Chapter 2: Life at Beacon

Pyrrha knew that with four girls living in one room, issues were bound to arise. She had always felt herself an easy going person and thought she could live peacefully with anyone. In truth, she got along great with the other three girls. Ruby was a little bundle of energy that was always eager to join Pyrrha on her morning workouts. Once Blake grew more comfortable with Pyrrha, the amber eyed girl was more than friendly. And finally, Weiss was… nice. If a bit full of herself.

It was when the other three interacted with each other that the issues appeared. Weiss grew angry every time Ruby opened her mouth and a perpetual frown existed on the heiress face whenever their leader was in the room. Whenever Weiss opened her mouth to say something, it always made Blake angry and the girl had made excuses to leave the room more than once in the past week. Whenever Blake stormed out, Ruby would run after Blake and come back dejected after being told, not kindly, to go away.

It was a vicious cycle and Pyrrha felt her patience wearing thin.

"I just don't understand it," Pyrrha said with a sigh. She was sitting at one of the tables in the dining hall, absentmindedly twirling spaghetti around on a fork while she recounted the many issues of the past week to Yang.

The two girls had become fast friends and upon realizing that they had most of their classes together they were beginning to spend more and more time in each others company. Ruby usually was right alongside them, always eager to spend time with her sister, but today she was finishing up her week with her elective. Ruby had spent all week gushing about how excited she was to take Weapons of Huntsmen and Huntresses, even if it meant starting her weekend hours after all of her teammates who only had one of two classes Friday morning.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Yang said dismissively. "It's only been a week. They'll find a way to co-exist."

"Are you saying your living situation is perfect?" Pyrrha asked dryly. Now it was Yang's turn to sigh.

"If he calls me a firecracker one more time," Yang growled, stabbing her spaghetti violently with her fork. "I'm going to punch him out that window. I don't care how high up we are, Pyrrha. He's going out through the window."

"That might be a bit harsh," Pyrrha said with a nervous laugh. She wasn't serious, right? Pyrrha knew Jaune wasn't the most tactful of individuals, but throwing him out of a window might be too much…

"Oh it's no more than he deserves." Yang's fork grated against the bottom of her plate causing Pyrrha to wince.

"No more than who deserves?"

Pyrrha looked up to see Blake sitting down at the table next to Yang, a large tuna salad on her plate. Pyrrha blinked in surprise. That was the fourth day in a row her teammate had gotten tuna.

"Jaune," Yang muttered darkly.

"Ah," Blake said with a nod of understanding. "I heard him talking to Weiss this morning. She probably isn't too happy with him either."

"What did he say now?" Yang groaned.

"Something about being his little snowflake," Blake said. The girl's lips twitched in the ghost of a smile before she continued. "She slapped him."

"That'll teach him!" Yang said fiercely.

"Have you tried talking with him about it?" Pyrrha asked. "Maybe he doesn't even realize he's being offensive."

Yang stared at her blankly for a moment. "He… he has to realize… he can't be that stupid!"

"Men can and will be," Blake said sagely.

Yang's head snapped around, a mischievous grin settling onto her face. "That sounds like there's a story behind it, Miss Belladonna."

Now it was Blake's turn to stare blankly. She blinked her amber eyes slowly then turned back to her lunch without answering.

"Anyway," Yang said turning back to Pyrrha. "How about you ask him if he knows he's being offensive?"

"M-me?" Pyrrha spluttered. "He's your teammate!"

"Well… yeah," Yang admitted. "But you're so much more diplomatic than I am! Besides, you have to be tired of it too."

Pyrrha gaped at Yang, trying to form a response. She was diplomatic? Since when? How?

"Now that I think about it," Blake said slowly. "I don't think I've seen Jaune hit on Pyrrha."

"That can't be possible," Yang said. "The only one he hasn't hit on is Ruby." She tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment. "Or Nora, come to think of it. I think Ren would be a bit angry if he did. Oh! There's a case of sexual tension if I've ever seen it."
"Ren and Nora?" Pyrrha asked, eager to change the subject. "Wait, they're not already dating?"

