The Most Dangerous Game:

Having completed the initiation, the newly formed Team CAJN sets off to begin their year at Haven Academy. However, it seems that Haven is more than simply an academy and there appears to be something more lurking behind the scenes. With only eachother to depend upon, Jaune and his team set out to become the greatest huntsman Mistral has every bore. If they don't kill eachother first.

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"Wake up!" Chloe barked, already half dressed in her uniform and absently kicking Jaune's bed frame. "We're are not going to be late on the first day! So get your lazy ass up."

"Maybe if you didn't keep us up till twelve regaling us with stories from your family." Jaune heard Dagon mutter somewhat irritated.

"Those were important, you all needed context to what kind of leader I'm going to be. As well as my personal history, I would have expected the same." She retorted, and though it was clear Dagon had his opinions about that statement he let it go.

"Yeah, well, shower's open to anyone who needs it." Dagon muttered, wandering off to pick up his suit jacket.

After a quick shower and a change, Jaune ventured out into the common area of his dorm, the whole complex being designed much like a two bedroom apartment with a living room, small kitchen, as well as a small TV and single couch. Ringo was currently reading a book at the kitchen table, while Dagon had just invited Team SSSN inside for a "quick spot of breakfast" as he put it. Chloe was finishing her makeup in the bathroom.

"So, how are you liking the digs?" Neptune asked Jaune, who shrugged.

"I've had worse, had better too." He mumbled, throwing on his suit jacket. "So Nep, you're from Mistral what can we expect?"

Neptune chuckled before thinking for a moment, hand on his chin. "There's loads of little things, so many in fact that it'd be pointless to list them all off. Most of it is stuff you learn by experience, you know? Like not throwing parties on week days, or no feuding in the communal living area, regular stuff like that. But, then you have the big stuff. The really big stuff."

"Like?" Sun asked, swiping a banana from the fruit bowl at the center of the table he was leaning on.

"The biggest by far is how Haven is set up, think of it sort've like an ongoing competition between teams." Neptune began, furrowing his brow. "If you've lived in Mistral for any length of time you'd know that the place is chock full of clans, families, sponsors, arena fighters, shit like that. Well, a lot of them end up here, whether out of a sense of duty, agreements between different families, tradition, or personal choice. Becoming a hunter is kind of given for any of the old bloods and especially for sponsored arena fighters."

"I sense that causes a little bit of trouble when they're all put together." Jaune surmised, Neptune nodded.

"Right, some clans and families have long-standing feuds, others make 'em while they're here. But, the bottom line is that many people hear draw battle lines between their "factions". You know, like cliques almost, who hates who and why he's going out with her and which person paid of which other person? Plenty of that here, first years usually end up in different factions if they don't have prior commitments. Like us." Neptune finished, waving a hand around his team.

"You guys? What about us." Chloe asked, Dagon jolting slightly at her sudden appearance. "We're first years too, and not like any of us are major players, right?"

"Well, the Nakamura clan was once a vassal for one clan or another. It's all ancient history, but do you think it'll have an effect on our stay here?" Ringo piped up, casting a somewhat worried glance at Neptune.

"Doubt it, especially if your clan doesn't for them anymore. No, what I'm referring to is Jaune." Neptune answered, pointing a finger at the man in question.

"Me? Why?" Jaune asked incredulously, there was no way they knew he was a former champion for The Pit. Lionheart sealed that secret up and swallowed the key he had been told.

"Because you're Jaune Lionheart champ." Neptune scoffed like he was an idiot. "It doesn't take a genius to draw the line between you and the headmaster. Even if people may come to different conclusions about you're relation to him. You'll garner a lot of attention, perhaps the headmaster's move to not make you team leader had been an attempt to stave off the sudden popularity."

That, or I'm technically a convicted murder/gladiator here on a tense probation Jaune thought to himself, snorting in disapprovement at Neptune's observation. Ringo checked his watched and informed them all they needed to get going, and with that, the eight hunters set off for the day. Walking together down into the courtyard where Chloe chimed in once more.

"Do you think we're gonna run into any trouble?" she asked, casting a glare at a few interested stares from the sparse students.

"Trouble? No. Are you going to get some offers? Yes. Up to you what you want to do with them, and I'll help you out but ultimately it's a team thing." Neptune answered, before furrowing his brow at some suspicious darting figures. "Although it seems plenty of folks are taking an interest already."

"Spies?" Sage grunted for the first time that morning.

"Observers more like." Jaune cut in, not bothering to look at them. "Getting information, seeing how we hold ourselves. Who we associate with, I get the feeling whoever we meet first will impact our reputation quite a bit."

"You talk like you know a lot about that." Chloe huffed from behind.

"I do." Jaune nearly snapped, leaving behind a rather awkward silence.

"Oi, first class we got is "Principals of Dust Theory" with Tavish. What about you all?" Scarlet broke the silence, staring at his schedule.

