2. That Wasn't Supposed To Happen

Walking behind Ruby and Yang when we got off the transport was an interesting experience if nothing else. Ruby actually turned into a floating chibi as she geeked out over the weapons that some of the upper classmen had as they moved around the academy grounds. As Yang tried to get her sister to make more friends than just me and her, I saw Weiss coming up with her cart full of luggage. Catching her eye, I pointed at the sisters then spun my finger in the classic 'go around please' gesture. Weiss raised an imperious eyebrow at me but did in fact change course slightly.

I let out a sigh at having removed the drama that would have come about from Ruby falling on the socialite's luggage only to catch said Reaper as Yang darted away with her suddenly appearing friends fast enough to make Ruby spin around with swirly eyes. Holding her shoulders as she recovered, I glanced down the walkway as Yang rapidly retreated and said "Sheesh, I know she's playing the 'force them to grow via sink or swim' method but that was just plain rude."

Recovering, Ruby made a small whining sound before she turned her head to look up at me and gave me a puppy dog look she probably learned from Zwei as she asked "You're not going to abandon me are you Tac?"

I rolled my eyes and said "No, but Yang DID have a point you know." Pushing her back to standing on her feet properly, I continued "We're going to be working in teams of four from now on. Starting tomorrow, you're going to have to get used to interacting with others than just me and Yang."

"That is a problem for tomorrow, and I'll happily let tomorrow me deal with it." Ruby said with a pout and crossed arms. She then cocked her head at me and asked "Besides, you already told me who I'm going to be on a team with, why do I need to try and make friends with anyone else?"

"I said who a version of you was on a team with Ruby, there's no guarantee that the teams will remain the same as in the show. It is quite possible that you will wind up on a team with three boys instead of three other girls, one with an equal mix of genders, one where there are no Faunus or just you as a full blooded human, etcetera. After all, things are already different with me replacing Jaune since I already know how I'm going to handle the first part of the initiation while he was literally flailing around like a guy who went skydiving without a parachute." I said, before I lightly nudged her a step forward and continued "Now come on, we've got half an hour before we need to be in the auditorium, let's see if we can't track down a directory we can study for a bit."

"Fine." Ruby said with a defeated sigh as she followed me to the closest building.

Time Skip: Twenty Five Minutes Later

The minute she saw it on the campus map we found Ruby had insisted we get at least a peak at the Forge on campus grounds. Against my better judgement I had followed her there. I wound up dragging her away by the wrist when it got closer to time for orientation. Now we were entering the auditorium, and Yang was there waving her hand and calling for Ruby to join her. Ruby glanced uncertainly up at me and said "Um, thanks for sticking with me Tac, but Yang's calling for me and there's only one spot by her so..."

Rolling my eyes, I lightly pushed her forwards and said "Get going Ruby, I'll be fine."

"Sorry." Ruby said quietly even as she ran over to join her sister. As the two began chatting, I took a glance around and tsked lightly to myself. First day of school and I could already see the cliques forming up, friends from previous combat schools sticking together and not giving room for others to join their group, the loners leaning against the walls with at least five feet between each other and even that one guy with earbuds hooked to his scroll ignoring everybody else while lightly banging his head to whatever he was listening to. Then I glanced to my seven o'clock position and thought 'Well, that could work.'

Turning, I threaded my way through the groups where a particular red head was standing by herself, a five foot bubble of space around her even as everyone nearby was sending particular looks her way. Giving her a nod, I asked "Ma'am, mind if I join you?"

Pyrrha Nikos, she couldn't be anyone else with that coloration and how everyone was acting around her, blinked once before she gave me a fake if polite smile and said "I don't mind."

Nodding, I took a spot a couple feet to her right before turning slightly holding out my hand and said "The name's Tac Arc by the way, call sign War Hawk."

Politely accepting the hand for a quick shake, she said "Pyrrha Nikos, don't have a call sign I'm afraid." She then cocked her head and asked "And I'm sorry, but 'War Hawk'? That seems like a descriptive title most people would try to avoid having placed on them."

I smirked the slightest bit evilly and said "Maybe, but that title's a wee bit more literal when it comes to me. You'll know what I'm talking about the first time you see me use part of my Semblance in a combat situation."

"Oh, I see." Pyrrha said, clearly NOT seeing but pushing through her confusion as she asked "Do you think we'll actually be using call signs while we're here?"

I shrugged again and said "I think that depends on what the leader of the team you're assigned wants to do, though I'm definitely going to suggest it to my leader if I don't get the role."

Pyrrha nodded slowly and said "I suppose I should start thinking of one then."

"Could always go with Spartan for simplicity's sake, you certainly look the part." I said with a smirk.

Pyrrha let out a hum at that but before our conversation could either continue or simply end on that note, Ozpin tapped the microphone set up on the dais at the front of the auditorium and said "I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

More than a few people whispered to themselves at that part, not that I could blame them, it was almost like having Professor Snape calling kids dunderheads during their first Potions class.

I shook that thought off as Ozpin continued "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up you to take the first step."

Ozpin stepped away from the microphone at that point and Goodwitch took his place as she said "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Humming as everyone around us began to file out, I glanced at Pyrrha and said "Well, the man did say that he would keep it brief, didn't he?"

"Indeed." Pyrrha said with a short nod.

Shrugging, I turned to follow the others out of the hall and said "Well, I don't know about you, but I want to explore some more, see ya around Spartan."

