Chapter Two: Initiation Part One:

September 5th 1462 of the Vytali Calendar:

The second day of the new school year was heralded by the groans of waking freshmen. Students pulled themselves up from their futons, many of them grabbing for scrolls to tell them what time it was. A few, those lucky enough to be natural morning people, were already freshening up and grabbing bags to get to the showers.

Rapture Brostein unfortunately wasn't a morning person. As a faunus, she shared several traits with whatever animal was a part of her. She had the misfortune of being born with the features of a crocodile. It was mornings like this, where she had to get up early for something important, that she wondered if she really was warm blooded. She knew full well that her blood wasn't cold but she did entertain the idea of basking on a sun heated rock to wake her up for a moment. Blinking a few times and giving a wide yawn, she pushed herself off of her futon and threw the covers off.

Pulling herself up she gave another gaping yawn, stood up and stretched. Her back and neck popped satisfyingly as she flexed her muscles and took the opportunity to blink several more times and wake herself up. Finished, she picked her covers up and put them back on the futon, folding them a little to make the spread look somewhat tidy. She then grabbed the small bag she had put her toiletries in and another that held a change of clothes and walked off to the showers.

Entering the girl's showers, she grabbed a towel out of one of the cupboards set aside for them and walked off to one of the stalls. Already she was getting strange looks. Most girls were usually disgusted by her appearance, many of them acting unabashed about it with their sneers of derision and expressions of shock. Rapture didn't care. She was used to it by this point and so they didn't hurt her. It was the looks of fear that got to her instead.

Rapture paused as she noticed a large mirror and looked at herself. She was tall and somewhat broad, definitely more-so than the other girls around her. However, it wasn't her size that drew people's attention. It was the thick, leathery scales that covered most of her body. The large, hard plates ran down her back, torso, arms and legs, ending in human shaped hands and feet that still had some smaller, lighter scales. The same scales also framed her face, running around her short, dark hair and softer, human face. There were still noticeably human features on her body. Her hands and feet were not clawed, her face was human in shape and structure, her eyes and teeth were not reptilian and despite her rather broad stature she had noticeable breasts and mammalian hips.

Still it was all marred by the leathery armour that covered her body and gave her a dark, greenish skin hue. She envied the faunus that had to simply endure a few, small extra traits. Those who complained about suffering strange looks from humans due to having extra ears, horns or animal eyes had no idea what it was really like to stand out because of their faunus heritage. Some were even lucky enough to just have claws, retractable ones no less.

Struggling not to sigh audibly, she stalked over to one of the changing cubicles, stepped inside and locked the door. She slipped out of the pyjama t-shirt and shorts and put them in changing bag and then grabbed her toiletry bag, which was waterproof, and wrapped the towel around her body. Walking out of the cubicle, she threw her bag onto a shelf where other girls had placed their belongings. She then walked over to the shower stalls.

Thankfully one of them was empty and Rapture felt grateful for that small piece if luck. Shutting the cublicle and locking it, she then took the towel off, placed in on the stall door and turned on the shower. The rush of steadily warming water helped wash away the last vestiges of sleep from her mind. Sighing in contentment, she grabbed the shampoo she had in her bag, lathered it and rubbed it into her hair.

She wasn't particularly vain since her appearance disturbed people no matter what she did with it and so she didn't really bother to try to be anything other than practical with her looks. She had no body hair but the softer skin on the crown of her head was still vulnerable to lice and so she preferred to keep her hair and scalp clean. Also, even to her, greasy hair was unpleasant and best avoided. Running her hands through her hair as she washed it, she thought about what might await her later in the day. Today was Initiation and, supposedly, the day where they chose their partners and team placements. Rapture had dreaded this day. She had no idea how this worked but she did know that she would be stuck with whatever team she chose for the next four years of her life. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was getting stuck with bullies, racists or arseholes for four years.

Washing the product from her hair, she applied conditioner, rinsed her hair out and combed it through thoroughly. Her hair tended to, she took out body soap and began rubbing herself down. Her thick interlocked scales thankfully weren't that hard to clean but the craggy surface they formed on her body did require some attention so that she didn't miss any spaces. There were, of course, places she would never be able to reach and had to simply trust the flow of the water to clean those spaces out.

Finishing up, she grabbed her towel and rubbed herself with it in order get most of the water off, wrapped herself in it again and stepped out of the shower cubicle. Already lines were forming in the showers so Rapture grabbed her bags again, pulled another towel out of the compartment they were held in and walked back to the changing cubicles.

Wrapping the second towel around her head to help dry her hair, she walked back into one of the stalls, shut the door and began getting changed. She had prepared her combat attire the night before, taking care to make sure it was in proper working condition. She only had so many sets of the outfit and she couldn't afford to buy many replacements. Still everything she had packed was sturdy, somewhat like herself.

She dressed quickly, making sure she had put her pyjamas and other personal items in the spare bag and then left the stall. Pausing once again in the mirror, she went over her appearance to make sure everything was right.