The rest of their lunch continued in much the same way, gossiping about the other students like normal girls. Pyrrha had never thought she would like gossip, but she had never been around people just like her. It felt amazing, being able to be her and feel like she was having a normal life. People treating her like just another student had not been something she had expected from the students at Beacon. Only a few of them cared who she had been, four time winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, the Invincible Girl. But for the majority it didn't matter.

She was just Pyrrha Nikos, the first year. And it was amazing.

XXXXX

The weeks began to pass and Pyrrha settled into life at Beacon. The first round of tests came and went. Early during the second week of classes, Weiss had snapped at Ruby during a live test against a Boarbatusk when their leader had tried to give the heiress advice. Pyrrha still wasn't sure what had happened to the girl after she stormed off, but when Weiss had shown up later that night her attitude had completely changed towards Ruby. In response, Ruby had begun to take her studies much more seriously and seemed to triple her efforts into being the best team leader she could.

Ever since, the two girls had been nigh inseparable. Much of that time was spent studying. As such, Pyrrha was surprised when she discovered that Ruby had scored the highest out of their team in the first round of tests. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in the younger girl… but she had expected the girl to beat out Blake, let along Weiss. Pyrrha had decided that she grossly underestimated their leader.

The passing of the first round of tests didn't bring pleasant news for everyone. Team JNRY had obtained less than desirable results. The only studious person among them was Ren. Yang and Nora proudly proclaimed that they were passing and that was fine by them. And Jaune had barely passed his tests. The boy had also become the main target of Cardin Winchester, the schoolyard bully.

Pyrrha had been apprehensive of Cardin ever since she first saw him standing next to Blake on Beacon Cliff. Every interaction had just reinforced her desire to stay away from the boy. He was not a good person or as Blake would say, "An arrogant, racist, brute". Pyrrha frequently saw Cardin shoving Jaune or knocking his bag away, even bumping Jaune into his lunch at one point. Everyone noticed it happening. But Jaune insisted there was nothing going on so everyone stayed out of it.

Everyone except Yang.

"You know, if you ask her to, Nora will break his legs," Yang said idly at dinner one night when both Team RSBP and Team JNRY were eating together at a table. Jaune had just come back from buying his second tray of food after Cardin had 'bumped' into him. Pyrrha frowned at the boy as he laughed nervously next to Yang.

"Guys, nothing is going on!" he insisted.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Ruby chimed in. Jaune shot her a hurt look. Ruby raised her hands defensively.

"Looks guys," Jaune said. "Cardin is just messing around. It's nothing to worr-"

A loud snap froze Jaune mid-word. All eyes turned to Yang, who was holding the handle of her fork while the rest of it was stuck in her plate. For a moment Pyrrha made eye contact with the girl and she was startled to see Yang's normally violet eyes were now red. They were accompanied by a scowl and she rounded on Jaune and began to wag her finger under his nose. The boys eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"It is not nothing, dammit!" Yang said, her voice coming out in a low growl. "We have to sit here and watch this happen day after day and it is. Not. Nothing!" She began to poke Jaune in the chest with each word. "You act like a spineless puppy and let him walk all over you! You're a Huntsman! You're the leader of a team of Huntsmen! Have some pride and stand up for yourself!" Yang was yelling now and her hair seemed to be rising from her shoulders of its own accord, looking more like a crackling fire than golden locks. "If you aren't going to act like a Huntsmen then why are you even at this school?"

By the end of it Jaune was sitting on the floor, having fallen off the bench during Yang's tirade. He stared up at her, blue eyes wide with shock. Half of the dining hall was staring at them, including Cardin who wore a grin so large you might as well have just handed him the winning lottery ticket. The shock quickly disappeared from Jaune's face, replaced by a blank mask.

"You make a good point," he said monotonously. Without saying another word, Jaune stood up from the floor and quickly walked away.

"Yang," Ruby said with a groan. "That was going too far."

The blonde rounded on her sister, face angry and eyes still the color of fire. Then she hesitated at the look of determination on Ruby's face. With a blink, her eyes were violet again and a look of horror began to dawn upon her face.

