The forest was quiet. At night, countless critters would always make noise, singing their nightly songs in the dark under a bright moon. The silence, stretching longer and longer, meant only one thing really; Grimm. Even a young boy like Jaune knew the tell tale signs of Grimm. His father, a strong Huntsman, had always taught him and his sisters how to look out for danger.
One of those teachings was to never go out in the dark. Alone. Which was exactly what the twelve year old was doing right now.
Jaune Arc gulped fearfully. Maybe, just maybe, this was a terrible idea. Sure he may have had Coral unlock his Aura after his father had refused to train him to be a Huntsman countless of times, but that was merely a week ago. In fact, his mother had grounded him and forbade him to even leave the house as punishment for going against his father's wishes. Going against both his parents would surely give birth to a harsher punishment. Unfortunately, he wanted to prove to both of them that he had what it took to be a Huntsman. A Hero. Something he had always wanted to be ever since he read about his grandfather's exploits.
In his desire to prove himself, some…not so wise decisions were made.
A branch cracked, and a growl echoed. Jaune, only clad in a t-shirt and shorts with a wooden bat, turned and swung with his eyes closed. There was a crack, and when the young boy opened his eyes, he realized with glee that his bat had hit the Beowulf that was creeping up behind him straight in the jaw. The glee turned to fear when the Grimm slowly turned to look at him, a clawed hand rubbing its jaw. It snarled in rage, and when Jaune went for another swing, it grabbed the bat effortlessly. The Beowulf ripped the boy's weapon out of his hands, and flung it behind him. All around Jaune, red eyes suddenly bleed through the darkness. More growls and snarls were heard.
Jaune tried to quickly back step, but his hastiness and fear only made him trip and land on his butt. He shuffled still, desperation only fueling his movements now, and the fear he was feeling only fueled the Grimm around him. The Beowulf stalked closer, flexing its claws. The Grimm in the darkness also moved closer to the boy, snarling and howling.
Jaune's back hit something hard. Realizing there was nowhere to go now, and that his death was certainly inevitable, he shut his eyes tight and brought his arms up in vain, a plea in his mind.
'Someone, save me!'
His plea was answered with a roar of thunder.
Ruby Rose huffed, staring into the sky. She lay down in a crater she had caused, but to be fair it was the other girl who had caused it, waving her Dust vial around like that. It wasn't her fault she sneezed so violently. Honest!
She sighed dejectedly, making no effort to even get up.
"Welcome to Beacon." She muttered.
"Yes. Welcome to Beacon indeed." A voice answered her.
Pale cheeks flushed, and silver eyes glanced slightly to the side as a figure walked into view.
A male, assumingly two years older than her, smiled with amusement. He had messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, dressed in a simple brown hoodie and faded blue jeans with sneakers. Strapped to his side was a simple sword in a white sheath, golden cloth wrapped around the handle. The guard and pommel seemed to be made out of gold, the metal glinting in the sunlight. His hands were covered with brown leather gloves, pieces of metal adorning the top of his hands and fingers, leaving spaces for his joints.
"You alright down there?" He asked, tilting his head slightly while still smiling. "I assume the explosion was caused by you?"
Ruby's cheeks grew warmer, and she stuttered out a hasty reply.
"N-No!" She bit out. "Yes! Wait, I-"
The stranger chuckled and held out a hand, one she took without hesitation if not to save her from further humiliation. He hefted her up, and Ruby patted the dirt of her skirt quickly.
"Just teasing." He replied mirthfully.
Ruby Rose didn't pout. Ruby Rose never pouts. Ruby Rose is too mature to pout!
"You're pouting."
Ruby NEVER pouts!
"Jaune Arc." He finally relented on his teasing.
Ruby was tempted to be petty and just walk off…but she wasn't Yang. She would never do something so mean. She just won't give him any of her cookies in the future, assuming they would be classmates.
"Ruby Rose." She huffed out. Then, she narrowed her eyes as she peered at him closer. "Wait…aren't you that guy who almost threw up at my sister's shoes?"
