Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Fate. Please support the official release.
Pyrrha Nikos walks around the Emerald Forest aimlessly. To most, she looks like she is looking for a partner. And it's technically true, but she is looking for one person in particular.
Jaune Arc.
She couldn't explain why, but she wanted to find Jaune. She wanted to be his partner. He was the one person in the academy who treated her like a person, not just the Invisible Girl or the Mistral champion or the mascot to some unhealthy cereal.
To him, she was Pyrrha Nikos. Just a normal girl.
"Please be safe Jaune." Pyrrha prays as she goes deeper into the forest. "I need to know… I need to know if you're okay."
*BOOM!*
The sudden sound of an explosion causes the Spartan to lose her balance. "W-What?" She looks up to see a mushroom cloud in the distance. Thinking someone's in trouble, she rushes towards the source only to witness a surreal sight.
Beowolves are seen flying about in pieces, each of them trying to take down their would-be prey only to be pierced by a shining, ornate golden lance.
"Muahahaha! Take that you ugly beasts!" Pyrrha looks at the owner of the voice but she is quickly left speechless. She has beautiful long pink hair that is tied back into a thick long braid that is longer than her narrow waist with black ribbons at the tail of the braid as well as equally round pink eyes. Her outfit consists of black underclothes that end in a dress and stockings with greaves, gauntlets, and hip guards with a central red stripe and golden accents on top. She also wears black bows on either side of her head and a cape that's white on the outside and red on the inside with a white fuzzy collar.
In short, she is the most beautiful girl Pyrrha has ever seen.
An Alpha Beowolf lunges forward at the human but said human raises their lance
"Trap of Argalia." The tip of the lance glows gold and the girl is suddenly rocketed towards the Grimm, piercing its armored chest like it was nothing!
"Wow." Pyrrha unknowingly says aloud.
"Hm?" The girl(?) turns to the voice and sees a familiar face. "Pyrrha?"
"Huh!?" Pyrrha blinks but mentally facepalms. 'Ugh. Of course, she knows who I am.'
She walks into the open and greets her now partner with a full blown (fake) smile. "That was an impressive performance back there. Your Semblance took down that Alpha like it was nothing."
"Oh it was nothing! Anyone can pull that off if they're strong enough." The girl(?) smiles, trying to sound humble.
"So, I guess we're partners now." Pyrrha points out. And the girl's eyes widened.
"Yeah… we are partners now huh!" The girl's smile never falters. Pyrrha couldn't tell if she was happy that she's partnered with someone famous or that she has a partner at all. "I'm in your care, Pyr!"
"P-P-Pyr!?" Pyrrha lets out a tiny squeal. A nickname. She never had a nickname before. It was nice.
She coughs and quickly composes herself. "So what's your name? You know who I am so it's only fair I know who you are."
"Ha?" The girl(?) tilts her head a bit, confused. "But you already know who I am, Pyr."
"No. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met." Pyrrha said. 'And I doubt I would forget someone as cute as you.'
That's when she suddenly smacks herself on the forehead. "Stupid! Of course you don't recognize me like this. I totally forgot about that!" She then puts her hand up to their chest. "Uninstall."
Pyrrha covers her eyes as the girl's body shines brightly before quickly fading. When she uncovers them, her eyes nearly fall out of their sockets.
"JAUNE!?" Pyrrha exclaims in disbelief as the boy he met was now standing in the girl's place.
"Hello there." Jaune greets.
"H-How did you-!? What the hell…!?" Pyrrha sputters as she tries to make sense of what just happened.
Jaune chuckles as he holds up the Rider card. "Right. Let me give you the summed up version."
At the same time
Back in Beacon Cliff, Ozpin and Glynda watch everything that has transpired through their tablet.
"Sir…" A stupefied Glynda manages to mutter out. "That… really happened… right?"
"Yes, yes it did." Ozpin's smile is hidden by his mug. "To think such magic existed. Not once in my many lives have I witnessed such a miracle. It's fair to say that this is the Golden Sun's true power."
"But still… how did Mr. Arc acquire it then!?" Glynda frantically asks.
"Now that's the real mystery, Glynda. A mystery that I hope he can share with us one day." Ozpin said. "For now, let us focus on the other students. I'm sure they're having as much as a good time as Mr. Arc."
