The Jaune Archive: To Survive and Prosper (OUTDATED)

by The Rade Blunner

The original version of the first installment of the Jaune Archive prior to being reworked. Please read Jaune: Hero of Beacon for the newer and updated version. The original summary can be found in Chapter 1 in this version.

2. Knights 'N' Rooks

EDIT#1 As suggested by an anonymous reviewer - all footnotes are now highlighted as bold, making them easier to spot if you scrolled down to read the annotations

#2 A couple of lines have been revised. Also added a footnote explaining aura failures.

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Chapter 2

Knights 'N' Rooks

---

"When Grimm attack, get the women and children—use them as bait and shields."

-Anonymous Vacuan Huntsman

One of the things I need to get used to in my new life at Beacon is waking up early before seven o'clock every weekday. While I'm never a morning person, I'm neither a stranger to waking up earlier than usual. When I was in elementary, I had to wake up every 7:30 A.M, two hours and a half before school. After graduating, I was free to wake up any time before noon when my home-school lessons usually start. Even then, there were some days where I had to rise up early as part of Dad's physical exercises, and not to mention my sisters occasionally prank me early in the morning. The difference is that they only happen from time to time, here you have to be awake just in time before class for five days straight every week.

I grumbled as I took my scroll under the pillow to turn off the alarm. I looked around the ballroom to see what everyone was up to. Some of them were still sleeping while others had woken up, two of them, in particular, would be a fan of mine and her stoic friend.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" Nora sang, dancing around Ren.

I rose up and headed to the locker room. I did not notice how much of a confusing mess the locker arrangements were until today. It was too dark then and I was more concerned about contacting my sister to even notice it. This was much worse if you assigned yourself with a higher locker number; in my case locker 636, and I felt like I was navigating through a maze. Eventually, I managed to find my locker and had the place marked on my scroll map so I don't have to get lost trying to look for it anymore.

I took a shower then changed to my usual jeans and hoodie, which has the print of Pumpkin Pete exposed because I was not wearing my breastplate to cover it. While childish, it wasn't as cringe-worthy as my pajamas. I left my armor in the locker because I didn't need it until I was done taking breakfast so I could prepare for the initiation. I wonder what kind of moron would wear their armor for the entire day especially when they don't need it. I'd hate to be that guy. [1]

I've always been fond of Pumpkin Pete for whatever reason. I've been attached to him ever since I was an infant. I remember getting a stuffed toy of him on my sixth birthday and then seeing Rouge crucify him a few days after. It didn't do much damage though, even if he now had holes on his paws, it wasn't anything Viola could fix. At least she didn't burn the cross while he was on it, that would have been offensively annoying.

I went to the cafeteria when I was thinking about what to eat. A certain beverage was the only thing that came to my mind. "Got any tanna?" [2] I asked the lunch-lady when I approached her. Tea is Vale's national drink after all, they should be at least familiar of what it is in spite of its lack of fame.

"Tanna?" she raised her brow in confusion. "What you're asking for is too niche, kid. We don't serve that junk here."

I'm not going to deny its rather questionable taste. That drink is certainly not for everyone. I just figured that drinking it would help me stay awake because regardless of its taste, it's hard to stop drinking after taking a single sip. No wonder why Dad obsesses over these things.

"Just curious," I said, a little disappointed that it's not available here. Looks like I'll just have to take a few months without taking a sip of some. I can live without it for a bit but the lack of tanna was not something I was happy about. "An egg sandwich and a cup of coffee would do."

She complied with my order and went to the kitchen. I turned back and saw that Nora was still talking to Ren, even with a pancake hanging in her mouth. She slurped the rest of her food making her much easier to hear.

"Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work, he has the school."

Apparently, someone's been spreading rumors about teams. But by the looks of it, they seem to have no idea how they are formed, and I could only wish these two luck with whatever they plan on doing.

After I finished my meal, I headed back to the locker room and grabbed my gear. I put on my breast and shoulder plates and placed my scabbard on my belt. I took my sword and gave a few spins before sheathing it.

As I was walking my way out of the locker room, I noticed Pyrrha and the infamous ice queen of dust and tantrums were having an exchange. It was almost impossible passing them without hearing their conversation. "Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together," Weiss proposed.

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied, though it seems as if she only answered that to humor her.

"Great!" Weiss beamed.

Pyrrha greeted me as soon as she saw me passing through. "Hello again, Jaune!" Her hands were waving at me with Weiss scowling at my presence, unsurprisingly.

I stopped my tracks and returned the gesture. "Morning to you too, Pyrrha." I still couldn't believe she was the woman on the fifty cereal boxes I sent to win the very hoodie I was wearing. A beautiful, talented woman like her would've been the last person to sell-out to a brand of breakfast mostly aimed at kids.

Killing shadow thingies plaguing the entire world with stuff your parents warned you about, brought to you by Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes™!

"Oh Jaune, I'd like you to meet—"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company" I interjected, smirking at the white-haired ice-queen. "We have met before,"

She folded her arms. "Seriously? You again?"

Good to see you too, I thought with a smirk. It felt like my mere presence just ruined her day. Since it bothered her that much, I just ran with it.

"So, are you ready for the initiation?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said with false confidence. Even with the information I got from Bleu, I still wasn't certain on what I was about to drag myself into. I just couldn't shake the feeling of adrenaline pumping in my veins as my palms sweat no matter how much I prepare myself.

"That's good. So Jaune, is there anyone you plan to partner up with?"

"No, I don't think so. Play your cards right and maybe you'll end up with me," I smirked, giving her the impression that I knew what I was doing and that I had nothing to worry about.

"That would be great! Well, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so—" Pyrrha said before getting interrupted by Weiss as she stepped forward in front of her.

"Hold on, I thought you acknowledged yesterday that you're not worth Pyrrha's time. I don't think you deserve to be on the same team as her either."

"Actually I'd think he'd make a great teammate," Pyrrha leaned from Weiss' side.

I couldn't help but agree with Weiss, however. I believed that I would just drag her down because my lack of willingness would probably ruin her record as an upstanding warrior. Despite this, I decided to respond with something that wouldn't cause too much stir nor would it make me sound too pathetic that it undermines my image. "Well, it's still too soon to tell," I shrugged.

"Whatever," Weiss rolled her eyes. I'll let her have it for now. The more they think they're above you the easier they are to manipulate, and right now, she sees me as nothing more than a blond idiot, and I'll keep it that way for the moment. "Come on, Pyrrha, they'll be waiting for us at the cliff," she said before leaving.

Pyrrha reluctantly followed her. "I'll see you at the initiation!" she said to me before catching up with Weiss' pace.

I took time to appreciate their gorgeous rears as they walked toward the exit. If anyone told me sooner that Beacon would be chock-full of attractive Huntresses, I would have laughed at them for trying to lure in me here, it would turn out that they were right.

"Wha'cha doing there, Lady-Killer?" Yang suddenly asked, popping out of nowhere with Ruby catching up behind her, much to my dismay.

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

She looked at my line of sight and saw Weiss and Pyrrha leaving the room and grinned. "Ooohhh! Been trying to win over the ice queen and the cereal girl, aren't you?"

Well, a part of that was true in a sense, I'll have to admit but judging by her tone, she was getting the wrong idea. "It's nothing like that. Really, we just talked about teams, that's all."

"Cool!" Ruby squealed in delight. "Want to be on our team? We're currently recruiting."

"That sounds great! Where do I sign up?" I said, pretending to have no clue on how the teams are formed. I didn't mind being in her team at all, provided she would make an effective companion. A girl that looks about as young as her wasn't accepted to Beacon without a good reason. [3]

"Awesome! We are going to be the best team ever!" Ruby chirped before we heard Ms. Goodwitch's voice on the P.A.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

This is where the fun begins, I thought, taking a deep breath. "Come on, let's go," I told the sisters as we headed to the Beacon Cliff. I was satisfied with the amicable acquaintances I made, now the only thing I hoped was that they would be useful pawns and meatshields that would significantly increase my chances of survival.

=o=

1. Actually, it's a common practice for knights and warriors to wear their armor for long periods of time, which occasionally lasts for days. This helps them get accustomed to their weight and heat while exercising their mobility when wearing it.

2. A tea made from leaves of plants native in the ice caverns on Morosco. It's rather obscure and unpopular outside its homeland, even in other parts of Solitas.

3. An average age of a freshman attending Beacon is around 17 years old. Ruby was only 15 at the time but she was able to impress Ozpin enough and invited her to the academy as a prodigy.

---

When we arrived at the cliff, we saw Miss Goodwitch and several other students waiting for the initiation to start. We were told to stand on individual metal plates which have the emblem of Vale on it, which I correctly assumed would be catapulting me into the forest. A few minutes later, The Great & Powerful Ozpin arrived with a mug of coffee[1] in his hand.

"Is everyone present?" he walked in front of us, looking around to see if anyone was missing. "Good, let us begin." He took a sip of his coffee before giving a speech. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ms. Goodwitch then stepped in. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'." With that, everyone stopped at whatever they were doing and paid extra attention. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion—each of you will be given teammates... today."

