Chapter Five: The Exam

Author's Note: This is the longest chapter by far. 19 pages, 6.7k words. I wanted to do the entire exam in one chapter, and I feel that this represents the exam in its entirety fairly well. You all get to finally see some action. It only took 25k words in the romance/action/adventure book to happen. Yay!

(Rykers pov)

The following morning was chaotic. Hundreds of students roamed around the halls, Ruby and Yang had to drag me along just to make sure I made it to orientation. It was awkward waiting outside their changing room before heading to the locker room that held all of our combat gear. Ruby had already shoved her headphones on my head again as we made it into the noisy locker room.

Something I would have to get used to at this school was the noise. It was always noisy in my high school before coming to Beacon, but it almost felt like a different kind of noise. Something I was familiar with, I could recognize at a glance. Nothing really surprised me or caught me off guard back in Atlas, but here in Beacon, everything was different. I could not get over people just casually hauling weapons around with them. The constant noise of Airbus's coming and going also was something to get used to. Of course, I heard them back in Mantle, when you live underneath the capital city of the kingdom, you get used to hearing ships and transports flying overhead, but this was different. The airbuses were landing here, at the school.

It all seems so minor, and like it's not a big deal but these changes bothered me. They set me on edge, and I constantly felt like I needed to find a small dark space and hide.

I just felt so drained already, but I needed to keep my head. I did not need to give anyone a reason to mess with me. I already dealt with bullies, I did not need to deal with bullies that could actually kill me.

"What locker number did you say your gear was in Ryker?" Ruby asked, her weapon Crescent Rose already on her back.

"Locker six-two-six." I sigh scanning along the rows of lockers. We were getting close but Yang pulled Ruby back slightly as we got into the six-hundreds.

"Maybe we should let Ryker grab his stuff on his own," Yang spoke, her voice a tad nervous as me and Ruby followed her gaze. The pale girl Weiss was right ahead of us, speaking excitedly to a tall redhead.

I snickered, the two sisters seemingly afraid of Weiss. I waved them off, walking towards Weiss and the girl she was chatting up as I followed the numbers on the lockers. The numbers slowly climbed to the one my gear was stashed in till…oh. My locker was currently being blocked by Weiss and the redhead, who seemed to be shaking her head at something Weiss had said.

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." She spoke, her reply making Weiss slump down a bit.

"Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together. You know?" Weiss said softly, her confidence seemingly dwindling.

"Well, that sounds grand!" The redhead responded, Weiss perking up a bit, eventhough to me the redhead's response seemed…fake.

I cleared my throat a bit, the redhead noticing me before Weiss did. "Umm, you are in front of my locker," I said softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She replied, her hand reaching out and pulling Weiss to the side, the action seemingly knocking the pale girl out of her thoughts.

"Hey!" Weiss whined before finally noticing me. "Wait…aren't you the guy who was with that loudmouth little girl last night?"

I laughed a little bit, nodding as I opened my locker, and grabbed my gear. The laugh was fake, my discomfort already starting to creep up from the conversation. Ruby was my friend, I didn't want to hear her badmouthed.

I just needed to focus on getting my gear on. Arguing with Weiss about Ruby wasn't important right now. I could argue with her after the exam.

My gear was pretty simple. I wore jeans, a tight-fitting white long-sleeve top, a loose pink zip-up hoodie that I left unzipped, and black combat boots, with a harness that placed a magnetic plate on my back. The plate was there to hold Mom's gunblade. I also had Mom's crystal worn as a necklace, the cool gem always reminding me of my singular goal to get her back. The clothes I had already dressed in that morning, I just needed to put the harness on, switch out my shoes for my boots, and grab Mom's weapon.

I thought I looked half decent, though worry crept in about wearing pink at this new school. I saw enough guys who also sported pink in their fits to not worry too much. The pink hoodie was a staple for me, I really wanted to wear it... It felt comfortable, it also was something mom had gifted me for my birthday a year back.

