Somewhere in the Emerald Forest Yang Xiao Long was in a misty part of the forest as she was looking for her cousin or sister or anyone in general. "Helloooooooo?" Yang yelled out not seeing a shadow quickly pass by her.
"Is anyone out there? Helloooo?" Yang yells. The Blond Brawler stops and raises her arms trying to get anyone's attention. "I'm getting bored here!" Yang said with her arms in the air. She then hears a rustling in the bushes behind her and turns. "Is someone there?" Yang asked. The rustling continues as Yang comes over and peaks inside. "Ruby, is that you? If that is you Amelia you got me there for a second." Yang said.
A low, inhuman growl is heard, and Yang's head rises up as she stares at the creature. "Nope!" Yang said. 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.
"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you? Or a girl with bat wings by any chance?" Yang asked. The Ursai merely growled at her in response. "You could just say "no"." Yang said.
One of the Ursai stands on its legs and swipes at her twice, Yang barely dodging the attacks, but somehow laughing. "Geeeez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a ba..." Yang said until she went silent. 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.
"You..." Yang says as she closes her violet eyes, then opens them to reveal red, making the Ursai look at each other confusedly before Yang screams. "You monster!!!" Yang screamed in an outrage.
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?!" Yang asked. The Ursa rears up and prepares to strike... right when a whirling noise is heard and the monster makes a befuddled noise, falling down a second later to reveal Blake Belladonna with her Gambol Shroud in the beast's back.
Yang pants in exhaustion while Blake recalls the weapon back to her hand, sheathing it on her back and smiling to the side (or the audience, if she broke the fourth wall). Yang, now purple-eyed again, speaks to her new partner over the smoking remains of the monster. "I could've taken him." Yang said.
Meanwhile, back with Ruby and Weiss or just as Weiss now has, her new partner had run off somewhere so she had to face these beasts herself. Weiss uses Myrtenaster to deflect the swipe from a Beowolf and getting pushed back into the middle of the beastly circle.
She holds out her rapier as she goes through her 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!" Weiss said in her head as she brings her rapier up as the revolver spins.
Weiss dashes forward with her loaded weapon at the Beowolf in front of her, just when Ruby suddenly appears between the two in a blur of rose petals and a swipe of her Crescent Rose scythe, landing a hit on the monster. "Gotcha!" Ruby said.
Weiss widens her eyes and screams as she quickly has 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 Weiss' mess-up, is barely defended when the same Beowolf scratches at her weapon, knocking the younger girl into the heiress. "Hey, watch it!" Ruby said. "Excuse me! You attacked out of turn! I could have killed you!" Weiss said. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that..." Ruby said.
The duo wield their arms as the pack of Beowolves whine and growl around them. Ruby reloads her scythe just as a flaming tree falls near them. "We have to go!" Weiss said, grabbing Ruby's arm. She leads 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.
Ruby and Weiss stop in 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!" Ruby said. "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!" Weiss said.
Hearing this causes the young girl to scoff. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby asked. "I'm just surprised someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!" Weiss said. "Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight. I'm just fine on my own!" Ruby said. "Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo!" Weiss said sarcastically.
Weiss begins to walk off on her partner yet again. Ruby, with an agitated shriek, unfolds Crescent Rose, slices a tree down to the stump, refolds it back, and follows her partner as the tree crashes behind her. Neither notice the large dark feather floating onto the fallen trunk behind them. "Really wish Amelia were here." Ruby muttered under her breath.
Meanwhile, Amelia was busying using Echo to slice the hand of a Ursa that tried to slice her with its claws. Once the hand was cut off the beast roared and tried to slice Amelia with the other hand that had claws, but thanks to her wings she was able to rise in the air getting out of reach.
The beast tried to grab her, but Amelia stayed high enough above it to be out of reach; she then makes Echo transform into its crossbow form as she reaches her arm back and pulls an arrow out of the quiver. She then puts it on the crossbow and shoots it and thanks to it's sharp edge it is successful and pierces through its mouth and out the Ursa's neck. The Ursa then falls on the ground and soon disintegrates leaving behind the arrow.
Amelia then lands on the ground and picks up the arrow putting it back in the quiver to be used for later. She then hears more growling from behind as she sees a Ursa launched towards her. Amelia quickly reacts by using her wings to help launch her in the air that saved her from nearly getting smashed from the overall weight of the beast. "Sorry! I didn't mean for it to nearly hurt you!!!" Felix yelled.
