2. I Hate Scorpions

Quick AN: I've decided to do a bunch of episodes together in the interest of getting to the combat side of things quicker. Also, the list of War Mage spells that have been 'unlocked' so far in Waking Up In A Field are now at the bottom of my profile so have a gander if you don't read Fire Emblem stories.

Story Start: Beacon Landing Platform

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 spinn 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 here 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 Mage."

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 Mage' as a call sign? Do you play a lot of fantasy rpgs?"

I shrugged and said "I've dabbled in a few. Really, I just want to have a cool sounding call sign to tell others so that way they don't give me something ridiculous like Soap or Roach."

"Oh, that makes sense I guess." Pyrrha said slightly unsure, biting her lip for a moment before 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: That Night, The Ballroom

The only one still in his day clothes rather than pajamas, I waded through all of the sleeping bags on the floor before I stopped by where Ruby was laying on hers and writing in a book and said "Mind if I join you?"

"Tac, no, by all means!" Ruby said with a grin. Putting down my own sleeping bag on the side that wasn't taken up by her sister's, I sat down indian style and 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 laid on my back before rolling up to my feet and said "I'm going to go hit the shower before turning in. I just know that all of the hot water's going to be gone if I wait for the morning."

"I think a huntsman school can afford big enough water heaters to avoid that kind of thing Tac." Yang said with a raised eyebrow.

I smirked and said "Maybe, but back home my water heater was set to the hottest setting and I still had the shower knob turned the all the way to the left, so I think I'll play it safe."

"Yikes." Yang muttered and Ruby looked at the skin on my arms incredulously as she asked "How are you NOT permanently lobster red?!"

Chuckling, I said "Lots of years to get used to it." Leaving everything but my pajamas on my sleeping bag I made my way over to the showers that by now were empty.

Turning on one of the showers, I stripped then hopped into the perfectly reasonable ninety five degree water with a sigh. After a moment, I formed a Wind Blade in my right hand and held my left forearm near it. Taking a deep breath, I lightly tapped my arm by the elbow with the blade and hissed at the long but shallow cut it made, quickly making nine more cuts down to my wrist. Immediately after, I pressed my right palm against the cuts while muttering Heal each time. As I continued leveling up my Staff class spells the only way I could do so reasonably quickly, the water swirling in the drain began taking on a slightly red tint.

Thirty minutes later, I walked back to my sleeping bag and sat down with a sigh, left arm looking completely normal. Yang raised an eyebrow and said "You were in there for a while, you sure you're actually a guy?"

I chuckled and said "Sorry, I was just enjoying the temperatures a really big water heater can provide."

"Un huh. Well I hope I don't get you as a team member then, me and the other two would never have any time in the bathroom." Yang said with a teasing smirk.

I shrugged with a smirk of my own and said "That sounds like a you problem, not a me problem." Yang tossed a pillow at me in response. A pillow that I caught and threw back at her before slipping into my sleeping bag and said "Night girls."

"Night Tac." The sisters said, also beginning to settle down. Tomorrow was a big day after all, we would all need our sleep.

Scene Change: The Next Morning, Locker Room

I pointedly ignored Nora's constant blabbering at Ren the moment said boy woke up. I considered it good practice for if TNPR replaced JNPR. I then shuddered and thought 'God, I hope Ozpin doesn't give us Turnip for a team name. ANNND I just jinxed us didn't I?' Face palming, I dragged my hand down my face with a wordless grumble before I gave my head a single but hard shake before I reached into the locker and pulled out my backup short sword, securing the sheath it came with to my back with the provided strap in a way so that it hung diagonally, the sword handle over my right shoulder and the tip pointing to the left. A quick draw then sheath to make sure that I could actually draw it like that and I nodded in satisfaction. If the blade was any longer I wouldn't have been able to but twenty two inches was juuuuust short enough it seemed. Sheathing the blade, I began walking towards the exit.

I ignored the sisterly drama going on between Ruby and Yang but paused at where Weiss was trying to get Pyrrha to be on her team, to the Mistral Champion's discomfort. Clapping a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, I nudged my head to the exit and said "Come on Spartan, we need to get going to the Beacon Cliff for the start of the test."

Almost as if we planned it together, right on the tail end of my statement, Goodwitch came on the PA system and said "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"See?" I said with a grin.

"Right, guess we should get going then." Pyrrha said. Giving Weiss, a small bow of the head, she said "It was nice talking with you Weiss." The next moment, she gripped my wrist and all but pulled me out the door. As I easily matched her power walking pace, she sighed and let go of my wrist and said "Thanks for the save War Mage."

