Yang-Dere Chapter 01

When Yang Xiao Long first boarded the ship to Beacon University with her sister, Ruby, she never knew that ride would change her. Yang put on a faux persona. She "pretended" on a daily basis. Pretended to care about the people around her, the only exception being Ruby. She pretended to be a fiery blazing bruiser full of emotion. Yet, that is exactly what she lacked. She put on this fake Yang, mostly, to prove to her family that she wasn't entirely abnormal. She used this fake Yang so much, she eventually found people would interact with her more often then her actual,emotionless, strange self. So she did what she had to do. She faked being "Normal".
She took those first few steps onto the ships spacey deck, and past the crowd of eager students, through the moving faces and shifting bodies, she spotted him. Standing in the back corner, holding the railing and looking like he was about to puke, was a tall boy with light blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was staring out at the large emptiness that was over the vast ocean. He seemed very deep in thought. Like he was trying to be anywhere else but there. Yang didn't know what exactly about him caught her interest, but she kept glancing his way. As the ship slowly left the docking bay to take off, the sea of students shifted. A body blocked Yangs line of sight. She quickly moved her head and stood on the tips of her toes, but it was like a magic trick, for the boy was gone. Little did she know, he was towards the back of the ship, neck deep in a trash can. Motion Sickness strikes.

"What're you looking at, sis?" Ruby asked, staring at her sister questionably.

Yang blinked as she was drawn back into reality. "Oh..Uh.. Nothing. Just thought I saw something..."

Ruby shook her head and looked away. "Weirdo..."

Hours later, the cruiser, along with many others, landed at the docking bay of Beacon Academy. The students poured out the bridge and headed to the announcement hall, where the entrance ceremony would take place. Yang froze the moment she stepped off the ship. She spun around and quickly scanned the crowd of young adults, looking for the blonde boy with the distant eyes. As the last student hopped off the ship, Yang realized she must have missed him. She turned to see Ruby was long gone as well. Yang sighed and went towards the ceremony hall by herself.

Yang found her friends in a small cluster near one of the Announcement Hall pillars. Yang sat in the corner, her friends chatting about how excited they were to finally be at Beacon. It was nice to catch up with her old friends. Plenty of which she hadn't seen in a long time, Even though her mind was elsewhere at the moment. She still glanced around from time to time, looking for the blonde boy. She thought she heard angry yelling through the chatter, but Yang didn't care. She wasn't paying much attention anyway.

Meanwhile, Jaune Arc, the aforementioned tall blonde boy, was not at the ceremony hall. He was lost. He had been trying to find it, but he couldn't help but be distracted by the loud commotion of flying suitcases as a small explosion occurred just yards away from him. He morally had to go talk to Ruby, the sad looking dark haired girl in place of where the argument had just happened, to see if she was okay. The white dress wearing girl whom was yelling at her for running into her had stomped off. Jaune helped the girl up and greeted her. After some discussion, They found they had so much in common, they knew they would hit it off. Jaune and Ruby made it to the ceremony hall, conversing most the way about their nervousness and excitement. Ruby ditched Jaune, seeing her sister in the back corner. Jaune sighed and mumbled and walked the other way.

"Hey sis. I saved you a spot." Yang claimed, lying. There just happened to be an empty spot next to her.
"So how's your first day going, little sister?" Yang asked out of false politeness.

Ruby scowled and started ranting, "Oh, you mean getting yelled at and blown up by some crazy girl out front? Just fine!"

Yang sighed. "Are you being sarcastic?..."

Ruby gritted her teeth and ranted on and on about some crabby girl she ran into. From her description of the girl, Yang could see what seemed to be the person walking up from behind Ruby.

"YOU!" The white haired girl yelled. Ruby yelped, and to Yangs dismay, jumped in her sisters arms. The white haired girl yelled on and on at Ruby for almost killing them. She then shoved a "Dust" pamphlet in Rubys face and spouted one of the user agreements saying Schnee dust company wouldn't be responsible for any accidents including their explosive argument. Yang tossed Ruby back on her feet. And, while Yang absolutely did not care about these twos quarrel, She decided the 'right thing to do'
would be to offer some advice on the situation.

"Can't you two start over as friends?... It was obviously an accident.." Ruby was happy at Yangs request and decided to oblige.

"Right! Um, Hi! Weiss Schnee, I'm Ruby Rose. Can we be friends?..." Yang tuned out for this last part. She said her piece and the rest of the conversation didn't matter. Until, that is, Weiss said some sarcastic and witty remark and pointed behind her.

