"Wakey wakey, Noellie!" A bright voice chirped. Noel stirred in her sleep, slowly opening her emerald green eyes as Nia stood above her. It was early, that much Noel could tell with little effort. But even despite that, Nia seemed as chipper as ever. "Come on, sleepy head, it's initiation day!"
The energetic Faunus bounced up and down where she stood. Meanwhile, Noel slowly sat up, brushing her long blonde hair out of her eyes. Evidently, she was not a morning person.
"Nia? What time is it?" She mumbled, looking around in a daze. Many other people seemed to be just waking up, and a few others were already ready. One of those people was Orion, who she could see chatting with another boy, who was fixing a sort of cloak around his frame.
"It's time for you to start getting ready." Nia joked, grabbing the shorter girl by her hand and pulling her to her feet. Noel stumbled a bit but managed to stay standing.
"Y-Yeah...okay..." Noel nodded, following after Nia into the locker room. She quickly dressed herself, finishing the ensemble with the beret placed on her head. She hid her long blonde locks beneath it, earning a hum from Nia.
"I kinda thought you just had really short hair yesterday," Nia commented, earning a blush from Noel, who got busy strapping Scarlet and Azure, her dual handguns, to her lower back.
"O-Oh? Sorry about that." Noel muttered, looking apologetic. Nia raised an eyebrow at that.
"You don't need to apologize over that." Nia pointed out with a small laugh, waving her hand in the air dismissively. She held two tonfas in either hand as she did so.
"O-Oh, right." Noel nodded in agreement. Shifting awkwardly where she stood, she turned on her heel and made her way down the corridor with Nia in tow. "So did The Headmaster tell us where to meet?"
"If he did, I didn't hear him, I was just planning to find a group of people and follow them." Nia chirped in reply, her hands behind her head as she walked.
"It's a Cliffside, near the forest," Orion stated, jumping into the conversation, suddenly walking alongside them. "I can lead the way."
Nia laughed. "Did your new friend already get sick of you?"
"I think that guy is already sick of everyone." Orion shot back, earning a wince from Nia.
"Sucks that hunters are placed in teams then. For him, at least." She pointed out, Noel beginning to trail behind them a bit as they walked. She kept her head down, doing her best not to stand out.
This didn't work. Or perhaps it worked so well that she was practically invisible. But as she walked, the same bully from yesterday collided with her.
"Watch it wallflower." He barked, sending the girl falling backward, having not been braced for the collision. She almost fell over but felt her momentum stop as someone grabbed her by her wrist.
Opening her eyes as she was pulled back up, she stumbled a bit but was able to keep her balance.
"Noel! Jeez, what the hell is wrong with that guy!?" Nia groaned, glaring at him as he walked off.
"Just leave it alone Nia, going after him won't do us any good." Orion pointed out, crossing his arms as he leaned against the lockers. Noel meanwhile turned toward her savior, who had finally let go of her wrist.
"T-Thank you." She stated, noticing that he was the same man whom Orion had been talking to. She blushed a bit as their eyes met, but she quickly forced herself to recover.
"Sure." He replied, stepping between the group, and walking down the hall. Noel watched him leave silently.
Why did he sound so...haunted? Nobody, even close to her age, should have ever sounded as distant as he did. It kinda scared her.
Nia however, took this glance in the totally opposite direction.
"So...you're into the quiet type huh?" She asked, leaning into Noel, playfully throwing an arm over her shoulder.
"H-Huh? Wait what?" Noel stammered out.
"It's okay, you don't need to hide it. I'll be your wing girl!" Nia replied, shooting her a thumbs up.
"H-Hold on a minute-"
"Damn, so I approached this from the totally wrong angle then? What a shame." Orion added, crossing his arms and humming to himself.
"I-I-I...I think you two have the completely wrong idea here!"
Noel looked over the edge of the cliff nervously, standing on top of some kind of platform. Looking to her right, she saw Nia smile reassuringly at her. She smiled as she turned toward Ozpin.
"For years, you have all trained to become warriors. Now, your abilities shall be put to the test in the Emerald Forest," as he said this, he gestured to the forest far below the cliffside.
"Now," Glynda continued for Ozpin, "I'm sure all of you have heard the rumors regarding teams. To put an end to these rumors, as of today, you will each be given teammates."