I shrugged and said "No problem." I then turned serious and said "Just brace yourself for the possibility of you actually being on her team at the end of the day."

Pyrrha let out a small sigh and said "If that is where the chips fall, then so be it." She then visibly made herself brighten up and continued "But then there's also the chance that I could have you on the team as well."

"Already picking favorites huh? I must have done something right in yesterday's conversation, brief as it was." I said with an easy grin.

Pyrrha blushed and idly rubbed her right hand over her left bicep and said "Well, you did treat me like a normal person rather than some superstar."

"Not really that hard a thing to do. Winning a tournament four times in a row simply means I know that you'll have my back if need be." I said, smirking at the surprised look Pyrrha had before I winked at her. Before she could offer a response I Negated my weight then shot out of the building exit, dashing towards the Cliff where Ozpin and Goodwitch were waiting.

Coming to a stop on the tile directly next to them, I gave them a nod and said "Morning Professors."

"Good morning Mr. Bandstra, making inroads with your preferred partner already I see." Ozpin said, taking a sip out of his coffee cup.

I shrugged and said "Pyrrha needs someone her age to treat her normal when no one else does. If that means she decides to seek me out as a partner in order to keep that person close then that's just a happy consequence."

"Indeed." Ozpin said with a slight smirk before he turned serious and continued "On another note, I do hope you don't have a habit of cutting yourself in the shower."

I blinked in surprise that he knew about that. Goodwitch had a rather severe frown on her face as she said "Mr. Arc, I feel compelled to mention that Beacon has a psychiatrist on call for its students. If you are having trouble acclimating to your new environment-"

"It is nothing like that." I said, cutting her off with a slash of my hand before I continued "The only way to reach the higher spell classes my Spell Sigils can use is by using the primary spell of a class one hundred times. Unfortunately, the primary spells of the Staff element are healing spells, and since Aura means the others aren't likely going to be getting a collection of scrapes and bruises..."

"You felt like you had to take drastic measures, I see." Ozpin said with a sigh before he shook his head and said "I wish you would have told me this before Mr. Bandstra, I could have gotten you access to Vale's main hospital where you would have had plenty of people with injuries to work with."

"Yeah, that probably would have been a better idea." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head with my left hand. Dropping it after a moment, I said "Speaking of other people with injuries, the S Class healing spell is Regenerate. I figure you probably know some Hunters and Huntresses who would probably be interested in that."

The pair of professors raised an eyebrow each and Ozpin said "Indeed, I know a few people who would most likely prefer to have natural limbs rather than prosthetics. However, now is not the time for such discussion, your fellow students approach." He pointed his coffee cup behind me, then took a sip.

Sure enough, a glance behind me showed all of the other students coming closer, taking their cues from me and assembling in a line on the tiles. Ruby zipped over to stand on the tile next to mine and I saw Pyrrha actually snap her fingers, though she kept her hand by her waist when she did so. Yang snagged the next tile so Pyrrha quickly claimed the third tile from me.

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."

"What? Ohhh..." Ruby moaned in distress.

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." Ruby groaned again even as Ozpin continued "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?!"

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 a Barrier in front of my eyes like a wraparound pair of safety glasses 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. Locking onto Pyrrha's long red hair, I adjusted my course with Wind Jets from my palms so that I would only land about a hundred yards from her landing position rather than Jaune's half a mile plus. Fifty feet from the tree tops I flipped forward so that I was falling feet first and added Wind Jets from my two feet to the ones on my hands. Immediately after, I Negated my weight to ten pounds and slowed WAAAAY down, easily touching down light enough on a tree branch that its end barely swayed.

Giving a happy sigh as I idly pulled the Barrier from my eyes like it was an actual piece of eye ware, I said "I swear, that was better than any roller coaster I've ever been on." Dismissing the Barrier, I turned towards where Pyrrha had landed, seeing her looking in my direction, I gave her a long arm wave that she eagerly returned before I dropped down below tree level. Landing in a Superhero Landing because I could actually do so easily without injury with me still at ten pounds, I stood up and returned my weight to normal while idly brushing myself off as I said "I can see why superheroes do that, it feels badass."

"Tac!" Pyrrha called, rushing over with a happy smile and said "I guess we're Partners now huh?"

"Looks like it, guess Ozpin figured we would make a good power couple." I said with a smirk, as if I hadn't cheated in making sure I landed near her.

"Power couple?" Pyrrha asked with a slight blush.

