Ruby Rose didn't know what to make of her new partner, Lie Ren.
He was quiet and reserved, though not unfriendly. He thanked her profusely for helping him take down the King Taijitu earlier. His pink eyes seemed distracted, like he was looking for something that would pop up out of nowhere. In fact, when they first locked eyes with one another, she could see the disappointment in them. He idly played with the single lock of pink in his mound of long, elegant black hair. It seemed to comfort him, just a bit.
"I'm sorry," Ruby said suddenly, making Ren look at her with surprise and confusion. She tried to muster a smile. "I know you probably wanted someone else to be your partner. Guess I got in the way of that."
A guilty look crossed his face. "No, Ruby, you're fine. I don't mind us being partners, I'm just… worried how my friend will take it." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to explain. "I'm sorry if I'm making you feel bad, but really, it's fine. I'm not being fair to you by acting so standoffish, so it's really me who should be apologizing."
Ruby brightened up a bit at that. "Can you tell me about them?" She asked him. "Your friend, I mean?"
He smiled. "Sure. Nora is… energetic. She's bubbly and chaotic and playful. It's a bit much sometimes, but she's always just so full of life that you can't stay mad at her. And she loves the color pink. It's why I have this," He pointed to his pink hair. "She said it's to remind me of her every time I look in a mirror, but personally I think it was to mark me as hers."
"She sounds nice." Ruby giggled, feeling so much happier when Ren had opened up to her. "I'd like to meet her."
"I'm sure she'd like to meet you, too." He returned with a chuckle.
"Have you been friends for long?" She asked, receiving a nod in return.
"We're childhood friends. I would say even the best of friends."
"You're like Jaune and Weiss then!" Ruby exclaimed. "Though I think Jaune would be more like Nora and Weiss is more like you."
"Are they your friends too?" Ren asked.
Ruby nodded. "Jaune was my first friend here at Beacon. You should see him! He's super tall and wears this awesome suit of armor like a knight! He can be a bit of a dork like me, but that's why I like him!" She pointedly did not mention how much she liked his cheese grater abs as well.
"Weiss is pretty cool too," she continued, "But I think she was mostly nice to me because Jaune was. She's polite and proper, and filthy stinking rich apparently! In fact, both of them are!"
"You've made quite the interesting friends, Ruby." He remarked with a laugh. "I hope you can introduce me to them."
Ruby felt like she was going to enjoy having Ren as her partner.
{ I }
"Do you think this could be the temple they told us about?" Weiss asked her partner.
The girl in white gestured to the open maw of a small cave. Pyrrha glanced at the series of carvings and etchings to the right of it: They depicted a large group of humans battling a giant scorpion—a Death Stalker, if she had to guess.
To be quite frank, Pyrrha was still settling into the fact that Weiss Schnee was her partner. It wasn't to say she hated Weiss—she seemed like a perfectly nice girl, in fact—but the problem lay in her perception of Mistrali redhead. She still saw her as the Invincible Girl, not Pyrrha, and for that, Pyrrha simply could not relax.
"Possibly," she said honestly. Judging by the writing on the wall, it very well could be the entrance of the temple they were searching for.
So why did she feel a sudden sense of dread?
Weiss nodded, picking up a fallen branch and cutting some vines from the surrounding foliage. She began to wrap the vines tightly around one end of the branch, making the basis of a torch. She then set it alight with a small bit of Fire Dust.
"There," she said with a small amount of satisfaction. "That should help light the way." She turned to her, her face shifting into one of confusion. "Pyrrha? Is something the matter?"
It was only then that Pyrrha realized that her mouth hung slightly agape. She had been surprised that a prim and proper girl like Weiss had been able to make a crude torch like that, and had told her as such.
Weiss laughed, holding the back of her free hand to her mouth to stifle it. "Jaune taught me how, though I will admit he does it much better than I. He doesn't even need to use Dust to light a fire."
The way Weiss smiled when she spoke of Jaune filled Pyrrha with a small amount of envy. "He sounds like quite the capable survivalist." She remarked.
