Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or RWBY. They belong to Tite Kubo and Roosterteeth respectively.

It was a cold dawn in the city of Vale. The entire sprawling metropolis was veiled in a thick fog, thickening the air and blotting out the rising sun. Upon one of the many docking bays of Beacon academy stood a man dressed in an inky suit and emerald scarf, standing calmly atop the platform that jutted out into the air like a grand clifftop.

Ozpin took a shaky sip from his mug of coffee.

That in itself was bizarre. The immortal being that had faced the mother of all evil time and time again, and held strong at that, being scared of anything begged for attention. But for such fear to be held not in the face of a terrifyingly powerful Grimm or ruthless rogue huntsman, but in the face of a mere student arriving at Beacon… well. Something was off, to say the least.

But Ozpin felt like he had fairly good motives behind his fear. If his new student was anything like his mother, then he was going to be in for a rough, rough four years. And he'd been so looking forward to mentoring Summer's child too…

A small, dull bullhead approached the docking bays of Beacon, appearing from the thick smog like a submarine rising from the depths. Ozpin stared up at it apprehensively, taking another sip from his coffee mug as he did so. He started to stroll towards where it would land, his cane tapping against the cement of the docks as he did so, creating a smooth, steady rhythm. He breathed the dew-laden morning air in and exhaled slowly, calming himself. There was nothing to fear, as long as no one set the boy off.

Hopefully.

It took the Bullhead about a minute to land, the ship swaying shakily in the sky as it did so. Not the most skilled pilot, although that made a certain amount of sense if the pilot was from the Frontiers; he probably hadn't been officially trained if that was the case.

The side door of the Bullhead slid open with a groan, revealing a blonde teen wearing a navy blue hoodie and sweatpants, an exceptionally long sheathed sword slung over his shoulders. Further examination revealed that he wasn't wearing any shoes.

Jaune Kenpachi.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. The only resemblance he could see to the boy's mother was in the eyes - a deep, oceanic cobalt that pierced the soul.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Kenpachi," Ozpin said, extending his hand politely. The boy stared at the hand for a second, then extended his own hand to shake it, his grip loose.

"Ma said a lot about you," the boy said as a greeting.

"What kind of things?" Ozpin drawled with a smirk, withdrawing his hand. He had a fair idea of what Retsu had been saying about him.

Jaune hesitated for a second. "...Things."

Ozpin chuckled. As expected. The headmaster of Beacon turned on his heel and started to walk towards the school, cane once again tapping a smooth rhythm against the concrete. Jaune followed behind him, arms slung behind his head in a forcefully casual gesture.

The gesture filled Ozpin with amusement and relief. The boy was nervous. It was so very easy to forget that the Kenpachi family were just as human as the rest of Remnant. It also guaranteed that the boy was at least somewhat more manageable than the standard Kenpachi. The work of his mother, no doubt.

"I assume your mother pushed you to come here?" Ozpin said, aiming to start a conversation and make Jaune somewhat more comfortable. The calmer the boy was, the less likely he was to destroy expensive property in a Kenpachi rampage.

"Yeah. I didn't really see the point in it, but ma was pretty… determined."

Ozpin smirked. "What your mother wants, your mother gets."

Jaune snickered, relaxing slightly. "Sounds about right."

"Why didn't you want to come to Beacon?"

Jaune shifted, as if uncertain how to answer - most likely concerned about offending the powerful man - before the brashness so common among his family came into play. "Seems pretty useless to me. I'm good enough to hold my own against most Grimm, so it's not like I've got anything to learn by coming here."

Just like his mother. But at least he was more or less polite about it. "Fair enough. Although I'm afraid Beacon may surprise you yet."

Jaune just shrugged. "We'll see."

Jaune had to admit, Beacon certainly looked stunning.

A sprawling, marble-floored university, it's centre taken by a grand tower made of gleaming stone and steel, the rest of the school then spreading from the towers in a graceful mess of archways and pathways, the foggy dawn lit by the soft golden lanterns hanging from them.

It put things into perspective pretty well. This wasn't the dusty, sweat-stained Frontier, where he could get away with pretty much whatever he wanted. People here were civilised and pleasant, they would be well-mannered and polite. Talking with the students here wouldn't be like the rough, coarse interaction he was used to from the people of the Frontier.

Jaune exhaled, and watched as his breath became frigid mist. Ozpin and himself had fallen into quiet, which was fine by him. He wouldn't consider himself a master of conversation by any means, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Ozpin. Besides, he was used to quiet. Liked it, even. It let him think clearly, and did wonders for his control.

