GOMU GOMU NO!~ Aw dang I've decided to release this chapter two days early as I'll be a tad busy over the weekend and might not get the chance to write.

Anyhow, I know everyone's been dying to know the teams and their respective captains, but I don't want to spoil anything so you'll just have to sit tight while I add the finishing touches. Though not gonna lie, coming up with the team names with their letters was a mind-boggling task. Also, I wasn't able to use color codded team names, but eh, no one's perfect.

Also, I can't believe I made this mistake but I accidentally wrote Forever Fall Forest when Emerald Forest was the place the RWBY cast took their initiation. I've corrected this mistake and apologize for the confusion.

I will also be resuming my 1-4 day uploading schedule as of tomorrow, so I hope you're all excited for weekly chapters once again.

With that, cheers everyone, and happy reading!


The plush grass beneath his boots with the sun rays warming his skin, Jaune felt a swell of both excitement and anxiety in his heart. Neatly lined next to his future classmates, Jaune fidgeted on the metal plate he was told to stand on.

"Okay Jaune, you've prepared yourself for this day ever since you were enrolled. All you have to is keep calm and keep your wits about you." The blonde boy encouraged himself as his shaky fingers clutched the handle of his saber.

All students in attendance, their naive and innocent eyes perused the field in which they would perform their first test as hunters and huntresses. True to its name, the trees of Emerald Forest were ripe with green with the surrounding plantation mirroring endless nature.

"Hey, calm down Jaune, you're making me nervous with that worried look you're wearing." Emerald sighed and felt the eyes of her surrounding peers on her back.

Ever since that awkward fiasco in the ballroom, all the students were talking about the awkward 'blonde doofus' who had the gall to enter his name in Beacon Academy's ranks. If only those simple minded fools realized who they were dealing with. Roman and Neo knew of Jaune's potential at least, but that was due to interacting with him over the years.

Maybe if they hadn't been introduced through their fathers, the siblings of the RDI would scoff at her big brother too?

Emerald shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking such petty thoughts. If she wanted to succeed in being partnered with her brother, she would have to steady her nerves and show her resolve.

"Haha, sorry Minty. I guess the pressure is getting to me. It's nice to know that my sister has a forest named after her though." Jaune smiled sheepishly and his sister playfully nudged him in the ribs. Their eyes drawn to the top of the cliff, a man with silver locks spoke into a megaphone provided by a teacher with green hair.

"Welcome everyone, I see that you've managed to show up on time." Ozpin chuckled and took a sip from his steaming mug of coffee.

"I like to keep my words brief and allow the chips to fall where they may. I can tell by the speculative glances that you're all wondering why you've been forced to stand on a metal platform for your initiation." The tall man hummed.

"As for how your teams will be created, the information will be relayed to you once you've touched the ground."

Jaune and Emerald curled a brow at the mischievous glint in the headmaster's brown pupils, their suspicions growing when his lips stretched to an ominous smile.

"In your training to become hunters and huntresses, one of the most important lessons is to know when to deploy and how to land..."

Ozpin turned to his trusted professor Glynda Goodwitch who had her collapsable tablet out. With a nod from her superior, Glynda pressed a series of digits on her tablet's screen, and the metal plates beneath the students rattled to life.

"M-Minty, I've got a bad feeling about this." Jaune stammered.

"Waaah!" Screamed a student right next to Jaune.

All eyes on the source of the scream, the eyes of every teen shot out of their sockets when they saw the helpless student flailing in the windy sky above the forest.

"Don't worry, you'll all get your chance to fly eventually." Ozpin and his fellow professors snickered. Glynda didn't laugh, but she did have the tiniest hint of a smirk on her face.

Peering down to his respective platform, Jaune's face paled when he realized he was next.

"H-Hold on, I can run into the forest if you need me to!"

His body rattling with the metal platform, Jaune acted on instinct and used his doppelman trick to get him out of there.

"Doppelman!"

"Kachank!~"

The eyes of everyone focused on the sky, no one saw Jaune appear behind Ms. Goodwitch after swapping places with his shadow.

