Ballroom, Beacon Academy

Lie Ren was stirring early in the morning, and when he opened his eyes to welcome the warmth of sunlight, he saw her up and awake with a gigantic grin on her face, as always.

"Waaaaake up, ya lazy butt!" Nora cheerily exclaimed.

Ren got up from his bed, tired but got his stuff ready and walked to the bathroom. Behind him, Nora was her usual hyperactive self, singing with a lively skip.

"It's morning, it's morning, it's mooooorning, iiiiit's MORNING!" Nora sang as she casually followed the boy into the bathroom.

At first glance it would seem very unlikely for the stoic and soft-spoken Mistralian to be best friends with the bubbly, hyperactive gremlin of a child, but Nora Valkyrie was a very close friend. Ren and her went very far back and both of them looked out for each other through thick and thin, considering the fact that both of them were orphans. She may be a handful, but Ren learned to live with it. After all, they were best friends.

On the other side of the room, Evie was poking Jacob with her finger, trying to get him to wake up, but he wouldn't get up and unconsciously swatted away at her hand. Evie sighed and picked up Jacob's hat beside him. She raised her foot above it, seemingly about to stomp on it.

"Hey, Jacob!" She called to him.

Jacob's eyes blinked open and saw his sister about to step on his precious top hat. His eyes shot wide open and he rose up with a start.

"No… you wouldn't dare, you monster!" Jacob said grimly, as if his hat was being taken hostage.

Evie raised an eyebrow and lowered her foot to lightly touch the surface of the headwear. "Try me, dear brother of mine."

Jacob gasped and began to drop on his knees. "No! Please! Take my coat! My money! Hell, take these!" He then ripped off his pants and held them out like a peace offering.

Evie stopped messing around at the sight of his dirty undergarments and held back a gag. "F-fine! You win! Just put some bloody pants on!" Evie passed Jacob his hat back and rushed to the bathroom to take a shower. Jacob grinned and put on his pants. He grabbed his toiletries and followed suit.

Ren got out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel, with Nora still waiting outside for him, blabbing nonstop.

"I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full 24 hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything. I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm, well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?" Nora chattered away while Ren brushed his teeth.

Just as the pair left, Jacob and Evie stepped out of the showers to dry up. Jacob stared at himself in the mirror, flexing and checking himself out with a smug grin. Evie put on her leather coat and grabbed her gloves, and then looked over at her brother.

Jacob noticed her and slyly grinned. "What's the matter? See something you like?"

Evie scoffed at his stupid gesture and threw his coat at his face. "Yeah, I do. That you're still an idiot."

Jacob laughed and put on his clothing before exiting the room with his twin.

"We've been friends for SOOOO long! What are the odds that we'd still be together? W-well not "together" together. Not that I'm saying you're not handsome! You are handsome, but that'd just be weird… right?" Nora continued on while brushing her hair outside. Ren simply listened calmly, most likely not processing her drabble.

Later the two were at the breakfast table with multiple students. Nora had a full pancake in her mouth, a mouth that was still chatting away. "Right. What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together."

She slurped up her pancake, somehow swallowing the thing whole. "Ooh! We should come up with some sort of plan! To make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster?! No. That wouldn't work, he has the school."

Jacob and Evie were walking down the hallway to their lockers to retrieve their gear. "So, sweet sister of mine, you excited to join your new team?" Jacob asked her.

Evie grinned and said, "I'd happily join any team other than yours."

Jacob said, "Too bad then, 'cuz I'm gonna be team leader!"

Evie snickered, then laughed out loud. "Oh, please. The day you become team leader is the day Altaïr laughs."

Evie walked ahead, and Jacob simply stared at her and said to himself, "Oh, I'm counting on it, woman."

Ren was retrieving his weapons from his locker. Stormflower, two green machine pistols with knife blades. Nora was still not-so-secretly discussing their plan to be on the same team. "I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! (gasp) A SEEEECRET signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora?" Ren finally spoke.

Nora for once stopped talking and asked, "Yes, Ren?"

Ren stowed away his weapons and said calmly, "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

Nora stared off into space for a minute. "That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"

Ren shut his locker and walked away. "Come on, Nora."

"But not "together" together…" Nora said with a giggle.

Meanwhile, about a couple of feet away…

"What's up with those two?" Ruby asked her sister while watching Ren walk away with Nora skipping behind.

"Oh, who knows … So! You seem awfully chipper this morning!" Yang replied.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk and introductions. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said while cuddling Crescent Rose.

Edward was walking by with Altaïr, and noticed the two. Edward walked up to greet them, but stopped when he noticed Ruby cuddling her weapon like a baby. "Okay now that's just weird."