"Oh."

"You need to go apologize!" Nora said. The orange haired girl quickly grabbed Yang's arm and hauled her away from the table. "Right now!"

Before Nora had Yang halfway to the door the blonde shrugged herself free of Nora's grip. The two quickly disappeared out of the large double doors to the dining hall. Ren followed them a few moments later, taking it upon himself to carry all of their bags.

XXXXX

Jaune held his head high as he walked out of the dining hall. Yang was absolutely right, he didn't belong here. He was failing his classes. He couldn't fight worth a damn. He would die within a minute as soon as his team encountered Grimm. Jaune was a failure. And he accepted that. It was time to leave Beacon and go home.

Before he fully realized what he was doing he was in his room, stuffing a duffle bag full of his clothes. He didn't have much in the way of prized possessions. Just a few books from home that he quickly stuffed into the bag along with his clothes. From there he headed to the locker room. His scroll buzzed along the way. He didn't even bother to look at who it was.

Jaune entered his code into his weapons locker without paying much attention and frowned when he had to redo it. His scroll buzzed again. Without thinking he tossed it into his duffle bag as he grabbed Crocea Mors from where it hung in the locker. He would never be fit to wield the sword and shield, but someone else in his family might one day. Jaune strapped it to his waist without thinking and left the locker room.

Thus, Jaune Arc found himself standing in Beacon's courtyard where airship drop offs were a frequent occurrence. He stood staring out over the bay towards Vale. The city was lit up in the light of sunset. Unless he read the schedule wrong, there were still a few airships left for today. He would be on the next one out and in the city before night fully arrived. He could be back home by morning if he found a boat running through the night.

"Hello, Mister Arc. Going somewhere?"

Jaune nearly jumped as Professor Ozpin walked up to him, cane clacking against the stone tiles of the courtyard. His usual mug was in his other hand and he casually took a sip from it as he approached. Jaune stared at the man for a moment in disbelief.

"W-what are you doing here?" Jaune asked. He then cleared his throat and added, "Professor."

"The view from up here is quite beautiful," Ozpin said, coming to a stop next to Jaune. The setting sun reflected off his glasses, hiding the man's eyes from Jaune. "I like to watch the sunset where I can feel the wind, instead of from my office."

"Could you just open a window?" Jaune asked.

Ozpin chuckled at that. "I could, but it isn't the same. Smelling the salt from the sea is so much better when you can hear the waves."

Jaune glanced towards the cliff overhanging the small bay below Beacon. How could Ozpin hear the waves from this height? Was he exaggerating?

"Wouldn't you agree, Mister Arc?"

Jaune turned back to face Ozpin, frowning. "I guess so."

Ozpin made a "Hmmm" and turned back to looking towards Vale, across the bay. He took another sip from his mug. "You never answered my first question."

Jaune laughed nervously. "I didn't did I."

Silence fell between them, punctuated only by the sound of Ozpin sipping on his mug. For a moment Jaune could here his scroll buzzing again in his bag. He sighed. "I'm going home. I'm not cut out for this."

"What made you come to that conclusion?"

"I'm a horrible student. I'm barely passing any of my classes," Jaune said and once he started he could not stop. The floodgates had opened. "I can't fight. I'm just not cut out to be a Huntsman. I don't understand why you made me a team leader when I can barely hold a sword. All I'm going to do is get myself and probably everyone else on my team killed as soon as Grimm appear. They're so much better than me. All of them."

Jaune's fist was clenched tightly around the hilt of Crocea Mors, causing his knuckles to turn white. He didn't notice. "They're all made for this. Seeing them fight in the forest was just… awesome. They killed those Grimm. They're meant to be Huntsmen. They earned their places here while I… I forged my transcripts."

Jaune's heart skipped a beat when he realized what he had said. And to whom he had said it. Well… what did it matter? What could the man do, kick him out? He was already leaving.

"I know, Mister Arc."

"Say what now?" The words slipped out of Jaune's mouth before his brain could catch up.