"He really is." Weiss said fondly. She shook her head, then nodded towards the cave. "Come now, we've wasted enough time."
The urge to protest welled in her chest, but Pyrrha couldn't find the confidence to say it aloud. She would give Weiss the benefit of the doubt and trust her judgment. Besides, she looked so proud after making that torch. She could humor her for at least a few dozen feet.
What's the worst that could happen?
{ II }
Jaune couldn't stop looking at Blake, trying his best to keep it subtle. It wasn't as if he was leering at her in some perverted way, even if she was rather beautiful. No, what his eyes were drawn to was the bow atop her head.
He wasn't imagining things.
It twitched.
It most definitely twitched.
'Is it some sort of antennae?' he thought to himself. 'Is she hiding some high-tech gadget to help her navigate or something?'
"Jaune." Blake's voice interrupted his mental musings and gestured to something ahead.
They arrived at a ruined stone structure. It was a circular construction, with several pedestals forming an inner circle within what seemed to be a shrine.
'Or a temple.' Jaune thought. He turned to Blake. "Think this is the place?"
She returned a look that he interpreted as 'Only one way to find out.'
They approached what seemed to be their target destination, walking into what remained of the temple. He noticed that each pedestal held a chess piece of some kind. Well, most of them. Some of the pieces were missing.
"Seems like we weren't the first ones here.' Jaune noted.
He got a hum in return; the black-haired beauty having picked up one of the white knight pieces. She turned to him with an amused smile, waving the piece between her fingers. "This one seems fitting. Don't you agree, Sir Knight?"
Jaune rolled his eyes. "Very funny." For a moment, he considered taking the black knight piece instead to better symbolize their partnership, but ultimately decided against it. He didn't want to give the girl the wrong idea.
"Jaune!" He heard his name called from afar. He and Blake both turned to the source, spotting Ruby and a boy who he assumed was her partner jogging over. His own partner gave him a curious sideways glance but remained silent.
"Hey there, Ruby." Jaune greeted when she got close. He turned to the boy with a questioning gaze. "Is this your partner?"
Ruby nodded vigorously. "Yup! His name is Lie Ren, but he goes by Ren, and he's a kung fu master! You should have seen him against this King Taijitu we fought: He was all like 'Hiyah!' and the Taijitu was like 'Hisssss!' and then Ren broke off its fangs with his bare hands and shoved them through its eye with a 'Watah!' It was awesome!"
The boy in question smiled, bemused by her pantomiming. "I don't quite remember making those noises while we were fighting."
"You definitely did!" Ruby confirmed.
"Nice to meet you, Ren." Jaune proffered his hand. "I'm Jaune."
"Likewise." Ren readily shook it. He scanned the knight up and down with an amused expression. "Funny. I thought you'd be taller. Ruby made you out to be a giant."
He sent the girl a teasing glance. "Everyone is a giant to Ruby."
"Hey!" Ruby yelled indignantly. "I'm not done growing yet! I drink milk, you know?!"
The boys shared a look. "Uh… Ruby?"
"I don't think milk does anything for height."
"Of course it does!" She argued vehemently. "My dad tells me it'll help me grow big and strong! And my dad never lies to me!"
"Right…" Seeing a losing battle, Jaune decided to switch topics. "So, um, you might want to grab one of those chess pieces there."
"Oh, right!" Ruby jogged over and grabbed the closest piece: a white rook. She held it over her head victoriously, jumping up and down in elation. "Yay! We did it, Ren!"
He too raised a fist to celebrate, if a bit lazily. He then looked to Jaune and Blake. "Was it really that easy?"
Both of them shrugged. "It's not like this place was very difficult to find," said Blake.
"We weren't even the first ones here." Jaune gestured to the other empty pedestals. "Though I might have an inkling as to who might have beaten us here."
"Who?"
Jaune smiled. "The smartest, most responsible person I know."