Glynda slowly nods as she scrolls through the other camera feeds and finds someone of peculiar interest. "It seems that Mr. Schnee is handling himself well."
"Yes. I was surprised when I saw his name among the list of applicants along with her sister's. He is quite a gifted young man. He takes more after his grandfather than either of his sisters."
"Still, his behavior could use a bit more work." Glynda comments. His preparatory school records reveal that he has behavioral problems. Most of which revolved around an inferiority complex and neglect which resulted in him acting out and rebelling. And from what she has heard about Jacques Schnee, she shouldn't be surprised that his kids turned out the way they did.
It was only after an assassination attempt during a trip to Argus that his Aura and Semblance manifested at the same time. It is a known fact that Semblances tend to manifest during times of great distress. It was rare but not uncommon. But Whitley's was different.
His hereditary Semblance, Glyphs, exploded. Not being able to control it, his avatars massacred everyone inside. It then tore through their Bullhead and it crashed just near the Mistral/Atlas border.
By the time Atlas forces found him, Whitley was standing behind the wreck of the Bullhead frozen in black ice and his body drenched in blood.
The SDC covered it all up of course, and was labeled as a freak accident. It wasn't farfetched to believe that Jacques had his pockets in Atletian politics and wanted to remove any connections between this incident and the Schnee name. He paid hush money to the families of all of the victims, including the school Whitley went to.
If you were a Faunus, however, then you would get nothing.
Jacques, to prevent another incident, removed his youngest from the public eye and was homeschooled. He was never trained to control his Semblance nor had any therapy. He wasn't even allowed to leave the Schnee estate. His mother Willow had absolutely no role in his life either and from the rumors surrounding her Glynda doubted she even wanted to. But aside from that, Whitley seemed stable.
That was until a year ago during one of Jacques' dinner parties, where Whitley was assaulted by the mother of one of the children that died during the field trip. The emotional flux caused his Semblance to rage out and kill the mother and it would have gotten much worse had his eldest sister Winter Schnee not intervened and stopped Whitley. She helped him control his Semblance as well as give him combat training, picking up everything she taught him instantly.
"It was fortunate that Specialist Schnee was there for a visit or else Jacques would not have been able to cover this one up." Glynda said.
"Yes. Ms. Schnee's love for her siblings goes beyond her resentment towards her parents." Ozpin remarks.
Meanwhile, Whitley is seen running through the forest with a Zweihänder made of black ice in his hands.
Grimm sprint from above the tree lines and close in on Whitley, but youngest Schnee summons the torso of a large black Arma Gigas and swings its massive sword, slicing the two Grimm down the middle.
"You're wasting time and Aura fighting these monsters. Just install my card and get it over with!" An inpatient Mordred told him.
"And for the tenth time Mordred, I will not risk it." Whitley told her.
"Risk what? Your sister's stink eye? That bitch is too stuck up to not see who's the stronger sibling." Mordred scoffed.
"Weiss? I'm talking about Ozpin. You sensed it right? He has magic." Whitley said.
"Ha! His magic is puny compared to ours. A single shot from my Crimson Lightning will fry his pale ass." Mordred snorted. "Besides, I'd be more cautious about that other magic signature we picked up. It's way stronger than that toothpick of a teacher."
"Yeah. You think they're the reason for making me feel like this?" Ever since yesterday, Whitley has had weird feelings of apprehension from him which is odd since he has never met him before.
"Still, if he does have a Class Card, then coming to this stupid school may have been well worth it." Mordred said.
"Of course you'd say that, you simpleton." Whitley sighs.
"Hey. There's nothing wrong with wanting a sparring partner. Your sister is good but she doesn't make my blood boil." Mordred barks. "The same can be said for all of these children. They all look like their parents just kicked them out of the house and they're just touching grass for the first time."
"Well. I'm just as much of a rookie as everyone else." Whitley points.
"Yeah. But unlike those losers, you have a cool-ass knight by your side!" Mordred cackles.
"More of a dog than a knight to be honest." Whitley whispers under his breath.
"What was that!?"
"I said thank you Sir Mordred for this kindness." Whitley said.
Mordred huffs and retreats to his subconsciousness.
Whitley sighs as he continues wandering in the forest. He has no idea where the Relics are and what's worse is that he hasn't found a partner either.
Does this mean he will fail initiation? He didn't want to return to Atlas so that his father could lock him up again and he certainly did not want to find his mother in some random part of the mansion half-nude and drunk off her ass. Again.
