AN: Hey guys. Another little bit of a short chapter here. I have my reasons.

Before we start, I just want to thank you guys again. As of the time that I'm posting this chapter, this fanfiction is the twelfth most favorited RWBY/KH crossovers on this site out of 150.

12 out of 150! Holy crap! Thank you guys so much! It means so much to me that you guys really enjoy this story!

So, without further ado, enjoy!

Chapter 13

The more Ozpin looked into Aqua Branwen, the more interesting she became. For obvious reasons, there was absolutely no record of her existence before a decade ago, but much to his surprise, despite not being a licensed Huntress, she still had a service record. He knew how powerful the Keyblade was, and from how the young Miss Rose turned out, she clearly was a good teacher, but it always helped to get a good picture of exactly what the people teaching his students were capable of.

Which was why he currently found himself combing through the records of missions she had been on, and the Grimm that she had slain. Every single solitary mission she had gone on were technically missions Qrow had accepted, but she had accompanied him for all of them. But exactly what she had done with her husband surprised even the old Headmaster.

Goliaths. Ancient Deathstalkers. King Taijitus. Even a Nuckelavee. In addition to that, the duo had taken down gang hideouts, apprehended rogue Huntsman and Huntresses, and defended villages from Grimm incursions. Even more surprising, some of the later reports mentioned two young girls had been sighted alongside them. Not only had they taken on a regular basis missions that would make even veteran Huntsmen think twice, they had also used them as training excursions for young Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long.

Qrow had truly picked a fascinating woman for his wife. In time, both Aqua and her younger daughter could prove to be the greatest assets at his disposal. She would certainly be a fantastic teacher. They might be able to turn the tide in his war against her. If he played his cards right, maybe one of those three could even make a suitable replacement for Amber…

He had work to do.

Aqua was awakened by a hand shaking her shoulder. Her eyes opened groggily, greeted by the mustached face of Peter. He had decided half-way through the night that she could go to sleep, and he'd handle watching over the students. She initially refused, not wanting to abandon her new co-worker, but the large man insisted for some reason. She ultimately obliged him, and fell asleep in her chair, hence why he was now waking her up.

Overall, it was a fairly uneventful night, with there really only being one incident. Surprisingly to the Keyblade Master, it was a girl who initiated it, not a boy. Some orange-haired girl tried to cuddle with a black-haired boy while he was sleeping.

Aqua decided to put a stop to any shenanigans, but then something odd happened.

The girl looked like she was on the verge of panicking when Aqua told her that no, she couldn't cuddle him.

That struck her as odd. Clearly there was more going on than this girl just wanting some action, so she asked the girl if they knew each other. She insisted that they had been together (but not together-together) for their whole lives. There was something about the earnestness of the girl that caused her to believe her, so she did the one thing she probably wasn't allowed to do.

She told her that, just this once, she could hold the boy while she slept, but they'd be keeping an eye on them, and she was not to try anything further. To her surprise, the girl gave her a hug before wrapping her arms around the sleeping boy. She didn't miss the smile that appeared on the boy's face when she did that.

She and her bleeding heart.

Now that she had woken up, she looked over to where the girl was sleeping, who was just starting to stir. The ginger saw Aqua, sent her a grateful smile and waved, and got up to change into her regular clothes in the girls' restroom, leaving her companion behind, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Not together-together, huh? Aqua thought with a smile. Yeah, right.

Her scroll vibrated, and she opened it, revealing a message from Ozpin informing her to meet him at the cliff. She sighed. Looks like her job wasn't done yet.

At least now she knew why Peter insisted she get some sleep.

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, the large windows of the ballroom letting a lot of natural light in. Her sister was still asleep, and Ruby rubbed her eyes to help wake up. She was hoping to have a peaceful morning before initiation to avoid getting worked up, but in order for that to happen, she would have to make sure to avoid Weiss. She briefly considered waking Yang up, since she knew her sister always took forever to do her hair, when someone else beat her to the punch.

"Wake up, lazy butt!" A girl's voice yelled near them, causing Yang to jump awake.

"I'm up! I'm up!" she called frantically, her hair standing out wildly. The sisters looked at the girl that yelled, Yang with a glare, and saw that she had orange hair and teal eyes and was wearing a white shirt with a heart cut-out in the chest and a pink skirt. They also noticed that she was actually trying to wake a boy in green with black hair with a magenta streak in his bangs that matched his eyes.