Imagine my shock.

"What?! Oh." Ruby cried, it sounds like she was not prepared to hear that at all.

Ozpin spoke again. "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 with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Whaaaat?!" Ruby howled with a shocked expression as if her whole world broke around her.

"See? I told you!" A voice called out which was unmistakably Nora's, contrasting a confounded Ruby.

Ozpin continued. "After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

Of all the things he just said, that one bothered me the most. The thing about combat schools is that they're dangerous enough that you could get killed as early as initiation. [2] I gave a nervous laugh before gulping at the thought.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

A lot of them actually. Does he enjoy watching us suffer while standing back drinking coffee? Because I was getting that suspicious aura from him. Better yet, what did he put in his coffee that made him think that this was a clever idea? And how many students died during the initiation? I swear, I was one slip of a tongue away from actually asking that.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

As everyone prepares themselves to be launched, I unsheathe my sword and just tell myself to remember what Dad had taught me. This was the day that I have been anxiously anticipating for and it was time to make sure that my preparations paid off.

Weiss was the first person to be catapulted to the forest, followed by others, then Ren and Nora. Next person to be launched was Yang, she gave Ruby a wink before putting on a pair of aviators then flying off with an audible 'Woohoo!'.

Initially, I thought that she put on those sunglasses to look cool and show off, after all, it sounded like something she would do. Then it hit me, she wore those so she could avoid making eye contact with anyone she doesn't want to be paired up with, meaning you couldn't see her eyes when wearing them. Clever girl. [3]

Ruby gave me a thumbs up before getting launched as well.

Before I knew it, I also found myself flying in the air. I managed to restrain my urge to scream and focused on getting a safe landing, finding a good spot to where might be a good place to drop myself to. I was able to notice a that my acquaintances were descending around the area; since I intend to team up with them, I joined in as well. As I got closer to the ground I grabbed the nearest tree branch I was descending to and spun until I was able to shake off my momentum.

So far, so good, I thought to myself. I hung around for a few seconds before letting go of the branch, making me fall before landing on my feet unscathed. The first step went better than expected. I did not like being thrown off to such a height and expecting me to land safely but that part was finally over.

The next thing I needed to do was to find a partner, then look for the temple, then take a relic and get the hell out of there all while having to deal with Grimm and allies that could potentially turn out to be uncooperative.

Just as when I thought about the Grimm, I heard an animalistic growl coming from my back. I slowly turned around and saw a small pack of Beowolves, consisting of at least seven of them. Indeed, I made a successful landing—at which what happened to be one of the worst parts of the forest.

"Umm... hi." I nervously greeted them, not that it helped me at all. My large pool of aura and all the negative energy they could smell from me was enough to make me feel like I was an exquisite dish for them. Forests and Beowolves going together didn't exactly give me the happiest thoughts so there was no reason for me have not immediately run out of there as fast I could.

Wonderful, not one minute in on this stupid test of skill, and I'm already chased by a Beowolf pack. I was off to a great start, I sarcastically said to myself.

I tried to wave my arms and called for help—no one answered, either because there weren't any human beings nearby or that they just couldn't bother to help. Either way, I was on my own. [4]

I eventually got tired of running and the pack was still after me. I decided to put my training to good use since I thought no one was coming. I have dealt with a few Beos[5] at Pucelle, how should this be any different?

Raising my shield, I turned back as I used it to bash the Beowolf when it tried to pounce me before thrusting my sword to its face. The second Beo tried to lunge on me, I dashed back right on time and slashed it down. The next one raised its claw as it attempted to clobber me only for me to successfully block it with my shield before decapitating its arm with my sword then used it to stab the Beo in its chest.

Two Beos surrounded me on the front and the back, so I charged at the one on the front and hit its head with my shield then slashed the one on the back, I went back with the staggered former slicing its head off before turning around giving the latter a few more slashes.

I went on the offensive with the last two, slicing one of them down before it could even attack. I bashed the last one with my shield twice before shaving its head off. Their corpses evaporated as I panted. I could feel the Great & Powerful Ozpin writing down his plans for me while he takes yet another sip of his coffee.

I suddenly heard a friendly voice praising me. "That was amazing!" Turning around, I saw Pyrrha approaching me as she came out of a bush. That's a relief, not only I'll be on her team, but I'm going to be her partner as well. Considering her past achievements and records, she's the ideal partner for getting me out alive in combat situations. The bad news was—she just saw me single-handedly slaughter a whole pack of Beowolves, giving her an impression of a competent Huntsman who didn't need any help.

"Uhh, it's nothing! Really! They're just Beowolves, one of the weakest Grimm there is." I said, hoping it doesn't sound like I was bragging. "So—it's nothing to be impressed about... at all!"

She tilted her head in confusion before giving a giggle. "Come on, it's pretty impressive on how you handled them, most people could only take out a few before giving in. I was so worried that I was about to step in, but you held your ground and prevailed."

I was... dumbstruck upon hearing that. She basically implied if I had run and screamed for a little longer, I didn't have to deal with all of those stupid Beos alone. It could have saved my energy but what was done was done and being able to win with my first encounter with Grimm as a student of Beacon was the only thing that mattered to me.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. "Skills like those can only be acquired from such experiences."

"I learned from the best." I smiled. Gotta give it to Dad, even if it's partially his fault that I am here, he still made sure I'm prepared, Huntsman or not. Not many Huntsmen get to boast about getting training from the best of the best after all. "So I guess we're partners now.

"I guess we are. It's an honor to be fighting by your side, Jaune."

"Good to have you too. I needed someone of your talents." By that, I mean I REALLY needed her. An undefeated champion was the best partner I could have in regards to surviving the academy and it felt like I just hit the jackpot. As a bonus, she's pretty good-looking too, so I also get to have an eye-candy while being partnered with her.

She was flattered by that compliment that I could feel her blush. I decided that we stood there long enough and that we should carry on. "Let's get moving. The temple shouldn't be far out."

She nodded as we headed north toward our objective. I heard some people calling Pyrrha the goddess of victory. If that's true, then it means I can't lose so long as she's with me. A goddess guiding me to victory is something I need to get through Beacon in one piece and I'm going to take advantage of this as much as I could.

Though if she really is a goddess, I hope she's more useful than the last one I got.

Freaking Aqua, that dumb bimbo. [6]

=o=

1. Despite what most people believe, he actually drinks hot chocolate instead of coffee.

2. Although rare, there are a few students who died during the initiation at Beacon, either due to poor luck or stupidity, but mostly the latter.

3. Headmaster Ozpin soon noticed this and immediately banned concealing eyewear for the next initiation to 'preserve the unpredictability of team matchmaking'. I actually witnessed him fleeing from the Beowolves.

4. I simply chose not to intervene because I did not want to be paired with him at the time especially since his call for help did not give me a good impression. Hence, why I ended up with Ruby despite my initial protests.

5. A shortened nickname for the Beowolf. Interestingly, 'Beowolf' itself, along with most other well-known Grimm designations are actually reporting names. For instance, the Beowolf's official designation is 'Lupus Umbra', which means 'Shadow Wolf'. These names are rarely used outside studies involving Grimm, leading their reporting names to be more familiar to both Huntsmen and civilians alike especially since they are often easier to pronounce.

6. Apparently, one of Jaune's former dates in his pre-Beacon life. He never formed a serious relationship with any of them, and judging by his entries on older journals which I am not going to disclose at the moment, I can see why.

---

Although I've visited several of them, I've never been fond of forests myself. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate their lush beauty. I'm talking about the thick ones where it is easier to get lost and are riddled with Grimm, those are types of places any person in their right mind wouldn't want to be at night, and I should know. As I traversed through The Emerald Forest, it was quickly becoming one of those places.

"So Jaune, where are you from?" Pyrrha asked, taking the point as we search the forest. Because of her being a superior fighter and probably having better Huntsman experience, it made sense for her to take the lead.

"Pucelle. It's an isolated fly-over county somewhere in the Gallican province. I don't blame you if you never heard it," I answered, thinking she would be unaware of the events that happened in it recently

"Huh, Pucelle? I've been hearing that place a lot on the news lately. It's something about—a bandit lord, I think."

Oh crap, she's on to me, I thought. So I changed the subject as quickly as I could.

"So... I heard you're from Mistral?" I asked before she was able to ask anything more about my hometown. She looked at me and nodded. "What can you tell me about it?" I then asked.

"Well, I cannot describe it in one sentence. They say it's a place with rich culture and history. The landscape is pretty beautiful too, especially during autumn."

"That's nice. I've actually visited there a few times during vacations. I was just wondering what you have to say about it."

She smiled, seemingly forgetting about her musings about that fiasco, which is a relief. Unneeded questions about how I got my underserved reputations was something I didn't need while trying to stay alive in a Grimm-infested forest.

We continued to trek through to the forest. It was mostly silent, with the sounds of footsteps only being heard, until we heard a gunshot in a distance. "Did you hear that?" I questioned.

"Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy," she stated, vigilantly glancing at her surroundings.

