Chapter 3

Joanna lay on the floor, her boots next to her, her leather pack acting as a pillow for her head, and her duster, with its sewn in armor plates, acted a heavy blanket. All around her was the soft murmur of conversation and shifting bodies. Her wide brimmed hat was pulled low over her eyes, leaving Joanna with only the murmur of the surrounding students.

She listened as Yang and Ruby talked, she listened as Ruby and Yang walked over to talk to Blake, she listened a Weiss entered the conversation and as an argument began to brew, she tilted her hat up to glare at four girls. And when they ignore her she stood, her hand automatically falling to the gun at her her hip, her fingers caressing the dark grey metal capping the hilt of the revolver. She quickly strode into the middle of the brewing argument and glared at the students involved.

"Ruby, Yang, leave her alone, you can talk to her tomorrow if you want, miss… Schnee I believe? You have already illustrated your dislike of Ruby so please had back to your area before I have to inform professors of your ill conduct."

Weiss beat a hasty retreat, Ruby looked thankful that Joanna had stepped in, but a little insulted that Joanna had felt the need to. Blake nodded thankfully as Weiss moved off. Yang on the other hand, she did not look as happy, but she swallowed her anger and left, her eyes promising revenge.

Joanna nodded back to Blake as she walked back to her coat, sat down, pulled her coat back over herself, pulled her hat down over her eyes, and fell asleep.

Scene Break

The morning of initiation, Jonna awoke, clad herself in her duster, pulled on her boots, and went to retrieve her repeater, her crystal revolver pulled tight onto her hip.

As she counted up locker numbers, her coat flapping gently behind her with each movement. In front of her locker were two teenage girls discussing team placements. The first girl was the Schnee from the previous day who had been part of the dust explosion. The other girl wore something that could only be described as a mixture between a corset with a long skirt attached and bronze armor. Joanna waited for a few minutes before coughing.

The Schnee from the previous day glared at Joanna who just motioned at the locker in-between the two girls and spoke.

"Excuse me, but thats my locker, I need to grab my rifle."

The Schnee sneered, but moved to the side. The teen wearing the bronze armor mouthed sorry, at Joanna as she too moved to the side.

Joanna retrieved her repeater, and a large combat knife that she screwed onto the barrel of the repeater to act as a bayonet before slinging it over her shoulder so it fell to the small of her back. As she did so the bronze teen swallowed and stuck her hand out.

"Hello, Im Pryhha Nikos. Nice to meet you…?"

Joanna nodded briskly at Pryhha.

"Joanna Arc. Pleasure."

Weiss's eyes grew flinty and her moth pursed into a thin line as she snapped at Joanna.

"How dare you ignore miss Nikos and I! Who do you think we are?"

Joanna looked at Weiss like she was something that you scrape off the bottom of your shoe, she sighed before closing her locker and turning to Pryhha.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Nikos. I hope to see you again later."

And she turned away and walked out the door without sparing a backwards glance at the apoplectic Weiss or the curious, and subtle appreciative Pryhha.

Scene Break

As Joanna was launched into the Emerald forest a spear whistled through the air and snagged her great coat, piercing through the titanium plates sewed into the leather of the coat, pinning her to a large tree where she hung from it like a brown and black fruit, her hands desperately clutching at her hat and her rifle with white knuckled hands as she cursed furiously, trying to dislodge her coat from where she hung.

A little while later Weiss walked through, looked up at the still grunting and cursing Joanna and swiftly turned back in the other direction, Joanna heard a plaintive, "you came back!" That swiftly disappeared into the distance. Joanna kept struggling for a few more minutes before she cursed and relaxed, swinging slightly as she waited for whoever threw the damn spear to come and pick it up.

She didn't have to wait much longer when the red head from earlier cam through and looked at Joanna with a sheepish expression on her face.

"So… Partners?"

Joanna looked at Pryhha for a few moments with a 'no shit' expression before she nodded.

"I guess so."

Scene Break

Joanna and Pryhha had just entered into a cave, Pryhha covering the front with her sword and spear, Joanna a few steps behind with a flashlight, the faint light illumination the dark cave as they made their way inside.

As they made their way through the caves, a sudden glowing orb with a point on one end abruptly it up at the far end of the tunnel.

Joanna, realized what it was in an instant, and hissed at Pryhha to move backwards and out of the cave. Prhhya looked at Joanna weirdly before she attempted to grab the glowing, pointed sphere which abruptly shifted.

Pryhha's eyes widened as she turned to run and the Deathstalker the size of a bull head hissed and hurtled after her, clacking its massive pincers that sheared through rocks as is it went barreling after Pyrhha.

Scene Break

As Ruby plummeted to the ground, Nora and Red rode in on an Ursa, Yang combusting and Blake commenting.

A pair of screams approached followed by a crash as Joanna and Pryhha ducked out a small opening in the caves that exploded as a Deathstalker followed behind them.

As Pryhha ducked, dodged, and redirected strikes, Joana peppered the joints and the multi faceted eyes of the giant scorpion beast as it did its very best to kill and main both of them.

Joanna was knocked into the air by a wayward strike of a claw, and as a Nevermore rained down razor sharp feathers the size of small tree, Ruby's cloak became snagged as a Nevermore feather pinned it. Ruby began frantically pulling at the claw as the Deathstalker approached, hissing and clacking in drooling draw.

Scene Break

Joanna watched as Weiss trapped the Deathstalker. She followed the rest of the students as she grabbed a random relic and followed the stupid partner that thought throwing a rocket powered spear at someone was a good way of starting a partnership. She even fought wit said partner and two other students.

So, all in all, two huge, incredibly dangerous monsters, a fight over a chasm with no visible bottom. A girl with a grenade launching rocket hammer who had more then a few screws loose and a possibly insane partner who thought chucking spears at someone is a good idea. The only one who seemed close to normal was Lie Ren and he had pink hair. Pink hair!

School hadn't even started yet. Fantastic. Absolutely fan-f*#kingtastic.

Scene Break

"Joanna Arc, Pryhha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren. You retrieved the White Rook pieces. You will henceforth be known as team JNPR (Juniper). Led by Joanna Arc!"

Joanna looked at Ozpin with her mouth agape. Ozpin stood nonchalantly with a cup of coffee in one hand, his eyebrow raised inqusitlvly.

"Mother F^ck#r."

Ozpin's eyebrow rose even further as silence fell throughout the auditorium and Glynda Goodwitch who was standing of to the side looked like she was a bout to burst a blood vessel in her forehead as her lips pursed into a solid line and her eyes grew flinty and cold with rage.

Silence was total as Ozpin brought his coffee cup up to his lips.

Joanna's new team alternated from looking in horror at the now stony faced Joanna, her hand straying beneath her coat and towards her crystal revolver, and the poker faced headmaster with coffee cup in hand.

A small slurp of coffee before Ozpin quietly stated, his voice echoing into the farthest reaches of the auditorium in the quiet.

"Rude."

Authors Note

Yusss. As always R&R if you would.