Chapter 3: The Team's Formation.
Within the Emerald Forest, Weiss and Ruby were still walking and not getting too far. This of course annoyed Weiss, and had caused her to blame some on Ruby.
"Ugh! This is taking forever! I refuse to get a bad grade all because you're too slow, Ruby!"
Suddenly a blur of red flashed by Weiss and a very angry Ruby was now glaring at Weiss.
"I'm NOT too slow! I'm the fastest person you can possibly meet, remember?! You're just too annoying!"
Weiss's eyes widened in shock.
"A-a-annoying?! How dare you say that to me!"
"How dare you assume that I'm slow!"
With a major huff, Ruby disappeared in a burst of rose petals, as Weiss began to gulp in anxiety as bad memories of being neglected by her father and parents whenever they walked away in a huff began to resurface. Her heart began to race as she felt her fear spike up again.
"R-Ruby?! R-Ruby?!" Grows sounded from the trees and bushes nearby, smelling the fear and loneliness from Weiss. A whole pack of Grimm appeared as Weiss really began to panic. "Ruby!"
Unable to see any other alternative, Weiss pulled out her multi dust action rapier, Myrtenaster, out from her side and tried to calm herself as she sent a trail of fire dust towards one of the Grimm. However this plan of action was "Backfired" when Ruby appeared out of a burst of rose petals and struck down the Grimm, as the flames were redirected to a tree. With a yelp, the leading Beowulf slashed Ruby and caused her to fly back into Weiss.
As the two then argued and bickered Aoihi was watching from the screen from his scroll as he saw them retreating from the forest fire that had just started by them.
"Oh! Dang!" He said as he breathed some from the laughter he had. "By the Brothers! Those two are seriously talented to mess up THAT badly!" He began to laugh again as Ozpin and Glynda chuckled in amusement too.
"I suppose that you have a point, Aoihi. Not even you messed up THAT badly. Even as a 10 year old, and unofficially apart of Beacon."
A smirk crept onto Aoihi's face.
"Ssshhh. Silent on the secret please, Glynda." Aoihi soon relayed to his mother figure in Beacon Academy. "No need to reveal that I've actually been trained for SEVEN years by Ozpin. Not yet anyway. For I'm certain that many Beacon Students would be jealous of me getting such special training for 7 years. I mean, seriously! No need to let them know that I can presently stand toe to toe with the top huntsmen out there as of now."
Glynda chuckled at this with a genuine smile as she then looked at her scroll tablet again.
"Hmm… looks like all the teams are formed now. Though I feel bad for Lie Ren and Pyrrha Nikos. Ren must have a hard time getting alone with Ms Valkyrie. Not to mention Pyrrha Nikos having to be stuck with a boy that's clearly not ready for this level of combat."
"Give it time, Glynda." Aoihi soon uttered in a neutral tone. "That boy in the blonde hair might be… um… inexperienced. But he's paired with a very capable first year student. From what I'm seeing from my screens is that she's trying to help him, and doing without hesitation. Much like you and Ozpin when our dear headmaster first introduced you to me. He'll show improvement yet."
This reply from Aoihi was given a nod from Glynda as she remembered how weak and scared Aoihi was at 10 years old. True, it was still a 10 year old, but since then and the 7 years that passed from then, Aoihi's now at a point where he can fight amongst even the top Huntsmen at age 17. With this knowledge she can't help but give Jaune Arc a chance.
"I suppose you make a fair point, Aoihi. Considering you picked up the lessons quickly as a 10 year old and were doing quite well for your age and point back then, I suppose we'll see soon enough if Jaune has what it takes to progress towards becoming better than he is now."
"Regardless, they should be reaching the temple in a few minutes now." Aoihi remarked again, before looking at Ozpin with an expression of curiosity. "Hey! Ozpin! What did you use for the relics this year?"
Ozpin only gave a grin in reply as he continued on to watch Weiss and Ruby from his scroll tablet.
Pacing back and forth, Weiss continued to try to lead the way, as Ruby sat down in fustration.
"Okay! It's definitely this way!" The rich girl in white hair remarked, before turning back. "Or uh… is it THIS way?"
Ruby began to scowl before letting out a frustrated scream.
"ARGH! Shut up already and just face it that you have NO idea where we're going!"
Weiss huffed indignantly.
"I DO know where we're going! We're heading to the ruins of the old temple where the relics lie!"
Ruby's fustration only grew more.
"Ugh! Darn it, Weiss! Aoihi is definitely right about you! You ARE a dingus! A bossy! Rude, stuck up, arrogant, princess-want-to-be dingus!"
This caused Weiss to freeze far more than any ice.
"How dare you say that to me! Stop being so childish!"
"Says the bratty idiot before me!" Ruby fired back. "Stop trying to pretend you're perfect!"
"I'm NOT perfect!" Weiss soon bellowed back. "At least, not yet. I am LEAGUES higher than EVERYONE here!"
Hearing this from Ozpin's scroll, Aoihi could only snigger in amusement.
