Chapter 3: the First Step
It was now morning, as Lie Ren's eyes wearily opening and closing before waking up fully and seeing Nora Valkyrie fill their view.
Nora: Wake up, lazy butt! (dashes to the side)
Lie Ren gets up with a groan as Nora hounds him.
Nora: (singing) It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!
Nora was loud enough to get Cinnabar awake from his sleep. Groaning as well while holding onto Mr Ash.
Lie Ren sighs again and the scene changes to him brushing his teeth in the restroom while Nora continues to talk. Cinnabar was brushing his teeth from the other side of the restroom.
Nora: I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?
The scene changes to the ballroom, where the two are readying themselves. Nora is brushing her hair and still chattering while Ren is tightening the strings on his sleeping bag. Cinnabar was trying to put his plush toy Mr Ash away in his packback... only to lightly squeak, because there was no room.
Nora: We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together..." Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?
The scene changes again as the two are in the middle of eating their breakfast, Nora having a pancake hanging from her mouth as she is still talking. Cinnbar was enjoying his pancakes while this was going on.
Nora: (muffled through her food) Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together! (slurps up the rest of her pancake) Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school.
The scene changes again as the two are readying themselves in the locker room, Ren loading StormFlower and Nora still talking. Cinnbar placed his backpack away in his locker behind Lie Rin's, with Mr Ash's head still out of the bag. Cin started tightening his dust bracelets, picked up Caledfwlch and Pridwen, along with some dust-loaded arrows for loading Pridwen later, and closed his locker.
Nora: I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! (gasps) A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?
Ren: (finally replying) Nora?
Nora: Yes, Ren?
Ren: (sheathing his weapons in his sleeves) I don't think sloths make a lot of noise.
Nora: (thinks about this for a moment) That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!
Ren: (smiling and shutting his locker) Come on Nora, let's go.
Nora: Not "together-together..." (giggles)
Ren heads out while a skipping Nora follows, passing Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, who Cinnabar walks over to, as they are busy readying themselves.
Yang: Oh, who knows? So, you seem awfully chipper this morning!
Ruby: Wonder what those two are so worked up about?
Ruby: Yep! No more awkward small talk or "getting-to-know-you" stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking. (strokes Crescent Rose as she sighs happily)
Yang: Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together.
Ruby: (sighs in frustration) You sound like Dad! (shoves her weapon into the locker) Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!
Cinnabar was holding a carton of chocolate milk, but heard what Ruby said.
Cin: What's wrong with chocolate milk? (Slowly hiding it from the sisters, while they we're still focused on each other)
Yang: But what about when we form teams?
Ruby: (suddenly nervous) Um, I don't know, I... I'll just be on your team or something...
Yang: (Bringing her hair around her shoulder and stroking it) Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?
Ruby: My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?
Yang: What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!
Ruby: What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely-
Jaune: Ridiculous! (suddenly walking in between the sisters, holding a map and looking lost) There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?
The sisters and Cin watched Jaune still walking... Far enough for Ruby to finish her outburst.
Ruby: -Ridiculous!
Cin: (getting the sisters's attention) What about me? I could be in her team, can I?
Ruby: There you go Yang... (Standing by Cin's side, unintentionally making Cin blush a bit) I can be on his team.
Yang: Yeah... About that... (brushing her head) I'm pretty sure you need to break out of your shell too. (Looking at Cin)
Cin & Ruby: ...What!(In upsetting unison)
Yang: Look! I'm sorry but from what I've heard about you being with just Merrune for your trainings... me and Ruby can't be your only friends and teammates, besides I heard the teams are comprised of four (Showing four of her fingers) students each, on top of that... we might not all be even on the same team.
Cin & Ruby and lowered their heads; both discouraged.
Yang: (Giving a concerned look) At least say hi to someone else here before we go, Cin... (She noticed that Blake finally shown up at a far corner of the locker room at her locker, Yang thumb points at Blake, who) Like Blake there!
Cin: Blake? (Never hearing her name before till now, He and Ruby looked over to see Blake at her locker, who is also preparing for the initiation, inspecting her weapon, Gambol Shroud.)
