AN: Once again, an explanation of the last chapter! I'm mostly okay with how Weiss introduces herself in canon because one of the best things about Weiss is how much more likable she's become compared to how unlikeable she began. But in the original version of this episode it feels like Blake basically just showed up for no purpose other than to sass Weiss, the second biggest celebrity at the school thus calling attention to herself (something a runaway would never do, and proving Miles' tweet about her never doing anything hateful to be complete BS. So showing up to defend Ruby and getting carried away makes a little more sense to me. Also, I tried to show a bit of shame from Weiss when Blake brings up her family's company. Sign of things to come.
I tried to make Ruby and Jaune's conversation a little less cringy, while also showcasing that they're both kind of nerds and that Jaune is more pragmatic while Ruby is showier. Also not shaming him for having one of the most efficient weapon setups in the series, rather than something which was clearly dreamed up by Monty's inner ten-year-old. Not everything also has to be a gun, there I said it.
Just once again emphasizing the fact that being a huntsman or huntress is dangerous, and their numbers are dwindling, that way we don't have a giant crowd of huntsmen students running away from a Grimm attack, i.e. the thing they've been training to fight. Also, I think it says a lot more about these characters if they aren't scrambling for a job which apparently everyone wants. That's also why I wrote out Yang's "friends" who we never see or hear about again.
Yang's wanting Ruby to make new friends while still wanting to protect her needed a little clarifying. Most people figured it out through observation, but sometimes a little clarification helps.
No, I did not change Blake's last name for kicks and giggles. She's using a pseudonym because there's no way people would hear Belladonna and not wonder about a relationship to the former leader (and I'm guessing founder) of the White Fang and current chieftain of Menagerie. And again, see how easy it was to explain that little detail about Ruby and Yang being half-sisters?
Again, just trying to work some of the cringesout of Jaune's first few appearances (although he really wasn't that close in canon). And hinting at Jaune's future leadership. Spoiler alert, I'm going to actually write him as being smart in practice, not just on paper. Crazy right? What is this, consistency?
So for this chapter I would actually just combine Weiss and Ruby's two arguments (because we get it, they don't get along, the horse is dead, you can stop beating it) and completely leave out the Jaune and Pyrrha in the cave scene (because that, entire scene does is make Jaune look stupid, when he's supposed to be smart). Basically, combine the important parts of Ruby and Weiss's two arguments, and leave out the entire second half of the chapter, except for parts of the Yang and Blake scenes.
And I'm gonna go ahead and also do Players and Pieces here as well because this would be too short without it, and I really want to get to the arcs after the initiation, since that's when I make some of the bigger changes.
Ruby had just about had it with her new partner "What was that?! That should've been easy!"
Weiss felt her irritation skyrocketing "You jumped in front of my attack, you dolt! And why didn't you attack from a distance? That would've kept us out of each other's way!"
"I have to save my dust! There's a shortage in Vale right now! Not everyone has access to entire quarries of the stuff!"
"Well, why didn't you tell me that when we teamed up?"
"You didn't ask!"
"How does someone who talks so much have such horrible communication skills?"
"Why are you so bossy?"
"I'm not bossy! Don't say things like that!"
"Stop treating me like a kid!"
"Stop acting like a kid!"
"I got into Beacon early for a reason you know!"
"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo!"
"Well, I'm sorry not everyone's as perfect as you!"
"I'm. Not. Perfect! Not yet... But I'm still leagues better than you." With that, Weiss stomped away, leaving Ruby to mutter.
"You don't even know me…" Weiss paused briefly at that, but then continued forward.
"Why didn't you activate your Aura?"
"Huh?"
"You're Aura".
Jaune felt himself begin to panic. "welllll"
"Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?"
"Yes, I know what it is." He insisted sharply "It's a magical force field that protects us, enhances our weapons, warns us of danger, and gives us superpowers."
Pyrrha couldn't help but feel that that definition was a little too plain for describing something so miraculous.
"It's not magic. Magic is a power that changes and perverts the nature of things. And nobody even knows if it truly exists. Aura is the naturally occurring manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"
"Uh... yeah." when did this turn into a sermon?
"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."
"Except monsters"
"Correct. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light."
"Right, that's why we fight them!"
"Not just them. Humanity has plenty of enemies from within. Understanding dark and light within ourselves and others helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both. By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools, equipment, and especially our semblance are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."
Pyrrha then giggled a little, "So yes, it is a force field that gives you superpowers, if you want to look at it that way. Though that force field is finite, and we can still feel pain in spite of it.
"Right, I know all that, I just…" Jaune paused, looking for the right words. "…haven't had a lot of practice with activating mine."
Pyrrha smiled "I can help you with that." She placed her hand on the side of his head "Now, close your eyes and concentrate."
"The last pair has been formed, sir. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Strange that two people so different would get along so well. Poor Boy. Still, he's probably better off than Miss Nikos…"
"Chess pieces?"
"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here." It was then Yang noticed that each piece had two little buds with a thin line extending downward next to them. "And what are these earpieces for?"
"They're probably for communication between partners." Blake responded "teammates are probably tuned to the same frequency. That's probably how we'll know who our other two teammates are. Well, I guess we should pick one."
