DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY. Obviously.
Red Reaper's Resolve
Chapter 4: Hey Partner
Breathe in, breathe out.
Garnet always told himself this mantra. If there's one thing he can focus on the most, it's breathing. Almost like separating himself from the entire world where he can focus on just breathing. It kept him focused, it helped him relax, and most importantly it helped him be focused.
When he was a toddler, whenever he cried, he always had trouble breathing. To the point it felt like he was being choked out of the air he was trying to take in. It panicked him, made him feel like nothing was gonna be okay.
One day,while he was crying, his mother Summer held him in her arms. Her head on top of his, his head against her chest, her lone hand softly stroking his hair. He felt as though he could breathe normally again. Garnet's mother would do this while he was crying. It was nearly magical.
"Breathe in, breathe out." His mother said. She told Garnet this in the time he was getting slightly older. He knew he was getting older, so he had to be a big boy and not cry to his mother all the time.
Her words truly helped Garnet. Once he was very stressed about something or overthinking things, he always focused on his breathing. The young Reaper knows things can get better, what matters the most is whether or not you can keep moving forward. So, breathing and re evaluating yourself helped.
Shaking the memory away, he still focused on his breathing.
Honestly, it wasn't the time to look back, given that he was currently flying through the air in the Emerald Forest.
Being in this situation wasn't new to me. He trained his semblance by diving off the cliffs on Patch countless times, too many to count. Although he was briefly grounded a few times, he was able to experience what it's like to be in the air during those practice sessions.
With his arms out and legs straight, it felt like he was a comic book superhero. Though in all seriousness, the reason why his limbs were in such a way was to prepare himself for using his semblance and to get a good evaluation on which position is the best possible place to land.
'Uh, are ravens native to the Emerald Forest?' Garnet thought.
Hundreds of feet away, Garnet saw a lone raven. Said raven was directly in his path!
Swiftly, Garnet took out Crescent Rose and transformed it into its regular form. Maneuvering in a position where he put both of his feet on to one of the ends of the scythe, he fired right below him to propulsion himself to a higher altitude than the bird.
"Be careful next time birdy!" Garnet shouted behind him. He didn't know if killing wildlife could affect your score, but he didn't want to take his chances.
The Reaper realized he was getting lower and lower altitude. So he had to make a quick decision on where to land. He pondered for a brief moment, he spotted a tall enough tree where it would co align on his trajectory.
Garnet's first thought was to slow down, he didn't want to land at top speed. It would mean disaster, he'd pretty much be a human meteor. Even with aura, the pain and damage it would cause would be less than manageable.
He directed his scythe diagonally and let off a series of shots. At this point, he would be approaching a near stop gradually. It is similar to pogoing in the air. He used the tree he had earlier spotted to hook his scythe onto once he reached a manageable speed. Like a merry-go-round, he spun around the tree and landed fairly comfortably.
Landing promptly on the ground, he found himself deep in the Emerald Forest. He had to look where the relics were at. Since he was launched from the west, he had to go north. That was the most they got in the direction of the assortment of relics.
Naturally of course, huntsmen and huntresses had to traverse themselves with little to no direction when it came to their surroundings. Not surprising them being launched in the middle of the forest to exercise that.
"Well, time to go north!" Garnet said to himself.
As the Reaper was walking, he pondered what the headmaster stated as to how teammates are selected.
Honestly? It's a pretty ridiculous way to form teams.
Okay, he may be a bit too critical of the Headmaster. Maybe it's a surefire way to not make biased teams?
Regardless, even if that may be the case, it was still quite ridiculous. The first person you make eye contact with is going to be your partner for the next four years. That can be easily exploited, one can just look away from someone they don't want to be teammates with.
Garnet didn't want to overthink the method of this test. So he put it off.
"Hm?" Garnet stood still, he heard something nearby him.
Bushes were bristling nearby the boy. The sound slowly became louder and louder, the ground itself had a sort of rhythm of vibrations.
Grimm.
Quickly, the reaper turned around and immediately turned Crescent Rose into its scythe form. The bushes opened up revealing a beowolf.
Garnet leapt forward, with speed and precision, he decapitated it immediately. He anticipated this of course, that species of grimm weren't exactly stealthy.
He didn't let his guard down though, beowolves were still very dangerous and for obvious reasons.
They traveled in packs.
Suddenly, two more beowolves arrived at the scene. Almost in unison, they lifted their claws in an attempt to avenge their fellow grimm. Garnet knew they didn't have feelings, but it was interesting to think that way though.
Garnet didn't have enough time to swing at both of them individually, so he fired a shot horizontally not aiming at anything in particular though, with the recoil of the shot Garnet had more than enough speed and power to compensate against their united attack.
His scythe spun like a blade from the momentum, catching both of the beowolves from each end of his dual bladed scythe. Piercing through their dark fur and being, Garnet fired again to finish the job, leaving both beowolves sliced half.
Not leaving him room to relax, Garnet heard another sound. It was a twig being stepped on. He swiftly looked in the direction of the sound to find an Ursai.
He readied himself, but the Ursai fell to the ground robotically.
The grimm had a blade at its back.
As the grimm dissipated, emerging from the bushes again a raven haired girl.
Blake Belladonna.
Quickly retrieving her own weapon Garnet looked at her, her expression was stoic as usual.
