Pyrrha remained hidden as the Principal, a man with grey hair and an amiable attitude who introduced himself as Ozpin, gave the introductory speech.

He gave a rudimentary rundown of the history of Hunstman Academies and welcomed them all into the fold but reminded them to be vigilant because their final test would come the next day.

After the speech, the Pumpkin Pete Cereal advocate tried moving as covertly as she could towards the entrance of the auditorium.

Damn it! She thought in frustration.

Earlier in the day, while she signed autographs for her fans, she had dropped her backpack, which had her change of clothes, sleeping bag and other things she needed for the night, and of course, with the 'sudden departure' initiated by Adam Vulpes, she had forgotten it behind.

It was probably in some Lost and Found, but without asking around, she wouldn't know where that was. And asking around would ensure she'd be swamped once more by admirers, ensuring she wouldn't get any sleep for the night.

I'll just have to make do without them, she thought desperately as she receded back into the auditorium but discreetly ascending to the upper levels.

It would be strange if she was seen wearing full armour in a room full of pyjamas, so she was planning on staying out on the balcony for a while, as resting there wasn't banned, she would slip back in later in the night if she saw that it was needed.

xXx

Adam was seated on the roof of the auditorium, his expression betraying a hint of frustration.

I guess that's how it is, he told himself resolutely.

This is what a Valean night looks like huh?

He had of course been in Vale for a while and had seen the night sky time and time again, but this time he didn't see through his mask, through the lens of the Fang. It was a different, colder sky now; the sky he had seen back there was one of hope of a new future for his people with the Fang being the major star in that constellation.

I was careless.

He really had been; because Blake had joined the Fang with him, he had started viewing his destiny in respect to the organisation instead of his major responsibility. That was why even though he was right next to his charge, his mind wandered. Despite being tethered to his destiny, he felt lost without the place he viewed as his home.

Damn it!

In the midst of his ruminations, he noticed a blaze of red hair move discreetly along the balcony.

It's that girl, Pyrrha Nikos. What's she doing? Surely she isn't still avoiding her fans is she?

Adam found himself very curious and decided he'd talk to her.

He cracked a small piece of the tiled roof and threw it at her, hoping to get her attention.

xXx

They're taking so long to go to sleep, Pyrrha thought in frustration, It's not like I can blame them. Who could sleep with so much excitement? We're in Beacon after all.

Pyrrha saw how warmly some of the inductees were treating themselves and was once again tempted to go and join them.

Yeah right, she thought to herself.

To be honest, her major hang-up wasn't the excessive attention from fans; she was a little used to it and she felt it was the best way to show her gratitude towards them.

You'll never know what they really think of you.

Suddenly, she felt a small projectile coming towards her.

Swoosh.

The object sailed passed her as she dodged by moving her head to the side effortlessly.

What is it n-

He thought was interrupted when she turned around to see that faunus, Adam Vulpes was his name, waving at her from the roof.

"Nice reflexes," he commented with the slight lilt of teasing as she climbed up and sat next to her, "What are you sneaking around for?"

Pyrrha explained in short terms the situation she was in.

"I see, celebrity life isn't all it's cracked up to be then."

"I guess not," she said with a small measure of sadness.

Adam picked up on the sadness, wondering what was in her head.

What's on her mind? Huh? What am I asking that for?

Although Adam was a fairly sensitive person, he had consistent disinterest in people, so it was rare for him to go out of his way to talk or help others barring of course his allies back in the Fang.

But today, he had put himself through the trouble of pulling her away from the crowd and even asked for her company by signalling her.

What is it about her?

He had to find out quickly before he did something impulsive.

"You plan on sleeping here?"

Her question knocked him out of his thoughts suddenly, although he managed his expression.

"I do," he said, trying to look at her face naturally, "You could join me if you want, I have a spare sleeping bag and girl's pyjamas... also a toothbrush."

Pyrrha blushed at the last item he mentioned, covering her mouth in embarrassment.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," he started nervously.

To be honest, he sort of did.

It wasn't as though her breath was bad, but as a Faunus, his smelling was sensitive enough that he... noticed that she hadn't had the opportunity to brush her teeth.

