Twelve Hours, Twelve Days, Twelve Weeks, Twelve Months, Twelve Years

by Xyzantylzethyrioses

[Canon and onward; War; Justice; Dark; Full cast] Very complete description inside. Between Grimm, Cinder, and the racists vs White Fang conflict, Team RWBY spends years of their lives at war - real war - trying to make the world right. That is, once they've learned how to be a team. Parallels existing plot and thoroughly explores one set of possible future developments.

1. Introductions… Great…

Chapter 1 – Introductions… Great…

Author's Note:

Useless statistics: Chapter finished October 13, 2015. Published October 13, 2015. Total word count: 28103. Body word count: 19898 (71%). Chapter Rating: T.

Feel free to skip any or all of these sections in the beginning if you just want to read the story. This long Chapter 1 Author's Note contains details to help you determine whether you want to read it, and outlines formatting, logistics, and historical perspective. I'm a completionist, so this is all to help you guys (and gals... but I consider "guys" to be gender-neutral, so I don't apologize).

Setting:
This story starts near the beginning of Volume 1. It will have spoilers for all(?) canon details, although some details will be changed a bit. Regardless, do yourself a favor by choosing one of these options:
1.) Watch what exists of RWBY before reading this.
2.) Don't whine about spoilers.
Spoiler-free plot prediction: The story will cover everything important in Volume 1 and Volume 2, as well as Volume 3 although I'm writing this during that Volume so things may split off there. The story obviously goes at least 12 years into their lives, and is filled with plenty of war and bonding... once I get to a point in the plot where breaking into war makes sense. The pairing [Weiss, Blake] will be solidly plot-focused (born of plot and developing plot), not its own separate plot parallel to the real conflict like in most stories.
Unfortunately, I need to go back to the beginning to achieve what I'm looking to achieve, so it might not be the most novel story for quite a while. There are tons of additions and plenty of fairly small changes, so the beginning isn't really skippable.

Characters:
Most Noteworthy Characters: Weiss Schnee (mostly her point of view), Blake Belladonna, Mr. Schnee, Adam Taurus, Cinder Fall. These will eventually be the four listed in the preview description eventually, once I get past historic stuff. (But that's five! Yes, but I'll swap them in and out based on their impact on what's currently published.)

All Developed Characters: Almost the whole cast. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Cardin, Coco, Velvet, Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood, Port, Oobleck, Adam, Cinder, Torchwick, Emerald, Mercury, Neopolitan, Tukson, Junior, Penny, Sun, Qrow, Raven, Taiyang, Summer, Mr. Jacques Schnee, Winter, Whitley, Klein, Tyrian, Hazel, Dr. Watts, Salem, Amber, Summer Maiden, Spring Maiden, Winter Maiden, and a few OCs so there are enough people for war and side events. I'm cutting off somewhere into Volume 4.

Planning to briefly mention, when appropriate, but not develop: The rest of teams CFVY and CRDL, Zwei, Team ABRN, Team BRNZ, Team NDGO, Junior's lackeys, White Fang members, all those news/police/government/business people.

I have OCs. They are necessary for filling roles that just can't be filled with the limited original cast, but are mainly for making the school and the world in general not seem so small.

Running list of OCs: Team GAZE: Gyudel, Alevyí, Zelvendis, and Exzys, who are described in chapter 3. Creep, who participates in chapter 6. Mr. Fluffschnee, who is there from chapter 1 but is finally revealed in chapter ? (Sorry, no spoilers until I'm past it).

Genres:
Basically everything. Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy, and Adventure are the main intended genres. There will be smatterings of Family, Comedy (hopefully), Crime, Angst, Drama, Romance, and Suspense. RWBY is innately somewhat Fantasy and Sci-Fi, too, but less on the latter. This is not poetry, Western-themed, AU sci-fi themed, parody, supernatural-themed, spiritual, horror (darker parts are for empathy/sadness factors, not for the scare factor), or mystery.

I can't pretend to get away with not listing tragedy as one of the major genres. It will be part of the story in several places, although it won't be omnipresent. I was originally planning on writing this summary to look like there won't be tragedy so it would end up being more surprising, but that's rather naïve of me. Some of you might think, "No! No tragedy! Don't ruin anything for any of the characters like that!", but tragedy is a good thing. It heavily develops the characters to function better in a realistic world, both internally and in bonds with other characters. It also develops the readers. The meanings of life are to continue life and to love; to truly care for people. Experiencing the characters' tragedy builds our capacity for empathy by "practicing" our love, on the characters we care about...

Rating:
M. It's just for the dark stuff. Don't count out any serious, graphic, lasting injuries, but it won't be… never mind, there will be some really hard-to-read scenes, and not because of writing quality but because of the content's interaction with your humanity. There's nothing that is M because of romance. Lemon writers can write lemon, and your imaginations can write whatever you want, but it won't be here.

Some formatting and logistics:
Mostly copy-pasted with light editing from my other story.

Thoughts will be in italics, although so will stressed words. It should be easy enough to tell the difference. Projected thoughts (telepathy – which I don't plan on adding) and the "other person on the phone" are in quoted italics. Regular speech is in regular quotes. Footnote clarifications will be pointed out by an underlined number in parentheses directly following the potentially-confusing word or phrase. If you have any other formatting questions, don't hesitate to ask... But seriously, it should all be fairly clear.

This is my second published story, and I have not yet received any quality complaints on my first, so expect it to be plenty readable even if you're an OCD grammar-Nazi. Well, that's probably because plenty of people probably consider me to be one of them... I like to break English by twisting it and poking fun at it to my heart's content, so I'll probably do that occasionally. Some phail grammar and such is are be on purpose. But feel free to give any corrections or suggestions, including story suggestions. Although most of the plot is already planned, some things can fit in anyway and some things are reversible enough that I can carry them out and then later undo them to get to my end result. On another note, I like horrendous puns that are so bad that nobody could ever pretend they're funny, and ones that are puns of puns so far off on a tangent that you can't tell what they're supposed to mean. Maybe I'll have mercy and footnote any of those. Or maybe they won't exist since they really go into dialogue best, and none of these characters are me, although Yang likes her share of first-degree bad puns. (Mine sometimes have like four layers of pun and are completely incomprehensible.) If there are any hideously bad puns, they'll be referenced by an underlined number in parentheses, then explained in the author's note at the end of the chapter. I'll also footnote a synopsis of the chapter in case some people can't tell what's going on and it's a part you should understand (not just foreshadowing or building suspense), and in case you come back to the story and want a brief reminder of what happened. I will also have a "Changes Synopsis" for Volume 1 chapters so if you start reading this when it's well into Volume 2 or past that and you want to just get to the really different stuff, you'll have enough background to do that. RWBY is a living fandom, so I feel it's necessary to inform readers which era this story is written in. That's also why there's the Publish Date statistic.

More about me... I'm usually more of a reader than a writer. I have hundreds of reviews on this site, most of which give meaningful input. I highly encourage more reviewers to point out typos and errors, give real-time predictions, comment on characterization and plot logic, and cite the lines that you're commenting on so that the author can find it. It's not necessary for there to be feedback, but it certainly is beneficial when both parties involved have the right mindset.

I don't feel the need to make chapters a certain length, and I scorn those who claim things like 5000+ or 10000+ words are required per chapter for it to be considered a full chapter. (Ironically, this chapter is ridiculously long... I could split it, but I originally planned for it to be thematically cut off by "welcome to Beacon" stuff, and that's basically what it is.) I don't hate length restrictions because long chapters are bad or short chapters are good. Simply, the chapter is done when there's a logical break in the plot, or in point of view, or when there's an opportunity for overpowdered suspense/cliffhangers. I write as much as I want, partition it into logical chapters, and send them off when I feel the need. I won't have a rule about how many chapters/how many words posted per X time interval, which may disappoint plenty of you, but I have enough interests that you shouldn't trust for me to hold myself to a schedule for leisure activities. At the moment, writing and reading are my favorite pastimes, although now I'm mostly reading things to expand my views on the RWBY characters so I can better represent them in this story.

May as well do the stupid disclaimers. I do not own any part of RWBY or Rooster Teeth, or any canon plot events or canon characters or terminology or any of that. I just have this story, which uses plenty of elements from RWBY.

Inspiration:
My initial ideas for this story popped into my brain around 7:00 AM (UTC, DST) on October 6th 2015, which is about a year after Volume 2 was finished and two months before Volume 3 was expected to start. (I don't expect any of you to actually care.) I'll update this paragraph if any of my published chapters get ahead of canon. This paragraph is mostly necessary for possible contradictions with canon, since the time scale will likely cover all of RWBY that will ever be made. (I don't expect RWBY to cover twelve years of their lives. Don't know if any of you do.)

Some themes are similar to those found in other stories. Impossible not to do so. But the fan fiction stories with the largest impact on this one are probably: "Remnant's Reclaimer" by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks, and "Children of Summer" by Zeroan. The former seems to be abandoned at the moment (EDIT: Nope. Was just a 6.5 month hiatus.) but really doesn't have too much suspense for the ending; it's still a fine read even if it is discontinued. The latter is finished. I recommend skipping the epilogue – weird stuff. Motivation for some of the dark stuff is from "Evolution", a discontinued FF13 fanfic by Darkgirl5, which has amazing tear-inducing powers. I planned out the important dark details for this story before reading the following, but "Those Left Behind" by BlackenedHearts was slightly inspirational. Some fluff inspiration was from "Catnip" by FirecesomestDefenestrator. Heck, another of my inspirations was pondering over what could possibly be in "Ninjas of Love" if it isn't as bad as some people think.

If there are any other parts that seem related to other stories, 1.) You may be looking too closely; 2.) It may be a coincidence (I haven't read every story ever); 3.) I may have forgotten where the idea came from. If you want, I can cite similar ideas to give credit where credit may or may not be due. Do so via PM or review – either is fine – although I doubt any of you will actually care about this. There's no intentional plagiarism here.

Personal RWBY Character Views:
My order of general superiority is BWRY, my brother's is RYWB, and my sister's is WBRY. This might affect more of the story than which ones are the "main" characters, but I never intended to make this story unreadable to contrary shippers. I attempt to logically process these decisions, which means it's less "author thinks it's hot and could happen" and more "this is why it's actually plausible for this to kick off and last". Why do I even have preferred ships? I think friendship is superior to romance, but romance with a strong friendship base is acceptable. Two of my friends recently got married (recent relative to the initial release of this chapter), and the two have had a very strong base of friendship for years already. It's a very heartwarming relationship to behold, and I highly doubt they'd ever divorce. They're doing things right by my book. Another similar comment is that I like plot-focused ships. (But not ship-focused plots! coughGuiltyCrowncough, coughSAOseason1.5cough)

RWBY ship evaluations: Sun and Neptune are trash characters. Rooster Teeth does not at all justify their connections to Blake and Weiss, respectively, and essentially relies on the argument that it's possible that there's physical attraction. Sun has one shared trait, being a faunus. There's an equal amount of canonical evidence against the pair: "Do you always break the law without a second thought?" There's even less going for Neptune. Hate. Hate. Hate. Jaune and Pyrrha is canon and I agree with it. Enough said. RY is taboo territory. Some people are fine with that. Even I'm mostly fine with that in some stories (not real life), but it doesn't fit very well in RWBY. It probably would've been established before Volume 1, so I don't see any way to reconcile it with canon. RW is okay, but I don't see any strong connections there. They didn't get along at the beginning of Volume 1 and now they do. I don't see much for shared personality traits or hobbies. They were paired on Day 1 and are generally supportive, and both wear "Combat Skirts". It relies on both Weiss falling prey to Ruby's cuteness... which I disagree with, although there is evidence that Weiss likes cute things... and Ruby spontaneously activating romance mode. RB doesn't have much for it. It might be founded on books? Eh. Somehow, it's one of my top 3 though. WY is clearly founded on lighthearted verbal abuse and cheesy contrasting "elements" symbolism. It's all Yang-dependent to me; all about how far you think teasing can go. Somehow one of my top 3. I hate BY with a passion. I rarely like Yang, and I think Blake can do better. There's not much teasing to be had and they don't really have any historic/factional connections, so the foundation is weak to me. Just feels like Yang liking hook-ups and Blake somehow going with it. If you have different views, I may be willing to insert them here. BW! My favorite. They fit really well in my opinion. They were originally members of opposing factions (Schnees vs. White Fang), and now they know that and get along other than the occasional dispute. I think together they can make significant progress on Blake's goal of ending racism. (I think Blake's quote in Volume 2 to Oobleck about becoming a huntress is the most important part of her. "There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality? Corruption? Someone has to stop it." Weiss certainly seems to agree with her quote around the campfire: "I'm not stupid. I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee Dust Company. Since he took control, our business has operated in a... moral grey area. Which is why I feel the need to make things right!") Their personalities also don't oppose each other, so they can actually connect meaningfully. The racial divide is also a great opportunity for Weiss to learn about her previous prejudice, and Blake is the most logical source of exposition on the subject. A closer friendship, if not more, is almost necessary in canon in order for them to acknowledge Weiss's desire to change. Neither one is much of an initiator, which both makes it interesting to develop and makes it canonically possible, unlike RY. Maybe it just hasn't happened yet. On the negative side, they had some serious disagreements before settling their factional differences, but as far as I'm concerned they're completely over that (look at the Ruined City hunter-motivation quotes again). Ruby can successfully be paired with a large variety of characters. She's naïve, friendly, and optimistic, so befriending and "converting" villains is a theme of which I'm quite accepting.

EDIT (Added with chapter 3): VnLSKArj43kfdsalkJ43$#%fnds. I watched some RWBY-focused Rooster Teeth podcasts, and apparently the voice actors ship Bumblebee. I don't understand. They say there's some level of "opposites attract" and some "chemistry". I see none of it. Yang isn't a dick to Blake since Blake doesn't react to that, so she expresses her friendship by actually being friendly. Blake doesn't see anything to hate, and is fine with it. But Blake doesn't have anything against Ruby, either. Back to the topic of opposites, if anything, Yang and Weiss are more of opposites in the propriety department. However, Weiss and Blake are ideological opposites – at first – which is my primary reasoning for Checkmate. It's umpteen bajillion times more meaningful than a slight personality difference. The ship can be focused on non-fluff plot and overcoming differences, rather than randomly deciding to date a teammate who's been "just a friend" for several months and just getting along perfectly fine with a nice sappy relationship.

(More from chapter 3): YB ignores Blake's depth. She chose to leave the White Fang with a lifelong goal of upholding justice, and told Oobleck that she basically wanted to save the world. Yang's motive is having fun. Period. She can be helpful and caring, but doesn't look for any sort of meaning. Blake avoids finding fun on her own, only participating when her friends will it, and instead chooses her own actions based on duty toward justice. If she's anything like me, even her leisure, reading, isn't just for entertainment; stories literally always have moral topics in them. When I read, I empathize with characters for evils received and judge them on a moral scale. My interpretation of Ninjas of Love and my Sun interactions will elaborate on the reading topic and Blake's personal desire for depth, respectively. On the Weiss side of things, in order for her to really accept Blake's heritage and for her to denounce her father's evils, she should give a real apology rather than ignoring the issue. The best way for her to apologize in a way that shows she truly does care is to actively oppose racism, and this would involve Blake. A meaningful friendship based on this interaction could turn romantic just as easily as any whimsical attraction ship, but it has a lot more backing it. I sure hope Monty wasn't actually planning on introducing racism as just a small, unimportant hurdle to learning backstories; they need to seriously attack racism, or it'll be a horrible moral/social/political plot hole. Unfortunately, I don't know if RT is that sensitive to the viewers.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ IF YOU CARE ABOUT CHARACTERS: Just writing here to remind you that this story is in the Tragedy genre. During the writing of Chapter 6 I randomly rolled on ALL characters who exist (see RWBY wiki, plus my OCs, plus Mr. Schnee, MINUS Shopkeep since he's immortal) to determine their final fate by the end of the story, except for those I've already given plot armor in order for the story to function. It's looking awfully bloody. If you petition me nicely, with actual attempts at persuasion, for characters that you love (and you're unlucky enough that they're among those chosen), I MIGHT spare them and move deaths to less important characters. I'm not going to directly say (in an Author's Note) which ones are chosen, and I'll only allow one chance at one petition per person, and won't necessarily accept them. It's for you, not me. Hint: Please ignore RWBY and JNPR. They're far too important for me to have rolled their lives away. (Actually, I did randomly roll JNPR since they're not that important to me even if they're extremely important to plenty of the show's fans, but they all lived.) I won't mind if people don't ask to spare characters, but you guys might mind in retrospect as early as Chapter 15, although the exact number isn't planned out yet. Anyway, if there's some minor character you don't want dead, you'd better let me know with some nice complaints that attempt to stab my heart out.