Yangs eyes widened at the sight of the boy standing a few feet away. He looked confused as to why Weiss said what she said about him.
He walked up to Weiss, A confident smile on his face. Yang wanted to say something to him. Anything. She kept opening her mouth, but no words came out. Her mind was in a jumble, and her heart was racing.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know?" Jaune admitted, obviously trying to impress Weiss.

Weiss swatted him away yelling about how she wouldn't date him if he were the last boy on earth. And, just like on the ship, he dissipated into the crowd. Just as Yang finally processed what had just happened, she told herself to go after him. But it was too late. The speakers of the Announcement hall came to life. Everyone turned to see a light grey haired man at the mic. Wearing a green suit, and circular spectacles. He had a cane in his left hand. On the same side that his cane was on, a woman clad in a black and white outfit with a purple, war-torn cape draping down her back, stood beside him. She had oval spectacles. Her hair was a faded blonde, and very beautiful.
The man spoke to the students about their future in Beacon. He spoke of their weaknesses as a whole, and how they all came seeking knowledge. He finished the speech saying a cheesy line about the first step being up to you. Then, the woman took his place at the mic. She explained that everyone would be staying in the commons for tonight. And that they should be prepared for initiation tomorrow. She then dismissed everyone, and they all went about their business.

Yang spent most of the rest of the day pretending to 'hang out' with her friends. But in reality, she was subconsciously constantly scanning for the blonde boy she couldn't get off her mind.

Later that night Yang plopped into bed next to Ruby. Seeing she was writing a letter to her precious friends from her school prior to Beacon. Ruby saw Yang staring, and quickly jumped to defend herself. Yang shook her head at Rubys child like argument. Then it happened again. The boy walked past the two girls, not noticing them. He was wearing blue footie pajamas. The feet being little blue bunnies. Yang felt her cheeks warm up and, for the first time in her life, Yang genuinely, sincerely, giggled. Rubys eyes shot to her sister in shock. Never in her life had she heard her sister giggle or even laugh at anything. Ruby looked over to see her new found friend, Jaune, walking by.

Ruby caught Jaunes eye, and the two exchanged a wave before Jaune continued on his way. Yang snapped her head back and forth between Jaune and Ruby.

"You know him!?" Yang inquired.

Ruby told her sister about how she met the boy named Jaune Arc shortly after her confrontation with Weiss. She explained how he was the only one to offer her help up, and how they engaged in an enticing conversation about their weapons. She also told Yang how he said his name was short, sweet, rolled off the tongue, and that ladies loved it. At least, that's what his mom says.

'One lady does..' Yang thought to herself. Ruby claimed she didn't know much else about him, besides that he was just as nervous as Ruby was, this being his first year here as well. She then Rambled on about her day and Yang slowly drifted out of the conversation. Ruby noticed her sister getting bored of her, and threw her dog pillow at Yangs face. Ruby grumbled. Yang saw her sister notice someone reading in the corner. A girl dressed in full black, with long black hair and a large black bow atop her hair. Ruby got up to go try to muster up enough courage to engage in conversation with the girl.

Yang rolled over in bed and clenched the dog pillow tightly to her chest.

"Jaune Arc." She whispered to herself over and over again. To her pleasure, the name did indeed roll off her tongue. She couldn't help but smile every time she said it. Yang closed her eyes, his face appearing in her thoughts, continuing this whisper until she eventually fell asleep.

The day of initiation began. After a brief argument and misinterpretation about how Yang doesn't want Ruby to be on her team. Yang went out the left door, just barely missing Jaune coming in the right. The students lined up shoulder to shoulder on marked platforms on the ground. Ozpin, the principle of Beacon, Yang now knew him as such thanks to Ruby, started to explain their initiation. Yang only caught the part where whomever you met eyes with first after launching will be your partner for the rest of their times at Beacon. Yang kept glancing at Jaune, whom was only two spaces away from her, just on the other side of Ruby. The pedestals started launching people into the forest in front of them starting with the farthest person to Yangs left. Yang too, to her dismay, was launched, casting one last glance to the nervous and unprepared wreck that was Jaune Arc.

Yang used her shot gun gauntlets to change her trajectory to angle slightly downward. She then pushed off a branch and bounded from tree to tree until she finally slammed to the ground with a loud 'thud'. Yang could hear her sister calling her name from quite a distance. She paid no mind to it and immediately went searching for Jaune.

