Hey everyone. Just thought I'd take a moment to apologize to everyone who had followed/ faved when I first threw this monstrosity up onto the site. The wait wasn't meant to be that long, but… well, life has a way of adjusting your priorities.

Regardless, I'm back now. So, for both those coming back and those just stopping by alike- thank you for taking the time to read my writing. Even if it isn't exactly up your alley. :P

-Drax


They didn't walk into the auditorium. They didn't run into it either. It was something akin to falling while running a three-legged race: a mass of confused limbs and muffled sounds of agitation. Needless to say, they drew quite a bit of attention.

"Ah. Miss Schnee, Mister Dellinger, how good of you to join us." The man's voice was not one they were familiar with- it was mature in a way that spoke of experience rather than age, and held a frosty edge to it. From their position on the floor the pair was able to trace the voice back to its owner- a middle-aged man with silver hair and eyes that had the color and intensity of unyielding steel. The crest of an Atlesian Captain stood proudly on his chest plate. He was flanked on either side by Atlesian Knights- robotic soldiers that were said to be the next step in removing human casualties from war. It made for a rather intimidating sight.

Winter, in a motion that was nearly too fast to follow, shoved Calico away from her and leapt up to her feet, folding her hands behind her back and standing at attention.

Calico, by comparison- and possibly due to Winter's hastiness- was a disorganized mess. Although, to be fair, being shoved even further into the ground will tend to have that effect on a person. He managed a halfhearted two-finger salute as he climbed back up to his feet.

Their arrival, coupled with the Captain's words, brought more than a few stares their way, but the sheer presence of the man standing center-stage in the auditorium was enough to keep the mass of students cowed for the most part. Winter was thankful for this- she wasn't sure her pride could have taken such a blow had the entirety of the first-year student body saw her in such a state.

The general cleared his throat.

"Well then, now that we're all here…" The man threw a look in their general direction that, while not caustic, was most certainly pointed. "Allow me to introduce myself." His stance seemed to change then, becoming stiffer and more formal- more militaristic. "My name is Rust Karchov- and for the remainder of the time you spend here I will be your vice-principal." His steely eyes swept over the crowd, and a long pause followed as he did so. "…It is unfortunate, but due to reasons of state Headmaster Ironwood will be unable to join us for today's initiation test… But allow me to offer you these words of wisdom in his stead…"

Another long pause.

And then a sigh, which seemed to signal to the rest of his body that it could stop being quite so tense. His posture became an insult to the very word as he fell out of a ramrod straight military position and into a more comfortable slouch. Rust frowned and scratched his cheek.

"Alright, look. I'm not exactly what you would call a public speaker- that kind of stuff is Jim's game, so let me just be blunt." Despite the apparent change in personality his eyes remained as fierce as ever. "Not all of you are going to survive initiation. Not all of you are going to survive to the end of your first year. Even fewer will survive to the end of the second. You see what I'm getting at?"

The room was dead silent, but Winter could feel the sense of discomfort permeating the very air. She swallowed hard.

Rust closed his eyes and glanced down, as if in thought. "…So if any one of you is having doubts about this life you've chosen, it's not too late to back out. No one here will think any less of you for it- only a fool rushes headlong towards their own death after all."

Not a single person moved.

A sly, half-smile grew on Rust's face. "Heh. Alright then," He turned on his heal and started walking towards the back of the auditorium. "Let's get to work."


Calico couldn't help but think that, from where he was sitting, the world looked so peaceful. Endless fields of snow blanketed everything for miles around, forming a perfect unbroken sheet of crystalline white. Well, nearly perfect. The massive swirling clouds of darkness that were migrating herds of grimm kind of ruined the picturesque landscape.

The thrum of the bullhead's were a constant companion to his thoughts as his gaze shifted towards their destination: a frost-peaked mountain which was named, rather unimaginatively if you asked him, The Spike. According to Rust, a rather expansive set of ruins sat at the bottom of the mountain, and that was where their initiation would take place.

He shot a glance towards the snow haired girl sitting across from him.

"Nervous?" He asked, his own anxiety poking through.

"Yeah." She nodded in reply, hands gripping the handles of her rapiers tightly.

There was a pause.

"You?" She asked, well aware of the answer to her own question.

"Yeah." He offered her a smile, but it seemed forced.

Another pause. It lasted until the bullhead landed.


Rust hadn't been lying, the ruins were freaking massive. Winter looked around in shock at the sheer scale of it all. Ancient stone buildings and towers now crumbling away into relics of a bygone age. Stone streets made perilous by the thick coating of ice and snow and shattered walls and avenues…

This wasn't just some temple or stack of stones.

Atlas had brought them to the shattered remains of a city- preserved for ages by the frigid temperature and lack of human contact.

As soon as the last of the students had been unloaded, Captain Rust's voice filled the air around them, courtesy of the bullheads which still hovered in the air above them. "Alright everyone, listen up 'cause I'm only gonna say this once." He paused, making sure he had everyone's attention. "The rules of your initiation are simple: Atlesian Knights have been placed through this area, with their programming altered to engage in combat with anything that approaches it. Find and destroy as many as you can within the next twenty-four hours. But a word of warning: these ruins are a known nesting site for the grimm, so don't go thinking that this will be some kind of cake walk."

There was another pause as the bullhead changed altitude and position slightly, its nose swinging around as to point back towards the city of Atlas. "Your twenty-four hours start now."

And then the bullheads were gone, and some twenty-odd students were stranded in the middle of the Atlesian wilderness.