Raven looked down at the blond boy from her tree. She was a bird, of course, to make sure she wasn't noticed- by the boy or by the grimm.

The boy was strong, even with just his fists. He didn't even seem to have a weapon, but she assumed his semblance was something to do with his strength. Unless, of course, it was his aura backing up his strength, but every time he punches one of the grimm, it lets out a burst of energy.

But then another grimm came out of the woods, and Raven got ready to shift and jump down. Even as strong as the boy seemed, the grimm came to suddenly for him to do anything about it. She didn't want a potential partner to die this early.

She never got the chance to shift though. As soon as the grimm ran out behind him, the boy punched the one in front of him, making it fly into the trees, before whirling around to face the new grimm. Barely noticeable, a pair of brass knuckles unfolded around his hands, and he punched the grimm before to could even touch him.

Raven was impressed, really. In terms of brute strength, this boy seemed to be on the high end of the spectrum for first year students. He was also professional when fighting, unlike her brother. He seemed like her best bet as a partner.

Also, the longer she went without a partner, the more of a chance her brother got to find her. And she did not want to be partners with her brother.

So with these thoughts in mind, she jumped down from the tree behind him, shifting half way down. The boy whirled around, already in fighting position. Good, always on guard then. She made sure to make eye contact, not saying anything. The boy blinked before straightening up. He was silent for a moment looking at her before smiling bright.

"I get to be partners with someone beautiful! This is the best!" He said happily. "Name's Taiyang Xiao Long! You?"

Raven stared at him for long moment before just walking off. No, no. This was a mistake. A very big mistake.

"Wha- H-hey wait! Miss! Don't walk off, we're partners now!"

xXx

Summer jumped off the boy she ran into as soon as she processed what happened. She could just feel her face turning red, and she was glad her hood was up to hide that fact. "Oh my god I am so sorry!"

The boy just laid there for a moment, making her almost afraid she had knocked him unconscious, if she couldn't see him sigh. She supposed he was allowed to be annoyed, after just being knocked down. He sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He didn't say anything, just looking at her. She glanced away nervously, wondering why he was staring, before realizing they were probably partners now.

She took a step back, looking him over. He had black hair, and strange red eyes, along with a simple black outfit and red cape. She smiled. He didn't look so bad, and they had similar fashion, so that was a plus. When he still didn't say anything, she took it upon herself to begin the conversation.

"I'm Summer Rose! What's your name, since we're partners?" She asked, making sure to keep her voice confidant, like Aunt Blake taught her. The boy just looked at her surprised.

"Partners? Why are we partners?" He asked, before looking at the rose petals that she was sure were behind her after that use of her semblance. "White petals? Oh!" He looked back at her. "You're the one that knocked me over yesterday."

"I-I did?" She asked, even more embarrassed. She didn't even realized that she had knocked anyone else over besides the one girl. (Come to think about it, he looks an awful lot like that girl…) How many people did she knock over without even knowing?

Oh, why did she use her semblance yesterday? Sure, it got her to where she was excited to go much faster, but she could never see when she went that fast! Her mother told her to mostly use it to back up her punches, not to get to place to place. She should have listened, especially in a crowded place like that. The boy sighed and stood up.

"Yeah, but it's fine. Really." He said, tilting his head to try and look under her hood. But she kept it up, until she could stop being embarrassed and blushing. "Name's Qrow. Qrow Branwen. Why are we partners?"

"Why are we…. Didn't you listen to the Headmistress?"

"Hm….nope." He said, popping the 'p'. She blinked.

"….why?"

"It's not like I meant to." Qrow rolled his eyes. "So come on, explain it."

She huffed, crossing her arms. Something about his tone didn't sit right with her. "You partner with the first person you make eye contact with in the forest."

"Ooooooohhh." He said, nodding his head. "Makes sense."

There was silence for a moment.

"…Should we make sure everyone in the fire is alright?" Summer asked, remembering why she was running this way. Even if she found her partner outside of that, she should still go help. Qrow glanced behind him and shrugged.

"I don't think anyone was in there. I saw the ones who started the fire run out a bit earlier."

"Welll…" She hesitated, looking at the smoke. "It you're sure, I suppose we should go find the relics."

"Relics?"

"Wow. You really didn't listen. Come on, I'll explain as we walk."

She started walking, and after a moment Qrow followed her. It was silent for a moment, as she tried to get a full explanation in her head, before Qrow spoke again.

"Are you going to take off your hood?"

"Hm…" She smiled and popped the 'p'. "Nope."

xXx

"Are you sure this is where we should go?" Peter asked, looking around. He, himself, wasn't sure how to get to the cliffs, but he was starting to think his partner didn't either.

"Of course I do!" Said partner, Bartholomew Oobleck, said, jerking his arm around as he talked. "Headmistress Nikos said that we need to go to the cliffs after we find our partners, which we did, and so to the cliffs we are going to. Now obviously, the cliffs are along those mountains, as where else would the cliffs be? I'm sure once we get to higher ground than what we are currently on, it will be very clear to you where the cliffs that hold the relics are!" He ended his rant with a sip of his thermos, which happened to also be the weapon he set the forest on fire with earlier. Peter wasn't sure it was safe to drink from a weapon like that, but oh well. He had bigger things to worry about, like figuring what the hell his partner just said.

