The lush green of the soft leaves bristled in the wind. The mesmerizing beauty of the emerald forest was unlike anything Kaiser had ever seen. The woods themselves looked as if it was brimming with wildlife. It was the type of place you'd go for a nice picnic on lazy Sunday afternoon.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Too bad it was all going directly to hell. Ozpin had just given them the objectives for the initiation exam. First was to group up, second was to travel north to find a relic, and third was to get back to the cliff from which they started.

Kaiser settled on his steel plate, he turned to the other students around him. Each person had taken a stance and braced themselves, someone at the far end had just been launched into the forest.

"Any questions?" the headmaster asked.

"Yeah.. uh sir?" A voice piped up. Kaiser recognized the blond boy from the night before.

"Good." Ozpin immediately cut off the blond.

The knightly looking boy gave a nervous whimper. He looked on as a student was catapulted into the forest

"So this… uh landing strategy thing, what is it." The blond shivered in place. "Like dropping us off or something?"

Kaiser was unsure as well, he figured he'd just copy what others did.

Ozpin glared at the blond. "No, you will be falling." The headmaster took a sip of his mug at the same time the next plate launched a student.

The blond scratched his head. "Oh, I see. So like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" An excited whoop was heard from a girl that was launched.

The headmaster looked unamused. "No, you will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh, yeah. So what exactly is a landing strate-"

The boy was cut off by his own plate deciding that it was time for him to walk the proverbial plank.

The headmaster took a sip before taking a deep sigh. "Yes, is there a problem Kaiser?"

The boy in question stood awkwardly in place, he tried stamping his foot on the steel plate. He grit his teeth as he stamped his foot harder.

"Save that for the Grimm." Ozpin said.

"It just won't start!" Kaiser stamped one more time before giving up.

"How peculiar, no matter then." Ozpin gestured to the plate next to him. "Take this one instead."

Kaiser obliged.

"The launching mechanism will take a minute to reset, best of luck to you Kaiser." Ozpin stalked towards Professor Goodwitch.

Kaiser nodded when he was sent flying into the air. Wind whipped around him as he tried to keep his bearings, he was the only person left in the sky it seemed. The original plan to copy someone had been dismantled by a rebellious steel plate, which meant that improvisation was what had to happen.

Kaiser had reached the tree line as he whipped out the revolver he got a day before. He carefully aimed below before he hit the ground and hit the trigger. An explosion came out of the barrel, the sudden boom propelled him forward while slowing down his descent. Kaiser tore through the air, he aimed the revolver at a boulder in his path. The resulting blast had converted the rock into nothing but a pile of pebbles. Kaiser, meanwhile, was rolling on the ground to lessen his impact with the ground. The boy only stopped when his back hit a tree, he felt a bit of bark rubbed up against his head.

The boy pushed himself off the ground and observed his surroundings. Trees and shrubbery as far as the eye could see. Kaiser activated his contact lenses, he intended on using thermal vision to seek out any other participant. No heat signals came up, Kaiser grit his teeth. Everybody could have paired up in the time it took to get in the forest.

Kaiser took a look at the trees, they were bare except for the leaves they proudly presented. He decided that he'd get nowhere if he stayed. With that, the boy took off into the woods.

"One day you will find yourself in unknown territory." An unknown man announced. "Those in our line of work tend to find themselves in the same situation as yours." The man gave an uncomfortable cough. "The only difference is that when this happens to you in the field, you'll likely have a lot less to work with."

Kaiser was jostled by the armored truck cruising through the rough terrain. The men in uniform had blindfolded him to ensure he couldn't tell which direction was which. Albert Ross had been adamant on Kaiser knowing how to survive in areas away from civilization. The truck was delivering him to some middle of nowhere forest to test the boy.

The truck finally came to a stop, and so did the boy's motions. Kaiser was carefully trying to sense how many people were in the cargo area. Since there was only one person he could hear breathing, he assumed there were just as many people lumped in with him. Some metallic knocks were heard, likely the driver telling them they arrived.

"Stand up."

Kaiser did as he was told, he had to keep himself from flinching when two gloved hands clamped down on his shoulder. He was being led to the door of the truck, he heard the click of it opening.

"Here are your rations-" he heard a soft thump hit grass. "-and your knife." A hard clank hit something solid, probably rock. Kaiser was broken out of his musings as he was unceremoniously kicked out of the truck.