We kept walking while I tried to track the source of the gunshot; I figured that teaming with the other pairs will increase our chances of survival. I got lost on my train of thought that my face ended up getting hit by a branch.

"Ow! Stupid—"

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha turned back and came toward me.

"It's nothing. Just got a little careless there, that's all." It wasn't something my aura couldn't handle, but getting smacked in the face even if you don't feel any pain is really irritating especially since it didn't stop the burning sensation in my face.

She sighed and turned back as I continued to follow her, hoping that little blunder didn't make her think any less of me, it was too soon for her to discover that I was nothing short of a fraud.

We soon heard another noise, this time it's the sound of a bush rattling. Pyrrha raised her fist as we came to a halt. We readied our weapons, scanning our surroundings before seeing a shaking bush.

"On your guard," she advised. I positioned myself in a defensive stance, taking a deep breath as I prepare myself for imminent combat. We continued to stare at the bush before a pair of Ursa Minor came out, confirming our suspicions. "You take the one on the right!" she said before we charged at our respective targets.

I took a moment to glance at Pyrrha as she charged for her kill before I blocked an oncoming claw from the Ursa. I then lunged at the it, bashing my shield to its head before cutting it down with a few slashes, making it fall as it vaporizes with an animalistic shriek. Pyrrha was just as done when I finished mine.

"See? You're a natural!" she praised. "With combat prowess like that, I'd say you'd make a great Huntsman."

It wasn't impressive as she described it. It was only a single Ursa. I could've waited for Pyrrha to get rid of hers before getting her to kill mine, but it wasn't the best course of action; I had to act out of instinct and avoid the possibility of serious injury even with large aura reserves, since they have a chance to fail inconveniently. [1] "Let's not celebrate just yet. We still have a temple to look for." I reminded her.

"Right. The temple," she nodded.

With that, we resumed our hike, and after a few more minutes of uneventful walking and looking around in case of any Grimm nearby, we saw what appeared to be an entrance to a cave in a distance.

"Huh, a cave." Pyrrha turned to me. "Want to go check it out?"

Since I was getting bored of walking through the forest and considering the possibility of the cave leading to something interesting, and maybe even the temple, I saw no reason why not to.

As we approached the cavern entrance, we saw primitive drawings on the walls depicting men armed with spears and bows engaging a giant scorpion, which may or may not be a Deathstalker. Or at least I thought it was Deathstalker. I was about to find out soon enough.

"You think this is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. This doesn't look like a temple."

"Well, we headed north," I looked at the ground and picked up the first stave I saw. "Did we?"

"I'm sure we did but…"

I pulled out a piece of cloth from my pocket which I prepared before the initiation in case of situations like this and wrapped it around the top of the stave. I picked up some coal and used them to put fire on my torch.

I looked again at the sinister, dark entryway. My conscience keeps telling me to turn back as danger lies within this cave, but I made up my mind and decided to go inside in case we find something. If movies taught me anything, it's that tombs and relics can be found in places like these, with my only concern then was that I wouldn't have to involve us getting chased by a giant boulder after we taking out the prize. Granted movie logic is not reliable but it felt like a good idea at the time; besides, I had Pyrrha with me in case things go wrong.

"Temple or not, I'd say it's worth checking out," I declared. "We should find something here. Maybe it could lead us to the temple and even if we don't, we could always head back out."

She nodded as she followed me inside. I took the point because I was the one holding the torch. If only I was aware of what was waiting for me, I would rather have continued to look for our way in the woods and even happily fight an Ursa Major with only my bare hands. There's an opportunity for a lame bear pun there, but I'm afraid I'll have to digress because I have standards.

The cave became increasingly darker the deeper we went, making me regret coming there but my urge to search for anything unusual told me to press forward.

I ended up tripping with my torch falling into a puddle of water; extinguishing it, making everything almost pitch black.

"You okay?" Pyrrha asked out of concern.

I pushed myself up as I tried reassuring her. "I'm fine."

"Did you feel that?"

Soul-crushing regret was the only thing I felt during that time. Other than that, I had no clue on what she was referring to. "Feel what?" I pulled out my scroll and turned on its flashlight. I don't know why I bothered making the torch if I could have done this in the first place. Well, you got to practice your survival skills sometimes, right?

"Feel something… warm." she said, barely giving enough to context for me to figure it out.

I continued to lead on and found something glowing. We went to the place where the glowing is being held to investigate and saw a golden orb of sorts. My initial assessments almost led me to believe that this was the relic. Panning down my scroll flashlight, I saw a frightening sight of a large scorpion's face with all its eyes closed.

Pyrrha reached for her sword. "Is that…?!"

…A Deathstalker?! No, that can't be it. Surely, a Grimm this huge and tough can't be allowed in an initiation for fresh recruits, no matter how ludicrously skilled students need to be in order to attend. [2] This has got to be some sort of prank Ozpin set to scare off students who attempted to explore this cave. It doesn't take a genius to know that only dead-serious Huntsmen and Huntresses go after these things.

The golden orb turned out to be a stinger for the scorpion. It opened all of its red and lifeless eyes, confirming that it is indeed a live Deathstalker. After seeing that, I made what I could only describe as the most un-masculine scream I've ever made in my entire life.

=o=

1. While aura is activated by default during tense combat situations, they have a rare chance of malfunctioning, and thus not being able to protect the user from harm especially if their aura's willpower is considered weak. This is why Huntsmen are often encouraged not to be over-reliant on aura. I received the scar on my left eye because of this.

2. Professor Ozpin did not intend for the Deathstalker to be part of the initiation. He simply did not notice it getting past the security and forgot to dispatch it after a group of unfortunate students encountered it. Afterward, the cave where it was residing remained uncharted before being explored by Jaune and Pyrrha. When Ozpin realized this he disregarded it as another challenge the initiates have to confront.

---

We quickly stormed out of the cave, fleeing from the provoked Deathstalker. At that point, I was preferring to have a huge boulder chasing us out instead of one angry, giant Grimm insect. After getting out of the entrance I panted while Pyrrha unsheathed her sword and shield, facing the entrance in case it comes out. I really should have listened to every red flag planted when entering that cave.

I prayed that the Deathstalker would take a hint and stay in its nest since its size should be too big to fit out of the cave entrance, but unfortunately, it broke through it, showing its full glory. Like what any other normal person would do, I turned tail and tried to run but I looked back to see Pyrrha attempting to engage the Deathstalker. I was almost tempted to leave her fighting while I flee to safety, but I needed my partner alive if I were to pass the test and I wasn't going to take the chance of her dying and if she founds out that I tried to abandon her, she would doubt my reputation as a hero and I can't have that.

"Jaune, would you help me out here?!" she blocked a claw with her shield. She has got to be incredibly overconfident if she believes that we'll be able to defeat a Deathstalker by her ourselves. It was going to take more than a world-class champion to bring that thing down.

"Pyrrha, we can't take that thing down on our own! We need to get out of here and find the others!" I argued, hoping she'd come to her senses. She tried to hit it a few more times, only to find out that its exoskeleton was too thick to be penetrated, it was then she decided to take my advice and followed me as we routed out.

We ran as fast and hard as we could through the forest with the Deathstalker on our tails, crashing to everything it passed. Eventually, we managed to find the temple, with two figures there already who happen to be Yang and the girl with the huge bow whose name I haven't got at that moment. As soon as we saw them I did not waste any more time and called them the first chance I got.

"A little help here?!" I yelled, still running from the Deathstalker. They looked at each other for a moment before they both shrugged and stormed towards the giant scorpion, with Yang using her shotgun gauntlets to boost herself while the other girl grappled towards it.

We stopped and looked back as we watched Yang and her partner attack the Deathstalker for a second. "Go help them hold it off, I'll get the relic," I told Pyrrha. She nodded as she once again unsheathed her shield and xiphos went to assist the duo in distracting the Deathstalker.

I sprinted toward the temple and saw that the 'relics' turned out to be chess pieces; that's probably the only thing Bleu failed to mention the day before this. The chess pieces were standing on platforms, some of which were empty, indicating that others managed to find the temple before we did. I noticed that there were two for every piece making me figure out that whatever pair that is holding the same piece as yours will be your teammates. Other from that, I don't think the type of piece matters outside of meaningless symbolism so I just took the piece which caught my attention the most, a golden knight piece to be exact.

I looked back to see Pyrrha, Yang and the bowed girl taking their time to fend off the Deathstalker. So far they still have yet to even weaken it, even with Pyrrha's skill and Yang's strength, it's clear that this wasn't going anywhere without some sort of strategy.

As I was about to call Pyrrha to tell her I got the relic and that we should leave, I heard Ruby's voice calling my name. "Jaune!"

"Ruby?" I looked back and saw her from a nearby tree-branch before jumping off to my position. She looked around and saw the ongoing battle between the three stoogettes and an overgrown bug that had no right to be as powerful as it should be. [1] "Is that Yang?" She noticed her sister riding the scorpion while trying to punch through its abdomen while it chased Pyrrha and the raven-haired bowed girl, with the latter shooting it with her pistol while running.

