Battle in the Forest Part 2

Author's Note: This one is kinda long.

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Back on the Cliffside, Professor Ozpin watched the students from his scroll while Glynda watched up to him with her tablet. 

"The last pair has been formed, sir. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy... I can't possibly imagine those two students getting along. Still, he's better off than Miss Nikos." Glynda said. 

Ozpin merely hums to himself. 

"I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat. I guess we'll find out soon enough. At their current pace they should reach the temple within just a few minutes." Said Glynda before she turned to Ozpin. "Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?" 

She got no reply. 

"Professor Ozpin?" She asks. 

Ozpin didn't answer as he was too occupied with watching the video feed on his tablet device. On it showed Ruby Rose sitting on the grass and picking stray leaves off the ground while Weiss Schnee, her partner, walks in a random assortment of directions. He then flips the video feed and watches Ryder walking away from the Warden. Ozpin had been watching his fight and was curious if it had ended yet. It appears to have ended and Ryder was victorious. Though, he'd never seen the Grimm Warden before. Glynda looked at his tablet and her eyes widened seeing the Warden lying on the ground. 

"What... is that thing?" She asks. 

"Unclear. But it seems Mr. Falcone dealt with it." Ozpin said, calm as ever. 

"Shouldn't we at least investigate this?" she asks. 

"If it brings you calm, I'll ask Mr. Falcone about his battle with this new Grimm." Ozpin said. 

"What if it's her doing?" Glynda asks. 

Ozpin looked at her in silence for a moment before looking back at the Emerald Forest. 

"It's a possibility. But let's not jump to conclusions. New types of Grimm popping up is not unheard of. It could be a natural step in the Grimm's twisted evolution." he explains. 

[Yang's Location] 

Walking out of the forest, Yang and her newly acquired partner Blake Belladonna stepped out into a clearing and lay their eyes upon a circular structure that was in ruins. But in the structure were several pillars holding various items that looked like Chess Pieces. Yang's partner, Blake, was that same girl that Ryder and Ruby encountered during their argument with Weiss. Blake sported a sword and sheath on her back with a ribbon attached to the bottom of the handle of the sword. The two had encountered each other while Yang was battling a pair of Grimm Ursai, Ursa were bear like Grimm with black fur and a white bone like mask on its face with glowing red eyes. But that was a short time ago, now they found the ruins and guessed this was the temple Ozpin was referring to. 

"Think this is it?" Yang asks. 

All she receives is an incredulous look before making her way down the hill. Yang quickly following her. They reach the temple and enter its shattered remains. The roofless structure sported several pedestals that have black and gold colored Chess Pieces. Yang and Blake inspect these pieces. Blake is occupied by looking at a black king piece. There were a few pieces missing signaling that someone was here. 

"Chess Pieces?" Blake asks. 

"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Yang mentions. 

"Well, I guess we should pick one." Blake said. 

Yang approaches on of the relics which was a golden knight piece. She studied it for a moment before picking it up and showing it to Blake. 

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang asks. 

Blake just smiles at her antics. 

"Sure." Blake said. 

The two walk towards each other and meet in the center of the temple floor. What's left of it that is. 

"That wasn't too hard!" Yang declared. 

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Blake remarks. 

The two hear the ruffling of leaves form a bush and look towards it. Blake instinctively reached for her weapon while Yang prepared herself. At first, they thought it was Grimm, but lowered their guard when they saw Ryder stumbling through the forest. Ryder pushed off a twig from his shoulder and brushed off some leaves. Yang smiles seeing a familiar face and seeing that Ryder made it. Ryder sees Yang and Blake and walks over to them. 

"Hey, Ryder! How's initiation been?" Yang asks. 

"It's okay. Got into a battle with some new type of Grimm." Ryder said. 

"New Grimm? Are you sure?" Blake asks. 

"Yeah, I'm sure. It looked like a Knight in armor just, demonic." Ryder said. "I called it a Grimm Warden." 

"Sounds fitting, I like it." Yang said. 

"Did you kill it or run away from it?" Blake asks. 