Her Huntress attire was built around her armoured body, most of being light in weight and a slightly darker green that veered close to black to blend in with her natural colouration. She put a form fitting top over her chest and torso with a thick, sleeveless leather jacket covered in outward facing pockets layered over it. She also wore dark trousers secured by a silver belt that had a large buckle with ram's horns engraved on it. Her feet were covered by dark hiking boots that showed signs of wear and repeated repair. Last were her forearms which were wrapped in bandages and then covered by long, fingerless gloves.

She felt slightly uncomfortable without her weapon these days, having required to wear Long Claw more and more frequently as Signal's final exam period progressed. The staff at Beacon, however, had demanded she place her weapons in their custody the previous evening and she had only just received a number and combination for a personal locker that her weapon had been placed inside.

Washed and dressed, she only had to grab breakfast from the cafeteria, find her locker and prepare for Initiation. Beacon was now her home for the next four years. She was going to try her hardest to make her time here bearable at the very least.

Greta stifled a small yawn as she ate breakfast. She had been woken by the loud morning greeting of Lach Boucanier who had shook her awake, bid her an aggravatingly enthusiastic good morning and then proceeded to do the same to Tom. The disgruntled glare she had sent the larger boy's way hadn't dissuaded him from excitedly talking to her though her sleep addled mind had failed to pick up what he was saying.

She had showered, dressed herself, indulged herself in a little makeup and then met the boys back at their futons. They had then all gone to get some breakfast before the initiation.

Greta had chosen some simple toast that she had spread marmalade on top of and coffee that she had added a lot of sugar and milk to. She had also added several gingerbread men from the baked section further down the queue to her breakfast menu. Lach had gone for nearly anything with meat and grease and was enjoying a full plate of sausages, bacon, fried eggs and beans with a grilled tomato on the edge of his plate. Tom had chosen a similar menu to Lach but had been more conservative than his gluttonous friend, electing to take far more reasonable portions. He had, however, decided not to complain about the quality of the food and was instead eating it with a degree of enthusiasm.

'So do ya think Initiation'll last longer than the introduction?' Lach asked between several mouthfuls of fried eggs.

'It's supposed to last the whole day,' Tom replied. 'They still haven't given many details except that we're supposed to be at a cliff near the Emerald Forest for ten.'

'Are they going to pick our teams there?' Greta suddenly asked, joining the conversation.

'I guess,' Tom replied with a shrug. 'Again, they haven't really given us anything to work with. It looks like it's going to be a surprise.'

'Brilliant,' Greta said in annoyance, letting out a sigh. 'I thought this was a school. Why aren't they telling us what we're going to do? How are we supposed to learn anything if they won't tell us?'

'Maybe they just want to challenge us,' Tom mused. 'The headmaster did say that being a Huntsman was difficult.'

'I like the sound 'a that,' Lach said after swallowing another mouthful of food.

Greta groaned in annoyance and rubbed her face with her left hand. "Why can't things just be straightforward?' she seethed internally. "They just have to make it more complicated."

'Ya alright there?' Lach asked, slight concern in his voice.

'Yeah, I'm good,' Greta replied with a sigh. 'Just annoyed. It's too early to have to put up with this. I just wanted a nice simple day where I knew what was coming.'

'Well what I know,' Tom suddenly said with a hint of panic. 'Is that it's nine twenty one and it takes twenty minutes to get to the cliff.'

'Oh I'm not being late,' Lach declared through a spluttering mouthful of bacon. Swallowing, he threw himself back from the table and set off for the locker-room.

'Agreed,' Greta said at the same time, pulling herself to her feet and following after the sailor. Tom joined them without a comment, simply looking at the clock on his scroll and then running to catch up.

Greta was now feeling rather annoyed. Time was of the essence now but whoever had chosen lockers for them had given them ones with very high numbers. Greta had stalked to the back of the room where long rows of tall lockers were stacked, finding herself far in the back of the locker room as she looked for number three hundred and sixty one. Her friends had split off from her a minute ago, their own lockers elsewhere in the room.

Finally discovering her locker, she had furiously tapped in the combination and threw the locker door open. Inside was Firebrand. She had been forced to relinquish her weapon to several white uniformed staff members the previous evening who had then placed it in the locker like every other student's equipment. Aside from her folded fire-pike the locker was completely empty, save for the raised indent in the floor of the steel box.

Grabbing Firebrand, she slammed the door shut and then took out her scroll. It told her she still had another twenty one minutes before Initiation started and so she shut the scroll and strode out of the locker-room. As she walked she saw a familiar person storm past her.

'I can't believe it took you that long to get your weapon,' a familiar girl in white said irritably. Beside her was another boy with light brown hair who was dressed in a silvery white suit highlighted by purple and gold lining. Unlike the girl in white, who had both her swords back on her hip, he didn't seem to have any visible weapons on his person.

