Hey everyone! This is my new story, Cut From the Same Cloth.

For those of you who don't follow my other stories, this is going to be a little bit of a departure from my typical preferences, brought on by a wonderful idea my Beta and I discussed. Eventually, I decided to actually follow through, and... well... here we are!

I won't say any more, aside from "Enjoy!"

Beta: Knight of Cerberus

"This'll be fun."

The airship ride to Beacon Academy was quite possibly the worst experience of Jaune Arc's entire life. The smiling faces and the chattering of excited soon-to-be students did little to suppress the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. Nor did the way everyone had pressed him to the window at the end of Glynda Goodwitch's speech, eager to see Beacon as they approached.

He honestly felt like he might throw up.

If he did end up vomiting, he'd claim it was motion sickness – no one had to know what was really going on, and how often would he be riding in an airship anyways?

What the hell am I doing?

Jaune took a deep breath, hoping to quell his nerves. He turned to look back out the window, focusing on a point along the horizon, where the sea met the sky. Towards the front of the airship, he could see them approaching the cliff atop which Beacon rested.

He rested a palm against the metal plate he wore. Chestplate, check. The same hand fell to the blade at his hip. Crocea Mors, check. Then his pocket, confirming he still had his scroll. After a few seconds, the boy had finished listing off the belongings he'd had on him.

It had only been the tenth time he'd done such a thing, and it still did nothing to alleviate his fears.

Someone was going to notice.

Jaune wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword, pushing his shoulders back and sticking his chest out. It did nothing to make himself feel any better, but he hoped anyone looking his way would see exactly what he wanted them to see: someone confident in his abilities. Someone who belonged at Beacon Academy.

Someone Jaune Arc wasn't.

He'd never gone to a combat school, like many on the ship with him likely had. Nor had he attempted to take Beacon's entrance exams, knowing the difficulty of those was far higher than any combat school's finals.

So Jaune had taken the easy way out and lied.

He'd lied, like he had so many times before: to his parents and his sisters, to his teachers in grade school... He'd always felt guilty every time he'd done it, and while his family had never stayed mad at him for long, he'd quickly learned to never lie to them again.

But his teachers, on the other hand, and everyone else he'd lied to – except for his family – had never found out.

But this? This wasn't telling the principal it was the other blond kid in the class who'd thrown sand in Olive's eyes. This wasn't convincing the physics teacher the family dog had actually eaten his homework – even though the Arc family had no dog, three of his sisters being allergic.

What he was doing was illegal.

Someone bumped into him, and his posture shattered. He nearly fell over just from the light contact.

"Oh, sorry." A girl called over her shoulder

"It's alright..." Jaune smiled back, but the girl was back to talking with two other guys – friends of hers, probably – as they walked down the cabin towards the airship's exit.

Jaune turned back to the window, closing his eyes as he felt the airship lurch. He fingered the pommel of Crocea Mors, finding some reassurance in its barely familiar shape.

There was only one redeeming factor here: It didn't matter if he'd used fake transcripts to get into Beacon or not.

It wouldn't matter after Initiation.

After all, students who passed Initiation made it into Beacon. Students who didn't pass initiation... Jaune had never heard of.

Everyone passed. If anything, Jaune would be the first person who hadn't – and then they'd look deeper into his background, and he'd be outed as the fraud he was.

That meant he had to pass. No matter what.

It wasn't as if Jaune was completely inept. His sister had taught him to fight as best she could, though even she'd told him how it wasn't enough for him to make it into Beacon.

He'd told her it was fine, and that one day he'd catch up to her, no matter how long it took.

Jaune smiled, shrugging at his reflection in the airship's window as the transport gave one last shudder, docking safely.

He just had to do the best he could.

The boy turned, walking towards the rear of the large mass of bodies writhing to make their way off the ship and onto the landing platform. He was eager to see Beacon in all its glory, but years of being forced to sit back and wait while his sisters argued over who got the bathroom next had instilled no small amount of patience in Jaune's core virtues.

Of course, the possibility of there being someone waiting on the platform to take him straight to the Headmaster's office was also holding him back.

Jaune took his first step on the paved walkway, and he let out a breath.

He was at Beacon. The Beacon.

The boy strode forward in a way he hoped was confident, even though his legs felt like they would fall out from under him at any moment. Only a few students had stuck near the landing platform, most of them eager to explore their new home.

"Hey!"

Jaune winced. So soon?

The boy turned reluctantly, ready to put his wrists together to be cuffed and dragged away by whoever was sent to arrest him... Only, whoever it was who yelled, it wasn't directed at him.

The boy relaxed, running a sleeve across his brow. It came away slightly damp.

He'd been sweating.

Jaune sighed. He turned and took a step forward.

It's nothing to worry about Jaune, just act natur-

With his next step, it felt like Jaune's entire world exploded.

The boy dropped to one knee, the leg failing him as he drew Crocea Mors. He held it in the direction of the blast, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice.

Jaune breathed rapidly, watching, waiting. Was this Initiation?

Out of the cloud of smoke, a glass vial rolled. As it continued moving towards Jaune, the boy stood up on unstable legs, pointing his sword at the container.

The vial stopped at the tip of Crocea Mors with a soft clink, a vaguely familiar symbol facing him.

Jaune looked back up at the clearing smoke, then leaned down to pick up the vial, studying the crest printed on the glass. He frowned in concentration for a moment as he gave the vial a light shake, the red substance shaking within. Then he remembered why the symbol was familiar.

"Ah. Dust." He noted to himself. It should have been obvious right away.

"Unbelievable!" Jaune looked to the where the explosion had occurred, seeing a girl dressed in white – and covered in a fair amount of soot – crying out to the sky above, before she started yelling at the shorter girl in front of her. "This is exactly what I was talking about!"

Jaune cringed in solidarity, seeing the shorter girl's face as she was berated by the one in white. "I'm really, really sorry."

Before the girl in white could get into it any more, Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and rushed forwards.

"You com-"

"Excuse me, but is this yours?" Jaune called as he got closer, cutting off whatever the enraged girl had been about to say next, holding the vial of Dust out before him.

Both girls turned to face him, the one in white glaring at him at first, before her eyes softened, and she smiled lightly. "That's mine, yes. Thank you."

Wow, she's... beautiful.

"No problem." He smiled in return, not taking his eyes off her. After a moment, remembering what had been happening, Jaune looked to the shorter girl dressed in red. "Are you two okay?"

"I'm fine." The Dust owner replied. "No thanks to her."

"Hey, I said I was sor-"

Jaune put a hand on each girl's shoulder as his legs shook lightly. He'd split up arguments between his sisters before, but these two girls were complete strangers - and the one in white was gorgeous. "It looks like you're both fine."

What was he supposed to do?

"I didn't quite see what happened…," he started out, continuing when it looked like the one in the white dress was about to say something, "but both of you are okay. It's our first day at Beacon, we shouldn't be arguing with each other."

Both girls started "But she-"

"Nope, I don't want to hear it." Jaune ignored the stare from his right and the squeak from his left. "Our first day at Beacon, I'll remind you. Let's look past this and just try and be friends, okay?"

Jaune squeezed his lips shut tight. That last part about being friends wasn't really supposed to have been said – especially if things were already this fragile. He removed his hands from the shoulders of the two girls, and let them dangle at his sides.

The girl in white closed her eyes and sighed – Jaune just now noticing the scar over her left eye. She opened them wide again, looking to the girl opposite her. "Just make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"It won't. That's a promise." Was the peppy response. The short girl held her hand out. "I'm Ruby."

The owner of the Dust vial hesitated before reluctantly holding out her own hand. "Weiss."

The two shook hands, though the way Ruby winced – Weiss wincing back a moment later – Jaune guessed it was anything but a friendly handshake.

Clearing his throat, the two girls ceased their battle. "The name's Jaune Arc. It's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"Nice to meet you." Weiss sounded a little sincere when she replied, but Jaune couldn't be sure.

After a moment, Ruby responded. "...Do they?"

"Not sure." Jaune admitted.

The three stood there for a few moments, nothing being said between them. Ruby looked to Jaune expectantly, the boy turning to Weiss. When his eyes met Weiss', she glanced towards Ruby, then back to Jaune.

