Chapter 2 of RWBY Heroes…..Initiation begins.

Horatio rolled out his sleeping bag, sliding it as close to the giant glass windows as was permitted. He had always found the night and a clear view of the moon oddly calming. After the opening ceremony speech from Professor Ozpin the new students had been advised that they would sleep in the ballroom to rest for the next day initiations.

The faculty had divided the room up with the women sleeping on one half and men on the other. Night had fallen and already nearly everyone was set up with rows of sleeping bags spanning the room.

Horatio grumbled as he prepared for bed, he had been unprepared to sleep in such a public area, all he had available on hand were his lounge pants covered in ducks. Thankfully no one pointed them out as it seemed Jaune's Bunny pajamas had drawn off their attention, he would have to thank him for that later.

"Nice ducks," the snide remark had come from Roland whom Horatio had set up beside. He had to admit the guy was cordial enough, yet noticed that Roland never seemed to stop making jokes or trying to make others laugh. It was a quality he both found admirable and simultaneously made him want to knock him through a wall.

"This coming from the guy with hearts all over his pants," Horatio retorted, grabbing the enrollee in a friendly headlock. After a few seconds of pointless thrashing, Roland threw in the towel and was released.

"Aren't you nervous at all?" Roland finally asked, leaning back on his makeshift bed. "I mean we'll be doing who knows what in the forest tomorrow, our whole huntsman careers may hinge on our actions."

"Can't be nervous," he answered quickly. "That can cause hesitation and that would just improve the chances of making a mistake."

"Or prevent you from making one." Horatio glared sideways at him, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"I mean, the Huntsmen in the stories never hesitated. If they had, things wouldn't have ended so well for everyone. At least that's how the old tales show it."

Roland only nodded, he supposed everyone in the room must've looked up to someone in the fairy tales of huntsman and huntresses, why else would they be there?

"I saw your shield, magnificent craftsmanship. I bet you could stop an Ursa Major in its tracks with that."

"That depends on the person holding it, everyone here has been so strong. I became a huntsman to protect people; I have a long way to go to keep up."

"Don't worry," Horatio reached over and gripped Roland by the shoulders, pulling him awkwardly close. "I will train you myself! With me showing the way you'll be ripped in no time. You may even be able to stop a punch from that Yang girl."

Roland blushed at the mention of Ruby's sister, turning away to hide it from him.

"That's gotta be the best punch…line I've ever heard," he replied after composing himself, turning back to Horatio with a huge grin on his face.

Horatio face palmed with his free hand.

"What did you just say?"

Roland turned around, his eyes shooting out of his head. Standing over him was none other than Yang Xiao Long; she was wearing her pajamas including an orange t-shirt with a flaming heart and black shorts.

Oh god, I hope she didn't take that as a crack against her fighting ability! From what Ruby told us she is one of the strongest people here and good lord how does she keep her hair so curly the whole day long!?

"Well," Roland stuttered tying to compose himself before his brain got further off track, Horatio slowly backing away." I just thought that, you know, him thinking I can take a punch from you was the best punch…line I've ever heard."

Yang glared at him intently, inching closer to his face, Roland started flinching back, preparing for the swing.

"I'm surprised you are familiar with punchlines," she replied at length. "I thought only boxers enjoyed those."

Roland stopped flinching, a look of restrained jubilation and realization washing over his face.

No way, does she…only one way to be certain.

"Nah, BOXERS make the worst punchlines, they are always keeping the jokes too BRIEFS." Roland stared her down, suppressing a smirk and maintaining his serious look with all his willpower.

"Don't say that, sometimes the brief punchlines ones can be the biggest hits." Yang held her ground, raising a single eyebrow in challenge.

"Really? I felt the brief ones mostly came up a bit…short." Roland crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in return.

"Well expecting good ones every time can be a bit of a…tall order."

Horatio had backed to what he felt was a safe distance, he barely noticed Ruby come up beside him, a horrified expression locked on her face.

"What has your friend done?" She asked, unable to look away from the spectacle before them. As soon as one completed a horrific pun the other picked it up and kept running.

"I don't know," Horatio replied, also unable to look away from them, his left eyebrow twitching sporadically.

"She will never stop you know, your friend is doomed."

"I'm more impressed there are so many bad jokes about punching and underwear."

"So was I….long ago." Ruby and Horatio turned to each other before both started chuckling; the whole scene was utterly ridiculous.

"Olivia still keeping you up?"

"Nah, she and Esmerelda both went to sleep already. It was really nice talking with her though. I can't believe there is someone else as interested in unique weapons as I am."

"I must be the most boring person ever then," Horatio laughed, remembering the blank stare of shock on Ruby's face when she realized he only fought with his bare hands.

"Pffft, no," Ruby shouted awkwardly. I just never heard a Huntsman or Huntress ever going COMPLETELY without weapons. Even Yang uses her gauntlets; don't your punches hurt after a while?"

Horatio stared down at his hands, clenching his fists tightly.

"I can't remember the last time they hurt."

