Chapter 2: Initiation Part One

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. All other mentioned franchises belong to their respective owners. I own nothing by my OC.

(May 6, 2020) Now that I am done with my classes for the Winter Semester, plus Quarantine, time to head back to my older stories.

~Drake~

Finding a sleeping spot was going to be challenging. There were way too many students compared to the living space. I noticed most of the guys were flexing their muscles while some of the girls were giggling and no doubt gossiping. I didn't really much care for that sort of thing, and I couldn't find Gareth anywhere. I did see Ruby and Yang, but I didn't think Yang fully trusted me after what was clearly a misunderstanding. There was a rather large person near the window that most people seemed to avoid.

I shrugged my shoulders. It's better than nothing.

The first thing I noticed was his incredible size and bulk. I'm pretty sure he would tower over me with ease as well as crush me with his bare hands. While he was wearing a lot of dark, long-sleeved clothes he did have a large full-face helm over his head. I was rather cautious with my approach but kept a respectable distance. I couldn't tell if he didn't notice me or didn't care.

"You at least seem decent." A low voice responded, causing me to flinch. I turned around to meet the visor of the helmet. "Yes, that was me. No, I don't want to take my helmet off. Yes, I sleep with it on. No, I don't want to tell you why" His uncaring tone seemed to drone.

"Umm, I wasn't going to ask those."

He turned away from me. "I doubt it."

I tried to make light of the conversation as I rolled my shoulders. "Well, at least not on the first day."

"That would imply we are going to see each other again." I couldn't tell if his tone was more condescending or knowingly smug, but at least it changed.

"I'm pretty sure we will be considering you're basically a giant."

"Hm."

I turned to hear Ruby and that girl in white from before yelling at each other. "They are going to be partners."

"Good riddance." His tone spiteful.

I turned towards the giant. "Someone's not a big fan."

"I wasn't referring to the red one." His tone became rather dark. "It's the girl in white."

I could not help but laugh a little. "Wow, you really don't like her. Do you even know who she is?"

"She's a Schnee. Part of the SDC."

In the background, Ruby and the Schnee girl seemed to calm down as a candle was blown out. Pretty much signifying that it was time for bed. I decided to at least tell the giant my name even if he does not respond.

"Ninn," he responded quietly.

I cracked a smile. At least we're getting somewhere.

Earlier

~Gareth~

As soon as I touched down at Beacon, I could feel something was off. It was that feeling that gets my spine crawling, but now I get a small warmth because of my present circumstances. I couldn't even pay attention to the ceremony because of that nagging feeling. So here I was near the elevator where I this feeling was at its strongest. I rubbed my tattooed arms. Is She here? Why does Her flame feel so faint? I get I wasn't ready back then, but this is different. I slumped against the wall as I really needed to get some sleep. I tried making a small fire dance along my fingers and have it snake up my arm to keep myself occupied.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Mackroy?" I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned to see the Headmaster standing nearby.

I didn't even sense him! Where did he even come from?!

The Headmaster didn't seem surprised to see me. "Are you not comfortable being around others?"

"It's not that, sir. I just can't sleep. There's a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand. It is a lot to take in, not knowing if you are ready. However, I can assure you that every student is here for a reason."

I sat up. "Do you really believe that?"

"I do."

I considered his words. "If you say so, sir."

The Headmaster had a ghost of a smile. "While I can't guarantee that there is a spot available, do try to get some rest."

"I will." I left to go back towards the ballroom. Does he know? He more than likely saw my tattoos. But then again, no one knows the meaning of them. When I got into the ballroom, I saw Drake hanging out with a very large guy and Ruby was having a shouting match with that girl in white from earlier. Not wanting to be involved in any of that, I found a spot on the opposite end of the hall from Drake. Huddling in the corner, I rested my head against the wall letting sleep take over.

The following day

~Drake~

I was already up before most of the students. Being a morning person does that to me. The reason why I get up early so I can eat a decent breakfast. When it came to my locker, didn't really need it as I already had an inventory. I looked over my Hunter's Dagger which would give me my Monster Hunter armor, and my personally crafted Corvo Mask from Dishonored. The latter I normally use for more stealthy missions. The last thing in my inventory was my personal dagger. I pulled it from my inventory and slowly unsheathed it, analyzing it for what seemed like the thousandth time. I seemed to never get tired of the several engravings along the flat of its short, yet thick and jagged design. The royal blue leather its wrapped in reminds me of why I'm here in the first place. Burying those thoughts, I ran my thumb along the straight and narrow cross-guard, lightly poking the plain orbs at either end. Finishing my pseudo-ritual by making small circles along the equally uninspired pommel.

