Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
'This does not look very safe.' Jaune thought as he bandaged his head up, standing on a square platform overlooking a cliff. He had suffered a minor head injury, thank god the rockers were very padded on the inside with a way to slow down before hitting the ground, or he would be dead.
Then again, by the time he had woke up, everyone else had already arrived.
"Now, thanks to the... quality of several of the applicants to Beacon this year, the Initiation Test has been upped in difficulty to fit those applicants." Ozpin started off, and he sent a glance towards Naruto, Pyrrha, and he even sent a smaller glance towards Ruby and her own silver eyes.
Ozpin would prefer it if he could get those three all on the same team, but if it didn't happen he would be fine with it.
"Across the Emerald Forest are over 20 'Camp Grounds' that will serve as your territory. Your objective will be to find one such ground, and defend it from Grimm for 3 days." Glynda informed the students ahead of time, since Ozpin was going to get to that later on as he sent them flying. She didn't know why he was doing this test, but she had to take a guess that Qrow had something to do with the idea for this test.
This type of test hadn't been used since Qrow had attended Beacon.
"Each Camp Grounds will have a Relic, a Tent, and a Camp Fire. Your Camp Ground will be your "Kingdom" and for 3 days you will have to defend your kingdom from Grimm attacks." Ozpin informed them all. As Huntresses and Huntsmen in training, they were the defenders of the world. They couldn't always expect it to be easy for them, they would sometimes have little rest, and have a constant fear of grimm attack.
What grimm lacked in power, when compared to a hunter, they made up for with raw numbers and tenacity.
'Wow, this is going to be rough. Never been camping before.' Naruto thought to himself, with a slightly excited grin. He had never been camping, so this would be a new experience for him to say the least.
"You and your partner will be expected to bring your relic back, in one piece, to the cliffs at the end of the three days. If your relic is broken, you fail. If you camp grounds is destroyed, but the relic is safe, you pass. If your relic is destroyed, but the camp grounds are safe, you fail. If your camp grounds are destroyed, you will be expected to find new grounds." Ozpin told them, and several students gulped visibly at that. That sounded like they would have to constantly be alert, defending such a small area from who knows what.
'He is pitting people against each other.' Blake thought as she looked around at some of the people who could visibly be seen looking at other students, getting ready to sabotage them.
"If you die you fail. You signed up for Beacon, a school that trains the defenders of this world. We will not coddle you here. If you drop your guard, you will die. I hope that doesn't happen." Ozpin told them all, and some people looked even more nervous at the mention of death being very possible.
'Well, huntsmen die in the field all the time... Wait, partner?' Ruby thought as she paled, seeing as she hadn't registered the partner situation yet.
"All that being said, your partner will be somebody that I hope you can survive time with. They will be watching your back for the next three days, and the next four years at Beacon. So I hope you can get along with them." Ozpin lectured everyone, and Ruby started to sink lower into herself.
'Ouch, sorry sis.' Naruto thought to Ruby with a wince.
She was socially inept.
'Aaaaaaah.' Ruby honestly felt like crying at her bad luck at needing a partner, but the good news, at least she had a good chance of being partnered with her siblings. There were two of them in the forest with her, if she played her cards right, she could get one of them as her teammate.
'Damn, hope I get somebody good.' Yang thought as she cracked her neck, knowing their was nothing she could do about it, even if she freaked out.
'Sadly, I think it would be best if I found Yang... she is a much better choice than anyone else for me right now.' Blake thought as she looked at her options. She had a somewhat friendly, somewhat unfriendly relationship with Yang at the moment. Ruby scared the living fuck out of her, Nora was... Nora... and she was kind of annoyed with Pyrrha for personal reasons. She and Naruto also had an agreement to not team up for this, since they were dating.
She didn't hate Pyrrha, she just really found herself annoyed by her.
'... The cute girl with white hair would be nice.' Jaune thought as he looked towards Weiss, who noticed his look and looked towards Naruto with a dreamy sigh of her own.
'So much potential as a partner. He is already strong, well known, and he is younger than me so I have age superiority and can pull rank.' Weiss thought as she stared at Naruto, who shivered when he felt a foul went blow over him.
