"Today all of you will be undergoing a two day survival exercise." Glynda declared.
Spread out across a wide spanning cliff that overlooked the dense greenery of a forest that stretched far and wide with a mountain range surrounding it, each and every first year paid her and headmaster their full attention. They'd been led to rows of metal platforms, the purpose of said platforms not immediately obvious.
"Ugh, why a survival exercise of all things?" Weiss, along with many others, made their displeasure known through their grumblings. He, her, Pyrrha, and Ruby had stuck together on their way up, ending up on platforms a few rows back from the front but all beside one another.
"If you would take a moment to check the watches you've been provided, you'll find that they serve several functions."
Yin raised his left hand, twisting it to see the underside of his wrist. A single tap to the screen of the compact yet sturdy metal device clipped just below the fabric of his gloved caused the screen to light up, a boot up screen featuring the academy's tower popping up before being replaced by a meter filling up. Near the beginning the bar within the meter was red, turning yellow near the middle, before settling on light green once it was filled out.
"Not only will they track your aura levels but they've all been loaded with map data containing information from recent survey's through the forest. That and several other accompanying functions will be activated upon your entry into the Emerald Forest." As she spoke the bar fell to the wayside of the small screen, the rest left blank. "Your only objective is the reach the ruins at the northern end of the forest within the time frame provided where you will be extracted back to the academy. Of course, your performance will be rated according to several factors beyond that but please be aware that an early extraction is always available."
"So cool." Ruby said as she pinched and swiped at the screen of her watch despite a majority of its features being inactive.
"It does seem like a convenient tool to have." Pyrrha said after a quick examination of her own though she lost interest in it quickly, looking to them. "How exactly do you think they'll be measuring how performance?"
"Our ability to handle Grimm is likely the most important factor. Given that our exact extraction time is being left to our discretion, I assume they'll also be taking our overall condition in account when we leave the forest as well." Weiss said, barely bothering with her watch. She spared a moment to shake her head at Ruby's innocent enthusiasm before looking forward. "How exactly are team formations being handled?" She called out over the other students.
That question got everyone to fall silent, all refocusing on the headmaster and the professor.
"The first person you make eye contact with upon landing in the forest will be your partner for the next four years."
"What!?" Ruby was the first to react but hardly the last, a countless number of them voicing shock, disappointment, and worry, all of their plans crushed with a single statement from the headmaster.
A slight bump in the formation of this team of theirs but a manageable one.
"What should we do?" Pyrrha questioned, unlike others who defaulted to complains and panic, getting straight down to creating a plan, looking his way specifically.
"He said we'll be landing so I'd assume we're heading into the forest by air, but I don't see any airships around. It's just a guess but these things are probably launch pads." Yin said, tapping at the platform beneath him with a foot. "We-"
"We should-" Weiss cut in, quickly taking the reins of the conversation. "-head to the ruins they mentioned the moment we land. It's the only landmark we're aware of so it's the best place to meet up."
"That does sound like a sensible plan of action." Pyrrha said.
"Then its decided-"
"It's not a bad idea but I think there's more to consider." Yin said.
Weiss was quick to click her tongue, already glaring his way as if the mere notion of not just speaking over her but going against the plan was a crime. "If you have a better idea, feel free to share it."
Yin looked out over the cliff. The forest was big, big enough that heading to any of its edges could hours and that estimation didn't account for how much of a presence the Grimm had within it. Whatever direction they headed into would define the rest of their time in the forest.
"If they haven't already, it's the same idea everyone here will come up with. If everyone is rushing in the same direction what are the chances all four of us manage to find each other before making eye contact with another person?" Yin asked. Weiss offered no answer, only holding her glare at him. "We're on the right side of the line up here so we're likely to land closer to the eastern side of the forest. We should meet up along the eastern edge and try to find a cave along the mountain range."
"What does a cave have to do with anything?" Weiss asked.
"Would you rather spend the night in the dark surrounded by trees and bushes and whatever is hiding in them?" Camping out in a clearing was no different than asking for a pack of Beowolves or worse to stumble across them.
"It does seem like the better approach to. I believe we should follow Yin's plan." Pyrrha said while giving him a nod before looking to the other two. "What do you two think?"
"I suppose it makes enough sense." Weiss begrudgingly admitted, her displeasure so apparent that the blind wouldn't have had any issues picking up on. She was a prideful one. And if he had to guess, there was also a general distaste for faunus fueling her attitude towards him.