Thank you for reading these hideously boring but potentially useful pieces of information. Drama, fight scenes, back story, adventure, and plenty more are all included in this chapter, so cheers. Let's teach Weiss some humility. I'll leave you with a soothing, inspiring quote: "I'm the loneliest of all." And without further ado, I present chapter one of "Twelve Hours, Twelve Days, Twelve Weeks, Twelve Months, Twelve Years", "Introductions… Great…":

---

Story starts (just below) here.

---

The white-haired girl looked past the wing of the private jet toward the ground and the scenery triggered recognition. The stone and metal towers and arches growing out of the surrounding vegetation definitely belonged to Beacon – she'd already looked at pictures, maps, and schedules so she would be nice and prepared. After all, a Schnee is always prepared. I'm finally here! The land of freedom! No more stupid business meeting and corporate headaches, and no more stupid parents to tell me what to do!, she thought triumphantly, while her face showed no hint of her jubilation. She couldn't; she was still sitting next to the man who wanted to make her into his exact duplicate.

Unfortunately, that last line of thought caused her to shudder slightly. Sure, she wanted to run the SDC(1) when her father retired, but she didn't need to morph into his clone to do so. She wanted to be able to be her own person – which was part of the reason why she was on a private jet to Beacon.

Even more unfortunately, the cause of Weiss's discomfort noticed that shudder. "Hold yourself together, girl." That was the name he used when she did something that didn't please him, which was a fairly common occurrence since his standards were so high. Too high. For anyone. "You can't afford to spasm in public and make fools of us. Whatever you're thinking about is not nearly important enough to be worth worrying over."

"Yes, Father; I won't do it again," she replied robotically. It was a practiced response that Weiss learned was somehow enough to quell Mr. Schnee's anger every time.

"It's a shame Winter can't(2) be the heiress; she's much more deserving..." the CEO muttered to himself.

Weiss managed to hear the remark and her face lit up with both anger and embarrassment. Although her face was displaying more than she'd like, the heiress did manage to keep her tongue in check. Arguing wouldn't accomplish anything. By this point, the jet was coming in to land, and the dying conversation naturally cut off. The pilot touched the plane down gently, smoothly, perfectly – if he didn't, he would've been fired on the spot and likely would not have been hired in the first place. The Schnees had no need for anything but the best.

Weiss carefully deposited her many briefcases and suitcases on the luggage cart they brought on the plane and wheeled it down the ramp to the pavement. Mr. Schnee followed her out of the plane and extended his hand for a handshake. Weiss begrudgingly returned the gesture. Of course it can't be a hug like a normal family would do. Has he ever hugged me? "Goodbye, Father," she added, with as much remorse as she could falsely force into her voice. I think I got the downcast eyes right, too.

"Goodbye, Weiss. Focus on your goals. Hopefully they'll be able to drill some more discipline and obedience into you here. And a sense of duty..." With that, the businessman turned and re-entered the jet. It took off within two minutes.

Weiss let out a sigh. It's just like him to leave on such a bad note. No "I love you", although that would be a lie anyway. Well... The first order of business is to get my belongings to the ballroom. There are lockers, but there's no way all of this will fit, so that's my best bet.

The private jet had landed on a path to the east of Beacon's main gate(3), so Weiss had to head west to get in. Many students were arriving by airship and were filing into the school grounds from the south, the direction of the cliffs, and some were walking in from the west, from Vale. None of them caught her eye. They were all immature children in her eyes, pointing and laughing and overall enjoying their entrance to the Academy way too much.

When she finally got to where the path branched off to head toward the entrance, she saw a red and yellow duo having an argument. The yellow-themed girl, wearing a brown jacket and black short-shorts and sporting long, bright yellow hair, rushed off toward the school grounds, leaving the other behind. Unfortunately, Weiss didn't notice that she was staring and her feet were following her gaze, and only noticed when the red-themed girl tripped and fell onto the luggage cart. The brunt of the impact was on a white case containing Dust... This certainly was not good. Some of the bottles may have broken. Luckily, nothing exploded. Yet. And at least Weiss was spared the embarrassment of one of her cases of more personal belongings popping open, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

What a klutz! "Hey!" she scolded. "What are you doing?! Do you have any idea how much damage you could have caused?" The girl in red, wearing a black dress with red around the edges, a red cape, and black tights under black and red boots, finally managed to get up from the carnage. Her short red-tipped black hair was tousled from the fall and she still looked bewildered. "This is Dust! Fire, water, ice, lightning, energy! You could have caused an explosion! Do you even care? Are you even listening? What do you have to say for yourself?"

The red girl looked like she finally managed to piece together a coherent sentence. Well, she would have, if she hadn't sneezed at that moment, igniting all the Dust floating around in the air around the two. If Weiss hadn't been right in the blast radius, she might have thought it was funny: Snowflakes, fireballs, and bolts of lightning all popped into existence and rained down around the pair, dirtying Weiss's pristine dress and launching a case of Dust off down a path.

Weiss was beyond thought; her tongue was moving much too quickly for her brain to keep up. That girl needed to be taught a few lessons. "Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!"

"I... Uh... I'm really sorry!" exclaimed Mrs. Explosion.

"You dolt! You've wasted Dust! And it could have hurt someone!" the heiress stomped, looking down at the other girl. Her eyes traveled a little lower and she gasped. "You even ruined my dress! How could you?! You have no idea how much that cost!"

"I said I'm sorry," the other girl whined, tapping the tips of her index fingers together.

"Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon, shrimp? This isn't a day-care. It's not even just a regular combat school. We fight monsters here. I highly doubt you're cut out for this," Weiss continued ranting.

"I SAID I'M SORRY, PRINCESS!" she (verbally) exploded.

A third voice joined the conversation. "It's heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee: Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest producer of energy propellant in the world." That voice belonged to a girl wearing a tailed black vest over a white undershirt and shorts, complemented by black leggings which faded into purple toward the bottom and black boots. She had long, wavy black hair with a rather childish black bow perched on top.

"Finally! Some respect!" responded Weiss. It looks like at least some people around here are capable of rational thoughts and actions.

However, that small flame of hope was extinguished when the black-themed girl continued her monologue about the SDC. "It's the same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

Wonderful. Insulting her family. Nothing had gone right since Weiss had landed, and now she allowed her anger to boil over. "How dare you! Watch your tongue!" She noticed the case of Dust the other girl was holding, probably the one that had gone flying just prior. "Give me that!" She slammed the briefcase onto the luggage cart, straightened out the stacks of belongings, and stomped off into the school grounds.

The heiress pulled the luggage cart(4) with her right hand while holding the bridge of her nose with her left hand – the best possible option for calming herself down. Such a heart-warming welcome to this 'wonderful' Academy. So... I still need to drop off my things, and the welcoming ceremony will be soon. To the ballroom...

It was only a three minute walk to get to the aforementioned building. Nobody else was there other than a professor sitting next to the door, presumably to protect everyone's belongings. Weiss supposed nobody else cared enough to actually look at the move-in schedule. She took the luggage and cart in a corner in a side room – hopefully that would be a fairly safe location; she couldn't find a better spot – then changed into a fully intact dress and went to the amphitheater for the welcome speech. As expected, there was already a large crowd of students waiting for the headmaster to make his appearance. Almost all of them were carrying bags with them since they were too lazy to find out where their belongings were to be kept for the day.

Unfortunately, (I've had to think that word way too much today!) Weiss was funneled into a spot directly behind her new favorite person, Mrs. Explosion, who was speaking with the yellow girl who had left just before Mrs. Explosion's accident.

"How's your first day going, little sis?" asked the tall blonde.

"You mean since you ditched me and everything blew up?"

"Yikes. Meltdown already? I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

"No. There was dust and I sneezed and it exploded and there was fire and ice and it was an EXPLOSION. An explosion, Yang. I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage" – Weiss's brow furrowed once again – "and then she yelled at me! The dust blew up, and she yelled at me again. I felt really, really bad!"

The heiress couldn't take it anymore. "You! You're lucky nobody was seriously injured!"

"Oh my gosh, you really did explode, Ruby," The immodest yellow girl interjected.

"Sorry; it was an accident! An accident! I promise!" the red girl, Ruby, replied to both of them.

Weiss had just the thing for this imbecile. She whipped out an SDC pamphlet – fortunately, she always carried a few with her when she went out in public – and spouted off the relevant information: "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to dust application and practice in the field."

"Uh..."

"If you really want to make things up to me, read this and never speak to me again! You're too dangerous to have around."

This is where Ruby's sister stepped in once more. "Look, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you try to be friends or something?"

"Great idea, Yang," replied Ruby, who then turned to Weiss. "Yellow, Weiss. I'm Ruby, and this is Yang. Want to be friends? Hang out? We could shop for our school supplies together."

Perhaps reason just wouldn't work with these two, so Weiss opened a new can of language. The one labeled 'Sarcasm'. "Yeah! And we can also shop for clothes, and paint our nails, and go to parties, and talk about cute boys like that tall, blond, scraggly stud over there. We're gonna be best buds, Ruby!"

Weiss smirked as Ruby took the bait. The girl's face lit up like a Christmas tree(5). "Oh, wow! Really?"

Now to crush her pitiful dreams! Muahahahaha! … I need to never use that laugh again. "No."(6) she deadpanned with a very deep frown on her face. Hopefully Mrs. Explosion would get the picture.

Weiss never got to find out. Just then, a gray-haired guy wearing a green suit and glasses spoke into a microphone, projecting his voice into the crowd. "Ahem. I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose; direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step, and hopefully a few steps after that. It would be nice if you'd all last at least a few weeks before you're put out of commission(7)." He didn't even introduce himself, but Weiss recognized him by his picture on the Beacon website. It was Professor Ozpin, the headmaster.

Ozpin stepped to the side and a woman with blonde hair, a tight black and white dress, and a disheveled purple cape stepped up to the mic. Glynda Goodwitch, the second-in-command. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Until then, please follow your assigned guides for tours." Weiss rolled her eyes. She already knew that, but the gasps around her reinforced the theory that nobody else did their research. "Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Then Goodwitch followed Ozpin off the stage, leaving the students to their own devices.

"He seemed kinda off, almost like he wasn't even there," Yang commented. Frankly, Weiss didn't care. She already knew everything she needed to know about the first two days.

A distinctly male voice butted in. "I'm a natural blonde, you know."

Weiss had no choice but to facepalm.

---

Weiss was pleasantly surprised to find that all her stuff was still parked in the corner of that side room when she made it back to the ballroom. Good. At least something was going right today; the guy watching the door didn't let anyone steal her things.

Once the heiress found herself a sleeping mat – those were provided by the Academy for today – the kitchen staff came in with trays of sandwiches and coolers full of bottled water. Looks like that's our supper. I'm glad the servants packed me a real sandwich before I left, thought Weiss.

It was a decent meal for her. By no means was it as good as the hot meals prepared for her at home, but it still fed her a touch of familiarity. She was sure her packed sandwich was leagues better than the school's food. It felt appropriate that she would take a small step down in food quality today, since there would be a larger leap in the negative direction starting the next morning. Weiss was raised to worry more about finances and business partners than about exact aspects of luxury, like food, but it was a little disheartening to fully realize that she wouldn't have "the good stuff" for quite a while. Oh, come on! I shouldn't be getting homesick, especially over something as trivial as taste buds. I'm better than this, she scolded herself.

Now that the meal was finished, she had free time – a very foreign concept(8). Everyone had arrived at Beacon by the early afternoon and waited around for a short while for the welcoming speech. After that, the students had filled out all kinds of paperwork, mostly about health, safety, and background, and had been given short tours by some of the upper-classmen. It wasn't too terribly engaging for Weiss, but it kept her busy and kept away all the annoyances that arose from free interaction with other dunces her age. Once the tours were done, it was already time for supper, but now that that was done, Weiss was left without any urgent matters to which she needed to attend. It was only 7:00 pm, way too early for sleeping; besides, everyone else was running around like headless chickens, complete with annoying gargling squawks that sounded like they'd come out of that type of creature. … Free time.

Weiss wasn't allowed to have any hobbies until now. She was forced to attend two hours of fencing training per day five days a week since she was twelve years old, but that wasn't a hobby. She was forced to do it, and although she grew to like fencing, it really wasn't something that could be done at any time or in any location, so it didn't count for her current needs.

She'd also read books, but those were all for her private lessons. If they weren't the driest textbooks anyone on Remnant had ever heard of, they were obscure old novels that were intended to teach her certain lessons, and the experience was ruined since she was required to deeply analyze all of them. She didn't even know if there were any kinds of books she liked; everything until now was supplied for her.

Outside of those two hobby-like activities, she had to do plenty of 'homework' and attended business meetings, banquets, and all sorts of other special events. She even had a private scheduler ensure every hour of every day was filled with something not of her choosing. Even shopping trips, birthday parties, vacations, and holiday events were carefully planned.

So, pondered Weiss, sitting on a case of Dust, what are my options? This is a one-day residence, so there's no use in unpacking anything. I already have my sleeping mat prepared – I still don't forgive them for not providing real beds! – and it's too early to clean up to get ready for sleeping. I don't know anyone and really don't want to, judging by the handful of people with whom I've already had to interact today. I wouldn't be caught dead chatting or misbehaving – she glared at a pink-skirted girl with red hair who was jumping up and down on top of a green-clad boy with long black hair(9) – with any of them. There are no assignments for the first day... There's nothing to prepare... Well now that I think about it, I suppose I could polish Myrtenaster some more.

She got some supplies out of a briefcase – cloths, waxes, fluids, and whetstones – and set about cleaning the rapier's edges(10). Fortunately, this was one task that she had been taught to do for herself; after all, weapons are portable and personal, and hiring one person to follow her around at every whim as a personal servant would be rather extreme. There wasn't much to touch up, though, as the weapon was always used in a very controlled environment. It would stay in its well-groomed state until the next day, but it was all she had to do, so she improved on it a little. It still took several hours until Weiss was pleased with the weapon's finish, and by the time she was done her eyes were drooping so much that she could barely look at a clock to check how late it was.

Weiss retrieved her Shi-nee™ toothpaste(11) and toothbrush plus a washcloth with facial soap and headed to the – Gasp! Communal! – restrooms to clean up before bed. There were plenty of other students also brushing their teeth, and none showed enough respect to step out of the way and let her have her turn to use a sink first. Of course not. There was nobody here to enforce proper social structure. After finishing the agonizingly slow tasks that involved the sink, plus emptying her bladder, she realized she had another problem: She needed to put on her pajamas. At home, her pajamas were always in her bedroom and it was a simple matter to change clothes. But here, she would probably have to find some sort of changing room, which probably wouldn't supply much privacy. It wasn't that Weiss didn't respect her own body, it's just that she thought it was rather important to be fully decent around other people... And... Sure, she was developed a little differently from some of the other girls, like that annoying blonde who supported Mrs. Explosion... But that certainly wasn't the main reason! If Weiss was going to be honest with herself, it was barely a reason at all(12)!

