786Howdy folks, how's it going?
So, real talk here, I am sorry to say that this chapter is a bit on the short side. I had a bit of a busy weekend, with a lot of travel that cut into both my time and my mood to write. I have tried to compensate with what was written, so I hope you'll enjoy regardless.
As always, a huge shout out to Chaos Productions for his help.
And as always, I own neither RWBY nor MTG.
Now, enjoy.
/
Days later, a bullhead was landing amidst a forest. As soon as she had stepped out of the metal contraption, her dislike of the bloody things now making more sense to those aware that she was perfectly capable of flying under her own power, Ruby took a moment to assess the sea of trees.
Forever Fall, people called this place. An appropriate moniker, what with all the leaves in shades of deep red, it brought to her mind thoughts of Ulvenwald in distant Innistrad, and although this forest looked much nicer than that death trap, the young planeswalker was well aware if had its very own brand of local monsters lurking about.
More to the point, however, the flow of mana was strong in this area. The green of the forests could be felt for miles and miles all around her, an ironic contrast to actual coloring of these particular woods. A locus of power of this magnitude could be a great boon to Amber's training, if they managed to sneak in some lessons while going about their own classes, it'd be a great away of easing her into summoning her steed from greater distances.
At the thought, Ruby glanced around at the people around her. From what she understood, the first year students were to be split into groups, and taken to different points of the kingdom to complete minor assignments for their various courses. Her team had been one of three to be assigned to this area, and Qrow and Amber and been assigned to keep watch over them, which anyone in the know could obviously see had been entirely by design.
But the thing that drew her attention the most after a quick glance around however was not her fellow students, but rather Amber herself. Over the last few days, the woman had eagerly delved into everything Ruby was seeking to teach her with a zeal and focus that many a teacher throughout the multiverse would find commendable in a pupil. But now, the brunette radiated nothing but a tense nervousness, in such magnitude that to Ruby's empathic abilities it almost blotted out everyone else around her, the assistant professor's entire demeanour looking skittish, glancing this way and that as if expecting something to jump out from the shadows in the woods at any moment, and not even being around her uncle seemed to do much to improve her mood. Ruby hadn't seen the woman like this since their very first meeting in Vale, and the young planeswalker could not help but frown, even as Qrow started dispensing bored instructions to the students.
This was something she would probably have to address.
/
While it may not have seemed like it to some, given the trials and tribulations that Beacon put their students through, the academy did, in fact, take their safety very seriously. Tests such as initiation were always very carefully monitored, with rescue teams ready to deploy at a moment's notice, and even in outings such as the one currently occurring, the areas were scouted beforehand and the worst of the dangers present, things that might have been too much for the students to handle, were dealt with.
This was all to say that the one student currently running in a panic through the woods had nothing to do with the teacher's negligence. They had no way to account for a human element, which was why the boy was covered in sap from the local trees and running from the insect swarm that was chasing him down.
Fucking Cardin, the boy couldn't help but curse in his head as he ran, deeply regretting the momentary lapse in judgement that had led to him briefly separating from the safety of his team in search for more sap (because a certain, red-haired, hyper-active someone wouldn't stop eating it…), allowing the bully all the opportunity he needed to play this stupid prank.
Needless to say, this was not being a good day for Jaune Arc. And also needless to say, so desperate was he to escape the swarm that he didn't even notice the person stepping out of the bushes and into his path until he was right on top of them.
"Shit-" He hissed out as he just barely managed to arrest his momentum in time to avoid a big crash. "Runrunrapierwaspsrun-!"
His frenzied, panicked attempts to warn the person of the danger stopped as they gently placed a hand on his shoulder, then calmly interposed themselves between Jaune and the swarm.
The boy had no idea what happened next, too high-strung to notice the faint sound of fluttering wings, just moments before the swarm dispersed into the surrounding woods, leaving him and the newcomer alone.
/
Elsewhere, Ruby's eyes widened, head suddenly turning. Someone was using magic nearby.
She only took a brief moment to warn her team and Amber of it before she rushed in its direction.
/
"Pheeew, I don't know what you did, but thanks for that." Jaune said breathlessly, hands on his knees as he tried to recover and settle his nerves from the ordeal.
"Think nothing of it." A serene voice replied with a light titter, and an accent that caught the boy's attention, for he was quite certain he had never heard anything quite like it before.
Now that he had calmed down, the boy finally had the time to really look at his savior. She was shorter than him by a significant margin, forcing him to look down, and if he was any judge, which having grown with seven sisters, he kinda was, she couldn't be older than 15. Her skin was dark, the kind you'd most normally see in places like Vacuo and Mistral, and her curly hair reached to her shoulders, framing a youthful, pretty face, and eyes that while mischievous, had an odd quality to them, almost… ageless, was the word that first sprang to mind.
She was wearing odd clothing too. A long black skirt, with patterns of white dots he did not recognize, a white tank-top like shirt that left the arms bare, and due to the aforementioned seven sisters, Jaune was acquainted enough with the world of fashion to realize he could not recognize the sort of fabric either.
All in all, she looked kinda cute, in an exotic sort of way, but certain noticeable oddities, like her wearing a veil that looked more like a fishing net, the white skull-like figure painted on her forehead, and the walking stick of a bone-white wood that definitely did not match anything in the surrounding forest, gave the boy pause.
"Uuuuh, I'm sorry, but, who are you?" He asked hesitantly. "I don't recall seeing you around the academy before." Though in fairness, even after a few weeks the boy still felt like he hardly knew anyone but his team and his bullies… "Are you from one of the other classes, perhaps?"
She seemed a bit young for it, but considering the utter juggernaut that Ruby girl was, Jaune had long since learned age was hardly a factor.
"I am not. I am but a simple traveler, looking for a friend." The girl replied, and then, causing Jaune to blink in confusion, she smirked, and looked off to the side into the woods. "As for my name…"
And as if on cue, from that direction a blur of red petals appeared, turning into a more familiar figure, one whose silver eyes looked at the newcomer in recognition, and undisguised shock.
"Aminatou?!"
/
I swear, the more I write these early events, the more annoying it becomes that the show only ever bothered showing the two main teams and the bully squad like they were the only students of their year enrolled.
And yeah, the big reveal of the mystery planeswalker, which nobody managed to guess correctly, which I suppose I can take as a win in my vague hinting. Also, to spell it out here, in case the chapter didn't make it easy to see, Aminatou is around the same age as Ruby, and accordingly looks a bit older than her canon self.
Next time, we'll find out more about this impromptu visit, but before that, next up we got the next update to Of Red Petals and Black Feathers, so look forward to that.
Cya all in the next one, stay safe and take care.