It was a cool spring morning when Summer left her home for the final time. She didn't know that of course. Though the odds of her survival during the mission were close to none she'd pulled off the impossible before, but there wasn't a bit of doubt in Summer's mind that she needed to take this mission. She needed to succeed.

For Ruby. For her family.

Ruby, who was now clinging to Summer as she said her goodbyes. "Go get those mean grimm, Mommy!" Ruby said

"I'll make sure to take a few of them down for you Ruby," Summer said kissing her youngest daughter on the forehead, "Just make sure you listen to your father and uncle while I'm gone. That goes for you too Yang."

"Okay, mommy," Yang said running in for her hug. "You'll come back. Won't you?"

"Of course, I'll come back sunflower," Summer said kissing her eldest daughter on the forehead. Before standing up and pulling her hood over her head. "I'll be back in a few weeks. I promise."

Finishing up the last of their goodbyes Summer, with tears in her eyes, walked down the well-worn path to the STRQ household for what she believed would be the last time.

Another trip on the ferry. Another meal lost. At least this time he got to use some local trash cans instead of the ocean. So that was nice.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about the motion sickness," Summer said, watching the carnage from a safe distance. For some reason. It's not like she could get anything on her. But she could see him, so maybe she still had a sense of smell?

Questions for later.

"No, no I wasn't," he said still leaning over the trashcans.

"You're going to have get over it eventually," Summer said, "Bullheads are too useful for you not to be able to use without throwing up on your team."

"I'll make sure to do that by tomorrow. Shouldn't be too hard," he said.

"That would probably be for the best if you could. You don't want to earn an unfortunate nickname. You know, something vomit related probably."

"Lets just get back to my room." He said standing straight and wiping his mouth. The pair walked off into Vale.

The sun was setting as Jaune walked back to the hotel he was staying in for the night. Passing by neon signs displaying advertisements for the city's various businesses. From Dust 'Till Dawn being one of the stores that he walked by as a red hooded girl made her way inside.

Jaune was still getting use to the city that he would be staying in for the next few years. It was just so different from where he grew up. Domremy wasn't exactly a small town. Being one of the larger settlements on the eastern coast of the kingdom, but it really couldn't compare with Vale.

He wondered if Summer was having a similar experience. She was a student at Beacon and no doubt had spent a good amount of time in the city, but a lot can change in a decade.

Speaking of Summer, she was following not too far behind Jaune. Floating around taking in the sights. Occasionally passing through people. Or were the people passing through her? Did it feel weird for that to happen? More questions for later.

Soon they arrived at Jaune' hotel room. It wasn't a bad place. Not great either. He at least felt that his chance of not being murdered during his stay was fairly high.

"Well, this isn't the worst hotel room I've ever stayed in." Summer said, taking a quick tour of the small room.

"It was the best I could afford," Jaune said sitting down on the bed, "I barely had enough lien for the trip over. After that trip to Patch I'm pretty much broke."

"Huh, I figured Blanche or Nicky wouldn't paid to put you up in a nicer place."

"Ummm, well I wanted to pay for this all myself. Didn't feel right to ask them for the money." He said with a nervous laugh. If his dad knew where he was right now there would be hell to pay, but his mother did give him a bit of extra lien for the trip.

"But it's getting late so I should probably get ready for bed," He said "Wait, how does sleep work for you? Do you need to sleep? Can you sleep?"

"Nope. I kind of just have to occupy myself until you wake up." She said.

"That sounds…"

"Boring? Don't worry, I've gotten good at keeping myself entertained."

"Alright." He said. Searching through his duffle bag. Which, for now, contained pretty much everything Jaune had for his stay in Vale. A extra change of clothes, some sword polish, an old white and red cloak, the onesie that his little sister Kelly made for him, some hygiene supplies, and what little lien he had left.

"I'm going to take a shower," he said grabbing his pjs and heading for the bathroom door. Before he poked his head out of the doorway. "No peaking, okay?"

To that Summer just rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, Jaune. You aren't exactly my type." She said with a laugh.

