I slept through the night without trouble and woke from my slumber early. I felt the slight warmth of the sun touch my skin. I opened my eyes and found a few sunbeams shining onto my face. I laid there for two more minutes before I finally willed my body up. I opened my jaw and yawned as I raised my Pipboy to check the time

6:59

"I don't know when initiation is going to begin, but sitting here isn't going to help me prepare, that's for sure." I thought as I carefully stood up. A quick glance around the room told me I was one of the few people awake at this time. Perfect for me, I wouldn't have to wait to use the bathroom.

I began walking towards the bathroom, and once there I de-atomized a toothbrush and some toothpaste and brushed my teeth. After that was done, I dematerialized my hygienic tools and brought out my Armored Vault suit, I had a pair of casual-wear clothes on me, but they wouldn't offer me as much protection as the Armored Vault suit would.

I looked at my reflection as I changed, on my head was a short, messy bush of hair, and staring back at me were two greenish-gray eyes. As I examined myself, I noticed a familiar marking on the side of my skull, a faint curve that anyone could notice if they looked hard enough, a faint shiver ran through me as I looked at it.

I suddenly heard the bathroom door fly open, I immediately re-hid the scar underneath my hair and looked over to see the bathroom had two new occupants. The first was a tall, lanky boy who looked Asian, he had dark hair that reached below his ears and was tied into a ponytail, one of its strands was pink. He wore a dark green tailcoat with gold and black trimmings. He wore tan pants and black shoes. The stoic boy calmly walked into the bathroom before a gust of wind hit my face, originating from a girl that had zoomed in to the bathroom following the Asian boy. She had bright orange hair, she wore a sleeveless vest with a heart on the front with fingerless gloves on her hands and a pink skirt beneath her vest. The two seemed to be having a one sided conversation, with the girl contributing the most of it, though I could hardly keep up with what she was saying and wondered if the stoic kid could either. I left soon after, a part of me wanting to avoid that Asian kid's fate.

I soon made my way to the cafeteria for breakfast, which was serving a buffet compared to the hotel, I saw waffles, pancakes, cereal, all kinds of fruit, milk, coffee, bacon, and more. Most of these we didn't even have in the Vault, and the only cereal I'd ever have was Sugar Bombs. So I decided to grab myself some waffles and syrup. The waffles were delicious, with the syrup making even better, even better than the Vault's food.

I looked around and saw some of the students I met yesterday, like Ruby and Yang siting together chatting with each other. After a few minutes I grabbed some sausage and two bacon slices and returned to my seat and saw the duo from bathroom, from the looks of it the girl hadn't stopped talking since I left them earlier, she even talked with a pancake hanging out her mouth, moments later I saw and heard her slurp the pancake into her mouth like it was a noodle before swallowing it normally. My mouth opened in shock.

"Yeah no, I feel like I shouldn't ask them about that. Just keep eating and act normal." I thought to myself, I finished my food shortly after and downed it with a glass of orange juice. I got up and followed the rest of the students to the locker room. It was huge compared to others I'd seen back home. Yesterday we'd all been given slips of paper telling us which lockers we got, and mine was locker "101". Something told me this wasn't a coincidence.

I opened my locker and went into my Inventory and started scrolling through it to see what I could keep with me and what to put in the locker for now. Despite the fact that my Pipboy can atomize any equipment I had, I'd eventually feel the weight of all the gear I had on me if I atomize enough stuff. And while I was no stranger to fighting with a full inventory I wouldn't mind having less weight to carry around. For the time being I decided to keep my Armored Vault suit, assuming I wouldn't have to rely on any heavier duty clothing I had. So I hung my clothing up and moved to my weapons, I decided to leave behind my pulse grenades and keeping the rest of the grenades. After that I continued sorting through my weapons when I heard the duo from earlier come into the locker room, the girl was still talking of course .

"We'll have a signal, like a distress signal, a seeecret signal. Can you imitate a sloth?" The girl asked, before a new voice joined in. "Nora?" The quiet, calm voice asked. My head spun to its source, being none of than the boy. "Yes Ren?" The girl named Nora finally stopped talking for the first time since I encountered these two this morning. "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." Was all the boy replied with as I saw him slide two pistols down his shirt. "...That's why it's PERFECT! No one will suspect we're working together." Nora beamed. "Come on Nora, let's go." Ren said as the two gathered their supplies and started to leave the locker room. By then I had just finished sorting out my inventory and was just about to leave to when I spotted Ruby and Yang talking with each other, I saw Ruby once again coddling her scythe as if it were a baby, I also heard them mention something about "milk", but couldn't hear the rest of it. Jaune yelled "RIDICULOUS" as he passed by, whining about which locker he put his gear into. Then I caught Weiss and the gladiator girl from yesterday talking with each other before Jaune barged in between them. Weiss got riled up over something, shown by how she began failing her arms wildly and gesturing to the girl. I then brought out my makeshift parachute to check on it, and just a minute later I heard a loud *chink and "I'm sorry."

I looked up and saw Jaune pinned to a locker by a red spear. The girl took it and I saw Jaune plop pathetically to the ground, looking like the world's saddest deflated balloon. Before I could go over to check on him, Goodwitch's voice was heard over the PA.

"Will all first year students please report to Beacon cliff for Initiation." Her voice repeated itself one more time before the PA shut off. I dematerialized my parachute and started to leave the locker room. Ruby and Yang stopped by Jaune and Ruby lent her hand to him. "Having some trouble there [Lady Killer]?" Yang joked.

"I don't understand, my Dad said all women look for confidence...where did I go wrong?" Jaune lamented as he took Ruby's hand. "Snow Angel was probably not the best start." Yang answered as Jaune was held up by Ruby.

"Or starting with Weiss period." I joked as I pat Jaune on the back, "Just keep looking pal, there's a lot more girls here than Weiss." I said, hopping to have given Jaune the confidence boost he needed. I followed the two out of the locker room as Jaune mumbled a small "Thanks" to me.

As we left, I saw a new Quest on my Pipboy.

