Gotta say, making the characters speak realistically, as in with stutter and pause, was way more fun than I initially thought. So yeah, I guess I'll stick with writing them like that.
-oOo-
It was early in the morning when Glynda woke up from her sleep. The warmth from the sheets lulled her to fell again into the embrace of sleep, but Glynda resisted against it. Stretching her stiff muscles under her heavy blanket, she let out a relieved sigh as pleasant pop reaches her ears. Then she slips her feet from the bed.
In Beacon Academy, each staffs member were assigned a room for temporary lodging because quite frankly, having to commute from Vale to Beacon every fricking day would have drove anyone insane in her most humblest opinion. Although, that said, while her colleagues sparsely used their room, Glynda's own might have been her home already by now.
She was remembered just how spartan and bare this tiny bedroom before. Now, however, it was filled with her belongings that were surprisingly girlish for someone with her personality and disposition.
After taking a quick shower to fully wake herself up, Glynda began to put on her dress and try to organize her schedule for the day in her head.
The Beacon Initiation Exam. If Glynda was allowed to object such inane event, she will. It's not that the event itself was at a fault here, but rather, it was how Ozpin ran the event itself that bothered her. Some might say that Ozpin's methods are out of the box. Glynda herself frankly sees it as idiotic. Okay, throwing the initiates to the forest of Grimm is fine for her as long as serious measures were prepared for it. Forcing people to partner with random people just because you see each others, however, was not something she could agree with.
And what's worse was when she questioned it or try to give him advise about it, he would just chuckled into that stupid mug of his and continued to sip his cocoa.
Sometimes, Glynda wondered whether he's actually senile or simply just pretended to be senile so that he could mess with other people.
With a sigh and after a quick, silent journey through the empty and unnecessarily grand corridors of Beacon, she finally arrived at the Beacon Cafeteria.
Her respect goes high for these amazing who work here. How they were able to function before she could even wake up was already beyon her. And without them, she have no idea just how exactly all of Beacon's population could survive all this time.
"Ms. Glynda, good morning!" One of the server, Martha, greeted her.
The woman was quite stocky and stood at average height, dressed in a very meager Beacon staff's uniform, she looked exactly just like how a slightly older was supposed to look like. Glynda faintly remembered her having three child in Vale and a husband who work in electricity.
"Morning to you too, Martha." Glynda asked before taking a seat on the counter.
"The usual?"
"Gods, yes, thank you."
The woman began to work her magic on the coffee machine, leaving Glynda alone on her stool, lost in thought and her empty surrounding. It was of no surprise that the cafeteria was mostly empty at this time. Most of the cooking staffs must have been working on the kitchen right now because the increased number of people needed to be fed today. And Glynda would be surprised to see anyone other than the staff in this pla- wait, what?
"Uh? Martha?" Glynda called.
"Yes?" The woman answered.
"Was there anyone here before me?" She asked, eyes pointedly eyeing at a stack of few bowl right beside her. "Or is it a group?"
The kind server laughed at her, "That's the funny thing, Glynda. A lad suddenly came here, asked us what we have in store. Told him I can fix him a bowl of oats and maybe some leftover chili oil from last night. And the lad asked me to bring him three bowl of it. Let me tell you, Glynda, the boy ate through it like starving man he got me feeling hungry just from watching him eat."
Glynda can and yet also somehow failed to imagine someone eating through bowls of oats with nothing but chili oil can look satisfying like what she described. "I-... Where's this lad if I may ask?"
"Oh, he's inside. He tried to pay us money because he ate so much food, but I refused. Seems like it bothered him so he offered to help us in the back instead." The woman paused, as if realizing something, "Wait, that's actually allowed, right? I mean, with all this iniation...?"
"I suppose... I suppose I can allow it as long as he was supervised to not sabotage it. You left someone with him, didn't you?"
"Oh! No need to worry about that. I just thought that, well, y'know what I mean... I gave him the dirty work if you're wondering. Like peeling stuff, washing, all that stuffs. He seems to be a very good lad. Hope he actually got into Beacon so that we can get another helping hend at deck, haha!"
Suddenly, the metallic door that leads into the kitchen was opened, from there, someone came out.
"Mrs. Helga, I-I'm so sorry for bothering you this early."
