A/N: Sup everybody. So I got a lot more feedback from the last chapter than I thought I would. Thank you guys, I really appreciate it.

Also forgot to mention this earlier, but Oznia's appearance (and of another character mentioned in this chapter) is based on an image by dishwasher1910 over on deviantart (with his permission of course). Go check him out, he makes really good work.

Anyway, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

Even over a hundred feet away from the closed doors of the amphitheater, the four future huntsmen could still hear the echoes of the girls' conversations.

"Seems we've caused quite the ruckus," Rost noted.

"Indeed you have," they all turned to Oznia as she approached. "That turned out better than expected. Thank you for your cooperation boys."

"No problem," Rost said.

"Your welcome," said Jaune.

"Happy to assist," Gabriel nodded.

Shadow just 'hmm'ed' and nodded as well.

"Now, the girls will still be at their assembly for a while longer. And then afterward they'll get a tour of the campus. I would like to give you four the tour of Beacon beforehand. We should finish before the girls are let out, and afterwards you boys will free to do as you wish for the rest of the day."

The boys nodded and Oznia began the tour. There was a lot of ground between each building, but Jaune chalked it up as good exercise. He took note of the important locations such as the library, dorms, cafeteria, training areas, and where several bathrooms and one public shower room have been converted just for them.

Jaune also discovered that Shadow's shoes were some kind of special anti-gravity shoes. He hovered an inch or two off the ground and skated his merry way for most of the tour. Jaune thought it looked a little funny with how slow they went, but thought best to hide his smile from Shadow.

They also gathered the attention of every student they came across. Everywhere they went, girls would start gossiping with one another, looking and glaring at them, and some even took pictures. Though those ones quickly fled when Oznia looked at them.

"Alright, that should be it," Oznia completed the tour in just under an hour, ending in the locker room. " You know where your lockers are, so you can store your armor and weapons here until tomorrow morning. All that's left that's required is that tonight, you all must sleep in the secondary training area with the rest of the students."

This, of course, earned a few raised eyebrows. "Is that really a wise idea?" Gabriel asked.

"I'm going to have to agree with the Atlesian on this one," Shadow said. "That doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Afraid of a little attention Shadow?" Rost asked with an unseen grin.

"I actually don't mind," Jaune regretted saying that a moment later.

"Oh really now~" It was obvious what kind of face Rost had on behind the mask.

"Not like that! I'm just really used to it because I grew up with seven sisters!" That earned four pairs of wide eyes. Even Shadow expressed an emotion that wasn't blank or annoyed.

"S-seven?" Gabriel asked.

"Damn, how are you still sane?" Rost chuckled.

"It wasn't that bad," Jaune replied with a shrug.

"Anyway, unless there's anything else you need, or have any concerns you would like to voice, your time is yours," Oznia concluded.

The boys nodded. Gabriel put his armor and weapons away and left, Rost and Jaune left the locker room with all of their equipment, and Shadow put his gauntlets and grav-shoes away before leaving.

Rost Kaitse made his way to the gun range. He thought it was best to do a maintenance check on his weapon. The last time he so did was a little over a week ago, a few days before he set out for Beacon. Better to find a problem and fix it now than have his weapon malfunction during the initiation tomorrow.

Along the way, he passed by many other older year students. Each and every single one of them diverted their attention to him as he walked. Most were just stares, but others started gossiping, sizing him up, and in his peripheral vision he could notice a few glare at him. The mask and goggles helped him ignore them. He actually turned to a few of the ones that glaring at him and they retreated almost immediately. He got slight enjoyment out of that.

He was a little surprised that no one came up to him to ask him any questions like he thought would happen. He supposed that the way he carried himself when walking, having his weapon in hand, and how his face was covered in a mask made everyone second guess doing that.

Eventually, he made it to the firing range. He ignored the stares and whispers and took one of the last two spots near the end. He then put the gun down on the counter in front of him and looked it over.

It was an old automatic rifle with a top loading drum magazine, designed during the Great War if he recalled correctly. The outer parts have seen better days and were permanently stained with rust and blood, but they were far from old parts and the inner mechanisms have been modified and replaced over the decades by its previous owners and himself. Despite the appearance, it was a well built and effective gun for the modern day.