"I treat my weapons with respect, but that's new." Altaïr added.

"Morning, guys!" Edward called out to them.

"Oh, hey! Uh… what's up?" Ruby stammered as she dropped her scythe in surprise.

"So, we're gonna meet our teammates today! You excited?" Edward asked her.

"Yep! We finally get to fight Grimm! I've just been waiting so long for this moment." Ruby answered him.

Yang intervened. "Ruby… remember. You're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and to learn to work together."

Ruby groaned at her sister, "Ugh, you sound like dad! First of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting? And second of all, I don't need people to help me grow up! I DRINK MILK!"

Edward snickered at her words and said, "So anyway, Ezio told me that you wanted to meet my friends the other night?"

Ruby replied, "Umm, yeah actually."

"How 'bout I introduce you, lass?" Edward asked the girl.

"Sure! Why not?" Ruby said with a smile.

Yang beamed at Ruby. "See? I knew you'd break out of your shell eventually!"

Ruby yelped, "What the?! I never needed to break out of any kind of shell! That's absolutely…"

Literally a foot away…

"…ridiculous! There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high!" Jaune said to himself when he realized he forgot which locker was his.

Why does this have to happen today?..." Jaune groaned as he passed Weiss talking to a certain redhead, with Ezio sitting on a bench next to them.

"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you would like to be on?" Weiss asked the girl.

"Yes, of course. I'm sure anyone would love to be in your team considering your skill." Ezio added.

Pyrrha answered the two, "Hmm, I'm not quite sure. I was planning to let the chips fall where they may."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could be in a team together?" Weiss asked her.

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha responded.

"Great!" Weiss said before saying to herself ominously, "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we'll be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!"

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." Jaune said as he interrupted the two girls.

"Ugh, you again?" Weiss groaned at his appearance.

On the other hand, Pyrrha greeted him politely. "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

Jaune however, only had eyes for the heiress. Pushing Pyrrha aside, he said to Weiss, "Yeah, yeah. So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

Ezio tried his best not to laugh out loud. I mean, did he really believe that Weiss Schnee of all people would be interested in him? Ezio himself had a hard time getting her attention, and he was Ezio Auditore of all people!

"Oh, you've got to be kidding." Weiss groaned as she facepalmed at his advances.

"Oop, no need to be embarrassed! So, been hearin' rumors about teams! I was thinking you and I would make a good one! What do you say?" Jaune said to Weiss.

Pyrrha, on the other hand interrupted the two. "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of 4 students each, so…"

"You don't say…" Jaune smiled as he went up to Pyrrha. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

Weiss came up between the pair and said to the boy, "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not the slightest, snow angel." Jaune blankly responded.

Ezio raised an eyebrow. Pyrrha was quite well-known for her skills. Skills that even his own barely met. To hear somebody saying that they didn't know Pyrrha was quite strange.

"This is Pyrrha." Weiss gestured to Pyrrha.

"Hello again!"

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss informed Jaune.

"Never heard of it." Jaune responded bluntly.

Weiss was getting confused. It was one thing to not recognize Pyrrha, but to have never heard of Sanctum Academy was just absurd.

"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament 4 years in a row, a new record!" Weiss stated.

"The what?" Jaune replied, still confused.

Weiss was fuming with frustration and disbelief at his cluelessness, but Ezio interrupted her. "She's the on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes."

To this, Jaune reacted with starstruck glee. "(gasp) That's you?! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha replied.

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked Jaune.

Jaune sighed and lowered his head in defeat. "I-I guess not. Sorry."

Pyrrha however, walked up to the knight and reassured him. "Actually Jaune, I think you'll make a great leader."

"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune adoringly replied.

Weiss on the other hand, still wouldn't have any of it. "Seriously, stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you. What do you say?" Jaune said as he leaned in close to Weiss.

"Okay, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help please?!" Weiss exclaimed as she stepped away from Jaune.

Pyrrha threw her javelin at Jaune, pinning him against the wall by his hoodie. "I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized.

Just then, Glynda's voice was heard on the intercom. "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

The students in the locker room began to get up and leave, and Pyrrha retrieved her weapon from Jaune. "It was nice meeting you!" Pyrrha said to the boy before she left.

"Likewise." Jaune replied with a sigh.

Ruby and Yang passed by with the assassins, with Ezio getting up. "Having some trouble there, lady killer? Yang jokingly asked Jaune.

"I don't understand... My dad said that all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?" Jaune responded.

Ezio laughed and answered, "Your taste, your approach, "snow angel". Yeah, you have much to learn, my friend."

"Come on Jaune. Let's go." Ruby helped Jaune up and the two walked out of the room.

