Chapter 17

"Hey..." Jaune looked at me with a forced smile, visibly struggling with defending against the grimm's attack but trying to play it cool. "Looks like you were in a bit of trouble there huh?" He angled his shield to the side, causing the stinger pressing down on him to slide off of his shield and strike the ground. "Come on!" Jaune grabbed my shoulder pulling me back while Ren and Nora kept the grimm's attention.

"Jaune, I thought I told you to leave! You're not protected like the rest of us, if you take another hit you could get killed."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I know you told me to stay back but...I just couldn't leave." Jaune looked up at me, meeting my eyes. "Besides, I came here already knowing that I could get killed. This aura stuff or whatever it is hasn't changed anything. I can still help!"

Wait, who is this person? Because it certainly can't be Jaune.

"If I can help out then I will. I'm not running away!"

Wow...well what do you know, Jaune DOES have guts. I'm actually...impressed.

Still, there's a difference between courage and foolishness. A Huntsman or Huntress without aura to protect them might as well be a ripe tomato. The fact Jaune managed to get this far without aura is nothing short of a miracle. I SHOULD send him away anyway but...

Jaune looked at me with an unusually determined look in his eyes waiting on my next words.

'I can't say no to that...'

"Fine..." I said giving up. "Against my better judgment you can stay, we're gonna need you anyway."

"Great! I knew that you guys couldn't go on without me!"

Not two seconds in, and I'm already regretting my decision. "I need you as part of a distraction with me and Ren. ONLY the distraction got it? Don't actually try and fight that thing. If you want to get yourself killed, do it when our lives aren't on the line. I'll explain the plan when we're with the others." I turned back to the other two and cupped my hands over my mouth. "TEMPORARY RETREAT!"

Ren and Nora perked up at my shout and disengaged from the Deathstalker, following me and Jaune in the retreat. The creature roared behind us as we fled, sounding like we were being pursued by a freight train. "Look!" I said pointing to the spear still lodged in its back. "I found a chink in its armor. If we can give my weapon a good hard smack, it'll drive that thing into its back and we can end this once and for all!"

"I get it!" Nora exclaimed. "Like a hammer and nail right?"

"Hammer is right. Me Ren and Jaune will try and give you a clear shot, so make it count." The four of us broke off, with Nora excitedly leaping onto a nearby tree and waiting. "Jaune, left! Ren, middle! I'll take the right."

We all stood on different sides of the Deathstalker, ready to act. One person attacking to draw its attention while the other two wait until it looks like the attacker is being overwhelmed. With three prey attacking from three directions the large grimm would have to switch its attention back and forth.

'Sorry Ren.' I thought. 'I put you in front of that thing because honestly, what are me and Jaune gonna do? At least I'll be safe over-'

The grimm immediately turned to the right facing me.

"What?"

It let out a cry and chased after me.

'WHAT?! What are you doing?! I put REN in front of you, go after HIM!'

I ran towards the tree Nora was on when I felt something clamp onto my legs as I was running, and lifting me in the air. As I dangled in front of the Deathstalker's face, its pincers tightened around my body, slowly clamping down.

"Shit...where's...Nora?!"

And right when things were looking bad.

"WA-HOOOOOOO!" Nora descended from the sky like a meteor, her hammer crashing down onto the end of my spear on the grimm's back. There was a loud crunching sound as the spear sunk entirely into the Deathstalker's back. The very ground itself trembled at the terrific display of force from her.

With one last pitiful wail, the grimm dropped me and collapsed, finally meeting its end. The four of us stood quietly as our seemingly undefeatable opponent died. The silence persisted until...

"AWWWWWWW YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!" Jaune jumped in the air pumping his fist in excitement. "Hi five!" Ren and I stopped, just staring at him with surprised expressions. "Well don't get all excited at once! It's not like we just killed a giant monster or anything!"

"I'll take that high five." Nora said running over and slapping his hand, with a satisfying sting. I laughed, joining in as well. Ren, on the other hand, fell face-first to the ground exhausted from our fight. Poor Ren, he and Nora were pretty much the backbone of our team.

"Looks like we finally managed to win." Good lord, can you imagine having to do something this exciting all the time? That...that doesn't sound as bad as I thought it would actually...

