The crisp autumn air attacked Platina's face with stings of cold. She and 100 or so students stood in the main courtyard; like they had been instructed to do after breakfast. Everybody was silent and still in neat rows as they patiently awaiting the headmaster to give further orders.

"Damn, it's cold." May muttered under her breath, "Who does this Professor Lionheart guy think he is, making us stand out here so early in the morning?"

"Well, don't forget, after whatever kind of test he has planned we still have the team initiation ceremony. The two will probably take all day." Platina yawned despairingly. "We'll probably end up skipping lunch."

"Oh God, no." Reese begged, "I can't do that."

"Me neither, I'd starve." May slouched over with a desperate expression on her face. A gust of cold wind sent a chill down the three girl's spines.

"Screw this." May reached her hands out in front of her.

"What are y-" Tina cut herself off when a small flame about the size of May's hands burst into existence and hovered there; giving warmth to all three of them.

"Woah…" Platina stared in awe.

"Dust?" Reese asked, tilting her head slightly and reaching out to the flame.

"Semblance," May answered.

"Attention students!" A hard voice echoed over the crowd and made May jump; extinguishing the flame. Professor Lionheart was standing on the stage, looking down at the fresh recruits of the academy.

"As you know, today is the team selection event." He said as he began pacing to his right.

"Though the test may differ from year to year, they still uphold a core value in being a physical and mental test of one's abilities." He turned and began walking in the opposite direction. "This year will be taking place in Shi No Mori, just below the cliffs that protect the city."

Everyone except for May froze. All of the soft whispers that were present in the crowd died down. Some students held their breath in shock.

"Shi No...Mori?.." Tina whispered with a dreadful look on her face.

"Do not fret," the Headmaster continued with a tone that was probably supposed to be reassuring, but it didn't help, "I'm sure you will all be fine. You will all be given a small parchment scroll. As we are flying over the area, you'll be jumping out in groups of three. - except none of you will have parachutes. You will have to figure out a way to land safely, or suffer severe damage to your Aura." Lionheart never broke the consistent disciplinary sound in his voice. The collective nervousness of the students could be felt like a pressure on the shoulders of others.

"When you first meet another student, a duel is to initiate. The victor will stay with the loser until both have regained their Aura. The two are then partners and are guaranteed to be on a team together. If you come across a team of two by yourself, you will fight one individual and then promptly leave once your Aura is replenished. Somewhere in the middle of the forest, there is a temple of sorts, where Professor Valenzuela and I will be waiting inside. You will hand me your scroll and tell me how many victories and losses you've had and against whom. You are being judged by your performance. The more victories you earn, the higher you are ranked amongst yourselves. Fail to return the scroll, or the scroll is damaged or opened, and you are to wait until next year to enroll again. If you're killed," he paused for a moment, "well, I feel that goes without saying. You're dismissed."

All of the students began funneling out to the right, where an airship was waiting for them. For a while, they traveled in silence, until May broke it.

"Hey," she spoke softly, "what's Shi No Mori?"

Tina stopped, and with an almost sorrowful tone, she explained, "Shi No Mori is a huge forest with a lot of Grimm." She paused and gazed into May's confused eyes. "The name means 'Forest of Death.'"

The airship was hovering about 1,500 feet in the air. An ocean of green submerged the ground below. Everyone was lined up inside; ready to jump once the order was given. In just a few more pairs of three, it would be Platina's turn to jump.

"You ready for this?" May turned around and asked. The two's expressions were very different; May looked excited beyond belief, meanwhile, Platina was trying her best to contain her sheer panic.

"Not at all." She replied, tightly squeezing both handles of Platinum Eclipse.

"Next." Professor Valenzuela called forth the next set of students. The line shuffled forward as the next group prepared to jump.

"Ready? Go!" Then they vanished from sight.

"This is gonna suck…" Tina whined under her breath.

"Nervous?" A voice chimed in from behind.

Platina turned around to face a dark-skinned girl with short platinum-blonde hair and olive eyes. She wore a yellow robe with one loose-fitting sleeve with a red sash that had a white endless knot on it around her waist. Around her neck hung a red bead necklace and white bandages adorned her arms. Leaning forward from behind her was a grinning, tanned boy with black hair and amber eyes. He wore a similar yellow robe with a dark gray vest underneath.

