Here we are at Chapter 4. I have a little bad news for you guys. It was announced today that Roosterteeth is shutting down after 21 years in the game. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company, shut it down and sold it and is now looking to sell the rights to RT products like RWBY to buyers. It sucks hearing about that. RWBY volume 10 was in the works, but now it may be longer before it comes. I don't know about you guys, but I hope whoever buys it doesn't screw it up like they did Gen:Lock with HBO. Let's pray that RWBY will continue and will finish in a way that does RT and Monty Oum proud. My main stories may be a while before I continue them because of this, but I WILL complete them one day. I will not leave them undone. I'll also start back with RWBY KEPL Chibi sometime during the month, so look forward to that. Anyway, Let the initiation begin. I do not own RWBY or Genshin Impact. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 4. Enjoy. I LOVE RWBY!
Chapter 4: Comrades
Ei flies through the air, glancing at her sides to see the other students falling as well. She sees the forest getting closer. Bringing out her naginata, Ei waits until she gets close to the trees. Using the back end of her blade, she strikes the side of one tree and swings around it until she safely lands on one tree branch. She looks as some of the other initiates fly past her and others land in the forest beyond. However, her attention is caught by a sudden screaming, and she looks up to see Jaune falling through the air. Given his position, it's highly likely he won't survive the landing.
"I should probably-," Ei gets ready to go help, only to spot a red and bronze spear flying nearby.
The spear flies in and pins Jaune to a tree by his hoodie. While embarrassing, at least he's alive. Ei glances down to spot Pyrrha Nikos running towards his position.
"I'm sure he'll be okay. I'd better make my way to the ruins," Ei notes before dropping down to the ground.
She heads towards her destination, keeping an eye out for friends or foes along the way. A few minutes later, she encounters other creatures. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the latter. Ei watches as a pack of Beowolves appear out of the brush and surround her.
"Hmm, grimm. I always wonder why that idiot created these things," Ei mutters, twirling her weapon around.
Two Beowolves jump at her, but with a quick slash of her blade, they are left in four pieces. Lightning sparks around her naginata while her Chakra begins to take form. One attacks her front while another attacks her rear. Ei pulls her weapon back, hitting the back grimm in the nose. She then thrusts her blade forth, stabbing into the front Grimm's opened mouth and coming out of the back of its skull. She spins her polearm around, ripping the blade out to behead the grimm behind her. Several more grimm charge in at her, but Ei moves through them like a bolt of lightning through the thunder clouds. Her strikes are swift and true, leaving the grimm in pieces that turn to smoke. Her Chakra is nearly complete now. One more grimm attacks her from above, but she swings her blade upward to bisect it. With that, her Chakra is ready. Ei turns to the remaining grimm.
"Be gone," Ei mutters as lightning courses around her blade.
She makes a swift strike of her blade, cutting through space itself and showing a sliver of her Plane of Euthymia. The attack destroys the grimm, leaving them in pieces. With the threat gone, her Chakra dissipates and she holsters her blade.
"What a nuisance. I'd best get going," Ei mutters before continuing on her way.
...
Meanwhile in another part of the forest, Candace searches for the ruins and for her partner.
"Hmm, I wonder if Dehya landed further ahead of me. She's probably heading straight for the ruins to collect the relic. Hopefully he's doing okay" Candace wonders.
She moves through the trees, but as she does, she hears some noise up ahead. The sounds of combat. Deciding to take a look, Candace moves through the bushes, brushing a few away to get a better look at what's going on. She spots a girl with long red hair, surrounded by a group of Ursai. The girl wields a double-edged blade in her right hand, the blade having an intricate design with a blue section in the center of the blade. She also notices how the girl has a few small canisters filled with water on her back. One of the Ursai charges at her, but the girl twirls around the monster and makes a clean strike across its body with her sword. She then flips over it and makes two more strikes before the grimm falls to the ground, dead. Two more Ursai charge at her, but the girl spins in between them, dodging their attacks. Candace watches as the girl dances around their claw swipes and charge attacks. She really does look like she's dancing.
"Interesting," Candace mutters.