Nora chuckled sitting down next to Ren and giving him a pat on the back. "Good job Ren."

"Ren did good, but I'm glad we got a heavy hitter like Nora on our team."

"What about me?" Jaune asked, looking towards me.

"Jaune? Well...yeah, you did well too. Things might've gotten ugly if you weren't around. I'm glad you ended up coming back, even if you shouldn't have..."

Plus, Jaune might've ended up saved my life...but there's no way I'd actually say that out loud.

Nora helped Ren to his feet. "So how do you think the other team is doing?"

"THE OTHER TEAM!"

I frantically grabbed my spear, making a mad dash towards the stone ruins. I got so caught up in finally taking down the Deathstalker I completely forgot about the others! Bursting through the clearing out of breath, I spotted Ruby at the top of a cliff looking down at a decapitated Nevermore.

"Phew..." They're okay. I let out a sigh and slumped against a stone pillar. I'm glad things turned out like before. The relief reminded me of how exhausted I actually was myself. Still, I felt an indescribable feeling of contentment in my chest. I had really done it, I'd taken down a Deathstalker of all things. Maybe being a huntsman wasn't such a crazy idea after all. I could get used to feeling like this...

*********************************

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark."

Back at the academy after the exam, Ozpin called the names of students who even someone like ME barely knew anything about. The crowd let out cheers as the four of them were announced to the audience. Several members of the crowd were composed of...you guessed it, shadow people. Am I really the only one who notices this? I gotta remember to ask someone later.

"The four of you have decided on the black bishop pieces. From this moment onward, you will be work together as...Team Cardinal (CRDL). Led by Cardin Winchester"

Right after he spoke Pyrrha walked towards the stage with three other girls I hadn't seen in the show following her.

"Pyrrha Nikos, Jacey Lynn, Sophie Spire, Raelin Greene."

"The four of you have chosen the white rook pieces. From this moment on you will work together as...Team Jasper (JSPR). Led by Jacey Lynn."

This is a little strange, I've never seen those three girls before. I haven't seen them in the show, and they certainly weren't in the exam of the Emerald Forest. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Aero in the show either. Did something happen to him? Did he get into some accident that made him unable to show up? Glynda mentioned the teams being divisible by four, so if Aero didn't originally attend the exam, I guess the other three girls would have to wait.

"Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin said continuing. "The four of you have chosen the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Ruby (RWBY). Led by...Ruby Rose.

Up on the stage, Weiss briefly made a startled expression and looked at Ruby with a slight frown, but quickly regained her composure in front of the audience when she realized everyone's attention was on them. Yang for her part was thrilled, immediately throwing her arms around her younger sister for a hug.

Ren walked forward leading our group snapping out of my daze.

"Lie Ren, Jaune Arc, Aero Cairn, Nora Valkyrie. The pieces the four of you have chosen represent the jack of all trades. From this moment on you will all work together as...Team Argent (ARJN)."

Huh, ARJN? That means the leader is...

"Led by Aero Cairn."

"Me?" Once again the crowd applauded as our team was announced. Nora happily hugged Ren. Jaune for his part chuckled and lightly bumped my shoulder with his fist.

"Ha..." Well, I guess it makes sense. I did play a pretty big role in saving team RWBY and helping lead my team to victory. But still... "Ha ha. Me...a team leader of all things..." I couldn't stop smiling. My chest felt like it was full of butterflies. "This...this is it..." This is what I've been looking for. Purpose. I looked around at the crowd of people clapping for me and my team...the winners.

"Oh yeah! You ready Team Argent?!"

"Yessir!" Nora laughed, happily throwing up a salute.

A contented sigh escaped my mouth as I reflected on recent events. I'd more or less made it through the biggest trial of my life. And if it had taught me anything, it was that I had a long way to go. Fortunately though, I basically held a cheat sheet for the future in my head, so I should be able to plan for every major event...right?

"That will conclude this year's ceremony." Ozpin glanced at Team RWBY and smiled. "Looks like this is going to be an...interesting year."

This year is going to be a lot more interesting than you realize Ozpin, a whole lot more...