Well this is awkward.

"So, what did happen?" Jaune asked, his curiosity getting the better of him in the silence.

And just like that, the silence was gone.

"This absolute dolt bumped into my luggage! Someone could have been seriously hurt!"

"I said I was sorry!"

Jaune shoved his face into the palms of his hands, already wishing he'd never said anything.

After Jaune had noticed the girls weren't going to stop arguing until he got involved, he'd taken just the slightest opening to mention they had somewhere to be, and the two ceased their argument. Weiss had stormed off before Jaune could get a word in edgewise, leaving him with Ruby. As soon as Weiss was out of sight, Ruby began walking, Jaune following beside her.

"She's rude." The girl stated with certainty.

Jaune almost nodded his agreement, but he wasn't about to take sides. "She has a point though. You could've been more careful."

"Gee, thanks..."

The blond looked over at the girl, her arms crossed defiantly. He probably would have been better off not saying anything, yet again. "I'm not saying she's right though."

"Yeah, I get it. You don't want either of us to think you're on the other's side, because you don't want either of us mad at you."

Jaune winced at the accuracy of the girl's deduction. The precision of her statement let Jaune make an assumption of his own "...You have siblings too, then?"

"I have a sister." Ruby noted with a frown. "She left me back there at the docks."

"Twin sister?" Jaune prodded.

"Older sister."

Jaune scrunched his face in confusion. "Older sister?"

"Oh, right." Ruby looked away. "I'm only fifteen. My sister is seventeen."

"You're fifteen and you're going to Beacon?"

"Yeah..."

"That's pretty incredible."

"Thanks." The girl's appreciation sounded hollow, and Jaune was unsure how to respond.

The duo passed a fountain as they walked, not speaking a word to each other for a good two minutes or so. When it honestly seemed like Ruby wasn't going to say anything, Jaune made the decision to break the silence.

"Are you excited to be at Beacon?" the boy asked cautiously.

"Of course I am!" The girl seemed to perk up instantly, as if the one who had just been sulking had been replaced by someone who'd just downed three cups of sugar-saturated coffee. "I can't wait for classes to start, and I'm sure initiation is going to be awesome! Do you know anything about it?"

"Initiation?" Jaune pondered aloud, Ruby nodding vigorously. "Not much, just that it's something that happens. You?"

"Same here, really. I know we'll probably end up fighting Grimm though. That much should be obvious to anyone."

"Right." Jaune nodded along, though it hadn't been obvious to him.

They were going to have to fight Grimm?

Jaune started to finger the pommel of Crocea Mors nervously.

Despite the training he'd received, he still hadn't fought any Grimm – not even one of the wolf-looking ones. If he wanted to be a huntsman, he knew he was going to have to fight some eventually.

But… so soon?

"Have you fought Grimm before?" Jaune asked.

"Pfft, of course I have." Ruby smiled up at him. "I might be young, but I wouldn't be at Beacon if I haven't."

"Ha, right?" Jaune tried to hide his nervousness behind his words. From Ruby's lack of reaction, it seemed to work.

"I've killed so many I've lost count."

Jaune gulped, stopping in his tracks. "You have?"

"What about you?" Ruby asked innocently enough, smiling up at Jaune.

"I... uh..." Jaune found it incredibly hard to speak – his lips felt dry, and his mind blanked. "Yes?"

"Yes?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know." Jaune blurted out.

Shit.

Ruby nodded sagely as she reached up to pat Jaune on the shoulder. "See, it's hard to remember the exact number, isn't it?"

Jaune nodded dumbly as he took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

That was close.

Ruby looked down to where he was still fiddling with Crocea Mors, the boy resting his hand against its hilt the moment he noticed. "Still, if your sword there is all you use, I suppose it's quite impressive."

Jaune smiled as he drew the blade, Ruby cooing as she admired the sheen. "I actually haven't killed any Grimm with it yet. I haven't used it at all really..." Jaune said honestly, before he realized how that sounded. "It's a family heirloom – my dad gave it to me when he heard I made it into Beacon. He was sort of surprised when he found out I made the cut."

That was the truth – though his dad entrusted Jaune's great-great-grandfather's blade to him thinking he made it into Beacon legitimately. Goodness knows what the man would do if he figured out what exactly Jaune had done instead.

"So... what does it do?"

Jaune blinked. "What does it do?"

"Well, it's not just a sword, is it?" Ruby quizzed. "You see, Crescent Rose here..."

Ruby reached around her back, pulling a red, rectangular shaped object from behind her. The... thing... folded out into a rifle, and when Jaune was about to compliment the piece of machinery, it shifted again, a wickedly curved blade extending closer to the end of the barrel, while the stock became a haft with a bladed end.

"Holy shit." Jaune half whispered, nearly dropping the century old blade he held in awe.

"She takes that as a compliment." Ruby giggled, before she nodded towards the piece of simple metal Jaune held in his hands, giving her own weapon a quick little twirl Jaune wouldn't have been able to do on a good day. "So, does your sword do anything special?"

"No." Jaune stated, feeling a little defeated. "It's... it's just a sword."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The sheath can turn into a shield." Jaune added as he returned the blade to his hip. "But I don't use it."

"Huh. Why not?"

"I never learned to fight with a shield." Jaune pointed out. "My dad's not the one who trained me."

He never wanted me to be a Hunter in the first place.

"Ah. I guess I'll see you fight someday." Ruby grinned wryly as she returned her kickass scythe to its holster. "Maybe tomorrow?"

Jaune just smiled back as he began to walk again. "Maybe."

"Where were you? I was getting worried."

Ruby scoffed as Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "If you hadn't left me thirty seconds after we landed, I'd accept that."

"Aww, come on, sis. The gang wanted to catch up before I spent the rest of my day with my little sister. Cut me some slack."

Ruby pushed Yang away, staring at her sister in disbelief. "Cut you some slack? I exploded, got into an argument that probably lasted ten minutes until it was broken up, and then I got lost."

"Gee, that bad?" Yang cringed. "What about the guy you walked in with?"

Jaune? "He's the one who broke up the argument I had and the one I got lost with, and I'm sure he was just being nice."

"He got you lost to be nice?" Yang asked, grinning.

"No..." Ruby groaned in response, knowing she could have worded that better. "I mean, I think he was only hanging out with me to be nice."

"What makes you say that?"

Ruby looked over her shoulder, trying to see if she could spot Jaune in the crowd. Despite being rather tall, with a shade of hair not far off from Yang's, Ruby couldn't see him anywhere. "I don't know. He seemed rather nervous, and-"

"Are you sure he doesn't have a crush on you?"

"What?" Ruby asked incredulously, wheeling on her sister.

"Being nice to you... he was nervous?" Yang teased. Her sister thought she was good at hiding it with the serious expression on her face, but Ruby knew better than to fall into the obvious trap.

"No, he was just as polite with me as he was with Weiss, and I thin-"

"Weiss?"

"The girl I argued with." Ruby stated quickly, happily distracting her sister from the topic of Jaune. Yang was a little... overprotective, and if she did think Jaune had a crush on her, Ruby didn't want to do that to her newfound friend. The girl would prefer to keep the first friend She made at Beacon. "She was angry at me for exploding, but it really was my fault, and I was just trying to apologize, but she wouldn't listen, and-"

Yang nodded slowly, waving off Ruby's explanation. "Yeah... you said this earlier, but what do you mean you exploded?"

"She bumped into my luggage, one thing led to another, and she sneezed, igniting stray particles of Burn Dust. It caused a chain reaction, and, well, she exploded. All over me."

Ruby turned towards the girl, narrowing her eyes. "Pfft, 'One thing led to another' my butt. You're the one who shook Dust everywhere."

"I'm not saying I didn't." Weiss retorted, staring Ruby down in return.

The sound of Yang snorting stopped Ruby from responding immediately, the girl looking to her older sister.

"Wait a minute... she actually exploded?"

"Yes." Weiss responded matter-of-factly.

That was all it took for Yang to burst into a fit of laughter, drawing the attention of the crowd around them. "Oh man, really!?" Ruby's sister panted, clutching her gut as she bent over.