My smirk grew as I held up my right hand palm facing towards her as I said "Spartans were the BEST when it came to close quarters combat in their day and age and I've enough fire power in my hands to knock down a city block." The Spell Sigil on my right palm lit up with a green light before I shifted to face a tree trunk to my right. A quick call of "Gravity!" had the tree abruptly falling with a groan before it slammed into the ground with a crash.

Turning back to Pyrrha with a grin showed her looking at the tree with appreciation and said "A Semblance dealing with gravity, nice."

"Oh that's not all I can do, I've also got Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Space, Light, Dark, and Staff spells."

"Spells?" Pyrrha asked in confusion. Not that I could blame her, to most people of Remnant, Magic was completely different than Aura and Semblances, relegated to fairy tales.

I nodded and said "Yep." Pulling out my phone, I brought up the Compass app on it. A moment later, I pointed in the direction we needed to go and said "North is that way, let's walk and talk."

"Alright." Pyrrha said and as we started walking asked "So did you just put Dust infused Tattoos on your hands so that you can use these 'Spells'? And what does 'Staff' mean?"

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

Pyrrha and I both cocked our heads when we heard gunfire. Closing my eyes as I listened, I said "That's too rapid to be a shot gun so it's not Yang, and it's too low to be Ruby's Crescent Rose firing at semi auto. Could be Ren's I suppose..."

"The one with the SMG trench knife weapons?" Pyrrha asked, having seen Ren arm himself before he was launched.

"That's him, though I'm pretty sure I'm hearing multiple calibers so unless he's joined up with someone else then it's probably not him given how his friend Nora uses a grenade launcher war hammer combo." I said with a thoughtful hum.

Pyrrha hummed as well before she shrugged and said "Well, with how far away the gun fire is, by the time we reached the fight it would be long over, shall we continue?"

"Yeah, we're not going to reach the ruins just standing here after all." I said with a nod and the pair of us began making our way north again.

Ten minutes later, we came up to a cave with drawings on the side. Pyrrha didn't see said drawings having been on my left and asked "Think this i-mmph?!"

Her eyes widened as my hand shot up and covered her mouth, the pointer finger of my other hand over my own lips before I made the hand sign for a scorpion, pointer finger held over thumb, ring finger over pinkie in order to imitate pincers and middle finger reared back like a stinger. I then pointed at the drawing that showed a bunch of people surrounding a giant scorpion. Pyrrha's eyes widened just a little further before she nodded and I pointed back to the trees we had just left and dropped my hand.

Once we were behind the dubious cover of the first couple of trees and thus at least hidden from sight of the cave entrance, I said quietly "Call me crazy, but I think there's a Deathstalker in there."

"Sure seems like it from what that drawing shows." Pyrrha bit her lip for a moment and continued "The question is, what should we do about it? While we are Hunter and Huntress in training and thus expected to eliminate Grimm when we come across them, Deathstalkers can get quite large and there are only the two of us."

Having had a few days to plan for if I followed canon's path when it came to this particular Grimm, I smirked and said "I'm pretty sure that if it's stuck in ten feet of Quicksand with us thirty feet off the ground it won't be nearly as much of a threat. After that, it's just wale on it until it does the world a favor and dies."

"Can you make a quicksand pit that big? Like I said, these creatures are rather big." Pyrrha asked, biting her lip again in slight worry.

I nodded and said "Give me a couple of minutes of setup and we should be good." With that, I crouched and reached around the tree trunk, placing my hand on the ground and took a deep breath. So far all I had used during my time here were healing spells to heal small cuts, four barriers, and three E Class Primary spells, this would be the first time using an actual Area of Effect spell, hopefully it didn't take TOO much Aura to make otherwise I would have to rethink the next part of my plan a bit.

Eyes furrowed, I quietly intoned "Quicksand." A moment later, Pyrrha and I watched as the grass leading up to the cave began sagging downwards in a ripple like manner away from my hand as the ground underneath was turned less...packed was probably the best description I could use. There was still material underneath the top of the ground but it was clear by the slight depression that was forming that it would NOT be a good idea to walk onto that patch of terra not so firma. A minute later, I let out a sigh and said "There, it's ten feet deep and SHOULD be big enough." I glanced at my phone which Taifun had thoughtfully put an Aura scanner app on and said "And it thankfully only took five percent of my Aura."

"Wow, you must have a lot of it then." Pyrrha said with slightly raised eyebrows.

'Just over a decade's worth.' I thought to myself before I said "Alright, I'm going to drop your weight, stay at tree top level alright?"