"Bye." Pyrrha said. Softer, I heard her say to herself "I guess he didn't recognize me and was trying to get close after all and just wanted somewhere to stand."

I smirked and thought 'Oh you have NO idea Miss Nikos.' Chuckling to myself, I left the auditorium and went to see what the library looked like.

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

I was near the back of the library, studying the large map of Remnant spread across the wall. Cocking my head, I asked "You just going to stand there glaring at me or are you going to actually come over here so that we can talk Blake?"

Silence for several moments. Then, right behind me I heard "Who are you? And how do you know me?"

Turning around to see the Faunus barely a foot away with narrowed eyes, I said "This may come as a surprise to you Blake but there IS information about you and your family out there, you just need to know where to search." Holding up my phone to show her an old picture of her with her family, I continued "Your father is the leader of your settlement, it doesn't matter how well you cover your tracks, you can't cover that one." Putting my phone up, I continued "I'm not going to bring any attention to what you are but don't expect that bow to hide it from anyone else for long, especially not with those eyes of yours."

Blake narrowed said eyes at me but after a moment, she let out a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment before she opened them again and said "If I find out that you did say anything to anyone else-"

"You'll turn me into a scratching post." I interrupted with a wave of my hand. Blake huffed again before she turned around and powerwalked away. I let out a slight hum before I turned back around and continued studying the map, saying lowly to myself "Well, that went better than I thought."

Thank goodness I COULD find that picture, otherwise that bit of impulsiveness on the transport could have had some rather unpleasant consequences. Still, once the teams were formed I'd have to keep an eye on how that girl interacted with the others to prevent her from turning into a paranoid Mad Eye Moody and start thinking everyone was out to get her. Well, unless by some cruel twist of fate she wound up on a team with Cardin. If that happened and the asshole started something then he'd get what he deserved.

Time Skip: Ballroom That Night

After showering, I waded through all of the sleeping bags until I reached my target. Setting my sleeping bag down then sitting on it indian style, I asked "So did you see anywhere else after old Ozzy's speech or did you just go straight back to the forge?"

"Hey, I saw more areas!" Ruby said indignantly before she lightly blushed and said "I checked out the cafeteria before I went back."

I let out a snort at that before we glanced over at Yang as she dropped down onto her sleeping bag and said "It's like a big slumber party!"

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby said, going back to her letter.

"I know I do!" Yang said, almost purring like her potential future partner, eyes roaming over all of the boys in the ball room who had their shirts off showing the results of several years of combat training. Seriously, I wasn't ashamed of the shape my body was in but I had some serious catching up to do in the muscle category. Some of those guys looked like they could bend rebar between their pointer fingers.

I shook that thought from my mind when Yang asked "By the way, what's that you're working on?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." Ruby said.

"Aw, that's so cuuuute!" Yang said with a grin only to get knocked back when Ruby threw a pillow at her face.

Giving her sister an angry look, Ruby said "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!" Seeing Yang's eyes flick to me, Ruby huffed and said "Tac doesn't count! Our bond was forged in combat, it's totally different!"

"Boy, don't I feel special." I said with a chuckle before I continued "But you know, with how initiation is set up, you're going to be doing pretty much the same thing tomorrow."

"Oh, you know what we're doing?" Yang asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"Yes, if you have any forewarning, I would quite like to know about it as well." Weiss said, suddenly appearing kneeling beside my right shoulder.

I jerked in surprise and asked "How'd you get all the way over here when you were by the main entrance not thirty seconds ago?"

Weiss smiled beautifully and said "An heiress can always detect situations that will benefit her."

"Riiiiight." I drawled out before I shook my head and said "Anyways, not to go too far into details here, but the initiation test is a search and retrieve mission. Your partner for the next four years, and most likely beyond if we're being honest here, is chosen semi randomly, only semi because if you're careful you can prevent the selection process from occurring until you find a person who you believe is the best fit with you."

"I see." Weiss said with a hand on her chin. She soon gained a rather 'evil' smile with dark clouds and lightning somehow appearing over her head as she said "I shall obtain Pyrrha Nikos as my partner and together, we shall be unstoppable! Mwahahaha!"

I rolled my eyes and lightly chopped the top of her head and said "No, bad Weiss, no treating Spartan like the only option."

Weiss rubbed at the top of her head as she stared at me wide eyed and said "You hit me..."

"You're at a combat school kid, it's going to happen a lot." I said with a snort.

Weiss flushed and asked "Excuse me, who are you calling a kid?! You're the same age as we are!"

"Uh...actually-" Ruby started only for me to interrupt with a wave of my hand and said "Let's save that story for once the teams are formed up and I can explain some things Ruby."

"Oh, okay." Ruby said with a nod.

Weiss and Yang looked between the two of us and Yang said "I'm missing something here."

Weiss' eyes widened a moment later as she asked "Wait, you don't have Natasha Highlander Syndrome do you?!"

"What's Natasha Highlander Syndrome?" Yang asked now thoroughly lost.

"It's an aging disease, where the human body ages incredibly slowly. Its counterpart is Progeria Disease, where the human body ages incredibly quickly, around four times as fast. Most people with it die around the age of thirteen." Weiss said, looking at me with now somber eyes.

Yang looked at me pityingly and said "Wait, you mean you're actually over forty and STILL can't go into bars?"

I snorted at that and said "Close, Miss Schnee but not quite. I'll be telling my team my circumstances after initiation, and if you two aren't on it as well then I'll inform you as well, but neither of those diseases is the cause."