Blake returned his gaze toward the Reaper, with the ends of her mouth curving slightly up. "Guess we're partners."
The realization just dawned for the Reaper. "O-Oh! Yeah guess we are."
Blake nodded, sheathing her Kusarigama. Garnet echoed her actions as well, retracting Crescent Rose.
"So… Do you have an idea on where the relics might be?" Garnet asked.
"Not sure exactly. I do know north is where we place them, but it shouldn't be that difficult to find some."
"Ah, gotcha. I was thinking the same thing."
Walking side-by-side, Garnet was mulling over the fact that he and Blake are partners.
Blake was... well, reserved. Not that he didn't think poorly of her for it, but he was a little curious as to why. She almost seems to be hiding her true feelings about becoming a huntress, as if she had no choice but to be here. In any case, Garnet was probably just overanalyzing things because that's how he was.
Aside from that, Blake is a fantastic fighter. While they were walking through the Emerald Forest, several grimm attacked them. Blake handled them mostly without words. Garnet is that way too, to the point where it seemed natural to her, but Blake is unquestionably more seasoned than he appears from a quick look. Naturally, he wasn't complaining; rather, he was grateful that Blake was able to handle herself in combat better than most.
Her environmental skills were nothing to scoff at either. Whenever they encountered grimm, Blake was ahead of the curve… quite literally.
Whenever Garnet was walking through an area infested with grimm, he concentrated on his hearing. Grimm are quite cunning in spite of their mindless brutality. Whatever the grimm were, they were assassins without a sound.
He allowed his hearing to dictate on the location of the grimm. They can't be sensed since for some reason they don't have any life force, let alone an aura. So the red reaper relied on his ears when it came to finding grimm.
Blake on the other hand, did that on another level.
The two frequently passed through enclosed spaces. Grimm tailed them as usual. The girl with the raven hair always had more intuition than Garnet. Before he can hear them, almost, rustling the grass, the bushes, or anything that sounds like them. Blake attacked them before they could launch their own assault.
The Red Reaper thought it was Blake's semblance. Though, there was a discrepancy when it came to grimm. Usually, semblances don't affect grimm. Well at least detection like semblance. Those creatures are always the odd ones when it comes to aura and semblance.
Anyway, his partner probably was probably just accustomed to densely populated grimm areas. Regardless, Blake was just talented to the Red Reaper.
Honestly, he was quite thankful to have Blake as a partner.
When it came right down to it, he and Yang had kind of planned on being partners. He was curious about his sister's situation with her own partner…
"Oh no. No, no, absolutely not!"
"You know I'm literally right here y'know?"
After the blonde landed from her descent, she immediately encountered beowolves. It was really quite unfortunate.
For the grimm that is.
The boxer herself found them easy to handle. When it came to common type grimm, she was no stranger. They were pitifully predictable in their movements and moved slower than Garnet on his sugar rush.
She and her old man sparred numerous times. While her uncle taught her younger brother at combat, Yang's training was primarily overseen by her father. Yang's father humbled her so many times that the blonde lost count. Her dad was tougher than most people, most humans, for sure, being a seasoned huntsman.
Her father was strict but fair when it came to training. She knew he only did it to prepare her for the real world.
Yang always possessed a carefree demeanor, particularly in everyday life. But when it came to fighting, it was a different story; she enjoyed getting involved in the fight. When it came to this line of work, the blonde knew that one mistake could mean saying goodbye to her life. One of the lessons her father taught.
She'll never forget the day when she created Ember Celica. With the assistance of her younger brother, the little genius at weaponry, her weapon was practically a match made in heaven. Her punches were already explosive, what's more to add to it?
Her first guns? Her muscles. Her second? The shotguns implanted in her gauntlets.
Yang bodybuilt her entire body in addition to just working out her arms. The brawler did a variety of lower body exercises because she knew she couldn't skip leg day. The blonde did leg curls, lunges, barbell squats, and other exercises to build her strength. Not to add that she frequently went on lengthy runs to increase her endurance. But not quite as early as her younger brother.
Her younger brother, incidentally, also absorbed some of her exercise regimen. Primarily running and keeping a trim figure. She and Garnet warmed up before combat practice by working out together on Patch.
Of course, she wasn't left without a reward for her diligent work. Her physical attributes, strength included, are beyond what architects could only dream to build. She enjoyed boasting about how attractive she was, but it's justified! Many boys on Patch became interested in Yang, but most of them stopped because of her father's protectiveness. She was dubbed the "Blonde Brawler" at Signal because of this. Her nearly flawless physique and long, flowing hair made her practically a celebrity at Patch.
Yang graduated at the top of her class at Signal. A prodigy, regarded by many of her teachers there.
She may be a prodigy, revered as goddess by some, and insanely strong. But none of those can help with… whatever was occurring right now.
"I refuse to be a partner with you."
"Again, still here!"
Currently, Yang Xiao Long was in the Emerald Forest undergoing her exam. Her surroundings consisted of dissipating grimm and trees that were unfortunately caught in the crossfire of combat.
Earlier, while the grimm were being dispatched, she was joined in by a certain Ice Queen. With the Heiress dispatching the beasts in a… prim and proper way. She certainly had skill, but she focused way too much on the small details rather than just letting loose and going with the flow of the battle. To each their own, Yang surmised.
