It was the third day after the initiation and team selection ceremony. The previous two days, they had been examined in all their classes. For Port, they were required to do an in-depth analysis of every Grimm that they had killed during their initiation, including what aspects they did well and where they needed improvement. For Oobleck, an ungodly long test was expected to be completed in less than half an hour. To Ren's frustration, he hadn't even been able to finish the test. However, when he later talked to his team about it, the ninja discovered that no one had finished it. They had gone through almost every test, with one remaining; combat class with Goodwitch. It was a miniature tournament between the teams. Each team would compete against others, and the winning team would flip a coin to determine the pair to go on, and again for the singles round. The whole test would test each of the newly formed teams' cooperation and skill on every level.

Lie Ren was up early, and given his hatred for mornings, that meant only one thing; pancake day. The young man was standing in the communal kitchen for the dorms wearing his pink – it's a very manly color – apron which read "Ultimate Pancake/Sloth Master". Below that, in a smaller script, "Do not kiss, touch, or do anything to the chef." It, being a gift from Nora, was practically his uniform when cooking, and was as much a part of him as the single pink streak in his hair (also from Nora). At about eight o'clock, Ren, believing he had made enough pancakes for him and his team to get some before Nora ate them all (she couldn't eat more than a hundred, could she?), sent a message off to his teammates.

Homemade Breakfast is ready, come and get it

Ren started a stopwatch on his phone. Precisely two and a half seconds later, an almighty roar of "PANCAKES!" echoed in the dorm, and a pink blur appeared in front of the boy. Nora, almost quivering with excitement, stared hungrily at her life-long friend. "Where!" was the only thing she said. Ren just pointed and the orange-haired girl vanished. Ren followed her and sat down at the table.

Eventually, a bleary eyed Jaune and a chipper Pyrrha entered the kitchen.

"You made breakfast Ren?" the Spartan asked, to which Ren nodded humbly. "That's wonderful! Thank you very much Ren."

"Coffee?" the blonde knight grunted. Ren pointed over to the counter, where a full pot sat freshly brewed. The knight trudged off to get his fill of caffeine. Once sated, he rejoined his team at the breakfast table. "Thanks Ren, you're a life-saver."

"You're welcome," the green clad student replied.

"Nice apron by the way," Jaune said seriously.

"Nice onesie." An awkward silence enveloped the table.

"Both of you!" Pyrrha finally exclaimed. "That was completely uncalled for, not to mention rude."

"What?" Jaune said, puzzled. "I was being serious. Pink is a real man's color."

"As was I," Ren followed up. "Sleep ware should be chosen on comfort, not looks. It takes a brave man to wear a onesie in front of girls." The two men nodded at each other before resuming breakfast. Nora giggled at Pyrrha's deep blush before resuming her battle with her impressive – and imposing – stack of pancakes.

"So…is everyone ready for our combat exam?" Pyrrha asked, beaming at her team.

"Absolutely, Commander Cereal!" Nora said, throwing the other girl a fake salute. "Myself and Major Pancakes are ready for battle!"

"We should probably hammer out some kind of strategy, just to be safe," commented Jaune over his Coffee. "We worked okay together against the Grimm during initiation, but they're not very intellectual. Today we're fighting other people, and they probably have plans of their own ready."

"Good idea," Ren replied, finishing his pancakes. "As leader, do you have any ideas?"

"Well…" Jaune looked around at his teammates, rubbing the back of his head. "Not yet. I guess we should see who we're up against to have a real plan."

"Maybe working in partners would be a good idea," added Pyrrha. "Ren, you and Nora have known each other for a long time, so you guys should do well together. I know Jaune and I can perform well." Oddly enough, Pyrrha's face turned slightly redder.

"Yeah, that'll work," Jaune said, standing up. "I'll get the dishes, since you did the cooking Ren." The rest of JNPR objected, trying to help, but their leader was having none of it.