The girl slides under a jumping Ursa, her blade slicing through its stomach. It falls to the ground behind her as she spins onto her feet. Another Ursa goes at her left flank, but she flips over its claw strike and goes for the back of its neck. The head falls followed by its body. One more attacks her rear. However, a spear flies in and impales itself through its skull. The girl looks as Candace walks out from the bushes.
"Quite an amusing display. I wasn't sure if I was watching a fight, or a play. Both equally entertaining of course," Candace says as she pulls her spear out of the dead grimm. "Forgive me for not jumping in sooner, but something tells me you would've been alright either way,"
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. I guess we're partners now," the girl notes as she sheathes her sword on her rear waist.
"Indeed, we are. My name's Candace. A pleasure," Candace holds out her hand.
The girl shakes her hand, "A pleasure, Candace. You may call me Nilou,"
...
Back with Ei, she slices through another Beowolf as she heads closer in the direction of the ruins. She looks around as the grimm bodies around her dissipate into smoke.
"There sure are a lot of them around here. I hope the other initiates are doing okay," Ei notes.
She hears some noise off to the side and looks up, just in time to jump out of the way of the black head of a King aTaijitu. The giant serpent swings around, hissing at Ei. Ei watches it warily, ready to counter its next strike. However, she hears noise behind her and rolls out of the way to dodge a strike from the white head of the King Taijitu. The two-headed snake grimm circles around the electro archon, deciding whether to attack or simply crush her. Just as Ei makes her move, a shadow flies over her vision.
"Mind if I join the fun?!" she looks up to see Dehya in the air.
Dehya reaches back and pulls out a large greatsword from her back. She swings downward, slicing the black head off in one clean strike. The white head hisses in pain and lunges at her. Dehya spins, bringing her greatsword around her back to deflect the strike, and follows it up with a hard left punch to the side of its face.
"Hey Ei, fancy meeting you here," Dehya says.
"Dehya? Is Candace with you?" Ei asks.
"Nope. I was looking for her, but found you instead. Guess we're partners now," Dehya shrugs her shoulders.
"My apologies. I'm sure you would've preferred partnering up with her," Ei notes.
Dehya waves it off, "Eh, it's no big deal. I'd rather partner up with someone I know and get along with than a total stranger," she stops when the white head rears back up for another round. "Yeah, hold that thought until after we finish this thing off."
"Agreed," Ei replies.
The King Taijitu lunges at them, but Dehya swings her greatsword around to knock its head aside, knocking a few of its fangs out in the process. Ei then moves in and swings at its right eye, half blinding it. The grimm hisses and tries to swallow Ei whole, but Dehya comes in and throws a few punches across its skull to stagger it. Ei uses this chance to jump up and swing her naginata, splitting the head in half. The snake grimm falls to the ground as its life comes to an end.
"Thank you for your assistance, Dehya. I appreciate it," Ei bows her head to the Faunus.
"Ah, it's cool. We're partners now, and friends. Just do what comes naturally," Dehya says.
"Well, thanks anyway. We should keep heading towards the ruins. Hopefully, we'll meet Candace there," Ei says and walks ahead.
"I wonder if she's found a partner. Hopefully it's someone that'll be easy to get along with," Dehya adds.
...
Meanwhile, Candace and Nilou continue their trek through the forest.
"So, you're from Mistral?" Candace says as they walk.
"Yes. I was there for most of my childhood. Then I began learning how to dance and perform at a young age. I quite enjoyed it," Nilou replies.
"I can picture that. The way you fought earlier seemed more like you were dancing on a big, bright stage. I thought it was quite graceful," Candace says.
"I'm glad you think so," Nilou smiles at the praise.
"But then, if you were training to be a dancer and a performer, why are you here trying to enroll at Beacon Academy, a school for warriors?" Candace asks, curious.
Nilou sighs, "That's a bit... complicated. I'm sorry," she hangs her head a little.
Candace places a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, it's okay. I didn't mean to pry. We all have our own reasons for coming to Beacon. They're what drive us to move forward after all,"
"...What about you? You're from outside Vacuo, but you didn't apply to Shade Academy. Can I ask you that?" Nilou asks.
