Jaune Arc grew up in a life of fighting. With the namesake of a great huntress, and a family history of combat, he was pressured to learn to fight above all else.

Jaune Arc disliked the idea of conflict. He knew it was inevitable. Grimm, after all, were mindless and vicious, but why did people have to be?

His father hadn't cared, and before he could raise a protest, forged transcripts were in his hands and he was shoved onto a Bullhead to Beacon.

It was enough to make him sick.

Here he was, in his ordinary jeans and hoodie, and the breastplate and sword that his father had thrown on him. He could feel himself missing his sisters already.

They were just as forceful, but they didn't want him to be a Hunter at least.

Now here he was. A fraudulent, almost-Pacifist, headed to a combat school. He had to admit, looking out the window, the school was impressive aesthetically.

Nervous tension filled him, and he tried kicking the ground a few times to settle himself. It didn't help much.

The Bullhead landed at the Academy of Beacon, one of the finest Hunter training institutions in the country.

Jaune sighed.

"Might as well." he muttered.

He walked out of the Bullhead, slouching lazily. Crocea Mors was at his hip, and he couldn't help but enjoy having it with him. Just because he disdained fighting didn't mean he wasn't proud of his ancestors and what they have accomplished.

He glanced across the fields, eyeing the statue in front of the school. He was proud of his grandfather, who fought in the War.

He still sighed though, and ruffled his hair before taking a step. Just before an explosion rocked the ground.

He turned to see a pair of girls arguing, and he drifted closer.

He saw one of the girls, dressed in white, stalk off after a third girl said something to her. The third girl left as well, and the remaining girl sank into the ground, closing her eyes.

Jaune stepped up as she released a groan.

He extended his hand, "Hi, I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue." he said gleefully as the girl's eyes opened. "Ladies love it." he declared, wriggling his eyebrows mischeviously.

The girl giggled and took his offered hand. "I'm Ruby Rose." she said. "It's nice to meet you."

Silver eyes. Interesting.

Line Break

Jaune and Ruby walked around the perimeter of the school, where they discovered a garden-lined path.

Jaune was walking in his average slouch, his hands in his pockets. "What made you want to be a Huntress?" he asked curiously.

"I've always wanted to help people. That's what Hunters and Huntresses do, so that's what I'll be!" she said excitedly.

Jaune thought about her words for a moment before he realized that there was an awkward silence.

"Er." Ruby broke the silence. "So I've got this." she said, pulling a red device from her back. It rapidly unfolded until the small girl was holding a massive scythe.

"Hell." Jaune whispered.

"It's also a high impact, bolt action sniper rifle." Ruby cooed, rubbing the weapon seductively.

"How heavy is that?" he asked.

She grinned mischeviously before holding it out for him to take it.

Jaune sighed, and firmly grasped the weapon. He lifted it and held it up to the light.

"Interesting. Pretty heavy." he said. He stepped a few steps away from Ruby and twirled the weapon. It span magnificently, and Ruby's eyes widened in disbelief as her scythe was handled almost as expertly as if she was wielding it.

Jaune nodded and handed the weapon back to her. He smirked at her look of surprise, and waited for her to recover.

"Y-you." she finally forced out.

"Hi." he said.

"You know how to use a scythe?" she asked.

Jaune nodded, but didn't elaborate. "I have this. Crocea Mors. It's an heirloom. The sheathe expands into a shield." he explained.

Ruby didn't let him continue the conversation. "I thought Uncle Qrow was the only Hunter that was good with scythes." she exclaimed. "Why aren't you using one?"

Jaune sighed. Ruby noticed he did that a lot. "My dad didn't want me to use a scythe. He said I wasn't using it lethally enough."

Ruby almost bounced to ask him to explain, but Jaune continued before she could.

"I figured out how to use it well enough to take people down without cutting." he explained. "He made me take this" he gestured to his sword and shield, "because if I use it to fight, it has less ways of being used without harming someone."

Ruby nodded her understanding.

They walked in silence as Ruby collapsed her scythe and placed it on her back for a while.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you wanna be a Hunter?" she asked.

Jaune chuckled humourlessly. "I don't."

Ruby gasped, but Jaune interrupted her thoughts. "It's time for us to find the entrance hall."

Line Break

The next day, the student hopefuls were dressed in their favorite combat outfits and waiting on a cliffside.

Jaune had taken the opportunity to ditch his breastplate, armed with only his weapon.

"Let me put the rumors to rest. You will be given your teams today. They will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon, and will be decided based on the first person you make eye contact with after you land." Ozpin announced.

