"Jaune Arc, Emerald Sustrai, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces and will become team JSBY or Jazzberry, led by Jaune Arc."

Claps sounded out through the auditorium, which was now filled with a collection of students both old and new. The Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch had met the group of them as they had crested the cliffs. With a small congratulations Emerald and the rest had been taken to the school to rest before the ceremony.

"Wha-, I'm team leader?" Jaune started to look green as it dawned on him.

She had to agree with the feeling. While she had no interest in being team leader, it would be too time consuming to do among other downsides, she had to suspect that one of the other two might be better suited. Then again Cinder had told her what she knew about Ozpin, and the man seemed to bank on potential. The man as enigmatic at the best of times, so it seemed be best to just let things like this slide. The group stepped down from the stage as the last team rose behind them.

"Finally, we have Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie. They retrieved the white knight pieces and will become team RSVL or Rose Vale, led by Ruby Rose."

At this declaration a shrill whistle was blown by Yang as she started to yell up to her sister. This was another odd choice for leader in Emerald's opinion. Not only was the girl two years younger than everyone she seemed hopelessly naïve. Had Ozpin recruited her for some specific reason? That would be the obvious conclusion to be made, considering the odd circumstances surrounding the girl.

This was yet another thing that she would need to keep an eye on as she worked here. While her primary directive from Cinder was to investigate for any information on the Fall Maiden while she was here, it would be foolish of her to ignore this. Emerald looked up at the man on stage, trying to get a read on him but even her skills on reading people was thwarted. The would remain a mystery for a while yet.

Ozpin turned and walked to center stage, just before a microphone there and as he did all sound in the room seemed to die. The man certainly had a presence that demanded attention and respect of those around him. Some of them anyways. Emerald was too suspicious of the man to respect him.

"I want to congratulate all of the new students on passing our initiation. While it might seem odd to you now, in time you should come to understand why we do what we do. This is only your first step here at Beacon and I have high hopes that all of you can and will thrive here. These next four years are yours, use them wisely."

With that the man simply turned and walked backstage, leaving only a low din of whispers amongst the students. That was quickly ended as Miss Goodwitch stepped forward and started giving instructions for the first years about where they would be staying. Emerald had to fight back a frown at the thought. Dorm rooms, ugh. There would be no break for her while she was here, but she knew that coming in. The mantra from before appeared again. You're doing this for Cinder. For Cinder. Cinder.

"So, boss man what's the plan?" Yang called to Jaune, who looked to still be in a daze from before.

"Ah… yeah, well for now lets just work on getting situated and settled… I guess."

"Righty-o!" She gave him a quick salute and a grin.

With these words the group started their way out of the room, following the flow of first-years.

Ozpin let the acrid scent of the coffee in his cup fill his nose before brining the cup to his lips, sipping it lightly. He felt as the bitter taste filled his mouth and then the small rush of caffeine as he swallowed. He stood looking out of the large bay windows that his office was comprised of, one of the benefits of his position. The sun had set, and he could see a soft glow of light coming from many of the windows in the dorms. The new students no doubt getting settled and off to bed. It had been a long day for everyone involved.

With a quiet ding the doors of the elevator opened, and the familiar clicking of heels let Ozpin know who it was without having to look. He could have guess even without it, but that small reassurance was welcome. He turned as Glynda stopped just in front of his desk and set down a small stack of folders. Transcripts and information on their new students that he would be going over.

"Ah, Glynda, thank you for your hard work today. I appreciate it, as always."

The woman just let out a small sigh as she sat heavily into a nearby chair. After a moment to straighten her hair and glasses she met his eye again. Without a word Ozpin quickly pulled out a cup and saucer and poured her some tea that had been ready and waiting for her. Glynda took it with a grateful nod, bringing the cup up to take in the aroma. After a small sip she set it back down lightly against the saucer giving it time to cool.

"Every year it amazes me how busy this day is. Though I guess it should be expected when we launch teenagers into a Grimm infested forest." The blonde woman just gave Ozpin a look over her glasses.

