Ooh! I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" The blonde girl shouted as she pulled a smaller girl with a red cloak into a bone crushing hug.
The other girl didn't seem to be as excited by the hug as she squirmed in the taller girls hold. "Please! Yang I can't breathe!" She shouted.
Yang released her with a smile, her hair shifting as she stretched her wings slightly. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"
"Yeah, I could tell!" The smaller girl said as she fixed her cloak. "I don't know how you do it, but every time you hug me, my cape gets caught on Crescent Rose's holster!"
Yang kept smiling. "Well Ruby, maybe if you just used a Magnet Plate like everyone else, then your cape wouldn't catch on the hooks."
Ruby gave Yang a frustrated stare. "We've been over this Yang!" She stated. "I can't use a Magnet Plate because it would mess with the complex components inside her!"
Yang was about to respond, but the screen on the wall grabbed her attention.
"The robbery was lead by notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department."
Yang turned to Ruby. "I'm so proud of you!"
Ruby gave Yang a sad look. "Really sis, it was nothing."
"What do you mean nothing? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon's gonna think your the bee's knee's!" Yang said as she guestured to the rest of the people in the area.
Ruby frowned, the ears on the top of her head flattening against her skull. "I don't want to be the bee's knee's! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knee's!"
Yang continued to smile as she tilted her head to the side. "Whats the matter? Aren't you excited?" He cheerful tone clashing with Ruby's depressed aura.
"Of course I'm excited, it just that... I skipped ahead two years. I don't want anyone to think I'm special." She said as she looked to Yang through her bangs.
Yang smiled and put an arm around her sisters shoulders. "But Ruby, you are special. Not many people can fight someone like Roman Torchwick and get away without so much as a scratch." She said.
Roman himself had graduated from Beacon academy close to a decade prior, and had dropped off the grid little more that a year later, only to resurface as the head of Vale's underground. He became a household name due to his use of excessive force, and his questionable taste in clothes. He had been keeping quiet for the last few month's, at least until Ruby ran into him and his goons at a local dust shop.
"In other news, this Saturday's Faunus civil rights protest turned dark, when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony."
Yang turned to the screen with a scowl. "Them again?" Her wings twitched in annoyance.
Ruby turned to look at Yang with an amused smile. "Still sore over the change?"
"I didn't know that they had become terrorists when I wore the shirt to school!" She said as she crossed her arms.
Being both Faunus themselves, Yang and Ruby initially supported the White Fang, at least until they started to hurt people. Yang was proud of her heritage, and wanted people to know it, so she often wore a shirt with the White Fang logo over her right breast. She did this for much of her early school years, until they changed to their current state. Yang was only twelve when they changed, and didn't see much wrong with wearing the new logo around, so she changed it. At first, no one said anything to her about the red logo on the shirts, but since children have a knack for being little demons, one of the less Faunus friendly boys decided to clue Yang in on what the change had meant.
"I still can't get a normal job back in Patch thanks to them." She muttered as she looked back to the broadcast. It flickered for a moment before vanishing. Seconds later a blonde woman with glasses and a purple cape appeared on the screen. "Hey, who's she?" Yang asked.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh." Yang said as she watched the screen.
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being chosen to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsman and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." The woman faded away, revealing the city below as the haze on the window cleared.
"Wow!" Ruby said as she walked over to the window. Other students noticed the chance to view the city and began to point out landmarks to each other. "Look, Yang! I can see Signal from here!" Ruby said as she pointed to a Gothic looking building in the center of the city. "I guess home isn't too far after all." She said with a smile.
Yang put her arm around Ruby's shoulder and looked down at her. "Beacon's our home now." She said as she rustled Ruby's hair.
There was a groan to their right as a blonde girl wearing some light armor covered her mouth and stumbled past them, looking about ready to puke.
Yang giggled. "Well, I guess the view isn't for everyone."
"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Ruby said as she turned to look up at Yang.
"I wonder who were gonna meet!" Yang said.
"I just hope they're better than Vomit girl." Ruby said with a frown. She looked to the ground where she saw something green. A look of disgust crossed her face as she pointed down at Yang's shoe. "Eww! Yang, you've got puke of your shoe!"
"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" She repeated as she shook her boot to the side.
"Get away from me! No, get back!" Ruby shouted as she backed away from Yang.
Beacon Landing Platform
The doors to the airship slid open as the girl in light armor sprinted through them to a nearby trashcan to empty the contents of her stomach. Yang and Ruby continued past her as they exited the ship, allowing for them to get a closer look at the schools courtyard. From where the ship deposited them, they could see the whole of Beacon Academy's main building, with the CCT tower in the back.
Yang looked around impressed as she crossed her arms, her wings shifting slightly as a she felt a breeze blow by. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this." She said.
Ruby had other thing's on her agenda though, as she began to fawn over every weapon that passed her. "Sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a Fire sword!" She said as she tried to follow them away. Yang frowned and dragged Ruby back by her ear. "OW! Yang, watch the ears!" She said as she turned to face her sister with an annoyed glare. "What was that for?" She demanded.
Yang smiled slightly. "You gotta calm down Ruby, they're just weapons." She said with a shrug.
"Just weapon?" Ruby asked with a shocked tone in her voice. "They're not just weapons! They're an extension or ourselves, they're a part of us! Ooh, they're so cool." She said as she scanned the area for other unique weapons.
"Well why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang asked.
The sound of gears shifting and metal popping into place could be heard as Ruby extended her scythe to its full height. "Her." She said. "And of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones." She said as she turned and let Crescent rose fall to her side. "It's like meeting new people... But better."
Yang smirked. "Ruby." She said as she grabbed her hood and pulled it down over her face. "Come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" Yang asked as she stepped back.
Ruby pulled her hood back into it's normal place, ignoring the minor pain she had felt when the fabric squished her ears. "Well, why would I need friends when I have you?" She asked.
Yang grinned. "Well actually, I was gonna go explore the school when I got here so..."
Ruby smiled. "Great idea! I'll go with you!" She stated.
"Good luck following me this time sis." She said as she unfurled her wings from behind her hair, taking extra care to move each strand away from where the wings were connected to her. Yang's wings consisted of two colors, on the scales that trailed along the wings from her back to the tips, was a dark shade of red, with the leathery webbing on her wings being a bright gold. Yang grinned and jumped into the air, using her wings to push her higher until she was able to fly off on the air currents.
Yang's sudden departure had caused a bit of a whirlwind that forced Ruby backwards with a spin. "Wait! Yang! Aren't we supposed to go to our dorms?! Where are our dorms?! Do we have dorms?!" Ruby managed to stop her spin and sighed as she lost her balance. "I don't know what I'm doing." She felt the back of her foot hit something and she fell back onto a cart of white suitcases, earning the ire of the person beside it.
"What are you doing?!" Ruby heard someone shout as she pulled herself out of the pile of luggage. Standing before her was a boy wearing nothing but white and blue. While his main attire seemed to consist of a white suit with a light grey undershirt, he had a long white overcoat that changed to grey as it extended down to his ankles. The overcoat had an over exaggerated collar that stood up to just under his ears with a bright red lining the inside. The ends of each sleeve seemed to open wider as they got closer to his wrists. On both sides of his hips were a set of silver-grey rapiers with revolver chambers just past each handle. He had long hair that was formed into a braid that trailed down his front left side, and he had a scar across a blind left eye.