Okay, looking closer at the latter's gun bothered me. Why does her weapon's pistol mode have her blade pointing towards the user's face? You can easily mistake that she's about to stab her own face if it wasn't for the gun barrel on the crossguard. [2]

"Yep," I replied.

She turned to the temple and saw the chess pieces standing on platforms. "Are these the relics?" she questioned in disbelief.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Huh." She grabbed the nearest piece, a golden rook, I think. "So what now?" She asked, looking back at the trio fighting.

Before I was able to say something, an Ursa came out of the forest, swinging its claws. I was about to pull out my sword out of instinct but then I saw a pink spark coming from its back and saw Nora mounting on it before it fell to the ground. I'm not even kidding.

"Yee-haw!" Nora rolled off from the bear's back. "Aww, it's broken." she then went to examine its neck. "Eww."

Ren showed up a moment later, panting and leaning at the Ursa's corpse. "Nora?" He took a few breaths. "Please… don't ever do that again." Unfortunately for him, she doesn't seem to have heard him because she was already at the temple when he said that. To be fair, I didn't notice her get here that quick either.

"Ooh~!" she stared at the golden knight piece. "A cute little pony! Yay!" She squealed, taking it before engaging in a perky dance with it. If I'm not mistaken, her taking the same piece as mine means that I'm going to be teammates with her and Ren, for better or for worse. I could only hope that it's the former.

"NORA!" Ren yelled, calling her out.

Nora stopped. She giggled and had the piece fall from her head then catching. "Coming Ren!" she said with a salute before skipping to her partner.

"Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" I asked Ruby, making sure that I am not seeing things.

"I… think so."

I turned my head and was startled to see Nora was beside me. "GAH!" I screamed. Wasn't she supposed to be with Ren by now?

"So, what relic did you get?!" She leaned in front of me, very curious.

I hesitantly reached out to my pocket and showed her the golden knight piece I took. "Oh? This? Well, we have the same piece then."

She blinked for a moment before she made a grin. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I could only give her an uncertain stare I tried holding off a nervous grin twitching on my face.

"You and Pyrrha are chess-piece buddies with me and Ren!" She bursted in excitement. "We are going to have so much fun together!"

Oh boy. Apparently, I'm now teammates with a hyperactive adoring fan and her quiet friend. If I didn't know any better, I would have been more unsettled. On the bright side, those two seem to be very capable in a fight from what I've seen. So as crazy those two may sound, especially Nora, it might be the type of crazy I needed to get through this academy. I'll just have to get used to it then.

Ren ran to our position and continued to pant. Thinking about it, everyone here came with a partner except Ruby. It's unlikely that she went all this way without one. "Hey Ruby, where's your partner?" I asked.

"Well…" She slowly faced the sky. I looked above and saw Weiss hanging from a Nevermore which is another Grimm that shouldn't be on this initiation. Calling it a giant Grimm bird doesn't fully describe it, that thing was tougher than it looked. I heard that it usually takes more than three professional Huntsmen teams to get rid of it and that's only with minimum casualties. The fact that it's airborne only makes it a bigger pain to deal with. I was more disturbed by its presence than the fact Weiss was in danger and I was confused over where these large-class Grimm coming from. [3]

"RUUUBBBYYYYYY!" Weiss yelled as she tried to hold on to one of the Nevermore's talons.

"Well, I told her to jump." Ruby told me.

"She's gonna fall!" Nora exclaimed while she stuck her thumbs to her index fingers to make some binoculars as if that would give her a closer look.

"She'll be fine," Ruby shrugged just before Weiss' grip failed her and fell from the sky.

"She's falling." Ren nonchalantly pointed out the obvious.

Without thinking, I ran to where she was descending to and attempted to catch her bridal style. While I did manage to catch her when she finally dropped, she ended up crashing into me and I tumbled to the ground thanks to the impact of the velocity of her fall. If it weren't for our auras, I wouldn't be able to use my arms for a few days and Weiss would have a broken back. I admit, this wasn't exactly my best rescue but in the end, it did the job even if it wasn't exactly an ideal execution. "Oww," I moaned.

"Ugh. Thanks a lot, hero." She groaned in pain.

I returned the sarcasm. Politely, in the loosest sense of the word. "Yeah, don't mention it,"

We recovered after a few seconds, my arms still felt a little sore, though. I pushed myself back up and went back to the others. Pyrrha and the bowed girl retreated from the Deathstalker while Yang was still trying to find a way to kill it.

"It's no use!" the raven haired girl with the bow said. "It's tougher than it looks!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby boasted. "I'm coming, Yang!" she then charged toward the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, no!" I screamed. If a four-time champion was barely able to fight off that bug, then she won't be able to fight it off either. It was too late, she fired her sniper to boost herself to the scorpion, only to get swiped off when she got close enough.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out.

Ruby got up. "Don't worry, sis! I got this!" she took a few shots on its skull, as usual, it didn't do jack. "…Or maybe not." the Deathstalker was provoked and gave a monstrous roar.

Sigh, this was exactly what I was worried about. This is exactly why I think trying to be a hero is a bad idea.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Yang turned around before running back toward the group. Ruby followed her, folding her scythe. The Nevermore flew in and cowed. Firing several sharp feathers at their area. One of them managed to impale Ruby's cloak, trapping her.

"Ruby!" Yang halted and rushed back to her sister, helped her struggle out of the feather. Unfortunately, the Deathstalker was getting near them. Yang tried to slow it down by firing at it with one of her gauntlets but it was no use.

"Oh for the love of—!" I heard Weiss yell before she used a glyph to fly off to the sisters. I was a little concerned that she's going to add more problems to us than we already had. But to my surprise, she was able to stab the scorpion's stinger with her rapier when it was about to hit Ruby. Then she fired a round of ice dust to freeze it neat as you please. It seemed like it done the trick as it was able to hold the Deathstalker for a moment. I have to admit, that was quite impressive, her bratty attitude almost made me forgot that she could make a competent fighter.

"Weiss?" Ruby opened her eyes and gazed at the Ice Queen.

"You hyperactive, red-caped dimwit!" Weiss called out, pulling her rapier from the ice she casted. "Don't you know what you put us through?!" she yelled took a deep breath. "Look I know I can be a bit...difficult."

Gee, don't you think?

She continued "But I need you as a partner, and I can't have a partner if you're dead. We need to do this together. So please stop trying to show-off and I'll try to be... nicer."

"Huh, coming from you, that actually sounded nice," Yang commented. My thoughts exactly. Who knew the Princess Snowy could actually sound reasonable?

"Can it, I'm doing this for the best of us," Weiss replied.

"I didn't mean to show-off, I just... want you to know I could do this." Ruby spoke up.

Weiss stared at her for a moment. "You're fine," she stated before walking away. That's a compliment if I ever heard one from her. Quite an achievement for Ruby if you ask me.

Ruby sighed in relief, she then looked at the Deathstalker to see it in its frozen state. Yang went in closer to her and gave her a sisterly hug.

I smiled at the sight but then I heard Big Bird[4] caw again as it flew around above us, reminding me that I need to get out of this mess, and I'm going to need everyone to cooperate with the best of their abilities in order to do so.

"Alright, everyone gather around," I ordered before all seven rounded up. "Does each pair have their relics?" I inquired, showing the golden knight piece I took.

"Oh yeah. Blake, you still have it?" Yang asked her partner.

The bowed girl—Blake by the sound of it—showed her golden rook piece. "Here it is."

"I still have mine—I mean ours!" Nora brought out hers, a golden knight piece, the same one I have.

"Yeah, we do. Why did you ask?" Ruby questioned, pulling out another golden rook piece, which all but says that she and Weiss are going to be teamed up with Blake and Yang, the same way Pyrrha and I would be grouped with Ren and Nora

"Then we got what we came for. We can't keep wasting our time with two large Grimm any longer, we already got our objective, now it's time for us to get out of here." I told them. Truth is, I could have left with my team once we got our relics but I could use some extra protection and manpower that I chose to wait for the others.

"Huh, that's actually not a bad idea, Arc." Weiss of all people concurred, seemingly impressed. Looks like I was able to get another glimpse of her good side. I guess there is hope for her after all. Hopefully she'd learn to be nicer because I doubt we'd be an effective fighting force if all we do is bicker around each other for too long.

"He's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point fighting these things," Ruby vouched. Good, it seems that even she had the common sense to know that. Saves me the trouble of having a needless discussion from someone hot-blooded enough to insist on fighting these two giant pests.

We overheard the Deathstalker's cries as it was now breaking from the ice. Signaling us to make haste. "Time we left!" Ren said.

"Right." Ruby nodded. "Let's go!"

We all ran out together, heading to our next destination to finish this initiation once and for all.

=o=

1. Considering that the Deathstalker has been in the cave for a long period of time, its safe to assume that it has grown to be the most intelligent Grimm in the forest, thus becoming the most dangerous threat during the initiation.

2. It's worth noting that the Gambol Shroud does not necessarily need its blade to be adjusted in order to use its pistol function but it has to in order to properly aim down the pistol's sight. Still, she could have chosen a better position for the blade when using the weapon as a firearm.