…

"Good job you guys!" Ruby said, appearing in front of team JNPR in a cloud of rose petals. Said team had just defeated their opening team. "You guys beat them so fast!" It was true. The only significant resistance the other team had given was that two of their opponents had ganged up on Jaune to try to knock at least one of them out and even the numbers a bit. Those two were still firmly embedded in the ceiling of the arena, curtesy of Spartan.

"It was brief, but a good fight," Pyrrha said.

"Pssh, you're just being modest," Yang said, appearing behind her sister. "You wiped the floor with them." The group walked back to the stands, joining Weiss and Blake.

"You all fought well," Weiss greeted to them. Blake looked up from her book to nod at her friends before continuing reading.

"Would Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose report to the arena. The first match of the doubles round will commence," Professor Goodwitch's voice said, echoing slightly. The two partners quickly got up to leave for their match.

"I'm so glad they figured themselves out," sighed Yang when they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" a puzzled Jaune asked.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the tension between them,"

"Well…they were acting a little…hostile," Pyrrha said. The rest of team JNPR nodded their agreement.

"Yeah, Weiss didn't think that Ruby was good enough to be leader because she was too young or somethin'," Yang said, leaning back into the bleachers. "Then they both disappeared after class yesterday, and the next morning they were all friendly. I have my theories on what they were doing."

"They were not having sex Yang," growled Blake, her eyes never leaving her book. "Get your head out of the gutter already. You'll get your hair dirty."

"Oof," Yang said, dramatic wincing at her partner's words. "Betrayed by my own partner." Team JNPR chuckled this. "Although, that comment was kind of…hair-y!" All laughter stopped. "What?"

"And I thought Jaune was bad," Ren muttered.

"Oh come on," Yang complained. "It was good."

"What was good?" Ruby asked. The entire group jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Ruby!" exclaimed Yang. "Aren't you supposed to be fighting?"

"We've already finished," huffed an annoyed – a surprisingly normal state considering – Weiss. "Not that you were paying attention."

"Would Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush please report to the arena," Goodwitch announced.

"Oh, I hope we get to break their legs!" Nora exclaimed.

"Did you have a nice nap Nora?" Ren deadpanned. "Also, please don't break anyone's legs here. We were lucky you didn't have to pay for the last girl's medical bills."

"But she was asking for it!" defended the grenadier.

"She just said that waffles were better than pancakes."

"HERESY! SACRILIGE!"

"Would Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie please make report to the Arena."

"Yay!" Nora vanished, faster than even Ruby could track. The lotus warrior just sighed as he stood up. At least he didn't have to fight against her.

…

Ren stood on one side of the arena with Nora. On the other side, Cardin and Russel did their best to look menacing. It would have worked better if they had any sort of reputation to back it up, but Ren had already decided that, based on their first match, that these two weren't much of a threat.

"You all know the rules," Professor Goodwitch's voice announced. "Standard tournament regulations. First pair whose aura drops to the red zone, or leaves the arena, will lose. Ready?" Both sides nodded. "Begin!"

"Quick question losers," Cardin said, hoisting his mace onto his shoulder, sauntering into the arena. Ren and Nora paused at this, wary that it was some kind of trick. "How did that idiot Arc end up on a team with three chicks?" Total silence enveloped the arena.

Finally, someone in the crowd – probably Yang – called out, "Hey dumb-ass, Ren's a dude!" Laughter broke out amongst the audience. Cardin scowled at the noise, until he saw his opponents faces. Nora's was contorted with anger, obviously pissed off about her best friend's insult. But even worse was Ren's; showing absolutely no emotion. That kind of stoniness was just…unnatural.

"Nora," Ren said, tilting his head towards his partner.

"Yes Ren?"

"Have fun."

"Of course," Nora said, her face now sporting a wicked grin. Suddenly, the girl exploded into action. "HAVE AT THEE!" She leapt toward Winchester and swung her hammer down at him. Cardin brought his mace up to defend, but the force of the blow drove the bigger boy to his knees. Russel turned to assist his leader, but a line of bullets kicked up dust in his path, cutting him off. Russel leapt back, dodging a slash from Ren.

