The blaring alarm slammed into his ears and rattled in Ajax's skull. Despite normally being an early riser, this early, about 4:30 a.m., was pushing it. He set out to get dressed. After finding a quick training outfit of running shorts and a cotton shirt with some sports logo on it, he set out for his morning run. Sure, he was in top shape. As an Atlesian specialist, the boy had to be; however, cardio was always something he struggled with, despite his somewhat lanky stature.

Jogging over to Beacon's track, he lined himself up, readied his watch, and started time. It was 400 meters around, meaning he had to go twelve and a half times for his 5k distance workout.

Start!

The first four laps around had a respectable split of 6:02. Not bad, but extending that was the tough part. Pushing himself, the eighth lap's split came at 6:26. A terrible drop, and considering his heaving breathing and footfalls, it wouldn't get much better. Forcing his reflexive Aura back in, he pushed through the last few laps.

Almost…

there…

and time!

19:36

…

6:52 for the last leg.

That was a really shitty third mile. Although, there was an extra two hundred meters, so it wasn't too terrible… except that he was shooting for sub nineteen. He could have easily shattered that time with his Aura, most Huntsmen-in-training could, but most neglected to work on their strength for when their soul fails them.

Allowing the Aura to flow back into his limbs, the small tears in his muscles healed themselves, readying for another few laps. Taking a few sips from his water, he lined back up on the track.

Ajax returned to the room after showering, only to see Ruby had left for one more day of training before the school year started. Per Ozpin's recommendation and Taiyang's permission, Ruby had stayed on campus for the last week of break to train. Despite being a 'child prodigy', she still fell behind many of the incoming freshman's sparring scores. The Specialist was looking to eat something before joining her, and went to the cafeteria.

Surprisingly, Ruby was there and already sweaty from training. A pile of cookies covered her plate.

"Sup"

"Tired. I met this guy in the sparring room, I forgot what his name was, but he's also got a speed semblance. I'm pretty sure this was the only fight where I've had to move so fast I've hit my own bullets"

"Sounds intense, and a whole lotta fun. Where do I sign up?"

"The gym closed at 10 today, so you'll just have to wait"

Damn. He could beat Harriett in a fight, if only because she would go down in just a few hits. Speed semblances tended to be very Aura efficient at the cost of total Aura. That being said, burst fights that go faster than blinking are always exhilarating.

"Anything else, or were you just wiped by what's his face?"

She shook her head.

"Well that's a bummer. I burned up most of my Aura this morning doing laps. I've managed to get my 5k time sub 19. If yours is down too, wanna do some hand to hand?"

"Again, gym is closed"

"I was thinking we give the new initiates a show"

Ruby turned even more red at the thought.

"No! Please, but no. I don't really wanna be the center of attention, and I'm like years younger than everyone else, and I don't wanna make people think I'm better than them, and I'm not even that good, and they'll think I'm arrogant, an-"

"Ruby," Ajax interrupted, "Stop. If you actually believe what you just said about you not being that good, then you've just wasted a week of my time"

"Oh, uh"

"Listen, you may not be me level hand to hand, and you may make the masses think you're worse than you actually are, but remember, undersell-"

"Over deliver, yeah I got it. Ugh, you sound like Dad. Fine, we'll spar. Let me finish my food first"

There were a few mantras like that floating around through the Specialists. Ajax thought it might be a good idea to impart some to Ruby. Clearly, she disagreed.

After the meal, they went to the courtyard by the airdocks. Nobody had arrived quite yet, but it was only a matter of time.

They took positions on opposite sides of a field just off the path. Considering they both had their Auras drained, concrete was the last thing they wanted to be rolling on.

They walked closer together, and bumped fists. Right out of the gate, Ruby threw a hook kick as she attempted to get behind Ajax. He blocked the kick, but wasn't able to catch her leg.

Ruby didn't miss a beat, and was bouncing on her toes as soon as her foot touched down. Ajax circled her, looking for any openings. None appeared, so he threw a few air-jabs her way to get a reaction.

The younger girl flinched.

Using the opportunity, he immediately went for a takedown. Ruby had gathered her bearings just in time, pulling her legs to her chest and flipping over Ajax's attacking right arm. She then wrapped her right leg around his arm, and placed her left leg on her right foot and her foot under Ajax's chin. Leaning back, the two fell to the floor.

Ajax was stuck in an armbar. Admittedly, he hadn't wasted the week training Ruby. She learned fast- very fast at that. However, Ruby just didn't have the experience to react to everything the decorated Specialist could think up.

He pulled his back legs up very quickly, almost like he was looking to do a kip up. Instead, he just rolled backward, flipping himself and Ruby to face down. Her grip on his wrist faltered just enough, and he ripped himself free.

Both were on their feet in an instant. Absentmindedly, Ajax noticed some bullheads growing larger in the distance. And thus, the show begi-

Ruby hadn't waited for his approval, and landed a very nice hook onto his jaw. Immediately, she followed with an elbow to the exact same place. He fell, amateurishly flailing and grabbing the offending girl and dragging her with him. Ajax felt Ruby's shoulder hit his collarbone, and the sliver of Aura that had built up in the fight barely saved the integrity of the bone.

He used his leg strength to throw Ruby over himself, then jumped up quickly, only to find the girl already charging him. She threw a sloppy haymaker; Ajax ducked beneath it, turned his back to her and whipped her over his shoulder straight into the dirt.

