"Jaquelyn Hart. Ace Spades. Queen Clubs. Kingsley Diam. The four of you completed the Trial of Green. From this day forward, you will work together in Class A as Team JAQK. Led by… Jaquelyn Hart."

A resounding applause rang through the halls as Ozpin announced the team formation of the four students currently on the stage. The four members of the Royal Flush stood solemnly as they received their designation, while the large screen behind them showed the results of their exam and team name - alongside those already assigned before them - boldly to the large gathering of students below.

It was nearing the evening, the sky plastered a brilliant shade of orange with the sinking sun, marking the end of the day. And what a day it had been. After the end of Jade's exam, they were sent back to the main hall to recuperate from the fatigue and watched the next couple of rounds through monitors. Each exam had their own ups and downs, but compared to the ordeal that Jade went through, she scarcely had any energy to react to those events, which she most likely would have under normal circumstances. Each exam lasted an hour or two and when they were all completed, everyone was corralled back to the atrium where they find Professor Ozpin standing on the podium exactly where they first met him.

From there, teams after teams were called up, given their teams, and were sent along their way. As each grouping was called, a sense of dread slowly built in her heart. Each name spoken were like needles in her heart, expecting the next to be hers. Hearing the result from the other teams, she felt that her group would rank poorly. After all, they failed to complete the objective and most of the students in the upper class completed it, including Jaq who was just called up.

As Jaq accepted Ozpin's congratulations and exited the stage, she turned her head and locked on to Jade's position in the audience. With a cheery smile, she waved at her to which Jade responded with a half-hearted one.

The number of students yet to be called was growing thin. And as that gnawing thought crossed her mind…

"Jade Evergreen. Amethyst Kreiss. Yu Evergreen. Diamon Prisma. Please come on the stage."

Glynda Goodwitch's voice, unaided by microphone, called out to the crowd as their respective portraits were shown on the large screen.

Taking a large gulp, Jade extricated herself from the other students and walked on to the stage with the rest of her team following behind her.

Standing before a stage once more gave her a sense of nostalgia of her past as a dancer, but without her fans in hand, she was like any other shy girl standing before hundreds of people focusing their attention on her. But more importantly, she was getting anxious at what the gray haired headmaster standing before her was about to say.

Ozpin gave each of them a thorough look with a mysterious expression that was hard to read before announcing their results.

"Jade Evergreen. Amethyst Kreiss. Yu Evergreen. Diamon Prisma…"

His voice was deafening under the effects of the speakers.

"The four of you attempted the Trial of Green…"

Jade noticed the different wording compared to Jaq's.

"From this day forward, you will be in…"

Jade tightened up, bracing herself for the words that followed.

"Class A as Team JAYD."

An audible gasp escaped Jade's lips at this announcement. Even her teammates held a look of surprise at Ozpin's word. However, the surprise didn't end there.

"Led by Jade Evergreen."

The applause from the crowd drowned out the "Huh?" Jade leaked out. She must have misheard it. There was no way she would be the team leader. However, a quick glance at her teammates told her she did not misheard as they were all looking at her while applauding.

"Oh my god, congratulations!"

"Hmmm, a bit unexpected, but well deserved."

"..."

Their level of enthusiasm was diverse, but she could tell they were sincere.

"Congratulations," Ozpin continued with a cryptic smile as he gestured them off the stage.

The crowd applauded once more as Jade robotically stepped off the stage, her head in a daze from what just happened. She should be glad to be put into Class A. In fact, she was glad. But, after what happened during the examination, she felt she didn't deserve it. From start to finish, she hardly did anything worth noting and even when she put everything she had in her final confrontation with Jaq, it ended horrendously. Perhaps it was due to the collective efforts of her teammates. Their success might have mitigated her shortcomings, but that doesn't explain why she was chosen as leader.

She continued to ruminate over this dilemma until the ceremony ended, which wasn't too long after their own announcement, and were ushered to their assigned dorms.

However, as she left the main hall, she caught a glimpse of Ozpin entering a tower not so far away. Taking this opportunity to talk with him, Jade addressed her teammates.

"Hey, I just realized I need to drop by somewhere for a bit. You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you guys at the dorm."

