CoffeyJoe here again lovelies! I apologize for the lack of chapter last week, I had an exam that I was preparing for and you know how that song and dance goes. Anyways, I'll be gone for most of this week so no Two-Faced traitor this weekend, but I should be able to get another one of these chapters out next week as well. Sorry for so many delays it's just that my schedule has been hectic but I hope you understand.

Moving on...

"Hello"-Thinking

"Hello"-Talking

"Hello"-Inner Monologue

0-0-0-0

Jaune sat up groggily and checked the small clock he had laid out beside him: 5:30 AM. A perfect time to get up and get going for the day, so he slowly got up and packed up his things with as much stealth as possible. He rolled up his blanket and picked up his duffle bag and headed for the double doors leading out, before he could make it to them he heard a disrupting snore from beside him-

"Huh, wha- Hey! No sneaking off!" muttered a groggy looking fat man.

"Ugh, it's 5:30, doesn't initiation start at 6:15?" Jaune asked, but the fat man looked puzzled.

"Nonsense my boy! It's only- 5:30 IN THE MORNING!" the man shouted the last part so loud Jaune thought he was going to need hearing aids.

"EVERYONE UP! WE OVERSLEPT GET MOVING TO THE SHOWERS GO GO GO!" the assembled hunters shot up and began to wildly run around screaming and shouting about this and that.

Fat man and his now awake green-haired companion both realized the trouble they had just caused; now the students were up and rioting in the ball room! Both of them tried to get the students to settle down, but not even fatty's booming voice could overcome the clamor of everyone else.

Jaune decided he would try his hand, after all, his sisters always did say he could be quite loud when he wanted. Jaune took a deep, collected breath and then let it loose all at once-

"ENOUGH! SETTLE DOWN AND LISTEN TO THE TEACHERS!" if people thought fat man was loud, then this was the equivalant of setting off a cargo crate of dust in a room full of gasoline. The sheer octave of the voice was so loud that the students actually felt the vibrations of his words, not to mention the chandelier and smaller items had rumbled and shook as he shouted. The strength of his voice was so great, that it became a widely known theory that Jaune's semblance had something to do with amplifying his voice.

if only they knew...

The kids straightened up after that, and anyone who had not been, somehow, woken up by the chaos was now certainly wide awake and staring at the thinly-dressed boy. The man in sunglasses simply nodded to the two teachers beside him and let them take it from there.

"R-Right, students! Initiation begins at 6:15 with breakfast, get dressed, get a shower, get your weapons, and get ready-"

"In a calm and orderly fashion!" interjected the green one.

"Yes! Be aware that there are other students who do go here currently, now off with you!" the kids scrambled away, but not nearly in the same chaos as before and Jaune went to go get dressed.

0-0-0-0

"Ooh! Ooh! Ren! Did you hear that guy? He must be like a super special microphone robot or something!" shouted a bubbly orange-haired girl who was currently circling her much more docile friend.

"Nora, I don't think they make robots like that." he retorted incredulously.

"Sure Ren, you just believe what the government wants you to!" Nora said back.

Ren just shook his head as Nora went on and on about the signal she was going to give him, a sloth sound if you were wondering.

"Let's go Nora." he sighed as he made his way to the cafeteria.

0-0-0-0

Ruby was trying to unclog the sound of Jaune's voice from her ears, but to no such luck. Her sister, Yang, was gratefully sucking down her food with increased vigor at the thought of initiation.

"This is gonna be great!" she shouted. "We get to kill shit and we might be getting our new team too!"

Ruby and Yang currently sat alongside the Blake girl from yesterday, although she had contributed nothing, and the hostile Weiss girl that had constantly been attacking them all day.

"Chew with your mouth closed! Didn't your parents teach you manners?" Weiss said in disgust as food spittle flew her way. Yang just gave her a shit-eating grin and turned back to Blake who sat across from her.

"What about you Blake? Ready to get dirty!" Blake choked a little at the word "dirty" but quickly swallowed it (no pun intended) and simply gave a grunt that said little.

