby said as she glanced toward Daniel. "It was pretty cool talking to him and his weapons are cool, too."
"Oh, really~"
Daniel was surprised about Yang's sudden change in tone, and even stepping in front of him abruptly without warning causing him to step back out of reflex. He couldn't help but silently admitting that she was beautiful, especially at this distance as her lilac eyes stared into his silver ones. She wasn't giving him a weird look but instead seemed honestly surprised for some reason.
"Wow, he does have the same colored eyes as yours," Yang said stepping backward wearing a bright smile on her face. "Hello, handsome my name is Yang. Yang Xiao Long. I'm Ruby's older sister."
"Handsome, huh," he chuckled a little at the forwardness of the blonde in front of him as she seemed to be looking at him from top to bottom. "Well, my name is Daniel Norden."
"Don't mind my sister, Yang is just a little weird."
Ruby sighed a little as she directed her attention toward her older sister.
"Wow, like your one to talk sis."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, you were getting all defensive about not being able to make friends. But, now you're talking with Daniel here as if it's normal. Or do you have a secret crush on him?"
Yang teased crossing her arms.
"I-It's not like that," Ruby replied blushing a little at the sudden accusation. "He and Jaune are just one of the only people here that I feel comfortable talking to."
At the banter between the sisters, Daniel couldn't help feeling himself smiling after seeing how close both of them were with one another.
"So, Ruby are you going to make a second attempt at talking to Blake?"
He questioning directing his attention towards Ruby who seemed a little reluctant about doing that, which was further noted as she held onto her arm nervously.
"Well, we seemed to be interrupting her reading and she looked a bit little annoyed about it."
"Yea, I couldn't even strike up a conversation up with her."
Yang stated as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I think that you could at least just try one more time. You don't want to be known as the girl who blew up in front of the school, right?"
"Fine, but what am I supposed to talk to her about?"
"I'm sure that the girl who could make a scythe that doubles as a sniper rifle can think of something."
"Ugh, now you sound like Yang. Besides, making Crescent Rose was easier than this."
Ruby said sighing a little before turning back toward the black-haired girl who seemed to have either been far too focused on her book to pay attention to them.
"Well, that was some good advice. So were you Mr. Popular?"
Yang said as she gently punched Daniel's shoulder.
"Mr. Popular, hardly," Daniel scoffed jokingly after hearing that. "I think that in my entire life, I've only ever had one genuine friend and I don't think cousins count. Do they?"
In response to that, Yang merely shrugged her shoulders as she watched her little sister make a second attempt at talking to the black-haired girl.
"Hello, again."
"Yes?"
Blake said almost annoyed that she was being interrupted again, which caused Ruby to become more anxious about finding something to talk about.
"Come on, Ruby think about something or else it might turn out the same with what happened with Weiss. I don't think that Blake would yell at me like her, but she might just give me the cold shoulder," she said almost starting to panic before glancing toward the book in Blake's hands and made a choice. "What's it about?"
"What?"
This was the first moment that Ruby saw an honest reaction from Blake, as the older girl gave didn't seem to be irritated in the slightest. Ruby saw this as her chance to have an actual conversation with Blake who was simply ignoring her until this point and continued.
"Your book. Does it have a name?"
"Well…," Blake herself wasn't expecting the honest interest in what she was reading and almost didn't know how to respond before calming down a little. "It's called the Man with Two Souls. I-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."
"I've always loved books," she genuinely said before moving around in place. "Yang read to me a lot every single night before bed. She read me all different kinds of stories about heroes slaying the monster and saving the day. Hearing those stories and several other things stirred my desire to want to become a Huntress!"
"And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
Blake found herself enjoying talking to Ruby the more and more she heard her reasons for wanting to become a huntress even if it sounds childish. Even Daniel found himself smiling after hearing those words, he turned in the direction of Yang who looked as if she were gushing at the words of her little sister. If he didn't know any better, it looked almost as if she was going to explode at any moment.
"Well, I'm hoping we all will," Ruby said as she looked toward all the students in the room. "When I was little, I wanted to be like those heroes in the stories…someone who fought for what was right and protected those who couldn't protect themselves!"
