A/N: Partnerships are made, and teams are determined to be made. Patrick is certainly enjoying his time being Marlene's partner...He says he prefers to be alone, but I sometimes think he wants to be paired with someone like Akira. An honor full of calm seriousness and a sense of honor.
Anyways, the quest in the Emerald Forest continues. How far are the students gonna get to acquire their 'relics' and reach their goal before the Grimm overwhelms them?
Chapter 7: The Emerald Forest Part II
Akira and Selena arrived at the entrance of a cave. "Think this might be the way?" Akira asks.
"It has to be. We cannot cross the river." Selena says.
"If there weren't Grimm inside, we would be able to cross it," Akira says as she enters the cave. And Selena follows.
The cave is dark, and Akira doesn't have the Night Vision to be able to see like most Faunus. What Selena does is she uses her staff and the Fire Crystal it contains to light their way. The cave is long and scary, scary for Selena at least.
"I don't think this is the right way," Akira says.
"Well, we have to get to the temple somehow. Unless you have a Semblance to fly or teleport us over there." Selena says. Akira suddenly stops. Selena kept going for a few feet then stops noticing her partner. "What's wrong?"
"Shhh," Akira says nothing else.
Selena just feels confused. "I-I only meant it as a joke-"
"Shh. Quiet." Akira's Fox Ears twitch as she listens deeply. Akira looks around as far as she can see. She then looks up and looks surprised. Selena, much to her curiosity, looks right up. Even raised her staff to get a better view of the darkness. Only she had wished she didn't.
Grimm Bats, Screechers, cover the whole ceiling. The sleeping creatures of Grimm taking the form of one of the scariest animals in the world. Selena's about to scream, only Akira caught on how she's gonna react and quickly covered her mouth and shush at her.
Few of the Screechers start to awaken. One of them already has but is still half asleep. "Don't. Scream." Akira warns Selena in a whisper. "Don't. Panic. Grimm reacts to our negativity. Stay. Calm."
Selena and Akira keep their eyes on the Screechers. Selena does her best to keep calm. The longer the Screecher remains unchanged, the harder it becomes for her to do so.
After about a minute, the Screecher finally calms down and returns to slumber. Even Selena calms as she releases a silent relief sigh. Akira gestures for them to continue onward, slowly, and Selena nods in agreement.
Back at the river, Peter and his partner, Earnest, are trying to find a way to make it through. Peter tosses a rock in and the Piranha Grimm jumped out of the river snapping their jaws. Peter turns to Earnest. "Any ideas?"
Earnest looks at the trees behind them. He picks the biggest tree that's closest to the river. Then it hits him. Earnest stands in front of the tree, gestures his hands like he's holding something, then pulls like there's a cord. Peter's confused at what he's doing but is even more confused when he hears sounds of a chainsaw starting up. Earnest gestures his hands towards the tree, and the next thing that's happening is that the tree is being cut. Like he's actually using a chainsaw, an invisible one.
A clean-cut was made and the tree starts falling. It crashed over the river, creating a path for them both. Peter is shocked at what just happened. "How...How did you do that?"
Earnest looks at him and speaks...in sign language. 'MY SEMBLANCE IS MIME.' Peter just looks confused, wondering what he's doing now. Then Earnest gives a disappointed look then just moves on ahead. Still shocked, Peter just follows him.
Marlene is still within the ruins of the abandoned temple. Patrick stands on the top of the temple, looking at the world around them in his Light-Blue eyes. Through his Scope Vision, Patrick doesn't see much over the forest. His vision returns to normal and then jumps back into the temple.
"See anything?" Marlene asks.
"No sign of any Grimm, or any of the other students," Patrick says. "Getting back to the cliff shouldn't be much of a struggle."
"Think maybe we should head back, or wait for any of the other students?" Marlene asks.
Just before Patrick can answer, there's a scream that fills their ears. They're on alert. They both analyze the source of the scream, and it sounded like it came from above. Followed by a screeching roar.