{ III }
"WHY WAS THERE A DEATH STALKER IN THERE!?" Weiss screamed as she and Pyrrha ran back the way they came. Just behind them, an Alpha Death Stalker rampaged, breaking through solid rock with ease as it chased after them.
'The entrance wasn't even half the size of the giant Grimm!' She thought to herself panickedly 'How did it fit in there in the first place?!'
"JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Pyrrha yelled, trying to control her breathing while running at a dead sprint. They just made it out of the cave, but they didn't dare stop. A loud explosion and an even louder screech came from behind them as the Death Stalker burst through the cave, sending boulders and debris scattering through the air.
With adrenaline rushing through her body, Weiss just barely managed to keep pace with the championship fighter. The skittering foot falls of the Grimm behind them only motivated her more. At the very least, they were able to keep ahead of the Grimm, though only just, and not for much longer. Hopefully with the giant racket that they were making, some wayward students would hear them and might lend assistance.
"At least it can't get much worse than this!" Pyrrha cried supportively.
Weiss groaned audibly. Didn't she know not to tempt fate!?
{ IV }
Jaune saw Blake's bow perk up as she turned away from their group, staring into the distance east of them. "Something wrong, Blake?"
"I thought I heard a landslide…" She said, trailing off. He followed her gaze towards the mountain. He couldn't see anything, but he did hear a very faint rumbling in that direction.
A ferocious roar behind them jostled them to alertness. The two pairs brandished their weapons, ready for a fight, when an Ursa Major flew at them from the forest.
It was not an exaggeration nor figure of speech. The large, bear-like Grimm quite literally flew at them, rocketing through the air at Mach 3.
They dodged to the sides as the hulking Grimm landed in a mangled heap where they were standing previously. They followed its trajectory with their eyes, finding the furious form of Yang Xiao Long, eyes red with bloodlust.
"That's what you get for ruining my hair, you bastard!" She shouted, shoulders heaving with exertion. Upon spotting Ruby, her red eyes faded back to their usual lilac and a smile replaced her snarl. "Ruby!"
"Yang!" Ruby cried back; arms held wide as they moved to embrace each other.
They were interrupted, however, when a high-pitched screech drew their attention upwards. A giant Nevermore soared above them. Clutched in its enormous and razor-sharp talons was a girl with short orange hair and a pink combat dress. She was laughing giddily, not all concerned by her predicament. Also notable was that her eyes were also shut tightly.
Ren's eyes widened and his jaw fell agape. "NORA!?"
"Nora?" Ruby echoed with confusion.
"NORA!" The girl screamed back, her eyes finally opening to reveal aqua-colored irises. They zeroed in on Ren, her face breaking into a jubilant grin. "I FOUND YOU REN~!"
The girl drew her weapon—a large two-handed warhammer—and slammed it into the Nevermore's feet. The impact was followed by a large pink explosion, forcing the aerial Grimm to let the girl go as it squawked in pain. Nora strapped the weapon to her back as she entered free fall, homing in on Ren's form with arms outstretched.
"Catch me Renny!" She laughed.
To his credit, Ren did attempt to catch her, his eyes wide with panic and fear. Alas, with her reaching terminal velocity with maximum downward force, he less so caught her and more broke her fall. Ren slammed down into the ground when the ginger meteorite slammed into his torso, kicking up a cloud of dust.
When it had cleared, Nora was found straddling the poor lad with a cheery expression. "Renny! Look into my eyes! I was saving myself just for you!"
It took a few moments for the boy to muster a response more intelligible than a pained groan. "N-Nora…"
"Yes, Ren?"
"P-Please… Don't ever do that again…"
Yang winced. "Oof, that looked painful."
"I-Is he gonna be okay?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"He'll be fine!" Nora assured them. "Ren is surprisingly durable! This is just a love tap to him! Isn't that right, Renny?" Another groan was his response. "See?"
"Nora, please get off…" He pleaded.
"Okie dokie!" Nora hopped up immediately. Her eyes wandered, then hyper focused on one of the relics. "Oooooh!" She darted over, nabbing the other white rook. She placed it on her head and began to sing, "I'm queen of the castle~! I'm queen of the castle~!"