"That's very ambitious for a child," Blake said her smile soon turned into a frown as if recalling her own experience. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."
Based on those words alone from the stoic girl, Daniel felt as if she did go through something tragic in the past, which went along with his guess about her faunus heritage.
"Well, that's why we're here? To make it better."
Blake soon found her smile returning as she heard the pure optimism radiating from the younger black-haired girl and wanted to believe in that. As if unable to contain herself anymore, Yang rushed to her sister and wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!"
The blonde continued with the hug and even lifted Ruby into the air, much to her dismay as she began waving her arms and kicking her legs around in an attempt to free herself from the hug. It was something that attracted a lot of the attention of the students who were still walking around as Ruby's embarrassment started welling up.
"Cut it out!"
Unable to take it anymore, Ruby surprisingly managed to connect her fist into her older sister's cheek, causing a scuffle to break out between the sisters. Even forming a cartoonish-looking dust cloud formed as their limbs could be seen inside of it, which moved back and forward. As Daniel walked forward, he and Blake started laughing at the antics of the sisters.
"See, it helps to laugh sometimes."
"Hahaha, yea. Though, you have to admit her reasons are kinda…."
"Childish and unrealistic," Daniel finished before turning toward Blake. "But, being able to see the positive side of the world and continue smiling no matter what are always the kinds of people able to connect more with people. I honestly hope Ruby maintains that positive mindset even if she does grow up. She's right too, as Huntsmen and Huntress wouldn't it be our mission to protect those who can't protect themselves?"
"Yea," Blake said before glancing towards them, understanding the words from Daniel and that it was a rare thing to see in someone. "Well, Ruby, Yang, it was a pleasure to have met you."
""…same here.""
Daniel watched as the sisters stopped their little scuffle with Ruby holding onto Yang's leg as the older sister was balancing off her last leg. Though, he turned to the side after noticing that their pajamas become a little disheveled as a result of their little fight.
"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"
He turned his head towards their newest arrival, Weiss who had her hair undergone out of its usual ponytail dressed in a faded blue short-sleeved nightgown with white trims and her emblem. Now that Daniel looked around, there were a lot fewer people walking around as most of them entered their sleeping bags. After the blonde-haired and white-haired young women glanced at one another, an annoyed sigh left their mouths.
""Oh, not you again!""
Yang and Weiss shouted the moment their eyes locked onto one another.
"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"
Ruby tried settling the situation without her sister and Weiss getting into an argument at least at this time of night when everyone was trying to sleep. Despite this, Weiss crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as if not believing a single word from the youngest girl.
"Oh, now you're on my side!"
"I was always on your side!"
"Since when?!"
"Since the first time we met!"
"Oh, you mean the time you almost blew us off Beacon?!"
"You're exaggerating! It wasn't that big of an explosion!"
Despite Ruby first attempting to peacefully resolve the situation, even she was getting involved in the argument seeing after that the heiress had no intention of peacefully resolving things with her. And Yang acting more on her instincts as an older sister stepped forward toward Weiss who didn't back down.
"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"
"She's a hazard to my health!"
Yang and Weiss started glaring at one another with neither one backing down in the slightest.
"Come on, Weiss, now you're the one making a scene at the moment."
Seeing that things might end up escalating further, Daniel entered the conversation wearing a gentle expression. He then teasingly poked Weiss' cheek using his finger, sparking an immediate reaction from her. In response to this, her face turned red, before getting a little more aggressive as she turned her attention toward Daniel. And that seemed to take her attention away from Yang and instead was directed toward him.
"Don't you dare get involved in this and take her side? You're still basically on probation at the moment with me already, Daniel."
"But, I've been on my best behavior, Officer Schnee."
He replied in a serious tone as he held his hand together in a begging manner giving off the vibe of a convict who had just been released and was on trying to get their life around.
"Don't get smart with me, Daniel."
Weiss said realizing his tone, removing his finger from her cheek while staring at him with serious eyes.
She didn't find his joke amusing at all, but the three others around him laughed a little after noticing her reaction as well. Their banter seemed too natural, and it didn't take a genius to surmise Daniel and Weiss have a history with each other. Yang, who was watching their interaction took note of Weiss' attitude whenever Daniel was involved. Taking note of all this, she stepped forward and entered their discussion with a single question on her mind.