A beeping sound cleared the quiet suddenly, the tinny sound seemingly coming from Ozpin. Ozpin sighed ruefully, and moved his hand to his wrist, silencing the annoying noise. "I'm very sorry, Mr Kenpachi, but I need to attend to this call. The main hall is directly ahead, from there it should be easy enough to find your way."

Jaune nodded, then remembered what his Ma had said about being polite. "Thank you, Professor Ozpin."

The man smirked playfully. "For what?"

Jaune opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. Ozpin chuckled at the boy's reaction. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr Kenpachi," he said, turning and strolling away from Jaune, cane rapping against the smooth cobbles.

Jaune grunted in annoyance. He didn't think he'd ever get the hang of manners. The blonde resumed his walk down the lantern-lit pathway, enjoying the chilling touch of the fog on his skin. Like frostbitten fingers caressing his face. Pretty nice, all things considered.

Jaune had been walking for a few minutes when he heard a very familiar sound. The sound of a blade cutting through the air, leaving behind that faint swish of air that a decent weapon always did. Each swing of the weapon was accompanied by a faint feminine grunt, as well as the sound of boots digging into grass, probably leaving behind scars and pits. All sounds he was intimately familiar with, sounds he had grown up with. It was rather comforting.

The sounds were emanating from his right side, where he guessed there was some sort of garden. He considered walking on and ignoring the sound, but he was bored, and he had loads of time to kill before initiation began. So he left the path and strolled into the mist, toying with the hilt of his sword. As he got closer, he started to get somewhat excited. The swishes of air held barely any space between them, but were all still plenty loud. Whoever was practising - a new student like him, probably - was pretty damn good.

The first thing Jaune noticed as he moved into the garden was the dampness of the grass beneath his feet. It was still wet with morning dew, and his feet sank into the soft green fur. He wiggled his toes, digging them into the soft soil. He decided then that he loved morning mist.

The second thing he noticed was the student he had been looking for. A girl still in her pyjamas, wielding a crimson and gold spear, bronze hoplite shield held in her other hand. What was truly striking about the girl was her hair, a stunning river of velvet, and the way that she used her weapons; with all the expertise and power of a true warrior.

Even as he watched, her spear spun circles around her body, the complicated movement made to look easy, even though Jaune knew himself how hard it was to spin a weapon like that - he still couldn't do it himself. And to use it in combat? She was very good.

Jaune felt a grin start to split his lips, felt his hand tighten around the hilt of his blade. It took a fair deal of effort to push down his instincts and remind himself that this was Vale, not the Frontier, and he couldn't go around attacking whoever he pleased, especially not first-year students of Beacon, who were probably much more fragile than his usual opponents.

The girl noticed him then, yelping in shock and hopping back a step. Jaune shifted uncomfortably, suddenly regretting his decision to come over; she'd obviously been trying to catch some practice alone, and he'd disturbed her. He would have hated if someone did that to him.

"Hel-."

"Hey."

They cut each other off awkwardly. Jaune noticed her voice, soft and polite, at odds with her tall and powerful physique. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Jaune slumped slightly. He really should have stuck to himself, rather than try and interact with someone his age; something he now realised he'd never done before.

Thanks ma.

"Why a shield?" He asked, latching onto the one thing he knew they held in common - combat.

"Pardon?"

"Most Huntsman go without a shield. They use aura to protect themselves instead," He answered, rubbing the back of his head, hoping desperately that she would see his plight and help him out.

"Well, tradition, I suppose. My mother fought with them, and she handed them down to me when I was old enough. I grew rather attached to them."

He grunted, happy he'd managed to start what resembled a conversation. His hand returned to its pocket. "Fair enough. They've got names?"

She smiled. "Milo and Akouo."

"Speak and listen?"

She blinked in surprise. "You know Mistralian?"

He shrugged. "Enough to get by." He'd been taught by the visiting caravanner, who Ma had pushed into teaching him the language. She had wanted him to have some sort of intellectual study outside of the family tradition, and he'd chosen to study the languages. It had seemed more useful than Math or Science to him.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, Jaune staring at the air above her head. The redhead smiled kindly and sat down on the wet grass, leaning against one of the arch's that dotted the garden. She patted the ground next to her in invitation. Jaune smiled somewhat sheepishly. She really had taken pity on him.

"What about your own sword?" She asked as he sat down next to her.

