Emerald Forest

**Description:** The best relationship always has the roughest start...

**Chapter 4:**
Emerald Forest

## Part 1:

"There you are, Cerule!" The pink haired girl exclaimed, stepping over a small bush underneath her, two ball-size robots floating beside her as Ariel Avyit approached her best friend as he slightly knelt down to pick up his tonfa - which was on the ground beside him. Her smile quickly turned into a gasp when she noticed he winced as soon as Cerule reached down, fingers barely brushed on the object.

"Are you alright ?! Did you dislocate your shoulder ?" Rushed over to check for any possible injured, Ariel gently placed a hand on where she knew it'd hurt. The small groaned confirmed it, and the girl quickly helped him sat down on the grass, before reached out to find her first aid kit - she has always kept one by her side all the time, just in case something like this happen.

Glanced over at his friend, Cerule took a deep breathe to calm himself down: He was lucky that he didn't land too far from Ariel, or otherwise he might ended up being a stranger's partner for the next 4 years. Turned out being launched from a cliff wasn't THAT bad - other than his dislocated shoulder from taking advantage of the recoil of his weapon to slow down and land on a tree branch. Looked down when Ariel helped relocate his injured shoulder, the blue haired boy shifted to a more comfortable position, before calmly stated as he looked down at the top of her head.

"Ariel, there's a spider on your head."

Her reaction was amusing, to say the least: Ariel yelped and pushed herself away, both hands reached to the top of her head and started ruffling her hair up. The (very tiny and harmless) spider was knocked off and crawled away, leaving the two humans behind as it returned to the forest.

"Cerule! Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!" Holding back a small laugh, Cerule got up on his feet and walked over to his now-panicked friend, before combed his gloved hand through her messy hair to remove a single leaf stuck in it.

"Relax, you knocked it off just a while ago."

She pouted, looked up with her messy hair, before mumbling something under her breathe.

Out of nowhere, a large black figure leaped over between the two of them and startled the two teen, before disappearing behind the tall trees...

"What the hell was that ?" Were what they both said in unison, while staring at the spot.

The black, Grimm-like robotic bird landed softly on the ground, holding a boy by his coat in its beak. It lowered its head slightly before opening its beak, allowing the boy to stand on the ground safely. He breathed out in relief and sat down next to it - hugging his knees close to him before burying his face on it

"I though I was done for... This is too scary, Birdie..."

Birdie blinked blankly, before nudged its beak on his head affectionally. There were a couple of loud thump before a black figure leaped through and knocked the boy straight through a bush, knocking him down.

"Watch out!" The white haired boy looked up to see Cheshire - another one of his marionettes, was staring down at him, before turned to the source of the voice and found two other people were standing nearby with their weapons drawn.

"Don't panic..." One of them - the one in a black jumpsuit, whispered to him as they pulled something string-like from their wrist. The other person raised a cane forward, and as the boy realized what they were going to do, he jumped out and away from the robotic cat and waved his arms up in the air.

"No, wait! Cheshire isn't dangerous!" Shouted the young boy, before he tapped on the nose of the robot cat, "He's my marionettes."

Tomy blinked for a second - completely surprised and taken back, before he put his cane away and walked over to where the boy was standing. The Grimm-like marionette remained still as the blonde approached it, and continued to do so as he placed a hand on its side.

"Jeez, this thing look freakishly real. Where did you-" He turned to the boy and was going to ask, but froze on his feet as Tomy realized he was look at him in his eyes.

"Shit..."

He looked back at the person standing behind him, and saw that they were covering their face with hand, clearly disappointed.

"I'll head out then." Lacie gestured at a random direction, before started heading out - unsure if there were anyone without a partner left, before bumping into something.

Or rather, someone.

"Hey! I heard talking from here. Are you guys all partnered up ?" A hand reached down and grabbed the Faunus firmly by his wrist before pulling him back. As Lacie looked up, he saw another male - one who is way taller with heavier built than himself, wearing black armor with glowing blue patterns. As the taller male looked down to see the string coming out from his wrist, the hand that was holding Lacie instantly dropped, followed by his yelp:

"Ah! You're a Faunus!"

His words felt like someone stabbed Lacie through the heart, but he only lowered his gaze down and took a step back, muttering quietly:

"S-sorry..."

There was a rather awkward silent moment between the two of them, before Phoebus turned toward the other two boys and waved at them:

"How about you two ? Do you want to partner up with me ?"

Tomy felt the left corner of his eyes twitched as he watched the whole thing, and as the new guy turned to them and ask the question, he instantly grabbed the nearest object - which was his cane, and activated his Semblance. Several pieces of glass appeared out of thin air and formed together into two identical mirrors - one behind him, the other one between the guy and Lacie.

