Chapter 2: T.E.A.M.
"...And then, by distracting the golem, they forced it to reveal its only vulnerable spot: the crystal core hidden in its torso. With incredible agility, the huntsman managed to pierce his blade through the gem, causing the monster to collapse! But little did our hero know that the worst was yet to come. You see, the creatures commonly referred to as golems are actually controlled by a special kind of phantom-like grimm that have the ability to take over a host and…"
About two hours and a couple of kilometers prior, Jaune had made a crucial mistake. After exchanging some clumsy small-talk with Ruby, the naïve young man had thought that it could be a good idea to ask her about why she wanted to become a huntress and fight Grimm. When he had seen Yang's expression morph into one of pure horror at his question, an ominous chill had gone down his spine. But even then, he had not expected several uninterrupted hours of enthusiastic, yet mostly unintelligible rambling.
Under regular circumstances, Jaune would have been willing and maybe even thankful to listen to the girl's tales of warriors and adventures; sadly, Ruby's unregulated passion for the subject coupled with her general social ineptitude dashed any hopes of her delivering her speech with any sort of eloquence. She just couldn't seem to decide what topic she loved more, or what piece of data or huntsmen trivia was more important for her to share with her new friend. Hence, Ruby jumped from one subject to another, going on tangents that deviated into other tangents until the original point was all but a fleeting memory lost to time.
All the while, the ship they had been on had reached its destination, which, as it turned out, was not actually Beacon Academy proper. The school was visible a long distance away from where the aspiring huntsmen and huntresses had been instructed to disembark, and Ozpin himself had made an appearance to explain some sort of "Initiation Process". Of course, Jaune would have known a bit more about the whole situation if he had actually been afforded the opportunity to pay attention, but unfortunately he had been stuck at the time listening to "The legendary saga of Team STRQ" and no amount of subtle (or not so subtle) signs could persuade the girl next to him to quiet down.
Thus, Ruby, Yang and the tired young lad were now walking along with the rest of the candidates and following Ozpin, who was guiding them… somewhere, to do… something. Jaune's escalating nerves, along with his frustration toward Ruby, found some level of respite in the stunning scenery around him. Though he was no stranger to natural environments, even he had to admit that the big, old, imposing trees and the dancing light that grazed them through the canopies made the place seem straight out of a fairy tale.
The idea of fairy tales made Jaune snap out of his thoughts and look at Ruby. He hadn't fully realized it until then, but at some point his brain had successfully tuned out her voice. Meanwhile, Yang had also been apparently paying more attention to her surroundings than to her sister's monologue. Eventually, Jaune decided it was time to finally put an end to it:
"Hey! Eh… uh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt that exciting tale about the golem and all, but could we try to focus on what's happening right now? I didn't quite catch what professor Ozpin was…"
Before Jaune could complete his sentence, he was cut-off by the still very joyful Ruby: "Oh, you don't know what's going to happen now?"
Jaune was somewhat startled by her nonchalant tone. After pondering about it for just a moment, he wondered, out loud: "Am I meant to know what's going to happen?"
In a cheerful tone, Ruby responded: "Nope!"
Jaune halted his steps completely and stared at the girl, his eyes begging for some clarification, "I'm sorry you… you've completely lost me."
A hard slap on his back then made him jump up and turn to meet Yang's playful smirk. In part to thank him for derailing the conversation away from huntsmen stories, she decided to help him understand the circumstances: "Pretty much everyone who's interested in becoming a huntsman is aware that Beacon's selection process is brutal. A common misconception is that the hardest part of the ordeal is being called up in the first place, but that's actually relatively simple compared to what comes after. Every year, Beacon Academy has a special 'Initiation Exam' designed to filter out applicants who are truly qualified from those who might not be fit for the challenge of venturing out and fighting Grimm. Supposedly, the test is drastically different every year so as to make it impossible for candidates to prepare for it beforehand."
With every word coming out of her mouth, Yang could easily notice Jaune's composure gradually breaking down behind a painfully forced smile. Ultimately, Yang found herself asking the inevitable question: "Did you really make it this far without being aware of any of this?"
At that point Jaune was confronted with a choice. The young man could walk down a path of escapism to try and fool himself and others into a false sense of security, or he could meet his mistakes head on, try to cope with his situation as quickly as possible and be ready to face the harsh reality in front of him.
"Yeah, of course I knew that. I was just wondering where we were headed in the sense of… like, you know, if we were going to the mountains or the lake or whatever."
The man chose the path of lies.
As they continued walking, Yang remained in sympathetic silence while Jaune marched on in quiet despair and Ruby gleefully skipped and hopped ahead. Finally, all of the applicants reached the edge of a steep cliff, along the sides of which some peculiar looking platforms had been set up. The forest, several meters below, was covered by a dense fog. A decisive strike of Ozpin's cane on the rocky ground pierced right through the voices of all the young men and women and compelled all who could hear it to stand at attention and listen carefully.
"This Exam is designed to test if you are truly fit to become huntsmen and huntresses, so I will deliver these instructions as if you were professionals. Your mission is to retrieve items in the shape of chess pieces which are scattered throughout the forest and bring them to a sanctuary at the far end of the perimeter. To make it easier to find your destination, we have prepared some dust flares, so if you're not sure where to go then direct your eyes to the skies."
The man punctuated his words by pointing behind him, and immediately, dozens of pillars of light sprung up from the ground below, shining brightly in a variety of colors. The candidates had only a moment to marvel at the sight before their focus was brought back down by yet another tap of Ozpin's cane.
