We do not own RWBY or any other copyright content. All rights to it go to Monty Oum (God rest his soul), VIZ Media, and their original owners. We own all OCs.
Writing credits go to Uzumaki Ricky, Monsterhuntergod, Sharad the hedgehog, and Traines.
Return of the Dragon Warriors
Volume 1 Chapter 10: Trials in the Emerald Forest
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Jaune screamed as he fell from the sky.
The air hit him, whipping at his clothes and armor as he did everything he could to slow his fall. From widening his body to flapping his arms like a bird, nothing did much to slow his descent. As he scrambled to think of something, he saw various other people falling all around him. He swore he saw one still in a relaxed seated position as they fell. His eyes snapped towards the ground however, as he saw the canopy of the trees rapidly approaching.
"Gods above. Look after my sisters. And I'm sorry for being a failure." Jaune muttered to himself as he hit the greenery beneath him.
He groaned hard as he slammed through a series of tree branches. However, just as he was about to fall through the canopy, he was sent flying backwards. His downward momentum stopped and soon was flung through several more branches. Then his back slammed hard into something behind him, and his body slumped. But as he collected his bearings, he realized that he wasn't falling.
"I'm… I'm alive? I'm alive!!" Jaune yelled happily. "How am I alive though?"
He looked up to notice a large red and gold spear snagging his hoodie. He tried to move a bit to try to get it out but quietly found the spear's purchase to be too great.
"Great… I'm stuck. But at least I'm alive." Jaune grumbled before cupping his hands to his mouth. "THANK YOU!!!"
"... I"M SORRY!!!" A somewhat familiar voice called out in reply.
"Great… whoever saved me is too polite for their own good. Hopefully, that means they'll come and get me down soon." Jaune sighed, trying to find a way to keep himself busy
In the distance, he heard an almighty crash coming from the canopy. A cold sweat came over him as he feared for the worst. What if they didn't survive? What if he was going to strung up like a piñata, only to be picked off by Grimm? What if he is left there to starve to death…
"Hello? Are you okay!? Stupid trees…" That same familiar voice called out before beginning to grumble.
"Um. Where are you?" Jaune asked, looking around.
"Oh, good! There you are! Hold on!" The voice called out.
"Hold onto… AAAAHHHH!!!" Jaune yelled before the spear was yanked from the tree, causing her to fall.
Jaune rapidly plummeted to the ground. He tried to put his shield to help cushion his fall, but all it did was make the fall hurt more. He groaned in pain as he slowly got his bearings, till he looked up. Standing before him was Pyrrha, the girl from the airship, with her green eyes looking him over. The sun shining off her armor majestically.
"Um… hi?" Jaune said nervously.
"Hello again! Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, concerned as she offered him a hand to help him up.
"I don't know. Am I dead? Or are you an angel?" Jaune asked dumbly.
Pyrrha blushed at that. Not at Jaune's words, but at his tone and the lack of attempt to flirt with her in it, showing that he was being genuine. "N-No, I'm not an angel. I'm Pyrrha. Remember me from the airship after you threw up?" She nervously replied.
"Not one of my finer moments…" Jaune muttered to himself. "Wait… aren't you the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box girl?"
Pyrrha was surprised that that was where he remembered her from. "Um… yes?" She replied questioningly.
"I honestly thought you'd be taller." Jaune said before taking her offered hand.
With a small heave, Pyrrha pulled him to his feet. This caught him off guard. He figured she was strong, but it was as if he weighed nothing. He stood there stunned as he looked at her, which caused Pyrrha to blush even redder.
"Is something wrong? Do I have something on my face…?" Pyrrha asked nervously.
"No, no. It's just… I didn't expect you'd be this strong. Or this pretty in person…" Jaune said, his voice still in a stunned tone.
Pyrrha's blush turned as red as her hair at that. "Th-Thank you…" She replied nervously.
Jaune then looked around. "So… which way are we supposed to go?" He asked.
Pyrrha took that moment to compose herself and looked around. "I'm… not certain. Maybe we should climb up one of the trees and get a look around?" She replied, unsure.
"... I just fell down a tree." Jaune replied.
