Ruby Rose must be crazy. She had thought it was a good idea to 'ride' a Nevermore. Her plan also seemed to include falling, or, knowing her, jumping off. Adam was trying to comprehend the level of insanity required as he pointed to her rapidly descending form.

"Heads uuuuuuuup!" Ruby shouted as her arms flailed. Her fall was cut short as a scruffy blonde kid slammed tail-first into her, both of them grunting. He was moving so fast that Ruby's downward movement was dragged into his sideways trajectory. They landed in a nearby tree with a sickening thump. He winced and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Are there any survivors up there?" He shouted. His query was met with a pair of groans. "Did your sister just seriously ride a Nevermore and fall off?" Yang, for a change wasn't sure what to say.

"I…" her fumbling for words was interrupted by a growl and an explosion at the tree line. A large Ursa came tottering out a few steps. There was a flash and crack, followed by a high-pitched 'yeeeee-ha' as the Grimm fell down. A red-headed girl rolled off it's back and stood up.

"Aww! It's broken!" She leapt to stand on the monster's head and look at it as a dark-haired boy came running up to stand beside it.

"Nora! Please," he said, catching his breath, "don't ever do that again." If the girl heard him, she gave no indication, instead rushing over to a pedestal in a white and pink blur. She leaned in and stared this way and that at the rook piece upon it, making ooh noises as she did so. After a second or two, she snatched it up and balanced it on her heel while singing, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" and bouncing it up to land on her head.

"Nor-A!" The boy shouted. She saluted and giggled, letting the relic fall into her hand.

"Coming, Ren!" The sequence happened so fast that Adam barely had time to register any of it.

"She rode in on an Ursa. Why is everyone riding Grimm? Was there something I missed in the instructions earlier?" Yang still hadn't found words to express her own confusion. She didn't get the chance, as a piercing shriek rang from the trees to their left. A gold and scarlet clad redhead came sprinting out, and a huge Deathstalker burst through the trees behind her. It flattened several of them as it skittered after it's prey. The girl jumped and rolled nimbly out of swipes from its pincers without breaking stride.

"Jaune!" she shouted as she continued to flee.

"Pyrrha!" the boy gave a muffled yell from the trees.

"Whoa!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby!" The boy replied.

Ruby leapt out of the tree and rolled up to her feet, Yang calling out her name. "Yang!" she cheered as she threw her arms up, ready to embrace her sister. Adam could only stare the debacle. These were going to be his classmates. For four years. Gods help him. The orange-haired girl burst up between the siblings and shouted her name.

"Nora!" she was so energetic that the other two girls recoiled and shouted something he didn't understand.

"How far do you think she ran with a Deathstalker chasing her?" he asked. Yang had had quite enough. She growled and threw her arms out, exploding into flames and going red-eyed.

"I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?" Ruby tapped her sister's arm and pointed up at the sky. The boy, Ren, had managed to catch up with the group.

"Um… Yang?" Adam's partner hung her head in defeat as everyone else looked up at the sky. Adam's eyes nearly bugged out – Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, Miss Prim and Proper, was holding on to the Nevermore's claw for dear life. Adam couldn't help it; he snickered. He was very disappointed that he couldn't take a picture.

"How could you leave me?" Weiss shouted. Ruby held up her hands in disbelief.

"I said 'jump'!" as if Weiss were an imbecile. Adam had to agree, though he suspected the ride had been Ruby's idea in the first place. He was going to have to find out just how Ruby had convinced the heiress to join her.

"She's gonna fall," Adam said.

"She'll be fine," Ruby replied.

"She's falling." Ren's voice was a flat monotone, but Ruby was probably right. Schnees might be a lot of things, but incompetent wasn't often one of them, much to Blake's frustration over the years. As Weiss neared the ground, however, the blonde kid – Jaune? Jumped from the tree branch he'd crawled onto in what appeared to be a vain effort to catch the girl. Adam was shocked that he actually managed to do it, and even more surprised that they hung in the air long enough for the boy to say something to her. They remained suspended for so long that Adam had begun to wonder if Jaune's semblance was flight or levitation.

That assumption was dashed when the two realized their predicament and grabbed on to one another before resuming a less than ceremonious landing. Jaune impacted the ground face down, and Weiss landed atop him as if she had flopped onto a couch. She held up a hand, examining her nails, letting out an underwhelming, "My hero…" Jaune groaned something about his back as Pyrrha continued to run from the Grimm. It gained on her, taking several swipes on the run. Her skill at evading the monster's claws had limits, however, and she was batted across the field. She landed next to the group in a heap, and did not move for a short time.

