"Are you sure you didn't provoke them?" Blake wondered as Luna got prepared from her locker.
"No, of course not!" She whined. "I'm telling you some orange haired just punched me out of nowhere in the lunchroom, they didn't even care enough to notice! It took forever to get the syrup out of my clothes..."
She had to change her clothes since now dubbing a black t-shirt with a red flame on the chest, a open black leather jacket sleeves stopping at the elbows showing off her friendship pendant and plan black track suit bottoms with black foot wraps (this is her fighting outfit)
"Well it didn't seem to ruin your mood, all things considered." Blake commented.
That was the one fact Luna couldn't deny, smiling a little to herself as she prepared. Today was going to be the biggest of all days, one of the most decisive factors of her teenage life! Today she would take the initiation test alongside many other first years of the academy, one that would ultimately decide what team she was going to be put together with, and who was going to be the leader of said team!
She really didn't care for the details. But she didn't want to be leader of it all to much responsibility she wouldn't find being simple grunt of the team, she would always be happy as long as she got to be on a team with Blake. Just picturing it, the four years together after being gone for so long, or at least until Luna got all the information she required, alongside her best friend who wouldn't know about Luna's true purpose within these walls.
And she was completely fine with that! Even if she told Blake her true reasoning behind all this for being here, and even if she was completely fine with it and even wanted to help, she just couldn't bring herself to reveal it. It was to much of a gamble. On top of that, the secrecy would be easier to keep if Luna remained the only student around here who knew about her ultimate goal.
All she needed to do for now was keep a low profile, doing whatever it took to keep herself from looking suspicious and the staff around here off her back. She already had Glynda on her hide like there was no tomorrow. Add one more teacher, or worse of all Ozpin himself, on top of that and there was no way she was going to even make it through a single year at this academy.
With a smile, Luna replied, "Yup, finally some combat you can't get yelled at for ." She said as she took out her beloved katana and pistol. "Today I get to let my sweethearts tear inta somethin."
"Well, just remember you won't be the only one going through initiation." Blake reminded walking over. "You're going to be meeting a lot of new people here, some you may not even like, like Cardin."
"No yuck not even," the thought of it gave Luna the shivers, "don't even say that name around me till after initiation. The last nightmare I want to even think of is me ending up on his team."
"Not like that," Blake smiled, 'I mean you'll have to learn to get along with new people and work together. You never really were an 'out there' kind of girl growing up you know."
"Ugh, you sound just like my mom. And it wasn't my fault anyway. I just never really got out that much."
One of the sad realities of Luna's young life. Without going outside, at least that often, she never got to meet new people. Without meeting new people she never got to experience the different types of people there were. There were some good people, bad people, ok people, and everything inbetween. Those were the only people she ever knew existed in the world, and because of her sheltered life, she never really understood what accounted for actual nice people and actual mean people. .
"I don't need people to help me grow up. I am plenty mature as it is. I've been told that hundreds of times in my life."
"Was it by your mother?" Blake asked knowingly.
"Yeah, why?" was all she got for a first response was a silent moan from her friend.
"But what about when we form teams?" That was the question to finally get to Luna's nerves.
"Uhm... I-I don't know..." she mumbled, "I-I'll just be on your team or something..."
"M-Maybe you should try to be on someone else's team...?" Blake wondered, regretting it immediately as Luna rushed up to her sad-eyed tucked ears.
"Wah? You don't want me on your team...?"
"What- No no, it's not like that." She said trying to ease her sadness. "I'm just saying you shouldn't be ready for anything that comes up around here. No one knows exactly how the placements go, so even if we both decide we wanna be teammates, that might not even happen."
"Yeah, I know..." Luna moaned.
"Besides, even if it don't end up on the same team, it might be good for you." On a whole, Blake was actually being series for herself. Luna's never had much experience with others, so who knows how well any interactions with other people might go. "It might help you break out of your shell a little if you get to see what other people are like".
"Break out of my shell?" Luna repeated completely baffled. "I don't need help breaking out of my shell, that's just-"
"Ridiculous!" A teenage blond boy said, taking the words right out of her mouth. He wasn't really paying too much attention of their conversation though, just the piece of paper in his hands.
"There's no way I put my gear in locker 635 yesterday!? I would've remembered counting that high! Ugh, why does that have to happen today!?" He continued to groan on as he passed several other students socializing with one another.
"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought on who's team you would like to be on?" Weiss asked curiously. "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual, like yourself."
"Hmm... I'm not quite sure." She replied. "I was just planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"Well, I was just thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss proposed.