"Right." He said shutting the bathroom door. "Hopefully nothing weird happens tomorrow. I've had enough weird for the rest of the year."

Ah, the flight to Beacon. It was bringing back a lot of memories for Summer. Mostly memories of a socially awkward redhead with a fear of heights trying not to panic in a corner, and her blond dork of a best friend trying to flirt with random girls.

The view of the ocean and city below was beautiful. You could even see Patch from the bullhead.

Unfortunately, it was a view that Jaune didn't get to enjoy. Sitting with his eyes closed, holding his bag to his chest like his life depended on it. He really wasn't kidding about the motion sickness. Of course, she could have told him that there was medicine that could help him, but that wouldn't always be available in the field. So, he was going to have to get over it on his own.

Summer was hoping that Jaune would end up on the same team as Yang, or maybe even be partners. That way she could spend some more time with at least one of her daughters. For Ruby, well hopefully if Yang and Jaune were on the same team Ruby would come to visit them every once I awhile.

Maybe Summer could even convince Jaune to ask Yang out on a date. He was a bit like Taiyang so maybe Yang would agree, but that was probably a long shot at this point. There was no guarantee they would even see each other besides passing each other in the hall.

Turing back to Jaune, he was still in the same position he was before. Pleading not to throw up on someone. She felt a bit bad for Jaune, but there wasn't exactly anything she could do to help his situation. So, she decided to go find Yang. Which, Yang being Yang, wasn't very hard to do. Considering how loudly she was talking to Ruby.

Wait, Ruby?

"What's Ruby doing here?" Summer said to herself. Maybe she was just getting every last second with Yang while she could? It was either that or Ozpin let her in two years early.

"I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me. This is the best day ever!" Yang said, hugging, though it looked closer to crushing, her sister. While Ruby protested.

Ruby was going to Beacon with Yang. Ruby was going to Beacon two years early. Ozpin had let Ruby go to Beacon two years early.

"Dammit Ozpin." Summer said, "I swear if you did this just because of her silver eyes I'm going to find your spirit in that brief time between when you die and when you reincarnate and I'm going to smack the shit out of you."

"Silver eyes? Reincarnate?" Jaune said, having heard Summer's tirade over the sound of the surrounding teens. But before Jaune had the opportunity to ask Summer what she meant by any of that, in a discreet manner so he wouldn't look completely insane, said tirade was cut off by a news report.

"This Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of The White Fang disrupted the ceremony." The reporter said. Much to the interest of a black-haired girl, Summer noticed.

"She kind of looks like Kali," Summer said to herself.

"The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-" The reported continued before being cut off by a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch. It looked like they made some upgrades since Summer's initiation. There definitely weren't any hologram projections at the time.

It also looked like Glynda had received a few promotions in the last few years. She's certainly not a teacher's aide anymore.

Summer was trying to pay attention to her old colleague's speech when the dam finally broke and Jaune made a beeline for the bathroom, but not before catching someone in splash zone.

"Yang, you have some puke on your shoe!" Ruby said.

So much for a good first impression.

Just for once Jaune would love to travel somewhere and not end up hunched over something. He really would. Today would not be the day that happened though, and he'd also managed to hit someone on the way out. Great.

Jaune plopped down on the nearest bench he could find. He supposed that it could be worse. At least he hadn't been immediately detained after getting off the bullhead. Forgery was already bad enough. A few years in prison at the very least. Forging his way into a huntsmen academy? Probably a decade plus if he was lucky, which he probably wouldn't be.

Jaune took a deep breath. If everything went to plan that wouldn't matter. Then again what had gone to plan over the last few days? Meeting a ghost and finding out she was attached to him wasn't exactly part of the plan.

Speaking of Summer, she was floating near Jaune as she tended to do.

"You threw up on Yang." She said, "And I was right about your nickname, Vomit Boy."

"Great," He groaned, "At least that's better than the nickname I had back at home."

"What's worse than Vomit Boy?"