"This operation has two main objectives. The first is to force you to display your field awareness and combat ability. We've made sure that there are plenty of Grimm down there that you may approach or avoid as you see fit. I suggest you pick your fights carefully and proceed with caution, though you should also know that you're always going to be under the surveillance of professional huntsmen that will make sure you don't put yourselves into too much danger. The second purpose of this Exam is to see if you are able to be flexible and easily develop teamwork with others. The reason for this is related to… well, why don't we have a little surprise quiz? Can anyone tell me why huntsmen commonly work in teams?"
Many hands rose up in response to the Headmaster's words. Sadly, Ruby's extended and frantically shaking arm was lost far behind a sea of people taller than her. This made the young girl visibly frustrated, and Yang visibly amused.
"You." Ozpin pointed to a fierce looking young lady in the front who was clad in immaculate golden armor. She stepped forward and spoke:
"The job of a Huntsman is highly unpredictable. Assignments may involve several tasks, from rescuing people, to escorting payloads to liberating a place that's been infested by Grimm. Therefore, different skill-sets may be required for different missions and it's almost impossible for a single huntsman to be able to do it all on their own. Furthermore, several Grimm in existence are considered impossible to take down alone, so collaboration among complete strangers is relatively commonplace and often times a necessity in the life of a huntsman that works by commission."
A wave of admiration swept through the applicants after hearing the well articulated answer. Ozpin himself appeared to be quite pleased: "Indeed, as much as you might have heard of huntsmen who earn recognition as part of established teams, it is just as likely if not more that you will end up working on your own or taking on collaborative missions with people you've never met before. Hence, if you are unable to adapt your style quickly and find ways to join forces with warriors of any kind, you will always find yourself at a great disadvantage. This is the reason why I've added a little extra rule to this exam."
Ozpin then directed his cane toward one of the platforms positioned around him.
"You will launch yourselves from here and, once you've reached the bottom, your assignment will begin… with a small catch. The first person you cross eyes with after landing shall become your partner for the rest of the school year… if you manage to succeed together, that is."
Everyone around was shocked. Many of the candidates had sent in their application together with a friend or trusted acquaintance, so this sudden turn of events had thrown a wrench into quite a lot of plans at the same time. Jaune, too, was appalled, but not for the same reasons as everyone else. As the first people stepped forward at Ozpin's command to get into position, a timid hand rose up above the crowd. The Headmaster noticed it right away and raised his voice, "You've got a question?"
Many heads turned, which only contributed to the young man's hesitation, but still, he managed to get his concern out.
"Uh, Oh, Yeah! I… I just wanted to know… Sir, you mentioned something about us being… launched?"
"Yes."
"Like, up in the air?"
"Yes."
"…Without parachutes or anything?"
"I didn't bring any."
Some people laughed, others judged him for it, but regardless, the exchange ended just like that, with Jaune sinking into resigned despair. With terror flooding his veins, the young lad was forced to witness as all the applicants ahead of him got onto the platforms, were catapulted into the air and disappeared into the distance. By the time it was his turn, he had already prayed, to what exactly he wasn't completely sure… but he hoped his fate could at least serve some higher purpose beyond the ridiculous end he was about to face. At both his sides were Ruby, with all but unfazed elation in her expression, and Yang, who in contrast with her previous attitude now seemed to be getting pumped up. Jaune directed one final smile toward them, hoping they could both achieve their dreams and be happy. Finally, Ozpin gave the signal. The young man bent his knees, braced himself and, before he knew it, he was flying. Then, just as quickly as he went up, he began pummeling straight down.
A single tear ran down Jaune's cheek as he prepared for impact. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and suddenly… he stopped. All the pain and suffering and blood and broken bones he had been anticipating dissipated in an instant, and the momentum of his body was brought to a complete halt. Opening his eyes, Jaune expected to catch a glimpse of the afterlife, and indeed, he saw a celestial figure manifesting before him. It was wearing white and gold and its features were too heavenly to belong to the wretched world he had been a part of. Feeling surprisingly at peace, Jaune addressed the being:
"Are you an angel?"
It only took a couple of seconds for Jaune to realize that what he was actually staring at was the very same foggy forest he had been falling into. Looking up, he saw a spear that had pierced through his hoodie and had left him hanging from a tree. As for the 'celestial being', it had disappeared completely and been replaced by a stunning young warrior whose red hair matched her equally red cheeks. Embarrassed, and with one hand covering her face, she talked: "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm anything close to an angel."
Horrified, Jaune's tongue tripped all over itself just trying to make up for his massive blunder: "Oh my goodness, I'm so, so sorry! I-I…I didn't mean to! It's just, I was very scared and I didn't really know what was happening and I was pretty sure I was going to die so I think I just kinda began hallucinating and I saw you and I don't know what I was thinking and… I should just shut up now."
A crow cackled in the distance, almost as if it was the voice of the forest's amusement at the sight of the mute man and woman looking at each other, neither knowing what to do or say. However, in a crucial moment, Jaune reached a sort of epiphany. The young man might have been clumsy when it came to social interaction, but that was no excuse to be ungrateful.
"Thank you."
His words compelled the young lady to lift her head, revealing a couple of beautiful green eyes. Doubting for just one second, Jaune continued, "You saved me, right? I need to thank you properly. Seriously, without you I have no idea what would have happened to me. By the way, I guess this means we are partners now, right? …I'm sorry you're going to have to be saddled with someone like me. I'm Jaune, it's very nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Jaune got a little nervous when he saw the astonishment in the girl's face. She inquired, in a peculiar tone: "You don't know who I am?"
Something within Jaune was triggered by that response. Sensing an already familiar dread spreading through his chest, he answered: "Am I supposed to know who you are?"
Surprisingly, the girl's face lit up and she let out a gentle laugh. Jaune thought her smile was very pretty indeed. Finally, she spoke up:
"Not at all! My name is Pyrrha, it's very nice to meet you!"