"Well if you just studied more about fighting you'd make a bigger splash!" Yang shouted. Despite how loud she was, Horatio thought she looked like she was having the time of her life.

"I read plenty! Though I tend to find the material a little dry!" Roland threw back; Horatio and Ruby had to physically restrain a groan.

"Can you all just go to sleep already?" The white haired girl from earlier shouted. Horatio had pointed out to Roland and the others that she was none other than Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation.

And so it was that the legend was born of how it took the heiress to one of the strongest families in the world so stop the grand pun war that was sure to have been the downfall of all Remnant.

The Next Morning...

The Sun was rising into the sky as the new students stood on a hillside overlooking the Emerald Forest below. Olivia yawned as she took her place on one of the metal platforms lined up along the edge, there was one for each student. Everyone had just finished prepping their gear from the lockers and were ready to go. She had spent the downtime getting to know others in the locker room prior to their departure.

Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren were two that she found absolutely adorable. They were inseparable despite Nora's hyper cheerful nature and Ren's quiet demeanor. If red strings of fate actually existed she imagined there would be a giant red lasso connecting the two. She felt especially close as they were orphans like her. Ren was decked out in a green tailed coat; she tried to spot his weapons but only caught a glimpse of two pistols disappearing into his sleeves.

Nora was the embodiment of the color pink which consisted of her combat skirt and gloves. She had a white top with a heart-shape cut out of the chest. On her back was slung a huge grenade launcher that looked like it weighed more than she did.

Olivia's sleeping bag had been set up next to a raven-haired girl named Blake Belladonna. Blake was quiet but seemed nice. Of course she had to be nice and say hello, but every time Olivia saw her relaxing the previous night she had a book in her hands. She'd never met a bad well-read person in her life and the black bow she kept in her hair at all times was adorable. Blake did seem a bit over protective of her books, however, she had caught Blake reading under the covers with a flashlight and when asked the name of the book she only turned off the light and pretended to be sleeping.

Pyrrha Nikos…THE Pyrrha Nikos, Ms. Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes herself was in their class. Olivia knew her from the cereal but Ezzy had practically worshiped her for her performance during the last Mistral Regional Tournament. She still wore the same strapless bronze armor and combat mini-skirt she had in all her matches.

How many times did she force me to re-watch her fights? I'm surprised Ezzy didn't copy her javelin and shield style of combat.

She liked Roland and Horatio of course, the two had been so nice since meeting each of them. The only guys she had seen that she steered clear from were four that seemed to hang around together, did they know each other? The only one of the four whose name she had overheard was Cardin, they had locked eyes once and he gave her a look she could only describe as 'creep.'

Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were together again explaining the situation to everyone. The professor had a coffee mug in his hand she had scarcely seen him without.

How much coffee can one man drink?

The situation seemed straightforward enough, evaluating our skills in the forest, assigning teams today, working with someone who best suits us and we can work with.

Please don't be any of those four guys

"That being said," Professor Ozpin explained. "The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Wait what was that last part?

"What?" Olivia and Ruby from her platform shouted simultaneously.

"Make your way to the northern end of the forest, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

"No pressure though," Olivia whispered sarcastically to Ezzy looking as serious looking as ever.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics," Ozpin continued. "Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard your item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yea, um sir?" Jaune at the end of the line sheepishly called out.

"Good, now take your positions." Ozpin shouted, disregarding Jaune's raised hand.

Weiss was the first to fire, her platform propelling her like a catapult over the cliff towards the forest, she was beyond sight in an instant.

"Uh sir," Jaune continued. "I've got um, a question. This landing strategy thing…wh-what is it? You're like dropping us off or something?"

"No…you will be falling."

Olivia knelt down, planting her hands on the ground to prepare for her platform to fire. She could not help but notice Jaune lock his eyes with Ozpin, afraid to look left as the platforms continued to fire. Ren, Nora and the four creeps had already left.

Poor Jaune, I hope he lands in a Grimm-light section of the forest.

Horatio gave thumbs up as his platform fired. He had not taken any special stance and his huge grin was the last thing they saw as he went sailing off, straightening his body like a spear before he left sight.

"Oh I see, so like did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"Parachutes? Are you kid…?" Was the last Esmerelda could say before her platform fired, catching her at the exact moment her composure broke at Jaune's words.

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy," Ozpin took another sip of his coffee.

Yang was next, donning a pair of sunglasses she winked at her sister Ruby, throwing a sly smile Roland's way before she was sent flying.

"Well, aren't you going to follow her after that invitation?" Olivia could not contain the smile as she asked him.

"What do you mean by tha-" Roland attempted to ask before he was sent hurtling towards the forest, Ruby close behind.

Olivia glanced back to Jaune, he finally broke eye contact with Ozpin to look at her, his face full of confusion and growing fear.

"See you on the ground Jaune, watch the trees."

Olivia's platform fired, she thrust her fists forward immediately, acting like she was flying through the air under her own powers like the super heroes she loved to read about. The wind flowed past her face, forcing her to keep her eyes open as the forest drew ever closer.

Gonna need some good timing on this.