Pyrrha overcame her embarrassment and accepted his offer, receiving the toiletries with her head turned down and promising to meet up with him as soon as she was done.

xXx

After cleaning up, she made her way to the roof with her new soft black pyjamas which were a little snug about her curves but otherwise comfortable.

"Thanks, you're a real lifesaver."

"My pleasure, wasn't like I was going to use them either way."

"Uhm," Pyrrha began her question, not sure if she could phrase it without sounding rude, "Do you usually carry a spare girl's pyjamas?"

"They're in case the person I came with needed anything, that way she wouldn't be stranded."

"Oh, I see. Where is she now?"

"Not sure," he responded, "We were supposed to meet here, but she didn't show."

"Oh. There isn't anything to be worried about is there?"

"No." He said tensely, "Her absence is a message on its own."

He hadn't gone looking for her because he could tell she wanted to distance herself from him.

He could understand her reasons, after all he had gathered a lot of negative attention on the first day, and it would be better to avoid that for her and she had always felt his presence to be overbearing to a degree, like he was there because she couldn't be trusted to handle herself.

But deep down, Adam had a dogged feeling that it was more than that; Blake didn't just want to distance herself from him or the memory of The Fang, she wanted to distance herself from her identity as a faunus.

The thought sent chills through his spine. Was such a thing possible?

You should give her a lot more credit, he chastised himself internally, She's many things, but a coward is certainly not one of them.

I see, is she his sister or...?

Pyrrha relegated the question to her mind as she didn't want to pry too much.

"Well, I guess I'm lucky that she didn't show then."

The awkward laugh the Invincible Girl punctuated her sentence with felt almost grating to her own ears.

My goodness, that sounded forced. Inuwa help me.

Despite his preoccupation with his thoughts, the taurine warrior remained deeply aware of the girl next to him.

His relative silence made him seem calmer than she was, but that was the only saving him from doing something embarrassing; more than once today, he had done something out of character because of some inexplicable influence she had on him.

"The pyjamas look good on you."

Something like that.

...Am I drunk?

This was the question that occurred to him after he made his comment. Being intoxicated was the most logical explanation for his current behaviour.

"Uhm, well, thank you," she responded, shyly tucking her now loose hair behind her hair and trying to hide the deep blush that was her face currently, "You have nice taste in pyjamas."

The night progressed in that manner; stretches of silence punctuated by awkward statements and a deeper embarrassment for all involved.

Strangely though, it was a beautiful night.

xXx

Blake was having a near-opposite experience.

Somehow, she had found herself in the same group as the two girls who had been involved in the drama earlier that day and they seemed primed to stage a sequel.

Other than that, a weird blonde had attached herself to her person at some point during the day and hadn't let relented in being an absolute pest.

Perhaps I should have met up with Adam instead.

xXx

Pyrrha woke up the next day feeling more refreshed than she expected she would, after all, they had finally drifted to sleep after midnight and it was now barely dawn.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, like a baby."

Immediately she answered, he started a little, snapping her head in the direction of the questioner.

She had answered naturally, as though it was normal to wake up to the voice of a random guy, but a modicum of awareness grabbed a hold of her and she was embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," Adam apologised on seeing her wild reaction.

Did I scare her?

"Oh," she said with an embarrassed smile, "You didn't do anything wrong, I was just a little surprised. How about you; did you sleep well?"

"Can't complain," he said as he stood up, revealing that he was fully dressed, "Just about to head out."

"Oh you're right, big test today, gotta get there early."

For some reason, this interaction was very awkward; Adam felt like he was bouncing after a one night stand or something (although he had no experience in that area and simply assumed it was something like that).

"Uhm, I'll wash the pyjamas and return them to you later."

"You needn't worry about that," he said scratching his head, the first physical hint he had given that he found their interactions embarrassing, "I doubt she'd use them now. Besides, it's nice having a celebrity owe you a favour."

And with that, he jumped down from the roof and down to the compound below and bounded towards the entrance of the Emerald Forest (the venue of the test as they had been told).

