"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
Ruby P.O.V.
As I'm falling, I see a black bird flying majestically in the wind at the last minute and crash through it, panicking. As I'm pummeling in a ball of feathers, I profusely apologize.
"Birdie! No!"
I grab my Crescent Rose and fire a few shots off to slow my descent, then change my rifle form into its scythe form to catch a branch and drop down at a more manageable pace.
Weiss P.O.V.
With Myrtenaster, I summon a glyph under me and leap off to land on the forest floor.
Ren P.O.V.
I descend and spin in the air, using my pistols, StormFlower, and catch onto a tree's trunk with the blades. I then spin down and brush my clothes off to see a girl with yellow hair flying over me...
Yang P.O.V.
"Woo-hoo! Yeah! Alley-oop!"
As I'm soaring right over the treetops, I'm using Ember Celica and its fiery force to push myself through the air further and further north. As I'm spinning and laughing with each blast, I crash through the leaves of a tree as I tumble, then leap off of trunks to tumble to the ground. I pump my fist into the air as I run off.
"Nailed it!"
Pyrrha P.O.V.
With my weapon in sword form and armed with a shield, I crash through several trees and roll on a branch, immediately shifting my blade into a rifle and looking through the scope at Jaune as he continues to scream and fall helplessly. I transform my weapon again to its javelin form, take a moment to evaluate my throw, and throw the javelin deep into the forest until I hear a thunk and Jaune yell from a distance.
"Thank you!"
"I'm sorry!"
Y/N P.O.V.
As I'm falling, I throw my grappling hook at a large tree next to a thick branch. As the hook hits, I swing by the cord and pull myself to the tree branch and look down.
I see a smooth climb down, so I grab the grappling hook I threw at the tree and jump down, the cord slowing my descent. As I land, I yank my grappling hook to pull it out and catch it, then place it back in my coat. I hold one of Rising Tides at my side to dispose of any Grimm on my way north.
Ruby P.O.V.
As I'm running through the forest, I see Weiss looking around and I pause as we look each other in the eyes. Weiss turns on her heal and walks the other way.
"Wait! Where are you going?! We're supposed to be teammates..."
"Come on, come on! Stupid...!"
Weiss sees Jaune hanging a few feet in the air by a spear embedded in his hood and the tree behind him. As he gives up trying to pull it out, he looks down and sees Weiss, giving an embarrassed wave. Weiss groans and simply heads back in the direction she came from as Jaune groans in dejection and she pulls on my hood.
"By no means does this make us friends."
"You came back!"
Jaune P.O.V.
"Wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!" I hear Pyrrha from below.
"Jaune? Do you... have any spots left on your team?"
"Very funny..."
I look down at her and give a smile, which she returns.
Coco P.O.V.
As I descend, I transform Gianduja from its handbag form to its minigun form and aim downwards as I load a belt of Gravity Dust rounds. I fire my gun in short bursts to slow my descent and slam my heels into the ground as I transform Gianduja back into its handbag form.
I see Fox walking out of the bushes and he looks around, but since he's blind...
"Hey Fox!"
He turns to me and smirks, but he hears something walking out of the bushes behind me.
Fox runs up to it and punches at it with his arm blades, then jumps back and fires a shot from the bracelet area, causing the bush to be shredded and three Ursai fall out, two are diced and one has its head blown off as their black essence is carried by the wind.
I smirk and go up to Fox as we walk north, then slap his butt.
"Nice hustle Fox!"
We both start laughing as we continue walking.
Weiss P.O.V.
I'm trudging through the forest, with Ruby back a ways behind me.
"What's the hurry?"
"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-"
Ruby suddenly appears next to me as my eyes widen.
"What the...?"
"I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!"
"When did...?"
"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters! You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool... and I wanna be her friend!'"
Ruby disappears in a shower of rose petals, which I wave away from my face just as I hear crackling and rustling in the bushes around me.
"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time! Ruby? Ruby...?"
I hear a deep growl in the bushes, then turn around to spot a large, jagged Beowolf emerging from a bush and approaching me.
"Ruby!"
Blake P.O.V.
As I stay in the shadows and trees to avoid unnecessary conflict from Grimm, I see Yang run in and I decide to observe.
I see Yang looking through the undergrowth of the forest as she starts calling out, "Helloooooooo? Is anyone out there? Helloooo? I'm getting bored here!"