His smile turned embarrassed. "Motion Sickness is more of a problem than most people think, you know?"
Her smile turned evil. Finally, payback!
"Sure…Vomit Boy."
"At least I don't sneeze a crater in campus grounds, Crater Face."
With that exchange, a beautiful friendship was born.
Yang Xiao Long was protective of her sister.
Well…maybe a bit too overprotective. However, it was entirely justified! Ruby was a cute growing girl who was naive and innocent! Anyone would pounce at the chance to take advantage of her, so it was only natural for her to make sure no one did so, right?! Thinking now, maybe she shouldn't have abandoned Ruby back at the landing station. Sure her sister found her at orientation a while back but that didn't mean jack! What if someone had swept in with honeyed words?! What if-
"Remnant to Yang."
A finger poked at her cheek, and Yang was snapped back to reality. She glanced at her sister, who pouted adorably.
"Are you even listening?" Ruby asked.
Yang only shrugged, causing her little sister to pout harder. So adorable!
"Sorry Rubes, I zoned out." She apologized, before glancing down. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Writing back to dad and my friends back at home." Ruby huffed and continued writing. "Sure I could text them with my Scroll…but writing to them is more personal."
Yang didn't argue with that.
"And I need to distract myself." Ruby scowled. "Too much testosterone in this room."
Indeed, every aspiring student was placed in the ballroom for the night to prepare for initiation tomorrow. When they were accepted, a packing list was put out to them which included night clothes and a bed roll for their first night. Any personal belongings or clothes they would have would be shipped at a later date, as the students would be given two days after passing initiation to ask for their things from home. If some people had simply brought their personal belongings to initiation, then that was fine. However if they didn't pass, then they would also be required to go home with everything they brought with them. It was simply to make it easier for everyone so that they didn't have to carry a lot of baggage if they fail.
That being said, sleeping arrangements were not separated by gender. It was made so that the students would get used to sleeping next to opposite genders, since their teams would most likely be mixed genders. Unfortunately, sticking a bunch of teenagers into one room would cause some…hormones to go wild. Yang tried not to laugh as she saw some guys start flexing and doing light exercises by their bed rolls to impress the girls, some even shirtless. Bold, she supposed.
"Fair enough." Yang giggled, glancing at one guy in particular who was doing push-ups. Decent form, but his back was bending too much to even get a proper workout in his arms…not that Yang was going to tell him. Just to get a reaction from her sister, though, she smirked. "Mama likes, though~"
"Ew, Yang!" Ruby made a disgusted face and smacked Yang's arm. "That's disgusting."
Yang chuckled, but a flash of blonde hair caught her eye. She looked, watching a blonde teen walk towards a quiet and vacant corner in the ballroom, wearing a simple blue long sleeve t-shirt and black sweatpants. He was doing his best to avoid the males that were trying to impress the females. She recognized him as the guy that was with Ruby when she found her in initiation. To his credit, he had left Ruby and her alone once her sister found her, stalking off to the crowd.
She also recognized him as the guy who almost threw up on her shoes.
"Is that Vomit Boy?" Yang asked Ruby, who perked up at the sight of him.
"That's him!" Ruby smiled. "And you can't call him that. That's my nickname for him."
Filing that tidbit later, Yang nudged her. "Why don't you call him closer? He seems lonely."
Ruby shrugged and was about to call him, but her silver eyes caught someone else instead. Yang raised an eyebrow, following her gaze. A black haired girl with golden eyes, dressed in a sleeping gown…no that wasn't right. Yukata? Something like that. She was reading a book beside a lit candle, eyes scanning the pages intently. Yang squinted.
'Ninja's of Love?' Yang thought. '...Isn't that porn?'
"That girl…" Ruby muttered.
Yang hummed, glancing for any signs of Vomit Boy, but he had seemingly disappeared once again. How does he do that?
When Ruby started talking again, Yang paid attention this time. No cheek poking shall occur for the rest of the night, thank you very much!
