Edited as of: (3/20/15)

"…" – Spoken

'Italics' - Thought

(Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its characters, they belong to Monty Oum of Roosterteeth Productions, and those characters you see not from the show like the main character are my own OCs for the purpose of the story. Enjoy) - Mojo1586

The Forest Awaits

-Joel-

"So it's too late to meet with Professor Ozpin right now, probably have to wait till morning at the earliest." Yang called back as we walked down the dormitory hallways. "In the meantime you can stay in our room."

"That's alright, though you're part of a team, so that means other people right?" I asked looking around at the arched stone walls in amazement, Beacon academy was shaping up to be more of a castle than a school, I almost hadn't believed my eyes when I saw it from the airship. "Are you sure they'll be good with this?"

Yang thought to herself for a moment before nodding "Well Blake should be okay as long as you aren't too loud, you might have trouble with Weiss though now that I think about it." She frowned suddenly "You'll know her when you see her. Don't take anything she says too seriously though, the heiress is rude to everyone equally, it's not you it's her."

"She's an heiress? What like a princess or something?" Well these are kingdoms right, I furrowed my brow trying to remember the names, 'Vytal, Mistral, Atlas, Vac-Vacuum? No that couldn't be right.'

"Not like that but she sure acts like it." she arranged her face into a condescending glare "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest provider of quality Dust in Vytal and beyond" she said in a mock uptight voice before laughing to herself. "She's a handful but she's a good person deep down, I think."

"Sounds like a terror, so her family controls Dust production, like the stuff that powers your bike?" I asked, remembering the short conversation we'd had on the subject on the miracle power source.

"My bike and just about everything else in the world." She replied

"Alright fun, and Blake, what's her story?"

"Not…too sure to tell you the truth, she keeps to herself most of the time. I've given up on trying to crack that, you like books?" She asked offhandedly.

"Maybe" I said shrugging. "Why do you ask?"

"Well if you do you should be okay, that's how Ruby got through to her at least." Soon enough we found ourselves standing in front of a large wooden door at the end of the hallway which Yang unlocked as she scanned her scroll. "With any luck they'll be asleep and we can just sneak in without any ques..."

"Where have you been!?" A regal sounding voice rang out as the door opened. Yang visibly flinched at the sound.

"Damn it" she hissed out as a slender girl with snow white hair and a matching nightgown threw open the door, to be honest she might've been cute if she hadn't been glaring daggers at Yang, sort of ruined the effect.

"Don't "damn it" me Yang, you and Ruby were supposed to be back hours ago, and where is she by the way?" She looked around for Ruby.

"Chill out Weiss we ran into some trouble but we dealt with it, Ruby just stayed behind to…" the brawler stammered out before Weiss caught sight of me standing behind her, eyes narrowing into slits. Okay not cute, scary definitely scary, and Yang's responses weren't helping the situation.

"So you leave our leader stranded in the middle of the night and come back her with the latest boy, can't account for your taste in men though," she looked me over with a disdainful glare before turning back to the blonde with a disapproving scowl. "The others were at least dressed somewhat decently, what hole did you drag this one out of?"

"Alley actually, and hey I take offense to that princess!" My clothes now that I looked were somewhat shabby, like I'd been living rough for a while, not to mention a fine layer of dust. But still, she didn't have to be so rude about it.

The girl looked taken aback by my interruption before turning on me red-faced "What did you call me!" I could see Yang gesturing to me to shut up. I didn't.

"What, Princess? You're an heiress, seemed like a fitting title. Don't give Yang any grief; she's just helping me out right now." Sighing, Yang led me into the room past the now fuming girl.

"Well now you've met Weiss." She muttered under her breath, "Great at first impressions, aren't you?"

"I guess I just don't respond well to rude people, plus she was steamrolling you because of me, only fair I draw some of the attention." I muttered, making sure the heiress in question couldn't hear me.

"Your noble sacrifice is noted." She said with a quick laugh.