"I can do the climbing while you keep watch. Your Aura should allow you to hold your own until I get back." Pyrrha replied.
"... Aura?" Jaune asked.
Pyrrha's eyes widened. "You… don't have your Aura unlocked? Then how did you expect to survive that fall?" She asked in concern.
"I didn't know there was a fall." Jaune indignantly answered.
"You didn't read the pamphlet?" Pyrrha asked in surprise.
"There was a pamphlet!!?" Jaune asked, his tone turning to shock.
"Yes. It came in the post. Did yours get lost in the post or something?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.
"It… it must have." Jaune replied nervously, slightly looking away from her.
Pyrrha sighed. "I had heard that Vale's post was unreliable, but this is just unacceptable." Pyrrha replied with shocking anger.
"I'm from Western Mistral. Shion, to be exact." Jaune corrected.
"But that makes it worse! Wait… I'm from Northwestern Mistral! Argus, in fact!" Pyrrha replied, first frustratedly at the incompetence of the mail before changing to excitedly.
"Small world, huh?" Jaune nervously quipped with a shoulder shrug.
Pyrrha smiled. "Yes indeed. Do you have any family in Argus?" She asked happily.
"My older sister Saphron Cotta-Arc, her wife Terra, and their son Adrian." Jaune replied.
"Well, since we're partners now, hopefully I can get to meet them someday." Pyrrha told him.
"Let's take this one step at a time. I'll hold down things here; you go check up top." Jaune said.
"First, let me unlock your Aura. That way, you can better defend yourself." Pyrrha told him, walking up and placing a hand on his armored chest with her other on his cheek.
"Oh, and that's so easy, huh?" Jaune sarcastically relied.
"Yes. Yes, it is. Now please let me focus." Pyrrha replied before closing her eyes.
Jaune stood there confused as soon he began to feel something. His whole body began to vibrate, and his heart rate spiked. Then, his body began to glow a pure white while Pyrrha's cloud a beautiful, vibrant red. He stood there in shock for what felt like forever, trying his best to not freak out.
"For it is in passing, that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul and, by my shoulder, protect you." Pyrrha chanted, saying the incantation as the glow slowly stopped before she opened her eyes.
She soon stepped back and began to pant a bit. Looking up at Jaune, she gave him a small smile.
"How do you feel…?" Pyrrha asked, panting lightly.
"Um. Weird. Stronger… but weird. Are you okay?" Jaune asked.
"I'm fine. You just… had a lot of Aura to unlock. A very surprising amount for someone our age." Pyrrha replied, seemingly impressed.
"I… didn't expect to hear that." Jaune replied, his face was still in shock. "You'd still probably be better at climbing than me."
Pyrrha gave a slight giggle. "Maybe. But I trust you to keep watch until I get back." She told him with a smile.
"I'll do my best." Jaune said with a nod.
With that, Pyrrha leapt up to a taller branch and grabbed onto it. Flipping herself up onto it, she began climbing. Jaune looked up in amazement as his partner climbed and whistled, impressed by the display.
"She's good. I wonder if she took gymnastics or something as part of her training…" Jaune wondered before drawing his sword, expanding his sheath into shield form, and keeping his eyes open for danger.
Meanwhile: A Different Part of the Emerald Forest
Swirling and twisting through the air, Weiss gracefully made her way through the canopy. Then, with equal grace, she landed perfectly onto her feet. With a small content smile, she looked around. Surrounding her was the dense canopy and light smothered underside of the primeval trees that covered the forest. Only the small clearing she fell into had any semblance of light. Her nerves quickly ran hot as she scanned her surroundings for danger. But what she got wasn't anything like what she was expecting…
To her shock, Ruby zipped into the area with shocking speed, just barely stopping right in front of her in a flurry of rose petals. Looking Weiss in the eyes, Ruby nervously waved.
"Um… hi…?" Ruby greeted her questioningly.
Weiss sighed before beginning to walk towards her. "We are practically tied at the hip, it seems." She replied.
"I… uh… guess that's a good thing. At least we know we have reliable partners…" Ruby awkwardly replied.
"I'm just glad I'm not stuck with my brother or your boyfriend." Weiss said with a sigh.
