Author's Note:
Hello again! It's been a while since I've last updated. I'm quite certain that I have improved since the prologue. Probably.
The prologue was actually done in a whole day way, no revision or modifications. So you could say the prologue was rough. I also just noticed I misspelled the word prologue. Damn it!
*sigh* Enjoy the new chapter.
Rating: M for safety. (NO LEMONS)
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'I'm in a forest', were her first thoughts, as Natalie looked around, finally free from her earlier headache. The forest seemed very unfamiliar, however.
'Maybe the town is nearby.' Natalie thought to herself.
Standing up, Natalie noticed she had her Ninja Skirt equipped.
With two pairs of crimson katanas with black handles tightly stuck to her hip and a dark skirt fasten to her hips accordingly by an airtight belt with silver linings on its sides.
Natalie looked around, hoping to spot her friends. She thought they also had woken up in this forest, preferably somewhere close to her. But to no avail, did she find her two greatest companions. Fortunately, she did detect a trace of her magic somewhere nearby.
Speaking of Magic, Natalie found her Magic much weaker than before. Moreover, her Mana reserves were low as well. Around 15% left. That was obvious enough.
More importantly, Natalie felt free. Not the away-from-prison feeling, but the not-limited-to kind.
Safe to say, her Magic, Mana, and even her body felt free. It was as if she was unchained by whatever was limiting her soul. Even if she was feeling unrestrained, she was still very much feeling weak.
Unless she could get her hands on several Enchanted Items, it would take weeks to recover back to her prime.
'I had just fought an evil god right before being forcibly sucked into a black hole.' Natalie supposed.
'Oh well. No use standing here.' Natalie resolved. It's better to do something than just thinking about. With her objective in mind, Natalie began following the trace of magic through the green forest.
Much oblivious to what awaited her.
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From a not-so far away cliff, a certain silver-haired man stood with a futuristic over-sized tablet, aka a Scroll. Next to him was a middle-aged woman. Featuring light-blonde hair tied in a bun with a curl hanging at the rear, oval-shaped glasses, a cape, and boots with a hidden crop attached to her right boot.
"Hmm. There seems to be an unknown added in." The man mused. However, it seems the woman had other thoughts. She furrowed her brows,
"Ozpin, I believe we should pause the initiation." The woman spoke. There was no anger in her voice as she spoke, simply hidden concern. Ozpin, the silver-haired man, simply continued watching as he concluded,
"No, keep the initiation running." Ozpin's declaration irked her to no end.
"Ozpin! Are you insane!? This could be a regular citizen we're talking about here! A normal person!" She hollered. A sense of concern was in her yell, Ozpin very much respected that, despite her tone. So he took her calmly,
"Glynda, first off, I am indefinitely sane. Second, do you truly think a citizen would be armed? Especially the way she dresses. One would think that she is a Huntress, if not her age." His calm voice soothed her, even if little. Glynda closed her eyes before letting out a sigh.
"I hope you're right about this Ozpin." She narrowed her eyes at the man, her gaze signaling the threat to 'hurt' him if things were to go wrong. Glynda glared for a moment before directing her attention back to the scroll, uncertainty.
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Good news! The trace of magic she was chasing was actually the magical scent of her two staves, and those two being, Thunder Spear, and Seraphim.
Thunder Spear was a red staff with a pointed gold spiky spearhead, she was made to increase Natalie's Thunder elemental capabilities while casting its own Thunder Magic and providing a significant boost in speed. Hence the name, Thunder Spear.
Seraphim was a light gray staff with a double-colored crystal attached along a tint of gold, being flanked by a set two sets of wings accordingly. A staff being able to empower her Holy element greatly, in addition to a minor speed boost, and as well as a small boost to her Elemental Attack.
Although not in great condition, nevertheless she could still protect herself with her weapons in hand.
Bad news, she has nowhere to store her staves, Matt was holding the Adventure Bags for the team after all. (Mainly due to his over protectiveness for his 'sweet sweet treasures', as he calls them.)
Though it was only a small issue, she can always bound her staves to her back with magic, albeit, having not done that ever since Matt had 'found' an Adventure Bag, it shouldn't really pose a problem.