-The Initiation

-Go to the Beacon Cliffs

Fifteen minutes later, me, Ruby, and Jaune made it to the cliffs. A plethora of pads were laid out before us, many of them already taken by the other students. Me and the other two took our spots at the end of the row of pads. In front of us stood Ozpin and Goodwitch, before them were the cliffs, overlooking a vast, green forest full of big, living trees. This made Oasis look like a city park in comparison.

Ozpin turned to us and addressed his students, a mug filled with coffee in his hand. "For years you have all trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Goodwitch began her own speech, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. We'll allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...Today." Glynda's eyes narrowed when she finished speaking. Ruby let out a nervous whine before Ozpin resumed his part. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest that you be paired with someone whom you can work well with." Ozpin warned, drawing a scared whine from Ruby this time. "That being said, first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. I saw Ruby's eyes go white and her mouth dropped open, "What!" She screeched in horror. "See? I told you-?" I heard Nora begin a few pads down before Ozpin started speaking again. "Once your partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition on the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...Or you will die." I heard Jaune let out a nervous laugh upon hearing that. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an empty temple at the end of your path contains several relics. Each pair must pick one and return to the cliffs. You will guard it, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah-um sir-" Jaune raised his hand before Ozpin cut him off, "Good, now take your positions." At this point, I saw the other students take battle stances and pose. I briefly wondered if I should be doing that as well before another thought popped into my head.

"Hang on, what about the landing strategy? I don't see any aircraft coming to pick us up." I looked around before Jaune nervously spoke up, "Uhhh, sir? I got a question."

I heard a loud noise akin to a gunshot, my eyes widened as I saw Weiss get launched into the air, her pad sprung up and remained up for a few seconds.

"So, about this...landing strategy-thing, so you're like, dropping us off or something?" Jaune asked. "No, you will be falling."

"Oh, I...see...so did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"Jaune, do you see any parachutes?" I tried to ask calmly, though it came out a lot more frightened than I wanted to sound. Jaune's skin turned pale. "No. You will be using your own landing strategy, as the Wanderer pointed out." He said as more students were flung into the air. Even with my chute I was scared.

"Uh-Huh, that." I looked to see Yang put on a pair of aviator sunglasses, giving Ruby a toothy smile before being flung into the sky, we heard a loud "WAAHOOOO" as the blonde flew through the air. Ruby smiled herself, holding her scythe-rifle as she was launched to.

"Yeah...so what exactly is a landing strateg-YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH" Jaune screamed as he joined the other students in the air. To my sudden shock, I realized it was now my turn.

"God, if you're watching me and you do exist please let this chute work. Please!" I mentally pleaded as I looked to see Ozpin's gaze turned to me, he raised his mug and smiled. It all happened quick, I felt the springs beneath me groan, and then the gunshot-noise cracked from beneath my pad, I felt it push me up, and soon after there was no floor beneath me.

I was in the air now.

I won't say I have a fear of heights, since I've climbed to the tops of many crumbling Pre-War structures, but this experience wasn't exhilarating, it was downright terrifying.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed as I soared through the air as my momentum kept sending me higher. As I searched for my fellow students I saw many of them didn't share me and Jaune's fear, and looked calm in comparison. Meanwhile, Jaune was spinning in the air, flailing helplessly as he did.

"Okay, now's not the time to panic." I thought to myself, first thing I needed to do was to control my flight and soon to be free fall. As Newton once said "What goes up, must come down." Be it a bird, or a man that weighs over 140 pounds.

I stopped screaming and brought my limbs inward toward my body, and then spread them out and formed an "X" and pointed my belly downward. This technique would allow me to control my fall, since I couldn't just deploy my parachute yet, not until I got closer to the temple anyway.

Soon I felt myself stop rising, instead I was now just going forward, I took this time to get a better view of the Emerald Forest, I couldn't see much of the forest floor due to how thick the canopies of the trees were, in one clearing I thought I caught some movement from a black blur, though it disappeared deeper into the forest before I could get a clear look at it. "Oz mentioned there would be obstacles here, guess that was one of them." After that I turned to examine the other first years, most of whom were still in the air, including Jaune.

I soon felt myself starting to drop, though I was still gliding for now. I would need to deploy my chute soon. I already saw the others start to work on theirs, I waited two minutes as I slowly positioned myself to speed my fall, when I dropped a few feet I quickly went back to my "X" form. With the trees approaching me, I went into my Pipboy and materialized my makeshift parachute. Gripping the two handles I made, I let the tarp rise above me, and felt my glide halt. Now I was dropping at a steady and safe pace, the best part being my chute was still intact.

"Holy crap it's actually working. My first attempt at a parachute and I'm still alive." I thought as relief flowed over my body. I looked over to see what my soon-to-be classmates were doing. I saw Ruby diving towards the trees and firing shots from her rifle, probably to slow her descent, after that her scythe unfolded and she used it to swing from a tree branch and land, I looked to see Yang flying through the air using the two gauntlets on her fists, and Weiss was summoning circles similar to the kind Goodwitch used, only these were white and held glyphs within them. My mind started to wonder how Jaune would survive when I looked over at my ropes, and to my horror felt them start to slip. My head shot up, and sure enough the ropes were starting to slip from the holes I glued them to, now held loosely by the dried globs of wonder glue.

A million thoughts raced through my head as I tried to piece together what went wrong, did I use a bad bottle? Did I overestimate the tarp's strength? Or was this just a bad case of relying too much on something I put together in an hour just the day before? Deep down I knew there were some cons to this idea, though I didn't expect my luck would run out this quickly.

And then, it happened. The ropes slipped free from the tarp, and I was falling. I had only been ten feet above the closest tree, but that did little to soften my fall. Upon reaching the leaves, I fell through branch after branch before plummeting below to the ground. The next thing I knew I felt the wind get knocked from my lungs and I was staring up where I fell, the tarp meanwhile, floated gracefully down next to me.

I couldn't move for a minute as my lungs struggled to retrieve the oxygen I lost. But when I did and was able to move, I learned my troubles weren't yet over, my body ached all over, fortunately for me nothing was broken otherwise.

"Holy smokes... I lived." I sighed as I stood up and brushed myself off, I looked behind me to see that a bush cushioned my fall. Even if I had broken a bone or a few, I could just use a stimpack to heal myself up. However, now that I was in another world I didn't want to have to use up too many of my stimpacks and run out. I was going to have to tackle that problem after Initiation.

