Hello readers! I'm Xjentryn and this is the first chapter of my new story. My good friend Black Fuego has written a wonderful fanfic of RWBY called The BLAD of RWBY and JNPR. This here is my RWBY fanfic taking place in the same universe. As such, there will be plenty of carry-over ideas and characters, and the stories will potentially intersect a few times. I hope you all enjoy reading this, The Chronicles of ZFRR.

(Note: I will be throwing in references to some of my other fandoms. They will not be marked, but they are there as a salute to those fandoms.)

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, or any other fandom referenced. I only claim the original ideas and characters in here. And this brownie, this brownie is mine.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

Memory

Sound effect

"~Singing~"

Out in a park in the middle of Ithalese City, a little blue-haired five-year-old boy was playing with a ball. He kicked it across the grass; it spun a bit to the side and hit a tree. As the toddler walked over to it, a couple big kids standing there picked it up.

"Nice ball twerp." One of them said.

"Thanks. Can I have it back?" The blue-haired boy asked innocently.

The older boys laughed. "I don't think so kid. Now run along and suck your thumb."

The little youngster began to get mad. "It's my ball! Now give it back you big stupid face!"

The older boy glared at him. "What was that twerp?" He shoved the toddler down. "You want this ball? Go get it." He dropped it and kicked it hard. The ball began to soar away, but was stopped suddenly. A little blonde-haired five year old monkey Faunus hung from the tree with the ball in his hands.

"Here" He said, dropping the ball to the blue-haired boy.

"Beat it you filthy animal!" The older boy shouted.

The blonde monkey smiled. "That's not very nice." He jumped down onto the older boy's shoulders.

"What the!"

The little boy reached down the big boy's back and grabbed his underwear. He pulled upward swiftly, and then jumped off.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" The older boy shouted. He lunged at the five year old who dodged under the older boy's legs and gave him a swift kick to the butt.

"RRAAAA!" The older boy turned around and grabbed the little blonde boy by the shirt. "TAKE THIS TWERP!" He held one hand back, clenched in a fist. He threw a punch at the toddler's face with all his might, but his fist was caught by a tall man.

"Put him down." The man said in a stern tone, twisting the boy's fist. "Nicely."

The older boy reluctantly complied.

"Now you and your friends get out of here before I call the cops."

The boy glared, but obeyed nonetheless. The man turned toward the blue-haired boy. "You okay Scooter?" The young boy nodded. The man turned to the blonde boy. "How about you?" He nodded as well, a big grin on his face. "You helped out my son, thank you." The man said gratefully.

The blue-haired boy stood up and turned to his rescuer. "Thanks. I'm Zaffre."

The Blonde boy smiled at him. "I'm Rusty." He said. The two shook hands, and a friendship was born.

– 12 years later –

Zaffre took in a deep breath. He was finally here. Looking around, he awed at the sight of what would be his home for the next few years. Around him, other new students shuffled in, many of them also entranced by the sight. This was Storm Academy; a somewhat less-known school as it had only been around for about 7 years. Never the less, it had the reputation of being every bit as good as Beacon.

"Its gonna be a good 4 years." He thought.

The now 17-year-old Zaffre was dressed in a long-sleeved silver shirt with a blue tunic on top. The tunic was sleeveless with stiff pointed shoulders, and was covered in faint gold embroidery. He also wore deep blue pants with a brown belt and brown boots. His hands were covered by metal gloves that extended halfway up his forearms, and a vial of blue dust suspended by a simple chain necklace around his neck was tucked into his tunic. His hair was the same blue spikey mess it had always been; only now it was a bit longer. He also now had two swords in the rough shape of katanas without the blade curve on his back.

Looking over, he noticed his blonde friend had disappeared from his side, and was now on a low branch of a nearby tree. Zaffre walked over to him.

Rusty's short, dirty blonde hair was a mess on his head, as per usual. He wore a sleeveless golden orange vest that well showed off the flaming banana emblem tattooed on his left bicep, a sweatshirt of the same color tied loosely around his neck, a simple pair of blue jeans without a belt, and white pads located on his knees, elbows, and shoulders. He had a monkey tail that sat as the sole external indicator that he was a Faunus, and blue/gray lines under his eyes that were almost tribal in appearance. On his feet he wore simple sneakers. While at one point they had been fairly close in color to his shirt, days of dirt and mud had darkened them a good deal. A silver cylinder rested horizontally along the back of his waist.

