Disclaimer - I do not own RWBY. That should be obvious, this is a fanfiction site. This story is written to be a parallel to existing canon. It will not interfere with the main story in an undue manner, even when it catches up. Or at least it shouldn't, within reason...
Chapter One
"None of them should have been allowed to set foot in Beacon."
"And yet they have."
"It's not too late, Ozpin. Just send them home. No good will come of this."
"Perhaps. Then again, nothing worthwhile is ever gained without a little risk."
"Professor... this is irresponsible."
"Indulge me just this once, my dear Glynda. I've seen a lot in my lifetime, enough to know when taking a chance is really more of a sure thing."
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"That anyone, given the proper training and motivation, can be a hero. And that sometimes, that's exactly what they needed all along."
Miles above the Emerald Forest, a bullhead circled slowly.
Inside over a dozen hopeful students shuffled nervously, none yet out of their teens, and each carrying their own personal lethal weapon; some simple and others more absurd.
These were the prospective students of Beacon, a combat academy for budding Huntsmen and Huntresses, and they were about to receive their first real test.
Aside from rumors, none of them had a clue what it was.
Separated from the pilot by a steel door, the students were lined up in a row facing Glynda Goodwitch, professional Huntress and the Teacher assigned to brief them for the task they were about to undertake. She did not look impressed.
Miss Goodwitch adjusted her spectacles and examined the motley crew before her.
"You may have heard that huntsmen and huntresses in Beacon and beyond typically operate in teams."
She began to pace up and down past each fidgeting teen.
"Allow me to quash any further speculation. You will each be put into teams. Today."
Pausing to glare at a blonde teen who was not so subtly adjusting his weapon's scope, Glynda waited patiently while he scrambled to sling it back across his back, smiling sheepishly.
"Since your teams are going to be with you for your duration of your studies at Beacon and beyond, this is an important process.
So naturally, once the test commences, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next three years. Minimum."
A low rumble of mutterings broke out at this declaration.
At the furthest edge of the lined up hunters a red head scowled, obviously resisting the temptation to speak up against this ridiculous rule.
Instead, he cast a glance across the rest of the line, seeing annoyed, disconcerted, even frightened faces. Obviously being forced into working with someone you might not get along with was not a popular concept.
Pausing to regard an unusual reaction in the form of a shorter, purple haired boy in a flak jacket who in contrast to those around him was conspicuously silent, instead sporting a frown and regarding Goodwitch in a calculating manner, the red head straightened up and waited for the clamor to die down.
"There is a smaller number of you than usual, so it may be harder to find your respective partner than it normally would. That being said, these woods are currently experiencing the highest level of grim activity in a decade, so it is in your best interests to pair up as quickly as possible." Glynda continued.
Some faces blanched at the idea that they might be torn apart before they even found anyone at all.
Heedless to the discomfort she had caused, Glynda plowed on.
"The objective of this test is to pair up, then find the temple hidden somewhere in the forest. There you will find a set of relics. Each pair is to retrieve a single relic between them, then return to the extraction point at the cliffs.
Do not hesitate to exterminate any grimm you encounter, or you may well die." She pointedly glanced at the blonde, who was looking more antsy by the second.
"Any questions?"
A tan boy in a tacky grey hoodie raised his hand.
"So... what do you mean by 'landing strategy' exactly...?"
Affixing the boy with a piercing stare that caused him to shrink away, Glynda casually adjusted her glasses with a palm.
"We're looking into installing personal catapults along the clifftops, but that's a year out at best..."
The boy opened his mouth as though to remark that that hadn't answered his question at all.
"So I'm afraid your stop is right here."
The tan boy blinked owlishly. "...Huh?"
"Good luck." She said ominously, pulling open the door to the cockpit, stepping in, and shutting it behind her.
With that, the ramp lowered, and the howling wind drowned out everything else.
Then the bullhead tilted upward sharply, and suddenly everyone was falling.
Free fall was not a comfortable feeling, Carmine concluded.
Having been unceremoniously dumped out the side of the bullhead only to discover to his derision that they were more than a little bit high up, the red head was not pleased with the feeling in his gut that falling to his death was causing.
He wasn't screaming aloud, but his face was contorted all the same.
As he plummeted faster and faster, Carmine squinted around to try keep track of the other falling students, much more calmly than he felt.
It wasn't easy with the whipping wind making his eyes water, but he spotted a few others further ahead of him, all closer to the ground.
A flash caught his eye - one of the students had discharged his weapon towards the ground.
Another flash, then another.
Blinking the moisture out of his eyes, Carmine was able to recognize the perpetrator as the hoodie wearing guy who had spoken up on the bullhead.
Clearly he was using the recoil of his weapon to slow his descent and angle towards a more favorable landing spot.
The bright flashes were unusual though for a weapon of that size- wait, was that a railgun?
Then his attention was drawn towards something even stranger.
Up ahead, a girl in a green combat skirt was... stepping on air?
Every so often, the teen would abruptly slow and change course, each time kicking off of nothing and somehow manipulating her descent.
'Now that has to be cheating somehow...' he thought, but on closer inspection he spotted something appearing beneath her feet. A semblance of some kind so.
Looking around, he realized he had lost track of everyone else. Moreover, he was going to shoot past those two in moments since he had much less control over the speed he was dropping at.
Gritting his teeth, Carmine noticed he was already getting a little too close for comfort to the treeline.
Deciding it was now or never, he tucked in his arms and legs and sped up significantly, shooting through the foliage like a rocket.
Further back and still in the air, Baz had fallen behind just about everyone.
Some might consider this a disadvantage, but to Baz this was a fortunate position to be in.
The first thing he did was spread his limbs apart to stabilize his descent, slowing somewhat.
Next, he began to survey his surroundings.
Eyes glowing a pale blue, he took in the location of every falling student, every visible clearing, multiple spots where there were signs of grimm...
Committing what he could to memory, Baz then focused on the task at hand - not becoming a pancake.
He had little doubt that his aura could protect him from an impact at terminal velocity. Once.
However, this was a test. It would be remiss of him not to mitigate any aura loss that he could otherwise avoid, especially this early.
Choosing a particularly leafy canopy, Baz drew his weapon.
A compact SMG loaded with mid caliber dust propelled rounds, Riptide was brought to bear as Baz chose his first target.
He wasn't rally aiming at the treetop that was annihilated by a hail of bullets. Nor was it his intention to send the family of birds roosting in the next target fleeing in panic as it was shredded apart in a shower of splinters.
No, the purpose of these bursts was to utilize the recoil to steer towards his intended landing spot.
Crashing through the leaves, Baz instantly spotted what he was looking for - a heavy set horizontal branch, as wide as the average human body.
Bringing Riptide around in an arc, the SMG unfolded from the lower grip to snap into place and extend a sleek steel sword-breaker.
Ignoring the twigs and branches pinging off his aura, Baz swung Riptide into the branch, hooking into it and bringing his fall to almost an abrupt halt, using the momentum to swing forward and up a little bit, yanking Riptide loose, before dropping to the ground in a roll.
Springing to his feet, Baz cautiously surveyed his surroundings, before relaxing somewhat.
Eyes fading to a darker blue, he brushed himself off and checked his scroll.
He'd used barely any aura on that maneuver.
'Good. Now to look for-'
Baz's train of thought was cut off abruptly as he heard a not so distant boom.
It didn't take a genius to figure out where it had come from either, as a shower of dust hung in the air directly ahead of him.
Taking a moment to consider ignoring the event and skirting around it entirely, he sighed and picked up a light run in the direction of what hopefully wasn't a student slammed face first into the ground.