"Great!" Yang chirped. "The gang's all here: Now we can die together!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby gave a cry and charged toward the Deathstalker. Yang called her name and reached out to stop her. Ruby whipped out her weapon, which transformed into a giant scythe, firing a round to propel herself forward. Her swing was too slow, and the Grimm smashed her out of the air with a powerful swipe. Ruby stood, looking a little dazed, and Adam reached for his blade.

"D-Don't worry! Totally fine!" The girl called. The Grimm crept forward, and she fired a round at it, which bounced off it's thick carapace. Her good sense finally caught up to the rest of her body and she got moving. Yang charged forward to help her sister. The Nevermore, however, had returned with a loud shriek. It stalled its flight and swept huge wings forward to send feathers lancing down in a path that pinned Ruby's cape to the ground. The scattered feathers kept coming down and toward the group, forcing Yang to pull up short.

"Ruby, get out of there!"

"I'm trying!"

Adam started to move forward as Yang screamed her sister's name – he was shoved aside by a white blur streaking toward the helpless brunette. He watched in amazement as Weiss intercepted the Deathstalker's stinger with a very impressive amount of ice before it could slam into Ruby.

"You are so childish," Weiss said, "and dim-witted, and hyperactive – and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit… difficult… but if we're going to do this," she paused and bent down to look Ruby in the eye, "we're going to have to do this together." Adam wasn't sure his hearing was working correctly. Did she just act very unlike a spoiled brat? "If you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off," Ruby replied. Sure she wasn't. "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine," Weiss answered, moving to return to the group. Ruby stood and stared at the trapped Grimm in awe. It snarled and tried to break free by shaking back and forth. Yang ran up to her sister and caught her up in a fierce hug. Adam looked away and suppressed a pang of jealousy. How different would his life have been if he'd had a brother or sister like Yang?

"I'm so happy you're okay!" As they moved to rejoin the rest of the group, Jaune pointed to the Nevermore as it winged through the air.

"Guys, that thing's circling back. What are we gonna do?" Adam looked to the chess pieces, and Weiss made his point for him.

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." She gestured back the way they had all come from with her thumb. "There's no point in fighting these things." Adam couldn't agree more. They'd spent far too much time out there – it might be part of how they were graded.

"Run and live," Jaune said, "that is an idea I can get behind." Adam suspected that Jaune had done more than his fair share of that, but it wasn't worth saying. He shuddered to think what being in a fight beside the blonde noodle would be like. Ruby moved to take a knight, while Jaune picked up a rook. The Grimm had continued to pull and jerk at the ice trap, causing it to grind and crack ominously.

"Time we left!" Ren stated with urgency.

"Right," Ruby agreed. "Let's go!" She waved her arm and took off running. Jaune mirrored the gesture and joined her. The others followed their example, all except for Yang. Adam took a few steps before stopping beside her.

"What are you waiting for?" She gazed at her sister, who stood at the top of the hill, cloak flapping in the breeze.

"Nothing," she said, beaming with pride. She got moving, and he brought up the rear. The ruins flashed by as they all moved at a dead run. As they neared an old road flanked by pillars, the Nevermore banked and landed on a broken tower. It flared it's wings and screeched at them.

"Well that's great," Yang groused in irritation. They all remained behind cover, wondering what to do. The Deathstalker, which had finally freed itself, made the decision for them by smashing through the edge of the clearing behind them. Adam thought that it was amazing that the Emerald Forest was still standing with all the blundering going on. Jaune moaned and shouted for them to run.

The Nevermore took to the air as it's prey ran out into the open. Ren shouted something at Nora, and she ran into the middle of the road. She jumped and rolled through massive feather spears as they crashed down, drawing her weapon and firing several grenades at it. Adam stayed behind to watch her back as the Deathstalker raced toward them. He and Ren crossed in front of it, each of them slapping a massive claw away from her with their weapons. Weiss had jumped from her hiding place to land beside Nora. A glowing snowflake pattern appeared beneath the two girls, and Weiss grabbed Nora by the arm to jump them both out of harm's way. Once they were clear, Adam gave the Deathstalker an aura enhanced strike to put it off balance, then he and Ren sprinted after the others.

