Destiny No More

Chapter 53

There was something to be said about the beauty of the Emerald forest. While it was still close enough to civilization that you could realistically walk to Vale, it was practically untouched by that same civilization. Most people would never set foot outside the walls of their kingdom. While there were outposts and small towns beyond the walls, more than ninety percent of the population lived within them.

Ruby would never thank the Grimm for anything, they were monsters afterall; but she was smart enough to know that humans weren't always the best for the environment. Seeing the three toppled trees with clear signs of combat only helped reinforce that mindset.

"What do you think did all of this?" Jaune gestured towards where one tree had been splintered in two, having been broken a few feet from the ground by what was clearly not a person.

"These woods are host to Grimm." Pyrrha reminded them.

"You think an Ursa did this?" Ruby asked, though as she looked at the trees, she found that hard to believe.

"While Ursa are strong they do not possess the strength to split trees in half or knock them over entirely." Weiss stated as a matter of fact. "More likely this was a Deathstalker or Major of some kind. You would know that if you were actually old enough to be here."."

Ruby tried to ignore the insult, focusing on the fact that Weiss had at least spoken to her. After Amber had left she had gone back to her usual self, despite her friends attempts to get her to give Ruby a chance.

"I wouldn't expect something that big so close to Vale, let alone Beacon." Pyrrha jumped to her defense, much as she had for the past thirty minutes of their walking through the forest. "I would have expected the Headmaster or the Professors to have dealt with them by now, they have to have cameras out here to watch the initiation, and I'm not so certain that they would let us fight something so strong."

The champion's words caused Weiss to pause and blush. "I hadn't considered that, maybe you're right."

For not the first time, Ruby wished she could have had Pyrrha as a partner. She was cool, awesome, and nice. All things Weiss wasn't, despite the heiress' attempts to lead the group, she hadn't left the best impression. She hadn't asked them if she could take charge, or even offered that much in the way of leaderly wisdom. She'd simply shown up and taken charge under the assumption that they would follow. The only reason they had was because Amber had told them Pyrrha knew the right way, and she had.

Ruby could tell Weiss was smart, really smart, like a teacher's pet smart, but she could also tell she wasn't a people person by any means. The irony wasn't lost on her, Ruby was more than willing to let someone else take charge and lead if that meant she wouldn't have to talk to as many people, but Weiss didn't just demand to be respected, she expected it, despite having done nothing but insult her since they met!

"At any rate, we should get moving." Pyrrha interrupted her thoughts. "The Headmaster didn't say anything about a time limit, but there were a lot of potential students, and I doubt Beacon has enough space for them all." Weiss seemed to agree, nodding her head and starting to walk off, only to stop when Pyrrha gestured a little ways to the left of where she had started off. "It's that way."

"And how do you know that?" Weiss looked mildly upset by being corrected, but altered her course nonetheless, the rest of them following her only because she kept herself in the front of their group.

"I managed to catch a glimpse of some ruins before I landed, I'm assuming that's the temple the Headmaster mentioned." Pyrrha replied. She didn't look offended by Weiss' attitude, that alone being an impressive feat of skill, and simply smiled back at her. Despite her smile however, Ruby couldn't help but notice the way she hadn't smiled like that while talking to Jaune or herself though.