Chapter Text
“Guys, I found another one!”
The group gathered around Young Link’s finding: a jet-black feather, deeply lodged into a tree. Young Link poked it and flinched his hand back, sucking on his finger.
“Sharp like the others?” Samus asked.
“Yup. Whatever had this thing was big, and in a fight of some kind. Let’s keep looking around, maybe it’s still nearby.”
The group walked on, noticing that more feathers dotted the landscape, even splintering some of the thinner trees. As they walked on, subtle dread started to creep in.
“What kind of monster could do this?” Zelda asked.
“I’m not sure.” Robin suggested, hand on his chin. “When Master Hand said a monster had invaded the realm, I thought it would be something from one of our worlds, but I don’t recognize this from anything in the Mansion’s library.”
“Well whatever it is, we should take it out, and fast.”
As soon as the statement was finished, a sharp snap resounded through the area, sending the warriors into guarded positions. They stood back to back in a circular formation, watching the shadows for any sign of danger. A low growl echoed through the trees, causing the fighters to tense. Young Link made out a pair of orange eyes in the darkness, and made to attack; but was too slow. The creature lunged out, grabbing the Child of Time with its teeth and running into the forest.
“Aaagh! Let me go!”
The others ran after Young Link, finding him on the ground, clutching his side and surrounded by more of the dark creatures. They resembled wolves in shape, but had bone-looking protrusions throughout their bodies, focusing on their arms, backs and feet. The creatures licked their lips as they eyed the Child of Time, intending to use the swords-kid as their next meal.
Zelda charged in first, sending a Phantom towards the closest monster. The armor slashed at the beast with its great sword, making its victim scream and lash out, destroying the summoned suit with one strike. Robin sent out an Elthunder strike at another beast. This one paralyzed the beast, but it too quickly recovered, leaping at the sorcerer and slashing with its razor-sharp claws. Samus quickly joined the fray, knocking the monsters off of their feet with her missiles and using their distraction to roll to Young Link and get him to safety.
“What are these things!?”
“I’m not sure,” Robin said as he shot out an Arcfire at another approaching monster, “But whatever they are, they’re tough. Samus, are you having any luck!?”
“Couldn’t. Be. Better!” Samus grunted, holding back and throwing a monster with a blast from her arm cannon. “We gotta find a weakness for these things, and fast!”
The warriors kept fighting, but were making little progress. Even when Young Link joined the fight after healing himself, they only seemed to make the monsters madder. Suddenly, an intense screech filled the air, causing the warriors to cover their ears and the monsters to back away.
“Guys, above us!”
The fighters looked up, seeing a giant bird that looked similar to the wolf monsters in appearance, having a white face plate. The bird screeched again and flapped its wings, sending sharp feathers down towards the group. Samus and Zelda managed to dodge the projectiles with relative ease, but Young Link and Robin struggled to maneuver around the feathers while fighting off the wolf monsters.
Robin was the slowest of the group, being slammed in the stomach by a wolf monster and pinned to the ground by some feathers. He tried to summon a spell to escape, but his hand was crushed by the monster that punched him. Just as the monster was about to finish off its prey, a red streak blazed by, leaving the monster halved and disappearing with a roar.
“Are you okay?”
Robin looked up to see a young girl holding out her hand which he took. She couldn’t have been older than 16 or 17 and wore a red scarf and a red and black skirt with a tan shirt. Robin stopped short when he saw what was in her other hand: a massive red scythe, taller than its wielder, and its blade wider than his arm. Her silver eyes held compassion and innocence, but also a hidden fury to them, one that seemed uniquely pure.
“Y-yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you. Who are y-”
“Ruby! Don’t be running so far ahead!”
A tall, blonde haired woman walked out of the trees. She appeared to be of similar age to the girl in front of him, apparently named Ruby. She wore a brown jacket and black pants. Her left arm held a yellow gauntlet-looking item, and her right appeared to be mechanical, having a similar color scheme.
“But these people needed help! Besides, we found those Beowolves and Nevermore, didn’t we?”
“Maybe,” Another girl emerged behind the golden-haired one, having a simplistic white coat with a black shirt, jet black hair and...cat ears on the top of her head. “but where exactly did they lead us to?”
“We can fill you in later,” Zelda said as she rushed over, “For now, can you help us?”
“Sure thing! Team RWBY at your service!” Ruby said with a smile and salute. Robin couldn’t help but smile himself at the girl’s enthusiasm, seeming odd, yet intriguing when combined with her deadly weapon. “C’mon Weiss!”
“You know, I’d be of more help if you didn’t leave me behind Ruby.” One more girl appeared from the trees, having snow-white hair and wearing a simple gray and white dress with a knee-high skirt. She held a silver rapier, with its base holding several colorful cartridges.
“Ehehe, sorry about that.”
“C’mon Ice Queen, you know you gotta stay ‘frosty’ in these things.”
“Oh hush, you.”
Robin and Zelda shared intrigued but perplexed looks as they observed the group, being replaced with determination upon hearing Young Link shout out a war cry. The group turned to see the Child of Time shove a bomb into a wolf monster’s mouth. The explosion stunned the creature, giving Ruby the chance to finish it off with a headshot, leaving Robin and Zelda stunned.
“What was that? Some sort of hybrid weapon?” Robin asked with wide and analytical eyes.
“Oh, it’s just my baby Crescent Rose; I can tell you later.” Ruby said wistfully. She shifted her scythe into what appeared to be a gun, cradling it against her face like a mother cradling her child.
“Weapon admiration later.” The black-haired girl said as she pulled out her own blade from her back, “For now we have Grimm to kill.”
The group nodded and charged back into the fray. The new guests battled unlike anything the Smashers had seen, using their physical weapons and what appeared to be special powers. Ruby seemed to blaze through the battlefield, stunning the Grimm for Weiss to finish off with rapid jabs and a flourish akin to a ballerina. The black-haired one threw the blond into the air, who then proceeded to shoot the bird in the mouth, bringing it crashing into the ground, crushing its kin. With all of the monsters gone in black puffs of smoke, the group took a moment to catch their breath.
“Wow,” Zelda said, “you guys are something else.”
Ruby blushed while scratching the back of her head. “Thanks, you guys are pretty cool too. What are your names?”
“I’m Princess Zelda of Hyrule.” The princess said with a bow.
“My name is Robin, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The child stepped forward, extending his hand. “People here call me Young Link.”
The orange-armored woman stepped forward with a small smile on her face as she removed her helmet. “Samus.”
The red-clothed girl approached and shook Young Link’s hand. “You guys are so cool! My name is Ruby Rose, and these are my teammates.”
The blond stepped forward. “My name is Yang Xiao Long, and I’m actually Ruby’s older sister.”
“My name is Blake,” The black-haired one said with a bow, “It’s also nice to meet you.”
“Weiss.” The white one said curtly.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Zelda spoke, “would you please accompany us back to the Mansion? The Master would like to be informed on what happened here.”
The four girls looked at each other with curious eyes. “Mansion...Master?”
“Well,” Blake suggested, “maybe this Master can tell us how we get back home. If the Grimm got to this place, then surely there’s a way back.”
“Alright,” Yang shrugged, “wouldn’t hurt to get a rest.”
Ruby and Weiss simply nodded their agreement. “Let’s go!” Ruby smiled and waved her friends along, eager to meet this mysterious Master.