ANGR

by epicvictory2025

RWBY AU. An adventure of Four teenagers attending Beacon Academy. They all have their reasons for being here, and they are gonna prove they can face the dangers and protect Remnant. But can they remain brave and face the unknown that's hiding in the shadows?

6. School Grounds

RWBY belongs to Monty Oumm

The OCs belong to me

Team ANGR

Chapter 2; School Grounds

---

Beacon Academy

Many airships, Bullheads, and Air Busses are landing at the docking bays to drop off the passengers, at Beacon Academy.

Meanwhile, the boats, further down and at the base of the cliffs, are dropping off passengers but those students than needs to climb up the stairs that connect to the tunnels that are within the cliffside which lead to the top of the cliff.

At the docking bay, one of the boats has already parked itself and lets out it's passengers. One of them, stepping out, is Nigel Arvo, who walks onto the bay and looks up at all the stairs and tunnels of the cliffside that leads up to Beacon.

"Welp, seems I have another ways to go." Nigel remarked, as he takes another bite of his chocolate bar, before wrapping it up and saving the rest for later. He starts walking with the crowd of other teens and heads up the stairs and through the tunnels up to the top of the cliff.

---

Meanwhile, one of the Air Buses has already landed and released its own passengers onto the main avenue. One of it's departures stepped out and onto the cobblestone path is Gale Hathi.

He looked around in amazement but he was especially staring at the entire Academy right in front of him. It looked so amazing and beautiful and this is his first time seeing it for real.

As the young man stepped further into the Main Avenue, he looked down and saw the symbol of the academy as part of the cobblestone path… just like he saw in his dream.

Unlike his dream, which was dark and hard to make out, he can now see the academy in the middle of the day which he can see every piece of the academy; he sees the towering gray buildings, including the highest tower where Ozpin's office is at.

He sees the green and colorful pastures that surround the Academy, filled with many types of plants, shrubberies, and even all kinds of trees with some even having red leaves.

The main avenue also has those double ring colonnades, along with lots of archways, aqueduct-like features, and even those flag draped light poles. Heck, it even has artificial ponds filled with lily pads and that surround the Main Avenue!

"So this truly is Beacon Academy…" Gale thought to himself in awe and amazement to the beauty and defined layout of the whole school. "... Just like in my dream back in the Sanus Jungles…. but far better than I could ever imagine…."

The young man slowly takes a deep breath, and walks forward again. For now, he should go to the Amphitheater where all the students will gather there. But he feels like he should look around a bit and maybe befriend a few people who all look friendly.

---

Finally, a much larger airship lands near the port and drops off its own passengers. It doesn't land onto the port, it hovers right by the edge and lets off it's passengers with it's own ramp it makes which the students use to deport.

The first passenger to come out of the airship… is Vomit Boy…. and the first thing he does getting off the ship is running to the nearest trash can and pukes out whatever was left in his stomach. Guess this guy gets major motion sickness on these kinds of transportation.

Rocky, Ruby, and Yang step out of the airship and enter the Main Avenue, enjoying the spectacular view of their new home they will attend for four years. Rocky was on Ruby's left and Yang was on Ruby's right, with her in the middle.

"Wow…" Ruby and Yang said in complete awe towards Beacon.

"Wow indeed, ladies." Rocky agreed. He too was impressed with the beauty of Beacon but he's seen lots of beautiful cities back in Anima, especially Kuchinashi. "This is where our adventure shall begins…" He happily said… but then had his fingers crossed seconds.

"Fingers crossed that nothing bad EVER HAPPENS through this entire four year semester." He thought and hopes things would just go normally for him, everyone else, and the academy.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this." Yang said, crossing her arms and looking impressed.

"Just wait until you go to places I've been at." Rocky turned towards Yang, referring to many places he's been to across Anima.

Though, Rocky and Yang heard the sound of Ruby squealing like a fangirl at the sight of so many random huntsman and huntresses in training walking by.. and welding all types of weapons that have caught Ruby's attention.

Much to Yang's confusion and Rocky's amusement, Ruby suddenly went "Chibi" mode yet again and her eyes were sparkling and hearts floating around her head.

"And here we see the Ruby Rose in her natural habitat; Like a moth to a flame, admiring and adoring the awesome weapons owned by their own creators." Rocky narrated as if he's doing a documentary about wildlife and that would be Ruby being the star of the show.

"Ooh! Sis! That kid's got a Collapsible Staff! That one has an Ice Mace! And she's got a Fire Sword!" Ruby said in an excited tone that she was even drifting off to find more weapons to fangirl over but Yang reaches out and grabs Ruby by her hood and reels her back in, in which she turned back into her default appearance offscreen.

"Ow ow…" Ruby exclaimed that sounded more like whining than actual pain.

"Easy there, little sister." Yang said to Ruby, trying to calm her down and not let her fangirl mode get the better of her. "They're just weapons."

Ruby turned her head towards Yang as if she's flabbergasted to hear what her older sister just told her. "Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! Built by our very hands and creativity of our minds! They're a part of us!"

Despite Ruby sounding like a fan girl, Yang and Rocky listened can actually agree to Ruby's statement about their own weapons being a part of themselves.

Yang can already remember a few years back when she built her Ember Celica, mostly by herself, with a little bit of help from her dad and little sister. She was proud and prideful with her weapons that she always keeps on her arms, even when they are deactivated and look like bracelets.

As for Rocky. He too has a decent knowledge for weaponry, with his experience and efforts in building his own.

His double barreled revolvers are part of his pride and joy. They are far more than just weapons he uses as self defense and to battle the Grimm; he made these weapons as part of his stunt performance in doing all kinds of fancy tricks; from shooting all kinds of targets at odd and impossible angles, to even mixing all kinds of creative combinations of Dust to make a variety of flashy effects to appease the adoring audience.

Such good times…..

"Oh they're just so cool!" Ruby squeed to all the weapons in front of her. This is gonna be an awesome academy she's gonna attend!

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" Yang asked to Ruby. "Aren't you happy with it?"

Ruby than suddenly unfolded her sniper-scythe hybrid of a weapon and cuddles it like it's her teddy bear.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" Ruby said, now revealing her weapon's name to be Crescent Rose which is actually a catchy name to Rocky. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people. But better."

"You had no idea what Ruby was like when she laid her eyes on my weapons that I had on display, during Roman's robbery." Rocky said as he twirled his double barreled revolvers from his hips and held them in his hands.

Like before, Ruby had sparkles in her eyes again seeing those.

Yang playfully scoffed and teased her sister by grabbing Ruby's hood and hung it over her head. "Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own? Like Rocky here, who you seem to be getting along just fine with?" She gestured to Rocky.

It's true that Ruby and Rocky are kinda getting along fine like decent pals. As much as she's quite well acquainted with Rocky, Ruby doesn't really consider him a true friend… yet, at least. She considers she has Yang with her and that's what matters to her.

Rocky seems to like Ruby as a friend as well but he needs to know her more to consider her a true friend as well. With four years to spare, he, Ruby, Yang, and many others in this academy will come together as teams and comrades, ready to take on the evils that dare to shroud Remnant into darkness.

Ruby grabbed her hood and took it off so her hair and head are out in the open again. "But… why would I need friends, when I have you.. and maybe Rocky?"

Right behind Ruby's back, Rocky was comically glaring at her and giving her a rather goofy looking stink eye. He takes no offense to her because they still don't know each other but even that was a little rude but Rocky has heard worse insults in his life so he's willing to let that one fly… still, he does like Ruby as a friend if they hang out more but that will be decided in the entrance exam since he's more focused on finding a team before making perfect friends for himself.

But before Yang could answer to Ruby, they were interrupted by the sound of screams as if they belong to a bunch of crazy fans towards some celebrity… and that's what it seems like.

"OMG! Is it him?! Is that really him?!" Shouted an excited voice which caught the threes attention and turned their attention towards a crowd of other upcoming students that were rushing towards them… or, specifically, towards Rocky.

"Yes! It IS him!" Shouted another excited voice among a rather small but heavily crowded pair of teen girls, are also attending Beacon but apparently seem to be focused on something else…. They all look eager to see him that they are rushing up to him, even pushing past Yang and Ruby, much to the two sisters confusion.

The same goes for Rocky as he also wonders what's going on and why this small group of people are suddenly coming to him like a bunch of crazy fans… despite having no fan club that he can ever recall….

And he can't help but feel a slight hunch itching at the back of his head that he has likely done something that may have possibly made these people like him.

"Uh… not trying to sound rude or anything… but why are you people surrounding me and treating me like I'm some kind of celebrity?" He asked them.

They heard him loud and clear. One of them spoke up.

"Didn't you know?" Said one of the fans and pulls out her scroll that she shows it to Rocky… and he slowly looks on in surprise at what he sees. "You are a major hit online! You should already know that!"

The scroll shows Rocky doing his epic dance breakdown back at the Raving Dragon back in Kuchinashi. Ruby and Yang managed to squeeze through..

It seems the video of Rocky break dancing at the Raving Dragon has … made him popular to many raving fans online, especially those that go to raving clubs.

"For doing such sick, floor breaking, and physics defying dance moves that brought down the entire dance floor! The views were already in the millions and still rising!" Yelled another fan.

One would expect Rocky would be admiring all the attention like he did back at the Raving Dragon… but he isn't.

As much as Rocky loves the attention of entire crowds that adore him, especially as it reminds him of his glorified days as a stunt performer..… he does not like the kind of attention when it's up close… too close for his own comfort.

Unlike at the Raving Dragon, where most people kept their distance and were only cheering and taking photos of him, these fans are past his personal space and are also flashing their scrolls at him too close.

All of this happening is making him dreadfully remember some incidents; during his stunt days, crowds of people, on occasion, tried to swarm him just to take pictures of him…. and plenty of the ladies who adored him kept trying to pinch his delicate cheeks because he was so adorable looking during his younger days…. much to his annoyance and discomfort.

Thankfully, every time that happens, his trainer makes the crowd back off and give him the space he needs…. Unfortunately, for Rocky, his trainer ain't here…

"Uh… Rocky." Ruby asked out loud, not comprehending the situation right away. "What's going on and why are these people swarming you like you're some kind of celebrity?" She asked, slightly confused, despite witnessing his epic dance moves on that scroll the fan showed off.

"I don't know!" Rocky yelled, slowly backing away

But for Yang. She seems pretty curious of the club he was at and wondered if she could ever go to that place. "I don't know what's going on but those are some pretty sick and awesome dance moves he's doing and I wanna know what that club is called that he's been at!" She grinned, feeling like wanting to ask Rocky what club he was at.

Though, Yang just started to notice the "fans" are further swarming poor Rocky, while Ruby, who was more alert, was already concerned about what is happening.

And the "fans" are swarming him even more and flashing their scrolls at poor Rocky who starting to look extremely nervous… albeit not that he isn't feeling flattered to get this much attention but it still reminds him of his younger stunt days.

And now they are getting more rowdy and eager….

"Show us your moves again! I wanna see them in person!" Shouted a male fan.

"You are so awesome, Rocky!" Shouted a random fangirl

"Can I have your autograph, Runner?!" Screamed another fan.

It started to get a bit more awkward with questions that caught Rocky off guard… and he even started to shift his eyes around in a fast manner that

"Can you be my teammate?!"

"What's your favorite color?! Is it green?!

"Can we go on a date?!"

What kind of hair gel do you use for that mohawk?!

"Will you marry me?!" Shouted a random girl was in the back of the crowd.

"ALRIGHT! JUST WHAT IN THE FRAK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Rocky shouted in confusion and slight panic, starting to slowly go mad from the overwhelming crowd that is making him dread his younger days of being swarmed by fans who won't give him space. He wants to get out of the crowd and lose them in any way he can, even if he has to ditch Ruby and Yang but he'll likely see them at the Amphitheater later… IF he can.

Rocky starts using his semblance and managed to comically slip through the narrow gap of the crowd like he's trying to squeeze through several tight crevices.

He was doing it so swiftly and carefully, while the crowd was so tightly compact together, that they didn't take notice he was slipping through them with relative ease and eventually reached the end and slipped out with a comical "POP!" sound..

Ruby and Yang watched him try to tiptoe away in a cartoonish fashion that he was even making tip toe sounds… but one of his fans spotted him.

"There he is!" One of them shouted and pointed her finger at him. "GET HIM!"

"Oh Sweet Sugar Honey Iced Tea!" Rocky shouted out loud and began to make a run for it.

"Rocky! Where are you going?! What about us?!" Ruby shouted to Rocky, hoping he isn't abandoning them, despite his justified reason for doing so.

"Oh you don't need to worry about me!" Rocky shouted as he was running further away so he had to raise his voice, as the mob of crazy fans were now in pursuit. "I'm just gonna go exploring this academy so I know can get to know the place better and so I also don't get lost easily!" He casually shouts to them and starts running like his life depended on it. "See you guys at the Amphitheater!"

And with that, he and the mob that are apparently his fans chase after him not far behind.

Now it was just Ruby and Yang….

"Well… at least I still have you…. Yang?" Ruby turned to Yang but Ruby noticed her blonde sister looked a bit nervous, as if she had to disappoint her sister yet again because Ruby is so eager to be with her… since she was surrounded by a bunch of other teens who apparently seem to be her friends.

"Well…" Yang said as if she's trying to make a good explanation to Ruby but than suddenly darted away with the other students while talking at a fast pace.

"Actually, my friends are here now! Gotta go catch up! Kay, c'ya, bye!" Yang said as she zipped past Ruby so fast that Ruby spun in place and got dizzy, leaving her confused and wondering what just happened.

"Wait!" Ruby yelled out, still spinning in place. "Where are you going?!" She called out in confusion but Yang didn't answer, as she and the other teens were already darting ahead towards the Academy.

"Are we supposed to go to our dorms?" Ruby stopped spinning but was still dizzy and confused. "Where are our dorms? … Do we have dorms?"

Ruby couldn't handle everything happening at once; Rocky's sudden departure and being chased by his "fans", Yang ditching her with her "friends", and now she's dizzy and couldn't even think or see straight.

She couldn't take it anymore and just decides to fall over and let the sweet embrace of the ground. "I don't even know what I'm doing…."

She falls back, expecting to hit the cold and hard ground of the cobblestone pathway that she expects to embrace… but she ended up landing on something else that caused many white briefcases to get tossed in the air and scattered all over the place.

"What are you doing?!" Shouted a voice that sounded like it belonged to a snobbish and high class, uptight girl, who was looking down at Ruby.

---

Meanwhile, several dozens of yards further back, more students were still coming in from the airship. Amongst them is Adam and Blake, who recently got off the same ship that Rocky, Ruby, and Yang departed from.

It took them a little while to depart because they had to carefully get around a janitor that was busy mopping the floor which was covered in pieces of puke. The janitor was not happy and was slightly grumbling of being the one that had to clean up after someone that threw up on the ship.

Blake was grossed out for a second but quickly got over it, while Adam wasn't even phased by the smell or sight. They still wondered who threw up on the airship.

For now, the two are more focused on their own mission; Attending Beacon for four years and becoming official huntsmen so they can earn enough experience and skills to become effective enough to do the right thing for the world.

Blake is reading one of her favorite books, while Adam is just walking with his cat faunus friend and resting his right hand on his sheathed sword, just staying quiet and letting Blake left in her little world of reading books.

While Blake was reading, Adam was focusing on his surroundings but he was especially looking at the Academy. While he's prepared for this, he has something else on his mind that he feels a bit concerned about… is his mask.

The one thing Adam greatly worries about... is the possible risk of someone getting a glimpse of what's under his mask and he hopes nobody ever will, not even the staff… not even Ozpin….

There should be some chances he can keep his mask on at all times, by the rules of the dress code, without the need of taking it off and showing what he's hiding for the whole academy to see.

Though, he's gonna be with a team soon so that's gonna be tricky in how to deal with that…. Unless he has to….

ACHOOO!

KABOOM!

First, there was a sneeze, that was shortly followed by loud explosion not too far away which first started off a fireball, followed by crystals of ice, sparks of electricity, gusts of wind, and pieces of scattered stone.

The two faunus noticed two objects were flying towards him and Blake. They looked like two bottles of Dust, one red and the other blue, bounced across the ground that made clinked, until they rolled towards them. The red one rolled against Blake's shoe while the blue one rolled up to Adam and he stared at it for a second.

He reached his arm down and picked up the bottle. At the same time, without looking and only reading her book, Blake too reached down and grabbed the other bottle, since she felt it bumped into her foot. She stopped reading her book and inspected the item in her hand.

Both of them noticed each of the bottles they were holding in their hands had a very familiar symbol on it… one that looked like a unique kind of snowflake… a symbol that's definitely the Schnee Dust company.

Adam narrowed his eyes at that symbol… the same one he's seen too many times in his life that he'll never forget. Every time he stares at it… it still gives him unpleasant thoughts and memories he wants to completely forget.. but he knows he never will…..

"Unbelievable!" Shouted a female voice within the thick cloud of smoke and elements… and it sounds like belonged to some kind of high class princess…. and once the cloud has cleared, there stands Ruby in front of the person with that voice who does in fact look like some kind of a high class princess. Beneath the two is a

The girl that is antagonizing Ruby is around the age of 17 and stands around 5'2" (in her heels), and has a pale skin complexion. She has a pair of pale blue eyes and long white hair that's pulled back into a ponytail on the right side of her head, with an icicle-shaped tiara.

She's wearing a white strapless and thigh-length dress, while also being white that graduates to a pale blue at the hems, a snowflake shaped neckline, a white tulle skirt, and a matching colored bell shaped sleeve bolero

She has a white sash that holds a pouch, a silver chain necklace with an apple pendant, along a pair of rectangular silver earrings. She also wears a pair of white boots with wedged heels. On the back of her bolero is also the exact same symbol that's the Schnee Dust Company.

Strapped to her hip appears to be some kind of rapier but also appears to have some kind of revolver cylinder like device strapped in the hilt that's also attached to the pointy blade. The last thing noticeable trait she has is a scar that's located across her left eye.

This young girl here… is Weiss Schnee; The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company that she will one day run by her own decisions and authority. But for now, she's still the heiress who's still got a ways to go until she's ready to run the company.