Candace smirks, "Let's just say it was women's intuition that I should come to Beacon instead of Shade,"
Nilou giggles at the idea. However, the moment is interrupted when they reach a hillside and spot the ruins in front of them.
"It seems we've reached our destination," Candace says.
"That's good. We're halfway done with the test then," Nilou notes.
"Aw, and here I thought we were going to be the first one's here," they hear and turn to spot Yang and the girl with the bow approaching them. "So much for bragging rights,"
"It's not a race, Yang," the girl notes.
"Well, friendly faces all around, it would seem," Candace notes. "You're the girl from yesterday, when we met Ruby and Ei and helped them with that little... issue," Candace says.
"Right. I kind of just wanted to get out of there," the girl says.
"Oh, yeah, Ruby mentioned you. Thanks for helping my sister out earlier. I'm Yang," Yang says.
"A pleasure. I'm Candace," Candace nods.
"Nice to meet you both. My name is Nilou," Nilou introduces herself.
"And this is Blake. We met up and now we're partners," Yang nudges her partner.
"Pretty much. Now, can we get back to the task at hand. We still need o grab a relic and make it back to the cliffs alive," Blake says.
The four of them walk down to the ruins. Once there, they spot several podiums with chess pieces in the center of the ruins.
"Chess pieces?" Yang cocks her head.
"These must be the relics we were tasked with collecting," Candace figures out.
Blake spots a few empty podiums, "It seems we weren't the first ones here. Some of the relics have already been taken. We'd better pick ours and then leave,"
"Agreed, but which one do we pick?" Nilou wonders.
"Well... I think I'll take this one" Yang picks up a white knight piece. "A cute little pony for me and Blake!"
"Sure," Blake rolls her eyes, but smiles.
"Alright, then we'll take... this one," Candace chooses the white bishop piece. "What do you think, Nilou?"
"I don't mind," Nilou nods.
Just then, Nilou spots Ei and Dehya approaching the ruins.
"We had a feeling we'd find you here, Candace," Dehya notes.
"Glad to see you're okay, Dehya, and that you found a friend for a partner. Good to see you alive and well, Ei," Candace greets them.
"It's good to see you too. And this must be your partner," Ei turns to Nilou.
"Hello, I'm Nilou. It's nice to meet you," Nilou waves.
Ei bows her head, "A pleasure, Nilou. You may call me Ei,"
Dehya walks up to the relics, "Chess pieces? Someone has a weird sense of humor. Well, whatever," Dehya just grabs the first one she sees, a white bishop piece. "You cool with this, Ei,"
"I don't mind. We need to return with a relic. They didn't say anything about having to choose a specific one," Ei nods.
"Okay, we should probably-," Nilou begins until they hear an explosion and look to see an Ursa fall to the ground and a girl with a big smile roll off of it.
"Ah, I think I broke another one," the girl pouts.
Just then, a boy in a green shirt stumbles out behind them, "Nora, please... don't try that ever again," he looks, only to see her gone.
"Oooh," the girl, Nora, eyes a white rook piece. "Oh, I got it. I can be the queen of the castle! Hey, Ren, you want to be the king?!" she shouts.
"NORA!" Ren yells back.
"Heh-heh, coming Ren!" Nora runs back to his side, giggling.
"Did she just... ride here on an Ursa?" Nilou asks, perplexed.
"Uh..." Yang has no idea what to say about that.
Suddenly, they hear noise and look to see Jaune and Pyrrha getting chased by a Deathstalker. It swings its left pincer at the blonde. He manages to protect himself with his shield, but it still sends him flying back and crashing near the group. Pyrrha fires some shots at the grimm, but that just pisses it off and it tries to catch her in its pincers. Pyrrha lands her feet on one of its claws and jumps away, landing near the others.
"And now we've got a Deathstalker to deal with," Dehya notes.
"Okay, anything else about to happen in five seconds or less?" Blake rolls her eyes.
Right after she finishes her sentence, they hear another loud noise and look to see Ruby and Weiss running towards them.
"Oh great, the kid got stuck with the spoiled little princess as her partner. I feel sorry for her," Dehya groans. Just then, a giant Nevermore breaks through the trees, chasing the two girls. "And they're being chased by a giant Nevermore. No doubt it was the brat's fault,"
"Ruby!" Yang yells out.