"It's not funny!" Ruby protested, feeling her face go red.

"It's no laughing matter. Someone could have seriously been hurt." Even Weiss agreed, though for different reasons. Yang slowly recovered, biting off the last chuckle as she finally looked up at Ruby's face.

"But neither of you were hurt, were you?" She asked, voice tinted with concern despite her lingering smile.

Ruby looked to Weiss, and Weiss looked back to Ruby. "No." They stated in unison.

"Then it's fine, right?" Yang supplied.

"It's not, though." Ruby stated with conviction, looking up to Weiss. The girl's light blue eyes widened in surprise. "I blew up your Dust, so... I'll find some way to pay you back for it!"

To Ruby's surprise, the girl held up a hand. "It's quite alright," she stated, "there's plenty more Dust where that came from. Just so long as you promise to be more careful in the future, so nothing like this happens again."

"I promise you I'll be more careful, but accidents do happen." Ruby noted wisely, hoping the girl would accept that.

Weiss frowned, but she nodded as she turned to face the stage, the lights dimming. "I suppose it'll have to do."

Jaune yawned as he closed his locker halfway. Crocea Mors was held to the back by the magnets installed in the frame; he'd considered leaving his armor in the locker as well, but remembering what happened right after landing, he decided keeping it on might have been a good idea – at least until he got changed for bed.

He was certain Ruby wouldn't explode again, but if that was what had happened after he'd been at Beacon for thirty seconds, he wasn't discounting anything that could pose a threat to his well-being. Thus, it was just safer to keep his armor on.

Jaune quickly checked the locker number on the piece of paper handed out to him, and compared it with the number listed on the locker before him. Certain he had the right one, Jaune closed the locker completely, entered the code, shut the locker, then re-entered the code to make sure it opened properly. It did.

The boy closed the locker one final time and walked away. He yawned again, his fatigue catching up to him. Even since back before he'd gotten on the airship, he'd been constantly in motion, either walking, running, or pacing: The actions alone weren't enough to really tire him out, but combined with the sheer amount of work his brain had been doing, it wasn't a surprise at all he was feeling a little drowsy.

He probably wasn't going to be able to fall asleep very easily, either. The tingling in his gut still hadn't gone away, though it had diminished.

'It's up to you to take the first step.'

That was what he was doing, wasn't it? Others had said the Headmaster's speech had been a little odd, and Jaune could agree, but he also felt like it resonated with him. It was like Professor Ozpin had been speaking to him.

That made him even more nervous than he already had been.

The boy stretched his arms high above his head as he left the locker room, joints popping. A run would clear his head, and the cool late afternoon air would serve to wake him up a little, but a run while he was wearing his armor plating did not sound appealing. At all.

What could he do instead?

The blond's stomach growled. He blinked once, then twice, before he was suddenly beset by a strong feeling of hunger.

I haven't eaten since breakfast...

Jaune pulled apart the two halves of his scroll, the holographic screen popping to life. He quickly entered his password, and the map he'd opened earlier reappeared.

After a minute or so of simple navigation, Jaune Arc found himself before Beacon's cafeteria. From what he saw through the windows as he walked by, it was mostly empty, so the boy simply pushed his way through the large doors. A few people were seated at the tables, but none of them wore Beacon's uniform, so he assumed they were new arrivals – first years like himself.

Jaune approached the counter between him and the kitchen and peered behind it.

"Why hello there young man, looking for something to eat?" An elderly woman with a kind smile and dull eyes made her way over to stand across from Jaune.

"Yes ma'am."

"So polite. All the other students have come through already, but I'll see what I can find for you."

The blond nodded and watched as the woman walked away briskly, rounding a corner Jaune couldn't see around. After a moment, there was the muted sound of the same woman yelling obscenities at someone in the back.

The woman returned shortly after, holding a tray in her hands. She pushed the tray across the counter, and Jaune stared down at it.

"This is an entire swordfish." Jaune felt the need to point out.

"You look like you need your protein, young man." The woman smiled politely. "Run along now, I've got work to do."

Jaune took the tray, watching as the elderly woman simply took out a cloth, and started wiping down the counter. She stared back at him. Her gaze made Jaune feel uneasy, so he quickly turned away.

Finding a place to sit wasn't difficult, with how many open spots there were, but Jaune still moved decently far from the cafeteria's kitchen. He was certain if he sat too close, the old woman's stare would have burned two more holes in his skull than he already needed.

The boy finally sat, and grasped the fish firmly, before he realized he had no idea how to eat a whole swordfish. Were they even supposed to be served like this? There were a knife and fork on his tray, so he felt like he needed to use those...

"Hey, look, he has a swordfish too!"

Jaune looked over to the girl he knew had to be talking about him. The orange-haired girl was sitting a few tables away, next to someone who also had a whole swordfish on his tray, just staring at the fish with a fork in one hand, and a knife in the other.

Jaune smiled at the girl who'd noticed him, waving.

"Ren, he's waving at me."

'Ren' just sighed as he continued to stare at the fish.

The girl got up, and hopped over her table, then the next, finally walking down the row until she was directly opposite Jaune.

"Hi." Jaune greeted.

"Hi." She responded with a smile, as she picked up Jaune's tray.

Jaune blinked tiredly. "What are you doing with my swordfish?"

The girl didn't answer, instead balancing the tray on one hand as she retraced the path she'd taken almost exactly, even hopping over each table the same way. When she finally got back to where she'd started, next to Ren, she placed the tray on the table.

Ren said something to her, and she just laughed in response.

Jaune stood with a sigh, walked all the way around the tables, and sat down across from the two.

"Just so you know, I'm pretty sure she liberated your swordfish just to invite you over here."

Jaune nodded, before he looked up at Nora. "Well it worked. Now, I have a question..."

"What is it?"

The blond looked between the two other initiates. "How do I eat this thing?"

Ren sighed, as he continued to stare at his own swordfish. "I don't know."

Weiss sighed in discomfort as one particularly familiar girl squealed lightly.

"Stop it!" Ruby whined playfully. Weiss cracked open one eye, seeing the smaller girl trying to push her sister aside to no avail.

"You're not getting away~" Yang cooed, pulling her way onto the girl's back, the two having been laying next to where Weiss had decided to settle down for the night. Ruby struggled beneath her sister, giggling as the blonde girl tickled her.

"Oh for the love of-" Weiss started as she sat up, practically throwing her covers off. All she'd wanted was to get to sleep early, to be fresh and ready for Initiation in the morning, but then the two sisters had to take the spots right next to her. She could have sworn they did it on purpose. "Could you two be any more annoying?"

Ruby's sister grinned mischievously as she looked up. "We can."

Beneath her, Ruby bucked, hitting Yang's chin with the back of her head. Along with the impact, the smaller girl squirmed, forcibly shifting Yang off of her. The blonde fell into a heap at her side.

"Ow."

"We won't. We'll be good." Ruby reassured, smiling eagerly as she sat up straight.

Weiss nodded in thanks, though she was unsure at Ruby's ability to keep her older sibling in check.

Groaning as she shook her head, Yang sat up as well. "Gee, you must really like her, sis. You don't even show dad that much respect."

Ruby turned to Yang, looking affronted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, the last time he asked you not to do something, you went and did it anyway; which is why you're here right now."

Ruby crossed her arms and grumbled. "At least I didn't cause thousands of Lien-worth of property damage."

"Hey, that was one time." Yang protested, frowning, looking to Weiss cautiously out of the corner of her eye. "And you weren't supposed to say anything about that."

If that didn't set off warning bells in Weiss' head…

Ruby just grumbled a little more, turning her nose up and looking away from Yang.

"That sounds like an interesting story."

Weiss looked up at the newcomer, before instantly shading her eyes, sneakily lying back down while keeping Yang and her sister in her field of view, at least wanting to know what was occurring before her.

"Ruby, cover your ears." Yang paused for a brief moment to give her sister time to do so. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

All Weiss had been able to see of Jaune Arc at that point was a pair of slippers that looked to be attached to his pants, both adorned with little bunny ears. She didn't even want to think about what the rest of the outfit had looked like at first glance.

