The speech the headmaster gave them was interesting to say the least, not that Jaune was in much of a listening mood having vomited not so long ago, but he could respect useful sounding words when he heard them.
The woman from the airship intercom was now taking the stage, headmaster seemingly done with his part of the first years integration.
"Most of you know what comes next, but for the others, allow me to explain." Jaune leans in, knowing when his demographic was being addressed.
"Initiation starts tomorrow, but don't expect luxury tonight, you will all be locked out of Beacon for the night, I strongly suggest you use this camping time to form ties with fellow students." Jaune was lost, wasn't this supposed to be time to rest for the big day tomorrow?
Someone seems to have a similar line of questioning as Jaune, calling out to the witchy faculty "Um, Sir- I mean Ma'am, do we get to use the bathroom first?"
What Jaune assumed was a teacher nods "The bathrooms will be the only thing open for year one students until initiation is over."
Jaune takes a sigh of relief, the situation wasn't that bad then, they still cared about them...
"Any student that does not make it to the landing pads by the ocean cliff due morning is automatically disqualified, until then, have a pleasant night."
Jeez, Jaune hadn't expect this kind of treatment, he was under the impression this was a high class hunter academy for the wealthy and popular? But now that he thought about it again... His only real view point to work from was of the man that had been trying to get Jaune to pay for forged transcripts...
He wasn't alone in the confusion, with a girl nearby going on about standards of sleep and all that, while her friend was pointing out the other side of the argument; that hunters would need to do this often.
Well, Jaune didn't expect this, but he was still prepared in a way.
Looking around he noticed some more determined students already making their way outside, to no doubt get the best sleeping spots.
He stopped to think before making a bad decision.
Jaune may be lacking in terms of supplies, having no tent or much food, but he had the bare essentials like a sleeping bag and warm clothes.
Luckily his work in progress plan wasn't anything too complicated, nothing on the level of grand strategy or anything.
Its simplicity was its strongest point.
Use the bathroom.
Jaune was looking for it now, wanting to scout it out for its potential comfyness and maybe fill his water bottle while he was there, the aimless walking was done with a fine view, it was like he was a tourist admiring the scenery.
It didnt take long to find a bathroom, and it was pretty luxurious.
White marble sinks, high quality looking toilets with polished oak seats and even red carpets for bloody sake... Beacon didn't mess around when it came to budgeting it seems.
Jaune almost felt bad he was planning to sleep here, oh well, not bad enough not to do it.
It wasn't even dark yet though, so he decided to act natural and follow the suggestion made by the witch character earlier and go socialize.
Perhaps even form a few alliances in these strange times.
Jaune filled his silver thermostat with the cool tap water, heavily modified by his sisters to the point where Pumpkin Pete stickers were ingrained into the metal at an atomical level.
Taking a quick sip to test the water, Jaune was impressed, some kind of mineral water, fresh like the streams back in his home town.
It made sense that Beacon would have a separate water system from the city a flight away and all that.
He was getting distracted it seems, like usual.
Rushing out the bathroom as somebody was coming inside resulted in a mess of limbs and exclamations, yet Jaune was surprised to look up and see long hair, pink highlights and dainty clothes.
"Uhm, sorry but this is the boys restroom, I think I saw yours on the other side of the courtyard." Jaune pointed directly towards and past the door.
"Ren! Don't tell me someone's bothering you in there!" The figure now known as Ren quickly stood up and dusted their clothing down "It was just an accident Nora! You don't have to come in here!"
The now obviously male comrade made Jaune feel stupid and clumsy. Great.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to assume-" he was cut off with a simple "No problem, looks can be deceiving in the chaos."
Jaune felt the distinct feeling this Ren guy was trying more to convince himself than reassure Jaune.
"Well... My names Jaune, nice to meet you Ren." It was said in "perfect Arc cheer."
Thankfully Ren seemed like the easy forgiveness type, and just rolled along with the pleasantries with a short bow and greeting of his own "I look forward to meeting you again, but right now I need to use the restroom."
Not wanting to be that guy, Jaune quickly moved out the way with a short "Yeah, sure thing."
Jaune also made sure not to forget the few soft and sarcastic words for himself as he escaped the future sleeping quarters "Yeah... You go Jaune, making leaps and bounds in the friends department."
He should get a cowboy hat and start calling himself Sheriff Friendship.
But time flies when you were Jaune, because the sunset was now starting up, even without him recalling much time ticking by.
