Chapter 3: Worms
-Emerald Forest-
Sky scoffed as he fell toward the treeline. When he was close enough, he brought out Willbreaker and slashed his way through a few tree branches before he used some as platforms. When his momentum was reduced, he jumped to the ground and landed in a crouch.
"Hmph. Easy." He scoffed as he hefted his Hive blade onto his shoulder and started his trek through the woods.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in a separate area of forest, one Ace Scarlet was sent flying by his platform and made his landing strategy a Hunter Guardian specialty—using his double jumps and his dodge move to bounce and tumble to the ground in a rolling superhero squat, his hand cannon at the ready.
"… Damn I'm good." The boy grinned after checking down the sights of his gun as he stood up, twirling and holstering it as he kept running.
(Elsewhere)
With Neptune, he waited for his moment as he fell to the forest, and when it came, he acted. Pulling out Trident in its melee mode, he cut through a few branches before he stabbed it into a tree and spun a few times before he let himself land on said weapon.
Looking around, he took a moment to get the lay of the land before he spotted the temple ruins.
"Gotcha." He smirked before he removed Trident and let himself fall to the forest floor. Upon landing, he began his trek to his objective…
Little did he know that the direction he was heading was wildly off course.
(Elsewhere)
"Look out below!" Sun called as he bounced from tree to tree and used his sun clones to propel himself forward and through said trees via a series of clone people chains.
This culminated in him reaching the same tree Neptune was previously at and stopping himself with his tail and hanging from a branch.
"Now let's see…" He hummed as he pulled a pair of foldable binoculars from his pocket.
Looking around, he saw nothing but treetops (as expected) before he spotted some stone pillars poking above the treeline. Upon seeing this, he grinned.
"I see you." He said aloud as he put his binoculars away and started hopping through the trees.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, while Ruby and the other kids did their own landing—Ozpin and Glynda were observing the students as they worked—with the headmaster manipulating the ground to move with his tablet like in a book series Blake was fond of: The Starvation Games and making the students go to certain places.
For example there was Cardin yanking Russel out of a tree trunk hole, and Ruby finding Weiss due to the terrain change—and hugging the heiress tightly.
"Most of the students are holding their own in the forest." Glynda reported as she looked through the feeds.
"I'm not that surprised. Many have quite the pedigree after all." Ozpin nodded, sipping his coffee as Weiss patted Ruby's head.
"They truly do." The blonde nodded as she watched Sky's performance, seeing him cleave a bear and a wolf in half with one swing without breaking his stride. "Some are more advanced than others." She added absently as she changed the feed to a random patch of the forest…
Just in time for something big to pass by underground, leaving the ground slightly upended.
"Professor…?" Glynda questioned, prompting the headmaster to swipe to the same screen, and see a large green, chitinous exoskeleton slither its way out of the ground—before it dove back under, creating a hole and swishing a three pronged tail—causing the ground to quake.
"Oh no…." Ozpin gasped in worry. "Why is one of them here?" He wondered since the creatures in question never appeared in random places by chance.
"Should we stop the initiation?" The blonde dominatrix questioned.
"... Yes. Get a Bullhead ready to retrieve them. I'll corral them to the temple ruins to make things easier." Ozpin nodded as he got to work.
"Understood." The blonde nodded as she sent the message out.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Jaune was still dangling from a tree by his hoodie after Pyrrha pinned him there with her javelin, right until said redhead appeared and got him down, standing over him and allowing the boy to get a real nice view of how her bronze and leather Cyradis-Mistralian armor accentuated her surprisingly voluptuous figure.
Not that the blonde was really complaining, mind you…
"I saw you first. I guess that makes us partners." She mused.
"Heh… I guess so." The blonde chuckled lightly.
The redhead giggled as she helped him up, dusting him off as she did. When the blonde was steady, there was a tremor as something rushed by them from underground, getting their attention as it knocked them both down again.
"What the–? What was that?" Jaune wondered with wide eyes.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling that it would be best if we head north to the temple ruins and see if we can find anyone." Pyrrha replied in worry and caution.
(Elsewhere)
"Listen Ruby, I realize that you skipped ahead a few grades. But while you may have raw talent, I have several more years of experience and training over you, so I think that I should take point so that we aren't slowed—." Weiss began as she walked ahead of Ruby, only for the girl to zip in front of her incredibly fast in a flurry of red cloth and rose petals. "Down." She finished, surprised.
"Not a problem! I can keep up easily." The girl smiled.
"Ah, so that's your semblance—you amplify your speed with your Aura." The heiress mused.
"Yep!" Ruby chirped with a smile. "Also, while I get the experience and training being greater, I've explored the wilderness of Patch extensively to improve my sense of direction. That's something any Huntress needs." She continued. "Did you do your training on that front?" She questioned.
Weiss was going to say yes, but one thing stopped her. Namely, she never had trained to know which direction was which, especially when looking up at the sun for an indicator.
"... No…" She admitted after a beat passed. "But how can I be certain that you're not exaggerating your level of expertise?" She asked.
"Well, quick question. How familiar are you with naturally occurring Compound Dust Types?" The silver eyed girl asked, taking the veiled skepticism in stride.
"Reasonably familiar, given my station. Why?" The whitette asked in reply.