"I've been wondering this since the amphitheater," Yang started before asking the question with the slightest hint of a teasing smile. "But, are you two seeing each other?"
In response to that, Daniel's and Weiss' cheeks turned red, the latter being more apparent due to her somewhat paler skin tone. Ruby was surprised about the sudden question from her oldest sister, and so was Blake, who was listening to the entire thing out of curiosity.
"W-We're not…."
"O-Of course, we aren't seeing each other! Wh-What would ever even give you that kind of impression?"
Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Weiss completely shut him off instantly, but her reddened cheeks didn't at all convince the blonde otherwise. Yang continued to stare and smiled at her wearing the same teasing expression since it looked as if she found some more material to work with.
"Well, Daniel here is the only person you haven't snapped or seriously barked at yet. And you're face is as bright as an apple whenever he's around from as far as I can tell. So…."
"Th-That merely implies that we were simply acquaintances in the past. You don't have any concrete evidence that we're seeing each other."
Weiss maintained her stance that their relationship was nothing more than simple friendship, which was true, but her reaction didn't assist in proving that fact. Yang smirked a little deviously after seeing this as a chance to both a chance at slight payback against the heiress and tease the black-haired male.
"Then you wouldn't if I have Daniel for myself, right?"
Yang teasingly asked as she moved right next to Daniel without giving him the slightest chance to even react.
All four of them were stumped as Yang wrapped her arms around Daniel's right arm, which also caused her abundant chest to be pressed up against him. His face turned redder as that sensation could be felt right on his arm, but no one looked as surprised as Weiss and Ruby.
"Wh—?"
""Wh-What do you think you're doing?!""
Both Weiss and Ruby questioned, their cheeks flushed, but it was almost for totally different reasons. Blake continued to stare at what was happening in front of her with a more vested interest wearing a faint smile from amusement. To be honest, the events in front of her looked almost as good as the book she was reading.
"Come on, Princess here said that they weren't seeing each other so Daniel's free game, right?"
"Yang, you're being so embarrassing."
Ruby said to her older sister who continued to laugh as she hugged Daniel's arm tighter than before.
"Oh, are you sure you aren't jealous, sis?"
"No, why would I be jealous?"
"Because I'm hugging onto a handsome boy."
Daniel was able to tell Yang was having too good a time teasing her little sister and Weiss, but she was getting a little too close as he could feel her abundant chest touching his arm. And he would've normally tried to pry his arm away from her, but he could also tell one simple glaring fact.
"Yang's much stronger than she looks. It almost feels like I'm being hugged by a bear."
"Look, I don't care about your sisterly conversation! Just remove your arms from him at once!"
"What jealous princess?"
Yang questioned as she snickered toward Weiss who seemed more miffed the more things continued.
"No, I'm not jealous that you have those things pressed up against Daniel like that."
"So, you're also jealous of my girls?"
Yang teased causing Weiss to notice their different figures, causing the heiress to become more miffed after the blond bombshell brought it up.
Despite finding their banter more amusing than she anticipated, Blake rolled her eyes noticing that it wouldn't end if no one stepped in. And so, she picked up the single light source around them and blew it out causing darkness in the area where they were. The lone light source is what came from the moonlight from the crumbled moon outside of the ballroom's windows.
"I believe that it would be best that we go to sleep soon. Unlike me, I don't think most people would find this kind of banter to be funny at all."
"Blake's right. We should be well-rested for tomorrow's initiation."
Blake said in a serious tone and Ruby ended it with an ecstatic tone.
"Ah, Daniel. You're brave for copping a feel in the dark like that."
"W-What?!"
"She's lying Weiss."
"Ugh, Yang."
Hearing her little sister's response caused Yang to let a slight giggle escape from her mouth.
After that last bit of banter was finished, the three women started departing back towards their sleeping bags, while Daniel and Blake headed toward theirs.
"Well, that was…an interesting meeting? I never thought that I'd laugh like that around people I just met."