"Yang!" Ruby yells back as they link up with them.
"Ruby, how did you get a Nevermore to chase you?" Ei asks.
"Long story, no time. Where are the relics?!" Ruby replies. They point at the chess pieces. "Which one do I pick?"
"Who cares! Just grab one!" Weiss yells back.
She takes aim with her rapier to fire off a few Dust shots at the Nevermore as it flies around. Meanwhile, Ruby grabs a white knight piece and places it in her pouch.
"Okay, so what do we do now?" Pyrrha asks as she and Jaune link up with them.
"Professor Ozpin said that we just need to collect the relics and return to the cliffs with them. Our mission is not to fight the grimm," Ei says.
"But, can't we fight our way back to the cliffs through the grimm?" Dehya cracks her knuckles.
"There's no point in wasting time. She's right. We have our mission," Weiss says.
"Ei and Weiss are right. There's no reason to fight these things. Come one, let's head to the cliffs," Ruby says.
They all move together as the Nevermore and the Deathstalker give chase. As they do, Jaune starts to fall behind and the Deathstalker catches up to him. It attacks his flank, but Pyrrha blocks with her shield. Dehya comes in and throws a hard punch to his face to stagger it. Seeing this, Ruby flies back with her semblance and makes a strike of her own against the grimm's face. However, this only angers the giant scorpion. She makes another attack, but the grimm knocks her aside with a swing of its claw.
"Ruby!" Yang yells before a white blur zips past her.
Ruby looks up just as the Deathstalker sends its stinger at her. She closes her eyes, awaiting the end... but it never comes. Slowly opening them, Ruby gasps when she sees the Deathstalker's tail trapped in ice.
"You are beyond childish. And irritating, and dimwitted, and your combat style is simply atrocious. But, I suppose... I may have been difficult as well. However, if we're going to succeed, then we need to do it together. So, if you stop trying to show off, I'll be... nicer to you," Weiss says, trying to be nicer.
"I'm not trying to show off. I just want you to know that I can fight and I want you to give me another chance," Ruby retorts.
"You're fine," Weiss replies before helping Ruby up.
Just then, the Deathstalker breaks free of the ice and attacks them. However, Yang and Dehya come in, dealing a pair of hard uppercuts to the grimm's skull to knock it back. Ei follows this up by making a series of quick slashes across its body before jumping back.
"Come on, we need to keep moving!" Ei says.
They hear the Nevermore above, circling them. They decide to make a break for it and head towards the cliffs. They eventually come into a clearing and spot another set of old ruins ahead of them in the center of a deep canyon with one bridge connecting to them. However, standing between them and the path to safety is another grimm. A Megoliath.
"Great, another big, fat, and ugly waiting to get in the way," Dehya rolls her eyes.
"What now?" Blake asks as she looks around.
They find the three large grimm encircling them.
Ei twirls her naginata, "We fight our way through,"
Candace looks back at Dehya, "Dehya, do it,"
"Got it," Dehya gives her a thumbs up.
Dehya's body glows before she jumps up into the air and then smashes her fist into the ground. This releases a wave of energy that forms a field around the group. Their bodies start glowing lightly.
"Whoa, I feel so much lighter now," Jaune notes.
"And I feel... amazing!" Ruby cheers.
"It's my semblance: Lion's Pride. As long as you're in this field, we share our strength with each other. It makes us stronger," Dehya explains while drawing her greatsword.
"Cool," Yang smashes her fists together.
"In that case, allow me to add to that," Ei says as she eyes the Megoliath.
It charges at her, but Ei swings her arm around, creating a sliver of her Plain of Euthymia as it strikes the large grimm, staggering it. Suddenly, an Eye of Stormy Judgment appears above her and everyone else.
"What the-," Weiss is surprised.
"It's an aspect of my own semblance. The Eye of Stormy Judgment. It will aid you in battle. Watch closely," Ei explains.
She lunges at the Megoliath, ducking under the swing of its trunk and making a few slashes at its legs. As she makes each strike, they spot a second slash suddenly appear is if from thin air, leaving a tear in space itself for a second before disappearing. This gets the gang's attention.