"Make it 24 hours here and you pass the test." The man slammed the door close, Kaiser heard the truck speed off into the distance. He waited around a minute before he was sure the truck was truly gone. The boy removed his blindfold, revealing red eyes as they scanned the night.

Let the test begin. Kaiser had been running for the better part of three minutes before he caught a glimpse of something. He abruptly stopped, his combat boots dug into the dirt as he did. Looking up at a tall tree, Kaiser spotted some moss patch growing near the lower point of the trunk.

The boy grinned, he knew where to go now. Moss tended to grow on the side of the trees depending on the hemisphere it was in. Seeing as vale and more specifically the emerald forest resided in the northern hemisphere, it was only a matter of following the moss and he would find the relics.

Kaiser sprinted off into the direction of the moss, his feet pounded against the dirt. A low growl caught his attention, without thinking he ducked. A large black creature lunged, it missed and landed on its legs. Kaiser read about the creature in his textbook: a Beowolf. The Grimm stood on its hind legs before lunging at Kaiser again. Kaiser jumped out the way before it's claws made contact.

Kaiser backed up against another tree, only for it to be shredded by the beowolf's claws. Kaiser had unsheathed his sword, he rolled out of the way of another lunge by the Grimm. The boy narrowly dodged the beast, it was getting back up again.

By this point, Kaiser had observed the patterns of the foul beast. This made it all the more easier to slice off its front leg when it lunged at him again. The beowolf had stumbled to the ground, vaguely aware of the much more dangerous creature behind it.

Before it could get up, Kaiser pounced on it, he quickly pressed multiple stabs into the monster. His onslaught ended with a final deep piercing to the Grimm's neck. The beast had started to dissipate into the air, it almost looked pitiful.

Kaiser sheathed his sword, he checked his coat for any cuts. His coat was completely fine, the boy's arm stung from a hit he hadn't anticipated. Aura channeling was a very useful tool, it made slicing through the Grimm feel like butter.

A couple more growls were heard in his area, beowolves traveled in packs it seems.

Three more of the damnable creatures stalked the forest grounds where their ally had perished. It was only a few minutes until they left, it was only due to an explosion from the south that caught their attention.

Kaiser jumped down from the tree he managed to hide in before the pack had arrived. He tried to scan for any sign of life beyond the trees only for there to be none. The boy figured he'd have to meet his partner at the temple. Kaiser turned on his heel and started his sprint north.

Kaiser traversed the battlefield, he tried his best to stay hidden from the view of the Grimm. He spotted a couple of students working together, they were likely partners. Kaiser felt a bit envious as the two students had taken down an Ursa together. The boy continued his trek to the temple, many downed logs were used to direct Kaiser towards the path many had already taken.

Kaiser spotted a cave on the way to the temple, it looked tempting to explore. The boy ignored it in favor of going north once again. The telltale sounds of beowolves were once again present. Kaiser scrambled up the nearest tree and hid in the branches from the dark creatures.

I think I hate it here. No sooner had he thought that, a beowolf had lunged at the tree Kaiser had resided in. The log itself had crunched under the Grimm's attack, leaving The boy with no footing to stand on.

Kaiser was thrown into another tree, he activated his aura in time before his head hit the wood. Rubbing the splinters out of his head, he was made keenly aware that he was outnumbered three to one. The boy charged at the beast with his sword in hand, the sword had pierced right through the monster's skull. It did not do much in the way of putting the Grimm down. Kaiser deftly evaded a second beowolf's slash attack, they were starting to get predictable. The boy slid under the lunging beowolf and thrust his sword upwards resulting in the creature's stomach to be cut open.

That only left two more to be dealt with, both creatures circled Kaiser carefully. The boy tensed himself, every sense was on high alert. If Kaiser would try to slash at one of them, the other would no doubt catch him in the back. A rhythmic thumping reverberated throughout the earth, something that Kaiser didn't miss.

In one moment, a red and gold blur sped by the clearing he was in. Kaiser didn't have any time to be confused as the thumping got louder, more trees were suddenly devastated as a huge scorpion-like creature bulldozed through them. As soon as it passed, Kaiser shot the smaller of the two beowolves in its torso. Not wasting an opportunity, the boy pressed forward with his aura-enhanced sword. The second beowolf had faded away.

