Skyler and Hazel, finally, made it into a large clearing. They spotted a small ruin in the middle of it and two other figures there. As Skyler and Hazel approached, Skyler recognized them. He got a bit nervous as he saw that one was the black-haired girl, but he lightened up a bit when he saw the other.
"Skyler!!" Yang tackled him in a hug, "You made it!!"
"Yang..." Skyler choked.
"Yeah?"
"Air!"
"Oh!" she quickly let go and Skyler gasped, "Sorry!"
"It's fine," he waved off and looked at her partner, "And you are..."
"Blake," she said in a quiet voice, "Belladonna."
"Skyler Yin. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Hazel Tikal," his partner said, "Skyler's partner."
"Cool!" Yang said, "Keep an eye on him, alright? He's a handful."
"Yang!" Skyler scolded before turning to the ruin, "So what do we have here?"
"Chess pieces," Blake said, "You pick up one for you and your partner."
Skyler walked over and picked up one, the white bishop, "Alright! Got it. What n-"
Suddenly, there was a loud high-pitched scream in the distance.
"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang exclaimed, "Guys, did you hear that?"
"Um, Yang?" Blake pointed up.
They all looked up to see Ruby dropping in from the sky, "HEADS UUUUUPPPPPPP!!!!!"
Before she made it to the ground, though, suddenly, there was Jaune. He collided with Ruby in midair, sending them both into a tree.
"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked.
"I-" Yang was interrupted by a roar.
They all turned to see an Ursa stumble out of the forest. It appeared as if it was trying to get something of its back.
Then a girl's voice yelled, "YEEEEE HAAAAAA!!!"
And the Ursa promptly fell to the ground, sending two people, a male and a female, tumbling. The male wore green and black attire and had black hair with a pink streak. The female wore a pink and white dress and had orange hair. The girl got up.
"Aww," she groaned, "It's broken..."
She climbed back on top of it, "Ewww..."
"Nora!" the guy gasped, trying to catch his breath, "Please... Don't ever do that again..."
But then he looked up and noticed his partner was gone. Everyone turned and saw Nora grab the white rook piece and start making poses.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"
"NORA!!!" the guy yelled, stopping her.
Nora giggled and responded, "Coming Ren!"
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.
"I-"
Yang was interrupted again, this time by a screech. They all turned and saw a girl in gold and red with long red hair rush out of the forest, being chased by a Death Stalker. Skyler recognized the girl as Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl.
"Jaune!!" she yelled.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled back as Ruby got up.
"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping out of the tree.
"Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed.
Ruby landed next to the group.
"Ruby?!" Yang said.
"Yang!" Ruby prepared to hug her sister.
But Nora jumped in between them, "NORA!!!"
The Death Stalker continued to try to hit Pyrrha, who kept dodging.
"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked.
Then Yang's hair burst up and her eyes turned red, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN?!?!?!"
"Um, Yang?" Ruby tugged on her sister's sleeve and pointed up.
Up above, Skyler could make out the figure of a white-haired girl in a white dress hanging onto the talon of a giant Nevermore. Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company.
"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!?!" Weiss screamed.
"I said jump!" Ruby said.
"She's gonna fall," Blake said.
"She'll be fine."
"She's falling," Ren spoke.
Apparently, Jaune saw his opportunity. He managed to catch her, but wasn't able to land. He fell face first onto the ground and Weiss fell on his back.
"My hero," Weiss scoffed.
"My back..." Jaune groaned.
As Weiss got off, Skyler walked over and helped Jaune up, "Hey, at least she didn't land heels first."
"Good point..."
And then Pyrrha promptly landed on her side, in the middle of the group.
"Great!" Yang said, "The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"
"Wait," Skyler noticed, "Where's Dante?"
"RUN AWAY!!!"
Everyone turned to see Dante and some other guy run out of the woods. The other guy had black hair and brown eyes and had a double-edged sword in his hand. Both stopped when they got there and began breathing heavily.
"What's with you two?" Hazel asked.
"Long story," Dante gasped, "Doesn't matter right now though..."
"The name's Walker Elliot," the other guy breathed, "Just in case anyone's wondering..."