He gripped the side foregrip, brought it up to his shoulder, and fired down upon the targets. He first fired in long full auto bursts and then in short controlled bursts. The stock felt study but the foregrip had to be tightened, and the sights just to be slightly adjusted. But other than that, it felt fine.

He then removed the side switch cover and flipped it. The gun then transformed into double-sided battle ax. He gave it a few test swings and tested the blades' sharpness with his finger. One blade needed to be sharpened, but otherwise all was good. All he had to do now was do a field strip to check the inner part for any wear, tear, and dust.

But right as he transformed the weapon back and put it down, a bright flash from his side drew his attention. He turned and saw a rabbit faunus holding an antique looking camera. She had a smile but it quickly faded when he turned to her. She put the camera down and looked nervous as Rost stared at her. Neither moved for several moments.

"Can you please not do that again without asking first?" Rost asked with an assertive tone. "It's rather rude to do so."

The faunus very quickly nodded and just as quickly muttered, "Sorry," before hurrying off before Rost could ask why she took a picture of him to begin with. He turned to his other side and saw the other girls looking in his direction. Most just blankly stared at him or started whispering to one another, but one girl with a beret and sunglasses seemed to be chuckling at him.

Rost suddenly wasn't comfortable with the attention he was getting. Rumors about him intimidating an upper year student would no doubt start spreading with exaggerated detail. He packed up his stuff and left the range, deciding to find someplace more private for his weapon maintenance.

Gabriel Angelos made his way to the CCT in little time with no trouble. He noticed a lot of stares and whispers directed at him along the way but he paid them no mind. One short elevator trip later and he was finally at one of the long-range communications room.

He took a seat at the terminal farthest terminal and inserted his scroll. He then typed in the appropriate information and commands and waited as the screen showed the call was connecting. A minute passed until finally the call went through and was answered. The screen displayed the face of a middle-aged, sturn man with slightly graying black hair.

"General Ironwood," Gabriel saluted.

"Corporal Angelos," the general returned the salute, "but please drop the formalities and call me James. You still hold rank, but are now officially recognized as a huntsman and not a soldier."

"Ok sir- James. Sorry, force-of-habit." Gabriel apologized but took a moment to look around the room James was in. "Where's Chambers? I thought she would be here as well."

"Unfortunately, there was a manner at Atlas Academy that required her immediate attention. She didn't say what but said it was important. She's very sorry she couldn't make the call," James explained. Gabriel nodded, it was understandable. James and Chambers Ironwood were busy people after all, he's surprised they have any spare time between the military, huntress academy, and counsel. "But, she did want me to pass on her praise and congratulations to you. She's proud of you, we both are."

"I- thank you," Gabriel said with a genuine smile.

"Now, how has Vale treated you so far? How's Beacon?" Ironwood asked.

Gabriel went on to explain how everything was. He described how nice Vale and Beacon appeared. He told them what the other huntsmen were like at first glance. He unfortunately didn't catch himself from mentioning the incident with Weiss Schnee. Ironwood found it hilarious, much to his embarrassment.

"So let me ask you something else: What do you think of Headmistress Oznia?" Ironwood asked with a serious tone.

Gabriel had to think for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure sir. She seems nice and I want to trust her, but part of me is warranting caution."

"Explain."

"Its..." Gabriel paused for a few moments to gather his thoughts. "Remember when we had the meeting with the other top heads and officials of Atlas about what to do with me, and how despite all of the good intentions they all put forth, you could just tell they all had some sort of hidden, maleficent intent."

"I remember," Ironwood grimaced. Some of the things they wanted to do were… let's just say James had better physical and verbal restraint than Chambers did, but on the bright side those individuals withdrew their 'brilliant' ideas and never brought them back up again. "You honestly think Oznia is has some kind of vile intent? Because I-"

"I don't, but that's the problem. I can tell, thanks to how those others acted, that she's hiding some kind of intent for us, but I can't tell if… in this context, why hide something?"

"Well, as I was about to say, that's just how Oznia is. Her keeping information to herself is a small unfortunate trait she learned from her long ex- years of experience. Whatever it is she's keeping from you, no harm or foul play will come from it. And I can guarantee that that is the case."

"Can you be certain of that?"

"My wife and I have been working and serving with her for over two decades now, we've become very close friends. We know a lot about her, more than anyone does. I trust Oznia with my life, and so does Chambers."