"Maybe the general will let me attend Atlas Academy. And if not, I can always go live with Winter." Whitley muses as he imagines living with his sister. It may be a little crowded but at least he'll be with someone he trusts.
However, his thoughts come to a screeching halt as he senses a presence looking right at him.
"Come on out. There's no point in hiding." Whitley calls out as his gaze wanders to the trees. "I know you're there."
From one of the trees, something shifts and jumps off one of the branches and lands behind Whitley who turns to the invisible figure.
The space shifts and it reveals a young girl with light tanned skin with somewhat darker spots on her arms, legs, stomach and face. Her brown hair is tied back in a ponytail that curls at the end and her eyes are a light gray with a faintly bluish tint. She wears a short black cropped jacket with two tails, a gold zipper, buckle, button straps to keep the sleeves rolled up in place revealing the white lining. She also wears a gray short-sleeved cropped top that exposes her midriff, brown pants, black over ankle boots with white slight wedge heels and three straps with golden buckles and a black matching wristband. Breast size: C-cup.
"Hello. Nice to finally see a friendly face." Whitley gives the girl a light smile.
"... how did you know I was there?" The girl asks the black Schnee with suspicion.
"Being trained by one of the strongest people you know gives you a sort of sixth sense. You can call it paranoia, but I felt your eyes watching me ever since I first landed in the forest. I never said anything because I didn't feel like it." Whitley explained.
"Or because you were too busy talking to yourself." The girl said which made the boy look sheepish.
"Hehe… yeah. I do that a lot." Whitley let out a nervous chuckle. "Well I guess this makes us partners."
"What makes you think I want to be your partner."
"Because that's how Ozpin set up this game. And sadly we gotta follow that wizard's rules." Whitley huffs before raising his hand at the girl. "My name's Whitley Schnee. It's nice to meet you."
The girl's eyes widened at the name. She wasn't aware that Jacques had a son. She only knew of his daughters.
Her right hand twitches a bit but she slowly raises it and accepts his handshake.
"Ilia Amitola." The girl, Ilia, said. "I look… forward to working with you."
"You're a Faunus aren't you?" Whitley asks, surprising Ilia. "Judging from the spots on your body and your ability to camouflage… chameleon?"
"Yes." Ilia said, still dumbstruck. "You're pretty smart."
"Not really, I just have an eye for detail. Also your tone of voice made me discern that you have a dislike towards my name." Whitley adds.
'Calling it a dislike is the understatement of the century.' Ilia thought.
Whitley walks forward. "Come on. We still have a temple to find."
Ilia stares at the Schnee for a few seconds before following after him.
As the two walk, Ilia's eyes wander to Whitley.
"If you're really a Schnee, how come I never heard of you? As far as most in Atlas know, the Schnee family only has two daughters." Ilia says bluntly.
Whitley glances at his partner. "So, we're starting with that huh? Very well." He sighs. "If you must know, it happened back when I was half my age. During an event at my school my class was attacked by assassins, likely former Dust suppliers that my father drove out of business. In a panic, my Semblance activated for the first time and it killed everyone, leaving me as the sole survivor."
Ilia's eyes widened at this. "You… you're the Black Frost!" She had heard rumors about an incident on the Atlas border where a Bullhead was shot down, killing everyone inside. The locals in Mantle called it the "Black Frost incident" because of the field of the black ice covering the wreckage.
Whitley clicked his tongue. "Couldn't they come up with something more original? But yes, that is me." He huffed. "After that, Jacques covered up the whole incident and had me removed from the public eye. I wasn't allowed to go outside of the estate, wasn't allow to talk to anyone unless necessary, wasn't allowed to eat at the table until everyone else was finished, wasn't allowed to see my sisters, and I was tutored by people handpicked by him so I can become a miniature version of him." He sighs. "In short, I was nothing short of an animal."
Ilia didn't know what to say, what to think after hearing all of that. How could Jacques, no, how could a father treat his youngest like that!? She didn't think that the man would treat his own kin like this but she severely underestimated that man's callousness and cruelty. "I'm… sorry."
Whitley looks at her skeptically. "Sorry? Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the big bad Schnee. The bane of all Faunuskind. I'm the bad guy."