"Uhh, sorry." Ruby said as she lifted one of the cases.
"Sorry?" The boy asked. He had a thick northern accent and a bit of a snobbish air about him. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!" He asked, the irritation in his voice showing through with no extra help needed.
"Uhh?" Ruby responded as she raised the case up to him.
He scowled. "Give me that!" He demanded as he took the case from Ruby's hands and opened it. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from a Schnee quarry."
"Uhh..." Ruby said again as she tried to get a better handle on the situation that was unfolding.
This answer only seemed to annoy the boy more as he continued. "What are you, brain dead?!" He demanded. "Dust! Fire, Water, lightning! Energy!" He shouted as he shook the red vile that he had pulled out of the case, not seeming to notice the cloud that had formed around Ruby. "Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in?!" He demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
*BOOM!*
The cloud of dust caused Ruby to sneeze, igniting the dust in the air into an explosion and blowing the red vile out of the boys hand. The vial bounced on the ground before coming to a stop at the feet of a girl in black.
"Unbelievable!" The boy shouted as he stomped his foot to clear the ash off of him. "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" He shouted.
Ruby placed her hands together as she looked at him with sad eyes. "I'm really, really sorry."
He continued to scowl. "You utter buffoon! What are you even doing here!? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon!?" He demanded.
"Well, I, Ah..." Ruby tried.
"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know! We're here to fight monsters, so watch where your going!" He shouted as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Now Ruby was frustrated. "Hey, I said I was sorry your Highness." She said with annoyance in her voice.
"It's Heir, actually." The girl in black said as she walked over to the two. "Winston Schnee, Heir to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." She finished as she looked at the boy.
He smiled smugly. "Finally, some recognition." He said as he shot a glare over his shoulder at Ruby.
"The same company that's infamous for it's controversial labor forces, and questionable business partners." She finished, not missing a chance to take a shot at his ego.
Winston crossed his arms and snorted. "At least we hire those stupid Faunus. They should be happy with what they get from us after what the White Fang have done to the Schnee Dust Company." He finished as he glared at the girl in black, quickly realizing that she was not on his side either.
The girl in black narrowed her eyes. "You hire them and force them to work long hours in the mines for well below an acceptable wage." She said, the spite in her words seeping through. "What you have is basically a slave labor force."
"They are free to leave the mines whenever they like." Winston said.
"If they flee then they are running into Grimm infested forests! You transport them out into the middle of nowhere, then you force them to mine Dust for you while they are being watched by men with guns!" She said, raising her voice slightly for the end.
Winston didn't seem to budge. "The weapons are necessary to keep away the filth, you know, the Grimm, White Fang, door to door salesmen." He uncrossed his arms and motioned for his staff to re-stack his bags. "It almost sounds like you sympathize with those degenerates in the White Fang." He said as he looked back to the girl in black.
She had a frustrated look on her face as she turned away. Blake had expected the exchange to go more in her favor when she started it, but the Schnee had kept a cool head through it all, not even fazed when Blake tried to poke fun at his family's reputation. "No... Not anymore at least." She said as she started walking away from him.
Winston watched her leave before lifting the bag by his feet onto the cart. He turned to Ruby one last time with a scowl before departing, his staff following along closely with his bags.
"I promise I'll make this up to you!" She shouted as he walked out of sight. She frowned before turning towards where Blake had been standing. "So, what's your na-" But She had vanished. Ruby sighed. "Welcome to Beacon." She said as she let herself fall into the crater she created. She let herself lay there for a moment before a shadow covered her eyes.
Opening her eyes and turning she saw the girl with light armor from the airship. She had a blueish purple jumpsuit on under her armor, which covered her upper torso, along with her waist. She had a pair of metal greaves that covered her legs from the knee to her feet, and some plating to cover her shoulders and forearms. She had long blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders, but was held back by a blue hair band. She had some light cloth connecting each of the hunks of metal on her waist together like a skirt. At her waist was a white scabbard and a sword with a blue hilt.
"Hi, I'm Jean." She said with a smile as she offered Ruby a hand.
Ruby smiled and took the hand, letting Jean help her up. "I'm Ruby." She said. Ruby looked at her and chuckled. "Aren't you the girl that threw up on the ship?" She asked.
Ruby and Jean began to wander the school grounds as they talked and got to know one another. "All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jean protested as Ruby waved her hand.
"Look I'm sorry, Vomit girl was the first thing that came to mind." She said as they continued to walk.
Jean looked up with a frustrated look. "Oh yeah, well what if I called you crater face?" She asked.
An annoyed look crossed Ruby's face. "Hey, that explosion was an accident!" She shouted.
"Well the names Jean Arc, short and sweet." She said as they continued walking.
"Short and sweet?" Ruby asked with a confused look.
Jean nodded. "Yep, short and sweet. It's odd, I feel like it's not finished. It's like the author couldn't think of a way to write this sentence from a girls perspective." She said as she stared past Ruby.
Ruby gave her a confused stare before chuckling to herself. "Sooo... I've got this thing." She said as she deployed Crescent Rose, causing the tip of the blade to stab into the ground.
Jean jumped back, clearly startled by the large weapon. "Whoa! Is t-that a scythe?" She asked as she pointed to Crescent Rose.
"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle." Ruby said as she pulled it from the ground and placed it across her chest.
"A what?" Jean asked.
Ruby pulled the bolt back on the rifle. "It's also a gun."
"Oh... That's cool!" Jean said as she looked on.
"So what have you got Jean?" Ruby asked as she turned to face the other girl.
"Oh, ah. I've um, got this sword." She said.
"Ooh." Ruby said as she looked at the large blade.
"Yeah, I've got this shield too." Jean said as she raised the scabbard to her chest. Flipping a switch on the inside, the edges of the scabbard shot out to form a large kite shield.
"So what do they do?" Ruby asked as she ran her hand along the shield. Jean hit the switch on the inside by mistake and caused the shield to jump out of her hand. Ruby giggled slightly as she watched Jean fumble around trying to catch her shield.
"The ah, shield gets smaller. So when I get tired of carrying it, I can just put it away." She said as she placed the scabbard back on her hip.
Ruby scratched her head in confusion. "But, wouldn't it weight the same?" She asked.
Jean's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, It does..." She said in defeat, her attempts at being smooth failing her.
Ruby smiled. "Well, I'm kind of a dork when it come's to weapon's. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing her."
Jean gave Ruby a shocked look. "Wait... You made that?" She asked in surprise.
Ruby nodded. "Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?" She asked as Jean examined her sword.
She shook her head. "It's a hand me down. My Great-Great Grandfather used it to fight in the war."
Ruby laughed nervously. "Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." She said before turning to face Jean. "Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."
Jean nodded with a smile. "Yeah... The classics." She said as she sheathed her sword.
Ruby turned to continue walking and looked back at Jean over her shoulder. "So, why'd you help me out back there, in the courtyard?" Ruby asked.
Jean shrugged. 'Eh, why not. My mother always says, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."
Ruby thought the answer over in her head for a moment before agreeing, then she turned back to Jean. "Hey, where are we going?" She asked.
Jean looked at her in confusion. "I was following you." She said as the two began to look at their surroundings. "You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court, some sort of recognizable land mark." Jean asked causing Ruby to giggle. "Is that a no?" She asked.
Ruby nodded. "That's a no."