"Well, did you happen to notice that this forest is rich in raw Wood Dust?" The speedster questioned as she pointed at a tree, which had a hollowed out hole knot that seemed to be lined with sparkling crystals that were brown and green in color.
"I thought that looked familiar!" Weiss exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. She had been wondering why the Dust looked familiar, and now she knew why.
"That means that we'll need to be careful about where we attack and what Dust types we use." Ruby nodded. "Because one wrong move and one of two things can happen: The Dust could ignite—." She continued.
"Causing an explosion of carbon monoxide gas that could suffocate everything within a five mile radius." Weiss nodded.
"And if we accidentally soak it…" Ruby continued.
"We risk the Dust entangling us in an inescapable bramble of roots." Weiss concluded.
"Exactly." Ruby nodded. "Me asking you these questions should tell you just how familiar I am with my surroundings in a place like this." She added.
"Fair point." Weiss nodded, right as the two girls suddenly heard growling. "… Please tell me that was your stomach." She pleaded.
"No it wasn't…" Ruby groaned as a pack of wolves appeared and surrounded them, prompting the two girls to brandish their weapons. "Remember, no fire or water Dust." She told her partner.
"... Maybe we could use a targeted Water Dust shot to entangle them in roots?" Weiss offered.
"Hm… I could use my semblance to get us out of range of the roots with my semblance before we're entangled." Ruby contemplated before nodding. "Ready on your go." She told her.
"Easy…" The heiress nodded as the wolves got ready to pounce. "Now!" She called, leaping behind a different tree.
Ruby immediately sprung into action as Weiss sent a targeted shot of Water Dust at the Wood Dust, causing it to burst into a tangle of roots that surged around the wolves. Before it could get the girls, Ruby grabbed Weiss and used her semblance to get them out of reach.
Once they were out of harm's way, the cloaked girl stopped her rush and let go of Weiss. Then she found her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"I… think… that worked…" Ruby breathed, looking a little winded.
"That was a pretty risky and reckless plan. I admit it." Weiss sighed.
"At least it worked." The speedster offered.
Before anything else could be said, however, the same rumbling from before hit the two as the same three pronged tail whipped out of the ground and forced them to hit the deck as it knocked over several trees with the greatest of ease, before disappearing again–leaving a giant hole right in front of them.
"... This place loves to be one big deathtrap." Ruby gulped, looking down the hole.
"I'm more concerned about what that was." Weiss stated. "What're you doing?" She questioned as the silver eyed girl hopped inside the hole.
"It heads in the direction of the ruins. We can take it as a non wildlife infested shortcut." The girl called back.
"What if that creature doesn't surface where we need it to?!" The heiress exclaimed.
"Weiss, do you want to get to the ruins quickly or not?!" Ruby barked back, hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently.
"Okay, okay. I just hope this tunnel doesn't collapse on top of us." Weiss sighed as she followed the scythe user into the tunnel.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Yang was in the middle of trying to find Ruby, when she heard rustling from the nearby bushes–prompting her to peek inside.
"Ruby? Is that–?" The buxom blonde questioned as she peered behind the bushes, and instead found two black bears. "Nope." She uttered.
She immediately jumped back when one of the bears swatted at her, the other one joining its partner (they were probably mates).
"You two wouldn't have happened to see a girl with a red hood around here, would you?" She asked playfully, only getting growls in return. "I'll take that as a no." She said as she dodged a paw swipe from the bear right as the other charged at her–prompting her to jump over it and slug the first bear in the face.
The two bears tried to land a hit on her, but she was too small and fast for them.
"Jeez, you couldn't hit the broadside of a ba…" She started to taunt before a strand of her hair fell in front of her, causing her attitude to change in a total 180. "You…" She growled, closing her eyes as the two black bears looked at each other in confusion. "YOU BITCHES!" She roared, her eyes snapping open to reveal their red color before she launched herself forward.
After completely demolishing one bear by sending it flying through several trees–right before she saw the second one fall down dead–with a Kusarigama/Tachi/GLOCK type weapon.
"Oh, hey Blake." The girl smiled.
"You certainly had things handled. I just got involved because you seem okay." The ravenette told her, yanking her weapon free and putting it on her back.
"Oh, cool." The blonde shrugged, right before the same rumbling occurred and caused the two to be slid along a lumped disturbed tube of earth and launched into another part of the forest, the same tail striking out of the ground and lashing about before it disappeared again–leaving another hole behind.
"What kind of Grimm causes that?" The blonde wondered as she looked in the hole.
"I don't think that was a Grimm..." Blake gulped, her instincts screaming at her to get as far away from the forest as fast as possible and never come back.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Sky was walking towards the ruins himself, with Willbreaker slung over his shoulder.
"That's one big ass sword ya got there, Captain." A voice called from above him.
With a hum, the drifting knight looked up and saw Ace standing on a branch looking down at him.
"Well, I have had it for the past decade." He shrugged in reply.
"You too, huh?" The Guardian mused as he hopped down from his perch and landed on his feet. "You kill a Hive for that?" He questioned.
"You're gonna have to get me to trust you a bit more before I share that story." Sky replied as the two started walking.
"Dude, I'm a Guardian. Being trustworthy is kind of our thing." The Guardian stated as he went to catch up with the boy.