Did I just wink? The former terrorist queried himself embarrassedly, referring to the gesture he had made just as he bade Pyrrha goodbye. He hadn't been aware that he could do that, he was still certain he couldn't, but somehow he performed an act so cringeworthy that he would freely advocate it being outlawed.

That girl is dangerous.

xXx

Pyrrha stayed on the roof for a few moments, staring after the red-haired Faunus as he ran towards the forest.

After a while, she inhaled deeply and descended from the roof and made her way to the locker rooms.

Today's the day, I have to give it my best.

Indeed, although the previous day had been overwhelming in its own way, today was the real test, today would decide the futures of all the inductees.

xXx

"It's morning," a small shout that came from a ginger-haired girl with short hair sounded, "W-"

"I know," a slim young man with long black hair interrupted, putting his finger to her lips, "Wake up sleepy-head."

"You're taking the fun out of this," she moped, as she followed him into the locker room.

"That's funny," he said with a lazy smile, "That's the fun of it for me."

"Hardy-har-har," she said with an eye-roll, "Anyway, what's the plan?"

"Plan to...?"

"To make sure we're on the same team obviously."

Rather than answering, he flashed a snide smile at her earning a punch in the shoulder.

"I didn't say anything," he complained in amusement as he rubbed his bruised shoulder.

"You didn't need to, now what's the plan?"

"Planning when we don't know what form the exam will take is just wasted energy," he said finally, walking into a shower and pushing her out when she followed him, "We should just keep our Scrolls close to us so we can communicate if we need to. I'm sure we'll end up together; we always do."

"You're right of course," she acknowledged from behind the shower door, "Not 'together-together of course. Not that I'm saying you aren't handsome..."

"And I thought I was hyper," Ruby commented, referring to the girl talking to what seemed to be her boyfriend from the other side of the shower.

"I know right," Yang agreed as she fished out her stuff from the lockers, before eying her sister for a second.

"You're awfully calm today," she noted with a smile.

"Today, my dear sister won't be like yesterday."

"Oh?"

"Yup," Ruby said confidently, pulling out her HCSS from her locker and caressing it like a pet, "Because unlike yesterday, I'll be leaving all the talking to Crescent Rose."

"As long as you don't trip anyone today, we should be fine."

The comment came from the Schnee girl, who had introduced herself as Weiss the night before, as she walked past the two sisters.

Yang gave a small laugh in response to the snipe that was taken at Ruby.

"Does Crescent Rose come with ointment to treat that?"

The final comment belonged to Blake, and left the victim puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

Despite the deep annoyance that most of the current group had towards each other, they had somehow been able to arrive at what could be best described as a comfortable acquaintanceship.

Just at that moment, Pyrrha walked in, still wearing the black pyjamas she had worn to sleep.

Blake immediately noticed the attire to the same as one that Adam had picked out when they were shopping for supplies some time earlier and was piqued.

"Isn't tha-"

Before Yang could finish her question, a white streak blitzed in front of her, arriving before Pyrrha in a second.

"Hey there, I'm Weiss Schnee," the white streak introduced herself as she held onto the hand of the confused girl, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same," she answered with an uneasy smile, "I'm Py-"

"You're Pyrrha Nikos, you won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row, and were dubbed the 'Invincible Girl', I know all about you."

"She can smile?"

Ruby asked as she watched the interaction with a small measure of horror.

"It seems so," Blake commented as she walked towards the newcomer.

"I'm Blake Dellarobia," she said with a small smile, stretching out her hand to greet Pyrrha "Nice pyjamas."

Pyrrha felt a small measure of embarrassment at the comment and explained they weren't hers as she took the brunette's hand.

Weiss coughed deliberately, trying to bring the focus back to herself.

"Oh sorry, you were introducing yourself. You're the girl that exploded a couple times yesterday right?"

Click.

The sound was from the camera of Yang's scroll.

"Lookie here, the Invincible Girl and the Inflammable Girl in one picture."

Her joke elicited a groan from her sister and a glare from the target herself, although Pyrrha laughed politely at the pun.

Blake watched Pyrrha from the side, curiosity evident in her amber eyes.