"No, you're not. You're a victim. You shouldn't have gone through all of that. Jacques is a monster." Ilia counters, her eyes brimming with sadness and pity as she stares at Whitley's ice cold ones.
However, something sparked inside the Schnee as he glared at the Faunus with murderous intent.
"Don't pity me." Whitley growled, his voice rasping like a raging beast ready to attack. "If we're gonna be partners the one thing you should know about me is that I hate pity. If you ever do that again I will show you Hell. Is that understood?"
Before Ilia can respond, a rush of footsteps catch the duo's attention and they turn to see two people running towards them.
The first is a girl with light skin, curly short orange hair with a small ahoge on top that comes down to her chin, and she wears a pink bow on the back of her head. She also has bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wears a whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. Breast sizes: BB-cup.
Next to her is a girl with black hair with white streaks done up in a twin tail hairstyle with white bows. Her eyes are a brilliant emerald green. Her outfit consists of a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar and a black ribbon bow hanging from the front of the collar. The blouse exposes her midriff, and she wore medium-length black armbands on both of her wrists. Along with the blouse, she wore a knee-length skirt fastened with a white belt. She wore black shoes with a triple tomoe emblem, a mitsudomoe, on the soles, with white leg warmers. Breast size: F-cup.
Whitley looks at one of the girls confused. "Penny? But why is she-" His trail of thought is caught short by the pack of Ursas chasing them led by a Death Stalker.
Whitley sighs, already on the verge of mental exhaustion. He already had to deal with Ilia's shit, he did not want to deal with a literal headache.
"Ilia, keep the two safe." Whitley orders as he steps towards the stampede of monsters as he pulls out a golden card from his jacket pocket and places it on his chest.
"What are you-" Ilia is interrupted by what happens next.
"Include." The card disappears and something appears in its place. It is an ornate, sparkling white silver sword adorned with splendid decorations with a beautiful red handle. It is more dazzling than any silver, and is more akin to a treasure rather than a weapon of war. A stolen symbol of kingship denoting the right to a succession that never came to be.
Whitley grabs the handle with both hands. "I'm counting on you, Clarent." He whispers just as the Ursas lunge at him.
"Look out-!" But Ilia stops short by what she sees next.
The attacking Ursas' bodies are suddenly sliced to pieces in a burst of crimson lightning. Their bodies turned to dust before hitting the ground.
The other Ursas roar as they charge at Whitley who dodges all of their attacks with impressive footwork.
"Heh." The hidden Schnee gives a bloodthirsty smile as he throws his sword at one Ursa like a javelin, plunging the blade square on its mask-like forehead. He then leaps forward and lands on top of the Grimm before grabbing the pummel of Clarent and decapitates the surrounding Grimm, all in quick succession.
"Whoa." Ilia is left in awe by Whitley's fighting prowess. Never before had she seen someone take down Grimm with such brutality and elegance.
The black-haired girl rapidly nods in agreement. A big smile stretching her delicate face.
"Go Friend-Whitley!" The freckled girl cheers.
Whitley catches one of the attacking Ursa's paws and lifts it up with superhuman-like strength before taking both hands and rips it in half! Black blood was raining down on top of him.
The Schnee then turns his sights on the Death Stalker who has been patiently waiting in the background. Black smoke rises from Whitley as the two adversaries stare at each other before the Schnee bolts towards the monster, pulling Clarinet from the ground as he closes the distance.
The Death Stalker launches its deadly stinger but Whitley doesn't move out of the way. Instead, he raises Clarent's tip to meet the stinger which causes it to split into four as Whitley continues charging forward. The Grimm doesn't have time to scream before it is pierced by Clarent and its head is ripped out of its body.
All the while, Whitley's smile never left his face.
He exhales and roars to the skies.
"He's a beast!" Ilia shrieked.
"Nope! That's just Whitley having fun!" Penny beamed, seemingly ignoring the Faunus shocked face.
After that display, Whitley turns around and walks towards the girls. "Hey, you girls okay? Grimm can be pretty scary."
"The Grimm!? You were the scary one! I mean what the hell was that!? You were a completely different person than you were a minute ago! You were fighting like a Grimm or a bandit, or a psycho! Or all of the above!" Ilia exclaimed.
"Uh-huh." Whitley nods before turning to the ginger. "So, why are you in Beacon Penny?"
"Hey don't ignore me!"