3. Once again, the fortifications fail to prevent another unauthorized Grimm from entering the forest during initiation. Despite its status, Beacon was not exactly known for its security.

4. Jaune's nickname for the Nevermore during the initiation, named after a character from a popular children's program.

---

All eight of us left the forest. The Big Bird unfortunately followed us as we were approaching what appears to ruins from an Old Imperial civilization ruin before the cliff. We hid behind some stone blocks as the Nevermore stood above it before screeching at us. The stubborn little pigeon was beginning to annoy me, and to make matters worse, the Deathstalker caught up, breaking through trees as it exited the forest.

"What do we do now, Jaune?" Pyrrha held her rifle, preparing to aim and shoot if necessary.

Trying to put it down didn't work before so continuing to flee was the only sensible option at the time. "Run like hell!"

Pyrrha followed me as we rushed straight into the ruins. The Nevermore shot some sharpened feathers before Nora managed to avoid them all before launching grenades at it to hold it off for a brief moment. I looked back and saw the Deathstalker getting increasingly closer which caused me to run faster.

"Go, go!" Pyrrha said as we reached the bridge, stopping to temporarily suppress the Deathstalker so that Blake and Weiss may be able to catch up.

We continued to cross the bridge when Big Bird came and crashed at it, splitting the party with Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss on the other side, having to face the Deathstalker.

Although the path to finally leave the forest was clear for me and my other teammates to cross, I couldn't go on without my partner, someone needed to get Pyrrha from other side of a now broken bridge quick. "We gotta get over there, they need help!"

"We got it!" Ruby and her sister jumped toward the gap, hitting the Deathstalker on the face as she unsheathes her scythe then slashing it a few times before dodging its claw, unfortunately Pyrrha was beside her and it ended up pushing her to the edge and making her fall. "Oops!"

"Pyrrha!" I yelled, in actively trying to reach toward her. Luckily she quickly recovered and grabbed a nearby pillar as she fell, she slowly slid down before launching herself onto the passing Nevermore. She gave the giant Grimm bird a few slashes before leaping off and landing safely into a platform.

Me, Ren and Nora quickly ran to her position. Ren climbed and ran the walls to the platform while Nora launched herself using one of her own grenades, unharmed either due to her aura or for using non-lethal explosives. [1] This was where my limitations became more apparent, although I did my best to keep myself prepared, I still lacked a jumping strategy without the proper gadgets. I didn't think my aura-jumping was refined enough to reach the platform that high enough. "Uhh, guys?"

Pyrrha looked down at me. "What is it, Jaune?"

"I hate to break it to you but…" Before I was able to finish what I was saying, I heard Big Bird screech as it went closer to the tower, putting my team's focus on it by trying to gun it down while I just stood there, hunkering down when needed. Yeah, I was the only person here without a ranged weapon. It was probably the dumbest mistake I took since I needed to extend my range and be able to hit anyone without having to be close to them. I knew I should have 'borrowed' one of Rose's guns before getting to Beacon. I barely had any problems using a sword and a pistol at the same time; why did I forget to take one with me?

The Nevermore crashed through the tower, making everyone fall. Everyone was able to recover quickly and got back to the ground except me. As I was falling into the pit, I screamed for dear life until I suddenly stopped mid-air, feeling some sort of magnetic sensation coming from my armor. I found myself floating for a second before getting thrown into the air and then dropping into solid ground near my team. I checked my body to see if I was alright, not having a clue on what just happened.

"In case you're wondering, that was my semblance! I can control magnetism, so I pulled you on your armor when you were falling," Pyrrha clarified. Thank goodness, if it weren't for that I'd be a goner. "Well, then thanks."

"You're most welcome," she smiled.

"We're right behind you!" Nora saluted.

I smiled back at them. There was no time in appreciating their superpowers yet though, we still had a bird to deal with. The problem was we lacked a decent strategy against it especially in a place like this. If anything, Ruby's team would have been much more appropriate dealing with the Nevermore as they are much more mobile and have the better skill-sets to counter it. Our few options was to gun it down until it falls and maybe wait for someone to jump at its back again, hold fire and let them melee the Nevermore until it took enough damage and land on the ground, rinse and repeat until was dead.

"Keep firing!" I raised my fist before pointing at Big Bird while staying behind their rears. They obeyed as they fired their guns at it. It angrily shrieks as it flies toward us again, which gave us the chance to melee it. "Nora!"

We went out of the way as Nora changed her launcher into a hammer and used it to slam on Big Bird's face, causing it to fall down. I exhaled out of relief before Big Bird soared back. Before I knew it, the Nevermore grabbed me from behind with its talons before flying away with me.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha yelled. Big Bird sent me higher. Ruby's team was apparently done getting rid of the Deathstalker and noticed me being grabbed by the Nevermore while it was flying off, they tried to save me by trying to shoot the bird while my team was doing the same.

Bullets ran past me as I continued to hold onto the Big Bird's talons. There wasn't much of solid ground below me when Big Bird's grasp loses me me and everyone was only making matters worse. "Stop it! You're gonna make me fall!" I yelled before they ceased firing.

I was too busy trying to find a way to get myself out of here that I barely felt any air sickness during the flight. I thought of waiting for it to take me into its nest but I am not going to risk myself fighting a bunch of baby Grimm birds while dealing with this one alone, plus it's likely far away that I'd be presumed dead when I get back. So I quickly thought up for a better idea and found one. I'm not sure if it's going to work nor would it end well but considering how desperate I was, it was better than doing nothing.

I struggled out of the Big Bird's grasp, I almost fell after doing so but I held on to the talons as it was now trying to shake. I gritted my teeth, climbing up to the bird's back with all the strength I could gather, it was tricky because the bird would shake every couple of seconds but I was able to get on to its back as I climbed near its head.

Okay Jaune, This can't be that hard. It's like riding a pony! Remember how embarrassing that went? No, can't think about that right now, I have to live! I told to myself.

I gripped the crown of its head as I used it to steer the Nevermore as flies. It took some strength to do it, but seeing that it works, I was able to use it to my advantage. I made it fly towards the top of the cliff as I unsheathe my sword and stabbed its head a few times causing it to descend faster. As it reached near the edge of the cliff, I sliced Big Bird's head off and then jumped to safety.

"Bye, bye, birdie," I huffed, panting heavily as I stared down the Nevermore as it turns to no more. I anticipated vomiting but I didn't throw up for once, probably because it was a short ride. And this was only the very beginning, I cannot imagine how are going actual missions go. This was my second day and I already had to deal with two large Grimm for Pete's sake. That's not a good sign.

Standing up, I walked toward the edge of the cliff and looked at the figures who were all gazing at me and the Nevermore's dead body. We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before I could hear Nora clapping loud enough for me to hear her from such a distance. "I knew you could do it!" I noticed everyone looking at her for a few seconds before joining her applause.

I could only sigh. I did it again, didn't I?

=o=

1. Most likely the latter. There are some specialized explosives made for safe 'grenade jumping'—for the lack of a better term. Which are used to launch its users into the air without suffering any physical harm.

---

I sat on a rock, waiting to reunite with the others as I contemplate on how I got there. The Great & Powerful Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch was able to have find me first. "Mr. Arc, knowing your family, I expected great things from you but this is quite a surprise," Ozpin said. "I could only name a few times when initiates actually managed to impress me."

I wanted to ask him why in the name of the Light Brother's holy babysitter was a Nevermore and a Deathstalker doing there but I'll have to ask that for another time, I had to make sure Ozpin doesn't get any wrong ideas, even if he already has. "I just did what everyone would have done, Headmaster," I said, which wasn't exactly a lie, of course, your survival instincts would act up if a giant bird grabbed you and tried to make you its next dinner. [1] "But I couldn't have done it without the others. They deserve some recognition for the role they played."

Ozpin smiled. "I appreciate the modesty, it is good that you acknowledge the efforts of your fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses but do not forget that your skill and leadership made your success possible. I must admit, the Nevermore and the Deathstalker were not meant to be on the premises…"

Not surprising but I digress.

"…but you have proven that you are indeed a capable Huntsmen. I've been wanting to get rid of that Deathstalker for a long time and I am grateful that you managed to get rid of it."

That wasn't me though, all I ever did was wake the damn thing up and led it to everyone, almost getting us all killed because I was stupid enough to think that its glowing stinger is a relic. It was Ruby and her team that got rid of it so all the praises should go to them. The Nevermore, on the other hand, was dead mostly because I killed it out of self-preservation and most of the damage was caused by my team. I wouldn't have done much otherwise.

He took a sip before he continued. "You have a bright future ahead of you, Mr. Arc. Please, keep doing what you do." I really hope this 'bright future' doesn't involve dealing with worse Grimm, this initiation alone was too much to have almost made me wet my pants. At least I now know what to expect and prepare for it.

The rest of the gang made it out and walked toward us. "Ah, you all finally made it," Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch turned to the group. As I anxiously expected, they all looked proud of me and I could only smile back.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha ran toward me. "I was so worried about you! Are you alright?"

