Chapter 7 – Four Swords

In which Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc cover their tracks and seek out a temple.

This felt like a test.

Okay, of course it was one in a literal sense – Beacon was assessing their abilities as huntresses and huntsmen for the purpose of selective admission into the academy's programs. But it also felt like Weiss was figuratively being tested by some higher power. Her patience was being judged, as though an emotional gauntlet had to be run.

Jaune Arc seemed to know nothing about anything, so Weiss was permitted to lead their party with fully authority. The test was having to put forth her best efforts in evasive outmaneuvering that which was tracking them. If Weiss left too much of a trail, she ran the risk of being caught by Pyrrha Nikos and having to share her as a teammate.

It's not fair, Weiss internally groaned. How come I have fight to not be paired up with the strongest prospective huntress in living memory? Her moniker literally has the word 'invincible' in it!

Her wing was starting to feel better, but Weiss needed to babysit her partner and thus could not leave him to his own devices, lest a horny tournament mistress pursue him and follow him the to temple. Thus, to ensure no trail was left, Weiss had led them in the direction of a cliff.

"I can fly it and help you up from the top with my Glyphs. That way, any Grimm chasing us will lose our footprints."

Jaune nodded. "Understood, ma'am. I gotta say, I like a woman who takes charge. Quick question, though – what are Glyphs?"

"A versatile power that allows me to utilize Dust, form barricades and rudimentary circular structures, and…and…theoretically summon forth defeated Grimm." Weiss regarded Jaune with some curiosity. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of the famous Schnee semblance."

Jaune once again nodded. "So…what's Dust? And what're Schnees? And also, can you please tell me what a semblance is?"

Weiss blinked a few times, trying to make sense of the question as the cliff came into view. How could a huntsman not know about…

Doing her best to not sound condescending, she answered with what she assumed he wished to know and had simply poorly phrased when asking. "While many civilian defense organizations like police and town militias utilize standard Dust firearms, it is the hallmark of the hunter to manipulate Nature's Wrath in a manner beyond typical combustion for the purpose of propelling a bullet. If you were inquiring as to my own capabilities, Myrtenaster uses six chambers, equipped with Gravity, Fire, Ice, Lighting, Wind, and a hotseat, so to speak. It's currently loaded with Rock Dust, but I've applied Plant and even Hard Light on occasion."

"Okay…that's a lot to remember."

It was six things, but Weiss supposed it was unfair to hold this boy to her own exacting standards of mental retention. "You'll have plenty of time to learn it on my team."

"My team?" He triumphantly put his hands on his hips. "I think you mean my team."

Weiss nodded. "Correct. My team."

"Uh, I mean, Jaune Arc's team."

"And does Jaune Arc know what Dust is?"

"Uhhhh….that's only one thing."

"Didn't you ask about semblances? I'd assume someone in that position doesn't have their own unlocked."

Jaune's face fell, and Weiss felt like she'd stepped on a puppydog's toes.

"May I?" she asked.

Jaune's eyes went up to her hand, which was raised. "May you what?"

"May I have permission to touch you?"

A beat passed, and Jaune rigorously nodded up and down.

"Not like that, you cretin." Weiss patted him on the shoulder. "I merely mean to comfort my partner. We'll unlock your semblance in time, Arc. But I simply believe that someone who's still…beginning his own journey, shall we say, might not be fit to lead others quite yet."

You still can't summon, a cynical part of herself said. You're being a hypocrite, Weiss.

Jaune bit down on his tongue. "I guess that's fair. I mean, it'd be kinda weird to be a leader when I'm not even a…"

Weiss waited for him to finish, but he never did. She decided it was best to move on.

"You asked about the SDC?"

"No, but I would like to hear about that if it's something important to hunters. Also…uh, this is the Clyph you're going to use your gliff's to climb up? I mean…er…y-you know what I mean."

Weiss did. "I assure you, it will be a simple matter. My Gravity Dust can stabilize your…"

It was in that moment she recalled having used up much if not all of that chamber during her initial launch into the forest.

"I…I suppose that might actually not be an option. But the cliff can't be more than 150 feet. I'm sure your aura will be enough to endure any injuries from falling."

"I heartily concur," said Jaune. "Also, while we're adding things to the list of stuff you can explain to me…aura?"

He didn't…He didn't…

"How can you not know what aura is?" Weiss paused and backtracked a bit. "You asked about Dust, and what semblances were. Were you truly unfamiliar with those as well?"

