Both Orion and Nia sprinted as hard as they could through the forest. Nia looked over her shoulder as they ran, the Sphinx still in hot pursuit.
"H-Hey so...wasn't there supposed to be no Grimm in this forest!?" She asked in a panic, running hard to keep pace with Orion, who turned back toward her with a panicked expression.
"Yep!" He shot back. "So the question now is did The Headmaster lie? Or was he just straight up wrong!?"
"Who cares!? I'm gonna complain to him about it later!" Nia pointed out, evidently, not feeling all that worried. They were more than capable of surviving this after all. They just needed a plan.
Running under a row of trees, Nia had an idea.
"Orion! Cut down those two trees!" She shouted, earning a glance from Orion. But he didn't waste time asking questions. Instead, he just did it. Severing the two trees at the bottom of the trunk.
As they fell, Nia spun around, throwing her arms up into an X shape. She created a shield of some kind, the Sphinx collided with this barrier, staggering back, as the trees fell, pinning it down.
"Now, keep running!" Nia advised, running again with Orion in tow.
"Hell of a plan!" He laughed, running alongside her.
Nia knew that those trees wouldn't hold that monster for long. But this should be enough to get them some distance. With any luck, they may just lose the Grimm altogether. That would be the most ideal outcome.
But if there were Grimm in this forest, she couldn't help but worry about the others. Or rather, Noel. She wasn't totally confident in the blonde's fighting skills. She didn't exactly present herself as anything overly confident or capable. Rather, she came across as rather meek and helpless. And while Nia did expect that she had some skill, she made it into Beacon after all. She also wasn't sure where that skill lay.
She used guns, more specifically twin handguns. So she was likely a mid to long-range fighter, possibly better at support than offense.
She supposed she just had to hope that the blonde found a partner who could handle that offense.
Nia shook her head. She didn't have the luxury to worry about Noel right now. She had to worry about the super old Grimm and pass this stupid test. After all, she could only imagine how depressed Noel would be if she passed, and Nia didn't because she spent more time worrying about her than focusing on passing.
"Orion! It should be dead ahead!" She shouted.
"Got it!" Orion shouted back in response.
Together, they broke through the forest edge. And into the next phase.
Noel followed after Yin silently. She wanted to talk to him just to break this overly tense atmosphere. But at the same time, she couldn't help but fear annoying or upsetting him. Orion mentioned that he didn't really seem to like other people. And despite him saving her, she had no reason to believe that he didn't just do it out of obligation.
Noel Bright was far from special, after all. Even she was well aware of this. No, that was the wrong phrasing. It was more like she was especially aware of this.
Even he had seen it. She had fallen unconscious during the landing and made a fool of herself. Then, she needed to be rescued. The fact that she would have been dead right now if Yin didn't show up when he did was eating away at her. Hell, it genuinely scared her.
She could be dead. She was lucky that she wasn't.
"You're slowing down. Keep up." Yin ordered, earning a blush from the blonde, who nodded.
"R-Right!" She replied, quickening her pace. Matching his stride, with a fair bit of effort. Yin moved so much more naturally than Noel herself did. Any root or bush that Noel got tripped up on, he moved past with little to no effort. It was honestly rather impressive. "So uh...Yin...how do you fight exactly? I uh..."
"You wanna be sure in case combat comes about?" He asked, earning a nod from the blonde. "I'm better on offense. My Semblance allows me to see the trajectory of my opponents' attacks, and the trajectory that will lead me to their most exposed spots."
Noel perked up at that. He must have been a finesse fighter with that in mind. And it matched what she knew of him so far. He was nimble, light on his feet, agile, and intelligent.
"I see, I- I'll keep that in mind," Noel replied.
Yin hummed. "And you?"
Noel stared at him with a dumb expression for a moment, before jumping. "Oh! Right. My Semblance is called Targeting. It allows me to always aim where I need to."
Yin perked up at that. "You mean you can't miss?"
