"The Knight," Eli says suddenly as she plucks said black piece into her hand, rolling it around her fingers as you follow her to the mouth of the Temple. "It is the most unpredictable piece, alternating between the dark and the light, yet with its long reach, it's one of many important pieces on the board."
You blink in surprise. "I didn't beg you as someone who knows about chess." You comment. Not that you know much either. Simply the basics.
"My Handler taught me a few bits here and there," she shrugs, pocketing the black piece into her trousers. She turns to you, her fang poking out at her smile. "Returning to the cliff now? Or should we hunt more Grimm?"
You admit that you're a bit curious about her handler. Eli wasn't the kind who would take orders from someone weaker than her, so it comes to a standing that her handler must've been very strong. But you push that curiosity aside for later. You are about to answer her question when a rustle cuts your thought.
You whirl around, and you don't need to check to know Eli doing the same. There, over in the bushes you could see something moving. There's a chance that it's another candidate, but there's also a chance of a Grimm attack. Nonetheless, you bring
Carnwennan out.
"Hey Blake, is that the—oh hey!"
A familiar face walks out of the bush. Lush, blonde hair reaching down to her hip, orange scarf around her neck, and wearing a brown and black 'armor' that seems to express her tracts of land—
or however Roman said it—and a pair of naked legs. She's waving at you cheerfully, eyes glinting in recognition.
"Yang, please don't—"
Another feminine voice, tinged with exasperation. She walks out of the same bush Yang had. Long—
shorter than 'Yang's'—black hair tied by a black bow, what seems to be her weapon poking over her shoulder, and a set of black and white 'armor' that was less showy than 'Yang's', but nonetheless showed a vast tract of land—
are you using it correctly?
You suppose wearing actual armor isn't that crucial when you have Aura to protect yourself, and it's generally known that if you lose your Aura, you'll still get fucked however good is your armor, anyway. Hell, yours—
aside from some bulletproof pads for extra protection—and Eli's couldn't even count as an armor.
The black haired girl seems to freeze immediately mid-sentence when she sees you. Or rather, Eli.
You glance at her with a questioning brow. In response, she gives you a somewhat feral smile and shrugs. You note that her tail is swishing rather excitedly. You reply with a shrug and relax yourself as you turn to the pair of girls, slipping
Carnwennan into your belt after you retract its blade.
In response to 'Yang's' cheerful waving, you reply with a raised hand. "Hey."
She seems to take that as an invitation as she approaches you. "You're here before us." She whistles. "Neat. Are you the first?"
You shake your head. "Two pieces have already been taken," you inform her, nodding at the two empty pedestals on the side. "We just got ours." You tilt your head at your previous Knight's pedestal.
Yang hums as she walks past you. "Neat." She says aloud. Looking over your shoulder, you note that she's doing a silent game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe with her finger. After a moment, she plucks a piece, revealing a golden rook.
She smiles triumphantly as she returns to you, only to die a quick death when she notices that her partner is still standing there. "Hey, Blake?" She calls out, voice concerned. "You alright there? Uhm," she seems to follow Blake's eyes. "You're not afraid of a dog—"
"Wolf." Eli corrects, clicking her tongue.
"Right. Wolf Faunus, right?"
"What?" That seems to snap the black-haired girl off her daze. "Yeah, I'm fine." She assures her friend. You make note that she's making an effort to avoid looking at your partner as she closes to Yang. "Um…"
You tune out whatever conversation they're having as you turn once again to Eli. She catches your gaze and gives you another shrug. "She looks somewhat familiar." Is her answer.
You hum, taking her answer as such. After a few moments, you open your mouth—
Only to click it shut in brief annoyance as you hear a disruption in the air. Looking up, you blink as a giant Nevermore appears into your vision; and by a muttered curse by someone behind you, you're not the only one who notices. Said Nevermore also seems struggling to stay in the air. Oddly enough, if you strain your ears, you could almost hear the sound of girlish screaming…
"Isn't that Penny?"
"Huh?" You glance at your partner, pointing a finger at the Nevermore. Following it, you squint your eyes and—a patch of orange and black-red behind it. Penny and probably Yang's sister. "Huh. So it is."
"...Ruby?"
Well, that confirms it.
Suddenly, the giant Nevermore tilts its body, sending it careening head first towards the earth. You roughly guess that it won't hit the Temple, so you don't bother moving away. The falling Nevermore's high-pitched scream is also accompanied by an excited girlish shriek of apparently 'Ruby'.