"Few, that was close." The hunter in training laughed, but his smile dropped when the teacher turned around with a sinister smile on her face.

"Oh, it looks like you've missed your chance for takeoff, Mr. Hawkins. I guess you can wait on the sidelines until your platform has recharged."

"Don't worry Glynda-un!" Yelled a jolly man adorned in beetle armor. Without warning, the confident man plucked Jaune by his ruffled collar with both hands and spun him like a top.

"There won't be any late young'ns while I'm here-un!" The man let go of Jaune at the perfect angle and the blonde boy was manually thrown into the sky.

"Minty!" Jaune wailed.

His sentence cut off by the roars of laughter from the other students, a faint cry from his sister was the last thing Jaune heard before he took flight.

"Wow! That looks way more fun than these boring launching platforms! Can you throw me next please?!" A chirpy Valkyrie with orange-hair beamed the armored proffessor a thousand-watt smile and pushed past the crowds of students.

"Of course-un! And my name is Heracles-n!" Chortled the beetle-themed man.

"Alright, Heracles'n! Don't forget our secret calling Renny!" Nora jumped and waved to her best friend and he returned her gesture with a humble yet awkward wave of his own.

"Here we go-un!" Heracles shouted. He clasped his hand's around Nora's then propelled the excited student in the same fashion as Jaune's.

"Weeee!" Nora screamed in happy bliss as the view of the cliff minimized with each passing second.


After a few seconds of flying, Jaune opened his eyes and noted a familiar parasol along with a head of pink and brown locks who shared the air space.

Neo gracefully followed the calm breeze, her eyes on high alert for her big brother Roman. Jaune waved and flashed the girl a goofy smile and Neo returned it with a polite one of her own, but for some reason, the mute seemed to be pointing behind Jaune instead of waving at him.

"P-Pao!" Cried the elephant strapped to his waist.

"W-What is it Funkfreed?!" Jaune yelped.

Without warning, the sword swished around the boy's hip and intercepted a red and gold javelin aimed for his head. His eyes bulging at the averted projectile, he could only wonder why someone would try to sabotage him. It couldn't be Winchester, he used a mace, and no one specific came to mind. Though thinking back on the design and color scheme of the weapon did ring a bell.

The javelin blitzing past him, the cry of a familiar red reaper sang over the trees as the end of her cape was snagged by the sharp instrument that appeared out of nowhere.

"Not like this!" Ruby cried as she plummeted to the trees below.

"Um, I know I'm not completely at fault Ms. Rose, but I'm sorry!" Jaune rubbed the back of his neck as he saluted his awkward aqcuaintance.

The ground of the forest nearing, Jaune slapped his cheeks and narrowed his focus on his landing strategy. Activating the devil fruit within him, a series of brickbats manifested and gently gripped his shoulders and legs with their mouths.

Content with his plan, Jaune let out a sigh of relief but diverted his attention to another familiar bubbly voice.

"Hey, Jauney, high-five!" Nora squealed in giddy delight and raised her hand as she sped through the air streams.

"Ms. Valkyrie?!" Too slow on the draw, Jaune fumbled to keep Funkfreed from swatting the incoming human, but in doing so he left himself wide open for Nora's hand.

With the sound of her palm slapping his fair cheek, a tear trickled down Jaune's contorted face as the impact propelled him off course and put him on a path toward the outskirts of the forest at an alarming rate of speed.

"Hehe... Oopsie..." Nora's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and shame.

"Waaah!" Jaune crashed into a thick section of shrubs, thank Oum for that, and toppled into a barrell roll.

Face-planting against the bark of a stump, Jaune clutched his nose and bit back a scream as he thrashed on the ground. Sure, his aura took the majority of the impact, but it still hurt!

Massaging the red imprint his ginger-haired friend left behind, Jaune gathered his bearings and stood himself up. He immediately put his tarot cards into service and deduced the chances of anyone being in the nearby vincinity.

"34% chance I'm close to a fellow student.

"55% chance there's a Grimm closeby."

"5% I'm near Minty."

Jaune's jaw slacked at the odds he'd drafted. He promised his little sister that'd they'd be partners, and he'd be damned to break such a commitment!

