RWBY: Team SWRZ

A few hours passed since the ȧssignment for the first year students began. At one of the extraction points, Lilith sat comfortably in one of the lawn chairs prepared for her and the other instructors. A scroll rested in her ŀȧp, showing her multiple screens of the students fighting for their lives in the forest. She absentmindedly swiped through the screens, stopping only when she spotted the one she was looking for.

"Most of the students have been paired up," Lilith overheard some of the other teachers talking amongst themselves. "We've got some exciting team-ups this year around."

"It's not over yet though," Lilith spoke up. "Pairing up is the easy part. Working together, however, is where things get difficult."

The instructor's purple eyes rested on the screen of her scroll, where footage of two particular students played for her viewing pŀėȧsurė. And those students were Schwartz der Hund and Watchet Amin. The duo cautiously wandered through the forest, or rather, Watchet did. Schwartz took the situation in stride, leisurely sauntering down the path without a care in the world.

Since there wasn't necessarily a time limit for the ȧssignment, Schwartz planned to take his time and get a feel for the place. He wasn't a stranger to wandering through the wilderness, so, he had a good sense on where he was for the most part. His gaze bounced around all over the place, spotting anything that could give him and his partner any clues as to where to head next.

"Is it wise not to have your weapons drawn?" Watchet inquired, taking immediate notice of Schwartz's careless behavior. To him, such a reckless attitude would cost others their lives. If they were to work out as a team, then they needed to get on the same page.

"Don't need 'em," Was Schwartz's prompt reply. He waved off his partner's concerns and continued, "I've got you around. You can watch my back while I look around."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Watchet asked.

"Scrolls, obviously," Schwartz rolled his eyes. "We can't complete this thing until we find the blue one."

Schwartz and Watchet walked through the treeline and stepped out into an open area. There, they spotted a group of Grimm, Boarbatusk's wandering through the place as well. Schwartz smiled and unsheathed his Sabre's.

Just when he prepared to kill them, Watchet grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing?" He asked,

"Trying to kill the Grimm. What does it look like?" Schwartz answered the question with one of his own.

"They haven't spotted us. Besides, killing the Grimm is not part of our ȧssignment." Watchet reminded. However, Schwartz refused to listen. He didn't care if it was part of the trial or not. If he spotted an enemy, he was going to take them down. Pure and simple.

Not wasting another second, Schwartz rushed ahead toward the unsuspecting Grimm. He cut them down with great ferocity, laughing maniacally as he did so. Watchet stood back and watched on, not entirely sure if he needed to lend a hand.

From the look of things, Schwartz had everything handled. By the time the Grimm began to counterattack, there was only a handful of them left. And the sword-wielding maniac took care of them in a matter of minutes.

Watchet raised his shades to his forehead, getting a better look at the exciting sight before him. Schwartz stood in the center of the field, staring down at the defeated Grimm that evaporated into nothingness.

"Are you finished?" Watchet called out to his partner. While impressed with Schwartz's combat abilities, his mindset wasn't the most ideal. Well, he figured he'd have more than enough time to correct that behavior later on down the line.

Its red eyes shone with clear murderous intent.

Watchet grimaced and readied his blade.

"That's a big Grimm," Schwartz commented, his body trembled in sheer excitement at the thought of fighting it.

Watchet slowly backed away, "Schwartz, I believe it would be in our best interest to slowly back away and--"

"This is more fun!" Schwartz wasted no time charging headfirst into battle, much to the chagrin of Watchet.

Schwartz altered his swords to their SMG form and unloaded several rounds into the giant Grimm. Each shot bounced off the tough hide of the Boarbatusk, only proving to annoy it. It squealed and rolled into a ball before barreling towards the Hunstmen.

Schwartz jumped aside and watched the creature head toward Watchet.

"Watch yourself," He laughed, passing that off as a form of warning.

Watchet took those words to heart. The blade of his sword extended to the nearest tree before pulling him out of the way of the Grimm. The Boarbatusk plowed through several trees before coming to a complete halt, turning around and glaring at its enemies once again.

The Boarbatusk endured the attacks and charged, leading with its tusks. Schwartz leaped into the air and hitched a ride on the beast. He aimed his guns at its eyes and fired mercilessly. He held on for dear life while the Boarbastusk thrashed about wildly, squealing in pain.

Watchet dropped to the ground and ran alongside the Grimm. "Schwartz, we need to get the Grimm on its back! The underbelly is the weakness!"

"Kinda busy up here at the moment!" Schwartz responded, knowing he'd get thrown off if he let go of the tusk.

Watchet rolled his eyes from behind the safety of his shades. Afterward, he slashed away at the Grimm's leg. Stopping its momentum was the first step in his plan.

It took a few well-placed swipes to topple the Boarbatusk. It violently sprawled across the ground, eventually stopping on its back, leaving its underside exposed.

"You're up!" Watchet called out to his partner.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Schwartz ran up the tallest tree and leaped from it. He raised his swords above his head and delivered the finishing blow to the downed Grimm. A maniacal laugh left his mouth when he drove the sword into its stomach.

He slid down the Boarbatusk's body, dragging his swords along the entire ride. When he pulled them out, the Grimm vanished.