Wordlessy, they easily both eliminated the grimm surrounding them. Albeit Yang was slightly put off because she definitely could've handled them on her own.
That's where it led to this point.
"Remember what the Headmaster said? First person you make eye contact with is your partner. And were literally staring right at each other. So, whether you like it or not, we're gonna be partners, Weiss." Yang attempted to explain.
The white haired groaned. "I know what the Headmaster stated. Which, being absolutely sincere, is a ridiculous way of choosing!"
One of the few things Yang agreed with the snow haired girl.
"Look. I know we… got off on the wrong foot," quite literally actually, "but we should at least try and get to the relic site before we work out the kinks of our partnership."
Weiss stared at her, slightly wide eyed. No doubt surprised by the blonde's sudden maturity.
The Heiress crossed her arms and huffed, "So there's really no way of escaping this? I suppose, I'll have to make do."
"Please princess. People would kill to have me as a partner, in more ways than one."
Weiss raised an eyebrow with slight disgust. "What are you implying with that sentence? I don't want to know. Your fighting style could use some improvement. "
"What? My fighting style is perfect thank you very much, yours is a little too prim and posh! We're fighting monsters that can kill, not attending dance class." Yang said in a mocking tone.
"It's called fencing, you brute! It requires delicate and precise movements. Leaving little to no room for error."
"Righhhhhtttt. You took a bit of your time worrying whether or not your foot was in the right place. In the heat of the moment, you kind of have bigger things to worry about. Even though those grimm were chumps."
Weiss frowned. "I've had my fair share of scuffles. I know what I was doing, and to put it plainly, that was a mere warmup."
Seems like the princess has a bit of an arrogant attitude. The blonde figured at this point.
"Now that's the side I want to see more! The Ice Princess has more than what she led on to have!"
"Forget it. Let's just get to the relic site, and get this initiation over with." Weiss sighed.
Well, that was the best she was gonna get as a compromise from her for now.
Weiss for a partner? Even the brawler had to concede that the Snow White girl is knowledgeable, even though her initial disdain of her was primarily due to her attitude. Even someone with very little knowledge of weapons can see that Weiss' armament was of excellent quality; Yang was by no means an expert on firearms. That weapon of hers appeared incredibly well built.
That was, of course, one of the advantages of being the Heiress to the world's largest dust firm. Although Yang didn't utilize dust very often, she was reasonably familiar with the Schnee family. Almost everywhere in the business district, their faces and company are displayed.
Yang didn't want to treat Weiss differently despite her status as the Heiress. She simply wasn't the kind who glorified others—at least, not those who weren't related to her. That would be lying to both herself and other people.
Besides, it was fun to tease her.
Now… her little brother would no doubt be already at the relic location. Given that he works a little too hard for his age, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was the first one there.
Yang wasn't gonna let Garnet get the one up on her, what type of big sister would she be if her little brother was always a step ahead of her?
With no time to waste, she gestured to Weiss. "Let's get a move on Weiss Cream! We got a treasure hunt to head to!"
Weiss let out another groan, "Don't ever call me that, brute."
Yang giggled, it was certainly a start to her enrollment here.
"This makes for an interesting duo. Qrow's niece being partnered with Miss Schnee."
"Hm."
The Beacon Headmaster and Glynda Goodwitch, his assistant, were at the start of the initiation site going over their scrolls. While the scrolls provided them with the students' live activities.
State of the art Atlas tech. The cameras are very miniscule, hidden to the point it almost looks like a speck if not looking very closely. It perfectly blended in with the bark of the trees.
"That boy with Miss Belladonna… Ozpin, do you seriously think it was a good idea to let a young child such as himself enter this academy?" Glynda inquired.
Ozpin hummed, "The boy has much more experience than he has let on. Curious to say he reminds me of a certain individual."
The woman gave Ozpin a questioning look. Sure, mister Rose has displayed feats more than what most people around his age had accomplished. However, he is still a child.
She wasn't berating him of course. Glynda was concerned most of all, this line of duty is not something to be trifled with. To let someone as young as Garnet Rose to shoulder the burden of one of Remnant's most important jobs, it's just downright sickening that they'd have to keep on relying on future generations with this conflicting problem that has been occurring for thousands of years.
Glynda wished there was a solution to end this ceaseless fight.
Ozpin noticed the look Glynda gave him. "Worry not. We'll of course closely monitor him to keep tabs on his progress. We won't go as far sending him to the wolves as they say."
May I remind you practically did send your students to the beowolves? Glynda thought.
The huntress trusted Ozpin. She has been working with Ozpin closely enough to gauge the reasons for his actions, so far, he had not let her down. Given the dire situation for Remnant at large.
Glynda just hoped that whatever Ozpin is doing, it's for the greater good in the grand scheme of things. Even if they may be morally wrong.
Glynda Goodwitch hated herself for adapting that type of mindset overtime.
The world can be too cruel at times.
Shaking her thoughts off, she turned back to her scroll tablet.
It would be an understatement to say that the place looked old. Spiderwebbed cracks pocked the stones, some of the pillars were almost falling on top of one another, and the wild vegetation growing in the crevices was starting to take over the small area. You could hardly call the stone floors stable because of how uneven they were and how many holes and cracks were hidden from view. A place long past its expiration date.