"What is that?" Marlene asks.
Patrick sighs and he returns to the top of the temple. Much to his surprise, a giant Nevermoore is coming their way. He activates his Scope Vision and gets a closer view of the Grimm. There, he finds Clawdia and Rayla mounted on the Grimm. Rayla seems to be reining it with steel wires while Clawdia is grabbing the monster by its tail screaming.
"I TOLD MEW THIS IS A CLAW-FUL IDEA! I'M GOING TO BE HISS-TORY! SOMEONE PUT MEOW OUT OF MY MEW-SERY!"
"Dear me. I must apologize for being such discomfort." Rayla shouts, loud enough against the sounds of the wind, at Clawdia.
Patrick just feels disturbed seeing this. "What...are they doing?"
Rayla looks down and notices the Temple below. "It appears this is our stop." Rayla tights the wires and the Nevermoore screeches in agony. Its wings became enclosed and the Grimm Bird falls. Clawdia screams in fear as they fall.
The Grimm crash lands near the temple. The girls appear to be unharmed, well physically in Clawdia's case. Rayla recoils the steel wires and then hops off the Nevermoore. "Smooth as butter."
Once she mentally recovers, Clawdia throws a fit on Rayla. "ARE MEW CRAZY!? That was dangerous riding a Nevermoore to the Temple Ground!" Clawdia lets out an exhausted sigh. "And I thought Peter was reckless."
"But we got where we needed to be," Rayla says with a smile. She then turns to Marlene and Patrick who jump back down to the Temple Grounds. "And it looks like we have guests."
Clawdia's cat ears perk up. "Oh. It's Marlene and...Pet-rick right?"
"It's Patrick!" Patrick says, annoyed.
"That's what I said Pet-rick." Clawdia says.
"Cat puns," Patrick says, under his breath. "Dare I ask what you two were doing?"
"Well, Miss Clawdia was lost in the woods. And together we tried finding our way to the temple, but we still got lost. So I suggested the idea of riding a Giant Nevermoore."
"Which was still a bad idea. I think I lost one of my nine lives." Clawdia says.
"Right," Patrick says. "Anyways, we've got our relic. Good luck with yours."
Patrick and Marlene head out, but Clawdia stops them when her cat ears perked. "Wait..." All of us are confused. Giving her behavior, we figured she could have heard something. "I hear...pretty singing."
"Pretty singing?" Rayla and Marlene asked. Patrick has a feeling what it could be, then it becomes clear once they caught on hearing the singing.
Much to their surprise, a giant Ursa comes walking in, startling the four students. Then they see Akira and Selena, who is singing with her Siren Semblance, riding the monster. The Ursa stops in front of the four of them and Akira and Selena hop off. Selena gestures to the students into striking down the Ursa. Other than Akira, they gladly took it down while it's still possessed.
Selena lets out a relief tiresome sigh. "My Semblance really takes a ton of energy."
"You charmed that Grimm with your singing?" Marlene asks.
Clawdia is so excited. Even her eyes sparkle own. "AAAAAHHHHH! Amazing! Mew have the same Semblance as Elizabeth Akimura! That! Is! So! Paw-some!"
Selena nervously chuckles while rubbing her arm. Patrick just looks at Clawdia a bit annoyed. 'Now I don't blame her for what she's doing.' he says in his thoughts.
Selena nervously laughs at Clawdia's excited comment. "Yeah. That's quite a coincidence."
Akira heads towards the temple. "If we are done chit-chatting, we do have an assignment to complete."
In order to dodge the conversation that might expose her, Selena instantly joins in on Akira's decision. "Oh-oh yes yes. That is right. Professor Ozpin had said we must grab a Relic and return to the cliff." Once Selena takes a look at the relics, she is surprised in a semi-disappointed way. "Chess Pieces? ...I didn't expect this."