Assembly Hall
Jean and Ruby walked into a large room that was filled to the brim with students. A quick look around confirmed it to be comprised of mostly first year students, with the occasional second year talking to a friend.
"Ruby! Over here!" Ruby and Jean turned to see Yang waving to them. "I saved you a spot!" She shouted.
Ruby smiled and turned to Jean. "Oh, hey I gotta go, I'll see you after the ceremony!" She said as she took off towards her sister.
Jean shouted for her to wait before sighing. "Great, now where am I gonna find someone nice and quirky to talk to?" She asked herself as she strode off towards the front, not noticing the pair of eyes that followed her as she left.
Yang and Ruby were looking up at the stage, waiting for the assembly to start. "So, how'd your first day going little sister?" Yang asked with a grin.
Ruby shot her a glare. "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?!" She half shouted.
Yang grimaced. "Yikes, meltdown already?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, I literally exploded a hole in the front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice?" She said as she placed her hand on her chin.
Yang smiled and leaned her head towards Ruby. "Are you being sarcastic?" She asked.
Ruby scoffed. "I wish! I tripped over some mean guy's luggage, and then he yelled, and then I exploded, and then he yelled again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted him to stop yelling at me." She said, failing to notice the presence of said male immediately behind her.
"You!" He shouted, causing Ruby to jump into Yang's arms.
"Oh god it's happening again!" She yelled.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at her. "Your lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" He scolded.
Yang looked to Ruby in horror. "Oh my god, you really exploded."
"It was an accident!" Ruby protested before turning to Winston. "It was an accident!" Her response was him shoving a pamphlet in her face. Ruby tilted her head. "Whats this?" She asked.
Winston glared at Ruby before he began. "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field."
Ruby was a little confused from the speech that seemed a little more than rehearsed. "Uhh..." Was all she could manage.
Winston continued to glare at the poor Faunus. "You really want to start making things up to me?" He asked.
Ruby nodded. "Absolutely!" She said.
He shoved the pamphlet into her hands. "Then read this and never speak to me again."
Yang scratched the back of her head as she watched the exchange between the boy in the white coat and her sister. "Look uh, it sound's like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends okay?" She said, trying to help her little sister make at least one friend.
"Yeah!" Ruby shouted as she spun around to face Winston. "Hello Winston, I'm Ruby." Ruby stuck out her hand as she spoke. "Want to hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies." Ruby said, hoping to get a better response from the boy this time.
The glare left Winston's face, only to be replaced by a look of boredom. "One, I'm a guy. Why do you think that going on a shopping trip would interest me in the slightest? Two, I have no desire to associate myself with a Faunus." He said as he turned on his heels and walked away from the sisters.
Yang glared at him as he walked away. "Great. He's one of those Humans." She said as she placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't let him bother you sis. I'd rather you didn't make friends with a boy this quick anyway." She said as they turned to face the stage.
The microphone switched on as Professor Ozpin took the stage. "I'll, keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But as I look amongst you, all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Yang shook her wings slightly to push her hair back as Ozpin left the stage.
Glynda Goodwitch walked to the mic and began to direct the students. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready, you are dismissed." She finished.
Yang tilted her head to the side as she watched Ozpin leave the room. "He seemed kind of... Off."
Ruby nodded in agreement. "It's almost like he wasn't even there."
Ballroom
Ruby laid on her sleeping bag amongst a sea of first years who had joined her as the day came to a close. She was quietly sketching in her notebook as Yang flopped down beside her. "It's like a big slumber party!"
Ruby frowned. "I don't think dad would approve of all the boys." She said as she continued to draw.
Yang grinned and looked around at the boys who were messing around by the walls. "I know I do!" She said as she attempted to make a purring noise.
"Yang, your not even a mammal Faunus, your a dragon. Stop trying to purr, it always sounds weird." Ruby said as she turned to her sister.
Yang grinned as she tried to poke fun at her little sister. "Your just mad because your a cat that can't purr!" She said. She was quickly met with a pillow to the face in response.
Ruby gave Yang an annoyed stare. "Shut up! I can purr! I just don't want to!" She said, and she wasn't lying. Ruby was a Lynx base. She did have the potential to be able to Purr, she just never figured out how.
Yang laughed a few times before looking down at what Ruby was drawing. "What're ya doing?" She asked as she watched Ruby finish drawing a Beowolf on the paper.
"I'm adding a cover for my letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them everything about Beacon." She said as she brushed the lead dust off of her paper.
Yang smiled. "Aww, that's so cute!" She squealed, only to be hit with Ruby's other pillow.
"Hey, I didn't get to take my friends with me to school, it's weird not knowing anyone here." She said as she placed her drawing in her bag.
Yang tilted her head to the side. "What about Jean?" She asked, gesturing to the blonde that was laying a few feet away and wearing a onesie with bunny ears on her feet. "She seems... Nice?" Yang said, not terribly sure herself what to think of the other blonde.
Ruby sighed and rolled onto her back. "Pretty sure that Winston counts as a negative friend." She said, the irritation in her voice when she thought about the boy showing through.
Yang smiled. "There's no such thing as a negative friend! You just made one friend, and one enemy!" She said as she watched Ruby stare off into the darkness above them. "Look, it's only been one day, trust me, you've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."
Ruby thought about her sister's words for a moment, before a sudden burst of light caught both of their attentions. Turning to the source they found Blake sitting by the wall reading a book. Ruby's eyes lit up. "That girl..." She said.
Yang's eyebrow rose as she watched her sister. "You know her?" She asked.
"Not really, she saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything." Ruby said as she watched her turn the page.
Yang grinned. "Well, here's your chance!" She said as she dragged Ruby to her feet and pulled her along.
Ruby gave a surprised yelp as she was dragged to her feet. "Hey! Wait, what are you doing! Yang let go!" She shouted, but her protests fell on deaf ears as the blonde dragged her over to Blake, who herself had taken notice of the duo slowly making their way over to her, a bit hard to miss as Yang's wings knocked other students out of the way.
Yang saw the girl look up at them from her book and decided to greet her. "Hellooo!" She sang. "I believe you two may know each other." She finished as she turned to Ruby.
Blake raised her eyebrow and looked at Ruby. "Aren't you the girl who exploded?" She asked, not really caring about the answer.
Ruby turned and looked down at her. "Uhh, yeah. Hi, my names Ruby." She said as she stuck out her hand for a handshake. Blake starred at her hand for a moment before looking back to her book. "But you can just call me crater... Actually you can just call me Ruby..."
"Right..." Blake said as she hoped the two would notice her lack of desire to talk and leave her to her book.
Yang turned to look at Ruby with a serious look in her eyes. "What are you doing!?" She asked.
"I don't know help me!" She shot back as they turned back to Blake.
"So, what's your name?" Yang asked with a smile.
She sighed. "Blake." She said.
Yang grinned. "Well Blake, I'm Yang. Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"
"Thanks." She said, trying to ignore the blonde.
"It goes great with your... Pajamas." Yang finished.
Now she was irritated. "Right..."
She could see the two of them slowly losing the desire to talk to her as the conversation continued. "Nice night huh?" Yang asked.
Blake nodded. "Yes, it's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book... That I will continue to read... As soon as you leave." She said, finally deciding to throw subtlety to the wind.
Yang sighed. "Yeah, this girls a lost cause." She said as she turned to Ruby.
"What's it about?" Ruby asked as she looked down at Blake.