"Oh! I convinced father and uncle Ironwood to let me attend Beacon!" Penny said.
Whitley, however, didn't buy it. "Penny. You can't be persuasive. You can't even lie to save your own skin."
"Hey! I can be persuasive and I can lie!" Penny pouts before suddenly letting out a hiccup.
"I rest my case." Whitley just gives her skeptic stare. "It was the professor, wasn't it?"
"Yes. He said I should expand my horizons and come up with my own view of the world." Penny smiled.
"Yes. That does sound like him." He remarks.
Ilia was about to say something before she was shoved aside by the black-haired girl.
"[Hi! My name's Biscuit Harlequin, but you can call me Harley. You were so cool and hot out there tearing those Grimm to pieces~]" The girl says through a female text-and-speak on her scroll.
"Oh… thanks?" Whitley said, caught off guard by the girl's forwardness.
Mordred snorts. "Biscuit? Seriously!? That's gotta be a fake name.'
Composing himself, Whitley focuses on the task at hand.
"Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, we need to find the temple in order to pass this stupid initiation." He said.
"A temple? We passed by a man-made structure 7.2 meters from our current position. Perhaps that's the goal?" Penny reports.
Whitley snaps his fingers. "That'll do. Lead the way Penny."
"Sensational! Follow me friends!" With that, the trio follow Penny's lead towards their destination.
Meanwhile
Jaune and Pyrrha walk through the dense forest as they try to find their goal though one of them was currently distracted.
How can't she be? She was told that magic was real not 5 minutes ago. And that her partner has a deck of cards that allows him to summon heroes. Dead heroes! And that he's also the leader of that mercenary group she has been hearing about in Sanctum, and they're all his freaking sisters!
Jaune explained that the card he used was the Rider Class Card, which allowed him to transform into Astolfo, one of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne (who she's never heard of). Oh, and that SHE is apparently a HE!
"... ha… pyr… PYRRHA!" Jaune's voice suddenly bursts in her ears.
"Eh!?" A startled Pyrrha finds herself standing in front of a cave with threatening paintings of people fighting Grimm on its sides. "Oh."
"I suggest finding another route, Jaune." EMIYA said.
"What? You chicken Archer?" Astolfo teased.
"No. I just think this will be a waste of time." EMIYA said. "Plus the painting's a clear warning that there's a Death Stalker in there. And while the Headmaster didn't give an exact deadline, I would rather not waste my time and energy fighting one measly Grimm."
"Come on, Sir EMIYA. Where is your sense of adventure?" Gawain asked.
"In the grave. Along with my pride and dreams."
"What should we do?" Pyrrha looks at her partner.
"Let's find another way to the temple." Jaune said and the two began to leave. However, just as they're about to leave they hear a sound coming from the cave and see someone running out of the cave. He is a young man with long black hair that ends midway down his back. There is a magenta streak on the left side of his hair with eyes to match. He wears a dark green, diagonally buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. Along with this, he wears a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit and light-tan pants with black shoes. He ties his hair back in a low ponytail.
The cave's entrance suddenly bursts open and a large Death Stalker crawls out with a passenger on its head. She's a young woman with fair skin, short orange hair and turquoise eyes. Her clothing is a mix and match of some sort, with different colors and themes. She wears a collared black vest that ends at her waist. Her signature emblem, a hammer with a lightning bolt, can be found on the back. Under the vest are two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively. She also wears a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape cut out over her chest, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wears matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sports a short pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes are a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also wears armor that begins in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist. Breast sizes: E-cup.
"Woohooo! Giddy up, horsey!" The ginger girl laughs, using the back of her hammer as a foothold to ride the Grimm.
The boy aims his weapons, a pair of machine pistols with sickle-like blades attached vertically under the barrels, and opens fire at the giant Grimm.
"Pyrrha, back me up." Jaune tells her as he dashes in.
"Right." She takes her javelin and transforms it into a rifle and quickly opens fire on the Death Stalker's face, disorienting it.
Jaune unsheathes Crocea Mors and with a rising slash cuts one of the scorpion's claws. The Grimm quickly tries to bash him with its other claw but Jaune puts up his shield just in time to protect himself, using his entire body to stop its momentum.
With a war cry, Jaune pushes forward using all of his strength causing to move back as well.