Gabriel was taken back by that. From the years he spent with them, the Ironwood's didn't trust quickly or lightly. For him to say that they trusted Ozn with their lives was a very big deal.

"Besides, if I didn't, why would I be ok with sending you there with the other huntsmen?"

"... that is true," Gabriel nodded. "Ok, if you say she's alright, then she's alright. Thank you for clearing my doubts."

"Anytime," James smiled, but it dropped when he looked at his watch. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but this is all the time I could spare for this call."

"I understand, duty calls. Take care, general." Gabriel gave a salute before disconnecting the call.

Jaune Arc grunted as he was forced a step back after blocking Joan's heavy swing. Oznia was kind enough to accept their request to have one of the sparing areas reserved just for them for an hour. They wanted to get some practice in without having the whole school spy in on them.

Jaune was finally getting used to Crocea Mors, the Arc family sword and shield. It was originally passed down to Joan, but when Jaune unlocked his aura and accepted Oznia's offer, Joan passed it down to him and took up using a two-handed broadsword. She rarely if ever used the shield so it all balanced out.

Jaune found that the training with his twin was slightly paying off. When they first started he could barely last a minute, but now he was decent at blocking and countering against her. But Joan still had years of experience and Jaune only had a few months, and it showed. Despite Jaune's best efforts, he was soon knocked on his back and felt a foot press down on his chest.

"I win," Joan said as she pulled her red hoodie and mask back and offer him her hand.

"Surprising no one," Jaune said and accepted the help getting up.

"Aww come on, don't be like that," she said as she sheathed her sword, "you're actually getting better. Last time you could barely hold back one heavy swing. Here, you held against four in a row. You're getting better fast."

"Yeah, I guess I am a little bit," Jaune said, but Joan's face showed that she picked up on the doubt in his voice.

"Ok lil bro, real talk," she put a hand on his shoulder, "what's got you down?"

Jaune saw no use in keeping it from his sister. "I… guess I'm finally feeling the weight of what I signed up for, and just now realizing how underprepared I am."

"You were so excited before. I was too when you I found out you'd be coming here. What brought this doubt up now?" Joan asked with care.

"I guess it started a little bit after I made a new friend here."

"You're already making some friends?! That's awesome!" She squealed.

"Yeah," Jaune rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Her name is Ruby."

"Gothic black and red-haired girl, has a sniper scythe?"

"Yeah that's her, you saw her?"

"It was hard not too. After you guys left before Miss Goodwitch entered, she loudly proclaimed to her older sister that you were her friend. She soon got swarmed by a lot of girls asking what you were like."

"Poor girl," he chuckled. "But yeah, we started talking and she seemed nice. Did you know she's only fifteen?"

"Wait, what? She's only fifteen?!" Joan did a double take.

"Yep," Jaune nodded. "Fifteen, and she was accepted into Beacon two years for her skill."

"That's really impres-... wait," Joan blinked in realization. "I know what this is about. You feel inadequate?"

"Pretty much yeah," Jaune sighed. "Seeing Ruby boast slightly about her skill and then looking at everyone else… it made me realize just how underprepared and experienced I really am. Every girl here seems to have fought and killed Grimm before. Even the other guys have years more experience than me. Gabriel's a soldier, Rost has a worn down weapon and armor that he's obviously been using for a long time, and I'm not sure about Shadow but he has some custom hover shoes and looks like he can handle himself in a fight." He looked down at his hands. "And me? I'm just a guy who played with a sword for a few months. I haven't even killed a Grimm yet."

Joan was quiet for several moments. Jaune took it as she had no argument against it. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Hmm?" Jaune looked back up as she spoke.

"You're not the only one who ever felt useless. How do you think I felt when that Ursa got the better of me and you almost died saving my life?" Jaune felt a small phantom pain rise up on his scars, but managed to hide it. "I honestly felt like the biggest failure for not being able to protect you, like you feel now. But, what did you think I did? Did I mope about being weak?" She picked up Crocea Mors and held it up to him. "Or, did I decide that working harder to get better so I wasn't weak and inadequate anymore was the better option?" She offered a soft smile. "How about one more round?"

Jaune returned the smile and grabbed his weapon.

Shadow Nahk leaned against the wall corner of the training area. The sunset long ago and everyone was winding down to rest for initiation tomorrow. He and the other guys inadvertently ended up sitting together, passing the time with small talk about random things. He wasn't really interested but figured it was better than nothing.