"The forgery was very well done," Ozpin said with a small smile. "In fact I might never have noticed if it weren't for your family name."

"My name?"

"If the great-great-grandson of Jonathan Arc was as good as your transcripts said, then I surely would have heard about you before the documents landed upon my desk," the Headmaster turned to look at Jaune. "But when I did some digging, I found out the truth. What was it like living with seven sisters?"

Jaune blinked. That was what he wanted to know. "Uh…"

"I had four sisters myself," Ozpin said, ignoring Jaune's dumbfounded expression. "And I thought that was bad at times. I can hardly imagine having seven. Anyway, I'm getting off topic." The man cleared his throat after taking another sip from his mug. "You may have forged your transcripts, Mister Arc, but I felt that you might be benefit greatly from coming to this school."

"Why?" Jaune asked, his brain finally catching up. The Headmaster knew about his fake transcripts. And he had still be let into the school.

"I saw your potential and when you were in the forest with the other students I saw you live up to that potential. Yes, you might not be a strong of a fighter as your peers, but I saw you take charge of that battle. You used what little you knew of three strangers and defeated a foe that we had not intended any student to face. The cave is marked like that for a reason," Ozpin chuckled to himself again. "In all my years as Headmaster I have made many people team leaders and I have never been wrong. Not once. I believe you do belong here, Mister Arc. But if you disagree, then I will not stop you from leaving."

Ozpin turned and began to walk away from Jaune, his cane clacking against the stone tiles of the courtyard. Then he stopped and glanced back at the boy, glasses flashing in the setting sun. "You carry that sword the same way Jonathan did."

With that he was gone. Jaune stared after Ozpin, his mouth slightly agape. Did Ozpin know his great-great-grandfather? How old was the man? Jaune took a step forward, half intending to go after Ozpin. He had so many questions.

"There he is!"

And then a pink and orange blur slammed into him, knocking him to the stones of the courtyard.
"Nora! We want to stop him not kill him!"

"Sorry!"

Jaune gasped for air as Nora rolled off him. That had hurt. A lot. He blinked and there was an outstretched hand in front of him, courtesy of Yang. He eyed it suspiciously before reaching out and grasping it. With barely a sign of effort Yang pulled Jaune to his feet.

"I'm sorry," she said as soon as Jaune was standing. "I said some things back there that I really shouldn't have said."

"Please don't leave!" Nora half sobbed. Jaune looked at her and was shocked to see what looked like real tears forming in the girl's eyes. Ren stood next to her, silently staring, as always.

"I don't want you to leave Beacon," Yang said, glaring at Nora. "Yeah, you really need to work on a lot of things." This time the glare came from Nora. "But we can work on them, as a team. Because that's what teams are for."

Jaune looked down at Yang, thinking to himself. Behind him he heard the sound of a Bullhead approaching. There would be one more after if he was still going to leave. But Ozpin had said that he belonged here. And this is what he had wanted. To be at Beacon.

Yang was frowning and as he kept silent, thinking, her frown deepened. She opened her mouth to say something, her eyes flashing, but Jaune raised a hand for silence. To his surprise she closed her mouth.

"I forged my transcripts," he said. "I don't belong here."

"Oh." That was all Yang said. A blank mask appeared on her face as she studied him.

He heard the Bullhead take off behind him and he sighed. When it appeared that Yang wasn't going to say anything, he turned to stare back towards Vale. The sun was creeping below the horizon now. Soon the cities lights would be visible against the night sky. He had likely missed his chance of making it home by morning.

"Is that what you really believe?" Yang asked, quietly. Jaune glanced back at her. She was staring down at the ground.

"We don't care about that-" Nora began to say but Ren put a hand on her shoulder silencing her. Jaune heard a low whine of "But Ren!" but Nora didn't say anything else.

"I don't know what to believe," Jaune said.

"Then what do you want?"

After a moment Jaune turned fully towards her and said, "I want to be a Huntsman." For the first time in his life, Jaune felt like he meant that.

Yang lifted her head, a wolf-like grin on her face. "Then let's turn you into a Huntsman. On one condition!"