"It's morning, it's morning, it's morning, it's MORNING!" She sang while zipping around the boy who, much to the sisters' astonishment, didn't even seemed phased by the incredibly hyperactive girl. She dragged him off to get ready with her, leaving Ruby and Yang confused at the scene they just witnessed.

"Well, she seemed…excited," Ruby said.

"Ugh, it is way too early in the morning to deal with this crap," Yang complained.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad," Ruby said uncertainly.

Now, Yang loved Ruby to pieces, it was plain for anyone to see, but sometimes, she said some really dumb things.

That was one of them.

Not only was the ginger girl really that bad, she was worse. She just never shut up.

All morning, the girls had to listen to her babbling.

Getting dressed? She was talking.

Eating breakfast? She was talking.

Brushing their teeth? She was talking.

They were in the locker room, retrieving their weapons and making sure all of their equipment was in order, and she was still talking. In fact, Yang was pretty sure that the ginger had never once stopped to take a breath, while the boy she was talking at just stayed quiet the whole time. She wasn't sure if he just couldn't get a word in edgewise, was simply accepting his fate, or worse, somehow actually enjoyed this girl's random nonsense. Since he wasn't smiling, it clearly wasn't the last option. She simply closed her eyes in sympathy for the poor boy as the ginger girl dragged him out of the locker room, finally leaving the sisters in peace.

"Holy crap, I thought it'd never end," Yang groaned.

"Wonder what she was so worked up about," Ruby said.

"Who cares? It's finally over!"

"Yeah."

"So," Yang turned her attention towards her little sister, "You excited for Initiation?"

"Yeah!" Ruby said happily. "Mom said yesterday that all that really matters here is skill, and now I finally get to show mine off. No more awkward small talk. Today, my Keyblade does the talking!"

"Okay, well, remember that you do still need to talk to people." Ruby let out an adorable yet supremely sad whine.

"Why? What does talking to people have to do with fighting?"

"We're gonna be in teams, remember?" Yang pointed out.

"I'll just be on your team."

"Well, obviously," Yang said. "But teams have four people in them. Unless we get super-lucky and end up with Jaune and that Blake girl, we're going to be with people we don't know. You'll have to talk to them and learn to work together."

"I guess," Ruby said sadly. Yang put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Look, Rubes," she said, "Beacon is a fresh start for both of us. We have a chance to make real friends, here, so just keep an open mind and be yourself."

"You, too," Ruby said. "I know that some people aren't going to like me." Before Yang could say anything, Ruby put a hand up to stop her. "But don't limit the friends you have just because someone doesn't like me. We can have different friends."

"Sorry, sis, but no can do," Yang said matter-of-factly. "I want nothing to do with anybody that doesn't like my baby sister. We're a package deal. Even if it's you and me against the whole school, I'll always stay by your side. That's a promise."

"Thanks, Yang," Ruby said, smiling at her older sister. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

"This is ridiculous!" the voice of Jaune complained, as he was holding a piece of paper in his hands and wandering around the locker room. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Oh, why does this have to happen today?" Yang sighed.

"Just leave it to Vomit Boy," she said with a chuckle.

"Well, it was a nice moment while it lasted," Ruby said with a shrug.

Pyrrha knew that she had to look her best at all times. She had always been told to maintain an image of both strength and beauty, and it took her years to perfect the look, creating an outfit that was both practical for combat, and highlighted her feminine charms at the same time.

A bronze chest plate to protect her midsection, but with no shirt underneath, leaving her shoulders, upper arms, cleavage, and a little bit of her stomach exposed to draw attention to her athletic figure.

Black gloves that extended past her elbows to protect her hands during combat. They both improved her grip when she was holding her weapons, and kept the skin of her hands blemish-free for fan meet-and-greets and formal events.

A black A-line miniskirt with a red sash tied around it and trailing behind her. It was short enough to not interfere with her movements, which for a skirt that tight meant it had to be very short, the aesthetic benefits plain to see.

Bronze plate armor covering her legs from the tops of her high-heeled boots to halfway up her thighs, leaving an expanse of skin exposed under the hem of her skirt, both protecting her legs and giving people a glimpse at the smooth skin being protected.