The Schnee heiress had to agree with Yang, despite the vulgar language: She wouldn't have even stuffed her brat of a younger brother into an outfit like that... Or maybe she would have. She tried so hard not to sprout a grin at the thought: What would her father have done if she had?

"Hey, my sister bought this for me, I'll have you know." The boy noted. "...and is that the way you talk to someone you've just met?"

"If you look as ridiculous as that, yes."

"Can I uncover my ears now?" Ruby asked, Weiss watching as she leaned forward.

Yang's hair bobbed as she nodded.

"I still heard you, just so you know." Ruby noted, clasping her hands in her lap as she glared at her sister.

Weiss snorted, disguising it as a snore. Ruby looked over.

"...I'm Yang, Ruby's sister."

"Jaune Arc." The boy responded. Weiss risked discovery, parting her fingers to get a look at the boy's face. He brought a fist in front of his mouth to stifle a yawn.

"You look tired." Yang pointed out after a second. Weiss could easily agree, as she yawned herself. It looked like he hadn't slept for days, even though he'd seemed fine earlier.

Then again, an explosion in a peaceful courtyard was usually enough to wake anyone up.

Jaune looked around wearily before nodding. "Yeah, there's only so long I can stare at the ceiling before I realize I'm not getting any sleep."

"Makes sense."

Weiss watched on in anticipation as the two girls and the one boy before her didn't say anything for what must have been a good ten seconds.

"Why don't you have a seat?" Ruby offered, shuffling over as she clutched a cute looking dog shaped pillow Weiss was sure belonged to either her or Yang. "Do you have any cards Yang?"

"Shoot, I didn't bring any." Weiss heard the girl mention. The heiress then felt a chill run down her spine. "I wonder if Weiss has any."

She closed her eyes, hearing Yang shuffle over, the distance between where they'd decided to sleep not far enough for the white haired girl's liking.

"Hey, Weiss, you have any cards?" The girl shook her shoulder, even as Weiss grit her teeth, hidden behind her lips as she tried her hardest to appear asleep. "Hey." Yang shook her more. "Hey~"

"I don't have any cards." Weiss finally growled as she sat up, glaring at the blonde girl.

"That's fine, I have some." Yang held up a deck of cards, grinning victoriously. "Why don't you join us?"

Over Yang's shoulder, Weiss saw Jaune staring at her in disbelief, with Ruby trying to hide a giggle.

"Fine." Weiss declared.

Jaune yawned, the sun's shining rays passing through the windows of the hallway as he walked. He looked outside, blinking rapidly as the bright circle signalling the beginning of the day burned its shape into his eyes. He'd managed to get maybe an hour of shut-eye at the most, vaguely remembering the dull glow of sunrise before he fell asleep.

Whatever Initiation was, he wasn't ready for it.

The boy turned and pushed his way through the locker room door, dragging his feet as he made his way in the direction he was certain his own locker was in. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the piece of paper with his locker number, checking said number against the ones listed on the lockers as he passed. He sighed, realizing he had a long way to go.

"Beacon has a lot of lockers." He noted aloud, not that there was anyone to answer him.

After about a minute, things began to look familiar. He rounded a corner, nearly running into someone he didn't recognize in the process, offering his fellow initiate a short apology as they brushed past each other.

The boy strode forward, taking note of the white-haired girl he passed on the way. Weiss, whom Jaune had learned was the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company while they had been playing card games the previous night, was talking to some red-headed girl dressed in a fair amount of armor.

"Hey Weiss." Jaune called out to the attractive girl as he passed, not stopping to chat. From how irate she'd been after they'd broken off to try and get some sleep, Jaune was certain not being a bother would be the best thing he could do. That, and he was sure he looked absolutely haggard.

"Hey." She replied normally as he passed.

"...Who was that?" Jaune heard the redhead ask as he rounded the corner, not hearing Weiss' response as he made his way towards his locker.

Checking the numbers, Jaune nodded as he approached his locker. Three from the left. He hadn't considered mapping out where the locker had been the other day, but at least now he wouldn't forget where it was.

...If he was going to be back here.

Jaune rested his head against the locker door as he typed in the code. With a whirring click, the door unlatched, and he opened it, retrieving Crocea Mors.

The blade's weight at his side once more, Jaune closed his locker, his fingertips brushing the metal surface. His stomach felt unsettled once more, but he just smiled.

He rapped a clenched fist against his locker lightly.

Today was the day, and he had a promise to keep.

The speaker right above his locker sparked to life, and Jaune looked up at it.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again..."

Jaune frowned, pulling out his scroll. "Beacon Cliff?" He checked the map, zooming out until he had a better view. "Ah."

He'd make it there in no time.

As Jaune's feet carried him to the locker room's nearest exit, he began to finger Crocea Mors' pommel. His nerves were coming back. The previous night, when he'd been with Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, he'd nearly forgotten why he was at Beacon. How he was at Beacon.

Hell, the shameless flirting with Weiss had been a new thing entirely, though even he knew that hadn't been the smartest thing. He blamed it on how tired he was, but it wasn't like he hadn't meant what he'd said in the end.

Surprisingly, as they'd been talking over the games they'd played, there wasn't a single moment when Jaune had felt he was at risk – every question the girls had asked, he'd been able to answer honestly. He hadn't needed to lie to any of them.

It had helped him relax, even if it hadn't been enough for him to get to sleep easily.

Jaune stepped out into the brisk morning air. The sun was likely just starting to slow its climb, beating down on him, just as his feet beat the dirt beneath them. The boy followed the path before him, passing trees as he made his way towards Beacon Cliff.

Eventually, the trees thinned, and Jaune saw the Headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, and Professor Goodwitch standing at the edge of the cliff.

Jaune wasn't afraid of heights by any means, but standing so close to the edge with their backs turned to the open space... It made him queasy thinking about it.

"Good morning." The Headmaster called out.

"...Good morning." Jaune responded uncertainly as he smiled with all the confidence he could muster, looking out beyond the edge of the cliff.

"No one else is here yet." The blonde professor at the headmaster's side noted, adjusting her glasses. "Take your pick of the platforms to your left. The others should arrive shortly, and then Initiation will begin."

Jaune nodded silently, looking at the square metal plates adorned with Beacon's emblem. There was a long row of them, the boy not bothering to count as he walked all the way to the end.

"We don't bite, Mr. Arc."

Jaune looked all the way back to the Headmaster, who had called out to him. Thinking about it, it was more than a little suspicious, him walking all the way down to the end, as far away from the two Professors as he could get.

The boy scratched the back of his head. "Sorry," He yelled over, "I thought I was being polite."

The headmaster just stared in response, before he nodded, turning to look back down the path from whence Jaune came.

Jaune let out the breath he'd been holding, adjusting the straps of his chestplate. His hands shook slightly.

The Headmaster had just called him Mr. Arc. Meaning the man knew who he was, or at least recognized him; though, there was no way of knowing whether he'd been recognized as just a student, or as a fraud.

The confidence on the faces of the first years who started arriving shortly afterwards made Jaune even worse off. A shorter boy nodded in greeting as he took the platform to Jaune's right, and a girl took the next platform. The students started slowly flowing in. Jaune couldn't see Ruby or Yang or Weiss, but he just figured he must have missed them, and they were hidden among the bodies blocking his vision further down the line. He did see Nora and Ren, but they didn't seem to notice him at all as Nora chatted away at Ren.

Beacon's Headmaster started speaking, and almost synchronized with his first word, Jaune felt something shift beneath his feet. The blond looked down at the plate, feeling a click about every half second.

He yawned.

"...Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Wait, what?

Jaune looked up to the female professor he'd heard speak, seeing Headmaster Ozpin nodding along. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What?!"

Ah, there's Rub– wait, after landing? What landing?

Jaune looked out over the cliff, at the forest far below. The clicking he felt beneath his feet stopped, and the boy finally clued in.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Jaune whined to himself.

"...You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair of students must choose one, retrieve it, and return to the top of the cliff. Are there any questions?"

There was no response from the other students. It had sounded simple enough, but Jaune wanted to ask a few questions himself.