"Bound by nothing"

Sheathing the dagger, I equipped my Hunter's Dagger which gave me the Derring Armor Set and went over my Monster Hunter inventory. I made sure I packed some Potions, my Map, some Well-Done Steaks, a couple Barrel Bomb S, and a few of Whetstones. Double checking everything, I left to go to the meeting area.

~Gareth~

Getting ready was easy enough to do as I only needed to get dressed. I didn't really have anything to place in my locker, but I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes flared for a moment and I took a breath. I sensed Yang coming up from behind.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked as I closed my locker.

"Jeez, how did you know I was coming?" her voice always upbeat.

I turned to face her. "I have an affinity for certain things. You happen to have what I'm interested in."

"Oh? I thought you loved my personality?" she teased while leaning into me. I gently poked her forehead to push her away.

"That remains to be seen. How about we pass this test, then we'll talk. Deal?"

She pouted. "You're no fun." I laughed.

"See you around." I walked off. I noticed Ruby walk into the locker room and waved to her. She waved back.

When I got to the launch area, Drake was already there. He had a set of armor that looked like one of the beginning armors sets from Monster Hunter. His Charge Blade was on his back, but at his hip was a dagger that I didn't think was from the game to my knowledge and I knew I haven't seen him carry it around before. I called out to Drake.

He turned to face me as I took the spot next to him "Oh, hey! You ready for this?"

I placed my arms behind the back of my head. "Of course, I am! This is going to be easy!"

He laughed before turning his gaze towards the forest below. His tone changed. "How do you think we're going to get there?"

I looked down at what we were standing on. "Seems like we are going to be spring-launched." I sensed Yang. She seemed to be at the farther end of the area on Drake's side.

Drake didn't sound too surprised. "Is that even legal? Like, how does he expect us to survive?"

I smirked. "Are you worried?"

"Not really. It just seems rather…extreme."

"I'm honestly excited. Getting to fly around for a bit before crash-landing on the battlefield."

Drake shrugged. "I guess." He turned around to wave towards someone. I looked to see that giant from earlier now decked out in a full suite of heavy armor while carrying a massive warhammer on his right shoulder with no effort. The hammer's head alone was easily as large as me, and he looked like an absolute unit. He stood at least six feet tall. He grunted in response before resting his warhammer on the ground, resting his chin on the pommel.

"Do you know that guy?" I asked.

"Not really. I know his name is Ninn. We met last night. Doesn't talk much but doesn't like the Schnee for some reason."

I snickered. "You mean besides her overall rudeness?"

"Yes, besides that."

I looked around to see that almost all the students were here.

"You think we'll be on the same team as him?"

Drake shrugged. "Maybe, but I think we need to focus on who our partners are going to be.

Earlier

Equipment Locker Room

~Ninn~

As usual, most of the students avoided me. I was used to it. Drake was the only one who seemed friendly, but I've learned to not let myself be taken advantage of. The armor I crafted was easy to put on. Unfortunately, my assigned locker was not large enough to hold Cataclysm because I didn't design a collapsible mechanism for her. Resting the body against my right shoulder, I was going to head outside but I bumped into someone. Surprisingly there wasn't a cry of pain, just silence. I looked down to see a girl with short orange hair and bright blue eyes.

"Oooo! You're a tall one! Taller than Ren!" She leaned to the side to look at Cataclysm. "Your hammer is massive! It's even bigger than my Magnhild! But I don't think it's as powerful as mine!" She kept circling around me and sometimes got uncomfortably close to me while bombarding me with questions that I couldn't make out before someone called out to her.

"Nora! Come on!" I looked to see a young man with a green outfit and a streak of pink in his hair. Perhaps this was Ren that the girl I now knew as Nora was speaking of.

"Coming~" she responded in a singsong voice before literally skipping towards him. I sighed.

What a strange girl. Adjusting my armor, I made my way over to the launch zone. There were a few students already there, and Drake was having a conversation with someone with bright red-orange tattoos. He saw me and waved. Trying to ignore him, I placed Cataclysm in front of me and rested my chin on her pommel. I zoned out everyone and focused on the forest below. I wonder what we will be going after. Are we going to retrieve an item? Will that determine our teams? I'd rather work alone. I sighed. Damn.