"What?" Jaune asked.

Yang stepped up close to Jaune and grabbed his shirt by the collar she pulled him in close and growled, "If you ever call me a Firecracker again, I will throw you from a very high place."

Jaune nodded quickly in agreement. Yang smiled brightly at him.

"Good! Now then, let's go finish our dinners!"

The last Bullhead came and went that night, picking up no passengers from Beacon. A man did step off it though. Or rather, he stumbled off of it, the scent of alcohol rolling off him in waves.

XXXXX

Pyrrha stood with Ruby, Weiss, and Blake as they watched Team JNRY walking back towards their dorms, laughing. The four girls of Team RSPB had arrived to find Jaune being trampled by Nora and had decided to keep their distance.

"I'm glad that worked out," Ruby said, sounding relieved.

"I am too," Pyrrha said.

"I'm actually surprised he's staying," Weiss said. "I mean, Yang is right."

The four of them began to walk back to their dorms, making their way across the courtyard to take a different path back, so they didn't run into Team JNRY.

"Luckily, that's not up to you," Blake said, glaring at Wiess. "You don't even want to give him the chance to improve."

"What's there to improve? He's Jaune," Weiss said as if that were the only thing that mattered.

Pyrrha groaned and closed her eyes. Not another argument...

"Do you guys remember those combination attacks I was working on?" Ruby asked suddenly.

"Yes!" Pyrrha said, just as quickly, eager to change the topic.

"I finally have some names for them. And I wanted to see if we could all agree on a time for us to practice them at least once a week."

"Where?" Weiss asked curiously, seeming to forget about what she had just said. "I assume that you'll want these to be a secret for the tournament next semester."

Ruby nodded.

"There are private rooms in the recreation building," Pyrrha said. "I think we can reserve them."

"I don't think a room is gonna be big enough for some of these," Ruby said after a moment. "Or safe for the structure of the building."

"Just what are you going to have us do?" Blake asked. She shot a glare at Weiss that only Pyrrha saw.

Ruby smiled toothily at them and launched into her list explaining her attacks. There was Ice Flower, where Weiss would infuse Ruby's bullets with blue Dust causing ice to flower on whatever service it hit. There was Checkmate, where Weiss and Blake could use Weiss' speed glyphs to catch an enemy between them and cut the enemy to shreds. Their leader listed off several more attacks as they walked, Scarlet Fever, North Pole, Ladybug. The list seemed never ending. And then she said something that made Pyrrha stop in her tracks.

Blake and Weiss froze next to her, blank looks on their faces.

"Ruby," Pyrrha said slowly. "Can you say that last name again?"

The girl stopped, already a few paces ahead of them. She turned back towards them and tilted her head. "Which one? Schnikos?"

"The one after that," Weiss managed to squeak out. Pyrrha glanced at her and saw the girl's face beginning to turn red.

"Pussy Magnet?"

Weiss erupted into a fit of giggles that had her falling onto the ground. Pyrrha alternated between staring at Ruby and staring at Weiss. She tried to think of something to say but her mind was blank. Blake just stood there, face as impassive as ever.

"No," she finally said, raising her voice to be heard over Weiss' cackling.

"But it's totally awesome!" Ruby said, half pleading.

"No," Blake said again.

"You don't even know what the combo would be," Ruby whined. "It's really cool! You and Pyrrha will-"

"I'm glad to see you are all having a good time," a voice said. Pyrrha spun around to see Professor Ozpin strolling out of the darkness. He tilted his head curiously at Weiss who was pushing herself to her feet, all signs of laughter gone from her.

"Oh. Hi, Professor!" Ruby said cheerfully.

Professor Ozpin smiled at her before he turned his attention to Weiss. "Are you alright, Miss Schnee? That must have been quite the joke."

"I'm fine!" Weiss said, breathlessly. After a moment she started to giggle again and clamped her hands over her mouth.

"How are you all enjoying Beacon?" Ozpin asked.

"It's great!" Ruby said quickly. Weiss nodded, still trying to stifle her next fit of laughter. Blake murmured an agreement.

