Dream of an Emerald Forest – Chapter One – Arrival.

"Alright, it's official: we passed it." Weiss had been pacing back and forth in front of Ruby in an attempt to get her bearings for the past few minutes. Being launched from a cliff to start her initiation had thrown off her sense of direction, and the dense trees of the emerald forest meant her vision was limited to only a few metres.

She'd still never admit that she had no idea where she was going in front of Ruby, though.

"Weiss, why can't you admit that you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby stood up, trying to mask her annoyance.

"Because I know exactly where we're going! We're going to... to... do you hear that?" Ruby cupped a hand over her ear. Among the sounds of the wildlife, she heard several very distinct snaps, followed shortly by four muted thuds.

"Yeah, branches breaking. Maybe someone else landed near here. Let's investigate!" Before Weiss could react, Ruby had vanished through the bushes, leaving a trail of falling petals in her wake. Weiss sighed in exasperation before setting off after her.

It was only a few minutes before she caught sight of her partner again. Ruby was standing still for once, looking between a pair of trees at something Weiss couldn't see.

"Ruby, who is it?" Weiss knew that it was unlikely to be anyone Ruby had met before, but it seemed to be worth a try. Ruby, however, did not respond. "Ruby?" she asked again. Walking a bit slower than before, Weiss felt the urge to be cautious. She'd heard a Nevermore overhead while she was chasing Ruby, and she didn't want to draw its ire. Coming up beside her, she realised what had caused Ruby to freeze.

Something inhuman was already in the clearing.

They weren't Grimm. She knew that much, but beyond that, she had no idea what they were. While the strange bodies in front of her had the same basic shape as a human, Weiss couldn't dispel the thought that the armour-clad sleepers in front of her were from somewhere beyond Remnant.

"I'm pretty sure that this isn't part of initiation," She broke the silence, shaking Ruby out of her stupor. The ice-cold heiress was not usually prone to stating the obvious, but the four unconscious humanoids they had encountered had shocked her out of her normal, stoic persona.

"What should we do?" Ruby asked. "We can't just leave them here. What if a Grimm shows up?"

"Well, what would you suggest? We can't exactly carry four people. We'd be too burdened to fight even if we could!" Weiss countered. Cold logic beat altruism in her eyes, but Ruby had an alternate solution in mind.

"Then we wake them up." she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you insane? We don't know what these things are!" Weiss wasn't keen on the notion of being outnumbered by potentially hostile creatures, especially when she wasn't sure of their origins. A lifetime of conflict and betrayal had taught her to always know about any possible threats.

"It would solve us having to carry them," came Ruby's optimistic response. "And if they've got weapons, we'll have four more allies to fight with!"

"Maybe so, but I still think we should be cautious about this. If we're going to do this, we should only wake them up one at a time." Weiss' suggestion seemed like a good compromise to Ruby. Only waking one up meant they would outnumber it if it turned out to be hostile.

"So… which one do we wake up?" There were four bodies, and each one seemed more bizarre than the last. The first appeared to be male, if the lack of "curvature" was any indication. It was mainly blue, with muddy browns and glowing red dots arranged in patterns down its body. Its shoulders had several rings jutting out perpendicularly to its arms, and its hips were partially covered by a skirt that stretched around the back of its legs. Most bizarre was the helmet, which resembled a snapping turtle with a small crest on the back and a spike where a human's nose would be.

The second was female, and seemed to be modelled after a harlequin. Its colours were abruptly divided between maroon and a purplish blue. The exception to this was the creature's legs and arms, which were both a rich creamy colour from the knees and elbows down. Her knees had armour on them which stretched back up, almost reaching her waist. Her helmet had two curled spines pointing outwards on either side, while the front had a pale round mask with two unblinking lights where her eyes should be.