Jaune drew his blade and held it out in front of him. The lengthy, slender blade collected the dew of the morning, the pitted and scarred blade now lined with glistening droplets of water. The hilt was wrapped in sweat-stained bandages, and the dull golden guard seemed rather pointless, slanting towards and away from the blade in an odd diamond shape. "It's called Nozarashi. Just a sword, no fancy mechashifts."

The girl cocked her head to the side in curiosity, either fake or real, he couldn't tell. "Seems rather hard to use."

Jaune chuckled, grinning slightly. "Works for me." He sheathed the blade casually, his experience showing in the way he sheathed the long, unwieldy blade without looking.

The girl nodded. "I'm Pyrrha," she said. There was an expectant tilt to her head, as if she was waiting for some reaction from him. He stared at her, confused, until he realised that he hadn't given his own name in return.

"Jaune."

Pyrrha smiled merrily at him.

They fell into an awkward quiet again, and Jaune searched for a conversation topic. He pounced upon the first one he found. "So your ma taught you to how to use Milo and Akouo?"

Pyrrha's smile grew.

Jaune found that it was rather easy to lose track of time talking to Pyrrha. She was easy-going, polite, and a rather good conversationalist; good enough to balance out his own roughness. They talked about nothing: weapons, families, and the benefits and disadvantages of mechashift. Jaune managed to keep the nature of his semblance and battle style more or less under the rugs. It wasn't exactly something that he wanted to advertise to his new… friend? To date, the only person he knew who wasn't slightly afraid of it was his Ma; that was just the effect he tended to have on people when he let loose. He didn't particularly like it, but he couldn't really blame them for it either.

The sun had come out a while ago and chased away the mist, leaving a flawless pastel-blue sky behind, adorned with a glowing golden sun. It was the kind of weather his Ma would have loved, beautiful and warm, although he found that he preferred the cool fog to the glaring sun. Damn thing got in his eyes.

Pyrrha exhaled, and stood up, extending her hand down to Jaune with a smile. "I would imagine that we don't have long until the Initiation starts," she said with a sigh. He didn't need the help, but he took the hand anyway, not wanting to seem impolite.

It didn't take them long to reach the main hall of Beacon. The building was fairly obvious, with a fairly large set of double doors made of finely carved hardwood, the walls occupied by large, open windows held together by neat bars of black steel.

Pyrrha pushed open the doors and walked in, revealing a large hall full to the brim of students, dressed in colourful attire and talking amongst themselves. The noise and heat hit Jaune like a truck, and he suddenly didn't feel like entering the room, a nervous pit plonking down in the depths of his gut. Something about the large group of people, the noise and energy all clustered together in one small area made him vastly uncomfortable.

Surely there was another way to get to the initiation than through there, right? There had to be. Beacon was a large school after all, and-

"Jaune?" Pyrrha was standing there, holding the door open for him, eyebrow quirked. "Why aren't you coming in?"

Jaune searched desperately for an excuse, one that didn't sound as bad as 'I don't want to' or 'I don't like crowds'. He shrugged helplessly, uncertain what he could say to let him leave without offending Pyrrha.

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, then started to giggle. "Jaune, do you-" she giggled again "Do you not like crowds?"

Jaune shuffled in place. "I... not really, no."

Pyrrha's clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself, but didn't quite manage to pull it off. She burst into bright peals of laughter.

Jaune stared at her. "It really isn't that funny," he objected feebly.

Pyrrha just kept laughing.

Jaune threw his hands up in the air with a low groan and walked into the room, muttering curses under his breath and shoving his hands into his pockets as he navigated around the sleeping bags and bodies. Pyrrha caught up to him, still chortling quietly. Jaune's eyebrow twitched as he was nearly taken out by an excitable girl in pink and white, who chirped an apology and darted around him.

"Oh come on, Jaune. It really isn't that bad." Jaune just grunted in response. He scowled as he saw a bunch of idiots flexing, in broad display of the room no less. What made it worse was that someone was impressed by them, a lazy wolf whistle coming from somewhere among the sea of bodies.

He glanced back at Pyrrha, who was staring at the boys with a rather unimpressed expression. He was very, very grateful to have met her before coming in here. She was polite, intelligent and mature, and on top of all that, someone who could fight worth a damn. As long as he stuck by her, he would be fine.

"Mhm, Jaune?"

He turned to look at Pyrrha. She gestured to something in front of them. He turned to see two separate doorways, clearly signposted as Male and Female.

The changing rooms.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Lovely.

"Let's meet up later?" Pyrrha ended the phrase in a question, biting her lip. He smiled internally at the small gesture. It was nice to know that he wasn't the only one that could be nervous.

"We'd better," he grumbled, his gaze returning to the idiots that were flexing in the corner.