"Rusty, what are you doing?" Zaffre asked, almost not wanting to know.

"Formulating a plan of attack." Rusty replied, without even looking at his friend. "There appear to be a lot of them here."

"Oh really?" Asked Zaffre, pretending to be more interested than he was. "And might I inquire as to who 'them' are?"

Rusty snapped his head to face Zaffre, with a shocked look on his face. "Who do you think?" He said, looking back away from Zaffre. "All the targets."

"mhm." Zaffre smirked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the technical name for them is girls. And I don't see how hiding in a tree is a plan to get one."

Rusty sighed. "If I must explain, I wait for a nice specimen to come near. Then I 'fall' and 'hurt my leg'. Their sympathy does the rest."

"Really?" Asked Zaffre. "A monkey fell off of a 7 foot high tree branch and hurt himself?"

Rusty turned to glare at Zaffre for a second, and then grinned. "Watch and learn my friend."

As a couple girls started to walk by, Rusty "fell" off the branch and landed in front of them.

"Oof, sorry ladies." He said from the ground. "Guess I slipped."

"Oh. Are you okay?" Asked a red-haired girl, with two dog-like ears sticking out on top of her head.

Rusty stood up and brushed himself off. "I think so, no broken bones." He smiled at the girl.

"There is no way this is gonna work." Thought Zaffre.

The girl smiled back. "That's a relief, I hear those short falls can be really dangerous."

"Yeah well, ow!" Rusty shifted his weight to his right foot, then pretended it hurt. "I think I twisted my ankle. Would you be willing to help me get to a bench?"

"Why sure." Said the girl. "Why don't you just put your arm around me, and we'll take a nice, slow walk." She then leaned in close. "I don't need a coyote's nose to smell this load of crap." She and her friend walked off laughing.

"Wow." Said Zaffre, clapping sarcastically. "First day and you've already been rejected and laughed at. Please teach me your ways oh wise master."

"Ha ha, laugh it up." Responded Rusty. He looked toward where the girl had gone. "She's a feisty one. I'll be seeing her again." He said with a grin.

"Uh-huh, if you say so."

Rusty and Zaffre resumed walking with the crowd toward the main structure.

– ZFRR –

The students all funneled into a great hall. Stone pillars stood their guard along the sides, and a dome roof capped the building. The room was mostly empty, expect for a stage against the far wall. A man stood on the stage, his hands behind his back, observing the students. He was dressed in a midnight blue vest and dress pants of the same color with a very pale blue under shirt. On top was a blueish/purple overcoat with a matching bowtie. He had short, dark brown hair sitting neatly on his head, and brown dress shoes at his feet. As the last of the students entered the building, he stepped forward.

"Welcome all." He announced. "I am Professor Augustus Caesar, and this is Storm Academy!"

He smiled as light applause rose from the crowd.

"Here you will be trained to be the best Huntsmen and Huntresses you can be. To protect peace, and defend those who cannot defend themselves. As you all know, our world is experiencing a time of peace and prosperity. But nothing lasts forever. It is your job to uphold the peace as long as can be, and restore it should it ever fall. I believe that each and every one of you has the capability to do this, and it is our job to help you get there. Study hard, and train well, and you will be magnificent!"

He nodded his head and stepped back. The room erupted with applause. A woman walked up on stage, and stepped to the mic. She had lightly tanned skin, and long brown hair kept in a bun. She wore an orange and pink swirled dress that came down to just above her knees, and had sleeves that covered half her biceps. The collar of a brown undershirt popped over the top of it. She wore Light brown boots on her feet, and a golden bracelet on her left hand.

"Thank you Headmaster." She said. "I am Professor Clarice Morningstar. Tomorrow you will begin your initiation, and your journey will start. For now, I encourage you to look around and familiarize yourself with our campus. A directory can be found outside. You will meet back here for the night, and tomorrow's proceedings will begin at 9 am sharp."

With that, she stepped back, and the students began to disperse.

"Initiation huh, wonder what that entails." Pondered Rusty.

"I've heard the students at Beacon have to collect relics in a Grimm-filled forest." Replied Zaffre. "Maybe we'll be doing something similar."