Before waiting for a reply, she bolted to the same tower she witnessed the headmaster enter. Inside was a hollow room with a set of winding stairs going all the way to the top and an elevator at the far side. Unsure whether she had access to the elevator, she decided to take the stairs. After all, she assumed the headmaster used the elevator as there were no signs of anyone on the stairs so it may take a bit for the elevator to return. Despite the long set of stairs, which easily went several stories up, Jade managed to jog all the way to the top without working too much of a sweat thanks to her athletic build and ended up in a small waiting room. The room formed a semi-circle, with a lavish set of double doors located on the flat section of the room. Since there were no other paths during her climb up the stairs, Jade assumed the headmaster would be here.

She gingerly approached the door and knocked, the sharp crack of finger on wood echo softly through the room.

For a moment, there was no answer, but the muffled sound of a familiar voice soon came.

"Come in."

Jade gently pushed open the doors and peeked her head in. What she saw took her breath away.

One look was all she needed to know that this tower was the prominent clock tower at the center of the school. Large twisting gears churned above this large empty room, eerily silent other than a quiet click of turning mechanisms, while another set spun beneath the glass floors. At the far end of the circular room was the top section of the clock itself showing the times between 9 and 3. And in front of the clock face was a large desk, stacked with papers and other odd trinkets, where a man with ashy white hair sat.

Professor Ozpin looked up from whatever sat in front of him and regarded Jade calmly, almost as if he was expecting her.

"Ah, Miss Evergreen. For what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?"

Now that he stood in front of the head of this school, in this magnificent office, she started growing cold feet. However, her desire to understand Ozpin's decision to make her team leader overcame her moment of doubt and she steeled herself to speak.

"Um..." she started, far too reticent than she hoped. "I just wanted to ask about...your decision for my team…"

Her voice trailed away as she ushered the last bit of courage to get her words out.

Meanwhile, Ozpin watched this with an amused look on his face.

"Hmm, did you think I made the wrong choice?"

"No!" Jade blurted, but quickly caught herself. "I mean, perhaps…"

Jade shook her head to get her mind clear before speaking again, this time more clearly.

"What I meant to say was, how did we get into Class A when we failed the exam? And why choose me as the leader?"

This earned a chuckle from Ozpin. He got up from his seat and walked around his desk so that he was directly in front of Jade.

"I think you misunderstood something."

Jade tilted her head in confusion.

"First, about your assignment to Class A. If you recall, my exact words were your performance will determine your ranking."

Jade thought back to the time at the cliff. Now that he mentioned it, he did say something like that.

"Whether you complete the trial I set for you does not determine your placements. It is merely one of the many criteria for the final judgement. Simply put, I believe you and your team earned your place in Class A in spite of failing the trials, which is a great accomplishment."

"But even then, why pick me as the leader? Out of my entire team, I did the worst. I hardly contributed anything and I was the one who lost it for my team in the end."

"Is that what you believe?"

Ozpin's question took Jade by surprise. She took a moment to reevaluate her actions during the exam and all she could remember was how useless she was. From failing to land properly, to struggling against her first Grimm, to the defeat at the hands of Jaq. Nothing really stood out that would even remotely consider her for a position of leadership.

Ozpin noticed her mental struggle and decided to elaborate.

"It's true your team has things you lack, but the same thing can be said about them. However, what I deem as the quality of a leader isn't based on haves or have nots, but on potential. The potential to grow and become something more."

Jade seemed lost at what Ozpin was getting at, so he decided to change his methods.

"Say, Jade, have you heard of the story about the tortoise and the hare?"

Jade didn't know where Ozpin was trying to take this, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Can you explain what the story is about?"

"It's about a tortoise who challenged a hare to a race to stop the hare's arrogance about its speed. Thinking there was no chance that the slow-moving tortoise could ever beat him, the hare took a nap halfway through the race. However, the tortoise persisted and managed to beat the hare before it woke up."

"Well said. A classic fairy tale of hubris."

"But what does this story have to do with anything?"

This brought a humorous smile on Ozpin's lip.

"Let me explain. The way I see it, there were four outcomes to the race between the tortoise and the hare."

As if to emphasize his point, he held out four fingers, one for each of his "outcomes."

"One: the story unfolds as it was told. The hare falls asleep and the tortoise defeats the hare.

Two: the expected result. The hare, clearly the faster animal, defeats the tortoise, no competition.