"Huh?" Blake asked, caught off guard by the question.
"Your book. Does it have a name?" She asked.
Blake looked up at Ruby from over the top of her book. "W-well it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control of his body." She said.
While it was clear that Yang was uninterested in the book, Ruby stepped forward to continue the conversation. "I love books." She said. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters, they're one of the reasons I want to become a huntress." She finished.
Blake was surprised by the girls forwardness. "Why's that? Hoping to live happily ever after?" She asked.
"Well I'm hoping we all will." She said. "As a little girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books, someone who fought for what was right, and protected those who couldn't protect themselves."
Blake smiled as she looked up to Ruby, the girl was the very picture of innocence. "That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately the real world isn't like a fairy tail." Blake said with a frown.
Ruby smiled. "Well, that's why were here. To make it better." She said.
Yang smiled. "Ooh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" She said as she grabbed Ruby and pulled her into a hug.
Blake watched as the two began to fight and laughed lightly. "Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to have-" But she was cut off by Winston as he appeared behind Ruby and Yang.
"What in the world is going on here!?" He demanded. "Some of us are trying to sleep!" He stated as he turned to look at Ruby and Yang.
"Oh not you again!" He and Yang shouted in unison as their eyes met.
"Shh! Guys, he's right, people are trying to sleep!" Ruby said in a loud whisper.
"Oh now your on my side?!" Winston demanded.
"I was always on your side!" Ruby protested.
"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister!?" Yang demanded.
"She's a hazard to my health!" He shouted.
Blake scowled and threw her book down beside her, realizing that she wasn't going to get any reading done tonight she grabbed the candles and blew them out, coating the area in darkness.
Well was fun to write. Thus far not much really changes from the actual series, save for the alternate Genders for Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha. I made some minor cosmetic changes to some of the weapons in this story to add to my personal vision of this universe.
Yang Xiao Long - Female Faunus - Base: Dragon
Ruby Rose - Female Faunus - Base: Lynx
Blake Belladonna - Female Faunus - Base: House Cat
Winston Schnee - Male Human
Jean Arc - Female Human
And that's it for the characters from this chapter. In the next chapter you get to see what changes have hit the rest of JNPR, and I get to figure out how I'm going to make this story worth reading.
As I said above I did make some alterations to the weapons to add to my personal vision of this world.
Ember Celica - Rather than leather gloves, the fingers are now completely metal.
Myrtenaster - Now comes in a pair.
Crocea Mors - Slightly larger than in the normal anime.
These are just minor changes to the look for my fic, I also realized after the fact, but the look for Jean may have been heavily inspired by Lux from League of Legends.
Tell me what you all think of the story, and throw me some Ideas for what you might like to see. The genders and species for all the villains and for team SSSN are still up in the air.
Chapter 2
I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Ooh! A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a Sloth?" The energetic orange haired girl asked as she bounced around the room, clearly on the biggest sugar-high in history.
"Nora?" The boy in traditional clothing asked.
"Yes Ren?" Nora asked.
Ren raised his arms and slid his weapons into his sleeves. "I don't think Sloth's make that much noise." He stated as he turned to Nora.
Nora paused as her eyes darted back and forth searching the room for some response before it hit her. Nora grinned. "That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!" She stated as Ren closed his locker.
He sighed. "Come on Nora, let's go." Ren said as he turned and walked past Ruby and Yang with Nora right behind him giggling.
Ruby gave them an odd look before turning back to her locker. "Wonder what those two are so worked up about." Ruby asked as she searched through her locker.
Yang shrugged and turned to Ruby with a grin. "Oh who knows. So, you seem awfully chipper this morning." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ruby nodded with a chuckle. "Yep, no more small talk, or awkward getting to know you stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." She said as she caressed her weapon.
"Well remember Ruby, your not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up, your going to have to meet new people, and learn to work together." Yang said as she heard her sister groan in annoyance.
"You sound like dad." Ruby said as she placed her weapon in her locker. "Okay, first of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting? And secondly, I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink Milk." Ruby stated as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
Yang tilted her head to the side. "But what about when we form teams?" She asked.
Ruby frowned and turned away from her sister. "I don't know, I'll just be on your team or something." She said as she looked at her weapon.
Yang looked away from Ruby and brought her hair to the front as she smoothed it out. "Maybe you should try to be on someone else's team." She said, hoping Ruby wouldn't push the issue.
Ruby turned and got into Yang's face. "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
Yang put her hands up in a defensive manner. "What? No, of course I do! It's just that, I thought that it might help you break out of your shell." She said as she stepped back from Ruby.
"I don't need to break out of my shell!" Ruby shouted. "That's absolutely-"
"Ridiculous!" Jean finished as she stumbled past the two starring at a map of the locker room. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would have remembered having to count that high! Ooh, why does this have to happen today." She whined as she walked past Winston and another boy in red starring at each other with smug expressions.
Winston had his arms crossed over his chest as he starred at the boy in red and bronze. The boy's lower body from the waist down was heavily armored with bronze plating trailing the length of his legs, and a pair of black and gold combat boots on his feet. He wore a red overcoat, similar to Winston's own overcoat, with the sleeves ripped off at the shoulders, and a black belt wrapping around it at his waist, holding two red pouches, and a bronze disc. His torso was covered in some lighter armor, with a red leather with bronze trimmings trailing up to his neck. His arms each had a set of bracers that trailed from his elbow to his wrists, and he had a bronze band wrapped around his left bicep, and wore a bronze crown with a large emerald in the center. The boy had long red hair held back in a low ponytail behind his head.
"Pyrrhus Nikos. Four time champion of the Minstral regional tournament." Winston stated as he smiled at the boy before him.
"Winston Schnee. Heir to the Schnee Dust Company and present champion of the Atlas regional tournament." Pyrrhus stated as he smiled back, a confident grin on his face.
"I hear that they will be assigning us teams today at initiation." Winston said, never breaking eye contact.
Pyrrhus nodded. "I have heard the same."
Winston flashed a grin. "I was thinking that the two of us should team up. The two strongest first year students on the same team?" He said as he uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips.
Pyrrhus laughed at Winston's attempt to team up with him. "That sounds like a grand idea." He said as he began to punch his code into his locker.
"Excellent." Winston said as he turned to his own locker.
"Winston!" A happy voice to the left shouted.
The boy turned to look for the person who had just called his name when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He immediately began to scowl. "Unhand me!" He shouted as he struggled free of the persons grip. Winston starred down at the girl before him before a look of realization dawned on his face. "Jean?" He asked.
Jean smiled. "Hey! I didn't think I'd see you here! I thought you'd be going to Atlas academy like your sister did!" She said with a smile.
Winston looked her up and down with surprise. "I'm shocked to see you here Jean. I've seen you fight, your really bad." He said flatly.
Jean pouted. "I'm not that bad!" She protested before the smile crept its way back onto her face. "So, how are your sisters?" She asked as she placed the map in her pocket.
Winston turned back to his locker and opened the door. "Winter is doing fine." He said as he pulled Myrtenaster and it's duplicate from their hooks.
Jean nodded. "That's good to hear. She's always so serious since she joined the army." She said as she looked at Winston's weapons.
"That happen's when you join a military." Winston said as he examined his swords.
"What about your little sister? I heard about the accident. She doing alright?" Jean asked, the concern in her voice showing through.