The room was a bit cramped but seemed comfortable enough, Posters covered parts of the wall along with the occasional picture belonging to one of its occupants. The weirdest thing about the room however was the beds, which I think were supposed to be modeled into bunks to save room. One bed was hanging from hooks driven into the ceiling on one side while the other pair was stacked on top of each other precariously balanced on piles of books.

'Okay remind me to never be on the bottom of one of those, I'm impressed they haven't fallen already.' I noticed another girl wearing a black bow in her already wavy dark hair and a black yukata, peering down at me from behind a book from the top of one of the bunks.

"You must be Blake. Name's Joel, nice to meet you." I gave a short bow. Forget what Yang said, I could do first impressions, totally and without question.

"He's certainly more polite then the boys you've brought around before." She stated with a small smile, I could hear Yang gnashing her teeth from behind me before focusing again on the girl. With her bow combined with how her amber colored eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the candelabra she read by, the girl possessed a noticeably feline appearance, strange but certainly not unpleasant. "Blake, Blake Belladonna". She said bowing her head.

"Nice to meet you Blake…so, good story?" I asked pointing at the book she held, it looked strangely familiar, the cover at least, the image tickling at the back of my mind. She looked a bit uncomfortable at the question. "Oh uh never mind you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, sorry." I said quickly picking up on her hesitation, okay maybe not so great at first impressions.

"No it's alright, it's just...I'm not used to anyone being interested in what I read." She looked down at the book. "It's about a man with two souls battling for control of one body; I started it earlier this week and can't seem to put it down."

"Good choice, I liked that story a lot. I loved how the author wrote the main character." I said suddenly without thinking, mouth moving on its own even as my eyebrows shot up.

Her face suddenly lit up. "Me too, you've read it?"

I frowned "I suppose, I probably must have?"

"You're not sure?" She closed the book with a confused look.

Yang came to my aid clapping me hard on the shoulder. "Yeah that happens, apparently he lost his memory at some point." She tapped her knuckles on the side of my head, chuckling as I fidgeted, "Doesn't remember a thing. Anyway, he helped me and Ruby out of a jam so I thought I'd do him a favor and let him stay the night."

"What trouble did you get into now?" Weiss asked sitting on her bed. Yang shot her a dirty look.

"Some of Roman Torchwick's men cornered us as we were coming back looking for Ruby. Joel helped us fight them off." She went on giving a detailed and rousing retelling of the whole fight, including how I beat down three plus the leader by myself. Blake appeared impressed while Weiss just seemed worried. "Ruby stayed behind to help the police while I brought Joel back with me to see Professor Ozpin." Yang finished.

"So you bring a completely unknown, potentially disturbed, highly dangerous individual into the academy just because he helped you once." Weiss asked looking at me strangely, "What if he's working with them, looking to attack us in our sleep!?"

Yang looked ready to defend me but I held up a hand to stop her before turning to Weiss. "I get it, you don't trust me, it's a weird situation and I would probably react the same in your position." I slowly reached down and drew Chance out of its holster, presenting it to her. "Ruby has my other weapon, now I'm unarmed." She took the weapon, holding it gingerly in both hands, testing its weight. "We got off on the wrong foot. Sorry." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

She looked shocked before regaining her composure and turning her nose up at me. "Just...just don't try anything funny I'll be keeping an eye on you." I nodded as she turned and stalked off towards her bed.

Yang threw an arm over my shoulders. "Look Joel, you made a friend, anyway time for bed." She began moving towards her dresser shooting me a wink along with a sly smile, shedding her jacket and making to do the same with her shirt

"I'll ah… wait in the bathroom; l-let me know when you're good." I said quickly before retreating from the room, Yang's giggling behind me.

"You're terrible." I heard Blake say before shutting the door.