"It does seem rather unusual," Akira says in agreement. "No matter. We shall do as the professor instructs." Akira looks over the chess pieces and then picks the Black Queen.
Clawdia looks at the pieces with enthusiasm, until she finally picks the White Knight. "Okay, we have all our relics," Selena says.
"Indeed. Perhaps we shall-" Rayla is shortly interrupted when a Beringel came flying in and crashes against part of the abandoned temple. Everyone is pretty startled at the monster gorilla. The Beringel gets back up almost immediately.
There's a massive shout, and everyone turns to see Peter charging in like a bull. Peter strikes at the Grimm with his battle-ax. Earnest charges in as well and strike at the Grimm, using his Semblance to strike with what gestures to be a medieval frail. Everyone else watches the two of them brawl out against the Grimm.
Once the beast is defeated, they gather with everyone. "Enjoyed the show?" Peter says. "Clawdia. I see you made some friends."
"Are mew saying I can't make Fur-ends?" Clawdia asks.
"Not with your little phase," Peter says.
"It is not a phase! This is how I speak, fur real!" Clawdia says.
Peter just laughs at Clawdias comment, it only provokes her. Then he turned to Patrick. "Hey, it's my old peeping buddy. I see you've got yourself some lovely ladies to enjoy."
Patrick actually snaps, Selena's pretty upset herself. "Oh, that is it! You're a dead man!" Patrick charges in onto Peter, only Akira and Rayla hold him back while Clawdia gets in between the two. Earnest just shook his head while rolling his eyes.
After a long while, Patrick finally manages to calm down. The moment he does, Peter and Earnest go to collect their relic, which is a White Knight.
"All right, let's head back and-" Out of nowhere, a Death Stalker bursts right through the Temple Wall and attacks the group. It screeches and slams its pincers to the ground. Peter and Earnest manage to avoid being hit by the sudden attack. "What the heck!?"
"A Death Stalker?" Clawdia asks. the Death Stalker throws its stinger at us, constantly. But fails to hit them. Clawdia draws out her claws and attacks the Grimm. Seeing his cousin in battle, Peter joins in. Rayla and Earnest don't hesitate to assist their partners in the fight.
"Should we help them?" Marlene asks.
Just before Patrick can answer, another massive Grimm appears right behind them. A giant Goliath. The large monster roars as it stands on its hind legs and stomps that shake the very ground.
"Th-th...That's a b-b-big Grimm." Marlene says, shocked.
Patrick turns to Selena. "Can't you charm that beast?"
"I've never subdued a Grimm that size and my Semblance needs time to restore energy," Selena says.
The Goliath Grimm charges towards the team. Patrick and Marlene shoot a couple of arrows and bullets at it, dust infused even. They do no effect against its thick body. At the last minute, they all dodged out of the way, and the Goliath slams against several trees.
The Death Stalker proves to become a hard fight for Clawdia and her team. The Death Stalker strikes its pincers and its tail. Peter and Earnest, gesturing a shield, hold off the pincers and Rayla climbs up a tree from behind the Death Stalker and uses her wires to coiling around the tail and hold it back. Clawdia jumps on the Death Stalker and strikes with all her power against its armor.
The Death Stalker was held in place for the moment, but it broke three, knocking back Petter and Earnest while sending Rayla flying, and the tail whips at Clawdia.
It only takes a moment for everyone to recover. "Damn. That armor is really tough." Peter says. "Anyone got any ideas?"
Everyone thinks about what to do while dodging the Grimm's attacks. Clawdia observes her opponent the most. The Death Stalker slams its pincers to the ground It also uses its tail to strike at its close-range enemies. Seeing Peter's and Earnest's and even Rayla's battle styles and methods.
Then...Lightbulb. "I've got it." Clawdia turns to Peter. "Peter, do mew still have Earth Dust?" Peter shows the canister of Earth Dust. "Remember what we did to that Boar when we were kittens?"
"Oh, now I see where you're going," Peter says.