"Not exactly," Noel explained with a shake of her head. "Rather, it allows me to always know where to aim. I don't have to think. Things like wind resistance or enemy maneuvers don't matter. As long as they don't dodge the bullet after it's been fired, I'll always shoot exactly where I need to."
"And with that in mind, I take it you're a mid to long-range gunner. That's useful." Yin hummed, earning yet another blush from the blonde.
Honestly, she was ecstatic. Someone actually found her useful! And he was a total stranger at that. But apparently, her excitement was visible, as Yin cleared his throat.
"Are you okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"O-Oh! Yeah, sorry. I'm just not used to being complimented." Noel admitted with a small smile. "Come on, we need to pass this test."
Yin hummed. "Yeah."
The two ran toward the clearing, breaking through the treeline. By the time they got there, two other groups were already there. One of those pairs being Orion and Nia.
They made their way over to the ruins, Noel waving at her friends.
"Noel! So you did make it through." Nia cheered, hugging the shorter blonde as she arrived. As this reunion was happening, Yin ran to grab the first relic he could see. Picking it up, Orion chuckled, tossing his group's relic into the air and catching it again.
"Hey, look at that. We match." He joked, earning an eye roll from Yin
One of the other girls present, Yang if Noel remembered correctly, spoke up.
"Alright, so that's six of us so far. Any idea where the others are?" She asked, crossing her arms. Noel broke from hers and Nia's hug, and hummed.
"I don't know, Yin and I didn't see anyone on our way here if that's what you're wondering." She replied, earning a hum from the taller blonde.
"Yeah, Blake and I didn't either," Yang replied.
Nia looked around in confusion. "Well, I can't see anything but. I do hear other people. It's mainly just a lot of shouting."
"You think it has anything to do with The Sphinx we found?" Orion asked, earning glances from both Blake and Yang.
"Hang on, I thought there weren't any Grimm in the forest." Blake pointed out, earning a shrug from Orion.
"So did we until it was chasing us through the forest." Orion quipped, earning a hum from Yin.
"So you guys saw one, too? A Beowulf attacked me and Noel when we first landed." Yin replied, leaning against one of the pillars, his arms crossed. Noel smiled appreciatively at him. She was glad he didn't feel the need to mention her unconsciousness.
Or maybe he just didn't find it that important. But either way, Noel appreciated it.
Blake was about to respond again when the sound of screaming filled the area. Everyone looked up, to see another girl, Ruby Rose, falling toward the group from above. But before she hit the ground, Jaune Arc slammed into her from the side. Both of them crashed into a nearby tree and landed in the branches.
Everyone stared, confused, until Blake looked at Yang and spoke up.
"Umm...wasn't that your sister?"
Yang was about right reply when another sound entered the scene. And four students, Cardin Winchester, the bully from before, Lie Ren, some other guy, and Nora Valkyrie broke through the tree line.
Nora was riding a bear.
Why? That was a wonderful question. One that Noel was unable to answer.
The bear collapsed, Nora patting it on the head sadly as she climbed off. "Aww...it's broken."
Ren sighed, exasperated, as he ran after her.
The ginger girl ran over to the podiums, picking up the rook piece, proudly singing "I'm queen of the castle" over and over until she was called back by Ren.
Blake was only even more confused.
"Was she...riding a bear?" She asked while both Yang and Nia stared incredulously. Meanwhile, Yin's attention was focused upward...at a Nevermore.
"Seriously? How many Grimm are in this forest?" Noel muttered.
"Oh, you guys saw The Deathstalker too?" Jaune asked from his tree with Ruby.
"No, I think she's referring to the Sphinx," Nia added.
"So you're not all talking about The King Taijitsu?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow at the group. Noel visibly deflated, while Orion laughed.
"Oh my God, we're all gonna die..." He muttered.
Yin suddenly perked up. "Umm hey...is that...Schnee?" He asked, pointing up at something hanging off of The Nevermore.
"Excuse me?" Yang asked before a shrill shriek filled the clearing yet again, coming from the white-haired Heiress.
Noel couldn't blame her. She would be equally terrified in that situation. Maybe even more so.