"Ah well it's unfortunate that the circumstances work out to be like that," Ozpin replied, his tone flat.

Glynda just snorted derisively at him. The headmaster looked way from her and down to the stack of folders now piled on his desk. Sitting back before his desk he took one from the top before lightly flipping it open to study the contents. Staring back at him was a picture of one Ruby Rose accompanied by her previous school records and a number of other reports. While he had little to no doubt that the girl would make it through it was nice to see that his estimation of her had not been wrong.

"It's a shame about Miss Nikos. Who would have thought that she wouldn't have passed initiation?" Glynda remarked.

"Yes, well it seems that despite the moniker that she has the girl herself isn't infallible. That should be obvious, seeing as she is only a seventeen-year-old girl. While she stood a head above her peers within the official scene there is no doubt in my mind that others that match or exceed her skill exist. Some of which likely do not want to be in the lime-light."

Glynda frowned for a moment as she thought on his words. "Do you think that something happened to her then? The fact that she was only knocked unconscious without other injuries was strange. Besides the fact that James had expressed interest in the girl for our other matters. She we make an exception in this case?"

"No, we will leave things as they turned out," Ozpin sighed. "While it would have been preferable to have her here it appears that it didn't work out that way. I would be remiss to accept the girl only to draw more attention to her, both good and ill. As for our other matter… while James will certainly have words on it I believe that this might be for the best. If Miss Nikos has faltered here, then that might have proved problematic for issues going forwards. For now, all we can do is keep an eye out for another candidate. I have ideas for others but until we can vet them they will stay as people of interest for now."

"Is Ruby Rose one such person? I did wonder if there was a reason you pushed her here more heavily than you normally would."

Ozpin took a moment before answering, looking over the files and taking sip of his coffee. "While she might have the potential for that there are a number of reasons I brought her into the school. Going forward I'll just ask you to keep an eye out for any interesting pupils among the students."

Glynda finished the last of her tea before standing, knowing that the headmaster would say nothing more on the subject. Even after knowing him all these years she still didn't know everything about him but knew that he had his reasons for playing some thing close to the chest. She trusted his judgement on this and as such would leave the man to his thoughts. With a call goodnight she made her way out of his office.

Ozpin slowly span his chair so that he was once again looking out on the academy. The familiar grinding of gears above him helped him relax as thought on too many things at once. He wouldn't find any answers tonight, but this was only the first day. They had plenty of time to decide things still. Turning back to his desk he picked up another folder and investigated the contents.

"Hmmm, Emerald Sustrai…"

Yang was never an early riser, probably due to having low blood pressure in the morning she never felt truly awaken until she had taken a shower. The warm water and steam were needed so that she could even open her eyes fully. That would remain true even with her time here at Beacon, and this first morning is mirror all of the other before it. Yang studied herself in the mirror as she finished her morning preparations, taking in how she looked in their uniform.

Hot, as expected. When you were working with a base as good as hers it wasn't really a question. Using her fingers to light comb through the golden locks she set them in place.

"Umm… Yang? Are you almost ready? We have to get going soon if we don't want to be late, so…" Jaune called through the bathroom door.

Now that was something unlike all of her time before. Cohabitating with a guy, she wasn't sure if her dad would approve. While it wasn't something she was used to it didn't seem like it would be too bad. It might have been different if the boy in question was someone else though. Jaune looked to be many things but a wolf was not one of them. He was more like puppy, determined but ultimately harmless, which was fine with her.

Finished with getting ready Yang quickly went and open the door, coming face to face with Jaune. The knight let out a soft yelp as he stepped back from her, surprised by the sudden proximity. Suppressing a grin Yang stepped back from the boy before twirling, allowing him to take in her entire form.

"So, what do you think? Do I look good?"