"Hm… Well, Willbreaker's story is complicated. Not something to tell during initiation." The Knight told him, deciding to shed a bit of light for him. "But my Boomer, Bolt? Well, I did have an actual Hive Boomer a while back, but had to ditch it due to lack of ammo substitutes." He continued as he pulled out Bolt. "But I was able to study it enough to build this as a replacement." He added further before putting his ranged weapon away.
"Heh." Ace chuckled as he pulled out his deck of Dust throwing cards. "See these? They're made of every Dust type imaginable, and I have tailor made bullets that I use with them to cause specific chain reactions when I shoot them." He continued.
"And your gun? It looks old." Sky noted.
"It's my dad's." The Hunter told him. Sky nodded, understanding things from context clues.
"And I assume that Illegally modified holster in your pants is also your dad's?" The knight grinned with a quirked eyebrow, attempting to lighten the mood.
"He didn't illegally modify the holster! These are just his really lucky pants!" Ace retorted with an indignant and defensive tone.
"Suuuuure…" The drifting knight drawled, not buying that for a second.
"Fuck you." The gunslinger retorted, rolling his eyes under his helmet.
It was then that the same rumbling occurred again and the two attempted to brace themselves as the ground below them rose up until the dirt fell away to reveal a green, chitinous hump that lurched forward and sent them tumbling to the ground, before disappearing again.
Ace was quick to whip out his hand cannon while Sky pulled out Bolt, pointing it at the now dug tunnel.
"What in the animal kingdom was that?!" The guardian exclaimed.
"Whatever it was, it's gone now! Let's move before it comes back!" The knight replied.
"No argument here!" The gambler nodded before the two put their weapons away and took off in a run.
They had no plans to stick around.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Sun was still swinging from tree to tree as he made his way to the ruins, when he saw two boys, Dove Bronzewing struggling to get another boy, Sky Lark, out from underneath a fallen tree.
'I should probably help…' He thought as he got ready to leap down and help out. "Hey guys." The monkey faunus waved. "What happened here?" He asked as he approached the two, inspecting the situation.
"This tree just fell on me! Guess it was too old to stand up anymore or something." The blue haired teen (not Neptune) replied.
"Well, let me see if I can help." The blonde replied as he cracked his knuckles and summoned his sun clones, who helped him aid Dove in lifting the tree.
When Sky (not Obsidian) was free, he popped his back to get rid of whatever stiffness there was.
"Ya know, that was pretty good for a faunus." Dove remarked. "Not a lot of semblances like that are a thing." He added.
"Where I'm from, whether you're human or faunus, if you can hold your own, nothing else matters." The boy stated. "It's a simple way of living." He added.
"Fair enough there, I guess." Sky Lark shrugged.
"Now, if you gents excuse me I gotta find–WHOA!" Sun said before exclaiming as the same tremors from before caused another tree to fall over, scattering Wood Dust everywhere as the boys just barely avoided getting crushed.
Then the same tail came up and smacked the ground before disappearing, leaving a hole behind.
"What the fuck was that?!" Dove exclaimed with wide eyes.
"No idea." Lark replied.
Sun was about to offer his two cents, when a familiar neon blue haired head popped up out of the ground, gasping for air.
"I thought I was gonna suffocate down there!" He breathed with comically wide eyes.
"... Neptune, why were you even down there?" Sun asked after a beat passed.
"I was getting away from a grizzly bear." The thallasophobe replied as he got out of the ground. "Right before I fell down a hole." He added.
"Uh, the Grizzlies are clear on the other side of the forest, bud." The blonde noted.
"Jeez, just how bad is your sense of direction?" Lark questioned.
"He couldn't navigate a bathtub." The monkey boy chuckled, getting some snickers in return.
"Sad but true." Neptune nodded, arms folded… Before a tick mark appeared on his forehead a second later. "Hey!" He snapped at his friend.
"And apparently, not too bright either." Dove noted.
(Elsewhere)
Jaune and Pyrrha were walking through the forest, looking for any sign of their objective.
However, as they did, the blonde ended up getting smacked in the face by a branch, causing a scratch as Pyrrha helped him up.
"Ow that hurt." The boy groaned.
"Jaune, why didn't you use your aura?" The redhead questioned, noticing something off about her partner.
"Uh, my what now?" He questioned, confused.
"Aura, the projection of one's soul that aids and protects them in battle." The redhead replied. "Typically most people who train to be huntsmen already unlock it." She added.
"Well, my mom always said I was a late bloomer." Jaune shrugged. "Wait, so does Aura work like the Light that the Traveler gives off? The stuff Guardians use?" He asked.
"To a much lesser degree." Pyrrha nodded. "Aura is the most important thing you'll need in order to become a Huntsman, next only to your Semblance. If you don't have it unlocked, I could help with that." She added, throwing in an offer as she went.
"Thanks." Jaune nodded as she placed her hand on his shoulder and concentrated, both glowing white and red respectively.
'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.' The redhead recited in her head.
Then Jaune felt a rush as something flooded through his veins. Looking down at his hands, he saw them glowing white before he felt the cut on his face from the branch close itself.
"What did you…?" Jaune asked.