Somebody was thinking unpleasant, for him, things about him.
"Of course, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner." Ozpin informed everyone, and everyone had varying reactions to that.
Most people didn't care.
Ruby cared, she cared a lot as she was shattered.
'My hopes and dreams have been shattered.' Ruby thought as she fell to her knees.
'HAHAHAHAHA!'
'Stop laughing in my brain!' Ruby shouted at Naruto in her thoughts as she jumped up to her feet, and Naruto stopped laughing when he saw the first person get launched off of the cliff and down into the Emerald Forest.
"What the hell?" Naruto asked under his breath, and Ozpin looked at his scroll.
"We will be monitering you, but if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, we won't be able to reach you in time to help you. Make friends, fight with them, and think up a landing strategy." Ozpin mentioned the last part quickly, something a few people took notice of when more people were launched off of the cliff. Jaune didn't notice that though, while Naruto made sure that he had a landing strategy planned.
'Make friends... landing strategy? Oh, I get it. Funny.' Pyrrha thought as she was launched through the air and towards the forest.
"... I understand the first two, but what is up with the landing strategy?" Jaune asked with his hand raised, and several more people were launched.
"It is exactly as I stated. A strategy you use to land." Ozpin spoke, and he smiled a little when he saw that Jaune was still confused. He wasn't noticing the other people being launched into the forest next to him. Half of the people had already been launched, and Yang went next with his arms crossed in front of her chest.
This was going to be easy, she would smash through some trees and soften her landing that way.
"Meet you at the bottom." Yang told Ruby and Naruto as she was launched, and Blake was silently launched after her. Naruto waved them off, even as Ruby was launched after them. Naruto smirked as he summoned forth his Semblence. They formed hands and flattened out to make the shape of "wings" for him.
When he was launched, he started to glide across the forest with full control over how and where he landed.
"Yeah, I get that... but that is a long drop. We going to take a Bullhead or something? Is that what you meant... please tell me you meant that." Jaune almost begged, he had enough of being thrown through the air. He had that happen once to him today, and nearly died thanks to it.
He didn't need it a second time.
Ozpin signalled to Glynda to hold off on sending Jaune through the air, and she raised an eyebrow but went with it.
'What are you planning?' Glynda thought when she saw that Ozpin seemed almost playful with his face. Like he was privy to a joke he hadn't told her.
"You won't be falling, what you will be doing will be going by a different name." Ozpin told Jaune, who looked hopeful.
"Really? So that was just my imagination, seeing the others going flying. Thank god... I think my head wound is making me see things." Jaune stated the lesser of the two evils, before he realized what he had just said. "... I think I might have hurt my head badly." Jaune said as he rubbed his temples.
"Yes, I believe you did, but you have more important things to do. Like screaming, screaming is a good thing to do." Ozpin informed Jaune, and Glynda saw Ozpin give her a slight of hand as a signal. Jaune was just confused at what Ozpin meant, not sure what to make of it.
"ScreaAAAAAAAAAAH!? Oh come OOOOOOOON!?" Jaune screamed as he was launched through the air. He as flailing around wildly, while Glynda looked at Ozpin with narrowed eyes for a brief moment.
"That was messed up, even by your standard." Gynda stated, since this wasn't even the first time that Ozpin had done this to somebody.
'I wonder, will he be a failure like his mother, or a success like his father?' Ozpin thought as he watched Jaune flying. The boy's mother had been a drop out of Beacon, couldn't even make it a full year into the program before she was kicked out. She had her heart in the right place, but she couldn't fight. She also couldn't even come up with the most basic of battle plans, she was a walking disaster.
Always getting picked on, and tripping over her own two feet.
Or, would the boy be like his father, who was horrible on the field of battle, but he was an amazing strategist who could come up with amazing plans on the fly. Somebody who lacked the ability to fight on his own, but worked extremely well with a team, leading them to success. Heck, would the boy be like his grandfather, who was actually a great warrior in his own right, not the best, but very good.
Only time would tell what kind of potential that Jaune Arc had.
Chapter End!
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