With one loud click, the boy realized he had no time.

His knees bent as the platform extended, launching him high into the air as he failed to remain upright. The wind whistled past his ears as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

Jaune twisted his back around in an effort to put his feet beneath him, but the wind just pushed him back into place. With a grunt of effort, the boy managed to at least face the right way, drawing Crocea Mors.

Even with Aura, this was going to hurt.

The blonde tensed defensively as his armored shoulder collided with the first large branch that came before him, splintering the living wood easily. The impact broke his already unstable form, and he just barely managed to reach out, gouging a vicious scar into a particularly large tree as he started to descend, the first collision slowing his forward momentum.

Crocea Mors having been wrenched from his grip just a moment before he landed, Jaune's feet touched the ground, his knees buckling. The boy fell flat on his rear, groaning at the awkward landing.

Jaune continued to groan as he grit his teeth, staring up at the tops of the trees. Using the tree he'd landed next to as support, he stood. He had not been prepared for that. If it wasn't for his Aura, he'd have been severely injured, or worse...

Looking up, Jaune noticed his sword had been buried up to the cross-guard in the tree which had slowed his descent. With his eyes, he traced the path upwards to the point where he'd stabbed the blade into the bark. Reaching for the hilt, Jaune pulled the heirloom out of the split wood, happy it had stopped him from turning to a fine paste.

The boy sheathed the weapon, turning around to look out at the woods.

Well, if there was anything his launch and subsequent landing had done, it had certainly woken him up.

"Now then," he began to walk, "I'm supposed to find a partner, or something? Oh, I wonder if I can find Weiss..."

"Wooo!" Yang cheered as she tumbled forward, rising out of the motion as she carried her momentum forward into a run. "Nailed it."

She broke the run off into a jog shortly after, scanning the trees around her, looking past the trunks into the shadows behind them. She took off her aviators. There were no glowing red eyes, there was no sinister looking bone plating...

The girl retracted Ember Celica into their inactive forms, putting her hands on her hips as she frowned. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she looked back the way she came.

Should I go back and look for Ruby, or keep going?

Yang stopped, tapping her foot as she chewed on her lip, looking between what she knew was north – the direction she needed to go – and back towards the cliff, knowing Ruby wouldn't be ahead of her.

"What to do... what to do..."

The chilling howl of a Beowolf and the numerous answers that followed got Yang's legs moving in an instant, running back towards the cliffs. If it wasn't Ruby, it would be someone else. And if it was someone else, they might need help.

She weaved through the trees, only having to dodge the odd shrub as she made her way south. The brawler extended her elbows as she entered a clearing, Ember Celica snapping into their positions.

The girl roared as she sprinted forward, sending the momentum into a titanic punch, catching a Beowolf in the spine. With the force of her fist and the firepower behind it sending the creature flying forwards, Yang announced her presence violently.

Two of the beasts before her turned from their original quarry, but Yang made short work of them. The girl flipped over an incoming swipe, stomping the Beowolf's arm into the ground as she fed it her fist. She turned, noticing no immediate threat, and she smiled as she ran towards who the Beowolves had been accosting.

"Rah!" Yang knocked one of the Grimm stumbling back with a dashing uppercut. Before the blonde could follow up, a thin blade pierced through the back of its neck, quickly retracting a moment later.

The wolf-Grimm fell back, Weiss stepping around it. Yang met her eyes with a nod, and turned to counter another swipe she easily dodged. She grabbed the over-extended limb, pulled, and delivered a punishing blow to the beast's jaw.

"Well, it looks like you know what you're doing, at least." The elegant girl commented, punctuated with the whine of a Beowolf.

"I'd certainly hope so." Yang answered with a grin.

With Weiss taking on her share of the Beowolves, the two girls quickly decimated the small pack.

Yang rolled her shoulder as she walked towards Weiss, the corpses of the Grimm steadily dissipating. Weiss spun the cylinder of her weapon before holstering it at her hip.

Left-handed. Yang hummed as she approached the girl. She'd be a tough opponent in a fight.

"Well, that was fun, wasn't it partner?"

The Schnee heiress looked up, her eyes widening. "Oh no..."

Yang blinked. "What?"

"You're my partner."

"Yep." Yang chuckled. "It's going to be a fun-filled four years for both of us. Now come on, smile."

Weiss just stared, prompting the blonde to chuckle again awkwardly. "We should get moving."

"You got it." Yang agreed, turning back the direction she came.

"Is that the right way?"

"Huh? Yeah." Yang turned back, pointing past Weiss. "Cliffs are that way, and we were launched in this direction."

The girl just nodded, her white ponytail bouncing along. "Okay, I was just making sure."

Yang blinked. "Were you lost?"

"No."

The blonde hummed as Weiss stared back at her. "Alright then, let's go."

She'd totally been lost.

Yang retraced her steps until she and Weiss were in the small clearing where the blonde had landed initially, before she'd turned back. A lone Beowolf – a straggler – had been sniffing around.

It didn't last long.

The two eventually found a somewhat beaten path, Yang reasoning it was likely left there from previous Initiations. If it was the path the Headmaster had mentioned when he'd given them instructions, then all they had to do was follow it.

"Did you... get a decent sleep?" Yang quizzed, preferring to talk as they walked - though she still kept an eye out for any threats.

"I slept decently enough." The heiress' response was conversational – something Yang hadn't really been expecting. What she had been expecting was more snark, to echo the previous night.

"I'd have slept even better if you and your sister hadn't kept me up so late."

Ah, there it is.

"You're just mad that you lost nearly every game."

"I am not." Weiss protested, though the girl's tone indicated she was. "And you looked like you were about to bash Jaune's face in when he beat you in the last hand, as much as I might have enjoyed it."

"I still can't believe he kept such a straight face with four kings." The girl's dissatisfaction was quickly lost upon remembering a more recent event. "Oh, speaking of, did you see him flail when he got launched?"

The blonde smiled when she heard Weiss suppress a chuckle, remembering how the blond boy had been more than a little enthusiastic in his flirting with Weiss as they'd played.

"I did. That must have woken him up right quick. He looked dead tired when I saw him in the locker room."

"Did he?" Yang hadn't seen him in the morning, just catching the brief glimpse of his shocked face as he arced up into the air.

Heh, 'Arc'.

"Yeah, it was weird. He just said 'Hey' before he ambled out of sight. I'd been braced for another serenade."

"What, you didn't enjoy it?" Yang teased. "I thought it was pretty sweet."

"If he said my hair was as beautiful and fine as an early winter snow one more time, I think I would have strangled him."

"At least he only called you 'snow angel' once?"

"Please don't remind me."

Yang laughed haughtily. Jaune was... he hadn't worn that travesty last night and spent nearly every moment flirting with Weiss, she was sure she would have had a little bit higher of an opinion of him. At the very least, Yang hoped he recovered from his awkward launch and landed safely.

She couldn't have Ruby back down to only a half-friend in Weiss.

"I'm surprised we haven't seen anyone else yet." The Schnee heiress mentioned.

"Right? We have to be getting close to that temple, or whatever it is."

A few seconds later, Yang crested a ridge, and the blonde had to laugh. Weiss sighed as she stood next to her.

"Well, you weren't wrong."

It had to be the temple; and even better, Yang saw a familiar red cloaked girl standing near its entrance.

"Let's get down there." Yang took the first step, hopping down the steep rock face.

She touched down on the ground and began jogging towards her sister. "Ruby!"

Ruby turned. "Yang!"

"Nora!"

Just as Yang had been about to embrace her sister in a hug, another girl popped out of nowhere, right between the two.

Yang yelped as she jumped back. "Who are you?!"

Ruby snickered, and Yang glnced at her younger sister. "Sorry, I just had to let her do it. And, well, you heard her: This is my partner Nora."

"Hello!" The girl waved.

Yang stared in shock as both Ruby and Nora grinned up at her. It was just like Ruby to somehow find someone more eccentric than herself to be her partner.

"Nice to meet you Nora." Yang offered.

"So, Yang," Ruby started, "do you have a partner yet?"