The two walked outside. Per Zaffre's insistence, they took a look at the directory. Both boys loved to explore, but Zaffre had a terrible sense of direction, and Rusty liked getting lost, so having a general idea of their bearings was always a smart decision.

Most students headed towards the dorms and food hall, wanting to know where they'd be sleeping and eating. Rusty and Zaffre decided to take a less crowded path, and started walking a different direction through the campus, taking a look at everything they could see.

– ZFRR –

Zaffre and Rusty stood by a building in the middle of campus, looking around

"You have no idea where we are do you?" Asked Zaffre.

"No, I know exactly where we are." Replied Rusty. "I just don't know where everything else is."

Zaffre sighed. "We best pick a direction then."

"There's bound to be someone near we could ask."

"The great Rusty wants to ask for directions? I may die of shock!"

"I want food, and the sooner we get back, the sooner I get it."

Zaffre smiled. "Okay, now THAT sounds like you."

The pair began walking, having no idea where they were headed.

"I think it's a left here." Said Rusty. "Or maybe right?"

"You're sense of direction is certainly one of your finer qualities." Said Zaffre sarcastically.

"Look who's talking!"

It was true, they had never met anyone who had a worse sense of direction than Zaffre.

"Hey look." Said Zaffre. "There's someone."

Ahead was another student wearing a white hoodie, gray pants, and black shoes. The student had their hands in their pockets, and was facing away from the two. Said student also had their hood up, so gender was impossible to tell. As Zaffre and Rusty approached, Rusty called out. "Hey you!"

The student didn't budge.

Rusty ran up and tapped them on the shoulder. The student then turned around. They wore a black bandana across their nose and mouth, and had gold-lined gray goggles over their piercing green eyes. The student raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'what do you want'.

"Do you know which way to the food?" Asked Rusty.

The student turned and pulled their left hand out of their pocket, though it was still concealed by a light gray glove. The student pointed to Rusty's right.

"That way." The student said, revealing their gender to be male.

"Thanks a million dude!" Rusty exclaimed, before talking off running in the indicated direction.

The student resumed starring off in the direction he had been earlier.

"Not much of a people person I see." Zaffre thought to himself. He shrugged and chased after Rusty.

– ZFRR –

The boys had found their way back to the cafeteria quickly, and eagerly went in for some much-needed food. The cafeteria was fairly packed, but thankfully the line for food hadn't taken too long. Rusty managed to down 3 servings in almost no time, and was now table-hopping (not literally, thank goodness), hitting on every attractive girl he could find. So far he'd been slapped once, laughed at three times, and rejected a total of 6. But he didn't falter or lose faith after any of them. The current girl he was talking to seemed to actually be interested. Zaffre starting making bets with himself on how long it would be until Rusty screwed it up. Of course, Rusty wasn't a total failure when it came to girls. In fact he had had quite a bit of success in his endeavors before coming here. All the same though, his failures did seem to outweigh his victories. The girl began laughing at something Rusty said, and he turned and walked away, smiling gleefully.

"Finally got one?" Zaffre asked, curious to see how long it would take Rusty to get a date at Storm.

"Nope!" Rusty said gleefully. "Not yet anyway!"

"You have got to be the most cheery rejectee ever, of all time." Said Zaffre.

"Soon enough they'll want me." Rusty responded.

"If you say so."

"What about you? Why don't you try talking to a girl? Test your luck?" Rusty asked.

"I'm good." Said Zaffre.

Rusty shook his head. "C'mon man, you can't hang out in a shell forever. Besides, I already set the bar pretty low for you."

Zaffre chuckled. "That you did buddy. But you know that talking to girls isn't my thing."

"That's why you need practice." Rusty retorted. "What if you end up on a team with a girl? Or with only girls? Heck, what if you end up the leader of a team consisting of only you and really hot girls?"

Zaffre laughed. "I don't think that'll be a problem. I'm not leader material."

"Ok fine." Said Rusty. "What if you end up being the flunky on a team of really hot girls?"

Zaffre reached out and whacked Rusty. Rusty just grinned. Despite his flaws, Rusty was great at cheering Zaffre up, and giving him confidence in himself.

"Then I guess I'll turn to your wise ass for help." Zaffre said.

Rusty shrugged and sat down.

"One day man. One day you'll have to step outside of your comfort zone and go for it."

"I know." Sighed Zaffre.

Rusty suddenly smiled mischievously. "In fact, we'll start tonight."

