"Rrra! I can't believe I lost to that jerk!" Platina balled her fists and tried to convey her anger; though her voice's cutesy pitch made it difficult to take her seriously. The morning fog seemed to have lifted almost entirely and the air was beginning to warm up, but the trees still kept them cool in the shade. May glanced over to her distraught friend with a worried expression.

"Are...you okay?" She asked in a soft, concerned tone.

"Huh?" Tina's face softened as she looked over at her friend. May's amber eyes were filled with care.

"I mean, you're just taking this a little hard...is all. It seems a bit out of your character." She finished quickly.

Platina sighed and turned away. "Sorry..." She apologized.

"Tina, you don't have anything to be sorry for," May assured her.

"It's just…" Tina said as she pulled herself away from May, "ever since I lost to you, I guess I just wanted to prove myself."

"What do you mean?" May tilted her head when she asked the question.

"You're just so much better than me!" The way that she raised her voice clearly showed that she was frustrated. "You said you were from Signal, right? That's a pretty big Primary Combat School. My school was really small...and I just feel like I was lucky to get here..." She crossed her arms.

"Tina, what school I went to doesn't matter." May tried to calm the Huntress, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"But it's not just that though, your fighting style, your strength, you're Semblance; I can't compete with you at all!" She lowered her head again. "I feel like I'm going to be a crappy teammate…"

"Tina!" May raised her voice in an assertive tone that caught Platina off guard. May sighed to herself and continued "You're being ridiculous. I fought you myself. You're stronger than you think." Her voice softened.

Some of the doubt that clouded Tina's mind just seconds before seemed to melt away. She tried to mirror May's warm smile, but she didn't think it came out as well. May didn't seem to care.

"You'll be fine, okay?"

"Thanks, May. I think I'm good now." Tina replied and they started moving forward again.

There was a peaceful quiet between the two for a while as they moved into an area with fewer trees. They scanned between them for any sign of the temple, and although Platina was still anxious to get there, she also felt glad that she could finally stop and breathe the fresh air after the pandemonium earlier. May began to hum softly. Platina felt at peace in this strange, unfamiliar place.

"Hey Tina," May said and turned towards the Huntress. She gave a short hum in response. "There are a few things that have been on my mind."

"What is it?" Platina asked as she tilted her head.

"How come this place is called 'The Forest of Death'?" She asked. An uncomfortable expression found its way onto Tina's face.

"Oh, well…" She hesitated, "around 20 years ago, there was a plan to expand Haven to the ground below the cliffs. One of the big problems was the Grimm, obviously." The forest began looking eerie again as she recalled the origins of the name.

"The place was always known for being really dangerous. It had a super high concentration of Grimm, so a ton of Huntsmen and Huntresses were sent into the forest to clear them, but it didn't turn out so well. There were a bunch of people who died here that day…"

May began to understand how appropriate the name of the forest was. A haunting Nevermore screech rang through the air and built upon a growing uneasiness between the two of them.

"That's pretty heavy." She stated.

"Yeah, since then there haven't been any orders to send people into the forest."

"Until now." May finished. "I wonder why Lionheart would do that. Well, uh, do you have any clue on why we have these?" She pulled the old-timey scroll out of the pocket of her jacket.

"I really have no idea." Platina answered. "That part is just kinda weird."

May tucked the scroll back into her pocket and continued her series of questions. "And what's with the whole fighting thing? What's the point?"

Platina widened her eyes and tilted her head as she began hypothesizing.

"It's probably to create balanced teams?" She suggested. "Like, the more powerful you are, the weaker your teammates?"

May brought her arm up as if she was flexing underneath her sleeve and smiled. "Well, with you and me on a team together, I don't know how they can really balance it out."

"Well, everyone here seems pretty strong." Platina remarked. May had her strength and Semblance, Reese has her unique weapon and fighting style, and as much as she hated to admit it, Lukas had his teleportation and his intelligence.