"Well, I was just thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss proposed.
"Well that sounds grand!" The words brought nothing but pure joy to Weiss.
"Great!" Within the inner subconsciousness of her dark mind, a cloud of utter evil was forming as she continued to think to herself. "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class. Together we will 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?" The blonde from thirty seconds ago asked, throwing himself between them as he gazed at the heiress. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."
Ate this Luna was distracted from her conversation with Blake "oh this'll be interesting"
"You again?" Weiss was annoyed within the first half-second of seeing him, having a brief encounter with him earlier after the auditorium assembly yesterday.
"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha greeted, ready to shake her hand.
"Yeah yeah." He muttered, pushing her aside. "So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day." He flexed with pride, unaware of the facepalming from the same girl behind him.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"
"Actually," Pyrrha spoke up, "I think the teams are comprised of 4 students each, so-"
"You don't say." He muttered before leaning over. "Well hot-stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."
"Jaune, is it?" Weiss quickly butted in, separating them. "Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"
"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel." He said with pride.
"This is Pyrrha." She stated, gesturing to the aforementioned person.
"Hello again." She waved.
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."
"Never heard of it." Jaune said with a simple shrug.
"Ah!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing! "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament 4 years in a row... A new record!
"The what?"
"... She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She huffed flailing her arms angrily.
"OHMIGOOOOOSH!" A voice cried out. Before Weiss even had time to respond, she was crashed into, sending said girl hurtling into the lockers, as she was replaced with a giant tiger eared girl.
"YOU'RE PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW GIRL MASCOT?!" The girl screamed with stars in her eyes. The same level of excitement, at least by half of it's amount, was shared by the other fellow blonde boy.
"That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune mentioned.
"Who cares about that!" Luna squealed rummaging through her pockets. "Pumpkin Pete's is my all time favorite cereal! Can I have your autograph!?" She asked hopefully, handing her a small a small pocket-sized notebook and a pen.
"Eh heh, sure..." Pyrrha nodded with a small blush, signing the girl's notebook. "But you do know Pumpkin Pete's cereal isn't really that good for you right?"
"What are you kidding me!? It's the best tasting cereal in the world!" At least to Luna it was. The stars in her eyes only doubled as Pyrrha returned the signed autograph book with her signature on it.
"Luna!" Blake groaned, pulling the back of Luna jacket and snapping the girl out of her state of wonder with a small yank of her tail.
"Ack-!" She squeaked.
"I'm sorry about that," Blake apologized to Pyrrha, "she gets a little... excited, pretty easily."
"Just a little?!" Weiss grumbled marching back to the group, hair in a mess and her clothes scuffed up.
Luna could only look at her in total confusion. "Jeez Weiss, you look a mess?"
Every fiber of her being wanted to do nothing more than to strangle Luna with her own tail at that very moment. Unfortunately, the only thing keeping her from doing so, at least that were important to her, was the sight of Pyrrha before them all. It would be one thing if it was just the rest of the group for sure, but she needed to do everything in her power to maintain a composed and professional status around the red-haired girl.
One misstep could see her ignoring Weiss. One scene of her breaking out in a fight would keep her from wanting to socialize with Weiss. Any and all actions that could put her elite status on the brink of ruin, and she wouldn't even want to consider ending up on Weiss' team of all things! So no matter how badly she wanted to, she had to maintain composure.
"Ghhhhh!" She gritted her teeth tightly to avoid any shouting. "Yes I suppose I do." Not wanting to explode on the spot, she switched her attention back to the previous headache before her. "Anyway, so after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"
"Wait, we can ask to be on someone's team?" Luna gasped as her eyes widened. "Oh pleeeeease, Pyrrha! Please be on my team!" She begged. There could be nothing better than having someone from Pumpkin Pete's cereal being on her team, save for her closest friend Blake.
"Wha- No you can't choose the team!" Weiss nearly snapped.
"Ugh, it probably wouldn't matter anyway." Jaune sighed depressingly. "I don't think I have any right to ask that anyway."
"Actually Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader." Pyrrha comforted, patting his shoulder.
"D'oh, stop it!" Being praised by one of the greatest mascots in the world was like an angel singing to him, being washed away in a stream of joy.
"Hell yeah!" Luna jumped in again, still unable to get over the fact one of the faces of her favorite cereal were in her presence. "It would be great! You, me, Jaune, and Blake," she paused pulling her friend in, "we'd be a great team!"
"Luna..." Blake mumbled.
"Excuse me!?" That was the last straw for the fellow Schnee. "What makes you think you have any right to ask Pyrrha on your team of all things?"