Pyrrha just stood there, staring at him. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Suddenly her chest began to ache, right above her heart. The world felt like it was closing in around her. She felt trapped.

A hand on her shoulder snapped her back to reality and she looked around to see Ruby eyeing her with concern. Blake and Weiss were chatting lightly with Ozpin and none of them seemed to notice Pyrrha. Pyrrha flashed a smile at Ruby then rubbed at her chest. The ache was gone with only a faint itch to show that it had ever been there.

XXXXX

After a few minutes of asking the girls about their classes, Ozpin bid them a good night and headed down the path towards his office. His scroll buzzed and he glanced at it quickly to see a message from Glynda.

It's time for you to lock your liquor cabinet. Crows are getting into it.

Qrow was waiting in his office, not doubt to report the safe transfer of Amber to General Ironwood in Atlas. It was about time. He had something else he wanted the man to look into. The trio that had attack Amber and stolen half of their powers. At least one of them had been spotted in Vale a few weeks ago, working with a notorious gangster known as Roman Torchwick. The enemy was moving in Vale and Ozpin wanted to know their every move.

XXXXX

Cinder Fall knelt on warm stones. The air around her was dry and hot. Too hot for most to find it comfortable, but she relished in the heat. This was home after all.

"Rise," a cold voice spoke to her and a shiver ran down Cinder's spine despite the heat.

Cinder slowly stood, head still staring at the ground. Suddenly a black robed figure was in front of her and bone white fingers were cupping her chin. Her head was lifted, gently.

"You have not failed me, my daughter," the woman said. She smiled softly at Cinder and relief flooded through her. Her knees began to shake as adrenaline left her body, but she caught herself before they could buckle. "If your story is true, then I cannot fault you for it."

Salem, as the woman called herself, might have been human once. Now, there was no mistaking her for human. Black lines ran across her bone white face, stretching towards her eyes. Cinder shivered again as she made eye contact with Salem. The woman's eyes were black as night with pupils the color of blood glowing in the firelight. No, if she had been human once, it was long ago. Now she was the Queen of the Grimm.

And Cinder loved her like she had her own mother.

"We now have the rare opportunity to fix gaps in our knowledge," Salem said. Her voice seemed to echo around them. "And find out more about this girl with silver eyes. This Ruby Rose. When you return to Vale I want you to get close to her. Then when the time is right, bring her to me."

"Bring her here?" Cinder asked, hesitantly. It was not a good idea to question her Queen's orders.

Salem smiled at her, not unkindly, before she turned to face a desolate wasteland that stretched below them. Giant amethyst formations spotted the land below and Cinder could see hoard of Grimm roaming freely. As she watched, one of the formations began to writhe until a black goop fell from it. The goop burst into a cloud of black dust upon hitting the ground and a young Beowulf howled as it was born. This was the home of the Grimm. This was Cinder's home.

"It has been many years since I thought I eradicated the silver eyed warriors of this world," Salem said. Cinder had no doubt that the entire valley below could hear her. "Even still, some appear. I try to bring them to our side when they do appear."

"Why?"

"Because they are forces of nature," Salem said slowly. "Do you remember a woman who came here, almost a decade ago. You were still young."

Cinder swallowed. She remembered. "The woman in the white cloak." The demon in white that still haunted her dreams to this day. The woman had carved a path through the Grimm until she had done battle with Salem herself. Cinder watched that day, hiding from behind a rock as Salem was nearly killed. The devil in white had almost taken everything from Cinder and there had been nothing she could have done.

"She had silver eyes," Salem said.

"What is the power? It felt… greater than the maiden's power," Cinder said. She remember the wings that had appeared on Ruby Rose's face, much like the ones that she had when she grasped the full powers of the Fall Maiden. But Ruby's had felt so vast. Like an ocean compared to her lake.

"The answer to that was forgotten long before my time," Salem said, this time quietly. "We can only speculate at this point. That is why I have tried to destroy them."

"What do you think it is?"

Salem turned towards Cinder and spoke only one word. "Death."