Jaune walked over to Ren, helping the poor guy to his feet. "You feeling all right?" He asked.
Ren returned a slow nod, grimacing slightly as he rubbed his back. "My Aura took the brunt of it. I'm just a bit sore, don't worry."
"Here, I've got you." Jaune's hands began to glow a bright white as he placed them on Ren's shoulders. Ren's entire body began to glow as well, fluctuating pink.
"Woah…" Everyone awed at the spectacle.
"I'm feeling… better?" Ren said in surprise. "Jaune, what are you doing?"
"I'm amplifying your Aura," the knight explained. "It's my Semblance. I can channel some of my Aura to boost the effects of yours, including your healing factor."
"That's amazing…" Ruby murmured.
"And incredibly useful." Blake remarked. "He could even make our Semblances more powerful."
Yang gave him a double thumbs up. "Seems like you hit the Semblance jackpot, Jaune."
"How does it feel, Renny?" Nora asked.
Ren closed his eyes to concentrate. "I feel warm, comfortably so. There's a slight tingle from where Jaune's touching me, but beyond that I just feel… safe."
After a moment longer, Jaune stopped the transfer, nodding in satisfaction. "There, all patched up."
Ren stretched for a bit to test for any more pain, then smiled when he found none. "Thank you, Jaune. I really appreciate it."
"Yeah!" Nora chimed in, rushing back over and latching onto Ren's back. "Thanks for fixing up my partner!"
Ren's face fell into an awkward frown. "Um… about that…"
Nora's smile dimmed a bit. "What's wrong, Ren?"
He pointedly looked away. "I… actually already have a partner." He gestured to Ruby, who waved back awkwardly with a shy smile.
The now sullen ginger slowly unlatched from his back, falling to her hands and knees as she wailed dramatically. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She beat her hands into the soil. "I knew I should have ridden the Ursa! I knew it!"
Ren patted her back comfortingly. "It's okay, Nora. I'll make you some pancakes afterwards to cheer you up."
She sniffled. "You promise?"
He sighed, smiling. "I promise."
"Yay, Ren's pancakes!" Like a switch, Nora was back to her cheery self once more. She turned to the group, gaze roving over them. "So, which one of you is gonna be my partner?"
Yang raised her hand. "I'm free. Yang Xiao Long, badass blonde bombshell of a brawler!"
"Hell yeah, sister!" They high fived each other enthusiastically.
"Oum help us…" Ruby and Ren whispered together, horror dawning on their faces.
Jaune smiled beneath his helm. It was nice to see his new friends getting along with one another. From the corner of his eyes, he even saw Blake smile when she thought no one was looking. A part of him wondered if Weiss was completely telling the truth about being harassed by her with how quiet and reserved Blake was. A part of him wished that she was here too, but she was probably already finished-
The sounds of trees toppling and wood splintering echoed over the clearing, followed by loud thumping and feral screeching. Two figures burst from the tree line, sprinting towards them as if their lives depended on it. Jaune's eyes widened. "Weiss!? Pyrrha!?"
"JAUNE!" Weiss shouted with a mix of desperation and relief. Just then, the tree line erupted in a shower of splinters as a hulking Death Stalker rushed out, chasing after the pair. "HELP!"
The Death Stalker slammed its massive pincers down into the earth, generating a giant shockwave that upheaved the ground and sent the fleeing girls flying. Jaune immediately sprinted into action, channeling his Aura to boost his speed and activating his Semblance for good measure. His entire body began to shine white as he crossed the distance in record time. He leapt up into the air, wrapping an arm around each of their waists and bringing them in tightly to his chest. The girls wrapped their bodies around him, clinging to him for stability as they began their descent.
Jaune landed in a crouch, trying to disperse the shock of the landing as much as he could before standing upright. He looked between the girls in his arms with concern. "Are you two all right?"