A person fell from a tree a few yards from the two girls and landed with one knee and one hand on the ground. It was a girl with contrasting platinum blonde hair and dark skin.

"Well, I'd say you haven't even seen strong yet, Platina." Arslan said as she stood up.

"Hey, Arslan!" Platina cheered and waved. The three girls walked up to each other.

"Hey, you're the girl who was with her on the airship, right?" May asked when she recognized the girl who was talking to Platina.

"Yeah, my name's Arslan." She said and crossed her arms.

"Well Arslan, I'm May." She introduced herself as she bent a leg and placed her hands on her hips. "Tina's partner."

"Nickname already?" Arslan asked Tina.

"Heh, yeah…" Platina rubbed the back of her head, not knowing how she should've responded. "So wait, do you have a partner yet?" She asked.

"Actually…" She turned to a tree behind her and Bolin emerged from behind it.

"Bolin and I had a signal. We planned on being on the same team a long time ago."

"Smart," Tina remarked with a smirk.

"Thanks, I'm the one who thought of it." Bolin clarified in his deeper voice; smiling over to Arslan. She scoffed and put on a toothy grin while shaking her head in response.

"So, how is this gonna work?" May asked, "Like, a 2V2, or..?"

"We actually don't want to fight," Arslan waved away the questions, "we just want to get to the temple."

"Speaking of which," Bolin began as he turned and pointed to a large incline, "if you go just over that hill, you can see it."

"Really?" Platina gasped. The fact that they were so close to their destination enlightened her with excitement.

She ran past Arslan and Bolin and dashed up the hill. About a mile away, tucked underneath some tall trees was a wooden two-story building with a red, arced roof. The other three Huntsmen marched their way up the hill as well.

"Finally!" May exclaimed. "I was starting to think we'd never find it."

"Shall we be on our way?" Arslan asked as she crossed her arms.

"Yeah, let's go!" Tina cheered.

Reese glided through the air on her hoverboard, still mad at Nadir for the destruction of her scroll.

"God, why'd it have to be him?" She thought to herself. "This wouldn't have happened if he wasn't such a freaking moron."

She slowed down to walking speed by a tree that had a patch of small, blue flowers around it. She let out an exasperated sigh and held her head with her right hand.

"Come on, Reese, you're being irrational. I shouldn't have left him alone in this place." She realized, a slight feeling of guilt creeping into her heart. "All right, I'll go apologize, then we'll find this stupid temple and see if I can't fix this." She decided and brought her hand to her waist, tightening it into a fist.

A shriek of fear rang throughout the forest. Reese had a feeling she knew what the source was. It came from where she had left Nadir.

"Damn it…" She swore under her breath. She pushed off the ground and leaned as far forward as possible. She was traveling as fast as her weapon could go: about 30 miles per hour. A flurry of gunshots could be heard far away, and a loud crash followed. In the distance, she saw a single tree topple over.

Nadir desperately scrambled around to evade the attacks of the Boarbatusk Grimm. He rolled to his right and the boar stomped past him; squealing at the top of its lungs. He aimed his assault rifle and fired another burst of shots - none of which seemed to do any good. The Grimm turned back towards the Huntsman and began charging at him. He transformed his rifle into a sword and prepared to attack the incoming beast. He swung downwards, but the hard armor of the monster deflected the blade with ease. The Boarbatusk flicked its head forward and slammed its two long, curved tusks into Nadir's chest; sending him flying and causing his body to flicker with his pink Aura.

He crashed into a tree and dropped to the ground. He placed a hand on his knee and pushed himself up. He raised his head to see the Grimm rolling in place; kicking up dirt and rocks as it prepared to attack him. Finally, it started to move at full speed towards Nadir. All he could manage to do is raise his weapon, close his eyes, and hope this attack didn't kill him.

Nadir felt no impact. No bone-crushing force hit him. He slowly opened his eyes to see his savior. Reese maneuvered in between him and the Boarbatusk; using her legs and hoverboard to hold back the monster, and her arms were pressed against the tree.

