Weiss Schnee was downright frustrated. At whom she was frustrated about was a mystery, however. Was it that no good child, who ran into her? Was it that raven-haired girl who taunted and harassed her family legacy? She truly was frustrated with them both, but she could hardly claim that they bore the brunt of her frustrations. She was frustrated with them, to be sure, but she was also frustrated at her father, who had turned her family's company into the cesspool of anti-faunus stigma and its general lack of morality. She was frustrated at her sister, who still had little to no time for her, even after Weiss had let her know that she had received an admissions letter to Beacon. She was frustrated at her mother for being a no-good drunk.

But most of all, she was frustrated with herself. She was frustrated that she snapped at a child. She was frustrated that even with all the studying into the history of Beacon Academy and all its professors, she had not known about the deputy headmistress's own daughter. Or, if that Ruby girl's claim was correct, the headmaster's granddaughter. She was angry that she could not stand up to the raven haired girl and correct her misgivings about her family's company, because there was very little wrong with what she had said.

Weiss was angry that even after having escaped from her father's thumb, she was still as rude and hostile as ever.

And of all the people in this entire good-for-nothing academy to be rude to! It just had to be Ruby Goodwitch. If that really was her name! Weiss had been sitting for the last hour in the central plaza, grateful that she had brought along an outdoor sleeping blanket to set up her space on. It seemed like dormitories or other indoor living arrangements were only meant for students. Dinner and breakfast would be provided to them in what the staff had referred to as 'buffet style', all outside. Lunch and potentially dinner tomorrow would be up to the potential students themselves, to eat during the Initiation examination itself.

It seemed like Beacon Academy would not bother with anyone unworthy of attending the school. It was almost cruel in a way, though Weiss did understand the necessity of it. Both as a first trial for students, as well as a way to properly handle logistics. There were hundreds of people each year that hoped to gain entry to the hunstmen academy. In most years, more students take Initiation than there are students at the academy. That meant for a single night, the campus would need to handle at least double their regular capacity. No room to house them all inside, nor feed them properly for multiple meals. So, forcing them to sleep outside, rain or shine, was a first test. Those who could not handle something so simple would be unfit for the actual challenges of Initiation.

Having everyone in the central plaza would allow the school to properly coordinate food arrangements as well as keep everyone together. It was brilliant with its simplicity.

But, regardless of the academy's methods, Weiss had spent the last hour on her scroll, looking into this supposed 'Ruby Goodwitch'. Yes, there was plenty of mention of a young girl who ran around Beacon and attended some classes; often doodling while the professors taught or doing her own preliminary schoolwork instead of the advanced curriculum the school offered, but that was generally it about her. Her name had been removed from all the publications she had read. The closest thing Weiss had to whether or not she was indeed Professor Goodwitch's daughter, was one article which had used a quote from graduated students saying that the girl was the daughter of a Beacon staff member, and that most students and alumnus kept quiet about whose she was to respect her and her parent's privacy.

It was a kind sentiment to be sure. Weiss rolled her eyes. The school was most definitely covering up her family history for some reason. And that just confused her all the more. Who was this girl. If not the professor's daughter, then how could she have so much free reign around campus? She was definitely well known. Enough so that she felt comfortable talking with any of the staff, from the teachers to the janitors and even the headmaster himself, judging by how the two were chatting, hand in hand…

Wait.

The headmaster of Beacon was right in front of her?!

Weiss quickly jumped up onto her feet, fixing her combat skirt and wiping off any dust from herself in order to look somewhat presentable. While doing so, she watched the headmaster give the girl a nod, ruffle her hair and then push her off, allowing her to skip into the crowd of teenagers, getting lost in the taller people.

The headmaster, walking with his cane in hand, stepped onto the raised platform in the centre of the plaza. He tapped it once on the metal stand, sending a loud concussive ring through the entire area, quieting down all conversation at once.

All eyes were now on him. Weiss had to respect the man just from this alone. It was rather impressive to silence a room with just his presence. And an unnaturally loud tap, but that did not count.

"Welcome one and all to Beacon Academy," he began, allowing for a smattering of applause and cheers from the hopefuls in the audience. Even Weiss smiled at the statement. After a minute, the applause died down and silence once again filled the open air, allowing the headmaster to continue his speech.

"I am Headmaster Ozpin. It was through hard work that you have come to be here. Each and every one of you who received a letter of acceptance from this school has shown us that you deserve to have a chance at studying here. Make no mistake. A letter of acceptance is by no means a letter of admission. You all have been accepted to take your first step towards becoming official huntsmen. Whether you do that at my school, or at another, is purely up to you and the skills you have learned over the course of your life. Because tomorrow is your first examination. You had eighteen years to study.

"As of this moment, there are five hundred and sixty-three of you in attendance. As is well known, Beacon Academy only accepts a class of one hundred. That means you all possess a less than eighteen percent chance of coming to this school."

His words brought some nervous whispers from the crowd, as each person turned to their peers, seeing how much of a competition this Initiation was going to be.

"The Entrance Examination, more commonly referred to as Initiation, is our yearly event to choose the students who will be attending this academy. It will be difficult. More difficult than most work you will have in your first year of studies. While the first hundred who complete it, will be offered the ability to attend this academy, the top fifty percent will be receiving letters of recommendation from this school, to be used in helping you attend any other huntsmen academy of your choosing."

