Initiation or Slaughterhouse?
Screams filled the sky's of the Emerald Forest, as dozens of teenagers were flung at high velocity. This was the night of Initiation into Beacon Academy, where applicants would be thrust into a life or death scenario to see if ready for the war against the Grimm. But while many initially presumed they'd spar against each other or tough Grimm to assess their skill levels, the youth had no clue they'd be shot out like cannonballs and expected to fly.
The hounds and bear Grimm below sniffed, some even licking their lips, uncaring of the cuts the jagged bones and fangs inflicted upon themselves. Their hunger for the blood and panic they smelled from these teens drowned out all other senses including pain. One of them, a girl sporting a brown biker-vest, a wild mane of blond hair, and red and gold gauntlets was their primary target, that was until the sound of gunshots replaced the sounds of screams of teens in the air, now replaced with their own dying ones.
This girl, Yang Xiao Long, wasn't sure whose hair brain idea it was to catapult a bunch of teenagers at 80 miles per hour over a demon filled forest. Sure she had been fine, utilizing Ember Cecilia to fire off buckshot's downward to halt her trajectory and stabilize her descent, blowing up the heads of several Grimm below her in the process, but this came at the cost of over a dozen rounds of valuable fire dust rounds she saved up to buy. She didn't know what irked her more, the fact her expensive Grimm killing supply was diminished or the faculty of beacons disregard for their wellbeing on their first night. She knew they had to brace themselves, they were being tested to fight the Grimm, creatures that seemed infinite in numbers these days the more she saw the tragedies befalling towns on the news.
But while Yang could save herself no problem, actually letting the fear fuel her adrenaline smile, deep down she couldn't help but worry for the other candidates. For all the teachers knew the teens had few flying options if any. No parachutes?! She remembered one kid, a tall light skinned man with purple hair and indigo eyes wearing an orange tank top showing his six pack and muscles, screaming like a frantic child after seeing a horror movie when he was flying out beside her, only catching him landing a distance away crashing into a tree. Her smile had turned into a horrified wince, just imagining the pain and fear he went through, almost covering her crotch in phantom pain. She didn't blame him for losing his cool though. Even if their aura could survive an impact from such a fall, that damage would leave them dangerously low on aura if any left and vulnerable to a Grimm attack. Perhaps the instructors wanted to test their readiness to handle panic and stress, but this did seem excessive.
Her worry turned into gut-wrenching dread when she heard the same boy screaming again, she clenched her fists and cocked her gauntlets ready for a fight, only to pale and gasp in fright to see it was the boys last breath as a giant nevermore, definitely the biggest she had seen at over 20 meters long, had plucked him from the tree, soon his body exploding into a splash of blood like a water balloon as the giant birds beak closed on him.
Yang honestly fought to hold in her lunch as she gagged into her mouth, her one comfort seeing the demon bird fly away after that. She had seen it! A boy just freaking died before her eyes!
"Holy Shit! What the hell are these crazy teachers thinking letting a Grimm that size be on the testing grounds!? We're not even 1st years yet!" Yang thought with a grimace. But Yang fought to keep her lunch and her fear down, remembering her father's training. She repeated his mantra.
"If you show fear, the Grimm will go near. If you show fear, the Grimm will go near."
It was part of her mental training, to bury her emotions, which naturally drew the Grimm to people. While a part of her hated it, viewing such a method as unsympathetic, she knew from past experience what her feelings of desperations, curiosity, and fear of unknown had nearly cost her and what did cost that poor boy.
We see a memory of Yang, only a short 5 year old with twin ponytails looking frightened near her red wagon filled with snacks and water bottles, as they are surrounded by Beowolf Grimm near a run-down log cabin. The girl is frightened, clutching her shoulders in a fetal position as she awaits the monsters to devour her.
Yang gasped as she heard something, snapping her out of that painful memory as her eyes flashed red, sparks going off her wild mane hair when she heard the familiar sound of snarls, howling nearby that she knew were Beowolfs, her most hated Grimm. Taking a deep nasal inhale though, Yang willed herself to stay calm and focused on her other surroundings. If she shot out at any sound of Grimm without actual seeing one, her panic would only waste more ammo and leave her vulnerable. She needed to bury her anger and fear down, it was her fighting style to wait and let them come to her, and unleash those feelings when the time was right.