Blake said as Daniel could hear her settling down in her sleeping bag placing her book next to her.
"I haven't been able to laugh like around others in a long time."
"Same," Blake spoke in a low tone but Daniel could at least hear those words. "I'll be going to sleep. I'd rather get up a little earlier to prepare myself."
"Sure thing. Goodnight, Blake."
"…night."
Blake replied before falling asleep with Daniel soon following suit, shutting his eyes and allowing himself to fall into a deep sleep.
After waking up the next morning, Daniel glanced over finding that Blake was already long gone with her sleeping bag packed up already. Seeing that a lot of the other students were already gone to prepare for today's initiation, he decided that it was time for him to get prepared too. Among the students that he saw, there was a hyperactive orange-haired girl who woke up a stoic black-haired male who appeared unfazed by her antics despite him being woken up like that.
Daniel later packed up his sleeping bag, then started off the morning by washing his face and brushing his teeth before eating the breakfast that the school prepared for the students. Having done all that, he entered the locker room to get dressed in his proper combat attire and retrieve his weapons. After getting dressed, he went towards his locker room having rounded the corner but….
""Huh?""
At the same time, someone else was walking in the same direction causing both him and that individual to bump into one another. It wasn't a serious clash, but it was enough for both of them to stumble backward a little before him and that individual to regained their footing.
"Sorry, about that…."
Daniel said before getting a better look at the person in front of him.
In front of him was a young woman his age with purple hair and red eyes, which glared toward him. Her skin was also somewhat tanned almost medium. Her clothing consisted of a purple high-neck tight-fitting shirt that has red accents, a darker purple jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, darker-toned pants, combat boots, and fingerless gloves.
She stared at him with her red eyes seemingly wanting to pierce him.
"If you ended bump into someone during a fight, then that person ends up shooting someone would an apologize be enough to make up for that?"
"…what?"
Daniel was stumped about the almost too brutal realistic nature of the question she just asked him.
"That was my way of saying watch where you're going."
She rudely replied as she walked past him without saying anything else which caused Daniel to see that there was an emblem representing a stylized spear on the back of her jacket.
"Well, that was one of the first times that someone was rude without me needing to say much. It would be a total nightmare if we ended up on the same team."
Daniel thought as he located his locker where his weapons were stored and opened it revealing both of his beloved partners in addition to his pouch where his ammunition was stored.
Having finished setting everything up, he stood to his feet prepared for anything that this initiation was able to throw at him. It was then that he noticed someone walking in his direction and turned to the side, realizing that it was Weiss standing there dressed in her proper attire.
"Morning, Weiss, are you prepared for the initiation?"
"Humph, of course. I will strive for nothing more than perfection."
Weiss haughtily replied with nothing but confidence radiating from her tone alone.
"Well, I can't wait to see what the staff has planned."
"Same," she replied before turning toward him again. "Well, we're moving onto the second request."
"Are you that quick to want to be friends again?"
He questioned honestly, but Weiss almost completely ignored him and maintained her serious demeanor.
"Well, anyway, this request is simple," she stopped before staring straight at him. "Join my team."
Daniel was nearly sunned by direct that request as he wasn't in the know about neither what the initiations entail or how teams were assigned. Although, he could tell that Weiss was being a little more serious about this request compared to the first one that she gave him.
"You want me to be on the same team as you," Daniel asked again almost out of reassurance that she was being serious about him being on the same team as her and her expression didn't falter in the slightest. "Alright, if that's how things play out in the end, then I wouldn't mind being on the same team as you. I didn't put that much thought into being a leader either way."
His response honestly caused a genuine smile to form on Weiss' face as she nodded her head in agreement.
"If things go as planned then that'll be the second request down," Weiss said before quickly turning around with a scheming smile on her face. "That's right if things go along as planned, then that'll complete the greatest team in history. I, as the smartest and most talented girl in class. Pyrrha, as the strongest equally talented girl in class. I don't know what Daniel has been up to in Mistral, but our semblances will definitely work well together."
Daniel stared at Weiss' scheming smile, feeling unnerved due to both the manner she was holding her hands and the presence radiating from her at the moment.