All in all the night passed by rather quickly after that. Yang offered to let me sleep on her bed, eliciting a lengthy lecture from Weiss about decorum and proper behavior in cohabitation. I declined anyway opting to sleep in one of the desk chairs, feeling it rude to take Ruby's bunk, not to mention those hooks didn't look to sturdy. Considering I'd woken up in a dingy back alley, it was a definite improvement though I did have to sleep in my clothes. I also got the opportunity to talk more with Blake about some of her books, I was at least somewhat familiar enough to discuss a few pf the, them and she seemed to enjoy the conversation, though she was still giving me curious looks.

(The Next Morning)

"So you woke up in an alley with no memory of who you are or how you came to be there." Ozpin noted on a scroll lying across his desk.

"That's correct sir." I stretched uncomfortably in the chair. Yang had brought me through the winding corridors until she had spotted a mature looking woman with light blonde hair drawn up into a tight bun. The woman, Glynda Goodwitch, listened as Yang relayed my situation before practically dragging me to the headmaster's ground level office for this uncomfortable interview. The headmaster himself was an older man with graying hair and thick brown eyes behind a pair of shaded spectacles.

Ozpin nodded to himself before pressing a button on his desk. Suddenly Ruby walked into the room carrying my staff with her. She gave me a small wave before a cough from Ozpin drew her attention. "Miss Rose here as well as Miss Xiao Long have both given their own accounts of your combat abilities during the scuffle that occurred last night, very impressive." He took the collapsed staff from Ruby and then held a hand out towards me. "Your gun" he commanded. I drew the weapon and passed it to him. He spent a good minute examining both weapons in his hands before once again looking up at me. "So your abilities just come to you? Without your own volition?"

"No, well I guess sort of, sir." I responded. "It just happens, like a reflex, I know what I'm doing while I'm fighting or getting attacked, I couldn't tell you how I do half of what I pulled off right now."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed. "So the body remembers what the mind forgets." He stated, more to himself then to me or Ruby. "Abilities like those you've displayed on what footage we could obtain of the event are rare, even among some of our older students, and weapons such as these can't just be obtained anywhere, this is custom work of high quality. Miss Rose."

Ruby jumped, startled, "Yes Professor?"

"Do you vouch for this individual's story, do you believe him trustworthy?"

Ruby looked at me as if uncertain before shaking her head and nodding confidently. "Yes professor, I vouch for him, his story is strange but he certainly needs our help if it's true."

Ozpin smiled before turning his gaze on me again with a serious look crossing his face. "Now young man, I'm going to make you an offer, one that will affect your future greatly if you take it, and potentially kill you if you prove unprepared for it."

"Uh…" I glanced at Ruby with a worried look and received one in turn. "I'm listening"

"What I'm offering is a place at my school as a Huntsman in training." He gave me a second to process the offer before continuing, placing my weapons on the table in front of me. "This is a bizarre case, and Miss Rose here can attest as to how rarely this occurs."

"Wait wait wait wait." Shook my head gazing from Ozpin to Ruby, who looked as shocked as I was. "I don't even know my own name for certain, and you want me to be a Huntsman? I barely remember what they are; let alone what it takes to be one." I said laughing, it must have been a joke.

"You seem to possess the skill required for it though it appears to be buried deep. The knowledge may come in time as your memory returns, or we can provide it in our lessons, either way in time I believe you have the potential to be a great asset to our ranks." Ozpin stated simply.

"I see how this helps you, and don't get me wrong, I'm honored, however what do I get out of this?" I noted, trying my best not to sound ungrateful, I wasn't.

The headmaster nodded curtly, "Of course there are some benefits, as a student here under my care, I promise you I will make use of Beacon's considerable resources to assist in researching your past. We will also be able to provide food and shelter in the meantime. Is that incentive enough for you?"

I sat there deep in thought, Ozpin's offer did seem to have promise, hell, my only other option was looking into it on my own with no idea where to start, and it was hard to ignore Ruby's begging look.

"I will warn you now however..." Ozpin noted offhand, "This path will involve facing the creatures of Grimm, a thing completely different from fighting a human being. Do you feel yourself truly ready for that?"