It was a tall young man with blonde hair who stepped out. His skin was fair in colour, slightly tanned from what she suspected to be prolonged exposure to sunlight, while his eyes were of light blue colour that reminded her to the colour of bright sky. Dressed in a tank top and a interestingly padded pants, his build is slightly bulky, but not quite well defined, at least not yet. Guilty smile was on his youthful face as he bowed to Martha who in return smacked his back a couple of times with joyous laugh.
"Oh, Jaune, it's fine! It's been a long time since someone enjoyed my food, even if it's just oats and chili oils. Hahaha!"
"Hehe, it's not that bad... I meant, I... I can eat anything as long as it was filling enough. The problem is just how much I needed to eat to function."
"Of course! I mean you're still a growing lad and like, about to get to Beacon, right? I'm rooting for you if you're wondering. We're always short of hands back there, hah!"
"Haha.." The boy laughed along uncomfortably. Then his gaze began to wander around awkwardly. Glynda stared, ever professional that she was, managed to put her stoic front faster than eye could blink and stared at him. He stared at her back with a clueless look, "Am I... am I interrupting something?"
"Oh, gods! I'm so sorry Ms. Glynda, your coffee! I'll be right back!"
They both broke the eyes contact to watch the portly woman scurry away for the coffee machine. Silence hung heavily between the two of them as the cold chill from the night still lingered. From the corner of her eyes, Glynda caught the boy glancing a few times at her but she pointedly ignored it before he called her.
"Um... Excuse me, er, are your name by chance uh, Glynda Goodwitch, ma'am? The- the Beacon's deputy headmistress?"
She nodded, turning towards him, "Yes, that would be correct. And you are... initiates 69th, Jaune Arc, yes?"
Glynda actually knew full well who exactly this boy was. Glynda herself was the one who evaluated his admittance into Beacon through the Civilian Huntsman Recruitment Program anyway.
Basically civilian without any legal record of Huntsman training from prep-school or professional experienced Huntsman's recommendation were allowed to participate the Initiation only after several set of tests, bet it written or practical one. And the subject of the test itself was very extensive to make sure that the one who managed to succeed through it was really, really qualified for it.
Glynda was heavily against this program when it was discussed for the first time because frankly it was quite a stupid idea to get a naive civilian killed. And so, as compromise, the side that was in favor for this program, which unsurprisingly and infuriatingly included Headmaster Ozpin, let her personally set the bar for minimum passing grade and personally oversee and evaluate ten promising candidates out of hundreds or maybe even thousand.
Jaune Arc, the young man before her, has been very... promising.
His written tests were almost perfect in all subjects while his answers on the psychological one at least painted a picture of a young who was level-headed and capable of making a rational decision even against morality or personal needs. His practical tests on the other, still have a lot room to grow but it was already more than adequate. And in the combat simulation test, he had showed an impressive display of combat discipline, decision-making, tactics, battlefield awareness and gunplay that told her that there were some roots of the military in his self-training. Perhaps a member of his family.
"Oh, y-yes! Yeah, that's me. Er... I um... F-first of, good morning ma'am. I hope you have a pleasant one... And uh, I'd like to discuss a few matters with you, if you won't mind that is."
Glynda's features softened in a way that only strict teacher can do without losing every bit of their authority. Her first impression so far was that the boy was at least polite and very respectful, despite his nervousness. That was only natural of course, yes, but his politeness was at least more genuine than any other initiates she ever met so far.
"Thank you, Mr. Arc. And pleasant morning to you too as well. Would you like to discuss this matter in my office or somewhere more private?" Glynda have to admit that she was making quite an insulting assumption here, but she have intention to judge the boy. In fact, if he decided to quit now, she would say that was wise of him to value his own lif-
"Oh, no, no, it's alright here, ma'am. I don't want to bother you for long and... you looks like you really needed that coffee." Glynda rarely ever tolerated let alone smile at someone's joking about her, but right at that moment, she was tempted to smile. Gods, it's been a long time since she met this level of genuine respect of politeness.
"I... Thank you, that's very considerate of you. Now, what's this matters you're speaking about?"
"Oh right, er... this is just about the Initiation and um... Am I allowed to ask bout it?" Glynda silently nodded. "Great, so... Is there any way to contact Beacon in an emergency situation, Ma'am? I mean, during the Initiation itself."
"That's..." Glynda blinked, before pinching the bridge of her nose and screw her eyes shut by furrowing her brows "Goodness, this is embarrassing..."
"Ma'am?" Mr. Arc asked, confusion painted on his face.