~Drake~

I heard Ozpin speaking to us. It seemed like he was talking about how we would be forming teams and how this will be a fight for our lives and such. The one thing I decided to pick up on from his speech was that eye-contact will determine our partners. I think Juane was trying to ask a question, but it wasn't long before the few students that were before me were launch. I heard my platform click beneath me and I felt myself flying in the air. Behind me, I heard Gareth shout with glee, and I turned to see his arms ablaze while corkscrewing in the air.

~Ninn~

As I watched the others get launched and I readied myself to be fired. I heard my platform click, but it seemed to be stuck. I looked down. "Hmm."

The Headmaster and his assistant looked over to me, even as the students after me were able to be launched. "Well, this is odd," mused the Headmaster. The assistant appeared to be making some calibrations or something.

"This is a first." She said more to herself than anyone else.

I groaned under my breath before scanning for a viable spot. "That should be fine." I drew Cataclysm back as far as I could with one hand and effortlessly threw Her toward my intended destination. Only then did the platform decide to launch me. My focus was getting back my weapon, as I can't retrieve Her with the way I threw it. It wasn't long before I reached my apex and I began angling myself towards my landing area. I braced myself as I crashed into the trees below, no doubt ramming through a few trunks before sliding a couple of feet forward. Climbing out of the ditch I made, I rolled my right shoulder and dusted myself off. I didn't even bother to look behind me as I needed to retrieve Cataclysm.

~Gareth~

After crashing down into the forest like a fireball, I stood up to survey my handiwork. I whistled. "Damn, I'm good!" I stared at the flames as they consumed the forest in front of me, I had to stop myself from jumping right in. "Right, so I need to find a partner and head North? Better find Drake." As I turned northward, it wasn't long before I encountered a small pack of Beowolves. Now, I could have just turned the forest into a heatwave and have the entire area burst into flame, but I didn't want to cause collateral damage. So, I settled on shooting some fireballs out of my hands in rapid succession. A roar was heard to my right that sounded like an Ursa to which I rolled out of its swipe. Unable to contain my laughter, I jumped at the Grimm and dug my palm into its face. Its screams of pain and terror filled my ear as I kept pressing my hand deeper until I felt its otherworldly fur. Kicking off it, what was left of its face was a melted pile of bone and not-quite flesh. I shook my hand to get excess gunk off. I always forget that Grimm fur isn't really fur. It always feels artificial. I heated up my hand in order to burn the rest away before returning north. I suddenly I heard a loud crash that sounded distant, but further back. Well that's strange. I thought everyone else would have landed by now...

~Drake~

Landing in forest, I checked my map to see the direction I needed to go. I remembered when I first used my semblance against Grimm, specifically my Hunter Set. I sighed as I headed north. Of everything I could look take in, I heard the ground shake and I smelled a fire to the southwest. What is even happening? I heard a Nevermore cry somewhere. It wasn't long before I encountered some Grimm. Taking care of them was easy as my Charge Blade made quick work of them. I knew with this configuration that my movements would be sluggish, but at least I was already used to this feeling. I loaded up my charged shots for later use and referred to my map relative to where I thought the most likely spot the objective would be. I don't seem to be that far from where I need to be. The forest was mostly quiet, so I stopped to rest. I looked over my Charge Blade and it hasn't lost any sharpness yet. My overall health was in good condition as well. I heard something rustle in the bushes and readied myself. After a few moments, Gareth popped out of the area. His clothes were torn and singed, and I could see even more tattoos than what was just on his arms.

"Hey! Finally found you!"

I sighed with relief. "I'm glad it was you and not a Grimm. You look like you've been busy."

He looked down at his clothes, "I can fix this later. Do you have any idea where we need to go?"

"Mostly. We're actually not that far from where we are supposed to be. You ready, partner?"

"Bet!" As we started walking, we mostly just made idle talk for a while until we got to a clearing with an abandoned temple with some fallen pillars. The first thing we noticed is that clearly there was a fight here. A fairly large hole was in the ground and a couple of trees were covered in ice.

"What do you think happened here?" Gareth asked me.

"Something major." We walked over to the temple and saw that there were chess pieces here. Most of them were already taken. "Chess pieces? Really?"

"Lame~" Gareth groaned. "Most of them are taken anyway." I looked to see what was left: Pawns, Kings, and Queens. Both in black and white.

"Which one do you think we should pick?"

Gareth sounded farther away. "I don't know or care right now. I don't even play chess!"

I didn't turn to face him, so I had to slightly raise my voice. "We should probably wait for more people before we make a decision."

"How long do you think that's going to take? For all we know they could have died." Gareth sounded like he was higher up, and I turned around to see him lazily looking up at the sky on top of a pillar. I climbed up to a lower one and joined him.