Just then, I saw my Pipboy update my current quest, and read the new objective.

-The Initiation

-Get to the Temple.

A marker pointed me north, outside of my observable map, I waited a moment to make sure my path was clear before taking off to the north.

For twenty five minutes I raced through the forest, so far I hadn't seen anyone else or any creatures for the matter, though in the distance I heard shouts, gunshots, and some roars, which was good enough for me, it meant I wouldn't be held back much.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure most of my fellow first years are capable fighters, but I was just fine on my own right now. Though what was I going to do about the partner requirement? Not sure, that would sort itself later I guess.

As I ran through the brush, I heard a loud *SNAP close by, I halted and listened around me, I knew for a fact that I couldn't have made that sound because the branch that snapped had to have at least been twelve feet to the right. As I listened I noticed a few smaller sounds, they didn't sound like a fellow student who was lost in the wilderness, they did however match a predator stalking its prey. that same sound then came from my left.

I materialized a hunting rifle and held it up, readying myself for whatever theses "obstacles" were. I didn't need to wait long since moments later two creatures emerged from both sides of me. The two creatures looked nothing like anything I'd seen before.

They were wolf-like in appearance and stood on their hind legs, making them the size of a person. Their limbs were muscly and their claws were sharp. Their faces were covered by a mask of bone with red lines decorating them, similar boney spikes rose from their backs. Their eyes literally burned with malice and hunger. No amount radiation could ever hope to mutate anything into the beasts I saw before me.

The two let out a distorted growl and readied themselves to pounce me. I didn't give them the chance and fired a shot to the face of the one to my right, the monster whined momentarily as the bullet knocked into its armored face, while the beast was still standing its face had a small crack where the bullet struck. I released the casing and quickly dodged to the side when the second one lunged for me, it landed near a tree and I took the short window given to me to fire another bullet, hitting one of its hind legs. It growled as its companion recovered and charged me, an arm raised and ready to slice my face open. I ducked and weaved passed it and jammed the butt of the rifle into its side below the armor plating. That angered it enough to rear back and send me back with the swipe of its paw. I skidded across the dirt for a few moments before I quickly rolled over and regained my footing. I stared at the beasts stalking slightly closer to me. It silently wished I hadn't brought the rifle out, it could only fire a total of five shots before having to be reloaded, not exactly the best for close battles like this one.

Ejecting another spent casing, I wasted no time firing my third shot, I was quick enough to hit the first one's front left paw before the second one rushed me with its mouth hanging open, giving my fourth bullet a clear path through its insides. The stepped aside and let the monster land face first to the ground, eating the dirt as it did.

Before my fifth and final shot could meet its target I realized too late a third monstrosity creep up behind me. The next thing I knew I was slammed to the ground and face to face with monster #3. I quickly shot my hands up to meet its jaws as it tried to bite into me. I struggled to keep my fingers out of its maw as it fought back. I heard more of them approach and realized I had to go. But of course, this beast had to be bigger than the previous two, and had the weight to match that size. So instead of wasting my strength and energy trying to wrestle it off I shimmied my left foot to give it just enough room to send a knee to its exposed underbelly. A distorted whimper met my ears in response, but I didn't stop there since the monster still had me pinned. Even though I was still under it I now had enough room to go into my Pipboy and materialize another weapon . With a trench knife in my hand I plunged it's blade into the throat of the monster, it gargled as I retracted the blade before punching it in the jaw with the knuckle duster part of the knife. It fell off of me and landed to the side, leaving me with a pack of the monsters surrounding me. I quickly retrieved my rifle and dematerialized it while keeping my trench knife out. The monsters growled and snarled as they circled me. Soon enough I got what I needed and watched my Xuanlong assault rifle appear in my free hand, I put the knife in a sheath on my suit and got myself a grenade as the creatures rushed me.

I took out the pin and chucked the explosive behind me as I rushed forward to meet the beasts ahead of me. I held the trigger and sprayed them with 5.56mm bullets. An explosion behind me followed by some cut off whines told me I caught a few of the creatures in the blast. In front of me I managed to down one of the monsters when it fell to a few shots to the head, another had one of its front paws crippled and howled in pain. As I quickly ejected a clip I kicked back another monster and dodged a lunge from another. After I reloaded I went back to mowing the beasts before me down. I managed to kill four of them within the the next two minutes, which is when I realized these things disappear when they die, I watched those four creatures dissipate into a bunch black particles and evaporate into the air, looking like the ash from a extinguish fire blowing in the wind.

I couldn't think about this for long when I turned and saw a few more red, fiery orbs in the bushes behind me. So I decided to just start running away, these things were tough to kill, with the previous four requiring V.A.T.S to kill them. For a few minutes I sprinted north, shooting whenever I could, I was eventually successful in killing off the remaining beasts as I entered a clearing. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath and give myself some to time to process all that had happened so far.

"Those must have been the Grimm Oz warned me about. They're tough to take down, even with my Xuanlong rifle, and that's basically a supped up Chinese assault rifle for crying out loud." I brought out a bottle of purified water and drank it, replenishing some of my lost energy. As I de-materialized the empty bottle I heard some more rustling.

"More of them already?" I whispered, before a loud roar echoed from across the clearing.

Charging towards me at full speed was another of those creatures, only now it was in the shape of a big, angry Yao Guai. I almost crapped myself then and there as I hurried through my inventory for a weapon and de-materialized it. Upon feeling it's weight and seeing what it was almost made me relieved until the creature was a few feet away. My mind went blank as I jumped out of the way and watched the bear-like monster down a few small trees behind me. Compared to the Yao Guais back home, this thing was bigger than them by a few feet, which made it somewhat bigger than me.

I put a good distance between us before I flipped the switched on Jingwei's Shocksword. Within seconds the chain-patterned electrodes sent electricity up the blade before engulfing the whole blade (minus the handle and pommel) in electricity. I raised it up and leveled it to the beast before me as I heard sparks dance along the sword. Now normally it's all but wise to try and face any bear, radioactive or not, with only a melee weapon, even a sword. But as good as I am with guns I'm just as good with [Melee] weapons to, not too mention I've killed plenty of Yao Guais in the past.

