Roy Rogers wasn't a person who believed in destiny because in his mind everyone had the ability to carve out their own path in life. However, on the off chance that it was real then fate was pulling his leg, his fake one probably, in some attempt to make a sick joke.
Before him was the same boy from the night before initiation. Arthur something or other, he hadn't put much stock in remembering it. Could he pretend they hadn't made eye contact yet?
"Mr. Rogers? Or would you prefer for me to call you Roy?" Arthur had lowered his sword and extended his hand forward.
Damn there goes that idea. Roy met his hand with his own, "Call me Roy, I guess this makes us partners unless-"
"No worries Roy, I haven't made eye contact with anyone else so far." Arthur exclaimed, missing the look of disappointment on Roy's face.
"Well then partner, let's make our way towards the relics, I saw what looked like our destination to the north of here, while I was still in the air. Roy drew out Teach and began to hack his way through the underbrush. "I'll work on clearing us a path for now, can you cover me looking out for the grimm in the meantime?"
"I will devote a hundred percent of my attention to it." Arthur replied with a serious expression.
The flora of the Emerald forest was tough and thick. Roy had only spent a couple minutes hacking and slashing a way through but he was already panting and sweat was starting to collect on his exposed skin.
"At our current rate we'll reach there in about ten minutes." Roy called back to Arthur behind him who had been keeping a vigilant watch around them, his entire body tense as if expecting the grimm to leap and attack from the shadows of the forestry.
It is a little odd that we've not encountered any grimm, the way that the headmaster had explained to the students their mission Roy had at least expected to have fought one or two by now.
/-/
"Arghhh!" It was with incredible effort that Louie hauled himself up the branch of the tree. "Haaaa" he panted. His heart raced both from the physical exertion and the fear that permeated through his system.
He looked at the source of his dismay below him were a dozen or so beowolves clawed at the tree or were circling around it. Some attempted to jump up and snap at him, thankfully he was up simply too high for them to reach.
Stupid Beacon, stupid rules, stupid grimm. Louie knew he wasn't a top notch fighter compared to his peers but, even he'd think that most students wouldn't be a match for this by themselves.
He'd been fortunate that he already started to climb the tree before they had arrived otherwise he might have been the quickest failure in Beacon's history. The thought that he could've died already gave him chills. Now that he was up here though he'd at least use his vantage point to find his destination, which after some quick looking around looked to be down towards the east of him.
He could make out a flat area with a circular ruin like structure in the middle, it stood out glaringly from its surroundings.
Step one. Find the relics. Check. Step two. Getting to the relics, Louie looked down at the beowolves still attempting to climb up the tree to get him. Work in progress.
He'd have to find a way out of this soon. He couldn't kill the grimm beneath him with Apollo, his stave/flamethrower weapon, without accidentally setting fire to the very tree keeping them away from him. Nor could he just wait them out as he imagined that there was a loose time limit for initiation.
He was shaken from his thoughts when he felt the shaking of the tree. He looked back down the beowolves had given up on waiting and climbing and instead were throwing the weight of their bodies into the trunk. They did it tirelessly without a care for injury hellbent on either knocking him out of the tree or eventually uprooting and falling to where he would surely be within their grasp.
Panic started to take hold as he started to blank on how to get out of this predicament. To fall would mean to die, to wait would lead to the same conclusion. He looked to his left and then his right and saw a tree not too far away with an outreaching branch; it was not an ideal jump, but it was one that he could make.
Louie backed up along the path of his current branch outpost setting his feet and lowering his knees. The next thing that happened was bad. Really bad. Maybe it was his nerves or maybe the beowolves pounding from below had struck the tree hard enough to rattle the branches, but one of his steps didn't find purchase and instead pulled his balance from safety to freefall.
Tumbling through the air Louie was in shock, the reality that he was going to die hadn't set in yet. He flipped over to see the wide open gaping maws of the beowolves rushing towards him.
