The Emerald Forest


 * For the location sharing the same name, see Emerald Forest.

The Emerald Forest is the sixth episode of RWBY, which premiered on the Rooster Teeth website on August 22nd, 2013.

Summary
As Yang Xiao Long walks through the Emerald Forest in search of a partner, she encounters two Ursi. After a short encounter, she destroys one with Ember Celica for cutting off a strand of her hair during the conflict. She prepares to fight the other, but Blake Belladonna kills it from behind using Gambol Shroud. They look each other in the eye, cementing their status as partners, as Yang muses she was more than capable of killing the second Ursa.

Meanwhile, Weiss Schnee internally walks herself through the steps of her fencing training, whilst surrounded by Beowolves. She rotates Myrtenaster's revolver and poses to strike. However, just as she begins to attack, Ruby Rose strikes the Beowolf Weiss is aiming for, causing Weiss to redirect her strike and send fire toward a nearby tree with her attack. Ruby, distracted by the fire, is knocked backward into Weiss by the Beowolf. They contemplate an opportunity to attack, but Weiss forces a retreat, having accidentally started a forest fire.

The two get into an argument, with Ruby protesting that she is independently capable of fighting the Beowolves alone, and Weiss berating her childlike and impulsive nature, stating that if she had warned her about what she was going to do, they wouldn't be running away from a burning forest. As Weiss stomps off, Ruby takes her anger out on a tree with Crescent Rose and follows her. Behind them, a giant feather slowly drifts to the ground beside the fallen tree.

Elsewhere, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos hear the sound of gunfire, and Jaune gets a scratch on his face after Pyrrha accidentally hits him with a branch. Pyrrha asks Jaune why he didn't activate his Aura, to which he reveals that he's not familiar with the concept. Pyrrha explains that Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, created from the understanding of both light and darkness in every being, and can be used by any living being.

The Grimm are the one exception, as they lack souls, and are instead considered beings of darkness and "manifestations of anonymity." With practice, Aura can be utilized as a shield, and may even be an efficient fighting tool. This concept is displayed when Lie Ren is shown using a combination of his Aura, StormFlower, and martial arts skills to slay a King Taijitu that attacked him.

Pyrrha utilizes her aura to unlock Jaune's, which immediately heals his cut. She seems somewhat drained by the experience, but recovers a few moments later and notes that Jaune has a vast amount of Aura within himself. Meanwhile, after Ren slays the beasts, Nora Valkyrie calls out to him using her "sloth call" before swinging upside-down from a nearby tree. Ren comments that he still isn't convinced that is what a sloth sounds like. Nora merely replies with "Boop" while touching his nose, earning a smile from Ren. Having made eye contact, the two become partners.

Trivia

 * Nora's "sloth call" has a striking resemblance to a bird call.
 * The King Taijitu's color scheme reflects the concept of light and darkness, which coincidentally is the topic Jaune and Pyrrha were discussing during the conversation about Aura.
 * This also reflects YinYang, the symbol of Taijitu.