It took him a few minutes to go through the ranting in his head, and once he understood it, he laughed.

"All excellent points Barty!" He said, hitting him on the back, making him stumble a bit. "But maybe you should lay off the coffee!"

"Coffee?" Bart asked, looking at him confused over his glasses. "What about coffee?"

"Er…" Peter stumbled over his words for a second, confused why Bartholomew was confused. "You know….the coffee….in your thermos." Bart just looked at him in confusion for a moment longer before understanding lit up his face.

"Oh! You think what is in my thermos is coffee because of my fast pace speaking and moving! Well I must assure you it isn't. What is in my thermos is non-caffeinated tea. My mother had forbidden me from coffee, saying I do not need it. This is just my normal speaking pace, and my fast speed is…. my semblance." He took another sip and Peter stared.

"….your mother sounds like a smart women Barty." He said very seriously, mentally making plans to make sure Bart never had coffee. Bart nodded, smiling.

"Why yes she is!" He paused, longer than Peter has seen him pause since they met. "Don't call me Barty. My name is Bart, or Bartholomew."

"I think Barty is a fine nickname though!" Peter said, laughing. Bart huffed before sharply looking into the woods as they heard a growl. Peter smirked and moved to get his weapon out before he felt Bartholomew grabs his hand.

"I need you to hold on tight Peter." He said, and before Peter could ask why, he was being pulled along with him as he sped through the woods.

"Sh-shit!"

xXx

"Well that was easy." Glynda said, picking up one of the silver coins from the temple and inspecting it closely. This was the relic? It almost didn't seem worth the trouble.

"Well it's not like it was hard to find." Ozpin said from behind her. She glanced at him as he looked at the other coins on the pillars. "These all have different symbols on them. Which one did you pick?"

She looked back down at the coin in her hand, paying close attention to the red symbol on it. She ran her thumb over it, watching it catch the dying sunlight and shine. "Wisdom. I figured it fit the two of us."

"Fit the two of us?" Ozpin asked, looking at her amused. "Well I suppose you aren't wrong, but we've only known each other for a few hours." He flipped the cane in his hand again, making her sigh annoyed.

"I've known you long enough to know that if you keep flipping that cane you won't have it anymore." She snapped, already tired of that little habit of his. Her threat seemed not to affect him, as he didn't change his emotion, but he did retract the cane and put it back in his pocket. "Thank you."

Ozpin opened his mouth to say something else, probably "you're welcome" in that annoying tone of his, but he was cut off by a girl walking out of the forest. Glynda watched her walk up, slightly confused that she didn't have a partner with her, before seeing a boy come out of the woods behind her.

Well, more like heard him before seeing him. Glynda frowned, listening to him whine about how they were partners now, and that she's the one who made eye contact with him. The boy seemed annoying, but it sounded like the girl started it. She huffed. The two will never make it as partners.

She saw Ozpin shift out of the way as the girl walked past him, and grabbed one of the gold coins, with the symbol of Strength. The boy ran up behind her and smiled.

"Ah, gold like my hair and strength like my semblance huh?"

"Don't be stupid," The girl said coldly, and the boy seemed surprised to hear her speak. How long had she been ignoring him? "Your hair is more of a dusty blond than a gold, and you're semblance has nothing to do with my desire for strength."

"…..Ah ha! You can tell me what shade of blond my hair is even though you haven't looked at me this whole time!" The boy said, getting over the dejected look he had on his face rather quickly. He almost looked smug. "You must be interested in me!"

The girl whirled around and hit him on his head. The boy winced and stepped back, rubbing where she hit.

"Ow! Shit, miss what was that for?"

"She hasn't even given him her name…" She heard Ozpin mutter beside her. She jumped, a little startled. She hadn't realized that he had gotten that close to her.

"I told you not to be stupid." The girl said, glaring. "I always size up my opponents!"

"But…." The boy said, both sad and confused. "We aren't opponents… we're partners."

The girl looked ready to argue, but Ozpin cut her off. Glynda was glad, not wanting to hear any more arguing. "He seems to be correct miss. You two are partners, and nothing is going to change that."

"You might as well try and get along." Glynda added in, looking at the two over the top of her glasses. The boy looked at the girl hopeful, and the girl just sighed.

"My name is Raven. Don't get in my way and everything will be fine. Got it Taiyang?"

The boy, Taiyang, nodded quickly, smiling. "No prob Rae!"

"Not Rae, Raven." Raven snapped.

"Oh come on Rae Rae." Said a new voice, making Glynda look sharply to the left. There, beside the pillars with the coins, were two people, a boy and a girl. The boy, who was the one who spoke, was obviously related to Raven, but Glynda was more worried about how they got around them without them noticing. She glanced at Ozpin, who looked just as confused.

"Shut up Qrow." Raven snapped at the boy, Qrow. Qrow just smirked as his partner picked up a coin near them, gold with the same symbol that Raven's had.