When Weiss Schnee arrived at Beacon, it was with annoyance. The young girl who had bumped into her luggage full of Dust had irked her terribly, even more so when her sneeze caused an explosion. Granted, perhaps there was some fault there from her for waving around a vial of Dust, but such an event should not have happened in the first place if she watched where she was going! And that black haired girl! Talking bad about her family like that, the nerve!
…Even though there were some truths to her words.
Banishing such traitorous thoughts from her mind, she focused her attention back to the celebrity beside her. Lucky her, her locker was close to Pyrrah Nikos's own locker!
"So Pyrrah." She started, a smile on her face. "Have you given any thought on which team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone would love to have such a formidable person like you with them!"
Pyrrah smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, grabbing her signature shield and spear from her locker. Green eyes sparkled at the prospect of meeting new people, however, and Weiss inwardly cheered at grabbing the redhead's interest.
"Well, I was planning to just let the chips fall where they land." Pyrrah responded.
Weiss smiled wider, but just as she was about to bring forward her proposition, a voice interrupted.
"Sorry, ladies, but my locker is right between you two."
Icy cold eyes snapped to the newcomer, meeting deep blue ones. An apologetic smile wormed its way to the blonde's face.
"May I?" He asked politely.
Weiss bit back her irritation at being interrupted. He was being polite after all. Her and Pyrrah stepped back a bit as he opened his locker and grabbed a simple sheathed sword. He strapped it to his waist.
"Thank you." He paused and glanced at Pyrrah. Had he recognized her? "...I feel like I've seen you before."
Weiss peered at him.
"How do you not recognize her?" She voiced her thoughts, and saw Pyrrah's smile straining. She, too, winced. She supposed someone as famous as her was not fond of people recognizing her only as a tournament winner. Weiss knew that feeling well, and realized she had been doing what people have been doing to her for years.
The thought sickened her suddenly.
"No, not really." The blonde said softly, smiling still with an apologetic tone and bringing her out of her thoughts. "I traveled a lot growing up, always moving from one place to the next. Even when I'm home I don't really watch any events from the TV."
Weiss winced, feeling even more terrible. How hypocritical of her to judge a book by its cover!
"I apologize." She said hastily.
"No worries." He responded just as quickly. "You didn't know."
"Well how about some introductions then?" Pyrrah said, stepping into the conversation. Green eyes glanced at Weiss, her soft gaze telling the Schnee that there were no hard feelings between them. "Pyrrah Nikos."
It was a chance, Weiss realized, for her to amend her mistake and really get to know the redhead outside of posters and videos.
"Weiss Schnee." She said, smiling slightly.
"Jaune Arc." He bowed slightly. "I was told it was sweet, rolls of the tongue, and that ladies would like it…but dad has never given any good dating advice in the seventeen years I've known him."
A giggle escaped her, and Pyrrah cracked a chuckle as well.
"Well then ladies." He bowed again, arm swung to the side with a playful smile on his lips. "Initiation awaits."
Weiss decided she liked him. He hasn't even flirted with her, now realizing he probably didn't even recognize him. Making friends without any ulterior motive for them to be connected to the Schnee family…it was quite nice.
"How gentlemanly of you, sir." She playfully curtsied back, smirking.
Pyrrah shook her head at their antics and followed them as they made their way outside. Weiss was looking forward to Beacon.
That is, until much later after initiation started when her eyes met silver ones.
'Son of a bi-'
Pyrrah Nikos hated being recognized as only Pyrrah Nikos, the Prodigy. The Rising Star. The Unbeatable Champion. All people saw in her were plastic smiles and half hearted waves from posters and interviews. No one came to her with the intention of getting to know who Pyrrah was.
That is, until Jaune Arc.
Granted he had the advantage of not knowing who she was, but she would ignore that. Desperation at making a genuine friend, maybe? She didn't care. The rough start with Weiss had dashed her hopes at first, but at least she had fixed that mistake and Pyrrah was willing to give her a chance. However, her focus was on the blonde for now. Once Headmaster Ozpin had stated that whoever they met eyes with would be their partner, she quickly had a mission in mind.
