Chapter 1

First Day

(^)

The sprightly figure of a young girl carrying a very large box skipped out of her train's compartment onto the main platform of The Beacon Academy train station. Her every step was full of barely constrained excitement as she took deep breaths of the early fall air, and she repeatedly had to stiffly her child-like giggling as she walked through the crowd of people and station staff.

Her name was Ruby Rose, and she was having a good day.

There were so many interesting people in the crowds around Beacon! There was a fancy looking white haired girl getting off of a private train with another girl in a maid like outfit with a bow on her head carrying her luggage, there were even a few animal ears or tails of some faunus that she could make out. She was quite happy at the prospect of finally entering the place she'd been dreaming about since before she could read, but more than that, finally, she'd be able to see her older sister again.

Once she had stopped answering her messages a few years ago, Ruby had decided to follow her sister's obvious encouragement and threw herself entirely into her studies, and now she'd managed to actually get into Beacon a whole two years earlier than anyone else had been able to.

She'd be turning sixteen years of age in just a few months and she was sure that her sister would be so proud of her for managing to be recommended by the headmaster himself. There was even a chance she could be on the same team as her!

Now as she approached the steps leading to what the world knew as the place where heroes were made, all she had to do was attend the welcoming ceremony, be assigned to a team, find out where they'd put her luggage, and then, after what had seemed like an eternity, she could finally meet with her beloved older sister Ya-

"Get back here you fuckin' bag of loose vomit! You're going to pay for these boots with your money or your organs if I have to rip one or the other out of you!"

Her excited thoughts were dashed just as quickly as she was bowled over by two blond streaks of light that dashed right into her and passed round a corner, one of which carried the familiar booming voice of her older sister Yang. Though before Ruby could attempt to catch up with her, she had to make sure that she wasn't carried tumbling back down the pathway by the rapidly overbalancing weapon case she had on her back.

Her last thoughts before she went on a merry little trip down heels over head lane was that maybe her dad and teachers had been right. Maybe she had made her favourite weapon a little too big.

(^)

Yang Xaio Long had been having a good day.

She was returning to her second year of training at beacon, she'd just bought a new pair of boots that really looked good on her, made a small fortune after making a bet with her friend about how many people she could catch starring at her tits on the train, and she'd definitely manage to get assigned to a proper team this year.

Even if she had cheated a little on the bet by tying her shirt directly underneath the focal points of said bet, everything was coming up Yang.

Then some baggy-eyed blond idiot had thrown up on her.

Naturally, she had been chasing him with intent to kill. Okay well maybe maim. Extort after a few punches at least, she had really liked those boots, though her thoughts quickly ran back up to kill after she'd remembered what he'd said as he leered at her.

For a minute after she'd rounded a corner chasing the vomit-boy, she'd stopped dead in her tracks and looked back towards the steps leading to the academy's public entryway. She could have sworn that she'd seen her younger sister a moment ago. But, upon seeing nothing around that looked like a lost puppy salivating over a gun, she calmed down and deciding . Breathing a mental sigh of relief as she hurled a last couple of obscenities at the fading form of the hurler. She didn't have to worry after all. She could hunt down the bastard at her leisure.

More importantly, she wouldn't even need to see Ruby for at least another two years, and by then Yang knew that by then she would have left the little attention-seeking savant of a brat in the dust.

(^)

Jaune Arc was not having a good day.

He was bruised, the milk he'd ordered on the train had been sour, his savings had staunchly refused to grow beyond the double digits for the last three years, and he'd been staying up way past his bedtime for the last six and a half weeks.

To top it all off, after vomiting on some cute blond girl's probably new boots, in his sleep deprived mind, rather than apologizing and saying "I'm so sorry about this! I hope those didn't cost too much?" He had instead slurred out, in that chimera of tone that you make when you're too tired to think quick enough to know what you're saying but still lucid enough to try and talk anyways, in the exact moment that his eyes were at her ample chest level on their way up from her boots to her face:

"I'm sorry about tidds, how much did those cost?"

Upon recollection of this public event, Jaune would later consider the costs and benefits of forever hiding his face in a bag.

