In the freshman locker Room of Beacon Academy, a male student with feathered black hair sat on a bench near his weapon storage unit, a ponytail down to his rear, and a single purple streak of hair to the left side of his head. He wore a green tailed coat with black patterns on the waist and golden trimmings, and a pair of comfortably fitting tan-pants and black shoes. On the gun belt wrapped around his hip and under his coat were a set of pine green semi-automatic pistols in their holsters. Ignoring the many freshmen surrounding him, he ate his breakfast – a burnt pancake with no toppings in a napkin – and meditated.

"It's Morning!" A female student with bright orange hair and aqua eyes hopped energetically behind him, holding a pancake between her lips. "It's Morning! It's Morning!"

The black haired student sighed, quickly finishing his pancake.

The female student tossed her pancake into the air, opening her mouth and letting it fall onto her tongue. She chewed it up swiftly and swallowed, patting the other student on his shoulder rapidly. "Ren, I can't believe its been a whole day at Beacon!" she kissed the back of his head. "Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, but you know, you're a perfect student, but me, well, I'm me!" she placed her hands over the heart-shaped cut to her chest on her bizarrely armored vest, kicking her heel up, then jumping on top of Ren's shoulders with her calves under his arms. She sat comfortably on his head, her pink skirt draping over his eyes. "It's just so crazy, you know!" she rocked back and forth on him.

Ren blushed as he chewed the last bites of his breakfast and pushed his head out from under her skirt. He stood up from the bench, and the female student leaned back, flipping away from him, landing on her hands and swinging her feet down until she jumped back to a stand. "What are the odds that we'd still be together like this, right?" she pushed her hands to her hips and straightened her back, a prideful smile on her face for a moment until she suddenly turned her head away and rubbed her forearm. "Oh, shoot. I probably shouldn't go around saying it so loud!" She held out her open palm. "But, its weird right? That we're still together?"

Ren walked to his weapon locker, turning back to her and replying with a light grunt.

"Right..." she said. "Well we should make sure we end up on the same team." she walked behind him and watched as he opened his locker. "I know! We'll bribe the headmaster!" several students looked at her in surprise, some laughing and other's with repulsion. "No, that won't work. He has the school. Wait, I know! We'll make a signal, so we don't get lost in the forest. Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora?" Ren replied grabbing a unique dagger from his locker and attaching with its scabbard to his gun belt.

"Yeah?" the female student answered.

Ren looked to both sides, squinting a little, "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

Nora stepped beside him, her index finger on her lips as she thought to herself for a moment, "That's..." she grabbed his head and pressed it against her chest, shaking him, "...why it's PERFECT. No one will suspect we're working together!"

Ren smiled as Nora let go of him, stepping aside and waking toward the exit, "Come on, Nora. Let's go."

Nora squealed, "Together-Together-Together!"

Along their path, they crossed the Branwen sisters. Ruby crouched on one knee, examining Yang's injuries as she lifted the flap of her jacket and the bandages covering her scabs. She held a pair of large tweezers in her hand, pinching a piece of sharp lead buried under the skin from the scuffle the night before.

"Yang! This is, like, the hundredth time!" Ruby scolded her, trying to pull the metal out as it resisted. "You've got to be more careful. What am I going to do if I lose you. Don't you think about your little sister, and how upset she'd be?"

Yang gritted her teeth, squeamish from watch her skin being tugged, "Ah, be careful. You're overreacting, sis. Besides, now I know my way around the city a little better. Did you see those two just now." She looked over at the exit, watching Ren and Nora shut the door as they left the room. "I wonder what's up with them, anyway?" She breathed through her teeth. "Gods, sis, just pull the thing out already!"

"I'm sorry!" Ruby gasped. "I don't want to hurt you."

Yang took a deep breathe, "Okay, I'm going to count to three, then you can pull as hard as you can, okay?"

Ruby pouted, worry in her eyes, "Okay. Here it goes. One..."

Yang followed, "...Two..."

"Three!" Ruby pinched the lead shard and pulled it out of Yang's skin in a quick motion, a much larger piece coming out than they expected, but not enough to further her injuries.

"Ah!" Ruby dropped the tweezers on the floor and backed up with her hands over her lips.

"Ah Tah tah tah..." Yang jumped up and down for a few seconds, rubbing her injury until the stinging stopped. "ouch, ouch...thanks, sis." She pulled her bandages back down over her side and readjusted her jacket.

Ruby closed her eyes, opening them again when she settled her mind, "Anytime, Yang."

