Alan lay awake on his bedroll staring at the ceiling. having been awake for at least an hour. He got about seven hours of interrupted sleep so he thought that would be enough. Hearing a noise Alan looked upwards and saw some people finally waking up.
'Now's a good time I guess' He thought and began to rise into a kneel. He stretched, Joints popping he felt a bit of relief. Looking out the window he saw the morning light. Seeing a pair of Amber eyes look at him from behind a book he looked back. his hand rose up to massage the place where he'd been kicked long ago. A look of confusion grew on her face and Alan looked away to begin packing his bedroll
After packing his bedroll he leaned it against Amin and reached into one of the two bags between them. Pulling out his uniform, an undershirt and a toothbrush with toothpaste Marked with an 'Alan'.
Amin stirred and looked up at him. he lightly hit him on the head "Up" he said and stood up. Amin's eyes travelled to the window seeing it was light out he nodded.
"Sir," was the Private's response.
The Trooper made his way to some dressing rooms nearby. stepping over sleeping individuals and upon nearing the rooms a few Huntsman in training were standing around outside all had an annoyed look to them. looking through the doorway he saw an orange-haired girl standing outside of a stall.
"She talks A lot,"
"Tell me about it"
She was Certainly talking, Alan disregarded them and walked in. Making his way to a stall he walked past the talkative girl and entered one adjacent.
Changing out of his current clothes and sporting his uniform he folded his clothes, Then placed his handgun in one of his large pockets. Alan walked out. Seeing the talkative orange-haired girl now standing next to a black-haired boy with a pink streak in his hair in one of the mirrors.
Setting his stuff off to the side he began brushing his teeth. Alan inspected himself. His uniform looked the same, His Right chest pocket held the name, Alan. L and his left had the words T.U. Above that a simple insignia of a right-facing bayonetted C1 and a lightning bolt above it.
A sudden thought of what happened the night before when he may have frightened Alley Cat. he shook his head and continued thoughtlessly brushing his teeth.
When he finished brushing he noticed the talking stopped and assumed they had left.
"Wow, I like the Uniform, where'd you get it?" She appeared from his right.
"Nora Leave him be," the boy asked
"Aw Ren he doesn't mind!" She looks back at him and inspects his uniform's name tag. "Right Mister Alan?"
"Sure?"
"See?" She grabbed his arm and raised it to show Ren, "Look at this pattern, it's so cool,"
"Nora," Ren looked at the girl, she seemed to notice the look Ren had and let out a smile. his arm was let down, Alan now had both hands free so he went to pack his things again. "Sorry about that,"
"It's no problem,"
"Although, I am curious who you are now, Not like a student to be in some type of military" Ren questioned.
"I was a part of the Tribal Union's Shock Troop Battalion. Same pay as Special forces with the mortality of newly hatched sea turtles" He stole a Joke made by Amin. Instead of a laugh or two, he received confused frowns. Nora's face eventually forms into a look of despair as she thinks about the hatching process of baby sea turtles
"Tribal Union?" Ren askes
"uh, It's a Collection of Towns and tribes who united to protect each other." he didn't lie. The North American Tribal Union's government was basically a council of village leaders numbering in the low hundreds with the biggest settlements usually in charge.
"and you had your own military?" he questioned, "Don't you rely on Vale and huntsman protection?"
Alan shook his head. "Different continent, Too far, too cold, too many bandits." Ren nodded at that and Alan was about to excuse himself and leave But;
"Do you like pancakes?" Nora recovered from her thoughts and asked.
"Pancakes?" Alan paused. "Been ages, but yeah. Been fighting and travelling for the past few years." Nora once again grabbed him and this time someone actually managed to drag him. Ren sighed and just followed along.
"We need to get you some pancakes," Nora said
"Okay," Alan responded A little lost on how to respond.
Outside Amin raised an eyebrow as he watched Alan's large form being dragged away from the dressing rooms. Looking at him in a pleading manner, Amin shrugged.
Alan realizing his teammate wasn't going to help him held his clothes up and then Threw them at Amin. Catching them he nodded and set them in his bag for now. It was Odd watching a girl half his size drag him away like that. and Amin decided to overlook it.
Walking inside along with some others who were waiting he entered a stall and dressed in his uniform. looking to his own concealed .45 hidden by a holster attached to his belt. These handguns were a standard issue but the Visuals varied due to being scavenged. Alan was lucky enough to get a rail for a flashlight. He wasn't so lucky, It had a grey steel finish but had a threaded barrel so there was that.
Letting out a yawn he left the stall. seeing the mirrors with sinks nearby he stepped in front and examined himself. his hair was slightly longer and still unkempt, reaching just around his brow. His blue eyes showed his experience. it almost made him laugh as he realized he almost had Alan's Stare. shaking his head he inspected his uniform,
Amin's uniform was similar to Alan's, except the nameplate held Amin. S. Reaching into a bag he grabbed his toothbrush and paste and began brushing his teeth. after a few minutes of brushing more people started entering. washing his face and putting away his things in the bag Exiting the dressing room he made his way back to pack up the bedrolls.
He saw Yang and Ruby sitting around and talking as he approached. Ruby waved a greeting and he kneeled down to tie the bedrolls together. finishing up tying them he noticed Ruby looking like she wanted to ask a question.
"What?" he asked.
"Did Alan go and get breakfast already?" she began "I heard him get up earlier"
"Saw him, yeah," He tied the rope to act as a strap and let it over his shoulder "Alan, ever the Ladies man getting dragged along by some girl." Amin joked.
"Is he going to be alright?" She looked over to the door concerned.
"Probably," He finished
"Let the boy be, he'll definitely be fine," Yang confirmed and then looked to Amin. "I've seen you around but I haven't actually spoken to you before. names Yang."
"Amin Siah, nice to meet ya" He introduced himself. adjusting the straps to the two bags on his back. He noticed a Blonde boy approaching them, wearing plate armour and an empty sword sheath at his side. He seemed to not notice Amin.
"Hey Ruby, I wanted to talk yesterday but some big guy kinda had a bad vibe to him," he said and Amin immediately assumed he was talking about Alan and his blank stare.
"Alan?" Ruby questioned
"You know him?"
"Yeah, he's one of my friends from Patch" Ruby explained.