But thoughts about complete social humiliation would have to wait, as he was still attempting to not be maimed by the enraged fellow blond. His strategy of ducking around corners and trees, dodging around other people, and finally climbing to the top of the academy's soaring roofs only seemed to momentarily slow her down. It was like being chased by a blond grimm with giant... eyes.

And there was an image that would chase him in uncomfortable nightmares for weeks to come.

Trying to shake the distressing image out of his head, he couldn't see the redheaded girl looking over her shoulder as she also climbed along the rooftops wrapped in a high collared trench coat scarf, sunglasses, and a beret that covered most of her hair. Given how much she was wearing and the backpack she wore that was almost as big as herself, It wasn't really surprising that his Great-great-great-grandfather's scabbard had ended up catching on a loose end of her pack as he rushed blindly past her and dragged them down together.

Everything went flying, his small bag of belongings, his sword, and everything in her much larger backpack. After narrowly avoiding falling off the roof and managing to just barely pull the girl back from sliding off the edge of the roof, Jaune took stock of his situation.

He had just narrowly saved a girl: Great!

He was the one that almost caused her to fall: Not so great.

He then realized that getting caught ungainly flopping about the roofs of one of the most secure facilities in the world outside of a prisons might not be a good first impression for someone that still didn't know whether or not his forged entry papers would pass inspection.

He failed to realize that the girl was seemingly doing the exact same thing, albeit in a much more gainly fashion.

Gathering up his various possessions as quickly as possible from among the debris, which he failed to notice included several guns, swords, spears, and various types of munition, Jaune looked up. He turned to the redheaded girl, whose scarf and glasses had fallen off in the tumble. For some reason she looked vaguely familiar, but he was more concerned about the fact that she was staring at him with eyes full of dread.

"Come on Jaune! She seems scared, say something classy," He demanded to himself."Sorry for knocking you over, but I think you look better in a mess!" He shouted as he ran to more distant rooftops.

He would later add this moment to the consideration of the bag.

(^)

There was a strong breeze blowing the spiced scent of the last of summer towards Jaune as he finally stopped running across the rooftops. Though still feeling a bit of a fool for the impression he'd no doubt have made on his future fellow students, he allowed himself to relax and breathe, the rushing air seemed to lift away all the stress of the last night. The sun was going to be setting soon.

He wondered if the mother and child he had rescued would be alright. He had almost been too late to save them, and he couldn't stand the thought of what would have happened if he had been. That's why he'd wanted to come to Beacon, it had produced some of the most world renowned heroes of the modern world, and it was that thought that brought his attention to the view he had given himself almost through accident.

The Beacon of Mankind, informally known as Beacon Academy, the largest fortification of the Eastern kingdom of Vale, the longest standing and largest man-made border against the Grimmlands, and the primary training facility of mankind's greatest weapon against the grimm:

The Huntsmen.

Warriors that could break stone and bend steel with their bare hands, people that could harness the very elements of the world against the unnatural monstrosities that threatened the lives the humans everywhere, fighters that could heal their wounds in seconds, Jaune really hoped he could learn that one.

Heroes that never let the people around them fall into despair.

Beacon was beautiful, yet strong. A true testament to the human spirit and the industrial powers of the crystals called dust, and a constant reminder that humanity could live another day.

Sweeping villas protected by grand walls hundreds of metres were high capped by domes for aerial defence, the five towers of the main castle that stretched up far into the clouds and looked down on the Grimmlands like a group of mighty warriors, protecting the prosperous city that stood only a few mere miles away.

Smith's forges and training grounds lined the smaller castle segments All brought together by lovingly tended gardens, forests within the walls themselves, and the vast green lawns upon which he would hopefully soon walk on as he had in his old home.

Jaune was entranced. Sure he'd had to fake his papers to even have a chance of getting in, even with his little secret, but he was here! Beacon! The birthplace of heroes that had stood for over a hundred years!

He was so entranced by the sight that he didn't even notice the second when the redheaded girl in sunglasses began sitting beside him.

"Um, Hi."

Then he noticed her.

(^)

After the girl had narrowly saved Jaune from acquiring a deep acquaintance with the ground by yanking him back onto the roof with surprising ease, and after he had finally managed to make her stop apologizing formaking him scream and nearly fall to his probable death, Jaune decided it was as good a time as any to explain himself.