For a only a minute me and the bear circled each other before it ended with the Yao Gaui letting out another roar as it charged toward me, my grip over the crackling blade tightened as I charged toward the monster. When it was closer enough it stood on its hind legs and tried to swipe at me with its giant claws that could probably slice a tree in two. I ducked beneath the claw and sliced my blade horizontally from the right, cutting into the bear's side and electrocuting it, a distorted growl echoed as it took the hit, I took note of the lack of blood from an otherwise major injury, for all I knew the shock could've cauterized the wound. But despite the injury my opponent managed to swing itself back around to try and decapitate me, I never gave it the chance by stabbing my sword into the beast's chest, and watched the electricity fry it from within and soon from outside as well. It's most distorted and pained roar echoed through out the forest as it glowed blue from the energy my blade gave off. A few seconds later, a pile of dark ash sat in front of me, but that too faded the same way the other Grimm did.

I breathing quickened and my heart raced, so much of these things in such short amount of time...and it doesn't help they're hardy in regards to the Wasteland's abominations...

More rustling from behind me, lighter this time but no way was I going to let my guard down. I drew my sword back up expecting more Grimm to come, but I was instead greeted by two familiar faces.

"Oh.My.Gosh...WOW!" Yang shouted as she sprang up from a bush, next her was Blake, who looked intrigued but didn't show it as much as her partner.

"You know, me and Blake saw you fighting those Beowulf's earlier, but when that Ursai sprung out and you decimated it...now THAT was kind of cool." Yang beamed as she hurried over to me.

"Beowulves?"

The two girls looked confused, "The Grimm that chased you earlier, those things." Blake stated.

"Hm...Oh right, yeah...they're lucky I wasn't at my best then." I bragged, if I were a little more prepared for this whole Initiation I'd be doing way better than I am now.

"Where are your guns?" Blake asked as she followed behind Yang.

"Hm? Oh right, you had like two other guns one moment, then they vanished and now you've got that sword with you." Yang recollected, "What's up with that Wanderer?"

Crud, time to [Speech] my way out of this. "...A magician never reveals his secrets doesn't he?" I put on a mischievous smile and bowed slightly. Yang and Blake faced each other for a second and shrugged.

"Whatever, probably just your semblance." Yang concluded, Blake giving a nod of acceptance at the response. I snuck a confused look when they weren't looking. "A semblance?...just another thing to add to my list of what to research after Initiation then." I thought. Before I could let the two question me further I fired off a question of my own. "So, you two are partnered up then?"

"Yup" Yang smiled, "Blake here found me fighting off a few Ursai earlier and took down the last one I was fighting. Of course, I could've taken it easily." She bragged as Blake gave a playful eye roll.

"What about you Wanderer? Don't you have a partner?" Blake inquired.

"Nope, you two are the first people I've seen since I landed." I answered as I checked my Pipboy's compass, I turned to face north and was about to start walking, "Anywho, I guess I'll be seeing you two at the Temple then-"

"Now wait just a minute." Yang's hand clasped my shoulder. "How about you come with us?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I know you call yourself a 'Lone Wanderer' and all, but we wouldn't mind some company along the way, right Blake?" Yang turned to her partner, Blake looked like she pondered the option briefly before she nodded.

"That's...kind of you to offer Yang, but uh, you know what they say about 'Three being a crowd' right?" I asked.

"Yeah...but I'm a firm believer in 'the more the merrier.' And I think you should be too." Yang's ark reached over to my opposite shoulder and pulled me closer. "C'mon, what do you say?"

"Uh..." I really had no excuse to turn Yang down, even the introvert of a partner she had agreed with her. Not too mention the two apparently fought off a few of those Ursai Grimm too, so they could hold their own.

"Okay then, I'll tag along with you." I agreed as Yang's smile widened. "Alright gang, let's get us a relic then...which way was north again Blake?" Yang questioned, before she could say another word I wormed my way out of Yang's strong grasp and opened my Pipboy, finding north took a second. "Just up ahead you two." I said, looking at my compass.

"Is that some kind of digital map?" Blake asked as the three of us started to walk. "You can say that, it has some other functions, but the map is one of the main functions it has." I answered as I led the way.

For a good five minutes we journeyed through the Emerald Forest and did so without finding anymore Grimm either. Yang and Blake turned out to be good company to, with Yang's bubbly attitude keeping me and Blake in high spirits. As we walked the three of us chatted a little, with Yang revealing she and Ruby were from a small island called Patch, located just off the coast of Vale. But that was all she gave about her background, with Blake revealing nothing at all about where she hailed from.

"So Mr Wanderer, got any stories to share from your travels?" Yang asked.

"Maybe later." I declined as I checked my map, "We're pretty close to our destination, so we don't have much time for that stuff." I finished.

"Oh don't be like that, you do realize we still have to make our way back up the cliffs right?" Yang reminded me, "So we have plenty of time for talk."

"Oh-uh-" I stammered, trying think of an excuse to give.

"Hey, you guys see that?"

Me and Yang turned our heads after Blake's observation, where we then saw a stone circle, with some star-like pattern on it. Surrounding it were over a dozen stone columns,some of them having fallen apart from age, in the circle were a number of stone pedestals, each of them held...

"Are those chess pieces?" I observed as the three of us got closer to the the structure. Sure enough we confirmed that a few of the pedestals held either a black or white chess piece, these must have been the relics we had to retrieve.

"Some of them are missing, I guess we weren't the first ones here." Yang pointed out.

"Well, I guess we should pick one then." Blake advised. The two girls spent a minute going over their choices as I went into my Pipboy's radio section, as expected, all of the stations from my world were unavailable, their names still popped up in the radio section, but they were faded out somewhat. Closer to the top of the list were some new radio stations that I could choose. Later on I would have to check those out to see what this world's music was like, and to keep up with any current events in this world too.

I heard someone grab something and saw Yang had chosen the white knight piece as her and Blake's relic. "How about a cute pony?!" She declared as she held the knight above her head.

