Welcome to the next chapter of RWBY: Team DUSK, before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Clarent excalibur: Thanks, I thought about several semblances that might work for his character and due to the kind of character I based him off on, I thought that Runes would fit Daniel the most. I thought about several ways that he could use his runes.
Beacon Initiation Pt. 2
Standing on top of the Beacon Cliff, both Ozpin and Glynda looked down at the Emerald Forest, where all of their upcoming students were launched. The beautiful spectacled blonde soon turned her attention toward the tablet in her hands, which was linked to the various cameras around the forest. She watched as the paired-up students all fought or avoided the various Grimm around the forest, most made their way into the temple to retrieve the relics.
Glynda let a breath escape from her mouth as she watched the last student pair was formed.
"Well, that makes the last pair," Glynda said as she closed the tablet in her hands. "That group seemed to the one of the oddest bunch among the first-year students, sir."
"How so?"
Ozpin asked his colleague as he watched the interesting group that Glynda was referring to at the moment which piqued his interest despite his impassive look.
"They're in a sense complete opposites. The last pairing, for example, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. I can't imagine based on Mister Ren's demeanor that he would be able to endure Miss Valkyrie's random antics. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. I don't care what his transcripts say, he's not prepared for this level of combat based on his performance from before. And I fear that he might end up dragging down Miss Nikos in the end," Glynda listed out some of the students that she was referring to. "Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna. I can tell from her previous fight that Miss Xiao Long prefers a more direct approach to a situation and has a bit of a temper. Though there isn't much information about where Miss Belladonna trained, her skills appear to speak for themself."
"Hmmhmm."
He replied in an apparent neutral tone, which caused Glynda to wonder whether or not he was listening to her at all, but she continued with her explanation.
"Well, next would be Alyssa King and Sandra Skye. Based on records from Signal, Miss King has shown both skill and diligence in her classes, as well as being cooperative with others. Miss Skye, though she has great skill in combat, her attitude, and distaste for dealing with others, in general, might end up breaking apart whatever team's she joins. Sir, are you listening to me?"
"Of course, I was just thinking. Tell me, what do you think about the last pairs?"
"Oh, Daniel Norden and Hunter Upson. Mister Norden appears to prefer a unique approach inside and outside of a battle. His attitude can be a little difficult to read at times but from his records, there were a lot of confrontations with other students during his short time in combat school. Mister Upson is his opposite in all aspects, his teachers said despite his skills, he's almost unable to work well with others aside from Miss Nikos due to his condition. And last but not least, our little grade skipper and heiress. Both Miss Rose's approach and Miss Schnee's appears to clash with one another at every point. It almost looks as if they're holding one another back."
Glynda pointed out after seeing that together, both Ruby and Weiss weren't able to defeat a beowolf pack, which likely wouldn't be a problem for them alone.
"This group appears to be filled with unlikely teams."
"Is that how you see it?"
"Excuse me."
Glynda glanced toward Ozpin who merely smiled as he stared into his tablet.
"We're huntsmen and instructors, but we aren't psychics. None of us know what the future holds," he pointed out as he stared at his colleague. "I believe that it would be those different traits that would lead to growth in our student and their partners. So, I think it'll be best to see for ourselves how these pairs turn out as teams."
"Alright."
The beautiful blonde said as he turned his attention back to his tablet as all the pairs started heading toward the temple wondering if there was something that her boss could see that she couldn't.
In another part of the Emerald Forest, both Daniel and Hunter continued walking through the forest, both were silent (no jokes intended) and not interacting with one another. Based on the situation, Daniel would attempt to lighten up the tense atmosphere. Hunter was a little difficult since he was unable to talk and seemed to be a little nervous around him based on how he remained walking forward.
"So, Hunter. Does your bow have a name?"
He decided to attempt to break the tension, which caused the deer Faunus to turn in his direction with a curious look on his face before picking up his bow. Daniel looked forward and noticed that Actaeon was engraved on the bow, which he took as its name.
"Actaeon," Daniel questioned wanting to ensure that it was correct, causing Hunter to nod his head, stating that it was correct. "I think that's a cool name. My sword is named Retribution. And my pistol is named Vanir. I got the last name from a book that my mother used to read to me and my cousins."
Hunter nodded his head before returning Actaeon where it was as he and Daniel continued walking forward in the direction of the temple. Daniel appeared to be seriously thinking about what else he could talk about with the Faunus, which Hunter seemed to wonder.
'Hunter, I wouldn't mind being on the same team as you. But, I think that it would be great if you could find people who you could befriend. I know that you have some issues, but Beacon is a large prestigious school, I know that you'll find a lot of friends who'll see you for who you are.'
Those were the words that his one friend back at Sanctum, Pyrrha said to him during their meeting inside of the locker room. It caused him to hold onto his right arm using his left hand almost tightening his digging his nails into his arm's skin.
'I hoped that Pyrrha and I would end up being on the same team as one another. I don't think that there's anyone else who can understand what I'm signing aside from her," Hunter thought as he turned his attention toward Daniel who still seemed to be in thought. 'I know that if Pyrrha thinks that Daniel's a good person, even I can tell that, but how can I work with someone let alone talk to them when they don't even understand me."
Hunter seemed to be getting more and more on edge the more he started thinking about being unable to work well in a team without them being able to understand him, which didn't go unnoticed by Daniel.
"Uh, are you alright, Hunter?"
Daniel asked.
This caused Hunter to turn in his direction panicked, performing multiple signs in response to that question. It didn't take long for Hunter to recall that Daniel couldn't even understand him, which was reiterated by a confused look from him. Realizing this, caused a dejection to appear on Hunter's face in addition to a light sigh that was almost inaudible. Daniel stared at him with an understanding look since he couldn't imagine being in his situation, where no one couldn't understand him.
"I should ask Pyrrha to teach me how to understand sign language."
Daniel surmised in his head, realizing that they wouldn't be able to work well together if conversing with one another would be impossible. More so, since it would be weird if he continued relying on the redhead every time he wanted to have a conversation with Hunter. As the thought about him being able to work well with Hunter entered his mind, one more…no two more people entered his head.