"-so you see, I didn't actually say her boobs were fake, but I think she might have taken it that way."

The girl nodded. "I see." Was all she said.

.

.

.

For the next few minutes, they both simply stood on the roof while the wind steadily blew faster and the girl held onto her hat and scarf.

"You were suprisingly fast-" She said

"Was there anything I could-" He said, overlapping her question.

"So did you drop-" She said.

"Thanks I-" He said, overlapping her again.

More silence, more wind, yet Jaune felt the red in his cheeks. This awkwardness was unbecoming of a future huntsman.

Eventually the girl awkwardly reached into her bag and drew out a small black book to Jaune.

"Wait, is that-"Jaune stiffened in realization as he looked more closely at the small book. "Oh no it is!"

"Ithinkyoudroppedthis!" The girl said quickly. It was incredible, Jaune had actually forgotten one of his most important possessions while tripping over a girl he barely knew. This was like some kind of bad comedy routine from those romantic books his sisters had forced him to listen to.

Hesitantly, Jaune reached out and took the book from her outstretched hand and placed it back into his own bag, carefully setting the multitude of clasps back into place..

"Thank you," He said. "I guess I must have bumped into you pretty hard back there for this to come loose. It usually sticks pretty solid to me." He ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry about that whole bit back there. I was still a little spooked so I guess I wasn't thinking straight. I really should have done more after I nearly knocked you over the edge, you looked pretty spooked yourself."

The girl smiled a small smile underneath her scarf. "Oh you really don't need to worry about that, it wouldn't have mattered if I'd dropped." Her smile quickly faded as she saw a look of confusion cross the boy's face. "But I really did appreciate it! Most people won't have even tried to save me!" She said earnestly, with a hint of nervousness.

Jaune considered the statements, he had been confused when she had said she wouldn't care if she had fallen off the building, even with the book, something like that would have at least hurt him. Then her second statement only exacerbated his confusion, why did this girl think that no one would try to save her? Did she have personal issues? Did she come from an abusive household? Come to think of it, why was she on the roof in the first place? Moreover, why didn't she want to have her, from what he had seen, rather pretty face be seen?

Suddenly it clicked

"Oh I understand! I know who you are now! Its obvious why you'd be climbing over these roofs instead of walking into the faculty normally." He said with sudden inspiration dinging in his mind.

The girl looked like she was subtly panicked as he said this, she almost looked like an animal ready to bolt. So Jaune clasped her hands with his own and removed her glasses to look directly into her eyes with a sense of great understanding.

"You must have fake entry papers too!" He said with empathy.

(^)

Phyrrha Nikos was having an interesting day.

She'd been planning on making a discrete entrance to Beacon once she'd been invited there to complete her training. After all, winning several cross-country martial tournaments was all well and good, but sponsorship deals and branding weren't really going to help anyone. Joining the Huntsmen though, that could make a difference.

The young world renowned prodigy had been reached out to by the largely reclusive headmaster of the academy at the exact moment she'd finally had enough with her Aunt attempting to push her into another corporate deal, and by a mysteriously appearing letter had offered her an out from her dissatisfaction.

After being advised by the letter to pack her things and travel partway to the academy via a vehicle that had seemingly arrived the instant she looked out her winder, she'd been told that if she wanted to avoid the crowds to take a secret route to the main building along the rooftops.

The letter had said nothing about her running to a tall blond boy with bags under his eyes.

She'd almost punched his face in when he'd bumped into her out of reflex, and it was the confusion in her trying to stop her normal response to being tackled that had caused her to slip and fall over the roof. Though she had known that she'd be able to easily survive the fall, it would no doubt attract unwanted attention, so she had been truely glad that the boy had managed to pull her back from the edge of the roof. The problem had come when she realized that her glasses and scarf had fallen off, which would inadvertently lead to him running around literally shouting the news from the rooftops that 'the great Pyrrha Nikos' was at Beacon.

Yet he hadn't.

After spouting some strange line about liking seeing her in a mess and running off like the grimm were after him, he'd simply left her alone. Leaving a small black book that Pyrrha definitely knew was not hers. She had memorized everything she'd ever carried or called her own after all.