"Sure." Blake said with a smile as she and Yang grouped back up with each other. I looked around at my choices, a number of pieces remained, though since I didn't have a partner yet I was hesitant to pick a piece. Least I wind up getting paired with someone I hardly know.

"That wasn't so hard, right?" Yang boasted.

"Well it's not like this place is too difficult to find." Blake replied.

"Yeah, I probably could've found it without my pi-" I paused, catching myself before I said my error, "my map." I finished, the two didn't seem curious, so maybe I saved myself.

As I looked around the platform, my eyes landed on a peculiar object.

It was a knight piece, but unlike the other chess pieces this one wasn't a monochromatic white or black, but it was both. One half of the piece was black, and the other was white, and if you looked close enough you'd even see a small, grey line between them. Looking around the platform revealed this was the only polychromatic chess piece here, if there was another one then someone else must have taken it before we got there.

Deciding to take a chance, I chose the polychromatic knight. But as if it were right on cue, the three of us heard a loud, girly scream from close by.

"Some girl's in trouble, did you two hear that?" Yang asked us, I quickly dematerialized my chess piece and pulled out my sword. It was then we noticed Blake's gaze was focused elsewhere.

"Blake, what do we-" Yang stopped when Blake pointed upwards, we followed her gaze and saw Ruby falling towards us, her eyes blank white with fear, she screamed as she fell towards us.

My mind went into autopilot as I dropped the sword and ran to where I thought Ruby would land with my arms outstretched, as annoying as it would be to have to heal both my arms if they'd break it would be worth it. As Ruby neared the ground, what looked like another person came flying by and smacked into Ruby, sending both of them into a nearby tree. All I could make out was a small hint of yellow in the blur.

"That was Ruby!" I exclaimed.

"What?!" Yang asked, for the first time since I'd met her she sounded genuinely worried.

"Your sister!" I exclaimed again, waiting for Yang's brain to catch up. Before she could say anything else another roar echoed a short distance essay, we turned in time to see another Ursai as it was thrown to the ground by a familiar girl.

"Yeeeehaaaw!" Cried Nora, as she flipped over the Grimm and rolled to her feet. "Awww, it's broken." She said with a deflated tone. Shortly after, Ren made it to her side looking like he ran a marathon, "Nora! Please, don't do that again." We heard him say, only for us to realize Nora had seemingly disappeared.

"Wait, where did she-"

I felt someone stop behind me, and when I spun around, ready to deliver a punch to their face on instinct, two hands grabbed my shoulders, and I realized I was face to face with Nora.

"HI!" She shouted as I almost screamed, falling flat on my butt next to my blade. Nora loooked at the three of us with a big, friendly smile. "I know you guys, or the blue guy here." She pointed to me, "Me and Ren saw you at the school, first in the bathroom, then we sat close to you in the cafeteria, heck we even passed you in the locker rooms, I'm Nora, and that's Ren over there and he's AWESOME, I'm awesome too, but you understand! But it's nice to meet you-"

"Geez-louis, she sounds like she ate twelve boxes of Sugar Bombs before washing it down with "A Quick Fix's" entire supply of jet." I thought to myself as the hyperactive teenager practically bounced in place. Before I knew it she was over by the chess pieces, looking for a relic to pick. She stopped at the white rook and snatched it up and began balancing it all over her.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the-" Nora sang before Ren screamed "NOOORAAAA!" At the top of his lungs, the scream dripped with frustration. Nora didn't look any less happy and raised her hand into a salute, "Coming Ren!!" She answered happily as she skipped off to Ren.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursai?" Blake asked. Before hearing either of us commentate on it, me and Yang heard some more rustling from the other end of the clearing and saw-

"HOLY-GIANT RADSCO-I'M MEAN SCORPION!!" I shouted at the sight of a gigantic Grimm scorpion emerging from the forest, chasing the gladiator girl from before. The girl jumped up to dodge a swipe from it's claws before landing and continuing to run. It was then that we turned to see Ruby leap out from a tree and land next to us.

"Ruby!" Yang cheered.

"Yang" Ruby replied with equal excitement as the two sisters went in for a hug. Only for Nora to interrupt the heart-warming family reunion by jumping between them and shouting "NORA!!", scaring the two sisters.

"Why does she keep doing that? Someone needs to give her a cowbell." I thought to myself.

"Jaune!" The gladiator girl cried out as the scorpion continued to chase her.

"Pyrrha!" I heard Jaune's voice call out in response to the gladiator's cry.

"Wanderer?" Ruby said as she finally noticed me.

"When did Jaune get here? Was he the one that smacked into Ruby?" I speculated as the situation continued to grow more chaotic.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker chasing her?" Blake yet again asked the obvious. Pointing towards the gladiator girl, who was still being chased by the Deathstalker.

To my surprise, Yang was the first to snap, her hair seemed to catch fire and her eyes turn red and she let out a yell. "I can't take it anymore!!! Will everyone just chill out for two seconds already before something crazy happens!" Yang screamed as fire swarmed her, somehow avoiding us.

And just as she wished, the forest quieted down slightly, with the exception of Pyrrha still trying to escape the monster behind her. I almost heard what sounded like a timer, after it's second tick my mind played a small "ding".

"Um...Yang?" Ruby tried getting Yang's attention as she cooled off, Ruby pointed up to the sky, and when we all looked up a big shadow fell over us as a giant, raven-like monster flew over us, I could just make out a white figure clinging to its talon.

"How could you leave me up here?!" We all heard Weiss yell from above.

"I said jump." Ruby said, as if that was a good enough defense for what sounded like her leaving her partner to the creature above.

"She's gonna fall." said Blake as we continued to watch.

"No she won't." Ruby argued with a nervous look.

"She's falling." Ren said calmly, and sure enough Weiss was now plummeting to the ground. I started to rave towards the falling girl, readying once again to catch someone falling before I spotted Jaune jump from a tree above me and catch Weiss in midair. He caught her and he looked like he was once again trying g to flirt with her. The two of them then just sat there IN MID AIR, AS IF GRAVITY TURNED OFF. Moments later the two looked down and remembered physics were a thing and fell. Jaune landed on his belly, and seconds later Weiss landed on top of him, Jaune croaked out a small "ooofff". When I made it to their spot I found that despite falling from such a high height, both Jaune and Weiss looked no worse for wear.