Probably.
Suddenly, several bushes from Natalie rear began to rattle and shake. A beastly growl out came from the bush as it shook violently. This, however, alerted Natalie as she held onto Thunder Spear with Seraphim hinged at her back.
Using Thunder Spear because Thunder Spear's Speed Boost was much more potent than Seraphim's. This was in case she needed to do a 'tactical retreat'. As Lance would put it.
More growling was heard. Even Louder. A second growl to her left. A third. A fourth. The constant growling, until a howl took its place.
Strengthening her grip, Natalie connected her Mana with Thunder Spear. The spear, consequently beginning to crackle with lightning.
Slowly from the point until the staff was completely engulfed by a spree of lighting, the fulmination of lightning not affecting her in the slightest.
From her left, a growling dark large wolf-like creature peeked out from the bush. With a slouch, it started crouching closer to her.
A moment later, Natalie harshly pointed her staff at the black creature, as if launching a loose object on the staff. Anon a crinkling bolt detached itself from the staff as it sped towards the beast. The bolt penetrated the neck of the wolf-like monster, ending its short-lived life.
Promptly after the destruction of the dark creature, Another one soon appeared, this one, however, was much larger than the previous beast. It howled in the air.
'And this hunk. Is probably the Alpha.' Natalie supposed depressingly.
Feeling the hostility, Natalie held her stance, preparing to hurl bolts against the probably-Alpha. A third arrived from her left, also giving out its own moan. Then a fourth.
Soon Natalie was surrounded by a whole pack. Each ready to go for the kill. A dozen she deduced.
Surrounded, Natalie fixed her staff onto the ground. Then proceeded to place both of her hands between her cleavage as she concluded,
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
'I might have to resort to my Limit Brea-' Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt as a red blur burst in front of the ebony creature.
The red blur became a small petite figure as she yelled out,
"Uhh! Gotcha!" On the girl's hand was a massive scythe. And with it, she went on the offensive with a barrage of cuts on the wolf-like creature. Natalie's eyes widen as she snapped from her daze, noticing another one of the wolf-like creatures lunging at the girl.
"Ruby!" A feminine yell came from her left as another blur went after the lunging beast. The pearly blur sent the creature flying with a burst of flames.
Soon after, the pale blur became another girl. The girl had long white hair and... Some sort of pale-blue knee-length dress.
"You dunce! You could have died right there!" The girl with the blue dress began to holler. Natalie disliked her already, but wouldn't hold it against her.
The two began to argue with each other, like idiots, being stupidly ignorant of the hostile creatures before them. Natalie detained her urge to facepalm.
"Hey!" Natalie began. The two looked back at her.
"You two do realize those black werewolves surrounded us right?" Natalie continued.
"Black werewolves?" The one in red spoke curiously.
'From what other girl said, Ruby, is probably her name.' Natalie deduced.
"Oh! You mean the Grimm!" Ruby said as she observed. Natalie tilted her head, losing the urge to facepalm.
"Is that what they're called?" Natalie asked interestedly.
"Yeah! Don't you know that? Everyone knows what the Grimm are. Well, most people do anyway." Ruby answered.
"I guess I just never noticed?" Natalie
"Just so you know, those Beowolves aren't going to wait for you two." The girl with the dress chimed in.
"Oh right. Sorry, Weiss. Ehehehe." Ruby spoke awkwardly.
"Let's get out of here. They are too many of them for us right now." Natalie concluded. With her current condition, she couldn't afford wasting it on fighting some stupid... Grimm? Or was it Beowolves? Or was Grimm the species name? Agh! Whatever. She can sort out her confusion later. Besides, she didn't know what those... Beowolves were capable of. Better safe than sorry.
Though it seemed the girls in front of her had other thoughts.
"Hey! I can take em!" The one with the hood exclaimed. As if excited to prove herself.
"Hmph! Are you underestimating me?" Came the other girl's response.
"No...?" Natalie said unsurely.
"Some mere Beowolves are hardly an issue." She arrogantly replied.