"Hmm, seems like "Basic Strategies and Field Tactics" with Professor Ulysses Sampson. Huh, that's kind of an old name right?" Dagon observed, as they approached the first year halls.

"Yeah, it is. How old is that guy?" Sun asked, perplexed. "He must be at least, like, what, eighty? Ninety?"

"Could be older, or he had very eccentric parents. Lots of old families deviate from the color-naming rule you know. Lots of heirs get named after important people in their family, even if that creates issues when they themselves go on to do something important." Neptune answered, as he typed something into his scroll. "Anyways, dad says this is where our classes will be so-"

"-Scuse' me, Mr. Lionheart?" a thick voice interrupted from behind them, turning around the eight of them saw a pair of burly looking twins standing beside eachother. "Mind if we have a quick word, won't take long I promise."

"Tell us who you are first." Chloe responded, drawing a slight glare from one of them.

"I'm Caspar, that's my brother Porfirio, we work for a guy named Jason and he'd like to just, you know, grab a drink and talk." Caspar, apparently, stated with shrug. "No commitment, just a chat between one big man to another."

"If anyone is talking to anyone, I'll be there to listen in." Chloe asserted, causing Profirio to chuckle.

"I think this'll be a, how you say, professional meeting, not a personal one." Caspar clarified, narrowing his eyes at her. "Like I said, no commitment. If you wanna talk go to Professor Hector's room, A404 in the third years complex, after school today."

"Hey you-" Chloe started, but Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Not worth it, they just came to deliver a message. It's this Jason guy I'm worried about." Jaune told her, frowning slightly. "I'll go talk to him after school, just to see the score."

"We're coming with you," Chloe stated, whirling around on him. "No way are you going there alone."

"Not to be a third wheel here, but that could be seen as a sign of weakness if you're whole team needs to be there." Neptune chimed in.

"So what? Who cares-"

"I do, especially if this shit is gonna decide how people look at us for the next four years and maybe beyond." Jaune interrupted, before raking a hand through his hair. "They'e not gonna try anything, and if it's easier to just go alone and listen to him then why not."

"But I won't know-"

"He's not gonna lie to us Chloe, for god's sake." Dagon groaned. "I mean come on, he's still our teammate."

Chloe flushed slightly. "N-No, I know he wouldn't lie but- I guess I'd just feel better if I could hear it from the horse's mouth, you know?"

A bell chimed overhead, cutting off any further discussion. With a promise to meet back up later the two teams split off from eachother and both got to their respective classes...

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"Alright, shut up all of you." the surly, bearded professor grunted as he strode in. "I'm Professor Sampson, and I'll be your Basic Strategies and Field Tactics professor for the year. That means I'll teach you all the industry tricks to staying alive in the field. Any questions?"

One boy raised his hand, a wiry guy with thick milk-bottle glasses and a red beanie. "Ugh-"

"Awesome, now take out your textbooks and flip to chapter one." Professor Sampson continued, unconcerned with the student. "We'll begin with the relationship between Grimm pack dynamics and time-tested strategies to outplay them. This course will progressively get more complex as the year continues, as will the knowledge you will need to retain. If I can get a volunteer to pass out the syllabus..."

So the professor continued on, handing out the syllabus and going over it. It all felt very... underwhelming for what was essentially a class on how to outsmart monsters, instead it felt more like a college lecture to Jaune. The professor had told them that the necessary complexity of strategies in the field scales up directly with how old the Grimm you were fighting are.

"As we all know, the older the Grimm the smarter. And I do mean smart, not just cunning or clever, but smart. I've seen Crocotta who lured weary huntsman out to their doom by imitating voices. It would be a crying shame if any of you were to meet the same fate, so I must impress the importance of this class on all of you." the wise professor rumbled, a smattering of tanned wrinkles betraying what might have been his old age.

"How often do we actually get to use strategies, though? And how does that help if we just get ambushed my some bullshit Grimm?" a student called out, causing Professor Sampson to breath deeply and nod.

"To be honest, I believe the most important thing for a huntsman is experience. I can keep you here for 30 or 40 years and teach you every play in the book, but that all goes out the window when a Ant Lion burrows up from right below ya'. All I can do is pass on my knowledge, pass on the mistakes and learnings of others to prevent you from being caught in the same situation. Over the course of your careers, you will learn to make calls on the fly, especially if you're a team leader."

Jaune felt Chloe stiffen slightly.

"Now, if you're quite finished let us begin on the which strategies best to use when fighting a young beowulf pack..."

The rest of class marched onward, Professor Sampson, being a very clear cut man, kept things in layman's terms most of the time while drawing diagrams on the board. Once again, Jaune was reminded of just how normal, and more than that overly professional, the man was. He expected everyone here to be some character like Professor Tavish, but perhaps he was wrong.

"And that covers General Octavius's "Four Corners" strategy, quite easy and good when in an open area. Be careful though, members can be ambushed from behind if they don't keep an ear out for their surroundings." Professor Sampson finished just as the bell rang. "Ah well, no homework tonight but don't expect that same luxury tomorrow!"