Finally, a bronze hairband worn under her bright crimson hair, which was tied back in a long, sweeping ponytail. It was the one piece of her outfit that served no practical purpose, and was instead something that she chose to add, as it was a gift from her father after winning her first tournament. Despite all the strife that those tournament wins would cause her later down the line, she still looked back fondly on the early days of her prize-fighting career, before the pressures of fame hit her.

After making sure her outfit was perfect as always, she opened her locker, sending a friendly greeting to the white-haired girl standing in front of the locker next to hers, and retrieved her weapons, Milo and Akouo. Milo's base form was a red-and-gold sword that mecha-shifted into both a javelin and a rifle, and Akouo was a circular bronze shield. They were the only two constants in her life that she actually enjoyed having as constants. She strapped both weapons to her back, when the white-haired girl spoke to her.

"Pyrrha Nikos, right?"

Pyrrha sighed internally. Here we go again.

"Hello there," she said in her fake cheery tone of voice. The girl next to her looked regal, even more so than Pyrrha herself, and awfully familiar for some reason.

"My name is Weiss. Weiss Schnee. I'm not sure if you remember me, but we met last year after you won the Mistral Regional Tournament again."

"Oh, yes, I do remember you," Pyrrha said. The Schnee Dust Company was sponsoring the tournament that year, so of course Jacques Schnee and his children were present for the party afterwards. As the winner, she had been obligated to attend to "wine-and-dine-without-the-wine" as her agent put it to get in touch with potential sponsors. That interaction ended with her doing an ad campaign for the SDC an effort to encourage Sanctum and Haven students to purchase more of their product. After all, if "The Invincible Girl" used SDC Dust, then everyone would want to use it, eager to get any kind of edge they could. Needless to say, it worked. The only real silver lining was that since it was an ad specifically for Huntsmen- and Huntresses-in-training, she could wear her usual combat gear and not something far more revealing, as had become more common as she got older. It sometimes felt like her abs were just as recognizable as her face. "It's very nice to see you again, Weiss."

She wasn't sure yet if she meant that.

"Likewise," the Heiress said with a friendly smile, opening her locker and retrieving her weapon, a silver rapier with a revolving chamber near the handle filled with different types of Dust. Made sense, since her family had a practical monopoly on the stuff.

It made her wonder if the ad campaign was even necessary.

"So, Pyrrha," Weiss said, strapping her rapier to her belt, "have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!" Of course she was just trying to butter her up. Why else would anyone want to talk to her?

"Hmm…I'm not quite sure," she answered calmly. "I was planning to let the pieces fall where they may." Just like she had practiced, being non-committal, until she was asked a direct question. Pretend that she was actually interested in what she was talking about, but make no promises. Especially since she knew where this conversation was going.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together," Weiss said, clearly pretending that it wasn't totally what she was after from the start. Get in the good graces of THE Pyrrha Nikos, and everyone thought they were set.

"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha lied through her teeth. In actuality, if she could help it, she would rather partner up with anyone else but Weiss.

"Great!" Weiss said happily, until a blond boy stepped between the two of them.

"You know what else is great?" he asked rhetorically. "Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

"You again?" Weiss asked in irritation. Pyrrha's brow furrowed. Had this boy tried accosting Weiss in the past? She may not have had a high opinion of her, but she didn't want her to go through some money-hungry boy harassing her.

She knew just what to do.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" She said, attempting to step between him and Weiss.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, brushing her aside and keeping his attention on Weiss. Pyrrha blinked in stunned silence. That didn't work? That usually worked.

Just her luck. The one time she wanted to use her fame to save another girl was also the one time a boy completely ignored her.

"So, Weiss," Jaune continued, trying to flex his noodly arms. "I couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me last night."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed!" Jaune said, completely misreading the atmosphere. "So, been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking you and me would make a great one. What do you say?"

"Actually," Pyrrha said, still trying to get his attention off of Weiss, who was clearly growing more uncomfortable by the minute, "I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so—"

"You don't say," Jaune said, and immediately turned to face Pyrrha. Mission accomplished, she supposed. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join the winning team."

Hot stuff? Clearly, all this boy cared about was getting under a rich girl's skirt, not which rich girl it was. Well, at least his attention was off Weiss. As much as she hated the attention, better it happen to her than someone else have to suffer through it. At least she was used to it.

Weiss didn't get the memo, though, as she stepped between her and Jaune, bringing his attention right back to the girl she was trying to protect.