Fortunately, Weiss was able to swiftly plot up a master plan which was carried out immediately. She inconspicuously transported her pajamas to the restroom in a briefcase, snagged a few paper towels from the dispenser, then claimed a stall for herself. Of course, the paper towels went on the floor in order to protect her clothes and feet from the vile filth produced by all the disgusting animals who were attending the school. Only after this safety net was fully set up, tested(13), and adjusted did she decide it was safe to change into her nightgown. She did so as quickly as possible. The walls did not go all the way to the floor, and you never know what some rapscallions might do because of that.

Now that all her preparations were complete, it was time for the heiress to get her beauty sleep. She made her way back to her sleeping mat and settled in. Most of the other recruits had the same idea; some were already snoring. Unfortunately, the noise made it that much harder for everyone else to fall asleep, and Weiss was the most important member of 'everyone else'. She buried her head under her pillow with the hope that the fluffy object would block out enough sound for her to fall asleep. Alas, 'twas not to be. Just to add insult to injury, it seemed, somebody had now decided to start a loud conversation. The heiress groaned and got up, angrily stomping in the direction from which the noise came.

As Weiss arrived on the scene, Ruby and Yang were having an all-out brawl, which certainly did not help the noise levels. Great. Just great. It's those two. Again! "What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!" At this point, Ruby had a hold on Yang's foot and they were both glaring holes into each other.

Of course, they couldn't stay angry at each other for long, which almost made Weiss even more angry. They both answered, "Oh, not you again!"

In a remarkable turn of events, Ruby decided to use logic for the first time in her life. "Shh! Guys, she's right... People are trying to sleep."

"So now you're on my side? Grew some brain matter?" Weiss responded. I probably should've sounded more thankful, but too late...

"I was always on your side!"

Yang butted in. "What's your problem with my sister? Can't you just take a chill pill? I think I have one around here somewhere..."

"Shut up, you dunce! She's a hazard to my health, and I'm sure plenty of other people would also appreciate it if they could have a little bit of quiet once in a while!" the heiress snapped.

A small movement caught Weiss's attention: The black-haired girl who had insulted the SDC earlier that day gave a short nod of agreement, and held up a book to provide her reasoning. Then she decided to give her verbal two Lien(43). "Guys, let's just stop arguing and go to bed." She reached behind her chair to flick off a conveniently located light switch, leaving the room almost completely dark. Weiss groaned and stomped back to her makeshift bed as carefully as she could with only starlight to guide her.

She somehow wasn't interrupted from her sleep again that night.

---

Morning came, and Weiss woke up at a reasonable time without any interruptions. She was sure that could be considered a miracle. Right, so today they're serving breakfast in the dining hall, which is... north(14). Hopefully they'll have something decent, or I'll starve to death.

It wasn't very hard to find the dining hall, as there was a constant slow trickle of students going to and coming from it. As she went in one of the numerous front doors, the air reminded her nose that this was a place of food. She could pick out the odors of bacon and eggs for sure, and when she got closer to the serving area she could see more items. There was dry cereal, oatmeal, baked things such as pancakes, bagels, and donuts, the aforementioned bacon and eggs (the former were labeled with a sign that read "Welcome to Bacon!"), plus a rack of fruit and some refrigerators with milk and juices.

The heiress took a tray, plate, spoon, and fork, then headed for the eggs. It's hard to ruin eggs, so I should be safe with those, she thought. Besides, they have protein, which is good for arduous activities. I need to be ready for the initiation. However, she skipped the bacon, as that was bound to be really unhealthy. Plus, she had an image to uphold, and bacon would not help with that. Weiss snatched a bowl of pineapple chunks and raspberries, took a bottle of milk, and went to find a table(15).

She was looking for a table away from most of the other lowly people when she found a better option: Pyrrha Nikos, the four-time champion of the Mistral Tournament during her education at Sanctum(16), was sitting alone at a table near a wall. It would be perfect if they could get on the same team! I'm the smartest girl in the class, and she's the strongest girl in class. Nothing could stop us! Muahahahaha! Darn it, I'm not supposed to use that laugh anymore, even if it is just inside my head. Whatever! Conversation. "Hello, Pyrrha," Weiss said, using her polite voice for the first time in what felt like decades. "Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I was thinking we would make a great pair."

"I honestly haven't given it much thought," Pyrrha responded. "I was planning on just letting fate decide. I don't know how much of a choice we get in our teammates, anyway."

"Oh," the heiress said dejectedly, but then she instantly brightened a bit. "Well, you know, if it turns out that we can have some choice, we'd make a great pair."

Pyrrha answered with a simple smile and nod, ending the conversation, so Weiss dug into her eggs. But this day was just not meant to be as sunny and happy as the eggs looked. Someone cleared their throat behind her.

"You know what else is great?" asked the voice. Weiss turned, and saw it was that blonde boy she'd sarcastically pointed out to Ruby before the welcoming speech. Because of what he had just said, she now wanted to find every dictionary on campus and change the definition of 'great' to something a little less positive, but she couldn't right now. The boy had her trapped. "Me. Jaune Arc. Short and sweet; rolls off the tongue. Nice to meet you."

Weiss remained silent. Answering him would only encourage him to continue. Pyrrha did answer, though, with a simple, "Nice to meet you, Jaune."

And Jaune was not deterred in the least. He completely ignored Pyrrha and once again addressed Weiss. "So, Snowflake(17), I couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day. By the way, I already knew I was a stud, but thanks anyway. And I am a natural blonde, in case you've forgotten."

"You've got to be kidding me," she replied, adding in a nice, healthy facepalm.

"No need to be embarrassed. I don't mind hearing the truth, especially out of someone like yourself. So! I've been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinkin' you and me would make a great one(18)."

Luckily, Pyrrha came to the rescue. "Actually, I think teams are comprised of four students each, so-"

"You don't say. Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

Really? This blonde buffoon, this blonde buffalo, was taunting and flirting with Pyrrha Nikos? "Jaune, is it?" Weiss interrupted. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."

Weiss facepalmed once again. "This is Pyrrha," she groaned out. "She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it."

The heiress brought her other hand to join the first in plastering her face. "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in the row. A new record. She's a celebrity!"

"The what?"

Unfortunately, Weiss only had two hands, so she raised her voice a bit more. "SHE'S ON THE FRONT OF EVERY PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW FLAKES BOX!" Maybe she raised her voice slightly more than 'a bit' more.

"*Gasp!* That's you?! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," Pyrrha responded. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

Jaune was on the defensive; now was the heiress's chance! "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"I guess not," he replied. Yes! He was giving up! What she didn't know is that it was only a slight pause. "But you're still interested, right?"

Once again, Weiss was met with the prospect of having nowhere d*mn(19) near enough hands. "No, I'm not and I never was! Do you know who I am?"

"Not a clue, but you do look oddly familiar. By the way, you've got a nice dress," he winked.

Another female voice cut in. "Weiss Schnee: Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest producer of energy propellant in the world." Weiss turned ninety degrees and found herself looking at the girl who insulted the SDC in front of Mrs. Explosion.

"You! Don't you dare finish that sentence. Just leave; you're not helping anyone."

The black-haired girl didn't leave. She simply gestured toward Jaune, which confused Weiss at first.

Until she looked. It turned out the heiress was wrong. Jaune's eyes were glazed over, looking vaguely in her direction. "The Weiss Schnee? Oh, man. Which do you want to get out of the way first, giving me your autograph or taking me out to some fancy restaurant?"

"Pyrrha, a little help here?"

The redhead whipped out her weapon and put it into spear mode, then launched it at Jaune, pinning him to the wall by his shirt's hood. "I'm sorry!" she called.

Weiss looked left and right, clenching her fists and shaking her head at the boy and two girls, and stomped off to a far corner of the room with her tray. Once she was seated again, she picked up her fork, only to realize that the eggs were now cold. Great. … Great, I really should use some connections to get that word's definition changed. She settled for picking up her spoon and eating her fruits, then drinking her milk. She miraculously managed to finish her meal without being interrupted again.

She put her tray on the dish return and headed back to the ballroom, where she retrieved her bathroom supplies. As she was finishing up, a nearby loudspeaker announced, "All first-year students, please report to the northeastern cliff for initiation. First year students, report to the cliff immediately."

---

When Weiss arrived, Professor Goodwitch pointed out a metal plate on the ground to stand on. Whatever the initiation was this year (Weiss found that the task seemed to be different every year, with no apparent repetitions), the trials always included launching the recruits into the forest with these metal pads.

The other students happened to be competent enough to show up as well, although the heiress was one of the first to arrive.

Once everyone was gathered at the cliff, Professor Ozpin addressed them. "For years you have trained to be warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch spoke next. It seemed like the two had rehearsed this speech so they could switch back and forth. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today."

Some students were visibly or audibly distraught, but Weiss didn't mind this piece of information. They'd get teams sooner or later, anyway, so it wouldn't make much of a difference when. Besides, it wasn't like there were enough likable people here that she would want to decide which ones to allow into her team, so she was probably going to end up with several useless teammates.

"These teams," continued Ozpin, "will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, and many graduates choose to stay with them after they are gone from our Academy. So it is in your best interests to be grouped with others with whom you can work well."

"To confirm the rumors, your teams will consist of four members," Glynda added.

"That being said, the first person you come across after entering the forest will be your first of three teammates for the next four years," Ozpin finished.

The red menace and several others were not very happy about this, and many ear-splitting cries of "WHAT?!" could probably be heard from a mile away.

There was clearly more to be said, as they hadn't been told their mission yet, and Ozpin delivered the answers for which Weiss was looking. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." That sentence was met with a few nervous chuckles from Jaune's direction. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each person must take one and return to the top of this cliff. Your items will be taken, and you will be graded based on your performance and results. Are there any questions?"

Jaune did not hesitate to show his incompetence. "Yeah, um, sir, I-"

"Good! Now take your positions."

"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." Weiss would never find out what that was, because as he continued speaking, the heiress was launched into the forest.

Although she'd never flown through the air unaided like this before, she didn't find it too troubling. Landing came naturally; the heiress simply created several glyphs in the air using her Semblance and then used those as stepping stones to get to the ground safely. She had one goal now: To find the one person she could put up with in order to secure at least one competent ally.

That goal, however, was not nearly as straightforward as she expected. There was a lot of underbrush to slow her down and she couldn't see or hear any traces of the other students. She was almost lost. Almost. A Schnee is never lost. A Schnee always knows what they're doing, she convinced herself. All I have to do is keep heading straight ahead, and I'll get to the temple. I can hide and wait for my proper prey; everyone has to go there before we get to leave.

She continued trekking along, somehow managing to not bump into any monsters. The progress was slow.

Chop, run, leap.

Okay, Weiss, you can do it. A Schnee is strong. I can do this. Just get to the temple and pick your partner.

Crawl, climb, walk.

*Pant, pant.* Just a forest. It's just a forest. I've had worse.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

How far is the stupid temple? I bet they're just tricking us. They want to find out if we'll run away or if we'll actually come back. Yeah, that's it.

Hack, slash, shuffle.

Do I hear-

Yes, she did hear something. A few things. She looked around for the source of the disturbance, but felt it before she saw it.

Felt them.

Three people all managed to ram into her, and they all fell to the ground. Three people she recognized. Not one of them was Pyrrha Nikos.

"Great, just what I wanted," the heiress mumbled. That's what she thought she said, anyway. Everyone else could barely make out a, "Gmuuh, ih wu ah wau id," coming from under Yang's arm.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ruby said in her characteristic peppy voice as she brushed herself off.

"Ugh, my head..." the name-caller mumbled.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Yang as she got off of Weiss and stood up.

"Of course not!" "Yep, perfectly fine, sis!" "Not really..." came the answers.

"What happened? I was soaring over the treetops and decided this looked like a decent place to land," the blonde said.

"Hehe," Ruby giggled. "I was sort of running along with my Semblance and didn't watch exactly where I was going... Sorry..."

"I was just minding my own business, walking toward the temple, hoping to find someone at least a little bit better than you lot!" Weiss scolded.

"I found a balloon-shaped Grimm and it sort of exploded and here I am..." the black-haired girl added.

"How is it even possible for all those trajectories to line up like that?" the heiress whined.

"Wait..." Yang pondered aloud, squinting her eyes in thought. "We all just ran into each other, right?" The others gave small affirmative shrugs. "And the first person we run into is our teammate, right?" She was met with reluctant nods. "So then we're all a team!"

"Hold it right there, Bright One," Weiss snapped. "We can't be a team. The professor said the first person we find is our teammate. Not people. Besides, I'm not interested."

"Well, then who's my teammate? I don't know who I ran into first. It all happened in way under a second," said Anti-Schnee(20).

"Well-"

"She's right," said Ruby. "There's no way to figure this out properly. Maybe we could stick together for the rest of the mission and then the headmaster can sort this all out once we get back. It can't hurt to go as a group, right?"

"I don't-" "Way to go, Rubes!" "I suppose."

"Great! Then we're allies for now. Let's get those relics and get out of here!" Yang exclaimed, raising a fist in a cheer. "So... This way!" she said, pointing in some direction that looked similar to all the other directions.

"Uh, Yang?" Ruby started. "Are you sure you know which way we're supposed to be going?"

"Just be quiet for a moment, you dunces! I was actually going slowly enough to know where I was when we, well... So I should remember some landmarks. That tree," Weiss said, pointing toward a giant oak, "had a hollow in it that I could see from my direction. So I propose we face the hole and go that direction."

"That's great, but what if you were lost before we-" started the Anti-Schnee, but Ruby cut her off.

"Yay, Weiss! Great thinking! Let's go, team Ruby!" Ruby exclaimed, glomping the girl in question.

"Why," the heiress squirmed, trying to loosen Ruby's grip, "would it be named after you? This isn't even a team; you're lucky I'm even helping you."

"Aww, Weiss..."

"C'mon, guys, let's just go. Worry about that later!"

The four headed off into the forest.

---

"Hey, isn't it a little strange to you guys that we haven't found any monsters?" Yang asked.

"Not really," Anti-Schnee answered. "Grimm like to attack weak targets, like individual people."

"Yeah," said the heiress. "And I've heard that they especially like going after people who are sad or upset."

"That sounds like you," shot Yang.

"Oh, shut up. I don't have to put up with this."

"Guys, stop it," Ruby interjected. "You might be attracting..."

"Growl."

Four voices grumbled, "Grimm."

Weiss could see six beowolves and two ursai, but there certainly could be more lurking in the shadows.

"The ursai are mine!" Yang called, switching her bracelets into gauntlets and charging at one of the large beasts.

Ruby and the Anti-Schnee also drew their weapons. The former had a scythe, and the latter had a thick sword, or maybe it would be better to call it a cleaver.

Not one to be outdone, Weiss enthusiastically drew Myrtenaster. Okay... Remember your training, Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, left foot forward... not that forward. Slow your breathing. Wait for the right time to strike... And... Now! She charged at a beowolf that was facing Yang's back.

Of course, things couldn't simply go the way Weiss wanted them to go. Ruby zipped across her path as she went after a different beowolf. The heiress tried to slow down but ended up tripping and falling. Myrtenaster struck the ground, unleashing a stream of red dust that hit a tree, incinerating it. "Watch it, Ruby!" Weiss scolded, wrapped up in her anger rather than the battle.