"Hang on, why does Ruby know about whatever this is?" Yang asked looking between us again.

"His only ID didn't match when we went to the police station." Ruby explained.

"Oh. Well, that just raises more questions." Yang said, scratching her head in confusion.

"Indeed, like why you two were at a police station?" Weiss stated with crossed arms.

"We were there when Roman Torchwick was apprehended so we had to give statements. It's actually why we are attending Beacon despite Ruby's and my ages. Professor Goodwitch was also on site when this went down and Ozpin came to the station after we got there and apparently thought we would be good fits given our combat skills." I said with a shrug.

"Asked to attend by the Headmaster himself." Weiss said lowly, looking at me and Ruby with new eyes.

"Yeah, my little sister's a badass." Yang said, giving said little reaper a proud hug earning a blush and a groaned "Yaaaang." from the scarlet speedster who currently didn't need her cloak to fit the title.

Shaking my head with a chuckle, I leaned a little forward and dropped my voice as I said "Just wait until Ruby unlocks her eyes Yang, then she's going to REALLY be badass. She's going to be a battlefield changer."

"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked.

"Indeed, what's so special about her eyes? I mean, silver IS a rather rare eye color I suppose, but unless her semblance is to shoot out ocular laser blasts, how powerful could they be?" Weiss asked, also leaning in and speaking quietly.

"Fully awakened Silver Eyes are Anti Grimm Weapons, capable of petrifying or in some cases outright disintegrating them in an instant, though some of the biggest ones can resist the effect to some degree. It should be noted though that technically the effected Grimm are still alive so the bigger ones can draw more Grimm to them. Still, once turned to stone, they are MUCH easier to get rid of." I said with crossed arms.

"And Ruby has this Power?" Yang asked, slightly awed before she blinked in realization and asked "Wait, mom had Silver Eyes as well so does that mean she could do it too?"

"The Silver Eyed Warriors are an ancient lineage of legendary warriors, as in Pre-Hunter era ancient. The eyes ARE passed down through DNA from parent to child but I'm pretty sure that the knowledge of them has become quite sparse so I cannot say for certain if the older Mrs. Rose could use the ability." I said, glad that I had been interested enough in the Silver Eyes to do a Wiki search when I was reading the RWBY collection of the Loops Series.

"You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about it." Weiss pointed out.

I shrugged and said "I came across it once or twice in my various readings. Like I said, details are sparse, but there are enough to make probable leaps of logic."

"I don't suppose those readings said what triggers them?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Perseverance, more specifically, the will to preserve the life of those close to the person." I said with a nod at Yang.

"I see." Ruby said, looking down in thought before snapping her suddenly wide eyes back up as I shrugged and said "Course, my way of doing things will make it a lot easier than having to focus on loved ones or rely on emotional distress to activate them."

"But your eyes are blue." Weiss pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I didn't think about how to reliably use those suckers if I ever ran into someone with them." I said with a shrug.

"And what's your method?" Yang asked, her and Ruby leaning in curiously.

"In a word: Hypnotism. Put Ruby into a state where her conscious mind is temporarily replaced with her subconscious and emplace a trigger for the ability that Ruby can activate." At all three of their incredulous looks, I shrugged and said "I was planning on bringing it up with Ozpin a week into classes, let him get in touch with Ruby's guardian for permission first before we set up what we need for this to work." More specifically, I was going to wait for the green light before I made myself a hypno gun. Better to avoid the temptation such a device would offer for as long as possible then destroy the thing immediately after. That or stick it in a titanium lock box that Ozpin kept down in the crypt, either or really.

"Well, hypnotherapy is considered a valid technique." Weiss said, though she was looking at me with slight suspicion now.

Seeing the suspicion, I snorted and said "I just know the theory Weiss, I don't secretly have an army of hypnotized minions waiting for me to give the signal to rise up and give me the world."

Yang snickered at that and Ruby lightly giggled behind her hand. Weiss though frowned slightly and said "Very well, but I'll be watching you mister."

"Watch away, but you won't find anything." I said with a smirk.

"We'll see." Weiss said, before she stood up and said "Well, as interesting as this conversation has been, I think we should all think about going to sleep, tomorrow is an important day after all. Good Night you three."

"Good Night!" The three of us said together. As Weiss walked away, I glanced out of the corner of my eye to where Blake was against the wall reading her book. A moment later, she felt my eyes on her and she glanced up. A moment later, she gave me a slight nod and mimed zipping her lips shut before looking back down at the pages before her.

Sighing to myself as I slipped into my sleeping bag, I thought 'I am SO glad Cinder wasn't around to hear all of that. I need to take proper precautions when I have that chat with RWBY and JNPR's members after Initiation.' Said preparations would include a faraday cage and a frequency scrambler, a room with no windows to prevent laser mics from working, and possibly a way to seal the doorway with a foot thick metal plate that had an air tight fit. Well, either that or come up with a device that made a small pocket dimension, either or really.

Shaking my head, I thought to myself 'Save that kind of paranoia for later Matt, otherwise you'll never get to sleep.' Giving a deep sigh, I began mentally playing the Telescope episode of Big, Bigger, Biggest through my head. I was asleep before I got past how the lenses were grinded into proper shape...

