"So Ruby, excited for the big day yet?" Yang glanced to her sister once she finished one last check on the golden bracelets on her wrist. They were in perfect working order, expanding and collapsing as smooth as they always were. She made sure to grab a pair of sunglasses she brought with her before shutting her locker.

"Definitely! I don't have to talk to people for this. Just show off what I can do!" Ruby cradled Crescent Rose in her arms. "I can't wait to let Crescent Rose do all the talking for me! I'm ready to ace this Initiation! Whatever it is!" She paused for a moment before deflating. "Actually, what are we supposed to be doing for Initiation? Nobody knew last night or this morning."

"It's probably something to do with the Grimm." Yang offered his own thoughts as she walked past her sister, patted her on the back. "At least I hope it does. I kind of came here expecting to fight something to show everyone just how awesome your big sis is. If it's a written test I'll still ace it but it'll be a lot less fun."

"Yang!" Ruby raced after her. "You'd tell me what if was if you knew, right?"

"You know I would Ruby." Yang stretched her arms over her head, worked out the last of the tightness in her body with it. "Like I said, I'm sure they'll explain everything and we'll both ace it."

"As partners, right?" Ruby had heard that much last night from the scattered bits from dozens of conversations. Beacon had partners. No one in the ballroom knew how they picked them but everyone knew all students were grouped into teams of four at Beacon, one pair of partners with another pair.

"Maybe." Yang stopped at Ruby's expression of disbelief. "Don't worry about it Ruby. You know I'd be your partner no questions asked. Just be open to things changing, that's all. Sure, you won't ever find someone as awesome as me to be your partner but I'm sure you can find someone about half as great as your big sis." She noticed Ruby's disbelief hadn't changed, a familiar nervousness spreading too. She ruffled her sister's hair to snap her out of it and get her eyes on her. "This is Beacon, Ruby. A fresh start for you and me in showing how awesome we are, right?" She nudged her with her shoulder, managed to drag a hesitant smile out of her. "Besides, I'll pulverize anyone who doesn't know how awesome you are. Pinkie promise."

She held up a pinkie.

"And I'll do the same!"

Ruby locked pinkies with her, Yang smiling as they shook on their little deal. She was sure Ruby would be fine.

Further down the many rows of lockers, Jaune had finished getting ready for whatever Beacon's Initiation threw at him. He had switched out the majority of his bright white and gold armor and hoodie from the day before with something more subdued: A simple black sleeveless turtle neck, boots, and his jeans currently tucked into said boots. The only pieces of his armor he still wore were a pair of gold and white bracers on either arm. The tops of both were marked by two bright gold crescents stacked on top of each other, the emblem of his family. He had switched out the pouches he had worn on his belts yesterday for something more concealed on the other side of a large leather belt covering his stomach with a larger version of the Arc family emblem carved into the center of it. A well-worn leather harness was fastened over his shoulders with dark leather pauldrons over each shoulder strapped over it and connected to the belt down his front and down his back. He had yet to put on the harness that held his collection of swords as he went about getting rid of the butterflies in his stomach.

Squats were his preferred way to burn through his stress or nerves.

"…six…seven…eight…nine…"

Up and down. Hands on his hips, feet no more than shoulder width apart, back straight, and head up. A simple rhythm he had repeated for years. Up and down. Up and down.

"So Pyrrha, have you given anymore thought to my offer from yesterday? Oh what am I saying, I'm sure you have. And you've no doubt come to the same conclusion I did." Weiss Schnee turned to the redhead with a smile. "It doesn't take long to see just how suitable we, as two exceptional students, are as partner for the other. The two of us embody excellence in all aspects of our lives after all, it's only natural we would be able to work together so flawlessly here at Beacon."

"…sixteen…seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…"

"I thought on it…" Pyrrha Nikos continued to get her armor into place. She wasn't avoiding the question. She was just being thorough in her preparations for Beacon Academy's no doubt rigorous Initiation. She took her time retrieving her sword Milo, running it through its form from javelin to sword to rifle and back again. Maintenance was important. The smooth operation of her weapon could be the difference between passing or failing, life or death as a Huntress in the field.

"…twenty-four…'

"I'm glad to hear that." Weiss didn't seem to take note of how long Pyrrha was taking. She was examining Myrtenaster herself, examining the blade despite knowing it was both polished and sharpened even before her departure from Atlas to Vale. Not even the mess the dolt from yesterday tried to make of her luggage had left it any worse for wear. Her weapon was made of superior quality material of course, ever piece of it carefully considered and selected by some of the finest minds of Atlas. Myrtenaster was as much of a piece of art as it was a deadly weapon in her skilled hands. "You've no doubt been driven up the wall by requests from too many undesirables to count but I'm sure you turned them down gently enough."