"Would all the first-year students report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-years report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"We're up," Yang said excitedly, "Ready Rubes?"

xXx

I should have waited in the locker-room, Adam thought to himself as he stood at the entrance of the forest alone barring the presence of the Principal and his Vice, which was the worst possible company to have.

He had planned to blend in with the crowd of students as they came out, but after his interaction with Pyrrha, he didn't want to risk running into her again.

Talk about ruining my plans.

After a painful wait, he began to see other students walk towards him and he finally allowed himself to breath, although, he'd once more stand out for being the first to arrive.

"You seem to be getting cosy with the celebrities."

The teasing comment was made by Blake in passing as she took her place far away from Adam, further driving home the message that she didn't plan on being in a team with him.

After all the students were assembled, the Principal and his Vice, Glynda Goodwitch, took the floor before them, the latter's stare quelling all conversation among them.

Ozpin smiled at her in a form of thanks.

"For years," he began, "You have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," Glynda continued, "I'm sure you've all heard rumours about the assignment of teams. Rest assured; all of you will be matched with teammates today."

"These teammates will be with you for the duration of your years here at Beacon, so it's clearly in your best interest to be paired with someone compatible."

"That being said," Glynda said with a wry smile, "Your partner will be whomever you first make eye contact with, so... good luck."

Immediately the statement was uttered, Pyrrha felt dozens of gazes on her.

For a teammate, there was no one better than the Invincible Girl; she was intelligent, polite and most importantly a prodigy.

Pyrrha cringed internally in response to the intensity of their gazes.

They looked at her with admiration and desire, but regardless, she felt a kind of coldness within those looks.

All their eyes said one thing: 'Invincible Girl! Invincible Girl!'

Pyrrha didn't know why, but the awareness of that bothered her.

Didn't they see something within her other than the Invincible Girl?

As she asked this question, she felt another gaze, a gaze that called her, it called her by her name, not by some title she had been given by the Argus Digest.

She looked up and caught a familiar wink from a familiar pair of blue eyes.

xXx

The students stepped onto platforms and were launched into the forest, starting from the last.

That meant that Pyrrha was one of the first to go since she had shown up late.

Adam waited impatiently for his turn, hoping he'd be able to catch up with her all the while questioning his sanity.

What am I doing?

He asked himself as he stood on the platform.

What am I doing?

He was in the air now, and no closer to answering his mental question.

What am I-

The moment his foot touched the ground, he bounded forward in the direction Pyrrha had gone, hoping that he'd make it in time.

As he travelled, he saw a Beowulf step before him, planning to block his path.

In the space of a second, he had drawn and sheathed Wilt and continued on his way.

After a few minutes of running, he caught the Invincible Girl's scent, she was moving away from him at high speed, apparently avoiding the other students as much she could.

Wait for me, I'm coming!

xXx

"Adam Vulpes, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie," the four students who the names belonged to stepped forward, but Nora and Adam were visibly unhappy, both refusing to look at each other in their annoyance.

"You are henceforth known as Team RAVN, led by Lie Ren."

Despite the cheers from the crowd, the mood of the two redheads didn't improve and they remained sulking.

This was the last Team to be announced, and the crowd went all out in their standing ovation, welcoming the future protectors of Remnant.

I was too careless damn it.

xXx

"Pyrrha!" Adam shouted, only a few metres behind the redhead and about to catch up.

On hearing his call, she began turning around, prepared for them to jam eyes.

"Found you Re-"

Just as their eyes were about to meet, a girl descended upside down from a tree, and Adam in his haste collided with her face-first.

Both of them fell to the ground, with the newcomer landing on top of him.

"Watch where you're going!" she chastised as she looked down at the hard-headed faunus she had just collided with.

It was Nora, and she had just made eye contact with Adam.

She looked at her scroll that clearly gave Ren's coordinates which were supposed to be where she landed.

"Over here, Nora," came the skinny youth's voice from behind her, carrying a hint of embarrassment.

This is just great now, isn't it?

Note: That's chapter two, give me your feedback and feel free to give me ideas of what you'd like to see.