Blake and Adam instantly recognized her, both by the symbol and her appearance, as they have seen her online and on magazine articles of her popularity of

But, what's so shocking and surprising, to Adam and Blake, was that they see the famous heiress, all the way from Atlas, being here, in Vale, of all places, let alone Beacon.

One would expect Weiss, due to her status and title as an heiress to her company, to be attending a more proper and advanced academy that's back in Atlas… but here she is… also attending Beacon, apparently, like all the other average students.

With all that in mind, Weiss was momentarily covered in soot but she shook it off herself and was clean as a whistle… but she's still angry at Ruby. It seems Ruby must've done something wrong that provoked her.

Weiss appears to be even more pissed off at Ruby. "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" She yelled, despite her hypocrisy that she was the one that shook the bottle that made Ruby sneeze.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby apologized, while tapping the tips of her fingers together like she is guilty but Weiss remains aggravated towards Ruby.

"Ugh!" Weiss groaned in annoyance, not accepting Ruby's apology. "You complete DOLT! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon." She further scolded that now sounding like she was mocking the caped girl.

Behind his mask, Adam narrowed his eyes towards Weiss. As much as he has a rather bitter view and history towards the Schnee Dust Company, one of the few existing reasons for the White Fang to exist, he was expecting Weiss to at least act like a proper and mature young lady which would fit her as an heiress.

And yet, she's berating this red hooded girl, instead of trying to help her up and wonder if she's okay, especially after sneezing that crater and could've caused more Dust to explode which could have resulted in more property damage and something worse.

"Well… I-I…" Ruby tried to explain but was interrupted by Weiss again.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school." The heiress further lectured, sounding like she's above Ruby. "It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters so watch where you're going!" She turned her head away from Ruby and looking so uptight doing it.

Again, Adam briefly felt aggravated towards Weiss' intolerance and arrogance. As for Blake, even she was starting to narrow her eyes and also feeling annoyed, just by hearing Weiss giving off her rant was starting to get on their nerves.

"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!" Ruby shot back, now feeling annoyed towards Weiss who's now starting to get on her nerves. She just apologized and didn't mean any of this to happen but now she's feeling a bit annoyed this girl is just being all uptight and snobbish to her.

"It's heiress, actually." Blake said, catching the attention of Weiss and Ruby. Blake and Adam approached them and stood in front of them. Blake remained calm while Adam also kept his stoic expression… but that's mostly thanks to his mask that was hiding much of eyes. In fact, behind that mask, he was staring right at Weiss and he was narrowing his eyes at her.

As much as they don't like Weiss at the moment, they kept their cool and talked casually.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellent in the world." Blake informed which revealed to Ruby this girl is Weiss Schnee. Ruby widened her eyes slightly in surprise.

She has heard of Weiss in the magazines but she doesn't pay much attention to that kind of stuff.

"Said company was founded by the brave and selfless Nicholas Schnee, Weiss' grandfather, who eventually passed the ownership to his son-in-law….. Jacques Schnee, Weiss' father." Adam said, adding more info about the Schnee Dust Company. But what Weiss and Ruby didn't notice was that he tightened his right fist and barely kept himself calm. Just even saying that name makes his blood boil.

Blake took notice and felt slightly concerned but kept her composure. This isn't the first time in her experience and she knows how Adam feels about the Schnee family.. but especially Jacques…..

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said as she was getting the praise and acknowledgement she deserved. She even turned her direction at Ruby when she said that but Ruby narrowed her eyes back in annoyance. This also did the same to Blake and Adam who have finally decided to knock her down a few pegs.

Blake will be the first to knock down the first few pegs.

"The same company infamous for it's controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Blake said, not missing a beat in striking down the hammer of criticism on Weiss.

"What- How dare-! The nerve of-!" Weiss stuttered in frustration and shock of hearing what Blake just said to her. Even Ruby started to snicker at the princess of getting served.

That is…. Adam now has his turn in sharing his view on the Schnee Dust Company… and he isn't pulling any punches towards Weiss.

"Not to mention the mistreatment and unethical practices to their workers, especially tothe workers who are faunus but it's not unheard of the human workers who also suffer the same problems; minimum wages, unsafe working conditions, ineffective or lack of safety equipment, unstable dust mining that brings the risk of collapsing mines, and even the reports of possible abuse, physical and verbal, to the workers."

All of that was said by Adam without missing a beat. And what he has said caused an ever bigger reaction.

Blake didn't show much of a reaction since she knew Adam would say something like that but even she was a bit surprised how much Adam would add about the SDC. She still remembered what Adam showed her behind that mask that day and she feels his reasons were justified.

Ruby was a bit surprised and shocked by hearing this masked boy, since her eyes were even wider and she turned her attention towards Weiss again.

As for Weiss… she was completely flabbergasted by what she just heard from this blue haired and mask wearing bull faunus who had the guts to say all of that to her face.

She just couldn't believe it, even if she heard it loud and clear from him who casually stands there and has knocked down several more pegs than what Blake could've knocked down just a minute ago.

It made her furious that she was losing her composure and she was even starting to grit her teeth at the both of them, but especially towards Adam.

"Y-YOU- YOU DIDN'T JUST-! UGH!" She groaned and scoffed in complete frustration, as she swipes both of the Dust bottles, each out of Adam and Blake's hands, before storming off towards Beacon Academy. Not far behind, her two butlers gathered up the rest of the Dust filled briefcases and followed her.

Ruby watched her go but didn't know what to take from this. She could only think of one thing to say to her.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called out to Weiss who didn't respond, not even looking over her shoulder to let Ruby know she heard her, while still walking on towards Beacon, still fuming having her pride partially cracked.

Ruby felt a little more guilty for all of this to happen in the span of less than four minutes and she may have possibly made a bitter classmate who may hold a grudge against her for who knows how long. Ruby sighs, feeling like this isn't gonna be an easy start.

"I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." Ruby calmly said that made her sound down…. but there's that girl with the bow and the bull faunus with the mask. They might be friendly!

Ruby perked up a little, as she smiled, and turned around to greet the other two.

"So what's-?" Ruby said before she was unable to pronounce any more words from her mouth, once she turned to the other two's direction… only to find them not in the same spot as they were seconds ago… only to find Blake and Adam were walking away from Rub,. Almost like they didn't know Ruby existed and just went on their daily lives.

She was expecting they would stick around and maybe even introduce themselves… guess Yang was right she should at least make some new friends… which is easier said than done.

Ruby now feels hopeless and lonely again; Getting no support from anyone, despite that human girl and faunus boy defending her from Weiss Schnee. She slumps to her knees and than lets herself fall onto her back and stares up into the cloudy sky.

"Welcome to Beacon…" She mutters, trying to sound cheerful but feeling so down that it's moot as of now. She closes her eyes and just waits for something to happen, for better or worse.

Meanwhile, Blake and Adam were still walking in a different direction, obviously somewhere else than where they were at just a few seconds ago.

Both were more concerned about their own agenda but Adam couldn't help himself but look over his shoulder and look at the poor girl who seems to be lonely.

He stopped in his tracks and kept his sight on the girl.

Despite having only Blake to trust and being with her in every place they've been…. ever since they left Vlad and the White Fang behind, he knows there will be a time he's gonna have to make a team with two or three other people… so why not start with this girl as a potential teammate?

Besides, she looks lonely and may need a bit of company after the berating and being looked down on by Weiss Schnee. He and Blake did defend her so it would be a good idea to have her get her thanks to Adam and maybe Blake if they encounter each other again.

Adam continues to stare at the white haired girl, for several more seconds. Blake instantly noticed that Adam is not walking with her and is just standing a few feet away from her.

"Something wrong, Adam?" Blake asked, a bit confused and curious why Adam stopped.

To her knowledge, Adam rarely stops and gets his attention caught elsewhere, especially since he's either in deep thought or when he's focused on his missions that he's serious about.

He rarely catches as any breaks, unless they are eating, taking a short break, or when it's at night and they are getting their sleep. He's always focused on what they need to, never letting anything else distract him from his own focus. And yet, here he is, distracted by this young girl who seems lonely.

Adam remained silent but he turned his attention back to Blake and gave his answer.

"Blake… if you don't mind, I'm gonna stay behind and get to know that hooded girl. You can go on without me." He simply stated. Sounding like he knows what he is doing and trusting Blake she can go on without him.

Blake didn't need to guess what caught Adam's attention and already knows what he means, since he's focused on that girl. She doesn't mind their occasional splitting off diversions on different missions that they did back in the White Fang.

For the most part, she's fine with Adam going somewhere else by himself and she can handle things on her own. Besides, she knows they will be seeing each other again, either at the Amphitheater or somewhere where they will sleep for the night.

"Alright, Adam." Blake answered, with an assured look in her eyes that she trusts Adam and continues to walk forward to wherever she is going. "I'll be at the Library. If you need me, you know where to find me." She said, and walks off towards the library

"Don't get lost or I may have to find you…. again." Adam teased, despite knowing Blake can already get to places without getting lost. Blake couldn't help but slightly smirk, despite having her back turned and hearing that joke before.

"I won't." She replied, as she raised her hand like she's got it.

After Blake left, Adam turned his attention back to the red hooded girl laying on the cobblestone path. He couldn't help but feel slight pity towards her and feels like she at least deserves some attention and an acquaintance for the time being.

But there's more than just that; there's something special about her and he couldn't put his finger on it. She looks much younger than most other students but the possibility of her attending this academy must mean she's special in some way….

Just as he was approaching her, he sees another person walking to her; a blonde boy wearing a hoodie and some patches of armor on his body. Adam looked at him for a split second… and he couldn't help but sense and feel he doesn't look fitting to be in this Academy… but if he's here, than he's qualified and Adam has no further judgement on him. Though, to Adam's unawareness, it's Vomit Boy.

Ruby still laid there.. and felt two shadows looming over her face that blocked out the sun in her eyes. She opens her eyes … and finds the masked faunus boy has apparently come back but also finds Vomit Boy. Both had their hands out, letting her know they want to help her up.

"Hey. I'm Jaune." Said the young man. Now revealed his name to be Jaune.

"Adam Taurus." Adam also said in a stoic but assuring tone that he's trying to be a bit helpful. Deep down, despite his rather sour history with most humans, he knows not all humans are completely bad and there are plenty that are good and want to make better with everything.

"Ruby…" The young girl said, sounding a bit happy to at least have someone is around and she ain't completely alone. She accepts the hands and grabs each one. Both boys easily pull her up to her feet. She turned her attention to Adam.

"So you've came back, right after leaving me and without a warning?" Ruby asked ADam, raising an eyebrow towards him.

"I just came back because you looked really lonely. So I just decided why not?" He calmly stated.

This made Ruby slightly grin but she than thought of another thing.

"And what about that girl with the bow?" She asked, turning her attention to Blake who is now so far away she can barely be seen.

"She's fine." Adam answered. "She has her own things to deal with. We both agreed to meet each other later so no need to worry about her."

Ruby stared at Blake for another second but nodded to Adam and turned her focus at the other boy who's now named Jaune… she couldn't help but try to hold her back from laughing as she remembered him for one thing when she first saw him.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked Jaune, feeling amused and still remembering that incident seeing Jaune vomit on that ship and causing such a ruckus.

Jaune sweatdropped in slight embarrassment and likely knows Ruby will likely never live it down for quite a while. His expression clearly says that it was him.

"Huh… so that explains the mess and the janitor, back on the airship." Adam also said, feeling a bit surprised he got his answer of what caused that mess of puke and the janitor being forced to clean it up.

---

Near the edge of docking bay.

Nigel has finally reached the top, after going through so many stairs and tunnels of the cliffside, as he steps onto the cobblestone path and gets a refreshing view of the academy in all of its glory.

Nigel was more than impressed with this academy, admiring the beauty in the architectural design of the place.

He can also sense so much enthusiasm and anticipation from the surrounding new students.

Around him, he can see all the different colors and intensity of everyone's auras that he senses through his semblance.

Not only that, he's also sensing what they are feeling for this place.

He can sense most of them are feeling happy, excited, and even proud they are here. Others are casual and normal with it, like it's no big deal. Even sensing some that are feeling extremely nervous and anxious being here, like they are afraid they may fail this academy and sent out of the school as complete failures.

The bladerang wielding faunus admired feeling all these varied pulses of emotions around him, especially since their auras are far more focused and potent than the others he felt in previous places he's been,like Bardus and Kuo Kuana.

Since he's been a lot on his own, either out in the deserts of Menagerie, or in small, hollow towns filled with people with little to no aura, he enjoys feeling these emotions, at least in places where it isn't hostile and can't let his guard down.

He also senses emotions to make it easier for him to figure out how to read people and what they feel, which can be useful in many ways and circumstances.

With all that thought out, Nigel decides to the Amphitheater and get over with it so he can go through the four years of training and then become an official huntsman.

It would be easier to get paid with the right amount of money doing certain jobs only licensed and legal Huntsman can do.

But when he walked further, he couldn't help but notice a crater in the middle of the path and it looked pretty deep.

"Huh. Looks like something had happened here." Nigel thought as he smelled the air and could smell the smoke that lingers in the air, The unique scent is definitely Dust, along with other unique scents that suggest other types of Dust too. That, along with the compressed crater, suggesting an explosion has happened.

"But what exactly caused that explosion?" The kangaroo faunus wondered. Though, he did recall, when he was still climbing the stairs and the tunnels, he swore he heard a faint sound that was akin to explosion, and now he connects that sound to the crater and scents of Dust.

That's when he used his semblance again and sensed the flaring auras of other students that surrounded him. This time, he saw three people not far away that were walking towards the school.

There was a girl in a red cape with a red aura and a masked boy faunus with a blue aura… but that blonde boy in the hoodie that's walking with them… doesn't appear to have any visible aura through the vision of his semblance…. but his semblance is telling

Just because he doesn't see or sense aura through his semblance, doesn't it's not there. Every living being has a soul which means they have an aura, It's just that those who haven't activated their aura means it lies dormant within them and doesn't make any pulse for Nigel's aura to sense.

This made Nigel raise an eyebrow towards this random teen who appears to have not awakened his aura

Normally, most students need to have a very strong pulse with their aura while also having good control over it…. maybe he has a semblance to hide his aura, like the other two he fought back in Bardus?

Despite that, Nigel was still able to detect his emotions, if barely.

What the faunus was able to sense… was mostly the boy feeling friendly and even pretty glad to talk to some people whom he's hanging out with.

However, underneath that friendly exterior and his focused emotions of being friendly. Nigel was also sensing bits of low self-esteem, doubt, and even regret. This made Nigel feel suspicious as to why this student that's attending Beacon to express such emotions ... unless… Nigel shakes his head, it's not his concern and considers that's the blonde's problem… but still…. Nigel should keep an eye on him and observe him more if he has to.

Nigel walked past the crater and carried further into Beacon.

---

Near the statue of Beacon.

Gale was ahead of everyone else and further down the academy where it's far more populated and crowded with mostly teenagers and a few adults who work at the academy and will be the professors to help guide the new and young souls to become huntsman.

Gale stopped when he saw something that caught his attention and turned his view towards it; a statue showing two brave huntsman with their weapons and a Beowulf. The same statue he has seen in his dream quite a while ago but he can still remember as if it were yesterday.

The poses of the two warriors with their weapons, standing on top of the rock that symbolizes their glory and bravery to protect humanity, and the Beowulf at the bottom of the boulder that represents the Grimm's thirst for destruction and the end of human society.

Gale stood in silence but also slightly grinning, admiring the statue and it's deep symbolism of humanity and it's arch enemy in a never ending war with each other.

So now that he's finally here, the very thing he thought about ever since that dream, he can now start his next trial and goal to find his purpose and happiness.

Though, his thoughts were short lived when he couldn't help but hear the sound of running feet and excited chatter right behind him…. and they are getting closer to him every second.

Despite getting a glimpse in the corner of his eye what appears to a group of a few people coming at him at a fast pace, Gale no time to turn around or get out of the way, as he felt something slam into him from behind him.

Thankfully, right before impact, he braced himself and the power of the collision only sent him taking one step forward but he stood firm and never fell over. He quickly regained his balance and remained standing on his feet, showing no signs of faltering and looking as sturdy as he is.

At the same time, during that moment of impact, Gale saw several teenagers running on ahead of him but he also heard somebody behind him hit the ground in an audible thud.

"All right. Who in the right mind would just run into me like that?" Gale said, sounding slightly annoyed as to why someone would just run into him like that. "Unless I am missing something here, if this is part of the Curriculum of Beacon Academy, I don't think it should start until tomorrow." He calmly said as he turned around looked at the person that ran into him.

What he saw, to his slight surprise, is a girl… a blonde and bodacious looking bombshell of a girl.

What trait that Gale first noticed about her is her blonde hair which flows like a stream of pure golden silk. He also noticed her outfit which covered plenty of her but still showed off her some skin, especially the legs, midriff, and chest area… showing some visible bits of muscle in her arms and legs… but he especially took a momentary stare at her chest but quickly focused his gaze at her face when she just starting to recover. He also noticed on her wrists appear to be a pair of yellow bracelets… but his instincts are telling him they something more than that.

But that isn't the only thing that Gale is focused about. In fact, there's a different reason…

Come to think of it, her appearance reminded him of something familiar to him, especially her luscious blonde hair again which also looks very familiar.

"That girl… she looks just like the silhouette with the glowing hair and red eyes in my dream, on that night on the mountain back in the Sanus Jungles..." Gale thought in his head, feeling that it's strange if this is a coincidence or something far more than that.

However, Yang came to her senses and shook the cobwebs out of her head.

"Oh man…. Did I just run into a wall or something?" Said the girl, who turns out to be Yang, slightly dazed but otherwise appears to be fine. She managed to regain her senses and tried to stand up but she couldn't help but take a look at the person that was looking at her from above.

The person she sees is a young teenage boy, with short and spiky orange hair and a skin tone that was tan, who stands right in front of her and is looking down at her from above. Despite being around her age, he easily towers over her, even if she stood up to her full height, though, he's not quite as tall as the likes of Junior that she met not too long ago.