"Well okay then," Yang said, "Now we can all die together!"
"Not if I can help it," Ruby declared and charged at the Death Stalker.
"Ruby, wait!"
Ruby fired Crescent Rose and charged at the oncoming Death Stalker. When the two met, the Grimm swiped Ruby away. Ruby got up slowly.
"D-don't worry!" she said, "Totally fine!"
"Yeah, she's not," Dante said, "Anyone else want to help?"
Yang was already running. But then the Nevermore cawed and shot quite a lot of feathers at them. One of the feathers caught Ruby in the cape and the rest halted Yang's advance.
"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang cried.
"I'm trying!!" Ruby hopelessly tugged at her cape with the Death Stalker got closer.
Skyler finally snapped out of it and began running, "Ruby!!"
But then a white blur blast past him as the Death Stalker struck. Suddenly, there was an ice wall guarding Ruby with the giant scorpion's tail caught in it.
"You are so childish!"
"Weiss?" Ruby asked.
"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."
"I'm not trying to show off," Ruby said, "I want you to know I can do this."
"You're fine," Weiss replied and she walked away.
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, "Normal knees..."
Yang rushed up to Ruby and gave her a hug (which Ruby grunted at upon receiving), "So happy you're okay!"
Skyler smiled a bit as he walked up and as they separated, "You had me worried for a second there."
Ruby smiled a bit and held out her arms. Skyler sighed, laughed a bit, and held out his arms.
"Alright, come here you little gremlin," and Ruby hugged him.
When they got back, Jaune gulped as he looked up, "Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?"
"Look," Weiss said, "There's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."
"She's right," Ruby said, "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Run and live," Jaune grinned, "That's an idea I can get behind!"
The rest of them got a chess piece and began taking off. Yang stayed behind for a bit, grinning at Ruby. Skyler and Blake stopped to look at her.
"What is it?" Blake asked.
Yang stared proudly at Ruby as she leapt on a boulder and motions the group onward, "Nothing..."
She ran forward, and Blake and Skyler ran behind her. Blake glanced at him.
"Is she always like this?" Blake asked.
"Mostly," Skyler nodded, "Keep an eye on her. She's a handful."
Blake let out a laugh and the two took off after their teammates. At least he and Blake could get along.
_______________________________
The group headed out of the forest and into another abandoned series of structures as the Nevermore followed them from the air. They spread out when it passed overhead, concealing themselves behind some of the stone blocks with their allies as it perched on a high column and cawed.
"Well, that's great!" Yang said sarcastically, annoyed.
Then the Death Stalker burst out of the woods, now free from the ice. It made its way towards them.
"And that's just perfect!" Skyler groaned.
"Ah, man, run!!" Jaune yelped.
Hazel, Dante, and Walker ran over to Skyler, dodging the Death Stalker.
"Okay," Hazel said, "What's the plan here?"
Suddenly, there was a loud, trumpet-like sound behind them. They turned around at saw an elephant Grimm, or a Goliath, staring at them angrily.
"Okay," Skyler said, "What did we do?!"
Then realization dawned on his face as he turned to Dante and Walker. They were both rubbing the back of their necks nervously.
"What did you two do?"
"Long story short," Walker said, "We accidentally angered it and it now wants us dead."
"Scatter!!" Hazel yelled as the Goliath tried to stomp on them.
They all dodged and the ground shook as they ran into the clearing. They were too far away from any help from their friends, but they could at least see them. The Goliath roared (trumpeted?) and charged Walker.
Walker ran out of the way and the elephant stopped. Dante brought out his axes and combined them, his weapons now resembling a single crossbow. He fired, but the bullets just bounced harmlessly off the Goliath's skin, which only angered it more.
"Normal attacks don't affect it!" Skyler yelled, "We gotta find a weak spot!"
Then an idea hit him, "Hazel! Get to the top of one of the pillars and wait for my signal! Aim for the eyes. Dante! Walker! You and I will distract it! Let's go!"
They nodded and did as they were told. As Hazel climbed up the pillar, Walker's sword's blade broke apart. But not in the way you'd think. His blade was separated into sections, a rope down the middle of it, basically turning the sword into a bladed whip.