"This must be the place." The Reaper commented.
Garnet and Blake had just arrived at what appeared to be the location of the relics. Smaller pillars nearby were also in possibility of collapsing. Chess pieces, black and gold, rested atop the pillars. They were organized in a way as chess ranked each piece, pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, queens and kings.
For some reason, there were four queens and four king pieces.
Garnet wasn't much of a chess player, but even he knew there was only one king and queen on each side.
As the duo reached the center of the place, they pondered on which pieces they should take.
"Er, any thoughts which ones to take?" Garnet asked his raven haired partner.
"Hm. Odd that there are four queens and kings. Maybe we should take the highest ranking one?" Blake questioned.
"Yeah, pretty sure this is not how chess worked. Though, I'll have to agree. Let's just take the kings, maybe we'll get a bonus on taking the kings first?"
Blake shrugged. "Who knows, we'll just have to figure it out after we get them to the castle."
The Reaper nodded. The duo stepped up to where the furthest of the small pillars were, each of them taking a gold king piece.
Garnet pondered whether the pieces of a board game contained a secret mechanism. He tried applying pressure to specific areas, rubbing his hands over the object, and closely inspecting the object to see if any hidden messages were there. Basically anything that might be a clue to a secret.
"What are you doing?" Blake raised an eyebrow. Stopping Garnet in his tracks right away.
He nearly dropped the piece and immediately turned bright pink in embarrassment. "E-Er, just checking if there are hidden switches within the pieces!"
"I highly doubt it, but good thinking if there are any additional compartments."
Garnet mentally sighed in relief, he definitely looked like an idiot. He really should stop overthinking things.
"Seems we're the early ones. No other pieces were taken and no one else has found the place yet." Garnet said.
As soon as he said that though, a high pitched scream pierced through the forest.
Blake and Garnet jerked their heads in the direction of the scream right away. There were sounds of something large approaching them; it tore through the forest, toppling trees like dominoes.
The two armed themselves, prepared for whatever emerged from the woods.
A couple of individuals emerged from the forest ahead of the others, softening their fighting stance slightly.
It was Jaune and Pyrrha, running frantically towards them.
Behind them was a Deathstalker. Well that explains the loud stomping and destruction.
Luckily for them, the Deathstalker was still quite a distance away. Regardless, no matter how far away someone might be from grimm, people can still be at risk.
The runaway duo approached them, Jaune panting furiously with his hands on his knees and Pyrrha not breaking a sweat. Pyrrha appeared to have slowed down enough to avoid leaving Jaune in the dust.
This concerned the Red Reaper a bit. If you get so tired from just running away from grimm, you can forget you can last against hordes of grimm. He didn't want people to think negatively of him, but something as simple as running should not be taken lightly. Garnet was genuinely curious as to how this guy passed the basic training portion of the Beacon application process. He figured he'll just question him about it later.
"Hey–," Jaune said exasperatingly, very much catching his breath after the sprint. "You guys got here first? Also, are these the relics?"
Garnet nodded, "Yep. Just pick a pair of chess pieces."
"Thank goodness, you won't believe what just happened to us! While me and Pyrrha were looking at where the place was, we–."
Cutting the blonde off, an Ursai roared through the air just west of the relic site.
The now quadruple trainees brandished their weapons, preparing themselves to fight the Ursai. The Deathstalker for some reason slowed down a bit, distracted by something. The Ursai was closest to them, roaring for a fight. It was limping for some reason.
Then it fell to the ground like a fresh corpse.
What revealed the recently dead Ursai, a certain hammer wielding ginger. She was practically gleaming with happiness, a little too happy given the current situation. The position she was in is what really surprised the four.
Nora appeared to be riding the recently alive grimm to get here, well used to be. Definitely no one should try in any circumstance, no matter how experienced you could be. Though Garnet mentally applauded her for achieving such a thing.
What shortly ran up to her was Ren, exasperating as much as when Jaune got here.
"Nora… don't ever do that again please…" Ren said while slightly leaning on the dead grimm.
The ginger ran off, essentially ignoring Ren's comment. She headed towards the relic site, while walking past the somewhat bewildered group. She instantly grabbed the queen piece.
"I'm the queen of the castle! I'm the queen of the castle!"
"NORA!" Ren yelled out.
Stopping herself from… whatever she was doing, she walked over to her partner. "Coming Ren!"
While all this happened, the four were trying to process what just occurred. Most of them with raised brows and confused expressions.
"So–" Pyrrha spoke, but was abruptly interrupted when a new person arrived close to the four.
"Garn! Woah, you guys havin' a party or something?" A familiar voice asked.
Instantly recognizing her sister's voice, Garnet turned his gaze at her as with the rest of the group.
"Yang? Where the heck did you come from?" Her little brother asked.
Yang sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I er– hitched a ride!"
This wasn't good. Whenever Yang rubbed the back of her head like that, she wasn't telling all the details at what she said. Garnet picked that up after years and years living with her, for the most part it's a useful skill to have whenever his sibling was lying. Besides that, whenever she committed to that pattern, it most likely wasn't good.
Garnet crossed his arms disappointingly and narrowed his eyes slightly at his sister. "Yang. By hitching a 'ride', what do you mean by that exactly?"
