My first fan fiction in years. It will get better when I get back into the swing of things. Despite Ren and Nora being close, they are not a couple in this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY

Chapter 1

HI~~! My name is Nora Valkyrie, and today is my very first day at Beacon! I am ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC! The birds are shining and the sun is chirpi- sorry, on a good day, my thoughts run so fast that it's easy for words to get mixed up. Today is going to be different. Today is going to be an AMAZING DAY! Ren and I are at the school of our dreams. We are going to meet our future teammates, who are going to be SUPER awesome and are going to love us, unlike those smelly brats from back home. We are going to become huntsmen and make a difference. Ren and I are going to kick some serious Grimm butt-

Speaking of whom, I peer over him as he sleeps peacefully in the medium blue sheets of our shared room. His face looks so at peace in his sleep, and I almost envy that. His mind isn't being drawn and quartered by both excitement and nervousness about the future. He is able to sleep so calmly in a bed of his own in this room where the ceiling doesn't leak without worrying about when the shoe is going to not only drop, but fly out the window in a glorious fashion leaving broken glass and chaos in its wake. His dark hair is splayed against the pillow, but always manages to fall into place when he wakes. It would be a crime to wake him, but if we're late we'll seem less awesome.

"WAKE UP LAZY BUTT!" I shout. "It's mo~rning! It's morni~ng! It's morning! I~t's morning!" I sing in glee. Despite being my best and only friend, he the slight frown on his face tells me he is less than pleased with me waking him up, but he can't become a huntsman if he just sleeps in bed all day.

Ren is an Asian male, which was not common back home. He has dark hair and the prettiest violet eyes EVER! He wears white pants and a dark green long-sleeved tailcoat shirt with gold and black trim to preserve the practice of his heritage. As he goes to brush his teeth, I decide that I'm not comfortable with his non-morning person nature and proceed to fill the silence, "I cannot believe we've been at Beacon a full 24 hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything. I mean you are the perfect student, and I'm- well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know!" I prattle at break neck speeds that, if it were later in the day, Ren would tell me are capable of making most grimm dizzy trying to follow. I know most people would have snapped at me to shut up by now, but I am SO excited and SO nervous that I might explode.

"We've been friends for soooo long, what are the odds we'd still be together?" I ask while combing my hair with my special light pink hairbrush bearing my family symbol, a hammer with a lightning bolt on it. Then I realized what I asked before correcting, "Well not together-together. Not that I'm not saying you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that's just weird, right?" People have been assuming we were together-together since we were kids. Ren means a lot to me, but neither of us sees the other as more than an annoying older sister or silly younger brother. To pair us up together just seems so gross.

Next stop was breakfast. We actually got PANCAKES! It wasn't my birthday, yet there were actual pancakes! ON MY PLATE! "What was I thinking?" I ask, pancake suspended from my mouth. In my excitement over the pancakes, I lost my train of thought. I notice some of my nervousness has made it into his eyes. That cannot happen. I MUST distract him before he goes too far down that dark void his mind visits when too far into thought. "And so, I hope we end up on the same team together!" I speak with my mouth full, though he's used to my quirks. Still, I gulp down the pancake before continuing, pointer finger raised towards the heavens! "ooh! We should come up with some sort of plan! To make sure we end up on the same team together!" I explain my brilliant new idea. "What if we bribe headmaster?" I ask with the first idea that pops into my head before the possibility of expulsion follows. "No, that won't work."

I pondered and pondered as we headed towards our lockers, trying to think of an idea and waiting for Ren's special "make me capable of dealing with these other humans at these unholy hours" tea to kick in. It was gradually coming about. He no longer looks like he is miserable.

"I know! We'll have some kind of signal! Like a distress signal! A super secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?" I ask.

"Nora," Ren's calm voice responds to me.

"Yes, Ren," I reply.

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise," he answers in a calm fashion as he slips his bamboo guns into his sleeves. He has always been the yin to my yang. The black and white kind. Not that blonde girl I saw yesterday with the adorable younger sister. Not the romantic kind either because we are not together-together.

"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!" It may not be the world's greatest plan, but it is my best at this point in time because there is no way I am going to be on a different team. We worked too hard to be able to go to the same school. There was no way we were going to be on different teams.

"Come on, Nora. Let's go," he says as we head out to our destiny while passing that Yang girl and her sister, Ruby.

~x~

After we had wandered around for a good fifteen minutes, we finally found Beacon Cliffs. I am never trusting Ren's directions again. We spent seven minutes of those minutes walking around in circles by this huge oak tree. Anyway, we each chose a platform. My platform was between Ren's and this guy wearing mostly grey's. Something about him looked kind of grumpy. I hope he isn't on my team.

Anyway, the view from the cliff was beautiful. The forest was so lush and green looking. It was full of life and did not need to worry about being strong because it already was. Each tree was at least forty feet tall, some searching 200 feet, yet they all look so tiny from here. The streams looked like the lazy crayon scribbles I did as a toddler, yet sparklier, like no pollution has touched them. I hope I get a chance to explore every inch of that forest. Every tree, every stream, even those far off mountains. I hope one of them is claimable. I'll stick my flag there and call it "Mt Valkyrie." There Ren and I will slay all the Grimm and create our own outpost.

My plans of world domination from my mountain outpost were interrupted by Ozpin. He hooks so cool with those round, tinted glasses. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda then picked up seamlessly from Ozpin's speech. It was as if these two had known and been working together for longer than most huntsmen. Her blonde ringlets and glasses maintained their disciplined form on her face, despite the slight breeze. "Now, I am 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."

There was a small sound from Ruby before Ozpin continued. "Your teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it will be in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." YEAH! I got this covered! Ren and I work amazingly together! "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.

I looked to Ren and beamed, "See, I told you-"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern part of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. Or you will die." My smile grew bigger and brighter while Ren wore his party-pooper face. The Drama! The Danger! I CAN'T WAIT! "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find the ruins of an ancient temple containing relics at the end of the path. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Any questions?"

After that I kind of tuned everyone out as I prepared to launch! When the moment came, there was nothing like it! The sensation of flying makes me feel invincible! "WHEEEEEEEEE!" Muahahahahahaha!

My name is Nora Valkyrie, and today is AMAZING!