"Oh joy." Zaffre said sarcastically. Zaffre did want to get better at talking to girls, but it was one of those things he just kept putting off.

Rusty looked around. "It's too quiet in here." He said.

Zaffre face-palmed. It was, in fact, quite noisy here. So Rusty's comment could only mean one thing. Rusty hopped up on the table, and grabbed a scoop of mashed potatoes with his tail.

"Rusty, please don't."

"Aiming."

"C'mon man, we just got here. Please refrain from getting in trouble just yet."

"Wait for it….." Rusty looked at Zaffre and grinned. "FIRE!" The potatoes launched into the air, spreading wide like a net. Zaffre felt time slow down as the mushy ammo sought out it's targets. Rusty's hand moved into a salute at the spectacle of his work. Slowly the white glop fell. Zaffre swore he saw a tear in Rusty's eye as the squishy missiles struck home. A couple tables over, about five students starting freaking out at the unexpected shower they had received.

Rusty raised his hands in the air. "WOO! SCORE!" He shouted.

One of the students he had hit stood up and shouted, "Get him!"

Five blobs of food came hurdling at Rusty. He crouched and sprang up, doing a flip over the airborne arsenal, which proceeded to land on a group of girls behind him. The girls freaked out and started screaming, causing laughter amongst some nearby guys. One of the girls used this as an excuse to fling food at them, while Rusty's victims prepared a second assault wave. Within minutes the whole cafeteria was one big battleground. And Rusty was Hercules. Not a single drop of food hit him, though not for lack of trying. At least fifteen students were aiming specifically at him. Zaffre noticed that Rusty's attention seemed to be focused mainly in one direction. Following his gaze, Zaffre saw the same girl that Rusty had made laugh and walked away from not 10 minutes before. Rusty then turned to look a couple tables down. Again mimicking his friend, Zaffre noticed a guy aiming at said girl.

"Is he gonna…" Zaffre's thoughts trailed off.

The guy launched his ammo of choice, chicken bits covered in barbeque sauce, at the girl. Rusty lunged into the shot's path, and got struck square in the chest. He fell back, landing in some kid's pudding. The girl covered her mouth in shock, a smile on her face. Half the cafeteria cheered, for the mighty warrior was down. Rusty simply stood up, a piece of the chicken in hand, and turned to the girl.

"I told you." He said, before taking a bite of chicken.

The girl laughed, and flung some fries at him. However, she then proceeded to pull out a piece of paper and write down what Zaffre could only assume was her phone number. She got up, handed it to Rusty, winked, and walked away. Ten guys gave Rusty a round of applause, while he held his fist high in victory, the girl's note in a tight grip. What he failed to notice was a certain dog-eared red head sitting a couple tables over, smiling and giving him a look of approval.

– ZFRR –

A young, dark-haired boy sat down at the empty end of a table in the cafeteria. He had a simple meal in front of him: a deli sandwich, a small salad without dressing, and a glass of water. After observing the people in the room, he had concluded that there was an 84% chance of some form of large-scale roughhouse occurring. So while the food options were many and tempting, he decided on the meal that he felt would make the least mess if it should end up on him. After all, getting stains out of his white hoodie was always a pain. The boy lifted the bandana across his face slightly, allowing his food to slide underneath. With any luck, he'd be able to finish before anything went down, but statistically that only had a 27% chance. At the table next to him, a blonde monkey Faunus walked up to a girl who was eating with her friends.

"Excuse me miss, but I couldn't help but notice that you are far too pretty for me to not know you."

The girl's friends starting giggling.

"Well, somebody's feeling confident today." The black-haired boy thought. Glancing over, he noticed that it was the same boy who had asked him for directions to the cafeteria, despite it being visible at the time. It had honestly amazed him that a guy who seemed so intent on food wouldn't know the building it was served in. And he could tell that this guy was a food-lover. His whole demeanor just screamed it. "A gluttonous, over-confident, extrovert. I'll be avoiding your team tomorrow." He thought.

The girl that the monkey-boy was hitting on was looking at said monkey with a smile. "Well, aren't you the confident one?" She said. "Are you always this forward?"

"When a princess like you comes along, I do whatever it takes."

The girl chuckled. "So this is a common thing is it?"

"Oh contraire mademoiselle. I can't say that I've ever met another on par with you."