"How can you not be?" Tina pointed out, "We're plummeting from really high up without parachutes into one of the most dangerous places in all of Anima."

"Well, when you put it that way…we're all gonna die." The boy agreed.

"Don't listen to him!" She put her hand up, signaling for him to shut up. "I'm Arslan." The blonde introduced herself in a mature voice. She signaled to the boy and continued, "His name's Bolin."

Platina smiled and replied, "Platina, nice to meet you."

"Next," Valenzuela called.

"Alright, time to do this!" Platina thought to herself.

She turned away from Bolin and Arslan, but before she even took a step, she realized that the next group of people had been filled up. Along with the fiery redhead and the green-haired skater, there was a dark-skinned boy with pink and black hair tied into a ponytail, holding an assault rifle and wearing a cream-colored short-sleeved jacket.

"Tina," May called, "we'll see you down there, okay?"

Reese simply nodded. Platina reluctantly nodded back.

"Ready?" Reese and May stepped back and prepared to jump. The pink-haired boy stepped forward and looked down. He seemed just as terrified as Platina was.

"I am so gonna die." He dramatically alluded.

"That's the spirit!" May cheered, giving him a thumbs up.

"Go!" Reese and May jumped without a second thought, and the boy jumped after hesitating for a moment.

"Next," Professor Valenzuela called again. When Platina, Arslan, and Bolin moved forward, they could still hear the faint screams of the pink-haired boy. Tina looked down and saw three small dots disappearing into the forest below, one by one.

"Maybe you have a point, Bolin," she said as she stepped back from the ledge, "we are going to die."

"Ready?" Professor Valenzuela asked. Platina extended both of the sets of twin blades of Platinum Eclipse. She held one of the kusarigama behind her and one across her chest.

"This is it..." She thought to herself, her feelings of terror and worry turning into determination. "It's time to show everyone what I can do!"

"Go!"

She ran to the edge and jumped as far out as possible. She was falling feet first with her arms above her head; slightly ahead of the other two. Arslan was nose-diving and swiftly catching up to Platina, while Bolin was facing the ground; spread out and trying to slow his descent. Tina couldn't keep herself from closing her eyes and emitting a half-scream, half-laugh the whole way down. She reopened her eyes and realized that the ground was quickly approaching her. She had to act fast.

When she reached the forest, she stuck the blade of her weapon in the closest tree. The kusarigama slowed Platina immensely; digging deep into the tree and tearing up bark the whole way down. When she stopped, she was a mere yard or two off the ground. She pushed off the tree with her foot and landed safely.

She took a look around. Conifers and the broadleaf trees surrounded her. Small shrubs, flowers of all shapes and sizes, and brightly colored mushrooms decorated the ground. Just a couple of feet ahead was a steep slope that was followed by a more open area of the woods, which led to a barely visible dirt path heading North. The low-hanging fog and the far-off screech of a Nevermore were bringing back her feelings of uneasiness. Platina sheathed her weapon and began a full sprint towards the drop. She jumped down and rolled on the ground; continuing the run.

"Okay, I have to find someone," she thought to herself, "either May, Reese, or Tiffany. May and Reese landed really close to each other, so my best bet would be to look for Tiffany, but I have no idea where she is…no," she shook her head, "focus on staying positive."

She heard deep growling up ahead, and soon enough three Ursa revealed themselves through the fog and trees. She took out Platinum Eclipse and extended the blades. The two closer Ursa let out deafening roars and swung at Tina; almost in unison. Platina jumped out of the way of the attack and into the air. She pushed up on a switch on the back of each handle; breaking both sickles into two pieces connected by a chain flowing behind her. The blades connected with the two Ursa's necks as she flew past them. She pulled the triggers on the front of each handle and thrust her arms forward; firing off the shotgun and tearing out a chunk of the monsters.

Tina landed on the tough ground and rolled on her side; dirtying her outfit a bit. She turned back towards the monsters with both kusarigama at her side. Slowly, she retracted the chains and brought the weapons together. The two Ursa cried out in pain and aggressively turned to face the Huntress-in-training; letting out a deep growl as they glared at her with their beading red eyes. The Ursa on the right began charging at Platina again. It crushed the twigs and branches on the ground underneath its massive paws. Tina readied her weapon and grit her teeth in preparation for what the beast would do next.