She got a good look at him and especially eyed those turquoise colored bracelets he has on his wrists… and she couldn't but feel those bracelets are more than what are by appearance.

However, she also couldn't help but turn her gaze to his abdomen. Despite Gale is wearing a tank top to cover himself, she could still clearly see he's in great shape and the piece of clothing is a little bit small for him so it's hugging him tightly which makes it easier to see his well defined abs….

Like Gale, her gaze towards his midsection was only for a mere second and turned her focus to Gale's face which she saw his turquoise colored eyes and Gale noticed her eyes which were lavender in color.

Gale was the first to speak up to end the awkward silence.

"You okay?" Gale asked, trying to sound normal and hoping her running into him hasn't done any harm to her. Though, based on him observing her, she looks fine and doesn't show any signs of pain or discomfort.

"Oh yeah, I sure am!" Yang spouted in confidence, springing back up to her feet and looking as confident and spunky as she ever was. "Never felt any better!"

"Oh that's good." Gale said, deciding to play along since that blonde was a bit dizzy from running into him so he's just being casual about it as well.

"So… you're here to become a huntress?" Gale asked, trying to start a normal conversation, despite not knowing this girl.. only the possibility of seeing her in his dreams that comes into question but ultimately decides to keep it to himself.

"Oh that I am!" Yang quipped and gave a slightly smug grin towards this potential classmate. "I'm here to kick Grimm butt left and right like a complete badass!" She boasted, bumping her fists together with a grin… which is just like the blonde silhouette did in Gale's dream.

However, Yang only left out a few other parts of her reasons for being a huntress since she just met this boy and doesn't know him.

"Nice." Gale nodded, approving of Yang's motivations and smiling a bit. "Seems pretty reasonable and fun. I have my reasons for being here, as I too have my reasons to become a huntsman, but let's just say I too feel eager that one of my reasons is kicking Grimm butt as well."

This made Yang grin again, hearing the sound of a potential classmate also enjoying the thrill of slaying Grimm and likely also enjoying some good sparring and fights with others, which is pretty true as Gale does enjoy sparring and fighting too.

"Sweet!" Yang cheered, feeling excited and interested with this guy. "Well, as much as I like to chat and maybe spar with you, I gotta get going and catch up with my friends." She said, slipping in a wink and even sounded slightly flirty with him which made Gale raised an eyebrow in confusion as to why she would suddenly flirt with him when they don't even know each other… or maybe she has a habit of flirting with people.

"Anyways. Well, if we ever see each other again, might as well test each others strengths and see who comes out on top, Okay, see ya!" She said and darted on ahead and further down the academy.

Gale watched her run past him and further into the academy.

"Wait! Hold on!" Gale called out to her, feeling like he wants to ask her an important question.

The blonde stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulders

"Oh? Is there something you want to tell me~?" The girl turned her head over her shoulder, having her eyelids half open and sounding a bit flirty in her tone. Now Gale isn't sure what she's trying to pull on him but he decides to just play along.

"Well, all I want to know is your name." Gale simply said, being straightforward.

"Oh. Well, my name is Yang Xiao Long so you better not forget that." She said. "And since I shared you my name, than what's your name?" Yang asked to this orange haired boy

"Well, it's Gale… Gale Hathi." Gale answered to her, sounding sincere and honest.

"Well, Gale." Yang said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow like she's interested in him. "Stick around longer and you may find out what I'm capable of." That's all that she said, as she winked and went on further into the Academy.

Gale stood in silence as he watched the girl now revealed her name to be Yang taking off. Normally, he doesn't really take notice much… but Yang does look pretty cure and even… really hot.

Gale shakes his head and regains his focus. He lets out a sigh and stares at the statue one last time for half a minute, before walking off to the amphitheater.

---

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, in another part of the academy, three young souls are learning about each other, as they calmly stroll down through a different courtyard that's also near a large artificial pond filled with lily pads and other aquatic plants that are also inhabited by frogs and fish.

Ruby and Adam have decided to walk with Jaune, deciding to give him some company, after that embarrassing experience and also Jaune helping Ruby up with a greeting hand. They still have time to spare before they need to go to the Amphitheater

Ruby was in the middle, with Jaune on her left and Adam on her right; The colors of red, blue, and yellow, were all walking together.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on." Jaune says

"Especially with so many transportation of all kinds in nearly every terrain." Adam pointed out.

"I know!" Jaune agreed.

"Look, I'm sorry. Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said apologetically.

"Besides, there are far worse names out there than being called Vomit Boy." Adam says bluntly.

"Oh yeah?" Jaune rebutted at the two, feeling a bit annoyed. "What if I called you Crater Face and Blunt Mask?" Jaune rebutted towards Ruby and Adam respectfully. Ruby took offense to that but Adam didn't bat an eye and just kept walking with the two.

"Hey! That explosion was an accident!" Ruby shot back and trying to defend herself, feeling like it was Weiss' fault to cause that accident to happen. "Besides, that princess was shaking Dust in my face and made me sneeze so it's her fault!" She further added to justify the accident.

"So it was the heiress that caused it... should've known she would be responsible, by the lack of precaution and mere arrogance on her part." Adam thought when he but kept silent.

Jaune decided to change the topic a bit, since Ruby was still ticked about Weiss and her uptight attitude.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc; Short, sweet, tolls of the tongue, ladies love it!" Jaune boasts, trying to sound confident and impressive… as best as he tried to make it which isn't much.

Behind his mask, Adam raised an eyebrow at hearing Jaune sounding like a casanova wannabe. "Something tells me he isn't gonna be getting a girl for quite some time… if at all, with that kind of approach." He thought.

Ruby, on the other hand, couldn't help but snicker and feeling a little amused.

"Do they?" Ruby teased and sounded skeptical.

Jaune quickly assured Ruby with the gesture of his arms. "They will. Well, I.. hope they will…" Jaune said, now sounding a little doubtful but he continued. "I mean, my mom always says that… never mind." He said trying to drop what he tried to say.

"Talk about a first impression." Adam thought, now feeling slight pity towards Jaune and his attempt of trying to sound like he's cool… and involving his mother that wasn't helping him..

Ruby couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly but thought of an idea that changes the topic again.

"So… I got this thing." Ruby says as she brings out her Crescent Rose and turns it into Scythe mode with the pointed top slamming against the ground with a loud mechanical thud that slightly shook the ground.

Jaune was shocked and awed but Adam was curious and impressed seeing a mere 15 year old girl own and wield a weapon like that. He deduces she must have some very great skills to wield a weapon like that, both up close and long range.

"Whoa!" Jaune exclaimed in surprise. "Is that a scythe?!"

"It's also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle."Ruby said, now suddenly sounding like some weapons expert that's demonstrating her weapon.

"A wha-?" Jaune said confused.

"It's also a gun." Ruby also said, cocking her

"Quite a versatile and practical weapon to have at close and long range capabilities." Adam said which made Ruby grin at Adam's statement.

"Oh. That's cool!" Jaune said, impressed.

"So what've you got?" Ruby asked Jaune, wondering if he has a weapon of his own. She sees it hanging off his hip and wonder what kind of weapon it may be.

"Oh! Uh…." Jaune was hesitant for a second but reached for his weapon and unsheathed it. "I got this sword."

The sword in his hand is just a simple longsword with a blue handle and a golden-crossguard.

"Ooooo." Ruby awed in impression, showing even a primitive weapon like a simple sword with no advanced features still manages to impress her.

As for Adam, he was a bit curious, since he has a high respect to classical weapons that lack advanced upgrades and additions nowadays.

Jaune wasn't done as he reached for his sheath which actually doubles as a shield as it expands itself into the shape of a shield. On the shield is his symbol which are two yellow crescents

"Yeah, I've got a shield too." Jaune said, holding the shield strapped to his arm.

"So what do they do?" Ruby asked, touching the shield but accidentally made Jaune's shield to retract which also made if fling out of Jaune's arm. Jaune panics and tries to recover his scabbard but it keeps expanding and retracting until it fell to the ground which Jaune quickly retrieved it back into his hand.

"... The shield gets smaller. So… when I get tired of carrying it..,,, I can just put it away." He said that sounded a bit awkward.

"But wouldn't it just weigh the same?" Asked Ruby and corrected him.

Jaune already knew she was right and mentally slapped himself for saying that. "Yeah, it does."

"And what's wrong with that, Jaune?" Adam assured him from his doubts. "It still functions well to double as a sheath which leaves your hands free when you're not fighting or doing other things."

This made Jaune perk up a little of hearing Adam giving him some bits of praise there in the usefulness of his weapon.

"Thanks!" Jaune said and feeling a bit better. "I should've thought of that from the start!"

"Don't mention it." Adam said but he was being sincere.

"Hey. Why don't you show us your weapon, Adam?" Ruby said with a grin and felt eager to see Adam's own weapon. Jaune was also curious, as he and Ruby stared at Adam's weapon that was strapped to his hip.

Adam stared at the two for a few seconds but complied. Normally, he doesn't like to show off his weapon and likes to keep it to himself, but since they are nicely asking him, he's fine with that.

He's fine with that and slowly reaches his hand towards his sword, slowly wrapping his fingers on the handle of Wilt and slowly draws his blade in such as fashion it makes him look like an honorable samurai. He quickly unsheathes it at a fast draw that it made a loud and sharp "shing" sound effect, while striking a pose with his blade out.

"Now that's a katana." Ruby says with a big grin on her face that tells us how she's generally impressed with Adam's weapon of choice.

"Why thank you." Adam replied to Ruby. Jaune also was awed but he tried to not feel down seeing Adam has such as way more awesome looking weapon than his own. He also showed them his sheath, Bush, that's also part shotgun so that makes his arsenal really versatile.

"Well.. at least both of us here have sheaths that aren't just for holding swords." Jaune chuckled and Adam couldn't help but smirk in agreement.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard designing Crescent Rose." Ruby says as she admits she's a little obsessive with weapons and such.

"Wait. You made that?" Jaune asked in surprise of hearing a young girl making such a complex and badass looking weapon on her own.

"Of course!" Ruby confirmed. "All students at Signal forge their own weapons."

She looked at Jaune's sword again and wondered if he forged that. "Didn't you make yours?" She asked.

Jaune stayed silent for a second and stared at his weapon like he's recalling something about it., until he answered.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war." He said.

"The war that also brought peace and the Vytal Festival?" Adam asked.

"Yes. That war he fought in." Jaune replied.

"And what name does your sword have?" Adam asked in slight curiosity which made Jaune looked surprised that someone would bother to ask that his weapon's name is.

"Oh… uh… it's Crocea Mors." Jaine answered.

"Crocea Mors, huh?" Adam said out loud. "In an ancient language, It means 'Yellow Death'." He added. "According to many documents and legends, it was said your great-great grandfather gave his sword its name after he battled and survived the Great War. A color his emblem barred on the battlefield, for many to gaze upon, and many tales of it told through many generations."

This actually surprised both Ruby and Jaune hearing Adam

"Whoa. How did you know that kind of stuff?" Jaune asked in complete surprise.

"Let's just say I've been to a lot of libraries. Which gives me plenty of opportunities to read what catches my interests." Adam said as he can remember how much he and Blake have gone to many libraries.

Since Blake is really fond of reading many kinds of books… especially the ones that have smut, Adam is usually with her so he too is at the libraries a lot.

While Adam ain't deep into books as much as Blake, he still takes the time to find a book he finds interesting and reads them, mostly ones that involve history of Remnant and occasionally stories of heroic and righteous protagonists on many kinds of adventures. Those kinds of genres do pique his curiosity.

"Alright." Jaune said, going along with Adam's answer, still shocked of Adam's sudden book smarts.

"That definitely sounds like a family heirloom to me… well I like it!" Ruby chimed, still liking Jaune's weapon. "Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah… the classics." Jaune said that was almost a whisper.

"And what about you, Adam?" Ruby asked. "Did you make your weapon or was it also a hand-me-down?"

Adam was silent and looked at his sword, gently holding it in his hand and tracing his fingers across the blue blade.

"I didn't make it but it's not a hand-me-down." He answered.

Ruby and Jaune raised their eyebrows but kept listening.

"It was given to me… by a man who trained me... after I rightfully earned it…." He calmly stated. Thinking about the man who passed down the blue tinted blade when he passed all of his assigned trials to be worthy of Wilt which he now wields as his signature weapon of choice.

He remembers seeing himself, around the age of 14, standing in the middle of a darkened room, covered in bruises and cuts. The man he mentioned bows before him, holding Wilt in the palms of his hand and offers it to Adam… as he slowly takes it and holds it in his grasp.

"Really?" Ruby said, having stars in her eyes and she wants to know how he earned it.

"Yes." Adam replied. "And I take great pride in using it in battle and in handling it with care."

"So… was your sheath given to you too?" Jaune asked in curiosity, staring at his sheath shotgun hybrid.

"Well… It's just Wilt that I earned. I built Blush by myself and with my own hands." Adam said.

The both of them nodded to Adam and all three kept walking but Ruby wondered something.

"So why did you two help me out back there, in the courtyard?"

"Eh, why not?" Said Jaune who was the first to answer. "Like my mom always said to me, 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'."

"Quite an interesting piece of advice… but you should keep in mind not all strangers you meet may be your friends." Adam said to Jaune who silently took note of that.

"Hmmm…" Ruby hummed and looked around… wondering where she's at. "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I dunno, I was following you." Jaune answered and admitted he has no idea where he's going or where he's even at with his new buddies.

Adam wanted to facepalm but kept his cool, slowly turned his head towards Jaune, and silently staring at him in silence.

"... You think there might be a directory?" Jaune … a food court?" He droned on which made Ruby snicker. "Some sort of recognizable landmark?"

Ruby couldn't help but sputter from laughing when Jaune was just rambling on.

"Is uh… is that a 'no'?" Jaune asked, feeling like he knows what the answer is.

Ruby chuckles and gives the answer. "That's definitely a 'no'."

"I suggest if it's best we should ask someone that may help us find the amphitheater." Adam said, saying they should find

"Yeah… I think we should." Jaune agreed.

---

Further down the academy.

Down here in this part of the academy, it's much more quiet.

But it didn't stay quiet for long as it suddenly gotten louder with the sounds of cheerful screams and the stampeding feet of his unwanted fans as they continue to give chase to Rocky.

No matter how fast he could run, it seems he could not escape them.

"How is that I could outrun Wily but not these people?!" Rocky said out loud and cursing why he's not outrunning someone… and starts to realize why he couldn't outrun them. He does an Aside Glance "... Unless it's YOU that's making me do this!" He scolded, despite that there's no one his gaze is directed at, he knows who he's talking to…. Ehehe…

However, Rocky saw something ahead of him that might help him escape.

Where he's at is one of the many courtyards of Beacon but this one is also a garden; he sees the center of the courtyard is surrounded with all kinds of trees, shrubs, curved pathways, and even lots of decorated additions, like statues and garden gnomes. There's even a garden that grows lots of vegetables, along an apple tree and cherry tree.

In the center of the courtyard, there's a giant water fountain statue made of marble that takes the shape of a female angel with a mature face, wearing heavy armor and a crown made from wheat on the top of her head, and wielding two axes in her hands, as her six wings were spread out from her back, making her look radiant and imposing.

Surrounding the statue were many water fountains that took the shape of other angels but each of them had only two wings, wearing simple togas, and were doing various elegant poses, while spraying water out of their mouths.

Rocky has an idea that may seem stupid but just might work.

He quickly turns a sharp corner and runs straight to the statues. He leaps up on a random platform that's empty and does a random pose that mimics the statues. He quickly pops a small water Dust crystal into his mouth and starts spraying water, mimicking the statues.

Rocky's unwanted fans all ran past him, not even bothering to look at the statues where Rocky was blending in… not very well…. Though, it still worked. Once they were gone, Rocky dropped the act and hopped off the platform, while spitting the rest of the water out of his mouth.

"Haha… suckers." Rocky snickers and starts running around another corner.

That is…. Rocky turned the corner, he was moving too fast.

And ended up crashing into something… or someone.

"OOF!"

Both Rocky and the mysterious person tumbled and crashed to the floor, in a tangled mess.

The courtyard was dead silent but it was soon filled with painful groans.

"Can't this day just get any worse ...?" Rocky grumbled, sitting up and not really hurt.

"AHEM."

Rocky heard what sounded like a grouchy disapproval that was right beneath him.

He looked down….

And sees a pair of eyes that angrily glare at him.

Rocky's eyes widened in realization and he instantly gets off the person he was on top of.

"Ahh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you like that!" Rocky frantically apologized to the person he ran into.

The person turns out to be elderly man, around his early to mid 70's, with wrinkly skin, bags under his eyes, and age spots on the top his mostly bald head which only has some hair on the sides of his head.

He's wearing nothing but a standard custodian uniform, which is dark green in color, over a simple white T-shirt, a pair of simple brown shoes, and a single cap with Beacon's logo on it.

In his right hand, he holds a large sweeping broom, and has a name tag strapped to his uniform that says "Mr. Nevin" which gives out the hint of his name.

The custodian, apparently named Nevins, was still on the ground but he was slowly getting up and retrieved his had that fell off of his head when he and Rocky fell to the ground.

"Just what in the dickens are you trying to do?! Running into me like some wonky tosser?!" He ranted, in a British accent that was also slightly raspy, while pointing his broomstick at Rocky threateningly. "You better explain yourself or I'll make you myself!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Rocky said, completely caught off guard, with his hands up. "You got it all wrong! It was all a mistake and I deeply apologize for not seeing where I was going!"

"Is it now?" Nevin said quizzically, still not convinced by Rocky words. "Than explain to me why did you running in the first place, along with what sounded like a crowd of people running through here?"

Rocky can tell Nevin isn't joking. He can see it in his eyes that he's serious and there's no backpedaling out of it.

After a few seconds of silence, Rocky lets out a sigh and relaxes a little, willing to talk.

"Okay, Gramps. This may sound really ridiculous and hard to believe... but I was trying to get away from a crowd of crazy people who claim them to be my fans all because I am apparently popular for my dance moves at a dance club from another kingdom so they tried to swarm me like they are so obsessed with me. So I bailed out and hid from them by mimicking those statues!" He said, while pointing at the statues nearby.