Jaune seemed to wise up, but he was very clearly lying when next he spoke. "What? Pssssh. Nah, I was just testing you to see if you…knew. Can't have my partner not be up to snuff on the stuff."

"How?"

Jaune's head hung in shame. "I'm sorry, snow angel."

It was the same puppydog eyes as before, but she wasn't as affected this time. "I'm serious. How could you get into Beacon without this knowledge? There's literally no way."

Her 'partner' had no answer.

Please don't tell me…

"May I see your sword momentarily?"

Jaune unsheathed his blade and handed it to her quite uncarefully for a weapon that was his one lifeline in a battle, only furthering Weiss' suspicions. Weiss accepted it from him as he launched into some explanation or the other of its family history, not listening to him at all.

"Jaune," she interrupted. "I'm going to draw Myrtenaster and cut you on your cheek on the count of three. It'll just be a scratch, okay?"

"Wait, what? Hey, don't –"

"One. Two."

Arc's arms raised up to protect his face. Quick as a flash, Weiss drew her blade and nicked him on the open skin of his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

"OW! Hey, what gives?"

Weiss looked at him. "Can you not heal it?"

"I…n-no?" He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and sucked in his lips. "I guess I, uh, forgot my Cheek Dust in my locker."

The way he looked at Weiss next, she suspected he was trying to assess if his excuse had been acceptable. It hadn't.

"You don't have your aura unlocked? How could you even have gone through…even apprenticing as I had requires…Jaune, what is going on?"

There was a rustling noise behind them, and Weiss' head snapped back as she realized that they'd been sitting at this cliff face for nearly five minutes now without having moved. In that time, Ruby, Pyrrha, or any Grimm in the forest could have snuck up on them.

Nothing jumped out of the brush, and more rustling came when the breeze blew a second time, but it was the kick in the combat skirt Weiss had needed. This was a timed test with limited relics for success, and she was wasting it with this…this…

"Look, Weiss. There's a cave over there." Jaune pointed it out to her.

Weiss pressed thumb and forefinger into her eyes. "Jaune, isn't not a shortcut or something. That's not how –"

Jaune winced. "Yeah, I know, but if we're trying to stay hidden, it's possibly our best bet. We can talk as we go through it."

"There's no guarantee it exits out the other side."

Jaune walked over to the cave, then waved Weiss over. "It has wind coming out. That's a good sign, right?"

Weiss begrudgingly admitted that it actually was and joined her partner at the entrance of it, pondering all of the different ways in which an auraless, ignorant beanstalk of a boy could get into Beacon Academy and not liking any of them.

"Watch your step."

"Thanks. Ouch!"

"There was a stalagmite in front of your path."

"Why didn't you warn me?"

Weiss frowned, then realized Jaune couldn't see it. "I did."

"I thought you meant…ya know, in general. I can't see a thing in here!"

Weiss considered using some of her Fire Dust to ignite a flame at the tip of her sword but elected for Dust conservation instead. She was already depleted on one chamber of Myrtenaster and couldn't afford to be down by two before combat with the real threats even began.

And the real threat wasn't necessarily Grimm.

I don't know what I was thinking, pointing out that we could fight one another for relics in front of the class. Had I kept it to myself, there would have been no harm, but now everyone's got that on the mind. And with either a donor's son or a phony at my side, I'll have to be doing the defense for the both of us. He didn't even know what Dust is.

Actually, now that they had time…

"Arc."

Jaune stood at attention.

"There's another stalagmite in front of you."

"Yeeeheeeehehee! How are you even seeing? It's pitch black in here."

"Not quite. I'm a Faunus on my Father's side, so there's just enough light for me to…" Weiss paused. "Please tell me you know what Faunus are."

"I know that. I'm not an idiot."

"Nor are you a huntsman, are you?"

Arc was blind in the dark, so he couldn't see his own face flash with fear at Weiss called him out. He then belatedly realized she could and straightened out.

"Not yet, but that's what –"

"Don't lie. As much as I disapprove of…whatever is transpiring here, I'm afraid that I have little other choice but to accept it. My situation with the administration of Beacon is tenuous enough as it is, and I cannot afford to rock the boat."

"Love you too, Weiss." Jaune smiled – not a sultry smirk but a genuine smile. Paired with the comment, it reminded her an unnerving amount of Blake. Weiss couldn't say she truly liked the comparison.