Nora's grenades had done their job, but the Nevermore wasn't ready to give up yet. The Deathstalker had recovered quicker than Adam would have liked; they were mere feet ahead of it. The others had run onto a thin bridge over a large chasm. Pyrrha spun and shouted for them to move as she covered their escape with her rifle. Ren jumped and rolled up into a defensive stance to add his own firepower. Adam kicked off and jumped out onto the bridge, narrowly evading the creature's pincers. It was fortunate that the bridge, though questionable in appearance, was too slender for the Grimm to follow.

The eight of them raced toward the tower, but the Nevermore had returned. It had dove down to their level, and was now speeding toward them. None of the students had time to get clear as the bird lowered it's head like a battering ram and plowed through the stone. Blocks flew in all directions, forcing Adam, Ren, and Pyrrha back toward the shrieking Deathstalker. Adam didn't like their chances, cornered as they were, but closed to melee range. The monster was simply too large, and though his allies attempted to distract the beast with gunfire, he was flung back.

Adam had barely risen to his feet, and was preparing to expend his own shells when a thump echoed behind him. A moment later, Nora came sailing past with a massive hammer, which she smashed into the Grimm's carapace. Jaune landed next to them, and Nora triggered another blast. It was bad luck that she had landed a few feet in front of Adam; the Grimm reared it's stinger at her. She blocked the whiptail strike, but it knocked her back toward him. He was ready for it, jumping as he shouted, "Brace!" Nora tensed up as she slid into him, and he pushed off her shoulders with both feet and a burst of aura. He could see the remains of the bridge shimmy, and then he was turning to face the direction he was moving.

The leap had sent him up and back toward the other side of the gap – and directly into the path of the Nevermore. It yawned it's beak at him, and he barely avoided becoming bird food. He struck with Wilt, dragging it along the side of the giant bird's head as he ran up onto the feathery back. He could see the flesh parting, but it was hardly more than a scratch to the behemoth. He got his bearings and took swipes as he ran, jumping off when he got near the tail. He landed next to Ruby, and hopped to stand next to Yang.

"It's got a really thick hide!" he shouted over the din of monsters and combat. "I can probably do more damage, but someone's got to charge me up."

"Then let's hit it with everything we've got!" Yang said. "We'll power you up if we need to go to plan B." They all opened fire as the Nevermore swept toward them in full fury, completely ignoring the explosions, bullets, and… were those starbeams the Schnee girl was shooting? Adam shook his head and resigned himself to burn more aura as the Grimm did the only thing it could do – slam into the tower wing-first.

The ruined structure began to disintegrate; huge blocks of stone fell and Adam hopped and dodged between them. He strained to keep from falling into the canyon below. It wasn't going to be quite enough to clear the shelf. When he started to fall back down, he slammed wilt into the side of the block he was closest to. Gravity pulled his blade down into a tight bend, and then sprung him into the air, tearing chunks of stone out as he went. He cleared the top and landed in a kneeling position.

Yang had taken position on top of a broken pillar and was firing round after round at the giant bird. While it was occupied, Ruby appeared beside him in a cloud of rose petals.

"I've got a plan!" Adam hoped it was a good one: Nevermores were notoriously difficult to kill without heavy weapons. "Think you can give me a boost with that springy fire sword of yours when Weiss throws us?" Adam stared at her. She really was insane. He could only nod. She pointed at a stretch of blocks between two pillars. "Wait over there and be ready," she said. She rushed off toward Weiss as Yang jumped directly at the bird's gaping beak. Adam winced, but got moving once he saw Yang get stuck in the Nevermore's craw. She crammed several rounds down it's throat, then jumped down to meet with him.

"How do we charge you up?" she asked. He partially drew Wilt and held it up in front of her.

"Give me everything you've got! You'll know when to stop." Understanding dawned on Yang's face, and she let loose a rapid barrage of explosive fire rounds until he started glowing. The Nevermore had smashed into the face of the cliff, and was trying take off when Weiss trapped it's tail with a massive wall of ice. Yang moved to stand behind him, feet spread wide and leaning against his back and both fists grabbing handfuls of his jacket.

"Be ready to jump," she said. There was an edge of hysteria and wicked glee to her voice.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Relax, Red. Ruby and I used to play this game with dad all the time." Adam was afraid to ask, but he did anyway.