Now here she was, a few seconds ago actually having a real interaction with someone that, either through luck or misplaced memory, had not recognized her. Even if it was one of the most awkward conversations she'd ever had, there was a quiet feeling of excitement building in her.

Maybe she'd actually be able to make a friend for at least a while. Images and plans of designing meetings around classes, always meeting far away from everyone else, leaving a convincing alibi to cover her trails, making a completely different identity that loved covering her face in public. It was going to tough, but she might get something close to an actual friend out of it!

Then he had said just a few words that had dashed those hopes where they stood.

I know who you are

"Oh please no." She thought tiredly.

She'd allowed herself to get her hopes up for no reason.

She wasn't here to make friends after all.

She was here to do something meaningful with her talents.

She had no time to make friends.

She would have to remember to-

Then he'd taken her glasses off and grabbed her hands together.

"Huh?" She thought.

"You must have fake entry papers too!" He said with a giant understanding smile on his blue-eyed face.

"Huh?!" She thought again.

Here he was, staring eye to eye with the face of the modern generation, and he didn't even recognize her?

But his blue eyes were strangely calming to look into.

Pyrrha, having not had much of any interaction with people her own age, much less sustained eye-to-eye contact, did not know what it was supposed to feel like to look into a boy's eyes in a situation that did not immediately involve punching him in the face to win a fight. For her, staring into the tall boy's eyes was something like a nice dream; calming, hopeful, and pleasant, all wrapped up in a ethereal feeling that you didn't want it to end because you might forget what you had felt.

But there was this faint sense of melancholy that she thought reminded her of something. Past the sense of calm and hope, there was something else in his eyes. Something she wasn't quite sure what to think about.

She had heard the eyes were the windows to the soul, and she wanted to look more. To understand this person that, however mistaken and ignorant he might have been, might be the only person she had ever met to talk to her like she was normal.

But her thoughts and the moment of curiosity, however much it would remain rooted in her mind, lasted only a few seconds.

"So is this where you have been Pyrrha Nikos? Making up for lost time I suppose. You know you are a full twenty minute late, yes?" A new feminine voice called out from behind her. She turned a colour similar to her hair when she relized just who was talking.

Glenda "The Perfection" Goodwitch, she was blond, tall, carried a clipboard and a riding crop, and was one of the greatest huntswomen to have ever lived. Assistant head of Beacon, the woman that had been apparently able to appear out of thin air just to give her a condescending remark, and the person she had just been reminded that she was late for a meeting with.

And she'd just found her skipping out on said meeting while a boy held her hands and sunglasses with his own and stared deeply into her eyes.

Pyrrha was a little embarrassed, to put it mildly.

The imposing glare of Goodwitch turned to the boy that had been holding her hands.

"What are you doing on the roof, boy? Shouldn't you be lining up for submitting your papers? Most of your fellow students have already found their way to the main hall and are waiting for their teachers to give the initiatory speech, as tradition and proper protocol dictates.. So why, I ask again, are you on the roof, boy?" She didn't ask, she demanded an explanation with a question.

"Well I mean, I uh, that is to say-" He stammered.

Goodwich moved closer and snapped her crop up to point at the boy's eyes, she was taller than him by a good few inches. "And what is this under your eyes? You are clearly an Arc, where is your pride? Have you lost sleep gallivanting around at night with women on your arms? Staying up past curfew? Drinking whilst underage perhaps? Activate your aura and fix your appearance before you show your face to any member of this facility again, or there willbe consequences. Am I clear Mister... Jaune Arc?" She said, leaning in as she guessed his name by means unknown.

It was on the whole, one of the most intimidating dress downs Pyrrha had ever seen, and she had only experienced it by proxy.

The boy, now known as Jaune, to his infinite credit in her eyes, kept something resembling his nerve as he responded.

"Ma'am I, I sometimes have difficulty with... with activating my aura." He said quietly.

Pyrrha watched Goodwitch stiffen and glare at Jaune. "Your admission papers mister Arc, if you please. I am violating protocol, and your entrance will be determined now, by me." Her tone was cold as ice.