"Oh, she does." Weiss added, finally stepping next to her. What Yang hadn't expected, was for her partner to wrap around her left arm, clinging to it. "I'mher little sister now."

Ruby gasped. "You witch!"

The heiress scoffed as she pushed herself away from Yang's arm. "Yeah right. I'm probably older than her anyways."

Yang just stared at Weiss, before she slowly began to smile.

Her partner noticed her grin, and turned, frowning. "What?"

"You're pretty flat if you're older than me."

"Excuse me?!" The heiress squawked indignantly. "I'll have you know I'm still growi-"

"Not the time!" Nora called out, interrupting Weiss. "We've got com-pa-ny~"

The predatory smile on the girl's face seemed completely out of place for her attitude, but Yang followed Nora's gaze, seeing a decently sized pack of Beowolves approaching the temple from a distance.

"Let's get to work!" Nora called.

Taking a knee, Pyrrha Nikos brought her rifle to her shoulder, squeezing off two quick rounds to bring down the Beowolf that had just turned to meet her. The shots served the dual purpose of bringing down the monstrosity and announcing her presence to anyone nearby.

The redhead scowled as she stood again. That one had been a straggler too.

She'd been hoping for a bigger fight – one that would have perhaps drawn enough attention to lead someone to her. So far, she'd been forced to make her way through Initiation on her own...

And that had been her own fault, as well.

The girl sighed as she stalked past the dead Beowolf, its corpse fading quickly. Even when she'd seen Weiss fighting nearly immediately after landing, Pyrrha had waited patiently, only planning on stepping in if things went awry.

They hadn't, the second blonde Pyrrha hadn't recognized for the day charging into the fight. With the newcomer's help, Weiss had been able to manage just fine – not as if she wouldn't have, had she been alone.

She didn't not like Weiss, but her enthusiasm at becoming partners was a little... much for Pyrrha, which was why she'd stayed hidden. The girl had thought of approaching Weiss and her new partner after the fight, but the two had left the clearing rather quickly, headed towards their objective.

Shortly after, the former Sanctum student took off in another direction – slightly more east than north, feeling the natural pull she'd always felt since unlocking her Semblance. Since then, she'd fought a few creatures of Grimm: a lone Ursa, a small group of Beowolves, and one young Deathstalker – the last one moderately concerning, as there was possibly an older one nearby.

The girl hadn't seen it yet, though, which was a good sign as far as she was concerned.

With her rifle ready to be brought up immediately, Pyrrha pressed through the undergrowth, both keeping her ears open and feeling out with her semblance. After a little progress, the girl felt a subtle tug, and headed in that direction.

Then that same tug was behind her. She turned, scanning the trees. Usually, such a faint pull meant the attraction was distant, but in this case...

Pyrrha turned her eyes to the dirt under her feet. She sighed heftily, picking up the one Lien piece. She quickly demagnetized the coin, putting it in her pocket.

The Mistrali native then heard faint successive popping noises. She couldn't quite hear exactly where it was coming from, but, similar to before, she felt the same manner of tug, aligning north.

As the warrior took off in the direction of the tug, she could easily source the popping noise from earlier: gunfire.

With a hum, Jaune pressed forward, holding a hand up to keep any stray branches from catching him in the eye. Even with Aura, that had been unpleasant.

It was odd, how a tree branch had been the only thing to catch him by surprise so far. Even as deep in the woods as he was, he hadn't seen a single Grimm.

Not one.

The adrenaline from being launched without warning into the woods having long since worn off, Jaune bit back a yawn. So far, his landing had been the most dangerous thing he'd had to face – the second being the low hanging branches of many tree.

The trees are my real enemy. They're more dangerous than the Grimm.

He hadn't even needed to draw Crocea Mors yet, though he'd kept a hand near its hilt the whole time. The way the shadows seemed to move as he passed was a little unsettling, but Jaune wasn't scared. Even not having fought a Grimm, he was sure he could handle himself. There was no way he couldn't.

I can do this. I can't not do this.

The boy heard a roar in the direction he'd been walking, and his fingers wrapped around his sword's grip. He drew the polished edge, and sprinted forward.

'Remember Jaune: if you can hear the Grimm, that likely means it's fighting.' His sister had instructed. 'That means either it's being taken care of, or you need to run.'

Jaune grinned. When she'd told him that, he was pretty sure she hadn't meant to run towards it.

He broke through the line of trees, and promptly skidded to a halt.

"That is a big snake." Jaune noted fearfully as he took a step back, gripping Crocea Mors with two hands. Luckily, the Grimm seemed to be distracted, its head swerving back and forth in search of something – someone.

"Look out!" Jaune heard.

The head of another snake – there had been two? – moved rapidly, Jaune just barely managing to step out of the way in time as its white, scaly skin rushed past him. Instinctively, Jaune stuck Crocea Mors in the beast as it passed, but the blade didn't even leave a scratch as the motion almost took the sword out of his hands.

The Grimm's tongue flicked between its lips as it repositioned, and Jaune got ready to move again, holding his sword before him with both hands. He could handle this snake for a little, he was sure. He just hoped whoever else it was in the clearing could kill the other one... because he doubted he could kill either one on his own.

They were really big snakes.

Jaune bent his knees, and the moment the snake's head reared back, he dodged to the side.

The creature's initial attack had missed, but when Jaune turned to face it, he was knocked aside by its neck as it attempted to follow him. The boy rolled as he hit the ground, back on his feet quickly.

He'd been knocked around enough to know how to get back up.

Keeping his sword between himself and the beast, Jaune backed away. The snake's eyes seemed to gleam like gemstones as it slowly approached.

It struck again, but Jaune backed away as its jaws closed on nothing. Before it could retreat, the boy stepped forwards, bringing Crocea Mors down.

The blade cut into the scales near the Grimm's nose, but it was nowhere near enough. Jaune doubted it felt a thing.

The white snake pulled back, lunging forwards again. Jaune backed away the same way he had before, narrowly avoiding the reptile-like Grimm's fangs. He moved to slash at its snout again, but the snake hadn't stopped its assault there.

The creature headbutted Jaune, sending the boy flying back into a tree with enough force to cause it to splinter. The breath was forced from his lungs, and he stumbled away as the trunk snapped, the top of the tree crashing down on the Grimm as it screeched. The snake appeared to be pinned, struggling beneath the weight of the hefty log.

Trees are dangerous.

Taking a breath in, Jaune rushed forwards, stabbing Crocea Mors towards the eye of the trapped snake. The sword plunged deep, and the Grimm screeched loud enough that the ground shook beneath him. He pulled back to stab again, when he was battered aside.

Crocea Mors fell from his grip as he slid across the rough forest floor. The boy was quickly on his feet however, panting as he looked back.

The black snake hissed at him, slithering over its pinned relative as it approached. Crocea Mors had its tip buried in the dirt, not too far in front of the reptilian Grimm. The white snake struggled more intensely, managing to slip out from underneath the felled tree.

Both Grimm stared at Jaune intently. He couldn't take them both.

He had to run.

Just as Jaune prepared to retreat, the head of the white snake fell from its body cleanly, and the black snake screeched in retaliation, turning to the unseen attacker as if it had felt the blow itself.

Capitalizing on the distraction, Jaune charged forwards, pulling Crocea Mors from the earth as he roared. The black snake turned just as Jaune leapt, bringing the sword up in a slash.

As Jaune brought the heavy blade through the scales, someone passed the snake on the other side with their blade, ripping through the creature's flesh with just as much ferocity. As Crocea Mors exited the other side, the blond spun, barely managing to maintain his balance as he landed on the fallen tree on the far side of the creature.

The body of the snake went limp, its head falling away similarly to the way its companion's had.

Jaune panted rapidly, trying to catch his breath. He'd already been winded from when the black one had struck him, and moving so quickly immediately after had left him heaving.

The boy looked around from where he stood, the massive snakes – which he finally realized was just one snake – started to slowly vanish. The person who'd assisted him in decapitating the creature's second head, as well as taking care of the first, rose from where they were crouched, turning to face him.

Jaune hopped down from his log, sheathing Crocea Mors as he approached the girl. Her amber eyes seemed to glow as she stared back at him. He hadn't seen the girl before, but she must have been a first year just like him... and now his partner.