Kaiser lunged at the third, only to be smacked away. The third beowolf looked a lot more menacing than the others. The creature had bone plating surrounding its torso as well as bone jutting out of its joints. It was becoming increasingly clear that the boy was fighting an alpha beowolf.

Kaiser quickly recovered right before he was caught in another slash attack by the alpha. The beowolf followed up with a few more slashes before batting the boy to the side. Kaiser crashed and tumbled against the forest clearing, the boy got up in time to parry the next attack. Multiple slashes missed their target as Kaiser blocked and countered at blinding speed. None of the boy's own attacks didn't seem to affect the beast significantly.

Kaiser pulled out his revolver and fired off two rounds, an explosion came straight out of the barrel as the two rounds flew at the beowolf's face. A deafening bang followed a second later, the alpha was struggling with the shock. Kaiser took off to a tree next to the Grimm, he ran up the side of it before wall jumping onto the alpha's back. The spine that was lining the beasts back was used a foothold as Kaiser took out his metal wiring rods from Vale. He hastily secured the wiring against the beasts neck, the boy used one hand to grip both rods as they tightened against the alpha, the other hand aiming his revolver downwards towards the alpha's hind leg.

"Hope you don't mind me hitching a ride!" Kaiser snarled out as he pulled the trigger. The alpha didn't really have a say in the matter as it went running in one direction. Kaiser had his back firmly planted against the shoulder of the Grimm as it swiftly cut through the air, his hands gripped the rods in case he decided he had enough.

In no time at all, Both the alpha and Kaiser had reached a large clearing where a temple was seen not so far off.

"Here's my stop." Kaiser pulled on the rods which caused the wiring to harshly tighten against the base of the alpha's neck. He poured aura into the metal wiring to enhance it, the wiring ended up decapitating the Grimm mid-run. The corpse of the now dead alpha stopped immediately, but due to the law of Inertia, Kaiser was thrown in the direction of the beowolf's path. Luckily a tree was there to stop Kaiser, he didn't feel all that lucky though. The boy had slowly stood up using the tree to balance himself, he winced as he felt a splinter pierce his index finger. It was quickly plucked out of the bleeding finger, the only problem was that the wound wouldn't seal itself. It was a telltale sign that Kaiser had used up all his aura.

"...Shit"

The trek towards the temple wasn't so bad, there was nearly no opposition to stop Kaiser from picking up his relic. He'd even been able to introduce himself to the other participants of the exam. The only person from the group that he'd recognized was Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and only because he had to do a job for the company head Jacque Schnee some time ago.

The boy walked over to the temple where the relics lay, they all seemed to be based off of chess pieces. There was something that really caught his eye, that being a golden pawn chess piece. Kaiser let out a dark chuckle, he'd spent his whole life being a pawn in someone else's game that it only made sense to choose the pawn.

He'd just made it back to the group when Pyrrha was thrown in front of them.

"Great the gang's all here, now we can die together." The blonde one- Yang had said with a sarcastic edge in her voice.

"We should sue." Kaiser stood beside his fellow warriors.

"On what grounds?" Weiss absentmindedly asked.

"Well if we die before getting in the school, I'd say defamation." Kaiser quickly assessed any possible options for fighting the Grimm. No grand plan had actually come to him this time. "I mean, it's pretty pathetic if we don't even make it through the entrance exam."

Kaiser had been informed of the two ancient Grimm that had been plaguing the young trainees. After Ruby's attempt at getting the Grimm to back away, the group had unanimously agreed to go for the objective rather than stay and fight a hopeless battle.

They almost made it back without a problem, until they saw the nevermore circle back around them like a starving vulture. Everybody hid behind a pillar to avoid detection, it wouldn't matter anyways. The death stalker from earlier had busted through the forest and into the ruins that the nine huntsman waited. Everybody started moving in an instant, somebody shouted for Nora to distract. To which the girl had agreed as she let off multiple explosive rounds from her grenade launcher. The death stalker would've almost certainly gotten her if it wasn't for the efforts of Ren and Blake. Kaiser's own efforts were focused on not taking any damage while offering ranged support when he could.

The group sprinted across the stone bridge to escape the scorpion Grimm that tailed them at every step. Kaiser stopped halfway to fire a couple dust rounds at the death stalker with a couple of the other ranged fighters. Something he started to notice was a delayed reaction between the dust round hitting its target and it exploding. He figured that's just how it was designed, so he just kept on firing.

