Disclaimer: RWBY is an animated series created by Rooster Teeth. The cover image for this story is a screenshot from the Volume 8 opening.

There's a long A.N. at the end of the chapter about romance. Skip it if you don't care.

Beacon certainly didn't spare any expenses in bringing in new students. We were picked up in Vale by a luxury airship that came with a spacious interior, multiple holographic televisions showing the news, and a military escort of two Bullhead VTOLs. The view was pretty incredible too.

There were also plenty of other prospective students in the airship, but I… wasn't really feeling up to going to talk to strangers yet. I'll put that off until after we land. I promised Mom that I'd at least try to be less of a misanthrope than I was at Polaris.

I know I worried her by being so antisocial, but everyone at my Combat School was too immature for me to stand. Even once they grew out of their childishness, I still saw them as children, and they didn't like me either. Ignoring people for so many years doesn't exactly make you many friends.

Still, I made a promise, and like Dad always says, "an Arc always keeps their word." And like Mom always says, "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

The TV, which had been playing a news story about the recent Faunus Rights protest, was cut off and replaced by an image of a prim-looking blonde woman in glasses.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" she began. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Is her name seriously "Glynda Goodwitch"? "Glinda the Good Witch" was a character from The Wizard of Oz in both the movie and the books. Do I need to be worried about wicked witches?

Come to think of it, isn't Beacon's headmaster named "Ozpin"? I'm almost certain that "OZPINHEAD" were the initials of the actual Wizard of Oz. The fact that my new headmaster has the same name as a one of the biggest frauds in fiction is giving me some bad vibes.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when the hologram blinked out to reveal a gorgeous view of Beacon. I'm just glad I don't get airsickness like Lavender. I'd hate to miss this view.

Our acceptance letters told us to meet at the Academy's training hall, which I had marked on the map I had previously downloaded. The letters also told us which locker our luggage would be sent to, but I also kept a backpack on my person with a few essential items. I had a first-aid kit, a change of clothes, some rations, a few survival tools, and spare ammo. You know, just the essentials.

"Be prepared" was my personal motto.

I strode out of the airship, checked the map on my scroll, and started walking towards the training hall. I made it about halfway there when I heard an explosion behind me. I whirled around and reached for Alba Mors before scanning for the source of the noise.

Apparently someone had an accident involving Fire Dust, but no one looked seriously injured. A girl with white hair and a soot-stained white dress was shouting at two different girls with dark hair and clothes while well-dressed men loaded cases onto a trolley. It didn't looked like they would come to blows, so I relaxed my grip on my sword as the three parted ways. Right as I turned around to keep walking, I saw one of the dark-haired girls collapse to her knees and hang her head.

I sighed and started walking towards her. I might be late to orientation, but I should at least check on her. And hey, maybe this stranger is a friend I haven't met yet.

I looked down into a pair of luminous, silver eyes and held out a hand to her. "Need a hand?" I asked. "I'm Jaune, by the way."

"Thanks," she smiled as she took my hand. "I'm Ruby."

I pulled her to her feet and looked down at her. She looked younger than the other prospective students, but that might just be her height.

"Are you alright? I heard that explosion from across the courtyard," I asked. "Do you need any first aid?"

"It was an accident…" she grumbled. "And I'm okay! Thanks for asking!"

I nodded at her and we both started walking towards the training hall. It was at this moment that I realized that I'm terrible at social interaction, because I have no idea what to say next. She's apparently just as bad as I am, because we spent the next thirty seconds in painfully awkward silence. Thankfully, she spoke up before I resorted to talking about the weather.

"So..." she began. "I got this thing!" she said as she whipped out a giant scythe and stabs it into the ground.

"Nice scythe," I commented. I wasn't lying, either. It was a design with a lot of complex, moving parts, but it unfolded quickly and efficiently.

Her awkward smile looked a little more real now. "Thanks!" she replied. "It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

I leaned in to look closer. ".50 BMG?" I asked. .50 caliber uses the Earth name too for some reason.

"It is!" she nodded before rapidly talking about how amazing her "baby" was. Eventually she ran out of breath and stopped nuzzling the gun to look back up at me. "So what've you got?" she asked.

I carefully drew Alba Mors. "It's a bastard sword with a dust core that can mechashift into a shotgun with an adjustable barrel and choke. The sheath expands into a shield, too."