"And these teammates will be with you for the remaining time you attend Beacon, so I suggest you choose wisely. With that in mind, you will be partnered up with the first person you make eye contact with upon landing in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin concluded.
Noel's eyes went wide at that. Alarm sirens blared in her head. What was she supposed to do if she didn't see Nia or Orion first!? She would just have to adapt. And what if the first person she saw was that boy who had tripped her earlier today?
"Once you have your partners, make your way to the northern end of the forest. Keep in mind that while the forest lacks Grimm, the actual denizens of the forest are just as likely to make things challenging for you." Ozpin warned the students.
Noel let out a quiet sigh. At least she wouldn't have to deal with Grimm. But finding out that she would be sent off with the first person she saw was really scaring her. She had no idea how she would ever adapt to that. She lucked out with Nia and Orion being as friendly as they were. But not everyone was gonna be like that.
"How is it that Grimm are kept out of the forest?" A taller boy with long black hair and a green outfit asked.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Ozpin asked, ignoring the question posed by the other student.
A blonde student spoke up next. "And uh...h-how exactly are we supposed to get down there?"
Ozpin smiled.
"You land."
Suddenly, he pressed a button, and all of the students were shot off of their platforms and into the sky. Noel screamed as she was taken off guard by this. She flew through the air, falling toward the forest.
She needed to land. She needed a way to land.
But what could she do?
Her eyes went wide as she had an idea and quickly drew her dual pistols. And aiming them in front of her, she used the recoil to slow her descent.
She fell further, but slower, finally landing with one last shot and a combat roll. But her landing was far from adept, and she rolled forward, slamming the crown of her head into a tree trunk.
She laid on her back, staring up at the sky, as her vision blurred. There wasn't any blood, thanks to her aura. But she could feel her world spinning around. And with that, the blonde felt her consciousness slip away.
This could be bad.
Landing deftly on the ground, Yin looked around himself at the forest. His eyes narrowed as he rested his hands on Twin Shade, drawing the dual straight edged swords.
How bad was his luck? That was the question. And the answer was very. As a pack of three wolves shot out of the treeline toward him.
Quickly, his eyes adjusted to see six total lines weaved in the air. Three of them red, and the other three are blue. His eyes first focused on two red ones. The prediction lines.
He maneuvered his body out of the way of them, allowing himself to evade the wolve's attacks. And once he did, he focused entirely on the blue lines.
Tracing along these lines with his twin swords, he knew victory was assured. And in a single fluid motion, following the line, he attacked the vital spots on all three animals.
It was over in a matter of seconds. The man who had been trained to kill unpredictable humans had little to no chance of being caught off guard by predictable animals.
He stood in the wake of the slaughter, not a drop of blood on him. He swung his swords off to the side, flicking the blood off of them, and placed them back in their sheaths.
"Now then, I need to head north?" He muttered, looking up at the sky. Once he figured out which direction he was supposed to be going, he nodded, setting off.
Truth be told, he had no desire to work as part of a team. But if he had no choice, then that was just how it was. With any luck, he would stumble across someone competent.
Orion seemed like a good choice. He was a little talkative, but he seemed like an honest person. And nobody who carried a sword of that size didn't know how to use it. He was confident that the red-haired student was the best possible option.
Of course, that was other than Phyrra Nikos. She was the student that Yin was more sure of than anyone. He knew that she was strong, possibly even stronger than him, so long as they weren't fighting to kill.
Either one of those two would be idea.
As for who he didn't want? The Schnee girl, for starters, she seemed to uptight. And that younger girl with the scythe seemed even more obnoxious than Orion.
There was also that guy in plate Armor, Cardin, if he remembered correctly. He seemed strong, but he was volatile. He didn't wanna work with someone like him. And the last two were those two blondes.
There was the tall one, with the sword and shield. He seemed horribly incompetent. In fact, Yin was surprised that he even got here in the first place. And then there was that short girl, the one he saved from falling.
Simply put, she was an anxious wreck. He wasn't at all confident that she could be useful to him. If anything, he was sure that she would hold him back more than anything.
Ducking into a small grove of bushes, be peeked into a clearing. And what he saw before him, was literally one of the last people he wanted to see.