"And you Weiss-cream, you ready to go?" Yang said cheekily, leaning in closer to the girl beside her. Weiss promptly inched away in outrage and snarled at the buxom huntress like an animal.

"Let me eat my food in peace, the last thing I need is to be puking this back up in initiation because of you." she said venomously, ignoring the cry of "what's that supposed to mean?" from the girl beside her.

Weiss just huffed and turned back to her cereal, atleast I have a good chance of winding up with Pyrrha, if I can just find her then we'll be the most powerful team duo this school has ever seen!

...

Over at a table nearby Nora was once again babbling on to Ren about something involving the signal and how she was going to be giving it to him at the right time. Ren, for his part, just kinda nodded along; far too used to his companion's behavior. Ren almost wanted to cry in joy as he saw another person sit at their table, usually Nora would drive off anyone who got too close to them with her ranting.

Ren looked the kid up and down and found himself interested (not that way pervs!), he was the kid from this morning who shouted for everyone to calm down. Atleast he got Nora up, that was always an uphill battle with her.

"Sup greenbean, gingersnaps." he said, regarding them both with a head nod. Nora pouted slightly at the nickname before perking up.

"Oh! You're the robot! Ren that's him!" she said, shaking the aforementioned boy back and forth by his arm.

"That what?"

"Sorry about her. She gets excitable in the morning." Ren said to the. "My name is Lie Ren, and this is my friend Nora Valkyrie."

The man gestured out his hand and Ren took it in a firm handshake. "Jaune Arc, looks like you two will be quite the package. Here's hoping we get the same team."

Ren nodded, and, when Jaune gestured to the table, Ren nodded for Jaune to take a seat at the table. They talked for a bit, which really meant that Nora babbled on and on about pancakes and sloth signals which they both tuned out.

If it's one thing they had in common: it was that they can tune out the ramblings of people around them.

0-0-0-0

Jaune broke away from Ren and Nora as they entered the locker room and went to go find his locker. One again garbed in his super comfy cargo shirts and red T-shirt, Jaune looked around the room behind his sunglasses and tried to find his number. He was walking down one of the aisles mumbling about the poor organization of this place and how Tawny would throw a fit.

"Let's see, if it's 636 and this 612 then it should be just down this aisle..." Jaune was so wrapped up in finding his stuff that he didn't notice he passed by Ruby and Yang who were talking about something or other.

He even passed both Pyrrha and Weiss, the former trying to get his attention but abruptly failing to do so. Pyrrha looked slightly downtrodden before Weiss turned to her with a wide smile.

"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought to who you want your partner to be? I'm sure everyone would be eager to be teamed up with someone like you!" Pyrrha just smiled back, but on the inside she really did not Weiss as her partner. Not to say Weiss was a bad person, well... I mean, it's just that she also looks at Pyrrha as nothing more than a superstar or a champion.

"i'm not quite sure, I was just planning on letting the chips fall as they may." she replied politely.

Weiss turned in on herself and was mumbling about being the most powerful partner duo in all of Beacon, but before Pyrrha could snap her out of it Jaune brushed between them.

"Sup Pyr and Whitey." he said casually, walking in between them. This was more than enough to snap Weiss out of it and she looked at him with frustration.

"You again? What do you-"

"Not talking to you kiddo."

"Wha- H-How dare yo-"

"So Pyrrha, thinking we gonna get partners today?" Jaune returned to Pyrrha, completely ignoring Weiss's outrage as Pyrrha stifled a giggle.

Weiss shook her head, there was no way this dunce was going to snatch Pyrrha away when he so obviously did not recognize her talents!

"Look Jaune. Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Yeah Pyrrha, want me to introduce you two?"

Weiss bit down a snarl, "She's graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

"Ok."

"She won the Mistral Tournament three times in a row! A new record!"

"And?"

"She on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's cereal box!"

"Cool, my sis loves that cereal. Guess this is destiny huh firecracker?" Pyrrha tried to hide her blush at the implications of that destiny line and his new nickname for her.