After a long pause to relive various traumatic events from his childhood he responded, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well okay then." She said turning towards the academy, "I think you might have thrown away your chances with Yang. You might be able to make a decent impression with Ruby though."

"Ruby? I don't think I'll be going back to Patch to meet her anytime soon."

"She's not on Patch. She's attending Beacon with Yang."

"But I thought she was only fifteen?"

"She is, but Ozpin let her in early, apparently."

"He can do that?" Jaune asked. Sitting up on the bench.

"You would be surprised what he can- Yang what are you doing?" Oh great, another tirade. "Where are you going? You're just leaving your sister all alone? I swear you're going to be grounded for a month young lady." Summer said. Crossing her arms and giving off a threatening aura that only a mother could.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked cautiously, not trying to get himself grounded too.

"She just left Ruby there all alone!"

"Well, she is good enough at fighting to get into Beacon. So, what's the worst that could happen?" It was at this point that something decided to explode. That something, of course, being Ruby. Who was not standing in a rather large crater in the middle of Beacon's courtyard, while some white-haired girl screamed at her.

"That could happen," Summer said.

Jaune simply nodded as the pair watched the white-haired girl storm off, and Ruby dramatically fall into the crater.

"Guess I should go help her." Jaune said, standing from the bench and making his way toward the younger Rose. The elder following close behind him.

And so Jaune helped Ruby up. Vomit Boy and Crater Face were born. A thrilling discussion on whether or not ladies loved Jaune's name was had. And the pair, plus their spectral companion, made some pleasant conversation. That was until Ruby decided to pull out a scythe. To which Jaune responded with a the very clever line of "Woah! Is that a scythe?"

"She's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle." Ruby said proudly, almost hugging the weapon and whispering sweet nothings into its ear.

"Umm." Was Jaune's brilliant response.

Summer leaned in close to him almost as if she was giving him an answer on a test. "It's also a gun."

"Oh, so it's a gun scythe?" He said cautiously.

"Yep," Ruby said with the traditional popped P, "Her name is Crescent Rose. I designed and built her myself." This time she did hug the weapon.

"I remember the day Ruby built her. She was so proud." Summer said with no lack of her own motherly pride. "Crescent Rose is almost like a combination of mine and her father's weapons. Minus the sword parts."

"So why did you decide to go with a scythe? Does one of your parents use one?" Jaune asked.

"Nope. I based her partially on my Uncle Qrow's weapon Harbinger." Ruby said. Though with a notable scoff from Summer when Ruby's uncle was mentioned. "It's a scythe that can turn into a great sword and has a pair of shotguns too."

"That's cool. Where did the sniper bit come from?"

"Well, from my mom." Ruby said with a more solemn expression. "Except mom's was semi-automatic while Crescent Rose is a bolt action, and I went with a larger caliber."

"Oh, that's cool. What does your dad use?"

"He just punches things. Yang does too."

"They just punch grimm?"

"Yeah, but like really hard." Ruby said before pausing and looking at Crocea Mors, "But enough about their weapons. Show me yours."

And thus, Jaune did show her his sword, and eventually the pair made their way to the auditorium where they split up.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. With Ozpin giving a rather short speech. Some last-minute paperwork being signed. And eventually settling down for the night after Summer managed to convince Jaune not to wear the onesie.

Though young Kelly Arc felt a bit slighted that night for some reason.

"Locker 636, where is locker 636." Jaune muttered to himself as he searched for the locker containing his supplies.

"It should be over there." Summer said pointing to one corner of the locker room. "Between those two girls." One of the two girls, the white haired one, having been caught up in Ruby's explosion the previous morning.

"Excuse me." Jaune said to the white-haired girl standing in front of his locker.

"What?" The girl said almost combatively.

"Umm, well-"

"Before you ask, no I'm not interested in dating you."

"What?"

"I said that any of your attempts at courting me won't work. So, you may as well not try."

"I'm not trying-"

"Obviously you're not trying. You didn't even go to the effort to comb your hair."

"…You're standing in front of my locker." Jaune said after a long pause. Pointing towards his locker.