Pyrrha smiled. "See you in a bit." She walked into the female changing room, her outfit assumably inside it.

Jaune sighed, and moved into the male changing room.

The Kenpachi family was surprisingly traditional, for a group of people so… rough. They had their swords, hereditary semblances, outfits, and the always-there gimmick.

Each was specialised to the individual Kenpachi, but certain things remained the same. The sword was always some form of Katana and was never imbued with any form of mechashift. Each was named by the mother of the respective Kenpachi at birth; his own Nozarashi translated to Weather-beaten one. The semblance was always a variation on the same idea - the further a Kenpachi went into battle, the more powerful they would become. A Haori - a flowing, white coat - was given to each and every Kenpachi when they reached maturity, and beneath it they wore billowing black robes that somehow didn't obstruct movement. Jaune had torn the sleeves off his own, and deepened the depth of the cut in the front, revealing his chest all the way down to his navel. It ensured that the cloth wouldn't get inside of his wounds if he was ever cut through it. And the gimmick - every Kenpachi had one. Ma had her healing and knives, which she used to great effect. And he had his bells.

Around his wrists, waist and ankles, he tied small silver bells. They chimed with every movement he made, ringing softly. It ensured that every enemy he fought knew that he was coming for them, that they knew that Jaune fucking Kenpachi was after them. That was the idea, anyway. It would work quite a bit better when he had a bit more infamy to his name; right now, they just made stealth quite impossible and spiced up his otherwise dull outfit. Not that that was much of a concern, but every little thing helped.

Jaune made sure that Nozarashi was still firmly secured, tucked into the sash that crossed his waist and simultaneously held his bells and Shikkahuso - the black robes - in place. He was eager to get out of the changing rooms and back to Pyrrha. It was far, far worse than the hall had been, being much smaller in comparison. There was probably about a foot per stinking, noisy person, and he didn't particularly enjoy having to pick his way around strewn underwear and socks.

Satisfied that everything was in place, he strolled out of the changing room and into a hallway filled with lockers as quickly as he could. It was teeming with people, each dressed in all sorts of brightly colourful outfits, from one short girl that looked like a gothic red riding hood, to the girl from before dressed in hot pink and white. It seemed that wherever he went, he just couldn't escape the teeming masses of students.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, calming himself. There wasn't long to go until the initiation, during which he'd be by himself or with his partner in the Emerald Forest, slaughtering Grimm. If it worked the same way as it had when his Ma was at the school.

It couldn't come soon enough.

Pyrrha was, thankfully, easy to find. Though the hallway was cluttered with brightly coloured people, all clamouring about, causing a racket, Pyrrha was unmissable from height alone, she stood a good half foot above everyone else. And her bright crimson hair didn't hurt matters either.

Jaune started to forge his way through the crowd of people with pursed lips and scowl. He really, really couldn't wait for the initiation to start.

When he finally reached Pyrrha, he found her talking with a short girl with stark white hair dressed in a red-lined blue dress and bolero jacket. Pyrrha looked remarkably uncomfortable, fidgeting with the corner of her skirt - a part of her outfit, which seemed to be designed similarly to ancient Mistralian armour - and smiling hesitantly. The short girl seemed to be lost in her own little world, rubbing her hands together in a greedy manner and cackling to herself.

"Hey, partner," he greeted calmly from behind his friend. He'd spent a lot of time in the changing room thinking over the greeting and hoped that he hadn't overstepped some line he was unaware of. But there was no way in hell he was taking anyone else as his partner. Pyrrha yelped and spun, relaxing when she saw who it was. She exhaled shakily but smiled nonetheless. The greeting had snapped the short girl out of her… whatever it was. She was glaring at Jaune, for some reason or other.

"Hello Jaune," she said with a smile. The short girl's eyes slipped from Pyrrha to Jaune, more specifically his bared chest. Her lip curled in distaste.

The short girl extended her hand daintily, her lip still curled. "Weiss Schnee. A pleasure," she heralded. It was very clear from her voice that it wasn't a pleasure at all. "And I'll have you know that Pyrrha has already agreed to be my partner."

Jaune glanced at Pyrrha, frowning. She shrugged her shoulders in a helpless gesture. He turned back to Weiss and took her hand, his Ma's lectures taking effect. "Jaune Kenpachi." Weiss stiffened at his last name and withdrew her hand as if she had been burned.

"You expect Pyrrha Nikos to take a Kenpachi as a partner?" She sneered, spitting out his last name like a sour apple. Pyrrha inhaled sharply as Weiss said her name, then sighed sadly and stared at the ground. He didn't understand why, it wasn't a bad last name or anything.