'I did warn you,' the boy said in an equally frustrated tone as he strode by. 'Anyway you're the one who wanted to spend all that time scouting out team members. I did tell you several times that I needed time to collect my weapons.'

'Never mind that,' the girl snapped. 'All that matters is that we get there on time. I will not be late on my first day.'

The two of them then sped up, completely ignoring Greta as they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Greta turned to see if Lach and Tom had gotten their weapons as well and thankfully saw the two of them rushing to catch up with her.

'We still on time?' Lach asked, nodding at Greta but quickly turning to Tom.

'Just about,' Tom answered. 'I don't think we need to keep running but we should really try to be quick.'

'Sounds good to me,' Greta said with a chuckle. 'At least we're not the only ones who're late.'

'I don't consider that a good thing,' Tom replied.

'Could be worse,' Greta shot back with a grin as they made it out of the building and into the campus grounds.

'I'd rather it not be,' Lach said with a serious tone.

'Here, here,' Tom added. Greta noticed he had taken the ring out of his shirt again and was fiddling with it with his left hand.

The three of them quickly strode across the campus and out of the actual school. Leaving the confines of school grounds, they moved onto a paved path that led into the neighbouring woods, crossing a bridge that spanned the northern river next to the school. The path then turned back east, leading to the grounds behind Beacon itself.

The Emerald Forest was a large woodland that rested atop the Beacon Plateau. Here the land was more rugged with hills, cliffs and ravines upsetting the flat table of the western portion plateau. Here was the source of the various rivers that flowed to Beacon and down into the Vale Lake and onwards to the sea. The woods were famous for the bright green hue of the trees which, whilst not necessarily different from most native species of tree, were said to shine in the light of the summer sun.

Greta didn't necessarily see the green shine that the woods were supposedly named for as she ran up to the meeting point. Dozens of freshmen were already gathered at the edge of a large cliff that overlooked the western edge of the Emerald Forest. Professors Arc and Smith were also there, organising the students into a straight line that ran along the edge of the cliff, pointing out towards the woods below. Thankfully, there was no sign that anything had actually started yet.

'Made it,' Lach said gratefully with a sigh. Stopping to take a breath, he straightened himself out again.

'Come on,' Greta sighed, also taking a deep breath. 'Let's get in this line.'

'I wonder what were supposed to do when we line up,' Tom mused from behind them. 'Do you think we're supposed to climb down from here or is there some kind of path?'

'Well since the professors are here they'll probably give us a clue,' Greta replied.

'They'd better,' Lach said with a cocky grin. 'I'm gettin' rather annoyed about not being told anything.'

'Shouldn't be much longer now then,' Tom added. 'I mean, if the professors are here then they're probably going to tell us something.'

'Yeah,' Greta responded, feeling a little more confident. 'Come on. Let's get in this line then. The sooner we're all in place the sooner they can tell us whatever we're supposed to be doing.'

Their minds made up, they walked over to the other students and took their place in the line. They found that the edge of the cliff had evenly spaced square stone slabs with the Vale symbol carved on them. They saw that the other students were all standing on these slabs and so they stepped onto one for each of them as well. Greta chose the spot closest to the line, putting herself next to the boy in white that she had seen earlier with the girl in white.

Professor Arc and Professor Smith were both waiting patiently, Professor Smith had his usual stern expression and his eyes judgementally followed the stragglers as they shuffled into place. Professor Arc gave his deputy a questioning look that likely held some significance to the two adults but meant nothing to Greta as she studied the two professors.

'Now I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here,' Professor Arc suddenly said to the assembled students, a mischievous smile on his face. 'Many of you have probably heard rumours about Initiation and the formation of your teams. Well you can all rest easy knowing that today those rumours stop. Today is the day you form your partnerships, choose your teams and ensure your place in Beacon.'

Greta was confused, partially about the way he vaguely stepped around the questions she was sure every student was asking but also because he said that Initiation assured their place in Beacon. She had thought her applying for the school and being accepted had ensured her a place. Why did he bring that up now around Initiation? Would she get kicked out if she failed?

Greta took several nervous breaths as the headmaster looked down the line of students.

'You will be sent into the Emerald Forest where you will be expected to use your own landing strategies to make it down. After that you will proceed to the northern edge of the forest where you will find a series of ruins. There are several special relics belonging to the school that have been placed in there. Retrieve one per partnership and return it here. If you don't then you will be expelled.'

'Your partnerships will be formed based upon the first free student you make eye-contact with,' Professor Smith suddenly added. 'Once you have found partners proceed to the temple to collect a relic. Also there are still Grimm infestations in these woods. Though the more dangerous breeds have largely been eradicated from the area do be cautious while you're in there.'

'Good luck everyone,' Professor Arc said jovially, his casual demeanour returning. 'Oh and happy landings.'

'What does he mean by that?' Tom asked out loud.

Greta saw the headmaster take out his scroll and press a button on it. Without even a mechanical click as warning, every stone slab on the cliff-side fired upwards, launching every student forward into the air and over the forests, several of them screaming in shock.