...
Okay, she would have already fainted.
"How could you leave me here!?" Weiss screamed before Ruby replied from the tree.
"I told you to jump!" She pointed out defensively.
"Y-Yin, we need to help her." Noel decided, looking over at her raven-haired partner, who looked back at her.
"And how exactly should we go about doing that?" He asked.
"I'll throw you up there." Orion offered, smiling at Yin, Yin stared back at him before turning toward the group.
"Does anyone else have any ideas?" He asked, only Yang and Nia raising their hands. At that point, he chose to be clearer. "Any smart ideas?"
Both girls put their hands down.
But as this was happening, Weiss finally lost her grip, screaming as she fell toward the ground.
"Weiss!" Noel shouted. Her Aura may protect her some, but would it actually make a difference in this case? Thankfully, she didn't need to wonder. As suddenly, Jaune jumped out under her to catch her.
The issue was that he was now also in mid-air. And physics did not play favorites. As a result, rather than catching Weiss, he simply fell with her. Crashing into the ground below with Weiss on top of him.
She looked down at him, giving him a pitiless "My hero."
Jaune replied weakly. "My back..."
Cardin and his friend began to laugh.
Finally, Yang began to lose her cool. "Okay, can everyone just chill the hell out before something else crazy happens!?"
Noel yelped at the sudden rise in volume, staggering away from the fiery blonde as everyone did as she instructed.
"So, a Nevermore, a King Taijitsu, a Sphinx, and a Deathstalker," Orion muttered. "How do you all suppose we handle that?"
Nia shrugged. "Pray?"
Noel whimpered again.
Meanwhile, as this conversation was happening, Yang and Ruby were reuniting.
"Ruby!" Yang cheered, hugging her sister.
"Yang!" Ruby cheered as well, hugging Yang back.
"Nora!" Nora cheered, getting in between them.
But just as quickly, Noel was torn away from the tender moment, as Pyrrha Nikos broke through the clearing, The Deathstalker in tow behind her.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted as the young woman dove out of the reach of The Deathstalker. At this point, Noel was tired of just standing around and drew Scarlet and Azure. She put them together, both guns merging to form a long sniper rifle she called Violet.
She fired, knocking the Grimm's class off course, allowing Pyrrha to get away mostly unscathed, rolling to a stop in front of everyone else. Blake, Jaune, and Noel herself moved to help the warrioress stand.
"Huh? The gangs all here." Orion joked.
"Yup! Now we can all die together." Yang dryly quipped.
"D-Don't say that!" Noel whined.
And while Noel took issue with that quip, Ruby took it a step further. To her, it was a challenge. And she quickly darted into action.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted.
Ruby flew through the air, firing the gun part of her scythe to get some extra force. But her attack was halted as The Deathstalker batted her away with its claw. Ruby rolled back on the ground, starting to panic. She fired shot after shot toward the Grimm, but her bullets bounced right off its hardened shell.
Realizing she was outmatched, Ruby attempted to flee, with Yang running to meet her halfway. But at this point, The Nevermore involved itself, firing its feathers down toward the fleeing girl.
One of the feathers embedded itself into Ruby's cape, pinning her down.
She was a sitting duck.
This is why capes were stupid!
The Deathstalker encroached on the trapped Ruby. While Yang was too late to reach them, having been slowed by the attack from The Nevermore. Noel quickly loaded another shot, but she knew she wouldn't be fast enough.
...
Was Ruby gonna die?
That was the thought echoing through Noel's mind. Her green eyes went wide as the world began to move in slow motion. She couldn't do anything but watch now. She didn't want to see it happen, but she couldn't get herself to look away.
She was as frozen as Ruby herself.
All hope was lost.
Until a silver streak shot past Yang. And a wall of ice blocked The Grimm's attack. Weiss Schnee stood in front of Ruby, her rapier held high in a defensive pose.
She glanced at Ruby.