"Jaune, is it?" Weiss asked, causing the boy in question to nod. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, snow angel."

Huh?

Pyrrha's eyes widened. He didn't know who she was? That couldn't be right.

"This is Pyrrha," Weiss said, gesturing to the redhead.

"Hello again!" she said, still keeping up her polite exterior.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum," Weiss explained.

"Never heard of it," Jaune said quickly.

Pyrrha's smile twitched, threatening to become real. She shouldn't get her hopes up. He'd recognize her eventually.

"She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row!" Weiss said forcefully. "A new record!"

"The what?"

Pyrrha's smile widened. He didn't know who she was.

Weiss had finally had it, waving her arms in anger.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes Box!" she shrieked. Jaune gasped excitedly.

"That was you?!" he asked. Seriously? That was where he recognized her? Well, Pyrrha supposed if he absolutely had to recognize her from somewhere, there were worse places.

She probably would have died of embarrassment if he recognized her from one of the swimsuit photoshoots she did for magazines. It was never comfortable when a male fan revealed that he had a photo of her in a bikini in his house. Why did they always think she would find it charming?

"But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune said, still amazed that she was on cereal of all things.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," she said. It hadn't been. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"So," Weiss said, interjecting herself into the conversation again, "after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

"I guess not," Jaune said, hanging his head. "Sorry."

Oh, no! Screw whatever she thought his intentions were and screw Weiss! She had finally found somebody that didn't know who the hell she was, and she was not going to let some heiress ruin this for her!

"Actually, Jaune," she said in a comforting tone. "I think you'd make a great leader."

"D'oh, stop it!" he said bashfully.

"Seriously, please stop it," Weiss said, hand on her hip. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged."

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune," he said, shuffling very close and placing his face right in front of Weiss's, completely oblivious to her recoiling from him, her eyes widening. "Spots are filling up quick. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?"

"That is far too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?" Pyrrha instantly sprang into action, grabbing Milo from her back, turning it into javelin mode, and throwing it at him. It snagged his hood and carried him across the locker room, embedding itself into one of the lockers and leaving him dangling.

"I'm sorry!" she called to him, a little ashamed that she took such drastic action when she wasn't sure he was aware of the fact that it looked like he was threatening her.

But, far be it for Pyrrha to leave a girl hanging.

Ruby cringed as she saw Jaune get sent flying.

"That's the boy that called you beautiful?" Yang asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Ruby said with a sigh. "Well, now that I know what him actually trying to flirt looks like, I know for a fact that he wasn't hitting on me."

"'Trying' being the operative word," Yang remarked. The sisters heard an announcement on the loudspeaker informing them to head to the cliff to begin their Initiation, and watched Weiss storm off indignantly, while Pyrrha retrieved her weapon, letting Jaune slump to the floor pathetically. Ruby narrowed her eyes.

She could have imagined it, but it almost looked like when Pyrrha yanked her spear out of the wall, it never made contact with her hand until after it was out.

Weird.

The sisters decided to walk towards Jaune, who was still slumped against the lockers, looking too defeated to get up.

"Having some trouble there, lady killer?" Yang asked teasingly.

"I don't understand," Jaune whined. "My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

"Okay, first off, women look for way more than just confidence," Yang said, a little irritated at Jaune's father's rather narrow mindset of what women look for in a man. "Second, 'Snow Angel' probably wasn't the best start, and third, there's confidence and then there's bravado. That was bravado. Confidence helps, but you can't fake it. It has to come naturally."

"Easy for you to say," he grumbled.

"Well, of course I'm confident," Yang said with a grin. "I'm just that awesome that it's impossible not to be. Glad you noticed."

"Come on, Jaune," Ruby said, offering him a hand, "Let's just go."

"So, uh, what's with the tiles?" Aqua asked. She was standing with Ozpin and Glynda at Beacon Cliff, waiting for the students to arrive. Well, the rest of them at least. Several students were lined up, each one standing on a silver tile.

"The purpose of those will be revealed in time," Ozpin said cryptically. "Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

She scanned her eyes over the gathered students. Most of them seemed unremarkable, but there were a few who caught her attention.