"Cool!" she said. I could almost see the stars in her eyes. "I'm a huge dork when it comes to weapons, so I went a little overboard on designing Crescent Rose." She giggled shyly. "Our weapons are a part of us. They're an extension of our selves."

She paused to think for a minute. "So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" she asked.

"Do you really need a reason to help people?" I asked with a shrug. "Besides, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet." Thanks for the cool line, Mom.

We both gave each other genuine smiles. Maybe making friends at Beacon won't be so hard after all.

I led Ruby to the auditorium, since she apparently had no idea where the opening ceremony was. We were some of the last people to enter, but it thankfully hadn't started yet. For some reason, a blonde girl was waving at us.

"Ruby!" she called out. "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby gave me an apologetic smile. "Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" she said before zipping off.

I waved goodbye and made my way to the edge of the crowd to lean against the wall. Ruby seemed nice. If she's as much of a weapons-expert as she implied, she might be able to help me design a backup weapon. I've been planning on building a sidearm but I never got around to it.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Professor Goodwitch and a well-dressed man with a cane walking onto the stage. This was presumably Professor Ozpin.

Ozpin stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat. "I'll... keep this brief," he began. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that last remark, he left the stage.

I thought it was a nice speech, although many of my future classmates seemed to disagree. Ozpin wanted us to find a reason for being Huntsmen. Without one, we'd just be well-trained soldiers, not defenders of the realm.

Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone after he left. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Well, the ceremony's over, so I should probably go find Ruby. Or would that be weird? I'm not exactly an expert at social interactions, so maybe—never mind, she's walking over here now with that blonde girl.

"Hey Jaune!" Ruby said. "Sorry I ran off like that earlier. Anyway, this is my sister, Yang!"

Wait, sisters? Aren't they both new students? They certainly don't look like twins. Maybe one of them is adopted?

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Yang said. "Any friend of my baby sister is a friend of mine. She's already told me all about you," she winked.

"Yang, you're embarrassing me…" Ruby grumbled.

"Nothing bad, I hope?" I replied.

"Just that you're as socially awkward as she is," Yang said with a mischievous smile.

Ruby looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

"She's… not wrong," I chuckled. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you too."

"Ruby said a lot about your sword, but not much about you. Tell me about yourself!" she said.

"Uh," I said as I frantically tried to think of something to say. "Well, my name is Jaune Arc. Like Ruby said, I fight with a sword, shotgun, and shield. My Semblance lets me teleport short distances. I enjoy reading."

Yang was staring at me with her mouth agape. "It's like there's two of them…" she mumbled.

After eating dinner in the cafeteria with Ruby and Yang, all of the students were directed to the locker rooms to deposit their weapons and change into their pajamas. I put Alba Mors in my designated locker—636—and opened my suitcase to get my sleeping clothes out.

I looked down at the onesie pajamas with bunny footsies. These are not my pajamas.

I whipped out my scroll and called Mocha. She picked up on the first ring, almost as if she was expecting my call.

"Sister dearest," I began, "do you know anything about the new pajamas in my suitcase?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied while barely holding in laughter.

I hung up on her and tossed the onesie in the trash. Thankfully, I kept an extra pair of night clothes in my backpack, and the twin terrors hadn't managed to mess with it. I changed and left for the ballroom with my backpack and sleeping bag in hand. I probably didn't need my backpack, but I had no idea what to expect from Beacon's initiation. They might dump us somewhere dangerous while we're sleeping to test our readiness, and I wanted to be prepared.

With that in mind, I laid my sleeping bag out by the wall, put my trusty combat knife under my pillow, and settled in for the night. I considered saying goodnight to Ruby and Yang, but they were off talking to that dark-haired girl with the bow that had been present when Ruby blew up.

I didn't want to interrupt them, and I wanted to be prepared for initiation. Tomorrow might very well be the most important day in my life so far.

I woke up at sunrise in the ballroom. I guess they didn't dump us into a Grimm-infested forest in our sleep. While most of my future classmates were still asleep, I went outside to do a few warm-up exercises before breakfast.

Initiation still didn't start for a few more hours, but I was feeling way more nervous than I expected. I took a seat under a tree and sank into my Aura for some meditation.