"Anyways, I'm willing to accept you as my partner regardless of your flaws, but I'm going to have to insist you are brought up to speed as expediently as possible. Starting now."

"But what ab– oof!"

Weiss winced as her partner's shoe collided with a rock that she hadn't pointed out, having had her eyes front. "We'll start with aura, and how you could've prevented that with it."

"But I don't understand…if it makes me super strong, and you're worried about the other students bullying us up ahead, then why not –"

"Because unlocking yours will deplete me of much of my own. As the only trained one among us, aura in my hands is more valuable than in yours."

"So what, I just sit out?" Arc folded his arms in a pout. "That's hardly fair."

"Fair isn't a word to be used by someone who…allow me to guess. Your parents are individuals of great significance in Vale and arranged for you to attend your dream school on a whim despite having no prior training."

"N-No!"

Weiss rolled her eyes so hard that Arc, who couldn't see it, probably felt it.

"I mean, they didn't. I did."

"You what, bribed the headmaster?" Weiss started to mutter under her breath. "I knew this school was…I just knew it."

"No bribery. Just, ah, forgery."

Weiss sighed. Not only was she saddled with an apparent felon, but she had no other option but to grin and bear it. Removing him would almost assuredly result in Ruby Rose being assigned to her; that tiny demon had been hellbent on it despite their mutual hatred, for some incomprehensible reason.

"Woah, I see a light up ahead! I think it's the relic!"

Weiss had actually seen the light for a minute now, having assumed it was an exit to the tunnel, but upon Arc's blatant attempt to change the topic of their conversation, she looked up again and realized it was neither the exit nor the relic.

"Jaune," she whispered. "Stop walking."

"Is there a rock in my way?"

"No. Stay calm – it's a Grimm."

"A GR –"

Biting down a deeply ingrained instinct to ask before touching, Weiss covered his mouth with her hand to shut him up before he got them both killed.

"It's okay. You pointed it out, so I know it's there. I can prepare and use my semblance to allow us to pass. We're going to be okay, alright?"

Jaune continued to struggle and make muffled noises of screaming beneath her, which seemed to be rousing the Deathstalker that blocked their path. If she herself didn't need to be quiet, she might've cursed him out for his fear.

Be empathetic, Weiss. Kali and Klein didn't raise you to bite off some kids head off because he was afraid of the Grimm. From Jaune's perspective, he's a civilian who's in a dark cave without aura or any means of defending himself. Dust, he can't even see anything but the Grimm.

The Deathstalker in question knew something was amiss in its solitary cavern, and it was only a matter of time before it charged. Weiss' only advantage was the element of surprise, so she needed to act fast.

"Arc. Listen to me and do exactly what I say," Weiss whispered, still clamping a hand to keep the weak huntsman-wannabe restrained. "I'm going to lure it forward into a narrow passageway When it goes through, there'll be a point in time when its tail will be close enough to the ceiling that I can pin it there and hold it in place. When I do, we're going to have a limited time before it breaks free in which we'll need to move. Don't be a hero and try to slay it – without aura, you won't be strong enough to press a sword through its exoskeleton."

It would cost her a hearty dose of aura to make a Glyph that large, but if Weiss could summon it at just the right time when the Deathstalker passed over a bump in the floor, its tail would be close enough to the ceiling that she could press it in place.

Unfortunately, that part of the cave was exceedingly thin, meaning that she and Jaune would have to pass within about ten feet of the Grimm. Its claws were probably about four feet across, and they had a reach of hopefully less than six.

"Listen to me, Jaune. I'm your partner, and I'm going to protect you. Do exactly what I say, and we'll survive."

Arc wasn't comforted by her words, his fear having taken over as he cried.

"Please stay quiet when I remove my hand. Bite down on your tongue if you need to."

Weiss let go, and Arc managed to obey her instructions. Weiss reached down, picked up a small stone, and hurled it forward.

The Grimm had already sensed the emotions of interlopers within its lair, so having a noise to provide it a bearing was all it needed. The creature had yet to see them in the thick darkness, so it proceeded cautiously.

Weiss watched as it lived up to its name and stalked forward in deathly silence. Just a few more seconds and it would step up the incline, and then she could –

"Mmmmmm."

Arc's whine was soft, but clearly of a human and enough to set off the beast into a rampage. It roared with rage at the presence of its instinctive enemies and surged forward, claws clicking thunderously.