The black-haired looked on in awe at the impressive feat of strength. The ginger girl also stops giggling at the sight but her big grin never falters.
With a final push, Jaune bashes the claw back and uses this opportunity to run his sword straight through the Death Stalker's head, killing it.
The ginger girl jumps off her steed's head as it turns to dust before her eyes.
"Aw. It's broken." The girl moaned.
The black-haired boy turns to Jaune and bows. "Thank you for defeating that Death Stalker."
"Eh. It was nothing." He transforms his shield back into a scabbard and places his sword within. "Besides, I could tell you had a plan for taking it down."
"Well, I won't exactly call it a plan. So much so as to let my partner tire it enough to deal the final blow." The boy bluntly states before raising his hand. "Lie Ren."
Jaune accepts the handshake. "Jaune Arc. And this is my partner Pyrrha."
"Hello!" Pyrrha waves at him.
"And I'm Nora! Nice to meet ya!" The ginger girl, Nora, exclaims as she jumps out from behind them.
Jaune quickly regains his composure. "I'm gonna guess and say that you two are just as lost as we are."
"What? No, we're not lost. We were hunting sloths!" Nora points out, confusing the two.
"Sloths? Why would there be sloths in Vale of all places? This girl clearly has one or two screws loose." EMYA said.
"I like her. She's funny!" Astolfo giggles.
"Of course you do." EMIYA sighs.
"We actually know where the temple is. We can show you the way." Ren calmly reveals.
"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha smiles and an arm suddenly wraps around her shoulder.
"Alright! New besties!" Nora exclaims with a big smile, her arms wrapped around both Pyrrha and Jaune.
"She is certainly very affectionate." Gawain chuckles.
Ren chuckles. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her."
The four teens then walk through the forest.
"So, why didn't you just take the relics?" Pyrrha asks Ren.
"Nora thought she saw a sloth." Ren replies
"Correction: I did see a sloth!" Nora chirps as she starts making gestures of something small. "It was about this big and going really fast! I think I might have discovered a new species!"
"I think you just spotted a bird, Nora." Jaune said.
"Nu-uh! It was a sloth! Tell 'em Renny!" Nora turns to her partner for confirmation.
Everyone turns to Ren for his answer and finally musters the words.
"It was not a sloth." Ren said, causing Nora's eyes to widen in horror.
"Noooooooooo!" She screams dramatically at the skies.
"But." Ren's voice halts Nora's crying. "Once we return to Beacon, I will make you my super-deluxe chocolate-chip mega pancakes."
Nora instantly hugs Ren with her full might. "Yay!"
Pyrrha giggles at the hammer girl's antics while Jaune lets out a sigh.
"She reminds me of Fuji-nee a little." EMIYA chuckles.
'This is all of your fault, Archer. You and your cursed luck with women.' Jaune spat bitterly.
The four eventually reach their objective: a small circular-looking stone structure consisting of the broken ruins of a rotunda. The floor of the structure bore a symmetrical design. Three of the columns were broken and lie around the area in pieces. There are five stone columns still standing that hold up a circle of stones. Close to the temple are additional ruins, consisting of stone towers and stone bridges situated over a large chasm. A stone bridge leads to a large central tower. Smaller towers surround the main tower and are connected by long stone pillar-lined walkways. Opposite of the bridge is a tall cliff with a stone wall.
The group reach the temple and see that there are other people there, ones that Jaune quickly recognizes.
"Yang?" Jaune then glances at the familiar black-themed girl with her. "You're the girl I met yesterday."
The girl fidgets in fear at the blonde's gaze.
Unfortunately for her, Yang sees her reaction and smirks.
"What's wrong, Blakie? Cat got your tongue? Don't be shy and introduce yourself." Yang nudges at her, completely misunderstanding her reaction.
"I… I… I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-" Blake stammers rapidly, trembling all over.
"Look at her go. She's like a human nutcracker!" Nora then suddenly gets an idea. "Hey Renny, do you think she can crack my nuts?"
"... maybe later." Ren said.
"Wow. She must be really bad at talking to people." Astolfo remarks.
"Blake! Blake, calm down!" Yang shakes her, trying to get her to snap out of it. "Jeez, what is wrong with you!?"
"Good question. It seems that this girl knows Jaune, but we have never met her before." Gawain said.
"..." EMIYA remains quiet.
Jaune steps forward… and flicks her forehead.