"Yeah, Ruby helped me out and has basically had me at her side since. You should give her a chance, she might surprise you." I speak over my shoulder as I strap my harness on, snapping my gunblade to my back in its gun form, the magnet keeping it secure.

"Ugh as if. I don't even know why that kid is even here, she's way too young to be at Beacon." Weiss dismissed "Are you gonna take those headphones off? You know it's rude to talk to someone like that."

I blush, fingers ghosting over the hard plastic of Ruby's headphones. "Umm sorry, it's. I have this thing. Loud noises bother me, so Ruby gave me these to wear when it gets too loud for me. I can still hear you somewhat and I'm good at reading lips. So don't think I'm not paying attention 'cause I am."

"It was kind of her to let you use those. My name is Pyrrha Nikkos." The now-named Pyrrha spoke, offering me her hand.

"Ryker Thorne." The handshake was delicate, almost as if Pyrrha thought she would harm me if she gripped me too strongly. It was endearing, though a small part of me felt patronized. Though that was probably just paranoia, my fear of people treating me differently because of my social struggles rearing its ugly head.

"Well Ryker, I hope to maybe see you out there. Something tells me that you would make for a good partner." Pyrrha smirked, a choking sound coming from Weiss.

"Obviously he wouldn't be as good a partner as I would." A small smile broke out on my face as the pale girl seemed utterly offended at the notion Pyrrha would want to work with me when she had been brushed aside. "Besides, do you even know who she is? You have to understand how far out of your league she is?"

I squinted, my brain trying to connect Pyrrha's face to anything I could recognize. I shake my head sheepishly. "Sorry, I have no clue who she is, nor do I care if I'm being honest. Isn't the whole point of this school that we are all on equal footing, all of us trying to become Huntsman and Huntresses together?"

A small blush formed on Pyrrha's face, while an utterly flabbergasted look appeared on Weiss's. I shrug, finally turning to close my locker. "I guess I will see you both out there." I murmur, turning my back to the two girls and walking away.

The walk out to the cliff was eerie, I felt on edge. To say I felt out of my depth was an understatement. The people I was surrounded by were trained for this, meanwhile, the most I had done was wave my sword at a few would-be thugs who thought twice when they thought I was a huntsman. Doubt creeping into my bones, I had to do this, I had to try and gain the strength needed to reset the clock. To fix my mistake, to stop my mom from dying. Yet I didn't know if I even could do it. Who was to say my semblance didn't have limits, could I really go back two months? Or was that wishful thinking? It was also obviously going to take me some time to grow my aura, would I be able to go back as far as a year? Brothers forbid what if I go the full four years here and still can't manage it?

The dark part of me weighed down my very soul. Of course, it wasn't possible, some mistakes can't be fixed, and I waited too long to even try. This was my punishment, and it was only just beginning as I put myself through hell to try and fix what was already broken beyond repair.

The other part, the hopeful part, told me that if I pushed myself I could make everything right. I had to. It was a leap of faith.

Soon I found myself with the crowd, frankly the amount of people here compared to the auditorium and the ballroom was ridiculously small. where we once had hundreds if not over a thousand students, I now counted that this group was maybe eighty large. Did they do the orientations in groups?

I stood on an odd platform Ozpin droning on as my mind drifted. Holding onto his words was hard, paying attention was never my strong suit. The key details I did hear were that I had to go to the heart of the forest, find a relic, and make it back. The key detail was that the first person I locked eyes with who didn't have a partner, would be my partner for the next four years.

I snuck a glance at Ruby and Yang, they both looked excited, neither of them looking at me, their minds focused on their goal. I spied more, spotting Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake. I caught Pyrrha's eyes and she offered me a warm smile. Like a subtle way of telling me that I could do it.

"Now take your positions." Ozpin spoke, breaking me out of my own thoughts.

"Wait…what?'' What does he mean by positions? "Professor, will we be having a bulkhead dropping us off in the forest?"

"No."