After the rather absurd explanation, Rocky did a sheepish smile and hoped the custodian believes him.

Nevins stared at Rocky for several seconds in complete silence but he's reading him like an open book…. And he believed him, as he can see it in his eyes, that this young faunus is being truthful.

"Very well then." Nevin said, calming down a little, actually believing him. "As preposterous as that sounds, I'm more than willing to listen to those who are truthful with themselves..."

"Well, seems we're off to a good start." Rocky said.

"Yes but that doesn't makes us friends." Nevin bluntly said, as he slowly started getting up.

Feeling a little bad, Rocky reached his hand out and help the custodian back on his feet. He does look injured so he may need some help…. Except that Nevin frowns and looks disapproved towards Rocky.

"Hmph!" he snorted, scoffing at Rocky's offer to help him up, when he can do it himself. "I don't need any pity from you when I can get up on my own two feet by myself!" He said in an aggravated tone and started standing up.

"Jeez, Gramps." Rocky thought and sweat dropped, feeling a little annoyed with this grouchy, old, custodian. "Just which side of the bed did you wake up on?"

"Though… I do appreciate the offer, lad." Nevin suddenly said, as if he's sounding polite but his grumpy expression made it hard to tell if he meant it or not.

"And now he compliments it anyways." Rocky thought with a visible sweatdrop but decides to just go along with it.

Regardless, Nevin wasn't kidding, as he instantly got up on his feet without any signs of struggling or straining, like it was more of an inconvenience. Shortly after, he had to straighten his back which let out a loud "CRACK!" and he sighed in relief, while holding his broom with one hand.

Rocky watched in amazement of seeing him doing just fine with no signs of fatigue or strain.

Despite being in his early 70's, Nevin is quite tall, around 6'1", and looked pretty well physically fit. It makes one wonder if he was a former huntsman or just some guy who liked working out a lot and had a very well balanced diet.

"Dang. For an old man, you sure look like you could run a whole mile." Rocky said rather impressed.

"Indeed, that I can, lad." Nevin answered, still sounding grumpy and senile, while brushing tiny pieces of debris and rocks off of his shoulders. "It's gonna take far more than that for me to end up in a home."

"You tell me." Rocky said.

Nevin straightened himself out, while turning his gaze towards Rocky as he inspects him… though, he frowns at Rocky's sense of style of clothing that he wears but he keeps him composure.

"Now then. The custodian said. "I take it that you must be one of the chaps and lasses that are here for the ceremony to become new students and huntsman?"

"Uh… yes, I am." Rocky answered and nodded, a little confused as to why the custodian is asking him a question like that… why would a custodian ask something like that when their job is cleaning and maintaining the academy… unless he has a good reason.

"And why do you ask?" Rocky said to Nevin in curiosity.

Nevin than opened his mouth but didn't say anything for a few seconds, like he's thinking of something, and then finally spoke.

"Well, in that case, for me, more new students means more reason for me to clean up after yourselves, while tending this academy in perfect condition." He says while gripping tightly to his sweeping broom.

"So, you're a custodian, basically." Rocky pointed. "Wasn't that hard to figure out, based on your outfit."

"Oh, you think?" Nevin sarcastically commented with a raised eyebrow like it's obvious and Rocky didn't figure it out. "Why, It's an honorable job that I take great pride in sweeping and cleaning every corner of this academy. That, I have done for the past 30 years, ever since Ozpin hired me with open arms."

Rocky nodded, starting to feel curious and interested with this custodian, but felt like he needed to get going… especially that his fans are likely still around and searching for him.

"Well.. back in my day…" Nevin started to say but Rocky beat him to the punch.

"Yes, yes." Rocky interrupted. "While that's great and all, Mr. Nevin." He continued, while trying to sound polite, as he's comically inching away with his feet that not even moving his body like he's defying physics. "As much as I like to chit chat and hear more about your background that may or may not be seen in the upcoming chapters, I gotta get going!" He then started to zip out of sight which than transits to showing Rocky sprinting out of the courtyard and to wherever the amphitheater is supposed to be.

"See ya later, gramps!" Rocky shouted in the distance while the custodian watches on without batting an eye.

"Hmph… kids these days." Nevin muttered and started heading elsewhere to finish prepping up the academy to look nice for all the students and professors that will be using for the next four years.

---

45 minutes later. Amphitheater.

The Amphitheater; a glass dome shaped building with bleachers and an open area for the students to stand in. On the opposite side of the entrance, there is a circular stage with an ornate backdrop.

The building's already packed with many newcomers that are all here and ready to here Ozpin's speech about what it takes to be a huntsman.

And amongst the crowd, are certain faces.

In one spot, there stood Gale who's waiting for the announcement… and also wondering who may be his partner and teammates.

Ever since he arrived in Vale, his thoughts in his head were filled with questions as to what will happen for the next four years in his life; Will it be great to have someone by his side and accept him for who he is?... or will it just be a failure for him when they reject him like some kind of freak?

Due to his superior height, he's able to easily look over the crowd and see his surroundings much better. He can even see Yang not too far away from him who's just standing there like she's waiting for someone.

Gale is still curious about that blonde girl who goes by the name of Yang. Thing is, he doesn't know a single thing about her but his memories of seeing a silhouette that resembles her in his dreams. He shakes his head again and considers it's just a coincidence….

Further back, near the entrance is Nigel, who was at the far back and leaning against the wall, checking out everyone and using his semblance to read their aura and emotions. As often and as long as he could remember doing this, He's never gotten bored or tired of doing this. He's always reading emotions of many individuals at once and wondering what they could be thinking just by their emotions alone.

And not just that, he can even sense how strong each of their own aura is as well. Such as that blonde girl over there has a very strong aura that felt wild and untamed. Or that green eyed redhead girl with bits of armor on with aura that's more focused and concentrated, despite also feeling powerful too.

At least it helps him read people more easily to help him communicate with them better.

Before Nigel could think any further, he heard the sound of running right behind him and also sensed what felt like

It's Rocky… and he's coming in fast.

"Coming through!" He shouted as he entered the building, at full speed.

Without leaving his spot, Nigel reached his arm out and grabbed Rocky by the back of his jacket which stopped Rocky in his tracks… which caused him to stop in his tracks and his legs to fly out in front of him due to the whiplash that halted him.

"ACK!" Rocky choked and felt his neck tighten that almost cut off his air supply. His eyes comically popped out of his head but flew back into his sockets when he whiplashed back that leads him standing next to Nigel who lets go of Rocky but doesn't bat an eye and remains leaning against the wall like nothing had happened.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Rocky demanded at this kangaroo faunus who just leaned against the wall.

"There was no need for you to enter this building by running like a rooster without it's head, mate." Nigel calmly told Rocky without even looking at him. "It looked like you were gonna crash into the crowd of new students here so I did what I did to prevent a ruckus."

Rocky grew a tick mark, feeling annoyed he's being lectured by this stranger he doesn't even know. Normally, Rocky doesn't get irritable with other people, even those he has met. But with so much going on, he's starting to slowly reach his limit.

"Alright, pal." He ranted with hints of anger in his voice. " First of all; I was running for a good reason, thank you very much! Second; You almost broke my neck just by grabbing me by the back of my jacket. It felt like either I was gonna become paralyzed from the neck down or have my own eyeballs pop out of my sockets which neither enjoyable!"

"Oh quit your bellyaching." Nigel bluntly scoffed. "I've seen plenty of people and faunus in my life take things far worse than that and walk it off."

"Oh ha ha ha." Rocky sarcastically spat at Nigel who doesn't blink or change his expression, since he can sense Rocky's emotions. "Fancy coming from you who shouldn't stick his nose in someone else's business."

"Like I said. It looked like you were gonna crash into the crowd so I did what I could in the nick of time to prevent a ruckus."

This made Rocky stop his fuss and raise an eyebrow. When he thought about it, the kangaroo faunus was right on that part.

"Come to think of it… how did you know I was entering the place at such a fast pace?" He asked, wondering how this guy predicted him. "You are standing right next to the door and yet you didn't even look outside and seeing me.

"Let's just say that it could be my semblance that may or may not have been involved in predicting you. Not that it would matter now because we aren't partners so save it until we may… or may not." Nigel said, not giving a specific answer and sounding like he's

Rocky narrowed his eyes at this guy being a stick in the mud to him. Though, he just met this guy, he still doesn't know him and his full backstory so he ain't gonna completely judge him just for yanking him. It's best to

Whatever." Rocky scoffed, already dropping the topic that doesn't feel worth it. "As much as I like to hear more of your little bedtime stories about yourself, I'm gonna go undercover in the crowd and get this over with." He waved his hand and walked into the crowd. Though, he still felt curious of this kangaroo faunus who seemed pretty calm and cool… wondering if they may become partners but he's fine if they don't either.

Nigel watches Rocky head off but he never took his eyes off of him for a for more seconds and reading his aura and emotions… and he can sense he's got a wide range of emotions, mostly being silly, happy, and confusing… but he also senses a slight hint of depression somewhere deep down….

Nigel stayed silent and watched Rocky disappear into the crowd, regardless he can still see his green tinted aura.

That's when he senses two… no three more familiar figures starting to enter the building.

Entering the amphitheater is none other than Ruby, Adam, and Jaune. Eventually, after some painstaking effort to find the building they are looking for, they eventually found it and enter it.

The three recent acquaintances enter and look around, already impressed by the number of newcomers that are all packed in together.

While Ruby and Jaune were awed by the spectacle of the building's interior, Adam didn't show much surprise and remained stoic… but he does admit the architecture of the interior is quite beautiful. He looks around and scans through the crowds… hoping to find if Blake is here.

Luckily, he quickly spots Blake within the crowd and she's reading a different book that she got from the library. It means he's gonna have to depart but not before turning back to Ruby and Jaune.

"Well, Ruby and Jaune. It's nice meeting you two but, as much as I like to know you two better, I need to get going." He said and gestured towards Blake who is standing over there.

Ruby and Jaune noticed Blake and they nodded in understanding what Adam means.

"Oh. Okay, Adam." Ruby said, understanding what Adam has to do. "It was nice seeing you too and hope you show off more of that cool sword of yours!"

"One thing I like to say; good luck in Beacon Academy and I hope you two suceed in passing the initiation.

Ruby beamed a big smile that definitely means yes. Jaune seems hesitant for a second, as if he was having second thoughts, but smirks and nods as well.

"Yeah! You too, Adam." Jaune said, also giving his word to Adam in becoming part of the academy.

"Ruby!" Shouted a voice that she knew was Yang who was happily waving at her. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh!" Ruby said in surprise and looked back at Jaune. "I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

Ruby left and Jaune watched her go.

"Hey Wait!" He said but Ruby was already gone.

"Great. Where am I supposed to find another quirky girl to talk to?!" The blonde asked himself, walking away and wondering who else he could chat with.. unbeknownst he's being watched by a redheaded girl with emerald green eyes…..

Adam walks off towards Blake who had her nose buried in a new book that she seems deeply interested in.

"I see the bookworm has found a new book to add to her own personal library." Adam said to announce his presence to Blake.

"Indeed that I have." Blake answered, not taking her eyes of the written pages but she can hear Adam just fine and is able to talk to him just as easily. "I've never seen a library with so many books in one place." She sounded pretty excited.

Adam couldn't help but smirk at hearing Blake sounding glad to find something that will give her plenty of time to read as many books as she wants, with 4 years to deal with.

"Well good for you." Adam said which made Blake take her eyes off the book and smiled at Adam whom smiled back. The two stayed silent for a few seconds until Blake spoke up.

"So… what did you do, while I was at the library?" Blake asked turned her eyes from the book to Adam again didn't look at her at first but slowly turned his sights towards her.

"Me? Well, let's just say I just got along and even befriended some new acquaintances, including that red hooded girl that exploded."

"Well that's good for you, Adam." Blake said while turning back to her book. "I find that a little surprising you are being a bit more social. Especially since we…." She tried to finish but stopped when she thought about Vlad… their teammate

"Yeah…. I just wanted to talk to someone, besides you." He calmly said that sounded hollow….

"It seems Adam still has trouble getting over leaving Vlad behind …. ." Blake thought in her mind. Even she found it hard leaving Vlad behind as well, since she knew him as much as Adam does.

But they already keep reminding themselves Vlad chose his path and they chose theirs so they need to keep moving forward.

Meanwhile Ruby was already meeting Yang who is happy seeing her little sister again but Ruby wasn't so much. Rocky was also there, standing with Yang and they were chatting.

"So let me get this straight." Yang said, like she's having a hard comprehending what Rocky just told her. "You were chased by your so called 'fans' that you had to pose as a water fountain statue just to escape them?"

"Pretty much." Rocky shrugged. "Cliche as it sounded, it worked in the end."

Ruby heard the whole thing just as she arrived… though, she wasn't in the mood when she instantly remembered both Yang and Rocky ditched her but she was considered Rocky's more justified but not Yang's.

"Oh look, here comes your sister, Yang. How ya doing Rubes?"

"Fine, Rocky." Ruby answered but didn't sound so optimistic and had her arms crossed.

"So how's your first day going, little sister?" Yang happily asked her sweet little sister and seeing if she's already liking the place but Ruby's still peeved at Yang which Rocky easily noticed.

"You mean that you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby said that sounded like she's not happy with Yang.

"Yikes. Meltdown already?" Yang asked, already wondering what Ruby went through lately.

"Yeesh, Ruby. That escalated really quickly" Rocky butted in. "What did you do? Swallowed a bomb that you mistook for a cookie?" He added sarcastically.

"No. I literally exploded a hole in front of the school!" Ruby ranted like she's being serious. "And there was fire… and I think some ice…."

"And I thought I was fit for the gags." Rocky whispered, turning his head to the side and not directing it at Ruby or Yang.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang broadly smiled like she's teasing Ruby.

"Or you really did swallow a cookie disguised bomb?" Rocky deadpanned.

"Ugh! I wish, for either of the two or even both!" Ruby said. As she started ranting about what actually happened … Rocky instantly noticed someone is standing behind her. It's the same girl that Ruby met not too long ago… Weiss Schnee.

"YOU!" Weiss yelled, jump scaring Ruby from behind which caused her to jump into Yang's arms.

"OH GOD! IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" Ruby shrieked.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss ranted, pointing out why she's still pissed.

"Oh my god. You really exploded." Yang deadpanned with her pupils shrunk like she's shocked at hearing what may be true.

"I still find eating the bomb that looked like a cookie more believable." Rocky says, sounding like his idea was better at how Ruby exploded.

Ruby ignored Yang and Rocky as she got off her big sister's arms and faces Weiss.

"It was an accident! It was an accident!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to give Weiss a reason what she did wasn't intentional.

However, Weiss suddenly pulled out something and showed it to Ruby which looked like some kind of hand held guide book that says "Dust for dummies and other inadequate individuals."

Rocky took notice of the guide too and was a little curious.

That's when Weiss went into a rather exaggerating long narration about the guide… than she started speeding up and the pitch her voice started to rise.

While Ruby was confused at trying to comprehend everything Weiss was saying… Rocky was even more confused, for a different reason, as he can actually hear Weiss' voice is actually changing pitch and is speeding up.

Unbeknownst to Ruby, Yang, or even Weiss, Rocky was holding what looked like a cartoonish remote with an oversized knob which he gripped his fingers on. Rocky was using his semblance and was manipulating Weiss' pitched tone and speed of her talking which was the actual thing that was confusing Ruby. Though, Ruby thinks it's her brain that's what's causing what makes Weiss sound so confusing.

"Hehe. I love messing with people." Rocky snickered, as he stopped using his semblance and put the remote away without anybody noticing.

"Uh…" Ruby droned, unsure how to respond to this strange way of hearing what Weiss told her at such a rapid and confusing pace.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked Ruby.

"Absolutely!" Ruby answered in an instant.

Weiss handed Ruby the guide and deadpanned in one sentence.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss said bluntly and straightforwardly.

"Well, that's one way of making things up to her." Rocky said.

And while he's at it, Rocky instantly knows it's definitely Weiss, as he's seen her in the news articles and magazines that he bought and kept. But now that he can see her up close and personal… something feels odd when he stares at her… it's like as if something's familiar about Weiss, despite never meeting her in person until now….

Weiss took notice Rocky is looking at her and she scowled at him.

"And what are you looking at?!" She scoffed towards this tailed feathered faunus.

Rocky darted his eyes elsewhere and whistling a tune like he's minding his own business.

Yang, scratching the back of her head with her hand, seeing how awkward this is getting, she tried to soften it up and try to ease the tension. "Look, uh… sounds like you two got off on the wrong foot."

"Yeah." Rocky agreed. "I suggest it's best if we let bygones be bygones and become friends, or at least acquaintances" Rocky suggested, hoping Ruby and Weiss listen to him but Weiss seems to glare at him.

"I mean… you two can't stay mad at each other forever…. Right?" He sheepishly said but Weiss narrowed her eyes at him like she's glaring into his soul.

"I don't think she's getting the memo…." Rocky thought and sweatdropped.

Though, as much as Weiss was glaring at Rocky, she couldn't help but stare at him a bit longer… it's almost like looking at him reminds her of something.. Someone she couldn't recall so easily but her mind is telling her something that she can't fully grasp.

"Yeah! Great idea, Rocky!" Ruby cheerfully agreed and turned her attention back to Weiss. She cleared her throat and stretched her hand out like she wants to get a handshake.

"Hell, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

Hearing that made Rocky's pupils shrink just as he realized something.

"Oh no! I forgot to buy the school supplies!" He mentally screamed but calmed down and decided to get them later when this is over.

Weiss suddenly smiled but she's obviously being sarcastic, along sounding even more sarcastic in "agreeing" with Ruby. "Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" She pointed towards Jaune who seems alert like he's being mentioned.

Rocky couldn't but feel jealous and down that he wasn't mentioned when Jaune was since he's pretty handsome. "But… I'm cute too…"

"Oh wow, really?" Ruby cheerfully asked. Hoping that Weiss is really willing to accept her as a friend.

