After a long rather uneventful trek the four arrived at a ruin, several columns in a circle with pedestals within. Standing there bickering was Yang and Weiss.
Yang was holding a lock of hair towards Weiss, the golden strands blackened at the ends, "-hadn't lit the forest on fire! For this alone I should kick your ass!" Her eyes flashed red then back to the gentle lilac, her face had patches of red but not fully crimson with rage.
Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, it seemed this argument had been going on for some time. "I told you, it was an accident!"
"Hi Yang!" Oriole shouted, trying to defuse the argument, given they were the only two here currently they must have become partners. No good would come of constantly fighting, Weiss and Yang didn't get along already and fighting for the next four years wouldn't go well.
"Oh! Ori, I'm surprised it took you so long." Yang perked up at the sight of her baby sister, the two ran towards one another and embraced quickly. "Where's Rubes? Figured you'd find one another."
Oriole looked around in a bit of awkward embarrassment, "Uhhh… things happened and I ended up with Pyrrha as my partner."
"That's cool too." Yang said with a nod, though she was a bit concerned that Oriole got there first, Ruby was usually faster. Maybe her teammate slowed her down? "Ruby will be here soon, I'm sure of it." She gave a bright smile and a second nod.
"Yeah, your sister can take care of herself, don't worry you two!" Daiki called out as he walked up towards the different 'relics', confusion evident in his voice as he got closer but turned to amusement. "Did the Professors really send us out here to recover their giant chess pieces? You think Professor Ozpin or Goodwitch is the better player?"
"Ozpin, obviously." Yang said with a small chuckle.
Daiki gave a small laugh in return and grabbed one of the pieces without really paying attention to what it was, he walked over and stuffed it into Jaune's hoodie pocket, the blonde trying to step back from the other boy. "Keep hold of that, alright? That's proof we passed this test." Leaning in Daiki whispered something in Jaune's ear that caused the blonde to back away quickly with a squawk of concern, his face shifting through multiple emotions, fear, shock, embarrassment, and the like, however Daiki just hopped back with a laugh. "Too easy Jaune..." The others were caught staring at the pair, confused at what had happened.
Oriole was the first to recover before patting Yang on the shoulder as she walked up to one of the pedestals, a golden colored knight chess piece. "This one okay Pyrrha?" She asked as she held it up over towards the older redhead girl.
Pyrrha glanced over at Oriole from her laser-locked focus on Jaune and Daiki for just a moment before giving a small half-hearted smile and nod. "That's fine!"
At that moment a roar suddenly broke the peace, it drew everyone's eyes towards the treeline, weapons flashing as people readied for a fight. A second roar rang out and nearby trees began to shake.
"Uhhh... guys! What is it?!" Jaune's voice cracked as he held his shield in front of him, his sword held amateurishly at his side.
"I don't know! But it sounds big!" Yang called out, crouching down, intending on meeting the charge of whatever was coming towards them halfway, a wild smile on her face as she anticipated the fight coming towards them.
Weiss however looked nervously at Yang, the two had been arguing earlier, and it made Oriole worried about how they would act during the fight...
A massive Ursa burst from the treeline, crushing a large amount of bushes and small trees as it stumbled forwards on its hindlegs, roaring one more time in defiance.
"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" A suddenly human voice cried out from the same direction as the Ursa.
The Ursa suddenly fell forwards with a heavy thud as it hit the ground. Riding on its back was a girl with short red hair wearing a a pink skirt with a black and white shirt, as the Ursa struck the ground she rolled forwards off of its back and popped up into a standing position.
"Awwww... It's broken!" The girl cried out in disappointment before turning and beginning to inspect the large Grimm, going around as if trying to see how it had been hurt, but there were no visible wounds on the Grimm.
A few seconds later a boy with long black hair and a green long shirt came running from the wrecked foliage, eventually leaning on the remains of the Ursa gasping loudly. "Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again!" However as he looked up Nora was already running towards the Relics.
Oriole couldn't help but giggle at the sight, a common reaction it seemed, everyone had the tension sucked out of them by the actions of the girl, who was apparently named Nora.
If anyone looked at Daiki they would have noticed his face was a couple shades darker than normal as blood rushed through his cheeks. "Her again..." He muttered embarrassedly to himself.
"Oooooh!" Ignoring everyone Nora rushed up to one of the Relics and picked it up, beginning to play with it as she sang to herself. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" The whole time she began to make different poses while balancing the Golden Rook on some part of her body.
"Nora!" The boy called out, more forcefully this time, sounding exasperated.
Nora who had continued to play with the Relic having balanced it on her head while continuing to dance snapped to attention and gave a sudden salute. "Coming, Ren!" A quick and seemingly practiced head tilt she dropped the Rook into a waiting hand behind her back and skipped over to Ren with a smile and quick poke to his nose. "Boop!"