They almost made all the way across the bridge when the nevermore smashed into it. Kaiser was left tumbling backwards, he slowly got back up and winced in pain. The boy pulled back his left sleeve to reveal a scraped forearm. It didn't go unnoticed by those around him.

The boy flinched as a hand fell on his shoulder, he turned to see the blond boy- Jaune from the night before. "We'll take care of the death stalker." He said with the utmost certainty. "You won't be able to do much without aura."

It felt a bit foreign to Kaiser to be taken into consideration, he couldn't really remember the last time anybody aside from one person had done that. In response, Kaiser gave a slight smirk, "Free pass? Neat!" He clutched his bleeding arm. "I'll see you when we pass." Kaiser went back a bit to get a running start. He ran at full speed before jumping off the broken pathway onto the other end of it. He quickly staggered towards the center platform where Ren and Pyrrha continued to fire at the death stalker.

Kaiser didn't even make it halfway across as he was struck by stray gunfire. Fortunately his coat had blocked any severe damage despite hurting like hell. Unfortunately, he was knocked off balance by the blast. He didn't hear much besides a strained 'I'm sorry!' before he fell off the already beaten path.

Is there a god?

Kaiser's hand caught on to a ledge of the temple's lower level.

Checkmate atheists.

The boy slowly pulled himself up, every second it felt like his arm was on fire. He fully flopped onto the stone floor before resting there for a moment. He thanked whatever luck didn't let him die today before standing back up, his hand rested on the column that helped support the bridge he was currently under. The death stalker was fighting half of the participants one floor above while the other half battled with the nevermore off in the distance.

A silent squeal was heard above as Kaiser backstepped, he looked around for the source of the noise. Hanging from the ceiling was a spider-like Grimm that looked at him with glowing red eyes. It was easily the size of a tiger or something of similar stature. There was a small straw shaped piece where he assumed was its mouth, it leaked a deep green goop. Fluids dropped from the spider, it sizzled on the stone floor as the acid dissipated into nothing.

The spider had jumped towards Kaiser with a leg extended, it very nearly grazed his face had he not dodged. His response was a quick parry, it wasn't effective at all. Each of the spider's legs were lined with thin but durable bones that prevented any basic weapon from doing any damage. Without any aura, Kaiser's sword was just that: basic.

The spider shot more of its foul liquids, the boy just barely avoided it. Some of the liquid created a small patch on his coat and had started burning through a layer of protective padding.

The spider Grimm wasn't something he could face, retreat was his best option. He leapt past the arachnid and dashed past the columns to get to the beginning of the test. He risked a look back only to see the spider scuttling towards him.

"Damn it!" Kaiser pushed past a downed column. The spider had squealed as it jumped over the column shooting more of its acid. The damned liquid had reached Kaiser's leg. The acid wasn't as strong as it reached his leg after burning through the cuff of his tactical pants. The edges of the black material were tinged white after being exposed. The boy stumbled as the temple behind him had been shaken by the battle ensuing between Pyrrha's group and the death stalker.

I should've just joined them. Kaiser grabbed his revolver; he checked the rounds left in the chamber as he ran. Five dust rounds remained after he reloaded the first time. There eventually came a dead end as there was an enormous column. There were more pathways on each side supporting more columns, Kaiser had to jump from one edge of the path to another. So he did, he also shot at the spider, unfortunately his target had jumped off towards him at the same moment. A sharp leg was extended, there was no time to react as Kaiser felt it cut the side of his neck. Then, the dust round went off on the path that it struck.

Kaiser stumbled backwards, he recovered instantly despite breathing heavily. He forgot to take the one second delay of his weapon, that was annoying. The boy carefully pressed his palm against his neck, crimson stained his hand. He dodged another thrust of the spider's leg, swatted another away with the flat of his blade. Kaiser once again ran and leaped towards the next broken pathway, he shot behind him mid-jump. The boy didn't even bother looking back, not when he knew his instinctive shooting would kick in.

Sure enough the spider was prepared to jump to the next platform, the platform it stood burst before it even had a chance to follow. The Grimm continued to fall into the foggy abyss as more shots hit the arachnid. Kaiser stepped away from the ledge and made his way back to the beginning, he turned just in time to see a headless nevermore sliding down a cliff in the distance.