Jaune allowed himself to get lost in the beauty of it, the blaze of fire across the sky boasting all kinds of colours. It was just somthimg to buy him time to think of where his classmates would be, would they sleep in trees? Grass courtyards? Some kind of bench? Who cpuld really say?
"So what we lookin' at?" The Voice, oh how it startled Jaune, it was like how he imagined being electrocuted would feel like, Just in the form of shock... Wait...
The Voice was attached to a very pink individual, with a smile plastered to her face, practically beaming at Jaune.
"Couldn't help but notice you walk out that restroom over there, suspiciously timed with Ren saying everything was alright... It wouldn't perhaps be anything fishy would it?" Her words were lightning fast and relentless in the pursuit of truth.
Jaune gathered all the social know-how he had, and placed forward his best defense.
"Uh..."
It was surprisingly effective.
"Oh what am I saying! Ren could handle himself, you would have to be super brave to go against him, I swear he is some kind of secret ninja agent or something." She just didn't stop. "I'm Nora by the way, you must have met my partner Ren back there –Not that we are partner partners or anything!" Jaune needed to escape. At all costs. This socializing thing was starting to feel a little over rated right about now...
"Nice to meet you Nora, really pleasant talk we had, real engaging and productive to our continued friendship..." He was backing off, careful as to not anger or disturb the energetic lightning spirit that went by the grand title of Nora.
It seemed to work, she started to gush about friendship and teaming up, and by the time she stopped to look at Jaune he was gone.
From a nearby bush -literally just the closest one- Jaune prayed to the two gods that she didn't realize the hedge was an obvious place to hide.
Ren saved him in the end, capturing her attention just before Nora was about to start looking for him, what a bro.
The duo eventually wonder off to sleep after discussing the elusive Jaune for a bit, the night calling them for shut eye.
Jaune couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
Probably just paranoid.
It wasn't paranoia.
The exact hedge he was hiding behind and peeking out from started to rustle, prompting Jaune to back up rapidly.
Some kind of bush Grimm? Maybe a tree spirit this time?
After another second of particularly intense rustling it resulted in an ejection of a red duffle bag, followed by a red haired student.
They performed a neat little combat roll and ended in a picture perfect crouching stance.
Awfully close to where Jaune was now sitting on his butt.
They spent a few moments gazing into eachothers eyes, being close enough in the darkening evening to see the beautifully bright colours they both inherited.
"Uh- hi, Names Jaune A-" he stopped dead in his tracks, not allowing that stupid one liner from his dad to make the light of day.
The student nods in kind "Hello there." She puts out her hand to shake and he does by pure instinct.
Something was up, this girl seemed to be kind and well manned, yet didn't perform what Jaune was taught to be a natural response to someone giving out their name.
He hated to do this because it made him sound weirdly aggressive in his opinion, but hopefully she was just forgetting the formality and it was all just due the odd situation they were in.
"And you are...?"
What Jaune didn't expect was the hand he was shaking to freeze up along with the smile she wore, the girl then started squeezing down on his hand a little bit harder once she resumed a natural animated state.
"Pyrrha, its nice to meet you Jaune." It was said with genuine happiness as far as Jaune could tell, which was weird considering the smile she wore and the glint in her eyes sent shivers down his spine.
"Yeah, sure is." Jaune refrained from forcing a nervous laugh, not wanting to give away his thoughts or feelings. Because honestly, those feelings were if he didn't leave now he wouldn't have another chance, so he gets up and starts the process of gaining freedom from anymore social interactions.
"So why were you in the bush? Not that it was weird or anything! You know, since I was doing pretty much the same thing." He played it off, not wanting to sound too judgmental, but still wanting to be less than desirable for conversation.
Pyrrha winced but caves easily "Hiding from someone." Jaune nods sagely "Know what you mean, I did the same."
She tilts her head with a small smile at that, seemingly finding something amusing "You don't say... Almost like it was destiny..."
That last part was a tad bit odd for Jaune so he doesn't even try to understand the implications. Besides, this was his chance to make an escape, not inquire.
"So uh, it was nice to meet you Pyrrha, but I really have to find myself a bed for tonight." She looks like she wants to offer something or maybe make a comment, but after glancing at her duffle bag just nods in understanding instead.
Jaune couldn't think of a good plan to conceal the fact his bed was in the bathroom. He ends up just biting the bullet and goes for it, hopefully Pyrrha doesn't make the connection and assumes he just needed the bathroom before finding a bed.