"That... that girl was riding an Ursa?! An Alpha Ursa!" Weiss suddenly exclaimed as if breaking out of a stupor, her mouth was hanging open.
"A what now?" Jaune asked, coming out of his own confusion, the last member to do so.
"An Ursa you dolt!" Weiss yelled at him, her annoyance suddenly roaring to the front now that she was no longer stunned, her anger from the argument with Yang didn't seemed to have gone away or been doused by the distraction, instead it found a new target. "What is there to be confused about? Every Huntsman should know the most common variants of Grimm! We are meant to hunt and kill them, how do you not know this?!" Jaune blinked, taken aback by Weiss's sudden outburst. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Yang stepped in, her voice firm but calm.
"Weiss, lay off him, alright? We're all here to learn, and Jaune's still getting the hang of things. No need to be so hard on him," Yang said, stepping between Weiss and Jaune with a reassuring smile.
Weiss's frustration didn't seem to dissipate at Yang's intervention. She crossed her arms, shooting a glare at Jaune. "Well, maybe he should learn faster. We don't have time for incompetence, especially in the field. It can get people hurt, or even end with someone dead, you want to let his ignorance hurt you or someone else, be my guest, but I'd rather not have someone like that watching my back." Weiss hmphed in anger at Yang's interjection.
Jaune's expression fell, the weight of Weiss's words hitting him like a punch to the gut. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, the others had teased him about not being very skilled, in a bit of a friendly way, but Weiss' words pressed down on a sensitive point, he had no idea what he was doing besides wanting to help people.
Oriole watched the exchange with a frown, feeling a pang of sympathy for Jaune. They may not have been the closest, but Oriole couldn't stand seeing someone being berated like that, especially when they were already struggling.
Before anyone else could say anything, a loud crash echoed through the ruins, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Everyone tensed for the second time, readying their weapons as a precaution.
"AGAIN?! Are you serious!" Yang called out in her own frustration, her hair shifting to a brilliant glowing golden as her eyes flickered between their usual gentle lilac and a bloody crimson.
"AHHHHH!" Came a scream that was almost instantly recognized by Oriole and Yang. "OOOF! OOOOWWWWIE!"
"Ruby!" Yang rushed towards the sound, with Oriole just a fraction of a second behind as both left with loud BOOMS as Yang fired her Ember Celica behind her and Oriole released a powerful burst of Aura from her feet. The others stood in shock at the sudden departure of the two.
Just beyond the brush Oriole and Yang found Ruby tangled up in a thorn bush, her cape having caught on a branch it seemed while she was running, a broken tree behind her, the cause of the loud crash from before. Standing over her with a mix of amusement and disapproval was Blake, a sword in her hand as she was cutting pieces of the thorn bush. Ruby looked like she was on the verge of tears as she tried to get out of the thorn bush but her clothes were snagged from all directions holding her in place.
"Ruby, what in the world happened?" Yang asked, her voice a mix of amusement and concern as she approached her sister.
Ruby's cheeks flushed bright red, embarrassment evident on her face as she struggled against the thorns. "I-I tripped over a root and then my cape got caught, and now I'm stuck," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the foliage surrounding her.
Oriole couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, though she quickly composed herself when she noticed Ruby's distress. "Hang on, Ruby, we'll get you out of there," she reassured her, stepping closer to assess the situation.
Blake, who had been diligently cutting away at the thorn bush, spared a glance in their direction. "She somehow managed to stumble into the thorniest bush in the entire forest," she explained, her tone dry but tinged with amusement. "It's like she has a talent for finding trouble."
Together, Yang, Oriole, and Blake worked to carefully untangle Ruby from the thorn bush, taking their time to avoid causing her any more discomfort. The bush might as well have been alive, it felt like every time they made progress Ruby would end up further inside of the bush. It was a slow frustrating process, the thorns stubbornly clinging to her clothes and cape, but with each careful tug and slice, they made a small amount of progress, slowly but surely they were getting her free.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally managed to free Ruby from her leafy prison. She stumbled forward, her arms flailing slightly as she regained her balance, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassment.
"Thanks, guys," Ruby said, her voice filled with gratitude as she brushed off her clothes, trying to regain some semblance of dignity.
Yang grinned, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders. "No problem, Rubes." Giving a shake she laughed a bit. "Just try not to land in anymore thorn bushes yeah?"
Ruby grumbled something under her breath that none of them could hear as she looked down and away from the three of them, now that she was free the embarrassment of somehow tripping, crashing through a tree, then landing in a thorn bush was taking hold of her.