"Hey dude, no hard feelings, right?" Russel said, backing away from Ren as the ninja approached.

"I don't mind being insulted much," he replied, stalking towards the dual knife wielder. "I've heard better insults from worse people. Nora on the other hand, she doesn't appreciate it at all."

"Sorry dude, it just looked like you were a girl because even you have bigger breasts than that white-haired girl. Ren stopped dead in his tracks. For the second time that fight, the crowd was hushed, except for the sounds of Weiss's team trying to restrain the heiress from killing the unfortunate boy. Even Nora paused, holding Cardin in the air by an ankle.

"Insulting me is one issue," Ren said calmly. The ninja surprised everyone by immediately sheathing Stormflower. "But my friends, that's something I won't stand for." Suddenly, Ren blurred forward and picked up Russel by the front of his shirt. "Now I have to teach you a lesson of respect." The ninja threw Russel across the ring, the boy bouncing and skidding to a stop near the center of the ring. As Russel got to his feet, he found Ren sprinting after him. Russel ran forward to meet him, slashing wildly at the ninja boy. But every attack just seemed to miss. Ren weaved through each attack, moving slowly yet gracefully. To the casual observer, it would have looked like some kind of dance, but Russel could not lay a finger – or rather a blade – on Ren. Eventually, feeling like he had toyed with his opponent enough, Ren lunged undo a slash and delivered a palm strike to Russel's chest. The boy skidded backwards, surprisingly managing to stay on his feet. When he came to a stop, he looked up and was shocked to see Ren's face inches from his own.

"The next time you go after my friends," Ren stated, his voice quiet enough to only be audible to the two of them. "Remember my face." As Russel watched in horror. Ren's pink eyes darkened to a blood red. "Remember." Faster than the eye could track Ren threw a punch into the terrified boy's face. Russel was knocked backwards into the wall of the rink, being embedded several inches into the stone. Even with aura left – just a hair above empty – the boy was knocked unconscious. Ren turned and walked towards the exit, even as a bell rang, signaling Cardin's aura hitting red. As Ren, reached the entrance of the locker-rooms, Nora caught up to him.

"Are you ok?" Nora asked in a serious tone.

"I'm in control," Ren answered curtly, opening his locker.

"Not what I asked," Nora said, opening hers as well. It had been a happy coincident – or careful planning of Ozpin's part – that their lockers had been put together.

"Did you break his legs?" Ren asked, hanging Stormflower in his locker.

A grin broke across Nora's face before she answered, "Nah, be his armor is going to need some serious repairing though."

"I never got why some people think big, heavy armor is such a good idea. With aura, all it does is slow you down."

"I know," the orange haired girl gushed. She began to babble as the two friends exited the locker-room. Ren smiled slightly as his life-long friend started her usual mile-a-minute rambling. Killer. You could have ended him. Could have released me. By reflex, Ren pulled out his medicine and took a pill. The voice cackled as it faded from the boy's thoughts. Ren's smile faded, and he forced his mind empty, even as he walked to his friends. He was a lotus, calm and undisturbed…

Oooh, suspense. What happened to Ren in the arena? What is with this medicine he is taking? Will the author ever get around to answering these questions? (Will the author stop speaking in third person? Probably not) The next chapter will begin to look at all this. Keep reading to see what's next.

Also, Volume 4! It has arrived! Before I say anything else, Spoiler alert, skip this section if you haven't seen it yet. As of writing this, I've seen the first two episodes, and damn, those feels. Pyrrha coming back to emotionally scar us (again) from beyond the grave. Personally, I would have liked Jaune to keep her weapons as they were, because then there would have been a chance for her to come back. But all those feels man.

As always, please leave a review of what you thought. I always try to respond to reviews and listen to your guys's advice. You all help write the story as much as I do. Favorite if you liked what you've read so far. Follow if you want to keep up with the story as it progresses. Thanks, peace out!