"Hey you boar! What makes you think-"

"Gotta go Pyr, hopefully we see eachother at initiation."

Jaune walked off, sword sheathed and armored strapped nice and tight onto his muscular figure. Pyrrha couldn't help but catch a quick look as Weiss gave an angry apology and stomped off.

0-0-0-0

The new students-to-be had been taken to the cliffside of the Emerald Forest that bordered Vale. Here is where they would prove their skills as huntsman and as teammates, or atleast that was what Ozpin told them.

"Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." the aged Headmaster told them as he stepped aside to let Glynda speak.

"Now, I'm sure some of you have heard about the assignment of teams. I'm going to dispel these rumors here and now: you are going to be getting your teams today." she said as Ruby let out a quiet "eep". Jaune just smiled, nothing better than getting right into it and getting it over with!

Ozpin finished explaining the test and how they needed to get certain artifacts and how the first person they make eye contact with as their partner. He motioned for everyone to take their positions, as the students began to be flung off the cliffside.

Huh, that's new, but not all together bad Jaune smirked to himself as he bent his knees in preparation.

3

2

1

Thwang!

Jaune was gliding through the open air, arms abreast as he enjoyed the feeling of the wind on his face and the sun to his back. Doing a mid-air somersault he turned to face ahead and tried to find a good opening amongst the trees and clearings. He noticed what looked to be a grassy knoll that he could make it to and what appeared to be the perfect way to break his fall as well!

This days keeps getting better and better. Jaune smiled to himself but was brought out of it as he felt the wind near him break as an object came at him at a frightening speed, he whirled around just in time to block the object with his bracers and it clanged off them.

Strange, some sort of javelin. An assassination attempt? No, that didn't make any sense. A message maybe? Watch your back or something? Whatever it was he didn't want to leave it behind, he grabbed the javelin in one hand and prepared his descent into the knoll.

0-0-0-0

Elsewhere...

"Milo... Jaune... Oh no!" Pyrrha shouted as she saw the one person who treated her as an equal deflect her attempts at saving him, grab the javelin, and fall earthbound to her West.

Pyrrha jumped down the tree and ran after to where she saw him, "if he can deflect my weapon then he should be able to make it down right?"

Pyrrha was running so fast she didn't notice the buxom figure in front of her until they had collided with a thunderous Thud!

0-0-0-0

Ren entered the long grasslands stealthily, he knew that environments like this would be a nesting ground for King Taijitu and other, smaller, Grimm. He needed to be careful and quiet if he wanted to make it through this without injury.

Sneaking through the tall grass Ren kept a watchful eye out for anything that seemed wrong. All was going well until he felt the familiar mental tickle within him; a sure sign he was being watched. And, as if on cue, there was a great slithering sound as the black head of a King Taijitu reared up behind him, ready to pounce.

Ren turned around, Stormflower at the ready, and got into a fighting stance. Should he run? No, this monster would catch up to him, which meant he had to defeat it here and now. That wasn't a major challenge for him, but with the second head and the additional Grimm the battle would bring he might catch an unlucky swipe from a Beowulf's claws.

The King Taijitu reared its head in preparation of a devastating strike, but before it could go through with it it paused. There was a sound, getting ever closer from somewhere not even Ren could identify. It almost sounded like-

"RAAAAAAGHHHH!" the King Taijitu identified the source too late as Jaune came crashing down like a meteorite straight into the unsuspecting creature's skull. The head caved in like paper mache as Jaune found himself snugly pressed into the remains of the beast's head. Ren could only look on with awe, Nora had done some crazy things with Grimm (riding an Ursa among them) but she had never cannonball'd herself straight into one's head.

Jaune dislodged himself from the remains and turned to acknowledge his surroundings. He largely looked unhurt to Ren, if a little soaked in Grimm-fluid and now wielding a red-and-gold Javelin. Jaune finished scanning the field when his eyes locked on Ren's, or atleast he assumed they did because his sunglasses hid his eyes from just about everything, Jaune cracked a wide smile.