"Damn it, what are you doing? Get out of here." She grunted as she struggled to keep the monster back.

Nadir stared in wonder for just a second, then he nodded, ducked underneath her arm, and began running away. Reese pumped her legs as hard as she could - a fire erupting in her thighs - then activated the shockwave function of her hoverboard; sending the Grimm flying back. She hopped on the board and began gliding towards the Boarbatusk, then she kickflipped and another small explosion ignited in the air and knocked the Grimm off its balance.

Reese stopped and pulled the board apart at the center. It folded over to form two machine pistols with small knives at the end. She turned and blasted the beast with a flurry of Dust. The Boarbatusk barely even flinched as it turned around to charge the Huntress again. Reese put the weapon back together, hopped back onto the board, and began gliding towards the Grimm. She grabbed onto its right tusk, swung her legs around, and delivered a second shockwave to the side of the monster. It sprawled on its back a yard or two away. She quickly glided to the downed Grimm, grabbed the board, and stabbed the belly of the beast with the blades.

The monster gave out a loud, pained squeal as Reese tore all the way down its body. It stopped struggling suddenly and began dissipating into a shadowy mist. Reese whipped around and mounted her hoverboard again; speeding in the direction that her partner ran. He soon came into view; still running at his top speed, which was slow compared to the board. As she sped past him, she took hold of his hand and torso and lifted him onto the hoverboard.

The sudden force of being placed on the hoverboard jolted Nadir back into reality. He stared at Reese's face from behind in awe as they both sped away from the battlefield. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't find the right words. The two stayed silent as they sped deeper into the forest.

Tiffany could see the structure clearly through her scope, every single detail - the cracks in the aging wood and stone, the spider webs hanging in between the levels, the moss and vines growing up the walls, and the chipping of the red paint of the roofs. She lowered her rifle and the temple returned to its normal size.

"Geez...I've been waiting here for this long and nobody's come by?" She thought to herself and she let out a sigh.

She flipped her left leg over the thick tree branch she was sitting on and slid down to hang upside down from her legs. Her hair fell from her eyes and her vision cleared up a bit as she gazed back into the scope.

"I wonder who's gonna end up being my partner? Maybe, someone I've already met?" She began to wonder. "Tina seems nice enough, maybe a bit quirky. Reese is more cool and confident, I think. I can't really tell how strong either of them are, but to get into this school they've got to be talented. And that pink-haired girl, May…"

"Hey," A deep voice that came from above interrupted her thoughts.

She glanced up from her scope in surprise. A tall boy was crouched on the thick branch above her. He had black hair, a black cloak, and a gray jacket with a symbol that resembled a starknife with four bolts of lightning as its blades.

Tiffany let the grip she had on the branch go and pushed off with one of her legs. She rolled as she landed on the ground and brought Noble Reach up to where the boy was, but nothing was in the crosshairs of her weapon. She was puzzled about where he went, as she only took her eyes off him for a split second. A few soft footsteps came from behind the tree and caught Tiffany's attention. Lukas slowly emerged from behind the tree while giving her a hard stare.

"You're her, right? The apprentice of Arsenic Myrtle?" The Huntsman asked in a serious tone.

Tiffany stood up and took a step back, readying her weapon as she did so. She knew she had to be careful. There's no telling if this guy has a grudge against her teacher or something of that nature.

"Yes. What does it matter to you?" She asked, trying to mask the uneasiness in her voice. The Huntsman brought a sword out from underneath his cloak.

"I've been looking for you. You're the only one in this forest who I want to fight."

The sound of the engine gradually died off as the airship slowly descended towards the ground. Hawk Valenzuela and Professor Lionheart stepped off the ship and onto a small decline leading down to the silky grass on the cliffside. They slowly made their way behind the airship and down a small path that took them to the forest floor. Both of them walked with their hands behind their backs and they both kept a watchful eye out for the many Grimm that resided in the ominous forest.

"It feels strange being here again." Professor Valenzuela sparked the conversation. "Unsettling, even."