"Weiss, you're starting to frighten me with that creepy look," Daniel said smiling wryly, but he was sure that Weiss was too lost in thought and wasn't even listening to him at all. "Why does it almost look as if she's plotting world domination or something? I thought I wasn't getting roped into anything bad."
{Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, would all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately?}
What snapped Weiss out of her trance was hearing Glynda over the intercom, calling out all the students, which caused her to cough into her hand before turning toward him.
"Well, let's not keep everyone waiting."
"Sure thing, let's get this show on the road."
Daniel energetically replied as he placed his hand on Retribution's hilt, almost not able to wait to fight using his beloved partner again.
Once all of the students being initiated into Beacon gathered around Beacon Cliff, standing on top of silver plates after being urged to do so by Ozpin and Glynda who stood in front of them. In addition to his cane, their headmaster held a mug filled with an unknown drink, possibly coffee in his hands. Among the group of students, Daniel stood in-between the black-haired male dressed in a green long-sleeved tailcoat and Yang who stood next to the orange-haired girl.
"For years," Ozpin started as he stepped forward in front of his students. "You've trained to become warriors, 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 the 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…today."
"What? Ohhh…."
Daniel could hear Ruby standing next to Yang sounding a little disheartened.
"These teammates you'll be paired up with will be your partner for the next four years in attending Beacon. So, it would be in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
Ruby felt some hope about her words since it could give her the chance to choose her partner, but Ozpin followed up with his statement.
"That being said, the first person that you make eye contact with after landing inside of the Emerald Forest will be your partner for the next four years."
And his statement is what shattered Ruby's entire world.
"See? I told you!"
The orange-haired girl said to the black-haired male who merely glanced toward her.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. Be aware, you will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…or you will die."
"Way to encourage future students."
Daniel said after noticing Ozpin's matter-of-fact tone while Jaune who was next to Ruby groaned nervously. Ozpin either not hearing him or not caring took a sip from his mug before continuing.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene," he explained as he looked down the row of students. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path that will contain several relics. Each pair must choose one before their 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?"
Jaune questioned nervously.
"Good! Now, take your positions."
Daniel wasn't sure whether Ozpin ignored his previous comment, but it was obvious that he had just completely ignored Jaune. But, he followed suit with the rest of the students and stood in a prepared stance that suited him in this situation, while others did the same thing that suited their fighting style.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um…a question," Jaune tried to raise his question not noticing that Weiss was flung into the air by the silver plate underneath her revealed to be a springboard with the other students followed behind her. "So, um, this landing…strategy thing…. Uh, what is it? Are you, like, dropping us off or something?"
"No. You will be falling."
"Oh, uh, I see…. Did you hand out parachutes for us?"
"No. You will be using your own 'landing strategy'."
As Jaune continued prying for more 'safe' information from Ozpin, the Headmaster continued answering him in a manner that displayed an almost impassive tone.
"Uh-huh…. Yeah."
The orange-haired girl was launched into the air, letting out an excited giggle escape from her mouth followed by the stoic black-haired who prepared both his weapons.
"Ruby," Daniel called out to the younger black-haired girl who glanced toward him. "You'll be fine."
"But, if I get paired with someone I can't work with? You've seen that I can barely get along with Weiss."
"You'll never know until you try!"
Daniel said before being launched into the air next as he sent one more reassuring smile toward Ruby.
Sailing through the air, Daniel felt the wind pressure against him as he held his arms next to him in a relaxed manner. He saw that Weiss made a glyph under to feet as a foothold before landing inside the forest and all the other students landing using their landing strategies. Before long, he noticed Yang passing him wearing a pair of aviators to block the wind pressure and sent him a slight wave before activating her gauntlets, which she lovingly named Ember Celica.
He watched as she fired off explosive shots from the barrels inside them, which rocketed herself forwards gaining more momentum while controlling the direction where she was going with every shot.
"Well, that's an interesting landing strategy."
After noticing a perfect location to land, he formed what seemed to be a runic formation under his feet, which he used as a foothold to kill off the momentum. He continued jumping from formation until landing on top of one of the tree branches without losing balance and stood up straight.
"Landing strategy, completed."