"It would appear so." The girl said moving out of Jaune's way and continuing her conversation with the other girl.

"Well, she's a rude one." Summer said "And a total tsundere. I'd avoid her if I were you."

Jaune would have to ask Summer how she knew what that was later.

"As I was saying," The white-haired girl said to the redheaded girl. "I believe that us being on the same team would be quite advantageous. No other team would be able to compete with ours."

"That's a nice offer," The redheaded girl said, "But we don't know how they choose teams. So there's no guarantee that we would be on the same one."

"Well, I would be happy to have either of you on my team." Jaune said digging around in his locker. Which judging by the look on the white-haired girl's face wasn't a good thing to say.

"Don't you know who we are?" She said with her hands on her hips.

"Should I?"

This was the wrong thing to say.

"Yes, you should! I'm Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Oh, well I don't really use dust."

"I-I…" Weiss paused in an attempt to calm down "That's Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss pointed at the redheaded girl from earlier.

Pyrrha waved and gave a polite "Hello."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jaune. But sorry, I don't know who you are."

At this Weiss was stunned to silence.

"Oh, that's fine." Pyrrha said with a small smile. "I wouldn't expect everyone to know me. But I'd be happy to be on your team, Jaune."

And with that Jaune finished gathering his supplies and made his way out to the cliffside with the rest of the initiates. With Summer following closely behind, standing near the cliff's edge.

Summer stood on the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest, half listening to Ozpin's speech. Which she was certain was the exact same speech he gave before her initiation some twenty years ago now. Had it really been so long?

'I'm getting old,' She thought, 'Or I would have been getting old I guess.' But before Summer had to opportunity to continue to consider her old age and the lack of aging Ozpin finished his speech.

"Now, are there any questions?" Ozpin said.

"Yeah, umm sir?" Jaune attempted to ask.

"Good, now take your positions."

"I told you to work on your landing strategy when we were on Patch," Summer said floating in front of Glynda. "You should be able to absorb the impact with your aura, but you can't always rely on your aura to save you. You're going to have to plan ahead more in the future."

At this Jaune paled. Summer guessed that he was just embarrassed that he forgot to plan a landing strategy. Which really wasn't that bad. She didn't really have one during her initiation either. Hopefully he wouldn't end up dangling from a tree as she had.

The first initiate was launched.

"Aura?" Jaune said, mostly to himself. It almost sounded like he didn't know what aura was, but that can't be right. He couldn't get into Beacon if he didn't have an aura.

"You know, aura. Physical manifestation of the soul. It's kind of like a force field." She said in an attempt to jog his memory. Which Jaune's only response was to somehow look more panicked. It was almost like he didn't know what aura was. Almost.

"You know what aura is right, Jaune?" But again, Jaune didn't respond.

Slowly more initiates were launched into the forest.

He didn't know what aura was. He was about to be launched into a forest full of grimm and he didn't know what aura was. The only person that could see Summer was about to become a bloody puddle on the forest floor.

"Jaune, you need to get off that platform right now." Summer said and off Yang went.

"Umm," was all that Jaune could manage.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Ruby, who was on the platform next to his, asked.

"Y-yeah, just a bit nervous I guess." He said.

"Move! Leave! Get off!" Summer screamed.

"Don't worry Jaune I'm sure you'll do great! I'll see you out thereeeeee!" Ruby said, being launched off herself, and Jaune was next.

"Listen to me. You are going to die if you don't move!" Summer said. Trying one last time to convince the young knight not to make any more stupid decisions.

But was all for not, as Jaune was launched off into the Emerald Forest screaming the whole way down. And Summer was dragged behind him.

"Dammit Jaune!"

Author's Note:

And there's chapter 2. All of the pre-initiation stuff nice and handled. So we'll be getting into actual initiation stuff next time. How fun. If Jaune survives this time of course. That should be posted next Monday. So you won't have to wait too long to find out.

I tried to do a bit better with transitioning between scenes this time. Let me know how well I did, because feedback and comments are always welcome.

Thanks for reading!