What Ruby expected was Weiss to be smiling at her… but what she sees is Weiss giving an angry frown and a cold hearted glare… giving an obvious answer in a tone that rivals her glare.

"NO."

"Ouch. So much for the sweet talk." Rocky said to Ruby.

Though, everyone's attention turned to the sound of a microphone activating.

There stands Ozpin, with Glynda standing next to him, while having a microphone in front of him.

"Ahem….I'll keep this brief." Ozpin pronounces and begins his speech, as everyone goes silent and listens.

However, just as he's about to begin, Nigel blinks and turns on his semblance. He has heard of Ozpin many times but this is the first time he sees him in person.. and he wants to read his aura and emotions.

From what he can read, Nigel mostly senses a lot of calm and focused pulses of emotions coming from Ozpin. Though, he focused a little harder and looked deeper. He swore he also sensed very small traces of doubt and sorrow… huh.

But his green coated aura seems far more interesting.

Even without having it activated, Rocky can sense Ozpin's aura is very strong and potent. He can see there are no gaps or weak points in the aura that covers his entire body which means he has a very strong connection to controlling it, showing how skilled and experienced he is which makes it the more reason that he's the headmaster

But there's something else about Oz's aura he's never sensed or seen before.

Normally, most aura among individuals each have their own unique wavelength pattern that never matches with another's.

Throughout history, there have been rare mutations where some aura have more than one wavelength pattern that intersects together... but that has been known to cause a slight unstable wavelength that makes it harder for the user to control their aura.

It's a rare condition known as Multiple Aura Wavelength Instability.

But Ozpin's aura ... has dozens upon dozens of different wavelength patterns that are all rippling together ...but his aura appears to remain stable and look absolutely fine, like any other aura with a single wavelength.

This made Nigel curious that Ozpin must be very special in having a kind of aura like this…

Than again, Remnant is still full of mysterys and there is still a lot of things that remain hidden that have yet to be discovered and possibly even go beyond the grasp of logic and physics.

Nigel turns his aura as Ozpin just starts speaking.

"You have all traveled here in search of knowledge and experience. To hone your craft, acquire new skills, and strengthen your bodies. And when you have finished your 4 years, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of Remnant and its people."

"But I gaze upon you all… and all I see is wasted energy and potential in need of purpose, direction." Ozpin said that caused some students to suddenly whisper to themselves. Some even look doubtful which Nigel can sense.

Gale was especially caught off by this at hearing Ozpin sound so critical and serious on that part. Though, it's expected that this isn't a mere game and this needs to be taken seriously. They are training to be facing the Grimm and those abominations.

Just thinking about the Grimm made Gale momentarily visualize the Alpha Beringel, the very monster that pushed him to his limits and forced him to use his trump card to defeat it...

"You assume knowledge will free you from this but your years at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." Ozpin further said, saying something that caused the students to really question if knowledge itself alone are enough to get through the academy.

Just as it seemed Ozpin was finished, he had one more thing to say to his future students that he assures they will always keep as a reminder to themselves in this academy.

"It is up to you to make that first step." Ozpin finished and departs. This made many really think about it, especially the likes of Ruby who looked very determined in taking that first step.

Glynda takes the spot where Ozpin was and instructs what the new students will do next.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow the initiation begins so be ready. You are dismissed!" Glynda informs and ends it there as she too heads out with Ozpin.

With that said and done, all the new students begin to leave the amphitheater, preparing to sleep at the ballroom for the night which is only several hours away.

Adam and Blake were some of the first to leave but what they have heard kept them thinking for preparation.

"Well…. that was something." Said Blake, not that interested for the speech.

"Yeah. As much as I admire his first half of his speech, he started to sound like he doubt us in the second half." Adam further added, right after hearing Ozpin say "wasted potential.".

To be fair, Ozpin is sort of right, on one thing; Knowledge alone can only get you so far against the reality of the world and especially the dangers that lurk in them.

Adam and Blake's own knowledge is rather limited when it doesn't involve the White Fang and they are still rather young, still got a long way to go until they become effective fighters that can help them deal with just about any threat, Grimm, thugs, and especially the White Fang which they wish to stop and change before it becomes any worse than what it already is.

"So it seems we are taking the 4 years in this academy after all." Adam said calmly and kept walking with Blake.

"Indeed, that it is." The bow wearing faunus replied. "Might as well make the best of it."

"And as we've discussed." Adam added. "Teammates or not, we will have each others backs and we'll remain together until the end." He smiled a little which made Blake smile back.

Behind them, Nigel just walked out of the theater, not saying a word or anything. He's wondering is about Ozpin's unique aura for a little bit but decides to wonder about that for later when he's got a big day tomorrow to get his own teammate and team.

His main mission is becoming a huntsman which makes things easier for him to get some well hardened cash… and other reasons he vowed to do…

"Heh. Guess we'll get down to business by tomorrow and I'll be one step closer to making my job easier." Nigel thought.

Elsewhere, Gale was about to depart but he stood in the center for one more minute.

"Four years, huh?" He thought. "It's not like I didn't know that from the start but the way Ozpin says it makes it sound far more challenging… guess I'll do what I can to make the best out of it… hopefully, I can try to not make people take me the wrong way for my semblance that makes… look like a faunus, despite that I'm a human… at least that's what I think I really am by default."

Gale than turns around and heads out as well.

All's left is Rocky with Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, who still haven't left their spot and are wondering about the speech.

"He seemed kinda… off." Yang said, feeling a little weirded out by Ozpin.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby says, agreeing with her sister.

"Not sure if I should be offended or inspired by his speech… or both?" Rocky mumbled that wasn't making sense.

"I'm a natural blonde, you know!" Announced Jaune who's staring at Weiss who facepalmed while everyone else was confused.

"Just who the heck are you?" Rocky blurted out.

---

Later at Night; Hallway near the Boy's Locker Room

It was already night time,as the moon shone high into the sky. Interestingly, the moon doesn't look shattered and appears to look like a full moon, due to its unique rotation speed that shows the moon either looking like a full moon or shattered in view.

Within the hallways of the academy, there is a door that leads to the boy's locker room and steam was seeping out of the tiny gaps. A

Once in a while, the door opens either for a new guy to enter to have a nice hot shower or for one that already went in to come out, feeling clean and refreshed, and head to the ballroom to get his shut eye.

The door slams open again and coming out of the locker room is none other than Gale Hathi.

He sighed in relief of feeling so refreshed from taking such a nice hot shower. Gale recalled the only times he ever showered and bathed were the waterfalls and lagoons back in the Sanus Jungles. Even when his grandfather was alive, they always used the waterfalls and lagoons to clean and refresh themselves.

Even then, it feels a little different for Gale to shower in a locker room with the other guys who are minding their own businesses, occasionally making short conversations and making comments with each other. Nothing personal. It's just that he's used to doing it all by himself with nobody else around.

With that taken care of, he walks out… and decides to go shirtless for tonight since some of the other guys are doing it too, so what the heck.

Gale than turned a corner… only to end up bumping into someone… well, more like someone that smacked into him like as if they were walking into a solid wall and ends up falling on their butt.

Gale stopped in his tracks and was caught off guard of walking into someone without warning.

"Woah there!" Gale exclaimed and looked down at the person. "You okay there?" He asked in concern, hoping he didn't harm the person.

The person he has bumped into… is wearing a pair of blue footie pajamas, complete with blue bunny slippers… and an image of a cute little bunny on the front of the pajamas.

Thing is, the person that's wearing this kind of clothing for sleeping…. is Jaune Arc.

Jaune was momentarily stunned and was dizzy for a second.

"Oh man.. Did I just walk right into a wall around that corner?" Jaune slurred, a little dizzy but shook the cobwebs out of his head and regained his senses.

Just as Jaune recovered, he noticed a shadow was looming over him and he instantly took notice of Gale who towered over him and looked down upon him, like a mountain.

Jaune couldn't help but feel both indimiated and awed by this awesome and powerful looking dude. It makes him feel admired and deeply wished he had a build like that, since he's somewhere between being scrawny and decently athletic.

"You okay there? Hope I didn't hurt just by you bumping into me?" Gale said to Jaune, hoping he's alright and doesn't end up taking him to the nurses office… even before the initiation no less.

Jaune shook his head and chuckled sheepishly.

"Nah. No need to worry about me. I'm completely fine… mostly." Jaune assured.

"Alright then." Gale said, feeling glad this dude is alright and not harmed. Hopefully, he could befriend this guy since he seems pretty friendly. He reached his hand out to help Jaune up who accepted and grabbed Gale's hand.

Much to Jaune's shock, Gale casually pulled him up to his feet with no effort or struggle. It's like he as if he weighed very little to the likes of Gale.

"There we go." Gale said and patting Jaune on the shoulder. "

"Uh.. thanks. Jaune thanked Gale, feeling a bit better there is another person who seems to

"No need to thank me. Just giving ya a hand when you needed it." Gale replied and started walking around him towards the Ballroom. He looked back at Jaune who stood there.

"Wanna tag along and have a little chat before we get some shut eye?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Jaune was hesitant for a second but then nodded in agreement. "Sure… why not?"

"Good." Gale responded and started walking with Jaune right next to him. Before he got next to him, Jaune saw Gale's tattoo on his back and was awed by the decorative tattoo that looks like a head of an elephant that's on his back.

"Woah…" Jaune said impressed. Gale took notice of Jaune staring at his tattoo.

"Oh so took notice of my tattoo?" Gale asked Jaune.

"Seeing that it makes up most of your back, can't see why I wouldn't notice it." Jaune jokes.

"Well it's my pride and symbolizes my efforts from training that brought to where I am now." Gale said.

"Woah. You trained and got a build like that and earned that awesome tattoo?" Jauned asked in awe.

"Yep." Gale answered with pride. "Trained in the tropical jungles of Sanus that gave me this rock hard bod and insane fighting skills.

"Wow." Jaune said in awe. His eyes were sparkling, like he was wishing he was as awesome as this guy he just met.

"Indeed, wow." Gale agreed. "So what about you? Got anything special that brought you to this academy?"

Hearing that made Jaune realize what Gale asked him but frowned for a second and tried to think of something that he

"Crap… I really don't have anything to think of that brought me here… and I can't tell him the exact reason how I got here…." Jaune thought in slight dread but still managed to keep his composure and gives his own smirk.

"Well, let's just say I've come from a long line of legendary warriors with some of the best swordsman skills Remnant has to offer for generations." He boasted.

Gale liked the sound of that and smirked. "Well good for you!" He approved and patted him on the back… a little too hard that Jaune lurched forward and almost lost his balance. "I like meeting strong and skilled people so I shall wish you luck at the initiation!"

"Yeah.. thanks." Jaune said and appreciated Gale's being considerate with him…. But it still hurts him on the inside of what he knows and nobody else does.

"So.. what's your name anyways? Forgot to ask you that." Gale said and wondered what Jaune's name was.

"Oh. It's Jaune… of the Arc family." He answered. "Here to become a strong and great Huntsman."

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Jaune. My name's Gale Hathi and I'm also here to become a huntsman too!"

Both boys laughed together as they headed off to the

However, what they didn't know they were being followed by someone else, but not intentionally.

Behind them is Nigel Arvo who was listening on the conversation… and reading their aura.

Nigel's choice of night attire is a simple tank top and simple sports shorts which shows off his muscular legs and his tattoos. His thick muscular tail hangs comfortably out from a specifically made hole in the back of his pants that are designed for faunus with tails.

He senses Gale's aura… and he can sense a very strong and powerful aura. He can tell this guy has been training for a long time and has been in a lot of battles.

But the blonde boy. The one named Jaune Arc… Nigel still senses no aura on him and he also briefly sensed him feeling nervous, based on a certain question Gale asked him.

He narrows his eyes at Jaune… something about him doesn't seem right… his lack of aura and feeling nervous seems like he doesn't seem fit for a huntsman in training…. but Nigel isn't saying another word and just carries on through the hall. He needs his beauty sleep and he's got a big day tomorrow.

---

5 minutes later. The Ballroom.

Inside the ballroom, the entire dance floor is covered in many sleeping bags where all the new students are sleeping for the night in their sleeping bags or air mattresses.

The room has been divided in two different sides; one side for the boys and the other side for the girls.

Entering the Ballroom is Gale and Jaune who were still chatting amongst each other, already bonding a little bit.

"No way! You defeated a Grimm with your bare hands, without aura, even?!" Jaune said in complete awe and surprise.

"Well, it wasn't really that strong of a Grimm." Gale admitted. "It just that I didn't have my weapons and that I was partially drained and weakened by it before I could fight it head on. Not to mention it kept trying to make me fall asleep and it nearly killed me."

"Oh… fair enough." Jaune admitted but still thinks it's awesome.

"Well, as much as I like hanging out with ya, I need to get some shut eye." Gale says and heads towards his sleeping bag

Somewhere on the girls side, Ruby, in her own pajamas and sleeping mask, is writing down in her diary/journal about her current situation in Beacon to her friends back at Signal.

Than Yang crashes in.

"It's like a biiiig slumber party!" The blonde cheerfully announced, landing next to Ruby in her own sleeping bag. Though, unlike Ruby's pajamas that are more modest… Yang's pajamas are a little less so, in nothing but black boy shorts and an orange tank top with her emblem on it…

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby deadpanned at Yang, being aware how much Yang enjoys watching all the boys who mostly are either mucking about, showing off, or even rough housing with each other… and a good number of them are shirtless.

"I know I do~" Yang purred and was staring at the eyecandy she's enjoying.

That's when she noticed Gale when he got into her field of vision.

Unlike earlier today, she can now see him shirtless… and now he's got her full attention on him.

Compared to the other boys, he easily towers over most of them and is slightly more muscular and well built than they are. He's still wearing his tattered hakama pants but he's now completely barefoot, after removing his foot wraps.

Unlike the other boys, Gale doesn't show off his looks and asserts himself as dominant. He just simply walks past the other boys and doesn't even bat an eye towards them. Though, some of the other boys were pretty intimidated towards him since he's taller than them and his scars tell possible stories of his past battles that he endured and survived.

Though, she can't help but stare at the biggest and most noticeable scar, located on the side of his abdomen which looks like a bite mark belonging to a giant lamprey.

Gale's hair is still pretty wet from his shower which made his orange hair look a little more shiny and they look good with his turquoise colored eyes.

Gale rounded a few sleeping bags in his path, which made him turn far enough for Yang to see the elephant tattoo painted across his back is on full display.

Yang couldn't help but blush, as her cheeks turned a little red and she kept staring at Gale… that was until her moment of enjoying the view was ruined when Jaune walks in her field of vision, humming a tune.

Jaune suddenly turned his head smirked at Yang, as if trying to impress her… not even close.

Yang wasn't impressed and groaned having her moment now ruined by the sight of Jaune looking so lame.

After a short conversation of Ruby telling Yang about writing in her journal to her friends back in Signal, Yang teasing her about it which caused Ruby to throw a pillow at her face, twice, and Yang telling and assuring Ruby she'll find some new friends in this academy, they were distracted by a glowing light nearby.

Laying against the wall and next to a lit candle to brighten up the room a little is Adam and Blake… quietly reading their books.

The two are wearing their own pajamas which are yukata styled. Blake's is a primarily black with white edging, with a purple undershirt, and a black obi tied by white string. Adam's version is pure white with blue edgings and a blue sash that's wrapped around his waist.

Thing is, Blake is still wearing her bow and Adam is still wearing his mask, still hiding their secrets from the rest of the academy.

Adam found it wise to shower early before anyone else followed, and he decided to go into a seperate shower stall that houses only one person, so he was able to shower and clean himself with his mask off without getting seen by anyone else. Blake also did something similar so nobody would catch her faunus heritage hidden beneath her bow.

"Those two…" Ruby whispered, instantly recognizing them.

"You know them?" Yang asked, feeling surprised and curious to already finding out her sister seems to know somebody and it was less than a day.

"Well, the girl with the bow, not really. The boy with the mask, his name is Adam. They saw what happened this morning, but the girl left before I could say anything. Adam stayed and we kinda got to know each other for a bit, along with Jaune."

"Well, now's your chance to meet the bow girl!" Yang announced and grabbed Ruby by the wrist and drags her towards the bookworm duo.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?!" Ruby shrieked of Yang being very eager to meet these two and bringing Ruby along with her.

Ruby struggled to break free but, knowing this is her sister, she knows struggling is futile against her physically superior sister… and yet she still tries to break free.

The strained grunts from Ruby caught both Adam and Blake's attention, as they look up from their books and see Yang coming towards them, with Ruby in tow, and giving off a huge grin on her face like she's happy to see them.

Despite not knowing who this blonde girl is, Adam instantly recognized Ruby and has to assume this blonde girl is really close to Ruby, likely her sister, to his assumption.

"Helooooo~" Yang announced in a sing song tone and with a big smile on her face. "I believe you guys know each other."

Ruby had her back turned and arms crossed, pouting for being taken here without her consent.

"Isn't she the girl that exploded?" Blake asked Adam who looked at her.

"Well, when you put it that way, it pretty much is her." Adam answered.

"Uhh, yeah!" Ruby agreed. She stretched her hand out to greet Blake since she already knows Adam. "My name's Ruby."

Blake didn't respond and kept her eyes on the book which Adam noticed since he was willing to put his book down and join the conversation.

"Okay…." Blake replied but didn't sound interested.

Ruby and Yang were a little confused and didn't know how to respond to that.

"You'll have to forgive her." Adam spoke up which caught Ruby and Yang's attention. "She's a little obsessed with her books that she's barely aware of her surroundings, once she gets nose deep into her reading."

Blake actually heard that and looked more or less unamused by what Adam just said.

"I heard that, Adam." Blake announced, annoyed, which made Adam chuckle.

He can't blame her, though. She LOVES to read books and will read them at any given chance in her free time.

As for Adam, while he's not obsessed with books as much as Blake is, he is willing to read a book or two, if he has enough free time and if he finds a book that suits his interest.

"So… what's your name?" Ruby asked, trying to change the topic.

Blake sighed and looked at Ruby with a bored expression but answers anyways. "Blake."