Well aside from that I had to cope with the fact that I was almost bird food and was still recovering from minor air sickness, I was mostly unscathed thankfully. "I'm fine, Pyrrha. Don't worry, it's all over, we won the day." I said, pulling out the 'relic' and giving it a toss.

Nora gave me a quick yet tight hug before stepping off. "You were so great! You flew on a Nevermore and killed it while landing with style! First, the bandit lord El Segador and now a Nevermore! Is there anything you cannot do?!"

I really wished she didn't have to bring up the former, especially that loud as I didn't want anyone else learning about yet. Unfortunately they must have all heard it as I saw Yang grin. "Wait, that was you?

Dammit, Nora.

"Of course, he is! Didn't you know, he was the slayer of the infamous reaper of Vacuo; the Defender of Podunk himself! Jaune Arc!" Nora answered. The sisters were astounded while Weiss raised a curious eyebrow. Blake meanwhile, didn't react much over it, having the same nonchalant poker-face as usual.

Terrific, now more people know of my fraudulent reputation I got from that embarrassing day, I was already happy with people being oblivious to who I was. They would have heard about it one way or the other so in the bright side, I don't have to worry about them thinking that I was hiding secrets from them now that everyone is aware of it.

"You were that guy?! Oh, oh, please I got to have your autograph!" Ruby squealed. And there it is, another cheery-girl on the fan club. I'm almost afraid of breaking their spirits once they realize the truth.

Miss Goodwitch spoke up. "Students." Everyone turned to her to pay attention. "Now that you're all here, I want all of you to report to the auditorium by noon for the announcement of teams. In the meantime, take some rest; you've all earned it."

That was something I have been aching to hear since I landed on the forest. We nodded before she walked away while Ozpin gave me a wink before following her out.

"Can you believe it, Yang?! I got to fight with an actual hero!" Ruby said.

"Easy there sis, I think you made him a little uneasy," Yang grinned at me. All the praising over my supposed heroism made uneasy alright now that I've raised their expectations of me.

Pyrrha patted my shoulder. "You did well. Don't worry, I know the pressures of having such fame."

As someone had been the champion of Mistral's regional tournament four times in a row, I guess she dealt with worse, and I welcome her sympathies. It's good to know that I wasn't alone when it comes to being in a pedestal "Thanks, Pyrrha."

We took an hour to unwind, taking showers and wiping off the sweat and just do our own thing before gathering at the cafeteria for lunch to celebrate our success. We all sat by together eating. I ordered dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets myself. You can say that I haven't outgrown them but I enjoy them so much I couldn't help it.

Ruby eventually stood up, gathering everyone's attention in the table. "Alright now that everyone is here, let us properly introduce ourselves to each other, let's start with me. Hello, my name is Ruby Rose!"

Her sister followed suite, pointing her thumb to herself before sitting "I'm Yang! Ruby's sister and pack a punch in more ways than one!"

"Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances." Weiss bowed, finally smiling for once.

"Blake, Blake Belladonna. It's… nice to meet you." Blake introduced herself before immediately sitting. A mysterious one, ain't she?

"Pyrrha Nikos, but I guess you all already know that," Pyrrha said, before nodding her head toward me.

I took my turn to stand up and introduced myself. "Arc, Jaune Arc. A pleasure to meet you all."

Nora hopped from her chair introducing herself with as much energy as she usually do, "And I'm Nora Valkyrie! This is my best friend and partner, Lie Ren!"

"Hello everyone. I hope you don't mind my partner here," he frankly spoke.

"It's fine," I reassured with an understanding smile. "I live with seven sisters, I think I can handle her." I'd even say that she's bearable than them so far.

Now that everyone's here, it's time for me to learn of their abilities, it's important to know your allies as much as you need to know your enemies and their semblance is the best way to familiarize yourself to them and what they are capable of. I started off with Pyrrha, still remembering how she saved my life with her semblance back in the ruins. "Hey Pyrrha, you said your semblance can control magnetism, would you care to share?"

"That seems fine." she nodded. "Okay everyone, let's discuss our semblance, mine is polarity." She demonstrates by making her spoon float.

"Does that mean you can control poles?!" Ruby asked, missing the point.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss angrily corrected.

"I can also use it to retrieve my shield and javelin after throwing it. It took a lot of practice and patience to properly control it, though," she said as she slowly put the spoon back down. So she can manipulate anything that's metal. Seems very useful. I could make her to use it into disarm any opponent's weapons, thereby cutting a battle short in our favor.

"That's cool!" Ruby said, "My semblance is speed! I can move from one place to another with a blink of an eye!" She chooses not to demonstrate it though, as it might cause an accident in the cafeteria while everyone was trying to mind their own business and enjoying their food. Or maybe she did and we were just too slow to notice? [2]

"My semblance is glyphs," Weiss casted a rotating symbol resembling a snowflake on her palm. "They can be used as solid platforms and can control motion." Sounds flexible, might come in handy in multiple ways should the situation call for it.

"Neat. My semblance makes me hit harder the more I get damaged." Yang stated, that's going to make her a tough target to bring down then. Wouldn't want to be in her bad side then.

"That's cool! Mine makes me stronger when I get hit with electricity!" Nora said. Well, I now know who to send when dealing with anyone who has anything related to electricity as an opponent. Even if they don't, one has to wonder if she doesn't mind being electrified by her teammates in order to amp her out. We'll see.

"I don't recommend trying it out right now though," Ren warned, seeing how she just killed an Ursa and smacked a Nevermore on its face without even using her semblance, I agree that it was a good idea not to. "Anyway, my semblance masks negative emotions. It may not look like much but it makes you invulnerable from Grimm."

Now that's something I can get behind. Looks like Ren is going to play a crucial role in keeping his leader out of harm's way from the Grimm. So far, I'm really liking this team, this year might actually go smoother than I think.

"I can make shadow clones of myself. Keeps me from getting seen." Blake said. For someone who looks mysterious and possesses a fighting style that relies on cunning and agility, I think that suites her quite well.

"What about you, Jaune? What can you tell us about your semblance?" Ruby then asked. Crap, I was worried I had to answer ever since I brought this up. This was unfortunate because Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha, and Nora seemed eager to hear about it.

"Oh yeah… it's kinda funny actually." I hesitantly said. Here goes nothing, literally. "I… don't have any… Really, I never unlocked my semblance."

Yeah, that's right, The Defender of Podunk himself who was apparently good enough for Beacon—has no semblance. Your semblance defines who you are as a Huntsman and I am literally nothing. I don't even know what my semblances are supposed to be if I am to have one. Dad's semblance has his palms detect imminent threats, Mom is almost fireproof, Bleu can analyze for strengths and weaknesses of a person or creature, Rose can shoot multiple targets with deadly accuracy and Rouge is immune to loud noises. I wouldn't be surprised if mine turns out to be comically useless. There is nobody to blame for this other than myself, if I did have a desire to become a Huntsman I would have unlocked my semblance years ago.

They all confusedly fixed their eyes at me for a few seconds before Nora spoke. "That's… actually amazing! So what you're telling me you can do amazing things without having a semblance?! Awesome!"

Sigh, there she goes again. I guess at this point anything disappointing about me is another excuse for her to idolize me. There was no helping her at all. At the bright side, it kept my image intact. I'm still just as good as they heard to them and the lack of semblance didn't change that at all.

"We'll have to fix that," Ren said. "A person's semblance is important. While your skills are superb, it will put you in your fullest potential."

"I agree. I'm looking forward to discovering it," Pyrrha added encouragingly.

I don't know what exactly to think of that though. Not having a semblance barely bothered me at all and having one requires more practice and a bit of adjustment, but at the same time, it could provide very useful advantages in a situation where I would need it. For now, I'll enjoy being a relatively mundane fighter for a bit more. I'm content with it anyway. "Thanks, guys… I really appreciate it." I said before going back into eating my meal.

Much later, we went to the auditorium and placed our respective chess pieces on their platforms on the stage. Looking at the pieces makes me hope I'm wrong about the thought of us being in an elaborate chess game with Ozpin and his students being the players and pieces respectively.

We stood back with the other teams as the Great & Powerful Ozpin started his speech. "Remnant is a dangerous place…" An understatement if I ever heard one. "Which is why people call for Huntsmen like us, but even Huntsmen are just as vulnerable to the beasts they dedicated their lives into fighting against. However, with the combined strengths of multiple Huntsmen, it creates a formidable force that can potentially take on the worst of the Grimm has to offer. But to ensure victory, a team must possess trust, fellowship, and coordination. It is now the time you start exercising bonds with one another as now we shall begin the declaration of this year's freshmen teams."

He started to announce the teams of the initiates, giving them team names that are formed from the first letter of each member's name. (which is either their given name or surname, whatever that makes a good acronym.)

The person who makes up the first letter assumes the role of the team leader; in one funny case: "Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby) Led by…Ruby Rose!"