"Alright." Pyrrha said with a nod and I quickly used a Negate on her to drop her weight to five pounds. The girl quickly scrabbled up the tree she was hiding behind like a giant squirrel. I Negated myself all the way down to a single pound before I set up a Spotlight pointing into the cave entrance. A moment later, there was a rumbling sound and I quickly leapt up into the air, landing on a quickly formed Barrier ten feet over the treetops.

I reached my spot just in time. Not a moment later, the Deathstalker came bursting out, the stone five feet around the opening hurled into the forest making me very glad that we were so high up. That said, I couldn't help the cackle I made when the Deathstalker immediately sank into the ground with a startled screech.

As the Grimm struggled to get its legs free, I said "Hello large stationary target, Water X 100!"

Water shot out of both of my hands in a continuous spray, thoroughly soaking the monster as I moved my hands to get all of it wet. When the twin sprays stopped a full minute later, I ignored the Class Up notification that popped up in the top right corner of my vision for the moment, instead smirking as I brought my hands together at the wrist and said "Fry bitch, Lightning X 10!"

A much shorter blast of electricity came out of the paired Sigils, slamming into the thoroughly soaked Grimm which screamed in pain, spasming as much as the Quicksand trap would allow it before a moment later it sagged to the ground, little arcs of electricity running around its body for a few more moments, its tail hanging limp on the ground.

I stared down at the NOT disintegrating monster and said "Huh, I thought for sure that'd kill it." Giving a shrug, I pointed my right hand at its head and said "Oh well, Light!" A single bolt shot out and pierced the Grimm's skull. Now the Grimm was dead, smoke rising off the body and I nodded in satisfaction.

From her spot at the top of her tree, Pyrrha cocked her head and asked "Couldn't you have just done that first?"

I shrugged and said "Could have, but it was a good chance to get a lot of hits in with a spell that doesn't have a lot of power to upgrade it. And since it gave me access to Bubble Beam and Water Shuriken I consider the Aura spent a good trade off."

"Riiight, your 'Spell Sigils' are weird." Pyrrha said after a moment.

"Weird but useful. Now come on, we still need to find those ruins." I said, leaping up off my Barrier hard enough to shatter it. Once I was high enough to get a good view of the area, I quickly found the Ruins, noting the yellow and black dots of BY's hair. Making another Barrier above me, I kicked off it to get back down to Pyrrha's level and said "Found it, follow me."

"Alright." Pyrrha said, and the pair of us quickly made our way to our target destination, staying at tree top level to avoid running into any ground bound Grimm. As such, it was only a minute or so later when we reached the ground in front of the ruins. As I brought our weight back down to normal, I waved at Blake and Yang and said "Hey girls!"

"Hey Tac, I see you managed to snag the Invincible Girl for your partner." Yang said with a thumb's up.

Seeing the resigned look in Pyrrha's eyes at her unwanted title, I rolled my own eyes and said "Yang, I think she'd prefer if you used her name rather than that ridiculous title."

"Oh, sorry." Yang said, giving Pyrrha a sheepish smile.

"Its fine, but I would prefer to be called by my name." Pyrrha said with a small smile of her own.

Yang nodded in understanding before our attention was brought up to the sky as Ruby came falling down head first. Snapping my arms up, I blasted her with Wind Jets, rapidly slowing her speed down, and incidentally flipping her so that way I could catch her in a princess carry. Grunting as she hit my arms, I glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow and said "Glad you could drop by Ruby."

Yang snickered at the joke while Ruby blushed hard enough to imitate her namesake, quickly scrabbling out of my arms. Before anything more could be said, an Ursa stumbled out of the woods, an explosion behind it causing it to fall to the ground, sending Nora rolling off of its back. Apparently, the explosion only knocked the Grimm unconscious not killed it because it remained whole as Nora groaned and said "Aah, it's 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!"

As Nora skipped back to her partner, Yang asked "Did that girl just come riding in on an Ursa?"

"Yes, yes she did." I said, turning my gaze skyward.

"Uh, what are you looking at?" Yang asked, sounding like she didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh, just Ruby's partner hanging from a Nevermore's talon." I said nonchalantly.

"Oh, is that all." Yang said before blinking and asked "Wait, what?!"

Everyone else turned their heads upwards and there like I said was Weiss hanging with one hand as the Nevermore flew around.

"I can't believe you just left me!" Weiss shouted down.

"I told you to jump!" Ruby shouted back.

"She's going to fall." Blake deadpanned.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said dismissively.

"She's falling." Ren deadpanned.