I'm out of league.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be… an interesting year."

Those were Ozpin's dismissing words before the crowd divided themselves with their teams.

No.

Each team started following behind their assigned leader in unity.

No.

Kaiser on the other hand was left without a partner, much less a team.

No!

As it turned out, some people were not cut out for the initiation as they had given up before entering the second stage of the exam.

A cane clacked behind the lonely boy, it tapped against his back. Behind him was the enigmatic Ozpin.

"It seems you're the only one without a team."

"It seems so headmaster." The boy's posture stiffened. "Is that against the rules?"

Ozpin had adjusted his glasses as he gazed at the boy. "No, but past examinees have forfeited their place in the school when they realize they couldn't complete the partnering portion."

It seemed the headmaster had sensed the boy's plight. "I won't blame you if you want to wait until the next school year."

Kaiser clenched his fist, nails almost broke the skin of his palms. "It's alright headmaster, nothing ever seems to come easy for me." He unclenched his fist with a sigh. "I'll just fight like I always have."

"Are you sure? Many of your experiences in Beacon were made specifically as team exercises. You'll find a bit more difficulty with the assignments we have lined up for you. This excludes the Vytal tournament though, you'll be automatically placed in the singles division."

"I've already made my decision, I'll join and graduate from Beacon in four years time." Kaiser gave a determined look. "Nothing will stop me."

Ozpin looked at the boy with an approving smile. "Very well, your dorm number has been sent to your scroll." Ozpin set off towards the exit of the auditorium, he left muttering something that Kaiser almost missed.

"Interesting year indeed."

The door clicked shut once Kaiser entered his new dorm.

Can I really do this? The thought ran through his head a couple times on his way to the dorm. He's already fought against the odds for years now, his training as a spy could take him pretty far. But would it be enough? He didn't know. All his talent and skills yet he wasn't given foresight. He'd already made his decision to stay.

The boy had gazed at the three extra beds, his lips had set into a hard line. Kaiser still felt bitterness towards his predicament. Sudden laughter filled the room as an idea popped in his head. He held his stomach as he cackled wildy to himself. He didn't have to be alone anymore, he had his whole team with him. He strutted towards the first bed, he looked as if he were facing other people in the room.

"My name is Frederick Payne, my father is a tech billionaire and you're all worthless in my eyes." Kaiser was slowly recalling a few of his past fake identities. 'Frederick made his way to bed next to him, he stood upon it.

"Names Ryker shusterman, my dad is a cop, so don't do anything illegal and we won't have any problems."

"My name is Kaiser, I used to be a spy so anything illegal was basically my pastime." Kaiser looked at Ryker's bed. "What are you gonna do about it, officer?" Kaiser taunted

"Fuck off." Ryker shot back.

"And you?" Kaiser pointed at the last empty bed, the boy rushed over to the last member's bed.

"Hi. My name is Noah Walsh." 'Noah' gave a dazzling smile. "I hope we can get along well."

"Keep that attitude up and we will." Kaiser praised the optimistic boy. "Since Frederick is the leader, and Ryker is his partner, they can be FR. We're the KN. That makes us FRKN, now what word would that be?"

Silence reigned before Kaiser snapped his fingers. "Forsaken!", he shouted to the rest of his 'Team'. Kaiser was quite pleased with his suggestion, that is until he started connecting some dots. Forsaken meant abandoned which was synonymous with empty, that only brought Kaiser back to how the room lacked a real team.

His own team name would always remind him of how he couldn't have what Beacon basically guaranteed. Kaiser's eye twitched as he visibly shook.

"Nora, did you brush your teeth?" Lie Ren was settled into his bed reading a book as the rest of team JNPR was preparing for bed.

"Yup." Nora yelped as she made brushing motions. "It even bled so that's how you know it's clean!"

"Alright then, goodnight Nora." Ren covered himself with his blanket.

"Goodnight Ren, goodnight team!" The excitable girl had told her new team.

"Good-" Jaune and Pyrrha were cut off when they heard someone shouting next door. It got louder as they heard profane language permeating from the wall. Jaune's country boy ears couldn't believe the hogwash his next door neighbor was shouting. It stayed like that for 10 minutes before it finally went quiet.

"Goodnight!" Jaune said quickly before closing his eyes.