Chapter 3: Initiation

When I woke up I realized that I was one of the few early risers. Makes sense. You get no protection when out in the wild. Learned that the hard way. I get up and go take a shower. One thing I love is the hot water. On my travels you had to use streams and waterfalls. After my shower I get dressed and head over to the cafeteria. I get myself some eggs, bacon, and toast with a glass of milk and sit down. Most of my breakfast goes fine until I start to leave and Yang notices.

"Ruby!" she yells as she tries to catch up. I sigh and turn around annoyed.

"What do you want?"

"No need to be so cold sis. I just wanted to see if you were ready for today."

"You should worry about yourself." I say as I turn away heading toward the lockers. She decides to follow me and tries to make small talk.

"So where have you been for the past 5 Years?"

"Getting trained by my master. Where else?"

She flinches at that. "So who is your master anyway. Any hunter we know?"

"She's not a huntress. Now please drop it." She frowns but drops it. I go over to my locker and start to grab all my flintlocks. I put them in their holsters in my cape and grab a skull that was in my bag. I chuckle at the memory of my first time learning about one of my skills.

Flashback

"Alright Ruby. I'm going to teach you something that a lot of people look down on but is extremely useful." States Faebith.

"What is it? How to raise the dead? Enchanting? That blood thing you can do?" I ask excitedly.

"Defiantly not the blood thing." I pout at that. "One class at a time shorty. No. What I'm gonna teach you is how to talk to the dead." I tilt my head at that.

"But if they're already dead how can we talk to them? Do we use some kind of Ouija board?"

"No. That's only in those fake movies. As a Witch doctor you can naturally speak undead. All you need is the skull or head of whatever you want to talk to." She pulls out a skull from her bag. In fact I've seen her pull a lot of stuff out of that bag. Some of which shouldn't fit.

"How deep is that bag?"

"Focus!" I snap to attention. "Now all you need to do is reach out and you'll see the face of the dead person who's skull you hold." She hands me the skull carefully. "Now don't drop it. This is a gift from me to you."

I look down at the skull. "Okay... Um... Hello mr dead person." I hear Faebith sigh.

"Ruby. That skull is a female. Just reach out with your powers to communicate."

I do as instructed and I see a ghostly face of a woman appear. She has silver eyes like me and long black hair that turns red at the tips. That's when it hits me. "Mom?"

"Hello my little rose." I jump and nearly dropped the skull. Faebith grabs it out of the air and laughs.

"She wasn't prepared for that." laughs Faebith.

"You had my mother's skull this entire time?!" I shout.

"Yeah. Who do you think I was talking to at the grave?" She gives me the skull back. "Don't drop it."

I nod and take my mother's skull back. "Sorry about that mom."

"I was half expecting it. I wasn't prepared when I was first talked to by Faebith."

We talked for half that day about random things. I never let that skull go.

Flashback end

"Hey mom." I say with a smile. Her face starts to appear on the skull and it smiles.

"Hello my little rose." She looks around. "Wait a minute. This is Beacon's locker room. I see you made it in."

"Yeah. Ozpin saw what I did during the dust robbery and let me in personally."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. Is there anything I should look out for? You took this before."

"Yes. Ozpin is an odd man. He will be watching you with hidden cameras. Also he'll form teams today. When I did it, it was with the first person you saw. And you'll be with them for four years."

"That's kinda random."

"Less so than you think. Now go and show those grimm what you're made of."

"I will. Love you mom." I put the skull back in the bag. I then notice people giving me weird looks. "You done peeping ya pervs." They just walk away shaking their heads. I grab my swords and follow them out. When I get outside I see everyone standing on a plate and waiting for instructions.

"For years you have trained to be warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest." Starts Ozpin.

"Now. I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." adds Goodwitch without missing a beat. "Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be getting teammates… Today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well." Continues Ozpin. Then he smirks. "That being said the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

So mom was right. I hear a ticking and look to my left seeing everyone getting flung off their pads and into the forest. I get ready as Yang gets launched next to me. After she goes I get sent flying and just relax in the air. I take a deep breath and create two small jets of green fire in my hands and take off towards the ground. Once I breach the canopy, I see a Ursa and send a jet of fire at it, slowing me down and killing it in the process. Once I land I hear a noise behind me and spin around while drawing my sword only to come face to face with Blake.

"Is this how you greet everyone?" She says with a raised brow.

"Only when I don't know what's there." I put my sword away and smile. "Glad you're my partner Blake."

"Like wise." She starts to head toward the temple and I follow along. "So that fire thing. Is that your semblance?"

"Nope. Just a gift from my master."

Blake tilts her head. "A gift?"

"Yep."

We exit the forest and see the temple ahead. "Ah. Here we are." As we approach the pedestals we see chess pieces. Why are the relics chess pieces? Then again the headmaster is pretty odd. "How about we take a knight?" I say holding up a white knight piece.