"And the guy that was next to him?" He asked and Ruby pointed to Amin. He looked in his direction looking a little surprised.
"Private Amin," he raised a hand toward the boy.
"Hello, My name is Jaune Arc, Short, Sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it" Jaune Introduced himself while taking the hand and shaking it. Amin Let out a snicker and Jaune frowned. "It isn't that bad is it?"
"No, I only met one other man with your confidence," Amin said scratching his face. "But, we should go get breakfast and prepare for initiation in a few hours"
A look of realization dawns on four faces nearby, Ruby, Yang and two eavesdroppers. A black Cat who was pretending to read and a snowy Princess who was burning holes into the back of his head. The four began rushing off to the dressing rooms. Leaving Amin and Jaune.
"You think they have ice cream at breakfast?" The Private asked.
"Why would they serve ice cream this early?" Jaune questioned.
"Ruby Got us hooked on eating ice cream this early, Terrible way to start a day by the way." He finished and the duo made their way to the dining hall
"Did you know my name is made of two surnames?" Amin informed as they exited the ballroom
"Really?" Jaune asked curiously.
Later
Alan sat on a bench inside the locker room, Amin standing next to him. Having been fed an actual tower of pancakes, he felt it was all going to be a waste the more he read the paper he was handed yesterday. It detailed how he was going to have to come up with a landing strategy after being catapulted and figure it out from there.
He looked at the documents. Flipping to another page he saw a face, Blonde hair and Blue eyes. Jaune Arc. his Aura status was blank. The reason for his Interest was the fact his documents were certainly forged. Letting out a sigh he looked off to see Nora and Ren talking about secret signals or something. Ruby and Yang are nearby at their lockers conversing about some other thing.
"She fed you more calories than the entire platoon gets in a week" Amin pointed out.
"Shut up" Alan ran a hand through his hair, "Go grab your fuckin Goddamn," He descriptively suggested and stood up. fortunately, his locker was closed.
"Fuck... I'll be 'round in a sec bud," Amin walked off, further into the locker room.
Alan got up from the bench and made his way towards his locker. It sat around one of the many pillars around the massive locker room, seeing his locker sit next to another student wearing gold-trimmed armour Hair a dark Orange and about the same height as him. The boy sent a quick greeting and Alan responded with a nod.
Opening his locker he grabbed the stuffed duffel bag and closed it, Turning around he set it on a bench. It opened with a zip alongside the sound of Velcro tearing. Feeling watched again he looked up and saw a red-haired girl ignoring the white-themed girl from the night before. She was simply watching him.
Ignoring them he pulled out his vest heaved it over his head and began strapping it around his chest. he set about tightening his shoulder armour and attached groin armour. reaching into the bag again he grabbed his shin armour and buckled it to his boot and shin so it wouldn't move. Grabbing his handgun and scroll he placed them on the bench. taking out more armour he began equipping his thigh and forearm protectors.
"And I thought I wore A lot of Armour." the orange-haired student behind him commented. making A white-themed princess stop talking and an Alley Cat take notice.
As Alan finished Equipping armoured Gloves and forearm guards Wiess and Blake standing on opposite sides of the locker room saw the Soldier in a large amount of ballistic Armour. They watched as he took out a one-hole mask and pulled his hair back to slide it on. Blake's eyes began to widen While Wiess stared both with a hint of recognition growing.
Taking out a Helmet that almost confirmed their growing suspicion, He slid it on buckled the strap and physically inspected the visor. They noted it was different from the 'cloaked warrior' they met at the trainyard as it was painted a dark Olive instead of the greys and whites from before. Taking out a series of neatly folded webbing, he wrapped it around his body, snapped a belt together and donned the load-bearing Alice webbing.
'why is he here' Blake began to panic. Alan reached into the bag again and pulled out a folded garment. Unfurling it to reveal a tattered Cloak. All but confirming their suspicions. 'Why is he here' she thought again
Alan Grabbed his Ak-103. he had its stock collapsed and folded. not having a magazine inside he set it to full-auto and began testing the action a couple of times. Confirming it was functioning fine. Alan pulled out the stock and adjusted it out. Pulling a mag from his belt he rocked it in racked the bolt once more and set it back to safe. Taking its sling he attached it to the webbing on his shoulder and let it hang at his side.
Now that was taken care of he began equipping his three knives into position. Under one forearm, a boot, and his belt. taking his handgun from the bench he took out the magazine and checked the empty chamber with a nod. taking another mag out of a pouch the magazine clicked into place and loaded the gun in a swift action. Sliding it back into its holster and storing the previous mag. Alan looked into his bag and saw only spare equipment and clothes. Everything he needed was currently strapped to his body.
Packing the bag away he opened the locker and tossed it back. Turning around he saw most of the locker room staring at him. He finished his setup by grabbing a wire at the back of his helmet and attaching it to a radio at his chest.
Hearing heavy footfalls to his right, Amin approached and raised his right arm. Signalling Alan to walk up and raise his own. Their hands gripped each other and they bumped their chests.
"Let's get this Corporal,"
Alan nodded and they walked away. Boots falling in sync.
With the crowd, two watched the leaving figures. One stared in Admiration and one in fear.
Weiss watched on as the 'Cloaked Warrior' made his way out of the locker rooms. As she was about to follow: "Hey snow angel" Jaune appeared from nowhere and she stopped to stare at him unimpressed.
With Blake, she ran out of the room to find the two. looking down the hallways she saw that they were not too far and began to follow.
She started to panic. Will he tell the headmaster of her past? Is he here to finish the job?. Thoughts swirled as she realized he definitely remembered her.
"Would All first-year students please report for initiation, Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately" Came the announcement making many students begin their way to the cliffs.
"Please take your places on the platforms," Goodwitch says, referring to the platforms emblazoned with the insignia of Vale. Ozpin specifically pointed each Shocktrooper to each end of the Launch platforms.
Taking their places he saw further along the cliff were more platforms and a holographic display on pedestals. The Students standing here were lucky to get a live speech from the headmaster.
"For years you have trained to become warriors." The headmaster Started "And today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest."
Alan looked to the students on his left and saw the blonde boy next to him. The boy showing a face of confidence.
"Now I'm sure you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams" Professor Goodwitch began to explain "Welp, Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today."