"It's alright, Mr. Arc. And thank you, you have brought an important matter to light. To answer your question, we currently don't, but I can give you my contact information if pressing and dangerous situation happens during the Initiation. Though, I would like to inform you that we do monitor the safety of all initiates during the Initiation."
"Oh, that's... well better late than ever, eh?" He tried to ease the mood and help her feels better. It failed, but Glynda appreciated the effort nonetheless.
"I would prefer to never be late, Mr. Arc. Though, thank you again." She pulled out her scroll, a slim and elegant thing, while asking for his, "Your scroll, please." She
"O-oh, alright. Here." He handed his own out, a most compact thing she had ever seen, solidifying her believes about him raised by a soldier or at least have a member of family that influence him.
"Anything else, Mr. Arc?"
"Er... About the Initiation I guess. I meant, am I allowed to know just what or how exactly this Initiation entails? There's no detail about it whatsoever and it's been making me uneasy."
Yep, that's the soldier mindset. The need of clear information. This however was a Huntsman Academy, and Huntsmen are the people who collect said information and do the recon into the unknown. So, she was tempted to say no, but there's also a little things that's always bugging her that might also be considered a crime if not told to him.
"I can only give you one thing, Mr. Arc. You will be launched into the Emerald Forest. As in launched literally, catapulted into it. So I suggest you started to look for a method of how to safely land after being shoot out like a cannonball."
"..." The boy stayed silent, Glynda can't blame him. Then he decided to be honest with her with the flattest tone he can muster, "Quite frankly that's... to me that's so dumb."
And she nodded, "I am very much on your side on this one, Mr. Arc. Believe me."
-oOo-
Cardin Winchester is a tough guy. A manly dude who got all the bitches. The alpha of all other alphas and betas. Unstoppable, immovable and fearless. Or at least that what he used to think back then. Right now, with the wind harshly whipping against his entire body as he was flying over hundreds miles per hour in the sky and some thousands feets away from the ground.
At least he can console himself by the fact that he's not the only one who scream like a girl barely out of her diaper.
The lush expand of green below him slowly but surely grew closer as physics work it's magic. The fear within him pooled and threatened to spill out of him as began to fall down. Cardin shut his eyes close, trying not to see just how close the ground had gotten only to saw an image of himself splattered on the ground as a red goop in his own mind.
"FUUUUCCCCCKKK!!!!"
As the certainty of death began to gradually close it's distance, Cardin to wrack his mind for an idea, for a way to keep himself alive and hopefully stay in one piece. All the knowledge gathered from his prep school education resurfaced back from the raging sea of fear like a strong tsunami that almost overloaded his brain. And if Cardin was fully himself right at that moment, he would have cursed himself for forgetting that Aura exist.
Reddish brown shone around him, enveloping each surface of his body like a protective barrier as he touches the first emerald leaf on his descent. And it turned violent a moment later.
A cacophony of rustling leaves and branches crowded his surroundings as he screw his eyes shut, praying that he would made this landing. Pain. Hurt. It is the only thing he can register as his limbs and body continued to collide against stray branches and trunks. And only after eternity of darkness and painful collisions later did he finally hit the solid ground and rolls across it like a ball.
Cardin blinked as he finally managed to stop and lean against the massive root of a tree. Only the sound of his own erratic heartbeat that he can hear as he released the breath he had been holding all this time. Disbelief, fear, panic, nausea, confusion. It all mixed up inside his bowel into a disgusting concoction and only after he had regained some part of his consciousness did he leapt away and began to puke his breakfast out.
"HUOEGHKK!!! KOFH! HOUEEGHK!!"
Undigested food and bile spills forth from his mouth. Tears stung his eyes and began to trail down his face along with snot and sweat. Suddenly, his ears caught someone's voice as a hand patted against his back. Cardin barely reacted to it, because the poor sod had absolutely no way to stop himself until his gut was finally empty of anything.
"-amn, dude. Y-you good?"
Cardin could only nod weakly, eyes still blurry from tears and body shaking like a fawn popped out barely a second ago by its mother.
"Ow, yuck, you woke up late didn't you?" Cardin didn't answer, still trying to regain his composure while aches and pain overwhelmed him inside and out. "You... Are you good, bro? Like for real good? I-I watched your fall, and it's... I'd never want to switch place with you."