"Welp, come on Funkfreed, let's get a move on while the sun is young." Jaune sighed.

His sword morphing to its animal form, Funkfreed picked up his friend with his trunk and put him on his back.

"Brick Bat!" Jaune announced and his shadow split up once again. His bats holding up his tarot cards while Funkfreed walked through the thickets of trees, Jaune pumped a fist and set to work on finding his sister.

Just then, Jaune's scroll beeped. He withdrew the device from his pocket, and thanked the heavens it remained intact after his horrible fall.

"Welcome Jaune F. Hawkins. You are officially student number 636 of Beacon Academy and have taken your first step on the path of becoming a huntsman. For your initiation, you will be assigned to a team of four but will have a designated partner during your four school years, though teams and partners may change after graduation depending on the circumstances. How your partner is selected, will be through the means of eye contact." The audio file said in the tone of the stern Ms. Goodwitch.

Jaune blinked very slowly. His mind registering what he'd heard, he broke into a cold sweat.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN EYE CONTACT?!"


"Ow, my head..." Ruby moped as she patted down the pink lump on her head.

Dangling from the top of a tree, Ruby thrashed around until the javelin that kept her attached to the bark wiggled loose. Landing on the dirt with a thud, the young reaper growled at the random weapon that sniped her out of the sky. Her scroll relaying a message she didn't hear due to her attention being focused on the sharp instrument in her hands, Ruby puffed her cheeks and sighed.

"Who the heck throws their weapon at the start of initiation?" Ruby growled and pitched the javelin in the dirt.

"U-Um..."

Peeking through a cluster of shrubbs, a girl with long scarlet hair and emerald eyes greeted the pouting girl. Her golden armor reflecting the sunrays, she appeared as a young goddess to the huntress before her. Rubbing her arm, the timid spartan apologized for her actions, but all she got in return was a curled brow.

"I-I'm the owner of that Javelin..." Pyrrha rubbed her arm and tilted her head to the side.

Ruby's jaw slacked then clamped shut. She stomped over to her new acquaintance and stared her straight in the eye. The little reaper rambled about how dangerous it was for the redhead to throw her javelin like that but decided to forgive her after a few sincere apologies.

"Partners formed.~" Chimed an electronic tone.

Both Ruby and her new aqcuaintancen now known as Pyrrah, blinked.

"Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos.~" With a few loud beeps imitating a cheer, the blinking lights on their scrolls died down, leaving the young reaper and spartan in silence.

"S-So, it looks like we're partners now..." Pyrrha extended a hand and gave the little rose a timid smile.

"I-I guess so huh..." Ruby awkwardly shook and returned her new partner's smile with a bewildered grin of her own.

Their hands parted, and the silence between the two filled the atmosphere once again. Ruby, while genuinely kind, did not match the same level of social skills her elder blonde sister possessed. Usually, she'd have Yang start off a conversation and she would give her two cents now and then, but now she had only herself to depend upon to break the ice.

As for Pyrrah, she did have practice with many fans and admirers when it came down to socializing, but the topics were always generic and revolved around her appearance or fighting ability. She never had to deal with a private conversation, other than Ideo-san of course, but the long-armed man never struggled in social events and usually diverted most of Pyrrah's fans towards himself when he showed up.

Furrowing her brows at the hooded huntress, Pyrrah racked her mind for any topic that could spark a conversation. A minute passed and nothing was said. Pyrrah felt a clump lodge in her throat. Technically the spartan was responsible for the awkward encounter, quite literally as she nailed her partner to a tree, so did she have the right to lead the conversation? The silver-eyed girl didn't seem like she'd take the initiative anytime soon, but the strained tension between the two girls grew unbearable.

Saved by a notification from their scrolls, the ears of the two students perked up and their sights shifted from the ground to their blinking screens.

"All students who have matched a partner must embark toward the northern ruins of the forest immediately. Further instructions will follow after students have reached the respective area.~"

"W-Well I suppose our next course of action has been decided, Ms. Rose." Pyrrha pocketed her scroll and offered her new partner a hesitant smile.