"Hey greenbean! Seems to be we're partners!" he stated joyously, coming closer to deliver a firm pat on the back to Ren.

"Ugh, you know that-" the familiar sound of slithering and heaving dirt filled the area as the white head of the King Taijitu reared up over its fallen twin. Jaune unsheathed Clamos from its scabbard and pointed it defiantly at the monster.

"Come on then! Gotta show ol' Ozpin we're made of tough stuff!" he said, shaking his sword like a warrior becoming hyped for an imminent battle. With another battle cry Jaune launched himself at the Grimm, rolling under its initial bite to drag his sword along its scales.

"Ren! Over the top!" Ren understood the command well enough and vaulted over the incoming fangs to land on the head of the creature, delivering quick swipes using his twin blades as Jaune did the same underneath. Ren jumped off the creature as his double backed for a second pass and fired a barrage of bullets into the creatures side; he caught a glimpse of Jaune impaling his sword on the creatures body causing it to howl in agony.

The King Taijitu squirmed out of the pincer maneuver it was caught in to charge at Ren with frightening speed. Jaune had lost his weapon to the creature's body and was now without his gladius, still he ran towards the creature as it knocked Ren some yards away and prepared to deliver the killing blow.

With a burst of speed Jaune intercepted the creature and locked his hands around its fangs, his foot on its lower jaw to prevent it from closing, protecting Ren from being bisected via bite force.

"Ren! How good is you aura control?" Jaune knew if they could deal a critical strike to the creature's internal system then it would fall easily.

"I'm an expert."

"Take this and stick it somehow soft and important!" he said with a grunt as he tore the beast's fangs from its maw and tossed one to a nearby Ren. Locating his target almost immediately, Ren threw the fang like a dagger right into the King Taijitu's eye causing it shake, but Jaune kept his unrelenting hold on the Grimm even as it tried to buck free from the human.

"HAAA!" Ren shouted as he pressed the palm of his hand to the outcropping of fang and sent a pulse of aura through it. There was a ripple that flowed across the white head before it popped like a balloon, spreading black ichor and chunks everywhere.

"Ewwww, grody." Jaune complained as he wiped some King Taijitu off his armor.

He shook his head and looked at his new partner, "So Jaune, off to find the relics then?"

"You got it rocket!"

0-0-0-0

Glynda stood at the cliff face alongside her boss evaluating the students and their initiation.

"Jaune Arc and Lie Ren, an interesting combination but they both seem strong. Although, that Jaune needs to be much less reckless about his attacks." Glynda stated, looking at the scroll in her hands. Ozpin just nodded along, not really paying attention after doing this so many times.

"After that, Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao-Long another interesting combination but a fruitful one none the less. And then there's Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, both promising students but they don't seem to get along very well. And finally..."

Glynda gave a sigh that reeked of sympathy.

"Oh that poor girl." Glynda muttered to herself. Ozpin tossed her a questioning glance as his assistant turned to the scroll's footage.

"Blake Belladonna and Nora Valkyrie."

0-0-0-0

"Damn, that sure was a lot of Beowulves! Who knew they traveled in such large packs!" Jaune commented, scraping the flat of his blade against a tree to wipe off the muck it had accumulated. In one hand he carried his trusty Clamos and in the other, the mysterious javelin that came out of nowhere. He was hesitant to use it due to its unknown capabilities and the fact it could be very precious to someone. Jaune shook the thoughts out of his head, they just needed to find the damn relics and get outta here.

Ren was contemplating his new partner, he seemed nice and certainly was strong...

"Ugh Jaune, should you be doing that?" Ren asked nervously, his partner engaging the lone beowulf survivor in hand-to-hand combat.

"Pfft, chill jolly green I'll be fine." he said back before going in for a lunge and landing a powerful jab to the creatures abdomen. The Beowulf folded over from the force of it and Jaune used the momentum to flip the creature onto its back. The Beowulf, completely unprepared for this situation, had almost no time to react as the human it had been towering over put it into a crushing headlock and squeezed. Hard. Very hard.