"Because I asked her nicely." Luna replied casually, not seeing the big picture here.
"Kindness withholding, you can't just ask someone like Pyrrha to join your team!" Why was it this one stupid faunes couldn't get that?! If Luna was ever on a team like Pyyrha's, it would not only devastate Weiss, but the natural laws of the universe would practically implode on itself! "Your kind of behavior isn't something a team like Pyrrha's should have!"
"Oh don't worry Weiss," Jaune swooned with a minor flex, "you'll be welcomed on our team too, with open arms I might add."
"Teams can only comprise of 4 members though." Blake tried to point out to no avail. Everyone was either focused on Pyrrha joining their team, or convincing one of the others to join with them.
"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?"
"Wait... Pull some strings?" Luna raised a brow at this, dropping all excitement previously held. "What kind of strings can you pull? Like around the academy?"
This could've been a great ace in the hole. If she could convince Jaune to use his string-pulling powers, it could help her further her goals of gathering private information, and hasten her attempts to do so! He could get her unrestricted access to data rooms, possibly help her get out of some homework they might need in the future, the possibilities were endless!
Better yet, if he could pull strings when it came to the teachers around here or maybe even Ozpin himself, she could make it so there was no way they could possibly bother her! With that, there was no way anyone would hinder her mission, making everything easier and manageable within a month's time at most! This was just a too good of an opportunity to waste!
"U-Uhhh well.." Jaune scratched his chin nervously. Despite her takings with Luna, Weiss found this too good of a chance to remain silent. The sooner she got Jaune off her back, the easier it would be to convince Pyrrha to join her team after she got rid of Luna.
"Yeah, Juaaaane," Weiss grinned, "what kind of strings can a big macho man like yourself pull?" All she needed was to get him to either fess up, or take off running, whichever came first.
"W-Well umm... I could uhhh..."
ding-dong*
Everyone was silenced by the ring of the announcement bell. Before them one of the large TV monitors on the sides started speaking, even with the imagery remaining black.
"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" Glynda could be heard announcing. "Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
"Oh, saved by the bell." Jaune was relieved. Weiss just rolled her eyes before leaving the group behind. A Schnee would never allow themselves to be late for the first day of school, or pre-first day of school in this case.
"Oh! We have to go! Come on Blake, quit goofing around! We haveta go!" She yelled worriedly, dashing through the halls with her friend in hand behind her.
Yup, this was exactly the same little Luna Blake knew growing up with. Easily distracted, easily excitable, and easy to assume someone else was responsible for any trouble she unknowingly caused herself. No matter how many years had passed, she was exactly the same little girl she played with long ago.
...Perhaps a little too like her.
"It was nice meeting you, Jaune." Pyrrha waved as she walked along the halls.
With a deep breath to himself, Jaune cleared his thoughts as he head through the halls.
Today was going to be the most important day in the history of the world for the students! They needed to be vigilant, positive, tough, and intimidating! In a school like this, it was eat or be eaten, in more meanings of the word if the Grimm ever became involved! All they could rely on was their quick wits and tenacity to see them through the end of the year alive, and whatever team they ended up with by the time it was all over!
Now if only he remembered which way to the cliffs, he'd be on a roll.
The sun was brightly overhead in the middle of the day, all of the students being lined up side by side before the headmaster and Glynda. Before them was an endless expanse of forest and mountains. Trees as far as the eyes could see, clear blue skies in the whether above them, and barely a cloud in sight. It was the perfect conditions for weather for any outdoor activity, pivotal for a day like this.
This is the day all of them, Ruby especially, had been training for. For a chance to reach Beacon academy, become the Hunters and Huntresses they loved to hear about, and the heroes the world needed right now. It was going to be the most important day of their single lives, and one that would ultimately change the course of history forever.
Whoever everyone ended up with after today was going to be more than just a team. They would become friends, family, allies against the nefarious forces of the world both Grimm and otherwise alike. They would have to trust them from this day forward, no matter who ended up where. And all of that started after today, where one little field test would determine their very lives!
"For years, you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin said, looking amongst the dozens of students. Like always, at least when Ruby first met him, he was calm and composed with either a warm cup of coffee or tea in his hand. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
From order of left to right, the students were lined up as followed: Jaune, Cardin, Ren, Yang, Nora, Ruby, Luna, Blake, Pyrrha, Weiss, Shadow 1, Shadow 2, Russel, and a few more Shadow people.
Many fine young students, each with their own unique weapons, own unique semblances, and a world of endless possibilities before them.
"Now," Glynda spoke stepping to his side, "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 given teammates... Today."