The Next Morning: Beacon Cliff

I made it a point to be in and out of the locker room as quickly as possible, grabbing my Type One swords and my full camel pack then avoiding the drama of Ruby berating Yang for even thinking about not being on her team and Weiss trying, and failing, to make a sales pitch to Pyrrha. I was tempted to step into that last one for Pyrrha's sake but the redhead was the 'Invincible Girl', an overachieving heiress was probably par for the course with her fans so she should be able to handle it. Now, if it was a guy being that dogged, I'd have stepped in just to make sure they knew that someone was watching and so wouldn't get any ideas but since Weiss to my knowledge didn't swing that way...

Anyways, since I was in and out so fast I was the first to the cliff, moving towards the tile directly next to Ozpin and Goodwitch. Giving them both a nod of greeting as I reached the tile, I said "Morning Professors."

"Good morning Mr. Bandstra." Ozpin said, taking a sip from his coffee before he continued "I saw the text message you sent me twenty minutes ago. I am willing to allow you to try, if you are certain it could work and not cause negative effects."

The message he was talking about was Neo Forge could adapt stasis chamber into healing chamber. I had wanted to head to one of the ballroom's walls and bash my head on it for ten minutes straight when I had had the passing thought of modifying Amber's stasis chamber to actually repair the damage done to her Aura.

Giving a firm nod, I said "I am certain that the tool will work as needed, the only question is just how much power it will take."

"I see, we will look into it further then once you've had a couple of days to settle in." Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee.

I gave a nod only to blink as Ruby was suddenly right next to me in a rush of rose petals and a happy call of "Hi Tac!"

"Ruby," I said with a nod of greeting before I raised an eyebrow and said "You seem eager to start."

"Why wouldn't I be? This is my chance to show off Crescent Rose and see other people's weapons in action!" Ruby said, pulling said collapsible scythe off and hugging it, fortunately with it still in its compact form.

"Indeed." Ozpin said, an amused smile on his lips that was covered by yet another sip of his coffee.

"Eep!" Ruby yelped in surprise, quickly putting Crescent Rose back on her back and said "I'm so sorry about that Headmaster Ozpin."

"It's fine Miss Rose, but don't forget that you have a mission to do today. Focus on your objectives first, the weapons around you second." Ozpin said.

"Yes sir!" Ruby said, actually saluting the old man. I saw Goodwitch's lips tick the smallest bit upwards, the only sign of her amusement and I shook my head with a chuckle.

Soon after that, we were joined by the others, Yang moving to stand on the other side of her sister of course, Pyrrha after her and so on. Once everyone was in place, Ozpin said "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch picked up the explanation as she said "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."

Ruby let out a small sound of distress at that, but apparently forewarned was indeed forearmed in this case given that was all she did.

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee before he continued "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."

I could hear Ruby's inner world shattering as her eyes widened and she asked "Whaaaaaaat?!" Apparently, she had been hoping it would be something easily controllable like the first person you talked to who responded back. Sorry Ruby, no such luck.

A little further down the line, I heard Nora say to Ren "See? I told you!"

Ozpin meanwhile wasn't done speaking as he said "After you've 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. 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. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Just one sir, what counts as 'landing'? Do we have to be on solid ground or do the trees count?" I asked.

"The moment your momentum from your launch is stopped is when the met eyes rule comes into effect." Ozpin said, taking another sip of coffee.

"Got it." I said with a nod.

"Good, then if there are no other questions, take your positions." Ozpin said and everyone prepared for the launch, the tiles beginning to springboard them off one after another from the other end of the line. I noted Yang winking at Ruby as she put a pair of aviator sunglasses on before she got launched, Ruby grinning to herself in excitement just before she too was sent flying. I gave Ozpin and Goodwitch a nod of farewell then put on a disposable wraparound pair of safety glasses I took from the hotel repair shop for this exact reason an instant before I was launched into the air with an excited "YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAW!"

I enjoyed the rush of air around me and the trees flying past underneath for a solid minute (Those spring boards had some serious power!) before I heard Crescent Rose begin rapidly barking out a series of shots to slow her owner down. A glance around showed the others beginning their own landing strategies as well. Before I could ready myself for my own landing though, a loud screech filled the air and had me snapping my head upwards. Seeing the giant ass Nevermore coming down from the clouds and straight towards me, my expression went flat and feeling like a certain red haired superspy, I said "Oh, it's you."

The Nevermore let out another cry as it moved on an intercept course to swallow me whole. As it got closer, my hands snapped to hover a little above and in front of my shoulders even as green light swept up my body...

Scene Change: Ruby Point of View

It was a peaceful day over the forest. The sun was shining, there was a nice mix of clouds and clear sky, a small crow was cawing as it flew through the air...and then the crow was knocked out of the sky in a burst of feathers as Ruby ran right through it, the girl crying out in distress "Birdy, no!"

The Scarlet Speedster didn't have much time to mourn the poor bird, immediately having to pull out Crescent Rose and firing five times to slow her speed down before back flipping once, turning Crescent Rose into its scythe form, hooking it on the blade on a tree and spinning around it to bleed off even more speed before continuing her descent. Landing in a three point landing that only didn't completely ruin her leg muscles thanks to her Aura, Ruby shot forward as she said to herself "Alright Ruby, you've got this, just meet up with Weiss like Tac told you you would and everything will be fine, yeah, no problem."

A moment later, Ruby spotted a speck of white up ahead and her eyes lit up and a smile began to form on her lips. But just as she began to get within a hundred feet of her future partner, there was an unholy screeching sound coming from up above as a pair of titans fell...