Both of them were stunned speechless, still trying to get their bearings. It didn't help that a literal knight in shining armor had just rescued them, nor the way he so easily carried them in each arm. A light blush encroached their cheeks as they both desperately tried to form words.
Weiss was the first to recover. "Y-Yes. We're fine. Thank you for catching us."
"What happened?" He asked. "I thought you would have been back on the cliff by now!"
"We found a cave that we thought would lead to the temple," She explained. "But it was just that thing's den!"
"You mean you haven't even secured a relic yet!?"
"It's not our fault that the headmaster wasn't very descriptive!"
"J-Jaune," Pyrrha interrupted, having finally found her voice. "C-Could you perhaps let us down?"
"Oh, right." He let the girls down to the ground. The sound of fighting drew their attention. The others had engaged the Death Stalker to buy them time. "You girls go grab a relic, I'm gonna go help them."
They nodded, rushing off towards the temple while Jaune ran to join the battle.
{ V }
Yang growled as she unloaded slug after slug of shotgun blasts into the Death Stalker's face, but it remained unfazed. "This thing's a tough nut to crack!"
"It looks like an Alpha Grimm." Blake remarked, flipping backwards to avoid getting crushed by its pincers. "Its exoskeleton is several times stronger than normal!"
"Then we just need to hit it harder!" Nora yelled, leaping forward and bringing her warhammer down on the Grimm's head. The strike seemed to stun the monster temporarily, but it quickly retaliated by attempting to skewer the girl with its stinger. Nora barely managed to block it, but was sent flying away in the act.
Ren peppered the Death Stalker with his automatic pistols, circling around the Grimm to draw its attention. His efforts seemed to only irritate the Grimm further as it swung its tail around to swipe at him. He leapt over it skillfully, even managing to land on it, but the giant scorpion merely began to thrash its tail about, knocking him off and back to the rest of the group.
Ruby did the best she could by providing fire support, sniping at the creature's many eyes and even managing to burst one. However, it quickly covered its face with one of its massive claws, which even her bullets couldn't penetrate. "This isn't working!"
In a sudden burst of speed, the Death Stalker charged at her. Ruby made to move, but an ear-splitting shriek from above caught her attention. A shower of razor-sharp feathers rained down on her, one even pinning her cloak to the ground. She desperately tried to free herself, but the Death Stalker was already on top of her.
"RUBY!" Yang cried as she rushed to save her, but the feathers impeded her path. She wouldn't be able to make it in time.
The Grimm's golden stinger flicked downwards. Ruby closed her eyes, her body clenched as it prepared itself to be impaled.
'CLANG!'
A moment passed, and when she didn't feel any pain, she dared to open her eyes once more.
Jaune stood in front of her, shield raised as he pushed against the stinger. "You know Ruby," he growled through gritted teeth. "This is why wearing capes is a bad idea!"
'CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!'
The Death Stalker stabbed with its tail several more times, pushing Jaune back but unable to penetrate his shield. The petite reaper marveled at her friend's strength.
The knight glanced at Ruby, his teeth clenched as his arms strained against each impact, his heels digging deep furrows into the soil. "Hey, um, Ruby -'CLANG'- this is actually a lot harder -'CLANG'- and more -'CLANG'- painful than it looks; so -'CLANG'- I would really appreciate it -'CLANG'- if you could -'CLANG'- get going!"
"R-Right, sorry!" Switching her weapon to scythe mode, she cut the feather pinning her at its base, then slipped her cape off. Using her Semblance, she sped back towards the rest of the group.
Just in time, too, as the Death Stalker gave up on trying to go through Jaune's shield and decided to just swat him away instead. Jaune was knocked backwards with significant force, being sent through the trail of Nevermore feathers and breaking through a majority of them back-first. Luckily, Yang managed to catch him, though they were both sent skidding back towards the group.
"Ngh… Thanks." Jaune said to Yang, wincing as he rolled his shoulder.
"Hey, you just saved my little sister," she said gratefully. "I think this is the least I could do."