"I wonder who Weiss ended up being partnered with. The same thing could be said about Ruby, she was almost a nervous wreck after hearing about how the partners were formed."
Daniel wondered as he looked toward the blue skies.
Amid their silence, Daniel could sense dangerous something heading in their direction as if a beast was directing their ill will toward them. Hunter, on the other hand, heard trees breaking and falling on the ground, which became more apparent to Daniel. Both of them could tell that there was something big heading for them.
"So, where do you come from?"
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, going through a similar yet different situation was Alyssa who walked next to her partner, Sandra who appeared indifferent to her presence. Throughout their time walking together, she attempted to talk to Sandra several times, but Alyssa was given simple "hmmm" and "uh-huh". Appearing almost tired about her attempts at talking to her, Sandra decided to answer a couple of questions to somehow keep her abated.
"I'm from Vacuo. And I graduated from Oscuro."
Sandra replied almost rudely, but it wasn't to the extent where it was overly rude.
"Well, I'm a resident of Vale and graduate from Signal."
"Good for you. Did you come from a good family too?"
Sandra asked with the slightest hint of sarcasm that lasts part with a slight hint of venom behind her words, which didn't go unnoticed by Alyssa.
"Well," she started off pausing for a second. "I like to think that we have a good relationship. What about you?"
"…."
At that question, Sandra remained silent as she appeared to quicken her pace almost as if she wanted to avoid Alyssa and the question entirely. Seeing that reaction caused Alyssa not to pursue it any longer.
Both soon arrived outside the forest to a wide clearing inside of the Emerald Forest, where there was a broken circular stone temple, a small rotunda, and multiple platforms placed inside of it. Seeing the temple caused a relieved sigh to leave Alyssa's mouth after realizing that they had reached their destination.
"Wow, I guess we made it here."
"Great observation, Captain Obvious."
Her face scrunched up irritated at that needless comment as Sandra continued walking forward without even saying another word. Knowing that she couldn't remain there for long, she simply followed Sandra to receive their relic and past the first trail in front of them leading into Beacon.
"Hey, Alyssa!"
As she continued to walk forward, Alyssa heard a familiar voice approaching them, which belonged to her close friend, Yang, but also noticed someone walking right beside her. It was Blake, her partner, who Yang met from last night and ran into a couple of minutes after landing in the Emerald Forest.
Blake's clothing consists of a black buttoned vest with coattails and a silver button on the front; worn under it was a white sleeveless high-neck cropped undershirt and white shorts with zippers on the front legs. A pair of black low-heeled boots with black-purple stockings at her ankles, her emblem, a stylized belladonna flower was her thighs. On her left arm was a black detached sleeve with silver cuffs around her biceps, a black ribbon on her forearms; a small loose black scarf around her neck, a gray magnetic backpack strapped on her back where her inactive weapon on her back.
Seeing one of her friends walking and waving in her direction, Alyssa felt a little better compared to her interaction with Sandra.
"Yang looks like you beat me here!"
Alyssa replied as she put in a little more effort into walking forward, while Yang noticed Sandra walking in her and Blake's general direction. Realizing that she must be Alyssa's partner and smiled, Alyssa, on the other hand, had a wry smile wondering what Sandra would do or say. More so, since she knew that Yang could befriend most people due to her general cheerful personality, but she could be a little more violent to others based on the situation.
"Hello, you must be Alyssa's partner. My name is…."
Yang tried to be polite and introduce herself, but Sandra didn't even glance in her direction and continued to walk forward to the temple. That intentionally rude gesture caused an annoyed look to form on Yang's face as she had her fist clenched as if preparing to punch her.
"Did she intentionally blow me off?"
"Yea. I don't know what her deal is."
Alyssa replied arriving in front of Yang who seemed prepared to fight Sandra, which caused Blake to turn around to see the woman walking toward the temple to choose a relic. The chosen relics were black and white chess pieces, most of them already being picked out by the students who passed by already.
"Well, she seems friendly."
Blake added noticing that Sandra wasn't even waiting for Alyssa to choose a relic.
"Well, like you're one to talk."
Yang was able to return to her usual cheerful mood after recalling her and Ruby's previous encounter with Blake, causing the said black-haired young woman to roll her eyes in response amused.
"Well, my name is Alyssa King. I'm one of Yang's friends from Signal."
"Blake Belladonna. I'm well, Yang's partner."
Both Alyss and Blake introduced themselves to one another, which brought a smile to Yang's face.
"Well, not that my friend and partner have gotten to know one another," Yang said before turning to face Alyssa. "Did you run into any trouble coming here?"
"Not at all, aside from a couple of Ursa, I didn't go through anything too terrible."
"Same here, but Blake here kinda stole the last kill."
"Are you seriously still on that, Yang?"
Blake questioned with a hint of playfulness behind it.
As the three women were talking to one another, Sandra finished choosing their relic, a white queen chess piece and placed it inside her pocket. Sandra rejoined the group, as all four of them soon heard a faraway scream that sounded as if it belonged to a "girl" that reached the temple.
"Was that a girl?"
Alyssa questioned unable to properly hear the voice due to the distance and couldn't tell whether or not it was, in fact, a girl. Despite seeing the three of them concerned about whoever was in danger, Sandra didn't appear to be even fazed about someone else who was in danger.
"Who cares? If someone dies to something like this, then it…."
"I knew that you were rude, but seriously, Sandra?"
Sandra said coldly apparently not caring about whoever was in trouble with Alyssa turning in her direction wearing an annoyed look on her face. She couldn't believe that someone attempting to become a Huntsmen would say something so heartless despite hearing someone screaming. Yang and Blake also shared the same opinion as Alyssa.
"Do you even have a heart?! We can't leave some girl in trouble if she needs help, right Blake?!"
Yang was concerned about whoever was screaming in the far distance, but Sandra remained silent ignoring the replies from her both partner and Yang. Blake didn't reply to Yang as she was hearing a distant scream from a direction that she wasn't expecting in the slightest. This caused her to look in the sky above them, where Blake almost instantly recognized the person in question.
"Uh, Yang."
"What?"