Point Of View Change: Weiss

Weiss had made a perfect landing if she said so herself. A few glyphs to reduce her speed followed by a slightly crouched landing that she was certain her older sister Winter would nod at in approval. She was just looking around herself in an attempt to figure out which way she should go to find Pyrrha Nikos when an unholy racket filled the air before three large objects shot down from the air and slammed into the ground not twenty five feet from her. Lowering her arms from where she had instinctively covered them from the dirt the objects had kicked up with their landing, her eyes widened as she saw a quite large Nevermore with both of its wings cut off struggling to its feet with a pained squawk.

Before it could get more than halfway up though a flash of green shot down and a massive green mech with black markings all over its body and wings on its back slammed into the Creature of Grimm's back, a pair of equally large swords stabbed hilt deep into the foul fowl's flesh. The Nevermore let out another tortured scream before it began disintegrating and the large robot stood up straight, easily maintaining its balance as the body underneath disappeared. The mech stared down at the body until it was completely gone before it snapped its gaze up and Weiss felt a chill go down her spine as she stared into the cold blue eyes set in an otherwise faceless helmet that seemed to be burning a hole through her.

Weiss would deny it for the rest of her days but all of her vaunted training went out the door at that moment and her instincts kicked in, rather prudently choosing flight over fight. Spinning around, she said "Nope." The next instant, she shot down the line of acceleration glyphs she had made getting the hell out of there, actually leaving a dust trail as she went.

Point Of View Change: Ruby

Ruby stared at where her future partner HAD been before turning her stunned gaze to her ten thirty position and took in how the large mech actually shrugged to itself before spinning the blades in its hands once before sheathing them on its back in between its large wings. It took a moment due to the sheer size disparity between now and a few days ago but Ruby belatedly matched the thirty foot Titan's form with the much smaller six foot robo form Tac had showed her. Eyes wide in awe, Ruby asked "Tac?"

The figure turned towards her and the face shield over his mouth area slid to the side, that action of revealing the mouth somehow turning the sight of his optics from harshly cold to soothingly cool. Bringing a hand up to rub the back of his head, the world jumper chuckled and said "Heh, heh, sorry Ruby, looks like I accidentally scared off your partner."

Ruby was silent for a moment before her eyes began shining like stars as she said "Oh my GOSH, LOOK AT YOU, THIS IS AWESOME!"

Point of View Change: Tac

As Ruby somehow turned into a chibi and began zooming around me muttering only she knows what to herself, I sighed and said "Should have seen this coming." Snatching the girl out of the air when she completed yet another circuit around me, I held the girl by the back of her hood and said sternly "Ruby, focus. We have a test to complete remember."

"Eh, heh, right." Ruby said slightly contrite. Setting her now normal form back on the ground, I deactivated my semblance, rapidly shrinking back down to my much more normal six foot height. Taking off the safety glasses, I slipped them in the camel pack's side pocket and said "So pop quiz little reaper, which direction is North?"

Ruby's eyes widened slightly in mild panic as her head swiveled around and began pointing in various directions as she said "Um, it's that way! No, wait, I mean that way, maybe this way?"

I pointed in the right way with my right hand and said "Actually, it's that way." In my left hand was my phone with its compass app open.

Ruby pouted when she saw the circle with numbers and letters around it on my screen and asked "If you have that app then why'd you ask me?"

Chuckling as I walked past her, I gave into the temptation of ruffling her hair and said "You're going to have to know how to figure out which cardinal direction is which at least once in your Hunter Career while out in the field Ruby, and you might not have a compass when it happens."

"I'll just ask to borrow yours then." Ruby said, turning and quickly striding to walk beside me.

"And if my phone battery's dead?" I asked with an amused eyebrow raise.

"Theeeen I'll look to see what direction moss is growing on a tree." Ruby said.

"Like hell you well, moss doesn't grow in the direction of North Ruby, it grows on the sides of the tree that doesn't get too much sunlight." I said with a frown.

"Oh." Ruby said dejected, looking down as she quietly said "I don't know then."

I sighed and said "You skipped Signal's Survival Courses when you came here two years early, didn't you?"

"Most of them. We've been taken out camping but the ones where you are really roughing it don't take place until the last year." Ruby said with a nod.

"We'll have to look into filling in that gap this year then." I said before I continued "Now, if you are lost in the wilderness without a compass, your best bet is to wait until nighttime and get a good look at the overhead stars. When you don't have time to wait for night you can make a rough shod compass through a few different ways..."

I trailed off when I heard a growling sound. A moment later, a Beowulf came out of a set of bushes, the rest of its pack of twelve soon doing the same all around us. Giving a sigh as I pulled out my Type Ones, I said "Right, I forgot about these guys."

Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and said "Well, at least this shouldn't be too hard. Even if Beowulfs are fast, it's not like they're bulky like Ursas are."

"True enough." I said, activating the plasma blades on my weapons and said "I'll take left, you take right?"

"Sounds good to me." Ruby said with a grin before she leapt at the Beowulf in front of her. I followed her lead, pushing aura through my legs to shoot forward at the first of my own enemies. The Grimm barely had time for its eyes to widen before two prongs of plasma erupted out of its back. Pulling my right blade out of the disintegrating body, I spun to my left to avoid the Grimm on my right that was swiping at me. When it swiped again, my left blade came up and sliced off the arm. The Beowulf's howl of pain was quickly cut off when I decapitated it with my right blade. Two down, four to go.