"Jaune!" Weiss yelled as she ran over to him, Pyrrha just behind her with an equally concerned look. "Are you all right?"
"I could be better," he admitted, his arms still screaming from the heavy vibrations they endured. "Did you get a relic?"
"Yes," She raised the other white knight piece for him to see.
"Good." He turned to the rest of their group. "We need to find a better place to fight! We're sitting ducks out here!"
Being in an open clearing like this allowed the Nevermore to make easy potshots at them while they were fighting the heavily armored Death Stalker. They needed to find some cover or deal with the aerial threat entirely.
"No," Weiss argued. "We have what we came for." She gestured to the relic in her hand. "What we need to do is get back to the cliffs and finish initiation."
"She's right," said Ren, "There's no point in fighting these things."
"What?" Jaune said, flabbergasted. "We can't just leave them! What if they go on to attack the other initiates?"
"Be realistic, Jaune!" Weiss scolded him. "These things are going to be chasing us anyway! At the very least, we might be able to find better terrain if we head back rather than meander about the forest and waste precious time!"
Jaune bit his tongue, knowing what she said was correct. They still had to complete initiation, and in all likelihood these Grimm would pursue them rather than hunt the other examinees. It was best to kill two birds with one stone.
"Fine." He relented, reluctantly sheathing his weapon. They all began to retreat towards the cliffside where they had first been launched, all the while being chased by the Death Stalker and having feathers shot at them from above. They came upon some more ruins: A single spire jutted out of the ravine, acting as the center point for a series of interconnected bridges.
The Nevermore soared ahead of them, flying to the top of the spire and perching on it. It shrieked at them, launching more feathers and forcing them to take cover behind a cluster of pillars. The Death Stalker screeched and chittered behind them, not allowing them time for a reprieve.
"We need to make a stand here." Jaune said, drawing his blade. "I don't like our odds if we take our fight to the bridge."
"Sounds good to me," Yang agreed, cracking her knuckles. "That thing's armor is still gonna be a problem. Ember Celica can't punch through it."
"That Nevermore is going to be annoying as well." Blake added. "We might need to tackle them separately."
Jaune nodded, quickly looking over their personnel, then decided a course of action. "Yang, Ren, keep the Death Stalker distracted. Ruby, go for its stinger. That thing is sharp and heavy, so it might be the only thing that can get through its armor. Nora, when it falls, hammer it in."
"Gotcha, fearless leader!" Nora saluted. The others also nodded in understanding, immediately getting to work.
Jaune turned towards the remaining members of their group. "Pyrrha, Blake, I need you to get the Nevermore's attention. Weiss, on my mark, use Ice Dust to freeze it in place."
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
He smiled from beneath his helm. "I'm gonna bring it down to Remnant."
{ VI }
Pyrrha began the assault, shooting off several rounds at the Nevermore's face to draw its attention to her. It squawked at her, letting loose another volley of feathers in her direction. As she took shelter behind a pillar, Blake swung in from the side, tethering herself to one of the ruined structures and getting up close to the avian Grimm. The black-haired girl let loose a flurry of ineffective slashes that served only to annoy it as they dinged off its mask. She swung back down in a predictable parabola, enticing the Nevermore to leave its perch to pursue her.
Just as it was about to gobble her up, Pyrrha's shield impacted its face, drawing its attention to the bridge. The Amazonian gladiatrix caught her shield as it circled back to her, flowing smoothly into a kneeling stance as she peppered it with more bullets. The Grimm made a sharp U-turn, forgetting about Blake entirely as it made a beeline for the bridge's support beams. It crashed into them, collapsing the section of bridge that Pyrrha stood on and forcing her to leap back to safety.
As the Nevermore passed under, Jaune let out a battle cry as he leapt from the bridge and onto its back. He plunged Crocea Mors into it, the ancient blade slipping easily through the Grimm's natural armor and acting as an anchor for the knight to hold on to. The Grimm squawked in pain, then began to spin erratically in an attempt to dislodge its unwanted hitchhiker. Jaune held on for dear life, his stomach doing acrobatics and threatening to eject its contents.