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon," Ozpin began again. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can get along well with." He was handed a scroll from Goodwitch and nodded thanks, "The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years, That being said. There are two exceptions, These individuals." After that, the board next to the old man lit up. Showing a live feed of the Shock Troopers.
"If you encounter them after you've found a partner you and your assigned team will be placed under Corporal Alan as a larger cooperative team." he finished and his ID was shown. his ID photo was him walking down a street, his age and home displayed a simple question mark. his eyes widened as some footage of him fighting Grimm started to play. "Once you've partnered up, Make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. Or you will die"
Next to Alan, he heard the Blonde boy shuffle nervously All previous confidence drained. The headmaster began to explain the initiation. Land, go north, find the temple, and recover A relic. After that is done, everyone will be graded.
"Are there any questions?"
The boy next to him raised a hand "Yeah, um sir-"
"Good Now take your positions" Alan slung his rifle and unholstered his handgun.
"uh, sir. I've got a um, a Question" Pulling the slide back he confirmed it was loaded with the correct ammo.
"so this landing strategy thing, uh what is it?" he asked nervously "Are like you dropping us off or something?" Oblivious to the huntsmen in training next to him being sent skyward.
"No." Ozpin denied. "You will be falling" He informed. Alan unsheathed his Trench knife and held it in his left hand.
"I see, so did you hand out parachutes for us?" Alan adjusted his helmet, setting its microphone up and took a glance at the boy.
"No." Ozpin denied again "You will be using your own landing strategy." He was informed once again. Alan glanced back at the headmaster.
"uh huh, that." Blonde looked to his left just as Yang and Ruby were sent off. "So um what exactly is a landing strategy- AAA" he screamed as he was sent. The Corporal Saw him tumble through the air.
Alan lowered himself and prepared. The pad sent him up and he realized how high above the treeline he was. He managed to stabilize himself as he soared through the sky. "Holy shit." Taking aim in front of him he fired. the round detonated and he slowed slightly. he was gonna fall a bit short but he needed to see if that boy was gonna survive that fall.
As he slowed he saw a branch. Reaching for it he smashed straight through it and the branch below it. Hitting the upper tip of a large tree he eventually stopped as it Exploded into splinters and made a platform two feet wide for him to stand. barely keeping his balance he stood and had to stop himself from doubling over in pain.
"That was fucking retarded" He looked around his newly made tree stand. then looking to the falling tree top. other than that he was covered in branches and leaves. Trying his best not to look down he observes the others. he spotted the blonde boy tumbling through the air.
The speaker in his helmet exploded with air and static.
"Scimitar, Wait till you're Back on the ground then send message, Over" He heard more wind and an impact.
As he said this the boy disappeared behind the treetops where a red and gold spear chased him.
Alan nodded. "Probably dead."
"Bow bender this is-" Amin coughed "-scimitar. Landing successful, Ribs hurt." Amin's voice came through
"Copy Scimitar," Alan focused and He saw Amin himself on a tree branch not too far away from the boy's landing area. Holstering his handgun he pulled out his scroll and selecting the compass he compared his position to where he thought the direction the boy landed.
"Scimitar. head 75 Meters Bearing 065 East by North-east, Confirm Casualty"
"Rog, Heading 065 East North-East, Scimitar Oscar Mike. Out" He saw Amin stand, pull out his scroll then jump down. Disappearing into the forest floor below.
Alan Refocused and began to plan. seeing the trees here were massive and the branches were absolutely huge he could use them to traverse the woods to get closer to the objective area. 'Branches go on for a while.' he thought as the sounds of battle became apparent. If he was gonna be honest. It felt nostalgic.
He shook his head and the Corporal began his journey, Hopping from branch to branch. Hitting a tree that had no branches on the level he was at he used it to get lower into the tree line. Stabbing his knife into it and sliding down. The branch he chose to land on creaked. Alan took his knife out of the tree to inspect it. the blade held a slight shimmer of his aura as it showed its pristine edge.
"Bow bender Casualty Confirmed Alive," he heard in his helmet and he nodded. noticing a small pack of Beowolves in the corner of his eye somewhere below him. Setting himself into a stable position he sheathed his knife and pulled up his rifle.
"Copy Scimitar, Continue to OBJ," He finished and began taking aim as he focused. Specifically targeting A Beowolf slightly larger than its brothers. The lead Beowolf sniffed and looked around, flicking the safety off he fired. the round tore through its neck and it dropped.
"One of four" He counted. Taking aim at its confused pack mates he fired again and dropped a second. "two" Switching to another he quickly took the third out. "three" The last one looked up to him and howled. Alan Fired a round down its throat and watched it collapse. writhing around it let out a strained snarl.
"Still alive?" he whispered to himself. taking aim once more fired one last time and watched it go limp. Nodding in satisfaction, "four," Alan realized he was wasting time.
Noticing a buzzing sound he looked and ducked under a large bug Grimm.
"Damn!"
Standing back up he almost lost balance. Flicking a lever on his rifle's front foregrip he pulled the trigger, activating his Hardlight Bayonet.
Taking stock there were three total. looking at them he saw they resembled wasps, Black with white and red highlighted bone indicating they were Grimm. Close in form to Rapier wasps on Patch.
They flew at him and he slashed his Bayonet and sent two away. Using his left arm he blocked a stinger. the Stinger embed itself into his armour and he twisted his arm, Wrenching its weapon out of its body where the wasp began to fall.
A buzzing sound to his right made him raise his rifle where it flew into the bayonet and was sliced in two.
The last Wasp Grimm, charged from behind and stabbed through his cloak and into his vest. The vest stopped it and Alan Sent his body into the Tree where the Wasp was Crushed.
Seeing the sky clear he shook off the Wasp and let it fall down. Grabbing the stinger in his back he pulled it out and examined it. It was three inches long and the tip held a hole for some kind of venom.
Tossing it away he grabbed the last stinger in his forearm and tossed that as well.
He shook his head and began using nearby trees to head north. Tree after tree, along with a few mishaps nearly making him fall. Head on a swivel for more wasps
He stopped as the smell of smoke assaulted his nose. He looked around the area Amin was in and saw a smoke pillar. Someone had set the forest on fire.
"what the hell?" he said to himself. "who the fuck" he shook his head and continued onward.
About three minutes he eventually came upon some commotion below him. looking down he saw the Snow-themed girl and Ruby in a clearing. They were bickering back and forward about something.
