[5/12 - Afternoon]
The blood sticking to his body was rather uncomfortable, but the lack of a water source in the nearby surroundings deemed it impossible to wash it down, so he pressed on nonetheless, even if the lingering scent of his blood was unpleasant.
Resting his back on a tree, he took a deep breath as he watched as the two girls in front of him argued about where the ruins were.
"It's definitely this way... No, that way! Or was it this way?" Weiss muttered as she paced around the clearing of the forest, trying to figure out the direction they were supposed to walk in. Ruby, fed up, sat on the ground, watching the white-haired girl as she played around with a withering leaf.
"I've got it; we've already passed it prior; that's the only logical reasoning."
"Weiss... We're lost. Why would you not admit it?"
She huffed at the accusation. "I'm not lost; I know exactly where to go. We're—uh—heading to the forest... temple?"
Ruby gave a long sigh as she stood up, prompting the Schnee to retort back with a snark. "Oh, stop it. You don't know how to get there either!"
"At least I'm not pretending like I know everything!"
"And what do you mean by that?!"
"I'm talking about you, Weiss! I hate stubborn, stuck-up girls like you who can't even admit that they're wrong!"
"Ugh, just start walking!" Weiss turned her back against Ruby as she started trekking east.
"'Just start walking! Hurry up! Don't slow me down!' You always act so important—"
Weiss turned back and barked.
"Excuse me! No, I don't! Stop making false accusations."
"Well, stop treating me like a kid!"
"Then stop acting like one!"
The screaming was starting to get out of control, so Clerval did what he had to.
He coughed in his fist. That seemed to do the trick, as the two girls glared at him.
""WHAT?""
Now that their attention was on him, he slowly brought out his Scroll pocketed in his pants before launching the compass application that came with the phone's default installation.
It took them four full seconds for their brains to process the information before Ruby gave a small "huh."
Weiss, however, exploded in a fit of rage.
"Why you—You could have just led with this! Do you know how much time we wasted?! An hour! When we could have just used the compass?! Why didn't you speak up?!"
He shrugged.
"You didn't ask."
The snickers in his mind seemed to agree with him, at the very least.
The heiress opened her mouth, closed it, and then huffed as she snatched his Scroll away from his grasp.
"Whatever! Let's just go now; time is of the essence!"
As she started her trek towards the correct direction, north, Ruby went to his side before tiptoeing and whispering into his ear.
"Thanks, Clerval, you're a lifesaver. I was this close..."
"No problem." He nodded before shadowing Ruby as she zoomed to follow behind Weiss.
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"Why are there so many Grimm chasing after us?!"
Weiss screamed as she turned behind and swung her rapier. A glyph manifested before streaks of chilling cold Dust fired from her weapon towards the creatures of Grimm that were relentlessly chasing after them.
"I-I don't know—Look out!"
Ruby lunged forward, grabbing Weiss's hand and pulling her just as a Beowolf appeared out of nowhere and swiped at the spot where Weiss had been standing. With a fluid motion, her sniper rifle transitioned into a scythe as Ruby easily sliced its head off cleanly.
Clerval, who was behind them, looked back at the gathering of Grimm. With a quick thought, he dug into his blazer's inner pocket and grabbed a gem shard that glowed a hue of pure white.
The shard caved under his fist easily as he tossed the fragments at the Grimm. A split second later, the fragments exploded in a shine of light as the Grimm shrieked under its radiance, as if the light were burning their skin.
That gave them a few seconds of distance to breathe as his hand moved to the Evoker on his hip. But he decided not to use it after a moment to decide. He didn't have enough health to summon Odysseus for an attack, let alone his spirit was waning due to the shattering of his Aura.
Skidding in place, the Schnee heiress instantly capitalized on the opportunity that presented itself, taking a deep breath as she channeled her Aura. Her eyes narrowed as a large glyph of blue manifested above the stunned Grimm before the temperature around them sank drastically.
With a swipe of her rapier, thick ice engulfed the pack of Grimm, encasing them in a block of ice, rendering them immobile.
"Woah."
Ruby stared at the block of thick ice before looking back at Weiss with a hint of admiration on her expression. But the maneuver left the heiress breathless, however, with a good portion of her Aura spent after performing such Dust manipulation.
She took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her face as she looked at the Scroll that was still in her hand, the compass app still pointing north.
"What is wrong with the Grimm? The amount compared to the start is staggering..."
"Maybe it's because we're getting closer to our objectives?" Ruby tried to make some small talk after the incident, but all she got was a cold lack of acknowledgement, leaving her a bit disappointed.
BOOM!
A sudden boom echoed through the forest as their attention was drawn to the explosion. The sound came from... the same direction they were heading in.
"People?" Weiss muttered as Ruby concentrated. Her eyes lit up. "That's a lot of people; we finally reached the temples!"