A sigh of relief came from a large portion of the crowd. Weiss could see the headmaster's lips flicker, on the cusp of a smile.

"There is a single Initiation which all of you will compete in at once. As this year's challenge is different than most in previous year's, the explanation for it will happen tonight. Because come morning, it shall begin. I now pass you off to my peer and deputy headmistress, Professor Goodwitch. Professor Goodwitch, if you please."

With another round of applause, Professor Goodwitch took to the small stage, nodding her head to the headmaster. Her eyes seemed to focus in on someone in the crowd. While her mouth was set into a hard frown, her eyes sparkled. With what, Weiss did not know, but she did look happy in a way. Then an instant later, her eyes hardened as she looked at all the others surrounding her.

"Initiation will begin at seven thirty in the morning, sharp. At that time, you will all be at Beacon's cliffs overlooking its forest. There are clear signs and markings to direct you there. Any who are not at the cliffs by this time, or have been brought down into the forest, will have failed. This Initiation's theme is civilian safety. To pass Initiation, three things must be accomplished. The first is to find a partner. Partners will be the first person you make contact with upon entering into the forest. While we know that you have friends you came to Beacon with, we advise you not plan ahead of time with them. The second objective will be to locate the civilian who will be running through the forest. You will know who the civilian is. It is your mission to ensure that the civilian is safe and out of harm's way. Ensure that any and all Grimm are kept away from her. Because if she is injured, I will kill you myself."

Professor Goodwitch coughed, clearing her throat after that announcement. One which seemed to have been sporadic and not planned. Whoever this civilian was, was close with the deputy headmistress.

"To complete this objective, you must grab her and immobilize her completely, in a manner which keeps her uninjured, awake and able to continue running on her own after her capture. She will then give you a token to mark you as having completed the objective. The third and final objective this year is…

"To not get caught. While there may be some actual Grimm running in the forest, as a civilian is participating, Beacon's staff, teachers and a select group of past alumni will be your challengers. If they catch you, immobilize you or in any way force your surrender, you will immediately fail Initiation."

This sparked conversations across the crowds. An Initiation with barely any Grimm? One where they were to fight their professors? A civilian? This was bound to be one of the strangest Initiations ever. Professor Goodwitch was at it again. Reshaping the entrance exam in a way nobody was expecting.

"We expect you to behave maturely in this Initiation. To act like professional huntsmen for the duration of the examination. You will be graded by the headmaster and myself. That being said, fighting between student hopefuls is allowed. An aura falling below ten percent is means for failure. That is all."

With that final sentiment concluded, the deputy headmistress stepped off the stage, not even looking back at the dozens of students shouting out questions to her. It did not seem like the professor or headmaster were going to offer any more hints to the students.

Weiss sighed. That was a lot of information to take in all at once. Looking around, she noticed people already disregarding the deputy headmaster's suggestion of not picking partners ahead of time. She did wonder what the professors had up their sleeves to sabotage them. It was most likely something intelligent, like professional huntsmen in specific locations to lure people away from each other or towards certain areas. That would be what she would do. What else could it be?

Thinking back to earlier that afternoon, she remembered the young dolt and the explosion she had caused.

As people began sitting down to dig into their dinners; Weiss with her own small plate of food, the heiress could finally spot the little girl running through their ranks. She stopped every once in a while, to say hello to new students, often charming them into giving her a cookie or two, only for a glare from a Beacon staff to convince her to give it back. And then on to another batch of students for the whole process to repeat itself. She was a lively child. Friendly by the looks of it, but not particularly bright.

And prone to stumbling on the tiniest of cracks in the pavement. How someone could function without even the barest hint of balance control or spatial awareness was beyond her. Weiss rolled her eyes, settling down into her area and pulling out her scroll once more to review what notes she had on Beacon Academy as well as huntsmen guidelines for properly caring for civilians. It would be best to know exactly what to do in any given situation.

And it wasn't like it was against the rules to do further research. Otherwise the connections would be down.

Weiss sighed.

Of course the connections would be down.

Whole lot of exposition this chapter. Twas' needed and also I felt like writing it. Sue me. A bit of explanation for Initiation and we can already see how different it's going to be from what we are used to. Will it actually be totally different? Again, no idea. I post these things literally an hour after I finish writing them. My forethought to these chapters extends only to: 'Hmm... I think I want to write from X's POV today.' It does feel weird writing a Ruby focused story from everyone's perspective but hers. Fun though.

TheLastBattalion - Welp, I guess I'm now going to need to write Nora's reaction to an even more adorable Ruby. I'm expecting fireworks. And explosions. And probably pancakes.

dragonqueen1993 - Glad you liked it!

Zander2212 - But just imagine how angry Weiss would be about being partnered with a ten year old! Ha, that's how I've been leaning as well. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Midnightwolf64 - There is a good chance that we will see a whole mess of other POVs in this story. I think Weiss, Blake, Yang and Glynda will be the core four, just so I don't get too overwhelmed, but I'm definitely going to stick in plenty of others. Eventually. Maybe. These questions about the future of this story confuse me! Welp, I guess the next chapter is now from the shopkeeper's perspective.