Cardin still didn't answer. His throat... He slowly laid down unto the ground and began to flclose his eyes. Fuck, he needed water so badly right now.
The other guy finally took the que to shut the hell up and wander around their surroundings. Times passes by for a minute or so in rhythmic heavy breathing when suddenly someone shook him out of his rest.
"Hey, er... hate to bother you but there's Grimm. Can you fight, man? Like, no bone broken or something." It was that same guy who tried to help him up before, dark blue long hair and wimpy face.
"N-no..." Cardin rasped out, before trying to lift himself up. Ther was suddenly a hand before his face.
"Name's Sky anyway. Sky Lark... Yours, partner?" Cardin accepted the hand.
"Cardin... F-fuck, I need a drink. Cardin Winchester." And with a groan, he stood up, "The Grimm, how many are they?"
"Just one... luckily. But it's been taking it's sweet time, just stalking us. There." Unease was on Sky's face when he gestured towards a large tree around fifty meters away from them and the Beowulf that stood beside it.
Eyes eerily staring at them, completely still like a statue straight out of horror movie. Cardin flinched as its eyes met his, shiver spread under his skin as his blood grew colder.
"The fuck...?"
"Y-yeah, give me the creeps too." He took out his weapon, a single handed axe and mechashifted it into a halberd. "Should we... Should we fight it?"
Him hours ago would have question the other dude's manhood without hesitation. But at the moment, he was as unsure as Sky is. "How much Aura did you have? After fall."
"About a half, hopefully more. I thanked the Brothers my own fall was not as worse as yours." He raised his halberd, aiming the tip of it towards the Grimm as if holding a pole-cannon, "What about you?"
Cardin licked his lips and try to feels inside, "A quarter, maybe less."
"Damn..." Sky didn't lower his aim, "Should we try to take it down now or..."
It was quite far from them and Cardin's gut feelings told him to not get close to it. "Can you... Can you shoot it? Like, one shot?"
"At least, I need to hit him two times-"
"Do it. Then we'll go sou-" The other guy didn't give him the chance to finish with a loud gunfire, clearly too excited to get rid of this creepy thing and get the hell outta this place.
Cardin watches in silence as the bullet began to soar further into the woods. The monster barely reacted to it, unbothered and remained still on its place, continuing to watch them with it's glowy crimson eyes. Then the lead hit him right at one of its eye.
The creature jerked back, the force of the bullet breaking it's statue-like composure, but other than that, it didn't react to the damage on its own body.
Foreboding silence enveloped the forest while the shade from leaves up above gets darker and more sinister. Like an omen for an incoming disaster. Cardin hated this, back then at combat school, he had fought a Grimm for a test. From it he knows for a fact that these monsters were, at the very least, able to experience pain and anger.
"Hey." Cardin called out to his partner, "We... We gotta go. Something's bout this ain't ri-"
He was cut by a howl. It was loud, so loud Cardin was forced to grit his teeth and shut his earholes with fingers. Looking back at the thing, Cardin shivered as his eyes met it's single eye while the thing throw its own head backwards.
"W-what the fu-!" And for the nth time today, he was being cut off again.
This time, it was because countless pairs of crimson orbs were staring at him from within the sinister shadow of the Emerald Forest. As the howl died down, it was completely quiet for a moment, humans and Grimm were staring at each other. Everything stilled, from the wind, the leaves, Cardin's own breath and his mind too.
Then all hell break loose.
Black Dogs leaped from the shadow of roots directly in front of him. It was exactly the size of a hunting dog, with shephard's head covered in bone plating while it's entire body was almost entirely black. Lines of veiny red trailed across the surface of its only skin while tail and claw of bone lashed out like a deadly weapon. Dark spits flew from its gaping wide mouth ready to bite off the flesh out of him.
Cardin only got a second to frantically reach for his mace, Executioner, and swing it forward. It was a terrible swing, too fast, too hasty and lacked power, but it managed to bat away the Grimm in front of his face and give Cardin time to jump away. But before he can fully regain his composure, he was met with another Grimm.
This time, Cardin's whole body was in proper position to deliver destruction. Kinetic energy travelled up from his feet as he swung his mace again while Aura was pumped into his muscle to bring more strength. The Grimm's head that was about to maul his literally exploded from the force of his strike while it's headless body spun in the air, scattering cursed gore across the ground and him.
Cardin let out a breath, time seemingly slowed down as he admired his work of art before pain erupted from his side.