"Why not?" He asked, a threat lying in wait under the words. The girl obviously didn't think much of his family, for whatever reason. He wouldn't stand by and let her insult what he lived for.

"Why not?" She repeated, aghast, as if she couldn't believe what he was saying. "You're a Kenpachi. You expect the four-time winner of the Mistral tournament to partner with a savage like you?"

Ah.

Jaune cocked his head to the side and looked at Pyrrha, assessing her. Pyrrha looked terribly sad, staring at the floor with a frown. Weiss stared at Pyrrha, first confused at her reaction, then horrified as she realised she'd upset the champion.

Jaune tried to fight of the grin that split his lips, but he wasn't quite able to. It grew slowly and shakily, first a small, close-lipped smirk, then ravenous teeth, and finally a wretched, face-splitting leer of uncontrollable brutality. It was quite a terrifying thing, wide and wild, the smile of a rabid dog, truly sickening to look at. Weiss choked and took a step back, but all Pyrrha did was stare at him, confused.

"So you're strong?" He asked roughly, savage grin still in place. Pyrrha stared at him in confusion, before she recognised the challenge for what it was. A flicker of relief passed over her face, before the warrior that hid behind the polite girl surfaced, bringing a confident smirk to her face. "The strongest," she replied. Their eyes locked together; his crinkled with barbaric glee, and her own half-lidded in a self-assured manner.

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

Jaune chuckled coarsely. his semblance mere inches away from bursting through the surface, and turned away to walk through the crowd, some of whom were staring at him with wide eyes. Pyrrha watched him go, a content smile on her face.

He really was the perfect partner for her.

Jaune found the Emerald Forest to be rather dull.

It was beautiful, in a boring way. A neverending expanse of lush green, towering trees of all different sorts forming an impenetrable canopy. But that was all there was to it. Just a large, well-kept forest chock full of Grimm.

That last fact did bring an eager smile to his face. It had been days since he'd had a decent fight, the long flight and then beacon restraining him from his hereditary urges. But now he would get the chance to blow off some steam and let loose. As long as he partnered with Pyrrha, and not one of the many assholes that inhabited Beacon, he'd be fine.

Another interesting thing was the steel tiles they stood on. All of the students had been guided to a cliff that overlooked the forest and corraled to stand on top of the metre-wide tiles. Some sort of contraption, he guessed, but he had no idea what It would do.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked, standing beside the tiles. Jaune blinked, confused as to what there would be questions about, until he realised that he probably hadn't been listening to a speech of Ozpin's. Ah well. Ma had warned him about how boring they were anyway.

"Good! Now, take your positions." Ozpin seemed… chirpy? Something like that. The man was smiling like a kid on christmas eve, and his voice was much brighter than it had been when he had greeted Jaune.

He turned to check on Pyrrha. She was crouched in a low posture, Milo and Akouo held ready. He cocked his head to the side. "Pyrr-"

His eyebrows shot to his hairline as she suddenly disappeared, the platform under her springing up and sending her rocketing over the forest. He looked down slowly and squinted at the platform beneath his feet.

Ozpin chuckled merrily.

Bast-

In barely half a second he was hundreds of metres in the air, drifting slowly over the forest in a way that was almost peaceful. He could see the horizon for miles, a sprawling expanse of emerald that led into the bright colours of Vale. The wind probably would have torn his eyes out if it weren't for his aura, but he enjoyed the view anyway.

And then he started to fall.

Jaune sighed sadly at losing the view, then grinned as his focus returned to the forest, and the Grimm that littered it.

Jaune focused on what lay deep inside his soul, and brought it to the surface with a heave of mental effort. A pulse of sickly yellow energy left his body in a wide wave, dissipating into tiny tongues of plasma the further it went from his body. The feeling of activating his semblance, of releasing the beast within raised the hairs on his body, sent a singular, excited shiver racing through him.

The latest in a long line of Kenpachi's grinned, and drew his sword.

The thought of explaining the character's of Jaune and Pyrrha and how they're interacting up above did cross my mind, but that felt a tad cheap to me. The way it's written relies quite a bit on the reader to fill in the gaps with what they already know about the two characters, and that's not exactly the most foolproof method of characterization, which Is why I considered explaining it down here. Hopefully it turned out alright, but if you have any doubts or confusion, I'll happily explain in a PM or Review Response.

Thank you for reading, and please do drop a review if you're at all interested in this little story of mine.

Have a wonderful day.