My eyes widen as I see several students launched through the air by their platforms. I look down at my feet, the curse already on my lips before I feel myself being thrown through the air like a fleshy javelin. "Oh fuuuuuuaahhhhhhh-" I screamed, my body tumbling awkwardly through the sky, the canopy of the Emerald Forest hurtling towards me faster and faster as I free falled. My head spun as my vision was filled with the incoming green before quickly seeing the receding blue of the sky. The colors swapped back and forth as I panicked, unable to right myself in time as I tore through the tree line.

I flexed my aura, electricity filling my very soul as the world crawled to a standstill, before snapping like I was so accustomed to.

My eyes peeled open, the wind buffeting my entire body as I was already careening through the sky. Though now I was at the apex of the launch, giving me more time to figure out how to land. I kept spinning, my body tumbling through the air with increasing speed. I had time, I needed to get myself vertical.

I spread out my limbs, my muscles protesting as the wind wanted to whip them around. I was slowing down, but not fast enough. The ground and sky tumbled in and out of my vision. I reached to my back, Mom's gunblade still attached to the magnetic harness. I pulled it off, bringing it to my front in its rifle form.

"Let's try this," I mutter, time running out as the tree line gets closer and closer.

I was in a forward tumble, my finger pulling the trigger of the rifle just as the blue turned to green. A small burst of bullets fired out into the horizon, the recoil hitting me dead center in the chest as I tried to right myself.

I kept this up, letting out controlled bursts every time I saw the sky turn into the horizon. After the third time, I was finally out of the tumble, my body upright as I pierced the treeline.

I pulled the lever on the side of the gunblade, the rifle shifting into its sword form. I let out a yelp as I spotted a tree coming right at me. I raised the sword up before stabbing it into the center of a tree I was passing, my momentum coming to an instant halt. A sickening pop came from my shoulder as I screamed in pain as I wrapped myself around the tree much like a car around a pole.

I whimpered, my face pressed against the trunk of the tree, as my dislocated shoulder was practically the only thing holding me up. My feet plant against the tree as I kick off it, dislodging my sword and tumbling dozens of feet to the ground.

I landed with another shout of pain, before getting to my knees, left arm gripping my weapon uselessly as numbness began to set in from the dislocation. Ruby's headphones fell from over my ears and instead resting on my neck. I was genuinely surprised they stayed on through the whole ordeal.

"Great plan Ryker, stupid idiot." I whimper through tears. I grab the sword from my limp hand, pressing the lever to turn it back into its rifle form. My eyes scanned my surroundings, the thick forest providing me nearly no insight as to where I was supposed to go and no clue if anyone was near me.

I pulled out my scroll to check my aura, the dislocation and smacking into the tree costing me over half of my aura already. I would need to be careful and only rewind when absolutely necessary. Rewinding to avoid the tree would probably be a bad idea. I didn't want to chance rewinding just to shatter my aura because smacking into the tree was my best landing strategy.

I needed to get my shoulder back in the socket, I was beyond useless like this. My breath hitched as the bushes behind me rustled. Whipping around with my rifle pointed in the direction of the bush, finger on the trigger as I slowly walked backward, putting as much distance between me and the bush.

"Are you a student?" My voice echoes off the surrounding trees, the rustling stopping.

My finger curled even tighter around the trigger, the rifle shaking as I tried to hold it steady in front of me.

"Don't shoot." A feminine voice called out, the girl with the bow from last night walking through the bushes. Blake looked at me with a passive look on her face, her eyes widening as she saw my limp arm.

"My landing strategy didn't really work out. It's dislocated I think." I groan, letting the rifle fall to my side.

"I can pop it back into place, though honestly, you should let a doctor do that instead."

"I'm kind of useless with only one working arm."

Blake sighed, conceding the point and she walked up to me, placing her hands gently on my shoulder and arm. "This is going to hurt," She murmured, as she pressed my arm upwards. I yelped as I felt bone grind on bone before it all seemed to just give and the ball slipped back into the socket with a resounding pop. "There you go, it's in."

