Gulping as he watched the trio battle what seemed to be an unbeatable foe, Slate looked down at his shaking fist in confusion. "Why?" He thought to himself, his gaze returning to the battle, "Why aren't they fleeing? They can't... honestly believe they can win do they?" Turning away from the battle, he began to walk away but before he could get too far he found himself stopping unconsciously. "Damn it." He grumbled to himself, "Father taught me not to fight unnecessary battles... But then again, look where that got him." With a scowl, but an unfamiliar fire in his eyes, Slate activated his semblance and launched himself through the forest. Circling the fight, he found himself towards the rear of the Ursa. "I go in now and the Ursa will sense me. I need an opening."
Hearing Rosa's command, Taura sprinted up the nearest tree. Just to make sure the Ursa still had its eyes on her, she flicked Kai, sending an arc of water on its face for good measure, before making a leap that would hurt her badly if she did not land right. She only hoped Slate was alright, she couldn't see him. Or sense--- Hang on. She could feel another presence that was familiar to her, but in her state of not wanting to break her bones, she kept firing water arcs at the Ursa's face to make sure. The Ursa seemed to try and grab her, the claws barely reaching her frame.
Rosa gratefully took advantage of the distraction that Taura provided her with and changed course to rush head at to the grimm. As she neared the grimm she ha to dodge a few swipes that the ursa made at her, but she was able to dodge by stabbing the ground with her blades and then use them to pivot away just in time. She yanked the blades out of the ground and when she got in position, she sliced low at the feet, and at the ice layer on the ground itself. Spikes rose up from the ground and quickly ensnared the ursa's feet, like they had planned. Just as she wanted to jump away, she foot slipped and from the corner of her eye, she saw a paw rushing in. She did the only thing she could and held up her weapons to try and block the attack.
The moment he noticed the Ursa's attention focus on Rosa he launched forward, sliding on his knees as he got close. Unfortunately he was not able to make it before the paw made contact, and as he saw the force of the attack knock Rosa back, Slate whipped out his blades and exited his semblance causing the Ursa to notice his presence. "Too late you monster!" Slate shouted as he slashed both his blades through the back of the Ursa's knees, and due to it being on its hind legs the beast tumbled back with a roar, flailing widely as it did so. A straw paw hit Slate in the shoulder as he tried to move away, causing him to let out a hiss of pain as he fell into a roll. Shakily glancing up, Slate glared towards Hunter and shouted, "Finish the thing off damn it!"
Hunter had together with Taura tried to provide the distraction Rosa needed to execute his suggestion and Slate was nowhere to be seen; of course the guy ran he thought. Things went well until Rosa slipped after freezing its feet, Hunter were about to rush in when Slate appeared out of nowhere slicing up the back of the ursa’s knees. Hearing Slate shouting at him he just snorted at it before changing his weapon into a great sword. He leapt at the ursa letting the blade bite deep into the flailing grimm’s belly before pulling the trigger igniting the fire dust letting a explosion tear into it. “Well looks like you have a spine after all.” Hunter shot at Slate casting a glance at the faunus before going over to Rosa to offering his hand to help her up.
"Seems like it." Rose winced slightly as her aura flared a little after it healed the sore muscles in her arms. That hit had been quite hard and she knew she was extremely lucky it wasn't worse. She grabbed Hunter's hand with a grin, letting herself get pulled up with ease, feeling secure in the knowledge that he would be her partner for the duration of their stay at the academy. "Thanks, guys," She gave a soft smile at Taura and Slate for all their help with the Ursa. Then she got a mischievous expression on her face. "We have the relic, right? And those two as well?" She asked, and not waiting for an answer, she got into a starting position. "Race back to the start? Let's finish this test together."
"Relic?" Taura spoke from her not so smooth landing in the trees. After a good switch of positions, she landed on the ground with a thud. "So we are..." The pieces finally connected! They were a team...? She scouted around for Slate, to express her surprise and joy, when Rosa proposed a challenge. Where was he again? A quick scan led her to him as she motioned to pull him by the hand. "Come on, let's head back!"