Before Yang could answer him, a loud screech roared through the sky. Much louder than the Ursai prior.
A large shadow casted over the area. Particularly in the shape of a very, very large bird. This caused everyone present to look up at the looming object in the sky.
A Nevermore. This one in particular was fairly larger than the average one, must be an alpha.
As the sight of another large grimm encircled the area, what caught the eyes and ears of the students was the object that was dangling on the Nevermore's talons. More specifically, it was a person holding on for dear life since a drop like that could cause serious injury, aura or not. More specifically, it was a girl.
More specifically, Weiss Schnee. Her body was dangling at the same speed as the Nevermore. Her hands appeared to be insufficiently secured to be considered safe. It was truly surprising that the girl was still holding on to the talons; she could literally fall at any time.
"Yang. Please don't tell me that's what happened?" Garnet inquired of his older sister. He didn't need to say the rest since it was easy to connect the dots at what happened. Everyone else in the area mentally nodded at what was going on.
"Yes and yes. Snow Queen and I kind of got lost in the direction of where the site was, so we tried to take a vantage point."
This got a raised brow from everyone as soon as she said that. Except for Nora, she was nodding her head in approval.
"What? I told her to jump off!"
"She's falling now." Ren commented.
Crap gotta move fast. Garnet thought quickly and moved to a nearby vantage point using his semblance. He quickly climbed the nearest tallest tree to where Weiss was falling; fortunately, the height at which the Nevermore dropped her was high, so there was enough time to spare the calculations to catch her. Unfortunately, she was still at a dangerous height.
Garnet angled Crescent Rose to match the direction of Weiss' decreasing distance from herself to the ground. The reaper jumped off and fired a shot. As he swiftly put away his weapon, he gained just enough speed and momentum to catch Weiss in time. Weiss landed vertically on his arms, which were extended.
Using his semblance for a brief moment to land on the nearest branch, softening their fall. The branch gave way immediately, but just enough to reduce the force of the fall. Garnet's knees bent slightly as they landed on the ground, the Reaper still holding Weiss in his arms.
"Urk! Y-You okay Weiss?" Garnet winced. The fall still hurt, but thanks to aura he didn't sustain any injury.
"Y-You–," Weiss stammered, trailing off.
"Huh? What's–?" Garnet turned to look at Weiss' face. Sky blue eyes filled his vision.
He took a moment to realize what was happening. One, Weiss' face was so red it was in a deeper shade of red than Garnet's cloak. Two, Garnet was still carrying Weiss princess bridal style. Then three.
Their faces were mere inches away from each other.
Turning bright red himself, Garnet tried to explain. "I er–, just wanted to make sure you're okay!"
"P-Put me down you dolt!" Weiss demanded while still bright red.
Following her order instantly, Garnet lowered Weiss so she could promptly stand on the ground again. Albeit somewhat shakily after falling so high from the sky.
They looked away from each other, not saying a single word.
Their awkward silence was broken by loud stomping. The Deathstalker was approaching them at an alarming rate, leaving nothing but destruction in its path. Weiss held her Myrtenaster as they snapped out of their stupor. Garnet re-equipped Crescent Rose with its sniper form in an attempt to slow the grimm.
As he was taking his shots, which rarely did any effect, the grimm stalker rarely showed any signs of slowing down. Garnet tisked his tongue in annoyance, realizing that he didn't have any means to distract it. The armor of the Deathstalker was certainly one of the most durable out of all the grimm.
"Weiss, do you have anything that can distract it or anything to slow it down?" Garnet asked the white haired girl.
Weiss smirked confidently. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
The Heiress rotated Myrtenaster's dust vial, which came to a halt exactly at the blue dust vial. The Deathstalker was now within arm's reach, only a few dozen feet away. Weiss wasted no time in stabbing her weapon into the ground, causing ice crystals to seep into it. A trail of cold and ice led quickly towards the Deathstalker, and the grimm attempted to compensate for its distance by stabbing its deadly tail forward. The ice quickly intervened, forming a sizable wall that kept the duo safe. The ice successfully stopped the Deathstalker; it was not a complete stop, but it was enough to allow the duo to escape.
The two made a quick dash, meeting the rest of the group halfway.
"Are you two okay?! We saw a little bit of what happened." Yang asked immediately, with a look of concern across her face.
"W-We're okay, we just encountered the Deathstalker. Weiss stopped it, but it'll definitely chase us again." Garnet answered.
Weiss, looked at Garnet. Their gaze met, and they swiftly looked away from each other slightly blushed.
Blake simply raised an eyebrow at the two red faced individuals. Particularly curious as to what happened between them.
Yang frowned, with her lilac eyes slightly narrowed at Weiss.
The rest had a confused look on their faces, with Nora not paying attention at all.
Another awkward silence passed, but it was quickly broken up by the rather still flustered reaper.
"A-Anyway! If anyone still hasn't gotten their relics, it's right over there." Garnet pointed to where the relic site was.
"Y-Yes we shall!" Weiss said to no one in particular.
The eight of them turned to return to the chess pieces. Those who had not yet acquired a chess piece took what was left over. The awkward tension had almost completely subsided by now, and the group redirected their attention to the two enormous grimm that remained.
"So, what's the plan?" Jaune asked the group.
"We need to go to the cliffs. Our objective is not engaging the grimm, it's getting the pieces to the castle." Weiss answered.