"Shit." I curse, pulling away from Blake, my hand immediately grabbing at my now-relocated shoulder.

"How's your aura?" Blake asked.

"Less than half, but I'm still good to go."

Blake nodded, her head turning to look off into the forest. "We need to get to the relics, they are somewhere this way." her thumb pointing into the forest.

"Ok, then we shoul-'' I start before the bushes start shaking again, both me and Blake tensing as we draw our weapons. The rustling slowly stopped as we held our breaths, waiting for something to finally burst through into the small clearing we were in. We waited for what felt like minutes when really only a few seconds passed before I turned my head to Blake with a questioning look. "Maybe it was just the wind?"

Once the question had left my lips two Ursa burst through the bushes, both easily twice my size. They looked young, but even still they looked like nightmares incarnate. Pitch black fur, covered in chitin white bone plates, spikes adorning the shoulders and spine of the creatures, complete with white bone masks coupled with two pairs of glowing crimson orbs.

I froze, I should have kept my mouth shut.

Blake glared at me before she burst into action. "You jinxed us," she muttered as she fired into the Ursa on the left. What looked like clones were left in her wake as she seemingly split from herself, as she practically threw herself into the air, flipping over the Ursa and throwing her katana into the back of the Ursa. The blade sank deep as the Ursa let out a pained scream falling to the ground.

The other Ursa ignored its dying companion in favor of me, the hulking beast rushing at me as I felt like my legs had been bolted to the floor. My finger tightened on the trigger as I raised the rifle, blood pounding in my ears.

I just needed to shoot.

It was getting closer.

Shoot. Ryker, you need to pull the trigger.

It was right in front of me, standing on its hind legs as its giant arm swung down on me.

Why can't I shoot?

"Move!" Blake's voice shouted as I felt myself be tackled to the ground, Blake's larger form covering me before she practically leaped off me, her clones distracting the Ursa before stabbing her katana right through its eye, the blade shooting out the back of the Grimm's head as it slumped to the ground lifeless.

I lay there in a daze. How had she so easily done that, but I couldn't even move a muscle?

Blake whirled around, her face angry, mouth open in almost disbelief as she looked at me. "What was that?"

"I don't know, I just froze."

"You can't just freeze, you could have died." Blake practically shouted, the rise in volume making me wince.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, my legs shaking as I get off of the forest floor. "I didn't mean to, I swear it won't happen again."

"Let's just go, like I said earlier the relics we are supposed to retrieve should be this way." She murmured, turning and walking off without looking to see if I was following.

My fist clenched, I felt like an idiot. It was so stupid of me to do this, I can't do this. I might be able to rewind time but I was still as useless as ever. My goal was doomed from the start. How had I ever expected this to go well with no training?

Blake took down those Ursa without breaking a sweat, meanwhile, I froze up and put us both in danger. I would have died if it weren't for Blake. I shivered at the thought of what would have happened if I had run into the Ursa first instead of Blake.

I scramble to catch up to Blake, placing my mom's rifle back onto the magnetic strap to free up my hands as I run. Once I caught up Blake sped up into a jog, We ran wordlessly for what felt like forever. Blake never broke a sweat while I felt like I was actively participating in my death. The only thought running through my head was

Are we there yet?

(Ozpin pov)

I sip my tea idly as the cameras focused on various students spread out through the forest. It looked like Ms. Rose had found an unlikely partner in Ms. Schnee. Something told me that the young girl's energy would be good for breaking Jaques's daughter of her nasty familial habits. Someone as pure-hearted as Ms. Rose would easily thaw the learned shortcomings the Heiress was bound to have because of her upbringing.

Across the forest, it appears that Ms. Nikos has found a partner in Ms. Xiao Long. They too seemed like a pair that could learn a lot from each other. Nikos needed to learn how to have fun, and Xiao Long needed to learn how to keep her cool.

All in all the small teams that had already been formed all looked to be good for one another. With proper checks and balances naturally coming together, this crop of students might shape up to be the strongest we have had in years.