The third was another male, and definitely embodied the physical might of the group. Its torso was top-heavy to an almost absurd degree, with so much muscle between its shoulders that it took them both a moment to work out that the flat topped wedge in the midst of this mass was actually its head. Its arms were similarly bulky, with thorn-like spikes growing out near the hands, but didn't share the reddish-brown colour of its main body, instead being a bony white. It also had what looked like several strips of its skin hanging freely from its abdomen. Finally, its legs were wide and flat above the knees. They were a dark, grayish colour.

The last of them was androgynous, with a body that seemed split between two halves. Half of it was white, and the other half was black. The abdomen was covered by a set of stretched rings, like a ribcage. Similar rings went through its upper arms, while flowing fabric draped from below its elbows. The same kind of fabric came from in front of its hips, much like the brute. Its helmet had a dull reflective crystal embedded in the front, with two large horns stretching vertically from the top.

"I vote for the Jester!" said Ruby. "She looks fun!" She moved to start waking it up, but Weiss put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

"I'm not so sure about that," said Weiss, "It seems like it would be less… predictable." Something about the mask was unsettling Weiss. It reminded her of the Grimm masks the White Fang were notorious for wearing during their raids on her father's company. "Perhaps we could wake the blue one instead?"

Ruby was many things. Brash, bold, and prone to acting without thinking, but she was also considerate. Weiss was obviously unnerved by the masked creature, so Ruby took heed of her suggestion, and moved to the turtle-headed one. "So… how do we do this?" she asked. Weiss' response was to put her hand on her brow, covering her face with her palm.

"It was your idea! I thought you knew!" she shouted, exasperated once again by her partner's dim-wittedness. She quickly realised her mistake, and moved her hand to cover her lips. A moment passed, but the creatures did not stir. She let her hand fall back to her side.

"Doesn't your dad run a big military company? I thought these were some kind of upgrade to the Atlesian Knights." Ruby's voice wasn't as quiet as Weiss would have liked, but it didn't seem to disturb the sleepers.

"Ok, first: the Schnee Dust Corporation isn't a military company, we just sponsor the Atlesian forces. Second: Look at these things! Do they look like our tech to you?"

"I just thought they were some kind of prototype."

"Well, they're not. We have no idea what these things are. We don't even know if they're sentient!" Weiss' voice raised at the end of her tirade, but once she stopped speaking, she realised that there was another noise coming from below them. The creature was beginning to stir. "Uh… what do we do?"

"Hide!" Ruby said. She had spotted a bush nearby, which they quickly hid in. Weiss wasn't happy with the way the sticks and leaves prodded at her dress, but she didn't want to risk revealing their location by objecting. Looking to Ruby, she saw that her partner was peering through the foliage, watching the events unfold outside.

The creature was on its feet, a warm amber glow surrounding it. The aura swiftly changed to a cold, pale blue before fading. Red electricity began to arc between the rings on its shoulders. As it stood up to its full height (a solid eight feet, by Weiss' estimates), its arms suddenly stiffened, before it hunched forward with them outstretched. A stream of red sparks shot out from its hands, falling to the ground, before it loosened its arms again and stood back up. It slowly turned its head, seemingly surveying its surroundings. When it faced them its gaze seemed to linger for a few seconds, before it turned to its sleeping brethren.

If it saw Weiss and Ruby huddled in the bush, it gave no indication of it. Weiss wasn't sure how she felt about that. It staggered forward, before steadying itself enough to walk with confidence. It walked over to the sleepers with seemingly effortless strides, but Weiss saw something else. Years of training in how to act in front of nobles and delegates made her realise that this creature was not simply walking without thought. Every step was measured, every footfall precisely calculated. Within a second, it had crossed the short distance between itself and the androgynous sleeper. While they didn't know what they were expecting, what happened next caught both Ruby and Weiss off guard.

The creature stretched out its open hand, with its palm facing down over the other creature's chest.

Author's Note: Ok, here's my first attempt at a fanfic. Truth be told, I'm not sure where I'm going to go with it, but hopefully I can deliver something enjoyable to my (likely very tiny) readership. Feel free to leave suggestions for both ways to improve my writing and any possible directions to take the plot.