With a flash of red, Ruby disappeared from where she was previously, leaving red roses in her wake. That must be her Semblance.
"That foolish girl...!" Weiss, left stranded, growled before chasing after the brunette with an angered expression painted on her face.
Looking at the dysfunctional partners, he took a deep breath before cautiously tailing after them closely with his hand resting on his Evoker's handle.
Hopefully his partner wasn't as... eccentric as the two girls.
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As he stepped into the clearing, he was interrupted by a red-haired girl in golden armor running past him, causing him to stop in place lest he receive a full-speed sprint head-on. A second later, a giant scorpion-shaped Grimm crawled past him without a single glance.
... Alright then.
His eyes slowly gazed at the abandoned temple as his eyes landed where a cast of colorful characters was grouped together.
He walked up to them.
"I can't take this anymore! Can't we just calm down for two seconds before anything crazy happens—HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
The bright yellow-haired blonde screamed as her eyes fell on his blood-stained clothing, prompting the others to panic. Ruby, who was standing with them, quickly waved her hands wildly as she explained the situation.
A second later, a loud smack sent the same redhead girl tumbling to the feet of the group just as a blond boy limped towards them. He did a mental calculation before sighing.
Looks like everyone already had a partner with the number of people present.
While Ruby ran towards the Death Stalker for some reason, Clerval walked into the abandoned ruins. They should have that handled with so many people around.
Looking at the interior, he noted a total of twenty-four pedestals were arranged in a perfect circle, with some pedestals housing a chess piece.
This must be the relic that the headmaster referred to. Some were already missing, suggesting that other teams had already taken their relics.
He absentmindedly grabbed a golden pawn for himself and looked out of the ruins, only to see Ruby and Weiss bonding under an encased Death Stalker.
A shriek from above drew his attention as a giant crow-like Grimm flew above, watching the group's every move.
Rejoining the group, he once again had to reassure the newcomers—the redhead that wore ancient Mistralian armor and a blond boy with a sword and shield—that he was perfectly fine and that the blood was superficial.
"So, what do we do now?"
The blond boy asked as he pointed at the Nevermore in the sky.
"Jaune, there's no time to waste. The relics are right in front of us." Weiss made a good point.
"She's right. Our assignment is to get a relic and return back to Beacon Cliff; there's no point in wasting our time fighting them." The small nods between the two partners didn't escape his eyes.
That was swell. They were going to be teammates for four or more years; having a good relationship was essential.
With the general consensus agreeing to the plan, Ruby and Jaune grabbed their relics, a white Knight and Rook respectively, before the group of nine started running back to Beacon.
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Everyone took cover in pairs of two, with the exception of Clerval, as they exited the dense Emerald Forest, reaching the ruins of an abandoned bridge that connected the forest with Beacon Cliff.
With their natural cover gone, the only way for the Nevermore to stop pelting sharp feathers was to hide and figure out a way to get back to Beacon.
The good news: Beacon was in clear sight. They just had to cross the broken stone bridge somehow, and their Initiation was complete.
The bad news: the Nevermore was perching on a stone pillar above them, as if it knew the objectives of its prey.
And worse news—
BANG!
The Death Stalker that was encased in ice had broken free, with its oppressive body rushing towards them from them. They were pincered.
"Well, that's not good! Run!" Jaune screamed, alerting the party of the second Grimm as he and Pyrrha—the redhead—who were close to the forest entrance, started to run forward.
With no more options, the group ditched their cover as they started running towards the Nevermore.
"Nora, draw its attention." The calm voice of Lie Ren—the black-haired boy with a streak of pink hair—instructed his partner, Nora, who acted immediately with an excited grin.
Unsheathing the grenade launcher on her back, she cheered as she fired rounds of exploding Dust rounds at the Nevermore, causing it to reposition elsewhere.
The shots of pink Dust explosions stopped as she turned around, ready to face the Death Stalker behind her when Lie Ren and a black-haired girl named Blake stepped in to distract the scorpion Grimm.
As they sprinted on a stone bridge, Clerval's instincts blared as his head snapped to the side. Grabbing a full gem made of light, he timed it perfectly before tossing the Kouha Gem at the approaching Nevermore.
Sensing the danger, it swerved under the bridge, dodging the blast of pure light that exploded from the gemstone, but the brief distraction offered enough time for the rest of the group members to cross the bridge.
With a solid platform to act on, everyone acted accordingly as the ranged-weapon users started to fire rounds of Dust at the flying Grimm while the melee-ranged users intercepted the raging Death Stalker.
"Our bullets aren't doing a thing!"
"Hit it with everything we've got!"
"Guys, we're losing ground!"
"The Death Stalker is stronger than I thought."
"Rrraahhh!"
His eyes flickered through the members of the group to the Grimm that they were facing. Their styles of fighting and mobility painted a clear picture as a plan slowly formed in his mind.