Ruby frowned a bit. "What's wrong with Sylver? He's nice enough. Super dependable too." She replied curiously.
"You could say our families have… bad blood. I still wonder why he took my brother in to train him." Weiss explained. "I just hope it's enough to keep him safe."
"Knowing him, it was probably getting to spite someone in your family that he doesn't like that convinced him." Ruby replied as the two began walking together.
Weiss then smiled at hearing that and began to chuckle, catching Ruby completely off guard. "Oh, I have no doubt!" She said through some deep chuckles.
Ruby smiled a bit. "You know, Weiss. You should smile more. You look a lot nicer with a smile." She replied, trying to be friendly.
Weiss was about to say something to that, until she felt something on her leg. She looked down and didn't see anything. Until she felt something up her skirt…
"Oh gods, get it off!!" Weiss shrieked before starting to smack at her skirt. "Something's crawling up my skirt!!"
"What!? Try checking! If something is, I'll get it." Ruby replied in concern.
"You are not looking up my skirt!!" Weiss shrieked as she kept smacking at her legs before the feeling reached her waist.
"You don't have anything I don't. Do you…?" Ruby replied before turning curious.
"No!! It's just not proper!!" Weiss snapped back as the feeling faded. "Okay… Okay… I think I got it…"
"That was weird. Anyway, let's pick up our Relic and get out of here before something else tries to crawl up one of our skirts." Ruby replied, shuddering in disgust at the thought.
"On that, we agree." Weiss said with a deep sigh.
"Um… which way is the temple again?" Ruby asked uncertainly, coming to a stop.
"I'm not sure." Weiss said. She was about to say more, before she saw a tail off in the brush. A large, white, striped tail. "Tell you what. I'll be on guard here. You go up above the canopy and look for it."
"Sounds good to me. I'll let you know if I spot it and see anything in our path. Ruby Rose, away!!" Ruby replied before getting a running start with her Semblance and leaping up into the nearest tree.
Weiss then turned to the tailed bush. 'Silfrdrengr. That better not be you.' She said mentally with a stern tone.
'Um… no…?' Her dragon's voice mentally called out.
'Silfrdrengr Schnee I. Get your butt out of that bush now.' Weiss ordered fiercely, and a whimper soon came from the bush.
Rising out of the bushes came a towering beast. Stark white clashing with great bands of black stripes as two amber eyes looked at her. Before her was a white tiger the size of a semi tractor, with a face scared of the consequences of Weiss's next action.
'What in all of the frozen hells is wrong with you!?' Weiss snapped, her mental voice hitting the "tiger" with stunning force.
'I… thought this would be a good disguise. Are there no Byakkō tigers in this forest…?' Silfrdrengr replied nervously.
'They're in Mistral! Eastern Mistral!! You're lucky Azura isn't my partner, or we'd really be fucked!!' Weiss snapped into the dragon's mind.
Silfrdrengr then closed his eyes to concentrate. Soon, his white fur slowly began to turn green. Once it was done, he opened his eyes and gave a nervous tiger smile.
'Better…?' He asked mentally, still clearly nervous.
'Oh, a giant, green tiger in a forest! That's so much better! NO!!' She sarcastically snapped.
'Well… back to the old drawing board, I guess…' Silfrdrengr nervously replied.
'No. No more drawing boards. You're going to find yourself a secluded part of the forest and stay there until this is done. Then, you are going to be flying your scaly butt back to Atlas and staying with mother!' Weiss sternly ordered.
'But it's too far! I'll have to stop and rest before I fly over the ocean!' Silfrdrengr complained.
'Then how did you get here in the first place?' Weiss asked.
'I glided behind the airship as I rode its tailwinds over the ocean.' Silfrdrengr replied with a shrug.
'... You are so lucky you didn't get caught; you know that?' Weiss sighed.
'... I know…" Silfrdrengr replied meekly.
'We will talk more about your punishment later. Just get to a secluded part of the forest and lie low. And no arguing.' Weiss sternly ordered.
'Yes, ma'am…' Silfrdrengr replied sadly as he turned and left.
