In the morning, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren each received a message. When the looked, they saw it was the Black Rose logo. A text followed that read "Watch party at Weiss's office?" and the recipients weren't surprised. Thanks to a virus, Ruby and her friends were able to watch Beacon's initiation every year, mainly to see if someone would either become a threat or a useful asset.
All responded with either a 'yes' or a thumbs up then all began to head to the SDC factory in Vale.
At Beacon, after getting dressed, everyone gathered in the cafeteria for breakfast. Cinder initially sat alone until Mercury, Emerald, and Neo joined her. They were soon joined by three that Cinder spotted yesterday.
"What's up? My name's Simin Megistus." The red haired guy said.
"I'm Vella Moisia." The girl with viridian green hair said.
"Ragora Cinarum." The girl with the witch hat said.
"My name's Cinder Fall." Cinder said then looked at the others with her.
Emerald smiled softly at the three others. "Emerald Sustrai."
Mercury nodded his head up. "Mercury Black."
Neo used sign language.
"People just call me either Neopolitan or Neo." Cinder translated then saw the girl with the wolf helmet sitting alone. She saw a Faunus with brown rabbit ears walking by and gently tapped her arm. "Excuse me?"
The girl looked at Cinder. "Yes?" She said, revealing she had an Australian accent.
Cinder nodded at the silver eyed girl. "Do you know who that is? She seems kinda...familiar."
The Faunus looked at the person Cinder was looking at then back to her with a shocked look. "You don't know who she is?"
All seven shook their heads.
"That's the Defender of the Four Kingdoms herself."
Of all seven, Vella and Neo were the most starstruck.
"No way! Lapis Lazuli, the girl with the same skill and experience as an actual licensed Huntress, is in our year?!" Vella asked.
Neo was just looking at Lapis in shock and admiration. She idolized Lapis, who was Neo's biggest inspiration to be a Huntress.
The Faunus nodded. "My name's Velvet Scarlatina, by the way."
The seven first years introduced themselves to Velvet.
"Good luck during your initiation." Velvet said then walked to three others.
After breakfast, the first years went to get their weapons. While at her locker, Lapis soon saw Neo there with a wide smile.
"Yes?" Lapis said.
Neo used sign language. "My name's Neo. It's such an honor to meet you, Lapis. You're my biggest inspiration to become a Huntress."
"I am, eh?" Lapis asked with a small smile, earning an eager nod from Neo. "I'm honored, Neo. I'm sure you'll make a fierce Huntress. I'll see you out there." She said then walked off. By this point, Neo was struggling to contain her excitement as Cinder walked to Neo.
"Fangirling?" She teased.
Neo turned to her and signed. "I know people say to never meet your heroes, but that was so fucking awesome!"
Cinder chuckled then they headed to the cliffs that were over the Emerald Forest.
Ruby, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, and Ren arrived at Weiss's office and the eight friends sat in chairs or the couch around the TV Weiss had in her office. roman and Adam were with the eight fallen Huntsmen and Huntresses.
"We all will either get a lot of fresh meat or some people who actually know shit about what they're doing." Blake said.
"One way to find out, kitty cat." Yang said.
"Let's get ready." Pyrrha said as the footage came up on the screen.
At the edge of Beacon Cliff, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Neo, Simin, Lapis, Vella, Ragora, and others gathered and stood on platforms with the emblem of the Kingdom of Vale on them.
"You have trained for years to become warriors. Your abilities will be evaluated today in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said.
"Many of you have heard about rumors of team assignments. This will help end that confusion. You will each be given teammates today." Glynda said.
"These teammates will be at your side for your time here. Pair with someone you can work well with." Ozpin added. "First person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years here at this school."
"This'll be easy sweet." Mercury smirked.
"After partnering up, go to the northern end of the forest, destroying any opposition in your path along the way, to an abandoned temple containing relics, one relic per pair. Bring that relic to the top of the cliff. You will be monitored during your initiation, but none of your instructors will intervene. Questions?" Ozpin finished up but nobody spoke. "Good. Ready positions."
Everyone stood ready as the platforms launched them all into the forest one by one.
"So it begins." Ruby said.
"Anyone in a betting mood?" Yang asked. "I got money on that girl in the crimson dress."
"Speaking of, did anyone find out anything about her?" Ren asked.
"I did." Pyrrha said. "Her name is Cinder Fall. She's an orphan who was treated like a slave to the owner of the Glass Unicorn Hotel in Atlas. When she was fifteen, she ran away with a Huntsman named Rhodes, who trained her to use twin swords until he was killed by Grimm. Afterwards, she was taken in...by Raven Branwen, who continued her training and had someone teach her archery."
Yang was shocked to learn this. "So Mommy Dearest took that brat under her wing and trained her?" She asked through clenched teeth before everyone turned back to the screen.
Cinder drew Midnight and used them to slide down a tree as her landing strategy.
Mercury used his boots to help him with his saying it was too easy as he took to running fast.
Emerald used her weapon, Thief's Respite, as a pair of kusarigama to swing to the ground.
Neo used her parasol, Hush, to glide down to the ground.
Simin used his jacket, Kore Kosmou, to make an ice slide down to the ground.
Lapis loaded an ice Dust crystal into her sword, Blood Blade, and made little steps to make it to the ground.
After using branches to get lower, Vella simply used a glyph and allowed it to pull her to the ground.
Ragora used her weapon, Hexentanz, in its glaive form to do a couple flips on a branch before landing on the ground and running.
And so began initiation for these future Huntsmen and Huntresses.
That's chapter three
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