In response to hearing Blake calling her, Yang turned to her partner who pointed her finger into the air, causing a curious Yang to look up. Her expression turned soon from curious to confusion and concern as a familiar person was falling in their direction. There was no way she could mistake it for someone else as it was her precious little sister descending toward them.
"Ruby?!"
"Heads uuuuuuuup!"
Ruby called out as she felt in their direction, causing Yang to head off in the exact place where she could fall and hold out her arms. It didn't go as expected as another figure intercepted her descending sister causing them to crash in the nearest tree. Groaning due to the pain, Ruby looked to see an equally stumped and in pain, Jaune who was hanging upside down before greeting her as causal as possible.
All four of them were stumped about what just happened.
"Did your sister just fall out of the sky?"
"She's always making a big entrance right, Yang?"
"I…."
Before she could respond to her partner and friend, noises from the forest distracted them as an Ursa came from the bushes swinging around its claws erratically. It was stopped as several pink blasts exploded on its back, which silenced the bear Grimm as it fell revealing the orange-haired young woman, Nora Valkyrie, and black-haired young man, Lie Ren.
"YEEEE-HAAAAW, " Nora called out with excitement as she was riding on the Ursa before it began to vanish in black mist. "Awwww…. It's broken."
Nora was saddened about the Ursa being 'broken', Ren, on the other hand, who was riding on the Grimm with her appeared to be both thankful and exhausted that it was finally over.
"Nora! Please…. Don't ever do that again."
Ren managed to speak in-between breaths, before looking around to see that his partner/friend was already long gone without a trace that she was there.
"I'm the queen of the castle! I'm the queen of the castle!"
She somehow managed to appear at the temple with a white rook piece balanced on top of her head as she was dancing around cheerfully.
"Nora!"
"Coming, Ren!"
In response to hearing her friend, she dropped the rook in her hands as she skipped past Yang, Blake, Alyssa, and Sandra who turned their heads in the same direction of her path.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"
Blake questioned as Sandra started to break from the group.
"Well, before something else happens," Sandra stared off breaking from the group, not leaving since she couldn't leave without her partner. "I think that we should head back to the cliff, right?"
"Sandra, there isn't a time limit so why are you in so much of a rush."
"Because, as I said before, I want to leave before someone else comes crashing through the…."
Once Sandra said those words, the four young women could hear a distant scream heading off in their direction and turned to see a silhouette heading in their direction. Before Sandra could react, she was sent tumbling to the ground as soon as the descending person crashed into her.
"Sandra?! Are you alright?"
Alyssa said she worried about her partner despite their initial interactions and was shocked about the person who crashed into her. Both she and the individual were sprawled out on the ground wearing a dazed look on their face before a groan escaped from their mouth.
"I don't care who it is or why! I'm killing whoever crashed into me!"
After recovering from her daze, Sandra stood back to her feet, irritated and her hand already placed on her spear that was inactivated already prepared to stab whoever crashed into her. The person started to recover from their daze and started standing back up to their feet before dusting themselves off. It was the first time that Alyssa had seen this kind of anger from Sandra, which caused her to believe that she might kill that person.
"Ow, I swear, the moment I find that Grimm, I'm going to rain hot vengeance on…."
""Daniel?""
Yang and Blake asked shocked, recognizing the person crashing into Sandra as the same person both of them met last night. Daniel realized where he was at the moment, before finding both women standing in front of him stumped then waved his hand at them in a nonchalant manner.
"Yo, Yang, Blake," he greeted them normally, causing them to laugh a little at how casual he was despite him crashing in front of them like that. Daniel silently thanked his physical training and aura, which protected him from a lot of the impact. "I didn't think that I'd ever run into someone like this.
"Are you alright?"
Blake questioned, recalling how hard he hit the ground due to the height and fall.
"Oh, that. Nah, believe me, I've been through way worse before."
"Well, be careful, we wouldn't want you to damage those good traits of yours."
Daniel could hear the joking/teasing/flirty tone from Yang who chuckling a little, causing him to laugh once again at her forwardness.
He then turned in Alyssa's direction, not knowing who she was.
"And another girl that I haven't met yet."
"My name is Alyssa King. Nice to meet you, Daniel."
Daniel got an immediate response from Alyssa who introduced herself.
"Well, good to meet you, Alyssa," he replied before turning to see Sandra reaching her hand behind her back, but didn't recognize her at first. "I'm sorry about that. Are you…whoa!"
Just as Daniel was going to apologize, he leaned himself backward, avoiding a wide slash from Sandra's spear, barely grazing him, and slicing off some strands of his hair. Sandra pointed her red spear at him threateningly as Yang, Blake, and Alyssa stared at her with surprised stares since she was serious about her previous threat. Daniel recovered his footing as he looked went in a prepared stance for the next attack.
"I was going to apologize," Daniel said before recognizing Sandra from the locker room. "Wait, aren't you that girl I ran into in the locker room?"
"I guess it was just your fate to be impaled by my Gae Bulg," Sandra angrily replied. "Because, this is the second time you crashed into them, even though I warned you the first time!"
Sandra started spinning around Gae Bulg in her hands expertly, making another swipe toward him and blocking it using Vanir. She made different stabs and jabs at him without hesitation to penetrate him with Gae Bulg, while he either dodged or blocked them using Vanir. All three women watched with the same blank looks on their faces as Sandra made several attempts at stabbing Daniel.
"Alyssa, you're partner is kind of insane."
"Zip it jugs!"
"Jugs?!"
Sandra called out sparking an immediate reaction from Yang.
"First, I apologized for the first time," Daniel countered as he blocked another swipe from her spear. "And second, do you think I wanted to crash into you? My partner and I were just minding our business until that Behemoth showed up and launched me into the air!"
She ignored him and instead made another attempt at stabbing Daniel, but he managed to catch the spear just in him before it could cut him. As she was going to pull it from his grasp, she was stopped as Daniel seriously stared at her.
"Look can we do this later? My partner is still with that Grimm and I don't want anything to happen to him."
After hearing those words from him, she and the others could hear the seriousness in his tone, which was able to reach Sandra. Realizing that she didn't have the time to be fighting against him, Sandra let a sigh escape from her mouth as she returned Gae Bulg into an inactive state.
"Fine, but we're settling this later."