Weiss thrust her sword out and just barely managed to summon the Glyph in time. It didn't work perfectly, but it worked well enough. The Glyph pressed the giant beast's appendage against the ceiling, and as long as it held, it was trapped.

"We need to move," Weiss said urgently, arm still outstretched.

"I can't see," Jaune complained piteously.

Weiss felt the Deathstalker pull against the Glyph and ceiling that had sandwiched its tail as her own fear started to build up at the hopelessness of this situation. For a moment, she worried that it would tear its own stinger off in its mindless desperation to get to them.

"I'll guide you, but we need to move or we're going to die."

In these close quarters, it would be a death sentence to fight this Grimm. Even with the advantage of her ability to see in the partial dark, the Grimm would have the advantage. It might even collapse the mountain down upon them and bury all three in a deep grave of rocks.

"Move forward three paces and lean to your right for eight more paces."

Jaune obeyed without question, but he seemed to struggle following her commands. It wasn't disobedience or anything truly foolish like that; his brain seemed to be having trouble keeping up with her words.

Think of him not as a fraud of a huntsman but as a civilian in need of rescue. Right now, he needs to be your charge, not your partner.

Weiss followed behind Jaune, her own burden even greater. If that Glyph faded for even a second, that Deathstalker would be –

"WATCH OUT!"

Weiss grabbed Jaune by the arm and yanked him back as a claw smashed into the rock where he'd been standing. Evidently, she'd underestimated the range of their arms.

The second it recoiled for another strike, Weiss took a risk and thrust Jaune ahead. He stumbled forward and likely scuffed his knees against the rocks as he fell forward, but the gamble paid off, and he exited the Deathstalker's range just before it could clip him in half.

Unfortunately, she was still in its range, and the claw turned to her. Weiss had no choice but to lower the Glyph holding it up and produce one in front of her to avoid being crushed.

"JAUNE, RUN!" she screeched, using some Fire Dust to illuminate the cave for him to see before blocking another attack by the Grimm with a new Glyph.

It now had her back to the wall, and there were claws coming from Weiss' left and right to block escape as the stinger struck against her Glyphs again and again. This was not how she had hoped to die, but in some ways, every huntress desired to lay down her life to save others. Arc may have recklessly endangered himself by sneaking into this school without the proper training or qualifications, but that didn't mean he deserved to die.

"YAAAAH!"

The warcry was enough to make the Deathstalker turn its attention away from Weiss, but it had come at the worst possible time. The tail was still pinning her down behind a Glyph much like she'd done to it moments, ago, meaning that Weiss had no way to take advantage of Arc's distraction.

That idiot! That braindead idiot! She'd specifically told him that he wasn't strong enough, but he didn't listen! Weiss had laid down her life to give him a –

"TAKE THIS!"

Apparently, he did listen. Arc's sword didn't go for the armor but was lodged into the Grimm's eye, poking out the other side of its face. No civilian would have the strength to even pierce a Beowolf's hide without aura, but eyes and mouths tended to be the only weak spot.

Blinded in all eyes, the Deathstalker used its tail to slam about wildly, knocking down sharp rocks hanging from the cave's ceiling, but Weiss now had her moment. Left and right may have been blocked, but up wasn't.

Flapping her wings in a most ungainly way, she flew right over its two claws and over to Jaune. Without a word to give away their position, she righted him, and the duo ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

When they exited out the other side, the temple was in view, but Weiss could barely care about that.

"You…You…You…"

The finger pointing his direction fell at the third 'you.' Weiss' life might've been endangered by him, but she'd gone into that cave willingly, and she'd chosen to push forward instead of turning back the other way. Neither were truly hurt, and there were no true consequences aside from the loss of Arc's sword (and it wasn't like he was using it anyways).

"I'm sorry," Jaune said, his voice empty but for shame. He'd collapsed onto the grass from exhaustion, gasping for breath. Weiss herself was rather fatigued from their frantic jog and leaned against a nearby tree.

"You should be," Weiss couldn't help but snap. "But…just the same, thank you for what you did."

"I lost Crocea Mors," he pointed out, looking down at his empty hands.

"Consider that the price you pay for coming to this school without taking the effort to properly prepare yourself." Weiss stood up to her full height. Arc may have been taller than her in general, but she towered over him now. "Here is how the rest of this initiation will go. You will stay behind me, defer to my expertise, and leave the obstacles of which our headmaster spoke to me. And if you can do that, then I swear this to you Arc: I shall train you into the finest –"

A loud screech cut Weiss off, and she drew her sword just in time for an utterly massive black shape to crash out of the sky. It landed probably about a thousand feet away, but this Grimm was large enough to be made out from that distance.