"Yes, it does. Even as a shadow of its former self, it's a frightful place. You can imagine how the children must feel," Lionheart replied, "being a place of such infamy."

"Out of curiosity, why did you choose this place?" The bird faunus asked as he brought his arms to his side. "I mean, you know of the dangers."

"Yes, I understand your concerns. You know the dangers of this forest better than anyone. The Grimm, the immense size, and its winding maze of trees cast fear into the hearts of all. All the more reason I'm thankful to have you by my side." The Headmaster raised his right hand to his chin and stroked his grizzled beard.

"You flatter me." Hawk stated flatly.

"Haven Academy, and by extension Mistral, are a fortress, and a fortress is always in need of powerful defenders. Simply put, we must look out for the mighty. Perhaps if they can survive in a place like this, it can reassure me of the strength of the new generation." Lionheart finished.

"Ah, I see…" Hawk trailed off as he watched a Nevermore fly overhead.

"Do you disagree with my decision?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hawk sighed. "Leonardo, you're a great and wise man. For all of my Huntsman career, you've almost never led me astray, so I have much trust in you. I hate having to question you at all."

The ancient temple came into view from behind the edge of the rocky wall that surrounded one side of it. Leonardo grunted as he pushed the door of the building open. The inside had a cobblestone floor that seemed to hold up better than the rest of the building over the years, a central pillar that was made of dark oak wood, and a stone statue of a woman against the back wall behind two large, wooden chairs.

They slowly paced their way across the room to sit in the two chairs, but they stopped when they realized two other people were already occupying the seats. One shadow was a girl with long, white hair and a green and black jacket. The other was a figure fully cloaked in black, except for his face.

"Finally, I was beginning to get bored." Lukas stood up and glared at the two professors.

"Well, what a surprise. We certainly didn't expect anyone to get here before us." Hawk commended the two students; impressed with their seeming capability.

Lukas lifted his cloak slightly and revealed the scroll in his hand. He tossed it to the eagle Faunus and sat back down on the seat.

"My name is Lukas Augite. I fought two," His eyes narrowed as he paused, "and won two."

Professor Lionheart and Professor exchanged a glance of recognition for the boy, then turned back to the students.

"So you're Professor Valenzuela," Tiffany stated in a regal voice; raising both of her eyebrows, "Arsenic has told me a lot about you."

"Oh, that must mean you are Tiffany." Hawk assumed as he bowed his head slightly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise." She smiled and crossed her arms. "I only had a duel with Lukas, and...well, I lost." She finished as she looked away.

Behind the two professors, the door creaked open. They turned around to see that four more students had arrived. Along with May and her blue-haired friend, there were two other students.

"We're here!" Platina cheered as she threw up her arms; her face beaming with excitement and pure joy.

"Hey, Hawk." May greeted him with a friendly grin.

"It appears that we do have some talented Huntsman and Huntresses this year." Professor Lionheart said with a smile as he brought his hands to his waist. "Tell us, how did all of you do?"

May put on a toothy smile and pushed up her pink hair. "May Vermillion, remember the name. I won my only fight."

Platina, who was extremely cheerful just a moment ago, let out a groan and dropped to her knees, then to the floor on her side. "Platina Steel here, the girl who lost two fights."

Arslan pointed to herself and said, "I'm Arslan Altan," then she pointed to her partner and continued, "and he's Bolin Hori. We only fought each other, and I won."

"Say, isn't that Vermillion girl…" Professor Lionheart whispered as he leaned over to Hawk.

"Yep," Professor Valenzuela confirmed the Headmaster's suspicions, "that's Krystal's daughter, alright."

The old man placed his hands behind his back and lifted his head up. "It seems we have an interesting year ahead of us."

Reese and Nadir sat against two separate trees; not a word was exchanged between the two. Amidst the fog and fauna, the two felt like they had ridden in circles for hours before realizing they had gotten lost beyond hope.

"Hey, Reese," Nadir finally piped up. "If we die out here, I want you to know there are worse strangers I could die with."