Daniel scanned around the area on top of the tree branch to see whether or not there was a single person in the area. Once that was finished, he started jumping from tree branch to tree branch before landing on the ground promptly.
"Alright, northern end here I come."
Once those words left his mouth, Daniel started heading towards the northern temple where the 'relics' would all be located while keeping a lookout for the person who would end up being his partner for the next four years.
Elsewhere, Alyssa, one of Yang's close friends from Signal was still landing towards the ground, holding her weapons in front of her. Both took form as a pair of thick white iron whips with a gold knuckle-bow guard that has the motif of a western dragon; embedded in them were red, white, yellow, and black dust crystals.
Both of which she named Gwyn Ddraig.
She kept her focus on the ground, making sure she had the perfect timing as she tightened her grip on Gwyn Ddraig while narrowing her eyes. Seconds before she was going to touch the ground, she swung downwards releasing a purple wave from them, which pushed her upwards killing off the momentum and also allowed her to land safely on the ground.
"Well, that went off without a hitch," Alyssa said as she continued to hold her weapons in case of an attack. "Now, do I find a partner first or head off toward the temple and hope that I run into someone along the way."
Alyssa attempted to think about going along, but called Ozpin's words, 'After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest' before looking around.
"I guess that I'll keep heading north while looking around for someone to partner up with."
Alyssa surmised as she started walking in the direction where she was told the temple would be.
Before Alyssa could even leave the area, there was a rustling coming from bushes behind her as she once again tightened her grip on her weapons. She slowly started to get in a prepared stance holding her Gwyn Ddraig in her hands and shooting from the bushes was an Ursa, rushing toward Alyssa without wavering. Not fearing the beast in front of her, she prepared her right iron whip, flicking it toward the Ursa's approaching claws deflecting its initial strike before striking it in the stomach using the second one.
It caused a grunt to escape from the Ursa, but she didn't stop there as she continued striking the bear Grimm using both her whips, each strike from harder than what most would expect from her. Alyssa tightened her grip on her left whip as flames started to wreath from it with the intent of striking its stomach. However, moments before she could land one strike on the Ursa, it made an unexpected move and swatted her toward the side with its right claw sending her flying toward a tree.
Before Alyssa could even it the tree, she jabbed one of her whips into the ground stopping herself from hitting the tree. Not concerned at all about the strike, she stood in a prepared stance as she pointing both Gwyn Ddraig just behind herself as a burst of wind was released from both of them, which propelled herself forward. After spinning herself forward, Alyssa positioned both Gwyn Ddraig downwards as electricity sparked around them and stabbed them into the mask of the Ursa, penetrating its face.
After the damage was taken, Ursa's arms went limp as its body vanished, disintegrate without one sign that it existed in the first place.
"Well, that was a lovely start for this…."
Before Alyssa was stopped as she noticed that a second Ursa rushed from the bushes and aimed for her after its kin was killed. Somewhat surprised about this, she was preparing to counter-attack, but that was unneeded as a single object soared past her piercing through the mask and head of the second Ursa.
Alyssa turned around to see that the object, which she identified as a spear pierced through a nearby tree.
"Well, that could've ended badly if I didn't arrive."
A voice came from the bushes near her, causing Alyssa to turn towards the source and noticed the young woman that Daniel ran into walking toward her. At first, she didn't acknowledge the blonde and walked past her to retrieve her weapon, which appeared to be a red and purple spear. Once she pulled out the spear from the tree and tightening her grip on it, it caused the spear to collapse into a smaller compact form.
"Since you're the first person I ran into, I guess that makes us partners."
Alyssa pointed out causing the unnamed young woman to turn towards her.
"Yea, I guess that's true."
Alyssa couldn't tell whether or not she was doing this to be rude or she wasn't good at making small talk.
"Well, if we're going to be partners, I think that we should at least know each other's names," she suggested in an attempt to be courteous but it didn't seem to phase her new partner. "My name is Alyssa King."
"So, the northern temple would be this way, right?"
Not appearing to acknowledge that had even Alyssa introduced herself, the still-unnamed young woman turned in the same direction as north. Realizing that she was being ignored, the blonde merely sighed, putting both of her weapons in an inactive state before sheathing them.