Spinning around to deal with the Beowulfs near my back, I ducked low under its swing, and falling back onto half-forgotten karate lessons from my teenage years swept my right leg out knocking the Beowulf's own feet out from under it. A quick stab of one of the prongs on my left blade through the eye took it out of the fight. Its buddy tried to pounce on my while I was on the ground but I rolled out of the way and into a crouch, springing forward a moment later with an upwards slash of my right blade left me with two Beowulf bodies where one used to be.

The last one behind me made the mistake of leaping up into the air to cover the distance between us, its shadow giving it away. I dove forward into a roll, coming up next to the last one before me with left blade punched into the 'poor' creature's gut. Pulling out the blade at the same time the Beowulf stumbled back with a hand over the wound, I spun around and sliced the other Grimm's head off with my left blade before spinning again and stabbed the prongs of my right blade into both eyes.

Sighing as I turned off my blades, I glanced to the side to see Ruby already done with her opponents, of course. The girl was studying me and said "You fought like your mind knew the movements but your body didn't."

I shrugged and said "I DID only download the knowledge of how to use paired Type One swords two days ago."

"Download?" Ruby asked with a cocked head.

I smirked and said "I went into my robot form and accessed Vale's information network and downloaded what I would need for coming here, including my new sword fighting style for when I don't use vibrational blades, though I did receive a few years of hand to hand training when I was a real teenager."

"You can download everything you need to learn, that is so unfair!" Ruby said with a massive pout on her face.

"To be fair, it gave me a raging headache when I finished assembling everything when my body turned back to normal." I said with a shrug.

"Still not fair." Ruby said with a sigh as she walked over to stand by me again.

I chuckled and patted her shoulder before I said "Come on, as fun as that was, we need to get going again."

Ruby nodded and as we began walking again asked "So, what were you saying about making a compass?"

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

Coming up to the top of a hill in the woods, Ruby and I looked down at a small set of ruins and I said "Well, looks like the search part of our search and retrieve is over."

"Looks like it." Ruby said in agreement and the pair of us made our way down the hill. Once on the stone, Ruby looked around at all of the chess pieces and asked "Which one should we take?"

I glanced around and said "Yang was the first of Teams RWBY and JNPR to take a relic in the show, choosing a white Knight while Nora grabbed a white Rook. I'm seeing both sets though meaning there's a pretty good chance that we're the first of those groups to reach here so...whichever one you want I guess."

"Right, well in that case I'll go with the Knight then." Ruby said, picking up one of the white horse headed objects. Putting the relic in my camel pack when I offered, Ruby looked around and said "So I guess we should just start heading back to the cliff now."

"Let's give it ten minutes. In the show RWBY and JNPR met up here and had to deal with a Nevermore and a Deathstalker together. I'm pretty sure I already dealt with the first but we might want to help the others if the last comes into play." I said, looking around for the others.

Ruby shrugged and said "I don't mind waiting I guess."

It was a couple of minutes later when an Ursa stumbled out of the woods before an explosion knocked it out cold. I raised a single eyebrow while Ruby stared as Nora rolled off of its back and said "Ahh, its broken!"

As she zipped back up on the back, she looked it over and said "Eeeew."

As she did that, Ren appeared from behind the Ursa's body, putting one hand on his knee and the other on a bone growth as he panted and said "Nora, please, don't ever do that again." He glanced at his friend only to see no girl, a flashing outline of pink lines where she had been.

That was because she was suddenly by the pedestal holding one of the rooks in the ruins. Snatching the rook, she put it on top of her head and with stars and pictures of a hammer in a black circle as her background started singing "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!" Ren called cutting her off and the girl saluted as she said "Coming Ren!"

"Well, that's two for the other team I guess." Ruby said as she watched Nora skip back towards her partner. A moment later, Ruby brightened and said "That means it's a fifty fifty shot of Yang being on our team!"

"IF she becomes a member of one of our two teams. She or her partner could always choose another chess piece." I said cautionary.

Ruby's shoulders slumped as she asked "Why do you have to dash my hopes like that?"

"Think of it instead as acknowledging all of the facts so that you're not blindsided." I said with a smirk.

Ruby shot me an accusing look and said "You're enjoying telling me 'all of the facts' aren't you?"

My smirk turned into a teasing smile and I said "Maybe."

Ruby sighed again only to perk up as more figures came out of the woods, seeing her sister, she eagerly waved and said "Hey Yang, over here!"

"Ruby!" Yang waved just as happily, increasing her pace, her partner doing the same, if only to keep up.

I cocked my head at the sight of Weiss being Yang's Partner and not Blake and said quietly to myself "Well now, that I wasn't expecting. Still, better her than Blake I guess."

Ruby too was glancing between her sister and her supposed partner, a quick flash of emotions going through her eyes before she literally shrugged whatever thoughts she was having away and said "Glad you could join us."

"Glad to be here little sister." Yang said, hugging her sister close. Weiss meanwhile let out a hum at the sight of the chess pieces before she selected the second white Rook for her and her partner. I smirked at her choice but didn't say anything about it.

As Weiss walked over to our group, she said "Well, since we now have our relic, we should begin making our way back to the cliff."

"Uh, which one did you grab?" Ruby asked nervously.

Weiss raised her eyebrow and said "I chose one of the Rooks, why?"

"Awwwww." Ruby said, somehow literally turning into some kind of goo falling into a depressed puddle on the floor.

"Um, is she alright?" Weiss asked uncertainly.

