"I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, but I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you from this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only bring you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that, the old man stepped down from the stage, a woman taking his place at the microphone.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready, you are dismissed." Sable didn't know who the man was, and what gave him the power to talk in front of the students, but he seemed… Solid. Yeah, solid. Like he had been doing this for a long time, and was very in depth with the routine. He followed the group to the ballroom, where everyone was going to set up their spots to sleep.
Reece smiled mercilessly at just about everything and everyone, though he didn't know the damage he could be causing with it. He walked beside Paris, his hands held at the back of his head. They had all already put their bags and things in the Ballroom, so he didn't have to worry about carrying them around. He glanced at Paris to find her frowning distastefully at the Students that were already getting their sleeping bags set up.
"What's up with you, Pantsuit?" She gave him a death glare in response.
"I'm sorry if I don't find sleeping on the floor to be a desirable stance of action. And don't call me that." Reece laughed warmly.
"Alright, Pantsuit." He quickly scanned the large room until he found a spot right under one of the large windows that wasn't occupied. He nudged Paris and pointed to the spot.
"Come on, I found the best spot." He ignored her starting to argue, and walked over to the spot. When he stopped, he was already checking the bottom of the window until he found what he was looking for. He didn't notice as Paris stood behind, tapping her foot as she watched him proceed with the unintelligent looking act.
"What are you doing?" He continued searching as he answered.
"IIIIIIIIII aaaaaaaaam loooooooookiiiiiiing for…. This!" He smiled happily as he pointed at the corner of the window. Paris rolled her eyes as she went over to see what he had found. She spoke as she leaned down to see what it is.
"What are you talkin- Oh!" She reared her head back as the flow of cold air hit her face. She looked at him in astonishment as he started putting his sleeping bag right under the window.
"How did you…?" He looked up at her with a smile from his bag.
"The windows were the only place I could find that vented the outside air, the only thing left I needed was where there was a crack in the window." She couldn't believe that he had been smart enough to think of that. When she had met him, she assumed that he was a deadbeat that would waste his life sleeping.
"You gonna sit down, orrrrrr?" She had found herself staring at the crack in the window, and looked back at Reece.
"Yeah, sorry, yeah." Paris pulled a light blue sleeping bag from her bag and laid it on the floor next to Reeces. She then went through her bag until she found a pair of black sweat pants and a tank top. She glanced at the other boy, finding him staring at her.
"What?" She barked unintentionally. He shrugged, but didn't look away.
"Nothing." She stared at him a moment longer before standing up again.
"I'm going to go change." Paris made a beeline for the girl's restroom, hastily escaping Reece's stare. He laid with his back against the wall, watching her as she hurried to the restroom. He didn't know why she was so disturbed by his watching her.
Hazel walked the Ballroom, now alone from the group she had created on the Airship. She had ditched them at the speech from Professor Ozpin. He seemed much more condescending than she thought he would be. Hazel's eyes flicked among the Students, searching for anybody left alone. All the students had already found friends among the others on their own, so much of the chatter was coming from all the newfound groups getting to know each other.
It appeared as though all the others had already found their groups, though, so she ceased her search. Hazel had surely looked at everyone, and made sure they had their people. She then saw a group of girls sitting together, laughing as they spoke to each other warmly. She smiled and walked over to them, her bags in tow. When she stood in front of them, they all stopped their talking and looked at her. She smiled and waved.
"Hi, I'm Hazel. I don't really have anyone to hang out with, so can I just chill with you guys." They quickly welcomed her to the group.
Sable sat on one of the benches in the locker room, his sword in his lap, now unsheathed. He was cleaning the blade with one of his rags while other students walked about, preparing their weapons as well. He ignored them silently, in his own world as he wiped off every nonexistent piece of debris. He finally looked up from his blade when he heard the lady that had spoke last night over the school speakers.
"A final reminder: All first year students assigned for the first Initiation must be outside on the cliff within the next 15 minutes. I repeat; All first year students for Initiation one must be outside in 15 minutes." Sable silently slid the sword back into its sheathe on his belt before walking straight to the door leading outside. He was one of the last to join the group at the cliff before the woman from yesterday started speaking.
"Would you all please find a plate on the round to stand on." On the ground were nearly 20 square plates with the Beacon Insignia on them. One for every student in the first initiation. When everybody was ready, the man from last night start speaking.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. Here at Beacon, we teach students to work in units, Teams are what we call them. These Teammates will be with you for your next four years at Beacon, so I suggest you choose wisely. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." I could hear whispers of complaint and disbelief, and they were well deserved. This was a childish way to decide partners in Sable's mind. He waited for the man to laugh and retract this statement, but he did no such thing.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to northern end of the forest. You will meet oppoition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."