Garnet nodded. "She's right. If we make a break for it, we could avoid the deathstalker. Not as much as the Nevermore, but it's one less grimm to deal with."
"Reducing fighting without actually fighting. I like it." Jaune commented.
The rest of the group nodded. Wasting no time at all, the eight made a dash towards the cliff area.
It didn't take them long, conveniently the cliffs were just a short distance away.
A vast grassy field held a variety of pillars. built in a manner akin to the previous small site, albeit on a far larger scale. The pillars themselves appeared antiquated and were unquestionably out of date. The pillars were covered in tiny fissures and cracks to the point where they appeared to be about to collapse.
What looked to be the castle is directly in front of them. It would be an understatement to call it a castle. Stone bridges were erected there along with extremely flimsy scaffolding. They were placed so that they connected two cliffs, the teenagers being on the side that was at a much lower altitude than the other.
A massive stone cathedral stood in the middle of the chasm. Like the bridges that link it, it has seen better days. It appeared to be the location where the trainees were expected to show up with their relic.
Definitely not a place to house a battle.
Unfortunately, the Nevermore was still hot on their trail, the group of eight hid behind some pillars to formulate another plan. It practically stood in the way mockingly.
"If we dally here too long, the Deathstalker will no doubt reach us." Weiss said as she brandished her weapon.
"We'll have no choice but to bring the fight to the Nevermore! Does anyone here have long ranged weapons to get cover so we can approach it?" Garnet asked the group.
"On it Captain!" With great enthusiasm, the ginger-haired woman saluted. Her weapon, which appeared to be a grenade launcher, was displayed. Then Nora let off a burst of pink explosions with a trail. As the explosions struck the Nevermore, a cloud of dust in the shape of a heart was left behind. The bird, obviously unhappy with what it was being pelted with, grimaced and staggered.
"Now!" Garnet shouted.
The students immediately began running toward the cliffs, with Nora following closely behind as they sought refuge. The Nevermore was so distracted that it was too preoccupied with finding its bearings to launch an attack.
This was not favorable. The large grimm was far too close to the cliffs for comfort. They'd have to kill the Nevermore right now; allowing it to destroy the platform leading to the castle was simply too risky.
To make matters worse, that same familiar rhythmic tremor brought the group's attention.
Recently breaking free from its temporary prison, the Deathstalker from earlier came back. Grimm didn't show any emotion given they don't have a soul, but anything would be pissed after being frozen to the ground slightly.
"We'll have to split off! Letting them group up is less than favorable." Stopping in her tracks, Pyrrha switched Milo to rifle mode. Firing the weapon in rapid succession towards the newly invited guest at the battlefield.
Magnhild was instantly transformed into a hammer form by the ginger, who had been firing her grenade launcher at the enemy who was in the air. Now switched to her favorite hammer, she aimed it downward and, using its head as a platform, detonated an explosion beneath her feet, propelling herself toward the Deathstalker. She closed the distance quickly, raised her weapon to her head and sent it crashing down to the armored grimm. The impact and momentum she was at caused the grimm to rattle and the ground to crater, momentarily stopping the grimm.
Her partner, Ren, quickly joined her, offering covering fire. Firing rapidly using Stormflower, he swayed and circled around the Deathstalker. Being an annoyance to the grimm, it gave his partner an opportunity to retract herself away from the Deathstalker. She used her weapon to quickly gap the distance away from the grimm, by detonating another explosion.
Yang stopped running and put Ember Celica in long-range shooter mode. Shadow boxing, she tried to further deter Nevermore from the cliffs by firing a barrage of explosions at it. Weiss used her glyphs to manipulate a variety of dust effects towards the Nevermore as well. The ravenette used Kusarigama's gun mode to take point as well, with Garnet quickly trailing behind her with his Crescent Rose's sniper scope.
Quickly noticing the divide in targets, Jaune made a suggestion to everyone. "We'll handle the Deathstalker! You guys take on the birdy!"
Garnet nodded in agreement. Then he directed orders to his group as they were still occupied with firing their weapons still at the Nevermore.
"We need to keep the Nevermore and Deathstalker as far apart as possible! Let us get a vantage point so that its attention is focused solely on us! "
Blake, Yang, and Weiss nodded in agreement. With a swift motion, he used his semblance to cross the crumbling stone bridge and pillars. His group did the same, albeit a little more slowly because they don't have his semblance him. The four teenagers arrived at a higher altitude, each perched atop a single pillar. To divert the Nevermore's focus from the group battling the Deathstalker, they brandished their weapons once more.
"We're not doing enough damage against this birdbrain! When it gets closer, I'll smash its beak in!" The blonde was still occupied with shadowboxing, sending a barrage of explosion projectiles in quick succession.
Yang's explosive projectiles turned out to be the most successful of the four. That was evident from the agitation that radiated from the Nevermore, which quavered in pain. It started to close in faster than before on the blond fighter. Every time the Nevermore's wings touched the fragile stone pillars, the devastation they caused was immense. The smaller structures in the valley collapsed and fell into the chasm as a result of it destroying the foundations.