They also didn't get as much of or the type of attention from the girls than he thought of earlier. Practically all of them kept to themselves, but it was obvious that he and the other guys were the main topic of discussion throughout the room.

They got many looks, from curious, flirting, and glares. Some girls even decided to 'clumsily' drop some things and bend over to pick them up or decided to do some very provocative stretches, making sure they were in the boys' view. Jaune ended up being a blushing fool, giving the reactions the girls wanted. Gabriel kept a blank face and kept his back to the girls. Rost still had his mask and helmet for whatever reason, but it was obvious he was enjoying the view. Shadow wanted to admit it didn't affect him, but he had to sit legs crossed for a while.

All of that stopped when Jaune's older twin ended up walking over and joining their group. Though it was a little awkward since many girls wolf-whistled as she approached, which ceased once she loudly asked how her brother was doing. She definitely seemed nice and the others thought so as well.

As it became late, each guy took a spot and settled down for the night.

Shadow felt his scroll vibrate and checked to see he had a notification. 'Hey Shadow! Sorry for taking so long to respond, it's been a busy day. How's Beacon treating my nephew?'

Shadow couldn't help but roll his eyes, but not in a rude way. They weren't at all related by blood, but she'd been there long enough to warrant being an honorary family member. 'Everything's going ok so far. Nothing to really complain about. How's Maria doing?' He typed. The minute until Rouge responded felt like the longest minute of his life.

'She's doing ok, definitely better than before. She's asleep right now but I'll have her call you later tomorrow. I told you Oznia would keep her word.'

Shadow let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He had the smallest of doubts that the Headmistress would've gone back on their deal, but it was still good to hear that Maria was in good hands.

'That's perhaps the best news I've heard all week. I'm that I was wrong and was just paranoid.'

'Did… did you just admit you were wrong?! Who are you and where's the real Shadow?'

'He's dead. I killed him. I'm the android that replaced him.'

'Ha, maybe now I'll have a Shadow that'll actually have some manners.'

'Wow, didn't know you cared so little for me Aunt Rouge.'

'You know it sweety ;)'

That got a chuckle out of him, but his smile quickly faded when a new, serious thought came to mind. He did a quick check around the room before typing. 'Hey Rouge, by any chance does she know I'm here?'

It took two minutes for Rouge to respond.

'No. As far as everything appears, she doesn't know you're in Beacon, or off of Anima for that matter. Look, I know that it'll only be a matter of time until she realizes what's actually happening. But by that point, it'll be too late for her to even try anything. And if she does, then I'll staple a tail to her just to swing her around and throw her out a window.'

Shadow wanted to laugh at the mental image of that, but couldn't. 'Alright. I was just feeling a little paranoid recently and just wanted a little reassurance. Thank you.'

'No problem. I'm here if you need anything. I also can't help but notice it's late and that your initiation is in the morning. Go get some sleep, you'll need the energy.'

'I will. Thanks.' As he was about to but his scroll away, he got one more message.

'One last thing: As much as I would like to, I don't want to receive news that I'll be a godmother for at least a year.'

'No promises.' Shadow actually chuckled as he sent the message and retired for the night.

He fell asleep rather quickly, despite the fact that he knew someone was watching him closely.

A/N: And thats a wrap.

I know what your thinking: Yes, I basically made Joan a Shy Gal ;), but replace the leggings with actual pants and add some armor. (Yeah but when I think of shygirls I just think of the stuff I saw on rule 34 - Austin)

I wanted to do more with Rost's and Shadow's parts, but that would have revealed too much too early, character and plot wise.

So what did you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Think something can be improved? Want to give me a moral boost? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed.

(Also… DON'T ASK ABOUT PAIRINGS CAUSE I AM HELPING WITH THE STORY, AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A FLIPPING CLUE WHAT IS HAPPENING BESIDES ONE THAT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED CAUSE I HAD BEEN MEMEING IT UP SINCE LIKE DAY ONE, and yeah that stuff is still being debated, and stuff. Yep. That is about that. I am good now bye guys - Austin)

I sort of regret letting him type stuff for the a/n, but that's the price for him beta'ing.

(you love me - Austin)

Anyway, thanks again for reading! Have a great day :)