They hop off the Nevermore at last second, rolling on the ground, and standing up unharmed beyond a few dirt-stains on their clothes. The Nevermore, however, does not seem to receive such luck as it digs a trench into the earth, twitches twice, and dissipates into tiny black motes.
You blink, look at the new arrivals, and nod your head in acceptance.
"Cool," Eli remarks, leaning an elbow over your shoulder. You don't disagree.
"Ruby?!" Yang repeats. You note the shock in her tone as she rushes onto her sister.
Said sister seems to have just noticed her, but before she could say anything, Yang already bowled her with an embrace. "Yang?" Comes her muffled reply, before she suddenly starts struggling futilely. "Stop, you're embarrassing me!"
Tuning out their conversation, you approach the first girl you had talked with going to Beacon. Beside you, Eli seems happy to just follow your lead—her eyes glinting in interest at the dozen floating swords behind her. You would lie if you're not interested as well. And by the fact that she took down the giant Nevermore, the girl is definitely strong.
Penny turns to you, smiling gleefully as she waves at you with that twitching mechanical movement that you're growing to get used to. "Cyan, Elizabeth! Salutations!" She raises her hand high at that. "It is nice to encounter the both of you here."
You nod, smiling a bit. "Hey Penny. How are you?"
"I'm feeling sensational, Cyan!" She answer excitedly, showing white teeth. "I have made a new friend along the way as well," at that, she gestures at the smothered girl. "Ruby Rose."
Said Ruby gasps as she successfully extricates herself from her grinning sister's suffocating embrace. She gives you a cheerful look, and then one mixed with awe. "Oh, aren't you the one from yesterday?"
"The one and only," Eli answers for you.
Ruby blinks in befuddlement. "Wait, you guys are partners? Didn't you—"
You shake your head to cut her off. "It was just a friendly spar."
Eli adds in her two Lien. "What he said."
Ruby blinks. "Uh…" she shakes her head, smile returning as she bounds over Penny's side. She glances at Yang, and at her nod, tentatively offers a hand to you. "Well, uh, I'm Ruby Rose." Then she pauses, before breaking out into a sheepish giggle. "Though I suppose Penny already introduced me." She points at her sister. "She's my sister, Yang Xiao Long."
"And she's Blake Belladonna!" Yang exclaims, dragging her partner to her side.
You dip your head, taking up Ruby's hand. "Nice to meet you all. I'm Ciane Skye, but please call me Cyan."
"And I'm Elizabeth Scarlett." She gives a feral smile at both Ruby and Yang, much to their apparent discomfort. "Call me Eli. Let's fight later."
"Cyan says that each people has their own requirement to become your friend." Chimes Penny.
"Uh," Yang takes control, rounding her arm around her sister. "We'll think about—"
Before she could finish her answer, a loud explosion erupted from somewhere deep in the forest.
Carnwennan slips into your hand as you face the direction—only to blink as an Ursa roared out with a girl… riding it. You could only watch in pure confusion and befuddlement before the orange girl smashes its warhammer onto the Ursa's faceplate, and frontflips onto the ground.
The Ursa falls, before dissipating. Not long, a familiar boy in green comes out after her, huffing and puffing as he rests to his knees. "Nora—" breathe "—don't do that again."
"Aww, but that was fun!" Nora pouts, before turning to you and all around you. "Oh, hey! I guess we're not the first to arrive! The more the merrier, am I right or am I right, Ren?"
Said Ren straightens himself. "You are… right."
Another rustling noise, coming from another side of the forest. This time, it's Umbra Laeve and Weiss Schnee stepping into the clearing. Umbra looks silent as ever, but the Schnee heiress looks between the mix of miffed and confused.
You blow a sigh through your nose as you lean onto your partner. The place suddenly got too crowded for your own taste. "Eli, we should—"
A shrill high-pitched shriek sounds off in the sky. A vaguely familiar blonde-haired boy sails through the air, before painfully bowls over one of the Temple's pillars. You're somewhat amazed that it hasn't fallen yet.
Not long, you could feel a tremor on the ground. Pyrrha Nikos pops out of the bushes with her shield raised - just in time to stop the incoming Deathstalker's claw from gutting her Aura, but throwing her back several steps away.
A sound catches your attention, and you watch several glyphs form under Umbra, courtesy of the Schnee heiress. You glance to the side and receive a bloodthirsty grin from your partner.