The class filed out, Team CAJN following their leader as they advanced to the next class. Chloe seemed to be in deep thought, chewing on the end of her thumb as she glared at open nothingness. Jaune shot a look to Dagon who just shrugged in a "what do you want me to do?" sort of way, Ringo sighed and walked up next to his leader, tapping her shoulder.

"You worried about this whole meeting thing?" Ringo asked, ignoring Chloe's halfhearted stare of annoyance.

"Yeah, annoyed is a better word for it. I hate being out of the loop, even if I know this isn't a huge deal I'd like to atleast know what is going on."

"How about you just give me a microphone?" Jaune chimed in from behind, walking at a leisurely pace. "I'll just record the whole thing for you, basically like the same thing."

"Good idea." Chloe nodded, not looking back at him. "Yeah, we'll do that. What's our next class anyways?"

"World History with Professor Myrddin." Ringo answered, staring at the sheet. "Why must everyone here have some sort of strange name?"

"I guess it doesn't matter, he's probably just a normal guy like Professor Sampson."

Sufficed to say, Professor Myrddin was anything but normal. After the bell had rung, Jaune certainly didn't expect a rather aged, hunched over man in what appeared to be a cross between a fur-covered robe and a ninja's outift hobbled in, supported by a wooden staff with an ever changing dust crystal perched on the top. Professor Myrddin, for Jaune did not doubt it was anyone else, raised a hand and quieted the classroom.

"Good afternoon, warriors of old." he greeted, standing a bit straighter. "I am Professor Myrddin, although you may call me Teacher if you like. It is my duty to supply you with the arcane knowledge of your predecessors, so that you might learn from them."

His hood covered most of his head, and his upper face was shadowed in darkness that offered no insight to what he looked like. Myrddin waved his hand a plume of blue fire erupted from it, expanded onto the floor and taking the shape of what appeared to be a battlefield. Fiery effigies of soldiers and grimm seemed to dominate a war-torn field, Professor Myrddin speaking over them.

"For countless generations the defenders of humanity have guarded this world, and now you are to be the next generation to carry that torch. Through your will you light the fires of hope, driving back the beasts of the night. Through me, you will learn the ancient, and often extraordinary history of those who came before you and the lessons they have passed down." the scene changed again, a city of blue flames rising over the ocean; Mistral. "Pay close attention young ones, and your knowledge will grow far beyond what you thought it was capable of."

The fire blinked out, and the students were returned to the hunched over man in front of them. Even in the confines of his hood, Jaune could tell the old man was grinning toothily. He walked over to a pile of books in neat rows, his back to the class for a moment before turning around.

"Levitate." Professor Myrddin spoke, and, with another wave of his hand, the books glowed a purple-black color and began to slowly levitate towards the class. "These will be your study materials for the year brave warriors, keep them close to your heart."

Jaune looked down at the book that had just placed itself down onto his desk, "The History of Remnant" it read. Once again, Jaune was reminded of the strange dichotomy between the mundane books and the eccentric professor.

"Now, let us being posthaste!" Professor Myrddin exclaimed, a piece of chalk levitating and beginning to write the lesson on the board...

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"Was it just me, or did Professor Myrddin seem... not all there?" Dagon asked slowly, looking over to his partner.

"Yeah, he's seems a little bit out of it." Jaune answered, frowning for a moment before smiling. "Not that I don't like it, I'm digging the wizard schtick."

"It's certainly curious, is it not Chloe?" Ringo chuckled.

"Yes, well, I have no idea why we must learn from such a man." Chloe huffed, straightening her hair.

"A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good for nothing until he is educated." Ringo spoke, smiling at his leader.

So the day continued onward, classes mostly being normal after that. Though Jaune noticed the myriad stares from around the campus, runners between small groups darting back and forth. More of Mistral's politics he had come to decide, perhaps this meeting with Jason would prove to be more important than he thought.

By the end of the day, Jaune stood facing Room A404, a few hushed voices speaking from inside. He felt his grip tighten around Chloe's scroll in his pocket, he brought his hand up and knocked on the door. The whispers halted, and he heard the thumping of footsteps towards the door. When it opened, Jaune was unsurprised to see Caspar standing behind it.

"Thank you for coming, Jason said this'll be quick." Caspar grunted with a polite nod, motioning for him to come inside.

Jaune took note of the man sitting behind the teacher's desk almost immediately, a dozen other students sitting or standing in the seats around the room. He had slick, black hair and was wearing jeans and bronze armor. He smirked as Jaune entered, his face concealed behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Jaune Lionheart, finally nice to put a face to a name." he greeted politely. "My name is Jason Arcturus, and I am the leader of Team ARGO."

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Finally done guys! Here's you're new chapter, sorry about the delay. Work has been hectic lately. I know a few of you want a new installment of "A Shadow over Beacon" and I promise that'll be my next story. Until then, throw down some ideas you have or leave a review.

XOXOXO

CoffeyJoe