"Yeah! Watch!" Ruby cheered with her weapon in the air before disappearing in rose petals. Natalie looked at the other girl, Weiss was it? She was positioning herself in a stance.
Looking closer at Weiss, height, as can be seen, was very an obvious distinction. Age? It brought uncertainty for Natalie.
Before Natalie could finish her thoughts, the said girl suddenly dashed towards the closest dark wolf-like being with her weapon positioned on the front of her chest. But as she got closer, Ruby suddenly appeared in front of the being and gave a quick slash.
The speeding Weiss was surprised by Ruby's sudden appearance but was quick enough to divert her attack. And out came a burst of flames flew out of her weapon and hit the tree with a trail of flames following.
The red-hooded girl turned her head around, hearing the explosion. The beast she just agitated, swiped its claw at her. Luckily, she reacted fast enough to block it with her weapon, though the girl was knocked back flying, crashing into the blue dressed girl.
"Hey! Watch it!" Ruby yelled as she got back up.
"Excuse me? You attacked out of turn. I could have killed you." Weiss angrily replied, glaring at the younger girl.
"You'll have to try a lot harder than that." The scythe-wielding girl quietly said, looking away.
"So..." Natalie began. One of the two at least looked at her. Though it wasn't very reassuring.
"What!" Weiss barked. Natalie flinched at her tone. But didn't voice it. She opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it. It wouldn't be good to anger her right now.
"Nevermind," Natalie quickly replied, shaking her head. Suddenly, the burning tree from earlier fell. Only mere inches away from Natalie.
"Eep!" Natalie yelped, as she jumped away from the burning log. The Alpha of the Beowolves began to howl and moan as the pack began to retreat from the fire.
"We have to go!" Weiss directed while she dragged Ruby away, with Natalie just behind the two.
And so the three ran. Aimlessly. It wasn't like Natalie knew where she was anyway, so it didn't matter, to her at least. They stopped at a hill and sat down. All three panting as they looked at each other, or glaring, in Weiss's case.
"You're pretty fast," Ruby commented with a pant. Natalie smiled at her comment.
"Thanks," Natalie replied.
"So... What's your name, what's your semblance, who's your partner, can I see your weapons?" Ruby speedily asked very curiously.
Natalie was surprised that speaking that fast was even possible. Especially considering her panting from earlier. Natalie could hardly decipher her words.
"Er well. My name is Natalie. And... What do you mean by, 'who's your partner?'," Natalie inquired. Did she mean THAT kind of partner? Oh god. Isn't she a little too youn-
"You know, for the initiation. Partners like me and Weiss." Ruby told Natalie. Ruby's explanation simply made Natalie more flustered and embarrassed.
"Weiss and I," Weiss interjected.
"What initiation?" Natalie managed. But was ignored much to her dismay.
"Whatever. Same thing." Ruby said.
"No, it's not." Weiss retorted.
"Yes, it is," Ruby instinctively replied back.
"Ugh! You are such a child!" Weiss said with an angry tone.
"I am not! You keep treating me like one!" Ruby shot back. The two began to bicker against one another, which didn't help Natalie. As her confusion turned to a headache.
With a groan, she went in front of the two and tried her best to ignore them, while rubbing her temples.
After a few moments of continuous arguing and the death of a poor innocent tree. The trio walked silently as Weiss lead. Where ever she was leading the two towards. Natalie did not know nor did she care. She just wanted out of this forest and to her friends.
Speaking of friends. Where are Matt and Lance? Could they be nearby? Or were they somewhere else? More importantly, if they aren't here, what would she do? What could she do?
Ruby, noticing Natalie's displeasure, did what any socially awkward person would do.
Give 'comforting' pats on the back.
Natalie was startled at first. But then just smiled, gave a quick and silent "thank you".
"Say, Ruby right?" Natalie began.
"Yep, Ruby Rose, that's me," Ruby replied.
"Do you know where the Town is?" Natalie asked.
"I'm not sure which town you talking about," Ruby answered, with an eyebrow lifted.