"That's quite the pairing," Alan observed for a moment. Ruby was sat down arm resting on her knee and hand resting on her face, the other was turned away. They seemed to stop bickering and what they didn't notice Alan saw creep out of a bush behind them. A Seer. His eyes narrowed. Letting his rifle hang he unsheathed a knife and inhaled, seeing the monster get within mere inches of Ruby he jumped.
Earlier
'Gotta find Yang, Gotta find Yang' Ruby was in a little panic. Finding out your friends are working for Beacon, she was somewhat nervous. Other than that, she was currently running in a direction she saw Yang propelling herself toward.
"Find new friends, hah! I don't need friends when I can find you!" She yelled with a newfound plan in mind. Yang insisted she find and make new friends, She completed that and she just needed to be in a team with Yang. This was her genius plan. She didn't notice a blur of white in front of her.
She slammed into the obstacle and both tumbled onto the forest floor. Ruby's momentum stopped by slamming into A fallen tree.
"Ow Damn it!" Ruby Cursed. She quickly Recovered then stood back up and was about to continue her sprint.
"You!" Shouted a familiar voice. Ruby stopped and slowly turned around. Her Silver Eyes Met with Light blue eyes. "You Little Brat!" She was kneeling on the ground, a broken twig stuck into her hair. "Watch where you are going!"
"Sorry," She apologized sincerely. Apparently, the Apology wasn't enough.
"You could have hurt someone." She stood back up and made her way closer and pointed a finger at her. "I cannot be seen on a team with some Kid, Pretend we didn't see each other." with that she walked away.
"But- Where supposed to be a team!" Ruby stood there, dejected at the fact her newfound Partner didn't want to be on a team. her left hand moved to her right sleeve and she wondered if Yang was still in the same direction.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Wiess walked back and grabbed her hood. Dragging her along.
"By no means does this make us friends." She stated and Ruby's mood lightened up.
They walked past a figure, This figure's shoulder covered in a battle-worn Cloak leaning against a Tree was Amin. He was lightly flicking the safety of his rifle as he waited for them to leave. Ruby saw him briefly and Amin gave a quick nod and disappeared behind the tree once more.
Walking past some bushes he made his way to where the Cold girl came from. Looking up he saw Jaune being helped down from a tree by a red-haired gladiator. As he was raising himself back up he had a look of betrayal on his face.
"And I thought we were friends" he jokingly said. The red-haired girl stared at Jaune confusedly before turning to Amin.
"Had to wait for the owner of the spear to appear." Stated the Private. He walked up and held out a hand to the girl next to Arc. "Private Amin Siah," She took his hand and shook it firmly.
"Hello, my name is Pyrrha Nikos," Amin nodded, turned away and held his radio
"Bow bender Casualty Confirmed Alive," he waited for only a moment.
"Copy Scimitar, Continue to OBJ," Came his new Order.
"Well, what now?"
"Go north what else?" Amin said and started his way north. Jaune looked in the direction Ruby and Wiess went.
"They are going the wrong way" Jaune pointed out.
"not my problem," they started their walk. they made it about thirty meters before they heard gunfire.
"What was that?" Jaune asked.
"Gunfire. It seems our comrades have encountered the enemy" Pyrrha stated.
"Pistol calibre and a shotgun, all maybe within a quarter of a Click of us." Amin had stopped to listen.
"wow," Jaune commented and they continued on.
stepping under a low-hanging branch he made it around six feet before a thwack caught his attention.
"Jaune, I'm sorry" Pyrrha Apologized. Jaune was smacked in the face by the branch. Something made Amin narrow his eyes. He stared at the lightly bleeding cut.
"It's okay, just a scratch" he pointed to the small cut on his cheek
"Why didn't you activate your aura."
"Huh?"
"Your Aura"
"Sorry?"
"do you know what Arua is?"
"Pff, of course, I-" his eyes wandered toward Amin. seeing a look growing in his eyes. "yeah, no I don't" he finished and Pyrrha began to explain Aura.
Amin idly stood behind. thinking for a moment, he realized this kid may be stupid.
Nearby, Just south of Amin's position walking in a hurry Wiess and Ruby made their way through the forest.
"Look, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot," Ruby said. Wiess ignored her and kept walking. "We have to work together if we're gonna be on a team."
"And you need to hurry up. I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow... I swear if I get a bad grade because you-" She tried to complain again but Ruby used her semblance to speed in front of her.
"I'm not slow, see?" she pointed to herself "You don't have to worry about me"
"When did you-"
"Wiess, I may not be good with people but I'm a great fighter" Grabbing Wiess and let off a quick wave into the forest. "we need to be a team if we wanna get into-" she paused eyes scanning the woods.
"ugh let go of me-"
"shh"
That was when they heard it. The Low growling of a pack of Beowolves. they each deployed their weapons and stood their ground, Preparing for a battle with the large pack.
"Twelve Beowolves, including one alpha,"Ruby said while she checked her gun's chamber to see what she had loaded. the red indicator told her she had fire dust loaded. nodding she took a glance at her partner and saw she was winding up for an attack.
A glyph propelled Weiss forward and she prepared for a strike at the alpha. To the left of Weiss, a Beowolf tried to intercept but a 12.7 round splattered its head. the force of the impact killing it and sending it away
Weiss acknowledged the save and made her strike. sending a lance of concentrated fire into the beast. Setting it alight and causing it to charge. using a glyph to stop her momentum she used it again to send her back to avoid the burning beast. sliding to a stop next to Ruby.
"See? Teamwork!" Ruby exclaimed and sent the blade of her scythe behind her and fired a shot that propelled her into the alpha. twirling around she sliced its arms off. A Glyph appeared in front of her and she immediately understood. Ruby spun to land on it and used her semblance to send herself back toward Weiss.
Stopping on a dime with the help of slamming Crescent Rose into the ground.
"We'll have to work out some problems, then maybe we can be a decent team," Weiss said setting her rapiers cylinder to another type of dust. the pack seeing their eldest Grimm down began to charge.
The two nodded and Weiss sent out three spears of ice into the charging horde. Three charging wolves fell.
Ruby fired again and propelled herself back this time and spun around to cut two Beowolves behind them. Weiss avoided a swipe sent to her and stabbed her blade into its neck. It staggered away and she sent a spike of ice into its neck. Ending its movements.