"Ouch!" Blake massages her forehead. "What was that for!?"
"Pain is a good distraction. It helps you focus." Jaune states. "Now are you going to control yourself?"
"... okay." Blake said meekly.
"Damn…" Yang was impressed as were the others.
"SOMEBODY CATCH ME!" Everyone looks up to see Ruby Rose free falling straight for them, but Jaune merely takes a few steps back and catches her perfectly. "Thanks Jaune!"
Jaune chuckles. "Anytime."
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asks her partner who shrugs.
"Eh, not the craziest thing I've seen her do." Yang comments.
"Well, well. Quite the meet up we got here." Everyone turns to see Whitley walking along with three other girls.
"Whitley!" Ruby smiles at her second friend who smiles back.
"Ruby." Whitley nods.
"Ilia!?"
"Blake."
"NORA!" Nora yells cutting in between the two girls. "And I bring forth proof of Queenship!" She holds up a Rook chess piece.
"That's a Rook. Not a Queen. And where did you get that?" Whitley interjects.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the cas~tle!" Nora sings, completely ignoring the boy.
'Her signing is giving me a migraine.' Mordred groans.
"Salutations everyone! My name is Penny! And this is my partner Biscuit Harlequin!" Penny hugs her partner tight.
Harley tries to break out of her monstrous grip but fails.
"I'm Ilia Antinola." Ilia said before glancing at Blake who flinches.
"My name is Lie Ren." Ren said
"Well, most of you likely know me and Pyrrha. And Nora's already made her presence known." Jaune says as Nora can be seen singing and dancing in the background.
"Wait," Ruby looks around "where's Weiss?"
"AAAHHHHHH!" A scream is heard as everyone looks up to see Weiss Schnee holding onto the tip of a Nevermore's talon for dear life.
"Speak of the devil and she shall appear." EMIYA drily remarks.
"How could you leave me!?" Weiss cries out.
Everyone then turns to Ruby who awkwardly chuckles. "I told her to jump."
Weiss lets go of the talon and starts descending in an uncontrolled freefall.
"She's falling." Blake said.
Ruby shrugs. "She'll be fine."
A close up reveals Weiss crying and screaming her lungs off as the ground gets closer and closer.
"[She doesn't sound fine.]" Harley comments.
Whitley looks on passively as she continues her descent.
"Aren't you going to save her Whitley?" Mordred asked.
'Nah. I wanna enjoy Weiss' suffering just a bit longer. Besides, she has Aura so she won't outright die from the fall.' Whitley reasoned.
"... you can be quite the sadist sometimes Whitely." Mordred chuckles.
Weiss then lands on top of a tree and hits several branches on her descent until she lands butt-first on the ground. Hard.
Everyone hissed at the sound as Weiss slowly got up.
"Ow…" Weiss groans before getting hit in the head by another tree branch.
"Tch." Ilia was annoyed that the Schnee didn't die.
"Hahahahaha! She fell right on her ass!" Mordred cackled.
Pyrrha runs to her and helps her up. "Are you okay, Weiss?"
"Yes. Fortunately, my Aura absorbed the damage." Weiss said before whipping her head at the red reaper. "YOU!"
"Eep!" Ruby jolts as Weiss marches towards her.
"You left me alone in a forest with man-eating monsters!" Weiss yelled.
"I told you to jump!" Ruby defended.
"Oh, I did jump. And guess what? I ended up holding onto the talon of a Nevermore for dear life while my dear partner was off to lalaland!" Weiss shrieked.
"Damn, chill out Ice Queen." Astolfo said.
"She does have a good point. Ms. Rose shouldn't have abandoned Weiss in the middle of enemy territory." Gawain chimes in.
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about that Nevermore, would you?" Yang points to the sky as the Nevermore can be seen looming and flying overhead, watching their every move.
Suddenly, it dives down and crashes into the temple, destroying it. It quickly gets up and starts charging at them.
"Scatter!" Whitley yells and everyone quickly disperses. "Penny, I need a distraction!"
Penny stops and turns to the rampaging monster. She opens the compartment on her back releasing multiple gray-colored blades with a luminous green power symbol at the center of the bronze-colored hilt, and a green line running parallel to one side. The blades are manipulated through thin, string-like cables.
She runs forward and launches her blades at the Nevermore, annoying it long enough to give the others some fighting ground.