"What? Aww..." Ruby and Luna moaned.
"Relax Luna, there's still a good chance we might end up on a team." Blake whispered.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." Ozpin stated. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
"Ah..." Ruby moaned again. As long as Yang was on her team, that was fine. Even if she ended up on the same team as that horrible Cardin, she could tolerate it as long as she had friends that were near.
Weiss grinned to herself, eyes shifting over to Pyrrha. With those two on the same team, she was confident there would be no opposing force that could stop them! Just as long as Ruby remained out of the picture, there's no telling what having her on their team could do, nor the utter chaos she could cause.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin concluded.
"See? I told you!" Nora grinned, looking over to Ren.
"After you've partnered up," Ozpin continued, "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." He looked along as one student in particular raised his hand at this. "Yes, Luna?"
"W-When you say opposition, do you mean other people like bandits or...?" She didn't really know what would've been worse. Bandits she would have to destroy, aka kill, or the one other force this world was constantly threatened by.
"The Grimm." He clarified.
Not too surprisingly, over half of the students before him glanced at one another with unease. He himself was confident in their fighting abilities, but their worries was understandable. Not many of them had ever fought Grimm to such a large extent, and now they were about to jump head first into a den of nothing but monsters. Not even the staff would think about exploring the woods on their own, at least not for long.
The reactions of course did vary among the individuals. Jaune gulped nervously, Luna and Blake looked back at each other with mild confidence, Yang punched her fists in excitement, Weiss nodded with certainty, Pyrrha stood at the ready, and Nora simply smiled over at Ren. The reactions varied, but the goal among them were clear.
Complete the objective, or die trying.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation." He added. "But our instructors will not intervene."
Luna couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, that meant she didn't have to worry about staff interference during the initiation, unable to tell if Glynda would've left her to her own devices if otherwise. On the other hand, that made it even more questionable if she would be able to use Corrán or not. It's not like they could possibly monitor each of them at the exact same time, right? She just had to hope, whatever the situation called for, that she could use Wolfie without worry.
"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 them appropriately. Are there any more questions?"
"Yeah, um, sir-" Jaune tried to speak, raising his hand.
"Good." Ozpin replied, ignoring it completely. "Now, take your positions."
None of them hesitated. One by one, each of them had their weapons at the ready.
This, was their moment.
Except for Jaune who continued to raise his hand.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um, a question." He tried again.
Creak*
With the large creaking sound, the first student was flung before them. From the ground they stood atop, they were thrown into the air at immense speed and trajectory, gliding along it as they made their way into the forest.
Creak*
Luna briefly watched as Weiss was one of the first recognizable people thrown across.
"So, this landing strategy-"
Creak*
There went Pyrrha.
"-thing, uh, w-what is it?"
Shooting a quick smile to the younger student, Blake gave Luna a warming smile before she was thrown next.
She wasn't too worried about the forest itself, that was for suckers. But much like getting on the ride to a roller coaster you know stretches up to the skies above, she couldn't help it as her heart raced, each second becoming more and more unbearable until it finally happened.
"You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
CREAK*
And with that Luna was thrown into the air, with nothing except an endless forest of Grimm before her.
"No." Ozpin replied calmly. "You will be falling."
Creak*
"Whoohooooo!" Nora cheered as she flew.
"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune wondered.
Creak*
Yang only grinned at the excitement as she flew. First stop free-falling air, next stop a forest full of Grimm. This was going to be awesome!
"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." He informed.
Creak*
Ren never lost an ounce of his composure as he took off, remaining steady and focused as when he woke up this morning.
"Uhhuh... Yeah..." Jaune mumbled looking around.
Creak*
Cardin didn't even care about everything before him. By the end of this day, he was going to be Number One!
"So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYYY!" He screamed as he was thrown. Must've been a real shame too, since there was no telling now if he was actually going to answer that question or not.
And with that, Ozpin just watched. Sipping his drink looking behind him, he watched his beloved new students as they flew across the air like birds learning to fly. Except for wings though, they were all on their own for that.
"Are you sure it's wise to send Luna out there with the rest?" Glynda asked slightly worried. "We still don't know how dangerous she's going to be through the rest of this year. This initiation alone might prove dangerous for the other students, you know with all the fire she's constantly spewing."
"Then I believe this is the perfect time to understand how much of a threat she is." Ozpin replied. "We only know so much about her right now. She seems peaceful to the other students, she doesn't seem frightening to anyone in particular, and I believe you said she *started* a fight yesterday?"