Ruby shook in nervousness, but most of the assembled teenage warriors were ready to go. One by one, they were launched into the sky.

Jaune was launched into the air as he considered his options, and didn't resact as he was suddenly thrown hundreds of feet over the tree line.

His eyes narrowed and he turned in mid air as a spear flew through his arc. He impulsively grabbed it and got pulled further forward as it's momentum bled off.

"It seems I've been picked by someone." he muttered.

He crashed through the foliage, spear in hand, as he flipped through the air before gently landing on the ground.

He heard a furious tear through underbrush as a figure flitted towards him. Bursting through the bushes, he saw a girl in white, followed by his newest friend Ruby.

"No." the girl declared turning back towards Ruby.

Jaune brushed past her and chucked the spear into her crossed arms. "Here, hold this." he demanded as he stepped up to Ruby.

"Ruby!" he declared with a smile.

"Jaune!" she yelled back with relief.

"Ruby!" he cried with his hands wide.

She hugged him gratefully. "Keep me away from her." she whispered, pointing dramatically at the girl.

"Can do." he whispered back, pulling her into his arms and striding confidently away.

The girl in white stood, spear haphazardly in her hands, perplexed for a few moments.

"Was I just ditched?" she asked.

A girl burst into the small clearing and glanced at the holder of her weapon. Disappointment was in her eyes as she saw Weiss Schnee, the girl who had been bothering her about partnering up just that morning.

Line Break

Jaune smiled again at Ruby as they walked North. Ruby, encouraged, smiled back happily as they obliterated Grimm instantly. Though Jaune was something of a Pacifist, it was only towards people. Grimm were slain the second they came within arm reach of him, and Ruby was just as quick to slaughter.

"Thank you." Ruby said again. She had been repeating it since they had abandoned the girl, who Ruby said was Weiss Schnee, and partnered with each other.

Jaune nodded indulgantly. "You seemed unhappy. It was the least I can do. I would rather be teammates with a friend, myself." he explained.

Ruby nodded, before blushing innocently. "So, we're... friends?" she asked.

Jaune nodded affirmatively. "Until the end." he vowed.

She smiled happily as they continued to tear through everything in their path.

Line Break

"Ooh! Horsey!" Ruby cried, grabbing a big chess piece.

"Ruby!" a voice called.

"Yang?" Ruby answered, perking her head up like a dog. Jaune saw her make direct eye contact with a buxom blonde with lilac eyes, and she dashed over to her.

They had a heartfelt hug as Jaune drifted towards the two. He noticed a quiet girl in black floating a few feet from the loud woman.

"Hi. Jaune Arc." he said, introducing himself to the dark girl.

"Blake." she answered shortly. She didn't seem inclined to shake his hand, so he retracted it.

"Yang, this is my awesome partner Jaune!" Ruby cheered, pulling one blonde to the other.

Jaune repeated his greeting, offering his hand again. This time, they took it, gripping his hand tightly.

"Yang Xiao Long. Don't hurt my sister." she declared, tightening her grip furiously.

"Uh huh. I wasn't planning on it." he said dryly, ignoring the clenching hand.

"Who's your partner?" Ruby asked her sister curiously.

Yang let Jaune go and gestured dramatically at Blake. "This is Blake. Blake, that's Ruby."

Blake nodded as a roar echoed from the trees. Several were knocked down as an Ursa burst through the treeline, knocking branches out of the way as it did.

The four tensed, but the Ursa collapsed on the ground, revealing a orange haired girl.

A boy with black hair, save for a strand of pink, jogged up behind her, breathing heavily.

"Nora." he gasped for air before continuing. "Never do that again."

The girl, Nora, didn't listen. Instead, her eyes widened in pure joy as she glimpsed the relics. She appeared suddenly next to them, a golden rook chess piece balanced on her head.

"I'm Queen of the Castle, I'm Queen of the Castle!" she sang.

"Damnit Nora." Jaune heard the boy mutter. He had a small smile though.

They heard a high pitched squeal of fear from a ways away, and the 6 hunters and huntresses in training turned to see Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos sprinting away from an ancient Deathstalker.

Ruby gasped and unfolded her scythe into its' sniper rifle variant, and shot at the massive Grimm in an attempt to stop it. The shots did little, but the Grimm became distracted and slowed down.

The newcomers joined the group as Ruby unloaded her magazine, pocketing it and reloading a full one.

"We don't have to stay and fight." Blake said suddenly. "Our goal is right here, and we just need to get back."

Jaune smiled. "How about instead, I handle it, and you guys can pick your pieces."

He turned to Ruby. "Can you give me covering fire?" he asked.