Yang: Yeah, me and Ruby got to talk to her last night at the slumber party.
Ruby: Hm... (Rubbing her chin, remembering back at the entrance) You never did get a change to talk to her back at the entrance or at the slumber party... But she does seem a bit busy. (Giving second thoughts about this)
Cin quickly got his loaded weapons put away for later, and a took a deep breath.
Cin: Well... I guess I can try. (still feeling nervous)
Yang: There you go! That's what I like to see. (She gives Cin a light push forward towards Blake)
Ruby: She likes books! (Hoping that would be helpful for Cin)
Cin starts to feel chills, just stood for a moment as he nervously looked behind to see Yang and Ruby cheering him on... Quietly. Cin turns back to Blake
Ruby: (Whispering to Yang nervously) You sure about this, Yang?
Yang: (Whispering right back) Honestly... Ruby... there's a 60% change, he'll blew it.
Ruby: Oh... (looking concerned for him)
Cin was walking closer to Blake, feeling a little more timid, every stop closer.
Cin: Hi there... we... Never got to meet, after Ruby exploded, I'm... Cinnabar Caliburn-
Blake: -Cin for Short, I've heard. (finishing what he was gonna say next) Kind of busy at the moment. (as she's done getting setup with Gambol Shroud)
Cin: Oh... okay... (Rubbing his arm, feeling awfully embarrassed) Sorry... to be a bother to you... (He just about to turn away)
Blake: You're not a bother, you're just shy.
What she said, stopped Cin in his tracks, just as Blake closed her locker. She walks toward Cinnabar.
Blake: (She offers Cin a handshake) Blake Belladonna.
Cin slowly but shook her hand, calming his nerves and anxiety
Cin: Ruby saids you like books, maybe... we might find a book we both like someday? (Asking bashfully)
Blake: (gave a small friendly smile) Maybe...
After finishing shaking his hand. Blake starts walking off out of the locker room leaving Cin behind, who took another deep breath. Yang and Ruby walks up to Cin.
Yang: (Starts rubbing his head, proud of Cin, who starts blush bashfully, She turns to Ruby) See Ruby, Cin broke out of his shell.
Ruby: (Annoyingly Ignored Yang) You okay?
Cin: Yeah, Um... I think so... (Still felt a little flabbergasted) We should get ready to go.
Yang: Yep, big day alright.
Ruby, Yang and Cin, turned back to see Weiss berating Jaune about Pyrrha being on his team.
Weiss: So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?
Jaune: I guess not... Sorry... (hanging his head)
Pyrrha: Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!
Jaune: (immediately brightening back up) D'oh, stop it!
Weiss: Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!
Jaune: Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?
Weiss: All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?!
Jaune looks back just in time to see Miló strike him, sending the would-be leader flying off screen.
Pyrrha: I'm sorry!
An announcement plays on the intercom system.
Glynda (voice only): Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.
Weiss passes Jaune as he hangs from the wall of a locker on her way out. Pyrrha follows her, grabbing her spear and dropping Jaune to the ground.
Pyrrha: It was nice meeting you!
Jaune: (slumping against the locker) Likewise...
Yang: (as she, Ruby and Cin approach) Having some trouble there, lady-killer?
Jaune: I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"(accepts Ruby's offered hand and uses her to lift himself back up)
Yang: "Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best start.
Ruby: Come on, Jaune, let's go.
Cin: Yeah, come on, Buddy.
Ruby and Cin leads Jaune out of the locker room by supporting him and his damaged self-esteem.
The scene opens to the Beacon Cliff, overlooking a forest, where several students — some old, some new, and some unseen — are standing on silver tiles in front of a mug-holding Professor Ozpin and Glynda with her tablet.
Ozpin: For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.
Glynda: 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.
Ruby: What? Ohhh...
Ozpin: 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.
Ruby: (groaning)
Cin: (Also started groaning)
Ozpin: That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.
Ruby: (the shocked expression mirrors her world cracking like glass and falling apart) Whaaaat?!