Beacon Cliff

The first year students were all gathered at a cliff on the outskirts of the campus, where the steep ledge dropped off into acres of forest. Each student was standing on the edge, each atop a stone slab with the Vale crest marked on it.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said to the students while sipping from his mug.

Glynda continued for Ozpin. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be assigned teammates… Today."

Ruby whimpered worriedly as she heard this. She didn't like where this was going and she knew she wasn't good with teaming up with a random stranger who wasn't her friend.

Ozpin continued his speech. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

Ruby let out another whimper. This wasn't going to end well.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years." Ozpin finished.

Ruby's world shattered (almost literally) around her when she heard this. "WHAT?!" This was literally the worst-case scenario for her. She was already terrible with making friends, and she sure as hell wasn't happy with the chances of ending up with a total stranger for a partner.

Ozpin continued on with his instructions. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Jaune nervously gulped, but Jacob, Nora and Edward's expressions brightened up.

"Oh, that's an idea I can get behind." Jacob remarked.

Evie rolled her eyes, but smiled in amusement at her brother's words.

Ozpin ignored them and continued on. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune meekly raised his hand, "Yeah, um sir…"

Ozpin however, disregarded him and continued on. "Good! Now, take your positions."

Each student readied themselves. Yang raised her fists in a boxing stance, Jacob put away his hat and raised his hood. Altaïr knelt down with his head lowered, as if synchronizing. Ezio deployed his hookblades, Ren raised Stormflower, Evie primed her grappling hook, and Connor twirled his tomahawk in his hand.

Jaune, however was still skeptical. "Uh, sir? I've got a question."

Just then, Weiss was launched into the air, the stone slab she stood on catapulting her into the forest below. Altaïr followed, his arms outstretched, as if taking a leap of faith.

"So, this landing strategy thing, uh, w-what is it? You're like, dropping us off or something?" Jaune asked nervously.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin deadpanned at him.

Ezio felt himself rise into the air, followed by Edward, who flailed around in the air from unpreparedness. Adéwalé held his blunderbuss with both hands and was catapulted into the forest, too. Nora, too was cast into the air followed by Ren.

"Oh, I see. So like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked again.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin answered him.

"Uhhuh… Yeah." Jaune responded with dread and worry.

Jacob was thrown into the air with a loud whoop, followed by his sister. Arno was next, followed by Connor and Pyrrha. Yang winked at her sister before putting on a pair of aviator sunglasses, and she too was thrown into the forest, followed by Ruby.

Jaune was the last student standing at the cliff and raised his hand again. "So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYYYYYYY…" Jaune screamed out the last part loudly as he was flung from the cliff and sent plummeting into the vast wood below him.

Ozpin looked behind him to see the students falling down to the forest, showing a sly grin as he sipped from his mug.

"You're a sadist, you know that?" Glynda spoke into his ear.

Ozpin just nodded and sipped his coffee. "I know, Glynda. I know."

Up next: Landing strategies, Grimm and Assassiny stuff!

(Viva pushes aside pitchfork at his face)

I know, I know. Sorry I kept you waiting. I swear I will try to release my chapters at least weeks apart. It gets hard sometimes. I have work, I get distracted, or I just don't feel like writing at the moment. I promise you, I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. But first, I wanna say something. Reviews are very important to me. It's one thing to know someone is reading your story, but it's also another to hear your opinions on it, as well as suggestions! I read EVERY review that is posted on my story and check the profile of EVERY new person who faves/follows my story. Also: 5,000 VIEWS?! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Please tell me what you think and I will see you… in the next chapter! BYE-BYE!

AmusedLight: I dunno if Élise is gonna be in this story, sorry.

JackTheRipper01: Desmond most likely ain't gonna be in Remnant, but I have plans for this, and maybe Desmond will be here, just give me time to sort it out. JACK THE RIPPER IS IN THE STORY, PEOPLE! Soon… As for Lydia, not now. Maybe a future AU, but not here.

Emiliano733: Awww, thanks, m8 (even if it's not the funniest)!

Guest: Yes, Nassau will be in the story (but you will have to be very, VERY, patient).

Guest: Hmm… I can totally see that happening! But first I wanna know something. I originally wanted Coco paired with Arno, and have her fulfill Élise's role in Arno's story. But I want to know from you guys, do you think Coco would be better with Arno or Jacob?

Sam hill: Umm, I don't play For Honor. If you think it would work, make an account and write it yourself! Don't be shy!

Guest: Yang could use gattling shotgun gauntlets….

Guest: Actually, you're pretty spot-on for Edward's backstory!

Guest: Edward's crew will come when the time is right, mein freund.