"I used my Aura to unlock yours. And it seems that you have a lot of it." The girl replied, right as the tremors occurred again, and this time–they saw the creature's body and tail.
It was titanic in size, possibly large enough to encircle Vale's tallest buildings in its coils.
Then it slipped back underground, leaving a hole in its wake like before.
"That wasn't a Grimm…" Jaune gulped nervously.
"And I don't think it was a sandeater either…" Pyrrha gulped.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Ren was currently trying to sneak past another creature–the first proper Grimm that the kids had seen since entering the Forest: A King Taijitu.
The problem with this, however, was that these snake Grimm had two heads and not one. So it was no surprise that the second head got the jump on him. It was a piece of brush that gave him away, and while the beast couldn't see Ren due to him somehow masking his emotions, it could hear him.
The giant serpent continued to flail around in an attempt to get at the boy, but Ren evaded a fang strike and blocked another with his hands before trying to divert it with his weapons, only to be slammed against a tree and disoriented enough for the Taijitu to attempt to bite him.
Or try to, rather.
Ren had managed to recover enough to dodge the attack and ready himself for his own offensive… Only for an animal call to sound as his friend, Nora Valkyrie, rode by on a bear and grabbed him.
"YAHOO!" Nora called as she flew through the air on a grenade blast and slammed her hammer down on the Taijitu's head, splattering it all over the place as she turned to Ren as he dusted himself off.
"I still don't think that's what sloths sound like." He commented.
"Boop!" The ginger grinned, booping his nose.
It was then that the two (plus bear) were suddenly lurched forward as a large, mandibled creature leapt out of the ground and dove back under before the two (plus ursine companion) could make sense of what just happened–with the Taijitu seemingly fleeing from whatever just left.
"... We should probably get out of here before whatever that was comes back." The Chinese themed boy remarked with a blink.
"No argument here!" Nora exclaimed as the Fiskarian girl hoisted the boy up and onto the bear before riding off into the distance.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Yang and Blake, the two seemed to be getting on each other's nerves as Yang seemingly agitated a pod of small, bulbous and derpy looking frog and alligator hybrids known as Lashgators by pushing one out of the way.
"Must you be so violent? Lashgators are ambush hunters, we could've just gone around." Blake stated.
"They're not that big of a problem for me." Yang shrugged, not seeing the big deal. "Plus the quickest route is straight ahead." She added.
"We aren't exactly in a hurry. We could have easily gone around." The girl pointed out.
"Well I'm in a hurry to get out of here before we end up meeting whatever that thing from before was." The blonde rebuked. "Not to mention I need to make sure my sister is okay." She added.
"Okay, fair." Blake conceded with a nod. "But if your sister got into Beacon she should be fine. Plus you're twins, right? Wouldn't that just be guiding yourself?" She asked.
"We're not twins. We had the same dad but different moms. She's my little sister–but got moved up a year because… Nevermind." Yang corrected with a sigh.
"Okay, but doesn't she have those other two guys to look after her?" Blake asked.
"Sky and Neptune?" Yang questioned. "Sky may be the epitome of gorgeous and a kickass fighter, but he's not as good at keeping track of people as you'd think. And Neptune… He's a great guy, but his sense of direction is all but nonexistent." She added.
"Neptune's sense of direction can't be that bad, can it?" The ravenette asked skeptically.
"You have no–Idea." The blonde replied as she moved past a patch of brush, and revealed a troop of Squirrel/Chimpanzee animals called Scampers who looked at the two, blinking in unsynced unison. "Uh oh." Yang gulped, hopping on her heels as the Scampers shrieked at them.
This was interrupted right as the beast from before launched itself up again and dove back down before the girls could see it, scaring off the Scampers in the process.
"... I rest my case about us needing to hurry." Yang commented with a gulp after a beat passed.
"... No argument here." Blake nodded as they rushed out of the forest.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Weiss and Ruby, the two were currently walking through the tunnel created by the giant creature, with the Silver Eyed girl directing them with her scroll's ability to track her friends and lock onto who was closest to the ruins, while Weiss illuminated their way with Myrtinaster–the rapier's blade glowing from Lightning Dust.
Both girls were clinging to each other, clearly very wary and jumpy.
"Whatever creature did this is clearly something to be wary of." Weiss commented as she looked around the illuminated area of her fire.
"I don't want to jump to conclusions, but didn't that thing look at least a little familiar to you?" Ruby asked.
"No, why?" The heiress asked.
"I dunno. I just think I could've sworn that I've seen it somewhere, like in a history book on the Dark Age or the… The Collapse." The speedster replied slowly.
The Collapse was, essentially, the term for the end of Remnant's Golden Age. What records they did have said that it was a time where present day relations didn't exist, but those records were very scarce. Then everything abruptly came crashing down, and the only thing they had from the days of The Collapse was an image of pyramids in the sky.
The Dark Age… It brought out the worst in people, and planted the seed for today's social tensions. It was rare to find anything from that time, and even more rare to find Guardians from back then.
"Wait, you don't think that's a…?" Weiss gulped, right as they reached one of the exit holes… And saw dozens of three eyed, plump little worms with two pronged tails and back ridges writhing around at their feet.