"Don't worry, I got her." I said easily, repeating the Wind Jet trick I used on Ruby, albeit without the flipping part since Weiss was considerate, or maybe that was unlucky enough, to be falling back first. Catching her easier than Ruby given she used a rapier rather than a giant scythe, I said "You know, just saying this, but as an heiress I think you match the parameters for this hold a bit better than Ruby did."

Weiss' cheeks dusted pink as she brought a fist up to her mouth and coughed once as she said "Yes, well, as true as that may be, could you please set me down?"

I placed her on her feet only to roll my eyes as Yang teased "My, my. I didn't realize you were such a lady's man Tac."

"I'm witty, not Casanova material Yang, I'm perfectly fine staying single for the rest of my life." I said earing raised eyebrows from all six present girls, yes even Nora, before I turned and strode into the ruins, going for the rook Nora didn't take and calling over my shoulder "Ruby, if you want to be on your sister's team then grab the knight."

"Ooh, thanks!" Ruby said, zipping over to the mentioned relic in a burst of rose petals.

"How'd you know I took the Knight?" Yang asked with a tilted head.

"You've got a motorcycle, subconsciously you would choose the horse." I said, lying my ass off before I smirked and said "Plus the head's sticking out of your pocket."

"Oh." Yang said, pushing the relic further down into her pocket.

Anything else that was going to be said was put on hold as the Nevermore above us gave a screech before flapping its wings harder than usual, sending several of them down at us.

"Incoming!" Pyrrha yelled, and the others scattered, Ruby and I ducking under the ruin's rim roof as the feathers slammed into the ground. Glancing up at the giant bird, I glanced back at Ruby and asked "Ruby, do you want to handle that giant turkey with the others or should I take care of it?"

"As if you could take on something that size by yourself!" Weiss retorted from where she and the others were now using the giant feathers for cover.

"You didn't see what he did to the Deathstalker we ran into." Pyrrha countered.

I ignored that though as Ruby gave me a hopeful smile and asked "Would you?"

Nodding, I spun around the pillar and lined up my right hand with the Nevermore as I called out "Light X 100!"

Like with the water spell, what came out of my hand wasn't a collection of bolts but a solid laser. The Nevermore never stood a chance. Not only did the first spell connect with its head, its momentum carried its body across the laser beam's path, cutting it completely in half lengthways. The bodies immediately began falling to the ground trailing black smoke, separating from each other as they did until they crashed through a few trees out of sight with loud crashing sounds.

"AWESOME!" Nora and Ruby shouted together.

"Whoa!" Yang muttered.

"That was impressive." Blake deadpanned with a raised eyebrow, Ren nodding with a hum of agreement.

"H-how did he do that?!" Weiss asked slack jawed.

Meanwhile, I glanced at my phone and said to myself "Huh, only took five percent of my Aura for all of those spells, thought it would be more for some reason. Oh nice, I've got Ellight, Light Lance and Light Ripple now, that last one's sure to be useful against Grimm."

Putting my phone away and clapping my hands to get everyone's attention, I said "Well, I think that's everything! Shall we start heading back to the cliff now?"

"Yeah, I guess we should." Yang said with a nod.

"Then let's go, last one there has to make pancakes for everyone for a month! Of course, when I say everyone, I mean me!" Nora said, zipping off.

Ren sighed, and said "Nora..." Before taking off after her, the rest of us running after the pair, though at a much more reasonable jogging pace.

Time Skip: Later That Day, Beacon Auditorium

The faces of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang drew together on the overhead screen as Ozpin said "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the White Knight pieces, from now on, you will be Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

Weiss, looked disappointed at the leader designation but not as bad as in the show, showing she had at least a somewhat positive opinion of her partner, who was being hugged by her sister. A moment later, they walked off the stage.

Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, and I walked on after them and Ozpin said "Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Tac Arc. The four of you retrieved the White Rooks. From now on, you shall be Team TPRN (Tupirin, pronounced Tuh-Pi-Rin), led by Tac Arc."

I let out a sigh and said lowly "Glad it's not Turnip like I feared."

"Indeed. Congratulations young man." Ozpin said with a slight smirk.

"Thanks, I'll try not to disappoint you sir." I said with a nod.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine Mr. Arc." Ozpin said, smirk turning into a small but genial smile.

And so our Initiation to Beacon Academy came to an end, and we now had proper classes to look forward to the next morning...joy.

END

Author's Notes: Well, that went longer than I thought at just under seven and a half thousand words but it's done now. Just need to do V2's initiation chapter then I think I'll do the One Piece stories. Also, I've got a new poll on my profile so have a look at that please.