The four pushed through the last bit of foilage to reenter the clearing around the ruins that held the Relics. The group hadn't dispered despite the fact they had all gathered their relics, Nora and Ren were standing off to one side speaking quietly, well, Ren was speaking quietly Nora was exclaiming loudly every response, it seemed to be mostly small talk about their future at the school. Weiss however was facing down Pyrrha, Daiki, and Jaune, her face red, clearly things had boiled over while they were gone.
"Weiss, come on, give him a break," Pyrrha interjected, her voice gentle but firm as she stepped forward to stand between Jaune and Weiss. "Jaune is still learning, just like the rest of us. We all have areas where we need improvement."
Daiki nodded in agreement, his expression much less serious than everyone else's as he glanced between Weiss and Jaune. "Come on beautiful, relax a bit. We're all here to support each other, not tear each other down."
Weiss crossed her arms, her gaze icy as she glared at Jaune. "I'm not tearing him down, I'm holding him accountable. As future Huntsmen and Huntresses, we need to be prepared for anything. Ignorance is not an excuse, especially in the field."
Jaune shifted uncomfortably under Weiss's intense scrutiny, he knew he had a lot to learn, but being called out repeatedly like this in front of the group only served to magnify his insecurities.
Ren, who had been quietly observing the exchange from the sidelines, finally spoke up, his voice calm but authoritative as he addressed Nora beside him. "Nora, do you mind giving me a moment?" he asked, gesturing towards the ongoing argument.
Nora pouted slightly but acquiesced, skipping away from Ren to join the Oriole and the others rejoining the group. "Alright, Ren, but only because you asked so nicely!" she chirped, her attention already drifting back to playing with the relic she had been picked up earlier.
With Nora gone, Ren approached the group, his presence commanding attention as he stepped between Weiss and Jaune. "Miss Weiss, I understand your concern, but there's no need to be so harsh. Jaune is doing his best, and we should be supporting him, not belittling him. We are all students here at Beacon, not all of us have the same starting point, but we will need to work together to graduate and serve properly as Huntsmen."
Weiss bristled at Ren's reprimand, but she couldn't deny the truth in his words, instead she hmphed and turned away, walking towards Yang. "And where have you been for the last ten minutes?!"
"Listen Princess, you aren't my boss! I was helping get my sister, not that you would know what that's like!" Yang snapped in sudden anger at Weiss who wanted to try and pick fights with everyone right now.
However the jab from Yang caused Weiss' anger to suddenly crumple, her face fell instantly going from red to more white than her dress, closing her eyes tightly as she looked away. "I... let's just go back..."
Yang gave a sigh and turned to Ruby and Blake with a forced smile. "Go ahead and get your Relic and we can all go back to the Cliffs..."
Blake and Ruby went over to the Relics and claimed one of them. "Ready!" Ruby called out with a small awkward smile, Weiss still looked like someone had ripped her heart out but she had been trying to pick fights with everyone there.
"Okay guys! Let's head back to the Cliffs, then we can take a shower!" Yang called out, drawing the attention of everyone else as they all grouped up and began to walk back into the forest towards the cliffs in the distance, they were moving at a leisurely pace, no rush to head back.
However the atmosphere of the group was poor, Weiss seemed to have fallen within her own mind, Nora and Ren mostly stayed to themselves. Jaune, Daiki, and Pyrrha were walking as a group and trying to chat but Jaune seemed to have lost his will to even walk if it wasn't for their encouragement. Blake walked a bit away from everyone else as if she didn't like being part of a group. The three sisters looked at the group while they walked and each felt awkward for different reasons.
Yang had argued with Weiss first, which caused her to have friction with Jaune, Daiki, and Pyrrha, then she seemingly had stabbed Weiss in the heart metaphorically.
Ruby had arrived late to the group and had made an embarrassing arrival, crashing and getting stuck, then she was instantly thrown into another argument with Weiss that Yang ended instantly.
"Ummm... Yang."
"What's up Ori?" Yang asked with some confusion in her voice.
"You should apologize to Weiss, you guys are partners, you can't hate each other for the next four years..." Oriole said with hesitation, while they had fought they could probably get past it.
"Yeah... I know..." Yang admitted with a sigh, shaking her head. "But I'm not going to... yet."
Oriole grabbed onto Yang's arm, causing both of them to stop. "Why not?"
"It wouldn't be genuine, duh... I'm still angry too." Yang flicked Oriole in the forehead sharply making her little sister let go in surprise. Sometimes she forgot that Yang wasn't as much of an hotheaded airhead as she seemed on the surface. "Gimme a couple days, jeez." Yang laughed softly, it was a bit forced this time around.
Oriole nodded slowly, understanding her older sister's thoughts. "Okay, but don't let it simmer too long, alright? It's not good for either of you."
Yang gave a small smile at Oriole's concern. "Thanks, Ori. I'll try to work things out with Weiss soon." She ruffled Oriole's hair affectionately before they resumed walking with the group.