Grimmnitiation

Things weren't exactly going as Jaune had planned.

Somehow his expectations for Beacon had missed out the possibility of either Grimm being accepted as students or the students being launched off a cliff into a Grimm infested forest.

As such he felt he could be excused for his panicked lack of a plan and screaming as he hurtled towards his death.

Both came to an end when he impacted something sharing his airspace and its feathers blocked his scream.

It took him just seconds to realise what had happened.

He crashed into a... Nevermore? That was the name of the birdlike Grimm, wasn't it? In any case, he was going to call it a Nevermore.

The pair hurtled towards the ground, at a more survivable rate at least, but that didn't do much for Jaune given that the Nevermore was almost certain to kill him when it had its wings free once more, rather than him pinning one to its side as he clung on for his life.

The eventual impact with the ground was softer than he had feared, but was still enough to shake him loose from the Nevermore, bouncing and rolling across the floor.

He came to a rest facing the Grimm, which squawked and flapped its wings. At least it tried to, but the wing Jaune had hung onto wasn't moving. It lifted itself onto its talons and reared back, proclaiming the injustice it faced. A blue glow could be seen on its chest.

"Oh. You're one of the applicants aren't you."

Jaune hesitated. Sure, this was potentially one of his fellow students, and technically his partner, but it was also a Grimm. Then again, it seemed to be crying in pain, and was fixing him with a baleful glare.

"Oh alright. I'll take a look at it." He was here to be a hero after all, and bailing on his partner was hardly a good way to get started. Plus growing up with so many sisters had left him weak to cries for help.

It was only once he had his hands full that the other Grimm appeared.

[]

Ren was unsurprised at Nora appearing just after he had killed the King Taijitu. She wasn't the sort to skip a fight so she must have arrived once he was done, but getting her as his partner was just business as usual.

It had crossed his mind that the Grimm could have been one that this 'Salem' had brought into the school, but if that was the case surely it wouldn't have attacked. Unless of course her plan was to try and get all the real students expelled for fighting back.

He pretty much ignored what Nora was saying, not entirely due to how much she spoke while saying so little, but also because he could hear sounds from vaguely nearby. Almost like a fight involving Grimm but he couldn't hear any sounds of human weaponry.

Nora noticed. "You hear something?"

"Someone could need help."

"Lead on! Who's a good boy?"

Ren sighed internally as she returned to her insanity. At least she tried to be a good person and was able to be quiet when tracking people.

When they found where the noise had been coming from Ren froze. He was unable to think of an adequate response before Nora spoke.

"Shouldn't you be making stuttered denials when someone finds you with a chick sat on you?"

The blonde boy, pinned under a Nevermore, clearly didn't get Noras attempt at humour.

Ren took in the scene. A Nevermore, with one of the lightly glowing badges on its chest, pinning one of the other students to the ground. There were Nevermore feathers sunk into the trees around the clearing. The boy was covered in scratches. Normally someone involved in a fight with Grimm would receive serious injury from the attack that broke their aura, so either this kid had small aura reserves or "you don't have your aura unlocked, do you?"

The way the Nevermore was crouched on him was either it keeping him trapped or it protecting him from the other Grimm while it fended them off. Given the lack of serious injuries the protection angle seemed more likely. The obvious question was why the Nevermore would protect a human, but perhaps this Salem had a justification for bringing Grimm into the school.

"You got into Beacon without aura?" Nora was excited, and barely seemed to notice the Nevermore as she bounced it off the kid. "What are you, like so super amazing that nobodies been able to hit you in a spar so that they didn't realise you had no aura? You must be like... like Ren version 2!"

Ren sighed at her exuberance and turned to face the Nevermore, which was awkwardly getting to its feet again. "I'm sorry about her. Noras always been excitable."

The Nevermore gave him a forgiving look, but Nora a look that seemed to promise vengeance.

"I know, if you're so amazing without aura, think how much better you'll be with aura!" Nora placed a hand on the boys shoulder and started to recite a chant. A glow effused the both of them. "For it is in our friends that we find immortality. Through this we share our strength to rise above all others, never separated by distance or death. I release your soul and through my awesome protect thee."

"Nora, you can't just release someones aura without asking."

"What do you mean? I just did."

[]

"We seem to have our first team," Ozpin commented, drawing out their initials on his scroll. He hesitated a moment. "Do these Grimm have names?"

Salem shrugged. "None that they told me."

"Ozpin, I know for sure that I checked each application with the school that provided them to ensure we weren't accepting a cat or anything silly like that this year..."

"And I trust that Jaune Arc will justify my decision just as well." Now lets see... N, J or A, R or L and another N or V... Lie Ren could make a good leader for team RAVN but there was no guarantee the team would listen to him in a combat situation.

"At least his aura was unlocked before he could take any serious injury. Even if that chant was... unique."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "You didn't seriously expect miss Valkyrie to use the standard chant?" She seemed to make the plans that Ren followed, so maybe she should be leader. What name would fit...

"Isn't it too soon to declare them a team? They haven't even collected a relic yet." It was clear Salem had never been in this situation before.

"You try coming up with a team name for every team in initiation between its conclusion and the ceremony. Its always better to start work as soon as the first signs of the team show." Team NVAR? No, the Nevermore wasn't likely to make leader.

[]

Yang felt that her landing was just about perfect.

Far enough away from the cliff that Ruby or one of the weaker students wouldn't be her partner. If abandoning Ruby helped her meet new people before, why not again? It would do her good to have somebody she didn't know as her partner.

The pair of Ursa she walked into shortly after landing didn't count against it, as far as she was concerned, because running into Grimm was nothing to do with the landing. Landing in the middle of a group, that would be messing up the landing.