While it does sound like a bad joke, that's actually her team name and she is indeed leading it so I wasn't making any of that up. It's almost too much of a coincidence that she gets to lead a team that is almost named after her, it's almost as if Ozpin just made her the leader for the team name alone. [3]

It was our turn then. So we stepped onto the stage and stood before Ozpin as he officially announced my team. "And finally, Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR (Juniper)." As soon as I heard our team name, I knew what I was in for. "Led by… Jaune Arc."

As much as I saw that coming, I couldn't help but feel perturbed especially now that I now have more responsibilities to worry about while looking after my own life.

A round of applause came as Pyrrha gave me a friendly shoulder bump as I try to repress my agitation with a forced smile. Nora gave Ren a hug before moving to give one big group hug to the newly formed team.

"Congratulations, young man."

Yeah, thanks a lot.

"We're going to be the best team ever!" Nora said before she stopped hugging. I continued to chuckle anxiously. I had no other choice than to suck it all up and learn how to use this to my advantage. Besides, if it keeps me off the front-lines it wouldn't be that bad.

"Looks like things are shaping to be an… interesting year. Enjoy your stay at Beacon, I wish you all the best." Ozpin said his closing words before leaving the stage.

Miss Goodwitch took the mic. "Now that the teams are officially formed, you may now vacate to your dormitories. You will be using your own scrolls to assign yourself to a dorm. If you do not own a scroll, we will provide one for you. [4] Classes will begin tomorrow morning. Be sure to check your schedules and don't be late. You are dismissed."

With that the assembly was concluded and every team left for the dormitories. I led my team out of the building as the first thing I did as an official leader.

=o=

1. Jaune is obviously making a metaphorical statement here, the Grimm don't eat nor do they need to. They simply attack sentient beings as part of their programming. The closest they get to hunger is their attraction to souls.

2. She didn't. Otherwise, she would have left a trail of rose petals on her position.

3. While it's not actually uncommon for team names to be pronounced after their leaders, Coral Grimes and Ash Davis of Team CARL and Team ASHE respectively for example. Headmaster Ozpin had a tendency to take every opportunity to assign leadership to a student that would give their team a befitting name, regardless of their leadership skill and he refuses to break the tradition of having all teams named after colors. One infamous example is Cyan Boose of Team CYAN, who lacked leadership skills of any kind, causing his team to be one of the most chaotic teams on Beacon.

4. They're not exactly free. They deliberately choose not to mention that acquiring scrolls from the Beacon staff charges them as part of the student's tuition fee.

---

We arrived to the residence hall where we discovered that are dorm was assigned next door to Team RWBY's. The room consisted a space large enough for four beds, some desks, a single window and a bathroom, and we were free to modify it at our own liking. But we mostly kept it the way it is aside from adding a few decorations to suite our respective tastes.

After all the stuff I've been through for the past few hours, I was finally able to have day for myself, removing my armor so I could breathe easily as I lied down the nearest bed.

"Yipee! We're gonna be roomies with The Defender of Podunk and the Goddess of Victory!" Nora said, taking off her boots and then jumping down her bed.

"Nora please… you might break the bed." Ren sighed, sitting down on his bed before yawning and passing out of exhaustion.

It was evident that I'll be sharing a room with two girls for four years. I would have found this to be weird and uncomfortable if it weren't for the fact that I live with seven sisters and had to share a room with them a number of times so this wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for me. Being a rich brat who lived in a large house myself, the only thing I didn't like about this was there was only one bathroom. Of course I could always use the public toilets and showers outside our dorm any time if the bathroom was occupied but I prefer not to travel an entire hallway just so I could use them so this was a little inconvenient to me.

After enjoying the dorm for a bit and unpacking my luggage, I decided to take a walk outside alone to clear my mind while Pyrrha takes a shower and Nora watched over Ren while doing her own thing.

On my way out of the residence hall, two boys were walking out their dorms when they spotted me in my Pumpkin Pete hoodie. One of them looks and acts like an orange-haired stereotypical jock straight out of a bad clichéd high-school movie while the other looks like one of Rouge's ex-boyfriends except his tea-green mohawk looks awfully ridiculous even by the standards of try-hard punk rockers who would eventually sell out to corporations they claim to hate. If I remember correctly, they're Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush from Team CRDL (Cardinal).

"Nice jacket, butthead," the brownish orange-haired one—Cardin, said while he and his goon laughed as they went to the other way. "Man, what a loser."

Well, if there was any consolation over this rude acquaintance, they didn't kiss my boots for my exaggerated achievements, I was getting sick of those. This also reminded me that I really need to buy some new clothes.

I took time to familiarize myself with Beacon's layout when strolling around the academy so I won't get lost again like yesterday. After a while, I finally stopped at the courtyard and sat at one of the benches, downloading the official Beacon Academy app on my scroll so I'll be able to access some important information available to students such as news, schedules, guides, maps, and anything that might potentially be useful.

I decided to contact Bleu once more and update her about the whole situation. It's still fairly noon and Mantle was around the same time-zone as Vale, so she should be taking a lunch break from her classes.

"Well, look who's still breathing. Not that it surprises me or anyone for that matter," Bleu deadpanned after she appeared on my screen. "So, how did it go?"

"It was a freaking disaster; I was lucky to pass the whole thing and live," I said with blunt honesty. The whole thing could have been smoother and easier, had Ozpin been more considerate with the Grimm there.

"Oh Jaune, I'm sure it wasn't that bad.."

"Was a Nevermore and a Deathstalker supposed to be there?" I asked with an annoyed expression.

And that was when she lost her grin, which was enough to confirm at whatever happened back then was not normal. "Wait, what? You're kidding aren't you?" My reply was to simply glare straight at her. "Oh. That's strange, they shouldn't be sending Grimm that daunting for initiates, I know they Beacon can be demanding when accepting students but they're not supposed to make it that arduous for fresh initiates…"

Come to think of it, Ozpin did say earlier that they were not supposed to be in there, but apparently he did nothing about it probably because they made the initiation less boring for him to watch. Either way, I see this as a very cheap way of making the initiation challenging just to see if they are worthy here. Some headmaster he was.

"Or is security still terrible after all these years?" She wondered.

I raised my brow at that. "Were they really that bad?"

"Oh, nothing," she quickly brushed it off before changing the subject to something else that was relevant. "Anyway, you did manage to get rid of them, did you?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes. I killed the Nevermore. No, my other friends were the ones that got rid of the Deathstalker."

"You did? That's great! I guess you really can handle more serious Grimm after all! I knew you had the strength of a Huntsman in you."

"Well actually, my team absorbed most of its damage and I had to go for the killing blow because it grabbed me." I pointed out, still annoyed of having that experience fresh in my mind.

"And that's your excuse? If you managed to defeat a Nevermore, then you have already proven yourself to be capable. Stop trying to deny it. You could have been a decent help in my missions with Rose and Father but instead, you keep persisting on trivial missions that only involved a few Beowolves."

I rolled my eyes at this, Bleu was in a point of helping Ozpin dig my grave. And I only bothered with easy missions because I was still an amateur unsure of my fighting skill, I expected someone as her to be aware of this.

"What about your team? What can you tell me about them?" She then ask.

"Apparently I was good enough to become the leader of my team. Team JNPR. Yay," I deadpanned, preparing for her to cheer for me again.

"Really? That's wonderful! Mother and Father would be so proud when they hear about this!"

"Bleu please, I'm still trying to get used to this," I said, rather agitated as I was still trying to stomach all the responsibilities that was just recently given to me.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine, you did manage to beat me in chess remember?"

Only once and I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I just randomly moved pieces until I somehow won. I didn't know how I did it especially since Bleu was once in the Top 5 of her High School's chess tournament but I was able to best her without even knowing it, and I'm hardly an avid chess player. "Yeah…"

"So, who are the unfortunate ones who have fallen to the tyranny of my dear little brother?" Her grin returned.

My first thought was of a certain someone, "Are you familiar with the girl on the cereal box I always ate?" I asked.

"You're not talking about Pyrrha Nikos, are you? You never bothered with the Regional Tournaments."

"I don't, but now I'm paired with her as my partner. She's surprisingly friendly of someone of her skill and reputation." I stated, feeling my cheeks burn when thinking about her.

Bleu grinned when she noticed me flush. "Oh~ sounds like someone's very lucky."

I felt my cheeks become warmer, slightly irritated by her teasing. "Please don't. I've only met her yesterday and there's nothing happening between us."

She laughed. "Calm down Jaune, it was only a joke. Though you two sound perfect for each other. I hope you won't reject her like your previous dates."

I groaned upon hearing the last part. She really had to bring that up, doesn't she? Bleu still has the smart-mouth of an Arc while legitimately being the smart one among the siblings.

"Okay, I think I had enough. What about your other two teammates?" she asked, returning to the subject at hand.

"Well, there's this one girl, Nora, she's a very big fan of mine because of what I did the other day and she's so hyperactive that I think her best friend looked tired all the time, who is Ren, another teammate of mine. Don't worry they're all competent in combat," I answered.

"Wow, sounds like the Headmaster got himself a powerhouse."

While I'm grateful for having powerful teammates, I'm worried that people, particularly Ozpin, would try and take advantage of this; my undeserved reputation doesn't help at all.