He woke up to screams.
For a moment Jaune didn't even know where he was but his mind quickly catches up when gunshots start sounding out next.
What? Initiation was tomorrow! What's going on? He didn't sleep late or anything, the high bathroom window was pitch black and was proof enough.
Checking his scroll resulted in the exact time being three in the morning.
Then he heard it.
The slow thumping.
The slow and resonating thumps of a heavy behemoths footsteps.
The sounds were ominously coming from outside the bathrooms door, getting ever closer to fimdimg him sleeping under the lime of sinks.
This was bad, Jaune didn't have much training as a hunter yet, nor any idea what he was up against.
Quickly getting his weapons and armour back on, Jaune started planning a hasty retreat.
Hide next to the door then dash out after whatever is outside breaks in? No, too risky.
The roof vents looked too small, so that was a no go as well.
...But there were open windows!
The door flies open suddenly, sending out a loud crack as it hits the wall, the human figure in shape but monster in Jaunes eyes looms in the doorway, bulky towering frame obscuring the entire thing.
The giant man was wielding some kind of massive blade, wider than anything Jaune had seen before.
Jaune did not scream like a girl while rooted to the spot, anybody saying otherwise was delusional and needed help of the professional kind.
"Uh, hey there, don't suppose you could tell me whats going on?" Jaune hoped that he would at least slow the giant down but it was in vain, the man started walking directly towards him while reaching behind his back for what Jaune assumes is another weapon of mass destruction.
Time to leave.
Jaune bolted for the window, running faster than he had ever gone before.
Just before he managed to jump through the window, a tidal wave of fluids washed over him in a cold and sticky mess.
Checking himself out in the dark Jaune used his scroll to highlight the fact he was now blue.
There was paint over every speck of clothing, armour and skin.
Then a body comes flying out the thick mist, crumpling into a folded mess of limbs and groaning like a zombie.
This individual was wearing some kind of skirt, but whatever colour it had been was long since replaced by a black abyss of paint.
Jaune quickly moves over to help the short comrade in need.
"You okay?" They quickly spin around to look at him, the eyes of someone who has been hunted all night looking up at him "Run, Mister Blue."
It was said with so much conviction, so much genuine worry, it got Jaune to miss how absurd it was to be called Mister Blue.
"Listen, Black, I'm not leaving you behind, I will piggy back you if I have to." She was looking at him in awe now, mouth slightly agape.
She muttered something about chivalry before shaking her head and getting up off the floor "No need Mister Blue, I am well enough to walk."
They trade nods before looking around suspiciously at the distant sounds of combat and short screams in the thick cloud of mist so dense you couldn't see further than several meters.
Jaune takes the initiative "We need a plan, hey, Black do you know where those Bullhead docks are?"
"You can call me Ruby and yeah, its somewhere that way... Pretty sure anyway..." Her words didn't hold much directional value but the outstretched hand was all the information Jaune needed to get his mental heading on track. "Thanks, and you can call me Jaune."
With a new friendship born in the chaos, they pushed on into the somewhat-known unknown night.
They didn't get too far before encountering the next person.
Blond, feminine and in a ready boxer stance.
Ruby immediately shouts out with a "Yang!" to which the newly named individual whips around and shouts "Ruby!"
Jaune knew it was all very hunky dory, but can't help but ask the obvious "So where you posed for a fight just in case? Or did we interrupt something?"
Yang's face went from caring reunion to panicked remembrance in front of Jaunes very eyes.
"Get down!"
That was all the answer Jaune needed, he dashed downward for the sweet safety that the floor provided.
The danger being in the form of some kind of maniac with a god damned rotary canon!
The bullets tore through the mist, surprisingly hitting yang even when she was the one to warn them in the first place.
Had she been singled out perhaps? The only explanation that came to Jaune in the moment.
But, instead of becoming a very holy figure worthy of a religious uprising, the bullets instead harmlessly splat into bursts of yellow paint.
They came in thick and fast, understandable, considering the delivery system being used. It painted yang almost as thoroughly as Jaune had been splashed.
Ruby saved everyone from further rain by taking action, she grabbed both of them by their shirts -or in his case chest plate- and dragged them further into the mist, taking presumably a longer but safer route to the bullhead docks.
Thankfully, they hadn't been followed, the reason either being Ruby's suspicious speed or the chaingun happened to need a reload.
Jaune can only imagine the amount of people needed to be shot in order to complete a drum of ammunition from that monster.