Staring at his apparent team, jeez would that be hard to get use too, Slate rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think I want to know how you guys can be so relaxed after something like that." he mumbled to himself, walking towards the rest of the group. Glancing towards Taura as she motioned at him, he found himself smiling beneath his mask, a small bubble of joy in the pit of his stomach. "Very well, let's go... partner." He spoke, the last word coming out slightly lower in volume and strained.
"Because that wasn't my first hunt. I have been on training missions before with my family. You will get used to it eventually, and you will learn all the weak spots. Next time you are probably a lot more useful." Rosa replied before she decided that they had been stationary for long enough and she started sprinting back in the direction they had come from. "Last one there has to shower last!" She called out from over her shoulder as she ran away from the group. She quickly winked before diving into the treeline.
“I’ve been doing this pretty much since I was able to handle my weapon correctly, my sister always took me with her on missions so I could gain some experience in real combat this guy was just a tad bigger than usual.” Hunter said sounding like it was no big deal as he put away his weapon. Hunter then dashed after his partner into the treeline while calling out to her.
"You've all done well to pass the entrance exam. You showed bravery, prowess and teamwork with your partner to survive the trials of the Emerald Forest and now you stand here, students of Beacon Academy." Staring out the gathered crowd of students, tired from their ordeals in the forest, Ozpin felt himself smiling softly, "And now your hard work will pay off. I will hold you no longer, it is time for you all to meet your teams." Coughing into his fist, Ozpin turned and looked at the large screen behind him, that showed four pictures. Pictures of students. "Will Hunter Virdis, Rosa Quarzo, Taura Kawashima and Slate Asche all come up to the stage." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Trailing behind the group, Slate smirked beneath his mask, "Could be a worst team I suppose," He thought to himself, lining up in front of Ozpin who continued speaking. "Together, you four recovered the Rook pieces, and henceforth you are now Team Harvest. You will be led by...Hunter Virdis. Congratulations." As Ozpin finished, Slate glanced over to their new leader, giving a nod of respect. 'Again, could be worse'. He thought to himself with amusement.
Rosa had know it was coming, and she couldn't say that she was disappointed with the team she had gained. After congratulating her new team, she watched as her friends walked on the stage with someone that she hadn't seen before. They were christened Team Scarlet with Smoke as the team leader. Rosa cheered and after they had come down from the stage, she tackled them before dragging them to her new team. "Smoke, Citrine, Tiger, dude I never met before. These are the team members of Team Harvest. Hunter, my partner and the team leader, Taura, and her partner Slate. Guys, these are my childhood friends, Smoke, Citrine and the dummy is Tiger." She stuck her tongue out to Tiger and quickly had to dodge a cuff to the head. She just laughed as she took her place next to Hunter and her team. Smoke took a moment to seize up Hunter before smirking and extending his hand to Hunter. "Take care of her, will ya? She sometimes doesn't know her limits and she tends to steal your weapons to look at them when she thinks you aren't looking." Smoke laughed at the pouty face Rosa was displaying. "Did you have to tell them?" She pouted.
Taura nodded politely to each and every one of them. She wasn't sure how this team would be, but she was somewhat glad. Hoping for the best, she wondered if Kirie's time with the academy was like this too. "Pleasure to meet all of you." She bowed her head politely to Rosa's friends.Then turning to her teammates, she smiled. This would need a while to get used to, but she wouldn't have any other way.
Hunter eternally sighed at the reveal of him being the team’s leader, his parents would be crazy for weeks if they found out about it. He wasn’t too sure about his new teammates either while Rosa had proven herself early and Taura had seem good doing the fight with the ursa he wasn’t too sure about Slate after the guy had initially planned to just run away from the fight. He’d have to wait and see for now since they’d be together for the next 4 years a least. When his partner dragged Team Scarlet over for them to meet her friend he just nodded to them getting a tad surprised when the boy called Smoke stretched out his hand after sizing him up. “She seems to be perfectly capable of taking care of herself.” He took Smoke’s hand and gave it a firm shake raising an eyebrow at the mentioning of Rosa stealing weapons giving his partner a look of amusement.
"She can, but if it is all the same to you," Smoke shrugged. His team hung out a bit with Team Harvest before they went on their way to get to their assigned dorm. Rosa signed a bit melancholy as she watched their backs. Citrine looked back for a bit and waved goodbye, causing Rosa to smile a bit. 'It is going to be different from before, isn't it?' she asked herself.