Weiss sighed as she dusted her skirt off and composed herself. Ruby soon jumped back down the tree, and found Weiss being quite steamed. She cocked her head in confusion as she walked up to her.
"Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby asked concernedly.
"I'm fine. Just… got a family development from my mother is all." Weiss replied, her face still warped by frustration.
"Oh, okay. Well, I know which way the temple is. It seems to be that way." Ruby explained, pointing to stage left, Weiss's right.
"The sooner we get out of here the better. I don't like how dark this forest is." Weiss replied before walking in the direction.
However, as soon as they began to walk, the two's instincts flared up. Something was nearby, but they couldn't pinpoint where. Drawing their weapons, they immediately went back-to-back with each other. Soon the two heard a loud, shrill roar as a black and white mass lunged at them. Its size forced the two to leap away from each other, as their assailant landed between them.
Getting their bearings, they turned to see a large Grimm that filled the space of the clearing. It had two splayed legs that it walked on were splayed like a crocodile, with a bone spike jutting from its elbows and wide clawed, hand-like feet. A barrel-chested body was topped with a long, needle-nosed bone head, with sunken red eyes and sharp needle-like teeth in its mouth. Its back and head were covered in shockingly thick bone armor, but its undersize was unprotected. A long whipping tail trailed behind this abomination, with long spikes sticking out of it that flexed up and down with the tail as it swayed side to side.
"That's a Charybdis!" Weiss cried out.
"A what!?" Ruby asked in disbelief.
"Keep at its sides and try to get to its underside! Watch the jaws and tail!" Weiss explained as she readied her blade.
The large Grimm shot steam from its nostrils as it let out another shrill roar. From all around them, the two girls heard more movement and bestial noises. More Grimm, mostly Beowolves, emerged from the darkness of the dense forest. As if they had been summoned by some dark force.
"We're surrounded!" Weiss cried.
Ruby then noticed something. The Charybdis seemed to hiss and snarl at the other Grimm. It whipped its tail at them, trying to get them to back off as it kept one eye on them and one on its competition.
"I have an idea! Weiss, what do you know about Charybdis Grimm behavior patterns?" Ruby asked urgently, dodging a spike shot from the Charybdis.
"Highly aggressive, constantly hungry, and very erratic! Especially small ones like these!" Weiss shouted back, thrusting and stabbing at the Charybdis.
"This is small!?" Ruby asked in disbelief as she cut down a Beowolf.
"They get a lot bigger and smarter!" Weiss yelled back, before kicking a Creep in the face.
"Anything else!?" Ruby asked as she blocked a clawed stop from the Charybdis before just barely pushing it back.
"They get quite territorial about their prey! It's going to come at us hard!" Weiss yelled as she dodged a Beowolf's slashing claws. "Wait… are you thinking what I think you're thinking!?"
"We turn it against the others! Make it tire itself out fighting them!" Ruby called out, deflecting a barrage of spikes from the Charybdis.
"Easier said than done!!" Weiss yelled as she stabbed a Creep in its eye before subtly unleashing Ice Magic into its eyeball, freezing its head.
Bringing Crescent Rose down on the Creep's frozen head, Ruby smiled. "Follow my lead! Trust me!" Ruby replied before deflecting another barrage of spines to protect them from the Charybdis.
"Okay! Not sure if I should! But okay!" Weiss yelled back, dodging another Beowolf.
Ruby then disappeared in a blur of rose petals, slashing through a Beowolf. Then, as the Charybdis got in close for a pounce, She used her Semblance to dash backwards out of the way. This caused the Charybdis to pounce on the Beowolf. Seemingly angered at the Beowolf for getting in its way, the Charybdis bit down on the Beowolf's head and shook it, trying to rip it off its shoulders.
Ripping off the head of the Beowolf, the Charybdis swallowed it whole without even chewing. It then turned on Ruby only for her to disappear in a flurry of rose petals and get behind it. Positioning herself exactly right, Ruby waited for a Creep to charge in at her. As it did, she dashed aside, causing the Creep to ram headfirst into the Charybdis. Hissing in pained fury, the Charybdis turned on the Creep and pounced, beginning to rip into it.