As it closed in, the brawler launched herself towards it using her Ember Celica's shotgun form to get more momentum. Landing unstably on its neck, Yang began her long awaited assault. Grabbing at the feathered creature with one hand, she used the other hand to land blow after blow towards Nevermore's head. The bird staggered in pain, it recoiled in the air, clearly not taking the damage well.
With addition of the Garnet, Blake, and Weiss supporting projectiles, it finally started to do some real effect of their combined efforts.
Until the Nevermore performed a barrel roll towards one of the stone pillars.
Yang immediately halted her devastating assault, using both of her hands to now hold on for dear life. The Nevermore thrashed and crashed itself into nearby structures in hopes of shaking the blonde off its neck. Yang was doing really well holding on, but even she had her limits. Her aura levels dissipated at an alarming rate and she couldn't jump off of it due to how fast the Nevermore was accelerating.
Her hold was slipping. She was now hanging very loosely in the air since she could only hold onto it with one hand. Yang let go of it with a final barrel roll and self-harm the Nevermore inflicted. She fell down the abyss at a frightening speed.
"YANG!" Garnet shouted in horror. He was way too high of an elevation to act, not to mention he didn't have the correct semblance to reach her in time. Darn it! If only he stopped her performing that reckless act. This wouldn't have happened!
With swift reaction, Blake suddenly fired a shot to propel her Kusarigama forward, increasing its force and speed. The girl with raven hair was aiming her weapon at the girl who was falling, estimating her path from the angle. It traveled at a crazy speed, far quicker than Yang's collapsing elevation.
Yang reached forward to seize hold of the Kusarigama as soon as it arrived at its intended target. The brawler incorporated Ember Celica's guns to increase its speed to climb higher and faster out of the chasm by using the long fabric to fire shot after shot.
Blake was holding the other end of her weapon firmly and tightly. With the rate she was going to be at, Blake figured out the Blonde's intention. She used both of her arms to swing Kusarigama at a slowly but surely horizontal angle. With the assist of Yang firing off Ember Celica's shotgun momentum, this proved to be a somewhat easy task for Blake.
Yang had accelerated and gained altitude until he was nearly above the group. She continued to grip the black-haired girl's weapon as she threw herself forward in the direction of the oblivious Nevermore. Yang gained momentum from the spontaneous merry-go-round and appeared to be moving at a faster pace than a speeding bullet. She was a blur.
Yang's right hand collided with the side of the Nevermore's head almost immediately. The force ruptured the air, and the grimm's body made a crackling sound throughout. The impact caused the Nevermore to collide with the side of the cliff, creating a large crater on its side.
Not wanting to repeat the same dire situation before, Yang used Ember Celica's shotgun force to land nearby on a pillar with Blake quickly retrieving her weapon.
The very rattled Nevermore was still alive surprisingly. By just a little though, it was tremendously staggered due to the brawler's high speed punch.
Seizing the opportunity, Garnet gestured to Weiss. "Weiss! Think you can freeze that thing like what you did to the Deathstalker before?"
"Of course." Weiss replied immediately before using her glyphs to traverse the canyon in the direction of the Nevermore.
As Weiss made closer and closer to the Nevermore with Garnet following in pursuit as well, he pressed the button the the side of Crescent Rose.
'Figured to use it this time.' Garnet thought.
His weapon separated itself right in the center. With his weapon split in two, both scythe ends transformed into sword-like shapes. With one side slightly more lopsided than the other, resulting in a very shapely dual wielding swords. That wasn't the only thing that split in two; his sniper had shrunk in size and power, but both of his hands now held a firearm. They were placed near the top of the hilt, where the dull side of the blades rested.
This form of Crescent Rose is called Dual Thorns.
Taking inspiration from a legendary Huntress, he rarely used this form. Using swords tired him and he wasn't too familiar with this kind of weaponry. It was also a new addition before heading the night he encountered Roman Torchwick, so he needed much more practice.
He figured to teach its lethality towards a Nevermore.
As the Reaper and Heiress encroached quickly, Garnet asked something of Weiss. "You're glyphs, you think you can give me a boost up on the cliffside?" he pointed towards the cliffs, precisely right above the Nevermore.
"I can, but only for a brief moment. Just make it count."
They arrived at their destination after briefly going over the specifics of their plan. Without any delay, Weiss changed to a blue dust vial and sent them straight to the trembling Nevermore with her glyphs. The Nevermore struggled to free itself from the icy grip after realizing it was immobile. Now trapped in the cliffside.
Garnet took advantage of this brief window of opportunity to use his resemblance to quickly get past the Nevermore and start climbing the cliff. With her glyphs, Weiss complemented his climbing, making the task of rising far above the location of the Nevermore much easier.
The Nevermore escaped its frozen confines. It squawked in rage as it noticed the boy above it. It spread its wings and took off in the direction of Garnet's location.
When the Reaper arrived at the top and looked down at his target, the Nevermore was moving upward toward Garnet. Leaping off, he quickly descended and increased the speed of his descent by firing off Dual Thorns gun modules. Then he aligned his two swords in line with one another. He quickly descended with his swords drawn and met his target.
Sword met beak. The Nevermore's head split open right down in the center, as it began as well with the rest of its body. A clean cut trailed directly through its entire body vertically. From the tip of the head down to its tail. The fresh corpse of the grimm split into two, with the remains falling down into the chasm.
After killing the Nevermore, Garnet quickly stopped his descent by using his semblance to a nearby platform.