Winston paused, he brought his left hand up to the scar that cut across his eye and split his eyebrow. The faint feeling of the sword slashing across his face still was fresh in his memory. "She's fine."
Jean frowned. "That's good, what about you?" She asked.
Winston placed his weapons in their holsters and turned to Jean, a firm look on his face. "I am fine, end of the issue." He said as he looked her over again. "What the hell are you wearing?" He asked, seeing the blue jumpsuit she had under her armor.
"I... Um..." Jean said as she shifted nervously under Winston's gaze.
"You have one brother, and six sisters. I know, that they didn't tell you to wear a jumpsuit to school." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"My dad wanted me to wear it." She admitted. "He said that what my sisters chose for me was too revealing for someone like me." Jean said as she pulled out her scroll. "I still brought their choice along though if you want me to change."
Jean showed Winston a photo of her in the other attire. She had thigh-high leather boots, with similar armor over her chest and arms, but had a black hoodie and blue short shorts on instead of the blue jumpsuit. The blue band in her hair was also absent from the photo, her hair instead being held back by a braid.
Winston nodded. "Yes, please change into that. I can't stand to be seen standing close to that hideous jumpsuit!" He said as he pointed towards her locker.
Pyrrhus watched as Jean nodded and took off towards her locker without so much as a word of protest. He chuckled to himself as he placed his spear and shield on his back. "Picking out her outfits, Schnee? She your girlfriend?" Pyrrhus asked as he walked past the Heir.
Winston closed his locker and followed Pyrrhus towards the exit. "No... Just an old family friend." He said as they closed the door behind them.
Ruby and Yang walked past Jean who was changing into her alternate clothes and waved for her to follow when she was done.
Beacon Cliffs
Each of the first year class stood on a stone platform on the edge of the cliff in a line, Ozpin and Glynda ahead of them with clipboards.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin spoke as he raised his mug of coffee to his lips.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today." Glynda said as her eyes scanned over the students before her.
"What..." Ruby whined quietly as Ozpin began to speak again.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"What!" Ruby whined again, this time a bit more audibly.
"See I told you!" Nora said as she turned to Ren.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin said as he looked to his new students.
Jean laughed nervously as she looked down the line of students.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked.
Jean raised her hand. "Yeah, um, sir?"
"Good!" Ozpin shouted as he ignored Jean. "Now, your positions."
As he finished, the students along the line got into various stances and braced themselves for what was to come next.
"Ah... Sir, I've got ah... A question." As Jean spoke the platform that Winston was on launched the boy high into the air, out over the forest. "So this, 'Landing Strategy' thing, ah what is it? Your like, dropping us off somewhere or?" She asked.
Ozpin shook his head as he looked to Jean. "No. You will be falling." He stated casually.
As he spoke, several other students were propelled into the air.
"Oh... I see, so did you like um, hand out parachutes for us?" She asked as Nora was launched with a loud cheer.
"No." Ozpin said as he took a drink from his mug. "You will be using your own landing strategy."
"Uh huh. That." She said as she nervously looked around her.
Yang turned to Ruby with a grin and placed a pair of sun glasses over her eyes before she was launched into the air, her wings sending her even higher.
"So, uh, what exactly is a landing strategYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?" Jean asked as she was launched into the distance, flailing her arms and legs as she flew.
Ozpin took another sip from his mug as he watched the students falling towards the forest. A thought crossed his mind and he turned to Glynda. "Did you ever notify Professor Thorne about my request to remove that Elder Deathstalker from the cave on the east side?"
Glynda froze.
Emerald Forest
A crow was calmly flying across the sky above the forest as Ruby sailed into it with a shriek. She glided towards the forest floor, using bullets from Crescent Rose to slow her descent. As she reached the canopy, she latched her scythe around a tree branch and spun once before landing on the ground, not noticing the same branch falling to the ground behind her.
Winston drew both of his blades and created several Glyphs that he used to extend his flight across the tree tops before landing feet first against the trunk of an old elm tree. Pushing off with his legs the boy landed at the base of the tree and scanned his surroundings. He saw a yellow blur fly past overhead, followed by several explosions as Yang used Ember Celica to speed her descent. As she neared the ground, Yang redeployed her wings, causing them to act as parachutes, causing her feet to pass the rest of her from the sudden stop. Yang pulled her wings back in and landed the back flip with a grin before sprinting off into the trees.
Pyrrhus used his Akouo to brace himself as he crashed through the tops of the trees, rolling to a stop he drew Milo in its rifle form and scanned the immediate area. He turned and saw Jean rolling through the air. Moving quickly, Pyrrhus flipped Milo into spear form and hurled it towards Jean. After a few seconds he heard it hit it's mark.
"Thank you!" Jean yelled from across the forest.
"Sorry!" Pyrrhus yelled, hoping he hadn't hurt the girl.
Ruby was sprinting through the forest. 'Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang!' She thought as she raced through the bushes.
"Yang! YAAAAANG! Ruby called as she sprinted past trees and bushes.
'Ah this is bad! This is really bad!' She thought as she ran. 'What if I can't find her!? What if someone finds her first? There's always Jean... She's nice, and she's funny. I don't think she's very good in a fight though. Ooh! What about Blake! So mysterious, so calm. Plus she likes books! Then again I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her.' She frowned in annoyance as she tried to run faster.
'Okay... Who else do I know at this school? There's Yang, Jean, Blake and...' Her thought was cut short as she saw someone ahead of her. She slid to a stop and looked up to see Winston starring at her.
The two locked eyes and waited for the other to make the first move. Ruby smiled hesitantly.
"No." Winston said as he turned and walked away.
"Wait! Where are you going?!" Ruby called as she watched Winston walk away. She looked to her feet in sadness. "We're supposed to be teammates."
Winston pushed aside the branches of the trees as he came to a clearing. He paused when he heard someone struggling. Looking above him he saw Jean in her alternate attire, hanging by the hood of her shirt that had been hit by Pyrrhus's spear. She looked down and laughed hesitantly.
A light blush crept onto Winston's face as he looked at her clothes. "I was wrong, your father was right, those clothes are to revealing." He said as he turned around and walked back the way he came. As he reached Ruby he grabbed her by the hood and dragged her along. "By no means does this make us friends."
But Ruby ignored him as she shouted for joy. "You came back!" She yelled.
"Wait! Winston! Who's gonna get me down from here!?" Jean called as Winston dragged Ruby out of sight.
"Jean?" She heard a voice call. Looking down she saw Pyrrhus come into view. "Who're you?" She asked.
"My name's Pyrrhus, and I believe you have something of mine." He said with a smirk as he pointed to Milo. "Got any spots left on your team?"
Jean pouted and crossed her arms over her chest as she hung. "Very funny." She muttered.
"What's the hurry!?" Ruby shouted as she followed Winston.
He looked back over his shoulder as he continued ahead. "I will not allow your slow pace to delay me from reaching my goal." He said as he turned to look ahead of him. "I swear if your pace affects MY grade I'll-" But he stopped abruptly as he was blocked by Ruby who suddenly appeared before him. "What the-!?"
"I'm not slow, see!" Ruby said as she pointed to herself. "No need to worry about me." She said with a grin.
Winston looked behind him. "When did you?" He asked, fairly puzzled by the girls display of speed.