"If anyone else died, we would have been picked up."

"What makes you say that?"

"A standard chess board has sixteen pieces for two players: one king, 1 queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. The rooks, bishops, and knights are gone. While the kings and queens are here, only four of the eight pawns are here."

"Your point?"

"My point is that if two people get here at some point, we are going to need to pick pawns or king and queen."

"So why not just pick the king and queen? Aren't they the most important pieces?" Gareth trying to make it sound like an easy decision.

"I thought you didn't know chess?" I teased.

Gareth got needlessly defensive. "I said I didn't play it. It doesn't mean I don't know what it is." He sat up to look down at me, his tone getting serious. "But you don't think it's that simple." It was more of a statement than a question.

"They wouldn't have chosen this unless there was some manner of importance. How about we wait for others to show up and then we can all decide as a group?"

Gareth scratched his head. "You think that they'll be a part of a team with us?"

"Do you see anyone else here?" my voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Yeah yeah." He mused.

Earlier

~Ninn~

Most of the Grimm were easy fodder. My strength allowed me to kill Grimm with my bear hands. Sometimes I would take a fallen tree trunk and use it as a temporary weapon. As I slammed a Beowolf into a tree with a satisfying crack, the splinters splattering in my face, I elbowed another from behind and I heard it whimper. Without hesitation, I pivoted my body so I would hammer my fist into its back. I turned around to face what was left, and they decided to turn and run. It was then that I finally took a breath. Vile creatures. I looked myself over and I could smell the blood on my armor. Going to need to clean this off when I get back. As I got closer to where I figured Cataclysm would have landed, I could hear someone fighting off some more Grimm. It sounded distinctly like a bow. By the time I got there, I saw a hooded figure standing in front of Cataclysm. I could tell from their frame that this was a woman, and she had a dark blue cloak draped over a purple tunic with dark blue tights. She had what looked to be a miniature long bow in hand and an arming sword at her hip. Her quiver was on her opposite hip. She turned to face me with an arrow already notched and angled in a way that appeared to find a weakness in my armor. I did notice beneath her hood that she seemed to have purple hair.

"You're standing in front of my warhammer." I stated. She was unmoving for a while before lowering her weapon. Her body language went from being serious to relaxed and almost carefree. A stark contrast to how I first saw her.

"This is yours? I just found it here! You're telling me you threw it here?"

I was unamused. "Yes. Your point?"

She laughed a little. "Sorry, I just wasn't sure who this belonged to. I figured if I stuck around, someone who come by and pick it up." She went to go pick up her arrows that were scattered along the battlefield. I effortlessly picked up Cataclysm from the ground, making sure She wasn't damaged in any way, before leaving the young woman behind. She caught up with me easily, shouting at me to wait.

"We can't stay here."

"I don't care about that! Do I even get a thank you or a hello?" I looked down at her and she had her arms crossed over her chest; a pout on her face. She had her hood down and I noticed that her hair was entirely purple and was of medium length. It provided a nice balance of not hindering her vision while also looking nice. Wait… She had dark blue eyes and she wasn't even slightly intimidated by my massive size.

"I would have gotten my weapon with or without your help." I said, moving past her. She was somehow able to match my stride.

"Well, Mr. Golem." That made me stop in my tracks.

"Excuse you?"

She looked up at me with a smile. "What? You have this extremely cold exterior, I can't see your face, and you're at least six feet tall! What else do I call you?" She enjoyed making jesters with her hands a lot. I stared at her and all she could do was look smugly at me.

"Ninn." She tilted her head to the side, her smugness subsiding. "That's my name. I don't have a last name." I leaned towards her to try and intimidate her to leave me be. "Now, it seems like you and I are going to be partners. Despite my preference to work alone, I'm stuck with you." I stood back up, and still she wasn't fazed by me. "So, if you have nothing else to say, let's get moving." I continued to walk forward.

"Rache." I turned my head slightly. "Call me Rache."

(May 9th 2020) Hoooo boy, it has been a long time. I hope you guys are handling the quarantine well enough. Be safe and all that. I haven't had that bad of a time since I'm an introvert by nature and generally prefer isolation. I do plan on continuing what is now my most "popular" story (at the time of writing this), RWBY: The Hunter from Earth, but I want to at least write a few Chapters of my other stories just so they are not gathering dust.

Don't worry, I don't have any plans on making brand new stories so it'll just be new chapter uploads in the near future. Unless something comes up that causes me to have the inability to write of course.

Stay safe guys!

This is TheTriforceofAwesomeness, and I will see you all next time.

Peace!