Cin: Oh... No... (Feeling discouraged and nervous again)
Nora: (to Ren) See? I told you-!
Ozpin: 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.
Cin: Wha... (In Shock)
Jaune laughs nervously and then gulps loudly.
Ozpin: 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?
Jaune: (raising his hand) Yeah, um, sir?
Ozpin: Good! Now, take your positions.
Everyone strikes a pose on their tile. Nora crouches low, Ren wields his weapons, Yang raises her fists, Ruby readies her body, and Jaune is still raising his hand.
Jaune: Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. (he misses the tile under Weiss rising up into a springboard, rocketing into the air and over the forest, as the platforms activate down the line) So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?
Ozpin: No. You will be falling.
Jaune: (missing more students being thrown) Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?
Ozpin: No. You will be using your own "landing strategy."
Cin: Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! (Nervously watching everyone getting launched in the air) It's a good thing I got my lucky dusty shoes... (Starting to feel tensed)
Jaune: (still not seeing an excited Nora and Ren getting launched) Uh-huh... Yeah.
At her turn, Yang winks at her younger sister, puts on a pair of aviators, and flies off with a "Woo-hoooooooo!" a second before Ruby joins her.
Cin still felt tensed, just waiting... As he too gets launched into the wide open sky.
Cin: Thank You! Grandpaaaaaa... (his voice echoing into silence, as Cin is seen flipping in the wide open sky.)
Jaune: So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!...
He asks this part just when he finally has to get hurled with the cloud of students now making their way down into the forest below under the eyes of the teachers. Ozpin, for his part, simply takes a sip of his drink to an overhead view of Emerald Forest, where a black bird is flying slowly and magnificently, right up to the moment it gives a final shriek and Ruby crashes through it in a burst of feathers as she plummets downward.
Ruby: Birdie, no!
Ruby fires off a few rounds from Crescent Rose to slow her down, then turns the weapon into its scythe form to catch the branch of a tree in her blade and fall downward at a slower pace.
Passing by a screaming Cin was still flipping over high in the sky, yelling out of his wits end until he soaring straight downwards.
Weiss, armed with Myrtenaster, summons a white snowflake circle under her and leaps off of it to the forest below.
Ren descends (with Nora Valkyrie briefly being seen next to him at a faster speed) and spins in the air, eventually using StormFlower's blades to spiral around the trunk of a large tree and hit the ground, brushing off his clothes before looking up to see...
Yang: Woo-hoo! Yeah! Alley-oop!
Yang, soaring right over the treetops, is using her gauntlets and its fiery force to push her through the air further and further north, spinning and laughing with each blast, even when she crashes through the leaves of a tree and leaps off two trunks to tumble to the ground.
Yang: Nailed it! (runs off)
Cin started to plummet towards the towering trees, and almost face first into a massive one.
Cin: HAA HAHAA! Work shoes! Work! (Screaming with fright, as he )
Suddenly... His grey aura started appear, as his purple soles & pale green lining of his shoes started to glow... As Cinnabar prepared to brace himself for impact... Only to start slowing down, and just gently tip his forehead at the bark. Cin gasped with shock, and quickly grab onto to a branch of the tree. He looked at his lucky shoes made his grandfather.
It was a successful combination a sudden burst of wind and gravity, as Cin was now able to float in the middle of the forest, still several feet off away from the ground, giving Cin the power of gravity. Cin started trying get himself in a better floating position, holding onto the branch and avoiding looking straight down.
Cin: Okay, okay, so far so good Cin... (Speaking to himself) Now... how to move?
as a sudden burst of wind appeared, pushing Cin upwards towards the sky.
Cin: Whoa! okay okay, making really good progress now. (Still talking to himself) Now to try flying forward. (Which he does, passing by and carefully soaring right over the treetops)
Cin: Hm? (Thinking of an idea) I wonder?
Cin decided to use his semblance have his dusty shoes to take form of sollerets; giving the powers of the dusts a major boost of energy.
Cin: YEAH! I CAN FLY! Hoo Hoo! (Adrenaline starts rushing in) Now to find a Partner!