Ruby nodded and took aim as Jaune pulled his blade from his sheathe. Shots rang out and Jaune sprinted towards the massive Grimm, sliding under it and stabbing straight up as he dodged the massive claws.

A precise shot hit the beasts' eye, and combined with Jaune's sword though its' head, it died, black mist dissipating as he walked back towards the group.

"Thanks Rubes." he said as he got back, holding out his fist. Ruby looked surprised for a second, before smiling and tapping her knuckles to his.

"You guys pick out your relic?" he asked lightly, before noticing that, besides Ruby, the rest were gaping at him. "Something in my teeth?" he asked innocently, scratching at his teeth with his fingers.

Line Break

"Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long comprise team RABY. Raspberry. Led by Ruby Rose."

"Good job." Jaune whispered.

"Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Weiss Schnee, and Pyrrha Nikos make up team LVNS. Lavender. Led by Lie Ren."

Ren seemed to accept his fate, though Weiss looked quite displeased.

Line Break

"We should make bunk beds!" Ruby chattered excitedly. She and her sister seemed to excitedly try to mash beds on top of each other before Jaune sighed and called them to a stop.

"I can make them." he stated.

He carefully took out his sword and whittled away the bed posts, cutting notches into the wood. Left behind were columns of wood with slits crossing through them that conveniently matched the cuts Jaune made on a second bed. He lifted the second bed over the first and matched the holes, sliding the beds onto each other.

A firm push proved its' stability when nothing shifted at all.

The three girls watched him silently as he made the last two beds stack just the same as the first two, the wood just as sturdy on the second pair.

"Wow. You're good at that." Yang remarked, surprise coloring her voice.

"No big deal. It just takes a little thought." he replied. "Who's sleeping where?"

"Top bunk!" Ruby cried, jumping up into the elevated bed.

Jaune shrugged and took the one under his partner, and Yang and Blake took the second bunk bed, Blake choosing the higher space.

Ruby leaned over the edge of her bed to look at Jaune, who was still sitting up. "What do you think we should do now?" she asked him quietly.

He gave her a comforting grin. "We could introduce ourselves. Get to know each other." he offered.

Ruby beamed and thanked him before addressing the team. "We should talk to each other and get to know one another." she said. "Yang, you go first!"

Yang laughed and laid down. "We'll start things off with a Yang!" she grinned. "I went to Signal, and I fight with my fists. My semblance makes me hit harder whenever I take damage or get too angry. I get really angry if anything happens to my hair, and I like puns." she said.

Blake went next without prompting. "I like reading, and quiet. I didn't go to a school before this, but I'm well trained. My semblance allows me to create clones that can be infused with dust."

It was shorter than Yang's introduction, but no one remarked on it.

Ruby went next. "I'm Ruby! I like cookies and I drink milk. I love weapons, especially my Crescent Rose! My semblance makes me really fast, and I want to be a huntress so I can save people!"

Jaune was last. "I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it. I have seven sisters, and I love them a lot. I grew up in Mistral, but I never went to a training academy. In fact, my dad forged transcripts and made me attend here. I didn't actually wamt to be a huntsmen at all, but I don't give up. I hate fighting people. Grimm are understandable, but why do we have to fight people too? Why can't we settle things another way?"

The room was silent for a while.

Yang nervously chuckled. "Uh Jaune? You were probably supposed to keeo quiet about that transcripts thing."

Jaune smiled. "I won't lie to my teammates. Despite not having recognised records at a combat school, or without having taken the physical test to join, I am well capable of fighting. The Arc family is a long line of Hunters and Huntresses who have always been well known. Besides, I won't keep secrets from you guys. It wouldn't be fair."

The room was quiet again, before Blake jumped to the floor. She made sure the door was closed, and locked it.

"You're right." she said quietly. "I shouldn't keep secrets either."

She took her bow off, exposing a pair of cat ears. Ruby's eyes sparkled as she slowly reached out to pet them. Jaune stopped her.

"I am a faunus, and I used to be a member of the White Fang. I left when I realised that they didn't care about whether innocent people got hurt or not. I want to become a Huntress and stop them from hirting anyone anymore." she declared. Her legs shook and she was definitely clenching her muscles to keep from running.

Yang was the first to react. "Why would you need to keep that a secret? It's not a big deal." she said.

Jaune nodded his agreement, and finally stopped trying to stop Ruby. The younger girl leaned as far out of the bed as she could, straining to reach Blake's ears, but collapsed, falling out of the bed and onto the floor.

She bounced up easily and gently touched Blake's cat ears. "Aww. Cute." she said, squealing.