"This guy certainly knows what he's doing, gotta give him that much." The boy in the white hoodie thought. "He definitely seems to like risks. That princess comment had a 47% chance of blowing up in his face."

The girl giggled a little, obviously thrilled.

"Can't say much for her though. This boy's barely trying and he's got her. Hook, line and sinker. There's a 91% probability that he's getting a date."

"You'll do anything huh?" She asked.

The boy got down on one knee. "For a date with you my lady, I would give up the title of Reigning Food Fight Champion."

The girl burst out laughing. The dark-haired boy laughed internally as well, though he showed no signs of it on the outside. "That was unexpected." He thought.

The blonde monkey began walking away, a big grin on his face. The boy in the hoodie watched the blonde join his blue-haired friend, whom he also recognized from earlier. The dark-haired boy let out a sigh. "Well, I know where this is going." He got up, disappointed that he had not been able to finish his meal, and began walking towards the door. As he stepped outside, he glanced back to see a shower of mashed potatoes landing on five boys. The dark-haired boy was impressed by such a shot coming from a tail. He stood there a moment, as a battle began, watching the monkey Hercules take out his foes. "I recant my previous statement." He thought. "This kid is going to make a good teammate." With that, he closed the door behind him.

– ZFRR –

Zaffre stood outside the headmaster's office, listening to the muffled sounds from within. Less than a minute after Rusty had won his prize, Professor Morningstar had shown up and escorted Rusty out. Zaffre had followed along, all the while receiving gleeful and victorious looks from Rusty. That boy was a determined little booger when it came to getting a date. Finally the door opened and Rusty stepped out.

"So how'd it go?" Asked Zaffre.

"Meh, he let me off with a warning." Answered Rusty honestly. "He said that since no one was hurt, and it was the first day, he'd let it slide. He just told me to keep my behavior in check from now on."

"I'm beginning to think no one from our previous school warned him about you." Said Zaffre.

"And here I thought my reputation was stronger than that."

Zaffre laughed. "You never were one to behave. Remember the turd incident?"

Rusty beamed. "Oh yeah! One of my finest moments!"

"Yeah, let's go with that."

The two walked for a while. The sun was still up, and looked to remain that way for another couple hours. Between getting lost, and the escort mission to the Headmaster, they had seen a decent amount of the campus. Now, they decided to walk through the woods. The teachers would have advised against it, but the were rarely Grimms here, and the two were more than capable of taking down any they did happen across.

"This forest is really quite beautiful." Zaffre commented.

"It's not bad, I prefer the city though." Responded Rusty.

Zaffre chuckled a little. "You always did seem to have a hard time enjoying the finer things."

"Hey, the finer they get, the more I enjoy them." Rusty joked.

Zaffre shook his head with a smile. "I'm not talking about women."

"Oh." Rusty said sheepishly "Never mind then."

"Sometimes I wish I lived in the forest." Zaffre said. "Get to be closer to nature."

"Wonderful idea, except you can't stand bugs." Said Rusty.

It was true; much as Zaffre liked the outdoors, he absolutely HATED creepy crawlies, especially spiders. Zaffre shuddered at the thought.

The two continued walking, enjoying the feel of the cool evening air. They walked for a good half hour, changing directions every so often. Finally they decided it was time to start heading back. Given that neither of them had any idea where they were, Rusty decided to get a higher view. He jumped up a nearby tree and swung himself up the branches. In less than a minute, he was at the top.

"See anything?" Asked Zaffre.

"Not yet, hold on though." Rusty replied.

Using his tail, he grabbed the silver cylinder from his waist and tossed it over his head. He grabbed it with his left hand. The cylinder was a good foot in diameter, but the center was smaller, handle sized. Once he grabbed it, the item extended until the two larger cylinders on the ends were each two feet long and the center handle was six feet long. Each end had a whole in it. Rusty planted on end firmly on the branch beneath him, the other end pointed straight up.

"Are you about to do what I think you are?" Shouted Zaffre.

"Yep!" Rusty cried gleefully. He fired an explosive round out the lower end, sending him flying into the air. At the peak of his jump, he looked around and pointed.

"That way to campus!" He shouted as he began his plummet back down.

Zaffre shook his head and smiled as he watched his friend come in for a landing. Rusty attempted to land gracefully on one of the branches, but unfortunately slipped on contact. He tumbled down into another branch, and accidentally fired his weapon again. The difference this time was, the staff was being held horizontally. Rusty was thrown off to the side, out of view.