His Aura flared as the Dog Grimm's bite tightened on his stomach and Cardin didn't waste a second to pummel it with Aura-enhanced fist. The punch failed to kill it, but the creature was more than incapacitated enough for Cardin to stomp it's head out. Catching his breath, his eyes quickly looked around trying to assess his situation.
Sky was fending off two dogs right now and Cardin hoped that he was competent enough to actually do it by himself without his help. Then he looked at that first Beowulf Grimm, only to find it gone from its place. But with its disappearance, a literal horde of dogs were coming towards their way right now.
"... fuck." He whispered, horrified, before realizing the severity of his situation, "Fuck! FUCK!"
Rushing towards his partner, Cardin kicked away the smaller one between the two while Sky took his chance to take down the other with a jab of his halberd. Then, without any warning, Cardin continued to run away, "C-Cardin?"
"Just fucking run!" Sky was thankfully smart enough to follow his trail after a brief look behind him.
"W-what the fuck is that!" The guy called out, surprisingly quick to catch up on him and managed to stay by his side.
"Zero fucking clue, man!" He answered between pants and heavy breathing, "Never seen the Grimm either!"
Cardin cursed himself internally for focusing too much on strength training. His muscles were aching by now and it was a struggle to keep his breath controlled. And slowly but surely, even with shit ton of adrenaline pumping into his system and pushing him beyond his limit, the sounds of the horde continued to gradually grew closer towards them
"FUCK! T-they are getting closer!" Sky cried out.
"Just fucking run- fu-!" Something bit into his ankle and Cardin's vision blurred. It was a tree root.
"Car- SHIT- THEY ARE HE-!" And Sky's scream was drowned in hellish symphony of barking and howling.
From the corner of his eyes, one of the Grimm dog had leapt out towards sky while other followed it's brethren close behind. The guy decapitated the first with a swing of his halberd and managed to at least knock away the second one. And Cardin had no more time to watch his partner as he got himself pack of dogs to fight himself.
He scrambled away, trying to return back to his feet when one of them jumped at him and landed on his chest. Fangs then tried to dig into the skin of his neck and the protective layer of his Aura.
"GODSDAMNIT- FUCK!!" Cardin cried out in agony, mace lifted between the two of them before he tried to push the creature off him. Its teeth scrapped against his Aura, his skin, but Cardin ignored the pain through sheer adrenaline and swung down towards the Grimm, killing it with a single strike.
Unfortunately for him, the other were close, too close behind.
His boot shoot out upward, knee hitting the snout of a Grimm before ehe elbowed the other one. And in with a swing of his mace, he hit the both of them.
The strike failed to kill the things immediately but Cardin pay it no mind. Instead, as time become slower from the heightened state of his mind, Cardin clicked the button on his mace.
Heat exploded from the head of his weapon, Cardin flinched from the way it burns his skin but the pained whimpers the Grimm's made from getting their guts spilled soothed the pain from plaguing his mind. With an exhale, he opened his eyes again, and the dark satisfaction he gained from obliterating the two Grimm faded like it was never there.
Ten and many more of the creatures were getting closer to him, and the hate, the fury, the horror that they carried were more intense than their fallen brethren. Cardin was stunned for a moment, fear overwhelming him more than pain and exhaustion ever could. In a panic, he jumped away and swung his mace in a fit of fright. It managed to knock off three of them, but one managed to snuck under his strike and bit into his calf.
He swung again, ignoring the pain. Two of them were knocked away. Another swing, his forearm hurts, the light began to flicker. Another one, this time it was his thigh that screamed, his breath stuck in his throat. And when a crack reaches his ears, Cardin's vision began to blur.
As the world in his sight spun on its axis, a stray thought flashed within his blank head. There was no fear nor anger in his mind, only a sudden realization of his fate and a hopeless acceptance to it as his back hit the ground with a thud.
'Ah, I'm going to die.'
No flashback, no dramatic situation, no harrowing moment of struggle, only a hollowness that genuinely scare him to the core.
Suddenly, before the pain that permeated his body had become completely numb, a new song, of explosion and carnage, joined the orchestra of death and hatred. It was ear-shattering and disharmonious, yet, there was nothing else that could rekindle the fire of hope within his heart as brightly as this one. And when life returned to Cardin, the light that was drowned by the body of darkness began to return to his sight.