A detail he needed to plan around.
"But what if we still end up running across someone else?" Ruby, the open book that she was, had her anxiety on full-display, not nearly as confident in things as the rest of them. A nonsensical worry, especially for her.
"I've seen that semblance of yours in action. When you land, just keep yourself hidden up in the trees and rush towards the end of the forest. We'll see you there." He assured her. There was no guarantee but the chances of someone not only having a speed-based semblance, deciding to head in the same direction, and happening across Ruby, all at once was unlikely.
Ruby took a breath and nodded.
"Silence!" Glynda's voice carried across the entire cliff. Everyone fell quiet, most having wasted the time they were given to digest the information between panicking and complaining. "You are all to be huntsmen, the guardians of people the world over. Consider this a lesson in adapting to circumstances beyond your control. You'll find that things rarely go to plan in this line of work."
"Now take your stances. We will be starting initiation."
Instead of chatter, this time the cliff was full of shuffling and mechanical sounds.
Swords, guns, axes, hammers, and everything in between were unsheathed or transformed, their wielders standing at the ready.
Weiss readied the metallic rapier that had been attached to her hip, left arm tucked behind her.
Ruby held her scythe in her hands, muttering to herself. "Just head to edge of the forest. Just got to get to the edge of the forest."
Pyrrha, shield in her left hand and sword in the right, looked his way as she settled into a stance. "Good luck."
"Right back at you." Yin said back, shifting his stance but not bothering to prep a weapon like the others.
His theory was proved correct when a click filled the air. It was quickly followed by the panicked yelp of a student now soaring high above the Emerald Forest, their platform having launched them. One by one, with no discernable pattern, each of them were sent flying, some employing methods to slow their descent while others faced it head on.
Pyrrha was the first among their group to go, her platform abruptly springing up and sending her up into the air all in a moment's breath. Several more went before Weiss was sent flying. Ruby was the next to go, an excited shout leaving her despite her anxiety about the whole thing.
His turn came soon enough, the world momentary blurring, only coming back into focus as he reached the apex of his ascent.
He began to fall over the right half of the forest, scanning for any of his would be teammates. He didn't find a single trace and quickly shifted gears, adjusting his weight so he fell further in the eastern half of the forest. Unlike most he didn't use weapon or semblance to slow his descent. As he neared the tall trees, he called upon his aura.
A familiar darkness shrouded him before fading away, armor, weightless and invisible, now wrapped around his body.
He fell deeper beneath the green canopy, branches broken and pushed out the way by his forearms and knees, the impact of them soften and whatever injuries they would've left behind all but completely absorbed. Each branch slowed him down until he was able to grab hold of a particularly thick branch, swinging several slowing circles around it before coming to a spot on it.
Faint breezes shook the greenery around him. Beyond that...silence.
A sure sign that this forest was the long time hunting ground of Grimm.
Yin turned and-
He bent his head, narrowly avoiding a speeding projectile. A javelin had impeded itself into the tree of the branches he stood on.
Pyrrha's javelin.
Yin grabbed hold of the weapon and yanked it out of the tree. It was faint, almost unnoticeable, but there was a force acting on it. A distant pull from ahead. A semblance that allowed her to control things at a distance? Whatever the details, if she was giving up her weapon just to ensure a quicker meetup, he had little reason to go against the decision.
Dropping out of the tree, he allowed the pull on the weapon to guide him.
XOXO
Giving up her weapon in a forest full of Grimm all to try and end up on a team with a boy she barely knew.
On paper, quite possibly the stupidest thing she could've done, but she couldn't find in her to chastise herself. Ruby was nice after the initial novelty of meeting a celebrity wore off and Weiss was…agreeable enough despite her prideful nature. Neither were like Yin. She couldn't risk someone partnering with the one person here who didn't bat at eye at her reputation.
That decision left her with one major problem.
Pyrrha threw herself to the side, avoiding a tree without losing any forward momentum. A moment later the thick wood was reduced to splinters, the white scaly head of a Grimm crashing through it. Another head shot forward, snapping closed just behind her, this one with scales that were jet black.
Of all the Grimm she could've run into why did it have to be a King Taijitu?