Everyone had their own various, bad-ass landing strategies... except for Jaune. He went whirling through the air like a rag doll out of a catapult. He screamed the whole way down. Jaune thought this was already going to be the end for him. Something snatched Jaune out of the air and pinned him to a tree. As soon as Jaune caught his breath and took in his surroundings, realizing he wasn't dead, he noticed an orange and red spear was holding him up by his hoodie. The cereal girl, Pyrrha he thought her name was, had saved in hearing distance of him.

"Sorry!" She called back from some

"Thank You!" Jaune called out, hoping she

place quite a ways away.

Jaune just kind of dangled there for a bit. He tried to remove the spear so he could get down, but it was in the tree way too deep. He heard rustling to his right, and Weiss stepped out of the foliage. She looked up and met eyes with Jaune.

"Uh.. help?... please?..." Jaune begged.

She turned and left.

Then, in a flurry of red Roses, Ruby appeared on the branch in front of where Jaune hung.

"Jaune!" Ruby smiled.

"Oh thank the lord!" He yelled to the heavens. "I'm glad we ended up partners. I don't really know anyone else here..." Jaune sighed. Ruby nodded. "Same here." She pulled the boy free of the spear, and Jaune fell to the branch below him and gave Ruby a hug. Ruby had never been hugged by a boy around her age before. Her bodies instinctive reaction was the blush forming on her cheeks. Ruby noticed the cuts on Jaunes arm and cheek.

"Why aren't you using your aura to heal those?..." Ruby wondered aloud.

Jaune glanced at his cuts then back at her, "My what to do what now?" Jaune asked.

"Do you not know about aura?" Ruby questioned, a inquisitive look on her face.

"What, pff. Duh, Of course I do. But... just to be sure YOU know, you should tell me what YOU think about it.." Jaune responded stupidly.

Ruby sighed, smiling. "It's basically what makes up everything. Us, the plants, light, dark. Even Grimm in a way. Some people can take it from themselves and put it to use; like heal them or act as a shield. At least, that's the way my uncle Qrow explains it. Do you... want me to unlock yours...?"

Jaune took a long, thoughtful look at his cut arm again. "I... suppose it wouldn't hurt.. Right?" He replied.

Ruby had never really unlocked aura herself, but Qrow had taught her how to do it. She took a deep breath, and placed her hands on Jaunes shoulders. Rubys aura flowed from her spiritual core, slipped through her arms, out of her hands, and into Jaune. Her aura grasped and locked onto his, and with little effort, she managed to tug it until it released from somewhere deep inside him. Jaune exploded with white light, blinding Ruby. She covered her eyes. The light gradually faded.

Jaune blinked a bunch,"Holy crap! Was that my aura?! It was so bright! Why was it so bright?"

Ruby smirked, "Don't worry. It just means your aura is strong, and you have a lot of it!"

Ruby handed Jaune Pyrrhas spear and Jaune strapped it to an extra weapon holster on his back. The two carried on with their very first mission as partners.

Meanwhile, Yang was caught up in a bit of a situation.

Yang was currently standing face to face with three Grimm of the Bear variant. One of the bears didn't hesitate to take a few swipes at Yang, all of which she dodged with ease. This wasn't her first fight. She knew her way around the ropes quite well. She rushed one bear and delivered a devastating blow to its torso. She then activated the shotgun part of her gauntlet, blasting the creature backwards through a near tree. The second bear lurched forward and slammed down with all its weight on Yangs position. Yang quickly sidestepped and shoved both her gauntlets into the bears side, and it exploded into the third large creature. The first Grimm was gone, nowhere to be seen.

The second and third monsters got right back up. They circled around opposite sides of Yang and lurched for her. Yang stomped her foot down, crouched into a stance, then uppercutted both bears while activating her twin shot-gauntlets at the same time. Their heads were completely blown away. Yang quickly spun around, as the first Bear she thought long gone was pouncing from behind in a surprise attack. Yang couldn't react fast enough. Luckily, Pyrrhas shield came flying from the woodwork and clashed with the Grimms claw, Pyrrha leaped from a branch, caught her shield out of the air, and came crashing down with her shield like a comet. The Grimms essence exploded, and all that remained in the crater created by the devastating attack, was Pyrrha. She quickly jumped to her feet.

"Hey Yang!" Pyrrha greeted.

Yang asked curiously,"How do you know my name?"

Pyrrha smiled in return, and replied with "I know all the students names. Even you. I'm going to try to run for student council bec-"

Yang sighed, interrupting her. "I guess we're partners then, huh?"

