Blake Belladonna could not hold back her laughter. No matter how hard she tried, this moment was just too hilarious to not let out her chuckles. Weiss Schnee was stomping ahead of her, in quite a foul mood. She was muttering to herself about partners and moronic children. Even though Blake herself would have preferred a more reasonable and less racist partner than a Schnee, she could admit that she was enjoying watching the heiress stumble along through the forest on heels and complain about her lot in life.

For the last few minutes, Weiss had been leading the two of them in circles. Blake did not mind. She was in no real rush to win their so-called contest with Yang and Pyrrha Nikos, and it was enjoyable to watch as her partner became more and more flustered with each step. Blake was so confident that Weiss had no idea where she was going, that she had left her weapon behind, to pick it up on their next round trip.

"Are you satisfied just standing around and watching me do all the work?" Weiss asked, in a commanding tone. "Stop laughing like that child and start pulling your own weight. I will not have a lazy partner. You should be searching for that civilian just as diligently as I am."

Blake smirked, "I believe we have already thoroughly checked this area. We've walked through it half a dozen times already."

Weiss fumed. "I have an impeccable sense of direction. We have been travelling East North East this entire time."

"Care to place a bet on that?"

"I would."

"If I can prove that we've been walking in circles, then you will be buying me my next book series."

"And when I prove to you that I am much more talented than you give me credit for, you will respect my wishes as group leader."

Blake shrugged. She had no intention of leading whatever partnership this was anyway, so that was fine by her. And even so, they were coming up upon her weapon.

With a smile, she ventured out ahead of Weiss and retrieved her sword, still in its scabbard, fastening it to her waist.

"…Did you…"

"I left my weapon behind," Blake grinned victoriously.

The feeling of one-upping a Schnee was beyond satisfying. She may have left behind her life as a member of the White Fang, but there would always be some joy left in defeating faunus oppressors. She doubted it would be a feeling that went away anytime soon.

Now with Weiss successfully knocked off her self-appointed pedestal, the two partners walked next to one another, allowing Blake to ensure a straight path through the forest. The two fell into an uneasy silence, only pausing if one of them thought they saw a flash of red, or to escape from the sight of a professor. Not that they spotted many of them.

While this Initiation was long, she could not say that it was all that hard. As long as she watched out for other students, she might even say that it was easy. Too easy…

"Doesn't this Initiation feel easy to you?"

Weiss turned to her for a moment, "is it possible that we are just doing extraordinarily well?"

"I've heard that Beacon's Initiations are always challenging. Aside from trying to find a partner, which is common for all Initiations, and finding Ruby, this is just too… simplistic."

"Like it was created by a little kid who just wanted to play hide-and-seek."

"Hey! I did not just want to play hide-and-seek! I also like tag."

Blake and Weiss spun; weapons drawn to the noise coming through the brush. Standing there, with an embarrassed and sheepish look was Ruby.

"Oops." She gasped, darting off the way she came, a trail of rose petals flying in her wake.

Blake looked at the heiress. Without a second thought, the two gave their civilian chase. Ruby was moving fast, but the rose petals were a great location indicator. Even so, the girl seemed to always be a few steps ahead of them.

Almost literally.

No matter how fast she ran, even activating her own semblance to cut in front of her, the little girl always blazed past her, petals clouding her view.

"I'm going to try something!" Weiss shouted from a few paces behind, already gasping for breath.

Blake could not afford to look to see what the heiress was up to, instead choosing to keep her eyes trained on Ruby. Suddenly, dozens of glyphs appeared beneath her feet and she could feel herself rocketing forward.

It was a strange, almost otherworldly feeling. Moving faster than she had ever done before but maintaining the same pace. She was closing in on Ruby now. Faster, faster. With every step, just a few inches away.

"Aagh!" She cried out as her outstretched hand barely reached the girl seemingly flying through the air on a bed of rose petals. She could feel the thick fabric of a shirt collar slip through her grasp and the faint sound of giggles.

Blake was frustrated at this point. She withdrew Gambol Shroud. A strong throw with one hand, the other holding tightly to her ribbon and she knew she had won.

The ribbon looped around Ruby, locking around her body. Just one more tug and their Initiation would be ending in success.

Just one pull.

Just an arm movement.

The constant stream of rose petals stopped, as did the civilian's rapid movements. Blake had run past the girl, moving too fast to slow down in time. There was a yank, and the ribbon slipped out from her hands. She looked back, seeing the entire length of her ribbon fastened around Ruby's body, holding her arms to her side.

"I did not think this through," Ruby said as she struggled to free her arms from their bindings.

Blake, having finally stopped, was panting hard. Moving at those speeds was tiring. Weiss looked to be even more tired, definitely not having the stamina to keep up with either of them.

"Does that… mean… we won?" Weiss let out, hands on her knees as she struggled for breath.

Ruby looked between the two older girls, seemingly completely fine with the fast-paced, long distance running she was doing. Ruby looked down at her trapped self, using the top of her shoe to rub the back of her heel. Then, with a look that could only be described as mischievous, smiled.

"Nope!"

Their civilian, with her arms bound to her sides, ran off, giggling maniacally as she did.

Darknight2124 - Momma Glynda is probably the best.

merendinoemeliano - No, I don't plan on changing her weapon. Besides, there are literally dozens of reasons as to why Ruby could have chosen that weapon, ranging from seeing Qrow with one (since Qrow works for Ozpin), to being told by an older student she couldn't do it (spite is a very strong motivator) to even having the same hero/role model that Qrow did (that being the very famous huntress, 'The Grimm Reaper'/Maria Calavera).

And with that, my week of chapters is complete! Seven days, seven chapters. Though, I can't say it was a complete success, because I didn't manage to write anything yesterday.

4 chapters of Goodrose, 2 chapters of Rhodopis and 1 chapter of Reaper all done!

I'd also like to thank everyone for sticking with me in this story. We're 21 chapters in and still not finished Initiation. I do think I'm going to start wrapping things up, because a) it's quite long at this point and b) I want to get into some actual Beacon shenanigans!

Till next time!