While they were looking confused, the blonde hopped forward - vanishing and reappearing in front of the other mirror, and smacking the scepter across the taller male's head, knocking him unconscious.

"You fucking racist! No one wants to be your partner!" Spat on his face, Tomy kicked the male on his back before glanced at the raven haired standing behind him.

"C'mon, we'll find you another partner. No need to concern yourself with this scumbag, miss..."

"Lacie Serica. And I'm a guy..." Lacie whispered, before walking toward the tiny boy standing across the field. A faint smile could be seen as he approached the cat marionette and looked at the boy, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Lacie."

"M-my name is Monte." The boy stuttered and extended his hand out - which the Faunus gently shook, "I'm a F-faunus too...."

"I'm Tomy, and we all need to get out of here." Tomy suddenly cut in and grabbed Lacie by his wrist, "I heard noises, and it's likely not from other students."

The two of them nodded, before Monte gestured Cheshire to bow down, allowing the boy to climb onto its back as Tomy and Lacie dashed off, leaving the unconscious Phoebus behind...

## Part 2:

"Hmm, there aren't a lot of signal in the forest." Shaking her Scroll, Idina held it up to see if she could catch more signal. However, the map didn't update, and the heiress had no choice but to put it away. Turned to her partner - who was floating in the middle of the air, Idina gestured the girl to come forward.

"Is everything alright, Idina ?" Crystal tilted her head to the side as she flew to her side.

"Fly up and look for the temple." Ordered Idina, before giving her thigh a quick pat, "Don't take too long, or else I'll punish you~"

The redhead yelped out of surprise, but still complied nevetherless: Brushed through the branches as she flew upward, the girl poked her head out of the thick tree and squinted her eyes. The two of them weren't far from the temple, but neither was a large, black figure that stood out between the forest to their left.

"The temple is that way, but there is a really big Grimm heading toward there!" She was covered in leaves as Crystal flew down and pointed Idina to the direction to the temple. The purple haired girl nodded and started heading off - sparks from the end of her heels start flying as she walked, didn't bother telling her partner to come with her, "Eh...? You're going ?"

"Yep." Crystal was confused, but quickly followed her.

"By yourself ?"

"Probably."

"But isn't it d-dangerous ?" Exhaled, the heiress turned around and glared at Crystal - it made the girl startled and slowed down behind Idina.

"And I suppose you know how to properly defend yourself ?" Looked down at her feet, the redhead girl said nothing to answer her question, "While your cute little wings can help you fly, you'll need more than that to be my partner. So just don't get in my way, little fae."

"O-okay..." Timidly nodded, Crystal backed away a little - keeping her distance from the purple haired. Chuckled, Idina continued to head to walk to the temple, a train of thoughts running through her mind: If the Grimm was too big for her to handle on her own, she could use the little fairy as bait, buying her enough time to find out its weak spot. However, it was cut short when another pair appeared within her sight.

"Hey, I see someon- Oh wait..." Tianee frowned at the familiar sight of the purple haired, before turned away from her. Sirce wasn't any happier, having to see the redhead girl again so soon. *At least I don't have to be her partner.* Thought to herself, the brunette also followed Tianee's step to leave the area.

"Oh ? Isn't it Tiny Tina and her pretty girlfriend ?" They'd heard the purple haired girl called out from behind, and before Sirce knew it, the teal haired girl sharply turned on her heels with an irritated look on her face. The trident was unshealthed from the scabbard strapped behind, as Tianee stormed toward the taller female.

"What. Did. You. Call. Me ?!" Growled lowly, she held the sharp end of her weapon in front of Idina's neck in a threatening manner. Standing at barely 5 feet tall, the tiny girl would often be the topic of teasing back in her hometown - especially if she was seen with her family. And Tianee refused to let people makes fun of her when she was across the world as well!

"Aww, you're cute when you're pouting like that~" To her response, Idina merely pushed the trident away, before reached out to pinch the smaller girl on her cheek. It added up to the already heavy tension between the two girls, and Sirce was instantly alarmed when her partner shoved Idina away. The silver blade gleamed up in the sunlight when Tianee took a step back, looking more than ready to impale the girl in front of her with her weapon.

Before Sirce could react, a bolt of white light landed between the two female, resulting into a large block of ice between them. They both glared at the object, before turned to the redhead girl floating not too far away: Crystal was holding her right arm out with the bracelet glowed around her wrist, a fearful expression could be seen on her face, "What the hell was that ?" Tianee raised her voice and lowered the trident down - however, she still gripped on it tightly. The girl would say nothing, only pointed over Sirce's shoulder to the forest behind her...

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