Despite deciding to leave their business for another time, Daniel could still feel the hostile stare from Sandra who still seemed to want to fight him.
"Pyrrha!"
"Jaune!"
Hearing Jaune and Pyrrha, all of them turned around to see the redhead rushing outside of the forest with a giant scorpion Grimm with a black exoskeleton underneath several white bone-like plating on its back, a Death Stalker was in hot pursuit of her.
"Ruby!"
Yang called out as she realized her little sister reunited with their group with her arms held out.
"Yang!"
Ruby happily called out in an attempt to return the hug.
"Nora!"
Nora abruptly appeared in-between sisters who were interrupted from their hug before either could even take one step forward. Blake, on the other hand, had remained calm as she watched as Pyrrha continued running from the Death Stalker still hot on her trail without ceasing.
"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?"
"It would appear so."
Alyssa replied to Blake as their friend and partner seemed to have reached her limit because of the increasing chaos.
"I can't take this anymore," everyone aside from Ruby, and Alyssa was shocked as Yang's eyes turned from lilac to red as her hair appeared to glow bright golden with flames wreathing from them. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"
"Did her eyes just change color? Is that a part of her semblance?"
Daniel's thought was the same question running through the heads of the people around them as a large group of teens followed her instructions and waited for exactly two seconds. Once the two seconds were over, Ruby stared up after noticing an approaching shadow, noticing a familiar creature above their heads, and pulled on the sleeves of her older sister worried.
"Umm…. Yang?"
"…what?"
Yang sounded tired of all the randomness and pandemonium that was occurring around her.
The moment she pointed her finger up, causing all of them to notice the giant condor Grimm, a Nevermore flying overhead in an ominous manner. Though this sight was threatening enough, what caught Daniel's attention most of all was the white-haired young woman hanging onto its talon for dear life.
"Weiss?!"
"How could you leave me?!"
"I said, 'Jump'."
Ruby replied normally despite what was happening in front of her.
"Why is Weiss holding onto a Nevermore?"
Daniel questioned Ruby, after questing that she was her partner.
"Well," Ruby laughed sheepishly. "We had got a lost along the way to the temple, we had a little argument, then a Nevermore showed up. And I thought, 'Hey, it would be easier to find the temple if we had a bird's eye view'. And so, I came up with the idea of riding it here."
Hearing Ruby's explanation sparked several stares from the people around her. Yang found what her sister said a little hilarious with Blake, Nora; and skeptics such as Ren (who was previously forced to ride an Ursa because of Nora), Alyssa, and Sandra felt bad for Weiss. Daniel stared at Ruby wearing a more neutral expression on his face as Ruby stood in place wearing the same sheepish smile.
"I think Weiss was right when she said you were a hazard to her health."
Daniel jokingly said causing Ruby to glare in his direction pouting adorably before everyone turned their attention back toward Weiss and came up with the obvious conclusion.
"She's gonna fall."
Blake plainly stated.
"She'll be fine."
Ruby countered.
"She's falling."
Ren finished as Weiss couldn't hold on anymore and started falling toward them.
Daniel made the first move, catching their attempt as he sprinted forward and reached inside his side pouch then replaced Vanir's magazine with one loaded with gravity bullets. He made a runic array in front of him, then leaped onto it and pulled the trigger, turning all the runes from silver to black, which launched him in the air akin to that of a human cannonball.
Ignoring the wind pressure caused by being launched into the air like that, Daniel instead focused on the falling Weiss who let out a light scream as she continued falling. After reaching her, he slipped his right arm under her legs, while his left hand supported her back, holding onto her in a princess carry. Weiss was surprised at first, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him.
Descending towards the ground, he created another set of runes, which he propelled himself off of and landed on the ground without harming himself. A slight breath escaped from his mouth as Daniel straightened up his stance with Weiss' arms still wrapped around his neck.
"Well, that was some entrance, Weiss," Daniel stated in a teasing tone before he switched into a more concerned one. "You okay?"
"…y-yea, I'm alright."
Weiss stuttered, turning far more bashful after catching herself staring at him with her light blue eyes, and he stared back using his silver eyes. It didn't take either of them long to realize how close both of them were to one another as both of them got a good look at one another.
"He's grown in the last three years since the last time I saw him."
"She's become more beautiful the last time I saw her."
Both of them shared a similar thought, rethinking the last time that they saw one another a long time ago, causing a faint blush to form on their cheeks as a coughing sound caught their attention. Yang's placed both her hands on her reddened cheeks as if she were staring at a romantic scene from a movie with stary eyes, finding the entire thing too adorable.
"Aw, that's so cuuute."
Yang cooed, wishing she had a camera to take a photo of them, which was at around the same time that Pyrrha managed to escape the Death Stalker and Jaune arrived to check on her condition.
"Are you two seriously flirting right now?!"
Sandra questioned angrily.
Noticing all the stares being directed at them, Daniel placed Weiss gently on the ground so that she could stand on her own before going to join the others. Seeing that all of them were gathered together with two Grimm starting to encircle them as if they were a meal.
"Great. The gang's all here. Now we can die together."
Yang declared lightly as the Death Stalker and Nevermore started to rush toward the eleven teenagers, but Ruby didn't share the same opinion.
"Not if I can help it!"
Ruby declared as she reached for Crescent Rose and rushed forward toward the approaching Death Stalker as a battle cry escaped from her mouth.
"Ruby, wait!"
Ignoring her sister's concern, she rushed forward using the recoil from Crescent Rose to propel herself forward at the Death Stalker, but before she could move first, the scorpion knocked her aside using its pincher.
"D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!"
After recovering, making another attempt at the Death Stalker, this time firing several rounds before slashing at it using her scythe. But, neither of the attacks made a dent in the Grimm's armor, which caused her to realize none of her attacks would work against it. Seeing this sparked and immediate reaction from the group as a lot of them grew more concerned about the younger girl. Daniel couldn't help wondering what could have stirred this on as he believed that Ruby wasn't the kind of person to rush in like that.
He turned his attention toward Weiss who started at her partner with invested interest, but he could tell something did happen between them.
"Ruby!"