They arrived at the docks, sneaking through back alleys and behind bushes whenever possible, but they made it without further opposition.
Black, blue and yellow blending into the small crowd that had gathered there, the paints trio feeling at home amongst the rainbow assortment of potential students.
The cliffside slowly lit up, fog thinning as the rest of the morning came around along with other students still making their way to the docks.
With hardly any sleep and being caked in drying paint, it was a little frustrating to see the teacher from yesterday walk over like nothing was wrong.
"I see you have all been prepared for initiation, you have your senior year students to thank for that." She talked while opening her scroll to contact what Jaune can only assume is another faculty member.
So the painting process was part of the greater over arching process that is this mysterious initiation?
By the brother gods was Jaune confused.
"Please, reserve your questions for after I explain the rules of initiation as we wait for the Airship to arrive."
Jaune felt as if he was personally being spoken to, which he also felt was a bad thing, considering pre-made speeches like these back in his home town were usually reserved for what the locals considered dumb tourists.
Was... Was Jaune exactly what he swore to destroy?
"The initiation is simple enough. You must have noticed by now that students have been painted into pairs-" Jaune hadn't noticed actually, but he continued to listen without even so much as a dip in his strained smile. "-These teams will be flown above the Emerald Forest inside the Airship, I will then proceed to paint a young Beowulf pup to your respective team."
The information was coming thick and fast, but he was pretty sure he understood so far, they were probably going to be tasked with hunting it or something.
"This Beowulf will determine your continued participation in the initiation, if it is killed you are eliminated, I then use my semblance to neatly lower these teams in a forest clearing around an ancient ruin. last six teams standing pass."
But... Wouldn't the Beowulf try and kill him in the process? Its not like the pup would team up with him! This sounds like a bad idea... He wanted to know who came up with this twisted initiation!
Jaunes inner monolog came to an abrupt end thanks to a distant whine becoming a much closer and louder roar as a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) airship came in for landing.
It surprisingly wasn't a Bullhead, being wider and longer, having four engines in a stable square formation to compensate for the added girth.
Jaune had never seen this Airship in person before, only ever in military magazines showcasing all their tech to increase the publics sense of safety.
He remebered this one in particular because of his personal fascination with support roles, the Airship being the workhorse of military mobilization, for heavier equipment than what a standard four man hunter team could offer.
Things like armoured cars and such, but in this case, he guessed an entire potential class of students packing weapons of all sizes.
The Mule Molar touches down with engines blowing away any residual mist hanging around, creating a very dramatic entrance worthy of such a beast of a machine.
The back of the airship starts to open up, the large door doubled as a ramp when fully deployed.
The interior was wide enough to fit two cars side by side with a little bit of wiggle room for passengers and ground crew to fit along the edges.
There were no vehicles inside now, leaving a lot of open space even with the cages filled with Beowulf pups neatly secured down the center.
"Anyone else feeling a little bit weary?" A blue hand lands on his shoulder to that statement, with the familiar voice of Pyrrha "Worry not Jaune, I'm sure We will be fine."
His flight or fight instincts flared up momentarily at the way she emphasized We, like she casually implied bodily harm to anyone that dares challenge their integrity as a team.
Honestly? Jaune didn't know if he felt better...
"I see we became a team, what a coincidence ha ha." Again with the forced chuckle, his last resort to hiding deeper feelings.
"Oh? Yes! Coincidence, right. Very fateful and all that." Jaune was squinting at her now, fully noticing how her eyes wouldn't lock with his for too long, or even the more obvious "cough" into her fist after that flimsy reply.
Jaune was morbidly curious "What did you do?" He didn't really expect a strait answer, so wasn't surprised when Pyrrha didn't give him one "Nothing! I mean- What are you talking about?"
God, they were both helpless, but she at least seemed competent outside of talking to him if she managed to force getting on his team somehow.
Thats more than Jaune could say for himself in the end.
Teacher Witch started corralling everyone into the Mule Molar, where everyone then lined against the hull where they got strapped in by the chords and buckles floating and snaking into place.
Witch was an accurate title in more ways than one it seemed.
She just happened to look him dead in the eyes at that very moment too... Jaune was pretty sure he was going to be having nightmares later.
Pyrrha leans over from her spot on the wall next to him to whisper "Have you heard the rumors about Glynda's semblance being able to bind atoms?"
Jaune just stared at her "who?"