Failing to throw off the hunter on its back, the Nevermore adjusted its flight path, angling itself to scrape its back against the spire. Jaune saw this, and, with great trepidation, jumped towards the Grimm's left wing. He just barely managed to get a grip on a bundle of feathers on the upper part of the wing. He stabbed his ancestral sword in once more, piercing into the joint where it the wing connected to its body and eliciting another loud squawk of agony.
They crashed into the spire, jostling Jaune with such force that he ripped the feathers he was holding onto out from their sockets. Desperately, he grabbed onto Crocea Mors with both hands, but with all of his weight bearing down on the blade, it began to cut through the Grimm's wing. In a gush of blood, Crocea Mors severed the wing at the joint, slicing its way down and off the Nevermore and causing Jaune to enter freefall.
The avian Grimm couldn't hope to keep flight with just one wing, and was soon sent into a death spiral. It plowed into the cliff face with extreme force, sending a shower of rock and debris scattering through the air.
"WEISS, NOW!" Jaune screamed as he fell, holding onto Crocea Mors with a death grip.
Weiss sprinted into action, practically gliding across the bridge. Myrtenaster's Dust cylinder clicked into place as she lunged at the Nevermore's fallen form. On contact, the Grimm's entire torso was encased in ice, frozen to the cliff face. She flipped backwards, using a glyph to propel herself back onto the bridge. She leaned down the side of it, worry and fear clear on her face as she watched Jaune begin to disappear into the foggy abyss below.
Blake jumped past her, anchoring Gambol Shroud to the bridge as she dove after the knight. She kept her profile narrow and slim to hasten her acceleration. Just as her ribbon was about to reach its absolute limit, she managed to grab hold of Jaune's left hand. From above, Weiss created a series of acceleration glyphs in their path, changing their trajectory so that they could swing back up the bridge from the other side.
At the apex of their arc, Blake let Jaune go, letting him fall towards the Nevermore. Jaune sheathed his blade into his scabbard, then, grabbing onto the hilt with both hands, activated the Shielth's mechashift function. The sharpened edges of the shield slid out then upwards, coming together at the tip and locking into place. Crocea Mor's hilt and crossguard elongated to accommodate the new weight distribution. With his new greatsword in hand, Jaune brought the blade behind his head and let out a vicious roar. Once he was in range, Jaune swung with all his might, beheading the Nevermore in one fell stroke.
Shoulders heaving with exertion and adrenaline pumping through his veins, Jaune turned back to look at his friends. Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake were all looking at him with jubilated expressions. Further back, Ruby, Ren, Yang, and Nora were whooping and hollering in victory, the corpse of the Death Stalker fading away.
Jaune took off his helmet, letting the breeze blow through his sweat drenched hair and cool his face. He took a deep breath, letting the cold, refreshing air fill his lungs.
Then vomited on the Nevermore's headless corpse.
{ VII }
Blake Belladonna didn't know what to make of her partner, Jaune Arc.
At one moment, he was a big, friendly goofball; then at another he's a stoic and serious strategist. He was as dense as a rock, completely oblivious to the wanton glances from Pyrrha or the Schnee; yet also strangely perceptive. She noticed his discreet glances at her bow and wondered if he already guessed her secret. At times, he was able to strike an imposing and heroic figure, but was just as easily able to ruin that image; as he had with the Nevermore.
The one thing that she did know was that he was, without a doubt, an Arc. She was already somewhat convinced when she saw their family insignia emblazoned on his shield, but he held other notable traits as well. He sported their trademark golden blonde and royal blue eyes. Not just that, but his combat prowess was exceptional, as were his Aura reserves: No mere student could take several strikes from an Alpha Death Stalker like that and still have Aura to spare.
She smiled to herself in smug satisfaction, happy she was able to secure him as her partner. If he was anything like his grandfather, they would have no problems in the future.
As the newly christened Team CRDL stepped off stage, Headmaster Ozpin called forth the next team. "Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Rubine [RRYN], led by Ruby Rose."