"And you," came the the Anti-Schnee's voice, "should watch your back." Thud. The heiress turned to see two halves of a beowolf bounce off the ground, one of its arms extended not one foot away from her location.

Weiss glared, but turned back to face the enemies. She'd show them how to really kill Grimm. Myrtenaster shifted so the blue cartridge aligned with the left side of the blade(21) and she struck the ground, sending out a line of ice spikes that skewered one beowolf, immediately killing it, and trapped the other three (Ruby had killed two by that time, and the one Anti-Schnee killed had been hiding during Weiss's original count). That's convenient that they lined up like that, she commented to herself. Anti-Schnee immediately went after the central one, hewing it in half, the one nearest to Weiss ended up with a rapier through its neck, and Ruby skewered the last one with her scythe. There, that's done now... Wait, what about Yang?

Yang was fighting the two ursai simultaneously. She didn't seem to be struggling. In fact, it looked like she was playing with them – until one clawed at her and severed part of a hair. As the hair slowly drifted to the ground, her irises turned red and she burst into flame. "ALL!" she shouted as she punched one in the face, "EVERY!" – a punch to its gut – "BEAR!" – a punch to its gonads, and it collapsed backward – "STRAIGHT!" – an uppercut to the second one, launching it into the air – "PUNCH!" – she jumped and slugged it in the stomach, causing it to cannonball through several dozen trees and explode.

Weiss was staring, speechless, and Ruby was standing next to the heiress, cheering for Yang. Meanwhile, the black-haired girl walked over to the incapacitated ursa, which was laying on the ground with its forepaws glued between its legs, and slit its throat(22).

The white-haired girl looked around for more Grimm, but there didn't appear to be any nearby. "Good, I don't see any more anywhere," she informed the makeshift team.

"Yeah, all clear," said Anti-Schnee... but nobody cared. Ruby was squealing and hugging Yang to death.

Weiss continued on the group's original trajectory and called over her shoulder, "I'm going. You can follow if you want to; just don't slow me down."

Suddenly, Ruby was standing in front of the heiress with her arms scrunched just below her face like a bad impersonation of a dog. "See?" she lectured, "I'm not slow."

"You're slow in the head."

"What?"

"Exactly. Humph."

"Aww, come on... Can't you just give me a chance? I may not be the best with people, but you saw how good I was against those monsters!"

"You got in my way!"

"Guys," Yang said. "Stop arguing. We did fine. They're all dead and we're back on our way. Let's get to that temple."

---

Finally! Weiss saw a bunch of partially collapsed stone pillars trying to stand in a three-quarter circle at the bottom of the hill. If that's not the forest temple, my name isn't Weiss Schnee. "Guys..." she panted, "look... Forest temple. I think we might be the first ones here."

Perched upon small stone pedestals were crimson, gold, ivory, and ebony chess pieces: The relics(23).

"That was easy," Yang sighed.

"Maybe there are traps," pondered the black-haired girl.

"Wahoo!" Ruby exclaimed, and she rushed down the hill to the temple. She arrived inside the circular open-roofed structure before the rest of them could move two inches. However, this time her haste proved harmful.

A stone clicked into place below Ruby's feet. "Huh?" But nothing seemed to happen. The girl with red-tipped hair shrugged and went to step forward... but then the entire temple started to shake and four staircases opened, one directly below her, and all descending toward the outside of the area.

Weiss also saw all the relics tumble off their pedestals and fall into a new hole in the center of the temple. Stage three of the trap was the closing of the staircase Ruby fell into. She didn't end up on top of the stones.

Yang activated big sister mode. "Ruby! I'll save you!"

The other two were also somewhat concerned, and the three ran down to the temple.

"Maybe," suggested Yang, "one of these other staircases will lead to her. Let's split up."

"Fine. Maybe we'll find the relics as well," the heiress complied.

"Okay. I'm in," said the last of the three.

"Wait," said Yang. "Weiss, Blake, do you hear a girl screaming in the distance? It sounds like she needs help!"

Blake. So that was the Anti-Schnee's name. Weiss didn't care to learn it before; they'd have no reason to interact again after the initiation was over. Weird name.

"It doesn't concern me," said Weiss. "She'll be fine. Let's just get those relics."

They stepped into the temple, and this time Weiss stepped on a secret switch. The stone underneath her feet catapulted her into the air, where she collided with a screaming girl. The trajectories today! No, it wasn't a girl. It was worse: Jaune Arc. "You!" the heiress spat. But then she looked down, and as all people know, that's when you're allowed to fall. Weiss joined in the screaming for several seconds, but composed herself enough to climb to the top of the tangle of bodies.

The heiress had a much softer landing than the yellow-haired, yellow-bellied boy. "Oh thank you, kind knight. My hero."

The boy simultaneously groaned, "My back..." but once he heard what Weiss said, he added, "D'aww, stop it."

"Don't need to tell me twice. Humph. Thanks for nothing," she said. "If you're lucky I might leave a relic for you." The boy continued laying on the ground in the hopes of recovering. Meanwhile, Weiss walked from the grassy hillside back to the temple.

"Okay, this tunnel is mine," she said, pointing to one of the staircases. The others shrugged. All three descended into their separate passageways and stones closed off the paths behind them. Now Weiss was alone.

The odors of mold and earth filled the heiress's nostrils. Her ears were less stimulated, occasionally hearing a distorted echo that sounded a bit like the scuffling of feet. That was a good sign; the tunnels were probably connected if those sounds were from the others moving around. Then again, it was quite possible that something else was down here, like Grimm. It was completely dark, so she had no way to confirm either suspicion, and decided her only option was to walk onward(24). The heiress held her hands in front of her so she didn't run into anything too hard, and soon found a wall with her left hand. She held onto the filthy structure and her other hand scrabbled about for any other objects. There was another wall easily within arm's reach. So it was a one-way tunnel.

She continued walking, barely trailing the fingertips of each hand along the wall so she could be sure she didn't miss any branches in the path. The tunnel twisted and turned, completely decimating her sense of direction, but it stayed in one segment. After a short while, the passageway changed from rock into earth. Weiss could feel her fingernails being filled in with gunk, but she forced herself to stay in contact with the walls so she didn't miss anything. A few times she snagged a finger in a root, but it was only a small inconvenience. Eventually, she came around a corner and saw torchlight ahead! Now the heiress ran to the source, able to see that the walls held no secrets. The torch was surrounded with neighbors in a small underground chamber which split off into several different paths. All of them contained growling red eyes. Of course.

The white-haired girl drew Myrtenaster and set it to red. A set of eyes stepped out of the leftmost tunnel, revealing a small beowolf. Easy. Weiss waited patiently for it to close in then ran it through with her sword. It was dying, but not completely dead, and showed that by swiping at her with a claw-filled paw. Myrtenaster was sunk too deeply into the beast, so she had to let go and hop back to avoid losing part of her face. The beowolf clawed feebly at her one more time, not close enough to warrant a step away, before it succumbed to its injuries and began dissolving into black smoke.

However, her weapon was trapped in its gut, which was now facing the floor. Were it larger, she would've had to either give up her beloved rapier or wait for the beowolf to completely dissolve. Luckily, it was small enough that she managed to barely flip it on its side and retrieve her sword. However, that took some time, and now two more sets of living eyes occupied the room with the girl.

One set belonged to a mole-like Grimm the size of a pony. All pictures she'd seen of moles before had tiny, nearly-useless eyes, but this Grimm's were wide open and the size of softballs, which made the disgusting thing even more frightening. The other set of eyes was rather numerous. A worm as tall as her thigh was staring at her with the huge swarm of eyes covering all sides of its body other than the front and back, which respectively contained a mouth and what Weiss expected to be a hole for excrement. Eww, I'm going to- The sight was too much and she vomited, although it was probably the afternoon by now so there weren't any chunks left from the morning. The girl reluctantly wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand, then squinted one eye open enough to shoot fire at the more repulsive of the creatures. She heard sizzling and screeching and smelled burning tires.

Its death throes ended and she allowed her eyes to open again. Unfortunately, the mole was already upon her and one of its digging claws was way too close, too far along its path, for her to get out of the way. It tore a couple of small gouges in her abdomen, but luckily her Aura prevented any serious damage. Great. Weiss thrust Myrtenaster into its gaping tendril-circled maw and swirled it around. The thing quickly died from ichor loss(25).

Another, bigger, beowolf rushed out of the left tunnel. She learned her lesson from the other one. This time Weiss ran up to it and slid around its right side, slashing across the fronts of its ankles along the way to hobble it. Now she turned around, took a step to her right, and gave point(44), puncturing through its spine until Myrtenaster's hilt met oily black fur. The creature hunched forward, obviously dead, and she used the momentum to help her remove her blade. The heiress looked around and didn't see any more Grimm.

Weiss checked the "left" tunnel, relative to where she entered, but it came to a dead-end cave after about twenty meters and she had already slain its last two inhabitants. The "forward" tunnel was also a dead end. It went about five meters, then turned upward. The hole was too small for her to fit into, and there were no good grips anyway. The last tunnel, the one on the right, was promising. There were torches at regular intervals along its walls down to where she saw it turn a corner. The heiress really didn't have any choice. She walked along the path. It had four turns, and then the floor began ascending. The walls also transitioned back to stone. It dumped her into a small chamber.

At the far end of this chamber was a small hole in the wall. Inside, Weiss found a pile of ivory chess pieces. Aww, there's no queen. I suppose I'll settle for a knight. Horses are useful creatures. She plucked the object out of the hole and pocketed it – her Dust pouch was full, but the combat skirt had pockets on the inside. They were a little inconvenient because she had to reach underneath to get to them, but they would do in a situation such as this one.

Behind the chess pieces, she noticed a stone chute, probably where they came from. It was definitely too small for her to dream of fitting into – her fist barely fit – but if the chess pieces came from there, it was connected to the temple. These were only the white pieces, which was awfully coincidental, but the other pieces must have gone somewhere, too. Not that she had any idea how they would separate by a color code, but perhaps the others had found similar chutes.

"Hey!" she shouted into the small tunnel.

Soon enough, she heard something come back. It was certainly a human voice, and certainly not an echo of hers, but it was too garbled from bouncing around for her to make out any of the words. She wouldn't be able to hold a conversation like this, so it was time to leave.

Just as Weiss started dreading the walk all the way back to the staircase and the possibility of it being closed, she spied a second doorway. It was hidden in the corner of the room, which extended behind the field of view from the entrance, which is why she didn't see it earlier. It was definitely worth trying.

The new tunnel took a sharp right turn almost immediately so it came in line with the entrance tunnel, then it ascended along a forty meter incline. At the top, it turned left into open air. Daylight.

The heiress looked around. There was a long stone bridge below her doorway that ran across a giant crater in the ground. Other similar platforms intersected with it at a central tower structure, and there were two more layers of bridges underneath at different angles. At one edge of the canyon were many small stone structures, possibly dilapidated buildings. The opposite side was a tall cliff that was far above the highest bridges. The whole area was covered in fog(26).

Well, this was definitely some sort of progress. Weiss jumped down onto a bridge, then looked back to see the tunnel close up behind her. Even if she wanted to go back by using her glyphs as stairs, she couldn't anymore. She was at the end of her current bridge. Unless she wanted to use glyphs, forward was the only direction available. The heiress walked at a leisurely pace toward the central tower. As she got nearer, she could make out yellow, red, and black figures also walking along bridges toward the tower. Weiss arrived at the tower and could definitely make out that it was Ruby, Yang, and Blake. Well, they may not be the best companions, but all we have to do is get out of the forest alive. I don't think they can mess that up.

"Hey! Yang, Weiss, Blake!" Ruby cheered. "Great to see that you guys made it!"

"Ruby, I'm glad you're safe!" Yang said in response, crushing the girl in a suffocating Big Sister Hug... Suffocating because of both Yang's strength and her, ahem, assets...

"Mm mm hmm bmm!" Ruby said. Yang released her, and Ruby finished. "Yang, I can't breathe! Well, couldn't. Thanks. Yeah, I'm fine. I even got a relic!"

"Nice job sis!"

"Hey," said Blake. "Looks like we have more on their way(27)."

True to Blake's word, Pyrrha, Jaune, a long black-haired guy wearing a green shirt, and an orange-haired girl with a white shirt and pink skirt were approaching from other bridges. Ruby dashed to each of them in turn to give a small greeting. Once she was done with three of them, all four were close to the tower and they all joined in on the conversation.

Since Ruby already got the greetings out of the way, Weiss got right down to business. "If we're going to be working together a little bit, it would probably be a good idea to know each other's names. That way we can communicate quickly and effectively in battle. I'm Weiss," she said, gesturing toward herself in a flourishing hand motion.

"Yang!"

"Ruby!"

"Blake."

"Pyrrha Nikos."

"Jaune Arc. Short; sweet; rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

"NORA!" – the orange-haired girl.

"Lie Ren."

"Great. So does anyone happen to know where we are?" Weiss asked. Her mind heard crickets in response. "Maybe I could use my Semblance to get to the top of the cliff on the far side over there. I could look around and try to find Beacon."

"Great," said Pyrrha. "You know, those buildings look a lot like the forest temple. If that's nearby, I'm sure we could find which direction we're facing."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey, did everyone get a relic?" Ruby queried. "I got a hor..." she trailed off – her jaw was almost hitting the stone floor. A giant raven Grimm appeared in the sky above them. It had probably been roosting near the top of the tower, tucked away and obscured by fog so they hadn't seen it before.

"We're not safe here. This tower isn't sturdy enough to protect us from something that large," Blake said.

"Pyrrha, you can go check on the ruins. I'll go to the cliff. That way whoever it decides to follow, we'll have a good fighter," Weiss suggested.

"Hey!" Ruby and Yang said together. Jaune simply looked down, dejected. Nora was busy not paying attention, and Blake and Ren didn't seem to care.

"Okay; it's a plan," Pyrrha agreed, nodding once. She ran toward the distant patch of land, and Weiss went the opposite direction.

The bird beast screeched far behind Weiss, but she was curious, so she turned to see what it was doing. It crashed through the far bridge. Once the rubble cleared, only Pyrrha and Ren were on the land side of the bridge, and Jaune and Nora were stranded right next to the gap. The other three – Ruby, Yang, and Blake – were on Weiss's bridge (Grr...).

Probably startled by the noise, a scorpion-like Grimm(28) popped out of one of the ruined buildings, sending rock fragments flying in a wide radius. It looked like Pyrrha and Ren would be fighting two large Grimm on their own. Even if Weiss was primarily concerned with her own safety and grade, she cared enough to not throw away her companions so easily. Well, she was pretty sure killing off the other recruits would harm her grade, and she wanted to end up on Pyrrha's team, which wouldn't be possible if she was dead.

"Distract the bird!" Weiss commanded to her makeshift team. They all agreed it was necessary, so all four whipped out their weapons. Ruby's scythe unfurled, the point jabbing itself into the stone floor, and she began shooting bullets from the end of its shaft. Yang's bracelets extended into gauntlets, which shot bullets from above the backs of her fists when she punched the air. Blake unsheathed her sword rather than simply taking it off her back with the sheathe, then the blade of the weapon folded back to reveal a gun barrel, which was used to shoot purple globs of Aura. Weiss switched Myrtenaster's chamber between fire, ice, and lightning, and shot several Dust projectiles toward the flying foe.

The bird acknowledged the hits and flew in their direction. Weiss briefly caught sight of Nora launching Jaune across their gap by using her hammer and a segment of stone as a catapult, but then the heiress had to turn her attention back to the bird.

"We probably don't want our bridge to go out of order, right guys?" Yang asked.