"…twenty-six…twenty-seven…twenty-eight…twenty-nine…"

"Oh…Yes. I certainly did." Pyrrha hadn't actually received any offers to be anyone's partner since she had stepped off the airship to Beacon yesterday. The day and night since had been spent with stunned locks and whispers from a distance well into the late hours of the night. Stories of her accomplishments and feats had surrounded her here just as much as they had back in Mistral and back at Sanctum Academy before she graduated at the top of her class. She had done her best just to get to sleep through it all. "But I'm sure you had plenty of offers too. Plenty of people must have been eager to talk to the heiress of the SDC herself."

"…thirty-four…thirty-five…thirty-six…"

"Of course. Obviously, I can't tie myself to the average Beacon student. Exceptional people just happen to attract other exceptional people." Weiss placed Myrtenaster where it belonged at her side. One pale eyebrow twitched as the irritating counting and grunting continued. "Excuse me for a moment. I need to deal with something." She gave one last polite smile to Pyrrha before she closed her locker and began to march down towards the blond making far too much noise.

"…forty-one…forty-two…forty-three…for-"

Jaune stopped in the midst of his squat when his locker ended up slammed closed, an irritated girl with white hair standing in front of him now. He rose back to his full height and stared at the girl.

"Is there something wrong?" He resisted the urge to check his Scroll to see if he missed a message.

"Do you have any idea how annoying those sounds you're making truly are?" The white haired girl glared up at him, seemed to despise the fact she had to come over and speak to him.

"Sorry if that got distracting. I'm just trying to burn off some of my nerves before Initiation." Jaune opened his locker once more with a touch of his Scroll. "I'll try not to bother you again."

"See to it that you don't!" The white haired girl turned on her heel and marched back the way she had come. Jaune breathed out a sigh of relief that he avoided angering the girl he had seen arguing with Ruby yesterday. He grabbed the harness holding his swords from his locker and swung it onto his back.

He earned another glare from the white haired girl at the sound his swords clashing together made. He had removed the majority of the cloth that usually covered each, helped keep the sound of the colliding blades muffled when he moved around. He figured it wouldn't be necessary for the rest of the day. He did not envy the redhead that the white haired girl was talking too. She looked more than a little desperate for their conversation to end.

"Would all First Year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation. Again, all First Year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." The announcement made across Beacon seemed to be her out.

The white haired girl gave a parting remark before she left her at her locker.

Jaune stepped up next to the redhead who breathed out a near unnoticeable sigh of relief at her absence.

"So, who was that?" He asked the most pressing question on his mind.

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." The redhead was being polite not calling the girl any names.

"Guess that explains the attitude." Jaune had no such issue. He earned a tired smile from the redhead.

"Yes. She can be a bit much." The redhead collected Akouo from her locker and placed both of her weapons on her back.

"Saying she's a bit much is too kind. But enough about that, I came over here because I wanted to apologize to you too. She did let me know I was making too much noise with my squats so sorry about that."

"Oh, there's no need to do that. It was no problem." Pyrrha waved off his apology. "You weren't being any louder than either of us when we were talking."

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you two talking about anyway?" He seemed content to walk with her to the cliffs. "Jaune Arc by the way." He held his hand out.

"Pyrrha Nikos." She took the offered hand, a familiar dread as she waited for the inevitable.

There was no spark of recognition, the smile on his face was something she was unfamiliar with seeing. There was no shock, no sudden glint in his eyes at meeting the Pyrrha Nikos. He looked at her like she was a normal girl. Pyrrha smiled back at the blond.

"Weiss and I were just discussing partners here at Beacon. She wanted to see if anyone had asked me already." Pyrrha would be keeping an eye on Jaune.

"I was actually wondering about how that worked." He brought a hand up to his chin, seemed to be in deep thought. "Before I left, one of my sisters told me Beacon's Initiation is pretty straight forward: Get launched into the forest, find a relic, get back. The only big difference is what they pick as a relic and how you get your partner. Headmaster Ozpin seems to change it every year."

"Your sister graduated from Beacon?"

"No. She decided the Huntsman life wasn't for her but she knows plenty. They also like to talk, all of them had a different story when it came to getting through Initiation here at Beacon. One year it was something like drawing straws and another year they were all selected by the faculty after Initiation." He gave a shrug of his shoulders, offered a smile to Pyrrha. "There's no use thinking on it I guess."

"You're right." Pyrrha hesitated for a moment. "But, on the off chance we get to decide our own partners this year, who would you pick?"