"Y-You..." Ruby stomped her feet and ruffled her hair. She needed to break out of her awkward shell and this nice girl in front of her was the first hurdle of many!

"You can call me R-Ruby if you want."

The spartan nodded with a wide smile.

"Very well, you may address me as Pyrrah if you desire."


"What kind of rotten luck is this? This is all you're fault, stupid Gold Nugget." Emerald sulked as she threaded through a thick clump of shrubs.

Not only did her goofball brother get manually thrown into the forest, that stupid girl with orange-hair literally slapped him toward the outskirts of the initiation perimeters. While Emerald did not possess a set of tarot cards, she could already feel the chances of being paired up with her blonde sibling dwindle to zero.

The signal of her scroll seemed to be locked on offline mode, thus dashing whatever hope the mint-haired student had for contacting her brother. Minutes passed and with nothing but trees and bushes to keep her company, Emerald let out a groan and chose to rest for a bit.

Unlike Jaune, Emerald struggled to keep a positive attitude and cheerful demeanor when placed in an unfavorable circumstance. While she considered herself a capable fighter, she didn't have the same level of drive to become a huntress as many of her fellow students. Yet here she was praying to Oum for a competent partner, prefferably a girl if not her brother, who'd respect her personal space and consider her decisions.

"Pfft, like I'm going to find some secluded introvert who keeps to themselves..." Emerald growled as she found herself on an open trail.

"This seems like a good place to start. If I remember, Jaune was sent flying toward the western parts of the forest."

Her crimson eyes burning with determination, Emerald picked up the pace and settled for a light jog as she darted back and forth under the leafy branches of the trees. On her travels, the mint-haired student reached the base of a hillside and decided to climb it for a better view of the forest. Maybe she'd get lucky and see Jaune too.

Unfortunately, there existed many types of Grimm in Remnant, and not all of them were bound to walk on the earth. A horrible screech ringing overhead, Emerald's neck snapped to the sky as a giant avian monster made itself known. With wings wide as sails and claws sharp as swords, the nevermore swooped down with its boney beak open.

Emerald tucked into a barrel roll and withdrew Thief's Respite. She figured an encounter with a Grimm was inevitable, but she didn't think she'd have to fight one alone!

Thankfully, Emerald did possess some knowledge on the giant Grimm in the sky. The experience came when she, Jaune, and Trifa decided to play near the river of the agricultural a few years back. When a flock of Nevermore threatened the borders of Vale's farmlands, her father made sure to leave make an example of the malevolent beasts and promptly cut them down.

"Now if I remember correctly-" Her speech cut off by a flurry of sharpened black feathers raining from the sky, Emerald bobbed and weaved through the obsidian storm and collapsed her weapon to its gun form.

Firing a volley of explosive dust bullets, her shots landed on their target earning a furious cry from the Grimm. Satisfied with what she'd accomplished, the mint-haired girl fled to thicker tree sections down the hill in hopes of evading the view range of the Grimm.

Emerald didn't want to resort to her special aura powers this early in the initiation, as she was always exhausted after letting out a few destructive aura bursts. This meant that even if she did deal with the giant Nevermore if another Grimm were to pass by Emerald would be an easy target, especially since she was still alone.

Frustrated with its elusive prey, the avian Grimm screeched once more, signaling its nearby kin to join in on the hunt. Luckily or unfortunately, it really depended on how you looked at it, another Nevermore appeared, but this one came with a huntress in tow. Said huntress, had narrow amber eyes, and long ebony hair which sported a black bow. A black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front covered her upper torso with a matching set of low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple clothing her legs and feet.

Drawing her weapon from its sheath, it collapsed into a katana which the student used to cut into her respective Grimm's left-wing. This proved effective, but in her rush for damage, the stranger underestimated her position and found herself wildly tumbling toward the ground uncontrollably on the back of an injured Grimm.

Her body acting on its own, Emerald shifted Thief's Respite to its sickle and chain form and screamed to the black-haired girl above.

"Hey! Catch this if you don't want to die!"