"We got one of the knights and she was hoping her sister would be on her team." I explained.

"Ah, I see." Weiss said with a nod of understanding.

Anything more that would be said was cut off as there was a series of loud crashes from the forest. As everyone turned towards the sound we saw Pyrrha and Blake quickly running out of the trees towards us. A moment later the Deathstalker also made an appearance and I said quietly "There we go, right on time."

Weiss gave me a questioning look for a moment before she shook her head and said to all of us "My tutor said that the best way to kill a Deathstalker was to somehow pierce its head with its own stinger, and that the stinger can be removed from the rest of the tail with a sharp enough blade. I shall immobilize the creature, if one of you can separate the stinger than Yang should be able to kill it."

I shrugged and said "Well, we COULD do that, or I could shoot it with one of my missiles."

"Missiles?" all of the others, sans the still running towards us Blake and Pyrrha asked, most incredulously, but Nora was noticeably more excited at the word.

I nodded and said "I've been meaning to try out my other form in combat anyway."

Before the others could ask, Ruby said "Tac, you used that already this morning, let's save the rest of it for a last resort alright? Even with how you've been drinking from your camel pack the whole way here, it's pretty darn Aura intensive."

"Fair enough." I said with a shrug.

Ruby nodded before her eyes firmed and she barked out loud enough for the approaching partners to hear "PARTNERS, SCATTER AND SURROUND! HEAVY HITTERS IN FRONT, SUPPORT AT LEAST FIVE FEET BEHIND, YANG AND NORA, DEAL WITH THE PINCERS, PYRRHA AND TAC, DEAL WITH THE LEGS AND THE TAIL, GO!"

"Right!" We all shouted and Pyrrha and Blake dove to the right, allowing the Deathstalker to barrel past them. Before it could correct to continue pursuing them Nora was there slamming her hammer down onto the right pincer, Yang but a moment behind her punching the left pincer. Ruby quickly brought me to the left side of the giant scorpion in a blur of red and green rose petals and I immediately drew my Type Ones, turning on their plasma blades.

The Type Ones took out a leg each only for the plasma blades to cut out, the charges drained due to Ruby and I having encountered more than just the first pack of Beowulfs on the way here. The metal version of the blades were perfectly capable of taking up the slack though.

Needless to say, the Deathstalker did not appreciate Pyrrha and me chopping at its legs. Along with the screech of pain, it tried to launch its tail to the side at me. Tried being the operative word here as Weiss managed to freeze the tail solid, purposefully stopping a foot from the stinger, the chunk of ice connected to the Heiress by an ice trail that went from the ground up the Deathstalker's foremost left leg. With the tail temporarily taken out of play, Pyrrha and I sliced the rest of the legs off while Ruby and Blake both leapt up onto the body and sliced at the exposed skin just above the stinger with their respective weapons.

The Deathstalker let out another loud screech of pain as the Stinger fell off and Ruby shouted "Yang, Nora!"

The pair stopped hitting the pincers, the front limbs no longer a threat to their partners now that the Deathstalker no longer had legs, and clambered up top. Yang grabbed the stinger and with a yell of exertion slammed it point down into the Deathstalker's skull, going a good two feet in. Right after, Nora let out a gleeful shout as she fired a grenade on the other side of the stinger to shoot her up into the sky, spinning on the way downwards before smashing the stinger the rest of the way into the ground, causing the now THOROUGHLY dead Grimm to begin spewing the customary black smoke.

As the Deathstalker disintegrated, the four Partner pairs all gathered in front of where the head had been. Yang had a grin on her face as she said "Well that was easy, nice plan sis." She gave Ruby a high five with her right hand even as she bumped her left fist with Nora's right.

"Indeed, an efficient take down of a difficult enemy." Weiss said with a nod, the Schnee heiress idly eyeing the level of Ice Dust remaining in the chamber of her weapon.

Ruby had a pleased smile on her face and said "Thanks you two."

Deciding to move things along, I clapped my hands to gather the others' attention and said "Ladies and Ren." I paused as the girls giggled for a moment before I continued "I do not know about you all but I am quite ready to make my way back to the cliff. What say we let Pyrrha and Blake grab their relic then take the express route back?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea, but express?" Weiss asked.

I smirked and said "You'll see." And with that I took off my camel pack, zipping open the section that held the water pouch inside. I unscrewed the cap and began taking deep pulls of the liquid remaining inside, chugging like a professional.

The others stared and Nora said "Wow, he's really thirsty, bet he's going to have a really big pee later though."

"Nora." Ren said plaintively.

"I don't think so." Ruby said with a small smile before she turned to Pyrrha and Blake, jerking her thumb at the ruins and said "One of you better go hurry and grab your relic."

"Alright." Pyrrha said, slightly unsure but quickly going to do as told. She came back a moment later with the second White Knight. Ruby gave her a small smile at the sight of that before she turned back to me and said "So Tac, think you have enough time to get us to back to the cliff?"

I nodded and said "After drinking that much water then I should." A moment later, a green line of light appeared on my feet, shooting up to, then past the top of my head and up into the air. As the light shot up it left green metal with black Celtic markings behind and everyone but Ruby took several surprised steps back as their heads lifted up, following the light's path while their jaws steadily dropped.

When the transformation was complete, Weiss said to herself "I don't believe it, I thought Beacon had simply added mechs to the challenge along with the Grimm already present in the forest."