There was a black-haired girl with a bow on her head, an intense look in her eyes. There was a tall boy with dark red hair and armor, standing with a pose and general demeanor that just screamed "smug". But not in the usual way, no. This boy clearly considered himself a god among men. She watched him look in her direction, roam his eyes up and down her body, and pause for several seconds on her chest. He looked rather pleased at what he saw, much to Aqua's anger. Making things worse, he didn't even bother to look her in the eyes, instead nodding approvingly and shifting his gaze over to Glynda.

She really hoped that whatever class she was going to be teaching involved combat. That boy clearly needed to be taken down a peg or two. Or twenty. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and continued looking over the gathered students. There was a regal-looking, white haired girl, a red-haired girl in bronze armor, and…

"Renny, look, that's her!" the ginger girl from last night said to her black-haired companion, smiling happily and waving at Aqua. "That's the one I told you about!"

"Yes, Nora, I see her," the boy, "Renny" apparently, said evenly.

"I think she might be my new favorite person. Besides you, of course."

"Yes, Nora."

"I mean, we've been together for so long. Not together-together, but still."

Aqua chuckled at the girl's antics, being reminded of how Ruby was when she first met her.

Young love was just the sweetest thing, wasn't it?

She looked past the couple and saw the final three people walking to their spots. She was easily able to identify Ruby and Yang, and she glared when she saw the third person with them.

It was a boy. And not just any boy, no.

It was the boy that threw up on her the day before.

"Well," Ozpin said, "Now that everyone is here, we can begin."

Yang saw that herself, Ruby and Vomit Boy were the last three to arrive at the cliff overlooking a vast forest. She saw Headmaster Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, and, much to her surprise, Mom standing at the head of the cliff. She chuckled when she saw the glare Mom was sending Vomit Boy's way. She took up a position on a silver tile, her sister going next to her, and Jaune taking the spot at the very end of the line. Ozpin stepped forward.

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

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

Yang heard Ruby whimper next to her, probably nervous about having to meet new people. Yang didn't see a problem. All she had to do was get on a team with Ruby, and they'd be all set. Ozpin decided to take his turn to speak.

"These teammate will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

Yang and Ruby obviously worked well together. Hell, they'd trained together for the better part of ten years. Yang was feeling better about this by the second.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT?!" both sisters exclaimed at the same time. Yang's good feeling instantly evaporated. How were they supposed to guarantee that they end up on a team together if the teammate selection was so random? Oh, what were they going to do?

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die."

Now, monsters were of no concern to Yang. A way bigger concern was making sure she ended up on a team with her baby sister. They needed each other! They had never been separated before, and she would be damned if they were now!

"You will monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one 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?" Vomit Boy raised his hand.

"Yeah, um, sir?" he asked.

"Good!" Ozpin said, completely ignoring Vomit Boy. "Now, take your positions." A yelp from further down the line and the view of a human body flying through the air informed the remaining students as to how exactly they were getting from the cliff to the forest.

The tiles they were standing on were actually catapults.

The crazy son of a bitch was launching them off a cliff! She looked up at the teachers, and Mom looked just as surprised as she was.

Students were continuing to get launched further down the line, and it was rapidly getting close to her turn. She had to think. How was she supposed to make sure she was on a team with Ruby if partners were determined by eye contact?

Wait. Eye contact. That was it!

If they couldn't see her eyes, then they couldn't prove that she had made eye contact at all.

She looked over at her panicking sister, gave her a reassuring wink, and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her back pocket. She put them on not a moment too soon, as her platform launched her through the air, all other noises being drowned out by the rushing of the wind.

It was only now that it dawned on her.

She was safe from eye contact, but Ruby wasn't.

Crap. She could only hope that her sister didn't run into anybody else before they met up.

This may not be as easy as she thought it would be.

AN: Now, before you ask, no, the Nuckelavee that Aqua killed was not THAT Nuckelavee, just another one.

So, I decided to make this chapter a little shorter because I want to hopefully cover all of initiation in one chapter without it being absolutely gargantuan.

I also know that the scenes that didn't feature Ruby, Yang, or Aqua played out exactly the same as canon, but I wanted to write the locker room scene from Pyrrha's perspective so you could see how cynical and a little bitter she really is.

So, in this chapter, we've got some first impressions, both the kind Aqua makes on the students, and the kind the students make on Aqua. Aqua made a great first impression on Nora, and Cardin made a terrible first impression on Aqua.

So, next time will hopefully be the whole initiation, but I may split it in half anyway if things still get too big.

So, as always, thank you guys so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!