That being said, how hard is it to find blonde hair in the forest?!
Pyrrah sighed in annoyance, trudging past bushes and trees. She prayed to the Brothers that she would find Jaune before anyone else.
"No, I'm not going to go for Yang."
Her ears twitch. She whipped her head up just as Jaune emerged from the treelines, talking to…himself?
"Zinogre, just cause you like-" Jaune paused, spotting her. He smiled and waved as their eyes met. "Pyrrah."
"Hello again." She waved back as she walked forward to meet him, filing away the earlier incident in his mind. Suddenly, she hoped Jaune wasn't…wrong in the head or anything. She supposed traveling constantly would stress the mind. "I'm guessing I'll be in your care, partner."
He chuckled, shaking her hand. "I guess so."
"So the next step is the relics, right?" She hummed. "Any idea where that might be?"
"Abandoned temple at the end of the path, at the northern end of the forest." Jaune recited from what he remembered. "Should be easy. Go north."
She glanced at the sky. "And north is…"
"Sun rises in the east and sets in the west." He shrugged. "So thataway!"
He led the charge-or walk rather-and Pyrrah followed him. Strangely there was no Grimm that made a pass at them. She kept her guard at up constantly, looking here and there and tensing her shield arm, but not a single creature of darkness ambushed them.
Were…were they being avoided?
Pyrrah shook her head as she ducked underneath a low branch. No use thinking about it.
"So Jaune, tell me about yourself." Pyrrah said as they walked north, wanting to make small conversation. After all, they were stuck together for the foreseeable future. "You said you grew up traveling, right?
Jaune nodded, smiling. "Yep. Though it didn't start right away."
"How so?" Pyrrah asked, curious
"Started traveling with my aunt after my Semblance was unlocked." He told her. "Dad was still hesitant in training me. Wanted to protect his youngest and hoped I had chosen an easier life, you know? So my aunt told him that if he wasn't going to train me, then she was going to do it herself whether he liked it or not. It was a lot of arguing but dad relented."
Pyrrah nodded, listening intently.
"We saw much of Remnant. Traveled to Vacuo and Mistral, but my aunt avoided Atlas." He chuckled. "Something about an ex."
She giggled with him, understanding. Pyrrah herself was never in a relationship, but she understood when one didn't want to see their ex. After all, her mother made sure her father was nowhere near their home.
"We stopped by home once in a while." He shrugged. "Dad would always try to convince me to stay and never leave again, but those got less and less each visit home. He decided that if I really wanted to be a Huntsman then I should have a spar with one of my sisters, who was a third year at the time. If I beat her, he would finally stop nagging at me to stay home."
"I'm guessing you beat her?" Pyrrah asked. He was here now after all.
"Yeah." Jaune smiled as they pushed through a bush. "It took a lot of me using a lot of the things my aunt taught me and my Semblance, but I managed to beat her, and he finally relented."
She hummed. "Well, I'm glad you proved yourself."
"Thanks." Jaune chuckled. "My dad's stubborn, to the point where even my mom can't convince him sometimes. Hell, Saphron, my other sister, had to pay him out with booze one time just so she could go on a date unsupervised."
Pyrrah laughed at that. "You have two sisters, then?"
"Seven."
Pyrrah nearly stumbled. "I beg your pardon?!"
"That never gets old." Jaune smirked as they stepped into a clearing. The sounds of battle around them were getting clearer, other people encountering the Grimm. "Yeah, seven. You can imagine the pain of growing up with no brothers."
While Pyrrah didn't have any siblings, she imagined growing up with seven brothers.
She shuddered.
"Yep." He laughed. "You-"
He paused then. Jaune frowned as he tilted his head, listening. She stopped and listened too. All she could hear were other hopeful students battling, the distant gunfire and explosion giving away their location.
"Jaune?" She asked, her hand itching to Miló. "What is it?"