Flailing in panic, Greta managed to catch a glimpse of the professors and saw Professor Arc doubled over with laughter while Professor Smith chuckled to himself.

The late morning sun shone over the Emerald Forest. The woods were tranquil, the animal inhabitants undisturbed by the beasts of Grimm who instinctively avoided them. The forest was a verdant paradise, virtually untouched by the works of man with the exception of the temple ruins, the remnants of a long dead Vytali colony.

The peace was suddenly disturbed by the sound of several screaming human children as they rocketed through the air. Beacon's Initiation ceremony was taking place again and the animals, many of whom had grown used to the destructive activities of their human neighbours, ran away in preparation for the chaos that such an event often brought.

Despite being shot through the air Peter Hamlin was exalted. In fact he cackled joyously as he felt the wind rushing through his hair. This was what he had been preparing for. Granted like every other student he had virtually no idea what Initiation entailed but that didn't matter. He was used to flying through the air and the sensation of pushing against the wind was wondrous to him. He was glad he had also taken the precaution of putting on sunglasses. Whilst he had worn them in the event of the sun shining too bright they certainly did help cut wind resistance down on his eyes and he needed them if he was going to land safely.

Concentrating on the ground that was slowly hurtling towards him as the arc of his trajectory angled down he felt forward with his Aura. He activated his semblance, pinpointing a sturdy branch on one of the larger trees and released his power. For a split-second the world around him folded in on itself and there was an instantaneous flash. When the instant was over he found himself standing on the branch. Planting his feet and feeling forward with his Aura he slowed his momentum and crouched.

As his hands brushed the bark of the branch he spied another branch lower down and pushed. Using both his arms and legs he leapt down, bouncing off the other branch and heading for the ground. Tucking his his head into his chest, he landed feet first, pitched forward, rolled, killing his spare momentum and landed back on his feet again. Standing straight, he looked around and saw his surroundings were clear.

Smiling to himself for another successful manoeuvre, he brushed away the small pieces of bark on his hand and straightened his coat.

Peter was a boy of average height with light brown hair, a slightly hawkish face and the pale complexion common to many Atlesians. He wore a smart outfit, somewhat inspired by the dress-suits his family liked to make him wear but modified for combat. The tie and waist-coat had been dropped in favour of a sturdier dress-shirt and a long but dignified overcoat had been placed on top of it. All of it was specially made at admittedly substantial expense to be sturdier than it appeared. It was also coloured a platinum, silver hue, the hem of the coat lined by a band of royal purple with a band of gold thread above it. The inside of the coat was also purple but most people wouldn't be able to tell since he had placed his weapons on the inside of his coat as well.

Having dusted himself off he looked around the copse he had landed in again. There were no birds, no animals, no anything really since there was also no sign of any Grimm nearby. He heard nothing, save the sound of detonations above him, likely from students using explosive force to slow their descent.

Ignoring the students who were still in the air, Peter simply strode into the woods. He pushed aside several branches and tried to find a clearer path between the trees. The Emerald Forest was very lush and the vegetation was incredibly thick. Peter tried to find an animal trail, or a clearing, or something else that would give him a better line of sight. Ten minutes passed as Peter worked his way through the forest. He cautiously moved through the vegetation, checking to make sure that Grimm weren't hiding behind the branches and bushes he pushed aside.

He could still hear the sound of explosions but they weren't overhead now. This time they were coming from around him instead and were usually accompanied by the roars of Grimm. The fighting had begun.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief when he finally stumbled onto a deer trail and began following it. Opening his scroll, he flicked through the features until he found the digital compass. He found he was heading north east and so was the trail. Sighing to himself, he corrected his course and walked off of the trail and back into the woods.

"Please. Please gods above us. Let the trees thin soon," he thought to himself, silently imploring the gods to help.

As he prayed in his mind, he walked into a rather wide clearing. For a moment he was thankful for leaving the thick vegetation. Then he realised he wasn't alone.

Peter's eyes widened in shock as he saw two very large Ursa standing in the middle of the clearing. They were thankfully still relatively young as they only had the bone white masks that covered their faces and were lacking the armoured plating and spines of Ursa Major. The two Grimm immediately reared on their back legs the moment they saw him and roared.

Calming himself, Peter narrowed his eyes on the Ursa, flicking the sleeves of his coat back with a wave of his hands, pulled his arms back and spread his coat wide. Like the Grimm, who took the time to roar in order to intimidate their prey, Peter displayed his weapon. The inside of his coat was lined with row after row of shining golden blades. The entire inner lining was covered in these weapons. There were over a dozen thirty centimetre ornate, conical stakes, six forty centimetre long knives with thick, elongated handles that possessed triggers and four blade-less sword handles. This was Symphonic Edge, his deadly orchestra.