Unlikely, and probably untrue. They wouldn't let anybody die on a school official exam. Sable thought.
"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 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. Are there any questions?" Nobody made a sound. He nodded in approval.
"Good, now take your positions." All the students started standing in positions seemingly for combat, but it was no such thing. Sable had already figured out that each of these plates would launch a student into the forest, and was not surprised to see the first guy launched into the air. One by one, every student was flung into the air until Sable was the only one left at the back. He felt the gears turning in the ground under him was prepared when he was suddenly airborne, flying through the sky. Sable looked down at the forest, trying to figure out any notable landmarks, but was unable to find any while was was gaining altitude like this. He then waited until he was at the peak of his climb before going into an eagle position. He was now able to survey the forest for miles, and many miles away, he did see a large clearing that was sided by a large ravine. He pinpointed that location in his mind as he started diving through the air.
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! Hazel thought as she flailed through the air, desperately holding on to her naginata with all her might. She was barely able to figure out up from down before she had made it to the peak of her climb. She seemed to float for a second, and in that time, Hazel attempted to even out. All she actually succeeded in doing was figuring out which way was up and down. She started to barrel to the ground with little grace at all. Luckily, just as she was about to fall into the tree line, she activated her Aura.
A multicolored force field appeared at her feet. She noticed just in time to go in feet first, breaking through the first layer of branches with ease. The second and third layers were a little more painful. Her aura forcefield deactivated as she lost her moment of focus, letting her barrel through the branches, at an admittedly much slower, but still rather painful rate. She fell to the ground from a low branch with a pained grunt. She laid there for a moment, just waiting for the bleeding to start, but to her amazement, it never did. She slowly sat up before checking her body slowly. She was bruised and sore, but there weren't any actual injuries on her body. She sighed in relief before standing up, leaning on her spear for support for a second before pushing into a walk north. At least she hoped it was north.
Paris flew through the air with expertise, head first to the sky before flipping down into her descent. She looked down at the ground far below calmly as she fell through the sky, hands and legs out to slow her fall. She had started to plan her landing strategy before she heard a voice.
"How are you so serious, even now?" She looked to her left to see Reece falling beside her, but he looked like he was sitting in the air, one hand neatly in his pocket, the other holding a crossbow to his shoulder. His jacket and hair were flying all about, but he didn't seem the bit disturbed by it.
"How can you look so comfortable?" A sarcastically contemplative look crossed his face as he started to spin around through the air, seemingly at his own will.
"Dunno! But you might want to look at the ground now, you're about to hit a tree." Paris looked down in fear as she saw the tree line coming much closer than before. Reece had wasted all her time to make a plan! She quickly saw the tallest tree and spun towards it. Her hands flicked into her pantsuit before she had two small knives in her hand. As she approached the tree, she went to the right of it, slamming the daggers into the trunk. She held on to the small blades as they held her on the tree, pulling her to a grinding stop in the air. She swung back in forth with the wind, hanging onto to knives as hand holders to the tree. Paris examined the tree quickly before losing her grip on the knives. She was unlucky to find that there were barely any branches until nearly the bottom. When she fell, she flicked two more knives from her suit and into her hands before driving them into the tree. she then dangled again, but this time, she didn't wait to lose her grip. She quickly put her feet into the bark, finding footholds to stay put.
When she felt safe enough, she began climbing down. She thrust the two knives she had from the trunk before smalling them back in as handholds, going down farther and farther until her feet were on the highest branch. From there, she just released the knives, leaving them embedded in the tree. Very slowly, Paris climbed from branch to branch until she dropped to the ground, more throwing knives held in her hands. She was crouched down, stealthy and deadly as a tiger as she searched for any enemy.
"Very nice landing, Pantsuit." The knife was outstretched and in motion before Paris knew who it was. She was able to pull her aim off just in time before the blade went flying at Reece. There was a moment of silence. Reece, who was leaning against a nearby tree, slowly looked to his left, where the knife Paris had just thrown was embedded in the trunk of the tree. He, very slowly, raised his hand and pulled on the knife's hilt, bringing it out of the tree. He held the tiny object in his hand for a moment before he glanced at Paris, who was staring in surprise at the boy she had almost just killed.
Reece acted in a single motion, flicking the knife along his knuckles before he flipped it into the air. It went up a couple feet before coming back down in Reece's grasp, holding it lightly. He smiled at Paris' disbelief, walking over to her. He held the weapon out to her, hilt out, with a smirk.