"You are the most immature, nut-brained, simple-minded, and obnoxious person I have ever met! You're hyperactive, and you don't think for even a second while you fight!" Weiss rattled off, glaring at the younger girl. "But I will admit, I am also far from perfect. So, for as long as we need to work together I will try to be...nicer. Provided you stop trying to show off."
"I wasn't trying to show off...I just...I wanted you to know that I can be a proper Huntress..." Ruby trailed off, earning an eye roll from Weiss as she began to make her way back toward the main group.
"You're...fine. I suppose." Weiss admitted.
Ruby seemed elated and pulled at her cape again. Only for Yang to help her break free of the quill pinning her down. The tall blonde quickly hugged her sister, making sure she was okay.
But this tender moment was broken by Yin.
"Ladies, we're all loving the sentiment. But The Nevermore is coming back. Can we try to focus?" He asked, drawing both of his swords.
"He has a point, there's no reason to dilly-dally. Our objective is right here." Weiss agreed, gesturing toward the remaining pieces.
Jaune sighed in relief. "So run and live? That's an objective I can get behind."
Both Ruby and Jaune made their way into the ruins to grab their pieces, meanwhile, Orion looked down at his scroll with an apprehensive expression.
"So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But the evacuation site is back the way we came." Orion pointed out with an uneasy smile. As he did so he pointed at the approaching Grimm. "You know, last all of that."
Cardin stepped forward. "No worries, we can just slip by."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."
"No, I agree with him actually. In fact, since it's his plan, let's use him as bait." Nia suggested, crossing her arms as she glared intensely at the bully. As this was happening, The Sphinx that Nia and Orion mentioned broke through the clearing as well.
Noel hummed in thought, there had to be a way out of this. And thankfully for her, she wasn't the only one planning.
"Over there!" Jaune suggested, pointing to the ruins behind them. "If we can kite the Grimm to those ruins, all fourteen of us have a better chance of circling back around them and getting away."
Noel shook her head. "It's a good plan, but there's too many of us. And too many Grimm."
She trained her eyes on the Sphinx.
With a sigh, she turned to look at Yin, Nia, and Orion.
"Can I trust you three to follow me?" She asked.
"You know it!" Nia chirped.
"Just say the word," Orion added.
Yin just nodded silently.
Noel nodded, turning back toward the others. "You ten head for The Ruins, we'll take advantage of the opportunity to circle back and take out The Sphinx. That way you guys can circle back around easier."
"Hang on, won't the Grimm just all attack you then?" Pyrrha asked, but Noel shook her head.
"I don't think so. They seem more focused on the group as a whole. They'll likely continue to follow the larger group." Noel explained. "But The Sphinx is further behind, it will likely focus more on its immediate threat."
Jaune nodded. "That makes sense. Just stay safe."
Noel nodded, and the groups split. And just as Noel predicted, The Nevermore, Death Stalker, and injured King Taijitsu followed after the main group. For a moment, it looked like The Sphinx planned to follow, but Noel landed a shot right in its side, staggering it.
Her eyes narrowed, any traces of shyness or apprehensiveness long gone. Her expression was entirely focused.
Orion smirked. "Is it weird that I find her hot like this?"
"Oh? Are you one of those people who enjoy being stepped on?" Yin asked, glancing toward Orion, who sputtered in response.
"Huh!?"
"Can we focus!?" Nia pleaded.
Noel, however, barely even heard them, and she quickly perked up.
"Okay, here's the plan. We're gonna use Yin's Semblance!" Noel explained. "Orion, Nia, focus on keeping its attention. But focus on defense over offense, force it to attack, and create an opening. Yin, the second you see that opening you take it and finish the job. I'll hang back and provide sniper support from here."
The trio nodded. "Right."
Quickly, the four students readied themselves. And quickly, the Sphinx was right on top of them. But before it could get any closer, Nia stepped in front of it. Creating an X-shape with her arms, she formed a shield between herself and the monster. It collided with the force field and staggered back.
But they weren't done yet, and Orion leaped over the shield, swinging down his colossal greatsword. And as he did so, fire shot out from the blade. The beast staggered back further.