"Nice work," Watchet smiled.

"Please don't antagonize them," Watchet pleaded. It was bad enough that they already wasted enough time in the trial. He didn't want them wasting any more. "We should get searching for the final scroll."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Schwartz pouted and sheathed his swords. Just when the two prepared to leave, they spotted several Boarbatusk's coming out of the treelines. Each one was as large as the last. "Me and my big mouth, huh?"

"Indeed," Watchet ġrȯȧnėd and reached for his sword again.

Meanwhile, in another area of the vast forest, Rowan and the others gathered around, comparing notes and ideas on how to proceed through the rest of the trial. Out of the six students, not a single one of them had a scroll in their possession.

"So, does this mean we should all team up to get all the scrolls we need to pass this ȧssignment?" The one that asked was the tallest out of the students, Li Shun.

In theory, it wasn't a bad idea. If everyone put their heads together and decided to work together, then the rest of the trial would be a breeze. However, Rowan immediately spotted a few problems with that plan when she noticed the expressions that crossed the faces of the other students.

A majority of the students planned to help themselves rather than those they weren't teamed up with. Rowan was in that category. Unfortunately, one of the people she never wanted to see again turned out to be her partner.

Rowan looked at Zorina, who had long settled down by that point. The silver-haired woman stared back with eyes of great admiration and expectancy, probably for when she saved her life not too long ago.

"Maybe I should've let her die?" That wicked thought crossed Rowan's mind.

"Hold on, Wei. What's wrong with teaming up?" Enlai questioned.

The white tiger Faunus stopped in his tracks and took a moment to answer, "It's bad enough I'm stuck with you. Lugging around everyone else will only slow me down."

Rowan opened her mouth to counter against the statement. However, some of the other students beat her to the punch.

"Whatever, I'm fine with not teaming up," Ilma nonchalantly said and made herself comfortable against a tree.

"Now that this Empress of Darkness has formed the soul binding contract with her destined one, I see no need in bringing on any more subjects at this time," Zorina arrogantly boasted.

"Well, I guess if the others are so against this," Shun seemed hesitant, but the majority didn't want to team up. So, he figured he'd stick around with his partner and keep her safe.

The students prepared to split off into they witnessed a stampede of students run by, screaming their heads off about the Grimm. One student bumped into Shun, falling flat on his ȧss.

Rowan helped the student to his feet and patted him down, checking on his condition.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Wei clicked his tongue and muttered, "Cowards. All of them."

The rumbling beneath the feet of the students alarmed them. The sheer force of the tremor forced them to take notice of the situation before them. Out from the treeline came Schwartz and Watchet, following behind them was a stampede of angry Boarbatusks.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Rowan's jaw nearly detached from her body. Not only did she not plan on seeing Schwartz or Zorina again, but she never expected to see such large Grimm so soon in her temporary status as a Huntress. "We can't deal with that!"

"W-W-We should flee!" Zorina urgently suggested.

"No other choice!" Ilma was the first person to break away from the group. Shun stood his ground and held his shield out, ready to defend the likes of his fellow students without hesitation.

"You're not getting through me!" Shun shouted as he bashed his shield into the faces of one Boarbatusk. To the surprise of everyone, the Grimm hit the ground and stayed down.

"Impressive," Wei commented before he slid under a Boarbastusk and sliced its stomach open with his Tiger Claw weapons, killing it instantly.

Enlai planted his feet and focused. When the Boarbatusks entered his range, he opened his mouth and unleashed a shockwave from his roar, sending the Grimm back.

"Shit! Shit!" Ilma cursed as she reached into her coat, pulling out her Talon throwing knives. She hurled a few into the eyes of the Boarbatusks, blinding them. However, one of them blindsided her, ramming and impaling her with its tusk, killing her instantly.

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" Rowan complained and ran off alongside Zorina. Unlike the others, they weren't going to confront a stampede of Grimm.

"Retreat is the best option in this situation!" Zorina agreed.

"I'm glad someone agrees with me!" Rowan and Zorina turned their heads to the side and realized that they were running alongside Schwartz and Watchet. "Attracting the attention of this many Grimm wasn't part of the ȧssignment, Schwartz!"

"Oh quit complaining! This is a lot more fun than collecting some stupid scrolls!" Schwartz exclaimed. He looked over his shoulder and noted that the number of Grimm following them dropped significantly. "We should be able to take them now!"

"Are you insane?! If you wanna tackle that many Grimm by yourself, then be my guest! But keep me out of it!" Rowan protested against the idea, not wanting to get roped into more danger.

"It's a little too late for that, don't you think?" Watchet questioned.

"We've got a problem!" Zorina pointed ahead, spotting a cliff in the distance.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Schwartz smirked, a devious scheme having already formed in his head. "We'll jump!"

"Jump?!" Rowan and Zorina exclaimed.

"You guys ready?" Schwartz wondered, not bothering to care if they were or not. Regardless if they survived or not, he knew that he was going to.

"Maybe we should come up with another plan?" Watchet suggested. But at that point, it was too late. They were too close to the edge back out. With no other choice, the four students jumped off the cliff alongside the horde of Boarbatusks. Gravity took its course and sent them plummeting further into the thick forest.