Clawdia turns to Rayla. "Rayla, I need mew to coil the tail and pull it back."
Rayla smiles and curtsies. "As you wish, Miss Clawdia." And Clawdia tells Earnest to get into a high position and wait for the final blow. Peter and Rayla move out of the battlefield. The Death Stalker is confused seeing its enemies have vanished.
"Hey ugly!" The Death Stalker turns to Clawdia. "Mew want me?" Clawdia slams her fists together, and her Semblance activates. Creating several Shadow Clones, half a dozen, surrounding her. "Come and get me." Clawdia and her clones run around in all directions.
The Death Stalker aimlessly targets each of the Clawdia's. It slams its pincers at them, most of the dodged. It manages to hit one, and the clone Clawdia dissolves into nothingness. Upon its final slam with its right pincer, Peter acts fast and slams his battle-ax right next to it, the Earth Dust kicking in and ensnaring the pincer into the very earth that appears.
The Death Stalker is annoyed at its pincer being trapped. It's about to unleash its tail upon Clawdia, but Rayla's wires coils around it and she uses all her strength and holds the tail back. The Death Stalker attacks with its free pincer and at the final slam, Peter ensnares it into the earth.
Its pincers trapped, the Death Stalker becomes irritated. The Original Clawdia lands on the Death Stalker's head, taunting it right in its face. The Grimm gets angry and pulls all of its strength into free its tail. Rayla struggles, even with Peter's assistance, to hold it back. Then Clawdia gives the command.
"Now!" Rayla releases its tail, and, like in a sonic boom, it lashes from the ground and slams right onto where Clawdia stands. Only then, Clawdia jumps out at the last second and the stinger pierces onto its armor. Earnest doesn't need an order to know when it's his turn. He jumps right out of the tree, giving off a serious expression as he descends, and, gesturing a heavy mace, slams with all of his power onto the stinger, drilling it even deeper through the Grimm's Armor and its body.
The Death Stalker cries in painful agony, then it dies and fades away. Clawdia cheers in victory. "That was Paw-some!"
That just leaves Patrick's team to handle the Goliath they face. Selena is throwing Firebolts from her stave along with Marlene's attack, her Pistol Shooters merged together into a sniping gun that shoots a powerful Dust-Fusion Beam. Their attacks do no effect on the monster.
Selena struggles to keep up her attack against the Goliath, then finally she gives him and collapses on her knees. The Goliath was able to break through Marlene's attack and comes straight for Selena. Selena panics when she sees the Grimm about to tackle her, then Akira rushes right in front.
"A-Akira!" Akira positions herself, without her weapon. She concentrates, and her Aura starts to glow. Selena is surprised at this. Once the Goliath is only five feet away, the glow flows through Akira's body, leaving only to her hands. Akira draws back her hands together and, with a single thrust, unleashes a massive blast of energy as soon as the Grimm makes contact.
Unfortunately, all it did was staggered the Goliath a bit, and it took a lot of Akira's Energy and most of her Aura. "How do we stop this thing?" Selena asks.
"If only I can use my Weakness Vision," Patrick says. "But my Aura has to be on a critical level to use that vision." Marlene helps Akira stand and moves her out of the way. Patrick throws several arrows at the Grimm to distract it while the others get away. Once it's clear, he moves out of the beast's sight. "Marlene, you're smart. You know how to take on this Grimm?"
"I'm only smart with technologies," Marlene says. "I haven't had much time studying on Grimm."
"Isn't there something about the Goliath you know that could be useful?" Selena asks.
Marlene pokes her head out of hiding to observe the large Grimm. It doesn't appear to have noticed her as she darted back. "From what I know...They have indestructible armor on their faces and bodies...Their tusks are sharp and dangerous...they can flatten anything they step upon."
"Anything on a weak spot?" Akira asks.
Marlene thinks deeper. "I don't know, but I have heard its underbelly is its most vulnerable spot."