"And I'm Adam Taurus." Adam said, saying his name since Yang is with Ruby and he decides to say his name to her.

"Well, Blake and Yang, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!"

Adam raised an eyebrow beneath his mask, trying to find any similarities between Ruby and Yang that they are sisters… none that he can see at least. The only other thing that could make them siblings is that they could be half siblings.

"I like your bow, Blake! And your mask too, Adam! It's looks so cool!" Yang complimented to the two bookworms..

"Thanks." Blake said but she sounded like she so wanted to get back to her reading asap.

"Why thank you." Adam politely taking that as a compliment.

"They go great with your… pajamas!" Yang also said which is now starting to get awkward to Blake but Adam doesn't bat an eye and finds this rather amusing.

"Right…." Blake answered, sounding rather uninterested and bored with the two siblings trying to talk with her.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other sheepishly and wonder what else they could say to make Blake speak to them more properly.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang said again.

"It is, indeed. I find this night one of the most pleasant in quite a while." Adam answered but, Blake had something else to say, as she looked at Ruby and Yang in the eyes.

"Yes. It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book…"

Ruby and Yang stared in silence.

"That I will continue to read…."

Ruby and Yang still stared in silence.

"As soon as you leave."

"You're making this harder than it should be, Blake." Adam sternly deadpanned at his bow wearing friend but she doesn't bat an eye.

"Yeah. This girl's a lost cause." Yang starting to consider Blake ain't really worth talking to.

Despite being seen as hopeless that Blake may not show any interest towards the two girls, Ruby suddenly had an idea that may actually get Blake's attention.

"What's it about?"

"Huh?" Blake turned her eyes back from her book and looked at Ruby who caught her attention this time.

"Your book. Does it have a name?" Ruby calmly asking Blake.

She already started to realize the best way to talk with someone is discussing about a topic they both like so this may help her talk with Blake better.

Blake was actually surprised to actually hear someone else, besides Adam, to also like books.

Adam was curious how this may go and listened.

"Well. It's about a man with two souls, both fighting for control over his body." Blake replied about the summary of the story that she really likes at the moment.

Blake has rarely found other people, besides Adam, to find any interest in books, as most would either play video games or watch online videos on their scrolls. She actually feels a bit happy she sees someone else also having the same interest as her.

"Oh yeah… that's really lovely." Said Yang who tried to sound interested but really wasn't. She preferred fighting video games, action packed comic books with colorful panels, and action packed movies, over simple books with texts and no pictures

"And what about your book, Adam? What's your book about?" Ruby turned her attention to Adam and wondered what the summary of the book he's reading.

Adam wasn't counting on Ruby asking him the same kind of question towards him after Blake.

"It's… a rather complex story but quite interesting, really." Adam says and begins to summarize the book he got from the library.

"I haven't gone very far into it but I'll say the summary; It's about the story of a young but noble warrior who lost his home and family to a dark and malevolent force of evil. The warrior traveled the world to train and grow stronger, in order to face that ultimate evil… but before he could land the final strike, he was sent into the future and now must find his way back home, while fighting and adapting to what the future throws at him."

Just saying the summary makes it feel so deep to Adam about this character is going through, to an extent.

"And.. that's very lovely too." Yang said but sounded just as unenthusiastic as she did to Blake's book.

Ruby steps forward with a smile, since she found these two liking stories like she does.

"I love books." She says softly. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… they're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress."

"Why is that?" Blake asked. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will." Ruby answered. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Hearing Ruby's reason to why exactly she wanted to be a huntsman… was actually really admirable to Blake and Adam which has made Ruby earn their respect, more so for Adam due to knowing her more than Blake.

"That's very ambitious for a child." Says Blake who smiles and liking Ruby's sense of justice and admiring heroes from fairy tails which originate from books that she reads from too.

But then she frowns as she realizes the stories involved with real life that she needs to remind to Ruby how fantasy is different from the world they live in.

"Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." Blake had to sadly point out, despite how much of a sad fact that is. Adam too is aware of what Blake means by that and adds his words that are fact.

"And what makes it even sadder is that when many of us start out young and new to life, we feel ambitious and grounded with the fairy tales and pieces of fiction we admire that it makes us believe they are possible and there are no worries or consequences to deal with…."

Adam was silent for a few seconds and frowned even more. "Only to realize, as we've grown older and more aware of our surroundings and to ourselves, most of us start to eventually realize and accept that fiction and reality are two separate things don't co-exist together, as Blake had mentioned."

Adam slowly looked at Ruby in the eyes. Despite his mask, Ruby can tell he's serious.

"Sometimes… not everyone's fantasy becomes true… and not everyone gets their happy ending, Ruby." He calmly said. "We have to accept that reality is the norm of our existence."

Both Ruby and Yang were stunned and silent hearing what Adam just said is pretty much true that reality isn't really the same as in fiction, as Blake as said herself and Adam mentioned how kids that grow into adults eventually have to accept their reality.

"Well." Ruby finally spoke up, being aware of what Adam says may be true. "That's why we're here… to make it better."

Despite the truth from what Adam has said, Ruby was not deterred and

This made Adam smile and considers Ruby never ceases to impress him with her determination of staying to her beliefs of being a huntress.

"Well…. there is one thing I forgot to mention." Adam said and clears his throat. "Even if we've come to accept the reality that we live in… it doesn't mean we shouldn't stop believing in ourselves and and remembering the stories and fairy tales we've grown up with…. they help us move forward."

Even Blake was smiling, she has heard Adam say these kinds of speeches before and that's why she's so close to him; he's a noble and righteous young man who's trying to make the world a better place.

Adam can still recall meeting Ruby earlier this morning and learning about her. She's not like many other girls at her age, especially that she has a very big obsession with weapons that she fangirls over like a child in a candy store.

The way she speaks with others, such as Jaune and himself earlier, she speaks like a little honest soul with a gentle voice when she's not fangirling or being excited.

But Adam have noticed something interesting, since he met her.

It's those Silver eyes of hers. He doesn't know why but something about them makes her special in some way….

"Ohhh! I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang cheerfully says, as she grabs her baby sister in a hug and hoists her off the ground and keeps hugging her. Ruby was not happy about this and feels like she's being treated like a baby yet again and it's getting on her nerves.

"CUT IT OUT!" She yelled and started to punch her sister which caused the two to end up fighting in a cartoonish fashion that there is now a fight cloud and their limbs are seen flailing around. That is…. Adam noticed there is another set of arms and legs that don't belong neither to Ruby or Yang, because they are muscular and the legs are also wearing a different pair of pajama pants.

"Well, Ruby, Yang… it's a pleasure to-" Blake was about to thank her two new acquaintances but she stopped couldn't say another word.

Standing in the tangled ball of human beings that was supposed to be just Ruby and Yang… there's Rocky Rhode Runner.

He's wearing a simple black t-shirt but it has a cartoony print of some kind of cartoony mouse that's being chased by a cartoon cat that's about to smash the mouse with a cartoony mallet. He's also wearing a simple pair of pajama pants but they are printed with cartoon bombs on them.

But most interestingly, it's his hair. Instead of being in his more familiar mohawk style, it's now just hair in it's natural state where it's scruffy and limps downwards.

"Ah! Rocky?! Where did you come from?!" Ruby shrieked in fright of now realizing Rocky is caught in the middle between hers and Yang's sibling scuffle.

"I don't know!" Rocky shouted and sounded just as confused. "One moment, after taking a nice hot shower and putting my PJs on, I was getting ready to enter the ballroom, the next moment I'm suddenly caught in this big ball of violence between you two and now I am wondering how I got here in the first place!"

But then it gets more chaotic as Weiss enters. Wearing nothing but a faded blue nightgown with white trim and her emblem on it, along with her hair being undone and down which reaches to her back.

The heiress heard the commotion and marched over to know what is going on that's keeping her up.

"What in the world is going on over here?!" She demanded, already tired and wants to get some shut eye but she can't with all the noise that keeps her up. "Can't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!"

That's when she turned and noticed Ruby, Yang… and Rocky who sheepishly grins and casually greets her by wiggling his fingers.

"Hi."

"OH, NOT YOU AGAIN?!" Both Weiss and Yang shouted when they realized who they see in front of them, but especially Weiss since she now sees three people she doesn't like from the start.

"Shhh!" Ruby shushed, trying to bring it down to not disturb everyone. Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side." Weiss sarcastically retorted at Ruby, still not liking her.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby snapped back, already getting tired with Weiss' cold hearted attitude again.

Blake and Adam stared in silence and rolled their eyes, knowing they aren't gonna be reading in peace.

Adam puts a bookmark that has a blue rose on it in his book to remember which page he's on for another time to read. "I think that's enough for tonight. I'm gonna get some sleep."

"I concur." Blake agrees and grabs the nearby candles as she prepares to blow them out.

"Yeah! What's your problem with my sister?!" Yang shouts at Weiss, now joining the argument and is especially mad she's being mean to her little sister. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss ranted, giving a rather absurd excuse to why she's angry with Ruby.

"AND I AM NOW YELLING ABOUT THINGS!" Rocky screamed for no reason but calmed down at the drop of a hat. "Okay, I guess we're done now."

"And you!" Weiss now turned her attention to Rocky and pointed a finger at him so closely that it was poking the tip of his nose. Adam and Blake swore they heard what sounded like a honking sound like that of a clown's the moment Weiss' finger poked the tip of Rocky's nose.

"Now you're just babbling complete nonsense that it's even more of a hazard to my health!" Weiss ranted at Rocky who didn't break his stride and just smugly smiled at her.

"Well, what can I say, Ice Queen?" Rocky teased, sounding like he's not even trying to hide it and grinning at her. "That's just in my nature and you should appreciate the special talents of others."

Weiss narrowed her eyes that she was glaring ice cold daggers into his soul.

"You know." The roadrunner faunus said. "You do look kinda cute when you're angry."

Despite sounding so charming about it, Rocky was more like trying to mess with Weiss and see how her reaction would be, for his own amusement.

And much to his predicament, Weiss' face showed an expression of shock, as her face turned red as a tomato. Her eye twitched in irritation and she looked like she was gonna blow a fuse.

That was enough for Blake and Adam dealing with the chaos, as Blake blew out the candle and headed to their sleeping bags, leaving behind the three humans and roadrunner faunus behind.

Thing is, despite the boys and girls being separated, Adam and Blake's sleeping bags were the closest so they were able to talk to each other.

"Well, I think that's enough for tonight, especially meeting new people." Adam said and prepares to go to sleep in his sleeping bag.

"Yeah." Blake agrees. "That sure was something alright and now I need my beauty sleep."

As the two young faunus teens prepared to go to sleep, they still kept their respective accessories on, regardless how uncomfortable it may be to possibly sleep with a bow or a mask on.

Even if that were true, Adam and Blake aren't gonna let their secrets be exposed… at least for the time being.

As the two were laid in their bags and stared at the chandelier riddled ceiling, Adam had something on his mind.

"Blake…."" Adam softly and quietly said that it felt strong.

"What is it, Adam?" Blake asked, turning her attention back to Adam once again.

"Do you think it would be best... if you should chat more often with other people here and maybe even befriend them?" Adam asked.

As much as Adam cares for Blake and knows her boundaries, he also knows she can't stay in her shell forever from others that doesn't involve himself otherwise.

"I know we've talked about this already, even before we came to this academy."

Blake knew what Adam is talking about.

"There's a chance we may or may not be on the same team after the Initiation." She simply said that was the obvious answer

"Yes." Adam replied. "And once the teams are decided and are official, we are with our future team members for 4 years straight, together or not."

Blake didn't say a word and looked at Adam. Despite him still wearing the mask that hides his eyes, she can still tell he's serious.

"But even if we aren't on the same team, you and I will always have each other's backs. Right Blake?

Blake heard that clear as crystal and she knew he really means it.

It's just that she and Adam have known each other for quite a long time and they've worked and fought together many times when they were in the White Fang. Heck, they even laughed, cried,

Neither are really a concern of the two, because they know they are willing to go that way.

Ultimately, they know they will always have each others backs, as Adam trusts Blake that she can handle things on her own and take care of herself. Same goes for Blake, knowing Adam can also take care of himself on his own… despite the many things he has endured in his life.

"Of course." Blake said, sounding like she's willing to go with that.

"Same for me." Adam also said, showing he'll support Blake no matter what.

"Well… good night, Adam." Blake said and goes to sleep.

"You too, Blake." Adam responded and also falls asleep… with his mask still on.

Elsewhere, Gale is already sleeping in his own sleeping bag. Nigel wasn't too far away but he slept in a corner the furthest away and he was simply using his semblance to read everyone's emotions one more time before falling asleep.

As for Rocky, he, Weiss, Ruby, and Yang broke it off and decided it's best to get some sleep as well.

So Rocky was carrying his own sleeping bag and was looking for a spot to sleep.

"Alright then." Rocky calmy yawned, trying to find an open spot to lay down his sleeping bag to sleep for the night.

"Now….. where shall I sleep for the night?"

As on cue, nearly a fourth of all the girls in the entire ballroom launched up from their sleeping spots and were cheerfully shouting towards Rocky as if they are so happy to see him ... which they are.

What's worse. Rocky instantly recognized most of them are the same girls he encountered earlier today… and now he meets them yet again.

"Yoohoo!" Shouted one girl, waving her hand at Rocky!

"Over here!" Shouted another!

"Come sleep close to me!" Yelled another.

"Tell me a bedtime story!" Hollored one girl that made Rocky sweatdrop.

"I want to smell your sleeping bag!" Screamed yet another but this one made Rocky feel extremely nervous what she just said….

But that's not the only thing he needs to worry about because Rocky felt a presence behind him… no... dozens of them.

Rocky looked over his shoulder and staring down at him are at least a dozen shirtless boys, humans and faunus alike, seemed to be glaring daggers at him. is confused as to why these guys are giving him such death glares when he hasn't even done anything to them….. and then he realized it.

Those guys are jealous of Rocky somehow getting the girls attention without even doing anything…. well, technically, more like becoming a popular icon online due to his crazy breakdancing but STILL.

The glares of the guys and the adoring yelling of the girls were starting to surround him… and now he's getting some dreaded flashbacks of getting surrounded by massive crowds of fans that are swarming him yet again….

That was until the door that leads into the ballroom burst open.

"What in all of Remnant is going on in here?!" Shouted a familiar voice that everyone knew who that belonged to and they all turned their heads in to that direction.

It's Glynda Goodwitch… and she's not happy. NOT. HAPPY.

Like everyone else, she too was in her own pajamas which is actually a purple, silken, night robe which covers up most of her figure but it hugs her body tightly that it shows off her curves easily. She just got out of the shower so her hair is wet and down which glistens underneath the chandelier lights.

She looked around and sees the whole commotion and narrows her eyes at pretty much everyone but especially Rocky standing in the center of it all.

"Uh… I can explain." Rocky said in a rather casual monotone.

---

45 minutes later

And so, after everything was explained by Rocky, Glynda was trying her best to believe but she wants to sleep and was very tired since the initiation is tomorrow so she just goes with it.

As for Rocky, much to her surprise, he announces he doesn't want to sleep in the ballroom since he got a dreaded experience of being surrounded by so many people that got too close to him.

Glynda ultimately decided to take Rocky out of the ballroom and sleep elsewhere, but not before giving all the other teens in the ballroom a warning of making such a loud racket and threatened to kick them out before they even have begun their initiation if they make another racket.

That is… WHERE should he sleep? Obviously not outside because that's inhumane and he's not sleeping in the classrooms, the library, cafeteria, or even the gymnasium and other places that's gonna be used for the students and she plans

She's thinking of letting a professor temporarily share their respective rooms with Rocky for tonight… and one professor is definitely not gonna be her. Same for Ozpin as he's the headmaster.

She tried seeking the other professors and staff of the academy; Port, Oobleck, Peach, Shroud, Athenaeum, League... but all of them either refused for their own reasons or just didn't like the idea of having a student in their rooms.

Well… there is ONE more staff member that Glynda knows and he shall do.

"ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS!"

Shouted an extremely annoyed and cranky voice that echoed in the apartment sized room…. that had to be shared for tonight….

It was Nevin's room… and he's NOT HAPPY..

The Custodian was laying in his bed, in his pajamas, night cap included, but he's wide awake and staring straight up at the ceiling, still spouting his rants. He's never felt so appalled in his life, forced to share his quarters with someone he just met and doesn't even personally know?!

As for Rocky, he's in his sleeping bag, on the other side of the room, in a corner, also wide awake because he can hear

As for Rocky, he too isn't happy in the slightest either. He doesn't really like co-bunking with a custodian which is weird that he would rather sleep outside than here but he didn't have much of a choice, further backed up by Glynda basically ordering Nevins to share his quarters with Rocky because they have a big day tomorrow and they can't argue or find another solution any further.

And so, Nevin begrudgingly agreed to Glynda he shall share his quarters with Rocky for tonight but that doesn't mean he's gonna like it, not even close.

"Asking a senior custodian to share his quarters?!" He ranted, still rather pissed he has to do this "And with an unofficial huntsman-in-training no less?!"

Rocky rolled his eyes in annoyance, realizing he's not gonna get any shut eye soon with this cranky old geezer of a custodian spouting nonstop that he could even wake up the whole academy if he keeps running his mouth.

"Why, back in my days, I never-" Nevin was about to say but Rocky turned his head over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Rocky snapped, interrupting the custodian, finally being fed up with him. He glared at Nevin in the eyes who glared back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You weren't exactly MY first choice either." Rocky said sternly, Like he didn't have much of a choice and is trying to go with it the best way he could but even he's reaching the limit of tolerating this old man.

The scenery now changes that takes place outside the quarters and outside of Beacon.

"And keep it down, will ya?" Rocky also added, needing his sleep. "I can hear you all the way from my side of the floor."

"YOUR SIDE OF THE FLOOR?!" Nevin shouted at the top of his lungs, flabbergasted, from what he just heard. "The WHOLE floor is MY side of the FLOOR!" He yelled.

"Just-" Rocky snapped back but suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.. And smelled a rather putrid scent that made him gag and plug his nose.

