"Woohoo!!!" Sky Lark screamed his joy for the whole world to hear, because when you enjoy something, you want to share it with others.
Although, not many others would enjoy the sight of their body approaching the ground at breakneck speeds.
With a yell of excitement, Sky spun his Halberd in his hands, Feather's Edge shearing through the air creating the sound of a whistle blowing shrilly in the wind.
As he stopped the spin with the bladed head of the weapon pointing to the ground, he pressed a small trigger on the shaft of the weapon, a small tornado blowing out of the mouth of the gun barrel sticking from the Halberd's head as the Wind Dust activated, slowing Sky's fall dramatically, allowing him to land softly on the leaf-covered floor, his Aura tanking what little damage he would have taken before he kicked the floor and started running.
This was a time-based test, after all, and he can't let Cardin win against him this time.
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Cardin calmly felt the wind brush by his face as he slowly touched the ground.
His Semblance was perfect for such scenarios, but that did not matter, He needed to reach the chess pieces at the end of the forest.
And so, with the speed of a car, Cardin dashed into the forest, ignoring the low branches and twigs bouncing off his aura, It regenerated faster than it drained.
Thanks to the miraculous power of Aura, he could keep running for hours without tiring, Tank attacks that would destroy cars, and punch with the force to crack, or even shatter solid stone.
And so Cardin ran, not anywhere near his top speed, but fast enough to compete with Olympic athletes back on earth.
When his father first activated his aura, he felt like a Super Soldier, like Captain America himself.
Cardin shook the memory from his mind as he burst into a small clearing in the woods, spotting a black figure covered in white plates towering over a smaller figure.
Without bothering to stop, Cardin reached for the handle on his back, pulling out his mace before sliding on his feet, his Aura turning the bottom of his shoes into makeshift skates as he slid on the ground as if he was an ice-skater on a frozen lake, The Executioner slamming into the side of the Grimm with the speed of an offroad truck.
With the sound of bones shattering and muscle tearing, the Wild Boar-looking Grimm disintegrated as its body turned into smoke, the bloody red and black gore disappearing from the forest clearing as it floated up into the sky.
"Wha- How did you do that?!" The other person in the clearing screamed as he stood up, his head only reaching Cardin's shoulders, his head mostly shaven except for a light green mohawk.
Cardin looked at the shorter teen before returning the Executioner to his back, "You have a partner yet?"
"Huh? No, I guess that means we're partners huh, My name's Russel! Russel Thrush!" Russel struck a pose reminiscent of some sort of comic-book hero, before suddenly coughing and speaking again, "And don't you fucking forget it! Yeah?" He said in a deeper tone, trying to sound like some sort of thug in the process.
Cardin stared at him blankly, his left eye twitching as he silently cursed whatever god reincarnated him into this new world for surrounding him with weirdos.
"My name is Cardin Winchester," Cardin nodded to Russel before he turned on his heel and continued walking north, intent on finishing Initiation as quickly as possible.
"Hey, Wait up!"
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"So you don't have a semblance yet?" Sky asked his new friend and partner as the two young men walked north in the Everfree forest.
"No, I- I don't come from a Huntsman family so- I mean, I don't have one, no." Sky ran several thoughts through his mind in quick succession, His new partner was as average-looking as one could get, if you ignore the way his eyes were squinting.
His Blonde hair was incredibly neat and combed to the side, he had a black scarf around his neck and some tan-colored armor on his chest, shoulders, and belt. His weapon was also average, A Simple Gun-Sword with the regular type of Mechashift to make it more compact and easy to carry.
Overall, Dove Bronzewing was as Average as a Huntsman in training could get.
"Cool, That just means we'll have to make sure you can kick ass without one," Sky said, pointing back to how Dove didn't have a semblance, "I mean, It's not like you need a semblance to be a huntsman, My semblance could be replaced with a simple tool, and Cardin- He's a friend of mine by the way, His father didn't have a semblance, and he could kick ass anyway! So let's go! Let's get to the relics and finish this Initiation! Yeah!"
Dove looked alarmed at Sky, before shyly raising his arm and weakly saying "Ye-Yeah,"
"Louder!" Sky yelled, causing the timid teen to flinch back, "How can anyone know how excited you are if you don't tell them? YEAH!!!"
"Yeah!" Dove repeated, still weak but much louder than before.
"You call that a cheer?! Like this, YEAH!!!"
"YEAH!"
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!" Sky yelled with a wide smile on his face, "NOW LET'S FINISH THIS THING! YEAH!!!"
"YEAH!" Dove nodded, tapping his foot excitedly as Sky's infectious cheer rubbed off on him before the duo ran deeper into the forest.
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Bursting out of the forest with the force of a pickup truck, Cardin slid on the ground, his Aura grinding into the leafy floor as it made way for grass and pebbles.