The Ursa went for a similar strike to what it had tried the first time. She stuck her left kusarigama into the arm of the Grimm and swung her other arm upwards; sending the scythe deep into the head of the Grimm. She turned around and dragged the twin blades forward while giving a confident yell. She felt the tips of the weapon scraping up against the back of the bone-like mask the Ursa wore. Almost as if it was never there, the Ursa dissolved into a cloud of opaque black smoke.

The second Grimm's enormous paws shook the earth in its mad scramble to get to Tina. She jumped up into the air at the last second and extended the chains again. In one clean maneuver, she sliced the rest of the head off of the monster. She landed down on one knee, and as she got up she brought the weapon back together again.

The last Ursa just ahead seemed larger and more heavily armored than the first two. She started running again and the Ursa let out an intimidating roar that was much louder than the other two. The Ursa and Tina began to charge towards each other. The Ursa swung at Platina, but she was quick to react; sliding under the paw of the dark creature. She pointed her weapon upwards and shot twice at the exposed belly, then she took one of her blades and jammed it just above the Grimm's ankle. Platina dashed away and fired her weapon. Some of the Grimm's foot was sliced off. Platina smiled to herself as she retracted Platinum Eclipse.

The Ursa; unthinking and indifferent to the attack, gave Platina a cold, dead stare and let out a deep growl. A small shiver was sent down her spine. She began running large circles around the Grimm; dashing between the trees and different elevations of land as a form of cover. She hoped to confuse the soulless beast and land a surprise attack.

She jumped out and kicked off one of the trees, which sent her spinning in the air towards the beast. She took two quick slashes at the nape of its neck. When she landed, she spun one chain twice behind her and threw it at the Ursa; who was still trying to react to the first attack. The blade stuck itself in its upper front leg.

The Grimm suddenly lashed out and stepped on the chain with its paw, which pulled the Huntress to the ground and yanked the weapon away from her. She scrambled to her knees in an attempt to get up, but when she raised her head she was nearly face-to-face with the sharp, stained teeth and blood-red eyes of the Grimm. Tina knew that without the second half of Platinum Eclipse, the weapon was nearly useless to use against a Grimm this size. In a frozen state of fear, she was at the Ursa's mercy.

Traveling through the forest was no sweat for Reese. She was moving twice her running speed on her hoverboard; clearing rocks and toppled trees without even having to think about them. The wind pushed back her hood and allowed her long, green hair to flow freely. That was her favorite part of skating, plus the weightless feeling that the hoverboard brought. It made her forget about all the troubles in the world. She was jerked back into reality when a tree suddenly appeared in front of her, but she swerved out of the way just in time.

"Right, gotta focus." She thought to herself. The only thing that Reese could see were trees. It was endless, and with no idea where this "temple" was, she felt lost. She slowed down and stepped off her board for a short break.

She sat down and leaned against a white bamboo tree. She took a moment or two just to take everything in; listening to the different wildlife and inhaling the sweet smell of the morning dew and the flowers surrounding her. She took the scroll she had gotten on the airship out of the pocket of her hoodie. It was white and had thin blue swirls on it, and on either side, there was a gold knob.

Reese got back up and began riding on her hoverboard again. She rode for about fifteen minutes, the same scenery seemingly repeating itself without much difference. Just as she was getting desperate for any sort of landmark, she realized that she was about to ride straight off a small rocky incline that led to an area clear of trees below. She performed a 360 Pop Shove-It just for kicks as she rode off the ridge; sending the hoverboard spinning in a full circle underneath her feet.

To her surprise, there was a person just standing around in the middle of the small area below her. She didn't have time to see who it was or move out of the way.

"Woah, woah, hey!" She tried to warn them before she crashed them.

The person barely managed to block the accident with what looked like a thick sword. The strange interaction caused Reese to accidentally position her feet in a way that would activate the shockwave attack of her weapon. A small but powerful blast of Dust-fueled energy erupted from the bottom. The blast sent her opponent flying to the ground and her careening into the air.