"Might have kept that a secret from Ruby though." Yang remarked as Blake tried to lean away from the persistent girl's touch.

Yang sighed. "I want to become a huntress to find my mom. She left me and dad, and I want to know why. I also want to protect Ruby. She's so important to me, and she always wanted to be a huntress. I don't want to be waiting for her to come back from a mission, if I can be there with her."

"Yang." Ruby whispered. She looked around and caught Jaune's eyes.

Her eyes screamed at him for advice, so he pointed at Yang and mimicked a hug.

Ruby and Yang embraced, and the team felt closer.

Line Break

Meanwhile, Team Lavender was getting alomg just as well as their name made sense. Which is to say, Ren was struggling with the idea of being a Team Leader, Nora was supportive, but too bubbly to help, Pyrrha was respective and polite, and Weiss Schnee was trying to usurp his position.

Finally, Nora thought of the most brilliant tactic to restore order ever.

She smashed Weiss with a bed, and threatened Pyrrha, who hastily assired them of her cooperation.

"Try not to injure our teammates, Nora." Ren sighed.

Nora beamed at him in a way that told him that she held not a shred of guilt.

Ren had trouble finding some himself.

Line Break

The next morning, team Raspberry was awakened by the persistent sound of Jaune's scroll. He had set an alarm, and his new teammates felt irritance at his good thinking.

The team soon roused, and took their turns showering and changing for the day.

Beacon, Jaune was sorry to note, had a uniform and dress code, and his hoodie and jeans wouldn't be acceptable wear. He grimaced at Ruby, who was settling her cape into the uniform.

"Of course her favorite clothes are fine." he grumbled.

Despite this, the foursome made it out of their room just in time to see the door across from them bulge, before smashing open.

Team Lavender collapsed on the ground as team Raspberry watched.

"Morning." Jaune greeted casually.

"Hello again." Pyrrha waved.

Jaune frowned as Team RABY walked away from the other team.

"Do you think Ozpin is a pervert?" he asked.

Line Break

"It jiust seems suspicious to me. CRDL got 4 dudes, and we never even saw them in the forest, but me and Ren are the only two guys among these teams. Ours were the only relics left. I don't think we could have been the slowest ones out there."

"That's ridiculous. Let's ask Professor Port." Yang declared.

They stepped into the classroom, and Jaune immediately called out. "Hey Professor P, do you think Ozpin is a pervert?" he asked.

The class was silent as they watched the older man chortle for a solid minute. "Of course not, Mr. Arc!" he cried.

"Ah HA! Told you!" Yang yelled.

"He's simply certifiably insane!" the man continued. "Did you know it's against several laws for men and women to become enrolled here before 17? Not to mention that Miss Rose here was also held illegally in a police station so that they could meet."

Yang was gaping now, and most of the class, too, was enthralled and mildly horrified.

"Then there's the school itself. I don't know if Ozpin even knows what taxes are, nevermind how to pay them. I'm fairly sure that most of the dust and equipment we offer is stolen, and we usually make our students do any repairs. You're lucky if your electricity in your rooms works, because the odds are one in three."

"At least he isn't a pervert, right Yang?" Jaune asked with a truly radiant smile.

It made her scowl all the sweeter to him.

Line Break

The day progressed decently as they attended class. Jaune and Ruby were slacking horribly, as was Yang, while Blake read a book that Jaune was sure wasn't class related. All of that changed when they made it to one of the most essential classes in Beacon.

Combat with Glynda Goodwitch.

The other classes, theory and strategy, with history and a study of Grimm, it all meant little without the combat class. Hunters and Huntresses rarely needed strategy, and as such, didn't need classwork as much as actual combat.

The first years were tested together. Pairings were decided by Goodwitch, and were meant to evaluate your skill andpower, and match you with either a close competitor, or a natural weakness of the strategy.

It was the class that Jaune felt himself likely to hate the most.

His idea was immediately proven true when he was selected for the first match.

He sighed, but entered the arena.

His opponent was Cardin Winchester, a heavy mace user.

They readied off and Jaune shoved hs hands in his pockets. Cardin took his mace in two hands and tried to trash talk him.

Professor Goodwitch started the match.

Neither of them moved. Cardin continued to trash talk him until Jaune sighed in annoyance.

"You wanna flip a coin?" he asked.

Cardin raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get out of fighting? Coward. Face me like a man."

"A coin flip is faster." Jaune grunted.

Cardin stood straighter, lowering his mace from a ready position. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Heads or Tails?"

"Tails."

Jaune flipped the coin. "Tails. You win." he said, and then walked away.