"My hero." Weiss mocked sarcastically.

"My back..." Jaune croaked, then the next thing we knew, a loud *splat sounded from nearby, and in front of the platform laid Pyrrha, having just been smacked into the air after the scorpion finally caught up to her, she was now splayed out like some kind of rag doll.

"Great, the gangs all here, now we can all die together." Yang said with mock excitement.

"Not if I can help it." Ruby announced as she drew out her scythe, she let out a high pitched battle cry and charged towards the Deathstalker.

"Wait!" I shouted too late.

"Ruby wait!" Yang also shouted.

We saw Ruby fire the rifle part of her scythe and launch towards the monster, ready to cut into it. But the Deathstalker knocked her aside with a swipe of its claw. Ruby bounced twice before landing flat on the ground. She stood back up and brushed herself off. "Don't worry, I'm okay." She called out to us as her voice slightly wavered. To be fair, she was okay for someone who took a hit that would've shattered most of the bones in an average person's body. She then turned back and raised her scythe and fired a shot at the Deathstalker, the shot sparked slightly as it bounced harmlessly off the Deathstalker's tough, boney armor.

"Gosh, now would've been the perfect time to have a rocket launcher." I thought, regretting my lack of weaponry. Though it did little to stop me from bolting towards Ruby as the Grimm chased her, Yang followed soon after. Ruby was able to put a sizable distance between her and the Deathstalker before we saw a hail of big, dark feathers rain down from above, each striking the ground like giant arrows. Yang slide to a stop to avoid a few that landed by us, but it only made my run even faster. I soon found Ruby, but unfortunately one of the feathers had struck her cape, keeping her held to where she stood.

I skidded to a halt as Yang called out to her sister from behind us. "I'm trying." The girl cried as she tried yanking her cape free. I tried pulling against the feather with all my might, but it wouldn't budge. I could feely panicked rise as I heard the Deathstalker come closer.

I growled as my muscles strained against the feather. I turned and saw the Grimm stop close enough to hit us, it raised its stinger above its head and started to swing it down to strike Ruby.

"GET DOWN!" I screamed, time seemed to slow as I lunged to Ruby. Her face contorted to a look of horror as she approached death's door, I pushed her to the ground as the yellow stinger was just a few feet above me, I mentally prepared my self for the excruciating pain that I was about to experience if this thing didn't kill me instantly.

With my eyes clamped shut I stood there, acting as the only thing shielding Ruby from certain death, awaiting the inevitable to occur.

But it never came.

"You're so childish." A familiar, snobby voice said next to us.

Slowly, I stood up straight and opened my eyes, Ruby looked back up at me with her silver eyes, scared, but otherwise unharmed, her gaze turned to the source of the remark as did mine. We saw Weiss close by, her rapier plunged into the ground and forming a white circle with a glyph inside it. I looked back and saw a huge wall of ice that would've dwarfed a Super Mutant Behemoth. The Deathstalker's stinger was held in the wall, just inches away from where I once stood.

"And dimwitted, hyperactive, and don't get me started on your fighting style." Weiss stood up and continued to berate her partner.

"And I suppose I can be a bit...'difficult', but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together." Weiss paused, probably trying to figure out how to word what she said next. "So, if you quit trying to show off, I'll be...nicer." She finished.

"I'm not trying to show off, I just want you to know I can do this." Ruby replied.

"You're fine." Weiss commented as she went to join back up with the rest of the group. Once Ruby and her cape were free she walked around to the end of the wall and let out a "whoa".

We saw the Deathstalker was still alive and struggling to free itself from its icy prison. I heard someone running towards us and saw it was Yang who had gotten past the feathers and was rushing to her sister.

"RUBY!" She yelled as she pulled Ruby into another strong hug, I heard Ruby grunt slightly as she was hugged. "I'm so happy you're okay." Yang said happily as she loosened her grip on Ruby. She then turned to me, "And you, thank you for going after my sister. If you and Weiss didn't show up..."

"Its all good." I said. "So, now that we aren't in any immediate danger, how about we get away from the ticked off Deathstalker?" I gestured to the scorpion behind me as it struggled. The two sisters nodded and we reunited with the group.

"Um...guys?...That thing is circling back." Jaune motioned to the raven-like Grimm above us. "What are we going to do?"

I cleared my throat, and when I was sure everyone was focused on me I answered, "That part is easy, whoever hasn't taken a relic yet take one now, and let's get back to the cliffs."

"He's right." Weiss stepped forward, "There's no sense in dilly-dallying. The relics are our targets."

"Yeah, there's no sense in fighting these things, let's just take the relics and go." Ruby agreed as well.

"Run and live, that is an idea I can get behind." Jaune agreed, the same being said for the rest of our band of first years. Ruby and Jaune then made their way to the artifacts and each chose one. Ruby took the second white knight, and Jaune took the second white rook, they nodded to each other as they did.

We heard the Deathstalker screech as it struggled to free itself, Weiss's ice wall cracked.

"Time we left." Ren said in a determined tone.

"Took the words right out of my mouth Ren." I said as I retrieved my shocksword from earlier, I flipped the switch and raised it above my head, sparks danced across the metal and caught my group mates' gazes as my Pipboy updated my current quest.

-The Initiation

-Return to the cliffs

"Okay everyone follow me, I've got the directions here." I pointed to my Pipboy with the sword.

"Is that some kind of special scroll?" Jaune asked.

"I'll tell you after we finish the trial." I said.

"Right, let's go." Ruby announced.

And so, our group of aspiring huntsmen/huntresses raced up the hill, being led by me, Ruby, and Jaune coming in third.

For whatever reason it felt like it took less time to get to the base of the cliffs than it did to get to the temple. What greeted us were more ruins. On either side of us were lines of crumbling stone structures, and up ahead was a stone bridge that connected to some more stone structures that led into the misty areas of the cliff.

"Looks like we've got our way out of here." I thought to myself, silently thanking Ozpin for cutting us some slack for a change.