"I told you that he would get himself killed. If not for Ms. Belladonna's intervention and quick thinking, the student you told me would surprise us would currently be Grimm food." Glynda sneered.

She had been angry at me all morning, though I guess after Mr. Thorne's little mistake she had a right to be. I knew I was taking a chance, but the alternatives were less desirable. Ryker needed to be cultivated here at Beacon, under my watch. Anywhere else I risk losing a very powerful piece on the board that neither side knew was there till I had witnessed the young man turn back the clock.

"I believe that Mr. Thorne needs more than one chance to impress you, Glynda. The boy has likely never seen a Grimm in person before, isolated away in Mantle like he was."

"He shouldn't be here, he is not built for this."

"I believe the opposite to be true. I see something special in Ryker Thorne. All he needs is a careful guiding hand and he could become quite the huntsman."

"Is that why you hid what his Semblance was on his official records?"

My eyes break from the screens for just a moment to see the disappointed look in Glynda's eyes. "I would hope you understand that having any record of what Mr. Thorne is capable of, could put him in more danger of her finding out about him."

"You realize if he dies on your watch the council will ask questions. Student deaths won't be ignored. There will be investigations."

"Glynda, I promise, he will surprise you."

"For his sake, I hope you are right."

(Ryker pov)

It's not like I was out of shape, I wasn't in shape, but I wasn't out of shape. However, the one thing in life I despised more than anything was running. I hated running. It was pure evil, something that had to have been invented by a masochist who wanted to punish themselves. My feet ached, my lungs burned, and I was miserable.

"How…much…longer?" I pant out as I struggle to keep up with Blake.

"Are you already exhausted?" Blake asked, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Running…sucks."

Blake chuckled, sounding off slightly but I couldn't quite place the underlying emotion beyond her amusement. Disgust? Maybe Anger?

"If you are gonna be my partner Ryker we got to work on your conditioning." She bit out as she slowed her pace a bit.

I flinched a bit. The "sorry" tumbled out of my mouth before I could really process what she said.

"Just try and relax, you said what happened back there won't happen again. So forget about it for now, and focus on the mission."

"I just need to be better, I don't need to get another person killed." I bite out, the venom in my voice aimed at myself more than anything.

I didn't bother looking at Blake to gauge her reaction. I hadn't meant to say that, not out loud at least. Just another case of me being unable to keep my mouth shut instead of saying whatever came to mind.

"Just keep focused, even your breathing out, and keep moving. We got this, we can think about all that other stuff later. I'm sure you can explain yourself when I'm having you run in the mornings."

"You are evil. Ontologically." A laugh bubbled out of my constricted throat. How she was still focused on making me run more after my screw-up, amazed me to no end.

"Ontologically?"

I roll my eyes, trying to focus on my breathing. "It means that you are evil by nature. Anyone who threatens me with more running is evil by nature."

This time she actually laughs. "Me caring about you not blowing up after only ten minutes of jogging does not make me 'evil by nature'"

"That is something someone who is ontologically evil would say."

Blake stifles her laugh as we break into a clearing, a set of ruins ahead of us the clearing was empty, and inside the ruins sat pedestals holding, "Chess pieces?" Blake muttered.

Some of the pedestals were empty, others had already gotten here before us. Though we were probably in the top three in terms of making it to the ruins. Made sense though, we hadn't run into any Grimm on the way. Something I was actively thanking the Brothers for.

"What do you think about a knight?" I ask, holding up the white knight piece. Blake smiled nodding as I pocketed the 'relic' that we needed. "This felt too easy don't you think?"

"Ma-" Blake started before a scream from above broke us from our concentration. "Is that Ruby?"

"Help meeeeeeee!" She screamed before Yang came out of nowhere and crashed into her. Both sisters slam hard into a tree.

My mouth opens to try and say something before the ground begins to rumble. The tree line shattered as an Ursa broke into the clearing. Raising onto its hind legs letting out a roar before tumbling to the ground. A girl with bright orange hair cheered out as her ride on the Grimm came to an end. She had been clung to the back of the Ursa like a leech.