"What's that smell?! Did you just cut the cheese?!" Rocky yelled and gagged.

"... It's absolutely outrageous ..." The custodian grumbled yet again.

And so, the academy goes silent as everyone finally falls asleep, as the broken moon drifts overhead and the crickets keep chirping in the silent night.

---

The next morning.

Hours have passed and the sun had already risen over the horizon and begins ascending upwards, already giving off its warm glow to the land of Vale.

Many students have started to wake up and started preparing for the initiation by many steps.

One of them is still asleep in his sleeping bag, all snug and warm.

Taking place inside Nevin's quarters is a young soul that's still sleeping in that corner.

It's Rocky who's peacefully snoozing in his sleeping bag.

He started to shift around a bit but remained deep in his slumber because he was having a dream… well, a really good dream he doesn't want to wake up from.

If one were to look into his dreams, they would see his vision in his dreamscape takes the shape of an outdoor pool with a splendid view of the ocean in the distance. Laying on a floatie in the shape of a cartoonish black duck is Rocky Rhode Runner who's wearing some sun shades and was drinking a glass of cherry soda with a little umbrella in it.

The whole pool that he's in is filled to the brim with all kinds of cute and beautiful girls, human and faunus alike, in bikinis.

While they all varied in different shapes and sizes but most of them were very bottom heavy.

Heck, most of them resembled many of the girls he met in the past, including Pixie and Dixie. Even that Squirrel faunus dancer.

Just then, as Rocky was really having a swell time his dream, a pair of legs suddenly walked over to Rocky and are now standing inches away from him.

Rocky still remained asleep but was stirring and squirmed around a bit…. And he reached out to the foot which is a boot and wrapped his hands around it, which, in his dreams, is a squirrel faunus that resembles that dancer he saw back at the Raving Dragon.

"Hmmm…. One at a time… ladies… one at a time…" He cooed, now slowly leaning his head towards the squirrel faunus/boot.

"You'll all get your turn with me… Starting with you." Rocky softly spoke before making a kissy face and making kissing sounds with his lips, as if he's about to kiss the squirrel faunus….. only to end up kissing the boot.

"AHEM."

Rocky heard a very familiar noise that fully woke him up.

With his eyes wide open and is aware of that, Rocky slowly looks down and sees his lips kissing the boot… and slowly turns his sight up and finds out this boot belongs to none other than Nevin whom is glaring down at him with a rather grouchy and annoyed glare.

There was an awkward silence as the faunus and human stared at each other.

Until Rocky's brain managed to compute and told him to stop kissing the boot since it was gross and very awkward.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Rocky screamed at the top of his lungs, letting go of Nevin's foot, and leaping so high into the air that his head hit the ceiling and fell back to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

He starts spitting and gagging of kissing a boot that likely has been in places he doesn't want to know. He even grabbed a random brush out of nowhere and brushed his tongue like he was trying to get every germ off of it than washes it down with mouth wash and spits the liquid into a nearby can that made a "Ding" sound.

"Oh man… and I was just having such an awesome dream until it got ruined…." Rocky lamented but was now wide awake and started stretching his stiff muscles.

"So… are you gonna sit there on your arse all day or are you gonna get up and prepare for your initiation?" Nevin asked with a raised eyebrow and sounded rather serious. "And it better be the latter because I don't have time to babysit you when I have my own priorities to attend to."

That's when Rocky started to wonder.

"Come to think of that. What time is it?" He asked as he looked at his scroll.. and noticed he's partly slept in and only got an hour and a half to spare until the initiation starts for real!

"Oh jeez louise!" The teen spouted in complete shock in horror as his eyes bulged to the size of dinner plates and his tongue stretched out. "Would you look at the time! The initiation will start pretty soon! And I haven't even had any breakfast or taken a shower yet!"

He gathered all his things at such quick speeds that he appears to be a blur and sped out of the room.

"Anyways! Thanks for letting me stay! Okay! See ya! Bye!" Rocky says quickly and was now gone.

Nevin stares at the exit where Rocky left for several more seconds until he softly sighs.

"...I'm getting too old for this rubbish." Nevin said and goes on with his daily routine.

---

Many of the other students were already up and about, already getting prepared for the initiation they have been waiting for.

That is, there are still a few more who are soundly asleep and need to get up soon.

But even they need to get up and get ready.

Among them is Nigel who just woke up and he still has plenty of time to get ready so he ain't rushing things.

After stretching and yawning from his slumber, he activates his semblance again and scans his surroundings and senses most of the students are still asleep. Their aura is very dim and calm, almost like a tiny candle light.

However, he sensed a more energetic and active aura not too far away and it takes the color of pink.

It's a girl with turquoise eyes that are a slightly lighter shade than Gale's and short reddish-orange hair that's a slightly darker shade than Gale's lighter shade.

She's wearing a white shirt with a heart shaped cutout on the chest, a black vest, different layers of clothing, a mid thigh pink skirt, black fingerless gloves, pink and white mixed shoes and pieces of armor around her neck, shoulders, and waist. Her emblem looks like a hammer with a thunderbolt, located on the back of her vest in pink.

Nigel can sense a lot of hyperactive enthusiasm from her and her aura is flaring like a wildfire that's out of control, showing how lively and energetic she is.

She's looming over another student who's a boy and he's already started to flutter his eyes open.

"Wake up, lazy bud!" She happily sang to the young man and zipped out of his sight as the boy rises up and sighs.

He's a young teen boy with magenta eyes and long black hair, with a magenta streak, tied in a ponytail. He's wearing a dark green tailcoat, diagonally buttoned, with pink cuffs, and black and gold trimming. He also wears light tan pants, black shoes, and his emblem is a pink lotus flower.

The kangaroo faunus senses a lot of calmness and intense focus, coming from the boy. His aura, also colored pink but at a slighter darker shade, was more calm and steady, like a gentle stream flowing down a slope.

Here, we have this interesting duo named Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. These two are inseparable and have been with each other since childhood, currently living close together and they too, like everyone else, are here for the initiation.

As Ren was groggily getting up and starting the day, Nora was darting all over the place like a child that's loaded on too much sugar.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" Nora sang around Ren who sighed, as if he's used to her hyperactive antics many times in his life that he sees it as nothing new him.

Nigel watched in slight curiosity, as he sensed and the two teens aura. He seems to sense that Nora, as hyperactive and giddy as she appears, he senses she has a lot of affection aimed towards Ren. As for Ren, he mostly senses a lot of calmness and focus, he can't help but sense a much deeper emotion within Ren…. it seems he too shows a bit of interest towards Nora but Nigel can tell he ain't showing it on the outside.

It's almost similar… to how Jackal and Serpent showed their affection to one another but hid it from the rest of the world.

But now's the time to worry about the preparation for the initiation as Nigel and all the other students, Nora and Ren included.

As the rest begin to get up, most have already begun entering the locker rooms to take their showers.

Though, throughout the whole morning, Nora kept talking on and on about her and Ren's friendship and keeps slipping in the mention they are not together together and are just friends… NIgel ain't buying that because their emotions don't lie and he can read them like an open book. But, out of respect to their friendship, he's keeping it to himself.

As the ballroom was cleaned up, the students then got dressed into their respective outfits and headed to the cafeteria to fill their stomachs.

The lunch lady and her co-workers were already making breakfast and serving to the students. A well balanced breakfast will help them feel energized for the initiation.

What's served for the morning are pancakes with butter and syrup, waffles, all kinds of cereal that goes with milk, hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs, bagels, all kinds of fruit, etc. It was like a buffet for everyone.

Within the crowd of students eating, in the center was Gale who had a large plate stacked with five pancakes with butter and syrup, along with a large glass of milk and a bowl of all kinds of fruit, including bananas.

Gale was scarfing down the pancakes… because he hasn't had tasted them for a long time. His grandfather used to make him pancakes a lot when he was alive… but when he passed away, Gale also missed his grandfather's cooking of making all kinds of delicious cuisines, especially pancakes.

Ever since his grandfather passed away, Gale can barely know how to cook. The best he can do is cook food over a fire and whatever he can find in the jungles of Sanus that's edible and safe to eat. But now that he's in society like Vale, he can now enjoy all kinds of cuisines.

"Just… woah." Jaune said in complete surprise at how much this guy is eating just for breakfast. He was having his own breakfast which is a cereal brand called Pumpkin Pete's.

"Where in all of Remnant does all that food go in you?!" He asked in complete shock.

"Well, let's just say I got a huge appetite and a very high metabolism so I tend to eat large quantities of food but still get enough exercise and training to balance all that out." Gale said sounding like it's a normal conversation.

He's not completely wrong, as it likely has to do with his semblance that possibly makes him part elephant faunus. Also Sanus elephants are known to eat a lot to keep their bodies going so Gale himself needs plenty of food as well, even if it seemingly looks too much for him.

Elsewhere, Adam and Blake were seen eating together but it's just them at a single table for two people, rather than a bigger group. Both were silent and just ate their breakfast.

Adam was eating french toast, along with orange slices and grape jelly covered toast. Blake was having some baked salmon mixed with scrambled eggs, along with some toast covered in raspberry jelly.

The two never said a word and just decided to enjoy their breakfast in silence.

Ruby and Yang were also eating together… except Ruby was already scarfing down the cereal and Yang was about to fill her own bowl with cereal… only to realize the box is empty. She slowly glares at Ruby who was grinning at her.

"The early bird gets the cereal-" Ruby mocked Yang but the brawler tackled her younger sister to the floor. Ruby quickly screamed in panic and grabs her bowl to get away from Yang, only for Yang to grab the spoon that had cereal on it and gets her bite… only for Ruby to dump the rest of her own cereal into her mouth before Yang could get anymore.

Nora was still talking to Ren, while having a whole pancake in her mouth which she slurps it up like spaghetti while Ren was cutting his own pancakes into smaller bite sized pieces.

Rocky stormed into the cafeteria, after taking a quick shower and sees the lunchroom is nearly full. However… much to his misfortune, he slips on a banana peel that was conventiely on the floor and in Rocky's path, stepping on it without looking where he's going.

"WAAAAAHHHHH!" Rocky shouted in complete surprise, flipping in midair and falling down onto his head and crashed to the ground.

Nearly everyone that heard the commotion turned their attention to Rocky who was sprawled on the floor, completely dazed, with chibi Nevermores flying around his head.

"What a way to start the day…." Rocky groaned.

---

Locker Room

Later on, after their breakfast, most of the students went to their locker rooms to retrieve their weapons they stuffed in the lockers they were designated to last night before going to sleep.

"I know!" Nora suddenly announced towards Ren, like she has an idea, despite one earlier idea was about bribing the headmaster which won't work. "We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal!" She gasps as if she has an idea. "A secret signal so we can find each other in the Emerald Forest!"

She then gets close to Ren. "Can you imitate a sloth?" She asked a question that was rather morbid to the topic.

"Nora." Ren calmly said, alerting Nora.

"Yes, Ren." Nora replied, wondering what .

Ren held his weapons, Storm Flower, which are a pair of automatic pistols with sickle blades right under the barrels, and hid them under his sleeves which are a pretty effective way to hide his weapons when not in use and can draw and use them much more quickly.

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." He says, unphased with Nora's antics.

"Well… they really don't make a lot of noise, in fact, at least not when mating season isn't active." Gale said, nearby, digging through his locker and putting his Turbine Gauntlets, Tempest and Gust, on. "Trust me, I've heard their mating calls back in the jungles of Sanus and they can be quite noisy."

Nora was silent for a second until she got excited and suddenly grinned.

"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!" Nora cheered, liking the idea on how they can team up.

"Seems your friend remains as enthusiastic, no matter how much you correct her." Gale said to Ren who turned towards Nigel, noticing he's not the only stoic individual in the locker room

"When you put it that way, yes." Ren replied but Nigel sensed a bit of happiness coming from Ren when he said that. "Come on, Nora. Let's go." Ren told Nora and begins walking away.

"But not together together." Nora said and giggled, following Ren happily.

Meanwhile, Ruby, Yang, and Rocky, were at their respective lockers and were also getting themselves ready.

"Wonder what those two were so worked up about." Ruby said, referring to Nora and Ren.

"Beats me." Rocky replied. "Could be anything between them…. And I mean anything." He said with emphasis on the last word and goes back to putting bullets and dust tubes into his double barreled revolvers.

"Yeah. I agree with Rocky so who knows." Yang agrees with Rocky and turns her attention to Ruby. "So, sis! You seem awfully chipper this morning!"

"And I can make a guess what that would be." Rocky also said, already putting the ammo in and spinning the cylinder on his revolvers to make sure they are working.

"Yep!" Ruby confirmed. "No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff." She reaches in and grabs Crescent Rose out of her locker, which is in inactive mode.

"Today I get to let my sweetheart to do all the talking." Ruby purred as she cuddles the weapon once more like it's her own teddy bear.

"If you're so close to your weapon, Ruby, why don't you take it out for steak dinner?" Rocky teased which made Yang snicker and Ruby looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through the initiation. If you want to grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people, make new friends, and learn to work together." Yang also said, lecturing her sister who groaned in annoyance.

"Ugh! You sound like Dad!" Ruby growled, as she stuffs her weapon back into her locker and turns around to Yang with a scowl on her face.

"Okay, first of all what does meeting people and making friends have to do with fighting and killing Grimm?" Ruby said like she's doing a lecture.

"Oh I don't know." Rocky said that sounded a little sarcastic. "Perhaps so you could have backup and get your butt saved in case you are cornered or unable to fight any further."

"And secondly, I don't need people or friends to help me grow up! I. Drink. Milk." Ruby boasted with her arms crossed.

"Can't argue with that. It makes every other argument invalid." Rocky said again which sounded sarcastic yet again.

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked which made Ruby realize she didn't think of that.

"Uhm… I don't know… I'll just be on your team or something…" Ruby replied and hoped Yang would agree with her.

"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team? I mean, Rocky is one of them and he seems to be a good teammate for you." Yang said, as she grabbed her hair from her shoulder and started stroking it.

However, that mae Ruby start to see Yang might not be her teammate which made her storm up to Yang and glare at her in the eye.

"My dearest sister Yang, are you implying that you don't wish to be on the same team as me?!" Ruby scolds to Yang who thinks her beloved big sister, Yang Xiao Long, doesn't want to be on the same team with her!

"Ho boy. Sibling squabbles, inbound!" Rocky hollored.

"What?! No!" Yang had her hands up, trying to not give Ruby the wrong idea. "Of course I do, I just thought that… I don't know, maybe it would be helpful you break out of your shell."

"What the-?!" Ruby said, completely baffled what she just heard. "I don't need to break out of my shell! That's absolutely-!"

"Ridiculous!" Shouted Jaune, who was walking through the locker room, with a piece of paper and looking for his designated locker.

"There's no way I put all of my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would have remembered to count that high! Ugh! Why does this have to happen today, especially to me?!" Jaune groaned, feeling like lady luck just isn't by his side yet again that he somehow ended up forgetting his locker number and is now trying to desperately look for it….

Then he realized he had lost his locker combination number to open his locker.

"Oh great! Now I lost my combination to my locker as well! Can't this get any worse!" Jaune shouted, starting to feel like the universe doesn't like him.

"Oi, you." Said a voice that was nearby. It caught Jaune's attention, since it was directed towards him.

Jaune's anger suddenly went out and turned his attention to someone that's leaning against the wall who had his head down which was shielded by his barma hat decorated with crocodile teeth

He couldn't help but feel somewhat intimidated by this person… faunus in front of him, due to seeing his muscular kangaroo tail. But that wasn't what Jaune really focused on when he noticed his intense stare once he lifted his head and looked at Jaune.

"Uh…. hey there." Jaune sheepishly greeted. "Can I help you with something?" He asked nervously but Nigel didn't answer as he stared at him for several more seconds.

"Well, actually, it's the other way around, mate." Nigel answered. "Seems like you're having trouble remembering your locker and now you lost the combination to it."

"Yeah… thanks for bringing that up." Jaune groaned, not feeling like having chit chat with this guy which Nigel could sense and decides to fix that.

"Well, luckily for you, I may have a solution to that." Nigel said and holds up something between his index and middle finger… it's a piece of paper that shows Jaune's locker combination on it.

"Wait… how did you-?" Jaune said in complete shock before Nigel interrupted.

"You should check your pockets in case you don't want to lose something important or else you would be in a major pickle." Nigel states and flicks the piece of paper at Jaune who caught it by reflex.

"Also, don't worry. I didn't look at your combination and I have no interest in taking your stuff either."

This surprised Jaune once more he's being helped and supported by yet another person.

First Ruby and Adam, than Gale, and now this guy that's a kangaroo faunus who simply helped him.

"Hold on. Why are you helping me? We don't even know each other." Jaune pointed out.

"True. It may seem like I'm helping for you for no reason and that may raise suspicion that I'm possibly doing this for my own benefits… but I'm honestly not."

Jaune was silent when he heard that and Nigel's words were filled with honesty.

"Yous just looked like you weren't having much of an easy time." Nigel said. "I mean, I could've just ignored ya and went on my way to becoming a huntsman that all of us will become today, not giving a damn about you and your unfortunate bad luck here. But seeing yourself in a bind and losing something that makes things harder for you, I felt like yous deserve an easier route for the time being." Nigel said and continued.

"Though, I advise you to hang on to things and not lose them or else that would just make things harder for the likes of you. Keep that in mind, mate."

After saying that, Nigel couldn't help but think about Jackal, Serpent, and their lackeys…. now Nigel thinks about them… it's been quite some time when he last saw them and wonders if they are doing well, after he gave them enough cash in hopes they find better lives for themselves...

As for Jaune, he was speechless of hearing this guy say this to him. It's true he could've ignored Jaune and just went on his way… but this guy showed kindness and gave him his combination anyways, despite these two not knowing each other, not even yesterday.

"Wow…. just… wow. I don't know what to say to you….. Thanks." Jaune said in gratitude towards Nigel.

"Eh, no worries, Mate. Just lending you a hand. Nothing more, nothing less." He casually said but gave one last piece of advice. "Just remember to check your pockets and not end up losing something that's essential to you."