Yang grinned. Neither of the Ursas had a glowing badge to indicate they were students, so this would be a nice easy way to unwind from all the questions Salem brought up.

"So, which of you first?"

She dodged the lunge, placing a fist into its body, knocking the first Ursa back. "Hah, not that tough are you?"

Fighting was a liberating experience. Just you, your opponent, no need to question what was happening. No need to question someone bringing Grimm into Beacon as students.

The Ursa made another lunge, swiping towards her head. Before she had fully dodged there was an impact, as a Beowolf, with a badge, crashed into the Ursa.

It took Yang a few moments to realise the Ursa had been about to hurt her hair.

Her new partner had prevented this.

Yang grinned. "Okay partner, lets do this."

Maybe some Grimm weren't that bad after all.

In a tree overlooking the fight a shape landed, saw the applicants partnered and fighting well, and moved on unseen.

[]

Cardin strolled confidently through the forest. He had already picked out a team, and they had planned exactly how to ensure they would be an official team.

Ozpin should really change things up properly. If you keep throwing people off a cliff into a forest sooner or later news is going to get out.

He glanced up and nodded. This was where he had agreed to meet up with Russel. He just needed to wait for the sneaky guy.

There was a slight rustling sound. Just like Russel.

Cardin turned to face him. "Good you're- wait, you're not Russel! What are..."

His new partner was a Seer. And Ozpin had indicated that the staff watched initiation.

"I don't suppose you've already found a partner?"

[]

Mere minutes later Russel Thrush staggered into the clearing.

His clothes were torn by branches and Grimm and he was out of breath.

Seeing Cardin wasn't there he staggered to a tree to rest and catch his breath.

Then he saw the mark to show that Cardin already had a partner.

"Dammit!"

[]

Pyrrha moved carefully through the forest, considering the matter of her partner.

She had wanted someone who didn't know who she was, someone strong.

The Ursa definitely fit these concepts.

She looked up at the sky. "I should have asked for something different."

The year hadn't even started yet, how had her plan gone wrong already?

"Lets just hope the rest of the team is normal."

[]

Introductions complete, Jaune now knew the names of his team, at least for now. For all he knew Ozpin was going to randomly shuffle pairs together to make the real teams. It would seem to fit, given the Grimm attending an academy that taught people to kill Grimm.

Suddenly sneaking in without even knowing what aura was, let alone unlocking it, didn't seem to make him the least sane person in Beacon.

"First things first," he decided, "does anyone know where the ruins are?"

There was a pause.

"You know," Nora began, "I did feel there was something missing from our instructions earlier. Huh. Any volunteers to scout for us, Ren?"

Ren checked his weapons, clearly intending to do as Nora suggested, but Jaune had a different idea.

He turned to his partner. "Is your wing okay? Do you think you could look for the ruins from the air?"

The Nevermore twisted its head to look at him, before testing its wings and assenting with a loud CAW. It launched into the air, circling to gain height before flying off towards the mountain.

Jaune turned to the others. "He really is the best choice for scout."

"Can either of you understand him?"

Jaune froze. He hadn't considered that.

[]

"Maybe he would fit team leader. He came up with a plan to make use of a team members unique capabilities and they listened to him. I knew accepting him was the right choice."

Oz realised miss Goodwitch had gone quiet.

"You accepted him knowing he had forged transcripts, didn't you?"

"Forged is a strong word. I can assure you that none of the transcripts I read were forged."

"You didn't read the transcripts."

Salem watched the argument with growing amusement. It did raise a certain question however. "How do my Grimm keep falling to Hunters trained here? It doesn't seem like they can be very competent."

Miss Goodwitch looked at her. "I take the combat classes."

Salem nodded. It all made sense again. "It doesn't look like many pairs are running into each other."

Oz nodded. "That is why I've spent the last few initiations trying to add another method for pairing up the pairs into teams. I forgot about the natural formation of teams with the last plan, so maybe it would have been a problem." He took a drink. "Do you have any ideas for a solution?"

"Make it a direct conflict. Allow them to form whatever teams they want and pit them against each other."

Oz took a drink. "That didn't work too well."

[]

Weiss continued stalking through the forest, followed by the irritating kid that she only barely considered her partner, and even then only because the alternative was risking being on a team with a Grimm. There was no way she was about to risk that happening.

"Do you even have any idea where we're going?"

"Yes. Away from the cliffs. There is no way the ruins we are to find are this close to the launch site. They are bound to be deep in the forest, likely with the highest density of Grimm."

"Then shouldn't we find a faster way to get there?"

"And what would you suggest?"

Ruby didn't speak, so with an exasperated sound Weiss turned, saw Ruby pointing upwards, and looked up at the Nevermore.

"You are insane."

Ruby didn't respond, and looking back down Weiss realised she was no longer there.

Briefly emotions warred within Weiss. On the one hand this could be a way to get rid of an unwanted partner and hardly her fault, on the other it would be her fault in a sense and she could end up with a Grimm.

"I'm going to regret this," she muttered as she figured out how to get up to the Nevermore. Irritating barely began to describe her partner.

[]

The screams of a girl using a Nevermore as a means of transportation caught Russels attention.

He looked up to try and see where it was coming from, and looked straight into the eyes of a black haired girl, with a bow atop said hair, crouched in a tree.

They paused.

"Uh, hey," he tried. "Partner?"

She shook her head slowly. "I just know I'm going to regret this."

AN: I realised a bit late that starting writing while suffering a cold and not thinking straight was a bad idea. This is not helped by the wifi problems that result in me rewriting every single authors note. I am not using chibi Grimm as characters, for reasons including canon Grimm not speaking and that following through. I have a name in mind for the Beowolf but will take suggestions for other Grimms names. This was written better in the first draft that was lost due to rubbish wifi.