But the time was seemingly now as a girls battle-cry nearby the Grimm soon added a new emotion, curiosity to Yang, one she didn't want to bury down as she rushed to the source, knowing she might need help.
"You brutes!"
Yang soon let off a snicker at the amusing sight before her as she cleared out of a thicket of trees and heard a frustrated snarl from the girl, not the Grimm. Down below a small cliff before her, Weiss Schnee was battling it out with over a dozen Hounds. She wore a white blouse, teeming with blue glitter and white roses along the pantyhose and blue leg streams that fit perfectly with her glass white slippers that danced around each beast that lunged for them, not to rip out of lust, but for blood to stain them. Her beautiful and no doubt expensive dress was already stained with mud and Grimm ash her rapier blew off itself as she plunged its tip into one hounds skull before giving off a twist like a ballerina as she plunged it into the ground, unloading a blue ice dust crystal into it to unleash a pillar of ice spikes that bisected more Grimm skulls or pierced their torsos, disintegrating to ashes.
"Wow, she's got style and grace. My kinda chick." Yang mused to herself as she slouched by the cliff's edge and held her chin by her palm, intrigued at the sight before her. From the tantrum this rich small kid gave off in the Courtyard earlier this morning at that hooded teen, Yang had pegged her as some snotty scholar not capable of fighting like this. She honestly expected her to pay a bodyguard to fight on her behalf. Yang was thoroughly intrigued, however, to see she was wrong, that Weiss had received an endorsement to start Huntress initiation 2 years early through no doubt blood, sweat, and tearful effort. She was even more amused as after finishing off with a fire ball she blasted at the last hound in front of her, Weiss stabbed her rapier into the ground, depowered though, as she threw another tantrum as she examined the results that battle had on her dress she patted furiously.
"GAH! It will take weeks to get this ash and mud off me! I'm so gonna bill Ozpin for the dry cleaning! This was ridiculous, expecting me to scuttle through such filth after shooting me out into the sky like that!" Weiss had griped.
Yang narrowed her eyes annoyed a bit. While she agreed Weiss had right to complain, Yang honestly was reluctant to go down there and reveal herself to congratulate the Schnee princess on her win.
"The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next 4 years." Ozpin had said during the entrance ceremony.
Yang didn't really want to partner up and be one a team with such a spoiled brat. Especially after she had caused a fight on her very first day here with those 2 girls. Yang soon sighed quietly, a sense of remorse washing over her as she remembered bitterly the nasty first impression she made as well.
Earlier that day
Yang was basking in the glow of the auditorium of Beacon Academy. It was a rich tapestry of marble statues of famous legendary hunters, paintings of previous headmasters, and walls stocked with ancient relics and weapons of those hunters. The dim lights that made them glow slightly was perfect, like a nightlight for her. She was in her pajamas like many of the applicants nearby, getting a midday nap in to prepare for the exam at night. She would have stared at her surroundings in awe of them for hours, if not being soon distracted by a bump to the back from a passing by student, a tall muscular boy with brown hair, wearing a bronze chest plate showing off his family emblem. She soon felt a small pinch on her but as he winked at her.
She gasped a bit startled, her cheeks tinting before her teeth grinded and she raised her fist to strike him for that, another voice distracted them both.
"Don't just stand their gawking, move already." Another boy, one slimmer but with green hair and a dagger at his waist snarled annoyed as he carried a sleeping bag, though his scowl soon disappeared as he looked over her, especially her…..assets.
Yang snarled at them back as she realized where they were looking, her eyes going red as she gripped both boys by the collarbone to their shock and flung them over her shoulders.
"Pervs!" She shouted, before gasping in shock as she realized she had thrown them blindly at random, they were heading towards a girl wearing a red hood, sitting with her legs crossed meditating on her sleeping bag.
"Look out!" She wanted to scream her warning out as she shout out her hand. But to her surprise it was proved unnecessary.