Emerald ran to the nearest tree and climbed to the very top branch. She spun her weapon's chain attachment over her head and released it just before the falling Nevermore hit the ground. In the span of a second, the stranger jumped off the obsidian monster's back and grabbed onto her fellow student's chain.

Emerald almost fell off the tree from the sudden weight shift, but she managed to dig in her heels and reel her fellow student back to safety. With a series of spins and twirls, the stranger managed to land effortlessly on both feet and steadied herself next to her green-haired assistant.

Both girls let out a long sigh but gasped when they remembered there was still one more Nevermore.

Its claws and beak open with intent to kill, the bird-like monster aimed to avenge its fallen brother and closed the distance between itself and the bewildered humans in a matter of seconds.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A stray series of explosive red flares whizzing past the two stunned girls, Emerald and the stranger covered their eyes as the Nevermore flying toward them literally ate a box worth of dust. In spectacular fashion, the Grimm's skull imploded sending bits of bone and Grimm guts all over the frazzled mint and ebony-haired duo.

"Well... That happened..." Emerald coughed as she wiped layers of Grimm blood off her face.

"That was... lucky..." Muttered the student beside her.

Turning to face each other, both girls failed to remember what their scrolls relayed to them when they landed in the forest.

"Partners formed.~" Chimed an electronic tone.

Pairs of crimson and amber eyes reaching their maximum radius, the owners gulped as their names were announced.

"Emerald Sustrai Hawkins and Blake Belladonna.~" Ringing a merry tune, the sounds of triumphant trumpets and drums faded as the screens of the scrolls returned to offline mode.

"Um... It's nice to meet you, I guess..." Emerald slapped on an anxious smile and extended a shaky hand toward her new partner.

"L-Likewise..." Blake replied in a similar tone and clasped her hand with Emerald's.


Meanwhile, the individual responsible for saving the two huntresses in training did so unknowingly. As he himself was currently fighting to save his skin and simply missed his targets when he fired those explosive flares.

With the first and second set officially paired, next came a destined meeting of rivalry whose respective situations were not boding well. Despite her best intentions, the heiress of the proud Schnee Dust Company failed to land in the same area of Mistral's legendary prodigy, instead, she encountered a small pack of malevolent Beowolves with an Ursa not too far behind.

With elegant swordsmanship and graceful footwork, Weiss chopped off the limbs of the attacking monsters, but a stray Beowolf managed to slip away from the Schnee's radar. Positioned to pounce the girl from behind, the Grimm leaped into the air with its bone-colored teeth and sharp nails ready to tear its distracted prey apart.

"Boom!"

A stray explosive dust flare intercepting the Beowolf thus blowing it to smithereens, Weiss twirled around to see another figure surrounded by Grimm. With a familiar bowler hat and white suit in view, the ginger-haired individual whacked a wounded Ursa in the forearm with the head of his cane. The strike did little to deter the path of the Ursa's paw, and the heir of Reptile Dust Industries found his back slamming against the bark of a tree.

Cornered, Roman ducked at just the last second to avoid the claws of the hungry Grimm. Twirling his trusty weapon, Melodic Cudgel, Roman switched it back to its gun form and fired three rounds straight into the Ursa's beady eyes. Howling in pain, the injured Grimm staggered back, allowing the ginger-haired student to finish it off with two consecutive bursts of explosive flares.

The snarl of her last Beowolf diverting her attention from her business rival, Weiss loaded her final round of red dust in Myrtenmaster and delivered a fatal blow to the Beowolf's stomach. Her body trembling, Weiss treaded carefully to a clean, fallen log and sat herself down. She pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve and began to wipe away the Grimm blood on her sword.

The sounds of battle dying down, Roman pulled out his trademark RDI lighter and a cigar. Though while he calmed his nerves, he failed to register the presence of another student as his focus remained on the surrounding area in front of him for more Grimm. After a few backward steps, Roman bumped into a stump, or so he thought.

"Augh, not another Grimm!" Yelled a snobbish voice.

When the supposed stump shifted behind him, Roman spun around with his weaponized cane, armed and raised. However, the moment he realized that he was staring at a human instead of a monster, Roman's jaw slacked and his skin paled.