There was a man in armor before him, like a knight of old, his saviour. With a sword in his left hand, he swung at the Grimm atop Cardin and slice through its midsection. With his steel-tipped boot, he kicked another one hard on its snout.
Cardin was almost transfixed, same for the Grimms that were happily munching on him before, but then they growled in defiance and snapped him out of his stupor. Cardin trashed against them, punching, kicking and elbowing his way from their hold on him with reckless abandon for his safety and his wounds. The power of Aura may have left him already, but he feels like he can fight the entire world right at this moment.
"HE'S ALIVE!" The knight screamed before continuing to help him wrench away all the others Grimms from Cardin's body.
It was a short work for the two of them to kill each and every Grimm that has mounted him, and when Cardin stomped the final dog, the Knight put his full attention away from him and lifted his gun. Cardin panted as a hail of bullets came from the Knight's gun and eviscerated a group of dogs that were coming their way.
"Hey, can you walk!" Cardin failed to answer the question as he fell unto his knee. His left leg was burning with agony. "Shit! Renny, cloak us in! We'll clean up this mess and take a break!"
Exhaustion weighted on Cardin's shoulders as the sounds of battle continues to rage on. All he can feel now is aching and pain. Cardin had reached his limit, and no amount of adrenaline can help him stay on his two feet or awake by now. As his eyelids become too heavy to lift, the sounds of the battle continues to rage on.
-oOo-
*Pssh* *Pssh*
"OH MY FUCKIN-! GAH! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!!"
"Ah, yer awake." Jaune noted indifferently before continuing to spray the antiseptic in his hand.
"YEAOWCHH!"
Jaune had to admit, he did feel pity for the guy cause he was literally being burrowed inside pile of Grimm and being chewed on like dog's toy. It was actually a miracle he hadn't die yet. Thankfully, the wounds that he sustained were nothing fatal, just nasty scratches and bite wounds, but definitely painful.
Still, he need to do this quick and not burden Renny any longer. The guy trashing around was not helping the process any faster. "Nora, could you held him down?"
The girl seems to be more than happy to do so with a big grin, tongue stuck out and all that. Jaune nearly hesitated for fear for the poor big guy getting strangled by the ridiculously strong girl but he just decided to shrug it off.
It has been barely two minutes after they all had killed off the dogs horde together. His heavy breathes feels hot inside the metal helmet. There was little ventilation in the thing. Jaune also regretted wearing undershirt inside the kevlar jacket. And all of these has been far more intense than his entire physical training and conditioning. Yuck, he must have stunk right now...
To be perfectly honest, the horde he had faced just now was smaller than the one Jaune had to snuck away from. Literally landing yards away from a sea of Grimm must have been some sort of terrible luck or something. Probably the most stressful moment in his entire life so far, he was so lucky they couldn't sniff the fear out of him. Well, silver lining is, at least now he don't got to worry about his luck this year with that disaster happening.
"S-shit, I'd hate to be on his place." Sky Lark, the guy's partner, idly commented. Jaune couldn't agree more. There are two other wounds left he needed to clean and bandage right now.
"S-Sky...?" Between hiss and whimper, the guy called out. "T-the fuck's happenings?"
"Shits happens, man. There's ton of Grimm on you I'm surprised you're still alive... I-I'm... I'm surprised that I even still... alive myself. There's fucking many of them..."
"T-then..?"
"Then this metalhead came, all gun blazing and shits with his group. Gods, I... I can't tell you just how happy I am when he did."
"You can thank me by giving me your name." Jaune suddenly butted in, voice weirdly booming and muffled at the same time thanks to the metal helmet. His hands still wrapping a clean bandage on the wound on the guy's thigh when he quickly supllied, "It feels weird calling you 'the guy' all this time in my head."
"C-Cardin. Cardin Winchester."
"Jaune Arc. Wanna drink? You sounds like you need some."
Rather than Cardin who desperately wanted to say yes, someone else asked a question back. "H-how much did you have?" It was a guy with neatly combed brown hair.
"er... I initially thought I had bring more than enough." Jaune trailed off, tightening the knot on the bandage before reaching for his backpack and took out two bottles of water, "But now... Well, I'm... gonna ask you guys to share, alright."
"Oh my gods, you're a fucking blessings."
Cardin was the first to take a generous gulp out of the bottle, luckily no one minded about it. Next was Nora who wrenched it from the poor man's hand then happily poured it into her mouth before heading towards her meditating friend, Renny. Watching her goes, Jaune looked down at the second bottle and just decided to hand it to the other three so they won't fight with her.