A giant Nevermore.

Jaune sprang to his feet and took several steps backwards. "Oh my gods, this is…o-okay, just stay behind Weiss and –"

"No need," Weiss said calmly. "It's already dead."

Keeping her sword at the ready, Weiss cautiously advanced towards the writhing beast that had impaled itself through the wings and chest on several shattered trees. The beast was still twitching when they arrived on it, but Weiss knew that any and all threat it posed was entirely gone.

The mass of jet black disappeared into a cloud of smoke, and when it did, a bright red and gold figure that had been standing atop it landed on the ground on her feet.

"T-The Invincible Girl…" Weiss stammered.

"Oh, it's Pyrrha," Jaune pointed out.

For a brief moment, Weiss wondered if Pyrrha had somehow yoked this Grimm and flown it to their location to chase after Jaune with the intent of crashing it when she got close enough, but the genuine look of surprise on the Pyrrha Nikos' face was enough to quickly dispel any concerns of god-tier thirst.

"Oh, it's you!" Pyrrha said. "Hello, my friends. This is simply perfect; we were rather hoping to bump into you."

"You flew that thing?" exclaimed Jaune, astounded.

"Good gracious, no. It simply dove out of the sky to snatch us up, and we only managed to sever a key tendon in its wing just now.

Us…we…who did Nikos bring with her?

Weiss looked back at the decomposing cloud of what used to be a Grimm. Within the seemingly unending swarm of black, she made out a familiar shade of white mixed in.

"Happy Initiation Day, Weiss," said Blake, holstering her sword as she walked out of the Grimm cloud. "To celebrate, I brought you a Pyrrha. Hope ya like it."

With the temple in view and the perfect team (plus Jaune) assembled, Weiss couldn't have been happier. After asking permission, she threw her arms around Blake and let out a long sigh.

I was right. I was being tested for my patience, and I'm just glad I passed. Blake was the reward at the end…Blake and Pyrrha. She literally set up my dream team for me. I'm gonna have to buy her an entire library to make up for this.

After another round of introductions and catching up, the quartet and future team communally decided (upon Weiss' urging) to finalize their victory and secure the relic. This truly had worked out well for everyone. Weiss and Blake got to be together with one another, Weiss got to have her ultimate team of fighters, Pyrrha got to be partnered with her boytoy, and Jaune just seemed happy to be there (he mentioned something about being on a team with three gorgeous women that Weiss was in a good enough mood to ignore).

"So, ice queen, what was that about training me up?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Fuck that," Weiss said, pushing him on the shoulder towards Pyrrha. "You can have him."

"Oh." Pyrrha caught Jaune in her arms but didn't let go of him. "Y-Yeah, ha, what a good one. Me having Jaune."

"Uh, Pyr, you're kinda…gripping me a bit tightly…"

"Have…mine…"

"P-Pyrrha…"

In all honesty, Weiss was truly pleased with this. Arc might have been a…but if there was anyone who could whip him into shape, it was Pyrrha Nikos. Though Weiss herself was technically his partner, she was happy to step aside and steal Pyrrha's own partner away from her while the Invincible Girl got her fill of Jaune.

Whatever it is she sees in him, I'll never know. I'm just so glad I have my Blake with me.

Getting Pyrrha was a nice treat, but Weiss would've traded a million master tournamenteers for the cat Faunus whose arm was wrapped around Weiss' shoulder as she regaled her with the story of how a twenty-ton giant bird had somehow managed to sneak up on them.

"…surprisingly quiet when it flaps…not at all like you, by the way. Those chicken wings of yours make more of a ruckus than the entire island of Menagerie doing last minute shopping on Mercury Black Friday."

"Oh, is that so, kitty kat?" Weiss smiled right back at Blake. "Well, I'm guessing it only approached you because it saw how much black you wore and thought you were its kin. Black hair, black ears, black clothes, black sword – you're practically cosplaying as a Grimm."

There was a soft noise to their right, somewhere between a laugh and a cough. Both Weiss and Blake turned to see Pyrrha covering her mouth. Both she and Jaune were watching the Faunus' little back and forth with a look of distant curiosity.

"What?"

"It's just…both of you," said Jaune.

"I've rarely seen a couple so…so…so at ease with one another," said Pyrrha. "Not even my own parents. It's just the way you seem to be completely comfortable around one another."