"Yea, that would be the right way."
"Sandra."
"Huh?"
"My name is Sandra Skye."
Sandra said as she started walking in the direction where the temple was supposed to be causing Alyssa to let a slight sigh escape from her mouth.
"I can't get a serious read on this girl."
Those were the last words from the blonde as she started following behind her new partner.
"This is what I get for saying that I was bored."
He said shooting through the bushes wearing a calm smile as five beowolves chased him at a great speed while growling at him. After running for a couple of seconds, Daniel noticed a tall tree in front of him, then smirked as he continued running forward without stopping as the beowolves continued following him. He soon ran up the tree for a certain height, resulting in the beowolf closest behind him crashing into the tree.
Daniel then retrieved Vanir from his side and pulled the trigger, getting a clean headshot killing the beowolf in one shot. After landed on the ground where it vanished, he holstered Vanir before reaching for Retribution and pulled it out before activating.
"It's been a while since I wielded this child. So, I hope you don't mind me getting in a little practice."
For practice, Daniel swung Retribution using one hand, cutting off the beowolf's arm causing a howl to escape its mouth. He then turned himself around fixing his grip on the blade's hilt so that his finger was on the trigger, then pointed it toward the beowolf behind him, letting out a large blast that shot apart its head. Daniel could almost feel the full force from the blast's recoil.
"I almost forgot the recoil."
He ducked sensing one of the other beowolves charging behind him, avoiding a slash from its claws, then swung the blunt side of Retribution upwards launching the beowolf in the air. Daniel pointing the sword upwards at it, pulling the trigger again shooting it in the head again, killing the beowolf.
"Alright, three down. Two to go."
One of the last two beowolves rushed toward Daniel intending to pounce and maul him. After realizing its intentions, he pulled the trigger twice hitting its legs causing the beowolf to stumble forward before preparing for a strong swing; pulling the trigger, firing off another blade, which added more momentum onto his sword, thus beheading the beowolf.
He pulled the trigger twice, hitting the beowolf in its legs, causing it to stumble forward and he followed by swinging Retribution using both hands, beheading the beowolf.
"Alright, one more to go."
He caused Retribution to open on a hinge, causing the smoking shell to shot out from it before the last beowolf rushed him. Before the beowolf could even reach him, an arrow was embedded into its forehead causing it to land on the ground dead. After picking up the arrow as the beowolf vanished in nothingness, he noted that there was an engraving in the arrowhead that makes it look like antlers.
Daniel turned around and saw Hunter standing on top of a tree holding his mechanized bow, which he collapsed back into its compact form.
"Come on, Hunter I had it."
He jokingly said as Hunter appeared to nervously shrug his shoulders before jumping down toward the ground.
"So, I guess that makes up partners, right?"
Daniel asked as Hunter merely shook his head as his current partner couldn't understand sign language, but his gaze soon lingered on the arrow in Daniel's hand.
"Want this back?"
In response to that, Hunter shook his head causing Daniel to return the arrow to him. Both of them stood there for a couple of seconds not doing anything until Daniel suggested the obvious.
"So, want to head toward the temple?"
Hunter once again shook his head in response as Daniel pointed his finger north, which caused both the newly formed duo to head toward the temple.
A/N: Well, this is the end of the next chapter of RWBY – Team DUSK, Daniel has now officially met all the future members of Team RWBY. There was also a small talk between him and Blake, who he believes is a faunus, but realizes that she has her reasons for not openly showing it. Also, some banter between him and the four girls, which is made as original yet flowing as possible.
Amidst his preparation for the Beacon Initiation, Daniel also had an interesting encounter with the future member of Team DUSK, Sandra Skye who immediately dropped a harsh comment on him before leaving. Well, all the future members of Team DUSK have been introduced to Daniel being partnered up with Hunter, while Sandra is partnered with Alyssa.
Onto his semblance, Runes, which is based on him using runes similar to the Glyphs the Schnee Family uses and there will be a lot of things that he can use them for. It should be noted that this is also inherited among the Norden Family, which I thought would match considering who I based them off of.