"Winston, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people, doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters!" Ruby said as Winston crossed his arms with a scowl. "Your about to see a whole new side of me today Winston. And after it's all over, your gonna be like, 'Whoa, that Ruby girl is really, really, cool. And I wanna be her friend.'" Ruby said as she vanished from sight again.
Winston waved the rose petals away from his face as he looked to where he heard the bushes move. "I'm going to kill her before the end of the semester, I just know it." He scanned the area as the bushes continued to shift. "Ruby?" He asked aloud as he scanned the surrounding area. He heard a deep growling behind him. "Ruby!?" He called as he turned around.
He saw a Beowolf begin to emerge from the bushes and called for his partner, fearing for what may happen to his grade if his partner is killed, he called again to no avail. "RUBY!" He shouted as the Beowolf roared.
"Hello?" Yang called as she calmly walked through the forest searching for a partner. "Hello? I'm getting bored here! Anyone out there?" She shouted as she scanned the trees for a fellow student. She turned when she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. "Is someone there?" She called as she walked to the bushes. As she reached them she moved them aside. "Ruby?" She asked. He eyes drifted up as she saw what was hiding. "Nope." She said popping the 'P'.
Yang rolled to the side as an Ursa tore through the bush into the clearing. She switched Ember Celica into it's combat form and rolled to avoid a second Ursa that attacked from behind her. Getting to her feet, Yang threw a punch at the Ursa that charged her, tossing it back to the other one. Seeing that it's ally failed, the first Ursa charged Yang, only to receive an uppercut and get kicked back to it's starting position.
"You wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood did you?" She asked as the larger Ursa stood on it's hind legs and roared at her. "You could just say no." She said with a cocky grin as she dodged out of the way of another swipe.
Yang dodged back away from a side swipe and landed with her hands on her hips. Looking back at the two Grimm with a grin she laughed. "Geez, You two couldn't hit the broad side of a b-" She froze as she watched a single strand of hair fall past her face. Yang closed her eyes and looked to the ground.
"You..." She said as the two Grimm looked to each other in confusion. "YOU MONSTERS!" She shouted as she opened her eyes, the iris's now glowing red, and burst forward to strike the Grimm. She set upon the first Ursa with a strike to it's side, then an uppercut that threw it into the air. Using her gauntlets to throw herself forward, Yang met the Ursa in the air and unleashed a barrage of punches, reinforced by the shotguns on each wrist, finally ending after she punched the Ursa through a patch of trees.
The second Ursa ran over to Yang and stopped short and growled at her. Yang turned to the Ursa with an enraged look. "WHAT!? YOU WANT SOME TOO!?" She shouted as she cocked her gauntlets.
The Ursa stood on it's hind legs and roared down at her before something hit it in the back and it let out a pained grunt before falling on its belly. Standing behind the dead Ursa was Blake. Blake looked at Yang and tilted her head before pulling her weapon back to her and placing it on her back.
Yang let out a sigh and Blake smiled at her. "I could have taken him." She said with a shrug.
Winston was thrown back as a claw hit his left blade. As he slid, he tripped over the decaying corpse of another Beowolf he had killed only moments before. He climbed to his feet and scanned the area around him.
'7.' He thought. '7 Beowolves... Breathe, remember your training. Compared to what you faced before these animals are nothing.' Winston faced the largest Beowolf and placed one sword ahead of him, tip aimed at the Grimm, and held the other behind him. He focused his gaze on the large monster and saw several white Glyphs appear in a line before him.
Dashing forward in a sudden burst of speed, Winston closed the gap in a mere second and leapt into the air. He placed both swords over his right shoulder as he spun. Just as he prepared to strike, Ruby appeared ahead of him and slashed at his target, blocking him from hitting. Acting quickly, Winston swung both swords to the side, firing off two blasts of fire along separate trails.
One trail hit a Beowolf as it traveled, stopping the blast and killing the Grimm. Winston wasn't as lucky with the other one, as it traveled past the Grimm into the forest, setting some tree's ablaze.
Winston turned ahead in time to see Ruby get thrown into him by the large Beowolf. "You stupid Faunus! What were you doing!? I had him!"
Ruby got up off the ground and glared at Winston. "Hey, watch it!" She shouted.
Winston grabbed Ruby by the collar of her shirt and brought her to his face. "We're going to have a nice long talk about timing your attack so that your partner doesn't almost kill you later, but right now we need to leave!" He shouted as he dragged her away from the spreading fire, the Beowolves howling as their prey escaped past a sea of flames.
The two reached a safe distance from the fire and stopped to catch their breath. Ruby turned to look at Winston with frustration. "What was that?! That should have been easy!" She stated as she looked to Winston.
"Well," Winston started as he glared down at the smaller girl. "Perhaps it would have been over far sooner if you hadn't jumped right into the path of my attack, and cause me to set the forest on fire!" He shouted as he walked towards her.
Ruby clicked her tongue. "What's that supposed to mean!?" She demanded.
Winston brought his hand to his head in irritation. "I'm shocked to see that someone like you made it into Beacon with communication skills that bad!" He shouted.
"You didn't say anything to me either!" She protested.
"You were gone!" Winston shouted. "You vanished just before they showed up and only came back in time for me to nearly kill you with Myrtenaster!" He shouted as he walked closer to Ruby.
"Well I'm sorry that you need my help to win a fight, I'm just fine on my own!" Ruby shouted back as he approached.
"What you did back there was reckless and stupid!" Winston shouted. "You aren't ready for this school! You're some child who got lucky and snuck their way into Beacon!" He shouted as he passed her and continued on into the bushes, walking away from the burning forest.
Ruby looked in the direction he had walked and growled loudly as she slashed through the trunk of a tree with Crescent Rose. Walking away from the falling tree, Ruby failed to notice the massive feather that fell with it.
Jean and Pyrrhus trudged through the underbrush as they made their way in the direction that they thought the temple laid. There was a couple of explosions in the distance as they walked.
"D-did you hear that?" Jean asked as she looked in the direction of the noise.
Pyrrhus turned in the direction and listened again. "Gunfire. It appears some of our comrades have engaged the enemy." He said as he used Akouo to push a branch aside.
Jean followed closely, and was hit in the face by the branch as it swung back. "Gah!" She shouted as she fell back into the dirt.
"Jean! Oh man, I'm sorry." Pyrrhus said as he helped her to her feet, noticing the cut on her cheek. "Jean, why didn't you activate your Aura?" Pyrrhus asked as he looked at her cut.
"My what?" Jean asked as Pyrrhus walked closer.
"Your Aura." He said again.
"Gesundheit." She said.
"Jean, do you know what Aura is?" Pyrrhus asked as he raised his eyebrow.
"Uhh..." Was all she could say before she shook her head.
Pyrrhus gave her a shocked look. "To make it into Beacon with no help from your Aura... You must be one incredible fighter Jean." He concluded as he crossed his arms.
"Yeah... Something like that." Jean said as she rubbed her arm. Jean looked to Pyrrhus with a questioning stare. "So, what is Aura?" She asked.
"Aura is the manifestation of our Soul. It bears our burdens and shield's our hearts. Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing someone was there?" Pyrrhus asked.
Jean nodded. "Yeah, sometimes." She said.
"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals." He said.
Jean tilted her head to the side. "What about monster?" She asked.
Pyrrhus shook his head. "No, the monsters we fight have no Soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light." He said as he turned to face Jean.
She nodded her head. "Right! That's why we fight them." She said.