Until suddenly he was hit by a heavy force to his side and strong arms grabbed hold of him as he was carried by their momentum to the ground some distance away from the grimm.
Louie looked up to see his savior. The boy from the cafeteria this morning Mars. Taking in his surroundings he realized that he was currently being held bridal style by the much larger boy.
"Thank you! Thank you" Louie cried.
"No problem, but I haven't saved you just yet" Mars replied as he turned and dashed, the beowolves in hot pursuit.
"Do you have any idea where the relics are?" Mars questioned.
"I saw them over there while I was up in the tree, they appear to be in some type of stone structure." He pointed to the direction of the ruins from earlier.
"Good, that's not too far from here"
"I know it's a little late to ask or maybe not the best time, but do you have a partner yet?" Mars questioned.
"No! Watch out!"
A beowulf had caught up and was matching Mars stride for stride on his left, before in a remarkable feat of balance and athleticism threw Louie up in the air and delivered a vicious haymaker to the face of the lunging beowulf. Sending it tumbling to the side before crashing head first into the tree. Then almost as if it was planned caught Louie in his arms again.
After a less than manly scream, "How did you do that! What if you had dropped me!" Louie yelled.
"I wouldn't you're very small and light." Taking another blow to his already diminishing confidence as result of being carried through the forest like a damsel in distress.
"We need to deal with these grimm. Are there any defensible areas around us?"
"There should be a ridge coming up; we wouldn't have to watch our backs and could fight them head on if we can get to it" Louie replied.
"Alrighty." With that Mars increased his speed jumping over stones and sliding under fallen trees in an attempt to create distance from their pursers.
Until finally they entered a clearing with a large ridge greeting them. Mars finally let Louie out of his arms instead drawing out a large glaive or maybe halberd looking weapon. Louie himself drew out Apollo. They turned and waited; the grimm would be here soon.
"You ranged or close combat?" Mars said to him yet not entirely looking at him, instead focusing instead focusing on the location of the incoming noise of snapping branches, howls, and footsteps.
"More of a ranged combat, I have a flamethrower here."
"Okay I'll front line then and draw their aggro pick off the ones that I get through me".
With that almost conveniently grimm came bursting from the tree line however no longer just beowolves but an assortment of ursa and boarbatusks as well."
The first grimm met an untimely end as Mars' weapon cleaved through the rampaging ursa and with the same swing twisted it around to hit a beowulf with the blunt end bludgeoning its ribcage and sending it flying backwards into a tree dying on impact.
Louie could only watch in awe as he ducked and weaved through the grimm's attacks returning the favor with each hit scoring a kill or crippling them.
So Louie launched himself to the side starting off in a sprint taking aim at the grimm left crippled and slowed. Two beowolves died a fiery death as Apollo burned them alive. A boarbatusk couldn't put out his flames.
An ursa had rushed towards him getting into the range where using a flamethrower would become just as deadly for the user as the opponent. Using his small size to his advantage however he dove through the legs of the beast which had raised up to deliver what would surely be a mighty swipe.
Turning around to look at its back Apollo mecha-shifted into its stave form and he swung with all his strength to the side of the ursa's knee felling it and bringing it head down to his level where he delivered another strike to its skull killing it.
He looked back to his new partner who was efficiently dismantling the oncoming grimm. The grimm that had thought making it into his guard would be better, found out that quickly that Mars' fists were also lethal sheathed in aura they blew through the heads of grimm that got too close. Any grimm that scored a hit found his arm repelling most of the damage recoiling their attacks leaving them open to counters.
A boarbatusk that Mars didn't see was coming up his blindside. Its charge would reach full speed by the time it reached him.
"Watch out!" Louie screamed. Mars wouldn't have enough time to react though. He launched himself forward using the aura in his legs and met the boarbatusk at an angle bringing Apollo up at point blank range he ignited a whole vial of fire dust in the chamber onto the grimm's side.