Without even opening an eyelid, the girl raised her hand as well, both boys suddenly found their body's frozen in mid air in front of her, actually floating.
Yang and a few others stood gawking at the girls power. Her eyes opening and widening as she sensed their shock, gasping for a bit as she lowered her hand and flinched, dropping the two boys.
"S-Sorry! My ugh…semblance can be a bit instinctual. I know people don't like me levi…levi….ah floating them whatever." She stuttered.
Her apology and explanation muffled the murmurs about her instantly, some shrugging off what they just saw as the girl meekly bowed to the boys looking flabbergasted at her as they ran off soon after a bit dazed.
Yang sighed a bit in relief, glad her semblance had stopped her from making a big mistake. Sure it was nice punishing those boys, but she'd hate for an innocent and shy girl like that to be caught up in it.
"Guess I better go apologize." Yang thought with a sigh as she slowly walked over, careful not to try and startle the girl a 2nd time tonight, especially as she had resumed her meditation.
"H-Hey there." Yang called out a bit awkward.
The girl barely rose an eyelid, before nodding, a silent node to her presence. This actually irritated Yang a bit. She came over to talk, the least this kid could do was say "hi" back.
"Names Yang." She said deadpanned.
"Hmm." The girl hummed as she nodded again.
Yang scowled a bit as her fists began to clench at the girls rudeness. The girls face scrunched as well, her cheeks reddening a bit as she groaned seemingly annoyed. Yang's eyes reddened at that.
"You know what! You don't have to be such a-" Yang began to admonish before she recoiled as the girl's eyes widened, her cheeks puffing as she gagged into her mouth. That instantly died down Yang's anger, soon she knelt beside the girl, patting her back.
"H-Hey! You okay there!?" She asked concerned.
"Gah!…..Yeah just….nauseous. That's why I didn't want to talk." The girl groaned, hacking a bit as she reached for a bag within her red cloak and held it to her face, soon unloading her stomachs contents in it to Yang's discuss as she backed away. The girl sighed after a bit as she steadily walked over to a nearby trashcan, other teens wincing as they stayed away from her and that vomit filled bag. The girl slowly returned to her bag, rubbing her stomach as she held out a hand, suddenly making Yang propel a short distance, 3 feet away from the girls sleeping bag.
"You ugh…..you okay Vomit Girl?" Yang asked, feeling a teasing might break the ice.
The girls cheeks puffed red as she grew clearly more embarrassed. "It's Ruby, Ruby Branwen. And yes I'm fine goldilocks."
"Then what was all that about? And why push me away?" Yang asked annoyed.
"Well, among my family, I was born with extreme senses, or overly sensitive really. I can feel aura all around me, within others, and when someone with a lot flares it up like you did it tends to make me feel sick. So I prefer to limit my physical interactions." Ruby explained. She winced, a tear almost falling as she remembered the nights she spent at the temple, cooped up to avoid the other Jedi. She usually got private lessons to handle the use of her powers without being overwhelmed. Master Branwen always warned her to be careful to open herself up to the force, lest she be crushed.
Yang's eyes widened as she looked around, seeing that this girl was actually in the farthest corner of the room away from the others.
"So, why go to a hunter school? You know you'd be around a ton of aura users." Yang asked. If this girls health was an issue, why take a risk like that she couldn't help but wonder.
"I have my reasons" She shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, if I meditate even in a crowd like this, I can focus my senses and keep them from overloading me." Ruby explained.
"Teachers at…Signal, gave me private lessons to train me to handle it this way." She said, remembering her cover story. It wasn't just using her masters last name to hide her Rose name from potential imperials, she was lucky Ozpin gave her a cover with fake transcripts and stories to pose as an orphan. Her semblance lie being another cover she was hoping this girl wouldn't pry into if she explained enough.
"Oh! So that's how you saw those two boys I threw coming." Yang realized and the girl nodded, smirking as she was satisfied her lie worked.
"Yup, felt them coming a mile away. You should really work on your temper, I felt it all the way across the room Yang." She chided with a teasing grin, making Yang blush. She sat down after a long sigh.