"Rusty!" Zaffre called out in a panic, bolting towards where he'd been flung.

Zaffre burst out into a clearing, and saw his friend laying on his back in the middle of a bed of flowers.

"You okay man?" Zaffre asked.

"That was awesome." Rusty said in a whisper.

Zaffre sighed.

"You dork." He said. "Your overconfidence is going to be the death of you."

Rusty sat up. "But it will be an epic death." He retorted.

"I have no doubt about that." Said Zaffre, helping his friend up. He looked around the clearing. It was about the size of a football field in total, but the trees on any given part of the edge were fairly thick, making the clearing hard to spot from the outside. A little more than a third of one end was a small pond, with amazingly clear water. A few creeks trickled in and out of it. The rest of the clearing was very flat and grassy. Flowerbeds popping up all over the place.

"This place is beautiful." Zaffre said in awe. "It's so serene."

"The tree line makes it feel like a valley." Said Rusty, also looking around.

"I will definitely be coming back here again." Said Zaffre.

Rusty looked at his friend. "Well then, let's give it a name!" He chimed with a smile. "How about, Serena?"

Zaffre laughed. "Yeah, I don't feel like having you hit on a clearing." He said. He looked around, thinking about Rusty's comment about the tree line. After a moment of thought, he had the perfect name.

"Why don't we call it Serenity Valley?"

Rusty nodded in approval. "Serenity Valley it is!"

Zaffre took in a deep breath, letting the awesomeness of their find soak in.

"C'mon dude." He said after a minute. "We best be getting back."

Zaffre turned to the end away from the pond. "When you were in the air, you pointed this way."

"Well then." Rusty said. "After you my good man!"

– ZFRR –

Back on campus, a young girl sat on a bench outside. She wore a red, sleeveless, strapless top, and a loose ruffle skirt that stopped just above her knees. The top of the skirt was a deep pink, which faded to white as it went lower. Underneath the skirt was pair of moderately tight white shorts that covered just over half of her thighs. She wore maroon sandals with golden shin guards on her legs. Silver gauntlets extended from her wrists to her elbows, and golden, metal bands covered her biceps, each engraved with the emblem of a howling coyote. Around her neck was a golden necklace with three red jewels in it. Twin, tan coyote ears poked up out of her long, red hair, which was kept in a messy ponytail.

"That was impressive." She thought to herself.

See had just witnessed quite the spectacle in the cafeteria. A boy had started a food war, and intentionally lost after kicking butt, just to get a date. She had bumped into him earlier, when he tried to hit on her by falling out of a tree. That attempt however, was far less impressive.

"I never would have guessed that he had any real game after that. Now though…" She was honestly quite impressed. She herself loved spectacles and fun, and she hadn't stopped smiling since the food fight. Still thinking to herself, she failed to notice an excited-looking boy come up to her.

"Ahem." He said.

She snapped out of her train of thought and looked at him. "Oh, hi."

The boy blushed a little. "I'm sorry to bother you, but it's such an honor to get to meet you."

The girl stared at him with a puzzled look. "Huh?"

The boy blushed more. "I…I just…I really admire your work."

The girl was really confused now. "What are you…" She cut herself off, suddenly realizing what he was talking about. A smile began to creep up on her.

"Who do you think I am exactly?" She asked.

The boy responded. "Why, Pyrrha of course."

The girl burst out laughing. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen that coming, she was mistaken for the excellent warrior on many occasions.

"No no no. I'm Scarlet." She said

The boy became extremely embarrassed. "Oh…I…But…You…Resemblance."

Scarlet continued to laugh. She did, in fact, bear a remarkable resemblance to the redheaded warrior. And she was okay with it. Scarlet looked up to Pyrrha, even though she'd never met her in person. That fact that the resemblance was so close was purely coincidence, but Scarlet was always happy to hear others say it. It was fun to be the doppelganger of someone so famous and awesome.

The boy was still stuttering, struggling to form a coherent sentence.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you." She said, extending her hand.

The boy nervously accepted the shake. As he did, Scarlet winked at him. The boy completely lost it, babbling and backing up.

"I…Well…Stuff…I….Gotta…Things." He said nervously. Paling, he turned and bolted away.