"Hi there." He greeted as he approached.

"Hello." She responded calmly.

"The name's Jaune Arc." The blond held out his hand with a smile. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

The black haired girl seemed taken aback, blinking. "Are you... flirting with me?"

Jaune just blinked in return, hand still extended. He'd never been called out like that before. "Flirting?" He chuckled awkwardly. "I thought I was just introducing myself."

The girl took his hand, eyebrow quirked. "Blake Belladonna." She let go of his hand, turning as she walked into the woods. "That's how you introduce yourself."

Jaune looked back to the rapidly decaying corpse, before he realized his partner was leaving. "Hey, wait up!"

The girl turned back around. "We don't have time to wait; we need to move."

"Yeah, I get that," Jaune frowned, "but north is the other way."

The girl stopped mid stride. She looked up at the sun, barely hid behind the trees, as she checked the direction herself. "Oh, you're right."

It was too bad it was almost noon, and Vale's proximity to the equator meant the sun was directly overhead. Jaune only knew because he'd been walking in the same direction the whole time, not detouring at all.

"We should be pretty close to our objective, actually. I was walking for quite a while before getting here." Jaune began walking in the right direction.

He really hoped that was north – It was entirely possible the cliffs had not been south, and that they had to move alongside them instead of away from them. That would just be embarrassing, him having walked the wrong way the entire time.

"Alright then. Lead the way." Jaune's partner called.

Jaune pushed deeper into the brush, checking over his shoulder every so often. If the girl, Blake, wasn't watching him, she was keeping an eye on their surroundings – something Jaune appreciated. The girl never tried to start up a conversation, however, so it made for a very awkward trek through the woods.

Eventually, Jaune caught sight of a rather large clearing, and in about half a minute, they were out of the trees.

"Think that's the temple?" The girl called out from behind him.

"Temple? What temp- oh, wait, never mind." Jaune cut himself off, seeing the large stone structure. "Let's check it out."

The two pressed on through the clearing. Jaune kept an eye out in front of them – watching the ruins themselves in case any Grimm were inside.

As they stood in the entrance, Jaune could confirm there were, indeed, no Grimm inside. Instead, all he saw were a number of pedestals. Some were empty, while some held what appeared to be chess pieces.

Those had to be the relics.

The boy looked to Blake. "You go grab a relic, I'll keep an eye out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Jaune nodded, turning to keep an eye on the fields behind them. "I never was much of a chess guy. I prefer checkers."

"...Alright then." Blake walked into the temple, Jaune watching her move for a moment, before he turned, scanning the distant woods for any movement.

The girl returned shortly after, Jaune looking to the piece in her hands.

"A black horse?"

"It's called a knight."

"Ah."

"So..." Blake started off. "I guess we go back to the cliffs?"

"Yeah." Jaune confirmed, starting forward. "I'll be honest with you, aside from that freaky giant snake thing, this wasn't so bad."

"I thought we just had to get back to the cliffs." Jaune complained, pulling himself up a ledge, bracing as the wind reminded him to stay flush against the rock as much as he could.

Did nature have something against him today?

The boy's partner was further up the rock face, crouched over a ledge above him. "He did say we had to return to 'the top of the cliff'."

"But why aren't there any stairs or anything?" Jaune quizzed, more grumbling than asking as he climbed up a little further. "What if we'd been tired from Initiation, and we couldn't make the climb?"

"It's part of the Initiation?" Blake shrugged. "If we couldn't do this, then we shouldn't be at Beacon?"

As Jaune reached for the next ledge, he pulled himself up quickly.

He'd almost forgotten.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Jaune confirmed, now on the same level as Blake as the girl prepared to climb even further herself. She got her strangely complicated weapon out again, letting out a length of the attached ribbon.

"Keep your head down." She cautioned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Jaune pressed himself against the rock face, watching as Blake sent her weapon arcing out, pulling it back around as a gunshot sounded, the blade buried deep in the rock. Giving the ribbon a tug to check its stability, the girl began to climb.

He'd have to ask her how the hell that worked.

The girl had offered to allow Jaune to climb up using the same anchor, but the blond honestly hadn't been able to trust that his weight wouldn't pull the blade right out of the cliff, plummeting back down to the bottom. Not only was he sure he was heavier than the girl, there was also his armor to consider, as light as it was.

So, he'd decided to free climb.

Jaune braced as a sudden gust of wind threatened to blow them off the cliff, watching Blake sway dangerously above.

"We made it!" Blake called down, Jaune watching her intently, his ears burning hot. He didn't take his eyes off her. Jaune had been rock climbing before with his family, so he knew he had to be attentive at all times in case of an accident... but this was different.

His partner was fit.

"Alright!" Jaune continued to stare at her rear, watching her scale the natural barrier easily. His mouth was dry.

Very fit.

The girl disappeared over the top for a moment, and a length of ribbon fluttered down. "I'll pull you up!"

Making sure he wasn't going to fall, the boy grabbed the ribbon, wrapping it twice around his wrist before gripping it tightly. "Ready!"

Jaune felt a light tug, and he began to climb fast, any concerns about falling ignored. At the edge of the cliff, he took the offered hand, his partner pulling him up to the top.

They made it. They passed.

He passed.

"Woo!" Jaune cheered, raising his arms in triumph. Not too far ahead of where their climb had ended, Professor Goodwitch stood, a collection of relics placed on the nearby ground. Beacon's Headmaster was nowhere to be found.

Wait... he shouldn't be this excited, should he? To Jaune, initiation hadn't been a hurdle, it had been a mountain. Looking to the relics already retrieved, it seemed like this was the average for any student.

Reigning in his excitement, Jaune strode forward, Blake beside him.

"Your relic?" The woman requested. Blake handed the blonde the piece she took, the knight or whatever it was, and she hummed. "Congratulations. The team announcements will be in an hour or so, depending on how long the other pairs take. Take the time to rest. You've earned it."

"Thank you, ma'am." Jaune replied, though the way the woman stared at him was slightly unnerving. The boy just grinned however, moving towards the path he'd taken to the cliffs in the first place.

Blake walked to his side. "That was..."

Jaune turned to face her. "Exciting?"

"Rather underwhelming."

Jaune just tilted his head in confusion. What about getting launched into the woods, fighting a freaking huge two-headed snake, and topping it off with some rock climbing was 'underwhelming'?

Ah, he supposed it was exciting for him.

"I guess." He responded wearily, biting back another yawn.

"Tired?"

"Didn't sleep well." Jaune confirmed. "What about you?"

"I got to sleep at a decent time."

"Nice..."

"Yeah..."

The two simply walked back to Beacon in silence. Jaune occasionally glancing towards his partner, but the girl just kept her eyes straight ahead, not speaking. The boy bit his lip, trying to think of something to talk about.

The problem was, he really couldn't think of anything.

"So, that snake thing we killed back there," Jaune started, grasping at straws, "that was pretty cool, right?"

"Mhhm." Blake hummed. "King Taijitu are actually rather rare."

A King what?

That was where the conversation stopped, the two exiting the sparse forest between Beacon and the cliffs.

"So..." Jaune tried again once they were walking in the shadow of some building. "If there's an hour until teams are assigned... What do we do now?"

"I'd imagine we wait."

Okay, this is going nowhere. "...Are you hungry at all? We could go to the cafeteria."

"I'm fine, actually." The girl didn't even turn to look at him.

Jaune stopped, and Blake continued walking. He watched her as she strolled, his eyes moving lower before he realized what he was doing and snapped them back up to level when she turned to face him.

"Is something wrong?"

"Not really." Jaune claimed, before realizing he had to elaborate. "Well, isn't there anything you want to do? To pass the time?"

"Hey! Jaune!"

Blake's mouth closed as quickly as it opened.

Come on, she'd been about to answer!

"Hi Yang." Jaune greeted, smiling despite his disappointment.

"So you're not a smear on the ground, that's good. We were worried about you, with how your launch went." His fellow blonde half-teased. She turned towards Blake. "This is your partner?"

"Yeah, this is-"

Yang held up a hand, and Jaune stopped. "He hasn't hit on you yet, has he?"