"I zapped it in the air and it plummeted down at full speed. Made a crater upon impact. It's dead." Ryder said. 

The group then hears a scream. It sounded like a girly scream. Ryder and Yang turn in it's direction. 

"Some girl is in trouble! Blake, did you hear that?" Yang asks. 

Blake was too busy looking at something in the sky. Ryder looked at her and looked up. His eyes widened. Yang was too focused on the forest. 

"Did you guys hear that?" Yang asks before turning to Blake. "What should we do?" 

Her failed attempts to get Blake's attention evoked Ryder to respond. 

"Uh, Yang. You might wanna look up." Ryder said. 

Yang does and sees a certain someone falling from the sky. It's Ruby. 

"HEAD'S UUUUP!!" she shouts as she falls from the sky. 

But as she plummeted, Jaune came flying in and hit her. The two are then flung into a tree. Ryder winces at this. But upon landing in the tree, Ruby was dazed and confused at what happened or what hit her. Her head was just fuzzy as it hurt from the impact. 

"Ow.... what was that?" Ruby asks, still in a daze. 

The Dizziness eventually passes as she shakes her head. 

"Eh-hem." said a voice. 

Ruby looked up and saw Jaune hanging upside down on a branch above her. 

"Hey, Ruby.." he greets. 

Blake, Yang and Ryder were looking at the tree confused. 

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asks. 

"I..." Yang said but was interrupted by a noise. 

Several crashing noises where heard before a Grimm Ursa came stumbling out of the forest swinging it's claws before e pink blast of energy hits it from behind causing it to fall forward. Someone was riding it and they rolled off while yelling Yeehaw. It was the energetic ginger haired girl that Ryder saw. 

"Aww... it's broken." She said as she looked at her kill while standing on the neck of the large bear like beast. 

The Ninja boy that Ryder also spotted came running up behind her, completely out of breath as he rested his hand on the dead Grimm while catching his breath. 

"Nora. Please... don't ever do that again." He said, before he looked up and noticed she was gone. 

He frantically looked around for her. Nora was standing in the ruined temple and was looking at a Golden Rook piece with great interest. She then grabs it and starts dancing while singing "I'm Queen of the Castle" over and over again. 

"NORA!" the Ninja boy shouts. 

This stopped the girl from dancing as the Rook was on her head before it dropped into her hand. 

"Coming, Ren!" She said before heading over to him. 

"Did she just ride an Ursa?" Ryder asks. "That's.... kinda cool." 

"Please don't encourage this." Blake said. 

Yang went to speak but was interrupted once more as far from them in the forest, Pyrrha Nikos came running out. Breaking through the trees behind her was a giant Scorpion like Grimm. This is a Deathstalker. As described, it's a giant scorpion with a white bone covered body and claws followed by the traditional midnight black color of the Grimm and red decals. The Deathstalker even uproots several trees while chasing her. Pyrrha barely manages to dodge it's claws while running from it. Ryder's eyes widened seeing this scene. Pyrrha takes notice of Jaune in the tree and calls out to him. 

"Jaune!" 

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out in response. 

Ruby was now standing on the branch and looked down to see the beast before she jumped off the branch and landed in a commando roll. Jaune was still stuck up in the tree. 

"Ruby!" Yang calls out. 

"Yang!" Ruby said, returning the gesture. 

The two run towards each other to hug the other but are interrupted as Nora shot up in between them. 

"Nora!" she said, just trying to join in on the fun. 

In the background, Pyrrha is running from the Deathstalker in a cartoon-Ish fashion. Blake decides to address this. 

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asks, a little shocked. 

"Apparently, yes. Yes, she did." Ryder replied, equally as shocked. 

Yang couldn't take it and exploded in anger. Her eyes turn red, and a small burst of fire erupts from her hair. 

"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!?" Yang shouts, clearly angry from the situation. 

A figurative clock goes tick-tock as Yang calms down. Ren finally reached the group and was still out of breath. Blake looked up and soon, Ruby did too. She then gained a worried expression before she tugs on Yang's sleeve. 

"Ummm... Yang?" She asked, pointing up. 