Amelia looked to see Felix using the blades of his gauntlets to help defend himself from the slash of a Ursa major that tried to hit him. The bat Faunus then noticed one normal Ursa coming in from behind Felix with its arm in the air ready to strike. Amelia quickly responded by shooting an arrow to the hand of the Ursa and hitting a nearby tree making the Ursa have a hard time moving it.
Seeing the Ursa was momentarily immobilized Amelia uses her wings to quickly fly towards it and then transforms Echo back into a sword and use it to stab the Ursa in the chest killing it. Once there seemed to be only one threat left Amelia looked to see Felix effortlessly raise the major Ursa over himself while holding onto it with both arms without him looking strained surprising his new teammate.
Suddenly another Major Ursa came out and Felix threw the one in his hands at the newest Grimm knocking them both down. He then holds his arms out and double pressed a button built into the palm part of his gauntlets making the blades come out, but they were much longer than then the other ones. He rushes over to the beasts and quickly does a 360 spin near them cutting the two Major Ursas into two parts.
Once the threat seemed like it passed Felix turned towards Amelia who put her sword away and looked at the boy impressed. "Wow! How did you just lift that Major Ursa as if it was nothing?" Amelia asked, walking towards the boy. "Oh my semblance is super strength, not really very original or too flashy, but useful." Felix said.
Amelia then stood in front of him with her arms crossed, but a smile on her face. "Well I think it's great." Amelia said. "Thanks, coming from the most awesome woman I ever met that means a lot." Felix said, smiling at her, making Amelia feel her heart beat increase each second she saw him showings pearly whites at her.
"O-oh, why t-thank you, you don't have to be so flattering though." Amelia said looking away so she wouldn't get mesmerized by that grin on her partner's face. "Well I should if it is true." Felix said, giving an infectious smile that even makes the girl smile and leaves her a blushing mess although she couldn't see his smile.
"What was the heaviest thing you ever lifted?" Amelia asked, trying to change the topic and hopefully make her cheeks normal color. "Last time I even paid attention was two years ago when I lifted a tractor that was nearly two thousand and five hundred pounds. It has been a while since I checked though so I am sure it is more." Felix said. "Well seeing you lifted a Major Ursa with both hands without breaking a sweat I don't doubt that." Amelia said looking back at him when she feels her cheeks cool down.
The two of them then continued walking through the forest as they continued looking for the temple. Deciding to take this moment of non Grimm fighting to learn more about Felix Amelia started asking him more questions. "So Felix I've been wondering, why did you want to be a Huntsman?" Amelia asked.
Felix and Amelia then take a turn by a cliff and continue walking trying to find where the destination they are looking for is. "Well Amelia you see years ago, right around, I was probably five, I lived in a small village in Anima. One day my family's village got attacked by the Grimm and we were saved by a Huntsman. I was so amazed with how confident, amazing and skilled he was. He took down Grimm easily and saved everyone in the village." Felix said.
They then found their way out of the forest and found themselves near a small cliff that had ground below them. Felix and Amelia looked at each other before Amelia nodded knowing what he was going to ask. Amelia then wrapped her arms around Felix's waist and tried to keep her mind focused on anything that wasn't the feeling of what felt like a six pack.
After a second of feeling the chiseled things Amelia then uses her wings to help fly her and Felix down to the ground safely. "He inspired me to be better and help people so I can protect them the way he did for me and my family. So I decided to join Beacon and fight the Grimm with Malices." Felix said. Amelia then looks at the boy confused. "Don't you mean Malice?" Amelia asked. "Oh no my gauntlets, together I call them Malices since there are two of them." Felix explained while showing Amelia his gauntlets.
The two of them land on the ground as Amelia unwraps her arms from Felix and two continue on their path. "What about you? Why do you want to be a Huntress." Felix asked. "Well Felix, my family is probably the main reason I wanted to start my career as one." Amelia said. "How so?" Felix asked. "Well my dad was actually a student who joined Beacon and became part of the best team to join Beacon." Amelia and Felix said as they started walking through some trees.
"What about your mom?" Felix asked. "My mom actually was training to be a Huntress for a while until she had to quit. My grandma got sick and they didn't have much money so my mom sacrificed their money they were using to go to school and gave it to help cure her mother's sickness." Amelia said as Felix had a sympathetic look on his face. "Jeez, that must have been hard to give up on her dreams like that." Felix said.