I should have been scared I mean, if what I've learned from my time talking to Yang was even half true, these creatures once almost wiped out organized civilization prior to the discovery of Dust. However when he mentioned them I felt strangely angry, forgotten screams and howls coming to life in my head.

"Fine Professor, I guess you have yourself a student." I said rubbing my head trying to quiet the noise. Ruby was almost, no wait, literally bouncing in joy.

"That's amazing Joel, this is so awesome, oh I can't wait we'll..."

"A moment Miss Rose" Ozpin calmly, stopping the girl mid bounce. "There is the matter of his initiation to attend to." Okay, not liking the concerned look on Ruby's face as he said that.

"Professor does he really need to, I mean couldn't you jus..."

Ozpin shook his head before leaning forward, "You yourself were a similar case and you still were placed through initiation, he's special, but not so much so that he can be coddled. He'll have to prove his mettle by fire, same as any other student would, more than most it seems."

"But many people didn't even make it out of there! And the initiation is supposed to be a team exercise, he's alone!" She said pleadingly.

"If he falls short, then that's sadly the lengths his resolve would take him." He muttered solemnly.

"Okay what is this, hazing the new student?" I asked jokingly, receiving an icy glare from the man.

"No I'm afraid not Joel." He gestured towards the weapons in front of me. "Take them, and prepare yourself, we'll notify Team RWBY when we are ready for you." He waved a hand of dismissal waving us out the door.

(Minutes ago)

"So all I have to do is find a totem at the temple North of here through the forest?" I asked Professor Goodwitch as she directed me towards a strange metal platform rising out from the ground around it.

"Yes, a simple task, but do not underestimate the difficulty of what we ask you to do." She said looking up from her scroll to look at me, a stern but worried expression on her face. "Those totems still stand there because some students were unable to get to them." She let the implications of that statement was over me. 'So some people train for years and still don't make it…good to know.'

I turned to look at the assembled Team RWBY behind me who were standing a short stretch away readying their weapons. Weiss had placed her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing what appeared to be a lacy white dress with a red trim on the inside, no wait it was a combat skirt, she'd spent ten minutes earlier explain the difference, while Blake stood nearby in a black button up jacket that exposed part of her midriff and white shorts with long stocking, black ribbons running up along the length of her forearm. She saw me looking and gave me a short wave, I nodded back at her. "And every student does this?" I said absently.

Goodwitch cleared her throat bringing me back around to face her. "A variant of it yes, your trial however is different in that the forest was only just recently disturbed during the initiation a week ago, the Grimm inside will be more aggressive at your intrusion, and as you are entering alone, they will focus on you rather than spreading over a distance." she stopped to adjust her glasses "I wouldn't wish what your about to face on a full-fledged Huntsman or Huntress, there is no shame in being frightened or wishing to back out though we would have to direct you to other channels." But none would be as good as this one, I understood.

"Thank you Professor but I'm determined, I don't have many other options."

She looked on at me sadly before once again regaining composure. "Team RWBY will be entering a short time after you, they're to remain hidden and out of your way and are in no way to assist you unless it has been determined by myself or the team leader, is that clear?" I got the feeling that it wasn't just me she was reminding.

"Crystal, I don't want them drawing attention anyway, I'll manage somehow."

"Right, you have a few minutes, say your goodbyes if nothing else." She motioned for the team to come over before.

"Thank you, Professor" I said shortly.

"Hey" I turned to find Ruby staring up at me, "Be careful, budget your energy and just make North, and don't fight any drawn out battles early on, your Aura won't hold out if you use it wildly, knowing when to run is part of the test as well."

"My what won't hold out?"

"Your Aura." She said matter a factly, I gave her a look and tapped my head, her mouth fell open "But you used it in your fight, I thought you knew at least that."

Blake spun me around to face her giving me a serious look. "Look, have you noticed a strange glow coming off your body, or felt like you took blows but were uninjured afterwards?"