"I would say this girl I met yesterday, Ruby Rose, but she probably wants to be on a team with her sister. As it is now? I'd probably just let destiny decide." He looked to her. "What about you?"

"I think I would do the same, let destiny decide." Pyrrha smiled as she patted Jaune's back, her strength making him stumble forward. "We should hurry. No one wants to be late to Initiation after all."

The smile on her face didn't fade until they were on Beacon Cliff with the rest of the First Years, all of them directed to stand on a specific platform courtesy of a message sent to their Scrolls. Both Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood nearby, would likely begin the Initiation after they explained what exactly their goals were.

"You look excited." Jaune just so happened to be next to Ruby and her sister, his platform the very last one.

"Yep!" Ruby smiled. "I'm ready for this."

"Can't wait to see you in action Ruby." Jaune smiled back before all eyes were focused on Ozpin as he stepped forward.

His eyes swept over the students gathered before him, paid none of them any more attention than any of the others. He paused in his wordless examination only long enough to take a drink from his coffee mug. Nothing showed on his impassive face. If he was impressed or disappointed in this new crop of students, it was impossible to know.

"For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Headmaster Ozpin was joined by Professor Goodwitch.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today." At the last word, she gave a stern look to silence any noises of shock or any possible protests from the gathered First Years.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Headmaster Ozpin took over once more, dropped the rather insane rule to the students. He paused to allow their shock muttering to spread and quiet at a stern glare from Professor Goodwitch next to him.

"WHAT!" Ruby's voice was more a horrified whisper/squeak instead of a shout. She had expected some degree of randomness to all of this but nothing like that. The first person you made eye contact with was your partner for the next four years? It sounded insane.

"See, I told you." A girl with orange hair turned to a boy with black hair next to her, a satisfied smile on her face. He silently acquiesced to her words with nothing more than a small nod of his head.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…or you will die." Headmaster Ozpin paused to take another sip from his coffee mug. If it wasn't for his impassive face, it would almost appear like he was enjoying himself. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your Initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as you standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

None of the gathered First Years made a move to ask. If it was due to the short and concise explanation provided by the Headmaster or the culmination of building nerves silencing them, it was hard to tell.

"Good. Now, take your positions." Headmaster Ozpin nodded to someone behind the students.

On the end, the platform launched one of the prospective Huntsmen into the forest that stretched far past the Beacon Cliff below them.

Ruby moved past her shock and her nerves, a plan in mind as one hand reached behind her for Crescent Rose, the other held in front of her.

'Jaune or Yang. Jaune or Yang. Preferably Yang but Jaune's cool too.' She repeated those words as her own silent mantra as student after student ended up launched into the forest by the platform under their feet. 'Jaune or Yang. Jaune or Yang. Preferably Yang but Jaune's cool too.'

Yang gave her a wink and a smile before slipping on a pair of aviator sunglasses and being sent flying off over the forest.

Jaune gave her one last smile, added a thumbs up to it, before she was the next one off. She didn't waste any of her airtime, drawing Crescent Rose from her back. The familiar feel of her weapon in her hand was immediately reassuring, Ruby swiftly made use of Crescent Rose's rifle form and, more importantly, the recoil of several rapid shots into the trees below to slow herself down. Silver eyes took note of what they could in her brief moment of airtime as the force of the constant recoil burned through the force she had been launched with. She began to fall and now needed to make use of Crescent Rose's heavy recoil once more to slow herself down as she descended into the treetops.

"Woo-hoo! Yeah!" She could hear Yang's loud shouts as she soared past above, could dimly hear the report of Ember Celica as her sister deployed them and no doubt used the shots to get even more speed. There wasn't a landing Ruby had seen that Yang couldn't walk away from thanks in part to her Semblance.

Ruby spotted a sturdy enough branch for what she had in mind, Crescent Rose expanding into its scythe form and allowing her to hook it on her chosen branch. Deep gouges were torn into the unfortunate branch but it held as she completed a partial rotation before detaching herself and landing boots first on the ground.

"Gotta find Yang." Ruby made use of her Semblance to race towards where she could make the best guess Yang would land. She was basing her rather hasty plan off the belief that every launching pad used the same force to launch the students which it looked like they did. Anyone who didn't use their weapon or Semblance to add to their initial launch had begun to descend around the same point above the forest while any who did, obviously, continued on ahead. She knew the general strength of Ember Celica and knew how many shots Yang had for each gauntlet. Her sister was only partially an adrenaline junkie so would have only given her joyride through the air a handful of shots from each before she focused on her landing zone and any Grimm down below.

'Gotta find Yang. Gotta find Yang.' She nimbly weaved herself through the trees despite her speed making it seem impossible. She would get close enough to Yang to adjust for any errors she had made on her initial distancing once she could hear Ember Celica going off when her sister began fighting the Grimm.