Jaune dug into his small bag and produced the document, it was snatched out of his hand and read by the irate professor.

"Wait," Pyrrha thought to herself. "Didn't he say he faked his papers? There's no way that'll slip past a woman like her!"

She quickly found herself in a dilemma:

Option 1:

To help in some way or stick up for Jaune, the first person she had ever encountered who treated her like a human rather than a demi-goddess or a marketing ploy, who quite probably going to be expelled before she even had a chance to actually make something resembling a friend. But that would mean standing up against "The Perfection" herself! If she did that and was caught, and she knew she would be, she might be throwing away her only chance at becoming a fully trained huntswoman. At becoming something, someone that actually mattered.

Option 2:

To let Jaune be dealt with by Goodwitch alone One person didn't matter when she had the potential to save thousands if she was trained properly. She didn't need a friend. She could just let him fail on his own and move past that to more important things. A heroine doesn't need to make friends, it was her duty to live her life for the world.

No attachments.

No happy ending.

Nothing but duty.

To the death.

But something about that idea made her chest feel like it cracked.

Then, in the midst of experiencing this new crushing sensation, she saw Jaune holding the position in which one is supposed to learn to unlock their aura for the first time. Most people that attended early combat schools or were taught by family tradition for preparation for Beacon learned that stance when they were barely beyond twelve. She herself had activated her aura when she was six. Did he actually think he could get into The Beacon without even knowing how to activate the most basic of the human soul's abilities?

Pyrrha knew something else about that stance though, it could be activated by someone else if that other person had mastered their own aura, and Jaune's back, currently unobserved by Goodwitch as she read through his dubious documents, was exactly within arms reach of Pyrrha. She was also going to be directly obscured by the soon setting sun for just a second.

She felt an immense amount of guilt for letting herself be so selfish.

But she made her choice.

.

.

.

Jaune's aura flared like the noonday solstice sun.

It certainly was an interesting day.

(^)

Jaune Arc Will Burn At The Stake

(^)

P.S.

"Whew, what a chapter huh? This is the longest one I've written in a while, and man do I hope I stuffed it with the good stuff."

"So there you have it, I said I'd be making some changes, and some of them should be pretty obvious. Here's to them turning out well!"

"I wanted a more explicit focus on certain characters, so I'll be cutting a lot of the fat from the cast. That isn't to say I won't be using anyone beyond the main cast, but expect an efficient story. I focused a lot on Pyrrha and how I thought she would react to the opportunity to make an actual friend. It's old story for the lonely character isolated by expectations of perfection to make a friend who treats them like a normal human, but that's what I'm going for, because I love old stories. I also wanted to avoid love at first sight here, I'm sorry if it looked like that, but I tried my best with my current writing abilities. They will totally fall for each other though, so no worries about that."

"Also a quick question to the readers: Should I reclassify this as a crossover or just leave it in the main fanfic index?"

"Kronus18, I'm glad you liked Jaune's entrance as the Grimm Rider, I hoped it would have the right 'kick' ."

"Guest#1, I dunno."

"Guest#2, You know, in retrospect I realized that the summery really could be taken as a Ghost Rider story, silly of me I guess. But I'm glad you were able to enjoy the story as it is anyways. Your complements encourage me to do better, so thank you!"

"JustAnotherGuest. We'll see I guess, doubt it would contain anything other than some girls eventually showing mild attraction like a healthy woman would towards a healthy man. Best girl wins in the end no matter what though, so you might be disappointedly fine with that."

"X3runner. Well that's the first time I've ever looked that up, kinda neat. Design was pretty good. Hard to find that lore though, seems a shame that most of it is just small pictures that you have to link together when it seems like it could be it's own thing."

"Scully1337. I'm glad I could catch your interest. Here's hoping I can make it stick!"

"Midnight Elec. No this is not a marvel cross. I'm simply taking elements from Kamen Rider and sticking them onto this story, like I said in the first chapter."

"Thanks to everyone that favoured and or followed this little fic. As well as thanks to everyone that simply read it and decided follow along even without an account."

"Next chapter features the introduction of the staff, teachers, the headmaster, teams being put together, and more world building."

- B. R. III.