I hear rustling in the bushes, and Yang seems to have as well, and she goes to them and peeks inside.
"Is someone there? Ruby, is that you?" We hear a low, inhuman growl, and Yang's head rises up as she stares at the creature. "Nope!"
Yang quickly rolls to the side as an Ursa charges out of the green. She gets up and activates her Ember Celica, staring at the monster before another Ursa runs out behind her. She leaps over it, and its companion runs at her again, only to get knocked back by a fiery punch. The other Ursa and Yang charge at each other, and Yang manages to get under it and deliver several punches and a kick to send the creature back. She speaks out to them in a joking manner.
"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?" I chuckle a bit as the Ursai growl at her and Yang just crosses her arms. "You could just say 'no.'" One of the Ursai stands on its legs and swipes at her twice, Yang barely dodging the attacks. "Hahaha! Geeeez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a ba..."
Before she can complete her insult, a single strand of her golden hair falls in front of her face and lands on the forest floor. She closes her eyes and gets angrier by the millisecond to reveal her violet eyes turn to glowing red. I just widen my eyes. "Oh no..."
Yang yells out, "You... You monster!!!" An inferno surrounds Yang for a moment, and she rockets forward, unleashing a devastating combo of flaming hits and blows on the offending Ursa, making it fly through several burning trees. The other monster runs over, but stops short at Yang's gaze while a tree falls to the ground behind her. "What! You want some, too?!"
The Ursa rears up and prepares to strike... And I decide to step in. I throw Gambol Shroud's kusarigama at the monster as it makes a befuddled noise, falling down as I walk up and recall Gambol Shroud back to my hand as Yang pants in exhaustion. I place Gambol Shroud on my back as I smile at Yang. She playfully rolls her eyes as her eyes turn back to lilac, "I could've taken him."
Yatsuhashi P.O.V.
As I walk through a path in the middle of this forest, I see Velvet engaging a Boarbatusk and kicking it back.
Three Ursai run to circle me and I unlimber Fulcrum from my back. As they jump at me, I swing my sword down to quake the earth below me, throwing them back into the forests.
I turn to Velvet and she kicks the Boarbatusk on the throat, causing it to squeal and backflip back. She dusts her hands as her rabbit ears perk and she turns to look up at me. I rest my sword over my shoulder and smile down as she smiles back.
"So Yatsuhashi. I'm guessing I'm your partner now."
I nod and I walk by her side to the temple up north.
Weiss P.O.V.
I dodge the swipe from a Beowolf with Myrtenaster and get pushed back into the middle of the beastly circle. I hold out my rapier and go through my dueling motions and practices.
"Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward — not that forward! — slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and... Now!"
I dash forward with my loaded weapon at the Beowolf in front of me, just as Ruby suddenly appears between us in a blur of rose petals and a swipe of her Crescent Rose scythe, landing a hit on the Beowolf.
"Gotcha!" I widen my eyes and scream as I quickly have to stop, swinging the sword in a random direction and creating a line of fire that sets a nearby tree ablaze, followed quickly by the rest of the forest around the clearing.
Ruby, distracted by my faux pas, is barely defended when the same Beowolf scratches at her weapon, knocking her into me.
"Hey, watch it!"
I look to her with a glare.
"You attacked out of turn! I could've killed you!"
Ruby refocuses back onto the Beowolves.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that..."
The two of us wield our arms as the pack of Beowolves whine and growl around us. Ruby reloads her scythe just as a flaming tree falls near us. I grab her hand.
"We have to go!"
I lead Ruby out of the blaze as it engulfs the grass and sets the Grimm to running back the way they came or suffering in the fire.
We stop a safe ways from the smoke and flames. Weiss leans over and pants as Ruby looks behind her.
"What was that?! That should've been easy!"
I look to her with a glare as I start walking.
"Well perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Ruby scoffs.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!"
"Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own!"
"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo!"
I begin to walk off on Ruby again as I hear an agitated shriek. Ruby unfolds her scythe, slices a tree down to the stump, refolds it back, and follows me as the tree crashes behind us.
Jaune P.O.V.
As Pyrrha and I make our way through the forest, I turn my head towards a distant noise.
"Did you hear that?" Pyrrha nods.
"Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy."
We keep moving forward, but I'm still staring in the sound's direction as Pyrrha raises a branch to pass by and accidentally releases it right at my face, flooring me instantly.