"I don't know who actually started the fight," Glynda admitted, "but she was there when I found her. Just like she was on the day of the robbery."
"And did either of the girls say anything about her causing the trouble?"
"Ugh, no." She groaned. She wasn't trying to look like she was a pure enemy of Luna, but with the fate of the world at stake she couldn't afford to take any chances whatsoever.
"Then it seems that whoever found our little monster raised her well." It was terrifying how calm he was in comparison to her.
"But Professor Oz-"
"I know, Glynda, I know. We can't be too cautious with anything that girl does. Keep her under constant surveillance for the initiation for the time being, but do not interfere with anything."
"And what if she starts attacking any of the students?"
"If she attacks any of the students, then we have the evidence we need to restrain her. As for the students themselves, I'm positive she won't be able to hurt them too badly. It would be her against all of them after all."
"And if she doesn't do anything just for now?"
"Then we just watch as the caring teachers we are. They're still children, Glynda, but we must leave it up to them to determine how to handle the future. If we push one way, they'll push towards another. We have to trust in their judgement, for now."
"Huff, you're too lenient and calm about this."
Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong. None of it mattered to Ozpin. All he was concerned about was seeing how much, Luna had grown since that day.
This was going to be the day that they carved their own paths, the day they showed the rest of the world who they truly were, and what they were going to become.
This, was the first day of School.
crash*
"Ack-! Stupid birdy!" Luna growled, burning the bird plastered to her face as she fell.
She was actually surprised how long they'd been flying for. What she assumed to be a simple matter of seconds ended up being minutes, flying hundreds of miles over the forest itself within such a brief time span. Maybe if she ever did become a bird, she wouldn't mind watching the view from all the way up here.
Or maybe she would just talk to her native birds in their native bird tongue to tell them to get OUT OF THE WAY!
"Ugh! Final- ah crap..." She moaned. Step one was removing the hazardous bird from her face so she could finally see again. Step two was supposed to be planning her exit strategy in order to safely fall along the forest with her. At least, that was the plan before she saw how close she was to the ground already.
Luckily for her she was far enough from the ground that she could still use her landing strategy those blasted birds haven't bested her yet, as she focused energy through her hands and feet she began shooting fire from both as she began to slow her decent.
As she was much closer to the ground she cut the fire landing with a slight thud, looking around listening to hear if anybody was out there, she saw what looked like Yang flying overhead but other then that nobody was dangerously close as far as she could tell, "now to deal with cameras" Luna thought to herself sending electricity around herself finding all the hidden cameras she sends enough volts to fry the camera's.
Once they were dealt with Luna looked toward her shadow "Alright Corrán you can come out now, I know you want to"
As she finished a tiger like girl crawled out of Luna's shadow and as it jumped up on her putting its front paws on her chest as it rubbed its head under her chin
As Luna began petting her "Yeah, I missed you too sorry you had to be cooped up in my shadow for so long but you know I couldn't have anyone seein ya"
As the tiger got down nodding slowly it stooped then tilted its head as if to ask "so what's up"
"I gotta ask, we got any buddy's in the area"
The tiger began looking around sniffing the air before looking at Luna again shaking its head
"Damn all hostile, well that's a bummer hehe sorry to ask this but could get back in the shadow don't want Ozpin seeing you"
The tiger noodled as it walked back to Luna shadow and with that Luna dropped the electric field letting the cameras reboot.
All the will back with Glynda and Ozpin
"Professer Ozpin, the camera feed on Luna suddenly cut, what would you use do
All Ozpin did was stand there smiling "clever girl"
"Proffeser why are you smiling"
Back with Luna as she was walking along the forest she could swear she caught the whiff of smoke and where there smoke there's fire, A giddy Luna zipped away toward the scent finding it was indeed fire a burning tree to be exact she began eating the fire before noticing a tree a little bit away being suddenly cut down followed by a familiar sounding moan
"Duahhh"
In a burst of lightning Luna ran in the direction she heard the yell to find the fallen tree and in the distance she noticed a familiar red cloaked girl sitting on the ground looking at the pacing heiress
"No it's this way, wait maybe it's that way, no defiantly this way"
"Well it's official we're lost" Ruby stated lying on her back
"We are not lost, I know exactly where we're going"
Luna walked up to the bickering par "Alright then we're are the ruins princess"
"Eep" went Weiss quickly turning around hand on the handle of her weapon, before she realised who it was as she began to relax "oh it's just you, what do you want"
"Just lookin to lend a helping hand to my fellow students"
"Really?" Ruby asked tilting her head
"Meh why not"
"Alright help if you can" Weiss said looking at Luna suspiciously
Luna smirked as she croached down and jumped up into the air twice as high as the trees getting a look at the surrounding area, she see's mostly trees but a little bit away she see's a clearing where she assumes the ruins might be located.