Yang was one step ahead of her "How about a cute little pony?"
"Sure."
"That wasn't too hard! Wanna wait a little while to see who else shows up?"
Blake got a little nervous, but her curiosity won out. "I wanted to ask you something actually."
"What's up?"
"You're sister, it seems like you really care for her, but it also seems like you're trying to avoid her."
Yang frowned "I'm not trying to avoid her. But I can't be the only person she relies on anymore." Yang sighed, seeing that Blake didn't quite understand "I've been taking care of Ruby almost her whole life. Ever since our… her mom, my stepmom died, I've had to look out for her and keep her out of trouble."
"Well, she wouldn't be here at Beacon if she couldn't take care of herself right?"
"That's part of the problem though. She's confident in her own skills, which is good, but a lot of times she'll get into trouble, and I'll have to bail her out. It's like she's either constantly trying to do everything herself, or constantly needing me to help her. And that's fine, she's my sister and I love her, and I'll always have her back. But no matter how much I want to, I can't always be there for her. She and I won't always want the same things. Someday, our paths may lead us in different directions. I'll have my life to live, and she'll have hers. She can't just rely on me whenever she gets in over her head."
Blake smiled and prepared to respond when she heard a noise overhead.
"Heads uuuuuuuup!"
Yang only had a moment to wonder if Blake's bow had just twitched when she looked up as well, just in time to begin panicking when she saw her sister fall from the sky before Jaune suddenly flew in and knocked the two of them into a tree.
Blake gave Yang a bemused look. "Yeah, she needs all the help she can get."
Yang sweat-dropped as she began to worry for her sister's survival when the forest erupted as an Ursa emerged with… Was that girl riding it?!
Blake began to become concerned herself "You better hope they're not your sister's teammates".
As the Ursa fell the forest erupted again as Pyrrha came running out with a Deathstalker on her tail.
"Seriously?"
Ruby braced herself for the stinger and then waited a moment longer when she suddenly felt a hand grab her by the hood.
"Come on! Get up, we have to regroup!" Ruby opened her eyes to see she was being led back to the ruins by Weiss. She turned to see the Deathstalker with its tail frozen in rapidly cracking ice.
She quickly picked up the pace as the Nevermore's feathers began to fall again, and within moments she, Weiss, and Yang were back with the group by the ruins, where Weiss rounded on her.
"You are so childish! And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Ruby saw Yang begin to retort for Ruby, only to be stopped by Blake. "And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."
Ruby grew sheepish because of their audience but mumbled back "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."
Weiss's eyes softened "You're fine."
Yang's sisterly instincts finally overpowered her as she shoved Weiss aside and proceeded to crush Roby's spine with a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay".
"Look" Jaune called, "This is all very heartwarming, but that Deathstalker's almost loose, and we've got a Nevermore overhead. Whatever we're gonna do, we need to do it now."
Weiss was the one with the answer "Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."
"She's right." Ruby agreed as she took a knight piece and handed the second earpiece to Weiss "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. We can't fight the Nevermore in that field, and that Deathstalker will tear these ruins apart."
Jaune nodded as he took a Rook, "so we grab the relics, and head back to the cliffs, keeping to the trees."
"But if a chance to take one or both of them down presents itself, we should take it" Ren added.
"Then let's move!" Pyrrha called.
As the bridge shattered behind him, Jaune turned to see Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and Blake on the side with the Deathstalker approaching.
"Ren!" Nora frantically called.
"I'm alright Nora!" Jaune heard in his earpiece.
"Ren, this is Jaune, can you hear me?"
"Little busy here!" was the retort.
He turned to Nora "I guess that makes us a team."
Nora smiled "Let's get over there and help our team out!"
Jaune peered down at the abyss below "Yeah, but, uh... I can't make that jump."
"Blake! Are you okay?"
Blake took a moment to recall the earpiece she was wearing "I'm alright Yang."
"Hey, looks like we're on the same frequency!" Came Ruby's excited chirp.
"Would you focus already" was Weiss's annoyed cry.
Blake would have scowled at the prospect of teaming with a Schnee if a certain hammer-wielder hadn't suddenly backed her off a cliff.
"Nora, what did you do?!" was Jaune's cray as she fell, only relaxing when he saw her pull herself back to her team's side.
"We've got our own problems!" Ren called.
Jaune turned his attention back to the Deathstalker as he felt the bridge beneath him begin to shift "We gotta move!"
His team rushed forward, attempting to force it back. "Someone take out its stinger!" Jaune called!
Ren obliged as he lept on and began cutting at the joint, while Jaune and Pyrrha continued pushing forward while Nora fired smoke grenades into its face. Pyrrha's Javelin flew into its eye which caused it to begin flailing, throwing Ren off.
"Pyrrha! Finish the stinger!"
(You get the rest)
Roman Torchwick emerged from another successful robbery, to find himself face to face with two Faunus.
"Oh great" he muttered, "reinforcements."
"You've done well so far, Mr. Torchwick." Said the tall one with the foxtail.
"But with our additional manpower, it's time for some bigger targets." Finished the shorter brother with the fennec ears.