"Hey, uh... While we have the time for it," Jaune suddenly spoke while he was on his way to fix Cardin's other wound, "how about we introduce ourselves properly this time? I don't even know some of you guys and... I guess it just feel awkward, y'know."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune watched as the short guy with green mohawk perked up, "Got to agree with the boss, er... name's Russel by the way. Russel Thrush."
The other guy, with a brown neatly combed hair, finished drinking and handed the bottle to Russel, "I'm Dove Bronzewing. Also, uh... wanted to say thank you for saving our hides back then, boss. We would have been a goner without you."
Cardin hissed again as Jaune chuckled, "Heh, think nothing about it man. You know what they say... the more, the merrier... But really though, I think we really should stick together. The Grimm... they are just too fucking many."
"Speaking about Grimm, what the heck is with that?" Sky piped in, "I meant... that dog Grimm, never seen them, never heard any of them from my teach back then at school."
"N-Nasty little shits, that's all I can tell ya." Through gritted teeth, Cardin voiced his opinion, "You kill one, two suddenly popped out of fucking nowhere."
Jaune turned towards the pair of girl and boy he had stumbled first when he landed from that disastrous 'landing strategy' schtick the Grandmaster pulled out of his ass, "Nora, uh.. you said you said you and Renny came from Mistral, right? Ever heard of this Grimm?"
"Renny?" The one Jaune asked turned to her friend that was sweating bullets and face scrunched in concentration.
"I... haven't seen... about them... either..." Between heavy breathing, the boy struggled to answer, "Jaune? How much... long is it?"
"Just finished up right here, hold on for a second, Renny." Jaune hastily tied up a knot on the last wound dressing, eliciting a grunt from Cardin, "Thank you so much, Renny. You're doing a god's work right here."
"That's... great to hear." The tension from Renny's shoulders dropped and a sigh full of relief escaped his lips, "Also my name's Lie Ren, a pleasure to meet you, Jaune."
"O-oh, damn..." To be perfectly honest Renny sounds kinda adorable and silly, he thought, but it also made him feel terrible for the continuous mistake he had made. "uh... Yep, yep. Me too."
"Where are we heading?" Dove asked.
Jaune looked up, frowning before looking at his wrist. "To the south. I see a ruin there. Maybe we can found whatever vague ass thing the headmaster want from there."
"W-wait a second..." Everyone when they heard the shakiness in Sky's voice. "...we still continued the Initiation?"
It was a staring contest that followed them soon after, gaze eyeing each other curiously, wondering what's their ultimate choice. It has dawned to them just how dangerous this Initiation actually is, especially to both Cardin and Sky. It was simply natural for anyone to back out of this seemingly wild-goose chase when their life is actually on the line.
His contemplation was cut short when he noticed how everyone had turned to him now. A man who seemed ready for war and a stone-face helmet that reveals nothing but unbending will. Yet, inside them, there was only a teenage boy who was just as confused as them. Even so, Jaune refused to prolong their inaction.
"Yeah... at least I will. Even if I'm against death, I... I will do it. And if you're willing to go with me, then I will thank you by giving all of my life to protect your life. I can promise you that at the very least, we will fight together."
"I-I'm in."
"C-Cardin...?"
"I... Can't fail Beacon. I don't wanna fail Beacon. T-this is the only place I can run to, Sky. And I would go livid if I didn't get in after experiencing that shit..."
"I'm in. We've been this far into the woods anyway... I doubt we can get back to Beacon unscathed. Might as well finish it while we're here."
"Yeah, what the boss and Dove said. I mean, y'know, this is like Beacon and shit. They're the pros, they're the best, of course their exam gon' be fucking difficult."
Sky, with concern and worry painting his face, hesitated and looked towards the other two who had stayed silent. Ren was currently being carried by Nora, almost asleep, but the look of conviction from his half-lidded gaze reinforced everyone's belief. And in the stead of her friend, Nora gave her words with giant grin, "I meant, we've been living in the road too long, y'know. Of course me and Renny will fight for Beacon just so that we finally got a home."
And the bluenette finally sighed with great reluctance, the people has spoken and there was nothing else he can do to stop it. Long live democracy!
"Fine... I guess this is Beacon, anyway. Maybe they got some countermeasures or stuff in case we got into real big mess."