Everyone looked up and they saw Weiss hanging from the talon of a large black bird. A Nevermore. Ryder's eyes widened. 

"Weiss!?" Ryder called out in shock. 

They then hear Weiss call out from high above, but they can barely hear it. 

"How could you leave me!?" Weiss cried out. 

"I said jump!!" Ruby shouts back up. 

"She's gonna fall." Blake said. 

"She'll be fine." Ruby countered. 

"She's falling." Ren said, stoically. 

Ryder growls before running forward. He then chambers wind dust in his boots before he leaps up and reaches incredible heights. He then catches Weiss and drops to the ground. When he lands, the ground cracks beneath him. He stands up straight and looked at Weiss. 

"You, okay?" Ryder asks. 

Weiss was a little caught off guard that he saved her. 

"Uh, yeah. How did you jump so high?" she asks. 

"Oh, I chambered Wind Dust into my boots with gave me enhanced jumping power." Ryder explained as he put her down onto her feet. 

Weiss dusts off her dress. 

"Can't believe I'm saying this but. Thank you." She spoke. 

"No problem." 

The Deathstalker is still chasing Pyrrha but it gets a hit on her and sends her flying towards the group. She lands in front of Yang and the others. Ryder and Weiss quickly run over to them. Jaune soon dropped out of the tree and rushed over to them. 

"Great! The gangs all here! Now we can die together!" Yang said, way to enthusiastic. 

"Not if i can help it!" Ruby declared before letting out a battle cry and running at the Deathstalker. 

"Ruby, Wait!" Said both Ryder and Yang. 

Ruby fires her weapon at the monster while running at the Deathstalker. When the two inevitably meet, the Grimm smacks her aside with it's large claw. Ruby makes contact with a tree and is a bit dizzy. Ruby gets back up slowly. 

"Don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby claimed. 

Ruby saw the monster charging her and realized she needed to retreat. So she starts running from it and shoots at it. She then sheathes her weapon and keeps running as the Grimm chases her. Yang, now knowing Ruby was in real danger, ran towards her. As the two ran towards each other, the Nevermore from above caws at them before flapping it's wings and releasing a barrage of sharpened feathers. When they hit the ground, it blocks Yang's path and pins Ruby down by her cape. 

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang called out. 

The feather that pinned her down was deep in the ground so moving it was hard. 

"I'm trying!" Ruby said. 

The Deathstalker got closer and closer raising it's golden stinger above a scared Ruby. It got closer and closer. 

"RUBY!" Yang shouts. 

Ryder watched on as his eyes widened. He then felt an energy course through him. His eyes turn green before he, in the blink of an eye, dashed towards Ruby. He reaches Ruby in no time and throws a punch that parried the golden stinger and caused a mini shockwave to erupt. This made the Deathstalker stumble back. Ruby, who had looked away, turned and saw Ryder in front of her. A green aura outlined his body. 

"Woah." Yang said, seeing this. 

Ryder looked at his body and saw the aura around him. It then dawned on him. He unlocked his Semblance. The Deathstalker attempts a counterattack, but Weiss raced in front of him and used Ice Dust to trap the stinger. 

"You are so childish!" Weiss said before turning to Ruby. 

They all heard a loud screeching roar and Ryder's face pales. He turned to the sound and saw the Grimm Warden he had fought flying towards them. 

"What!? But I killed that thing!" Ryder said. 

It flew directly at him and snatched him up off the ground and climbed heights. 

"RYDER!!" Ruby called out. 

As they climbed in height, Ryder grabbed the Warden's arms and pried them open with his newfound strength. He then kicked the warden off him before he shot his grappling hook out. The hook attached itself to the Warden and he pulled himself closer. He actually flew past the warden, but he then pulled hard and launched himself at the Warden. With a hard dropkick, they both plummet to the ground. The Warden hits the ground and softens the fall for Ryder who jumped off the beast and landed a few feet away. He looked at his hands, shocked by his newfound strength. The Warden growls as it gets off the ground. It's face plate was cracked a little. Ryder smirks as he gets into a fighting stance. Confident in his newfound strength.