Pyrrha understandably looked as confused as Jaune did "You know? Glynda Goodwitch? The most powerful Huntress in recent recorded history?"
He did in fact, not know.
Pyrrha gave up with a small smile that was more for herself and a fallback in these types of situations "Our instructor, Jaune."
"Wait? She's actually named Goodwitch? I was only calling her Witch in my head because of her mythical look and aura..." Pyrrhas eyebrow twitches before she doubles down on staying neutral, reaching levels of calm only obtainable when dealing with fanboys so obsessed with her that they spend life earnings on her merchandize.
"Jaune."
It was the only word spoken, but Jaune knew when a tone was used like that there was no winning.
"Right, sorry." He wasn't even exactly sure what he was apologizing for, but he would be caught dead before he didn't apologize to that tone, his Arc upbringing a sturdy compass in these questionable times.
This was all while cages in the middle of the cargo hold where being stressed, with Beowulf pups trying their best to get out through any means nessecary.
Biting, scratching, clawing and heavy sniffling were non-stop throughout the process of taking off.
The takeoff was quick too, he immediately felt the G-forces involved as the pilot wasted no time in turning and flying off the cliffside. While the Mule Molar was big, it stayed light thanks to its built in long-lifetime gravity dust, integrated into its very frame and superstructure. All in an effort to carry the most amount of cargo.
He remembered how dust experts flipped out over the fact that the SDC started mining and selling the floating islands around Lake Matsu for the rare but almost permanent dust. (Compared to fire dust which ran out almost all at once, and was easy to find.)
Really, the only reason the Atlas military wasn't purely made of floating vehicles was the absolute cost of the stuff.
How did this matter? Well, Jaune was desperately listing things that would keep thoughts away from sabotaging the entire Atlas Airship industry, a good one being how rarely he would have to fly in such a deceptively nimble aircraft.
If only they had more cargo so the pilot had to take it slower, Jaune would be saved the feeling of needing to throw up.
The guy to Jaunes right spoke up "Don't you dare get any on me Vomit Boy." Looking over, it was some large Bronze guy.
He really wasn't in the mood for this "No promises."
The guy clearly didn't like the sass, but was stopped by the fact the aircraft was stopping and Glynda started getting everone ready.
And by ready, Jaune meant unstrapping them while holding them in place with her semblance, while also simultaneously opening the cages and some paint cans for the Beowulf pups.
The pups thankfully being secured by her semblance as well, small mercies.
After a long and busy five minutes everyone was floating outside with Glynda standing on top of the Mule Molar in the middle of the students circular formation.
"Just a reminder that tournament rules apply to any student on student fights, with the faculty being ready to intervene if necessary." The words were said while a set of strips were glued below Jaunes eyes. Immediately Jaunes vision was augmented.
He could now clearly see want looked suspiciously like health bars above his fellow students.
He tried covering a green bar with a single finger placed above Goodwitch's head and it seemed to work.
Pyrrha who was floating nearby and on the other side of his friendly Blue Beowulf comments on it, clearly seeing somone who was unfamiliar with the tech.
"Its just a hologram in front of your eyes, you get used to it quickly, mostly used in tournaments so combatants don't have to look down to their scroll or up at the same match billboard the crowd uses." Jaune supposed that made sense, but was all the tech really compact enough to fit inside these little strips?
Now that he thought about it... His scroll wasn't very large at all, and he knew that had many more features.
Pretty cool, all things considered.
Pyrrha comments again "The other use is for hunting Aura enhanced criminals, pretty useful against any human opponent really."
Huh, he supposed so.
"So like, what are these tournament rules exactly?" Pyrrha does a double take.
"Makes sense if you don't know about me." He heard her softly comment before she speaking up again "Pretty much anything goes until your opponents Aura falls into the red, once there, you win and any more hits are an immediate disqualification or in this case, expulsion."
"Obviously, you avoid any attacks you know can one tap a Hunter regardless of Aura levels, some people are lucky enough to unlock those sorts of semblances as I'm sure you are aware." Jaune did, everyone knew a little bit about aura and semblances, there was a class dedicated to it in school after all, people liked knowing their child wouldn't panick and kill somone by accident when naturally unlocking a dangerous semblance.
"Oh I don't have to worry about that, I don't have a semblance yet." Pyrrha nods solemnly, not wanting to touch on a potentially sore subject, some people just didn't unlock a semblance at all.
And then they were slowly descending.