"And what did you call this game?" Weiss had started to skate back toward them. Ruby was several yards ahead of him, and Adam drew Wilt, placing the flat of the blade against is palm. He'd never used his semblance or his weapon this way before, and sent a silent prayer upward.

"Fun-ball – I've never been on the bottom though." Weiss cast a gravity glyph, centered on Yang. He barely heard her over the hum. "Jump and brace!" He leapt into the air and pushed out with his aura. Yang got her hands under his feet, and Ruby fired her scythe, spinning up into the air. The balls of her feet landed on Wilt, bending it heavily.

"You people are out of your gods damned minds!" he shouted. Yang gave a crazed laugh. Weiss' glyph was starting to make him feel too large for his skin.

"Of course you would come up with something like this," Weiss said. It might have been his imagination, but she sounded just a bit jealous.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.

"Hmph. Can I." There was a pause.

"Can y-"

"Of course I can!" Adam strangled the urge to yell at them. His patience was strained almost as hard as his aura. Ruby cycled her scythe, and Weiss inverted the glyph with a wave of her arm. The three of them went careening through the air so fast that Adam couldn't even yell. Yang let loose a thunderous burst that rattled his teeth. Wilt bent further, and as they started to lose momentum, he threw his semblance into the blade, which instantly sprung Ruby forward. She fired repeatedly, adding momentum that carried her into the cliff wall. Her blade slapped against the Nevermore's throat, and they both slammed into the cliff.

Adam landed and tried to stand, but couldn't summon the energy. A line of white snowflake glyphs stretched upward, and Ruby ran up them at a sprint, firing more rounds as she dragged the Nevermore with her. She was screaming in terror, or mania – Adam wasn't certain which. When she reached the top, she stalled for a moment. There was a wet tearing sound that he could hear despite the distance, and the bird's head went flying away from the body in an explosion of feathers and blood.

"Holy crap," Adam breathed. He looked back at Yang and Weiss. His partner had a mad grin on her face, while Weiss could only gape in shock. He finally mustered the strength to stand, but didn't move beyond that. Yang and Weiss joined him. The other four students had defeated the Deathstalker and were cheering at them.

"Well, that was a thing." Adam looked over at his partner. He was going to be with her for the next four years? He wondered what kind of odds they'd have making it past the first year.

Their return to Beacon had been a simple affair. Once they had returned to the launching area, relics were collected, and passing scores had been given to the eight of them. Adam wasn't really shocked by the outcome – in addition to achieving their original objective, they had killed two of the more difficult creatures of Grimm to exterminate. Professor Goodwitch even gave them some praise, but cautioned them that she expected great things in the future. Most of the other student pairs had met few or no obstacles at all, though he hadn't heard about that until later. The initiation ceremony was to be brief, assigning teams and leaders.

Their two groups were met with excited whispers and wild gestures from the upper-classmen. Adam hadn't realized that the students would be able to watch the initiation. He didn't mind – they'd acquitted themselves well, if the excitement was anything to judge. He stood with Yang and her sister, as well as Weiss while Professor Ozpin called out names.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie: The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper," Nora giggled and hugged Ren, "led by Jaune Arc." Adam was shocked by that choice. Pyrrha Nikos seemed like a better leader. He questioned Ozpin's sanity, but maybe the kid would get his act together. He stumbled and fell when she gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder, and Adam could only pass a hand in front of his eyes. He was glad that Jaune was not his problem.

"And finally, Adam Taurus, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long: The four of you retrieved the white Knight Pieces." He paused and waved his hand, palm-up across the four. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team Rowan – led by Ruby Rose." Yang leaped past Adam and Weiss to embrace her shocked sister as the crowd cheered and clapped.

"I'm so proud of you!" she said, voice raised over the crowd.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year." Ozpin said.

A/N - and here it is, the chapter I've been dreading. Combat sequences are not my strong point, and not having Blake and Gambol Shroud, I did my best to come up with a believable way for the last fight scene to work. I hope it didn't dissapoint. I know that I'm also taking a chance with the team name, but I thought it was appropriate to go with Rowan, a tree or shrub of the Rosaceae family. Besides, it was that or Yarrow, which didn't make a lick of sense to me. I hope you'll forgive my desire for dramatic license. Thanks for reading, and be sure to let me know what you think with a review! :)