Yang cracked her neck, "You sure have gotten better at controlling your stress. Haven't seen you have a meltdown since we got here."

Ruby smiled, placing her hands behind her back and on Crescent Rose in its portable rifle form. She began to sing as she removed the weapon from her belt and held it in front of her, caressing it. "Its a new daaaayy … a whole new dayyy!"

Yang raised a brow, "You seem awfully chipper this morning?"

She pressed a switch on Crescent Rose, transforming it into its scythe form, then caressing the scope on the pole. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I know there's a lot going on, but aren't you excited!" she placed the edge of the blade on her cheeks. "We're going to be Huntresses!"

Yang crossed her arms, grinning when she saw the happiness in her sister's eyes, "Look at you, growing up. Then again, you still sleep with your pillow between your legs and in your arms."

"You sound like Dad." Ruby replied.

"You can't be introverted you're whole life, you know. There's a reason I went out last night. Pretty soon you're going to have to start meeting people, and learn to work together with them."

"Okay, first of all, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting?" Ruby raised a finger. "Secondly, I don't need help growing up." she sneered playfully. "I drink milk."

Yang continued, "Well, what are you going to do when we form teams? You'll have to do more than just make friends; you need to talk to strangers, take and give orders. You can't just fight on your own."

Ruby pulled the switch on Crescent Rose, returning it to rifle form and attaching it to the back of her belt, "Umm...I don't know...I made one friend already, but giving orders..." her eyes furrowed as she tapped her fingertips together. "I'll just be on your team."

"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"

"Sis!" Ruby rejected. "You said it yourself, we have to stick together!"

Yang held her hands up, "Woah, calm down, feather head. I said we should be on different teams. That doesn't mean we have to separate. I'm still not sure how this whole thing works yet myself."

Ruby stomped forward, pushing her face closer to Yang's with an angry frown, "Are you implying that you don't want to be on the same team as me?"

Yang laughed a bit, "I just want you to break out your shell, that's all."

"I'm not a turtle!" Ruby turned with her chin up.

"Way to miss the point, sis."

Suddenly, Jaune walked into the scene, shaking his head slowly with a look of dismay, a map in his hands. "Ridiculous! There's no way I put my weapon in locker 636. I would've remember having to count that high. Why does this have to happen today."

"Hey, that's my friend!" Ruby waved to him as he walked by. "Hi, Jaune!"

He ignored her, and continued to mumble to himself, "Oh, what am I gonna do?"

Yang watched him pace around with amusement, "Vomit Boy, huh? So much for making friends."

Ruby leaned forward with a pout.

"Hey, sis?" Yang gathered Ruby's attention, holding her arms open and smiling. "Come here."

Ruby's frown turned upside down as she went to her sister, who held her tightly and comforted her. "What am I going to do with you."

Ruby muttered through her shoulder, "I'm not scared. I know mom's watching..."

Yang pet her sister's head, "A lot of good that did for me yesterday. But, don't worry. I've got you're back."

"Its not that, Yang." Ruby pushed herself away, looking back at her with a sad expression. "I don't know how to save aunty."

"Sis..."

Suddenly, she saw someone staring at them from behind Ruby's shoulder a few lockers down. It was Weiss Schnee, fists clenched tightly in front of her dress and making a spiteful smirk as she peered at them.

"Looks like somebody's unnerved." Yang said.

Ruby turned around, Weiss looking away before she could notice.

The Ice Queen looked at a red haired female student next to her locker, a long and curly ponytail down her back, wearing a leather overbust corset and a scarlet skirt. On her legs she wore a set of bronze greaves, and on one arm a leather bracelet. Weiss recognized the red sash on her waist, and the weapons she pulled from her locker, Milò and Akoúo̱, a red sniper-spear and a circular golden shield of Mistral.

"Hey," Weiss called to her as she placed her weapons on her person, "you're Pyrrha Nikos, the Pride of Mistral."

Pyrrha smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, that's me." she looked to either side, feeling uncomfortable.

"I've seen your shows! You're incredible!" Weiss tilted her head with a performative grin.

The chains dangling from Pyrrha's head circlet danced as she shook her head, "Well...it is just a show."

Weiss flipped her ponytail with a whip of her head, "So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought as to what team you want to be on? I'm sure everyone is eager to have a well-known girl, such as yourself, on their team."

Pyrrha scratched her head, "Well, actually I was just planning to let the chips fall where they may."