Grinning, Peter sent out his Aura, wrapping two of the blade-less handles, his Adagios, in his power. With a thought his semblance picked up the Adagios and teleported them to his hands. A quick motion attached them to chains on the inside of his sleeves. The thin golden chains led to small, motorised bundles that allowed him to throw his blades and be able to then reel them back and retrieve them instantly.

Gripping the Adagios tightly, he pressed a button on the hilts. A series of long metal panels folded out of the centre of the handles, elongating until they were well over a foot long. Ornate ridges folded over and over again until the entire weapon was a sharpened edge.

Now armed, he lowered his stance, spread his arms and held his blades steadily in front of him. The moment the first Ursa charged, he ducked forward, flicking his right blade out and cutting the Ursa's ankle. The beast roared in anger and pain and swiped its claws at Peter who hopped back behind the beast. Seeing the Grimm had fallen forward onto its knees, he ran forward and hopped on the beast's back. Reversing his grip on his left blade, he raised it high and drove it into the back of the Ursa's neck.

As the first Grimm pitched forward, the right-hand Adagio folded back in and was wrapped in the white glow of his semblance. The Adagio disappeared and was replaced by one of the forty centimetre knives, an Allegro. With a flick of his wrist, the blade of the knife flipped backwards, folding on top of the handle. The handle then moved forward and folded slightly, the top twisting into the familiar shape of a handgun. Pointing the Allegro at the face of the second Ursa which had charged forward to assist its companion, he fired three shots. Two of the shots ricocheted off of the Ursa's mask but the third impacted the Grimm's eye.

The first Ursa finished pitching forward, collapsing to the ground, dead and limp. Peter pulled his Adagio out of the disintegrating Ursa, refolded it and instantly replaced it with one of the stakes, a Piccolo. Attaching the Piccolo to the chains in his sleeve, he waited for the Ursa to throw its head back in pain. The moment the Ursa throw its head into the air and roared again, Peter made his move. In a single fluid motion he threw the stake, a thruster in the weapon firing it even faster than his arm ever could. The stake shot forward and embedded itself in the Ursa's throat.

The Grimm froze and stood upright, swaying slightly for several seconds. It then fell backwards and collided with the ground with a loud thud. Smirking, he retracted the Allegro and reattached it to the inside of his coat. With a flick of his wrist, the chain the Piccolo was attached to also began retracting, pulling the stake out of the Ursa's dissolving body and back to his hand. Grabbing his weapon, he used his semblance to return it to his coat again and then looked around.

He was satisfied at seeing no further Grimm. In fact the only evidence there had ever been any was the rapidly disappearing bodies of the beasts he had slain.

It was then that he noticed the figure standing and watching him on the edge of the clearing. It was a girl with black hair and dressed in a dark green dress carrying an orange and black maul in her hand. Peter was sure he had seen the girl somewhere, just before the headmaster had launched them into the forest in fact.

It was only when he looked her in the eyes and saw she was doing the same that he remembered what Professor Arc had said. This girl was now his partner.

Greta was proud to say she had only shrieked a little when Professor Arc had launched her into the sky without a word of warning. After a few seconds of waving every one of her limbs in shock, she had quickly righted herself again and calmed down.

After several more seconds of flight, the forest whipping past beneath her, she realised she was starting to angle down towards the ground again. Thinking fast she pulled Firebrand off of the holster attached to the back of her dress and opened up the nozzle at the top of the maul. In its folded form, the fire-pike looked more similar to a thin club. Pointing her weapon down to the ground, she planted her feet on the wider portion of the head and pulled the trigger.

Firebrand bucked as a large fire-Dust round was detonated and fired from out of the muzzle. The kick, pushed Great back several inches, slowing her flight and giving her more time to figure out her strategy. She fired several more rounds, slowing herself all the more as the ground approached. She could see a large clearing in front of her that she was heading right towards. She grinned, glad she wouldn't have to navigate the canopy of the trees. Her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the clearing wasn't empty.

Three young Deathstalkers were standing around the gap in the trees. Thankfully they were still relatively small, barely two metres long with their tails raised and with much weaker armour. Unfortunately Greta also knew that they were also more likely to have lethal venom in their stingers unlike the adults who relied more on the crushing power of their pincers, stinger tails and sheer size.

Thinking quickly again, she pressed another button on her maul and deployed Firebrand. The haft of her maul extended forward, forcing her to twist her body out of the way of the extending pole. Where before she held a heavy club a little over a metre long she now had a thick, two and a half metre polearm. The large, heavy muzzle of the fire-pike folded out, intricate parts locking into place to form a stylised dragon's maw over the nozzle. She knew that inside her weapon the firing mechanisms were reconfiguring as well, replacing the shotgun mechanism with a new Dust processor.

As she fell to the ground she angled herself, aiming for the nearest Deathstalker. With barely a sound she impacted the first of the Grimm, landing right in the centre of its back. With the momentum of her fall and her full weight on the fire-pike, the muzzle of Firebrand immediately penetrated the Deathstalker's carapace and burst through its underside, pinning it to the ground.