Another wolf attacked from behind but another anti-material round sent it away. She stood back up and backflipped away from a jumping strike another Beowolf sent.
As it sailed past Weiss, Ruby fired a shot behind her into a wolf and Ruby was propelled toward Weiss's attacker. She sliced the mid-air wolf in two.
Sliding to a stop Ruby prepared for more as Weiss landed next to her.
"Just a few left." She counted. A howl interrupted and she saw more wolves creep out of the woods.
"We need to Retreat," Weiss suggested and the two girls looked off to the burning Alpha. the monster was still alive and still on fire. pushing its upper body along with its legs.
Ruby nodded, taking out two dust crystals, both had a dark blue hue to them. Tossing them forward she took aim and fired. The fire dust round hit the crystals and caused a reaction. a thick fog encompassing the area.
Seeing that the wolves were somewhat blind they made their escape. Ruby watched the wolves around them. at least the ones she could see. entering the treeline they continued to run. it is only when the howls of the wolves grew distant is when they stopped.
Ruby grabbed Weiss's arm and they stopped in a clearing. "where are we?" She asked and Weiss looked around.
"If we came from over there then we should head... no," she looked in another direction and began walking. "this way?" shaking her head, she stopped and once again scanned the treeline.
Ruby realizing they were lost lowered herself to sit. crossing her legs as she waited. "what do we do now?"
"Shut up I'm thinking."
"Think faster."
"Stop pestering me!"
Yang had found her partner. She waved a greeting to her new bow-wearing friend standing behind a fallen Ursa. instead of a friendly greeting, she was met with a suspicious glare.
She awkwardly scratched the back of her head and was about to send a pun to break the ice but before she could her new unfriendly partner walked up to her.
"Tell me what you know about the Cloaked Warrior" She demanded.
"What? why do you want to know about him?"
"I have my reasons, now tell me."
"Well he's a soldier, He trains my sister and what's with the hostility" she sent her own glare.
Her features softened, "Sorry, I didn't catch much sleep," She raised a hand up in greeting and Yang seeing her demeanour change, took it. "Blake,"
"Yang, So what happened?" Yang introduced and asked.
Blake sighed. "It's not important... Besides we have an initiation to complete," She smiled and with that awkward situation behind the two, they began their trek north.
"Our last pairs have been formed sir, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna" Goodwitch tapped her scroll and it began to show other students stopping on three figures standing around in a clearing. "Private Siah has found his pair." She sighed.
"hm," Ozpin hummed
"Professor Ozpin, I don't care what his transcripts say, That Jaune boy is not ready for this level of combat." She lowered her scroll and looked to the headmaster. "I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace, they should reach the temple in a few minutes."
"Have you seen the Corporal at all?" He tapped his scroll and it switched the view onto Siah. he tapped it again and it outlined two figures in a solid white. with the third only visible to the naked eye as a dark spot in the white and grey Thermals.
"no sir" she pulled her scroll up again, "it's weird, to say the least. Our cameras should have spotted him by now,"
"I have a feeling it's those cloaks and helmets they are wearing, as you know they aren't from the Remnant, and may be made of some special material that doesn't use dust." the professor switched the view back to a certain pair and watched as they bickered about which direction they should go
"Yes, It's insane to think that there are other realities out there... you mentioned something about a great power piercing some barrier?"
"yes, A presence so similar to two others yet so much more powerful, It also hurt" he shook his head as he looked back to Goodwitch. "please ignore my babbling, we have an initiation to focus on." he refocused onto his scroll only to see something that made his blood run cold.
Ruby felt tired and she stopped bothering Weiss as she looked around the woods.
Seeing barbed red ribbons gather around her with one about to wrap around her neck "Uh oh" she said tiredly. the urge to fall asleep was too great.
in her vision, she saw flashes. to her, it didn't make much sense. she randomly remembered the last few months and then it changed settings. it was a dark city, snowing and she heard the sounds of battle on a scale she had never heard before.
it ended at that and she saw Weiss staring horrified at something behind her. A sudden jerking pulled her back and she suddenly felt awake.
Looking to her left she saw Alan pinning down a strange Grimm. he punched its glass head with his knife's hand guard, shattering it. rising to stand he sent his boot back down on the fallen Grimm, making sure it was dead.
"Goddamned monsters," Sheathing his knife, he pulled up his rifle and began scanning the treeline. Turning around he scanned the trees behind her. Nodding he stood up and walked to her. kneeling next to her he inspected where it had been nearly strangling her.
"You Green?" He asked and Ruby looked up to him.
"What was that thing!?" Weiss exclaimed.
Alan seeing he wasn't getting an answer yet grabbed Ruby by her shoulders and lifted her up to a stand. "Come on, we have to move." after he said that she shook herself out of her thoughts.
"Alan, Where did you Come from?" He looked back and pointed up
"Tree"
Weiss stepped up to the dead Grimm and poked it with her sword. One thing of note was the fact it wasn't dissipating.
"why the hell are you so far south?"
"South?" Weiss questioned sudden realization filling her face. "we've been heading south this whole time?"
"Yes, let's move." He pointed in the opposite direction they were headed "We're going to have to avoid that fire so we'll cut northeast by east and continue from there."
"Okay let's go then!" Ruby added. Trying her best to move past the weird Grimm.
They began walking, Following Alan as he speedily walked through the bushes. they made it into another clearing when Weiss walked up to him.
"Ahem," Alan heard and sent a quick glance to her.
"What?" he said while slowing down.
"I would like to introduce myself," she adjusted her grip on her sword and then stowed it. Holding out a hand expectantly "I am Weiss Schnee Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
Alan let down his Rifle and held it just behind the front hand grip with his right hand for a moment. He raised his left to shake her hand, "Corporal Alan Lynx-" he stopped as he heard something. hand still gripping Weiss's.
There was a loud flapping noise and Alan looked up. Suddenly The Trooper was slammed into the ground as a large claw wrapped itself around him and he felt the ground leave him.
Recovering from being grabbed by an apparently massive Grimm he looked around. He saw it was a large Bird of some sort.