"Yah, yah! Dad rips into me like that too. Says my semblance is basically a temper tantrum. Oh, neat one you got though Ruby."
"Thanks. Telekinesis has its perks. Makes it hard to hit me." Ruby said
Yang smirked "Is that why you got knocked down by some luggage and made a crater out of Weiss Schnee's dust." Yang teased.
"Oh! Don't go calling me crater girl now too Yang!" She shouted, her cheeks tinting.
Yang's eyes narrowed as she saw the girl blush. She managed to get a good look at the girl. While a bit shorter than her, she had a beautiful pair of silver eyes that glistened from even the dim lights around. Her chest, while nowhere near as big as hers, was a moderate size, just to her likening. Her thighs and legs were perfectly smooth and thin, almost like they'd melt in her hands….
Suddenly Yang shook her head as she blushed too, trying to force those dirty thoughts out of her head.
"NO! Bad Yang! Don't be like those boys even if she's cute! Don't cup a-"
Soon Yang's spine chilled as her eyes shot open, feeling a sense of unease beyond her libido. She looked to see Ruby glaring at her coldly, her red cloak beginning to slowly blow upward without any gust. Yang felt the anger from this girl surge even without special senses like her.
"Ugh….Ruby-" But Yang was cut off from her meek attempt to explain as she was levitated once more.
"Your just like that black bow girl earlier. You just want something of me, that's why your being nice to me." She coldly accused Yang off.
"W-What are you talking about?" Yang asked afraid.
"You can't hide your intentions from me. I sensed your body heat rise when you looked at me. You just "wanted to cup a feel of my thigh"' Ruby bitterly spat.
Yang's eyes widened as her face grew redder than her eyes do when mad. "She knew!? She can read minds!?" she thought with a fright.
"R-Ruby I-
"Save it. I'm done being used." Ruby's cold words froze Yang, horrified of what she might meant.
But before she could press the issue, Yang was slowly levitated a larger distance away by Ruby, to near where Blake Belladonna was sitting, enjoying a book in her black Yukata. The amber eyed girl looked up confused as the blond brawler was suddenly plopped beside her abruptly, before those eyes narrowed slightly seeing Ruby huff a distance away before burying herself in her sleeping bag angrily. She turned to the blonde girl sitting aghast and shocked beside her, giving an empathetic stare.
"She saw through you too huh?" Blake asked sadly, remembering the girls own admonishment of her earlier.
Yang could only sigh as she turned to look at the source of the empathy, before she gasped, seeing another beauty marveled before her. Blake figure was as mysterious and appealing as Ruby's, with her equally sized chest, black and purple glitter eyeliner and that black bow that made her yukata and eyeliner and black fingernails a perfect match. She smacked her cheeks as she forced the thoughts out again, remembering what they just cost her the first time.
"Yeah." Was the only sad word Yang could force out before she quickly got up and walked back to her sleeping bag. Blake almost opened her mouth to call out to her, but silently returned to her book as she realized Yang wasn't in the mood to talk.
As Yang silently buried herself into her sleeping bag, she pulled out a photo hidden in her breasts. It showed her as an infant being held in a bundle by her father, as well as a woman with red eyes and a hairstyle like hers only pitch black.
"Why does everyone have to leave me? Why do I always have to do this alone?" She muttered to herself as she closed her eyes in a vain attempt to get some sleep.
Back to the present though, As much as she hated being alone, thrilled for battle and party's any night, this night wasn't one she was in much of a mood for if Weiss or those other girls were around if she could help it. She slowly got up, trying to tip toe away and find a different partner amongst the candidates.
But as she began to walk away, her ears twitched as they picked up the sound of bushes rustling. Her body whipped around to face the source, once more staring at the princess below her patting her dress. Yang's eyes widened as she realized, in the girls distress over her dress, she neglected to keep her weapon handy. She had let her guard down in victory. Her anger and frustration was making her a lure for new Grimm to replace the one's she killed.
Out of the bushes behind Weiss came a King Taijitsu bursting out at high speeds. Weiss gasped as she heard the slithering serpents hiss, but was unable to reach for her Rapier or even let out a gasp.