Reese giggled, "Quit being so melodramatic. We'll be fine."

"By the way, I know it hardly matters," he started as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the damaged scroll, "I wasn't sure if you actually wanted to throw it away or not." He tossed it over to Reese and she caught it effortlessly.

She stared down at it mindlessly for a moment. She reached for the seal on the paper that held it closed and began peeling it off.

"H-hey, you know you can't open those, right?" Nadir warned.

Reese looked over at him, "Huh? Are you stupid? I'm screwed anyway cause of this." She replied, waving the scroll at him. "I at least wanna know what's causing me the stress."

She finished peeling off the seal and unraveled the paper. She studied the contents for a moment and her eyes lit up.

"It's a map!" She exclaimed. She and Nadir scrambled to their feet. "This can lead us to the temple!"

"Are you serious?" Nadir asked. Reese walked out and looked around the area they were sitting.

"Look, we're right by that waterfall over there!" She pointed. "If we go over there, it'll take a while, but it's almost a straight shot to the temple!" She set her hoverboard on the ground and rolled the scroll back together. "Climb on!"

Nadir stepped on and held onto Reese as they sped off. They rode for about an hour, dodging past Grimm and moving through difficult terrain before their destination finally came into view.

"We're finally here." Reese sighed in an exasperated manner. She stopped at the base of the stairs that led up to the entrance of the temple. Nadir hopped off of the hoverboard and stared up at the building with a nervous look on his face.

"Listen, Reese," He began as he turned to the skater who was sitting down on her board. She flicked her head back to look at him with blank, seemingly dead eyes.

"I'm really sorry...about not helping you out back there, and for...everything, really."

Reese put a hand on her knee and pushed herself up with a sigh.

"It's whatever." She said. She kicked her hoverboard up and caught it with one hand. "Let's just get in there and tell the Headmaster about our situation." She began walking towards the mossy, stone steps.

Reese marched up the steps ahead of Nadir. She stopped just short of the door in hesitation.

"Platina was so excited to spend the year with me, too." She thought gloomily to herself. She took hold of the door and pushed it open.

The place seemed packed with Huntsman and Huntresses in groups of two, four, and a few packs of six. Most were having private conversations, several looked up to Reese and Nadir, some were comparing or sharpening their weapons, and one group of four was playing a card game in the corner.

"Reese!" Tina's distinguishable rose above the rest of the students. The whimsical Huntress jogged up from Reese's left, along with May and two others.

"Hey Platina, have any luck with the partner?" Reese asked.

"The one and only," May replied for Tina as she ran her hand through the back of her hair.

"Nice. This is Nadir, my partner." Reese signaled over to the boy with her head. Nadir gave a concerned look to Reese, but she returned with a glare telling him to play along.

"Hi. I'm Arslan." The blonde said as she stepped forward and gave a confident, friendly smile.

"Reese, nice to meet you," Reese replied with a similar smile, "and you?" She asked and turned to the tan boy beside Arslan.

"I'm Bolin." He said and crossed his arms. "I'm Arslan's partner, best friend, sidekick, punching bag, really whatever title suits her at any given moment."

Reese held her fist up to her mouth and let out a giggle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone move closer to her.

"I see the final students have arrived." She turned to the person and saw it was Professor Lionheart.

"Great, we're the last ones?" The skater moaned and slouched her back.

"I'm afraid so," He confirmed after letting out a small huff of laughter, "but it is no big deal. What is important is your battle record. How did you do in the fights?"

Reese's face tightened and she waited momentarily for Platina to get distracted in conversation. "Can we move away from the crowd for this?" She whispered to Lionheart.

She and the Headmaster moved behind a pillar out of sight from most of the room. She nervously checked her surroundings before pulling out the damaged scroll.

"During my fight with that doofus over there, this happened. He hit it dead on while it was in my pocket. The slash tore the seal too." She stopped and took in a shaky breath, "Headmaster Lionheart, I understand the terms you set for the test, but...I can't afford to delay school. Please, if there's any way I can stay, I-" She stopped when Lionheart raised his hand and took hold of the scroll.