Landing back on the ground creating two feet sized craters she looked toward the two girls pointing in the direction she saw the clearing
"I saw a clearing up in that direction I'd say that would be our safest bet as to were the ruins might be"
Luna began walking off not caring if the two followed or not.
"Hey wait up Luna" came a running Ruby with a grumpy Weiss in tow
As the three walked through the trees the clearing in sight and cocky smirk spread onto Luna's face as she looked back at Weiss
"Well aren't you glad I helped know ice queen"
"What did you just call me?"
"Ice queen cause you know your as cold as ice"
"How dare you you dir…"
"Luna!!!" yelled Blake from the ruins
"Blake!!!" yelled Luna as she ran over too Blake stopping just in front of her
"So did you find a team mate yet" asked Blake looking at the girls behind Luna
"No I haven't found one yet no one landed near me so yeah" looking behind Blake seeing a Yang looking at what Luna assumed to be relics "I assume you partnered up with Yang"
"Yeah but don't worry there's still a chance we could end up on the same team"
"Yeah I know" Luna said looking down a little disheartened
She was quickly shaken from those thoughts as she saw a Ursa coming out of the trees a pink explosion coming from its back along with an orange haired girl holding a war hammer
"Awww Ren, it's Brocken"
The assumed Ren came running up from behind the now dead Ursa panting
"Nora never do that again"
When Ren went too look at where Nora was he wasent at all surprised to see she was no longer there, no instead she was looking at the relics singing to herself
"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle"
"NORA!!!" yelled a slightly irritated Ren
"Coming Ren"
"Did she just ride her on that" asked a very confused Yang
"I believe she did" answered Luna as she walked up and took a relic
"Screeeee" " ahhhhhh" came a loud screech and scream from the forest a flying over the group was non other than Jaune Arc screaming bloody murder following him crashing into a tree was Pyrrha running away from a giant god damn Deathstalker.
"Caaawww" was heard from above as the group looked up they say what looked like a average sized nethermore so a giant god damn bird with razor sharp everything.
As Pyrrha made her way to the group thanks to the deathstalker stopping, Luna looked to the group seeing they all took relics
"Alright guys we don't have to fight these guys let's just go"
Yang nodded in agreement "yeah let's get going"
Luna didn't like what she heard next "don't worry guys I got this" Luna saw as Ruby burst of in a burst of rose petals right toward the deathstalker.
Taking a swing with her scythe just for into deflected by the deathstalkers pincer fear crept into Ruby's face
"Ruby get back here!!" screamed a very worried Yang
As Ruby tried to make her way back to the group the nethermore began shooting its razor sharp quills down, Ruby did a good job at dodging most but sadly one caught on her cape sticking her in place, and as the deathstalker made its way forward there was a burst of lightning, with a solid kick Luna deflected the stinger quickly landing just in time to catch the pincers.
"MOVE NOW!!!!" yelled Luna as Yang unstuck Ruby and ran back with the group who were left Aww struck at Luna raw physical strength being able to hold a deathstalker back is quit the feet.
Luna turned back to the deathstalker sucking in the air "FIRE DRAGONS ROAR" as an inferno of fire burst from the Luna mouth scorching its face aswell as burning some of its eyes blasting it back Luna turned back to the group running.
"Let's get going people we still got incoming nethermore"
The group ran side by side, only taking brief glimpses behind them to see the oncoming Grimm that pursued. Every now and then the farther students did what they could to slow the creature down, Blake and Luna shooting back at it with there weapons with Nora blasting the ground near it with her grenade launcher, causing it to stumble long enough to distance themselves by another yard every now and then.
It only took up to three whole minutes of running before the group finally came upon a cliffside. It's amazing what one could do when their life was being threatened by a giant insectoid trying to devour them all, alongside a giant bird flying around the air.
The cliffside itself was nothing short of amazing in all honesty, the surrounding ledge of the cliff riddled with pillars and stone monuments stretching throughout the entire clearing they came across. Many of them were dwindling to dust and debris, several of them toppled over and ruined through the passage of time. And that wasn't even the most impressive architecture left behind through the ages.
What really took the scenery before them were the giant bridges and building standing up from the center itself. The strange monument rose from the very depths of the cliff's chasm, the base of it being lost within the surrounding fog alongside the bridges and pillars. The force of time was no match for any of the standing structures, the grand steeple that rose from the chasm standing testament against nature's very own might. It was the method intended for the students to traverse upon their return to the cliff side.