"Aw yep, that fuckin hurt," he said but the rushing of wind and another loud noise made sure Even he couldn't hear it. looking down from his point of view he realized he was still holding onto a screaming Wiess. Looking further he saw a large red projectile fly straight into them and grab onto his leg.
'All three of us are here, great.' he thought and looked at the ground. seeing it may be a fatal height already, Even with Aura.
Thinking for a moment he came up with an idea to make sure either of them don't fall. He let his rifle flail and began to pull Weiss up. She stopped screaming and he kept pulling until she grabbed a hold of his webbing and used him to climb onto the monster's talons.
Ruby began to climb over him and up onto the Demon of a Bird itself. Seeing them relatively safe he needed to ensure his own safety. Taking his knife he stabbed a joint and as it stopped ascending. It released him and left him dangling with the knife keeping him from falling.
"Stupid Fucking Bird." He cursed and began to climb. Using his left hand to grip its leg and stabbed it with his knife pulling himself up.
He made it to its stomach area. Stabbing the Grimm as he climbed. Climbing past its wings and onto its back he gave one last stab into the center of its back. holding onto the handle he went into a low kneeling stance.
"What the fuck do I do now?" he looked at the creature as it flew. it was flying full speed north so that was alright. Looking up in that direction he saw some massive temple. After a moment he felt something grab his arm and looked to see Ruby Hanging on.
"We're About to Pass it!" he heard over the wind. Alan nodded a response. While she was still holding onto him he grabbed his sidearm and pulled the slide back, checking the chamber with a single hand he showed Ruby the purple round and understood their next course of action.
Ruby locked her arm around his so she wouldn't fall. With a moment of respite, she began loading the special dust rounds.
"You Secure a Relic, I'll Inform Wiess!" Alan Yelled. With a plan of getting down secure. She nodded and Alan felt Ruby let go and slide off the Massive Grimm. Looking back toward Weiss, who was attempting to climb up to him, stared back at him.
Freeing his knife he started to slide back and he made it closer to her and he stabbed again. Causing the Beast to let out an annoyed caw.
"What are we doing!?" she yelled questioningly.
"Do you have a way of slowing yourself down when falling!?" he asked and she began to ponder.
"Yes..." She let one hand go of the bird and pulled out her sword "Do you have a plan!?"
"Let go and land safely!" with that he freed his knife once more and the Trooper fell backward into a free fall
Weiss, Seeing two of her comrades let go decided to do the same.
Elsewhere, Amin wrote a report for Alan. it simply detailed his findings about Arc. His thoughts on the boy changed rapidly. At least two times he went from Respecting the boy's aspirations to thinking he was an idiot. It got somewhat better when he explained how he wanted to become stronger to help people, And four years is an incredible amount of time for someone to learn.
Amin looked off toward the two in front. The cut on his cheek has healed over. Pyrrha had done some weird chant and that apparently unlocked his Aura.
'He is untrained, But apparently has A lot of Aura.' he thought as he typed. The boy looked back at him and showed an unsure look. Despite that, he'd spent the last few minutes making a torch.
Amin looked toward the entrance to a cave. They were looking for a temple, not a cave.
"You coming Siah?" Jaune asked.
"Naw, go get your Relic or some shit" Amin finished and leaned onto a nearby tree. Jaune looked at Pyrrha and nodded. They began walking into the cave.
Amin looked back to his scroll and tapped his radio.
Only to turn it back off as all he heard was either interference or wind on Alan's side. "What?" Deciding his team leader was busy he inspected the cave entrance a second time. seeing some paintings on the side. seeing it was depicting warriors and the like fighting a scorpion.
He looked back to his scroll and then paused. Looking back up to the painting he stared at the scorpion for a moment. Realization grew on his face and he grabbed his rifle.
Just Before he could rush in he heard a Scream.
"Jaune!" He started his way over but stopped just as fast when Pyrrha rushed out. jaune's screams are still present behind her.
"Deathstalker!" Pyrrha yelled and Amin looked back to the paintings and realized it must be a scorpion Grimm. As he got into a crouched position A massive vine-covered Scorpion burst through the Rocks. A screaming Jaune holding onto its stinger.
"Guys It's not the Relic. It's not!" he cried. Holding on for dear life. "Do something!"
"Jaune, Whatever you do, Don't let-" Just as Pyrra started she stopped as the Deathstalker reared its tail and flung forward. Sending the Blonde flying. "-go..."
Amin's eyes widened as the boy was flung. his gaze followed his trajectory, after he disappeared behind the tree line Amin looked back.
Only to see Pyrrha running away with the deathstalker focusing on him now.
"oh fuck me," He whispered. taking a few steps back it began to follow him. "Damn... shit." he turned and began to run.
"Oh, Goddamn it!" With every step he took, he felt the things eight legs thud against the ground behind him.
"Shit shit shit" he rounded a tree and he heard the thing snap the meter-wide tree in half like a twig. "Shit, shit."
While running he jumped off a short cliff and stepped off a tree's trunk and propelled himself to the right. Looking back he saw the beast run off the cliff and it slammed into the trees. Destroying them in the process.
"I hate this," he said to himself. Turning back he kept running. The monster let out a screech and gave chase once more. Running through a crack in a large boulder he kept his current pace and hearing the monster slam into the rock behind him. he looked back. Only to once again be surprised at the Deathstalker as it smashed through the massive rock.
"Oh God, oh Fuck!" despite running at his fastest the fear he felt managed to make him run faster than his previous pace. "Fuck, Fuck Fuck Fuck!" he cursed once more in rapid succession.
Seeing a clearing ahead he ran between two more even larger trees and saw what was in the clearing: The temple, Multiple huntsman in training and no Grimm.
"Did he just run here cursing the whole-"
"Please shut the fuck up and get ready!" as he finished the Scorpion Smashed through the trees and staggered as they fell onto it. pinning the Scorpion under them.
Finally having a moment to rest he rested his hands on his knees and breathed. after a moment of rest he stood straight once more and grabbed his rifle, taking out a light blue taped magazine he switched out his current loaded red taped mag and placed it into his magazine's pouch. taking aim he fired at its Faceplate where the round sparked off.
The Beast Broke out of its makeshift cage and he aimed once more this time at its glowing stinger. Depressing the trigger the gun recoiled and the muzzle flashed light blue. The Ice dust explodes to encompass its left pincer in Ice.