"Right. I'll keep that in mind." Jaune said and begins walking off but stops and looks at Nigel again.

"Hey. At least tell me your name." Jaune simply said towards Nigel who raised his head and looked him.

"I have many names that people and faunus alike have called me, but you can just call me Nigel Arvo." Nigel said.

"Oh, well the name's Jaune Arc. It's short, it's sweet, and it rolls off the tongue. The ladies sure do love it." Jaune boasted. Now Nigel starts sensing his overconfidence starting to swell up within him.

"And now he's dripping with overconfidence…" Nigel mentally sighed but he held nothing against Jaune. He seems like a very nice guy which Nigel can roll with. Besides, he met far more obnoxious and arrogant people anyways, in his journeys so Jaune here ain't got nothing on those those guys Nigel dealt with.

That's when Jaune turned his attention elsewhere which Nigel followed and spotted two people nearby.

Weiss Schnee and another girl she's talking to.

The girl has a pale white complexion, with red hair in a long ponytail, and vivid green eyes. For a girl, she's actually pretty tall and muscular, standing at 6'0" and having a build close to that of an amazon beauty.

Unlike most girls, she actually wears armor, made of bronze, but she still shows off plenty of skin, from her smooth shoulders, her muscular arms, her muscular abdomen, and her slender but strong legs that are hidden beneath her bronze greaves

Her outfit consists of a brown overbust corset, an elastic, black, a-line miniskirt, a bronze bracelet, high heeled boots, a red sash wrapped around her skirt, brown opera length gloves on her hands, and a bronze circlet as her headpiece.

Her emblem is a shield and spear that's on a bronze plate on her right hip.

Jaune had no idea who this girl is but Nigel instantly recognized her as none other than the famous Pyrrha Nikos; A skillful and gifted prodigy of a fighter.

Like Weiss Schnee, it seems Beacon will have another famous and popular huntress in training this year.

She and Weiss are chatting but Weiss suddenly turned her back on Pyrrha and begins expressing a rather evil and twisted face as if she's planning some kind of dastardly and evil scheme… while a stormy black cloud surrounds her and gives off lighting… and Nigel can sense some kind of dastardly thoughts she's giving off… but he can't read what she's thinking of what her emotions suggest.

"And speaking of ladies." Jaune said with a grin and starts heading over there which made Nigel can't help but shake his head. He senses even more overconfidence in Jaune that it may get the better of him.

"Good luck getting a harem, casanova." Nigel thought sarcastically but he sets that aside for something more important.

Just before Jaune stormed off, Nigel was using his semblance and was reading Jaune, for that split second. He sensed a VERY faint outline of aura across Jaune's body body which is colored yellow, barely visible to NIgel's vision that it's almost invisible to him. This means this boy obviously has an aura... but it's dormant and hasn't been activated.

Nigel recalls to himself how he got his aura activated; He remembers, when he was only a young kid, his mother gently placing her hand on his cheek, focused her aura into him, while chanting, that awakened his own aura from there on.

Another thing Nigel notes… even when lying dormant…. Jaune's aura felt very strong and potent,

But still, even when Jaune's aura hasn't been activated, when it should have, to enter the academy, Nigel can't help but feel more suspicious about this guy.

Not to mention Nigel also sensed some hidden pieces of his emotions underneath Jaune's exterior… pulses of emotions that tells the kangaroo fauns that Jaune feels like he's regretting something…..

This made Nigel wonder about Jaune… he doesn't seem like your average joe coming to an academy while having his aura lying dormant and having some hidden and deeper emotions that suggest something Nigel and no one else knows about.

Though… Nigel wonders how long he will last in this academy. That is…. IF he survives the initation…..

That's when Nigel thought enough and heads out. He knows the initiation starts soon so he gets a head start.

Gale was already done getting geared up and began to head out but he stumbled across Jaune speaking to two of the girls that's Weiss and Pyrrha. Though, he wasn't sure of the white haired girl but he saw her emblem which gives Gale the hint she's likely related to the SDC… possibly the heiress as she has the looks of one.

As for the redhead, Gale swore she looked familiar… on that cereal box he saw earlier this morning when he ate breakfast with Jaune.

Weiss looks annoyed having Jaune in her presence but the girl on the cereal box doesn't look annoyed and seems curious about Jaune.

Gale decided to see what's Jaune's up to so he heads over and join the conversation.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Weiss groaned, annoyed of Jaune trying too hard to impress her.

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed." Jaune said, assuring Weiss… which he really isn't. Much to Gale's slight amusement, It's Jaune that should be embarrassed since he ain't impressing Weiss.

"Trying to woo some ladies there, Jaune?" Gale said but he knows Jaune is hardly doing so.. "Because you sure are doing a great job at that."

"Oh hey, Gale." Jaune greeted his large acquaintance. "I sure am so watch and learn from me."

"Honestly, not even close, my friend." That's all Gale could say silently to Jaune.

"So, been hearing' rumors about the teams. I was thinking about you and me, Weiss, would make a good one." Jaune said to Weiss who's still not amused. "What do you say?"

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions a bit there, Jaune?" Gale pointed out. "Not to mention that we can't pick who we want on our teams when the initiation is based on who you meet in the Emerald Forest by eye contact."

"I agree on that, Gale." Pyrrha agreed with Gale, since she heard Jaune mention his name. "And I think the teams are also comprised of four students each, so-" She tried to finish but Jaune interrupted her.

"You don't say." Jaune said, looking at Weiss for a split second, before zipping over to Pyrrha. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you join up with the winning team."

Gale couldn't help but sweatdrop hearing what Jaune just said.

"What is he even talking about?" He thought and felt concerned that Jaune is really getting full of himself.

Weiss zips between Jaune and Pyrrha, trying to widen the gap a little.

"Jaune and Gale, is it?" Weiss said towards Jaune and also adding Gale to the conversation. "Do you two have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel." Jaune said, giving Weiss a nickname.

"Just another student that's attending Beacon? I don't see what's wrong with that." Gale said, but he takes Weiss' word for it since he saw that redhead's face on the cereal box so she may be popular or something like that.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss introduced Pyrrha's name.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha happily greeted that sounded really cheerful.

"She graduated top of her class at Sanctum Academy from Argus." Weiss said.

"Never heard of it." Jaune said deadbeat, almost sounding apathetic.

Gale looked at Jaune with a raised eyebrow?

"Really, Jaune? I may have come from the jungle but I still know the locations of most academies across Remnant."

"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament, four years in a row! A new record!" Weiss said again, trying to ring a bell to Jaune.

Gale whistles in being impressed. "Dang. Four years in a row? Sounds like you're a very skilled and

"The what?" Jaune said, sounding like he wasn't listening.

Gale sweatdropped yet again at Jaune. "... You've got a long way to go if you ever want to find hook up with someone…." Gale said under his breath.

Weiss was losing her patience with this blonde bozo and starts flailing her arms so fast she's pretty much a snow white hummingbird.

"SHE'S ON THE FRONT OF EVERY PUMPKIN PETE'S MARSHMALLOW FLAKES BOX!" Weiss screamed, fed up with Jaune acting like a dolt.

That's when it clicked in Jaune's head as he gasped, realizing who Pyrrha really is.

"That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune exclaimed in excitement, finally seeing the girl on the cover of his favorite cereal box.

On cue, Pyrrha is seen with her own face on a cereal box design in the background, emphasizing her prodigy status as a mascot on the cover of the cereal box.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha admits but doesn't sound enthusiastic about it. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

On cue, as the cereal box design falls, a scream was heard and someone from above falls to the floor. It's Rocky who was using his semblance to bring up the box design but ended up falling and crumbling with the design. He quickly gathers up the pieces and hurries off, while nobody took notice of him.

"At least you can eat it in moderation, with a well balanced set of other foods for breakfast." Gale pointed out.

"So, after hearing all of this, including from your taller friend, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on a team, even if it was part of the initiation?" Weiss asked, trying to sound like she convinced him.

Jaune slumps his shoulders a little and looks slightly down in the dumps of hearing that, even if they are true. "I guess not… Sorry."

Gale puts his hand on Jaune's shoulder and tries to make him feel better.

"Cheer up, Jaune. It's not it's the end of the world. There are still plenty of other people in this academy that may be your teammates and partners." Gale said which seemed to have lightened Jaune's mood a little.

"Really?" Jaune asked, wondering if what Gale is saying may be true.

"He's right, Jaune." Pyrrha also came and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I think you would even make a great leader."

That's made Jaune feel even better that he gets all giddy from it.

"D'oh! Stop it!" Jaune chirped happily.

"Seriously, please stop it." Weiss scolded. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged."

"Who put you in charge?" Rocky said in the background.

"Sounds like Pyrrha is on board for team Jaune." Jaune said, now back to be overconfident yet again. "The spots are filling up quick. Now I'm not supposed to do this, but, maybeI could pull a few strings. Find a place for you. What do you say?"

That is, Jaune leaned a bit too close to Weiss which made her a bit uncomfortable.

"Alright, that's a bit too close!" She turned to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, a little help please?!"

And what would Pyrrha's solution be in "helping" Weiss?

She chucks her her signature weapon, Milo, a spear, at Jaune which sends him flying back and into a wall. Luckily, it just got him by the hood of his hoodie and didn't hit anything fatal… but still.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called out, apologizing to Jaune for what she had to do… despite that wasn't necessary.

That's when Glynda starts calling on the microphone that connects to the whole school.

"Will all students first year students please report to Beacon Cliff initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

With that said, every student begins heading towards Beacon Cliff, including everyone in the locker room.

Weiss storms past Jaune while Pyrrha comes up to Jaune, showing bits of regret doing that, as her hand reaches out and her spear suddenly flies back into her grip without even touching it.

"It was nice meeting you." Pyrrha said before leaving.

"Likewise." Jaune sighed.

The only people that stayed with Jaune was Ruby, Yang, Gale, and Rocky.

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang teased as Ruby and Gale brought out their hands to help him up.

"That… seemed pretty overkill." Rocky said out loud who saw that. "A few inches to the left and she would've skewered your brain like a shish kabob."

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

Gale couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, hate to say it, but your dad should've told you a lot more about what women look for which would've been helpful." Gale can remember many things his grandfather told him how to socialize with people, especially with girls. Boy, his grandfather sure seemed prepared to teach him nearly everything he knows at such a fast pace when Gale was young.

"Snow Angel. Probably wasn't the best start."

"Gale. Yes…. it wasn't the best start." Gale agreed but he couldn't help but notice Yang gave him a sly wink….

"Come on, Jaune." Ruby said, as she and Gale supported him out of the locker room. "Let's go."

The last one out was Rocky.

"Boy. These character introductions and interactions sure are paying off." Rocky said out loud which made everyone else look at him in slight confusion what he meant by that.

---

Beacon Cliff.

The location taking place at a large and wide open cliff, not too far away from Beacon Academy, but it also borders towards the Emerald Forest which is where the initiation will soon begin.

Near the edge of the cliff are what appears to be a long row of pads in the ground where each student is standing on. In fact, they are launch pads which are used to catapult the new students into the Emerald Forest.

Standing closer to the edge is Ozpin and Glynda who will be instructing the initiation while Glynda will observe and analyze every piece of the action they are in to determine if they are qualified to become students and huntsman in training.

Amongst the crowd of teens is Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Adam, Rocky, Gale, Nigel, Nora, Ren, and many others.

While most of the students that lined up were random, either by coincidence or anything else, Adam was standing right next to Blake and Jaune was standing close to Ruby who is standing close to Yang… oh, and Nora is standing right next to Ren.

Most of the newcomers are already here and are standing on their respective pads, listening to Ozpin who starts instructing while he sips his mug.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors and the next generation to bare the weight of the world on your shoulders." Ozpin said. "And today, your abilities and skills will be evaluated within the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors of team assignments." Glynda said with her tablet in hand. Most of the students already know there will be team assignments but some don't so Glynda considers it's best to inform about it, just in case.

"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion; Each of you will be given teammates… today." She finished, putting emphasis on the last word.

Ruby and especially Jaune were nervous but everyone else managed to remain calm. That did not go unnoticed by Nigel as he can feel emotions surrounding him without even looking at them.

"These teammates 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 whom you can work with."

Ruby got even more nervous, since she prefers Yang to be her partner but it sounds like those chances are dwindling each time a sentence comes out of Ozpin's mouth.

"That being said, the first you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years, whenever intentional or not."

Now Ruby's realizes her chances with Yang are her partner have gotten so slim that her attempt to remain calm shattered like fragile glass.

"WHAT?!" She said in complete shock.

"Oh this will be interesting." Rocky said.

Blake and Adam briefly looked at each other in the corner of their eyes but stayed silent.

"After you partnered up, make your way up to the northern end of forest's northern end. You meet opposition along the way."

Nigel blinked and used his semblance for a second, a bit curious of what's out there. He doesn't sense any aura but he does sense a lot of negativity.. And dozens upon dozens of scattered patches of darkness within the forest. He doesn't need to take a guess what's out there.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die." Ozpin also said, giving them a warning that this isn't a game and they need to stay alert and face the upcoming threats.

Jaune audibly gulps in terror, feeling extremely nervous just what he's about to get into. Gale had a determined look in his eyes. Nora had a big smile on her face while glancing towards Ren who remained stoic.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But many of our instructors and professors will not intervene, even if you are put in a life threatening situation."

"Guess that means we're gonna be on our own. Definitely best to find a partner and team if we want to survive entering that place." Nigel thought and stayed silent.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path that contains several relics which you will need to collect. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff."

"Huh. Guess it's a test where we must search for an item and bring them back in one piece." Gale said. A bit surprised they are gonna go with this kind of test. Most other academies have different kinds of tests that involve other objectives but he ain't complaining on this one and is interested.

"We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

"Based on the instructions, we have to make every action and decision count than." Adam thought.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked, in case there is more info the students want to know.

Everyone stayed silent…. Except Jaune who raised his hand.

"Yeah… um… sir-" Jaune tried to say but Ozpin ignored him.

"Good!" Ozpin announced. "Now, take your positions."

With that said, everyone gets into positions.

But before everyone starts catapulting, Adam and Blake looked at each other one last time. No need to say a word. They just smiled and nodded to each other. Bidding good luck to each other.

And that's where Blake is the first to be catapult into the Emerald Forest. Adam watches in silence, as his closest friend hurtles into the Emerald Forest.

"Uh, sir? I've got… uh… a question." Jaune said, still raising his hand.

During that moment, Weiss Schnee and a few more get catapulted.

"So this "landing strategy" thing, uh, what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

Shortly after, Nigel is next and he too is now flying. Followed by Adam and another student named Russel.

"No." Ozpin, replied casually, like there's nothing to worry about. "You will be falling."

"And not just any kind of falling, Jaune." Rocky said towards the blonde with a big grin on his face. "It's falling… with style!"

And after saying that, Rocky gets launched.

"WOOOOOHOOOOO!" Rocky hollered as he shot upwards like an arrow.

"Oh, I… see." Jaune scratched his head. "So did you hand out parachutes or something for us?"

Next is Nora who also whoops and hollers like Rocky did.

"No." Ozpin says again. "You will be using your own landing strategy.

Another student named Cardin gets sent into the forest. Yang was next but she winked at both Ruby AND Gale before putting on a pair of cool shades and hollered at the top of her lungs when she takes the launch. Gale was next and he was feeling the wind flying past his face.

Ruby gives Jaune a smug smile and she's the next to go… and now all that's left… is Jaune… who's not ready for this.

"So… what is exactly a landing strategYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

Poor Jaune got catapulted without warning and now he's tumbling in the air, screaming at the top of his lungs, along with the other students who were more prepared and are fl

As for Ozpin. He watches his new students hurtling into the Emerald Forest, while sipping his mug and calmly smiles.

Glynda turns her gaze towards Ozpin and looked at him in silence before saying something.

"You never get tired of doing this, do you?" Glynda calmly asked, obvious what Ozpin may say since they've done this for many years

"Of course not." Ozpin replied. "As much as I find it amusing to watch some of the clueless students getting catapulted without warning…."

He stayed silent for a moment… remembering all the decades before where he sends many newcomers into the Emerald Forest to see if they are worthy of attending his academy. While most have made it back and proved they are worthy ... while others have not come back and died during the initiation, mostly getting killed by a Grimm.

"It's just like that. Every time we do this, I silently hope they all make it out alive… it's very tragic and unfortunate that many previous students before were unlucky and never made it back out… alive."

Even to this day, Ozpin can still remember the mourning of families and loved ones crying over the young souls that… didn't make it in his initiation and he takes full responsibility. He knows that because he has made a lot of mistakes… more than anyone else in Remnant… and yet, he's doing what he thinks is right to bring peace and stop the Grimm… and other things only he knows about…. he briefly imagined, in his mind, a pair of eyes with red irises and black sclera staring at him… menacingly….

The old headmaster hopes these new students will make it all out in one piece, hoping there isn't another casualty he must be held responsible for.

He looks out towards the horizon of the valley of the Emerald Forest, where the students flew into, especially Ruby Rose… since her silver eyes mean something to him.

"The best we can do… is pray we will end the darkness that is trying to consume us all… only these beacons of light can hold it back ... and pray they will one day vanquish the darkness for good….

---

And that's that for the chapter.

Well, as much as I am enjoying this, I'm very close to getting my team together as ANGR and that is where it will soon happen.

Honestly, while it does look like my fic is following the canon to an extent, it will start to diverge to being a bit more original overtime, especially that I have plans for many things to add to the lore and also adding many new characters to spice things up a little. Also, there will be slight changes of other things but that will be classified as of now.

Another thing, this is basically an introduction chapter of everyone entering Beacon and just starting to know each other so I'm just going along getting most of the main characters into Beacon and getting ready for the Initiation.

I have decided to add three episodes into one chapter to speed things along a little so we can get to the point of the initiation and get my team together once and for all.

Lastly, I know it seems like I'm giving Rocky a bit too much focus on here. But I will assure you the other three will get just as much focus and Rocky will start becoming part of the team and blends in with them well.

Anyways, tune in next time as the four young men and all the other students enter the Emerald Forest and seize the goal to gain the chest pieces.