"The hell?!" Ruby yelped as she leapt back in surprise. "Wait…" She trailed off, squinting her eyes as she looked at the worms closely before a look of realization and horror appeared on her face. "Oh no… It is one of them…!" She gulped.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The girls screamed as they leapt out of the hole and high tailed it out of there to another part of the woods.
As they finally managed to calm down, the two were soon quick to notice a large withered tree in front of them, and the sleeping form of a large bird.
Except it wasn't a normal bird. It was an ancient Nevermore Grimm.
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire…" Ruby grumbled.
"It's really old given its size." Weiss noted.
"So much for there not being any Grimm here…" The girl sighed.
"I think that's the least of our worries, Ruby." Weiss told her.
Then the two tried to inch their way away from the sleeping avian Grimm. Right as they were halfway to safety, the Scampers from before appeared.
"Oh no." Weiss gulped as the Nevermore started to stir.
"Come on, I have an idea." Ruby said as she took the girl by the hand.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Jaune and Pyrrha, they had just found a cave with two other applicants (those being Cardin and Russel) standing in front of it.
"Hey, what's the deal with the cave?" Jaune asked as he and his partner walked up to them.
"Oh, we think that the ruins might be through here." Cardin explained.
"Or at the very least a possible shortcut to them." Russel amended.
"But we're not sure about going in there because we could be cornered by the wildlife." The taller boy continued before throwing his arms around the pair's shoulders. "But now that there's a second pair, we can figure it out no problem." He added. "All we'd need you to do is check it out while we keep watch." He concluded.
"Seems fair enough." The blonde shrugged as he gestured to an uncertain Pyrrha to follow him–essentially becoming Cardin's canary in a coal mine.
Pun very much intended.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea? What if they die when that thing comes back?" Russel asked.
"What thing?" Cardin questioned.
"That worm… thing… It's what caused me to get stuck in that tree." The boy replied.
"Well they're in a cave that looks stable, so they'll probably be fine." The brown haired jock shrugged dismissively.
As if the universe wanted to slap him for jinxing it, the worm came back–bursting hump first around the cave and cutting out a donut shaped canyon around it–leaving the cave suspended on a pillar of earth, before it started heading for the ruins…
Right as Ren, Nora and bear came zooming through the woods with that King Taijitu got on their tails–literally in the case of the bear–Nora cackling maniacally in glee as they did so.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Cardin exclaimed as he started running.
"Hey, wait up!" Russel called as he started running too.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha were in the cave as this was going on.
"I don't think this is a good idea Jaune, it seems like we'll get lost." The redhead stated. "Then there's that subterranean creature we've yet to identify…" She added.
"Pyrrha, just humor me, okay? I already made a torch." Jaune sighed as they reached a cavern… And came face to face with the glowing stinger and eyes of a Deathstalker–A scorpion Grimm–who was snapping at dozens of the same bulbous worms Ruby and Weiss saw.
"Oh dear. Jaune, I believe I know what those worms are…" Pyrrha gulped in worry.
"... They're so cute!" Jaune exclaimed as he picked one up. "Look, it's all derpy and rolly polly-like." He noted, holding up a worm as it riggled with tiny squeaks, smiling like a preschooler.
"Jaune… Do you even know what kind of worm you're holding?" The redhead asked with a sweatdrop.
"Uh… No?" The blonde said, looking at the skittish Deathstalker and then the worm. "It's definitely not a Grimm…" He mused.
"That's a Hive worm, Jaune. Did you do any studying on them?" The champion questioned.
"Uh, no?" He replied.
"The Hive are or were a race of insectoid creatures that attacked Remnant during the collapse." The girl replied. "They, along with their parasitic worms, feed on death to remain immortal." She continued.
"..." Jaune was silent as he looked at the worm in his hands–which was still wriggling– before he dropped it. "Disgusting." He shivered.
"I think the Deathstalker would agree with you." The redhead nodded, looking at the scorpion. "The two are similar, but Grimm tend to seem wary of the Hive, presumably because of the fact that Grimm tend to be wary of stronger members of their species or beings in general." She added.
"That seems reasonable. Come on, let's get out of here." The blonde said as he turned to leave—right as the Deathstalker started bolting in their direction as the ground started to shake. "Uh oh." He gulped.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, a giant black feather drifted through the air as Weiss and Ruby clung to the side of the giant Nevermore.
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into doing this!" The heiress yelled over the wind.
"Hey, it was either this or stay down there in the tunnel with the Hive worms! Take your pick!" Ruby retorted.
"I know, but this is still insane!" Weiss exclaimed as she looked down and saw the ruins. "Down there! I see the ruins!" She called as she pointed downward.
"Come on, then! Let's jump!" The speedster told her.
"Are you crazy?!" The heiress snapped.
Ruby only jabbed a thumb at the bird they were clinging to in an attempt to emphasize this being their only option.
"... You had better have a landing plan!" The whitette conceded.
"On go!" The cloaked girl nodded as the two got ready. "Three… two…one… GO!" She yelled as the two started their descent.
(Elsewhere)
With Blake and Yang, the two managed to get to the ruins.
"About time. Now we can get out of here." The blonde sighed in relief.
"Yes we can." Blake breathed with a nod.
"Looks like a bunch of the pieces are already taken." Yang noted.
"Then best to just pick one." The bow wearing girl nodded as the brawler picked up a gold knight piece.