"SHIT!" Yang screeched as she saw what happened next in horror.
The snake Grimm had wrapped around her torso, soon constricting it as the girl's blue eyes darted wide open, her mouth gaping as she came eye to eye with the red eyes of the beast. She was unable to scream, her lungs were about to burst as the snakes body squeezed, every last bit of air wheezing out her body as her face grew red from the intense pressure. The Grimm began to open its mouth wide as it slowly began to draw its head closer.
Weiss vainly fought back tears from the pain, and soon the frustration she felt from her powerlessness as her hands wobbled, unable to reach for Myretanaster.
"Is…is this how I die?" Weiss thought with a grimace. She felt the hot, almost toxic breath of the snake draw closer. "I was supposed to be a great huntress like Grandpa, I, Weiss Schnee, was suppose to lead this school and show the world of Atlas's greatness from somewhere away from it, away from my bastard Father. I was suppose to restore our reputation. How can I do that if I become grimm chow?" Weiss thought.
She clenched her teeth in anger as she let the tears wash over her. Hatred and self-loathing she felt only made her a more tasty meal in this snakes eyes as it darted its head back, about to lunge and devour her quickly in one fell bite now that it was assured she was finished.
Or was she?
Suddenly both Weiss and the Snake recoiled as they heard a vicious roar from above a cliff, followed by the sound of buckshot.
Yang Xiao Long was flying at them at high-speeds as she constantly shot her gauntlets to propel herself. Her hair ignited into flames as she canon balled into the mouth of the King as it raised its head to see what was coming.
Yang felt the slime and venom of the snakes innards begin to sap her aura, but her fire was burning it as well.
"Choke on this snake bastard!" Yang thought as she began firing buckshot into its throat, making its head spasm as it gasped, releasing Weiss.
The princess choked as she gasped for air after being released. She wobbled over to her rapier, trying to find a source to keep her steady as she gave huge inhales to restore her lungs energy.
Soon she felt a tremor. She looked up to see her tormentor, the snake, thrashing its neck on the ground, trying to crush the girl in its throat to Weiss's horror.
"I can't let her die! She saved me, what kind of Schnee would I be!?" She thought with anger. She had already been humiliated by these Grimm, she wasn't about to let someone die saving her. Weiss Schnee was tired of being saved or attacked. Now she was going to do the saving. She came to this school to honor her grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, not to desecrate her family name by letting someone else fight her battles.
Lifting her Rapier off the ground, Weiss took a dust crystal and plunged it into the dust compartment. With a wave of her now black blade glowing saber, a large black glyph appeared behind the neck of the snake, forcing it off the ground and jerking its neck back.
Yang felt the sudden seismic shakes rocking her body cease, thinking the snake must be dying. She still felt acid burn her skin as her aura flashed. She needed to get out as fast as possible before she was dissolved. She fired more shots that burst out holes in the beasts neck.
Meanwhile, Weiss rushed the snake, seeing one such hole at the base of its neck, a weak spot. Thus, she began using another gravity dust glyph to propel her up to the neck were she stabbed the blade into its throat, she then formed a pair of white glyphs alongside it neck. She began to rush down as high speeds her glyphs allowed forming a cut that gave Yang a glimmer of light within the throat.
She smirked as she felt the acid dissolve into vapor as the damage fueled her fire, now was the time to unleash her semblance Burn! She took all the damage, forced down all her fear and anger, to encase herself in the power she stored as a result. Becoming a small fireball, Yang kicked off the guts of the snakes throat, crashing into the cut Weiss made for her. Though met with some resistance from the tough skin at first, the cut came through as Yang plowed through, escaping and leaving a fiery hole in the giant snakes neck that made it bellow before it dissolved into ash.
Yang crashed into Weiss, though without any firepower, to both their shock.
Both girls were panting exhausted as they laid on each other, their aura's fluttering as they felt them at their lowest. Both were spent and needed to recharge. Before that, Weiss's eyes slowly opened to eye the messy girl reeking of ash and sweat, and a bit of spit that disgusted her but she was too weak to push off.