"Then that is our best bet." Patrick turns to Akira. "Akira. That ability you did to protect Selena, can you do that again?"
"My Chi Semblance takes a lot of my energy and most of my Aura. I only have enough for one more shot. And against that Grimm, it won't be a powerful as the first." Akira says.
"What if you mix your Semblance with Fire Dust? It might because enough firepower to harm it." Marlene asks. Akira agrees that it might work. Marlene and I each offered a Fire Dust Crystal to Akira.
While the Goliath is looking away, Patrick comes out and gets its attention by shooting a Lightning Arrow at it. The Goliath Grimm roars in rage as it charges towards him. Selena and Marlene come out and they use their weapons powers to slow it down on its charge.
While it's slowly moving, Akira runs in, she slides underneath just before the Goliath stomps its foot. As soon as she's under, Akira acts fast into charging up her Chi. She holds the Fire Dust Crystals in her closed hands. Once she's charged, she unleashes her Chi Blast, which mixed with the Fire Crystal it unleashes a powerful explosion that not only harms the Goliath but also knocks it back.
"Fire!" Marlene, Selena, and Patrick unleash their attacks on the vulnerable underside. And the Goliath Grimm falls...and no sooner so does Akira.
"Akira." Selena helps her sit up, while Marlene checks on her.
"She doesn't appear to be seriously injured, but she does need to rest," Marlene says.
"Well, that's good at least," Patrick says. He turns to see Clawdia's team are approaching.
"Hey there. Mew guys did really well against that Grimm. It was A-Mew-zing!" Clawdia says with excitement.
"Indeed. That was simply splendid." Rayla says.
Right after everyone turns to their destination, a lot has happened. But the next thing they know they are at the auditorium in Beacon. The audience claps and cheers as Ozpin makes the team assignments. The ceremony is long, but at least it gives Akira the time to recover her lost energy.
Finally comes down to the last two teams to form, and the four students approach the stage.
"Peter Kazuto. Rayla Evergreen. Clawdia Stone. And Earnest Midnight. The four of you retrieved the White Knight Pieces. From this day forward, you will work as...team CPER (Copper)" The audience claps for everyone. "Lead by...Clawdia Stone." Clawdia's ears perk up with surprised excitement. "Congratulations." The audience claps for them as they leave the stage.
Then comes the final four students. "Patrick Aki. Akira Rhysenshi. Marlene Watts. And..." Ozpin is hesitant as he looks directly at Selena. the Idol in disguise is nervous at what he might say next. But it's now nothing to worry about. "Sherry Farron." She even sighs with relief. "The four of you retrieved the Black Queen pieces. From this day forth, you will work as...Team PASM (Prism) And the leader will be none other than...Patrick Aki." Now Patrick is surprised to hear that. "Congratulations young man."
"That's amazing. You're the team leader." Marlene says.
"That's quite a responsibility for you," Selena says.
Akira respectfully bows. "My blade will follow you wherever you go."
Patrick is pretty much speechless, he has no words for this. Ozpin smiles. "Looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year."
Once everything starts to settle down, the new teams stick around, congratulating each other on the assignments and for those who are chosen for leadership.
Ozpin remains on stage, he has his eyes trained onto Patrick. But he's not the only one. Glydia approaches beside him and has her eyes trained on the former Mercenary. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Is there something I should be concern about?" Ozpin asks.
"You said so yourself, he retrieved the Black Queen piece. What if he really is one of them?" Glydia says.
"We have dealt with them before..." Ozpin turns his attention back to Patrick. "His connections are indeed accurate, but it's far too soon to jump to conclusions. The pieces are in place, but there are still a few missing...But let's not forget, he is also the brother of the Fall Maiden. He could be the key to turn the tide against her."
Glydia doesn't say anything. She can't deny Ozpin's guidance but still thinks this is a bad idea. "It'll only be a matter of time when he finds himself in a fork of a road...and he'll have to choose."