"How about a cute little pony?" She asked.
"... Why not?" The ravenette shrugged as she walked up to her.
Right at that moment, they heard screaming coming from above them.
"INCOMIIINNNNNNG!" Ruby yelled as she and Weiss fell.
The cloaked girl was using Crescent Rose's gun mode to slow her fall while Weiss used her glyphs as platforms to leap from. When both of them landed, they dusted themselves off since it was a hectic few minutes for them.
"Well… That certainly worked out." Weiss admitted.
"Told ya!" Ruby beamed with a pearly white smile.
"Was… That your sister?" Blake questioned.
Yang was about to respond when—.
"AAAAAAAAH HO HO HO HOI!" Another voice yelled as Jaune suddenly came flying through the air and crashed into a tree.
"Ooooh!" Everyone present collectively cringed as the boy collided with the trunk of said tree.
Before Blake could ask about that, Ren and Nora burst out of the treeline on the bear with Cardin and Russel running rather tiredly behind them.
"Aw, it's broken…" Nora whined as she gave the bear some berries and roots to help it get its strength back. "I think I'll name you… Trinket." She smiled.
"Nora, please, don't ever do that again." Ren sighed.
The bear let out a tired yawn as it munched on its provided snack—while Nora bounced into the ruins and claimed a Rook piece.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She sang.
"NORA!" Ren called tiredly, stopping her little dance.
"Coming Ren!" The girl smiled.
"Was she riding a bear?" Blake asked, now even more confused.
"Uh…" Yang uttered before…
BOOM!
An explosion rang out as a pack of wolves was suddenly blasted all over the clearing, all of them dead. From the treeline came Sky followed by Ace, Sun and Neptune. The drifting knight's ranged weapon clearly had seen use, judging by the smoke coming from it.
"Man, this initiation has been boring." The raven haired boy sighed in boredom.
"Boring?! We almost got squashed by a giant worm!" Ace yelled, spitting out a ball of mud after having fallen face first into the ground and causing a ditch after Sun kicked him off the tree.
"And we've had to fight against mutant animals several times!" Neptune added, plucking a stray twig from his hair.
"And?" Sky deadpanned. "I've had to deal with worse for years. Both of those are Tuesday for me." He added, still having a deadpan look.
"Yeah, well last I checked…" Ace groaned, tapping dirt out of his ears. "Hive Worms are supposed to be on the moon, not down here on ground level." He added.
Before Sky could say anything to that…
"Hey guys, over here!" Yang called, getting their attention.
"Yang!" Sky exclaimed as he ran towards her, Ruby doing the same and hugging her sister.
"Ace!" Weiss cried as she jumped into the Hunter Guardian's arms, despite him being covered in mud.
"Hey, princess." Ace smiled under his helmet as he held her.
Neptune, meanwhile, got a similar hug from Ruby while Sun gave him a chuckling thumbs up.
As this reunion was going on, Pyrrha came running in with the Deathstalker in hot pursuit, narrowly avoiding a claw strike and knocking a tree down to pin it, only for a second strike to send her flying towards the others.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune gasped as he ran to his teammate, holding her.
"Ugh… I'm okay…" She groaned as she sat up.
"Okay, maybe I'll get some entertainment out of this." Sky blinked as he looked at the Deathstalker.
Before anything else could be said, both the Nevermore and the King Taijitu—who was chasing the Scampers around, thus leading several smaller Taijitus their way—were now entering the clearing, along with an Alpha Beowulf that stood just about as tall as a tree.
"You just had to jinx it?" Ace snapped.
"Normal and mutant animals are boring, okay?" The knight retorted as he pulled out Willbraker.
"What's next?! Ya gonna summon a Worm God?!" Sun exclaimed in exasperation.
"Do I look suicidal?!" Sky asked rhetorically with an incredulous look. He wasn't dumb enough to fight one of those things on his own just for a kick! "I've been fighting Grimm for years! Why shouldn't I feel insulted by basic animals?!" He questioned.
"You are way too nonchalant about danger." Weiss deadpanned.
"Guys, I hate to break up the dick measuring contest, but the Evac site is in the direction we came." Jaune pointed out. "And the Grimm are in the way." He added.
"Well ain't this just great!" Ace exclaimed incredulously, throwing up his hands.
"Okay, let's all grab a piece and fight our way through 'em!" Sky exclaimed as he grabbed a black King piece for him and Ace.
"Alright guys, we need to divide and conquer." Ruby stated.
"Right. If we can break away while these things are distracted, we can make a run for it to the evac site." Jaune nodded.
"Run and live to fight another day?" Cardin questioned. "I can live with that." He nodded.
"Alright then." Sky nodded. "Ace, Sun, Neptune, with me. We'll handle the Alpha Beowulf." He added.
"Aye aye, Cap'n." The gunslinger nodded with a salute.
"Right behind you." The monkey boy nodded.
"Let's do this." The thallasophobic waterbender smirked.
"Russel, Lark, Dove, let's take out that King Taijitu!" Cardin barked.
"Right!" The three boys nodded in unison.
"Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, you guys up for helping me with the Deathstalker?" Jaune questioned, shield and sword at the ready.
"Let's break its legs!" Nora exclaimed eagerly.