"Yeah it was, my grandma didn't get better for a while so my mom had to pick up a job at a bar that was in the village her family lived in. After my dad became a Huntsman a few years later my dad got an assignment by Ozpin so on the way to the mission he passed through and decided he needed a drink, he went to the bar my mom worked at. That is when they met." Amelia said.
"What happened then?" Felix said as he saw they were walking their way towards a branch. He then activated the blade on his gauntlet and sliced the branch off and then disengaged the blade. "Well they talked for a night, my dad finished the job and went back to Patch. But he told me something didn't feel right, that he felt like he left something behind so he asked Ozpin for another job near where my mom worked." Amelia said.
"Suddenly he kept on asking for missions in that area so he could get near my mom, letting the two of them get to talk more and get to know about each other. After months of using missions as an excuse to see her my dad went there and asked her out on a date and the rest was history." Amelia said.
"Alright, but wait you said your mom worked at a bar, how did she become a Huntress then?" Felix asked. "Well after a couple of weeks of dating, my dad said my mom bugged him enough to join him on missions and she was actually pretty good. This led to where the two of them would constantly go on missions together and since she was helping Ozpin, the headmaster decided to give her her license as a thank you for all she has done for him." Amelia said.
"So you see being raised by two Hunters made it just feel like getting the profession was you know natural. Plus my aunts and uncle were hunters that were on my father's team, so you know that didn't make it feel like there were many other options of what I should do with my life." Amelia said. Felix then chuckled looking at his teammate. "Well when you say it like that you also could have become a bartender." Felix said as he and Amelia both chuckled at what he said. "Yeah, you make a good point." Amelia chuckled.
Meanwhile, across the Forest, Pyrrha Nikos, armed with Miló and Akoúo̱, and Jaune Arc are making their way through the bushes. Jaune hears a noise far away and turns his head. "Did you hear that?" Jaune asked. "Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy." Pyrrha said.
They keep moving forward, Jaune still staring in the sound's direction as Pyrrha raises a branch to pass by and accidentally releases it right at Jaune's face, flooring him instantly. Pyrrha looks back behind her to see Jaune on the ground. "Jaune! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha said whole heartedly.
Not wanting to look bad in front of her Jaune laughs trying to pass it off as if it was nothing, lowering his hand from his cheek to reveal a gash from the wooden recoil. "It's okay. Just a scratch!" Jaune said acting as confident as he could while getting back up when Pyrrha approaches him.
"Why didn't you activate your Aura?" Pyrrha asked. "Huh?" Jaune asked. "Your Aura." Pyrrha said. "Gesundheit." Jaune said. "Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune waves the question off, avoiding eye contact from Pyrrha. "Psch! Of course I do! Do you know what Aura is?" Jaune asked, pointing at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha smiles at him, which Jaune starts to feel weak in the knees for some weird reason, but he tries to keep his stance straight as Pyrrha explains what aura is making her not see Juane having a hard time standing. "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?" Pyrrha said. "Uh... yeah." Jaune said.
"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals." Pyrrha said walking around Jaune. "What about monsters?" Jaune asked. "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." Pyrrha said. "Right, that's why we fight them!" Jaune said. "It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both." Pyrrha said.
"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." Pyrrha said. Jaune opens his eyes with the revelation of what it basically is in simple terms. "It's like a force field!" Jaune said. "Yes, if you want to look at it that way." Pyrrha said.
Pyrrha walks up to Jaune and touches the side of his head. Jaune didn't know why, but the second Pyrrha touched he suddenly felt his breath caught in his throat unable to say anything. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate." Pyrrha said. "Uhh... Okay." Jaune said, complying as soon as he could, still questioning why he felt the way he did a couple seconds ago.
Pyrrha smiles and closes her own eyes, opening them as her skin glows and her irises shrink before shutting them again. The two stand there, now with Pyrrha glowing a faint red and Jaune a bright white.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death." Pyrrha said, but Jaune had no idea what she meant. She placed a hand on his chest which would have made her feel his faster heartbeat if not for the armour he had on. "I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Pyrrha said.
Pyrrha stops glowing red and hunches over in tiredness from unlocking the aura. "Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, concerned by how she was still glowing. Once she regains her strength Pyrrha stands back up. It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." Pyrrha said.
She grins as she watches the scratch close up and vanish as if it was never there. "You have a lot of it." Pyrrha said. Jaune smiles and looks at his hands as the glow stops. "Wow..." Jaune said forgetting all the weird feelings he felt with Pyrrha that happened in the last few minutes.