"In your dreams, Weiss Schnee." The 17 year old in blue remarked in amusement. "Maybe in a few years from now, but certainly not in your first year."
Ozpin and Glynda had to snigger too.
Back with Blake and Yang, the two had finally made it to some form of ruins. They both gazed at it as Yang spoke to her partner.
"Think this is it?"
Blake only shrugged in reply as she led the way down to the stone structure below. Yang followed behind and they soon got to a circle of pedestals with small objects on them. Blake inspected them more closely as her partner did the same.
"Chess pieces?"
"Looks like some are missing." Yang remarked to her partner. "It seems we aren't the first ones here."
"I guess we should pick one then." Blake replied as Yang soon made her choice.
"How about a cute little pony, Blake?! You won't be FOAL-ing about with that!"
Blake scoffed in amusement and rolled her eyes.
"Sure." She replied with a small smirk. However it ended with what they heard next.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
"Whoa!" Yang exclaimed. "Sounds like a girl is screaming in trouble!"
"Oh dear." Blake replied in worry as then the sound of a loud raven screach was heard over head along with something else.
"INCOMING!"
Before she could land, Ruby Rose who had hitched a ride on a Nevermore, was sent into the nearest tree branch by a flying Jaune Arc. It was then that Yang realized IT.
"Oh. Nevermind! I guess that was ACTUALLY that blonde boy who vomited in that airship that brought us to Beacon in the first place. Oh well, at least he saved my sister from a nasty fall."
"By colliding with her!" Blake exclaimed!
"Hey! It could be worse!" Yang replied as suddenly a loud growl of an Ursa was heard and from it, came Nora and Ren, who were riding it. As Nora dashed over and grabbed a white rook chess piece from the pedestal it was on.
"Okay! That girl just rode in on an Ursa." Blake stated flatly. "Can it get any weirder?"
With a massive crash, Pyrrha came dashing in with a deathstalker on her tail. Ruby, who saw the entire scene from the tree she and Jaune were stuck in, jumped to the ground safely as she landed next to Yang.
"Ruby!"
"Yang!"
"Nora!" Nora interrupted the half sisters's interaction as she randomly appeared between them. THIS was where Yang had enough.
"ARGH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE PLEASE CHILL OUT FOR JUST A FEW SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING ELSE CRAZY HAPPENS?!"
"Easy sis! Easy!" Ruby remarked to her sister before another voice cried out.
"RUBY! YOU DOLT!"
"Oh dear." Ruby remarked in worry, before getting her sister's attention. "Um Yang…"
She then pointed towards the sky and at the Nevermore she hitched a ride on, and there, hanging at the claws was Weiss.
"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME!" Weiss cried in fright, as she dangled from the Nevermore's claw.
"I said jump!" Ruby replied to her partner as Blake sighed and shook her head.
"She's going to fall." She stated bluntly.
"She'll be fine." Ruby replied, dropping her worry too soon.
"She's falling." Ren finally stated as Weiss fell from the sky.
Luckily, Jaune did react and successfully broke Weiss's fall, but failed to do so gracefully in his arms, as he too soon fell front first and landed on the ground, and Weiss landing on his back.
"My hero." Weiss stated sarcastically.
"My back." Jaune whimpered in pain.
At this point Aoihi facepalmed at the sight of all of this, not looking too impressed.
Soon, the deathstalker tossed Pyrrha to the ground in front of Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora and Ruby as Yang began to speak sarcastically.
"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can all die together!"
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby stated in determination as she soon charged at the Deathstalker.
Attempting to fight the deathstalker, Ruby swung Crescent Rose at it, but to only have the strike deflected. Attempting to run back to regroup the Nevermore began to give chase too. Yang saw this and began to run towards her sister. Unfortunately the giant bird Grimm fired its feathers and one of them caught Ruby's cloak. Yang was also stopped by the feathers and her worry for her younger sister only rose.
"Ruby! Get out of there!"
"I'm trying!" Ruby cried back, her cloak stuck pretty good.
Presently the deathstalker came closer, and Ruby winced in fear. However a flash of white zoomed past Yang and released some ice dust from her rapier, stopping the deathstalker with a wall of ice.
"You are so childish!" Weiss scolded to Ruby as the silver eyed girl in red looked at Weiss meekly. "Not to mention dimwitted, hyperactive, and don't get me started on how much work your fighting needs. However…" She then continued, "I suppose I can be a bit difficult. But if we're going to do this, we're going to need to do it together. So if you can quit trying to show off, I'll be nicer."
"I wasn't trying to show off, Weiss. I just want you to know that I can do this."
Weiss sighed at Ruby's reply.
"You're fine." She said in a slightly kinder tone as she walked towards the others.
After getting free, Ruby grunted as Yang ran over and gave her a bear hug.
"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Yang said with relief as they returned to the other six.
Upon arriving back, Jaune whimpered as he saw the nevermore circling within the sky.
"Uh guys! That big bad bird is circling back! What are we going to do?!"