Bleu looked content. "Whatever you're doing, I wish you the best. Remember not to neglect your studies. As cliché as it may sound, knowledge is the key to success."

I couldn't help but chuckle since I remembering hearing Ozpin saying that knowledge could only carry me so far, basically contradicting that saying. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I can only hope. Keep in touch. Oh, by the way, Viola has been asking if you know where the scrapbook for your childhood. I'm starting to think yo—" With that, I ended the call. I'm not going to even acknowledge that, the call already ended for me.

I continued to get comfortable and looked at the bright side of things. I won't be experiencing any bowel-loosening terrors for a while since the following days would consist of more typical, boring school stuff with combat training being the only thing that involves fighting; it'll actually be a nice change of pace. I'll have to enjoy it while it lasts.

Oh Beacon, what else do you have to offer?

---

Editorial Note:

Before we conclude this chapter, I would like to add an extract from Headmaster Ozpin recorded sometime after the initiation. These extracts provide additional background information which Jaune either missed or ignored due to obliviousness or simply because it didn't concern him that much.

This excerpt details Headmaster Ozpin's thoughts on the freshmen's first two days at Beacon; it may also intrigue anyone who's interested in his inner-workings and motives during his feud with Salem.

Because of the contents of these documents, such as the supernatural elements and the revelation that the Grimm Wars was being fought in the shadows prior to becoming a full-scale conflict, these documents were not declassified until his secrets were eventually exposed publicly. Normally, people won't believe in such things but after Salem and the rise of several cults with access to eldritch powers, it's safe to assume that they'll believe almost anything nowadays.

The Ozpin Logs: A Promising Year

For ages I have been transferring myself from one body to another; I assumed many different identities, from an unassuming beggar to a monarch of one of the four kingdoms. I have rallied armies, ended wars, built several academies dedicated to fighting Grimm and trained generations of Huntsmen hoping to finally turn the tides of this miserable conflict The Brother Gods sent me to.

But alas, it was never enough.

Sometimes I cannot help myself but wonder if Qrow was right with his notion that this entire war is hopeless and that Remnant is doomed that I can only delay the inevitable at best. But I have forbidden myself to give up, I have an obligation to the Brothers that their creation will not succumb into the hands of Chaos, no matter how slim the odds that may favour me. Nothing is truly hopeless, after all.

It is another school year at Beacon and comes yet another batch of Huntsmen-in-training. In all honesty, I was having trouble attempting to display enthusiasm over the new freshmen as I have seen too many good students-turned-Huntsmen die because of me. I am afraid that these children may likely follow the same fate. However, there are two remarkable students that have caught my attention.

The first one, named Ruby Rose. The daughter of two of my former students, Taiyang Xiao Long and Summer Rose, rest her soul. She greatly resembles her mother, even having her silver-eyes. [1] We found her when we were almost close to tracking down who what we believed was one of Salem's pawns; I witnessed her skilfully defeat a group of criminals with the use of a scythe, one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed, thanks to being mentored by Qrow himself. The problem was that she was a couple of years too young to attend Beacon. Nevertheless, because of her prowess and enthusiasm, I deliberately chose to bend the rules for her. She was very excited to have finally had the privilege to study here and I do hope that she could make herself useful in the events yet to come, it was gratifying to know that silver-eyed warriors are still existent as I could use one in a time like this.

The other one is… more complicated to say the least. This one is named Jaune Arc, the only son of one of my favourite—if stubborn—pupils, Caiaphas Arc. Prior to Jaune's attendance, Caiaphas has sent three out of his seven daughters to study at Beacon; Bleu Arc was a valedictorian and became a teacher at Mantle's Huntsman Academy; Rose Arc was skilful in different types of firearms; And Rouge, despite her… disciplinary records she has the aptitude become a competent Huntress but sadly her Huntsman licence was stripped from her after an incident, which I cannot say I blame her though, she made it clear that she was more of a free spirit. Jaune, on the other hand, is a very strange one.

He has shown an incredible skill of slaying several Beowolves and managed to manoeuvre a Nevermore before slaying it, prior to that, he even managed to intercept a major bandit lord and killed an Ursa Major with only a basic sword and shield, yet despite all of this he attempted to downplay all of these when discussed. He reminds me a lot of his father during his youth, always trying to find the safest way out while genuinely becoming one of the best Huntsman this school has to offer, even if it was not his initial intention. He does soon become more confident in his skills and became genuinely heroic and I do hope his son does the same. I even recall employing his ancestor, Harry Arc, during the Great War when I was with my previous body, King Phadrig VII, like his descendents he was never keen with danger; his son and grandson, Rhysmond and Edwin Arc, also inherited this trait. Reluctance and fearfulness seem to run on Arc blood but so does great potential.

The only thing I do not like about the Arcs is their lack of honour as Huntsmen, they tend to waste most of their power and potential into taking the easiest way out of whatever situation they put themselves to. I understand that they are trying to be wise and pragmatic, but Huntsmen are meant to be shining examples of the ideal guardians of humanity, and as much as I strong respect for the family especially those who have served me, it concerns me that people are being inspired by them when they barely follow these ideals. I hoped that Jaune would not do the same, but alas, he seems to have shared his father's stubbornness so averting this from happening again is sadly unlikely. The only thing I could do now is to make sure he stays useful and unproblematic as much as far as someone like him could go.

I should remember that as of this recording, it is only Jaune's second day here, his will and courage should develop eventually. He'll soon learn that his gifted talents are not wasted because he prefers to be idle during these dark times; all he needs is a little guidance. In the meantime, I will continue to watch his scholarship here with great interest.

I have made both these children leaders of their respective teams. I must admit I originally made the decision for my own amusement; I was hoping to receive some entertainment out of Jaune's cowardice and Ruby's limited leadership experience to cope from the losing war with Salem, but after witnessing these two handle themselves in the initiation, I may have made the right choice.

I pray that these two unusual children may soon lead us to the happy ending we fought an eternity for.

=o=

1. It is said that those born with silver eyes are destined to become great warriors. Grimm were believed to fear these warriors because of their supposed ability to strike them down with a single look.

---

And that's chapter two, folks! The next one will be out sooner since this chapter was in near-completion during the publication of the first chapter since I wanted the first two chapters to be the 'pilot' of this story.

I also apologize if there are any inconsistencies in the fight scenes, it's my first attempt in writing them in a detailed manner.

Normally, I would respond via PM's but this was from an anonymous reviewer and I don't feel like replying with another review because it would add a faux amount to the review count, so I'll answer it here: No I haven't read the fic you were talking about but being a fan of Dishonored, I'll consider checking it out.

Thanks to those who left feedback at the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think and what needs improving.

EDIT 11/11/2018

Nice try, Rooster Teeth.

EDIT 12/2/2018

Another Guest has posted several reviews on their thoughts. Like I said in the above since I cannot PM guests and I refuse to respond with a review of my own, I will be putting it in here.

"OK I know this is the first chapter but, the whole Jaune self-doubting himself really bothers me, like I get why canon Jaune doubts himself, [...] but this Jaune really has no reason to think low of himself, it really doesn't make any sense."

His reasons for his self-doubt despite being more competent than his canon counterpart will be explained soon.

"Also, Weiss wanted nothing to do with Jaune BECAUSE he was hitting on her, so her treating Jaune like this and her not wanting to be paired up with him and instead goes with Ruby really doesn't make much sense."

She did see him run and scream away from a pack of one of the most weakest Grimm there is (at least according to Monty, who once compared them to Dragon Quest's slimes), so that didn't give her a good impression of a teammate, never mind that he did eventually stop and killed them all. As much as she finds Ruby annoying, Weiss doesn't see her cowering and would rather endure to someone like her than be with someone who she thought couldn't fight.

"And please name one other time Jaune got motion sick other then the first time on the bullhead to Beacon."

Can't really answer that since RT did not show him traveling in any sort of vehicle (Rocket lockers and that Chibi skit where he rode Cinder's car doesn't count) before near the end of Volume 4 where he is presumed to have finally overcome it after all those months. Also, because he relies on a simple fighting style that doesn't require much acrobatics, thus he doesn't constantly feel nauseated when fighting.

"In what way, [Jaune and Pyrrha] are perfect for each other, I'm sorry but apart from Jaune not knowing who Pyrrha is and she being so desperate for someone to treat her normally, she falls for the first guy not to know her, who just so happens to be Jaune, apart from that they really don't have much of a reason to start a relationship"

Bleu was just teasing her little brother that he was just partnered with the girl whose face was in his favorite cereal box. That, and she witnessed Jaune be a spectacular fighter made her think they would make a good couple.

But you're right. As much as I like Arkos, I have to agree that "famous girl likes oblivious boy" isn't that romantic. It needs proper buildup, because the reason why Arkos works is because of their chemistry and desire to help each other with their biggest issues with Jaune's lack of combat skill and Pyrrha's need to be treated like a human, and not because Pyrrha likes someone because they're not familiar with her (and especially not because some people endorse the pairing just to protect certain ships).