"Think of it as adding an extra strike to your attacks. However, it won't last forever, so make them count," Ei says.
"Alright, then we'll split off. There's three grimm and twelve of us. So, four for one," Ruby says.
"Fine by us!" Nora cheers.
"Let's go!" Jaune adds.
They split off into groups and attack the grimm. Dehya, Candace, and Nilou aid Ei against the Megoliath while the others take care of the remaining grimm. The Megoliath tries to crush Ei under its feet, but she jumps around its legs and makes slashes across its skin. The grimm swings its trunk at her, but Candace intervenes and blocks it with her shield. This is followed up by Nilou who makes a few slashes across the trunk. Candace thrusts her spear into its underbelly, making it roar in pain. She rolls out of the way when it tries to crush her with his massive body. Dehya comes in and swings her blade, cleaving her way through two of its tusks. Ei adds to this by swinging her blade at its face, leaving a nice scar on its bone armor. While they fight the Megoliath, the others are dealing with the other two grimm. Yang and Ruby fire off some shots at the Nevermore as it flies overhead. The giant bird swings around and swoops low towards them. However, Weiss creates a wall of ice to cover them. The Nevermore flies through the ice wall, shattering it, but finds no one on the other side. Just then, Blake appears on its back, making several combo slashes between her blades and Ei's Eye of Stormy Judgment. She jumps off at the grimm's back at its tail, landing next to the others as it takes back to the skies.
"It's pretty tough, even with the extra boosts from Ei and Dehya," Blake notes.
"If we could ground it somehow, it wouldn't be a problem for us," Weiss notes.
Ruby thinks for a moment before a light bulb goes off, "Wait, I have an idea,"
"Should I be worried?" Weiss scrutinizes her.
"Just trust me. This WILL work. Yang, Blake, you need to cover us for a few minutes," Ruby says.
"Got it, little sis. Let's go Blake," Yang says before firing off her gauntlets at the grimm while the others race in different directions.
Meanwhile, Jaune's group fights the Deathstalker. The large scorpion swings its pincers at them, but Jaune and Pyrrha block them with their shields. Pyrrha jumps over Jaune and strikes the Deathstalker in its face. The Deathstalker screeches as the pair jump back, giving Nora the chance to fire off some grenades at it. The grimm blocks the shots with its pincers, but this gives Ren the chance to jump onto its back and then up onto its tail. He starts firing his guns at the stinger's joint, but this angers the Deathstalker which starts swinging its tail around. Eventually, Ren loses his grip and gets flung straight into a stone pillar.
"Ren! That's it!" now, Nora is mad.
She fires off more grenades at the grimm, stunning it. Jaune notices the stinger hanging limply over it.
"Pyrrha, the stinger!" Jaune calls out.
"Got it!" Pyrrha throws her shield at the stinger, severing it from the tail.
The stinger falls onto the Deathstalker's skull, piercing the armor.
"Nora, we'll give you an opening. When you see it, smash it!" Jaune yells.
"Oh yeah!" Nora cheers.
Jaune and Pyrrha race towards the grimm. It swings its pincers at them, but the pair block with their shields. Pyrrha jumps and makes a quick slash with her blade, slicing the pincer off with the aid of Ei's Eye of Stormy Judgment. Jaune stumbles back, but Pyrrha helps him keep the second pincer back. Seeing her shot, Nora runs up and turns her grenade launcher into its hammer form. She jumps up and swings her hammer down onto the stinger, causing it to impale through the skull of the Deathstalker. The grimm takes its final breath before its body dissipates into smoke. Jaune breathes a sigh of relief as Nora helps Ren up and Pyrrha smiles at him. They look back as the others finish up their own battles. With Ruby's group, Yang draws the Nevermore in with more firepower. It turns around and flies at her. Blake runs at Yang, and the blonde grabs her and throws her straight at the grimm.
It opens its beak to swallow her whole, but Blake flips over its face, making slashes at its eyes to damage its sight. The grimm ends up smashing into the ground, but that's just what Blake was hoping for as she lands and then throws her chain-scythe over to Yang. They make a makeshift slingshot with the trees, with Weiss conjuring a black glyph and Ruby landing on it and Blake's ribbon.