Unable to endure it anymore, Yang rushed toward her sister, preparing to activate her Ember Celica. Seeing that neither of her attacks was working on the Death Stalker, she decided it would be best to retreat from it and ran in the direction of her older sister; sparking some relief from the group. However, the Nevermore didn't allow such a thing as he moved in to attack, flapping its wings, releasing a barrage of numerous sharpened features. All of them were aimed in direction of the approaching sisters.
"Yang, look out for the Nevermore!"
Alyssa warned her, causing Yang to react to the attacks and stop herself from moving as all of the sharpened feathers blocked her path. Ruby avoided all of the feathers but was stopped as one of them pierced her red hooded cloak, keeping her from moving.
"Ruby, get out of there!"
"I'm trying!"
Ruby desperately tried getting her cloak freed from the feather, but at the same time, the Death Stalker started to approach the red-hooded girl.
"Not happening. Let's go!"
Daniel started running to assist her as fast as possible, Yang started getting through all the feathers that blocked her path, and Alyssa started following behind him without hesitation. Seeing that her partner was going to rescue Ruby from the Grimm, although she seemed to know her more, Sandra sighed in an annoyed manner and started following behind them.
"This is why I wanted to leave earlier!"
Sandra said as she rushed toward the Death Stalker with Daniel and Alyssa as the others in the group started to move into position. Seeing her new partner moving to help someone she didn't have any interest in caused a smile to form on her face.
"So, she does have a heart."
In addition to them, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren started following behind them to assist them.
Before either of them could even reach Ruby, there was a sudden loud bellow that could be heard from in the forest as several trees were trampled. Running outside the forest was Hunter who was being pursued by a giant bull Grimm with bone armor on its face in addition to longhorns, legs, and parts of its back, a Behemoth.
""What the hell?!""
Daniel and Sandra said at the same time at the arrival of the third Grimm, both wearing an irritated look on their face at the arrival of the Behemoth.
"Hunter?!"
Pyrrha said as she started to move into action after seeing her friend in trouble, pulling out her spear and turning it into a rifle. Daniel was torn about what to do next, knowing that he was closer to Ruby, but Hunter couldn't even defend himself from the Behemoth. Weiss appeared next to him using her glyphs to propel herself forward, then glanced in his direction.
"I'll handle this. She is my partner."
Weiss said as she sped forward as a white blur appeared in-between Weiss and the Death Stalker, stabbing her beloved rapier, Myrtenaster into the ground; creating a large glyph underneath the Death Stalker, which encased the Grimm's body and limbs in ice.
Seeing that caused a smile to form on Daniel's face as he took one more step forward, pivoting his foot, altering his course, and began running in the direction of his partner. After reaching a certain distance, he stopped moving and directed Vanir at the Behemoth, creating encircling runes in front of it before pulling the trigger. Daniel felt all the recoil behind each shot but maintained his firm stance.
Each shot was aimed at the Behemoth's front leg, which was fortified using his runes, causing the bull Grimm to fall forward on the ground, creating a notable sound. Daniel realized that this would stop the Behemoth for some time and proceeded to rush toward Hunter.
"Are you alright, Hunter?"
Pyrrha asked as Hunter arrived in front of her, stopping to catch her breath before standing straight up and doing several hand signs.
'I apologize for worrying you. And could you tell Daniel that I'm sorry, I couldn't retrieve his sword.'
After reading those signs, Pyrrha looked and noticed due to the Behemoth's fall that Retribution was stabbed into its back, in addition to some of Hunter's arrows.
"Hunter tried getting Daniel's sword back for him?"
Pyrrha smiled after hearing Hunter's serious attempt at helping someone he knew for a short time, before facing the deer Faunus as Daniel arrived.
"Daniel," she called out his name as Daniel turned in her direction. "Hunter wants to apologize for not being able to retrieve your weapon, but believe me, he did try his best."
"I was wondering what took you so long to come back," Daniel said as he placed his hand on Hunter's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Thanks for trying to do all that for me alone. I'll be getting Retribution back before going back to the cliff."
In response to that, Hunter nodded his head and started doing a bunch of signs with a more confident look.
'I'll do whatever I can to help.'
"Hunter said…."
"You'll do whatever you can to help, right. I could tell from that look alone."
Daniel said as their group all started to regroup near the temple as Pyrrha smiled at his interaction with Hunter.
"So, what's our game plan?"
Daniel questioned as he arrived in front of both Ruby and Weiss who seemed to have come to an understanding with one another.
"We're planning on taking out relics and heading off to the cliff. As Weiss said, there's no point in fighting against three Grimm at the same time. Our one mission was the retrieve the relics and head back."
Daniel could hear that Ruby returned to normal and started speaking with more confidence, which caused him to feel happy for her.
"Sounds good, but…."
"You're not planning on fighting that Behemoth, are you?"
Weiss questioned already knowing what he was planning on doing and stared at him with her usual glare.
"Don't give me the Schnee Glare. Hear me out," Daniel replied sounding a little more serious. "In the air, I noticed an abandoned bridge leading in the direction of the cliff. I know that all three Grimm are still going to chase us even if we escape. Even damaged that bridge should be able to support a Death Stalker, but it won't be able to handle a rampant Behemoth. And if we do end up fighting all three on the bridge, there's no doubt that the bridge will end up falling. It would be better than someone holds down the Behemoth here."
"I get that, but do you think that you and Hunter can handle fighting against a Behemoth alone?"
Blake questioned a little worried for them, knowing Hunter's name since she heard Pyrrha calling him.
"Don't worry about that," Alyssa said stepping next to Daniel and Hunter. "These two won't be alone."
"I had a feeling that you'd say that," Sandra sighed standing next to Alyssa. "Before you said that I'm being rude, but you're volunteering me to fight against a Grimm with the Bumper and a Mute."
Despite Sandra's words, she appeared eager to fight against the Behemoth, which caused Daniel to turn towards both of them wearing an appreciative smile.
"Thanks for the assist."
"No problem."
"If I can't stab you, then I'm stabbing that Grimm."
Alyssa gave him a genuine response and Sandra gave a more aggressive one.
"Well, if you're serious about this. Don't get yourselves killed."