The blonde girl, Yang, hugged the smaller redhead in a bone crushing hug. "I'm so proud of you!" She yelled joyously. The other pair of their team did something similar, as Nora jumped up and wrapped her arms around Ren's neck, laughing elatedly.
"And finally," the headmaster turned to her team, gesturing for them to step onto the stage. She didn't like being in the spotlight: it made her jumpy and anxious, and usually meant that she had been spotted and alerted security. Jaune seemed to notice her nervousness and pressed the back of his hand into her shoulder to comfort her. He gave her a small, reassuring smile, and she couldn't help but return it gratefully. "Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos and Blake Belladonna."
Jaune stiffened when her full name was announced, turning his head to her with wide eyes. 'Ah… he recognized my name.' She supposed she couldn't keep it a secret forever. Still, perhaps she could convince him not to tell anyone else? She kept his gaze, slyly raising a finger to her lips.
"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Aubergine [AWBN], led by Jaune Arc."
Pyrrha punched his arm in congratulations, drawing his attention away from her. The Schnee crossed her arms and harrumphed, obviously disappointed that she was not made team leader; yet she still smiled and sent Jaune a sideways glance. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his hand.
Blake couldn't help but silently chuckle to herself. The Arc scion, the Schnee heiress, a renowned championship fighter, and the only daughter of the former leader of the White Fang, all on one team?
Looks like things were shaping up to be an interesting year.
{ VIII }
When Team AWBN first arrived in their dorm, they didn't do much beyond washing up and going to bed, simply too exhausted for anything else. Weiss had been insistent on pushing her bed together with Jaune's however, who was all too happy to oblige, earning some strange looks from their teammates.
"It is tradition." Weiss said simply, undeterred by their stares.
"She- We sleep better this way," Jaune explained with a slightly embarrassed smile, holding his side from where Weiss had elbowed him. "We've been doing this since we were kids, so it's just the norm for us."
There was little complaint from either Pyrrha or Blake, though the redhead had sent Weiss a subtle look of envy and Blake had given Jaune a teasing wink, making the blond blush heavily. The childhood friends claimed the left corner of the room for themselves. The moment the lights went out, Weiss snuggled closer into Jaune's chest.
"Team Aubergine…" She scoffed in a low voice so only he could hear. "Honestly, what a silly name. We could have been Team Auburn, or Team Starbright, or even Team Jubilation. To be named after an eggplant of all things…"
"It's not so bad, Weiss." He muttered, wrapping his arms around her. "I mean, you, me and Pyrrha are all here, just like you wanted."
"Yes, but that ignorant girl is your partner." She complained, glancing back at Blake.
Jaune grimaced. "Blake's not so bad. I'm sure it was just some misunderstanding."
"You weren't there." She whispered into his chest. "You didn't hear the hateful things she said to me."
"I'll say something to her." Jaune laid his chin atop her head. "I'll get an apology from her and we can try to let bygones be bygones."
"Hmph." There was silence for a moment. "I was scared, you know?"
"Hmm?"
"When you fell from the Nevermore. I know it was part of the plan, but seeing you fall like that…" She looked up at him, the small amount of moonlight shining into their room reflected off the tears that glistened in her eyes. "I was terrified. I didn't trust her to catch you."
He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but don't worry. I don't plan on dying just yet."
Her hands clawed at his back, desperate to grab onto anything. "Please don't leave me alone…"
Jaune held her tighter, hands glowing as he used his Semblance to calm and soothe her. "I won't, Weiss. I promise."
AN: Happy New Years everyone!
Noticed a few of you had concerns about Ruby partnering with Yang last chapter. As you can plainly see, that didn't happen. Have a bit more faith in me, yeah?
In regards to Crocea Mors' greatsword form, it's slightly different from what it is in canon: The edges of the shield go all the way up instead of only part way. The canon version looked kinda stupid to me, so it was one of the few things I've changed regarding Jaune's weapon; for now, at least.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Make sure to follow and review!