Her board stuck itself into the ground. Reese scrambled forward and collected her weapon. It split in half and turned into two revolvers with bayonets. The dust cleared and revealed a pink-haired boy brandishing a black assault rifle, which seemed to have a blade tucked into the barrel shroud.

The loud bang of a gun went off extremely close to the Grimm and Platina, which captured both of their attention. There was a flash of red, pink, and black that crashed into the Ursa and sent it sprawling on the ground several feet away from Platina. A pair of black knee-high boots landed on the dirt just to the side of Tina.

May's right fist was engulfed in brilliant red flames while the other cradled Amber Storm at her side. The flames went out and May straightened herself; keeping her front facing the downed Ursa. The Grimm pushed itself to its hind legs and stumbled a bit before regaining its balance. A solitary crack ran down the left side of its face where it had been hit. It let out a deafening roar that shook the ground. May barely moved an inch.

"Stay away from her!" She screamed almost as loud while switching her weapon to her right hand.

The Grimm didn't listen to her command and came charging at the pink-haired fire wielder. May began transforming Amber Storm; the blades folded inwards and part of the handle collapsed into a stock. She raised the weapon pulled the trigger of the shotgun; firing off a large spread of Dust pellets that hit the Ursa all over its body. May shot two or three more times in rapid succession, but the Ursa seemed unaffected by the assault of shotgun fire.

Platina knew that she couldn't just sit there and do nothing. She sprang into action and dashed for the missing piece of her weapon. She grabbed the handle and retracted the chain as she rolled on the ground. When she lifted her head, May had her weapon fully extended again. She flipped the battle axe around and shot behind her; propelling her forward faster than the Grimm could react. May slashed at the Grimm's torso three times; using the recoil from firing the gun as momentum. She aimed the weapon back at the Ursa and fire twice more. This launched her backwards and out of the way of a sweeping attack from the monster.

Tina could only stare in awe at May's fighting style. She used a high-powered weapon to launch herself everywhere really fast. She's heard of this kind of technique, but she had never seen it be used in person. It was mesmerizing.

May landed on the side of a tree and shot Amber Storm again to launch herself towards the beast another time. The Ursa was still in the final motions of its last attack. As May flew over its head, she ignited her hand again and slammed down on the top of the Grimm's head; driving it into the ground and creating a pressure wave that kicked dirt and twigs into the air. Platina's hair blew back and became reminiscent of ocean waves.

The beast tried to get back up from the massive blow it just took, but the opposing Huntress was relentless. As soon as it tried to stand, May stuck her axe into its torso and forced it back to the ground, then she pressed her left boot on the neck of the Ursa. May grit her teeth and lit her fist ablaze again, and almost faster than the eye could see, she struck the Ursa in the top of its head. She began yelling as she ferociously pounded the monster's head into the forest floor. The beast kept struggling to get up, but couldn't manage to do it. Slowly, it stopped resisting and began to go limp.

The pauses between May's strikes became longer after the Ursa stopped struggling. Finally, she let out a final yell and slammed her fist one last time. When May got back to her feet, Tina was able to see what remained of the Ursa. The mask was completely shattered, and whatever pieces remained were scorched dark gray from May's flames. The head looked like it had caved in - but from where she was standing it was hard to tell - and many of its fangs had fallen out.

Platina wasn't awestruck by May's abilities anymore, she was terrified. She was terrified of her monstrous strength, her unpredictable fighting style, and her incredible Semblance that hers couldn't compare to. Perhaps the most nerve-racking thing was the mercilessness she displayed while executing the Grimm. Now she had to face her.

Tina got into her offensive battle position. Her right kusarigama was hanging by the chain at her side, and her left arm was across her chest holding the other scythe at her shoulder. May turned towards her opponent and smiled with anticipation. She raised her weapon to chest level with one hand. Only two words were exchanged.

"You ready?" May asked rhetorically.

Character Notes #3 May Vermillion; A hot-headed pyromaniac with an obsession with weapons. Although she's usually upbeat and outgoing, she has a short fuse that shouldn't be tested. God help anyone who ends up on the receiving end of one of her anger fits. She fights with ridiculous strength, an oversized weapon, and a formidable Semblance.