Yang said smirking as she held her fist forward, which Daniel bumped against his fist.
"I share the same opinion as Yang, more so since you appear to do reckless things a lot."
"That's a common thing for a Norden from time to time," he replied to Blake as she turned to him wearing a stoic, but concerned look on her face. "Besides, I'm not letting a bull of all things kill me."
Daniel could tell from the looks that all of them were sending that they were concerned about him, Hunter, Alyssa, and Sandra fighting against the Behemoth with their group. Ruby was the last person to get in one last question about how serious this situation was.
"You sure that you all can handle this, Daniel?"
"Have a little faith in us, Ruby. We'll meet you all at the cliff, right?"
He replied as he held out his opened palm, she caught onto the meaning and smiled widely in his direction before doing a high five causing a notable sound.
"Right. Everyone let's leave this to them and head out first."
Ruby said to the rest of the group as all of them nodded their heads in agreement before all of them started to go in the direction of the bridge that Daniel previously mentioned. Weiss remained a little while longer as she turned her attention to Daniel with her usual expression, but there was concern behind them.
"If you die here, I'm not going to forgive you."
"Well, that gives me more motivation to try harder. I couldn't imagine Weiss hating me for life."
He sent one last confident look in Weiss' direction causing her some relief before running off to join the others as the Nevermore and Death Stalker started following the group.
"Will, you knock it off. You can flirt with whoever you want later."
Sandra cut them off glancing in his direction, catching his attention as Daniel walked near the temple and picked up the white king before placing it in his pocket.
"I wasn't flirting with anyone."
"Yea, yea."
Daniel stood next to Hunter, Sandra, and Alyssa who watched as the Behemoth stood back to it started pawing at the ground. Noticing that it was preparing to charge for them, Daniel gave out instructions before it even had a chance to move an inch.
"It's going to charge! Let's all spread out! We don't want it destroying the temple before the other students arrive for the relics!"
Those were the first words from Daniel as he started moving around from the temple, which caused the others to follow his instruction and move from the temple. Sandra was a little more reluctant about it due to some personal feeling toward him, but did as such since being in a single spot together was a stupid move in itself.
Daniel, Hunter, Sandra, and Alyssa started moving around separately as the Behemoth looked around as if it was deciding who to attack first. It wasn't unable Alyssa moved in first, activating her Gwyn Ddraig, and rushed toward the Grimm first without fear. Making its decision, the bull chose to charge at Alyssa first without hesitation as she rushed toward it and intended to ram into her. For a moment, all three of them noticed that her aura flared bright gold for a second before she jumped forward.
Alyssa caused electricity to spark around her iron whips before she slammed them onto the Behemoth's head as hard as possible causing a notable sound. But, it didn't affect the Grimm all that much as it simply knocked Alyssa aside by lifting its head, sending her backward on the ground. After recovering, she regained her footing as it started charging at her again in an aggressive fashion.
Before it could make a move, two arrows with unique arrowheads, letting out a red light was aimed at its face, which causes a fiery explosion that stunned it for a moment. It gave Alyssa the chance to escape from the bull Grimm, but it shook off the impact and continued chasing after her. She soon felt a hand on her shoulder, revealing Sandra right behind her, however, she didn't move an inch despite the Behemoth charging at both of them.
"Sandra, what're you…?"
Alyssa was going to question her sanity, but Sandra merely looked forward with a fearless look.
"Just watch."
After hearing those words, Alyssa decided to trust Sandra as the Behemoth pointed its head downward prepared to ram into them. However, it merely passed through her and Sandra as if neither of them was there in the first place, confusing the Grimm. Neither of them moved to avoid the Behemoth's charge, it just passed through them.
"Is this her semblance?"
As it turned around the Behemoth made another attempt at rushing at them, but it was stopped as a bullet hit the side of its bone mask. Daniel stood at a distance from the Behemoth, pointing Vanir, which has encircling runes in front of it, and continued firing off rounds at the Grimm. This caught the Behemoth's attention as it started going into a charging position and ran full speed toward him.
"Hey, Red Lancer!"
Daniel called out to Sandra due to not knowing her name, which sparked a reaction from her.
"My name is Sandra. And this is a spear, not a lance!"
Sandra replied as Daniel signaled at the Behemoth, which caused her to begrudgingly nod her head.
Without hesitation, he ran forward toward the approaching Behemoth and Sandra started running toward the Grimm from behind. After seeing the distance between him and the Behemoth, he slid under the charging Grimm, as it still ran forward firing Vanir underneath its stomach. He quickly stood up on his feet as he linked his hands together, then Sandra placed her feet on his linked hands and Daniel launched her into the air.
Sandra landed on top of the Behemoth stabbing Gae Bulg into its back to support herself, sparking an immediate reaction from the Behemoth. It started bucking around in an attempt to get Sandra off of its back, going in various directions to swing her off of itself. Sandra stayed in place, holding onto Gae Bulg, which started releasing flames at the point of the spear causing pain for the Behemoth. She looked forward noticing Retribution stabbed onto its back at a distance from her.
"Great, now I'm a maid."
Sandra said aloud as she ran upwards, dragging Gae Bulg along with her, creating a long flaming slash running along the Behemoth's back causing a bellow to escape its mouth. She then yanked Retribution outside from the Behemoth, then noticed it aside in the direction of Daniel. After catching Retribution, he sent Sandra a kind thumbs up, which she responded to using a simple role of her eyes and leaped off the Behemoth.
She landed next to Daniel resting the spear on her shoulder as the Behemoth ran forward before it made a sudden turn with the intent of trying again.
"Well, do you have any idea about how to deal with this thing?"
"I've got one. Are you alright with it?"
"Well, at least you can handle yourself in a fight. Outside, you're kind of a pain in the ass."
"I believe that's the nicest that you've said to me yet."
"Shove it," Sandra sighed before turning to him. "What's the plan?"
"Alright, here it is."
Daniel explained the idea to Sandra as she watched the Behemoth starting to get into a position to charge once again.
"That sounds like a good idea. Fine, we'll go with that, Bumper."