The injured Grimm shrieked in pain, alerting the other two to the threat. Not wasting any time, Greta pulled the trigger again. A plume of fire shot out of Firebrand's muzzle, pushing against the ground and launching Greta back into the air like a rocket, tearing back up through the Grimm and cooking its innards as it did so.

Greta tucked her legs to her chest and flipped backwards, angling her body back to the ground and landing on her feet behind the disintegrating Deathstalker. Taking a breath she appraised her situation. There were still two more Grimm who were now completely alert to her presence and possibly angry for her intruding on their territory and killing one of their brethren. Grinning confidently, she pressed the button on Firebrand's haft again and switched back to its maul form.

She charged at the Deathstalker to her left. The Grimm immediately lunged its stinger at her but she sidestepped out of the way and hammered it with Firebrand. Knocking the stinger away from her, she then jumped into the air to avoid a swipe from the Deathstalker's pincers. Reversing Firebrand in her grip, she raised it over her head, muzzle pointing down and slammed it onto the Grimm's head. The impact cracked the Deathstalker's carapace and with an opening present, Greta pulled the trigger again. The shotgun barked, delivering burning fire-Dust and crystalline fragments directly into the Grimm's brain.

The Deathstalker fell to the ground, its legs twitching slightly as it began to dissolve. Greta then turned to see the last Deathstalker was charging at her. As she saw the stinger rush towards her, she leapt back and extended Firebrand again. Holding the fire-pike in front of her, she unleashed a sheet of flame at the Grimm, driving it back away from her. She then began raining blows on the Grimm's armour, throwing it off balance with the force of her swings and the occasional bursts of flame she let out every now and then. Keeping Firebrand extended, she made sure ot keep the Grimm as far from herself as possible.

Cackling excitedly, she then raised Firebrand over her head and span it several times, stopping when the fire-pike was now reversed in her grip. She then stabbed down with the head, impaling the Deathstalker's armoured mask and penetrating directly to its brain.

The Deathstalker squealed for a moment and then collapsed. Greta grunted as she pulled Firebrand out of the dead Grimm and retracted it once again. She felt good about her little combat session. She had just killed three Deathstalkers. Even if they were still essentially hatchlings they were one of the deadlier Grimm.

'I'm on a roll today,' she said to herself proudly. 'If I keep this up Initiation'll be a breeze.'

Satisfied with her performance she set off into the woods to find the ruins Professor Arc had mentioned.

She spent several minutes wandering through the woods after leaving the clearing, weapon out and ready to use against any Grimm she found. Thankfully her initial encounter was the only one she had as she walked through the thick vegetation. She heard the sound of explosions and roaring Grimm in the distance, telling her that her classmates had already engaged with whatever other Grimm were in the woods as well.

As the minutes ticked by she grew increasingly frustrated with her situation. The woodlands were thick and the lush vegetation grabbed at her as she pushed way through it and she had little real idea where she was going. The only real guide she had for where she going was her possible position relative to her classmates and even that was dependent on how good she was at picking up the sounds of battle.

It was then that she heard the sounds of battle once again but much closer this time. Unsure of what to do, Greta pondered her options. She could hear the roars of a beast of Grimm and the sounds of blades hitting flesh. Holding Firebrand at the ready, she ran through the woods to where the sounds of battle were coming from. As she approached, gunshots sounded as well and she heard the thud of bodies hitting the ground.

She quickly found herself in a clearing. There were obvious signs of a battle as the bodies of two Grimm were disintegrating on the ground. Standing between them was a familiar boy. He was dressed in a silver outfit and had light brown hair. In his left hand was a short conical stake attached to a chain that he was pulling into his sleeve. Then there was a flash and the stake was gone.

The boy then turned his head, looking around the clearing and then noticing her. He looked over her, running his eyes up and down until he looked her in the eyes. She saw him frown momentarily but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

'Hello miss,' he said, walking up to her casually.

'Hello,' Greta said with trepidation. 'Nice to meet you. I'm Greta.'

'Pleasure,' he said as he approached. 'I'm Peter. Peter Hamlin.' He then reached his hand out. Greta hesitated for a moment and then took his hand and shook.

'I guess we're partners now,' Greta finally said, trying to break the tension as she let go of his hand.

'Looks like it,' Peter replied. 'I don't think we should stay here,' he suddenly said. 'I don't know anything about a time limit but I think we should get this over with as soon as possible.'

'Right,' Greta said, still a little unsure of what to make of her new partner.

Peter turned on his heel and immediately walked out of the clearing. Greta followed after him, taking his lead as he seemed to know where he was going. The two of them began to walk through the woods again, neither of them making a sound except for the occasional annoyed muttering from Peter whenever he had to push aside a particularly stubborn branch.

While she didn't know how her new partner felt, Greta was increasingly becoming bored of just wandering through the woods aimlessly. She took a look at Peter every now and then, seeing that, unlike her, he didn't have his weapon out and ready to use but was instead looking at his scroll as he walked.