Continuing to walk backwards he kept firing into its legs to keep it immobilized. he stopped just in front of Yang, Alley Cat, Orange hammer girl and a pink stripe-haired boy. glancing back he saw they were just standing around.
"Ready up!" he looked back at the monster as it struggled to break itself free. He took aim and readied himself.
It broke one leg out and Amin fired at it again. The thing slammed a claw onto the ground to free it and Amin shot that. Missed once then fired again where it finally hit. immobilizing the pincer, and sticking it to the ground.
Just then A red cloaked Girl landed in front of him and rolled into a stand. She looked at him, then to the group behind. Running past him she jumped into her sister's arms.
"Yang!" She excitedly exclaimed as she left a trail of rose petals.
"Ruby!"
"Nora!"
"Get the Fuck Ready!" He yelled again. catching them all by surprise.
"Jeez, what's got you all riled up," Yang commented.
He waved a hand at the Deathstalker. and she let out a sly smile. It broke free from its icy prison again and Amin fired another round at the loose limbs.
"easy, it's just a joke, Let's-" Just then there was multible pops above them and something heavy landed next to him, rolling and stopping to kneel next to him.
"Private, Report." As he sat crouched next to him Alan rubbed his shin, letting out a hiss of pain.
"Large Scorpion Grimm, Powerful and Old, Advise we retreat to better defensible position,"
"Good call," Alan turned to Observe the crowd around him and nodded. Raising an eyebrow at the sight of Jaune hanging upside down from a tree. Just then Pyrrha approached from the treeline. "There were more temple Ruins farther north of here,"
Amin nodded then pointed to Pyrrha and yelled: "You, Get the Idiot down and Continue north!"
"Okay!" she agreed and in one jump made it up to a branch near Jaune.
Just then Weiss using her glyphs to slow herself down landed next to Ruby.
"Did you grab a Relic?" She asked, Ruby sped off and grabbed one quickly. Grabbing a chess piece, The white knight. She zips back to Weiss.
"Yep!"
Jaune landed on his feet and ran to the relics. Grabbing the White Rook piece as he ran further north.
"All of you move Double time!" Alan yelled and looked up. Stepping to the side he narrowly avoided a Massive Feather.
The wave of Feathers perforated the ground and nearly hit the huntsman in training and that seemed to make the rest of the trainees do something other than watch; they turned and ran.
Alan started his way when the Scorpion broke free from the ice. "you gotta be shitting me,"
"Naw, That bitch is serious," Amin commented.
As the Troopers ran, they almost caught up with the rest of the group when they started to see more of the ruins.
There was a screech behind and Alan narrowly avoided another Line of feathers from impaling him specifically.
"Mother fucker's angry eh?" Amin Yelled and used a Fallen brick to jump away from The scorpion's tail. "Holy Fuck that thing is fast without trees to impede it"
"I noticed!" Alan responded. Just as they neared a line of Pillars two students broke off into the dilapidated structures. Crossing in between the ancient buildings the students reappeared and cut at the Deathstalker's eyes. making it stagger and giving the Troopers the moment to turn and take shots at the beast.
Amin's rounds froze its legs again and Alan targeted an eye, The fire dust sizzling into its eye socket.
"Move!" Alan yelled and they along with Blake and Ren retreated farther to the ruins. where he saw Nora firing a Grenade launcher at the Massive bird. Causing it to start flying in another direction to escape the onslaught of grenades.
The four ran past Nora, and she began running alongside them. Transforming her Grenade launcher into a massive hammer.
The five approached A narrow bridge where the rest were preparing for the Deathstalker.
Alan held his hand up and sent it down like a knife, signaling for them to cross the bridge.
Ruby had seen his hand gesture and turned to give the order.
"Cross the Bridge!" Ruby yelled and she, and her sister along with Weiss turned to run across the old walkway.
The rest of the group made it to the bridge and started to cross. Alan saw the monstrous bird in the corner of his eye flying at incredible speed toward the bridge. It reared its body and tilted its head. Opening its mouth it aimed at him Specifically.
Alan slid to a stop and held his hand to stop the students who were following him. "Really?" He questioned. Watching it approach at such speeds. he braced himself and waited.
Ruby halted to a stop to change her scythe to sniper mode and turned around. What she witnessed gave her cause for panic
Alan braced himself as the Nevermore plucked him from the group and used its legs to destroy the bridge. The Troopers Dark red Aura flashed and crackled across his body.
"Alan!" She shouted as he was taken. The Nevermore flew around some rocks and disappeared.
The students looked on in despair. Amin? he tapped a button on his radio and in his helmet, he heard the rush of wind alongside cursing.
Alan was not having a great time.
"Ow Fuck you Fuck You!" He cursed and began punching its beak. Alan felt the pressure of something that should have crushed him to death but his rapidly draining Aura was protecting him from that fate. Thought of how to stop it from Killing him and quickly prepared for an extremely risky idea.
Alan calmed himself as best he could, shifted himself, got a good grip on the top and bottom part of its beak And began Pulling. He was straining hard as he started feeling its crushing bite slowly loosen.
"Not so strong huh you big bastard!" He got it open enough to get his boots into a position where he could also use his legs to help further open its beak. Alan started to yell as he finally finished his struggle and opened it wide.
Letting go with his right hand he lifted his rifle and in one swift motion set the fire selector to full auto, moved his hand to the rear grip and raised his rifle. Aiming roughly where its brain would be he held down the trigger. The hail of rounds seared the soft dark flesh inside. Of all 25 rounds, only four had pierced.
Some black liquid spewed from a few open wounds and rapidly decayed. The black mist surrounded him.
Just then he felt a Blizzard of elements begin assaulting it and Alan, All the dust-based rounds narrowly avoided him while the demon bird got hit with most of the rounds.
This thing wasn't dead yet. It was flying straight at the central tower. He looked back toward the ground. Not being able to see much past the mist and flurry of rounds. The only thing visible was the silhouette of a tower.
"Oh shit..." he said. Alan let go and noticed how the mouth hadn't closed. 'fuck it' He concluded and took his rifle and activated his bayonet. Stabbing it into the roof of its mouth he braced for impact.
The Monster hit the dilapidated structure causing it to collapse. The Impact caused him to fall deeper into its maw while having the effect of Further damaging its mouth.