"Jaune! I'm sorry!"
I laugh, lowering my hand from my cheek to reveal a gash from the wooden recoil.
"It's okay. Just a scratch!"
"Why didn't you activate your Aura?"
"Huh?"
"Your Aura."
"Gesundheit."
"Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?" I avoid eye contact and scoff.
"Psch! Of course I do! Do you know what Aura is?"
Pyrrha smiles at me and gets ready to explain.
"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"
"Uh... yeah."
"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."
"What about monsters?"
"No. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light."
"Right, that's why we fight them!"
"It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."
"It's like a force field!"
"Yes, if you want to look at it that way."
Pyrrha walks up to me and touches the side of my head.
"Now, close your eyes and concentrate."
"Uhh... Okay."
Pyrrha smiles and closes her own eyes, opening them as her skin glows and her irises shrink before shutting them again. We stand here, now with Pyrrha glowing a faint red and me a bright white. But Pyrrha stops glowing and hunches over in exhaustion.
"Pyrrha?"
"It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it."
I smile and look at my hands as the glow stops.
"Wow..."
Ren P.O.V.
As I trek through the forest's tall grass, I stop and narrow my eyes, looking around as I sense a huge black Grimm serpent, a King Tajitu, rises up from the grass behind me and quickly surrounds me with its large, hissing body.
I adopt a fighting stance as the snake coils together in front of me and attacks with its long fangs. I leap out of the way, the snake's mouth hitting the ground and instantly coming up again to hit me back as I jump with its snout. I land in a crouch as the serpent encircles me again, and I unleash StormFlower before jumping up and firing at the creature. I kick the snake's snout and slash at its head. It flows around me and tries to bite me again, but I flip over it and drive my weapons into its head, pausing a moment just as I sense the other half's presence behind me.
I turn to look up at the white head as it launches itself at me, dodging it and landing just in time to see the head slither towards me. As it gets closer, I run at it and leap onto the black head, sliding over its body and blasting the other head. I'm caught with my pants down, though, for the white half to hit me with its head, knocking me off as I drops my weapons, and leaving me to merely raise my arms and shout "No!" to the mouth of the black head.
I hold the front fangs of the colossal snake in my hands, glowing a faint, pulsating pink as I grip the teeth and yank them from the monster's mouth, causing it to flail away. It attempts to bite me again, but I spin to the side and stab a fang into its eye, rotating my arm to deliver a final blow that drives the fang into its skull, which ripples, expands, and blows apart in a dark mess as its headless body falls over its fellow creature. Wasting no time, I run right at the white head and stab my blades into the skull.
I stand atop of the body of my enemy, sliding the weapons into my sleeves and brushing them off before I hear a strange, animal-like noise is above me twice. I look up and meet Nora hanging upside down in the tree as I chuckle.
"I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like."
In response, Nora gives me a boop on the nose, causing me to smile.
Y/N P.O.V.
As I travel arboreally, I see a creaky wooden bridge over a chasm, so I have no choice but to cross it since the other routes would take too long.
I jump down, tilting my cone hat down, and walk across the bridge with Starlight in its yumi mode and load an arrow as I cautiously walk, then hear a caw.
I see a Nevermore flying in my direction and I narrow my eyes and draw my arrow. As it stops and hovers, pulling its wings back over me, I take aim and fire at its head, sending the arrow flying straight through its head and causing it to collapse into the abyss before it can throw its feathers at me.
I turn around in time to see a Beowolf jump at me and I jump out of the way as it lands. I load another arrow and see an Ursa behind me and hear four Beowolves crawling under the bridge.
The Beowolves climb onto the bridge from below and I'm surrounded by five Beowolves and an Ursa.
"Just great..."
The Ursa growls and walks at me, then raises its paw as it growls. I shoot my arrow at its eye and yank my arrow out, then kick it off as the Beowolves growl.
I narrow my eyes and load three arrows to the Beowolves behind me, then release them, all hitting the heads as they fall off the bridge.
The last two Beowolves run at me and I grab one's arm and throw it off as it howls, then hit the other's knee with my yumi. As it falls on the creaky planks of the bridge and attempts to get up, I load one last arrow and shoot it at the final Beowolf.
"Is that all? I still have more arrows!"
I shift Starlight back into its naginata form and place it back on my back, then walk to the other side and sigh in relief, then walk north to the temple.