"Nope, Tac has turning into a badass robot as his Semblance, isn't it great!" Ruby asked with a grin.

"Hell yeah it is!" Nora cheered.

"So that is why he uses War Hawk as his call sign." Pyrrha said, still looking stunned.

I chuckled with a grin before I shifted forms. When a YF-12 was resting on it wheels in front of the others, Nora shouted "And he can transform into a jet as well! THAT IS SO COOL!"

Ruby chuckled and said "Yeah that was pretty much my reaction the first time he did that as well."

"How is this possible? No semblance I've ever heard of came even remotely close to this." Weiss asked with a strained voice.

"I'll be quite happy to explain that to you later Weiss, but we're on a bit of a time limit right now. Ruby, Weiss, hop into the cockpit, the rest of you get on my back." I said, my cockpit hatch popping open as I spoke.

Ruby was quick to do so, Weiss following a moment later. The rest of the girls and Ren quickly hopped up onto my back as well and as I lowered my cockpit hatch and began spinning up my turbines I said "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Autobot Airlines, we ask that for your safety you remain seated for the duration of the flight."

My turbines began to softly whine as they spun up to quarter speed, I didn't need to go Mach 3.3 or even Mach 1 after all. A moment later I lifted straight up to just above tree height, turning to point my nose in the direction of the cliff before I smoothly accelerated to a for me ridiculously slow fifty miles per hour, pulling upwards as I did so, Nora of course laughing her head off as we went while demanding I do a loop de loop.

Needless to say, I ignored that 'request'. Instead, I gave Weiss some of my attention as she asked "How fast can this form of yours go? And for that matter, how long can you hold it? You did say that we were on a time limit."

"Mach 3.3, and I can hold my giant form for five minutes if I have full Aura, longer if I drink water first. My smaller form I can hold for thirty minutes at full Aura."

"Of course you would have a smaller form as well, it's not as if this beggars belief enough already." Weiss said to herself.

Ruby giggled at that but nothing else was said. Within five minutes the cliff came back into view and I came in at just the right height that there was only a small bump when I dipped a foot to put my wheels down on the top, rolling around to face Ozpin who was calmly watching us even as he took a sip of his coffee. Once the others were off, the green light appeared again, this time at both my nose and my tail, moving inwards. When it met in the middle I appeared back in human form a couple of feet in the air and landed in a crouch. Standing back up, I said "Nice of you to wait for us Ozzy."

"Tac, show the headmaster some proper respect!" Weiss said, quite scandalized going by the slightly wide eyes and flushed face.

"It is quite alright Miss Schnee, I find I rather like Mr. Arc's nickname for me." Ozpin said, taking another sip from his coffee before he gestured with his cane and said "For now though, why don't we bring this to the auditorium so that way we can finish the Initiation."

"Yes sir." We all said and followed him as he began walking.

Scene Change: The Auditorium, Thirty Minutes Later

Ozpin stood on the stage, four boys who just oozed 'Jock' standing in a row in front of him while on a large screen their profile pictures drifted to form a line and he said "Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The Four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by...Cardin Winchester!"

The crowd applauded as Cardin gave Ozpin a nod before the four left the stage. Weiss led Yang, Nora, and Ren onto the stage, their profile pictures appearing on the corners of the above head screen and beginning to drift to the middle as Ozpin said "Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. Nora Valkyrie. Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team NRWY (Norway), led by...Weiss Schnee."

I gave a single twitch at the team name as the crowd applauded and Weiss gave Ozpin a bow of her head and said "I shall do my best to lead this team in a manner befitting this proud institution of learning Headmaster."

"I'm sure you will Miss Schnee." Ozpin said with a smile.

Weiss led her new team off the stage and then it was my turn, following Ruby as she led me, Pyrrha, and Blake on the stage. As our profiles began making the journey to the middle of the screen Ozpin said "Ruby Rose. Tac Arc. Pyrrha Nikos. Blake Belladonna. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team ABRN (Auburn). Led by...Ruby Rose."

To my immense amusement Ruby looked like she got slapped with a fish. I guess hearing that you were named a team leader in an act of fiction was different to hearing that you were made team leader in real life. I nudged her shoulder with my arm and smirked down at her when she looked up at me and said "Congratulations Partner."

"Thanks." Ruby said, still with the shocked look on her face.

Ozpin meanwhile smirked and said "It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year."

END

Author's Note:

I literally have no idea where all of that Silver Eyed Warrior talk snuck in from. Weiss appearing was the catalyst of that talk but even THAT was just pure random 'flow writing'...

Also originally, it was just going to be me and Weiss switching who got Pyrrha/Ruby as our partners. But then I thought part way through writing this that it would be interesting if the teams were even further scrambled. (Blake as Weiss' partner was such a delicious thought of all of the drama I could create!) So out comes the dice app on my phone. First roll was to see if I kept the original or went for something else. (Five dices, majority wins, 1-3 remain on course 4-6 new path) Got a four to one roll for the latter. Then I rolled for Weiss' partner, either Pyrrha, Blake or Yang (1-2 Pyrrha, 3-4 Blake, 5-6 Yang, single dice this time) Got a six. For teams, I rolled for which group would be with me and Ruby, 1-2 being Nora/Ren, 3-4 Weiss/Yang and 5-6 Pyrrha/Blake. Got a 5. Amazing what you get when you leave everything to chance ain't it?

One final thing, I have a Pat reon up and running if any of you feel like my work is worth supporting. Just look for my penname.