Jaune spoke up before they reached tree top level "Any plan of action?" Pyrrha who had been surveying the teams to their immediate flanks swivels her eyes back to him.
"Worry not Jaune, my plan is to win."
Was his team mate for real? What kind of plan was that? Jaunes inner strategist recoiled due to pure cringe factor.
"Okay, I think I have a better idea, the moment we are free of this semblance we make a dash for the forest, it increases chances of victory greatly-" Pyrrha interrupts him with surprising force "No. It doesn't, you are forgetting about the other Grimm, the forest is infested with them Jaune, everyone will be thinking the same as you and before you know it its you and me alone in this clearing if we stay."
They were almost to the floor now, a large stone altar seemed to be waiting for their team.
"We use the first few seconds to snipe a Beowulf off our immediate opponents-" she motions to the Green and Bronze team to each of their sides. "-After that, regardless of the attacks success we rush the center of this clearing-" Pyrrha nods her head towards the ruin of a temple sitting in the field of wild grass. "-and fight anyone we find there with the same idea, taking out our biggest threats in this entire initiation first... Or second depending on our first attacks success."
Jaune just floated there in silence, in awe.
Did she just out-strategy him? No... It can't be...
He must be getting sloppy, those were rookie mistakes he had made, of course the forest was an obvious hiding spot... The only problem with her plan was...
"Will we actually be able to beat whoever thinks the same as you and tries to take the temple as their own? Keep in mind, I came to this school to learn, not because I am some insane martial artist." Pyrrha smirks at that.
"Would now be a good time to mention I am the fourth time Mistral Regional Champion and world reknown hunter on hunter expert?" Jaune didn't hear even a hint of gloating, just a pure factual statement to get him to understand she knew what she was doing.
Well, he didn't exactly know how strong that made her, but if she felt that confident in her ability to basically 1v2 them... He wasn't going to stop her.
The Altars were now firmly being stood on by everone.
There was a long moment of tension where everyone was already flexing Aura enhanced muscle to move at break neck speed but Glynda's semblance was still holding them in place.
That tension grew ever stronger both emotionally and physically for the longest second in Jaunes life.
It all happened so fast and seemingly at once.
While thier closest Green and Bronze opponents turned and ran for the forest, Pyrrhas hand had already blurred upwards, with her weapon seemingly deploying before she even touched it and jumping into her ready grip and firing stance.
By the time Jaune had deployed his shield and sword combo Pyrrha was firing her rifle at an exposed Green Beowulf, who was chasing its Green "team mates" and naturally lagging behind because of how fast a hunter could run.
Jaune described it as run, but really, it was more accurate to say jump or leap at speed.
Pyrrhas first shot wasn't aiming for the humans becuase they were non-threats at this point, they clearly never had to deal with protecting valuable targets, or maybe it was just the fact they were Beowulf pups? Jaune couldn't tell.
But regardless the solid metal slug propelled by fire dust flew down range and clipped the Beowulf dead in the head, hitting it directly in its Core behind the skull.
It died and vaporized itself into black smoke faster than team Green could reach the treeline.
The look on their faces when Goodwitch stopped them in their tracks and started to raise them back to the Mule Molar was priceless.
"Pyrrha! you merciless beast!" He meant that in the most complimentary manner possible, but Pyrrha probably had never been called that in her life, since her battle focus broke into a blush of embarrassment at being called such a thing.
"N-no! Its just a serious-" they were interrupted by a little blue Beowulf leaping at Jaune, going for the jugular.
Jaunes shield came up just in time and so the jaws clamp down on the family heirlooms top edge.
"Woah, these things are aggressive for something so small, I bet this guy would fit in my hoodie." Pyrrha does a perimeter check before commenting "You are a genius Jaune, turn around."
Her words were said while she pried the jaws open and got it off his shield. "What- I didn't mean-" he was cut off with Pyrrha turning him around herself.
She directed the Beowulfs mouth to Jaunes armoured collar and watches it clamp down and start to chew away harmlessly while sitting in the hoodies hood. "Perfect, guard him well Jaune. But we need to get going, that Ruin isn't going to stay empty."
Funnily enough, the ruin didn't have any human or Grimm presence at the moment. It did however have enough ammunition and dust explosives to start a small revolution.
"Uh..." Was all Jaune could really say to this.
Pyrrha just smiled awkwardly "A reward for bravery?" She didn't really sound all too convinced of that herself.