There was an explosion as Louie felt his aura get rocked and he flew back slamming into the ridge they had used to cover their behinds. His aura shimmered nearly broken. He looked up and smiled though his gamble had paid off; the boarbatusk had also been driven off course and was currently writhing in agony as its own bone plate arm melted onto it.
"Thanks." Mars panted. He had finished up the last of the remaining grimm it seems.
"I hadn't seen that one coming, you saved me from what would no doubt have been a nasty blow." Mars reached down and hauled Louie up to his feet.
"Let's get to the ruins and get outta here shall we".
Back on his feet made to walk, but stumbled a little bit clearly his bearings had been knocked a little bit by the blast.
"Do I need to carry you again?" Mars smirked.
"Absolutely not" Louie quipped back. "I have some semblance of pride to maintain." His eyes narrowed as he glared at the boy, albeit he had to crane his neck upward to see his face. "You will tell no one about that," Louie warned.
/-/
Cutting through the final layers of foliage revealed to Roy the ruins that he had seen earlier and the varying chess pieces inside them.
"Gahhh! Finally." Roy huffed as he fell back down onto the ground drenched in sweat. His right arm burned from the constant swinging motion he had subjected himself to for the past 15 minutes or so.
"Now is no time to rest Roy. I know you're tired, but the quicker we can get those relics the quicker we can get out of here." Arthur lectured him as he came out from behind their man made trail hauling him up and dragging him along until they made it inside the ruins.
Inside they found a bunch of pedestals with chess pieces on top of them. Some pedestals were barren which means other groups had gotten here before them and taken the pieces.
Going up to them Roy went and picked up the white pawn piece.
"Do you mind?" Roy gestured to Arthur with the pawn in his hand.
"Not at all. I've played a lot of chess in my childhood and the pawn is one of my favorites"
"Hmm, why it's the weakest piece on the board and there's more of them than any other?"
"True in a sense, but the pawn has the potential to become any piece if it can reach the other side of the board." Arthur replied. "Kinda, like how we students in a way are pawns that will hopefully reach our full potential and become something greater."
Their musings were interrupted when Roy, thanks to his enhanced hearing, was alerted by the snapping of a twig.
"We've got company," Roy informed Arthur, drawing Sparrow from its holster, loading an ice dust round and aiming at the entrance of the ruins. Arthur in turn drew his sword and waited.
Roy was tense, his finger itching and aching on the trigger as he could hear the steps getting closer.
His whole body slacked and he sighed with relief as he saw the newcomers.
"I know it's been a while, but is the gun really necessary?" He sounded hurt but the smile on his face told Roy that Louie was just as happy to see him as he was to see them.
"Hello there friends." introduced Louie's partner who he remembered as Mars from earlier.
Louie came over to the pedestals and took the only remaining pieces which happened to be another set of pawns.
"So how's your ination been?" Louie asked. "Any trouble?"
"No grimm, surprisingly, I met Arthur here on route."
"No grimm? Lucky I suppose" he scowled. Roy noticed the state of their clothes and surmised that they hadn't been as lucky.
"We came across our fair share of them on the way over, a couple of beowolves, ursa, and boarbatusks" Mars supplied.
"So now that we've passed initiation what are we supposed to do? What for a teacher to come pick us up?" Louie asked.
"That would make the most sense. As I don't see any signs of our peers here"
A sudden crash of rock followed by rounds of gunfire filled the air. The sounds of combat coming from behind the ruins through the forest where Roy had suspected was where another set of relics had been placed.
"It sounds like some of our classmates are in trouble. We should go and assist them" Arthur said. Not really giving them the chance to respond as he started running in the direction of the noise.
"Uhhh! But we already passed initiation and we've earned a break." Louie complained but non the less followed the three.
Roy sprinted through the forest letting his aura protecting from whipping branches and stray roots. Until coming out towards the edge of a cliff and seeing a mini war going on. On the other side of a collapsed bridge he saw other students fighting a combination of an absolutely enormous Deathstalker and Nevermore.