"Did that girl just come in on the back of an Ursa?"

My head spun as the amount of auditory info kept assaulting me. Ruby, Yang, the newly named Nora, her partner, a boy named Ren. All of it was starting to be too much as they talked amongst themselves. Only a few moments later another scream broke our concentration as Pyrrah broke through the treeline, a giant Deathstalker on her tail.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?"

"SHUT UP!" I scream, shutting my eyes, my body curling up and my hands grab at my ears. My hands grip painfully as I try and pull Ruby's headphones from around my neck to put them on. The moment they pressed over my ears I let out a shaky sigh, opening my eyes to see concerned looks from everyone before a scream ripped through the air again, Weiss screaming as she fell back down to Remnant, the Nevermore she was clinging to soaring past us.

My body moved before I knew what I was doing, I launched from my crouched position, running as fast as I could as the pale girl fell from the sky. I caught her, the impact on my arms making me hiss as I felt my aura get reduced, though this time I managed to not dislocate my shoulder.

"Hey," I mumble to the pale girl in my arms.

A small blush dusted her face. "Hey," She mumbled back before she seemed to realize that I was holding her. "Put me down!" She snapped, making me scramble to set her down. The moment her feet touched the floor I took a few steps back to give her space. Her glare on me shifted back to Ruby who was waving at us.

"You left me!" Weiss shouted.

"I told you to jump!"

"From the back of a nevermore, are you insane?"

"Hey back off Princess." Yang stepped between the two.

"Heiress." Weiss and Blake countered before glaring at each other.

"Nora!" Nora chimed.

The shouting grew louder and louder, all while I stared wide eyed in fear as Pyrrah was getting closer and closer to the group with the Deathstalker right on her tail. I felt my body begin to freeze again. It was happening again. A grimm was rapidly approaching me, something I should be fighting, and yet I stood there frozen in fear.

The ringing in my ears drowned out the rest of the world. A gasp pulled from my lips as Ruby raced past me as the others shouted for her to wait. It was at this moment that the nevermore swooped low, a rain of razor-sharp feathers scattering the ground around Ruby, her red cloak pinned to the ground and the Deathstalker rounded on her.

I closed my eyes, unable to watch my friend be killed. I couldn't handle this again. I feel the buzzing under my skin start to rise, I focus on it trying to rewind, then I can sa-

"You are so childish you know!" Weiss's voice cut through my internal panic.

"Weiss?"

Weiss held up a hand as she removed her rapier from the ice that now contained the Deathstalker's entire front half, the stinger frozen solid mere feet away from where Ruby stood. "And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off, I just want to show that I can do this," Ruby argued, finally freeing her cloak from the forest floor.

"You are fine, now let's try and get out of this alive. The objective isn't to fight the Grimm, it's to retrieve the relics, so let's grab one and go." Weiss urged walking back to the group.

I felt Blake's hand land on my shoulder, my head turning to look at her. She didn't look pleased like she knew that I had frozen up again. "Come on, we can talk about it later. Let's finish the exam."

I nod wordlessly, my legs finally able to move as I follow the group back up to the pedestals I watched Yang and Nora grab castles, and Weiss grab a knight. All the while the Nevermore roared above us and the Deathstalker struggled to break out of the ice.

"Time to leave," Ren spoke as the eight of us ran back toward the cliffs that we had been launched from.

We ran for a few minutes, the Nevermore never leaving us alone for long, the Deathstalker breaking through the forest to chase us as well. The Grimm were corralling us like cattle as they pushed us into more ruins, a stone bridge hanging over a giant chasm that separated us from the cliffs that we had started the exam from.

"Ok, we need a plan." I bark over the sound of the two Grimm getting closer and closer. The Deathstalker burst onto the bridge.

"Nora distract it." Ren commands as the two draw their weapons.