Jaune spied some of the dust with a tactical eye "We can use it to fortify this position with traps, maybe give me a fighting chance with some defensive ice dust if things go rooster up." Pyrrha gives him an odd look and comments on the wrong part of what he said "Rooster up?"
Jaune opened up his mouth to defend his proposition before actually hearing what Pyrrha had to comment, and was left with a silent working mouth at her query.
Spluttering for a second Jaune stops and takes a deep breath "Its just an expression from my home town."
Pyrrha pushed for more info "So what does it mean?" Jaune stopped what he was going to say again, and sighs.
"Basically whenever you get a Rooster to fly or jump, its when things surprised it, or while its fighting... So we use it to reference whenever something goes wrong." Jaune immedialty continues with "Shouldn't we be doing something more productive right about now?"
"Jaune, team bonding is important." He... Couldn't fault her for saying that "But is now really the best time?"
"The battlefield is where the strongest bonds are formed." She said it like she was referencing some ancient scroll of wisdom.
"Ugh, never mind, lets just set up some traps yeah? Because I am not fighting someone on your skill level, seriously, how is this a valid form of initiation, people could have any range of training or semblance strength..." His little rant was halted by a single blue finger gently stopping his lips from moving "Its ok Jaune, we will win."
Just as Pyrrha said that, three Red figures pop into existance a metre off the floor. They land after the little fall and dash at the startled Blue team.
Teleportation semblance!
Jaune didn't have much training, but he made sure the first thing he knew was how and when to use a shield.
His shield came up just in time to catch the blurring weapon and send it riding up the surface and into the sky.
It wasn't just blurred because of the speed, it actually seemed to be somwhat ethereal in nature, probably not the teleporter if he had a weapon like this.
Its state was questionable, but its sharpness was undeniable, bright sparks contrasting with the dark sickly green blade.
Jaune hated this, he really did, facing people who had semblances while he didn't. Those blades probably did somthing ridiculously over powered, maybe some kind of corrosive effect on aura? Maybe even sickens Jaune instantly while ignoring his aura? It was so bull sh-
Pyrrhas rifle -now a spear- soars over Jaunes right shoulder and directly into his opponents face.
What!? Wasn't that her weapon? But she should be battling some kind of teleporter right about now?
Jaune stupidly looks away from his opponent currently disorientated and probably down a huge chunk of aura, just to glance at Pyrrhas situation.
She had him on the ropes.
Somehow, the teleporter couldn't touch her with his sword and was being overwhelmed just by Pyrrha wielding her shield like some kind of glorified knuckle duster.
She was fast, faster than even a normal aura user, evident by how utterly slow the teleporter looked in comparison.
That of course, was when he wasn't teleporting.
But whenever he did teleport, he always seemed to end up in the air, a metre or more away from anything solid.
A drawback? How did his clothes work then? Or teleporting with his team mate and Beowulf pup?
Jaune was gently reminded of his own opponent when Pyrrhas spear flew past his head and back into her own fight.
Jaune whips back around, all too aware he nearly cost them their position in Beacon, since "Beowulf Blue" is on his back and had been presented to mister ethereal baldes rather nicely.
Jaunes timing aligned with his opponents recovery, because they were now in a standoff.
A new weapon warps into existence just above Red Team Member #1 while he throws his last blade at Jaune.
This was annoying but Jaune could deal with it so far, carefully using his shield to ricochet the blade away Jaune focuses back on the next weapon.
It was a wicked looking spear, barbed and very dangerous for a shield user like himself.
Great.
Just as Jaune readied his sword to deflect this one instead, he noticed a Red Beowulf pup running into the fight, from behind his opponent no less.
They hadn't secured him or anything? Sloppy.
Just as Jaunes opponent was going to throw the spear, the back of his knee was bit down on and sent the stance crumbling under the surprise and shock.
Jaunes ready sword had a new purpose.
For once, an aggressive swing was delt by Jaune in actual confidence.
It was that same confidence that brought all his strength into the strike.
The opponents neck was a critical strike if there ever was one. The two thirds of aura remaining in his holo-health bar flew down to around one fourth, and now pulsed a sweet cherry red.
Wow, his first takedown? With help from not only Pyrrha, but a Beowulf pup of all things? Jaune will take it as a success regardless.
Speaking of Pyrrha... Jaune turns to check if she needed any help at all.
She seemed fine, more than fine actually, in control would be the words he uses to describe her situation.
The Red teleporter was now trying something new, not teleporting, but trying to touch Pyrrha, maybe for a grapple of some kind?