"Whoa..." Russel spoke from behind him as he followed in the trail made by the teenage Juggernaut, His eyes set on the massive stone structure looming over a cliff.
"So this is the temple... It's beautiful... I mean- It's just an old building, Let's get the Relic and scram!"
Cardin shook his head at his new partner's suggestion, "We can't, I made a deal with a pal of mine, We need to save him a relic as well, so we can't move until he gets here."
"Oh, Okay then," Russel stretched his arms, walking up to Cardin as the two boys walked up the ancient stone stairs leading to the open chamber of the temple, looking at the several stone pillars holding the Chess Pieces.
Eight Pillars on each side, Each holding a unique chess piece, one side Black and the other Gold.
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Cardin ignored the few missing pieces, grabbing the two Gold Bishop Pieces and pocketing one of them.
"Keep an eye out for other students," Cardin told Russel as he leaned his back against the wall and sat down, looking at the Emerald Forest's treeline from the corner of his eyes.
"Who are we waiting for?" Russel asked as he sat on the opposite wall of the circular chamber, Getting a different angle of the Forest in his sight.
"Sky Lark, He's loud and obnoxious, Wears grey armor and has dark blue hair, You'll hear him before you see him," Cardin huffed and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the silence.
"You think this is it?" Only for his moment of rest to be instantly shattered as two girls entered left the treeline and walked up to the Temple.
Cardin groaned in exhaustion as he watched a familiar blonde girl walk up to the Ruins, "Oh hey, Grumpy is here,"
"Xiao-Long," Cardin said simply as he nodded at her for an introduction before shitting her out of his mind, looking back to the Forest.
"There's the Ruins!" Cardin let out a sigh of relief as he heard a familiar voice coming his way.
"Let's go," Cardin nodded to Russel as he picked himself up from the stone floor, followed by his new partner.
"Leaving already?" Cardin heard Yang call out from behind him.
"We already have our relic," He waved to her the hand holding the second Golden Bishop piece, "Good luck," And with that, He started walking back to the tree line.
Only to get a chunk out of his aura as his friend tackled him with a jumping hug.
"GET OFF OF ME!" Cardin roared as he picked up the blue-haired teenager and threw him off as if he weighed nothing.
"Hahaha!" Sky simply laughed as his body rolled on the ground before he stood up with a thumbs up.
"Asshole," Cardin grumbled after taking a deep breath to compose himself, "Here, Catch," He chucked the Bishop piece at Sky, he quickly pocketed it with a nod.
"Well Ladies," Sky turned to smile at the two other teenagers at the ruins, "We'd like to stay and get to know you better, but you know how it is," He shrugged, "Places to go, People to see," He shot finger guns at the black haired student who simply rolled her eyes at him with a scoff.
"Don't annoy our future classmates!" Cardin slapped Sky on the top of his head, causing him to stumble a bit as Yang burst into laughter.
Laughter which cut out as a shrill scream echoes out in the forest.
"Blake, did you hear that?" Yang turned to her partner, concerned for whoever was screaming was shown on her face, "What should we do?"
Instead of answering, the black-haired chick, Blake, dumbly pointed up.
"Is that girl falling?" The blonde boy who arrived with Sky asked as he looked up to see a short brunette girl with a red hood falling from the sky.
Only to get hit by another student flying in from another direction, shooting the two of them into a nearby canopy.
"We are not dealing with this," Cardin spoke up, catching Sky's attention before the two started jogging back into the forest, followed by their partners.
Cardin had no patience for any more headaches, he had what he came here for, as far as he was concerned those students could deal with whatever headache was coming by themselves, He wanted none of it.
"Get your weapons ready, We're not stopping until we're back in Beacon," Cardin said, Executioner held tightly in his hand as he started to pick up speed, "If any Grimm come at you, shoot it and keep moving, We're finished here,"
Sky twirled his Halberd in his hands as he moved faster after his best friend, "You heard the big guy, Dove, Like a train! Choo! Choo!" Sky said loudly before he started running after Cardin, quickly catching up with the Larger boy.
"Wait for me!" Russel yelled as he caught up with the other boys, His running speed easily outpacing the two heavier boys as a Pair of Daggers with a Dust cylinder were held in his hands, ready to slash any Grimm that jumped at him from the foliage.
With Dove in the rear, Sword-Gun in hand, he ran after the three other boys.
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They were like a machine, Cardin was the locomotive, Bashing aside low branches as he cleared the way with his size and strength.
Sky followed behind him, Using Feather's Edge as a Rifle as he shot at anything that seemed to be moving in the grass, smirking as several clouds of black smoke rose into the air from what must have been weaker Grimm getting killed.