Several hours later, I was drawn out of the sea of my soul by an alarm on my Scroll alerting me that initiation began soon. I stood, stretched, and jogged over there.

When I entered the locker room, I started to say hello to Ruby and Yang before cutting myself off. They looked like there were in the middle of an argument, and I didn't want to get involved in that.

I arrived at my locker, but the door was blocked by two girls who were talking to each other. The white-haired girl that Ruby blew up yesterday was talking to… Pyrrha Nikos? Huh.

I cleared my throat to get their attention. The girl in white stopped her obvious scheming to shoot me a look. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"This is my locker," I calmly replied. When they moved, I opened it up and pulled out Alba Mors. The unnamed girl was back to badgering Nikos, who looked pretty uncomfortable. I could at least change the subject for her.

"Are you two ready for initiation?" I asked. There, that was a nice, safe question.

"Are we ready?" the girl in white retorted. "Of course we are! Don't you have any idea who you're talking to?"

I shook my head. "I've heard of Nikos, but I don't recognize you. Sorry."

Pyrrha winced a bit for some reason, but the girl in white raised an eyebrow imperiously.

"I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company," she said.

"Jaune Arc," I replied. "Nice to meet you." I hadn't recognized her face, but I definitely knew who she was. "My mother is a big fan of your music." That last comment managed to (slightly) lessen the scowl on her face.

"Charmed," Weiss replied. "Now if you'll excuse us, Pyrrha and I have planning to do."

Pyrrha gave a half-hearted wave and trailed along after Weiss.

After they left, I pulled out my brand-new Earth Coincidence journal and penciled in that Weiss Schnee is Snow White. I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but "Weiss Schnee" is German for "White Snow." And on top of that, the SDC's motto is "the finest of them all," which is almost identical to the famous "fairest of them all" quote from Snow White.

I finished writing and looked up to see that Ruby and Yang had stopped arguing and were walking my way.

"I see you've met short, pale, and crabby," Yang joked.

"Not a bad way to describe her," I drily replied. "Are you two ready for initiation?"

"Yep!" Ruby nodded while brandishing her sniper rifle. "I get to let my sweetheart do the talking now. No more awkward conversations, just Grimm-slaying!"

"Amen to that," I muttered.

The intercom clicked on, and Professor Goodwitch's voice crackled out. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"Let's go kick some ass!" Yang cheered.

Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were waiting at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Goodwitch directed us to line up and stand on metal platforms set into the ground, and Ozpin took a sip out of his mug before beginning another speech.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," he said.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," Goodwitch continued. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Beside me, Ruby whimpered.

"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," Ozpin said. He then took a loud sip from his mug that hid a hint of a smile. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

What.

"What?!" Ruby shouted.

Ignoring the bomb he had just dropped, Ozpin continued his speech. "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.

"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 your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" he finished.

I had about a million (mostly about how the way partners were assigned), but before I could ask them, Ozpin continued speaking.

"Good," he said. "Now, take your positions."

I sighed, drew Alba Mors, and shifted the sheath into a shield. Defense could be critical here. Ozpin's use of the word "landing" implied that we would be launched somehow. Further down the line, one of the metal platforms we were standing on catapulted a student into the air and confirmed my theory.

I took a deep breath and held it as I was launched through the sky.

Author's Note: We've finally hit Volume 1, and with it comes canon dialogue. Jaune's dialogue (and any reactions to it) are obviously going to be different, but this isn't an AU, so some lines are going to be the same as in the show to keep everyone in-character.

Now that canon characters are being introduced, I'm going to preemptively address romance and pairings: this story won't have any.

The Changeling's age before he became Jaune is meant to be ambiguous. He could be a well-read teenager or he could be a fully-grown adult. With that in mind, there won't be romantic pairings in this story. Jaune doesn't actually know his mental age; he could've been 15 or he could've been 30 even before his 13 years on Remnant, and he would feel like a creep if he started dating a 17-year-old.

I will, however, be writing an epilogue side story featuring one-shot romance chapters between various characters. Timeskip epilogues with romantic pairings in them are pretty controversial, so I'll write multiple and let you pick which one you like the most for your headcanon.

tl;dr – I'll ship tease, but actual romance will be in an omake side story instead of the main one.

P.S. Cliffhanger? More like clifflauncher.

(First published on July 4, 2021)