Pyrrhus shook his head. "It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By bearing your soul outwards as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and weapons are conduits or Aura. You project yourself and your Soul when fighting." He finished.
Pyrrhus could see the gears turning as Jean tried to wrap her head around the concept. "It's like a force field!" She shouted.
Pyrrhus smiled slightly. "Yes, I suppose you could look at it that way." He said as he walked up to Jean. Pyrrhus raised his hand to her cheek and spoke again. "Now close your eyes and concentrate."
Jean blushed slightly from the close proximity, but closed her eyes anyway.
Pyrrhus began to glow as he recited the ancient chant he had been taught as a child. "For it is passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite and distanced and unbound by death. I release your soul. And by my shoulder protect thee." As he finished Jean glowed brightly and opened her eyes to see Pyrrhus hunched over like he was in pain.
"Pyrrhus?!" She called as she reached out for his shoulder.
He waved his hand as he rose back to full height. "It's alright, I used my Aura to unlock yours. But now the energy that protects you is your own." He finished with a smile. "You have a-lot of it." He said as he watched her cut heal over in an instant.
Jean looked herself over before turning back to Pyrrhus. "Thanks."
Beacon Cliffs
"Our last pair has been formed sir. Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren." Glynda said as she looked down at her scroll. "Poor boy, I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. Still, he's probably better off than Mr. Nikos."
"Hmm?" Ozpin said as he glanced to her.
"I don't care what her transcripts say. Jean is not ready for this level of combat. Her mother will have my head if she gets hurt." Glynda said as she powered down her scroll. "Oh well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace they should reach the temple in just a few minutes." Glynda turned to look at the headmaster as he stood on the cliff. "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year? Professor Ozpin?" She called.
"Nope. No answer for you. I wanted that Deathstalker gone before the school year started and you forgot to tell Professor Thorne." Ozpin said as he watched the various teams on his scroll.
Glynda frowned as she stared Ozpin, who he himself was watching Ruby and Winston attempt to find the correct path to the temple..
Emerald Forest
"It's this way." Winston said as he pointed off to the east. "Or is it that way?" He asked as he spun in place.
Ruby giggled. "Look's like your not the best at everything after all huh?" She said as she turned to look at the confused Winston.
He scowled. "Navigation was never my strong suit." A small grin crept onto Winston's face as he turned to Ruby. "You know, they say that most animals are naturally good at locating landmarks." He said as he stared down at Ruby, who was sitting cross legged on the ground, looking back up at him.
A look of confusion crossed Ruby's face. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.
Winston smiled smugly and looked down at her. "You are an animal, so do some tracking." He said.
Ruby glared up at him as her ears pressed themselves against her skull. "Why are you always so mean?" Ruby asked as she got to her feet to get into his face, which was a challenge in it's own regard as the boy stood a good foot taller than her.
Winston waved his hand as he brushed aside the comment. "I'm just stating a fact." He said as he smiled down at Ruby. "Your a cat, so go and climb that tree and tell me where we are."
The racist remarks were beginning to get on Ruby's nerves as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not an animal. I'm a person, and I don't climb trees!" She shouted.
Winston tilted his head to the side. "Then what are those?" He asked sarcastically as he pointed to her ears. "Because, Human's sure don't have them. Only animals have ears like that." He said as he crossed his own arms.
"I'm not a Human, I'm a Faunus! Not some damn animal!" She yelled as she pointed a finger at his chest. "Stop treating me like I'm any less than you!" She shouted.
Winston focused his gaze on Ruby as he continued to grin. "But you are less than me." He stated. "I'm a Human, and the Heir to the largest dust production company in the world!" He said as he turned and raised his arms out to the side. "I have received training since I could walk to be the best of the best in everything from combat to creative literature!"
Ruby scowled. "So what, you think that makes you perfect?" She asked.
Winston shook his head. "No, I'm not perfect. Not Yet anyway. But I'm still leagues better than you." He finished as he turned to walk away.
Ruby frowned as she watched him walk away, the racial comments doing their job well. "You don't even know me." She said sadly as she started to walk after him.
Blake and Yang exited the forest and came to a large clearing over looking the temple containing the relics they were all searching for.
"Think this is it?" Yang asked.
Blake looked at her with a blank stare. "No." She said as she walked down the hill toward the temple with Yang in tow. As she entered the temple she saw the relics sitting on the pedestals and frowned. "Chess piece's?" She said aloud.
"Some of them have already been taken." Yang said as she looked around at the empty pedestals. "Guess we weren't the first ones here."
Blake turned and scanned over each of the piece's before looking to Yang. "Well... I guess we should pick one." She stated as she walked towards her partner.
"Think this is the place?" Jean asked as she and Pyrrhus approached a cave with drawings on the exterior.
Jean grabbed some dry moss from a nearby rock and fashioned it into a torch, then they entered the cave. Pyrrhus walked behind her with his weapon at the ready.
"I don't think this is it." He said as his eyes scanned the cave for any sign of the relics.
Jean sighed. "Pyrrhus, I made the torch, can you at least humor me for maybe, 5 more feet?" She asked as she glanced back at Pyrrhus. Looking back ahead of her, she was promptly met with a rock in her path and fell, dropping the torch in water.
Pyrrhus and Jean were now in complete darkness as the torch had been extinguished. His eyes darted around as he spoke. "Do you... Feel that?" He asked as he searched for the source of the heat he was feeling.
Jean however seemed more depressed by the torch. "Soul crushing regret?" She asked.
Pyrrhus shook his head. "No, it's warm..." He said.
"How about a cute pony!" Yang yelled as she lifted the first white knight into the air.
Blake rolled her eyes with a smile. "Sure, why not." She said as she walked over to Yang.
"That wasn't so hard!" Yang said as she grinned from ear to ear.
Blake gave an amused smile. "It's not like this place is very hard to find. Especially when you have wings and search from the sky." She finished as she pointed to the talon that she could see over Yang's shoulder.
Yang grinned at her as they looked over to the forest.
Jean and Pyrrhus walked deeper into the cave as they searched for the relics. As they turned the corner they saw before them, a massive light source hanging in the center of the room.
Jean looked excited as she spoke. "That's the relic!" She shouted as she reached out for the light. As her hand got close, the light moved back, frustrating her. "Hey! Bad relic!" She said as she jumped towards it and latched on. "Got it!" She stated.
Pyrrhus froze, the realization dawning on him just a bit too late. "Jean..." He said as he watched the light move higher, then several lines and eyes that glowed red appeared against the darkness.
Jean let out a terrified shriek.
Yang turned when she heard the shriek and scanned the tree line. "Some girl's in trouble!" She shouted.
Blake however was more interested in the large dark spot she spotted above them.
"Blake did you hear that?!" Yang asked as she turned to her.
Pyrrhus sprinted out of the entrance to the cave, the giant Deathstalker following immediately behind him as it burst through the stone wall.
Jean was still hanging from the stinger as she was waved around in the air.
"PYRRHUS! IT'S NOT THE RELIC! IT'S NOT!" She shouted as she was shaken back and forth by the large Grimm. "DO SOMETHING!" She pleaded.
"Jean!" Pyrrhus shouted. "Whatever you do, don't let-" But he was cut off as the Deathstalker whipped Jean out across the forest. Pyrrhus watched as his partner sailed over the tree's and out of sight. "-Go..."