Ruby nodded and raised a fist as if she were a commander leading a charge in a major historical battle. "To the tower!"

The four ran along, although Weiss was rather reluctant. "But that won't protect us!"

"At least," explained Blake, "it won't fall down and cut off our only way out. We can deal with a little bit of rubble, right?"

"Right..." Weiss grumbled. They had arrived.

Sure enough, the raven barreled right through the stone pillars of the tower. The girls scattered their separate directions to avoid being hit directly by the beast's extended talons. Weiss saw a large boulder falling down toward her, so she raised a glyph at an angle to deflect it away from her. Although it was too quick of a reaction for her to give much thought, she luckily deflected the boulder in a direction that wouldn't cut out their bridge.

Now that nothing was falling at her and there wasn't a bus-sized bird flying directly toward her, the heiress had a few moments to look around. The top of the tower was cleaved off, but the structure didn't appear to have destroyed any bridges and there were several pillars left standing that she could use for cover or for altitude. Yang was standing on the stump of a pillar at the beginning of one of the bridges shooting bullet after bullet at the bird's retreating form. Blake was actually standing on its back slashing at the beast, although soon enough it banked, causing the girl to fall off. She used her weapon as a grappling hook to get back on top of a bridge, then ran back toward the tower. Ruby was standing on top of one of the ruined tower's pillars shooting round after round at the raven.

The Grimm came back, this time aiming for Ruby. The girl continued shooting until almost the last moment, then jumped to the side. Sadly, the plan didn't work properly. The bird used one of its deceptively large rear limbs to swat Ruby out of the sky. She was falling over empty space, where there was no bridge for her to land on. Weiss made a decision. Although she really didn't like Ruby, keeping everyone alive was probably a good idea. And yes, Ruby was fairly decent in a fight, so she was a valuable asset. Weiss watched Ruby's trajectory, then materialized a series of glyphs that she crossed to get to where Ruby was falling. She barely got there in time, and Ruby latched onto the heiress's arm. "Thanks," the red-tipped girl said. Unfortunately, Ruby's extra weight on her arm tipped Weiss off balance and they fell off the glyph. It was an easy fix, though: Weiss just made another glyph under them that was wide enough to keep their balance, then the two separated and hopped back up to the top of the tower on a staircase of glyphs.

Once the two were back at the central platform, they saw the bird circle back around and head toward Yang, who was still unloading rounds at it.

"I have an idea!" Ruby shouted.

"Wonderful," Weiss muttered.

"Just listen! Yang, hop onto the bird to distract it. Blake can help you steer it toward the cliff by pulling on its wings. Weiss, once it gets there, freeze it down. Blake and Yang, use the ribbon to make a bungee cord between some pillars. Then Weiss can put a propulsion glyph behind the ribbon. I'll hop on and bring the fight to it!"

There wasn't any time to disagree. It sounded a little better than just haphazardly shooting at the winged tank, and the creature was almost upon Yang. The bird opened its mouth to snap at Yang, but she jumped into its mouth and held it open with one hand while the other hand shot bullets into its throat. The bird's predatory screeches turned to pained squawks and it slowed down a bit. Blake hurled her tethered weapon at the bird's right wing. It lodged in some flesh, and the girl pulled down to make the bird turn to the right, toward the cliff. She then made the weapon shoot to separate from the bird. Now Yang was riding an airplane aimed at a stone wall. She hopped off once she was sure the bird had no chance of avoiding collision, then Weiss produced a glyph to help Yang get back to the central platform quickly as she ran toward the now-disoriented plane wreck. Weiss turned Myrtenaster's dial to blue and stabbed down at the bird's tail, freezing it to the rocks of the cliff, then glyph-propelled herself back to the central area. Blake threw Yang the pointy end of her weapon, and the two stretched the ribbon across the gap between two adjacent pillars facing the cliff, Ruby jumped sideways onto it, and Weiss put a glyph behind Ruby.

"Of course you would come up with an idea as crazy as this," the heiress commented.

"Think you can make the shot?" the red girl responded, ignoring the jibe.

What a stupid question. "Humph. Can I?" she retorted.

"Can-"

Weiss almost wanted to facepalm, but her hands were busy controlling the glyph's angle. "Of course I can!"

Ruby reloaded her sniper scythe, then all at once Yang and Blake pulled outward on the ribbon, straightening it, Ruby fired her scythe, propelling her away from the shot, and Weiss's glyph went off, rocketing Ruby toward the cliff and their quarry. The beast was trying to take off to get away from the dangerous projectile, but it was held fast to the rocks by Weiss's ice. The scythe's blade hooked around the bird's neck, but didn't go through the thick appendage. Weiss made a vertical series of glyphs up the cliff, along which Ruby ran by using her speed Semblance. The predator-turned-prey was dragged along the cliff until the pair got to the top. There was a slight lip at the peak of the cliff upon which the poor bird got caught. However, Ruby continued upward for a couple more glyphs, and the momentum carried the scythe's blade through the beast's neck, decapitating it. Ruby landed at the top of the cliff, and the head and body of the bird tumbled into the bottom of the crater. The girl turned around and gave a big thumbs-up and a wave of her scythe.

Weiss and the other two cheered briefly. Their enemy was eliminated, and now all they had left was to return to Beacon. Before that, though, they should probably check on the others. The heiress turned around to see how the scorpion was doing against the other four. It turned out that they were just about done, too. Nora fell through the air with her hammer and whacked down as hard as she could, with the aid of gravity, on the creature's stinger which had somehow been embedded in its head. The beast was flattened to the thickness of a high-quality mattress and was clearly dead.

Weiss heard surround-sound applause and cheering. Why would- Oh. Other students who had presumably gotten to the temple later were now flowing out of the tunnels onto the bridges. They had apparently seen enough to realize how impressive Weiss was. And the others weren't too horrible, she supposed.

"Hey!" called Ruby. "I can see Beacon from here! It's just that-a-way!" She pointed to her rear right angle, which was forward and left for those looking at the cliff.

"Can you help us get back across?" Pyrrha asked from behind Weiss.

"Be right there!" she responded.

She only needed five glyphs for Nikos and gang to get back to the main part of the stone structure. The seven then made their way to Ruby's cliff. Unfortunately, the rest of them didn't have Ruby's Semblance, so Weiss had to make a much longer spiral staircase of glyphs. However, it was far too long to maintain an entire staircase all at once, so the group progressed slowly along a trail of glyphs that grew at the front and shrank at the back. Once Weiss got to the top, she fell on the ground in an undignified heap, exhausted.

"I can't feel my arms," she breathed. "Or my legs..."

"Thanks for the help, guys!" Pyrrha said. Her temporary group shuffled on ahead a bit, but stayed close enough that the other four would probably be able to catch up so they could go as a larger group.

"You'd better be thankful..." she barely got out.

"Let's go, Weissy," Yang sang. "Have to get back to Beacon, and the sun says it's already mid-afternoon!"

"We should help the rest of the students get up!" Ruby said.

With as much intimidation as Weiss could muster up in her present state, she shot Ruby an icy glare and solidly stated, "No. They can climb the cliff with their bare hands for all I care. I'm done."

"Aww, Weiss..." Ruby whined. But her voice instantly shifted tones. "Yang, I'm hungry; let's get to the dining hall."

"Don't remind me, you fiend!" Weiss half-shouted.

"Come on, let's go," Blake said. She and Yang helped Weiss to her feet.

---

They slowly trudged off toward the distant shape of Beacon Academy.

"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Of course we're not done," Weiss muttered. Somewhere around two dozen ursai stood in their path. "You guys can fight them. I'll just tell you what to do. Yeah. That sounds good."

"Come on, Weiss, don't you want to show me how much better you are than me?" Ruby taunted.

"I can out-kill you any day!" the heiress returned.

"Prove it!"

"I will!"

Pyrrha sighed and took out her weapon in spear form. Ren unsheathed his dagger guns, and Nora took out her hammer, shouting, "Hammer time!" Blake took out her weapon as two swords. Yang loaded her gauntlets. Weiss drew her rapier and turned it to the ice cartridge. Ruby unfurled her scythe, jabbing the tip into the ground. Jaune chuckled and pretended to hold his sword in front of him, although Weiss was pretty sure she saw his pants grow a dark splotch near the center...

They leaped into action(29).

Ruby instantly shot across the forest clearing and relieved an ursa head from the burden of being attached to its body.

Weiss shot an ice ball at an ursa, which froze its head. She then thrust Myrtenaster through the frozen excuse for an appendage, shattering the object and slaying the ursa.

Blake charged at an ursa, who clawed at her. She appeared behind it with both blades protruding from its spine.

Yang ran up to an ursa, covering with gunfire, then delivered a nearly-flawless uppercut to its jaw, launching it into the air, and followed up with a two-handed downward hammering strike. The ursa's head was completely invisible and the rest of its decaying body stuck up out of the ground like a flagpole in the middle of a three foot wide crater.

Pyrrha taunted an ursa, then began dancing around it, slicing here and there and blocking any attacks with her shield. Eventually she caught it off balance with a shield bash and used the opportunity to impale it with her spear.

Nora charged an ursa with her hammer held low. Once she arrived in range, she swung upward with tremendous force, yelling, "BoOoOoooOOoOm!" (Weiss was pretty sure that was the most accurate way to spell that word.) The ursa careened upward through the canopy and was never seen again.

Ren cautiously approached an ursa. He allowed it to swipe at him, but he blocked with his blade on the mirrored side, almost severing its paw. He blocked the other paw as well, then tossed his right weapon into his sleeve and struck the ursa in the throat with an empty hand. The contents of its neck blew out the back side.

Jaune stood at the back, but an ursa came after him anyway. He screamed like a five year old girl – the proper pitch and all – and cowered under his shield. Luckily, Pyrrha had his back. She got its attention and killed it at her own pace.

Ruby turned around after she had run past the group of ursai, then ran back in the direction she came. She leaped up and swung her scythe like a hammer, impaling an ursa between the shoulder blades (and they were shoulder blades).

Weiss twirled and sliced an ursa across the throat, then continued her spin a bit farther and stepped forward once, plunging Myrtenaster into another one's chest.

Blake stepped to the side, watching in case anyone else got cornered.

Nora stood watching the treetops for any sign of her lost projectile.

Yang flared up her Semblance and gave an ursa a very hard linear punch in the sternum. It somehow left a circular scorched hole all the way through the deceased beast(30).

Ren warily circled a second ursa, shooting at it when possible and deflecting attacks that came toward him.

Jaune didn't have any visitors, so he just watched everyone else with awe.

The rest of the ursai turned and ran. Apparently they were smart enough to do so when over half of their companions were vanquished in well under a minute. Ruby caught one in the skull with a sniper round, just barely avoiding the armored plates right next to the point of impact. Its head exploded and, needless to say, the beast stopped retreating.

Not to be outdone, Weiss froze one to the ground by all four paws – it took several shots of ice – then ran up to it with the help of a propulsion glyph. She casually strolled under it and eviscerated it. Unfortunately, she didn't have all that much experience fighting real creatures to the death – she mostly trained by sparring other young warriors – so she didn't know what was to come. All of its black organs and loads of ichor spilled onto her, completely ruining her dress and hair. It was warm, even hot, and smelled like tar. Disgusting clumps stuck in her hair. But beyond the horrible sensations, she once again remembered that she was exhausted, and her rapidly trembling limbs allowed her to collapse in a vile heap onto the ground next to the slowly vanishing corpse.

"If you wanted a bath, I could've found you a waterfall or something," Yang joked, although it was not funny in the least to Weiss.

"Quiet, dunce! I'll never talk to you again!" Weiss scolded from her rather cozy place on the twigs and leaves. At least the loose stuff on the ground protected her spasming arms from hurting themselves.

"Oh yes you will," Yang taunted, half-laughing. "Come on; you're exhausted and we need to get out of here." She grabbed the heiress by the waist and hoisted her over her right shoulder.

"Put me down, you animal! I can walk by myself!" She swung her fists as hard as she could at Yang's back, but in her present state she probably wouldn't be able to kill an ant. These people are worse than the suitors Father insisted on inviting to the mansion!

Yang laughed, "Called it."

It was a very long journey the rest of the way back to Beacon.

---

Great. The heiress must have fallen asleep along the journey, and apparently she hadn't missed much of anything too important, like a battle, though she really didn't trust any of her companions. She knew she was awake now, and knew she wasn't a moment before, because she felt some new sensations. The heiress opened her eyes, only to close them again then open them more slowly. The sun was beginning to descend in the sky, and she had looked directly at it at first. Now that she could see, she noticed that Wonder Child was holding her left shoulder and upper back, Impractical Joke (Ooh, that's a good one.) had her right shoulder and lower back, and Ribbons was holding Weiss's knees under her right arm. It was rather relaxing, and nice. So proper. She was a Schnee; she should get special attention.

But they were in public, and these were strangers! Strangers whom she hated! "Let go of me, you indecent velociraptors!"

Blake dropped her legs immediately as though they were red-hot lumps of metal, and Ruby and Yang pushed her forward so she was standing above her feet. To the heiress's surprise, she was able to stand. "How long have I been out?" she asked in an uncharacteristically calm voice.

"Only two days," Yang responded smoothly. "Ozpin told us to go training by lugging you around the forest."

Weiss gasped and her eyes widened before her brain could catch up and decide that was almost impossible. Then her brow furrowed in anger. "That's not funny!"

"Maybe two hours," Ruby said. "There haven't been any more Grimm. Pyrrha and the others went on ahead. See, it's the cliff right over there."

Weiss turned around and ran into Blake, who had apparently been standing behind her left shoulder to listen to the conversation, but was clearly too close. "Personal space!" The other girl mumbled something incomprehensible and turned away. Sure enough, the northeast Beacon Cliff was right there, probably thirty meters away. "Let me guess: You want us to climb this thing. Well I'm not helping."

"Nope!" Ruby chirped. "We can just walk around it! There are actually much shallower slopes to either side."

The heiress was relieved, but kept her facial expression neutral. "Okay. We can do this." She felt something tickling her elbow and slapped away the offending limb. "Hands off, Yang!"

"You're welcome."

"Ugh!... Whoa, my clothes are clean. Did you guys-?"

"Don't you know? Dead Grimm parts dissolve into the air after a while," Ruby explained.

"Oh. Right."

"You still smell funny," Yang interjected.

Fortunately, the conversation ended there and they easily made their way around the cliff to a waiting Ozpin and Goodwitch. "Good, good," the headmaster began. "You're some of the first ones to return. Now, let's see your relics."

Ruby stepped up to Ozpin first, digging a red knight out of her hood. "Here ya go." Ozpin took the object and nodded, then put it in a bag Goodwitch was holding.

Yang stepped up next, reaching into her jacket – Weiss turned away with her face burning – and handed over her relic. "One yellow pony for you, Prof." The heiress figured it was safe to look now. Ozpin sighed and gingerly grabbed the object between his thumb and index finger, then handed it to Goodwitch, who almost dropped it in surprise. She got it into the bag without any further trouble.

Blake was next. Her relic was stuck onto the magnetic back strip that held her weapon. Apparently there was metal inside the chess piece. She put the black knight directly into Glynda – Stop, Weiss, she's just Goodwitch; no first names – Goodwitch's pouch.

"Um..." Weiss fidgeted. "Can you please not look? I have pockets inside my combat skirt... I usually don't need them so it's never been an issue..." To Weiss's surprise, everyone complied immediately and she removed the white knight from its safe spot. "Okay, here's my relic, Professor," she finished, handing him the small object.

"Good. You four may head to the dining hall for supper. I'm sure you're hungry after a day such as this. Just be sure to get to the amphitheater by eight o' clock for the announcement of teams. That's–" he looked at his watch – "an hour and fifty three minutes from now."