Three. Here's where it gets interesting. The hare falls asleep, but wakes up before the tortoise can overcome him.

And four: regardless of what the hare did, the tortoise realizes the futility of its actions and gives up.

Of the four scenarios, in only one does the tortoise beat the hare and yet it was what transpired. Isn't that amazing?"

"But there will be no point to the story otherwise."

"Exactly," Ozpin agreed, the same cryptic smile as before on his lips. He was reaching the point he was making and showed it through his body language.

"At Beacon, I have essentially selected a group of tortoises and hares and constantly pit them against each other in a race to see who will win. Think of it as a grand experiment to find that one outlier scenario."

"And I'm assuming I'm one of the tortoises."

"That may be so," Ozpin chuckled. "Especially considering, your opponent during the exam, Jaquelyn Hart, is quite the hare. But whether you are a tortoise or a hare isn't important..."

"If you are trying to say what I think you are trying to say, then I'm afraid it's already over," Jade boldly interrupted the Headmaster of the school. It took a bit but she finally figured out that Professor Ozpin was trying to say a tortoise can beat a hare, but that doesn't work in her case. "I lost. Jaq beat me in the end. The hare has won."

"But did she though?"

Jade eyed Ozpin curiously, wondering what he was hinting to.

"That assessment was just the beginning, the start of the race. Naturally, the hares will have a head start, but there are still four years before you leave Beacon. Four years for things to change. So let me ask you, what kind of tortoise do you wish to be? Will you be the tortoise that persists onward to defeat the hare, or will you stop here, knowing the futility of the race? From what I have seen today, I can tell you have potential, but it is up to you to decide how this race will end."

Jade lowered her head, thinking. She knew, if only a little, why Ozpin picked her as the leader. However, because she understood, she now felt the weight of his expectations on her shoulders. A part of her wanted to shrink back from this heavy responsibility, but her mind wandered to that moment when she faced Jaq head-to-head. She recalled the rush of emotions as she lay crumbled, defeated. It stung. It felt like everything collapsed around her. But at the same time, she felt a sense of staunch competitiveness rise from herself. It was the same feeling she felt when rising in the dancing scene when those above her beat her down, she would stubbornly push back, trying over and over, telling herself "Next time, it'll be different." She saw in Jaq a rival, a goal in which she wished to overcome.

And so, regarding Ozpin's question, she gazed resolutely back at the professor. Without words shared, Ozpin understood the young woman's determination and smiled back.

"Well it appears you have found your answer. If that is all, please return to your dorm. I'm sure your teammates are eagerly waiting for you."

Their conversation over, Jade left, the shadow of doubt no longer looming over her. As the door closed, Ozpin let out a weak sigh, humorless and self-deprecating, as he walked over to the transparent clock face and looked down upon the school, his school.

"If only I listen to my own advice more often," he muttered softly before returning to his desk.

Jade quickly descended the tower with renewed vigor. However, as she exited the tower she stopped in her tracks as she was greeted by a surprise. Just outside were the other three members of her team patiently waiting for her. They held an expression of worry, but the moment they saw her exit, their faces lit up in relief. Well, all except for Yu.

"What are you all still doing out here," Jade said in bewilderment.

"Ah well, you see, we originally intended to wait for you at the dorm, but we feel it was more appropriate that we should experience our new school life...together."

It was Diamon who spoke first, but Amy chuckled beside him and continued on.

"Well that and SOMEONE insisted on staying back to wait for you."

"..."

She did not mention names, but it was clear from her line of sight that she meant Yu.

Jade giggled at their interaction. They were starting to sound like a team now.

Amy's face lit up when Jade did that

"So are you all good now?"

"Yes, I am. I'm sorry for making you wait. Come on, let's get going. Our school life is just getting started."

Everyone nodded in agreement and headed back to the dorm, this time as one. However, before she entered the dorm building, she turned back once more to look at the prominent clock tower, lit brightly against the starless night, and recalled everything that led up to this moment. From the moment she landed, to meeting the mysterious girl name Jaq. To the new friends she made and the tough fight she endured. It had been a rough start to this race, but like Ozpin said, this is just the beginning. There is still much more to this race and she promised herself that she will do everything in her power to push to the finish line, for her brother and herself.

Then, with a graceful bow, as if thanking an applauding audience, she disappeared through the door.