The only bright side to this whole situation was that Yin wasn't too far out. In fact, she could feel her weapon, her semblance sensitive to the specific materials it was made out of, rapidly closing it. She wasn't able to exert much of a pull on it from such a distance and with a Grimm disrupting her focus but Yin had been sharp enough to pick up on the faint effects of her semblance.
Another reason to want him as a partner.
She dodged yet another lunge, a familiar bang echoing throughout the forest.
Sure enough, slipping between branches and leaves, her spear came barreling between the dense foliage, embedding itself directly into the right eye of the white scaly head that tried to swallow her whole. Pyrrha twisted around in an instant, grabbing hold of her javelin and ripping it out of the creature before it reared back with baleful hiss. The other head was quick to seek revenge, shooting at her.
Pyrrha dug her heels into the ground and raised her shield, its venomous fangs crashing into the metal. Neither gave away to the other, Pyrrha using a mix of physical force and her semblance to counter the head's attempt to push her back.
The stalemate provided the perfect opening.
Yin, thin blades now pointing out of the ends of the black staff he wielded, dropped from above, sinking one side of his weapon deep into the creature's skull. It went limp, Pyrrha's shield released from its vicious bite as it hit the ground.
Their eyes met, a brief nod exchanged.
Yin ripped his blade free from the head and leaped, dropping behind her in time to avoid the creature's other head. It kept barreling forward, fangs bared in search of revenge for its fallen half. Once more she dug her heels into the ground. This time she didn't take the blow head-on, redirecting the creature's charge past them. As it passed Yin used a single arm to swing his staff, a series of slashes left on the creature.
An eye, near what would've constituted its neck, a few along the body.
With the other half of its body dead it couldn't get very far from them, rearing back for another charge.
Pyrrha raised her shield to intercept the lunge.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets whizzed over her a moment before she registered the gunshots. The remaining eye, the slash along its neck, and the open gashes along its body. With pinpoint accuracy that she wasn't sure she could manage in the split moment before the creature's lunge, Yin blinded the creature and took full advantage of the wounds he already left on it.
It hit the ground at their feet, lunge dying before its fangs ever reached them.
Pyrrha lowered her shield and turned, unable to help the smile forming. "I suppose this officially makes up partners."
"I suppose so." Yin returned the dark handgun in his left hand to the holster at his hip and raised a brow at her. "You know, you're more reckless than you look."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean but thank you for returning my weapon." Pyrrha decided to feign ignorance. Tracking his fall and chucking her spear like she did might've left him with a bit of an ultimatum, but everything worked out in the end.
They were partnered up just like they planned.
"You're more skilled than you let on." Pyrrha noted, eyes drawn back to the fallen King Taijitu. As with all Grimm, its body was already beginning to dissipate into a haze of darkness, but she could still pick up the wounds left on the creature. The slashes and gunshots alike were completely efficient, Yin having only hit the weakest parts of the creature.
"Is that so?" He questioned lamely.
Pyrrha found her curiosity further stirred. Was he being humble? Maybe he was genuinely obvious to how impressive his quick dispatch of the Grimm was? Or was he intentionally downplaying himself?
While one's ability to hunt Grimm didn't always translate over to fights against other people, she couldn't help but wonder how they would fare against one another.
A beep put that train of thought on halt.
Pyrrha raised her right arm, the watch they been provided shifting to display something of a map. It marked a few pathways through the forest, a symbol that likely represented the ruins they were charged with heading towards, and plenty more dotted about to mark the general locations of Grimm.
Pyrrha knew enough to figure out that even if it was live data, the positions of Grimm weren't. Either way, it would make for a good guideline.
"We should go find Ruby and Weiss." Pyrrha said as she lowered her arm, Yin doing the same. "I have a feeling that those two may not necessarily get along on their own."
"Lead the way." Yin said.
A little pattern she was beginning to notice with him was how quickly he passed up leading. Back when they first met Ruby and her introduction of Weiss into their group. Even when he came up with the plan they were following, he hadn't been particularly forceful about it, simply stating his thought process. She doubted he would've been phased if Weiss had tried to force them to disregard his idea.
Yin: nonchalant, talented, and the type to follow the flow.
So far that's what her observations had gathered but Pyrrha couldn't help but feel like there was to him than that.
Thankfully, her reckless plan with her weapon would give her plenty of time to learn more about him.
XOXO
(A/N: Initiation has changed a bit and those watches are a me thing. No particular reason other than I thought it'd be cool.)