The four nodded and headed back toward Beacon.

"So whose team do you think I'll be on?" Ruby asked. "Ozpin didn't say anything about our in-pomp-you group."

"Impromptu," Yang corrected. Weiss was trying to get away from them, so she didn't bother saying anything herself. I sure hope I don't get stuck with any of these four, she thought to herself.

The heiress managed to lose them, or so she thought. Ruby zoomed in front of Weiss, almost tripping her. "Hey! You're not getting away that easily, Weiss! You're our friend now."

Friend. I've never really had one of those. I sure hope this isn't what it's supposed to feel like to have a friend. I'm already losing my mind and it's only been about twenty-four hours.

"Earth to Weiss! You're spacing out here!" Ruby screamed in her ear. Weiss stumbled away holding the permanently damaged organ with a hand.

"I just want to be alone for a while, okay, Ruby?"

Ruby almost looked like she was going to say something, but then her face turned dour and she slumped her shoulders and sighed. The caped girl turned and slowly tromped away. Weiss almost felt sorry for the girl, but restrained herself from doing anything stupid. She continued to the dining hall on her own, stopping at a restroom along the way(31).

---

There really weren't any options this time around. There was broccoli, which she took (It's good for my image), and then two piles of breaded boneless chicken wings. Those were a rather low-key food, so it wasn't something the heiress was accustomed to eating. The piles looked about the same, so she shrugged and took from the pile on the right. Then she grabbed a fork, decided against needing a knife, and snatched a bottle of skim milk from a refrigerator.

As Weiss came out of the food area, she spotted an empty booth in the corner of the room. She strolled over to it then sat down, starting with her broccoli. The vegetables were lightly buttered, but they were not cooked uniformly. Some were still really crunchy, while others were piles of mush. A few turned out to be okay, though.

"Sorry; I should probably leave you alone," came a voice next to Weiss. Blake had apparently been sitting in the corner booth the whole time, somehow staying in the shadows well enough that the heiress hadn't noticed her earlier. The girl slid around to the other exit of the seat and walked away with her tray.

As Weiss was watching the relieving yet disconcerting scene (Good, she should leave. But how did I not see her earlier?), she saw Ruby in the distance waving at her. But Ruby's memory kicked in and she stopped midway through a wave, then looked down with a pitiable expression.

The heiress turned back to her meal. The broccoli was gone. Now for the wings. She jabbed a morsel with her fork and bit off half of it. It was spicy! Now that she thought about it, the piles were slightly different colors. She'd taken from the somewhat orange pile rather than the completely brown pile. But... the girl didn't hate it(32)?

What!? Why don't I hate it? Spicy food is supposed to be bad! It's undignified, and messy, and encourages improper manners. But I... like it. No, no; that can't be right. I'm not allowed to like spicy food. But Weiss, it's so good. Voices, stop! Okay, let's get things straight. What do we know? I've never had anything spicy before and I was taught that it's bad. Now I ended up accidentally trying it, and I don't want to spit it out; in fact, I sort of want another. So I guess... Yeah, I like it. … Father doesn't ever need to find out.

Succumbing to the power of the food, Weiss devoured the rest of her meal a bit faster than she usually finished any food. She even chugged her milk, which caused her to belch. Luckily, she was ninety-nine point nine percent positive that nobody had seen or heard it, as she was tucked into the shady corner of the booth with magical concealing properties and nobody was looking at her.

An evil grin crept onto Weiss's face. Muahahahaha! Darn it; I used that laugh again... The girl facepalmed. Well, what time is it? Weiss spotted a clock across the room that read 6:40. Okay. Well, I could go clean Myrtenaster. I'm sure she's not too happy with her treatment today. To the lockers... which are just on the other side of the dormitory.

---

Seven-forty. Myrtenaster is looking pretty good; I suppose I could head to the amphitheater now, Weiss thought as she looked at a clock. She got up from the bench she had been using during the cleaning of her weapon and set off for the large glass-domed building.

Seven minutes later, Weiss Schnee stood in the third row of the ground level of the building. The front few rows on the ground level were reserved for new students, while upper-classmen stood behind them or sat in the stands above. The white-haired girl was rather nervous (Who knows who I'll get as teammates?), but kept her composure easily. She had been in far more serious situations before.

Members of the crowd were chatting loudly during their wait. The heiress thought she was developing a headache. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer before coming here, she considered. It felt like an eternity as she waited, but once Professor Ozpin walked onto the stage and the crowd's volume declined, it really did feel like it had only been a thirteen minute wait.

Lie Ren, who stood to the girl's left, was doing his best to hush Nora, who was on the other side of the boy. Weiss was thankful that he seemed to be a somewhat reasonable person. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to be on his team. But Pyrrha was still the person for whom she was hoping.

To Weiss's right was a fairly tall boy with short brown hair, peaked at the front, who was wearing many plates of armor. He was being a bit quieter than before, but he was still whispering with his friends.

"Let's begin," began the headmaster. "Today, we celebrate the official welcoming of this next year's students. They have mostly" – this last word disconcerted Weiss – "gone through years of rigorous training to qualify for a position in our Academy, and today they have completed the initiation. During this ceremony tonight, the new teams will be declared. Let us give a round of applause for our newest recruits."

The crowd eagerly followed Ozpin's request, although Weiss certainly kept her applause polite, unlike the brown-haired brute to her right.

"As a reminder, Professor Goodwitch will assign your new room numbers and distribute your Scrolls(33) at the side door once you have your teams. Moving along, the first team will consist of Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. Please come to the stage." The rude metal-clad pig to her right pushed past her to get to the stage. Wonderful. She'd probably learn to hate that team more than she did from these first impressions. "The four of you retrieved relics from the forest, mostly bishop and pawn pieces. The system's algorithm(34) has determined that based on your initial pairings, your performance, and the pieces you collected, you will be the first team in this new class. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL," which he pronounced as Cardinal, but the screen displayed the title as those four letters, "lead by Cardin Winchester." The audience applauded, but Weiss barely touched her hands together. It was just enough to trick the others into thinking she actually approved of them. "Please return to your seats."

"The second team: Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Pyrrha Nikos" – Weiss almost fainted on the spot. I'm not on her team! This is an outrage! – "please step forward."

The pair to Weiss's left rose and headed to the stage, with Ren walking respectfully and Nora skipping and singing a simple tune, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"These four worked together to bring down a deathstalker during the initiation," the headmaster continued, gesturing for applause. "You retrieved primarily rooks and bishops, and the system has computed that you will be this class's second team." This just reminded Weiss that she was not on Pyrrha's. "Starting today, you will be united under the name Team JNPR," which he pronounced as Juniper, "lead by Jaune Arc."

"Huh? L-lead by?" the boy questioned.

"Congratulations, young man," Ozpin answered. "You had the crimson bishop, and those are seeded to be more likely to get the leader position, although that's hardly the only thing taken into consideration. You have great potential," he added more quietly, but Weiss was able to make it out. Great. My piece was white. So I'm not with Pyrrha, and I probably won't even lead my own team. "You are dismissed," Ozpin finished.

"Now for our third team. Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and Weiss Schnee," – Great. – "please present yourselves at the stage."

Weiss forced herself to walk as calmly as possible to the stage. She even plastered a large smile across her face. Hopefully they're happy, she thought. She lined up between Ruby and Blake, and noticed her hands were clenched and shaking with rage. Hopefully that wasn't too visible.

"The four of you retrieved the four colors of knights – the best match we had. Now I have a few other things to add as well. The tracking cameras informed us that these four all quite literally collided with each other within a half second interval. This had quite the substantial effect on the seed. In addition, these four worked together to bring down a giant nevermore by acting as a human slingshot. It's quite the impressive battle if I do say so myself; I've posted it on YeTubbe for anyone who is interested." The heiress could feel her face heat up. "They were also the first to reach the forest temple. Beginning today, you will be known as Team RWBY," – which he pronounced as Ruby – "lead by Ruby Rose."

Weiss's face grew even more red, but she couldn't make a spectacle in front of the entire school, so she held back her anger.

"I'm so proud of you, Rubes!" Yang shouted, loud enough for the whole school to hear, as she glomped her sister.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year," Ozpin concluded. "Please return to your seats. Now for the next team..."

Weiss didn't hear another word the man said. She sneaked out to a small doorway in an obscure corner of the amphitheater and sat down on the floor between the sets of doors and allowed the tears to fall. Maybe Father was right. Maybe coming to Beacon wasn't as good an idea as I thought. Maybe I would be happier if I had just eased into leading the company and taken one of those snotty goons as a husband. This... This sucks. Everything is going wrong. The heiress heard feet pounding the floor to leave the building from other doors, but this one was safe since it was on the southeast side of the building, far away from the exits that lead to the ballroom and dorms.

She heard the door open: It was Ozpin. "Miss Schnee, is something wrong?"

The girl hastily wiped away her tears and sat up straight, looking up at the man. "No; nothing," she answered.

"You seem to be crying, Weiss."

"No, sir; it's just your imagination. A Schnee never cries."

"Weiss, you don't need to lie to yourself and to your authorities. I know you're distraught over the team selections, but I have never seen the algorithm make a mistake. Every team I've graduated since I first became headmaster worked together wonderfully, and the vast majority even stayed together as a team of hunters, carrying out missions as a group, after they left the Academy. I know it may be hard for you to adjust now, but these three will be your best friends for a very long time."

The heiress sat silently. She hoped that what he was saying could turn out to be true, but right now it really didn't feel like that was possible.

"Take this," Ozpin said, setting a Scroll on the floor next to her. "And your room number is four-thirteen. The Scroll is your key. I suggest you move your belongings soon; classes start tomorrow, after all. And a Schnee doesn't miss class or get failing grades, I presume."

Weiss couldn't deny anything the Professor said. The speech didn't make her feel any better about her situation, but she was motivated to get off the floor, pick up her new Scroll, and head off to her new living quarters.

---

Things were going decently for one Weiss Schnee. The luggage cart and all her belongings were still in the ballroom when she arrived, and there were no interruptions between the ballroom and the dormitory. The only slightly annoying part about the ordeal was waiting for an elevator.

The heiress found the door labeled '413' and dug her scroll out of her Dust pouch's belt(35). The lock deactivated with a satisfying click, and Weiss grabbed the doorknob to enter. However, it only moved about a millimeter. But it was unlocked! It clicked, and the light was green and everything.

"Excuse me. Is anyone in there?" she called through the door.

The response was not what she expected. "What's the password?" It was Ruby's voice.

"Seriously?!"

"Nope!"

Okay. Pretending to want a password for five seconds and then just letting me in anyway is a really strange game to play. "Good. Thanks."

"Nope!"

Oh. Nope, that's not the password. Mental sigh. "What's your problem, Ruby? Just let me in!"

"Nope!"

"I don't know what the password is, okay? You never told me, so how am I supposed to know? Are you going to give me a hint?"

The pause was a bit longer, but the answer was just as short. "Nope!"

"Team RWBY?"

"Nope!"

"Ruby is a dolt?"

"Nope!"

"Look; I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I'm sorry. I just want to get in."

Finally, the answer was different. "Do you really mean it?"

"I don't know! What did I do?"

"Everything."

"Ruby, I'm not sorry for being who I am, and I'm not sorry that you're an insufferable brat. But I think it would be in our best interests to try to get along since we're going to be stuck together for four years. I'm sorry for any headaches I've caused you over the last two days, but I wish you were just as sorry for all you've done to me."

"... Okay. I'm sorry, too, Weiss; you can come in now."

The heiress reached for the doorknob, but it was locked again. It must be on a timer... She got her scroll out again, unlocked the door, and swung it open.

There were four beds pushed as far to the back wall as they could be, but the room wasn't wide enough for them all. Three piles of stuff dominated a decent portion of the remainder of the floor space, and Ruby, Blake, and Yang were rifling through them.

"Ew. You still stink like Grimm," Yang let out.

"Would it kill you to shut up for five minutes?" the heiress responded.

"We have our own bathroom right over there if you want to not stink?" Yang cautiously questioned as she gestured toward the wall to the left of the entrance where Weiss spotted another door(36).

Weiss's eyes lit up. She hurriedly pulled the luggage cart into her new room, leaned Myrtenaster against it, yanked a briefcase out of the pile, and rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. The room ran parallel to the outside hallway rather than along the length of their living quarters, and there was likely a bathroom for the neighboring dorm on the outside wall side. There was a good-sized counter and sink along the hallway side, the toilet was next to that in the same orientation, and past both was the bathtub/shower combination, the gold to Weiss's eyes. Scanning over these things only took about two seconds, and then Weiss remembered her purpose. She slammed the briefcase down on the counter. Shampoo: Check. That was flung into the tub. Conditioner: Check. Same. And soap: Check. That hit its mark as well. Clothes: Un-check. Curtain closed: Check. Water: Check. Yessssssss.

Once Weiss finished, she realized she'd forgotten something. Some things, actually. … Towel and new clothes. There is no way that I'm stuffing my old clothes on, especially when I'm wet. Things like this didn't happen at home with my own bathroom and everything in its proper place... So. I suppose Weiss Schnee has to ask for help. How far I've fallen(37).

"Um, guys?" she tried. After several minutes without a response, she was beginning to get cold. They probably didn't hear; it was rather foolish to expect such a weak attempt to work. "Guys! Help!" The heiress waited several more minutes, but there still wasn't any response. "Help!"

Finally, the door clicked open. "Yo, why are you screaming in the shower?" Yang asked. Fortunately, she didn't poke her head through the door, although there was a curtain in the way anyway.

"I... I need some help..."

"Whoa, I didn't know you were into that!"

"Yang! No! I just was in such a rush that I forgot a towel and clothes. First and second cases in the second column."

"W-well, you see, there's sort of a problem with that..."

"You seriously spilled my stuff on the floor?"

"Nah, just kidding. Will do, kiddo."

A few seconds later, she could hear the chanting of, "Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper scissors!"

"H-hey, Weiss," came Ruby's voice. "I'll just set these next to the shower, okay?"

"Yes! That's fine, but get out of here." She heard feet walking, then two gentle thuds, then more walking, and then the click of the door. That actually went better than expected. Now for the moment of truth. She opened the curtain a bit and opened the nearest briefcase. To her surprise, they had actually taken the right ones. A towel! Salvation!

Once Weiss was once again decent, she cleaned up a bit, composed herself, and headed back to the main room with her dirty clothes in a wad. The lump of cloth was immediately deposited in a pop-up hamper that came out of another briefcase.

The others were staring. "Does privacy mean anything to you? I don't need your looks."

Unfortunately, that was cannon fodder for Yang. "I'm pretty sure nobody can live without my looks around. You like?"

"Shut up, Xiao Long."

"You only told me five minutes, and it's been twenty."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

Ruby supported Weiss. "Yang, please? We're a team now. You can't be mean to your team." Yang rolled her eyes and kept her mouth closed, so Ruby moved on. "How about we get to know each other a bit? We already know each other's names, so how about weapons?"

"Yep, Ruby and her weapons," Yang muttered. "These are Ember Celica, my Dual Ranged Shot-Gauntlets," she continued, holding up her wrists. "They're stored as bracelets, like so. But I can activate them and make them into gauntlets by flowing a bit of Aura into them. See?" They extended to cover most of her forearms and fists. "I probably shouldn't trash the room, but they can shoot twelve rounds before I have to reload. Next?"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Guys, you've already seen her, but this is Crescent Rose." Ruby unfurled the weapon and characteristically slammed it into the ground. Unfortunately, this was not earth or stone, but their floor. "Hehehe... Oops."

"You dolt! You're paying the damages."