Weiss, as much as she would like to slap or shout at Jaune, knew the situation at have is too great.
"Look! There's no sense in dilly dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."
"She's right." Ruby replied to further support Weiss. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There is no point in fighting these things."
Jaune understood very quickly.
"Okay! Run and live! That is an idea I can get behind!"
As Ruby and Jaune got their chess pieces, the Deathstalker began to break free of its icy prison.
"Time to go!" Lie Ren exclamation, prompting the other 7 to start running.
As the 8 teens began to run towards the cliffs, Aoihi began to speculate and speak his opinions.
"While personally, I would be displeased and angered with people running instead of fighting, I can help but only be glad that these 8 know their capabilities and limits. True, they are running instead of fighting, however, drawing Grimm away from innocent lives is another tactic I can get behind."
"Very wise words, Aoihi." Ozpin remarked as he heard Aoihi's words. "However, whether they run or not they will need to fight."
And of course, Ozpin was correct. The Nevermore beat them first while the Deathstalker caught up. With Ren's request, Nora distracted the Nevermore with grenades from her grenade launcher. Blake and Ren saved her from the Deathstalker as they continued on their way. Unfortunately, with the nevermore destroying the bridge, the 8 were separated from each other, as Nora devised a "plan" to get her and Jaune to side with Ren and Pyrrha. It did work, but not without Blake, almost falling to her death, before she used her shadow semblance and attempt to fight the nevermore, LITERALLY, face to face. This did fail, but it did giver her enough information on it, as she landed on the side with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang.
"That bird is tougher than it looks!" She stated as Yang loaded up Ember-Celia. At this point all four switched to ranged dust attacks in hopes of dealing with the Nevermore.
As the Nevermore continued to wreak more of the ruins they were at, Ruby saw Blake use Gambot-Shroud in its grappling hook mode. THIS gave her an idea.
"Weiss! Cover me! I got an idea!"
As the fight continued, Ozpin, Aoihi, and Glynda watched from their tablet scrolls and were amazed at how Jaune was leading Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora.
"Wow! He's actually done a great job with leading for that death stalker's defeat! I knew he'll have some potential, but dang! That's actually clever!"
"Indeed, Aoihi!" Glynda replied with a smile. "Perhaps I was too hard on Jaune Arc. True, his fighting style needs refinement, but he certainly did a good job leading."
"I have to concur on that." Ozpin said with a smile. "I'll DEFINITELY make Jaune a leader in his own team."
However what they saw next blew their minds, as Blake, Yang, Weiss and Ruby worked together to make a slingshot to launch Ruby to the nevermore. As they saw this and Ruby running on the face of the nearby cliff, with help from Weiss's glyphs. As she then beheaded the Nevermore, Aoihi looked at this team of four teens and smiled, as did Ozpin and Glynda.
"Looks like this team will go very far." Ozpin remarked as Glynda and Aoihi can only nod in reply.
Some time later, everyone was back at the amphitheater, where Ozpin was announcing the newest first year teams.
"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, the four of you will work together as team CRDL, lead by Cardin Winchester."
The crowd clapped as Ozpin announced the next team.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you'll work together as team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."
Jaune was stunned to hear that he would be leading JNPR. As a friendly gesture, Pyrrha playfully punched Jaune in the shoulder, however he fell, much to her embarrassment. It was then time for Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang to come up to have their team announced.
"And Finally, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xio Long. The four of you have retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you shall be known as…"
"Ozpin!" Glynda soon cut in. "I apologize for interrupting you, but there's something important I must say to you now!"
Ozpin glanced at Glynda with an expression of curiosity.
"What is it Glynda?"
"Aoihi wants to join the team that Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xio Long are on." Gasps of surprise sounded in the crowd as Ozpin looked on with equal surprise.
"Is that so?" He murmured. "My Ward must find this team very much filled with potential if he wishes to join."
"Well. Considering that they took down a nevermore," Glynda soon commented, "I'm actually not surprised. It's ACTUALLY very rare for new first year students to take down a nevermore during initiation. For that to happen, they must have a great amount of potential." Ozpin nodded thoughtfully.
"Hmm… I guess I could make an arrangement on that." He then added Aoihi's picture to the screen as Aoihi soon stepped onto the stage. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xio Long, and Aoihi Moeruhi, the five of you will now work together from this day forward as team RWBYA, led by Ruby Rose."
The crowd clapped and cheered, as Yang and Ruby hugged in celebration. However, as he smiled softly and took in the smiles of Ruby, Yang, and Blake, a frown of concern curved into his face, as he noticed the expression of disdain on Weiss's face. He KNEW that can only mean one thing.
"Weiss was clearly hoping to be leader." He stated in his thoughts. "I better keep a close eye on that Schnee. For if she isn't reminded that she's just a student here, results will not be good."
Flashes of a sadistic grin from a man with white hair and a mustache came into Aoihi's mind as he gave Weiss a stern look. He wasn't going to let her get her way THAT easily.