"I will help however I can." Ren nodded.
"I am ready." Pyrrha nodded as well.
"Weiss, Yang, Blake, think you're up for taking out the Nevermore?" Ruby asked.
"Sure, but maybe I should come up with our—." Weiss started to say before Ruby cut her off.
"Weiss, I have a plan. I just need you to trust me." The silver eyed girl said, tossing the heiress a familiar looking cluster of crystals.
"Are these…?" She trailed off in surprise, taking the cartridges.
"Yep." The red reaper nodded with a smirk.
"I'm up for it." Blake nodded, drawing Gambol Shroud.
"Let's get this party started!" Yang grinned, slamming her fists together.
With that, the four teams made a break for the temple, fending off the creatures as they went, right before they all split up, right as the bridge collapsed—leaving them actually separated.
Before she could fall off, Blake managed to catch herself with her ribbon and return to her team, grabbing Russel along the way, as he'd been injured when the Deathstalker struck him amongst the confusion.
Dropping the boy with his team, Blake joined her own, right as Nora launched herself and Jaune to join Ren and Pyrrha while Cardin, Dove and Lark stepped in between the King Taijitu and its smaller horde and an injured Russel.
"I don't know about you, boys." Cardin sighed as he tossed Russel aside like a sack of potatoes, twirling his mace. "But I say enough is enough—." He continued, arms wide, intimidating the smaller serpents. "I have had it with these mother fuckin' snakes in these mother fuckin' woods!" He yelled.
Then he went for the big one and smashed one head, sending the other into a frenzy that the brute managed to capitalize on and smashed it as well. This left the rest of the smaller ones in disarray, making them easy pickings for Dove and Lark.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Sky, Ace, Sun and Neptune, the four were currently busy trying to take down the Alpha Beowulf.
"Here we go." Ace said before holding out his arm and grasping with it. "Snatch!" He intoned as an invisible force suddenly caused the beast to become slower and him faster as he jumped out of the reach of its claws. "Too slow!" He grinned.
Sun picked this moment to send some clones to give the Alpha grief with punches and kicks before he got involved himself and smacked it with his gunchucks a few times.
"That your semblance?" Sun questioned as he leapt away to let Ace fire off a few shots.
"Yeah, it's called Snatch, it allows me to steal physical objects and even the powers, perception and so on from other people." The gunslinger replied, tossing a solar grenade at the Beowulf, setting it on fire.
"Nice!" Neptune grinned as he used his own semblance to extract water from a tree and force the Grimm back. "That's mine; I can control water." He added.
"And yet, you can't swim?" The Guardian jeered as he tossed a gravity Dust card at the wolf's feet and shot at it—causing gravity to drag it down on its stomach.
"It's immobile! Let's lock and load people!" Sky exclaimed as he brought out Bolt while Neptune swapped Trident over to fusion rifle mode, Sun readying his guns and Ace suddenly summoning a Golden Gun Super, his cannon ablaze in Solar Light. "Ready, Aim, FIRE!" He yelled.
Then the four boys unloaded shot after shot into the high level Grimm, gunfire and explosions ringing through the air as they blasted their target to pieces that evaporated before they stopped. When they were done, all that was left was a small crater.
"Hell Yeah!" Ace cheered.
"Woooooooo! YEAH BABY!" Sun exclaimed as he and the rest of the boys celebrated. "That's what I've been waiting for! That's what it's all about! Woo hoo!" He added, chest bumping Neptune.
"I hear that!" The blue haired lad grinned.
"Like I said, Grimm are more fun to fight." Sky chuckled.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, with Jaune and his team, they were in the process of fighting the Deathstalker, with Pyrrha and Jaune running defense while the remaining two were running offense. However, as Ren tried to get to a new angle, he was swatted by one of its pincers, knocking him out.
"Ren!" Nora exclaimed in concern.
Pyrrha then threw her shield at the beast, knocking the creature's stinger off which Ren previously loosened, causing it to become impaled.
"Pyrrha, shield wall with me!" Jaune called, raising his shield. "Nora, hammer time!" He added.
The energetic ginger grinned as she got on top of their shields, her hammer's business end under her. Then the two launched her skyward.
Nora boosting herself with a cheerful smile.
"Tally Hoooo!" She cheered.
When she started her descent, she sent herself downward with a pull of a trigger and slammed onto the stinger with the force of a meteor.
This catapulted the others onto stable ground where Ren was, allowing them to regroup.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, the girls were now about to implement the speedsters plan.
First up was Yang, who got in the Nevermore's mouth and fired several shells down its gullet.
"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUN. GRY!" The blonde yelled as she fired shot after shot, leaving it dazed enough to crash into the cliff face.
Then Weiss froze its tail feathers to keep it from flying off—as well as using some of the Wood Dust to entangle it even further.
After that, they grouped up as Blake and Yang used Gambol Shroud to make an improvised slingshot with a pair of pillars. Weiss used a glyph to pull it back.
"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby questioned as she got into position.
"Hmph, can I?" The heiress smirked sarcastically.
"… Can you?" Ruby questioned with a blink.
"Of course I can!" Weiss snapped back as she handed her some Explosion Dust. "Use this for an extra boost." She added.
"Right. Thanks." Ruby nodded as she put the high yield Dust into its place.