Wait no, that was the other part of the puzzle, his semblance needed direct touch with something to teleport didn't it?
Probably planning to wreck havock with Pyrrhas stance when he teleports both of them upside down or something then teleports himself back upright before they hit the ground.
Except Pyrrha must have figured this out a long time ago, since she wasn't letting him near her body, her shield and now rifle both being used as range abilities while she dodges his admittedly lacking martial arts skills.
It was working too, his aura was slowly depleting as he took the odd bullet or blow from a thrown shield as the fight went on.
It was mesmerizing.
He even tried teleporting directly above Pyrrha to fall on top of her just to touch her.
For some reason his fall wasn't going directly down, like he caught a strong thermal and glides to one side while Pyrrha dodges the other way.
"Jaune! The pup! Kill it!"
Oh right!
He dashed for it, the Red Beowulf busy drooling all over the other Red team mate nursing his bruised neck.
The teleporter tried to intercept, but Pyrrha being some kind of goddess of war, predicted exactly where he would teleport to, and shot in advance.
The only non armoured bit of the teleporter had been his head, and Pyrrha nailed it as he fell down to the pup.
Jaune who had swung for the Beowulf but now had a Red body land on it, hit that instead.
Also depleting his aura enough to be considered in the red by Jaunes eye display thingy.
Pyrrha had been the one to down the teleporter, Jaune had really only delivered the final blow.
Turns out, most of the teams had eventually been worn down and hunted down by the Grimm, not other teams.
Because they had all mostly just ran from eachother, and anyone stupid enough to face Pyrrha was and himself in the temple was a forgone conclusion.
The only noticeably aggressive team of the other five left over had been Yellow, a team of girls who Jaune couldn't really see much features of, but knew one had to be Yang.
There was also Black, also made up of two girls, but in skirts, to which Jaune immediately couldn't tell who was Ruby thanks to both of them being short as well.
The rest were team Pink, Bronze and White. Leaving their team of Blue as the sixth and last team.
They were on the cliff watching as all the failed students were packed into a passenger airship and on their way homes, with an evening sun lazily sitting there glaring at them.
And all Jaune could think about was how badly he wanted a shower and sleep.
"You know where the showers are?" The whispered question was directed to Pyrrha but Goodwitch "responded" by talking to the gathered students "Showers are the squat building connected to the year one dormitories over there."
She could get away with such a vague direction thanks to the building being obviously made to stand out and give easy access to year one students, being the first building on the right of the main pathway off the docks.
Glynda's hand lowers from pointing at the very bland looking square building -Jaune assumes with the Beacon budget, it was intentionally so- and speaks again "A map of the school grounds will be sent to you tonight, along with updated schedules. Your rooms have your team colours on the door, goodnight."
That was all she had for them it seemed, heading directly down the same path they needed to follow but not stopping at the year one dorms.
The group of teens all just gather in front of the grey home for a second, seeing the irony in being a rainbow of colours in contrast.
"Well, heres to the first year in beacon!" It was Nora, pink paint previously hiding her identity from Jaune "Nora!?"
"Jaune!? You made it!" He chuckles at that but redirects any more questions about himself with a tactical "Did Ren?"
Her pink team mate speaks up with Rens voice "Yep."
Team Bronze and Silver don't seem too interested in the chat and immediately head inside for hot showers, Jaune recognized the build of a team Bronze member, that guy that had called him Vomit Boy.
"Mister Blue!" It was Ruby, black skirt swaying with her swift movement and killer hug.
Pyrrha cracks a small dangerous smile "Who may this be?" Jaune, not currently concentrating on Pyrrha and completely missing the subtle change of mood, pipes up with a simple "She's a friend I made during the painting process last night."
"I see, well, we best get moving Jaune, I want to work out what our room rules are going to be before we shower." The comment got everyone thinking the same and before they knew it, the rest of the teams filter inside to get everything out the way for the sweet embrace of deep sleep.
A/N; I may or may not have written this while listening to various hype electro swing, hardwave and psychedelic rock mixes, I feel it heavily leaned the whole story to the "Not very serious" category of fics.
But hey, you see no complaint from me.
Disclaimer; don't expect this story to update much.
Also, as a side note for readers following my other story "The Tipping Point": Worry not, next chapter is well past half way complete and this was just to get back in the mood for writing as a whole (I'll explain the situation in more detail with that chapter for obvious reasons).