Now, it was going to be their battleground.
"Come on, pass the bridge!" Jaune yelled, being the farthest of the group. No one could resist looking back every other moment, seeing the approaching Death Stalker only seconds behind them.
Caaaaaaouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!*
The piercing cry of the Nevermore echoed throughout the valley, soaring through the skies until it perched atop the very steeple they were planning to run to, forcing them to hide themselves behind the surrounding pillars out of the Grimm's sight.
"Now what?" Yang called over to the pillar several yards to her left where Pyrrha and Nora were.
"Let's just give it a good whackin', that'll send it running!" Nora suggested, excited at the thought of fighting the giant bird thing.
"I can kill it!" Luna called back, being at the pillar ahead of them, next to Weiss and Ren.
"Yeah, I'm sure we all can, Luna! We need a more solid plan!" Yang retorted.
"No, I mean really! I can kill it! In one hit, all I need you to do is set me up!" She paused looking down the forest as the Death Stalker approached, only a minute away. "the Death Stalker is another problem! Idamaged it some what so it should be easy!"
"You want us to WHAT?!" Jaune yelped in disbelief. Oh sure, that made sense; give Luna an opening to hit the Nevermore and deal with the Death Stalker afterwards.
"Trust me! Unless you have a better plan, I'm all ears!" The options weren't that hard to choose from. Either let someone who claimed they could handle it do it, or be the guy to decide what everyone did immediately after within the next minute before the Death Stalker showed up.
It wasn't that hard to decide.
"Alright but who deals with who?"
This was where Ruby cut in "Luna, Blake, Yang, Weiss your with me, Jaune you take everyone else ready break"
With everyone making a split second agreement they split up to deal with the respective Grimm as the Nevermore notices the 5 students getting ready for combat letting out a mighty caw it spread its wings and tried to take flight, Ruby starts to take command
""Weiss freeze it" doing as instructed Weiss froze the tail feathers of the Nethermore stopping it from moving, "Yang open fire" as Yang and Ruby shoot at the wings stopping the Nethermore from flying at full strength, "Blake make a slingshot" Blake shot her gun sword into a piller jumping onto an adjacent piller, Yang stops firing making sure the gun sword in firmly in place, "Luna get ready"
As fire and lightning surrounded Luna's form creating a permanent aura of energy around her as she steps into the slingshot, "Weiss pull the slingshot" summoning her glyphs pulling the the sling shot back, Ruby begins aiming it with her rifle "ALRIGHT FIRE!!!" Ruby yelled at the top of her lungs
Weiss realised the glyph launching Luna directly at the stuck Nethermore and as Luna began spinning she yelled "FIRE LIGHTNING DRAGONS DRILL IMPACT" spinning faster and faster she made impact with the Nethermore drilling straight into it it only took a second fore Luna to tear through the Nethermore.
As the Nethermore fell Ruby and friends were left wondering where did Luna go, looking up when the dust cleared the got to see what looked like a pair of flailing legs stick out of a freshly made dent in the cliff.
The four girl look of to Jaune and everyone to her Jaune yell Pyrrha's name and Pyrrha throwing her shield at the deathstalkers stinger cutting it off and as it stabbed the Grimm's head killing it.
The next 20 minutes was spent trying to pry Luna out of the cliff.
Back with Ozpin and Glynda
"You keep having faith in her but you never tell me why!" Glynda argued. "Give me one good reason right now to assume she isn't a threat?"
"Because she doesn't want anyone else to know about her true motives." He said showing her the after footage. It was a simple scene of Luna exploring the forest for several seconds worth of it. That all came to an end though when her ears perked and she noticed a tree falling in the distance, there wasn't any footage of Luna using the tiger-like Grimm except Luna was just asking it questions (there were cameras outside her electric field). "If she had intended to harm any of the students, she would've done so the second there guard was down. Not to mention the bullies she was confronting yesterday."
"That doesn't excuse her reason for being here." She pointed out.
"True, but it should at least give some peace of mind on her attentions. She's only here for information as far as we're aware of, which means she shouldn't pose a problem for the other students of the academy."
"And if you're wrong?" She waited for a response, watching as the sun's light reflected off his glasses as he adjusted them.
"Then I'll deal with her myself but only if it comes to it."
"Eh heh... I guess I kinda overdid it with the whole 'fire thing', huh?"
"Ya think?"
"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin spoke out.