Skyler grinned and pressed the button on his flamethrower. It unfolded and turned into a one-edged sword. The trigger was still there on the handle though. The three shot and sliced, not able to do damage, but that was part of the plan.
Skyler jumped on the Goliath's back and continued slashing. Now was the time.
"Hazel!!" he yelled, "Now!!"
Hazel, who was on top of the pillar, aimed her spear and fired the tip. The spearhead stabbed the eye, halfway blinding the Goliath. It let out a roar and turned away so that Hazel couldn't get a clear shot.
Once this happened, however, Skyler ran across the Goliath's back and onto the head, balancing on the tusk by grabbing onto it. He then lightly tapped the trigger on his weapon and the blade caught fire. And Skyler stabbed the Goliath's good eye with it.
It let out one more roar, but Skyler didn't let go. Instead, he jumped from the tusk and grabbed onto the front of the elephant's, his feet at the bottom of its mouth.
"Skyler!!" Hazel yelled, "What are you doing?!"
"IMPROVISING!!!"
Skyler then turned his sword back into a gun, and pointed his weapon in the Grimm's mouth. He put his finger on the trigger once more.
"Open wide, Dumbo."
Skyler pulled the trigger and a fire blast burst from the barrel. He refused to let go as the Goliath struggled, the flames roasting its insides. Finally, it stopped struggling and the Goliath fell to the ground. Dead.
Skyler landed on his feet and wiped his hands, "Welp, that takes care of that!"
Dante just stared at him, "...That was the most metal thing I've ever seen."
"I gotta agree," Hazel said, "That was awesome!"
They turned their attention to see that Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had defeated the Death Stalker and Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were still dealing with the Nevermore.
Yang shot bullets from her Ember Celica, gaining the bird's attention. It flew towards her and Yang jumped right in its mouth, holding it open.
"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUNGRY!!!" Yang screamed in between shots she fired into the Nevermore's mouth.
She jumped out and landed just as the bird slammed into the cliff side, got up, and screeched.
"Yang," Skyler grinned, "You are the only person I know who can punch a bird out of the sky."
They continued to watch as her and Blake used Blake's weapon to string across two pillars as Weiss froze the Nevermore in place. Ruby then hopped on her Crescent Rose and got on the string, which Weiss pulled back with a glyph.
Skyler's jaw dropped, "I think I know what they're doing..."
Ruby was slingshotted directly at the Nevermore. Her blade caught in in the neck and she landed on the cliff side. Weiss proceeded to make more glyphs, setting a path for Ruby to run on.
Ruby ran up the side of the cliff, dragging the bird with her. When she finally reached the top, she pulled the trigger. Thus decapitating the Nevermore. It's giant body fell down the cliff as everyone watched in awe.
_______________________________
"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester," Ozpin called out, "Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by... Cardin Winchester."
There was some applause, and the next group walked up.
"Skyler Yin, Walker Elliot, Hazel Tikal, and Dante Williams. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team SHDW (Shadow)."
Skyler nodded a bit, thinking the team name was pretty cool.
"Led by... Skyler Yin."
Skyler jumped a bit. Him? Leader? Ozpin gave him a little smile and his team walked off the stage. His teammates clapped him on the back and Skyler couldn't help but smile.
Ozpin continued as Jaune and his team walked up, "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)."
Nora grinned happily and hugged Ren.
"Led by... Jaune Arc!"
Jaune jumped, "Huh?! Led... by?"
"Congratulations young man," Ozpin smiled.
Pyrrha grinned and punched Jaune's arm playfully. Unfortunately, the poor boy wasn't prepared and was knocked to the ground. After JNPR had left, Ruby and her team stepped up.
"And finally," Ozpin said, "Blake Belladona, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose."
Skyler took one look at Weiss's expression and said, "Oh dear. I sense jealousy..."
Nevertheless, Yang tackled her sister in a hug, "I'm so proud of you!!"
"Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year," Ozpin finished.
Skyler looked over at his team and smiled. Ozpin was right. This will be very interesting.
_______________________________
Aaaaand done! Now to go into the filler episodes that sort of served purpose? I guess? Till next time guys!