A loud, semi-distorted *Caw from above us warned that we weren't out of the woods yet (despite having just left the Emerald Forest), low and behold, the raven-Grimm had followed us all the way here. Each of us hid behind some of the stone pillars that stood next to the ruins, leaving me by myself with my back to a wall. I peaked out to see the Grimm land on top of the temple-like structure ahead of us as if it were its own perch, where it cawed again.

"It looks like we may have to kill this thing before we can leave then." I sighed as I atomized my shocksword, and brought out my Sniper Rifle.

A loud crash came from the forest as the Deathstalker burst through the trees like the tank it was, and it barreled towards our direction.

"Oh no, RUN!" Jaune yelled as we raced back into the open, focused on our only salvation ahead which was the bridge, at least we'd be able to avoid the Deathstalker then.

I saw Nora rush to the side to distract the bird long enough for the rest of us, skillfully leaping through a hail of feathers before pulling out a grenade launcher from behind her. She launched a few explosives at the creature before one struck its face directly, each shell exploding in a pink cloud. As she pelted the bird the Deathstalker caught up to her, but before it could get her Ren and Blake each deflected it's claws with their own blades weaponry while Weiss came to Nora's side, summing another glyph and leaping away to safety with her.

I took Nora's place as I ran and held up my rifle and started to fire at the bird. The bird Grimm didn't look to be as armored as the other Grimm we'd faced. Though what it lacked in defense it probably more than made up for in its speed. My shots looked to have some effect on it, albeit small. Plus my accuracy wasn't as good since I was also trying to avoid get clawed into two by the Deathstalker.

I put in a new clip as we reached the bridge, Pyrrha pulled out her own rifle that was once a spear and ushered us forward, she then began to take shots at the Deathstalker to give Ren and Blake some support. As soon as Blake and Ren reached the bridge Ren turned and fired his blades-pistols at the Grimm, though they didn't do much to hurt it, the creature stopped just short of the bridge luckily. With all of us on the bridge we all raced to the temple ahead of us.

But as fate would have it, the Raven began to circle back to us, and to my horror I realized it was aiming for the bridge.

"KEEP RUNNING, DON'T STOP!!!!" I shrieked as I started to fire at the bird again, hoping to steer it away from us. My shots did little to deter the winged menace. I felt the bridge shake and break apart as the monster collided with the ancient structure, I threw my rifle ahead of me and nearly threw out my arms as I tried to grab something. Luckily my hands caught a stable piece of the bridge and with a great pull, I heaved my body up onto the stable part, where my rifle sat within reach.

I felt a hand grip one of mine and help me to my feet, I saw it was Jaune who helped me up. On our side was also Ruby, Weiss,Yang, and Nora. Ruby folded her scythe up and was shooting at the winged Grimm as Yang and Weiss made their way towards the structure ahead. I looked over and saw the others had miraculously made it out safe too, but not for long. Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren were fighting the Deathstalker, and losing. I saw Blake get tossed over to Ren's feet as he and Pyrrha shot at the beast, it's armor sturdy enough to tank just about all their shots.

Jaune stopped at the edge of the bridge, "Man, we have to get over there, they need help." He said as Nora joined his side, "Yeah, let's do this." She agreed. "Yeah, but uh, I can't make that jump."

I saw Nora give a mischievous smile with a chuckle to go with it as she knocked Jaune down, before I could ask what she was planning I saw her grenade launcher transform into a hammer that could put a Super Sledge to shame. She ran to the edge of the bridge as I raced past Jaune, realizing what she was doing, and saw her jump up with the hammer and slam down into the ground. That part of the bridge became a catapult that launched Jaune over the gap as Nora stood on her hammer and activated some jet in it that launched herself across the bridge with him. She somersaulted through the air, repositioned herself with the hammer above her, and slammed it down onto the Deathstalker's face, she pressed a button and launched herself off the scorpion.

However, she slide across the stone as she landed, accidentally knocking Blake off the bridge. I watched her fall below the bridge for a few seconds before she grabbed her katana, and one gunshot latter, it latched onto the side of a pillar, held by a ribbon from Blake's arm, she then used said ribbon to swing through the bridge's underside and launch herself up to the bird Grimm after the katana released it's hold on the stone. She reached the Grimm and managed to score a few slashes on it before leaping off, landing besides me and the other girls onto the tower.

The five of us stood on the balcony and watched it, "It's tougher than it looks." Blake advised as Yang loaded her ballistic fists, "Then let's hit it with everything we got." Replied Yang as her fists were loaded.

With our firearms loaded, we all fired continuously at the Grimm, Ruby's scythe was unfolded and fired at it, Yang fired shots from her gauntlets, Blake's katana folded into an SMG, and Weiss sent balls of magic from her rapier at the bird. And then there was me, with my Sniper Rifle, hitting it with .308 ammunition. Our firing squad did little to the Grimm as it prepared to topple yet another stone structure, the tower we all stood in.

"It's coming right at us!" I warned, taking this as my sign to run. I made it to the edge as the Grimm hit our tower, sending us all falling.

In the chaos I managed to land onto one of the bridges connecting us to the tower, I turned to see some of the tower still standing, but it was now more of an open platform, with no cover whatsoever. I heard two people land next to me and saw it was Weiss and Ruby. "None of this is working." Weiss huffed as Ruby examined our surroundings. Her and my eyes first saw Blake's ribbon, which she used to grapple her way onto a pillar, then to Yang's ballistic fists, which could dish out massive punishment to any opponent.

I then looked back to Ruby, who looked like a light bulb went off in her head. "I have a plan, you two cover me." She said, launching herself away using her rifle. Me and Weiss nodded and got to work distracting the bird, I reloaded my rifle and fired more shots at it.

My attention fully faded from Jaune and the others as I focused on the bird, Ruby told Yang and Blake their roles in her plan quickly as we worked to fend off the bird, she eventually came back to us and told us what to do. Once we all understood our plans, Ruby got into her own position, and we set the plan in motion.

Yang fired a few more shots before she managed to score a shot that hit the bird's face, it cawed as it turned to retaliate, it opened its mouth as Yang jumped up, gripping the bird's beak and keeping it pried open as she fired more of her explosive shots down it's gullet. "I.HOPE.YOU'RE.HUNGRY" she shouted as she jumped off, the bird was hurt and dazed, crashing itself into the side of the cliff.