Ruby gingerly picked her weapon out of the floor. "It's only a little hole. See? I can't even fit my hand through."

"I refuse to live in these conditions."

"U-um... Well, it's too late. Let's worry about that tomorrow." Ruby received a frosty glare from Weiss, but she continued speaking anyway. "Crescent Rose is a High-Caliber Sniper Scythe. My Uncle Qrow is the only other person I know of who has one. She's my sweetheart. Usually she's even a better friend than Yang."

"Hey!"

"She has the scythe mode, and that lets me plant... her... in... the... ground... Hehehe. And then she's more stable so it's easier for sniping. I can also press this button to swing the scythe head out so it faces sideways. Sometimes that's useful. And then she can partially fold up like this," – it compacted itself, hiding the scythe blade, but was still slightly extended with a shoulder rest and some grips – "so that she's more portable if I need to run and gun. And finally, she can fold up even more so I can carry her around on my magnetic belt harness. Who's next? I love weapons," she gushed.

"Okay, fine," Blake responded calmly. "Well as you can see," – she turned around so her back faced the others – "I have a magnetic shoulder pad to hold Gambol Shroud. It's what I call a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe. I can either take it off whole so it's a cleaver, better for seriously injuring a target with slashes," – she removed the entire weapon from the magnetic strip and held it out – "or I can just take out the core, the katana part." She put the weapon back on the magnet and grabbed lower on the hilt so only the inner section was removed. "This form allows me to stab things with it, although it's also better at precision cuts. I can also use the sheath as a second weapon." She took out the sheath and held it in her left hand, then put it back. "The katana can fold down into a pistol along two joints." She demonstrated the capability and held the gun in her hand. "It doesn't use any bullets, just Aura. The ribbon on the end can be used as a leash so I can throw it, and then either shoot things at odd angles or propel the blade on the pistol using the recoil. Sometimes both."

Weiss picked up Myrtenaster from its resting place and held the weapon aloft. "This is Myrtenaster. She's not just a sword; she's a Multi-Action Dust Rapier," the heiress lectured. "She may not be as mechanical and weird as yours, but she does have plenty of tricks. The Dust chamber has six slots, for red, blue, yellow, white, cyan, and violet, but I usually use the first three. It turns with a dial and then I can shoot Dust balls by pulling the trigger or it can just leak out when I use my Aura to either coat the blade or to imbue my glyphs. When I need to refill, it pops open on a hinge and then I can add a new cartridge. And don't forget that she's a rapier. It's a bit longer than a lot of kinds of swords, so the extra reach helps stab my enemies easier. Most rapiers are very flexible to help them withstand impacts, but Myrtenaster doesn't need to be. She's made of carbon nanotubes for the strength, and although those are flexible, the central bundle is coated with a relatively thick layer of specialized metal. The metal is not very flexible, but it's so strong that it's almost impossible for her to break. Plus the point is easy to keep really sharp, so the springiness isn't needed to drive her into a target,"(38).

"I still like mine the best," boasted Yang. "So, Ruby, Missus team leader, any other ideas?"

"Well, we sorta need to... unpack. And organize."

Reluctantly at first, the team set about claiming their own sectors of the room with decorations, shelves, and the like. Weiss put up a nice painting of Forever Fall forest and set up her school-issued desk and dresser with the necessary items. She also arranged the rest of her toiletries a bit better. That was about all Weiss needed to do.

The others took a bit longer. Ruby messed with the window curtain, using her scythe to butcher the poor thing; Yang had posters upon posters plus stacks of magazines; and Blake had way more books than the rest of the team combined.

"Hmm. I wonder what we should do with the beds," Ruby questioned. "If we just lay them side by side, there might be enough room, but it would be really cramped."

It was a valid argument. The beds were currently in a pile next to the 'remodeled' window, and they'd need the them for sleeping. The clock read 10:24; it had been a really long day, so they should probably head to bed as soon as they could. But as to answering Ruby's question, the heiress didn't have any novel ideas. She never had a space problem at home.

"Ooh!" Ruby squealed. "I know! We can get rid of the beds..."

"That's not exactly my kind of idea, Rubes."

"Shush! And replace them with bunk beds!"

"But," Weiss objected, "these aren't even built to be loftable. How do you propose we do that? Ask for different beds? The service people are probably asleep right now, like we should be."

"Oh, that's easy," said Ruby. "I have some rope here – never know when you'll need the stuff, my uncle always tells me." She held up a gigantic wad of the stuff.

"That sounds incredibly dangerous," Weiss lectured.

"And super awesome!" Yang added.

"I'm sure it could work," Blake confessed.

"Well... We should put it to a vote," requested Weiss. It was her last chance.

"We already did," said Ruby, "and it's three to one! C'mon, Weiss, let's do this!"

She reluctantly accepted her fate. They started with the rear left corner of the room. First, one bed was shoved all the way into the corner, which was simple with the four of them, but then came the hard part.

"Okay, I'll hold the bed," Yang said. "You three bring it over here, and I'll prop it up so you guys can tie it to the ceiling."

"Wait," said Ruby. "If we have to tie it up, we'll need some room to move around on the wall side. Let's move that one away from the wall a bit."

Once that simple task was finished, Yang laid on the repositioned bed and other three brought a second one over. It was a struggle to hoist it up to Yang's level, but they eventually made it. Yang showed off a bit, pumping the bed up and down as if she were weight lifting... which she was, in a way.

"I'm the smallest!" Ruby called.

"That's because you're under-age," stung Weiss.

"Weiss, it doesn't matter. I'm not leaving Beacon. But right now we have to get this bed tied up, and since I'm the smallest I'll need a boost."

"Couldn't we just use a table?" suggested Blake.

"Oh yeah; sure." Ruby pulled an empty desk over – the one that the cape-wearer claimed for herself – and stood on it. "Aww... I'm still not tall enough. You two need to come up here and lift me up." Weiss glared in return. How horribly unsafe! "Just do it!"

"Fine," the heiress succumbed.

Blake and Weiss climbed onto the desk to either side of Ruby and each grabbed one of the girl's ankles and knees. Ruby held onto their shoulders and sat on their forearms. "Annnnnd... up!" their leader commanded. They got her up to waist height, which ended up being close enough to the ceiling that they didn't have to readjust to get her higher. However, it still wasn't very stable.

"Hurry up, Ruby," Weiss requested.

"I'm trying! Just have to reach my drill..."

"Since when did you have a drill?!"

"Just let me work, Weiss. You're not helping."

"I am helping."

"Guys," Yang interrupted, "go have a fist fight outside afterward or something, but I'd prefer to not stay in this position all night."

White and red sighed. Ruby tapped on the ceiling until she found a stud, then pulled a drill off of her back magnet and made a hole there. She then squirted some cheap elementary school art glue into the hole and hammered a threaded bushing into it. Where she got these objects, Weiss did not know. Then she took a loop-ended bolt off from her magnet and screwed it into the bushing. A section of rope was threaded through the loop and tied off with a slight dangling end (Ruby laughed mischievously at the addition of this tail), and the long end was looped around the headboard of the bed several times then tied off with about two meters of excess(39).

"Next! Let's get the back on this side," Ruby instructed.

The three-piece miniature human pyramid disassembled, moved the desk backward, then reassembled. Ruby once again drilled a hole, added glue, inserted a threaded bushing, screwed in a looped bolt, and strung a rope through. It once again was tied off with a tail to it and Ruby giggled. She tied this rope around the footboard a few times, but it was too short to leave a long tail and she just tied it off and tucked in the nub at the end.

But then Ruby drilled another hole, this one in the wall. She went through all the mounting steps, then threw the rope under the bed to lay across the one Yang was laying upon. "Okay guys, down."

Weiss let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Ruby stood on the lower bed and reached up, throwing the rope over the upper bed several times. For some reason she was tying the frame to the mattress and covers, but Weiss didn't feel like complaining. Maybe Ruby could have the piece of patchwork... The girl left plenty of excess rope here as well.

"Other side," Ruby chirped.

The trio picked up their rig and moved to the center of the room. First was the foot of the bed. They assembled their height amplification structure, then Ruby set up a fixture in the ceiling. She snatched the long dangling end of rope that had been wrapped around the foot of the bed from the other side, then strung that up to the newest fixture. It once again had a tail almost a meter long, and Ruby once again snickered.

"Okay, guys, last corner. Yang, you can probably stop holding it now; there are three points secured."

The blonde exhaled sharply and dropped her hands to her side. To Weiss's great amazement, the bed stayed.

"But I can't sleep on that as it is now. We have to secure the last corner," Ruby added.

Well, Weiss thought, at least she seems to be advocating the idea that I will not be sleeping on that disaster. The group moved the table once again. This time, a fixture was used to attach the long dangling end from the first rope to this side of the ceiling, forming a rough V shape. But Ruby had one more rope and was determined to use it. She added another fixture slightly closer to the bathroom-side wall and tied this to the corner post of the bed.

"Okay, almost done!" Ruby cheered. "Now for the canopy!"

"Canopy? Are you serious? That is not necessary, Ruby," Weiss retorted.

"I don't get a canopy, I don't let you sleep tonight. Capisce?"

"Okay. Fine. You win this time, Ruby Rose."

They went around the four corners of the bed tying a sheet up with the dangling ends of rope Ruby had mischievously left earlier.

"Now for the other bed!" the leader exclaimed. "But wait," she mumbled, "I don't have any more rope..." The girl's expression completed its u-turn as she triumphantly shouted, "Blake has spare books!"

"Hey! You can't just take my stuff! What if I want to read those ones?"

"Well we can always trade them out if someone holds the bed for a while. Did you bring any that you've already finished though?"

"Yeah... I suppose. But I'll pick them, okay?" The black-haired girl walked around the room, picking a book off a shelf here and there, until she had four piles of equal height, each about ten high. In the meantime, Weiss and the sisters pushed a bed to the rear right corner of the room, leaving a bit of walking space.

"I don't know how well they'll balance, so everyone take a stack," Anti-Schnee continued, handing everyone a stack.

It worked significantly more easily than expected. There was now a decent spacing so when the second bed was added, the person who slept underneath wouldn't need to worry about hitting her head.

The group now lifted the final bed. As the shortest ones, Weiss and Ruby were on the wall side. They had to climb on top of the bottom bed while holding the upper one high enough to not collide with the books. Yang and Blake were tall enough that the bed's angle didn't cause as much trouble as it would have had the positions been switched. Then yellow and black also stepped onto the lower bed. The four repositioned themselves to be completely under the upper sleeping slab rather than at its edge, and then they were able to all slowly crouch down, lowering the upper bed's legs onto the centers of the book stacks. It balanced and miraculously stayed.

Everyone sighed and collapsed.

"What an evening," Yang mumbled. "Okay, guys, I'm going to bed."

"I call the awesome rope-y one!" said the leader.

"I call top on the other side, then," said Yang. "I always like to be on top, if you know what I mean." She wiggled her eyebrows, and Weiss had to turn her reddened face away.

"I'd like to watch over my books," Blake added.

"Fine; I can take the lower left one," Weiss conceded. "But I call first use of the toilet."

The others really didn't have much of a reason to disagree, so they nodded or shrugged. As the heiress used the throne(40), the others brushed their teeth. Weiss finished and the others rid themselves of the remains of their toothpaste. The rest took turns emptying their bladders, with some face washing in between, then everyone hopped into their pajamas (Weiss hid in the bathroom) and into their beds. Blake was the last one to bed, and flicked the lights off(41).

Weiss waited until everyone else had the steady breathing that signified sleep, then quietly sneaked out from under her covers. She found the suitcase she was looking for and opened it, removing a certain object and returning to bed.

What a day it's been. Goodnight, Mr. Fluffschnee(42).

---

Author's Notes:

(1) SDC: Schnee Dust Company. Should be fairly obvious. I don't feel that it needs to be written out completely every time, and the acronym should be familiar in Weiss's thoughts.

(2) Winter can't be the heiress: I have theories. Those may be proven wrong in Volume 3, but until then, I'll keep them. They'll come later in the story.

(3) to the south of Beacon's main gate: I don't think the orientation is ever described, but judging by Torchwick's map at the end of Episode 8, Beacon is east of Vale. The main entrance, however, is on the water side of Beacon, which seems to be south. Well, it's either north or south, since the river(?) by the cliff runs east to west based on Torchwick's map, but Ozpin tells the students to go to the northern end of the forest and they're not launched across the water, so this is obviously not the same cliff as that touching the water and it is obviously at the northern end of Beacon. Actually, the river sort of cuts off... so it could be an ocean bay on a stick. Anyway, since I thought Weiss would probably come on a private jet, that would mean she would land somewhere other than where the mass transport airships did. Vale is west, the waterside cliff is possibly south, and the the buildings are north, so east would be an available direction for something. The paths leading to Beacon intersect in a plus shape, so there is a path that goes that way. The forest is also that direction, but it's possible that the forest starts a little farther from the water-side cliff.

(4) "The heiress pulled the luggage cart with her right hand": There are servants in canon, but I wanted Weiss to more fully separate from her family when she came to Beacon. Plus time scales and travel logistics are not explained at all. I don't know where the servants went afterward, and I wanted to give Weiss more to do. The servants basically only give Weiss the opportunity to stomp off alone, and I really don't see a point. They are never mentioned again. Also! Right hand, because her left hand is doing the important stuff – groping her face – since she's officially left-handed.

(5) Christmas tree: Nobody mentioned Christmas in canon, but it's one of the better similes I could think of. Even if it doesn't exist on Remnant, we'll just pretend that the comparison still does.

(6) "No.": Usually, a comma is used inside a quotation if the sentence continues after the dialogue, but the period here is used for emphasis. (It's normal for question marks and exclamation points to stay instead of being replaced by a comma, but not for periods.) It's a final no, not a drawn-out or trailing-off one.

(7) "and hopefully a few steps after that. It would be nice if you'd all last at least a few weeks before you're put out of commission.": The rest of the speech is almost copy-pasted, but I felt like adding this to supplement the wonderful mood set by Ozpin's speech. That speech was gloriously unmotivational.

(8) "free time – a very foreign concept": Also a fairly foreign concept for basically every writer. Heh. I guess that works in more than one way. It does take a while to plan and write stuff that's actually good. What I originally meant, though, is that time jumps in stories are rarely done well. They may delay conflicts that probably should have happened earlier (like Jaunedice, which apparently is a couple of weeks into the semester). Some things are just too boring to write about, like "They just had regular school, learned stuff, did homework, had tests, kept themselves alive, and filled in the rest of the time with some sort of leisure," yet that can sometimes be written to be interesting, too.

(9) (descriptions): Nora and Ren.

(10) If anyone reading this is actually an expert at weapon cleaning and repairs and you care to give some better descriptions, go ahead. But that's highly unlikely, so just bear with my vague, possibly inaccurate descriptions.

(11) Shi-nee toothpaste: Canon.

(12) barely a reason at all: Please see the sarcasm in that sentence. It's just Weiss's arrogant thoughts, not omniscient narration. There are plenty of other instances of the narration spewing blatant lies, and it's all because Weiss doesn't know everything and likes denying some truths.

(13) tested: Don't ask how one would go about testing something like that. It's probably not quite literal. I should know about what I'm writing, but in this case I don't. Just seemed like a decent idea.