"Congratulations, you did pretty well. You just need practice and experience"

He offered a hand. The girl took it, only to ram her head into his nose and follow with a hook kick to his temple.

The fight only starts when the animal is cornered.

Yet another mantra from the Specialists, and one he really should have taken more to heart.

She karate chopped the back of his neck, which despite the movies depiction had little effect, and was kneed in the side by Ajax. She walked back some, although Ajax stood back slightly in a calculating way instead of pressing immediately.

They slowly walked toward each other again. Ajax threw the first punch, Ruby blocked and threw another. He grabbed arm and pulled her into a knee. She narrowly avoided it and shouldered his nose. This landed perfectly, but he elbowed her jaw in retaliation.

They separated. Ajax had a nasty bloody nose, but he wiped it away. They walked up to each other again. Ajax was readying for a kick when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Fearing the worst, he ducked. Sure enough, a completely separate fist flew above his head. He kicked the offenders inner knee, keeping her off balance enough to reassess the situation.

A fire stood before him. Red eyes, flaming hair, and a boxer's stance. Based on Ruby's description, a wild Yang had appeared before him.

Some random scientist somewhere said that most adaptations are compromises. For instance, a snail might move faster if it abandoned it's shell, or how humans were more agile and dexterous at the cost of being more susceptible to injury.

In a similar way, Yang's semblance came at the cost of her reasoning. Supposedly. Sometimes, Ruby's descriptions couldn't be trusted. However, no Aura against a very angry, armed Huntress was not the place to test the reliability of Ruby's words.

No more pulling punches, this was life or death. A small, tiny tingle ran through his finger tips. Subtlety is key.

Yang charged. Ajax fell into her guard, and planted a charged fist into her tricep. Grabbing her arm, he rolled forward, bringing them both to ground level.

Another shock hit her other arm, then her gut, stunning most of her retaliation options. To her, it would feel like he just hits like a truck. Ajax then pulled her into a triangle, seatbelted her arms, and leaned back as far as possible. The air grew very hot very quickly. Aura could only keep Yang's airway and blood vessels open for so long though, and once it shut he'd cut loose. Fortunately, he didn't have to.

"Yang, it's the first day of school! Stop bullying my friends"

"Your… friend… almost… broke… your jaw… and is… cho… king… me!"

"Then tap"

Ajax's ultimatum was very simple and forgiving.

"Yang, you've already lost, I'm fine, and Ajax is more hurt than I am"

"Ruby, you're not supposed to be the voice of reason. Leave that to the professionals" Ajax reminded her.

"I… yield"

"I said tap"

She did. Ajax released the hold, and was immediately elbowed in the dick. Ow.

Yang took a deep breath, then, "Ruby, are you okay? Are you hurt, did yo-"

"Yang, I'm fine. Better than fine. Did you see me armbar him? I should have totally had him ther-"

"Ruby, what the hell happened?! You ditch me to punt criminals, join Beacon, and now you're being social and making friends. Who are you and what did you do with Ruby?"

"A lot can change in a week. I'm not Ruby anymore, I'm… uh…" she looked to Ajax.

"red…?" he offered weakly.

"Nah that's boring. How about… Ooh, Scarlet! Yeah, I've had like a whole character arc and shiz and am now a changed person!"

"Too bad you couldn't change that dorkiness"

"Hey!"

Ajax managed to shake off the jitters and stand up.

"To be honest Ruby, all you need is glasses and braces and you got the stereotype down completely"

"Glasses and braces make anyone look like a dork"

That was fair.

"But anyways, I-"

It came over him in a way that was very familiar, but wholly opposite. Like that feeling of everything going your way and on top of the world, only the perfect antithesis of it.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Oh, hey Bennett"

"Wait, Ruby, you're actually in Beacon? I thought Yang was blowing steam"

"Yeah, it's crazy right? Oh, right, introductions. Bennett, this is Ajax. Ajax, Bennett"

The light blonde boy offered a hand

"Nice to meet you"

"Your Semblance is bad luck, isn't it"

"Uh… I don't think so?"

"Well you do have very bad luck Bennett. Maybe it is a Semblance" Ruby pointed out.

"I mean, it's not that weird. Uncle Qrow's stuck with Bad Luck too"

"I guess… How could you tell?"

"I knew a guy with Good Luck as a Semblance. He's got this feeling to him, like a ring where only good things happen. Yours is just… the opposite of good"

As if to prove Ajax's point, a girl nearby exploded. She was moving with a cartload of Dust, what was she expe-

"Bennett, you might wanna run. You might have just killed the Schnee Heiress"

Huh. Things in production seem to have stagnated. As it turns out, that's because this is the third iteration of the chapter, the first two taking completely different paths. Sorry for the delay.

As for the fights and training. The different activities are things I have interst in. I do run cross country, which is great minus the early wakeups. And while the BJJ is very clearly exaggerated and probably inaccurate, it was fun to write. I don't do BJJ. Yet. Soon, very soon. Just not until exams are over and I can finally do whatever.

Speaking of,

yeah, no. Maybe another month and a half Hiatus while the end of this year blows over, but until then, no updates.

Special thanks to everyone who reviews this. You are largely the reason chapters come at all.

And I know this is a shorter chapter, and doesn't even cover all the stuff about initiation. Next chapter, I promise.

Anyone with any critiques or recommendations, you know what to do.

Take it easy