His cunning green eyes meeting with a pair of noble ice pupils, both Roman and Weiss shot each other a look of disgust and confusion. But a convenient message and merry tune from their scrolls decided to announce their current predicament for them.

"Partners formed.~" The scrolls chimed.

"Roman Torchwick Crocodylus and Weiss Schnee.~" They finished with a jolly tune of music and a short firework display before locking themselves back to offline mode.

Seconds passed in silence and then...

"Of all the louts I had to be partnered with, it had to be you!" Weiss cried in utter mortification. She pointed Mytenmaster inches from Roman's face for emphasis.

Now standing atop her fallen log, the white-haired girl spat insult after insult at the sloppy combat performance of her new, though it grated her teeth to admit it, partner.

"I'm not thrilled about this either Ice Queen! Believe me, I'd prefer any other lackey than a snobby brat with no class or manners! Not to mention an inferior dust company!" Roman snarled back.

The young man flicked the heiress's blade away with the back of his hand then withdrew another cigar from his coat pocket. When the son of Reptile Dust Industries landed among the trees, he expected Neo to be patiently waiting for him at the open field he pointed to before he and his sister were launched. However, due to an unexpected bubbly girl with orange hair who collided with his ice-cream themed sibling after her launch, Neo was sent spiraling towards the opposite direction of their meeting place.

The next thing Roman knew, he was wandering the forest his CCT communications jammed so he couldn't just call Neo to ask for her whereabouts. Then came the small group of hungry Grimm, but that was already dealt with.

"Tch, Beacon Academy is a lot more thorough than I expected," Roman grumbled as he narrowed his sights on the fuming noble before him.

"I beg your pardon?! Can you not read a statistics board? The SDC has reached a new milestone of profit over the past three years, and the gears of production aren't coming to a halt anytime soon!" Weiss crossed her arms and shot an indignant glare at the tall young man.

"Hmph, all because your dad's had a slight flux in profit that doesn't mean he's clearly in the lead yet. My pop's only started his business seven years ago and he's already made an impact on every settlement he's stepped foot in. Tell me, have you ever seen any other rival make it this far in such a small amount of time?" Roman quipped back.

Before Weiss could utter a retort, her scroll along with Roman's chimed a merry tune and relayed a message for the new pair.

"All students who have matched a partner must embark toward the northern ruins of the forest immediately. Further instructions will follow after students have reached the respective area.~"

Its message delivered, the connection of the students' scrolls was once again cut off.

"Th-This can't be happening..." Weiss dropped Myrtenmaster and fell to her knees while burying her face in her hands.

"I have to deal with this snobby bitch for four years..." Roman's posture slumped, the burning cigar between his lips fell to the dirt as another crucial detail dinged in his mind.

"Oh shit! How am I going to explain to Pops that my partner is the daughter of the SDC?!"


On the boarding platforms of Vale, a stoic magician and mighty warlord waited as the doors of their bullhead clicked open. A pilot greeting the two with a friendly smile, Crocodile grunted as he handed the pilot his ticket.

"Is something wrong Crocodile?" Hawkins asked. The magician was familiar with the warlord's mannerisms after many years of partnership, but he couldn't understand what could be bugging the esteemed owner of Reptile Dust Industries.

"I don't know what it is, but I feel like when I see my brats again I'm going to be either pissed off or very annoyed." The golden-hooked man sighed as the doors of the aircraft closed behind him and Hawkins.

With Kuma, Vito, Mr. 1, and Crocodile taking their seats, the four chatted among each other as the pilot announced takeoff.

His crimson gaze veering toward the window next to his chair, Hawkins let out a sigh as he muttered under his breath.

"Be safe and keep your wits about you, Jaune F. and Emerald S. Hawkins..."

A warm sensation drawing a glowing shape on his chest, Hawkins closed the lids over his eyes and decided to sleep for the majority of the ride to Mistral.

"Hawkins..." Whispered a familiar voice. One Hawkins hadn't heard from in years.

"Bastion?" The magician mumbled.