"I guess we're partners now, Paris."
Hazel trekked through the forest easily. She had been sore from the fall for a while, but it soon passed as her Aura took care of the pain. She twirled my spear in my hands as she walked. Hazel had assumed that some kind of Grimm would attack her in at least thirty minutes, but so far there had been no signs of life. Just trees and grass as long as the eye could see, which in this forest, wasn't very far. She sighed tiredly before she heard a loud roar nearby. She smiled, finally hoping for some kind of action.
Ursai. She thought. She started jogging towards the sound. As she got closer, she could hear the growls and grunts of intimidation and brawling. Are two of the Grimm fighting? She thought. She started to run a little bit faster, hoping to get a good view of the fight. Luckily, she was able to kneel into a group of bushes just outside where the Grimm were. She pushed them aside slowly to see what she thought was two Ursai roaring and growling at each other in a small clearing. Hazel soon saw that they weren't growling at each other, they were growling at a person in between them. She squinted to see a boy wearing a black leather jacket, a Charcoal gray shirt, and slate grey jeans standing in the middle of them, brandishing a beautiful sword in his right hand.
She gasped at the wonder of a sword, perfectly crafted in every way. The blade was flawless steel, shining all the way to the hilt. In the middle of the blade was an obsidian center, that seemed to mold into steel as it moved to the sharp blades. The hilt was intricately crafted with black thorns around the crossguard and wrapped leather as the handle. It was one of the most perfectly made weapons she had ever seen. She was staring at the sword when the Ursai charged the boy. He held the sword to his right, obviously prefered to that side, and started sprinting to the Ursa farther from Hazel. Without a second thought, Hazel burst from the bushes, rushing the Ursa that the boy had neglected.
"Hey! Stink Breath!" The Grimm she was looking at turned his head to look at her before roaring and turning to charge her. She ran at the large grimm before jumping right as they connected. The naginata in her hands twirled in her left as she brought it slicing over the beasts back as she sailed over it. When she landed on the other side, she quickly turned to fight the beast, but she was too late. The moment she had turned, the Grimm was already there. She had just enough time to block with her spear before it batted her with it's paw. The power was enough to knock her straight off her feet and sailing right into a tree. She hit it with a loud grunt before falling onto her butt on the ground.
Her head was dazed from the hit, so her vision was a bit blurry when she looked up. The boy was fending his Grimm off on the side of the clearing, his sword holding the Ursa's teeth back from biting his head off. The Grimm she had been fighting was slowly stalking towards her. She still held her spear, but she could barely handle it, much less fight. She stared at the Ursa as continued to walk towards her. She wondered if she would die here. Her first day at Beacon and she died helping a boy fight off a couple of Ursa. Her dad would never think of her well again. Her daughter, with so much confidence, dying for a mistake in her first contact with Grimm. The Ursa was ten feet away, each foot thumping down painstakingly slow. She stared into its red eyes as it growled in anger. She would die here. She continued to stare as the Sword, the beautiful she was mesmerized by only a minute ago slit across the beast's neck, cutting straight through it's throat. She gave a quick laugh of relief as the Ursa fell to the ground in death, the boy from before straddling it with his sword held back. She looked at the boy happily, her vision clearing enough to see him staring back at her.
And their eyes met. It took a moment, but she saw the boy's eyes widen in realization and quickly jumped down from the beast. He walked over to her quickly, sheathing the sword in his belt. He got down on one knee and squatted next to her.
"Are you alright?" Hazel stared up at him before nodding slowly.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She started to sit up, against her better conscience. The boy helped steady Hazel as she started to stand, and let her lean on him for a moment as she got back on her feet. She quickly, pushed off him, letting herself stand straight, despite her throbbing head. She went over to the tree that she had been lying on to find her weapon lying on the ground. She squatted down to get it, holding it in her hands as she twirled it a bit, testing her movements. When she was sure that she would still be able to fight, she turned back to the boy. He was staring at her, waiting it seemed. She took a deep breath and held out her right hand to him.
"Hi, I'm Hazel." He looked down at it, slowly taking it and lightly shaking her hand.
"I'm Sable. Thanks for the help." She gave her best smile.
"It was nothing." He nodded.
"Yes, it was." She raised her eyebrows, but he had already turned and pointed to a parting through the trees. "The temple is a couple more miles in that direction." Sable then glanced back at her. "Can you make it that far?" She shrugged, still trying to be happy with the situation.
"Yeah, I'll make it." He nodded.
"Good. I don't want you slowing me down." With that, he started walking at a brisk pace through the forest. Hazel was forced to follow.