He didn't answer at first, only crouching and placing a palm on the ground.
"...Something's coming."
Pyrrah unsheathed Miló. She knew it was too good to be true that there was practically no Grimm attacking them.
"Big." He muttered. "Fast…"
Soon, she felt it too. The shaking of the ground beneath her.
"We should run." He suggested.
Pyrrah heard trees crashing.
"Yeah, probably."
When Blake Belladona met eyes with Yang Xiao Long, she knew her quiet days enjoying her book (not porn!) were over. The blonde was loud and way too extroverted for her. Blake herself prided being an introvert, keeping to herself and her book. She mourned the loss of her quiet and peace inwardly as she and her partner arrived at the abandoned temple where the relics would be.
"Chess pieces?" She questioned loudly.
Yang hummed. "The relics, I think. Some are taken already."
Indeed, there were black and gold chess pieces placed on pedestals, circling around the center of the abandoned temple. Some were missing, students who had come and grabbed them earlier she realized.
Yang walked forward and took one, a golden knight piece.
"How bout the cute little pony?" Yang grinned brightly at her, waving it in the air.
"Sure." Blake rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face.
As Yang pocketed the piece on her satchel, the ground beneath them rumbled. Blake stumbled for a moment, and as she tried to balance herself, an orange haired girl crashed through the trees…riding an Ursa of all things. Behind her with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, was a boy who looked to be done with everything.
She could sympathize with him, honestly.
"Yeehaw!" The girl yelled gleefully as they rushed towards them, before the Ursa toppled over and both riders were launched into the air. Her weapon, a grenade launcher which was very suitable to her, was on her hands quickly and fired even as she flew in the air. The Ursa took a hit, its head basically disintegrating, then fell over, crumbling to dust. As the duo landed, the boy on his feet and the girl on her butt, she pouted.
"Aw, it's broken." She whined.
'You shot it with a grenade, of course it's broken!' Blake yelled inwardly, glancing at Yang. Her blonde partner glanced at her with bewilderment as well.
"Nora…" The boy groaned as he steadily straightened, huffing. "Please, don't ever do that again."
Blake watched as the ginger, Nora, seemingly disappeared only to reappear in front of one of the relics, a golden Rook. She cooed, grabbing it giddily as she stared at it with sparkles on her eyes.
"I'm Queen of the Castle!" She cheered.
…Maybe leaving the White Fang was a mistake.
"Nora!"
The girl only grinned and mockingly saluted. "Coming Ren~"
As she skipped away, Blake rubbed her forehead.
"Did that girl just…ride in on an Ursa?" Yang asked, as if she couldn't believe what just happened.
There was a screech from above, and all eyes turned upwards where a giant Nevermore was flying ahead. Blake spotted two figures on it with her eyes, though one was already falling. She could only stare as they lost their grip and fell.
"Head's up!" The person yelled as she fell, before something struck her rather painfully and flew off to the side. She managed to catch a glimpse of a red cape, though, and the voice was familiar.
"Did my sister just fall from a Nevermore?!" Yang screamed.
'Ah.' Blake thought. Now she remembered. The girl Yang was with last night when they went up to talk to her. Her point of view was naive, but a welcomed changed from Blake's usual environment before Beacon.
The chaos didn't stop however as the trees burst apart again. This time, a redhead was running away from a Death Stalker, though this one was…alarmingly bigger and had grass growing out of its shell, a sign of its old age.
"Did that girl just run out of the forest with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake pointed out.
Yang twitched as the girl dodged the giant pincers from the Grimm. "I-"
"Jaune!" Pyrrah shouted.
"Pyrrah!" A voice said from where the girl, Ruby, had disappeared into.
Said girl appeared, rolling into a stop in front of her sister.
"Ruby!" Yang said.
"Yang!" Ruby grinned.
"Nora!" Nora exclaimed as she suddenly appeared between the sisters, causing Blake to almost jump. How does she do that?!
The boy, Ren, sighed as he walked beside her, rubbing his forehead as she did earlier. "There's too much chaos…"
Blake agreed.