"Oh, hey!" Jaune stepped into the conversation, his face close to Pyrrha's. "You know who else is great? Me, Jaune Arc! Nice to meet you, Pyrrha."

She chuckled as he held his hand out for a greeting, and she shook it with a warm smile, "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

Weiss piped in, "Jaune, do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Yeah, her name is Pyrrha." Jaune answered with a dumb grin, Pyrrha still chuckling at him.

"You knucklehead, this is the Pride of Mistral." Weiss pointed at her. "She's on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes."

"Woah, really!?" Jaune placed his hand over his chin. "But, they only give that honor to star athletes and cartoon characters."

Weiss revealed, "She won the Mistral Regional Tournaments four years in a row! Of course she's a star athlete!"

Jaune said, "The what?"

Weiss groaned in frustration.

"Yeah," Pyrrha interrupted, avoiding eye contact, "it was pretty cool, I guess. Sadly, that cereal isn't very good for you, though."

Weiss recovered her composure and asked, "So what are you doing as a freshman at Beacon? Aren't you a student at Sanctum Academy?"

"Well, yeah, but Beacon is the most famous academy in all of Remnant. I don't mind starting over as a freshman here."

"Wow." Jaune responded to what he heard. "You must be pretty good."

"So, Jaune," Weiss gestured him to Pyrrha, "after all of this, do you really think there is even a remote possibility of her being on your team?"

Jaune thought about the question for a moment, then his head fell forward, "I guess not."

Pyrrha interjected, "Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!"

"D'oh, stop it." Jaune blushed and flicked his wrist.

Weiss added, "Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged."

Jaune placed an arm on Pyrrha's shoulder, staring at Weiss, "Looks like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune, Ice Princess. Spots are filling up quickly. I'm not supposed to say this but," he leaned up to her Pyrrha's and mocked a whisper, "maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?"

Pyrrha laughed with a hand over her lips, trying to maintain a straight face but failing. Then, the Branwen sisters walked over to them, interrupting the circle.

"How's it going?" Yang waved.

Weiss looked at Ruby and snarled, "Not you again!"

Pyrrha held up her hand, her social awkwardness beginning to disappear, "Hi again!"

Ruby smiled at the Pride of Mistral and welcomed, "It's so awesome to see you here. I've heard about you!"

Pyrrha's discomfort returned, "Yeah..."

Weiss grew enraged, screaming at Ruby, "Do you have to butt in to everything I do?"

"Sorry..." Ruby blinked back at her.

"I haven't seen your shows before, but I've heard about them." Yang said. "I actually know more about your dad than anything."

"Oh, yeah," Pyrrha changed her tone, "he was a good man. Truth is I never saw him much growing up. I was raised by my mother."

"We can relate." Yang replied. "Sorry for your loss. Our mom was really upset when he died."

"Wait, who was your mom?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.

Weiss joined out of curiosity, "Wait, your mom knew her father?"

"Well, seems like everyone already knows we're from the Branwen Tribe." Yang looked at her sister.

Ruby answered with a somber expression, "We have two moms. One of them...passed away."

Yang grabbed her sister's back, then finished, "Our other mom is kind of a pain. Her name's Raven."

"YOUR MOM IS RAVEN!?" All but Pyrrha reacted with shock.

Weiss' jaw dropped as she pointed at Ruby, "I knew you were a Branwen, but, you're that savage's daughter!?"

Jaune gave his opinion, "That's incredible! Can I be a Branwen, too?"

Pyrrha laughed at Jaune again, before addressing the Branwen sisters, "I see. My dad taught her to use a sword. But, that was a long time ago."

Weiss was shaking with disbelief, "Your dad did what?! She's killed thousands of people. She's a terrorist!"

"Look who knows everything, Ice Princess." Yang mocked her, Weiss clenching her fist at the insult.

"Hey, you shouldn't judge them until you know them." Pyrrha countered. "Mistral is so close to Menagerie, the Faunus' home country. Some people consider her a hero there."

"Well, yeah, of course they do!" Weiss replied. "That's because Mistral started the Great War in the first place!"

Jaune corrected, "I think they call it the Dust Wars in this Kingdom."

"Are you still here?!" Weiss yelled.

Pyrrha distracted, "Maybe we should talk about this some other time."

"Is it true?" The Branwen sisters heard a voice behind them, turning to it to find Blake, the cat Faunus they met in the Ballroom last night, looking at them with astonishment. "Is Raven really your mother?"