"Thanks, but my name's Daniel," he said before starting to turn toward the Behemoth. "It's fine if you don't want to refer to me by my actual name and continue calling me Bumper, but Hunter is a little insecure about being called a Mute. So, can you at least refer to him by his real name?"
"Whatever."
Sandra merely replied as Daniel turned and started to approach the Behemoth, reaching inside his pouch and pulling out several shells that he loaded into Retribution. After letting a light breath escape from his mouth, he rushed at the approaching Behemoth, firing a blast aimed at its forehead sparking a reaction out of the Grimm. It continued charging for Daniel who continued charging for it fearlessly.
"If anything, I'm not dying to a bull of all things."
Daniel declared as he continued rushing at the Behemoth, jumping up and slashing at its side, causing the Grimm to focus all its attention on him as Sandra walked to the others.
"Did Daniel say anything about a plan?"
Alyssa questioned as Sandra arrived in front of her and Hunter who examined the arrows he had left.
"He wants you to get the Behemoth to kneel and I'll handle the last part. And Mute," Sandra said before looking at the expression that he made and sighed. "I mean, Hunter, can you distract it first?"
In response to that, Hunter nodded his head in agreement, before the three of them started moving into position. As Daniel slashed at the Behemoth again and fired off the last shot at the Behemoth, he opened it causing the smoking shells to be ejected from Retribution. He then ran for the Behemoth, forming a runic array underneath his foot before jumping up, landing on top of its mouth. Reacting to this, the Behemoth started bucking around to shake him off, and soon enough, it launched Daniel high into the air by launching its head up as hard as possible into the air.
"Alright, let's do this."
Despite being launched into the air, Daniel reached into his pocket pulling out a black shell different from the others he used before.
At the same time, Hunter started firing off red arrows around the Behemoth, causing a series of explosions creating a dust cloud around it. Noticing this, the Behemoth began looking around in an attempt to locate them and soon felt an impact aimed at its front legs. Alyssa was under the Behemoth's front left leg, both her arms shining a golden light as she released a purple wave from Gwyn Ddraig, caused by the gravity dust crystal in it.
She then moved onto the right leg, performing the same maneuver that she did on the left, forcing the Behemoth to its knees. She moved before it fell to the ground, allowing Sandra to perform her part of the plan. Lastly, Sandra had rushed for the Behemoth from behind spinning around her flaming Gae Bulg, slashing at the weakest part of its left and right legs; causing the Grimm to fall on the ground in a helpless position.
"Alright, now it's time for him to do his part. Mister Bumper."
In the air, Daniel formed a series of black runes underneath his foot, which kept him in place in the air right above the Behemoth's head. All the runes soon vanished, causing him to fall toward the ground, the runes of Retribution started shining with a bright purple light. After positioning Retribution above his head, he pulled the trigger causing a darkish-purple blast with a powerful recoil, which pushed him faster toward the ground. Daniel caused himself to spin forward multiple times, creating more momentum for his next swing.
"Raaaah!"
Once Daniel was close to reaching the Behemoth, he let out a loud battle cry from his mouth as he brought down his sword for a strong swing, which sliced off the Grimm's head.
"Jackpot."
As Daniel landed on the ground, resting Retribution rest on his shoulders, he said that phrase wearing a smirk on his face. At the same time, the Behemoth's head landed on the ground, both it and the rest started to vanish in black smoke as a breath of relief escaped from their mouths.
"Jackpot? Really?"
Sandra asked as she glanced in his direction.
"What," Daniel said as he put Retribution in an inactive state. "I couldn't think of a more perfect word to describe that final strike. But, I couldn't do that if it wasn't for you all."
"You're welcome."
Alyssa said smiling a little as Hunter did the same thing, but did a thumbs up to reiterate Alyssa's words.
"Well, I have to admit that it was a good idea. But, this is the last time that I'll ever be working with you, Bumper. I don't think that I can handle dealing with you for four years."
"Well, it was great working with you too, Red Lancer."
In response to his comment, Sandra glared in his direction as all four of them started heading towards Beacon Cliff in a more relaxed fashion for the first couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, standing on top of watching the three fights that the three separate groups of four upcoming students were Glynda and Ozpin. Glynda stared at her tablet slightly surprised about the actions that all the students took against three Grimm neither of them would have been able to take on alone.
"See, Glynda," Ozpin said first before Glynda could utter a word. "Even if none of them known one another for all that long, each of them was able to perform well enough as a team."
"I can see what you mean about them, Professor Ozpin, but they still have a long way to go before either of them can be called genuine Huntsmen. A lot of their actions though justified was still a little reckless and could've lost their lives if something went wrong."
"Isn't that the reason that they're entering Beacon to learn more about their skills and abilities to become better in the upcoming years," Ozpin added smiling a little for the first time. "Though, I believe that a major part of them all being able to take on the Death Stalker, Nevermore, and Behemoth was due to one particular person from each group don't you think."
"I just hope that they can handle the responsibility."
Both huntsmen and instructor gave their thoughts before leaving to attend to further business.
Some time passed as the upcoming students entering Beacon managed to arrive at the Beacon Cliff after getting their relics. Returning to the cliff, Daniel's group found the others already at the assigned location waiting for them. All of them (Sandra to a lesser extent) were ecstatic to see that they managed to return practically without injuries after their respective encounters with the large Grimm.
Moments later, all the students were picked up and brought back to Beacon where the final part of their trail was ahead of them. All of them gathered inside of the auditorium filled with second, third, and fourth-year students in addition to instructors; watching as their underclassmen and future students came onto the stage and were assigned to their teams based on their chosen relics. The next students who came up were four tall male teens dressed in the armor of some kind as they stood in front of Ozpin.
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark," Ozpin called out to the group of tall male teens on the stage of the auditorium as their photos appeared on the monitors. "All four of you have retrieved the black bishop piece. And so, from this day forth, you'll work together as Team CRDL, led by…Cardin Winchester."
The audience started cheering as the Team CRDL was formed, before the next students all composed of Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren stepped onto the stage in front of Ozpin. The same as before, all their photos appeared onto the monitors as the four stood beside one another.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. All four of you who retrieved the white rook piece will from this day forth work together as Team JNPR," in response to that Nora laughed and began hugging Ren who seemed to remain stoic about it as Ozpin continued. "Led by…Jaune Arc!"