"How could you leave me?!" A voice shrieked from above.
Blake, and everyone else, looked up. With the Nevermore now closer to the ground and still circling around them, everyone could easily see Weiss Schnee hanging from the talon of the large bird.
"I said jump!" Ruby replied.
"She's going to fall." Blake said blankly.
"She'll be fine." Ruby huffed.
"She's falling." Ren supplied helplessly as Weiss lost her grip.
Blake sighed. She didn't move, hoping someone would save the Schnee from death by accelerated impact. She didn't want to do it herself, thank you very much. As if the Brother Gods answered her prayers, a figure leaped and caught the Schnee, holding her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He landed in the ground on his feet, kneeling on one knee.
"Phew." The blonde boy who had caught Weiss exhaled. "...My knees."
"Jaune!" Ruby cheered as Jaune set Weiss down, and the Schnee patted her dress as her feet met solid ground.
"Crater Face." Jaune greeted back with a smirk as Blake tried to hide her own smile. She was there to witness Ruby's explosive sneeze, after all.
There was a meaty smack as the Death Stalker finally landed a hit, and Pyrrah was flung towards the group, flipping into the air and stabbing her sword into the ground as she landed on her knees, creating a gouge in the grass.
…Okay, that was cool, Blake would admit.
"Great, the gang's all here." Yang exclaimed, sarcasm dripping off her tone. "Now we can all die together!"
The Death Stalker screeched as if hearing her.
"Not if I can help it!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, unfolding her weapon as she charged at the Death Stalker.
Blake was quick to unsheathe Gambol Shroud as Yang yelled at her sister to come back. Did that girl have a death wish?! Sure enough, as Ruby charged the Death Stalker with a yell, the scorpion smacked her as if she was just a pest. Yang was already running, and everyone else too she realized as Blake prepared herself to use her Semblance.
A screech above reminded everyone of the Nevermore, and feathers soon fell down. Ruby herself got pinned, a feather finding its way into her cape. More feathers rained down, and Blake had to jump back before one could hit her. The way now blocked, Yang growled and quickly ran to the side, as the feathers were only aimed at a straight line. Everyone followed her lead, with Nora aiming her grenade launcher and Weiss summoning a Glyph underneath her to propel her forward. The Death Stalker was now right behind Ruby, stinger poised to strike. Blake cursed, sprinting faster-
"Zinogre!"
At the yell from Jaune, his shadow expanded, and a large shape flew out. The shape crashed into the Death Stalker and pushed it back a good distance away. Standing in front of Ruby, legs bent and a snarling visage on its snout, was a beast Blake had never seen before.
It was bulky, yet muscular. Blue scales covered its body, with dark tan spikes jagging out of its body like rocks. Fur covered the sides of its neck and traveled from its back into its wide tail, where more of its rocky scales jagged out into sharp spikes. Its hands and feet were covered with the same rocky texture, as well as its lower jaw, and two horns jutted out of its head. The way it crouched in front of Ruby and growled reminded Blake of a wolf.
"What is that?!" Yang screamed, everyone skidding to a stop at the sight of the Monster.
Blake thought it was a Grimm, but the lack of mask and charcoal skin threw that option out of the window.
Jaune grinned, the only one running forward as he unsheathed his sword.
"My Semblance."
The beast stepped forward towards the Death Stalker, and threw its head back and howled as if calling for a pack. Blake's only warning was a tingling sensation on her skin.
The roar of thunder and the flash of lightning answered its call.
…Hi. So the fic came to be when I finished MHW and MHR. Just wanted to make the Monsters throw hands with the Grimm is all.
Yes. That includes Rajang slamming a Beringel. But that comes later. Also made a few changes to how the first few episodes played out in RWBY...mainly cause I forgot the dialogue and felt like it was too cheap to just copy EVERYTHING word for word.
So hopefully ya'll enjoy this one and the more to come! (Sorry if the constantly switching POVs was too much for anyone)