The sisters looked at each other, and nodded, Yang replying, "Yeah. What about it?"

Blake looked into Yang's eyes, spotting a small flicker of light that changed a part of her iris from lilac to red. Without saying a word, she walked off into the crowd of freshmen, leaving them be.

Then, an announcement from Glynda Goodwitch came over the comm system.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation. Again, All first-year students report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation!"

"Looks like we've got to get going." said Yang, holding her sister's hand and walking toward the exit. "See you guys at Initiation!"

Ruby waved as her big sister dragged her away. "I'll see you guys later! Good Luck!"

"It was nice meeting you, Jaune." Pyrrha said as she stepped past him and made her way to the exit too.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune followed her.

Weiss took a deep breath, then began her way her journey to the outdoors of Beacon. Soon, the entire freshman class would take the first step to becoming a Hunters and Huntresses.

…

At the top of Beacon Cliff, overlooking the vast greenery of Emerald Forest - its trees as old as Vale itself - the freshman students of Beacon stood atop an array of metal tiles built into the ground. Glynda Goodwitch stood at the edge of the cliff, waiting for the headmaster to arrive and address the students At the front row of the metallic tiles, the Branwen sisters waited next to each other, their weapons readied and on guard.

"So, all of those clubs you went to, they were all fake?" Ruby asked her sister.

"I don't know." Yang replied, her hand on her hip. "But, I haven't heard from any of those girls since yesterday. I'm starting to think they never were students. I think Cinder planned on separating us when we arrived."

Ruby looked at Crescent Rose as she held it in scythe form, a look of concern upon her, "That would explain why the Grimm were waiting in the tunnels when we got here. Oh, Yang, what are we going to do?"

Yang spotted Ozpin walking up the Cliff from the corner of her eye, and decided to ask Goodwitch a question before Initiation began,"Headmistress?"

She gained Glynda's attention.

"Have you heard of the Malachite Sisters? I was told they were pretty popular on campus."

Glynda blinked a few times as she thought of an answer, "I recognize most students on campus within the year, and I don't recall any students with that name or reputation."

The sisters looked at each other with concern. A discussion over the matter would have to wait, as Ozpin finally arrived to the Cliff's edge, a coffee mug in one hand and his cane in the other. He looked at the new student body, his hair blowing against the chilling air of Vale's windy forest, taking a single sip from his mug before beginning his speech.

"Many of you have trained for years to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

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

The freshman collectively whispered among themselves, Ruby muttering, "What?"

Ozpin continued, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So its in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

Ruby groaned, "Uh oh..."

Yang looked at her sister and said, "I don't like where this is going."

Ozpin took a sip of coffee from his cup, "You carry a Scroll in your pockets, the communication device powered by the Atlas' CCTS. The moment you land in the forest, the radio on your Scroll will activate. When you are within ten feet of another student, the Scroll will beep. When it does, that person will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAAAT!?" Ruby screamed, the other freshmen also expressing concern.

Jaune gulped from the front row of the array of metal tiles.

Ozpin continued, "You will be monitored and graded from the activity recorded on your Scroll for the duration of you Initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several artifacts. Once paired with a teammate, each of you must choose one artifact 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 raised his hand, "Yeah, um, sir?"

Ozpin ignored him, "Good! Now, take your positions."

The students readied their legs, placing them firmly to the ground and building their Aura around their feet.

"Uh, sir, I've got a -" he watched as a metal tile below Weiss Schnee launched her several feet into the air and over the cliff, sending her flying over Emerald Forest. "Oh, boy, that's what that does?" he gulped again. "Are you, going to like... you know.. drop us off, or something?"

Ozpin laughed, "You have a good sense of humor, Jaune." Several more students were launched into the sky against the launch pads. "Anyone who passed the exam would know about the Deployment Station. Naturally, you'll use your Aura to control your landing. But, you passed with a gifted score on the exam, so you certainly know that already, don't you?"

The line of students to his side had almost completely been launched over the forest, and Jaune began to sweat in nervousness, "Hehe, yeah your right. Everything will be - " His Deployment Station launched him and the remaining students high into the air, and he screamed loudly as he soared away.

Glynda Goodwitch stepped to the headmaster's side as he grinned at the sight of the students reaching the clouds, Their Aura's glowing with a rainbow of varying colors, "Sir, I can't help but agree that there must be a better way to place these students during Initiation in the future."

Ozpin took another sip from his coffee mug, and replied, "Allow me these simple pleasures, Ms. Goodwitch."