The rest of the teenagers took note of what happened. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren just caught the last moments of what occurred after they defeated the Deathstalker.
"Wow." Jaune said, his jaw lowered by a bit.
"We should do that too, Ren!" Nora exclaimed.
"No." Ren deadpanned.
Pyrrha smiled, though that smile came with slight mischievousness behind it.
She saw a new opponent to challenge.
Back to the cliffs, Yang whistled. "Geez, that was crazy, even for me. Oh and thanks for the save Blakey, I'd be at the bottom of the chasm if it weren't for you."
"Just don't be reckless next time." Blake nodded with a slight smile.
With Garnet retracting his weapon, to it being back to Crescent Rose. Walking side by side with Weiss, they spoke for a bit as they made their way to the objective.
"So about that 'thing' earlier–," Garnet was cut off with Weiss' finger hovering near his face.
"Do not speak a word about that, or I can and will make you regret it." Weiss ordered.
"Y-Yes mam, I just wanted to say I had no ill intentions."
"I know. Also, consider us even. For saving me after that horrendous idea by your sister."
"Oh? Ohhh." She probably meant by that time when they first met.
"A-Also… I didn't really mind…" Weiss muttered, her face turning a slight shade of pink.
"Hm? What did you say, Weiss?"
"N-Nothing you dolt! Just take it or leave it!" Weiss stuttered before strutting way ahead of Garnet.
When Weiss turned to leave, the Reaper was confused. He shrugged and picked up a little speed to catch up to Weiss.
Thus, the initiation ended.
The remainder of the students congregated in the auditorium in the early evening after the initiation was completed. Before, it wasn't as full of prospective new students—possibly because some of them dropped out. When it came to second years and up, it was considerably more crowded. While attendance at the ceremony was not required, upperclassmen were encouraged to do so, as some of them were intrigued. There are rumors that the new class of students this year is the best they've had in a long time.
To find out if the rumor was true or not was anyone's guess.
Teams were formed. Announced by the Headmaster himself on the small stage. There was a large display just beside the newly enunciated team and Headmaster. To present the team's members and name, some names… more questionable than others.
Assigning names was probably far more difficult than it looked, since teams could only have a maximum of four members. You could only do so much with four letters. Guessing Ozpin himself had his limits, in team naming anyway.
The room gave way to claps and sometimes hollers of congratulations. It was simply common courtesy for a new generation of defenders of Remnant. Some are more vocal than others in that regard though. The upperclassmen looked on with whoever new "fresh meat" came in this batch. For the most part it all came in good fun. The previous bunch of new students were now second years, so a plethora of them were more than willing to be good upperclassmen for the new students.
Garnet, alongside his older sister, his partner Blake, and Weiss was right beside his sister. They were in the audience, giving small nods and gestures of congratulations to whatever teams were announced. They were going to be future classmates with the newly anointed students.
Then came up their fellow initiation attendees. Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren.
"The four of you have gathered the white Queen pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team JNPR." Ozpin announced. As soon as he said that, Nora leapt up to hug Ren with some vigor. How they're not together baffled some students.
Garnet with the people beside him gave more enthusiastic congratulations in the crowd. Given they were literally side by side during the initiation.
Ozpin began again. "Led by Jaune Arc!"
"Huh?" The newly appointed leader gave a look of confusion, with some hints of nervousness.
Pyrrha, for some reason, looked very happy. More so than Ren and Nora. The redhead showed that by giving a big grin and playfully punching Jaune in the shoulder. Which practically knocked him off his feet, literally. With that, the new team walked off stage. After Pyrrha nervously assisted Jaune up.
Then finally, Garnet's team was up.
After Glynda gestured them to go up on stage, the anticipation the Reaper felt was tremendous. He honestly still thought this was a dream. Being given a chance to attend an Academy two years early still baffled him. Garnet was not gonna waste his opportunity here, he was gonna give it his all to be the best version of himself he can possibly be.
"Garnet Rose, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white King pieces. From this day forward, you shall be called team RWBY!" The crowd erupted into cheers and hollers, since they were the last team for some reason to be anointed.
"Led by Garnet Rose!" Ozpin finished.
Garnet stiffened for a bit in shock. He didn't expect to be leader, but when the Headmaster finally said the words it still struck him.
Regardless, he was gonna try his best to be the best leader he can be.
Cutting off from his thoughts, Yang pulled Garnet into a playful headlock. "I'm so proud of my baby brother!"
Blake's reaction was a slight tug of her lips upwards, curving into a small smile.
Weiss' look was… odd, it wasn't resentment nor approval. It was just a plain, neutral face.
"This year will be an interesting one." Ozpin muttered to himself.
A/N:
Thanks for reading!
First off, this is my first attempt to write an actual full fledged action chapter. I'm still very new to writing fight scenes, and being honest, I'm not that proud of it. So please bear with me.
Anyway, the imitation segment is finally done! Now we're on to the good stuff! The Beacon arc is easily my most favorite era of the show, so I have tons and tons of ideas for it! Obviously lots of shenanigans too.
Thank you all for the follows, favorites, and reviews.
With that said, PLEASE don't hesitate to review and/or critique. I'll always take it in stride to further enhance my writing.
This fic is cross posted to AO3 as well.
Please take care and stay safe!