'So,' Greta suddenly said, 'Why did you come to Beacon?'

Peter turned to her with a somewhat questioning look but he didn't appear annoyed either. 'Mostly to get away from home,' he replied after a pause. 'I wanted a chance to.' he seemed to search for what he wanted to say, 'make something of myself. On my own terms. You know what I mean?'

'Yeah,' Greta responded, feeling a little more comfortable. 'I get it.' she paused again for a moment. 'So where are you from?'

'Atlas,' Peter replied without hesitance. 'I'm from an island off the east of Mantle called Avalon. My family own a fair bit of the land on the island.'

'So why come to Beacon?' Greta asked as she digested what Peter had told her. 'Why not go to Atlas?'

'I felt like I would get better prospects in Vale,' Peter replied flippantly. 'Then there were all those messages back at home about "Doing Our Part for our Friends," you know, that kind of stuff.'

'Cool,' Greta said simply.

'How about you?' Peter said, walking back to stand beside her but still keeping his scroll out.

'I guess I just wanted to be a Huntress,' Greta replied, taken aback by the question. She had never really thought about why she chose to be a Huntress out of all of the options she did have.

'You guess?' Peter asked incredulously.

'It seemed like the best option to me,' she continued. 'I wanted to be one and I was good enough to get through Signal.' Feeling uncomfortable again she looked ahead and tried to find a new subject to talk about. 'Do you know where you're going?'

'Well I'm taking us north,' he replied.

'How can you tell?' she said. 'We've been walking through these woods for a while now.'

'Our scrolls have a compass,' he answered, lifting his scroll and showing the holographic image of a compass on it. 'The headmaster said the ruins were somewhere in the north so I'm taking us there.'

'Right,' Greta answered him. Then she went quiet.

Peter gave her a quick look of concern and then returned to his scroll. Together the two of them continued through the woods, slowly making their way north.

Rapture was glad she had managed to make it to the ground without any real incident. Grabbing trees as she approached the forest wasn't the smartest or easiest landing strategy but she had made it work and sustained no real damage to her Aura. The worst she got was enduring having the wind knocked out of her when her momentum was halted too suddenly on the first branch.

Now she had spent a good half hour or so wandering through the thick woods, trampling or pushing aside everything in her path. In the distance, the sounds of battle echoed, telling her that her classmates had landed as well. She supposed she would have to go and find one to partner with. It was required for her to pass this test.

She walked through the woods, following the directions of the compass option on her scroll's interface. She did angle herself in the direction where most of the sounds of combat were coming from but they were generally in a northward direction anyway. It made sense to her that if she just went in the direction the headmaster had told her the temple was she would run into someone to partner with eventually.

As she walked she heard the sound of gunfire. She straightened in alertness as she realised that the shots sounded very close. The roar of a Grimm followed shortly afterwards. It too sounded very near compared to the others she had heard in the past half hour.

With a flick of her wrists she deployed her weapon. Long Claw was a pair of heavily armoured gauntlets. As a faunus she hadn't been able to access the fancier mecha-shift components that people used to make complex combinations. Still she had managed to scrape enough together to make sure her gauntlets could be folded into a more compact form. Starting as thick steel grey bracelets wrapped around her wrists, a series of plates folded out, moving one over the other until the back of her hand and her fingers were covered in metal. She clenched her fist almost ritualistically, feeling the metal scrape against each other and rub the exposed palms of her hands.

Her weapon ready she ran forward in the direction of sounds of the nearby fight. Crashing through the vegetation, she soon found herself on a deer trail running through the woods. It was also where she found the fight.

She saw a very tall girl in black running her way. The girl had a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. She was wearing a violet blouse with a white lacy under-shirt poking out from underneath and a short black skirt. A thin, violet, shift-like half-skirt flared out behind her as well as a long cloak that was flapping behind her as she ran. What was most distinctive about her was the headdress she wore. It was a band of ebony metal with two twenty centimetre horns on either side. The horns faced backwards and curved slightly in the middle, leaving the tips pointed even lower than the base. In her hands was an ornate rifle with an elongated barrel and a sniper scope on top. The stock and trigger was also enlarged, hinting at the mecha-shift components hidden within.

Behind the girl was a pack of Beowolves, every one of the snarling in anticipation and feral hatred as they chased the girl down the trail.

Scowling and realising she had gained some distance on her pursuers, the girl span on her heel, planted her feet and raised her rifle. Lining up her shot through the scope she fired a single, powerful round. The shot raced into the lead Beowolf and impacted in its chest. The round then detonated, tearing the Grimm's chest apart and dropping it with barely a small whine on the Beowolf's part.

Enraged at their leader's death, the other lupine Grimm charged forward. Most went directly for the girl but a few of the more armoured beasts, their spines indicating their seniority, ranged around the side of the trail, likely preparing to flank the lone hunter.