His blade held its place just before he fell deeper and he pulled himself back out. Taking the bayonet out in the most damaging way possible by twisting until he heard the sound of glass snapping and it started to burn. he began leaning out of its mouth so he could get a good look at its eye. It was sending a furious red glare at him.
"Did I bRea- Fuck" He cursed out as his voice cracked. The monster let out a noise. At that, Alan felt it was mocking him. He took a magazine from his belt marked with white tape. using one hand to take the old magazine out and rock the new one in. He moved to put the empty on back but his grip failed and the magazine fell, Bouncing off of the tip of its beak and falling further out of his reach and out of the mouth.
It let out another sound.
"Oh fuck off!" He yelled at it. pulling back the bolt of his rifle and letting go, Loading the round into the chamber. "And die!"
He held the rifle to the same spot he fired before and fired. This time the rounds pierced. He got to around a quarter of the rounds left when something exploded next to him. Catching the attention of the Grimm. banking to its left, it slammed into another structure. This time it caught something else.
"This." He heard, Accompanied by an explosion "Is." Yet again another close proximity explosion "For..." A pause "Alan!?" He looked up and saw Yang, "You're Alive!?" She yelled.
"hard I Is kill!" He yelled somewhat aware he messed up saying what he meant to say.
"You're Alive!" She yelled and let out a smile. She looked out again and then back to him. "We have a Plan, Just trust us for a moment." with one more explosive punch she jumped out.
He recomposed himself and asked: "What's the fucking plan?" but she was already gone. He let out a sigh and just then the bird flew straight into a wall. Alan sent a punch into the roof of its bleeding mouth. "Fly better damn it"
With the sudden feeling of the Grimm's momentum stopping he almost let go and fell. after a moment of stillness, Alan felt the momentum kick up again, this time into the cliff face and then upward.
'what in the Goddamn-' his thoughts were interrupted as he heard the telltale sounds of a specific Anti-material rifle firing reach his ears. then again, and then again. The speed at which they are ascending picks up with every shot.
Holding on for dear life he decided to wait.
The sound of metal slicing Grimm flesh met his ears and he felt the weight of the Grimm leave. standing up he looked around and realized something. Well, a few things actually.
For one, he saw he was about to go into a free fall. and secondly, The bird was evidently died to decapitation. Third, he saw he had a few seconds before going into the previously mentioned freefall.
His perception of time slowed as the rush of adrenaline kept him alert. He saw Ruby, standing on a cliff nearby Alan had a vague idea of what had happened.
"Good work!" He yelled she jolted and turned around. "That was fucking sick!" She looked at him a surprised look on her face, it morphed into a happy smile. Just as suddenly it turned into dread as the direction of momentum finally reversed. his grip loosened from the bird's head as he fell.
"I'll be fine!" he yelled out to her, Hoping it wasn't a lie.
He turned himself mid-air and stared down at his potential landing spot. his eyes widened as he saw spikes of ice.
Thinking fast he pulled out his sidearm and quickly fired behind him. propelling him toward the central tower ruin. As he fell he counted.
"One"
"Two" he pointed below and fired again. the round detonated and slowed him slightly.
Click "fuck." he saw some movement from the trio on the central ruin. A shot rang out and the gun-sword thing flew out and wrapped around his leg. "Oh thank God-" He was pulled toward the tower, falling below the floor where the three huntresses stood and he looked down and saw he was going to narrowly miss a pillar.
His previous relief was shattered when Alan felt a tug on the ribbon and his trajectory changed.
"Crap"
Amin watched in horror as his team leader was unintentionally used as a wrecking ball, Smashing through a pillar. The Corporal's Dark red aura shattered and the Black ribbon holding him slipped off his foot. Sending him toward the cliff.
Amin ran forward and braced to catch Alan. Alan soared upward and toward the ground.
The private adjusted himself and jumped. Actually managing to catch the Corporal. Causing his fall to break and transferring the fall to Amin.
He and Alan tumbled to a stop. Amin rolled and hit a rock, cracking it and shattering his Aura instantly.
"Aw fuck this" He cursed and began to stand. he walked himself into the bush where he saw the Corporal staring up at him through his visor, the thing had fallen down at some point.
"Thank you Private."
He let out a nod "sir" and collapsed onto his side.
Alan raised himself into a stand and took a step toward the private. Only for him to collapse just in front of Amin.
"Fuck." he concluded. Rolling over and laying his head on the grass. Hearing a distant roaring he saw three bullheads flyby, two broke off to land somewhere nearby.
He began to reflect on today's events. Realizing he almost died again. Sighing he Took his handgun, set it to 'safe' and holstered it.
The concerned voice of Nora stood out as he stared at the stone pillar nearby. he raised his head and looked off to see Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. running to them along with a tall Green-haired man with some sort of satchel full of medical supplies.
They made it to him and the trained professional got to work immediately. his head fell back and he let the supposed beacon staff do his work.
"Are you two alright?" They were asked by a concerned Ren.
"Amber" Alan answered as he stared up at the roof of the ruin above him.
Amin raised his hand, "Amber." and rolled onto his back.
The Beacon staff member raised his knee and hit it with a hand, Concluded something in his head and nodded.
"You will be fine after some rest, a sprained ankle is all you managed," He then looked At Amin. "You will do the same,"
"Sir," "Sir," the Troopers said and one after the other began trying to stand up. Alan was helped up by Ren and Jaune. once he was upright he limped toward a waiting bullhead.
"What happened?" Jaune asked him.
"That thing tried to eat me and I cut up its mouth" he answered.
They reached the bullhead where the two set him on a bench. he leaned back and stared out the door. getting the perfect view of the Ruins where he saw the second bullhead take off from. It began to ascend upward where he assumed Ruby was. he focused and he was able to make out a red figure standing over the cliff.
Alan's vision turned downward and spotted the Scorpion. it was covered in ice and its stinger embedded into its head. leaning back he pinched the bridge of his nose as the adrenaline started to wear off and the pain started to rise.
AN
I meant to release this like a week ago, but I had to go out and clear trees from roads because a little thunderstorm managed to knock them over. This had caused me to get home late at around 2 to 3 am sometimes and then wake up two hours later for my job. This had Also absolutely destroyed my sleep schedule.
Other than that, in that time I managed to plan some shit out and will release chapters when I feel they are ready.