Unknown to Cinnabar, in a far darkened distance of the Emerald Forest, one of the shaded treetops... was moving on it's own... and start spreading it's long huge wings.
Pyrrha, her weapon in sword form and armed with a shield, crashes through several trees and rolls on a branch, immediately shifting her blade into a rifle and looking through the scope at Jaune as he continues to scream and fall helplessly. Pyrrha coolly transforms her weapon again to its spear form, takes a moment to evaluate her throw, and rockets the javelin deep into the forest until a "THUNK!" is heard.
Jaune: (in the distance) Thank you!
Pyrrha: (waving) I'm sorry!
In the middle of the forest, Ruby lands in a crouch, then darts off with a single mantra in her mind.
Ruby (thinking): Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find... (shouting) Yang! Yaaaang! (internally, now seeing herself partnered with various people) Oh, this is bad, this is really bad... What if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first? How about Cin, that semblance of his was so cool! But he does seem a bit too sheltered and sensitive. Well, there's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny! ...I don't think he's very good in a fight, though. Ooh! What about Blake?! So mysterious, so calm... Plus she likes books! Then again, I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her... Ugh! (shakes her head of daydreams) Okay... Who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake, aaaand...
Time seems to slow down as Ruby skids to a halt in front of Weiss as she is turning to face her. She stops just in time for their eyes to meet and a pregnant pause follows. This ends when Weiss turns on her heel and walks the other way.
Ruby: (following her slightly) Wait! Where are you going?! (stops and kicks the ground dejectedly) We're supposed to be teammates...
Weiss is seen struggling through the forest, giving an occasional grunt or "Ow!" as she pushes plants out of her way. She brushes herself off and sighs in relief when she hears a voice above her.
Jaune: (apparently struggling to free himself) Come on, come on! Stupid...!
Weiss sees Jaune hanging a few feet in the air by the spear embedded in his hood and the tree behind him. As he gives up trying to pull it out, he looks down and sees Weiss, giving an embarrassed wave. Weiss simply heads back in the direction she came from and Jaune groans in dejection.
Weiss: (as she passes Ruby and pulls on her hood) By no means does this make us friends.
Ruby: (overjoyed as she's dragged away into the bushes) You came back!
Jaune: (seeing the scene and waving his arms) Wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!
Pyrrha (below): "Jaune?" (he looks down at his savior) "Do you... have any spots left on your team?"
Jaune: (crossing his arms) Very funny... (he eventually looks down at her and gives a smile, which she returns)
The scene changes to Weiss trudging through the forest, with Ruby back a ways behind her.
Ruby: What's the hurry?
Weiss: I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your— (a smiling Ruby suddenly appears next to her) What the...?
Ruby: I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!
Weiss: (looking back, slightly amazed) When did...?
Ruby: Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters! (gets an arm around a skeptical Weiss' shoulders) You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, "Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool... (somewhat mousily) and I wanna be her friend!"
Ruby disappears in a shower of rose petals, which Weiss waves away from her face just as she hears crackling and rustling in the bushes around her.
Weiss: (calling out to Ruby) You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time! (silence, save more noises) Ruby? (the forest darkens, forcing Weiss to lean in to try and find her new partner as a pair of red eyes are seen glaring behind her) Ruby...?
Her growing fear revolves around Weiss, as multiple pairs of red eyes stare at her from the bushes and a deep growl is heard. She turns around until she spots a large, jagged Beowolf emerging from a bush and approaching her.
Weiss: Ruby!
The Beowolf roars!
End of Chapter 3
Author Notes
RWBY, its owned by Rooster Teeth.
Major thanks to the Transcripts written on RWBY Wiki
My first alternate scene of adding Blake in the locker room! I'm pretty glad yet sorry to replace this scene with Jaune, Wiess, and Pyrrha. Hope fans can understand why I did what I did, and I hope to improve my writing for more future scenes.
Thank you for leaving a review from Fanfiction: makerboy10, selfishgecko
Thank you for putting in Favorites and following Fanfiction: Riotpump, sennar0808, JcL107, Dragonlord001, Zeref the Death God