Jaune looks as Penny maneuvers away from the monster's attacks.
"She's doing quite well, but it won't be long before that monster gets the upper hand." Gawain said.
'I know. I'm thinking.' Jaune looks around until an idea finally clicks. "Got it!"
The Nevermore, finally having it, uses its large wings to create a giant gust of wind that blows away the swords and staggers Penny as it uses the opening to pin her down to the ground with one of its talons. However, before it can finish her off, it suddenly freezes as it is paralyzed with electricity.
The perspective changes to show its back as something is perched there blending with the scenery before it reveals itself to be Ilia Antinola.
The Grimm staggers, letting go of Penny and allowing Harley to quickly dash in and pick her up though when she tries to pull her up, she finds that she can't.
"Why thank you, Friend-Harley. But I got this." Penny then seamlessly stands up, catching Neo off guard and throws off her balance causing her to fall.
Penny looks at Harley and innocently tilts her head. "Are you okay, Friend-Harley?"
Harley gives the ginger girl an angry look.
The Nevermore tries to raise its wings and fly off in an attempt to shake off the huntress. However, there was somebody who had other plans.
"Ready Nora?" Jaune asks the thunder ginger.
"You bet! Ready Ruby?" Nora asks the red reaper.
"Go!" Ruby yells and Nora swings her hammer with all her strength, hitting the stone pillar Ruby is standing on, launching her straight towards the airborne Grimm.
Ruby raises her scythe and starts spinning rapidly in the air, becoming a red circular blur as it gets closer to its target and manages to slice off the Nevermore's right wing.
With the loss of its wing, the avian Grimm can no longer maintain its balance and airborne advantage and it quickly makes its descent. Ilia loses her footing and falls off its back but is quickly saved by Blake.
"... this fixes nothing." Ilia quickly tells her.
"I know." Blake said with sadness.
As the Grimm falls, Yang and Ren burst out from a nearby tree and shoot the Grimm in the face, blinding it as it crashes to the ground.
"And for the coup de grace." Whitley summons a black javelin and throws it at the Grimm, impaling it to the ground.
The Nevermore let out one final screech before it begins to dissolve into black smoke.
Ruby watches the Grimm die as she hangs from a cliffside, her beloved Crescent Rose stabbing into the rock wall. "Well, that was a thing."
Later - Beacon Amphitheater
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Dark." Ozpin announces the four students. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day onward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by Cardin Winchester."
Everyone in the audience claps as the newly-formed team high-fives each other.
Jaune and his group walk up the stage next.
"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you have retrieved the white rook pieces." Ozpin began. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper). Lead by Jaune Arc."
Jaune's eyes widened before sending the headmaster a heated glare.
"Bastard. So that's his plan." EMIYA spat.
"I don't mind personally. These guys seem pretty fun to be around with. Especially Nora." Astolfo said.
Pyrrha gives Jaune a friendly punch which he chuckles a little.
"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you have retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Lead by Ruby Rose." Ozpin states, causing various reactions from the group of girls.
Yang hugs her little sister tight. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Can't… breathe…!" Ruby gasps.
"And Penny Polendina, Ilia Antinola, Whitley Schnee, and Biscuit Harlequin. You four have retrieved the white pawn pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team WIHP (White). Lead by Whitley Schnee."
Whitley's eyes widen at this but his surprise is cut short by Penny giving him a crushing hug.
"Congratulations Friend-Whitley!" Penny exclaims.
Weiss, meanwhile, clenches her fists in anger as she glares at her brother.
"Looks like things are shaping up to be… an interesting year." Ozpin smiles.
Author Notes
Right. Been a while since I wrote this. I was really struggling with this one.
The first is Whitley's story. I wanted him to stand out from Weiss, so I gave him a backstory and mutant version of their family semblance. Jacques would definitely ostracize his kids if it would mean protecting his reputation, and making Mordred's role in the story much more profound. Maybe I went too far? I don't know.
Originally, I intended for Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury to be Whitley's teammates but I quickly scrapped that idea because they would immediately try to steal the Saber Card from him, so I went with Penny and Ilia instead. As for Harlequin, its who you think it is.
Penny and Whitley know each other. Their relationship will be explored more in future chapters as well as who the "professor" is.
As always, leave a comment. Good, bad, I don't care.
Happy New Year!
Peace~