"I remember seeing a blue glow when I first fought but I thought it was just my imagination. Oh and there was also this song going in my head during the fight, that it?"

Blake sighed in relief letting go of me. "Good, you can use it at least, that's your Aura, the manifestation of your soul. Someone with training is able to use it as a means to protect themselves or use it to enhance their physical and regenerative abilities or even their senses."

So that's how I pulled off those moves, I thought to myself looking down at my hands remembering the speed and strength I'd had as well as the Axe blows I should've taken. "So how do I use it, you said I had to have training but I already used it to block damage before."

"At first it takes great concentration and willpower to manifest it, it took me years before I could control mine at the level I can now. You must have had training at some point that you're drawing on instinctively, just like your weapon skills."

"I suppose, why a song though, it was almost to the beat of my fight." I asked remembering the cadence, the strange and wild song that had been at the forefront of my mind.

"Some people use tunes or song to focus their Aura in battle, it's probably a trick you've drilled into yourself."

"Honestly I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have without knowing a basic principle such as Aura use." Weiss said out loud, I just sighed as Blake glared at her.

"A few seconds now!" Goodwitch's voice rang out.

"Just be careful okay" Yang clapped a hand on my back strongly enough to nearly knock me over.

"You'll be fine; we'll come running if you need us." Blake said comfortingly.

"Oh and I examined your staff" Ruby pointed to the sheathed weapon on my back. "When you meet a Grimm use the switch to the right after activating it."

"The right, got it" I acknowledged giving her a thumbs up before turning to look at them all in turn, "Thanks, all of you for helping me, now..." I looked out to the forest beneath the cliff, "is there some sort of path down or vehicle I'm missing, how am I getting down there?" I noticed them moving away from the platform. "Uh…Why are you all moving away like that?" I said before feeling the platform lurch under me.

"They didn't want us to tell you." Ruby said apologetically. "Good luck with your landing."

"No..." I looked from the platform to the forest below. "No… No No, OH SHIIIIT!" I yelled as the platform flung forward like a catapult, shooting me out over the cliff.

(Present)

'Yeah this is definitely going to hurt, a lot.' I could make out individual trees now apart from the green carpet flying below.

'How am I going survive the fall much less the forest, grab a branch as I pass by? No, if the branch didn't break, my arms would likely be ripped off by the force of impact.' I could see branches now. Wait Aura, Blake had said it can shield from outside damage. It was a long shot but I was desperate at this point.

'Okay concentrate, focus, FOCUS!' I managed it somehow, felt the song reverberating through my mind as my body began to give off a bright bluish glow and the world brighten, feeling absolutely incredible. Come on, come on!

I barely felt the impact of the first few branches as I smashed through them, laughing at the rush of adrenaline and power. Then of course came the ground. I attempted to roll, redirect the energy but I was coming in to fast and the area I land on was at an angle sending me into an awkward tumble downward as I bounced and spun, grunting as rocks and branches cracked around me. Finally coming to rest in a small clearing I just laid there breathing heavily.

As the rush faded I tried to move assess my injuries. Despite crashing through a few dozen feet of undergrowth, let alone impacting with the force of a meteor, all I had to show for it was a couple bruises and even my gear seemed undamaged as well. I'd be likely be sore tomorrow but that was nothing. I whooped and cheered, punching the air, wincing a bit as my arm ached, though it already felt better than before, 'Right, regenerative properties, note to self, Aura, best thing ever'. "That all?" I yelled out into the woods around me wildly "Hah, fling me off a cliff, got to do better than that!" I lurched a bit feeling a bit tired. Okay better keep it simple for a while, while incredible, Aura seemed to be just as taxing as Ruby had said.

A harsh growling jerked me from my thoughts, spinning around; I saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at me from the undergrowth. "Okay" I muttered backing away slowly reaching for my staff, "This might be a problem."

-END