Olivia flipped the rifle from her back, clutching it tight to her to cut down wind resistance. Behind her she could vaguely hear the cries of Jaune catching up, he was traveling surprisingly fast despite having no form and was pin wheeling toward the trees.

Aaaaannnnd….NOW!

Olivia extended her rifle, catching it on the tip of the tallest tree near her without many branches. Gripping it with both hands at the butt and barrel while keeping the tree in the middle she pivoted her body, causing her to corkscrew down the tree. Even with this technique she was coming in quite fast as she neared the forest floor. Before she would have impacted she released a single hand, sending her flying off towards a nearby Pine Tree, more than enough room to grab a hanging branch and spin gracefully until her momentum had decreased. Dropping to the forest floor she fell into a crouch, eyeing left and right, her rifle in hand.

"Time to get to work," Olivia whispered with a smile, smearing a line of camouflage make-up across her face as she disappeared into the brush.

Elsewhere...

Horatio kept his hands at his sides, flying faster than he ever thought possible. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, opening them for fractions of a second at a time to judge how near he was to the trees.

If this doesn't kill me nothing will.

Finally the trees were upon him, Horatio took no measures to slow himself down or aim his trajectory. Mid-fall he rolled his body so that he was feet-first to the ground.

"If anyone is down there you have about 5 seconds to move out of the wa-"

Horatio slammed into the ground with incredible force. The ground thundered and all the trees in the immediate vicinity cracked and fell over forming a circle of shattered nature surrounding his landing zone. The young man brushed off the sleeves of his coat, completely unharmed. He started jumping up and down, shaking off the feeling of pins and needles assaulting his feet.

"Alight, find an ancient temple, grab relics, easy as cake." With that he took off running, heading north at full sprint.

Elsewhere, high above...

"Whooohooooooo!" Roland screamed as he soared through the air.

Immediately after takeoff he had quickly slid his shield from his back and was now surfing through the skies. The aegis was large enough for him to stand comfortably atop it; already he had sheared the tips off several dozen trees.

With this momentum I can bypass most of the forest, he thought to himself. Ride these waves all the way to the end.

Roland surmised fate had heard his thoughts and plotted his demise. No sooner had he thought those words that a red javelin suddenly flew past him, scrapping past his shield and scaring him half to death. The javelin did not seem to have been aimed for him, it disappeared into the trees far west, but the damage had been done.

"I'm sorry!" Shouted a girl in the distance as he plummeted to the ground with much of the momentum keeping him airborne lost.

On the forest floor, a lone Beowolf stalked an unsuspecting rabbit, rearing back on its hind legs to make the kill.

Roland flattened the Beowolf in an instant, skidding across the grass before tumbling forward, transitioning the shield to his back as he took off running.

Not far away...

Esmerelda had already landed, with an expert swing of her blade she had caught the top of a tree and was now hopping from tree top to tree top. She could barely make out a hint of the stone ruins in the distance. At her current pace she would be there in no time.

"I wonder what we're supposed to do if we don't make eye contact with anyone before reaching the relics," she muttered.

A roar shattered her train of thought, she raised her sword again as she jumped.

A Nevermore emerged from the trees, an avian Grimm resembling a horrific black bird, eyes glowing red even in the sunlight. The Grimm seemed small for the species from what she'd read, this one was barely bigger than her. Time seemed to slow for her as the Nevermore struck amidst one of her jumps; she had no way of avoiding the beast before she could reach the next tree. The Grimm collided with Esmerelda, her sword barely deflecting its beak as she went tumbling to the forest floor.

No trees close enough to grab onto! Too far to reach even with my blade! Esmerelda screamed in her head as she fell, sword swinging left and right seeking something to dig into. The Grimm had knocked her into an open glade, were they supposed to be this smart or was it dumb animal luck?

The forest floor was approaching faster and faster, Esmerelda was out of alternatives. She had not planned to rely on her Aura for defense so soon, but it was the only option open to her. Focusing her will, she reinforced it with everything she could spare and squeezed her eyes tight for the impact.

The impact never came; she came to a sudden stop with a soft poof.

Hesitantly Esmerelda opened her eyes, she was being held like a princess or bride. Her eyes locked on her saviors.

"Well…can't say I was expecting this so soon," Horatio smiled. He was standing with legs firmly planted in the ground and was out of breath. He must have spotted her falling and sprinted to reach her in time.

Esmerelda was speechless though she could not say she could complain with fate's choice of who she would be spending the next four years with at Beacon.

The Nevermore dived into the glade, roaring as it rocketed in their direction ready to finish off what it saw as easy prey.

Esmerelda summersaulted out of Horatio's hands, flipping over the Nevermore as it flew lower. Her sword strike was so fast he barely noticed her arms had moved as the infant Nevermore split in half, its momentum carrying it into the bushes behind them with a thud.

"Oh you know," she smiled to her new partner as she landed gracefully atop a rock. "Just dropping in."

Horatio's smile faded as his eyes narrowed towards her.

"Don't you get started too!"

The initiation has commenced. The teams seek the relics and their partners at Beacon. As always, Read and Review...but most of all Enjoy! :D