For my part, I peered down my scope and fired a shot at the bird's eye. The one I shot stopped burning as the raven screeched in pain. With it distracted, Weiss summoned more ice, trapping it's tail feather in a wall of ice. Now that it was caught, Blake fired her katana towards an opposing stone pillar where Yang caught it and fastened it to said pillar, Ruby launched herself onto it and with the help of Weiss fashioned a big slingshot.

"Of course you would come up with such an idea." Weiss replied snobbishly.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.

Weiss smirked, "Hmph, can I?" She asked rhetorically, Ruby didn't seem to get it.

"It means she can." I whispered to Ruby.

"Ohhh..." she whispered back. Before she refocused on the bird, chambering another round in her rifle. "Take the shot." She said to Weiss, who broke off the black glyph and launched Ruby forward. Firing more shots to keep herself going, Ruby made it to the cliff and had the grimm's neck clutched around her scythe. Weiss summoned more white glyphs onto the cliff's side, forming a path. And with unmatched speed, Ruby began to race up toward the cliff top, firing her rifle to keep her momentum going. When she reached the top, she gave one last tug upward with her scythe, and beheaded the grimm. Ruby landed atop the cliff, the grimm's head landing next to her as rose petals flowed freely from her.

Me and the three other girls stood there and watched the results of our work, with the rest of the winged Grimm dropping down to the bottom of the cliff, before Yang broke the silence. "Well, that was a thing." She said as she caught her breath.

It was then that I remembered Jaune and his group had been fighting the Deathstalker. I turned around and from where I stood I saw the four of them standing there, watching the aftermath of our group's work, Jaune noticed me and gave me a thumbs up, and the Deathstalker was no where to be seen. After seeing that we'd all made it through the Grimm, I took the opportunity to address the elephant in the room.

"Any ideas how we're gonna get up that cliff?"

We eventually found some stable bridges for our group to cross, and within twenty minutes, we all managed to catch up with Ruby, where Ozpin and Goodwitch were waiting for us. They seemed impressed from what I saw.

When we returned to the Academy, we were all given a couple hours to clean ourselves up and patch ourselves up if need be. So I spent that time patching up my Armored Vault suit (which didn't require much fixing) and cleaned myself off, and after checking my Pipboy, I found that my current quest was complete. Before I knew it we were all called into the atrium from yesterday as the sun began to set.

Four students were called up at a time and put into their teams based on the chess pieces they collected. Up now was a group of four armored boys.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces, from this day forward, you will work together as Team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester." The boys' faces appeared on a big holographic screen behind Ozpin, below were the letters CRDL. The newly formed team left the stage as the crowd applauded, I spotted Ruby and the others across the audience, waiting for their turn. I stood closer to the back and watched the ceremony continue.

The faces of Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora appeared next. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces, from this day forward you shall work together as Team Juniper, led by Jaune Arc" The letter JNPR appeared as Jaune looked surprised, along with the rest of us, but we all applauded anyway. Pyrrha gave Jaune a playful punch that was strong enough to send him to the floor, she put a hand to her mouth before giving him a playful smile.

And finally, Ruby and her group's faces appeared next on the screen as they stepped onto the stage. "Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long, the four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will be working together as Team Ruby, led by Ruby Rose." We all applauded as RWBY appeared on the screen. Yang once again squeezed Ruby in a hug. Blake didn't seem to be affected much by the choice of leader, while Weiss looked as shocked as I'd expected her to be.

And so, with the final team officially formed, students began to file out of the room, I started to wonder what would happen with me since I neither had a partner nor a team. Perhaps I could find other students here that weren't place onto teams, surely I couldn't have been the only one here without a tea-

"Wait a moment everyone, just wait one more minute will you?" Ozpin suddenly said, we all returned to hit spots from before. "Before we go, there is one more thing I must address. You see children, there's been a small mistake." Ozpin began. "This year, a new student like you came here to my school, and worked together with his new found friends to pass initiation and left with a chess piece like you. But because of a miscalculation and lack of a partner, he has been left without a team..." I saw Ozpin's gaze turn to the crowd, looking for a certain student.

"Will a certain Lone Wanderer please come up to the stage?" Ozpin announced. I started to feel anxious, standing in the crowd as the room filled with whispers and small glances towards one another. "Mr Wanderer? If you're here, may I ask you to come to the stage?" Ozpin requested, looking straight at me. The crowd backed away from me, forming a straight path to the stage. I felt self conscious as I walked through the crowd, picking up on all the small whispers the other students told each other as I finally made it to the steps of the stage, and found myself beside Ozpin.

"Our Lone Wanderer here retrieved the polychromatic knight piece, a special piece made to accommodate the extra student this year. And though he didn't officially partner up with any singular person, he did stick with the members of one of our new teams tonight..."

"No. Ozpin no, no no no no no no no-"

"So, the Lone Wanderer will be joining Team RWBY as their fifth member." Ozpin announced as the faces of Team RWBY flashed back onto the screen, my face with theirs. I almost couldn't hear the crowd applause as my eyes fell upon my "teammates". Ruby looked ecstatic and was practically bouncing with joy, Yang looked smug, Blake's expression was unreadable, neither seeming good or bad, and Weiss just reached a new level of shock I didn't think one could reach.

Regardless, I made my way off the stage as Ozpin finished his speech up, "Looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin smiled, "Now then, off to bed children, classes start at 9 tomorrow, so it would be best not to stay up too late." Ozpin said as he left the stage as well.

I tried to hurry through the sea of students, trying to avoid the awkwardness waiting for me. "Why Ozpin, why? Four girls with one guy, are you kidding me?" I sighed heavily as I tried to hurry, before someone rushed up behind me.

"Wanderer!" A happy voice said behind me. I turned to see Ruby push through a few more students, giving me a wide smile. "This is soooo exciting!" She squealed as she reached me.

"Oh, yeah...t-totally." I said, hiding the embarrassment that threatened to reveal itself. I felt Ruby grab one of my hands in a tight grip.

"Come on, let's go check out our room." Ruby said as her teammates caught up to her, I could only helplessly follow behind as my "leader" led us along.

This was going to suck.