He heard the clicking of the Grimm's claws as it stared down at him. He backed up slightly as he held his spear before him. "I just want you to know! I'm not retreating!" He shouted as he pointed his spear toward the Grimm. "I'm simply advancing in the opposite direction!" He shouted before he sprinted off into the tree's.
The Deathstalker twitched in annoyance as it let out a shriek and gave chase.
Winston was clinging to the tail feathers of a giant Nevermore as he and Ruby rode the Grimm across the sky.
"How the hell did I let you talk me into this!?" He shouted over the wind. "This was a terrible idea!"
Ruby braced herself against the wind and shouted back. "We're fine! Stop worrying!"
Winston's eye twitched with annoyance. "I am so far beyond worrying!" He shouted.
Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion. "In a good way?" She yelled.
"NO!" He retorted.
Ruby shrugged. "Well then Why don't we just jump!?" She yelled.
"What are you? Insane!" He shouted, only to look down and see that Ruby was gone. "Oh you stupid little-!"
"Blake did you hear that? What should we do?" Yang asked as she turned to her partner, only to see her staring into the sky with an expression of complete surprise. She pointed to the sky and Yang turned to see Ruby falling towards her.
She moved to catch her, until she saw Jean appear from out of nowhere and send them both crashing into the tree's.
Ruby's head was spinning as she grabbed the tree branch she sat on. "Ooh... What was that?" She asked.
"Ahem." She heard. Looking up she saw Jean hanging upside down from the branch above her. "Hey Ruby." She said.
Blake and Yang stared at the tree's where Ruby and Jean had just landed. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.
Yang was equally if not more shocked than Blake as she responded. "I..."
They turned when they heard a crashing sound and saw an Ursa burst through the tree line before falling over dead, Nora rolling off of the deceased creature.
"Aww... It's broken." She said as she moved quickly back onto it's head.
Ren appeared from behind it shortly after as he leaned against it to catch his breath. "Nora! Please, don't ever do that again." He said as he turned to face the girl, only to find her gone. "Nora?" He called.
Nora had found her way to the temple and taken a shine to the white Rook. She grabbed it with a big smile. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm Queen of the castle!" She sang.
"NORA!" Ren shouted, interrupting her dance.
She smiled sheepishly. "Coming Ren!" She shouted as she ran back to her partner.
Blake looked at her with shock as she turned to Yang. "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" She asked.
"I..."
They turned when they heard a shriek and saw Pyrrhus burst through the tree's with a Giant Deathstalker on his tail as the boy dodged around it's claws.
"Pyrrhus!" Jean called. She heard some shuffling and saw Ruby get to her feet before jumping out of the tree. "Ruby!
"Ruby?" Yang asked as she turned, seeing her sister before her.
Ruby smiled. "Yang!" She yelled as she tried to pull her into a hug, only for the moment to be interrupted by an over energetic orange.
"NORA!" She shouted as she leapt between them.
Blake turned back to look at Pyrrhus. "Did he just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on his tail?" She asked.
Yang twitched a couple of times before she screamed. "I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!?" She yelled as her eyes flashed red and her hair ignited.
...
...
...
"Um... Yang?" Ruby said, causing the older girls shoulders to slouch in defeat. She pointed up into the air where Winston was still clinging to the Nevermore.
He scowled as he clung to the feather. "I swear when I get my hands on you!" He called.
"I said jump." Ruby said with a frown.
"He's gonna fall." Blake said plainly.
"He'll be fine." Ruby said.
"He's falling." Ren said as he watched the feather Winston was holding onto detach from the rest.
As Winston fell he drew his swords and started to create Glyphs to slow his descent. They didn't do much to slow him, but they did get him to an angle where he could hit the ground and roll. Winston reached the ground and began to bounce and crash along the ground before his back hit the tree Jean was in, causing her to fall on his chest.
Jean looked down to see what she had fallen on, and notice Winston was groaning in pain. "Winston! Are you alright?" She asked as she turned his head to face her.
Winston weakly pointed past her. Jean turned to see what the problem was. While the crash, and Jean landing on him, had no doubt caused some discomfort, it was more about where Crocea Mors had landed when it fell with her. The sheath had fallen directly on the poor boys groin.
Winston snapped his fingers and a glyph appeared that threw Jean off of him. He sat forward and winced. "I can't help but feel I deserved that." He said as he used his left Myrtenaster to climb to his feet.
There was a clang off to the far right as Pyrrhus was thrown to the group and landed with a crash.
"Great, the gang's all here. Now we can die together." Yang said sarcastically as she looked to the group.
"Not if I can help it." Ruby said as she sprinted off towards the Deathstalker.
"Ruby wait!" Yang called, knowing the large Grimm was too much for the little girl.
Ruby propelled herself forward with her gun, and swung at the beast, only for it to slap her aside with it's claw.
"D-don't worry! Totally fine!" She called as she turned back to the Deathstalker and shot once before running away. Ruby folded Crescent Rose into it's inactive form before running towards Yang, who was herself running to Ruby.
There was a screech above them as the Nevermore dove and hurled a barrage of feather down toward the girls, it's feathers succeeding in blocking Yang, and trapping Ruby.
Ruby tried tugging on her cloak as it was speared by the feather. "Ruby! Get out of there!" Yang shouted.
"I'm trying!" She shouted back as she turned to see the Deathstalker walk up to her and rear back with it's stinger.
Yang looked on in horror as the Grimm brought it's stinger down on her sister, only for a white blur to speed past her.
Ruby closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
"You are so childish!"
Ruby opened her eye's and looked up to see Winston standing between her and the Deathstalker. One sword in the ground freezing the area around them, the other stuck into the farthest left eye of the Grimm.
"Winston?" She asked.
"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on how you fight!" He said as Ruby looked up at him.
"But I thought you hated Faunus." She said as she tilted her head to the side.
Winston nodded. "I do. You are no exception, nor is your sister. But if we are to be partners for the next four years, then it would look very bad if I allowed for you to die before we even had a single class." He said as he looked down at her. Winston drew back his blade from the Grimm, and from the ground and holstered them before holding out a hand to Ruby.
"Now I suppose I can be a bit..." Winston paused as he searched for the right word. Ruby knew the right word, but Yang would scold her is she said it. "Difficult." He said as he looked down at her. "But if you quit trying to show off, then maybe these next four years can go a bit more smoothly."
Ruby took his hand and got to her feet. "So we can be friend's then?" She asked, some hope in her eyes.
Winston scowled again. "Don't push it." He said as he walked past her.
Yang grabbed Ruby as she passed Winston. "I'm so happy your okay!" She said.
"Guys, that thing's circling back around!" Jean said as she pointed at the Nevermore. "What are we gonna do?"
Winston stepped forward and grabbed the last White Knight. "There's no sense in waiting around, the objective is right before us." He said as he tossed the piece to Ruby.
She nodded. "He's right, our mission is to get an artifact and make it back to the cliff." She said as she turned to the group. "There's no point in fighting these guys."
Jean nodded. "Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind." She said as she grabbed the other White Rook.
Ren looked and saw the Deathstalker beginning to break free of the ice. "It's time we left!"
"Right, lets go!" Ruby shouted as she took point over the hill.
Yang watched with a smile as her sister reached the top of the hill and turned back to look at the group. Blake stopped to look at her. "What is it?" She asked.
Yang shook her head and unfurled her wings. "It's nothing." She said as she took to the sky above the group.