"Jaune, Pyrrha, Lie Ren, and Nora, get the Nevermore onto the center of the bridge. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake distract the Nevermore."
A flash of understanding showed in Jaune and Ruby's eyes as they instantly followed along.
"Pyrrha, we're distracting it! Ren, flank it. Nora, support him until I give you the signal!" Jaune yelled as his team pulled the Death Stalker away.
"Yang, Blake, push it upwards to the cliff! Weiss, this is what we're doing." Ruby called, discussing with Weiss as the two of them zipped to the upper section of the bridge, with the other two in tow.
His own options of attacks were limited, with his long-range option nonexistent. His mind cycled through options on how to help when suddenly a voice presented itself in his psyche.
[Hey, pick me!]
[I can help!]
A wave of information flashed through his mind before he drew his Evoker from its holster. That... can work. He has enough spirit for this!
As Jaune and Pyrrha blocked the large pincers while Lie Ren hung on to its tail, Clerval ran forward as he placed the barrel of his Evoker at the side of his head. He focused on the bond between himself and the voice and pulled it forward.
"Persona."
He pulled the trigger.
His eyes glazed, head jerking to the side as the sound of glass shattering echoed, a chilling power surging out within him. A blue pillar of light erupted, and a small fairy with wings appeared before him, wearing a blue leotard.
"Pulinpa."
With a giggle, Pixie raised both hands out as a mass of sickly orange flew past Team Jaune, striking true at the Death Stalker. Its actions became sluggish, almost clumsy-ish, with its attacks missing by a wide margin, as if it was confused at the sight in front of it.
Lie Ren took advantage of the opening as he used his knives and slashed, separating the sharp stinger and the tail and causing it to fall into the Death Stalker's skull.
"Now, Nora!" Jaune yelled as Nora obeyed, hopping onto Pyrrha's readied shield. With a click of a trigger, Nora launched herself into the air with her hammer-grenade launcher weapon, giving herself a maximum lift.
Getting into position, she fired her hammer one last time to launch herself downwards as Lie Ren jumped out of the way, twirling down to generate momentum until her hammer slammed its head into the stinger with a war cry. The impact of the strike drove the Death Stalker's own stinger through its skull and out its body, crushing the bridge beneath it.
With the first threat gone, Clerval looked up at the battle above him before asking Pyrrha who helped Jaune up from his feet.
"Can you toss me up there?"
"Of course, sorry about this!" She responded easily and, with a sheepish smile, grabbed him by the arm before throwing him up into the upper section of the bridge.
[Call forth my power.]
[Let my Light shed the Dark.]
Another presence called out, to which he thanked as the image of Pixie in his psyche shifted into the figure of a new Persona that lent him its powers. Raising the Evoker onto his head mid-flight, he stared at the screaming Nevermore before pulling the trigger.
"Angel."
Familiar sounds of glass shattering echoed as he landed on his two feet. A pillar of blue flickered behind him as a being with feathered wings descended. Even without her sight, she could sense the darkness as she raised her index finger.
He felt the remaining drops of his spirit leave his soul as he commanded the angel to fire.
"Kouha."
The effect was instantaneous, for a bolt of light flashed and struck true in a blink of an eye, catching the unsuspecting Nevermore off guard, causing it to screech out in pain as the sudden loss of its left wing slowly caused it to plummet down.
But before the crow Grimm could recover from losing its wing, Ruby was already in the air, rose petals flying from her ascent as she raced through the winds.
Firing shot after shot from her scythe-sniper to increase her speed, the blade of her weapon soon caught the Nevermore's neck, the sudden increase in weight causing both the Huntress-in-training and the creature of Darkness to fall from the cliff wall.
Weiss quickly raised her rapier, creating a series of white glyphs that circled up the slanted wall, creating a platform for Ruby as she dashed through by firing her sniper rifle the entire way up.
Everyone watched as the brunette rose with the bird in her grasp up the cliff until Ruby reached the top of the cliff. At the apex, Ruby cried out, firing one last shot as a single swoop rends the Nevermore's head from its shoulders in a shower of petals.
"Wow..." He could barely hear Jaune exclaiming with amazement as a heavy migraine slammed into him, bringing him down to one knee. With a groan, he massaged his temple as his other self whispered through their mental bond.
[You've only awoken to your powers just over an hour ago.]
[It is a miracle that you're still conscious after using multiple Personas.]
It took a good minute for the pain to subside, though hardly, but it was enough to resume course to Beacon Academy. Sheathing his Evoker back into its holster, he took a deep breath through gritted teeth and shook the pain off before meeting up with Team Ruby, who helped him drop down to the base section of the bridge.
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A/N: I just noticed that I missed the actual Chapter 5. SMH, my bad, people! I'll post another chapter (Chapter 9) as compensation. Sorry for the confusion!
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