"T-Thanks. I owe you my life…partner." Weiss sighed gracefully.
"Ditto Snow Princess." Yang snickered, amused the spoiled kid acknowledged a "commoner" as a partner, but actually thanked her. Weiss's cheeks puffed red at the embarrassing nickname, making Yang smirk.
"Oh just…get off me you brute!" Weiss yelled as she kicked Yang off her.
Both girl began wheezing as they fought the burning aches their muscles were given, especially their throats after their last screams. Neither was in the mood to begin walking to the temple to get their relics and end the exam.
*SCREEEECH*
But soon they felt like doing it again, as they bolted to their feet with a wince, readying their weapons as they heard nearby a clicking sound after that monstrous screech.
"For gods sakes, more Grimm!?" Yang griped. Weiss shot her an annoyed look after rolling her eyes.
"It is a Grimm forest after all….ugh…." Weiss began to ponder, realizing she never got her saviors name.
"Yang Xiao Long, hope you can remember that if we can get out of this alive." Yang said sardonically.
But both sighed, knowing with their low ammo and aura's that wasn't likely. Their skins paled at what came out, seemingly just to rub their worries in their face.
A massive scorpion, sprouting four pincers, jagged spikes all over its back, and a twin pair of stingers, one with a fire dust crystal and other a lightning dust crystal imbedded in them glaring down at them as it exploded out of the ground, crushing the forest between them and the temple like sticks.
"Its….its ugh….alpha!" Weiss screamed in shock. Alpha Grimm were evolved Grimm from either years of age giving them evolutions in size and armor, or in rare cases, mutations from devouring dust crystals. She felt her stomach knot as she saw blood and clothes clinging on the pincers of the evolved Deathstalker. No doubt this one had killed many students before, perhaps some today and ate not just their souls, but their dust.
Now she felt she and Yang were next as the beast began to go towards them, snapping its pincers at their direction.
Suddenly a flash of red came into view as Weiss felt something tackle into her body hard, before all weight left her. She was suddenly flying above to the cliff Yang was at, her stomach feeling like butterflies smashing inside her as she panted heavily as she came to an abrupt stop.
Yang, for her part, felt a black wire wrap around her torso and painfully yank her above to the cliff as well. All she heard as the pincers crashed into where she was standing and crumbling the floor into a crater was a groan "God your heavy, lose some fat in those jugs girlfriend."
She and Weiss looked up to see their saviors panting heavily. Blake and Ruby!
"You girls okay?" Ruby asked them through her heavy breathing.
Once they nodded, though bewildered at what just happened, the girls confusion made the Scorpion monster screech, nearly making their ears bleed, especially Blake as she clenched her head painfully.
"Well…guess we'll have to save the thank you's for later girls. We got a test to pass." Ruby said annoyed as she eyed the monster, her hand reaching behind her cloak as she grabbed her lightsaber, igniting a red plasma blade.
Weiss gasped as she saw this. An advanced fire dust blade perhaps? Before she could ask her savior what that was, a yell from Yang snapped Weiss out of it.
"Come on partner! We got a Grimm to pound!" Yang yelled.
Weiss sighed heavily, using her rapier to lift herself off the ground as Blake leveled her on her shoulder for a bit. Soon she grabbed her Katanna, Gambrol Shroud, gripping some wire she threw over her shoulder, ready for another lunge.
Now all 4 girls stared intently at the Alpha, ready for the fight of their lives, or what may just be their lasts if they weren't careful.
Author Notes
For the record! This is not enabler. Even if it was, Yang and Ruby aren't sisters or even related in this fic, Ruby's heritage will come at another time as well, but Qrow is Ruby's jedi master here and not related to Yang or Raven here. I always thought the initiation was crazy, why send even trained kids into a grimm forest for their first test!? Jaune nearly died and even Ren was seriously injured by Deathstalker, seems like they could have toned it down a bit for the first exam. No wonder beacon fell if it goes overboard. Also, you may notice the lack of team JNPR. They will be a part of the story, but not as first year rookies like RWBY, they will have a different role in the story than canon. Next time, we will see Team RWBY face off against the Alpha Deathstalker.