"Sure." replies Blake looking uninterested.

Just then they heard a girly scream in the distance. "Not sure if that was a girl, a guy, or a banshee."

"Banshee's don't exist Ruby."

"Yeah." Here. I see a shadow pass over me and look up to see a nevermore with a yellow and white splotch on it's talons. Convenient way to travel. Nice idea yang. I hear bushes shake and look over to see a ursa pop out. I reach for my sword only to see it collapse. A girl with orange hair and what looks like a giant war hammer jumps in front of it.

"Aww. It's broken."

"Nora." Came another voice, from a young man with black hair and one pink streak in it, as he walks around the ursa while breathing heavily. "Never do that again." I look back to 'Nora' but she's gone. That's when I hear singing about being a queen of a castle behind me.

"Did she just ride in on an ursa?" asks Blake, dumbfounded. Before I can respond I hear screaming from above and see my sister falling toward me. However another blond missile intercepted her. They land in a tree and I see my sister trying to get her head straight. When the world finally stopped spinning for her she hopped down and tried to hug me.

"Ruby!" She says. I just sidestep her attempt and look at her.

"You know you abandoned your partner up there right?" I say with a bored tone.

She looks up and frowns. "I said jump damn it."

We then hear trees falling over and look to see a red haired girl running from a giant deathstalker. It goes to swipe her and she uses her shield to block, getting sent flying at us. As she lands I hear screaming from above. I look up, as do the rest of us, and see Weiss falling toward us. Just then the blond boy who crashed into Yang jumped out and caught her. Unfortunately he forgot about the one thing you can't beat. Gravity. They both fall with Weiss landing on top of his back while mumbling something that I couldn't hear.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" says Yang with fake enthusiasm.

I roll my eyes and take out my hand mortar and fire a round at the Deathstalker. It explodes and I smirk. Until I see it only cracked the shell. "Huh. I may have miscalculated how thick that armor was." I look back to the others. "You may want to grab your pieces. We need to go. NOW!" One person in each pair grabbed a piece. "Alright objective complete. Now RUN!"

We take off running for the cliff and can hear the screeches of the Nevermore above as well as trees falling due to the Deathstalker. We clear the forest and keep running. I take a look back only to see the deathstalker catching up since nothing's in the way. I take out the hand mortar again and reload it. Only 20 rounds left for this thing. Got to make these count. I fire at the deathstalker and manage to hit it a little left of where I hit before. Thankfully I wasn't trying to kill it again. It staggers a bit giving us a bit of time. Once we make it to the bridge I hear a screech from the sky and see the Nevermore coming toward the bridge. And gonna crash through it. Me, Yang, Juane, and Nora make it across but the others get stuck on the other side. Yang starts to take potshots at the nevermore and I turn to Juane. "Get back over there and help Pyrrha and Ren. Take Nora with you. Once over, get Blake and Weiss to come over here. We'll take the bird." He nods.

"Nora!" He yells toward her. She nods and smashes Juane's shield to launch him over. She then fires a grenade from her hammer and sails over. I turn my attention to the bird.

"Got any long range there Rubes?" smirks Yang. I scoff and push my cape back so it flies up. She see's all the flintlocks and just stares. "Oh." I smile and pull off what me and Faebith call 'The Arzon Rush'. I take one flintlock after another and fire them at the Nevermore to get it's attention. After twenty shots in 5 seconds I see Weiss and Blake finally back up with us.

"I have a plan for the Nevermore but I need your guy's help." I say.

"What do you need us to do?" asks Blake.

"Blake. You and Yang use your bow as a slingshot. Put it up between those two pillars. Weiss I need you to freeze the tail of the nevermore to the cliff. After you'll launch me with the slingshot so I can take off it's head."

"Your sword isn't long enough for that!" shouts Weiss.

"Just trust me." She sighs but nods. I put the flintlock in my hand back in it's holster and take out my sword. Blake and Yang make the slingshot and I launch fire at the nevermore to force it to the cliff. Once there Weiss freezes the tail and I hit the slingshot with my sword next to me. Weiss holds me back with her Glyph and I look towards her. "Can you make the shot?"

She smirks. "Can I?"

I feel a bit nervous about how she phrased it and after being with my master for so long I can't risk it. "Can you?"

"Of course I can!" She releases me and I get sent flying. On the way I try my idea that I came up with a while back.

Flashback

"What did you say?" asks Faebith a bit confused.

"Why can't we increase our sword's length using the Necrofire?" I ask innocently.

Faebith looks at me and opens her mouth only to close it. "Why didn't I think of that?" She mumbles. "Do you think it will work? What you're suggesting takes a lot of focus."

"Well if it works then it's just something more for my arsenal."

"Alright Rose. Give it a try then. Just don't over due it."