"You're using the other Grimm to anger the Charybdis by making them accidentally attack it and make it lash out! Ruby, you're a genius!!" Weiss yelled.
"First time I've been called that!" Ruby called out as the two took off as quickly as they could into the fray.
The two of them dashed on either side of the Charybdis and positioned themselves. As a Beowolf came in close to Ruby, she leapt over its claw swipe, causing it to slash into the Charybdis' bone-armored hide. Hissing in fury, it turned on the Beowolf and prepared to attack. However, before it could, Weiss leapt over a charging Creep, causing it to ram headfirst into the unprotected back of the Charybdis. Letting out a hissing howl, the Charybdis glared hateful as it wrapped its spined tail around the Creep and prepared to throw it.
However, it then felt a pair of clawed hands rake its left leg. Hissing, it dropped the Creep and looked down to see a Beowolf having accidentally slashed into it as rose petals made of Aura drifted to the ground. Glaring, it whipped its tail into the Beowolf to knock it away. But, before it could try to turn on Ruby and Weiss again, it felt a pair of clawed hands dig into its back. Looking back, it saw a Beowolf on its back as a strange blue and white symbol in midair disappeared. Finally, it had endured enough and let out a hissing roar.
Turning its attention on the other Grimm, it shook the Beowolf loose and slammed its spiked tail into it as it fell. The spines on its tail shredded through the weaker beast before it whipped its tail to fire spines at the others. Forced to dodge, the other Grimm dashed at it to fight back in self-defense. Leaping into the fray, the Charybdis let out a hissing roar, now blind with rage. Slamming down on a Creep, the Charybdis bit down on it and tore it in half. Two Creeps charged into it like mad bulls, trying to push it back only for it to extend two smaller legs out of the back half of its body.
The back legs planted themselves firmly in the ground as their hand-like forefeet grabbed onto the two Creeps. Lifting them up one by one, it threw one before tossing the other, sending them flying like rag dolls. The two creeps crashed into a couple of Beowolves before the Charybdis whipped its tail, unleashing a spine shot that shredded through the four other Grimm. Three Beowolves then charged at it, one attacking each of its now revealed-to-be arms while the other went for its back. Letting out another hissing roar, the Charybdis tried to shake off the Beowolf on its back as it swung its arms to force the other two away.
Raising its tail, it whipped its tail to do a spine shot on the Beowolf on its back. The spines penetrated the Beowolf, killing it on contact as some of them stabbed deep into the beast's own back. Letting out a hissing roar, the Charybdis slammed the palm of its hand down on a charging Beowolf in pure fury, crushing and killing it completely. Clenching its hand into a fist, it raised it as it lifted a chunk of rock and dirt out of the ground. Crushing the rock in its hand, it used its powerful muscles to chuck the stones like a softball.
The stone shrapnel slammed into some of the other Grimm, shredding some of them to bits. One last Beowolf ran up to it only to get the palm of the Charybdis' hand slammed down onto it, pinning it down. Hissing in fury, the Charybdis extended its snake-like tongue out of its mouth and licked the side of the Beowolf's head threateningly. However, before it could continue, a sniper rifle shot slammed into the side of its head, making it hiss in rage and turn to look in the direction it came from. Ruby and Weiss smirked at it, their weapons at the ready.
"Hey, Lizard Lips! Pick on someone your own size!" Ruby called out, spinning Crescent Rose before bringing it to a halt behind her.
With a snarl, the reptilian nightmare stomped down on the Beowolf's chest, crushing it in a sickening crunch. As its fallen foe turned to black mist on the wind, it turned to face them, eyes burning with rage. With a hissing roar, it retracted its back legs and charged at high speed. The ground shook lightly beneath it as it stomped towards them before going into a leaping lunge. Ruby and Weiss evaded the attack as the Schnee heiress, using her Glyphs as a cover, unleashed a barrage of large Ice Magic shards at it. The beast launched its spines at the ice shards, trying to counter, only for them to get frozen in midair and slam into it, piercing and freezing parts of it.