He recognized a couple of them with a glance. The invincible girl Pyrrha Nikos, the SDC heiress Weiss Schnee, little red riding hood, the blonde girl who always stuck around her, vomit boy, and Blake from yesterday.
"Holy Shit they're massive I've never seen grimm so large before" Louie in his usual expressive self added colorfully.
They seemed to be struggling, but not outright losing to the abominations. They might be able to win without their help actually, Roy thought. That was until a third behemoth entered the fray. The preoccupied students would never see it coming but an Ursa Major was coming up from the rear of the gigantic set of ruins the teams were fighting on.
"We have to help them!" Roy said. "They won't be able to handle all three at once." He looked to the rest of the party next to him.
"I agree but how are we to get across?" Arthur questioned. "The bridge has been all but destroyed"
"Huhh" Louie sighed. "I know a way for me to get across." He seemed dismayed but carried on, "I can have Mars throw me across and then do you see that pillar?" He pointed to a large single standing pillar near the edge of the cliff opposite them.
The rest nodded back at him.
"Once I'm across I'll use my remaining fire dust to blow up the base and have it fall across the chasm making a bridge for the rest of you to cross." He said it in a defeated tone. Like the idea of being thrown was something that had already happened.
"Good plan. Mars?" Roy looked to Mars who stowed away his weapon back onto his back for a moment. He nodded then grabbed Louie by the collar of his shirt lifting him up with one hand like one might do with a little puppy. Then backing up to get room for a running start charged forward and swung his arm up and launched Louie airborne.
Roy watched as he saw Louie sail through the air landing on the other side of the ravine. Standing back up and dusting himself off he stumbled over and attached his remaining fire dust to the base of the pillar. The taking out his stave winded up a swing smashing the fire dust vails, sparking them up as they exploded.
Hey was thorn back by his own explosion, his aura shimmering a golden hue. The pillar cracked and groaned before teetering forward, falling towards them landing with a heavy thud, but making the bridge they needed.
Not wasting any time Roy jumped up and sprinted over helping Louie to his feet. "Okay let's move it, we can't let the Ursa Major pincer them from behind." Roy commanded the makeshift team.
They raced up the ruins in pursuit of the climbing Ursa and when Roy reached within range launched an ice round from Sparrow into its back hoping to draw its attention.
Drawing its attention he did as the monstrosity turned and with a roar locked its sight on him. It changed course no longer were his unsuspecting classmates his targets, but himself now.
Charging at him Roy got to realize just how massive the thing was, probably not an ancient grimm nor quite the size of the other two, but much larger than any ursa he'd seen before.
He turned and ran, jumping over a ruin wall and sprinting downwards not daring to look back as he heard the crash and collapse of the stone structure as it barreled straight through easily.
He passed another set of walls.
"Now!" He roared from the sides, hidden Mars and Arthur lunged right when the grimm passed both aiming for the Achilles-tendon of its back legs. Their attacks hit their marks as their weapons cut through grimm flesh effectively hamstring their opponent. Who's momentum carried it forward but no longer aided by its hind legs stumbled and fell rolling forward its eyes and jaws still focused on Roy threatening to swallow him whole.
It nearly succeeded until a blast of fire marred its face blinding it Louie focused it until the behemoth's momentum came to a stop and gave Roy the time needed to create distance.
"We need to kill it quick," Yelled Mars from its flank. Already the Ursa Major was using its front two paws to push itself back up.
"On it!" Arthur screamed. He came up on its side using the fact that it still couldn't see to drive his sword into its neck. It didn't die, instead it thrashed and Arthur who was still holding onto the sword was flung into a ruin wall, his aura shimmering as he slid down coughing clearly very injured from the blow.
"Arthur!" Roy screamed but he couldn't spare the time to go check on his partner; he'd just need to end this quicker. Loading up Sparrow with another dust charge, this time a fire cartridge he ordered, "I need an opening to the face!"