"Huh? L-Led by…?"
Jaune was surprised that he of all people was assigned to be the team leader and not Pyrrha but said redhead had a bright smile on her face as she playfully hit his shoulder. However, either she used too much strength or Jaune wasn't expecting it as he was knocked on the ground with Pyrrha being surprised about it.
"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long," Ozpin called out as their photos came up onto the monitor. "The four of you who've retrieved the white knight pieces shall this day forth work together as Team RWBY. Led by…Ruby Rose!"
Weiss was visibly surprised about this in addition to Ruby, while Yang was happy for her little sister and wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm so proud of you!"
Yang called out as she hugged Ruby.
"Finally, Daniel Norden. Hunter Upson. Sandra Skye. Alyssa King," Ozpin called out as their photos came on the monitor. "The four of you who've retrieved the white king and queen pieces shall this day forth work together as Team DUSK. Led by…Daniel Norden."
"What?"
"…seriously."
Daniel was stumped about this, at first, but guess that it was due to their fight with the Behemoth. Although, being a team leader wasn't something that he was expecting to happen. Hunter and Alyssa seemed happy that he was chosen to be the leader, but Sandra seemed almost irritated, likely because they were on the very same team as one another. As the entire auditorium started cheering and clapping for the students chosen as a team, with Ozpin smiling at the three teams.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an…interesting year."
[Cheers!]
The freshly christened Team RWBY, JNPR, and DUSK gathered together inside the student lounge located in the dorms where they'd be living. The student lounge was well-furbished with all the things that teenage students would love in addition to proper furniture, a kitchen complete with a sink, and a fridge. The three teams stood around with soda in their hands celebrating the fact that all of them managed to complete their test.
"Let me get this right," Daniel started as he started talking to Team RUBY. "You made a slingshot to launch Ruby into the air where the Nevermore was stuck, then dragged it all the up a cliff using her Crescent Rose and Weiss' glyphs before beheading it. Hahaha, I wished I could've seen that."
"That's pretty insane after hearing it out loud, but that's what happened."
Blake said as she held the soda in her hands.
"But, my little sis….wait, I mean team leader was awesome."
Yang added laughing as she hugged Ruby from the side emphasizing that she was their team leader.
"…."
Hearing that again from Yang caused a discomforting look to form on Weiss' face, which didn't look mad, but it was more disappointing.
"So, how did you guys deal with the Behemoth?"
Pyrrha questioned curiously about how their fight against the Grimm went.
"Well, Hunter here distracted the Behemoth using his arrows. Both Sandra and I, on the other hand, took care of its legs, then Daniel dropped from the air and beheaded it."
Alyssa explained recalling the fighting and how it ended, then Hunter started doing a bunch of signs, which were read by Pyrrha.
'What about you guys?'
"Well, it was a tough fight against the Death Stalker, but due to Jaune's quick thinking, I was able to use Akoúo to cut off its stinger, which landed into its head. And then Nora…."
"Pyrrha launched me into the air and I smashed it in using Magnhild!"
Nora exclaimed as she reenacted what happened, but without her hammer in her hands, causing a light laugh to escape from the mouths of her newly made friends.
"Well, why don't we give one more cheer to the team leaders of Teams RWBY, JNPR, and DUSK?!"
Yang said as she raised her soda into the air as the others started joining into the cheer, while said leaders all started feeling a little abashed about the entire thing.
"Seriously, Yang, you're so embarrassing."
"Come on, sis, you be a little happier. I mean, you should've seen yourself taking charge of everyone there. I can not wait to tell dad about it."
"Ugh, I know that'll be more embarrassing than anything else."
Ruby sighed thinking about what her dad was going to say after hearing that was chosen as the team leader.
"Well, I think that I'll be heading off to bed."
Weiss said as she placed the soda into the trash before turning to face the door leading outside the lounge, but a sudden voice caught her attention.
"Come on, Weiss, we should be celebrating a little more."
"We shouldn't celebrate yet. This is the first step leading into Beacon."
"While I don't share the same opinion as to the princess here. I didn't want to be at the same time as Bumper here. So, I'll be going off sleep."
Sandra said walking outside of the room without waiting for a single response from the people inside of the room, even her partner. Weiss soon followed suit after giving one final look to the people in the room.
"I'll be right back."
Daniel said before he started walking after Weiss who exited the room in an almost rushed fashion.
"Are you alright, Weiss?"
Daniel walked for a couple of minutes before running into Weiss in the halls, hearing his voice caused her to stop walking forward for a moment. She didn't turn around to face him, so he couldn't tell what kind of face she was making at the moment.
"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired from everything that happened during the initiation."
"If this is about not being chosen as a team leader. I know that…."
"I said that I'm just a little tired. I'll be fine in the morning. So, goodnight."
After hearing those words from Weiss, Daniel could tell that she was upset about not being chosen as the leader, but he allowed her to return to her team's room.
"Even though I don't want to. I think that it would be best if I left her alone for now."
Daniel surmised knowing that continuing to pressure her into talking about it would end up as a disaster and that it might be better to talk tomorrow after she thought things through.
"A team leader, huh," Daniel said as he placed his hand on his forehead. "Well, this went in the direction that I didn't want to. Now, what am I going to do next? I can think about it another time."
Daniel surmised as he started going back to the celebration inside of the student lounge.
A/N: Well, this is the end of the next chapter of RWBY – Team DUSK, this was the official formation of all three teams RWBY, JNPR, and DUSK. Although there still seem to be some awkward moments between Daniel and Hunter due to the former being unable to properly communicate with the latter, both seem to have some high esteem for the other. It's a little more difficult between Alyssa and Sandra as the latter is a lot less cooperative in some situations. But, there seems to be some reason for that.
But, when push came to shove Sandra was able to work with them to defeat the Behemoth, however, she wasn't expecting to be on the same team as Daniel and Hunter (more toward the former). Well, there will be a lot of tension between those two for some time. And in the end, Daniel appears to be against being a team leader for some reason, which be explained in further detail in the future.
For future chapters, there will be more of the characters' development whether friendship or romantic.