Pyrrha nodded. Yang pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling. She thought to herself, ' I'm pretty sure the principal guy said the teams consist of four members. So maybe, just maybe, I can still be on a team with Jaune...'

Once Pyrrha jumped out of the crater she created with her killing blow, Yang and her walked side by side, and continued forward, looking for the relic they were supposed to be finding that ended their mission.

Elsewhere, a discussion. "I don't know Ruby, A cave would be a pretty obvious place to hide a relic..." Jaune stated, like it was truth.

"Exactly why it wouldn't be in there. This IS a test..." Ruby rebutted.

Jaune put his hand on her shoulder, smiled, then started walking into the dark and damp cave. Ruby looked around, then ran in after him. The two, unable to see anything, used the cave wall as a guide, sliding their hands on it as they walked. Then, in the distance, Jaune could see something glowing. He ran up to it, and yanked.

"Look, Rubes! Here it is!" He exclaimed.

"Wait... that kinda looks like..."

As Jaunes feet left the ground, Ruby dodged a huge claw, and spun to dash in the opposite direction.

"That's Not it! That Is NOT It!" Ruby yelled, running for her life.

Ruby dived out of the cave, a DeathStalker, a giant scorpion Grimm, came bursting out of the entrance, Jaune still dangling from its tail. He held on with all of his willpower. Ruby unlatched and extended her scythe-sniper. She aimed it below her and shot it at the ground, launching herself forward, and away from another claw swipe. The DeathStalker pulled its tail back, and whipped it forward, flinging Jaune deep into the woods. He screamed all the way down. His hoodie caught on a tree branch, and it yanked him out of the air.

Ruby cursed, and started running for her life from the Grimm. Jaune dangled helplessly from a tree branch, feeling major Deja-vu. He heard a noise come from above, saw a flash of white, then came crashing downward. Weiss, whom was just begrudgingly riding an abnormally large Nevermore, slammed atop Jaune, and the two met a plethora of branches then the ground with a loud 'Thud'.

Weiss stood and wiped the dirt off herself. "Thanks, I guess."

Jaune sputtered, trying to catch his breath, "Yeah... anytime.."

The two watched Ruby running and screaming across the large field to the tree line, a DeathStalker on her tail.

"What the Heck is going on!?" Weiss screamed, regrettably chasing after.

Jaune let out a loud exhale, and went along with her.

Nora, Ren, Blake, Pyrrha, and Yang came from the forest, all from different directions, out into the clearing where the stone ruins of an ancient temple lay. In the middle of the ruins were short stone pillars, each of which had either a black or white chess piece on them. Nora ran up and snatched one of them, spreading her arms out with a cheer.

"Yay! Looks like Ren and I are the winner-winners and you guys are the chicken dinners!" Nora claimed excitedly.

Ren stood next to her and crossed his arms. "First off, there isn't any winning. Second, That is NOT how that saying goes..."

Blake grabbed up an piece on the opposite side of Ren and Nora. Pyrrha gestured toward the pieces, and Yang picked one up as well. Pyrrha took a closer look at the pieces left. She suddenly jumped. Everyone looked at her, confused.

"I just realized!" She started, "I think the pieces co-incide with who is partnered with who!"

Nora tilted her head, "But some of us already have partners... I though Ozpin said who we first meet eyes with is our partner..."

Pyrrha nodded, "Yeah, but he also said the teams would consist of four. I think whomever has the matching chess pieces is what decides the four person teams." Ren nodded as he too took a closer look at the pieces as well.

Yangs eyes shot to the piece Pyrrha was holding; A white knight piece. Her eyes then scanned and locked onto a black knight piece sitting on an opposite stone pedastol. It hadn't been grabbed yet. While no one was looking, Yang snatched up the chess piece and slipped it into her back pocket. Just as she did, Ruby came flying from the tree line, a fluster of roses in her wake.

"Hey! Ruby! Look! We found the relic thingies!" But Ruby rushed past Nora in a blur.

"RUNNNNN!" Ruby screamed.

A large patch of trees was cleaved from the path of the giant DeathStalker by one of its massive claws. Pyrrha and Nora dived out of the way of large flying pieces of shredded wood. The huge creature lurched forward, flicking its deadly stinger towards Blake, who back flipped out of its way. Jaune and Weiss appeared from the treeline. The monster spun swinging its claw their way.

"Jaune, Weiss, Look out!" Ruby called out.