The girl either didn't notice or didn't care as she lined up another shot with one of the less developed Beowolves. Firing another round and killing another Beowolf, she then picked herself up again and continued running. It was then, however, that she noticed how far the older Beowolves had gotten. One white plated monster took a swipe, causing the girl to jump back out of the way. She pressed a button on her rifle's stock and the weapon immediately began to change.

The stock straightened out, parts of it folding out and extending. The butt, opened up and folded over onto the stock and a long blade extended out. The rifle quickly transformed into a long glaive with a large, single-edged blade on the tip that the new girl immediately held out in front of her.

It was at this point, seeing the girl was surrounded and forced onto the defensive, the Rapture decided to join in. She ran forward, raising her right fist and honed in on the nearest Beowolf. The beast, distracted by the other girl, didn't notice Rapture approach. With a roar of anger Rapture brought her fist down and slammed it onto the crown of the Beowolf's head. The creature, caught unaware, fell down to the floor, head first. Not wasting a second, Rapture twisted her body and put her full weight and momentum into a left hook that slammed into the face of another Beowolf that had turned to investigate the source of the roar.

The second Grimm fell backwards, its head snapping back from the impact. Lifting her fist she gave it a right hook into the chest and a left uppercut when the Grimm's head fell forward again. She kept hammering the Beowulf with her punches until one final punch to the Grimm's crumbling mask broke through its skull and pulped its head.

Turning back she saw that the other girl had managed to spear another Beowolf but was struggling to keep so many opponents at bay, spinning her glaive end over end to ward them off and occasionally firing from the butt of her weapon which still seemed to serve as a rifle.

A low growl indicated that the first Grimm that Rapture had hit wasn't dead. It was pulling itself out of the hole in the floor which had formed after Rapture had shoved its head into the ground. Seeing the beast coming for her again, Rapture flicked her wrist again and Long Claw shifted. Panels between the fingers of her gauntlets opened up and three twenty centimetre long blades folded out. Taking a guarded pose, she waited for the Beowolf to get close and then sprang forward. Her right hand claw sank into the arm of the lunging Beowolf and pulled it aside whilst her left hand twisted beneath the Beowulf's jaws and then thrust up into the beast's head.

The Beowolf stopped dead in its tracks and went still. Sneering, Rapture withdrew her claws and the Grimm toppled to the ground, dead.

Quickly turning around, she saw the other girl had managed to fend off and slowly kill her attackers. There was only one Beowolf left and it was trying to find an opening. The other girl kept feinting with her glaive and then, in one move, brought it up over her head. The move prompted the Beowolf to lunge at the girl, only for her to immediately bring the butt of the glaive down on the Beowolf's head. The girl then pulled the trigger and sent a high impact Dust round into the Grimm's skull.

Seeing the other Grimm were dead, the girl rested her glaive on the ground, let out a breath she had been holding and then leant on her weapon for a moment. Her moment of recuperation over, she then straightened out and immediately began checking herself. She straightened her skirt and brushed aside a few stray hairs that had escaped the restraints of the horned headdress she wore. Her preening done, it was then that she finally noticed Rapture.

The girl in black raised her head, looked Rapture in the eye and then frowned. Rapture felt annoyed when she saw the girl look over the rest of her and deepen her frown.

'You're it aren't you?' the girl finally said in a self-important tone.

Rapture took a calming breath, quashing the annoyance that was bubbling underneath her.

'It looks like it doesn't it,' she finally replied in a neutral tone. She walked up to the girl and was surprised that her new partner was only a little bit shorter than her. The girl looked her straight in the eye, a raised eyebrow the only thing breaking through the cold expression on her face.

'I'm Rapture,' she finally said, breaking the silence that had ensued between them.

The other girl still stared at her and then finally let out another breath. 'Aurora Basilikos,' she finally said.

Rapture's eyes widened when she heard the name.

'You mean the construction guys?' she finally asked, a hint of curiosity and surprise in her voice.

'Yes,' Aurora replied in a flat tone. 'My family are quite involved in real estate and construction.'

Rapture was honestly impressed to meet the girl. She wasn't up to speed with everything to do with the world of construction but she knew the Basilikos Family were responsible for building most of the district she grew up in. the faunus ghetto she had called home hadn't been nice but when compared to other faunus majority areas her home had been almost luxurious. She wasn't a fan of the rich but many of her neighbours had said that the Basilikos, at the very least, believed in doing a good job, even when it came to building what were supposed to be cheap homes for faunus.

Unfortunately this girl in front of her hadn't made a good impression. Rapture prayed in her head over and over that things weren't going to be as bad as she thought they were going to be.

'We haven't got all day now,' Aurora suddenly said, walking straight past Rapture without looking at her. 'I was heading due north before the Beowolves appeared and set me back.'

Once again, Rapture took a calming breath. With a final flick of the wrist, she retracted Long Claw, returning it to its steel bracelet form and set off after Aurora. Following the other girl's directions on her scroll, they headed back into the woods and went directly north to the other end of the forest.