"Team Mawson!" Slate was shook out of his thoughts, which he fell into after Team Scarlet approached, by Ozpin's declaration of the final team. On the stage he noticed four individuals, with only Merlot being familiar. Spying him in the crowd, Merlot came running over with his team trailing behind. "Slate!" He shouted grabbing the weaker male by the shoulders, "We did it buddy!" Pushing the hands off his shoulder, Slate huffed at the statement. "Of course we did, it would be foolish to expect anything else." Despite his rather bland tone, he smirked at the red headed teen, "Congratulations on becoming leader." As he spoke, the rest of team Mawson arrived, with one of their members completely bypassing the rest of the group and heading directly for Hunter. 'An acquaintance?' He pondered to himself, as Merlot began to introduce his team. "That's Walt," He spoke, pointing towards a rather unimpressive teen who looked like he'd rather be buried in books than out of the field, "This here is Nirn," beside him a deer Faunus waved, surprisingly confident despite what one would expect from her, being a deer Faunus and all. Finally Merlot pointed towards the member that seemed focused on Hunter, "Oh and that there's Skye." Raising an eyebrow at Skye, Slate chuckled to himself, "It appears my leader is about to get a surprise." As he spoke, Skye had snuck up behind Hunter and began to tap his shoulder.
Hunter turned around to see who poked his shoulder only to see a girl that seemed familiar but he couldn’t put his finger on where he’d seen her. “It is you!” She exclaimed almost jumping with excitement “Wait till my sister hear this she’ll freak out. You’re taller now and you didn’t have those um things on the face the last time I saw you.” The stream of words continued as Hunter looked on in confusion. She stopped when she noticed Hunter’s confused look “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already have you.” She gave him an intense stare before she started the stream of words again, “I can’t believe you actually forgot, is me, Skye Crimson we met like 3 years ago, we’ve hung out together whenever you are your family were in the village I lived in. I watched you and your sister spar and you two also saved my little sister from a grim when she wandered off.” The girl stopped to breathe giving Hunter the chance to process things. It took a moment then it dawned on him “No way, I barely recognize you!” “Took you long enough mister.” Skye gave his chest a few firm pokes to fake annoyance.
Taura applauded at the new teams and smiled as Slate and Merlot, as well as Skye and Hunter, and Rose and her friends conversed. She scoured the room, but there was no sign or sigh of Chryseis...Chryseis was hardier than any other friend she had met...had she....not survived, somehow? She began to frantically look around, and her eyes casted on Ozpin, wanting to ask what happened to the students that failed. But those thoughts were too scary to be vocalised even. However, it spilled out anyway in a softer tone as she edged closer to him. "Professor...are these all the surviving students.. ?"
Rosa looked worried at Taura and walked up to her new teammate placing an arm around her shoulders. She hadn't put much thought into what had befallen the other students. The ones that she couldn't see in the big hall where they were standing now. She had had the ultimate confidence in her friends and to think that something had happened to them was simply unthinkable to Rosa. She looked a bit helplessly at Slate and Hunter, who were busy with Merlot and Skye's team. Turning to her friend again, Rosa just tugged her closer, waiting for the worst news to come, hoping to the heavens that the news would be better than she expected to hear from Professor Ozpin.
Hearing Taura's question, Slate glanced over at Taura with a carefully hidden gaze of concern. Despite knowing what the answer would be, after all Ozpin would not be here until all the students had arrived, none of them would, Slate hoped that he was wrong and that whoever Taura was looking for walked in late. Ozpin beginning his reply caused Slate to take up a position beside his partner, the news would be hard no doubt. "I... am afraid so." Ozpin replied, his gaze hidden behind the glasses he wore, but to those who knew him his sorrow was recognisable in his tone. "I am sorry, for any of you who may have lost a friend or family member." Without listening to a reply, Ozpin turned and walked away from the crowd, his cane's tapping echoing in the silent room. It was a sob from across the room that reminded Slate of his partner. Hesitantly, Slate placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to show comfort, even if it was silent.