Then she was launched, hooking the Nevermore in the neck, she ran up the cliff with her speed and Weiss's glyphs while firing the explosion Dust from her rifle—sending her rocketing up the cliff and decapitating it in a rose petals sonic boom as she broke the sound barrier with one last round.
Everyone else looked up at her, all sporting impressed looks, especially Neptune.
"What. A. Woman." The boy whistled.
"One must acknowledge that she'll go far." Sky commented with a smile.
"Eh, kid's alright." Ace shrugged, hands on his hips. "She wouldn't last a minute in the Crucible, though." He added.
"She's not even a Guardian." Sun deadpanned.
"Eh." The gunslinger shrugged.
Though before anything else could be said…
"Uh, guys?" Russel called as everyone regrouped. "I think you might wanna take a look at this." He added as he, Dove, Lark and Cardin all heaved a pillar to the side, revealing something hidden.
It was something that looked like a rock, but it was pure, unblemished white with a dark serene blue undertone and glowing with raw power as it levitated into the air.
Ace took one look at it and knew what it was.
"Oh fuck me in the ass up a mountain with a metal cactus! That's a shard of the Traveler!" He yelled in shock.
"What's a shard of the big globe doing down here?" Cardin questioned, scratching his head.
"Beats me, but it's better off in Beacon than out here." Sky shrugged.
However, before anyone could do anything, the sky suddenly became blurry and dark as everything around them started to shake, causing everyone to nearly fall over as the same creature they'd been seeing this entire time finally revealed itself.
It had a sickly green exoskeleton, six mandibles of varying length and a single yellow eye that glowed in between said mandibles.
"There is no light… Here." The beast rumbled as it slithered around them, causing the ruins and the very canyon around them to crumble as it passed, its body like an actual earthquake. "You… Are… Alone." It continued, passing by them again—allowing them to see just how tiny they were in comparison to it, just how minuscule. "You… Shall… Drift." It shuddered as it slithered between them, causing the kids to back up out of pure instinct whilst being frozen in terror. "You… Shall… Drown… In the Deep." It added as it slithered away, going back down another of its holes.
Then the teens all collapsed to their knees as the canyon also collapsed around them, the only one spared from being in close proximity being Ruby since she was at the top of the cliff. That didn't mean she didn't see what happened, and she certainly heard what the beast said. She was frightened the moment she saw what was happening.
"Guys…? Guys?! Where are you?!" She yelled down into the pit in worry.
(Later)
Everyone popped out of the rubble soon after, with Ruby helping them out as Bullheads arrived.
"What. The hell. Was that?!" Cardin questioned as he staggered back to his feet.
"That, my friends, was a Worm god." Sky gasped, doubled over.
"That's what they look like?!" Weiss groaned as she struggled to get to her feet.
"I've never felt so small in my life!" Blake shivered as Glynda along with a team of upperclassmen came up to them to help get their bearings.
"Same here! I'm gonna have a hard time sleeping after this!" Sun gulped.
"I'm just glad all of you are alive." Glynda sighed as she looked over all of them. "Are all of you physically okay? Any serious injuries?" She questioned.
"Nah, we're good." Most replied… save one.
"Uh, where's Ace?" Neptune questioned.
"Hang on! I'm trying to find him!" Sundance called as she scanned for her Guardian.
A moment later…
"Found him!" She exclaimed before she rezzed him.
"Oof!" The boy coughed as he pushed a slab of stone off himself. "Never felt better." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "A Worm god. A fucking Worm god. Here!" He ranted.
"Which one was it, I wonder?" Ren wondered as he and the others boarded the Bullhead. "Yul, the Honest? Eir, Keeper of Order? Akka, Keeper of Secrets? Ur, the Ever Hunger? or Xol, Will of Thousands?" He mused.
"Who cares?! Let's just get out of here before it comes back!" Cardin snapped as he got into the ship.
"Yeah! Fuck this noise!" Russel nodded as he, Lark and Dove joined him.
"I'm just glad it's all over." Yang sighed as she got on. Since she was the last to embark, the Bullheads took off for Beacon.
What a day it had been…
ThermalsniperN7: … Well… The end of initiation definitely took a scary turn. Guess now everyone has had the misfortune of being up close to a Worm god.
Dragon Emperor0: And now sees just how far they've come—by learning that they can take on ancient Grimm if they work together—and how far they have to go, because Grimm are one thing, difficult but pretty easy to beat with the right skills and teamwork. Worm gods? Whole different ball game.
ThermalsniperN7: For obvious reasons. Those guys are old as all fuck. Anyway… Sky just didn't seem to care much about the dangers of the initiation except the Grimm and our wormy guest. Well, living life outside the Kingdoms and fighting Grimm regularly will make you see common animals and mutants as letdowns, I guess.
Dragon Emperor0: And I can't help but notice some similarities between his dynamic with Ace and the dynamic between Ban and Meliodas from Seven Deadly Sins. I mean, Ace does call Sky 'captain' after all.
ThermalsniperN7: It should be telling of how their dynamic is gonna evolve. Anyway, see you next time.
Addendum from ThermalsniperN7: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was done at an earlier point in time, but FF wouldn't let me post. My suspicion was due to my previous PC being faulty.