Scarlet couldn't stop laughing. "Oh yeah." She thought. "This is gonna be a fun school!"

She continued her laughing fit for a good few minutes before finally calming down. Timid boys were so much fun for her. She stood up, looking at the sky. The sun was showing signs of wanting to set soon. She breathed in deeply. The air was so refreshing. She crouched down, in a pre-race stance. Looking ahead, she saw a nice, open path through campus. With a grin, she took off running. It felt good, the release of energy.

"Woo-hoo!" She shouted, leaping in the air.

Scarlet loved running; it made her feel alive. Really, any kind of exercise would do. Scarlet had a LOT of energy. Part of it came from her being a coyote Faunus. But even that aside, she truly was a puppy at heart. Her parents often told her how impossible she was to keep up with when she was a toddler. It always made her laugh. Reminiscing about it, she failed to notice another girl step into her path.

SMACK!

The two collided head-on, knocking both girls on their respective butts. Scarlet sat dazed, stars dancing around her head.

"Hey! Watch it!" The other girl shouted. She wore a sleeveless top, the same bright red as Scarlet's, with blue jean shorts and purple and white sneakers. A purple button rested on the upper left of her shirt depicting a wing against the sun. She had a black, studded choke collar around her neck, and a pair of dangling, yellow star earrings. Her eyes shined a beautiful golden color, and a yellow flower sat in her short, purple hair. A scar traveled a short distance under her left eye.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Said Scarlet. "I forgot how fast I was going."

"Pfft! That was nothing." Said the other girl. "I could easily go faster than that!"

"Oh really?" Asked Scarlet, standing up. As the other girl stood up, Scarlet notice she had a large pair of eagle's wings. "Whoa." She said, amazed.

The other girl brushed herself off. "Try not to drool." She said.

"Oh don't worry." Said Scarlet. "Your face will prevent that!"

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Yeah whatever. Just run along little wolf girl."

"I'm a coyote." Replied Scarlet. "And my name is Scarlet."

"And I'm Thistle, nice to meet you." Said the other girl. "Now go away."

Scarlet stuck her tongue out, turned, crouched, put her hands on the ground, kicked some dirt up, and took off.

Coughing, Thistle glared at the disappearing redhead. "Amateur." She thought. "This school deserves better."

Scarlet continued to run. Eagle-brain hadn't been very much fun, but their were plenty of other new people to meet. "And the fun begins!" She thought.

– ZFRR –

Zaffre and Rusty sat on their sleeping bags in the middle of the large hall from earlier, now in their pajamas. Zaffre wore a simple white t-shirt and blue shorts. Rusty wore another copper-colored vest, with matching shorts. They had returned to the hall about an hour ago, and spent most of the time since playing twenty questions.

"Can you eat it?" Asked Rusty

"Nope." Replied Zaffre. Then, with a grin, "Well, maybe YOU could."

"Does it sit on the floor?"

"Yes."

"Could I jump on it without breaking it?

"Yes."

"Is it very wide?"

"Yes."

"A couch?"

"Nope."

"Okay, I give up."

"Carpet dude." Zaffre smiled, Rusty wasn't generally very good at twenty questions, but they both still enjoyed playing.

When the two had initially come in, very few students had been here. By now, the hall was decently packed, as most students prepared to get some rest before initiation the next day.

Rusty looked around the room. "Looks like most people are back for the night."

"Looks that way." Said Zaffre.

A mischievous grin grew on Rusty's face.

"Uh oh." Zaffre thought. "Do I want to know?"

"Do you recall what I said earlier?" Rusty asked.

Zaffre shrugged, having no idea. But then he noticed that Rusty was staring at a group of girls.

"Oh no." He said.

Rusty turned back to Zaffre, his smile growing. "Oh yes. Time for some practice!"

"Please don't make me do this." Zaffre begged.

"You know that if I don't, you'll later wish I had."

Zaffre sighed. He hated when Rusty used legitimate logic on him.

"Fine." He said in defeat. "Where do we start?"

Rusty's eyes cheered at Zaffre's surrender. "Easy, pick one."

Zaffre looked around. There were a fair number of girls around. Some attractive, some not. Some were reading, some were talking, some had already started to fall asleep, and some were just sitting there. In one particular spot, a group of 10 or so girls were staring dreamily at a green-haired boy who was reading. Rusty noticed this too.