Russel didn't need to worry about any Grimm, his thin and nimble frame easily allowing him to duck and weave around the branches and twigs that didn't break on Cardin's chest, His Daggers, Shortwings, Slicing through the twigs like an Adventurer with a Machete sliced through vines in a jungle.
Dove held his sword, Hallshott, at the ready, Gun Barrel ready to blast anything that jumped at them from the sides. With the three boys in front of him, He didn't need to worry about the Branches, Having the easiest time just running after them.
They didn't stop when Cardin smashed his Mace into an unsuspecting Creep, They didn't stop when Dove shot a Beowolf that leaped out of the bushes, and they didn't stop when a small swarm of tiny Nevermore flew down from the canopy in an attempt to eat them.
An Explosion of the Fire Dust in the Executioner's eye was enough to deal with them.
And with their Aura in different stages, but mostly still healthy and good, The four boys made it back to the Cliff they were thrown off of, Quickly climbing a long and reinforced staircase built into the side of the cliff, the group made it safely back to Beacon.
"Congratulations," They all froze and turned to see a short woman with Pink-Peach colored hair styled in a short to medium length Bob, reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe, with a pink Mouse tail extending from a small gap between her shirt and pants, "You four just broke a record," the short lady walked closer, slowly clapping her hands. Her green eyes stared into each of the boys' own, staying just a moment longer on Cardin than on the rest before they moved on.
"You four just finished Initiation in One Hour and Forty-Seven Minutes, that's a six-minute victory over the previous One-Hour and Fifty-three minutes record, Which was set twenty-one years ago," The short Faunus lady told them before turning around.
"Now follow me you four, Let's get you some food while we wait for the rest to finish here," And with a flick of her tail, the short lady walked away.
Leaving the four boys to stare at her back for a moment.
"You heard her, Let's go," Cardin said with a shake of his head, his feet moving after the much shorter woman.
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A Few short hours later, Team CRDL, pronounced Cardinal, was officially formed, With one Cardin Winchester acting as its leader.
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"They're an interesting group of boys, If I do say so myself, Why when I was their age I-" In the teacher's lounge, A Grey haired man said as he rubbed his mustache.
The teachers were talking about the new teams this year, Three of which were the center of attention.
"Don't care, You already told all your stories old timah," Leaning on the back of her chair, A Short peach-haired professor smirked, her Faunus tail swinging like a pendulum behind her as her accent kicked in.
"Rude," The portly older professor said, although there was no heat in his words, He already knew the younger teacher meant no harm.
"Though I must say, Team RWBY is looking to be a rising star with those members," A green-haired professor added to the conversation, his eyes under the thick pair of glasses staring at a tablet in his hands.
"Yep, Taiyang's kids are in that team, they'll be a force to reckon with for sure," The Faunus said.
"Team JNPR has my attention," A Brown-haired woman spoke up, tapping two students on her tablet, "These two in particular,"
"Valkyrie and Ren? I thought the Nikos brat would have your attention," The Faunus spoke again, eyeing the second female professor in the room.
"Does anyone which team Professor Mulberry prefers?" The older Professor Peter Port asked.
"Harold? Probably RWBY, Their weapons are the kind of stupid he likes to look at," The pink-haired Faunus leaned her chair back, balancing on the two back legs.
"And what about you, Thumbelina? I think we all know which team caught your eye, but we would still love to hear it, hmmm?" The Brown-Haired professor leaned over the only other woman in the room, her amber eyes staring into the Mouse Faunus as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the much shorter lady.
"You Stupid Hawk, do you really need me to spell it out for ya'? It's CRDL of course, You can all guess why," Professor Thumbelina Peach smirked up into Professor Ann Greene's golden eyes, the dim flames from an old rivalry still burning in the hearts of the two women.
"Enough talking about the students!" Port exclaimed loudly as he stood up, "I need to go get a Boarbatusk for tomorrow's class," And with those parting words, the oldest Professor in Beacon left the teacher's Lounge, making his way down to the Emerald Forest to capture a live Grimm.
"Port has the right Idea, It is getting late and we all must make sure our classes are ready for tomorrow," Professor Bartholomew Oobleck spoke up before he too left the room, leaving only Professor Greene and Professor Peach.
"..." A Calm silence surrounded the two teachers as they simply sat there.
"Teach them well, you hear me," Ann Greene told her pink-haired friend, her Topaz eyes staring directly into Peach's own Emeralds.
"..." Peach silently stared at the Stealth and Security Teacher, "For Bishop? I'll make that team the best this school has ever seen, Ya' hear me?!" The Mouse smirked up at the Hawk.
"Hmm," Ann Greene merely hummed with a smile before she turned around and disappeared, leaving Professor Thumbelina Peach alone in the teacher's lounge.
She gave one last look at the photo of the four new students before she too stood up, shutting the lights behind her as she exited the room.
She had a class to teach tomorrow, Better make sure she's ready for it.