Mars took initiative charging forward into its guard and deflecting a swipe with his weapon reaching close enough he swung it again this time mid swing letting his hands slide down to the end of the shaft giving it more power in the swing. The blade sunk into its upper chest and as a testament to the strength behind it the beach was lifted inch off the ground and careened to the side Roy was on.
The beast made to bellow, but the sword in its neck stopped the sound and Roy only heard a throaty gurgle. Aiming Sparrow at the open jaws fired the round right into its mouth. The round entered and hit the roof of its mouth exploding from the inside.
When the smoke cleared the Ursa major no longer had a head and it thumped on to the ground defeated.
Taking a moment to admire his handy work as it started to dissipate he wandered over to Arthur to help the boy up.
After regrouping Roy assessed the damage, Louie and Arthur were both nearly out of aura. Louie from getting caught in his own explosion and Arthur from getting thrown into the wall.
Despite that Louie looked in a good mood. "Hey, maybe we can be the best in Beacon or even win the Vytal Festival this year."
Roy had thought about it too, he very much doubted that there were many other teams that could do what they just did.
Mars' eyes widened, "Wait what about the other students!".
Roy panicked; they had totally forgotten in the midst of their battle. The four of them raced up the mountain just in time to see the climatic ending of the other fight.
The Nevermore had gotten guillotined and the Deathstalker had gotten crucified. Just like that two ancient grimm killed by first year students like themselves.
"Their monsters." Louie said breathlessly. Roy figured he wasn't talking about the grimm this time.
Maybe the plans to win the Vytal festival would have to be put on hold…. Permanently.
Roy and the rest of the students were picked up by the bullhead shortly after. They were brought back to the auditorium they had spent the night in where all the students who had passed would be arranged into teams.
Roy learned the names of the super students from earlier as the Headmaster called them out.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long will make up team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose." Headmaster Ozpin announced.
That was a lot of repetition of ruby in their Roy thought.
"Next Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie will form team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."
Jaune Arc the vomit kid looked shocked at the revelation. Roy couldn't help but be a little jealous he was on essentially a super team and had Pyrrha Nikos as his partner.
"And finally Roy Rogers, Arthur Tudor, Mars Augustus, and Louie Vermillion are team RVMT, standing for rampant. Led by Roy Rogers."
Roy stood still, he too was in a state of shock when coming to Beacon he had never expected to become the leader of his own team.
"That is all, Miss Goodwitch will now show teams to their dorms." With that the Headmaster walked off the stage leaving the students at the whims of the terrifying woman.
/-/
They had reached their rooms last at the end of the hallway; it seemed all the first years about a dozen teams shared the same wing of the academy.
The rooms were pretty lavish when compared to usual dorms, four beds and a bathroom along with books, a table, and desks for school work.
It was pretty late in the day when Roy had finished packing and when he heard a knock on the door.
He walked over to it and opened it. Standing there were four boys. A large one with red hair, a smaller one with a mohawk, another with long blue hair, and a final boy with combed brown hair. Roy recognized them as team CRDL from earlier.
"Ahh hello there, Cardin was it?" He referred to the large one in front who seemed to take the commanding position in front. Roy believed he was also made leader.
"That's right." Cardin's voice was gruff. "We're here to introduce ourselves, we're in the room across from you." He thumbed behind him to the door on the other side.
"Hello there then neighbors." Roy replied. "The rest of my team has already hit the sack, so I'm afraid we'll have to do this tomorrow, the name's Roy though."
Cardin frowned at this, but understood. They bid goodnight before returning to their own room.
Well they seem nice at least.
Gosh that chapter was much longer than usual. I'm sorry about the infrequent updating, but I've had an incredible workload lately. Hopefully the longer chapter makes up for it. I'm wondering however when I should start diverging from cannon and by how much so if you have any input I'll gladly take it into consideration.