"Not quite, no." Blake answered.

"Not quite?" Yang turned back to Jaune, grinning deviously.

Jaune sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I was tired. It wasn't the brightest decision I've made..."

"Whatever, we can talk about it later." Please no. "The others are back in the ballroom, you two wanna come?"

Jaune turned to Blake, and the girl just shrugged.

"Sure."

"Well, this is it."

Blake watched on, Jaune standing before the door to their room. The boy took a deep breath, running his scroll across the sensor pad, a loud click resounding as the door unlocked. The blond pushed the door open, stepping forward as Blake and the rest of her teammates followed him inside.

The four students looked around the room.

"Well, this is nice." The other male member of the team called out, even though he hadn't said a word since the team announcements.

'Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren and Pyrrha Nikos...'

"It's more spacious than I'd thought it would be." The redheaded girl spoke, stepping further into the room.

'The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. Together, you will be known as Team Apple, led by Jaune Arc!'

"It's still a little cramped though." Jaune countered. "… But I'm not complaining."

It certainly sounded like he was complaining.

Blake stretched her arms high above her head, looking to each individual bed. She glanced to her luggage, stowed away in the corner by whoever had delivered it to their dorm, before inspecting the beds once more.

"How do you guys want to decide who sleeps where?" Jaune started, apparently thinking along the same lines she had. "I'm thinking... Ren?"

The faunus looked over, watching the boy in green amble over to the closest bed, falling face first into the fabric. He groaned into the mattress, before he rolled over onto his back.

"...Is it Nora?" Jaune asked cautiously.

Blake tilted her head, in confusion, even as Ren shook his own.

"I was fully prepared for the possibility of us not ending up partners – or even teammates. But..."

'Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces, and are now members of Team Velour, led by...'

"...I'm still hoping this is just some horrible nightmare."

'Nora Valkyrie.'

From what little Blake had seen of the girl, she wasn't fit to lead anything, but apparently she rallied the six other members of the two teams – every member of both ABPL and VLWR except her and Jaune – and they fought their way through a veritable Grimm horde on their way back to the cliffs.

A lot more than what she and Jaune had done, that's for sure.

Looking to Pyrrha, and then down to Ren, Blake realized she'd really lucked out. Being matched with that Nora girl – who'd almost certainly have been made leader of their team, with what little she and Jaune had done over the course of Initiation – was just... no.

And being put on a team with a Schnee? Even worse.

"If you don't mind me asking, Pyrrha..." The Sanctum graduate turned towards Blake. "Why did you guys pick a black knight?"

"Well..." The girl reached into her pocket, retrieving a small bronze coin. "Ren and I flipped a coin. I won, so I got to pick."

"So...?" Her question was still left unanswered.

Pyrrha shook her head, her ponytail dancing back and forth as she smiled lightly. "No reason."

Strange.

"So... are you claiming that bed?" Jaune finally asked Ren.

"Oh, sorry, no." Ren denied, quickly getting up and turning around to straighten out the sheets. "How do we want to decide?"

"Does anyone have a preference?" Jaune asked, turning to face Blake, before looking to Pyrrha. "I wouldn't mind being close to the window."

Blake walked over to the bed furthest in the corner. If she pushed it flush against the wall and got another pillow, she'd have a comfy little corner to read in.

"Does anyone mind if I take this corner bed?" Blake quizzed.

"No."

"Nope."

"Go ahead."

Sweet.

The blond nodded, turning back to Pyrrha and Ren. "Okay then, you guys choose which ones you want, and I'll take whichever is left."

Pyrrha and Ren looked to each other. "Another coin toss?" The redhead offered.

"Sure..."

Pyrrha flipped the coin into the air, Ren watching it arc up before he called: "...Heads."

The coin clattered to the floor, skipping a couple times before landing at Blake's feet.

"Tails." She called over.

"Again, huh?" Ren noted despondently. "Just my luck."

Blake smiled lightly as she picked up the coin, passing it to Pyrrha. The girl caught it easily, putting it back in her pocket. "You know," the redhead started with a frown, "it hardly seems fair. Would you like the corner bed?"

Ren shrugged. "Sure."

"Then that puts us in the middle." Pyrrha claimed, turning to Blake's partner. "I guess we'll take the beds next to our partners?"

"Makes sense." Jaune confirmed.

After that, no one talked. Blake looked from Jaune, to Ren, to Pyrrha. They all glanced awkwardly at each other. Whenever Blake made eye contact, she quickly looked to the next person.

This is weird...

"Well!" Jaune clapped his hands together, Blake flinching as he broke the silence. "I don't know about you guys, but I am dead. Freaking. Tired. I got no sleep last night... So I'm going to get changed, and then I'm hitting the sack."

With that said, the boy turned, walked over to the luggage and pulled his bag from the others, taking it over to his bed. He took off his gloves, then started loosening the straps of his armor, taking it off one piece at a time. Once he no longer had any armor on, the boy removed his hoodie, hanging it on one of his bedposts. As the boy reached for his shirt, Blake realized she should probably get changed herself.

The girl took her own bag over to her bed, pulling her yukata from its depths before briskly walking over to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her and making sure it was locked, Blake reached for the ribbon on her head, untying it.

She sighed in bliss as she scratched at her faunus appendages, before quickly stripping. The girl considered having a shower, but she figured it would be best to wait until the morning.

Looking in the mirror, the girl flexed her top pair of ears, drawing them back as she ran a hand over each, smoothing out the fur, watching as one of them twitched. The girl pulled her yukata on, then looked down at the ribbon she'd left strung across the bathroom counter.

She clicked her tongue, before deftly wrapping her ears again, adjusting the fit slightly. It was tight enough that it restricted reflexive movement, but it wasn't perfect. She had to let the blood flow freely, after all.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door, pushing her way out. Jaune sat on his bed, checking his scroll, wearing a simple undershirt and flannel pants. Ren wore something similar, but his top had longer sleeves.

Pyrrha hadn't changed, just smiling at Blake as she took her place in the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Blake shrugged, turning and walking over to her bed. She sat on the edge of it, pulling her feet up underneath her. Ren retreated to the opposite corner where his bed was, laid down, getting ready to sleep himself. Jaune glanced up at Blake – his eyes resting on her legs almost too long – before he nodded to her, and laid down himself, closing his eyes.

Blake just sighed as she reached into her bag for the novel she'd been reading the other night, before moving the bag to the floor so sit with her legs extended, sitting back against her pillow. She cracked it open to where she'd left off, but, in thinking of her team, she just couldn't focus on the words before her.

There was Pyrrha, a girl who had a perfect win streak in official tournament matches in Mistral, and a near perfect grade at Sanctum Academy before coming to Beacon. Blake had already known that, even if the Schnee hadn't felt like bringing it up as often as she could back when everyone had been conversing before team assignments.

There was Ren, someone Blake knew very little about, but more than enough to have a basic profile. She looked across the room at him where he laid. He seemed quiet and attentive, but also apathetic.

Blake heard him yawn. Before he noticed her staring, Blake turned her eyes to her leader, who appeared to be snoozing peacefully.

Appeared, because she saw him open his eyes for a brief moment.

There was something off about her leader. He seemed overly excited after Initiation – when apparently the only thing he'd fought was the King Taijitu. Like Blake, he hadn't fought anything else beforehand, nor after.

Then, when teams were announced, and he was named leader of ABPL... He reacted in a way Blake hadn't expected at all.

'Leader? Me? Why?'

Blake hid her frown behind her book, narrowing her eyes as she stared at her leader and partner. The one who was going to be by her side for the next four years.

Jaune Arc... was hiding something.

Well, that's it. That's the chapter.

Just to inform anyone who has actually stuck through the whole thing - one of my longest chapters written to date - updates for this story will not be as frequent as updates for my two other current stories (Technician and Just A Few Pointers). Mostly because I'm still desperately trying to stick to my self imposed one month deadline with those fics, so I'll only work on this one when I have plenty of spare time. But hey, if people like it, I might be inclined to spend more time on it.

Leave a review or hit me up with a PM, telling me what you think. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Peace!