"Some people have all the luck." He grumbled to himself. Then, turning to Zaffre, "Don't worry man, there're still plenty of others."

Zaffre continued to look around, no particular girl sticking out to him.

"I don't know dude." He sighed.

"Ok fine." Rusty said. "Let's start with that one!"

He gestured toward a random girl sitting against the wall. She sat by herself, listening to music through headphones. Zaffre reluctantly followed Rusty over to her. Rusty went right up and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up at him, and pulled out one earphone.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked.

"Yeah." Answered Rusty. "Have you met a devilishly handsome and exceedingly funny guy with blue spikey hair?"

"I can't say that I have." She said with a slight laugh.

"Well now's your chance!" Rusty beamed. With that, Rusty jumped back and shoved Zaffre forward. Before stepping away, he leaned in and said, "He also save puppies from burning buildings." And just like that, Rusty was gone.

Zaffre took a deep breath. "Well, that was Rusty."

"He seemed friendly." The girl said. "If a little…odd."

"That's him in a nutshell." Zaffre said. He then mentally laughed at 'nutshell', as a dirty joke popped into his head. And then he mentally slapped himself for it, as this was probably not the time.

"Mhm." The girl replied.

"So, what kind of music are you listening to?" Asked Zaffre, trying desperately to start a conversation.

"Good music." She said, clearly starting to get bored by Zaffre.

"Well, that's good. Listening to bad music would just be silly." Zaffre said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah." She said. "Well, nice meeting you." She put her headphone back in and closed her eyes, completely tuning out Zaffre. A little annoyed, Zaffre put his thumb to his nose, wiggled his fingers and stuck out his tongue before turning away. As he began to walk back toward Rusty, he heard a giggle to his left. He turned to see a brown-haired girl staring at him with shining blue eyes, smiling.

Acting only on instinct, Zaffre looked down at his pj's, then back at the girl and said "I didn't think I looked that bad."

The girl giggled again. "No, that was about your introduction attempt."

"For the record, I think I just intimidated her." Zaffre said jokingly.

"I'm sure." Replied the girl. "You know, you didn't do that bad. She doesn't seem to be very friendly toward anybody from what I've seen."

"Oh awesome, then I still have some dignity to lose later!" Said Zaffre.

The girl laughed. "That you do." She stood up and walked up to him. "I'm Hazel by the way."

"Zaffre." Replied the spikey-haired boy. He shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Hazel."

"Nice to meet you too Zaffre." She responded.

Rusty suddenly popped up next to them. "Did you know he saves puppies from burning buildings?" He asked.

She chuckled. "So I've heard."

"Rusty, go play with your weapon." Said Zaffre. Rusty gave him a 'bow-chikka-bow-wow' face. "Your other weapon moron!"

Hazel laughed, earning a surprised look from Zaffre. He didn't often hear girls laugh at his and Rusty's dirty jokes.

"How long you guys been friends?" She asked.

"Oh our bromance has been going on for 12 years." Replied Rusty.

"Wow." She said with a smile.

"Did you not come here with friends?" Asked Zaffre, noticing that she had been previously sitting alone.

"No." She replied. "Not many in my village become huntsmen and huntresses, and those that do generally go to Beacon or one of the other schools."

"So why'd you choose to come here?" Asked Zaffre.

Hazel shrugged. "Dunno, it just felt right."

"We're from the area." Rusty chipped in. "Going here made the most sense for us."

"Can't argue with that." Said Hazel.

"So, what do you think so far?" Asked Zaffre.

"Well I can't make many judgments yet, but so far it seems like a good place. I'll just have to see how and where things go." She replied.

"Fair enough." Said Zaffre. "Well, we'd better get some rest. Maybe I'll see you at initiation tomorrow."

Hazel smiled. "I look forward to it."

Rusty and Zaffre returned to their sleeping bags.

"Nice job man!" Cheered Rusty quietly.

Zaffre just smiled.

"Now was that really so hard?" Rusty asked.

Looking back Zaffre responded, "No, it really wasn't."

Author's note: And there you have it, the first chapter of The Chronicles of ZFRR. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I look forward to any and all feedback. I will say, I do not expect to be releasing chapters as fast as Black Fuego, and my story will probably not be near as long. Never the less, I will do my best to make it as good as his. I hope you look forward to my next chapter, and have a good day!