"It's kinda the only town. Or is it?" Natalie said, unsure of who she questioned. Sure, Natalie (and her friends) had traveled a lot of the world for adventure, but there still was a great deal left of places unexplored. Matt was the first person to explore before the others. If not for him, Natalie would've probably been some indoor healer.
"Uh, Vale has several towns. You don't really look like you're from Vale. Are you from outside of the kingdom?" Ruby asked skeptically.
"I guess? I'm not sure. To be honest, me and my friends were adventurers in a way. We traveled a lot, never really sticking to one place." Natalie answered. Oh, poor Natalie and Ruby with their misconceptions.
"I probably would've been just stayed in the village, if Matt didn't find me of course." Natalie uttered. Ruby's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm but then tilted her head in confusion.
"Matt?" Ruby pointed out.
"Oh right! I haven't told you about my friends yet." Natalie said as she lightly smacked her self in the forehead.
"Or yourself, to Weiss I mean," Ruby added.
"Ehehe. Sorry. I kinda forgot." Natalie apologized, resisting the urge to smack herself twice.
"It's ok! I'm not the best for socializing and stuff either." Ruby responded.
"Alright, let's give each other a proper introduction. Where we aren't attacked by monsters or where we're not bickering with each other. How about that?" Natalie said.
"Yeah. Hehehe. Right. Weiss, you introduce yourself!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly.
"Ugh. I'm trying to lead, Ruby! Stop distracting me!" Weiss scolded. (Un?)fortunately for Weiss, Ruby was too determined to back down.
"Aww. Come on Weiss, just this once?" Ruby said as she used her Puppy eyes. Successfully defeating Weiss.
"F-fine! Just this once." Weiss sighed with a flustered face, then turning back right before looking at Natalie,
"My name is Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the SDC," Weiss said.
"Oh. My name is Natalie." Natalie responded.
"And?" Weiss impatiently tilted her side with a raised eyebrow.
"And...?" Natalie raised her own eyebrow.
"She's asking for your last name," Ruby whispered.
"Oh. I don't have a family name." Natalie gave a weak smile. Weiss's expression soften.
"I sincerely apologized if I brought up any dreadful memories," Weiss said sincerely with a bow.
"No no. It's alright. You didn't," Natalie replied, shaking her head and hands. With that, gave one last bow and went back to leading.
And so the silence returned. With Ruby too busy blaming herself for the failure of the conversation, and Natalie too absorbed in her thoughts. And Weiss... being Weiss.
Natalie was beginning to doubt Weiss. Natalie was sure they've gone in circles twice. How did she know? There was a hidden branch that lifted her skirt twice, and a camera under the damn thing. Why?!
Needless to say, neither of the two things came out without having several pieces missing.
"Alright, it's official, we passed it," Weiss said in-a-matter-of-factly. Ruby stood up, beginning to get annoyed by Weiss's stubbornness.
"Why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby said, slightly annoyed.
"Because I know exactly where we're going!" Weiss insisted. Ruby gave her an unamused look.
"Where are we actually going?" Natalie asked seriously. With a smirk, Weiss moved ahead of the two,
"We're going to... the Forest Temple!" Weiss diverted.
"Ugh!" Ruby groaned.
"The Forest Temple? What's that?" Natalie asked again.
"You don't know what that is?" Ruby inquired curiously.
"Erm. No. Was I supposed to?" Natalie questioned, again, confused as ever.
"How do you not know your own objective? You seem awfully unaware of everything that should have been common knowledge. Or did you not bother listening to Professor Ozpin?" Weiss quizzed with suspicion.
"No...?" Natalie answered with uncertainty, a headache soon looming from her confusion.
"Ugh! I have a child for a partner. And now some ignorant buffoon. How could this day get any worse!" Weiss complained loudly.
All of a sudden, as if the world was answering her question, a loud birdlike cry was heard among the three girls.
"Nevermore! Duck!" Ruby cried out. Jumping to the side, Natalie reacted as soon as she could, barely dodging the offending wing of the Nevermore.
"Gah! We won't make it at this rate! Even if we run!" Weiss bellowed. Staring at the Nevermore circling back, Ruby smiled with giddy as her eyes gleamed.
"Not on ground we're not. Girls, I think I may have an idea."