She saw as the blonde boy's eyes roved over her before he could stop himself, and he flushed heavily as he finished and met her eye. Yang could only chuckle as Jaune looked away, and she turned to see the reaction of the other two present. Her partner Blake only looked on with what looked like disinterest, but she could see the slight curl at the edges of the girl's lips. Emerald on the other hand was smiling widely at the display, apparently amused at the by-play between the two blondes.

After a moment to collect himself Jaune looked over his teammates, "Well, are you guys all ready for our first day?"

"Yeah!" Yang pumped her fist in the air as she answered, while the other two girls only rolled their eyes at her. Ah, that was no fun. Jaune shot her a weak smile that she replied with by winking at him. Bouncing over to her partner Yang wrapped her arm in Blake's forcibly before dragging the girl towards the door.

"Onward to education!" Yang yelled as she ignored the protests coming from the black-haired girl. If Blake thought she could escape becoming friends and joining in her fun, she had another thing coming.

Whatever Jaune had thought he would be doing when he joined Beacon, this wasn't exactly it. He had imagined combat classes, which they had later in the week but also things like combat theory or something of the like. The first class had been Grimm Studies, which seemed obvious now that he looked back on it. Knowing your enemy was usually a good start when you were going to fight them, after all knowledge was power, or so he heard.

The issue with this had to be that it was taught by Professor Port and as such it was less of learning and more hearing of his supposed exploits. At first, he and the others had been listened closely, but that had quickly stopped when they heard the man tell them that he had killed an Ursa by throwing his shoe at it. If the stories were true it would be impressive, but they just turned out to be so dull many people had fallen asleep, one of which was Yang.

He, Emerald and Blake had been awake the whole time, but Blake had been reading a book and Emerald looked like she had been doing something on her scroll for most of the class. Jaune had no such respite so all he could do was try and listen, but mostly he had zoned out for what he could only assume was minutes at a time. The knight wasn't the only one that had let out a sigh of relief when the bell rung.

While their next class, History, had proved more interesting it was almost just as hard to pay attention to, but for a wholly different reason. Doctor Oobleck seemed to be extremely invested in what he taught and equally knowledgeable, which was nice compared to Port. The problem here was that Doctor Oobleck talked so quickly that Jaune could barely make out every third word that the man said. That tended to make it quite difficult to take notes or even follow what was happening.

In the end the day had not been too exciting, mostly the opposite in fact, but Jaune didn't let that spoil his mood. The fact that he was here in Beacon was more than enough for him right now, along with the fact that he got along with his teammates. Emerald was still a bit of a mystery to him, but she didn't seem to dislike him which was good. Yang was enthusiastic and didn't look to mind that he was team leader which was great. And while Blake was quiet the dark-haired girl looked to be far friendlier than her first impression would imply.

Jaune could feel a smile slid across his face. Things were looking good so far, even if it had only been a day, and for that Jaune was grateful.

"Ah, I can't wait for combat classes to start. Hey Jaune, maybe we'll end up going a round against each other soon. Sounds fun, right?" Yang asked him as they headed back to the dorm, a knowing smirk on her face.

The smile that Jaune wore disappeared as he felt his face pale at the thought of fighting the blonde brawler. Perhaps he had spoken too soon, and thing were going to get much, much worse.

Hello and welcome back.

I'm sorry for the fact that this chapter is quite short, and that it ended up out on Sunday instead of Saturday. The reason for both is that I had quite a bit of trouble pulling this chapter together. I didn't have a solid plan for the content in this chapter outside of a few vague ideas, which made it tough to pull it together. In general I am going to aim for each chapter to be around 5k words, but in this case I didn't want to needlessly stretch this out when I had covered everything I wanted to here.

I have a much more solid plan for the next two chapters and beyond so it shouldn't be a problem again I hope.

As for this chapter, yes as it turns out Pyrrah is not going to be joining Beacon, which I hope I covered sufficiently here, but if needed I will add more about it later. I do have ideas for her to show up again, but those are not set yet so she may reappear later, she may not, I'll have to see.

I aim to have the next chapter out Feb 24th and it will for sure be longer than this one.

Thanks for reading!