Flashback end

I focus and my sword grows in length so it goes past the nevermore's head. I position my blade at the neck. I see more glyphs beneath me and I activate my semblance. I speed towards the top with the nevermore screaming all the way. Once at the top I see a small nook and the head of the nevermore gets stuck in it, forcing my blade all the way through. I dismiss the fire and turn as the body and head fall into the chasm below. Bad ass points earned. I think with a smirk.

"Cardin Winchester. Russel Thrush. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. You collected the black bishop pieces. From this moment on you will be know as Team CRDL (Cardinal) led by Cardin Winchester." They look smug and leave the stage. The next group goes up. "Juane Arc. Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. You collected the white rook pieces. From this moment you will be known as Team JNPR (Juniper) led by... Juane Arc." Juane looks surprised while the others smile toward him. They leave the stage and my group goes up. "Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. You all collected the white knight pieces. From this moment on you will be known as Team RWBY (Ruby) led by... Ruby Rose." I look over to the others to see varied reactions. Weiss looks furious, Blake just smiles and nods to me, while Yang tries to wrap her arm around me. I sidestep her and walk off stage.

As we are walking toward the dorm I walk next to Weiss. "You were hoping to be leader weren't you?"

"I've been training my whole life to lead. I deserve the leadership spot." she says with venom in her words.

"You think I haven't trained?" I ask with a raised brow. "I had to get use to a whole nother way of fighting. I was taught by multiple people and died only to be revived. I've been training too. I've also fought along side a goddess. Don't think just because you're a Schnee you get the world." She looks so shocked as she stops but soon catches up.

"That's a lie. You probably just went to school like the rest of these idiots."

"kii re shio wer rich zyak snobby? vur tenpiswo si siofmea arzon ui|ulph zaneunisal jahus tisvelk." (Why are all the rich so snobby? and here I thought Arzon is|has kingdom was bad.) I mumble.

Blake looks a bit miffed at the language. "Ruby. What language is that?"

"Draconic. Why?"

"Do you think you could teach me?"

"Only if Master says it's okay."

"Okay. Who the HELL is this master!" yells Yang.

"That would be me." Comes a voice from ahead. Right outside the dorm with our team plaque on it is my master. Faebith.

"Master." I say smiling. The others stop and are just looking on confused.

"Who the heck are you?" asks Weiss.

"Well if you actually listened you would know I'm Ruby's master. Faebith. Now do you have any more stupid questions Mortal?"

"Who are you calling a Mortal?!" Weiss all but screeches at Faebith. I slowly move Blake and Yang back a safe distance.

"I dare." says Faebith menacingly as she stalks forward. "I who has survived stealing from GOLD DRAGONS!" Blood forms around her right hand. "I who has fought Abominations!" Green fire forms in her left hand. "I who fought Guardians of unimaginable strength!" Weiss starts to shake in a bit of fear. "I who beat Loki. God of mischief!" Faebith is now towering over Weiss. "I! WHO BEAT THE PREVIOUS GOD OF THE BLOODRELM POPO!" (Que Popo laugh from DBZ Abridged) Faebith's eyes are glowing at this point with them being slits. "I AM FAEBITH! GODDESS OF BLOOD AND CHAOS! RULER OF THE BLOODRELM!" Weiss falls over and is shaking like a leaf. "THAT! Is who dares." Everything turns back to normal and she walks past Weiss and up to Blake. She stares at her and even leans in. Yang tries to move toward her but I stop her. "You wish to know Draconic. The language of my people. Why?"

Blake looks a bit nervous but it passes and a look of determination comes on her face. "Knowledge is the one thing that should never be forgotten. That includes languages that not many know of. It might also come in handy in the near future."

Faebith continues to stare at her until she raises one finger. "Use this knowledge for the right reasons. If you do not. I will come to collect." She says, leaving no room for argument. She then taps Blake on the head. I grab Blake as she falls and sigh.

"You couldn't have waited for the weekend." I say a little annoyed.

Faebith blinks, opens her mouth with a finger up, then promptly closes it. "That would have probably been better. Oh well. Too late now. I'll talk with Oz about it. You take care of her alright Rose. Teach her how to switch." She says as she walks away.

I sigh and carry Blake into the room bridal style. I lay her in one of the beds and take the one next to it. I see Weiss and Yang walk in and take in Weiss's appearance. She looks like she's seen death. Pale and close to hyperventilating. "See what your attitude gets you Weiss. I trained under her as her champion. It was no cake walk. Now get some sleep. I'm gonna have to watch over Blake till she wakes up." I close my eyes and fall into a blissful sleep.

Hope you enjoyed. And Yes. Popo was Faebith's god in our DND campaign. It always makes us laugh. Especially since whenever his name pops up he laughs and we hear it no matter what. Till next time. Stack out.