Those must have been Nia's and Orion's Semblances. A powerful shield, and a powerful offensive attack.
A sword and a shield combo. And glancing back at Yin, she could see that their spear was getting ready to land the killing blow.
Quickly following the first barrage, Noel fired two shots. Both of them burying into the stomach of the beast. It staggered back, wincing in pain as Orion moved to attack again. But this time, The Sphinx was ready. Bracing itself, Orion's sword collided with the beast and did minimal damage.
The Sphinx moved to attack at that point, but Noel landed another shot on its head. It staggered slightly, its attack slowing down, just enough for Nia to get in between them and put up her shield.
The beast staggered back again, stumbling slightly as it howled at Nia, swinging its claws at her. But just as it tried that, Orion blocked its attack with his own blade. And just as he did so, Noel landed yet another shot right in the middle of the Grimm's head.
The monster was evidently growing irritated, and let out a mighty rear. But just as it did so, Noel saw Yin's eyes begin to glow. And without a word, he darted forward, striding across the clearing toward The Sphinx. He held his swords in a reverse grip, going all in on offense.
It looked as though Nia saw his approach, and slammed another barrier into the Grimm. While yet another bullet landed from Noel's rifle. And all of this together was just enough for Yin to get close enough to attack. Slashing his straight-edged sword into the open spot, he traced along the outline of the monster's upper chest as he ripped through it.
The beast howled in pain yet again, falling back once again as it hung on for deal life. But at that point, the battle was over. Even if Yin didn't finish it, the next blow would.
"Finish it, Orion!" Noel ordered, and with his sword lit ablaze, Orion did just as he was told. Raising his sword up high, he brought it down half into The Grimm, slashing it open and burning its body with red-hot fire.
The monster fell back, dazed, cut to pieces, and now burning. A small part of Noel felt sorry for the creature as it began to disintegrate, leaving only the bones behind.
They had won.
Orion was the first to react, pumping his fist in the air as he stabbed his sword into the ground. "Hell yeah! Did you all see that shit or what!?"
Nia laughed, smiling brightly. "Yeah, it was pretty cool, I'll admit it."
Yin hummed softly, sheathing his swords as he turned away from the bones. Meanwhile, Noel fell to her knees, her adrenaline finally wearing off.
"That was so scary!" She whined as the rest of the group made their way back to her. Nia sat down with her, throwing an arm over her shoulder.
"But it was cool too Noel." She pointed out.
"Yeah, you were like a General or something." Orion agreed.
She looked up at them, trying to fight back the smile on her face. Until finally, she let it fully grow on her face.
"I wouldn't go that far..." She admitted.
And finally, the exhaustion got the best of her, and she fell backward, being caught by Nia.
She deserved a nap...right?
"First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you all." Ozpin spoke, his hands behind his back. "Despite the unconventional circumstances, you all managed to adapt, and strive in the face of dangerous odds. That's what being a Huntsman is all about."
He cleared his throat.
"In any case, it's time for team assignments." He stated. "First is Team CRDL, made up of Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzwing, and Sky Lark. You will be led by Cardin Winchester."
The bully smiled proudly at this.
"Next up will be team JNPR, made up of Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. You will be led by Jaune Arc." Ozpin continued.
Nora slapped Jaune on the back, and Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder. Ren had no visible reaction other than a small smile. Jaune seemed happy, but also very uneasy.
"Up next will be Team RWBY, made up of Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. You will be led by Ruby Rose." Ozpin announced.
The reactions of this team were less positive. Ruby seemed happy, if a little surprised. Blake raised an eyebrow at the decision. Weiss seemed outright horrified. And even Yang had an apprehensive look on her face, before shaking that off and hugging her sister.
"And finally, Team NYON. Made up of Feng Yin, Orion, and Nia Blink. You will be led by Noel Bright." Ozpin concluded.
Noel stared at him for a moment, her green eyes bugging out of their sockets as she stared in horror and disbelief.
"Huh?" She muttered.
Why did he have to pick her!?