(14) dining hall is north: There's basically zero information on the relative locations of buildings, so I made a map. EDIT: Completely redid my maps and standardized directions and travel times. The air docks are at the very south, along the cliff that overlooks the river, which I believe is south of Beacon. A path leads from there toward Beacon, but splits off to the west and east. It leads through the two weird circular wall things that surround the park in front of Beacon, where the statue is. The path ends at a gatehouse thing, which is connected to a wall that surrounds all of the rest of Beacon. Farthest south, though with some gardens in between, is the amphitheater for duels and announcements. North of that, with a bridge in the air and a path on the ground connecting them, is the tower, which officially (according to a facebook Q&A) has the CCT in the lower floors and Ozpin's office (I say all administrative offices) in the upper floors. I also decided that the tower contains a hospital. East of the path between the tower and amphitheater is the library. North of that, sort of in line with the tower, are apartments for the professors, although there are some other buildings in between. The rest of the eastern half of campus is random lecture halls and other buildings that I may eventually decide on. There are also a few buildings north of the tower, but not very many. To the southeast and southwest of the tower are a bunch of gardens (inspired by the first day of class episode). The dorms are in the northwest corner of campus, with the locker room attached to it to the east. Just south of the dorm, which is really large, is the dining hall. There are a bunch of random buildings that fill in gaps, except the ballroom is in the southwest of the amphitheater and the training arena building/gym is located just northwest of that. Amity Colosseum, the location of the Vytal Tournament matches, can actually fly, according to Volume 3 World of Remnant 1. So it doesn't have a location on the Beacon grounds. It looks like it actually flies over the giant river south of Beacon. The Emerald Forest is north, northeast, and east of Beacon, while there are mountains to the northwest – between Beacon and Vale. (In Volume 2 when Ruby talks to Penny, I am completely sure that there is no way they ran to Vale. It's WAY too far.) Vale is definitely to the west of Beacon, and lays along the coast. North of Vale, perhaps north of Beacon past the mountains, is Forever Fall Forest. Please find yourself the good terrain map of Remnant. Vale is on the big square-ish peninsula on the northwest side of the big banana-shaped continent.

(15)(a) I'm assuming they don't pay for food or scan any cards. It's provided by Beacon. Nobody ever mentions money when talking about the school, so I think it's possible that the school is free and gets support from current hunters and huntresses and Vale's government. The students just have to pass the qualifications and they can get in. This also explains why Blake would be able to attend, unless she stole several years' worth of tuition from the White Fang when she left them. Spoiler alert: I developed some more Blake going to Beacon details that will be coming sometime in the not-too-near future. It won't account for money, though.
(b) Also, you'll notice that my description of the dining hall doesn't exactly match the one in Volume 2 Episode 1 (or even earlier episodes, although V2E1 has the clearest views of it). This is because their food miraculously appears, and I wanted to explain that. Therefore, you get a different cafeteria, rather than a separate food distribution building. Makes the most sense to me. I doubt anyone cares about that "canon" point.

(16) Meh. Not going to fully visually describe every character the first time we meet them anymore, unless they're supposed to be really unknown. And... That sort of doesn't apply anymore, so what have I accomplished with this Author's Note?

(17) Snowflake: In canon, he says Weiss. There's no evidence that she told him her name, and if he doesn't know anything about Pyrrha I wouldn't expect him to know much more about Weiss. (Pyrrha should be a larger part of pop culture IMO, while Weiss is just the child of a really important rich guy. She probably gets some media attention, but assuming everyone knows who she is is stupid to me.) Therefore, Snowflake. !Lol. Thought of a worse nickname. Snow Globe. There would be a puddle of Jaune on the floor if he said that one. Dem fat jokes...

(18) you and me would make a great one: I guess that's how Jaune talks, but "I" is proper in that case, not "me".

(19) I censor myself and the characters I write. There's no need for expletives. Feel free to swear all you want, but it really is just an option – one that I don't like.

(20) Anti-Schnee: Weiss still never learned Blake's name. She uses plenty of nicknames for the other two as well, though. I plan to fix this soon. I don't like introducing everything at once, so things like people's names will trickle in slowly. Also, I won't be providing nearly as much drama between characters (like Ruby and Weiss in the forest), because I don't need instantaneous dramatic rises and falls in relationships. Canon goes the route of childish bickering that they must get over, while this story goes the route of holding onto a cold grudge, plus there are plenty of extra things to further the grudge. Basically, I don't create and fix the problem all at once, and I don't have to since nothing needs to be squeezed down to fit into a season.

(21) shifted so the blue cartridge aligned with the left side of the blade: See 2:17-2:18 of episode 6. The type of dust in use is the one that faces the left side of the blade. Episode 8 also shows the chamber rotating, but it doesn't stop with blue facing the side we can see (the right side). I believe it turns three positions past where the blue faces us, which would put the blue at the left side of the blade. She then casts ice stuff. Seems to agree. In the same episode, after she freezes the nevermore's tail, she lands and we can see the left side of Myrtenaster, which is has the blue cartridge showing. Agrees again. I'll continue watching for other instances of Dust use in later episodes to check whether it stays this way. (I've watched Volume 1 and 2 three times already, but I mean as I'm looking closer to re-evaluate the episodes to write parallel events.) This is an awfully strange conclusion, as weapon schematics show a Dust exhaust port at the top side of the blade. Perhaps there's an angled nozzle thing. *Throws hands up in the air.*

(22) As far as they know, Grimm don't reproduce, but I think it's fine for them to have similar biology to the animals they resemble... Basically, there's no defining reason why they can't, and it can be used for humor, so I did it.

(23) crimson, gold, ivory, and ebony chess pieces: I wanted more colors. It's a little important since they're allowed to have larger groups during the initiation, but they still need to be divided into teams of four. That's clearly irrelevant when there aren't any groups of 3, 5, or more that I've mentioned, but it makes the system safer. And now all of RWBY get to have their own color, rather than only having gold and black as options. Whoops, spoiler. But I don't think anyone honestly cares about something so small. Whatever.

(24) According to my interpretation, no, Weiss couldn't just use fire dust to see. There's nothing flammable down there, so the only fuel source would be the dust itself. She would run out very quickly.

(25) died from ichor loss: I think it's a good idea to call Grimm blood ichor. We don't really ever see it in the show, but I'd assume they have it and it's just not shown because that could probably be considered gore, which may be above RWBY's intended ratings. If not, oh well. It's not going to cause any huge plot contradictions. At least, I don't have any reason to believe Rooster Teeth could possibly make Grimm blood or ichor or whatever actually significant to the plot. To clarify, I claim it's murky red. Red mixed with black. The insides of chopped Grimm are red, but they deserve to have some black goo, too.

(26) It's the area where they fight the nevermore and deathstalker in episode 8. I don't believe in abysses, so it's a really big natural crater across which some ancient civilization decided to build stone bridges. Yeahhhhh don't know how that's feasible at all, but it's a fantasy world. Huh. I'd be impressed if they went back here for plot to explain it. Spoiler alert: Maybe I'll do that... Nice piece of self-inspiration.

(27) Blake is the resident ninja, so I give her most of the small observations. I don't think anyone could complain.

(28) scorpion-like Grimm: Big stuff like deathstalkers and giant nevermores are probably too rare for civilians and lower-education people to know by name. Same goes for the weird underground Grimm I invented – and yes, those will get names. Weiss just doesn't know them yet. Otherwise, I think Grimm Studies class would be useless. If everyone knew about every kind of Grimm, what would be the point? Sure, some details. Still.

(29) Going out of Weiss's point of view a bit. There's no way she could see all of that at once, but I wanted to show a bit of everyone's capabilities.

(30) deceased beast: Ah, the rhyming! It hurts! It hurts so badly! No, no more poetry! Stop that, me!

(31) stopping at a restroom along the way: Probably 90% of authors forget these things exist other than for creating awkward scenes.

(32) Bravo if you could see this coming. I had it planned all along. It was inspired from "Starting at Checkmate" by Novandalis. In my story, I felt like it should be something she only discovers once she leaves her home, ergo this scene, although the timing is ambiguous in the inspiring story.

(33) I personally think Scrolls are a school and/or hunter thing. They have weird combat statistics, and it seems that the communication capabilities are very limited. Therefore, I decided to give the characters their Scrolls after initiation. If canon clarifies that this is not true, I'll change it. Hmm... Spoiler alert: I have twelve years to deal with, so I suppose upgrades are in order. (Just thought of that now, though.)

(34) the system's algorithm: Yes, you heard me right. I personally think it's rather humorous to assign teams by weighted probabilities and a pseudo-random number generator instead of just having it be simple. It came to mind shortly after deciding to do away with pairs. B-T-Dubs, the computer does it all on its own. Yeah, yeah, computers run on code, so every possibility should need to be categorized and scored with a formula, but this thing doesn't. It invents numbers as it goes. It's magically derptocious like that.

(35) I have the scroll go in her belt because she's not doing any extravagant journeying or fighting. She had to use the combat skirt's pockets before because that would protect the relic better. I guess I just wondered whether there were any pockets on the thing and decided "why not?", then wanted to implement it. This is hopefully a satisfactory answer.

(36) Confirmed! At around 2:00 in Volume 2 Chapter 3, you can clearly see the door on the "left" side of their room. It's on the wall with Weiss's and Ruby's beds, not the wall with the window or the wall with the exit. Ironically, that's where I've always imagined it as I read fan fics, and I never pointed it out to myself before. That scene also influenced my decision to put them on the fourth floor.

(37) Whoops. Didn't mean to invent the first slightly awkward bathroom scene there, but I was in WWWD (what would Weiss do) mode and thought, "She's in a hurry. Let's grab some cleaning stuff and shower." Only after I realized that she only grabbed one briefcase did I realize one briefcase wouldn't contain toiletries and towels and clothes. And I literally used a random number generator to decide who would have to do the deed, since I thought there were enough reasons for and against each person doing it.

(38) Sorry if you got bored with those monologues about weapons, Q_Q. But hopefully it was at least a little interesting, and it most certainly is beneficial for them to know a bit about one another's fighting styles and abilities.

(39) For images of the bed, V1E9 2:20 and V2E3 2:00 have two angles. I attempted to build a procedure to perfectly follow the canon design. It's a headache, I tell you. I thank my dad for having me watch his similar projects when I was a kid so that I had some starting points for this project. (Well, his projects were similar in that they involved drilling holes in the wall and/or ceiling to solidly attach... stuff. There was no rope-aided bed lofting. He's done plenty of other construction-related projects as well, but that's sort of irrelevant. He's a really knowledgeable guy in so many topics I can't keep track of all of them.) I'm 99.99% positive there's a better arrangement for the ropes that tie a bed to a ceiling than what Ruby decided on. Does she ever wash her sheets? Meh. Canon. Not going to add my dad as an OC to fix it. Lol.

(40) As the heiress used the throne: Darned stupid bad puns. I blame my dad for teaching me that nickname. But it fits sooooo well to the situation. I can't help it. Sorry, guys.

(41) I warned you of spoilers in the intro Author's Note. But Blake obviously tried to be the last one, since her low-light vision makes the task safer for her than for the others.

(42) Mr. Fluffschnee: No spoilers. That's obviously meant to create speculation and suspense. Why did I even footnote this? Whatever.

(43) two Lien: Like "two cents". Lien is Remnant's currency, and is first mentioned by Shopkeeper in episode 1.

(44) gave point: Fencing/sword fighting term for "stab". It's mostly been out of use for several centuries, but if there are swords on Remnant why not use it?

That's a LOT of footnotes...

I could've split this into three chapters, but the 'Great' theme held them together too stronklie for my heart to will them to be split apart.

In case you're wondering, stuff about characters outside of Weiss's POV is mostly the same as canon, or what it would obviously have to be to get to later points (like in the forest temple). I'm not doing an omniscient POV, so you get what you see. This allows me to skip some things, although I'll include certain important skipped plot points in conversations. Cough. Jaunedice. There will be some POV switches in the story, but most of it will be Weiss's. Weird, since Blake is actually my favorite character? No, not really. It keeps her thoughts hidden.

Metric system FTW. It's all base-10, so there's no "multiply by 12" or 16 or whatever to get to the next larger type of unit. If you don't know it, just use online converters. One meter is a little over a yard (three feet), there are 2.54 centimeters to an inch, a kilogram is about 2.2 pounds, time is the same in both, and C = (F-32)*5/9 is the conversion from Fahrenheit temperature to Celsius. I won't go so far as to use Kelvin temperature (C-273.15), which is an absolute temperature scale (physically impossible to go to or under zero), as that's too science-y for everyday use. I don't think anything else would really be used in a story that doesn't include characters doing scientific work...

Just as a note, we're in the pre-"Twelve Hours" stage. The "Twelve Hours" is part of canon and was my inspiration for the title. If you recognize the significance of that duration of time, good for you. That's when there will be truly significant changes and additions to the plot. I suppose it's also worth noting that the days, weeks, months, and years are in linear order after each other starting at the "Twelve Hours", although they overlap (the weeks include the days, for instance).

… It's surprising how long it took to research Beacon's location, orientation, and building layout. The info is BAD. I also got distracted for a while looking up stuff about cleaning weapons, and I also had to get the wording for some conversations. There are a lot of really brief details that are shown in the animation that take quite the effort to include and explain in writing. I've probably spent 32-38 hours on this chapter (didn't track time the first two days), although some of that is planning for future chapters. I'll include more precise numbers as a statistic at the beginning of later chapters. Muahahahaha.

You know what's annoying? Trying to fall asleep, then getting wonderful ideas for the story you're writing. It's happened to me every day from the original ideas for this story until I posted it (and probably past that). Can't I just sleep? Q_Q

Random commentary on Red Like Roses Part II since I've been listening to it for a large portion of this chapter and therefore had time to 'thunk' up some ideas. It's clearly meant to be Ruby's POV since it's continuation of her trailer song and uses rose symbolism. However, there are a couple bits that haven't really been shown to be true, like Ruby constantly remembering and hating that her mother is dead. Most of the time she seems to accept it. What I really wanted to say, though, is that the song also applies to the other characters to some degree. Weiss's mother died, too. We don't know the exact circumstances, but she probably didn't 'sacrifice' herself, but a lot of the rest could still apply. We don't know anything about Blake's parents, so it's a little bit of a stretch. However, some parts of it could also apply to Adam. He certainly could be spiritually dead in her mind, although some of the very direct references to death definitely don't apply. This could also apply to Yang's missing mother (probably left rather than dying), other than literal death.

Special thanks goes to my brother for proofreading this, although there weren't very many necessary changes.

Chapter Synopsis: Weiss comes to Beacon, where she hopes to be free of many of the burdens her family has placed on her. Ruby and Blake annoy her. The next day is the initiation. They fight Grimm, aren't too great at teamwork until they kill the nevermore with a collaborative attack, and everyone is assigned their teams. They move in. Wow. I'm impressed how short I made the synopsis. There are plenty of added scenes, though, and I'm pretty sure some scenes could be considered to be way overboard on detail.

Changes Synopsis: Essentially every conversation has different wording... Added details immediately before members of RWBY came to school (conversation between Weiss and Mr. Schnee). "A few" setting details are clarified or changed. Food exists other than as a plot device for important conversations. The "pairs" for initiation are more loosely defined. The entire initiation is quite different, although the general destinations and goals remain the same. There's post-assignment stuff added before they go to sleep.

Edits: 1. Standardized Mr. Schnee to be called "Father" or "my father", as capitalization was inconsistent. Changed maps, directions, and distances a bit. 2. Heavily edited the introductory notes. November 16, 2016: Changed the characters list to account for the beginning of Volume 4 and my plans to the end.

Next update: Lol if I know. I've been pretty inconsistent in the past, and I don't think I'll quite keep up the same writing schedule as when I wrote this chapter. What's next will certainly not be as long of a section, so it could be a week or less even with a relaxed schedule, but I could decide to release two chapters at once so it's not just a couple thousand words. I love reading finished stories because you can remember everything as you go, but I'm not posting this when it's complete. However, I would like to maintain larger chunks. Result: 3 days.