After the several minutes it took to find an alternative route to the cliff side, the students, all initiates included, had finally returned to the Academy for a momentous celebration. Before them was the academy, the students, Ozpin himself, everybody that would be there to commemorate their glorious occasion that would incite them to their future teams.
Above the headmaster himself were two monitors, each displaying a facial image of the students he read out as the team was formed. Like stated earlier, it was here that the students would forever find themselves stationed in one of the following teams for the rest of their lives. Not one of the mentioned students had any issues with who their teammates were, all of them great friends with one another who welcomed the team forming with great enjoyment!
Sadly, none of the remaining nine could say the same. They didn't not like one another, far from it.
They were mostly worried about who was going to be on who's team from this point forward. For the next four years, they would spend most of their academy life with the following students, possibly being separated from the others for the indefinite future. They promised they would always be friends regardless, but they still held out hope for who their teammates were going to be.
"From this day forward, you will work together as... Team CRDL [Cardinal]. Lead by... Cardin Winchester."
The team bowed respectfully as a round of applause was elicited from the audience.
"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren from this day forward you will work together as… Team JNPR [Juniper]. Lead by… Jaune Arc".
"Wait what?" asked a very confused Jaune
"Great job Jaune" said Pyrrha giving Jaune a small punch on the shoulder causing him to fall down and as the other students laughed Jaune got up and the team bowed respectfully as a round of applause was elicited from the audience.
Now came the moment of truth.
Ozpin looked to the other students "now as you can all see there is an odd number of students remaining normally one would be asked to leave but after myself and the rest off the staff have some talks we have come to a decision" he paused taking a sip from his coffee "that this day for the first time in a long time Beacon Academy will have a 5 person team.
As whispers spread through the auditorium they were hushed as Ozpin began naming the team
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna…" It was as if time slowed down as Luna hoped beyond hope her name was called, she prayed to whatever god might listen "and Luna Fall from this day forward you will work together as… Team RSYBL [Rosybloom]. Lead by… Ruby Rose.
"WHAT?!" It took all of Weiss' years of development skills to keep from shouting at that very moment. Now was the best time she found herself to stop saying it couldn't get any worse. Her only regret was not stopping a minute sooner.
"Ohhh yeah!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist with excitement. She could finally cross off 'Having Yang on her Team' from his list! Even after the announcements, most of the students presented themselves respectfully before the headmaster.
"Your teams show promise, balance, and equality between each team member individually. But united, I believe you shall stand tall." Ozpin complimented.
As the students began to leave the auditorium conversing with there new teams.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year..." Ozpin commented as he observed his recent students.
"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Definitely an interesting year.
With the initiation at a close, and the assembly finished for the evening, Ozpin found himself where he always preferred finding himself.
Walking down the peaceful halls of the academy, with a cup of fresh brew in hand and serenity filling the air, Glynda herself following alongside behind him as she looked over her data.
"Nothing to say about the ceremony, Ms. Goodwitch?" It was unlike her to remain given the events that happened. It was a nice change of pace all things considered, he was just wondering what sort of argument she was going to have with the turnabouts.
"I see no reason to question you at this point." Glynda replied. "After all, you always have some ulterior motive behind everything. And even if you didn't, you actually didn't do anything wrong that I can find this time. After all, Ruby did score five more points than Luna as she set up the little stunt with the Grimm."
"Hmhm, I think I preferred it when you argued against me. I always felt so smart when I rebuttal everything you said." He joked.
"Well, all things considered, I suppose I must resign myself with asking. Are you sure putting the girl in a bigger team was so wise? I don't think anyone would pay it second mind if you had just stuck her on a solo team giving her raw power." Unlike before, she didn't give him any chance of countering this. "Oh, don't worry Ms. Goodwitch, it's all part of my carefully calculated planning." She mocked in a teasing tone.
"Heh, took the words right out of my mouth."
"Well at least now I'm sure I know the reason this time. With so many people looking to her, she'll have too many prying eyes to keep her busy and away from searching for more restricted information ." She realized.
"Why don't you just take my job too if you're going to take all the fun out of it?" The delightful chuckle on her expression was all he needed to look back.
It's just as Goodwitch said, this would definitely keep Luna from having more free time during the next four years. Every little distraction was another distraction away from Beacons biggest secret, and gave him ample time to bring Luna out of a certain someone's hold. Besides, even if that wasn't the reason, he was still surprised with her recent development and skills. She was very rough for sure, definitely needing training in how to use her powers with more finesse. But that's what schools were for, to learn from one's mistake. And here he was after announcing that Luna would be part of the only 5 person team of Beacon
Now he just had to wait and see how long it would take for him to regret it...