Not to be left out, you dash towards the Deathstalker,
Carnwennan ready to strike. Your partner takes by your side, her right arm transformed into her wolf one. The Grimm notices your approach, and it rears its tail. You prepare yourself against the strike as the tail lashes out—
From the corner of your eyes, you note Umbra jumping at the crux of the glyph, and you blink as he interrupts the tailstrike mid-air, slamming him to the ground, yet still standing and tanking.
Not one to waste an opportunity, you kick your legs out and use Umbra's shoulders as a platform, allowing you to hover above its tail. Death Perception activates, and the tail is cut into two as
Carnwennan traces its Line. Off the corner of your eyes, you could see Eli charging at the Deathstalker like a maddened berserker.
You drop yourself over the Grimm's left claw, and
Carnwennan makes a short job out of it. The Deathstalker almost looks panicked as it brings its right claw to stop Eli, but she simply frontflips over it. Her arm shrinks, and her right leg transforms just in time to bring a nasty axe drop over the Grimm's head, crushing its carapace effortlessly.
It's a proof of its resilience when Death Perception tells you that it's still alive. Deciding to strike while the iron's hot,
Carnwennan's blade parts into two, revealing a cylindrical hole. With a cock, a click, and a pull of the trigger later, a round of Red Dust promptly blasts the Deathstalker's already cracked head, ending it proper.
You step off from its disembodied claw just in time for the Grimm to dissipate into black motes. Your heart beats in excitement, and blood pumps with adrenaline—and you only notice the nearly palpable silence as you turn at the crowd.
You sniff, all good mood from the fight vanished at they stare at you. Twitching, you call over your stretching partner. "Let's get the Initiation over with."
()_()_()
"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, and Umbra Laeve." There's a curt applause as the four line up before the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin. After a moment, he continues, "The four of you have retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day onward, you will work together as team… Apple."
At the announcement, the letters 'APWL' form respectively under their photos on the screen. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, and Umbra Laeve. There's another stretch of applause and cheering, longer than before. It quietens down soon enough.
Ozpin continues, and if you don't know any better, you would think he's smirking a bit. "Led by… Jaune Arc."
Another applause. Two not dissimilar, but of different reason, looks plaster themselves over Jaune's and Weiss' face. Pyrrha smiles widely, bumping his shoulder with her fist, but it appears that she packs quite a punch as Jaune is thrown to the ground.
The crowd laughs, but after a moment, the newly formed Team Apple steps down.
"Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Yang Xiao Long." They line up accordingly in front of the professor. "The four of you have retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day onward, you will work together as team… Burgundy. Led by Blake Belladonna."
There's another round of applause. Nora glomps Ren, and then Blake, whilst Yang grins and pats the shocked Blake's back. They step off from the stage after the new leader recovers her apparent shock. And… fear? You're not sure.
After a while, it seems that it's your time to climb onto the stage. You look over your teammates. Ruby Rose, the scythe user as she had shown you on the return back, and her partner, Penny Polendina, the odd girl with a fixation on making friends. You take a last look at your partner, Elizabeth Scarlett, and fellow blood knights.
Nodding together, the four of you climb up to the stage and line before the professor.
"Ruby Rose, Penny Polendina, Ciane Skye, and Elizabeth Scarlett." He nods at each and one of you. "The four of you have retrieved the Black Knight pieces. From this day onward you will work together as team…
[] Persimmon (PERS)
[] Rubes (RPSS)
[] Precipitate (PRCE)
[] Write-in (As a rule, the name needs to be at least associated with colors. Ciane and Eli cannot become the leader)"
There's some fanfare here and there, but you return off stage soon thereafter. It seems that you're the last of the team as Ozpin continues his speech. You tune him out, mostly, only listening to the important parts. Once it's done, you're dismissed.
()_()_()
Your new room isn't bad. You're used to sleeping with girls in the same room—you have to. Especially when you've spent years living together with Neo, either in or out of job. Regardless, the Aura you had spent catches up to you as you waddle your way to a random bed.
You give them a curt, "Night," before you slip yourself into the bed.
When you awoke, you feel much better and well-rested. The sun hasn't risen yet, but not for long, you think. Swinging your legs out, you let out a yawn, and take a look of your new teammates. They're still asleep.
Well, except Penny. She's still very much awake. Only that she's not in her bed. Odd.
[] Wake Eli up. Morning spars are always nice to wake your body and soul up, and you're sure she would be up for it.
[] Search for Penny. You're not worried about her, she could take care of herself. But aside of your own curiosity, the same can't be said about others.
[] Do a morning exercise.Sit-ups. Push-ups. Run some laps enough to break out sweat,
[] Go the fuck back to sleep
[] Write-in