"Oh, I understand. This was just part of the test. Nothing to fret about, Mrs. Chloris."

Reese stared at him for a moment with her mouth hanging slightly open. "Huh?" She choked out.

"Even damaged, you managed to successfully escort the cargo." He scratched his beard before continuing. "Telling you to keep it safe was simply an additional task to the challenge. Even had you opened it on your own, a Huntress should question the contents of a suspicious package they're looking after. However, the delay in enrollment would have held true had you not returned this to me. You did the right thing as a Huntress and completed your mission. Congratulations."

"Y-you mean I'm not getting kicked out?" She exclaimed quietly.

"That's quite right." Lionheart smiled. Reese breathed a huge sigh of relief and glanced back over to Nadir, who was looking off into space.

"I totally kicked Pinky's butt, by the way." She said nonchalantly. The Headmaster nodded and turned away from her.

"Alright students, we are going back to the ship! Wrap up anything you are doing and get ready, we embark in ten minutes!" The Headmaster called to the rest of the students.

Nobody got up or acknowledged him immediately, but in time, one by one, they started to get up and funnel out of the building. Reese drifted her gaze towards Platina, who was having a chat with her partner. She smiled to herself as she thought about how far Tina had come.

"You're one step closer to your dream, Tina. I'll be walking right by you."

"Sun Wukong, Scarlet David, Sage Ayana, and Neptune Vasilias." Professor Lionheart called to the crowd of students.

One at a time, the four Huntsmen marched up the stairs and onto the stage. First, a monkey Faunus with long, blonde hair. The second member, a boy with red hair that covers one of his eyes. Finally, the last two boys; one with a darker complexion, the other with blue hair appeared on stage.

"You four had a total of one win, one loss, and a draw. From this day forth, you will be known as Team SSSN." The headmaster continued, then took a short pause. "Led by Sun Wukong." The monkey Faunus and the boy all the way across the line with the blue hair leaned across and gave each other a fist bump, then the whole team made their way to the right, off the stage.

"Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko." Again, the members came onto the stage one at a time. "You four had a total of two wins and two losses. Starting today, you will be known as Team ABRN. Led by Arslan Altan."

"Naturally." The blonde said to herself, but still loud enough for her teammates to hear. They exited right and Lionheart continued with the lineup of teams.

"Platina Steel," Before he even revealed the second name, Platina dashed on stage; brimming with excitement. Finally, she's been waiting for what seemed like an eternity, now she was going to meet her new team.

"Lukas Augite," Her heart sank a little when she heard the name.

There was a small push of wind at her left and the boy cloaked in black that she fought in the forest was suddenly at her side. She looked up to the Huntsman and realized that he hasn't yet acknowledged her. That only worsened her feelings of annoyance.

"Tiffany Myrtle, May Vermillion." The Headmaster finished. In just a few seconds, both Huntresses came up the stairs and took a position next to Lukas.

"The four of you had a total of three wins and three losses. From this day forth, you will operate as Team PLTM. Led by…" It was probably all in Tina's head, but there seemed to be a suspenseful pause.

"Platina Steel." Lionheart finished. Platina was suddenly hit with a wave of shock. She looked to her left at her partners. While Lukas was still facing forward with a blank expression, May was leaning forward, giving her usual smile and a thumbs up, and Tiffany had a small, closed smile. A mixed feeling of responsibility and pure joy surrounded her entire body.

"Say, doesn't this team remind you of another you know?" Professor Lionheart leaned in and whispered to Hawk. The professor envisioned his old team next to Team PLTM. May looked especially like her mother.

"Yes, they do."

Location Notes #2 Shi No Mori; Far below the cliffs of Haven lies a forest known for its treacherous terrain and its concentration of the creatures of Grimm. All attempts to clear the land of its dangers have been met with tragedy. Sometimes, the wind whistling through the trees will sound like a lost soul crying for help.