Pyrrah, Yang, Ren, and Nora all turn away from the rest of us as they rush to face the Deathstalker, meanwhile, the Nevermore swoops right over us, its razor-sharp talons racing past our heads, its wing slamming into Blake knocking her off the building.

"Blake!" I shout over the edge as she draws her own weapon, tossing it with a long black ribbon attached to it. It anchored into a piece of the ruins we were standing on like a grappling hook, swinging her back up her landing on the back of the Nevermore. Her katana slashed and stabbed at the back of the beast.

Blake kicks off of it as it passes overhead of us once more, landing next to Ruby and me. "It's tough, I barely put a scratch on it."

"I will think of a plan, you and Ryker draw its attention," Ruby shouted as she raced up the spiral structure, her scythe already out in its sniper form as she took running potshots at it.

Blake and I looked at each other for a brief moment, her face almost asking me if I was going to be of any help. I felt myself beginning to freeze up again before a chill ran through me. Almost like it was sensing my climbing anxiety Mom's Ice Dust Crystal began to grow colder, the icy warmth filling my body.

I had to do this. I could do this. For her.

I grab Fools Folly from off my back, taking aim at the nevermore that was having its attention pulled back and forth between Ruby and Weiss as the red-cloaked girl gave instructions to Weiss.

I brought the rifle up, aiming at the Nevermore. My finger paused for just one second before pulling the trigger, a hail of bullets leaving the barrel as I started running. The bullets hit a scatterplot across the Nevermores face, the bird roaring with frustration as it moved away from Ruby and Weiss.

Blake sprung into action as we took turns firing at the Grimm. It circled around, flying right at me, its mouth opened to try and swallow me whole as I ran across the bridge. I pulled the lever on Fools Folly, the rifle shifting into its sword variant as I pulled a fire and ice crystal from my pocket and loaded them into their chambers. Mom's crystal dangling from my neck as I ran.

I sighed holding up the practically ancient scroll that mom had left for me. Mom's weapon Fools Folly lying in my lap as I finally pressed the button on the video that was named after the weapon.

Moms appeared on the screen, holding the very weapon I now possessed. "Hey sweetie, for this video I'm going to go over how Fools Folly works. I hope you never have to use it, but if you do, you do so with all the ferociousness I know my Little Cub has."

"Fools Folly has two modes, a short compact rifle that's good for medium-range engagements, and a gunblade variant that's good for close range. If you pull the side lever it will switch between the two."

My thumb played with the lever a bit as she talked. I missed her, hearing her voice was like a salve on a third-degree burn. It temporarily hides the pain.

"Now I want you to listen very carefully to me. In the sword form, there are four slots for dust crystals to be inserted. One for ice, fire, thunder, and a fourth one that you need to leave alone. I initially planned for that one to hold a gravity dust crystal, but I could never get it to work. If you try to load it with one and use it, you will warp the weapon into a ball of metal and probably hurt yourself. So don't do that."

"The chambers offer an amazing amount of utility in a fight and if you use them in combination with each other you will get devastating effects that can easily take down anything that would try and do you harm. Just make sure you point it away from yourself and give yourself adequate space for when you do fire it."

Just as the Nevermore reaches me, I duck under it, the giant Grimm slamming into the side of the cliff. I turn around, aiming Fools Folly at the bird. Its dead eyes stared at me with hate as it let loose a roar.

"Shut up," I growl pulling the trigger as the sword warps and expands the dust rushing out of the barrel that was near the tip of the blade as a molted white beam shot from it hitting the Nevermore in the back of the throat before tapering off. A split second later the mouth of the Nevermore was bursting with dust-fueled light, the explosion sending me flying backward as the bird was pushed violently backward into the cliffside again as Weiss froze the Nevermore against the cliff.

"Come on, Ruby has a plan," Weiss shouted as we ran back and regrouped.

The moment I made it back Ruby pointed me to a pillar as Blake tossed me the gun piece of her weapon, the both of us now connected by the black ribbon. Understanding dawned on my face as I ran to the piller, looping around it several times as I climbed up it to give Ruby more leverage.