"We've known each other since we were, geez, five or six," Blake explained. "It's weird to say that aloud – kinda feels like I've known Weiss forever.

"Blake's mother Kali worked alongside my father, and she took care of me as a tagalong most days whenever she was with Blake," Weiss said, expanding upon Blake's word with greater detail. "We practically grew up alongside one another."

"It's sweet," said Pyrrha. Jaune nodded in agreement and gave a thumbs up.

"That's why I was bugging you so much to find Weiss," said Blake to Pyrrha. "Sorry about yammering into your ear nonstop, by the way. I just needed to be on her team."

"It's quite alright, and understandable seeing you two lovebi…" Pyrrha's eyes flashed to Weiss wings. "…seeing you two together. I'm sure Jaune must've been going through the same thing when you two were in that cave."

She and Blake turned to Jaune, who realized belatedly that he was the 'Jaune' to which they were referring and not someone else with the same name. "Oh, not really."

"What?"

"Yeah, Weiss didn't mention trying to find someone. She actually said we needed to hide away and not leave any tracks."

"Hide away from who?" asked Blake, casting a confused look Weiss' way.

"Oh, from Grimm, of course," she said casually.

"And from other students," added Jaune, entirely unaware of the potential impact of his words. Pyrrha had her javelin with her, and it was possible she would make the connection if he didn't shut up.

"Only because other students might've fought us for the relic," Weiss said, justifying it with a classic Schnee half-truth. Father had schooled her extensively on how to take advantage of those little buggers.

"About that." Pyrrha stroked her chin. "Do you really think we're going to have to fight other students for one of the relics?"

"Pyrrha, please don't stroke my chin," Weiss said. "And to answer your question, I think it depends on if we run into anyone. If there's no one there, we'll find a relic and leave. But if there's someone in our way, or if we're in the 'someone's' way…"

"I just can't believe it's this competitive," said Jaune. "Are you sure we can't just figure something out?"

"Believe me, it is," said Weiss. "I was in the air longer than most because of these beauties." She patted her wings a few times for effect. "I saw many huntresses and huntsmen taking potshots at the competition. Jaune, you were lucky no one decided to go for you."

Weiss realized after she'd said it that she might have essentially just outed him as a aura-less cheater to the others, but they seemed to regard it as partnerly concern and paid it no mind.

"I mean, someone did chuck a javelin at me," Jaune quipped, laying on the sarcasm thick. "Tore a hole right through my limited-edition Pumpkin Pete hoodie."

"Did it? Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Pyrrha rushed to check his clothes for damage, promising to pay for any replacements, but Jaune waved off her concern and assured her he was just kidding. Weiss noted that despite lacking her and Blake's history, they seemed to be well on their way to becoming equally close…or closer.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Blake called to her partner. "You were worried about whether or not we'd have to fight other students?"

"Hmm? Only a little, I suppose."

"Worry no longer." Blake pointed a finger to the relic temple just ahead of them.

…and to the other hunter team emerging from the patch of forest just beyond it, equidistant.

"There's only two relics left," she explained. "And we aren't alone."

"Two…perfect!" said Jaune excitedly, not hearing what Blake was saying. "Two relics, one for each team. No one has to go hungry!"

"Two relics," echoed Weiss.

"One for each pair of partners," said Pyrrha, correcting Jaune's mistake as he turned pale.

"We're going to have to fight them for it," announced Blake, reaching for Gambol. "It's what Ozpin said. Swords at the ready, folks."

A Dust-enhanced rapier, a mechshift shortsword-rifle, a variant ballistic chain scythe, and Jaune's empty fists rose on one side of the temple.

A sniper-scythe, two shotgun-gauntlets, a mighty war-hammer, and a twin pair of green machine-pistols rose on the other.

Next Chapter: Winners Take All

In which Weiss Schnee and her team come to blows with a rival team of their fellow hunters over the relics of the temple.

Author's Notes

With my other story, You, Me, and the Tuna, ending, I find myself with an open spot on Fridays. Since that day works better to post on for a number of reasons (distance from Origin Story, no competition with Coeur, closer to the weekend), I'll be switching this one to Fridays. Don't worry - this will actually mean more, as this Friday will see another post of JSBMP (holy cringing fuck, that acronym is horrible) to initiate the switch. That means two posts this week - hooray!

I also don't want to leave this cliffhanger for too long.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!