That girl, lying on the ground. Her guns at her sides. It seemed she was unconscious. By rule, they technically hadn't made eye contact. He didn't need to wake her either. He didn't want to have to work with her for the next four years.
It may have been cruel. But Yin was an assassin. He was far from being a good person. She would likely wake up on her own soon enough.
He turned away but was taken aback by a sound. A deep growl. His eyes widened. That wasn't an animal. And he turned back to the girl. His eyes going wide as he saw a Beowulf emerge from the treeline to attack.
She couldn't defend herself.
A blue line flowed through the the. And ignoring any sense of caution, he shot forward like a cannonball, his cloak billowing in the wind, as he reached the monster in seconds. Almost instantly, his blade connected with its neck, severing its head.
He gasped for breath as the monster fell to the ground. It's head rolling away. That was close, way too close.
Why were there Grimm in this forest? Had Ozpin lied to them? Or was he just glat out wrong? Yin couldn't be sure. But he now knee that he couldn't leave this girl here alone.
He got down on one knee at her side, gently shaking her awake.
"Hey, get up." He ordered, watching as the blonde slowly came to. Their eyes met as she opened her eyes, her face in a twisted mixture of emotions. Surprise, confusion, slight fear, but also a bit of relief. "Can you stand?"
"H-Huh? Yeah I- I think so." She replied, slowly sitting up. And as she did, she spotted the bones left behind by The Grimm.
The girl yelped, but quickly recovered.
"I-Is that a-"
"Yeah, the Headmaster was mistaken. There are Grimm in this forest." Yin cut her off, standing up straight.
Noel's expression shifted again, a dawning realization in her emerald green eyes.
"Then...did you save me?" She asked, looking up at Yin.
The young man was silent for a moment. Should he tell her? Or should he just say he happened to find her like this with The Grimm already dead? Frankly, he didn't feel like being a hero. But at the same time, he felt like he couldn't bring himself to lie to this girl. She just radiated innocence.
He sighed. "Yeah, you were attacked by a Beowulf in your sleep."
"I see...thank you very much." Noel replied with a small smile. "I apologize for bothering you."
"It wasn't a bother. Now come on, we made eye contact." Yin replied, offering her a hand back to her feet.
"O-Oh! Right. I'm Noel by the way."
"Feng Yin."
He didn't like this.
Why was he being so soft?
When he first ran into Nia, Orion was happy. He felt like he had lucked out to run into one of the few people here he already liked and knew. But on the other hand, he kinda felt bad for Noel. This meant she was guaranteed to end up with someone she didn't know.
And she was far more awkward than he was. But he supposed worrying about her wasn't his mission right now. He just needed to focus on passing. With any luck, she stumbled across a good ally.
"Well? What do you see?" Orion asked, looking up the tree at Nia. She had decided to get up really high, that way she could see the ruins they were looking for.
"I see something that resembles ruins. But I would need to get closer before we can say for certain. It is to the north, though." Nia replied, hugging the trunk of the tree as she looked out at the forest.
"In that case, it'll be worth looking into. Let's get moving." Orion suggested, earning an affirmative noise from Nia, who jumped back down to join him, the tan-skinned girl landed on all fours and got back to her feet. Orion chuckled at that. "Are you sure you're not a Spider Monkey Faunus?"
"I wish. That would be cool." Nia replied, running off in the direction she had gestured to. Orion was quick to follow.
The pair moved quickly through the forest, doing their best to ignore any possible confrontations. It wasn't that they couldn't fight, but if they could reach their destination without needing to, then that was a purely positive thing.
At least...that's how a reasonable person would think.
"It's pretty quiet around here." Nia pointed out as they ran. Orion hummed at that. She was right. They had come across absolutely zero wild animals. Why was this concerning?
That was simple.
What were the animals afraid of? Was it them? Or something else? And if it was something else, then what was that thing?
His hand tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, Kalibur, as he ran. As of now, he wasn't interested in taking any chances.
"Keep your guard up," Orion stated as they ran, earning a nod from the brunette.
"You don't need to tell me twice." She agreed, spinning her tonfas around in her hands. The two rounded a corner, and their eyes went wide.
Coming face to face with a Sphinx.
"Oh...shit."