'This is bad. Why does it have to be eye contact? Why can't we pick? I would pick Yang immediately. I don't know anybody else her but Jaune. But what if I don't find her in time? What if she already has a partner? What if someone already found her and now she's heading off with them to the ruins? Oh, her new partner probably hates me, could be that crabby girl who always yells at me. I hope it's not her. I hope Yang doesn't have a partner yet.' She shook her head. 'No, I have to stay focused. Yang or Jaune. Yang or Jaune.' She continued, put on a burst of speed displayed by the sudden burst of rose petals behind her. 'Jaune's good if I can't find Yang. He would be an awesome partner if I can't find Yang. I can even upgrade his weapon for him. But I don't even know where he went! I don't know the first place to look because he got launched after me and he only has swords. There was no way for him to do anything but fall. And that means he's behind me! He's already really far behind me because I'm running to Yang. And I don't even know where Yang is! If I can't find Yang then I have to race all the way back to find him and by then he could have a partner and Yang would have a partner too and I won't have anybody! I'll be all alone with some stranger on another team and…and…'

She closed her eyes and forced the thoughts sending her on a spiral away.

She had to focus on her plan. Focus on finding Yang. If she couldn't find Yang, she would find Jaune. She was Ruby Rose and she wasn't going to fail.

She, on account of her eyes being closed, didn't see the root sticking up out of the ground.

Her boot was very firmly caught by it.

"WOAH!" She ended up tumbling end over end, burst through a set of bushes in her way, and would have slammed into a tree that would have knocked the wind out of her if she didn't deploy Crescent Rose in time. She let the scythe's blade sink into the ground when she brought it down to bring her to stop. She breathed out a sigh of relief and got to her feet.

'No more closing my eyes when running.' She freed Crescent Rose from the ground and continued on her way, not using her Semblance but still running through the forest. She should be close enough by now to hear Ember Celica going off and thus find Yang.

'Gotta find Yang.' She repeated the mantra in her head, swept the foliage around her for any hint of her sister or the Grimm, strained her ears to try and hear anything she was missing. 'Gotta find Yang.'

She could hear weapons going off all around her but none of them matched the familiar noise of Ember Celica in the slightest. All of them were another weapon. She could hear voices shouting and calling out but none of them matched Yang's, none of them sounded even close to her older sister. She forced down her worry about being wrong on where Yang could have landed, pushed herself to go faster and toggled on her Semblance once again.

'Gotta find Yang.' Ruby sped through the forest leaving a trail of rose petals. 'I know I can find her. I just need to go faster.'

She did.

She went so fast that she nearly ran right into a walking white haired girl.

"AH!" Ruby stomped, jumped back and nearly into a tree. The girl looked angry, a pair of near unfortunate Ursa turned into nothing but beasts to vent her fury on. It hadn't worked and her anger was only succeeding in drawing more Grimm to her.

Blue eyes locked with silver.

Her glare became a scowl, if that was any better.

She seemed to have to grit her teeth to not say something to Ruby but she grabbed her by the hood, pulled her along.

"You'll have to do." The girl kept her Multi-Action Dust Rapier held at the ready in one hand and Ruby's cloak was prisoner in the other.

"What?" Ruby could only ask the question as she stumbled before getting her feet back under her again, managing to keep pace with the swiftly marching girl. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that you now have the gift of an exceptional partner. I suppose we should introduce ourselves to each other. Despite how many times we've met, we haven't managed something so simple." The white haired girl at least stopped dragging her along, seemed to decide now was a good time to talk. She gave a weird bow thing Ruby had never seen before rising back to her full height. "Hello. My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and now your partner for the next four years here at Beacon."

"Um…Hi?" Ruby did her best to copy what she had just seen but, from the frown growing on the now named Weiss's face, she had seemingly messed it up. She was quickly back to her full height and out of the weird bow. "I'm Ruby Rose and I'm your partner too?"

"Of course, you are." Weiss rolled her eyes before walking off again. Ruby followed because she honestly didn't know what else to do. They had made eye contact so they were partners now. "Now, we have a lot to talk about. I'll need to know what you can do, strengths, weaknesses, your academic history of course, and I'll see what I'm working with. Can you do that Ruby Rose?"

"Um…" Ruby gulped when she earned a sharp look from blue eyes.

"Well?" Weiss stopped walking.

"Yeah. Sure." Ruby nodded. Weiss seemed pleased and her scary eyes were no longer focused on Ruby. She breathed out a sigh of relief and followed after Weiss once she began walking again.

'What did I get myself into?'