"Oh come on sis." Qrow said amused, pushing his hair back out of his face. He glanced at Taiyang, then her, then at Ozpin and just stopped. "Hey, you're that boy with the cane."

She saw Ozpin twitch, but he still nodded. "My name is Ozpin."

"It's nice to finally know your name." Qrow mused, before glancing back at his partner as she made a surprised noise and pointed at Raven.

"You're the girl that just walked away rudely!" She said, shaking her arms and making her cloak flutter behind her. Raven just rolled her eyes.

"Rudely? You're the one that knocked me over." She said, and the girl pulled her hand back against her chest quickly, blushing. Or Glynda was pretty sure she was blushing. Her hood was covering most of her face.

"I said I was sorry about that…"

"Oh you knocked us both over." Qrow said, laughing. "Here I thought I was special Summer."

"Well…" Summer muttered, looking away. "I did knock you over twice…."

"True True." Qrow agreed. Raven scoffed.

"Partners with a clutz Qrow?"

"She's not a clutz Raven." Qrow gave his sister a half-hearted glare before glancing behind her. "Your partner doesn't seem much better."

Taiyang seemed surprised at being addressed before glaring. "What's that supposed to mean bird brain-"

Any argument that would have started was thankfully stopped but the sound of panicked swearing coming out of the forest. One minute there was nothing to see, the next there was two boys halfway between the forest and the pillars, the green haired one in front and pulling along the stumbling blond one.

Of course, any thankfulness Glynda felt at the interruption was quickly brushed aside as it became clear what the boys where running from. A grimm, a rather big one, came crashing out of the forest after them, and it didn't look like it was going to go down easy. She cursed under her breath and got her riding crop/whip ready, and saw the others do the same out of the corner of her eye.

Ozpin got out his cane and gun, Qrow unfolded his sword. Raven got the dust cartridges in her sheath ready, brass knuckles unfolded around Taiyang's hands. Summer reached into her cloak and pulled out what appeared to be two tonfas. The green haired boy skidded to a stop infront of them before quickly turning around and extending his thermos like a telescope. The blond boy, after catching his breath and getting his balance back, pulled out his own weapon. A…. trumpet?

"Never do that again Barty." The blond boy said, getting into a battle postion.

"Don't call me that." Barty- excuse her, Bart said, making the end of his thermos light up.

These two boys were weird. She sighed and looked back at the grimm, which seemed to have slowed down as it got closer, only to speed up again as a few beowolves came out to join it. Hopefully they could fight, no matter how weird they were.

xXx

"Do you think they'll be ok?" Jaune asked, looking over Pyrrah's shoulder at the video feed on her scroll. "That grimm seems oddly powerful for these woods."

"hm…." Pyrrah was silent for a moment, watching the fighting start. "There's eight of them, so they should be fine. But have Nora and Ren on stand by, just in case."

"Right." Jaune nodded, and texted his two friends. It probably would have been faster to just call them, but he didn't want to miss any of this fight. "Ruby's kid is doing well."

"Yes she is." Pyrrah smiled. "But then three of Team RWBY raised her after all. But I'm kinda curious about those twins to be honest."

"The twins?" Jaune glanced at his friend. "Qrow and Raven Branwen? What about them?"

"Their transcripts say they were raised in a town just outside the kingdoms, but they seem to be fighting pretty…" She paused, trying to think of a word. "Vehemently to have been raised in a peaceful village."

"Maybe there were a lot of grimm." Jaune reasoned. "The villages outside the kingdoms always have a problem with grimm."

"Yes… that's possible." Pyrrah said, smiling. "But I would still like to keep an eye on them."

"Roger that ma'am." Jaune said, saluting. Pyrrah just laughed and looked at him.

"Jaune don't ever do that again." She said, smiling. Jaune just smiled back, before them went back to watching the fight.

xXx

So we're almost done with the opening bit. Finally.

Should I write the fight with the grimm? I probably won't. Trying to write fight scenes with that many characters just sounds awful. But you know… they win and they learn to work together somewhat.

So I spent a while, thinking about Taiyang's and Summer's weapons/Semblances and that's what I came up with. In canon, hereditary semblances were a Schenee thing, so I needed to make sure that Tai's semblance was different than Yang's. So instead of taking an enemy's power and hitting back harder, he takes the momentum of his own punches and transforms that into blasts. The harder the punch the stronger the blast. And he has brass knuckles!

If anyone has any ideas what else they could be, please tell me because I don't think brass knuckles can also be a gun. So.

As for Summer, her semblance is very similar to Ruby's, because I already had that written last chapter before remembering the Schenee thing- I mean. Because they already share silver eye powers, it would make sense for them to also have a rare, hereditary semblance. But I also tried to make them somewhat different. I mean, just because they both have super speed with petals doesn't mean it has to be played the same way.

And her weapons are tonfas, which you should probably just google. She keeps them on her back, hidden by her cloak. They are also a gun-I mean... can also be put together to make a staff, and can extend a blade in staff form. ;)

So what do you think? Leave me your thoughts in a comment/review!