Letting out a roaring hiss of pained fury, the beast broke free of the ice as Ruby used her speed to rush in, slashing it across the chest with the blade of her scythe. Zipping past the Charybdis with her speed, she rebounded off a tree to go flying in and slash it again. Slowly, Ruby began building momentum as she kept speeding up, slashing into the Charybdis every time she passed it while she bounced around the forest around it like a red superball with rose petals trailing behind her. All while Weiss unleashed ice shard after ice shard on the beast, making it hiss and roar as it kept breaking through the ice and trying to hit Ruby with spine shots.
While the beast continued to break free from the ice, it kept losing flesh and taking damage every time it did so. Especially with Ruby slashing deep into it every time she passed it, cutting deeper into its flesh with every pass. Finally, Weiss looked at Ruby and nodded, giving her a signal as the red-hooded superball of a girl nodded back. Gripping her rapier with one hand as she held it upwards with the blade pointed down, Weiss began charging as much Ice power as she could into the blade.
Ruby looked on in amazement but didn't stop her assault. She needed to keep this thing occupied while Weiss did what she needed to do. She had to stay focused.
Soon, Weiss had built up enough power and stabbed the ground, creating a Glyph beneath her to disguise what she was doing. A trail of ice and frozen spikes erupted from where her rapier stabbed into the dirt, making its way towards the Charybdis. When the trail of frozen death reached the beast's hand, it began freezing it over quickly and violently. The Charybdis let out a hissing roar of shocked pain as it tried to move, trying to break free of the ice. However, this time, it couldn't. It's slowly growing frozen prison was too strong.
Soon, the Charybdis' hissing roars ceased as its body froze completely. Keeping up her assault, Ruby zipped around it at super high speeds, bouncing off trees so hard she snapped them in half as she slashed through the frozen body of the Grimm. Soon, she ended up above it with her body horizontal in midair as she looked down at the beast to aim. Finally, she fired a Gravity Dust shot from Crescent Rose to propel her down towards the neck of the frozen beast as she went into a spin. With the force of gravity combined with the power of the Gravity Dust Shot and added momentum from her spin, she slashed clean through the Charybdis' frozen neck, landing in front of it in a crouch with Crescent Rose held behind her as the frozen beast crumbled into icy dust.
"That was so cool!! Your Semblance is so strong, Weiss!!" Ruby cheered as she collapsed Crescent Rose into its more portal travel form and holstered it before clapping with joy.
"Um. Thank you. Your Semblance is quite something too. I didn't think anyone around our age could move that quickly." Weiss replied, holstering Myrtenaster.
Ruby smiled brightly at that. "Thanks. It wasn't easy getting even this amount of control. I had to work hard." She explained, happy that she and Weiss were getting along better.
"Well, with that taken care of, that still leaves the issue of getting to the ruins." Weiss said, crossing her arms.
"I might have to climb another tree. Between the fight and the clearing getting wrecked, I lost track of the way we needed to go." Ruby explained sheepishly.
"It's fine. It can't be helped. Climb another one and have a look. I'll keep guard down here." Weiss explained, before feeling an itch at the back of her neck.
With a nod, Ruby rushed up another tree with breakneck speed. Reaching the top in mere moments, she then began to look around. To her shock, the duo somehow had gotten even farther away from the ruins in the fight. Frustrated, Ruby began looking around for some way to go, hoping for a shortcut. She then heard a loud cry in the air. Turning to look up, she saw a massive flying bird Grimm on the trade winds. She smiled as she got an idea, before jumping down back to her partner.
"I got an idea on how to get there quickly!" Ruby said chipperly.
"Okay… what…" Weiss said before Ruby grabbed her by the arm
Unfurling Crescent rose into its rifle form, Ruby loaded and then fired a large purple Dust round. Weiss screamed as the two were rocketed into the air, up past the trees and into the sky. Ruby then loaded and fired another Dust round, further propelling them. Then, at the end of the momentum, Ruby grabbed hold of one of the legs of the bird Grimm with a smile.
"Welcome to Air Express Nevermore!! Next stop, becoming Huntresses!" Ruby yelled triumphantly over the rushing winds.
"YOU ARE INSANE!!!" Weiss screamed in terror as the Nevermore flew them towards the ruins.
To Be Continued…