"Say uncle! Say it! Ha!" Jaune was enjoying himself immensely as he put more pressure on the beast's neck and head. The Beowulf thrashed under the human's onslaught but couldn't get a grip on anything to heave itself back up, meanwhile Jaune was compressing the monster in another lock.

"Ugh Jaune I don't think it can say-" Ren flinched and looked away as he heard a distinct sound like a watermelon being crushed as Jaune let loose another laugh.

"Ha! Yeah I know. It's just I like to make em' feel helpless and confused before I kill them y'know? The whole 'hunter becomes the hunted' thing?"

Ren could not say he did.

...

There was no doubt, but he certainly seemed quite... eccentric...

Maybe Nora wouldn't have been so bad after all.

Shaking his heads to clear those thoughts, Jaune and Ren found themselves in a large clearing surrounded by nothing but grass, trees, and...

Ruins! A large stone structure was smack dab in the middle of it all and in it seemed to be what they were after: the relics. The two hunters walked towards the center of the stoneworks before they heard the telltale sound of branches snapping.

Ren and Jaune got into a fighting position but relaxed at the sight of two more huntresses coming to out of the woodwork. It was Pyrrha and Ruby's blonde sister, Yarrow or something?

"Hey guys! See you got here to!" shouted Jaune while he walked over to them. Pyrrha seemed extraordinarily relieved to see Jaune and Yang gave another grin as they got close to eachother.

"How'd it go? You didn't fall and scrape your knee did you?"

Jaune gave a dramatic scoff of offense, "do you consider me that ungraceful?!" he said before they started laughing with eachother. It took a few seconds before they finally calmed down but once they did he noticed Pyrrha looking at something. He followed her line of sight to the javelin across his back and put two and two together.

"This yours Pyr?"

"Wha- Y-Yes! I mean yes!" Pyrrha stammered.

"Oh cool, good thing I didn't leave it huh? But why were you trying to spear me?"

Pyrrha looked horrified. "N-No I-I wasn't trying to 'spear' you! I just thought you didn't know how to get to the... ground... safely."

This time Jaune did look crushed. "Did I really look that bad?"

"N-N-No! I just thought that-" she was cut off as Jaune placed a comforting hand on her head.

"Chill cinnamon ball, I'm just screwing with you."

"Oh."

"Yep, now check this out!" Jaune said as he motioned over to the gathered "relics" that turned out to be chess pieces.

"A symbol perhaps?" Ren inquired to which everyone else just shook their heads. Ozpin seemed like an enigmatic dude, and certainly they weren't going to understand his ways anytime soon.

"Whatever, there seems to be sets of each of these pieces so I guess we should pick the same ones?" Jaune said hesitantly. For all he knew the moment they touched one was the moment it exploded.

"Hmm, wanna go with these horse-looking guys?" asked Yang to the rest.

"The knight? Sure why not." Ren replied.

They each picked up a golden horse and tucked them away into their respective pockets before facing eachother.

"Ugh, if we haven't formally met I'm Jaune, this is Ren." Jaune said as he nodded to his partner.

"Yang, and of course this Pyrrha."

"Okie-dokie, now let's get the hell out of here-"

A rumble shook the earth as the sounds of something big came their way from the forest within. There was a loud howl that sounded like it had come from a beast straight out of Tartarus and it was getting closer. Fast. The assembled hunters got ready, but then they heard something strange: laughing. Ren paled slightly and his partner caught the look.

"What is it? More Grimm? Something else?"

"No... It's-"

"Renny!"

0-0-0-0

Hey yall, I'm just pumping these chapters out today! And you can expect one sometime this week if I can get squared away quick enough. Hope you enjoyed it and the next part of initiation will be the focus of the next chapter. I intend to settle the teams but I'm sure you can already guess who's going to be with who.

Read and Review, you know I love it.

XOXOXO

CoffeyJoe