Yangs eyes widened. Her eyes locked on to the blonde boy. The massive claw almost slammed into weiss, but Jaune jumped in front of her, extending his shield. After an ear-piercing loud sound from the brutal force of the claw hitting the entirety of his weak defense. Jaune was lifted off his feet and thrown harshly into a tree. Jaune had the air knocked out of him, and thanks to his newly unlocked aura, that was all the damage he took. Yangs temper instantly skyrocketed. She cocked her shot-gauntlets and shot them at the ground, launching herself far into the air. Ruby stopped in her tracks. She saw something in Yangs eyes, something she had never seen her sister come even remotely close to. Unbridled Rage.

Yang shot one of the Gauntlets behind her, making Yang plummet towards the Grimm in an intense spiral. The Grimm barely noticed this in time, dashing backwards, but it wasn't quick enough. Yang obliterated the creatures entire right claw. The monsters screech made everyone jump. The rebound threw Yang up, she spun mid-air and landed next to Jaune, whom was on all-fours, trying to catch his breath.

"A-Are you alright?" Yang asked, suddenly flustered at the proximity between them.

Jaune inhaled deeply, nodding. "I'm fine.."

The DeathStalker started thrashing around speratically and violently.

"We all need to get out of here!" Weiss shouted.

Jaune climbed to his feet. Everyone grouped up and took off together, towards the ending location of their trial, with a very large and pissed off beast closing in quickly behind them. The giant scorpion Grimms rage made it all that much harder to dodge. As it gave chase it tried to slow the group by ripping trees from their roots with its remaining claw and throwing them at the teens. The forest finally came to an end. All that remained between the group and the end of their trial now was a large stone bridge that looked as if it was going to crumble and dissipate any second.

Jaune had a sudden realization. "Hey! Maybe we can get the Grimm to follow us onto the bridge, then collapse it!"

Pyrrha agreed. "Good idea!" Everyone else exchanged nods.

The group started sprinting across the tattered stone bridge. As soon as they reached the end, they turned to see the DeathStalker starting to come over the passageway itself. Jaune hunched down.

"Get Nora as high as she can go! She's going to slam down on the bridge and send that monster to its grave!"

Jaune threw his shield over his shoulder. Pyrrha then jumped on the center of it and slipped her spear from Jaunes extra holster on his back. Then Blake sent out a clone and it locked arms with Nora. The clone and Nora jumped high above Pyrrha and Jaune. Jaune lifted and jumped with all his might. Pyrrha was sprung into the air by his shield and launched her spear and it stuck the Blake clone in the chest, since it was still arm-locked with Nora, it threw both of them higher up. Yang grabbed a hold of Ruby as weiss created a gravity glyph beneath them. Yang and ruby both shot their weapons downward as they jumped from it, increasing the power of the gravity glyph ten-fold, making them burst from the ground like a rocket. The two came just a few yards beneath Nora and the fading Blake clone. As the two were starting to lose momentum, Ruby whipped out her scythe, extended it, and let go of Yang. Ruby held on tight to her scythe, and Yang punched the tip of her sisters weapon. Ruby soared towards Nora, latched onto her, and the two went up even further still while Ruby shot her scythe beneath them. Ruby hooked the tip of the blade of her scythe through Noras belt buckle, spun twice, then threw Nora with all her strength even FURTHER upward. Nora was now at least five-hundred feet in the air.

As everyone landed safely and got away from the bridge, they all looked up to Nora, whom was just now starting to lose momentum. The Grimm had already made it half way across the bridge and was still coming for them.

Everyone shouted in unison with as much vocal strength as their lungs could muster, "NORA, GO!"

Nora grinned a wide and toothy grin and giggled, acknowledging. "One atomic Valkyrie, comin' right up!"

Nora reared her hammer behind her head and set it off, it exploded behind her, making her flip as she propelled speedily downward. For as much as it took her to get that high up, it certainly took no-damn-where near as much time for her to come back down. When the blunt of Noras hammer made contact with the end of the bridge, it sounded as though someone sent off a nuclear bomb in a small metal room. The impact shook Noras arms to the bone. The stone bridge fractured into dust in mere seconds and the Grimm screamed as it tried cling to the remaining crumbling pieces of rubble, but to no avail. It fell into the crevasse, screeching and wailing all the way down until it met the ends of the massive jagged rocks below. The sound it made as it finally died was all-too satisfying to the worn out teens.

The group dragged their exhausted bodies to the pick up point, their first mission finally accomplished.