"Of course, your plan would involve something like this," Weiss notes.
"Can you make the shot?" Ruby teases her.
"Of course I can. Don't forget who you're talking to," Weiss retorts.
Ruby smirks before Weiss fires her off. Ruby flies in, using her scythe to slice through one of the Nevermore's wings. She lands on a white glyph which then turns black before repeating the process, flying in to take out the grimm's second wing. With the giant bird grounded, Yang flies over its head and smashes it into the dirt with a hard right fist. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake follow after her and make a three-strike combo on its neck with their blades, slicing the head off. The body falls dead as the decapitated head lands behind them. Ruby smiles and gives her friends a thumbs up. They look back at the last fight still going on. Against the Megoliath, Ei and Nilou focus their blades on its legs, trying to weaken their strength. Meanwhile, Dehya keeps the head busy while Candace goes for any openings with her spear and shield. Nilou makes a slash on its side before jumping back. She waves her left hand and the water in her canteens flows out and flies in the air around her. The water flows around her blade and starts vibrating.
"Candace!" Nilou shouts before running to her.
Candace smirks before swinging around with her shield. Nilou jumps off her shield like a springboard and makes a swing to slice off the grimm's trunk. It roars in pain as it rears back.
"Nice trick," Dehya notes.
"It's my semblance. I can manipulate water," Nilou replies as the water falls off her blade and flows around her again.
"Huh, fancy," Dehya grunts, smirking.
The Megoliath stomps its feet on the ground as it charges at them. Candace smirks before throwing her spear at it. It nails the grimm in one of its eyes, stopping its charge. Candace raises her hand, and the bracelet on her hand glows purple. A similar glow appears on the pommel of her spear and it pulls out of the grimm, flying back into her hand, courtesy of some gravity Dust. Dehya rushes ahead, her fists glowing, as she jumps up and deals a few punches to its skull, cracking the bone armor.
"It's on its last legs!" Dehya says.
"Then leave it to me," Ei calmly walks past her. "I will finish it," she says, her Chakra at full strength.
She holsters her naginata, confusing her comrades. Lightning surges around her. Suddenly, the handle of a sword emerges from her chest.
"Musou no Hitotachi," Ei mutters, her eyes glowing.
She pulls out her fabled blade, Musou Isshin, she makes a single, powerful slash at the Megoliath. She appears behind it as the grimm is consumed in purple lightning; its body fading away. The little light show garners her quite the attention from the others.
"Amazing..." Ruby mutters, stars in her eyes.
Ei pays it no mind. After all, the last obstacle to completing the test is finally defeated.
...
Later, those that passed the initiation exam are scene back in the amphitheater with Professor's Goodwitch and Ozpin on stage. He calls on students to stand before them.
"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forth, you shall work together as Team JNPR. Led by... Jaune Arc," Ozpin announces and the crowd claps.
"Wait?! Led by?!" Jaune was not expecting that.
"Congratulations, young man," Ozpin smiles.
Pyrrha has to help Jaune leave the stage as the shock hasn't subsided yet. Ozpin calls up the next four.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From today onward, you shall be known as... Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose," Ozpin says, much to the shock of the first two.
"I'm so proud of you!" Yang cheers as she hugs her sister.
They eventually leave the stage and the last four take their place.
"Raiden Ei Inazuma, Dehya Naar, Candace Irtyu, and Nilou Soraya. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day on, you shall be known as... Team RDCN (Redcorn). Led by... Raiden Ei Inazuma," Ozpin announces, making the crowd clap.
"Guess we'll be following you now, Ei," Candace says.
"I'll certainly try my best," Ei replies to her new smiling teammates.
"It looks like this year should be... quite the interesting one," Ozpin mutters as they celebrate the formation of their team.
And so their first year at Beacon Academy begins.
And that's the chapter. Team RDCN is officially formed. Redcorn is described as a bright, brash shade of dark red so you guys are aware. Anyway, now Ei's time at Beacon with her new friends can truly begin. What encounters and challenges will she face at school? Until then, please Read and Review. And stay RWBY strong.