Ruby loaded herself onto the ribbon-like an arrow would be notched onto a bow. Weiss uses a black glyph to hold Ruby back. This had to work. We had one chance.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked?

"Hmmm…Can I!" Weiss smirks.

"Can you?"

"Of course I can!" She snaps as she sends Ruby flying, a red blur as she slams into the Nevermore, her scythe hooked around its neck as a line of white glyphs climbs up the cliffside. Ruby runs up, carrying the large bird like it's nothing, shots from her scythe boosting her along the wall before she reaches the apex of the cliff, a final resounding shot echoes out across the chasm as she slices the Nevermore's head off.

The rest of us rushed away from the now-collapsing ruins.

We did it.

Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch had led us back to Beacon, both talking quietly to themselves the entire way. Once back we were brought back to the same auditorium that we had gathered in the day prior. Thousands of students filled the room. Thankfully Ruby seemed fine with me basically stealing her headphones from her, as she had yet to ask for them back. The red pair of over-the-ear headphones blocking out a majority of the noise.

"Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Yang Xiao Long. You all retrieved the white castle piece. Together you now make the team PNLY (Pink Lady). Lead by Pyrrha Nikos." Ozpin spoke, a soft smile on his face as Pyrrha seemed to finally realize that she had been made leader. She gave a small bow before she and the rest of PNLY walked off the stage, Yang shooting finger guns to Ruby as they passed us.

It was our turn now, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and I walked onto the stage before stopping in front of Ozpin.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Ryker Thorne. You all retr…ed t.. whi.e k….t p…., to…. ..u w… .. ….. ..am RSBR (Raspberry).

My ears rang, my eyes wide as I stared at the pale girl whom I was now teammates with. Weiss Schnee. Her last name was Schnee. How had I not noticed? How had I never heard her last name till now?

Mom's crystal no longer felt comforting, instead it hurt.

My hand grasped around it as I felt myself starting to completely dissociate. Seeing the entire auditorium from what felt like a third-person experience. Seeing myself wave to the crowd as we walked off the stage. I watched as I congratulated Ruby for being named leader. I watched myself play nice around someone belonging to the very family that had ruined my life.

It hurt.

(Ozpin pov)

"So it would seem that I was right. That Ryker Thorne was indeed full of surprises. Are you satisfied with my decision now, Glynda?" I asked, genuinely curious about how Glynda viewed the situation now.

She had been quiet, only making idle comments and notes about the list of students who had passed the exam, though she had never once commented on Ryker's performance. She was right to be skeptical, Ryker had failed to impress nearly the entire time. He had injured himself on landing, frozen up when encountering Grimm twice, and was not in the shape required to be a huntsman.

However, on that bridge, he faced off with a more dangerous foe than he had ever faced before. He had shined. Something must have spurred him on as he faced down what was very likely considered the stuff of nightmares to him. He fought admirably and had even shown prowess that could not be taught. His leading the Nevermore down the bridge and into the cliffside was both smart as well as resourceful. The attack he had used on the Nevermore was also nothing short of spectacular, all without using his semblance.

It made sense, Ryker had been dipping into the thirtieth percentile of his aura for most of the exam. The injury from his landing had sapped most of his aura. If he were to try and rewind time, he likely wouldn't have been able to do much of anything after the fact.

No, he didn't rely on his semblance, when his back was against the wall he proved what I saw. He was a Huntsman in the making. He just needed a chance.

Glynda sighed sipping from her own cup of tea as we sat across from each other in my office. "I will admit that maybe Ryker Thorne does have a place here. He proved that when push comes to shove, he will act accordingly."

"If I was less mature I would say 'I told you so.'" I say offering a small smile.

"You just did." Her glare was deadly, a small chuckle escaping my lips.

"I suppose I did. Though this now raises a question."

"And that would be?"

"Just how far can Ryker Thorne go here at Beacon Academy?"