Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon, Part II

Jaune's POV:

As I re-entered the airport, I ran to the conveyor belt to grab my luggage that contained a few outfits, my onesie, a toothbrush, a grey rain jacket and some deodorant. I waited for ten minutes until I saw a brown suitcase with duct tape wrapped around the handle, making it easier to differentiate from other people's' suitcases in case their suitcases were brown too. As soon as I saw it I grabbed it and tore right through the suitcase, digging desperately for my toothbrush.

After making a large mess around me, I finally found the small case that held my toothbrush, the solution to my biggest problem, bad breath. You see, vomiting on a plane five times really does a number on your breath, making you all the more self-conscious. After setting the toothbrush to my side, I threw all of my clothes back into the suitcase, but as I was about to grab my toothbrush, some jerk, accidentally or on purpose, ended up kicking the case that my toothbrush was held in, sliding it farther away from me.

"No!" I made a sprint for it, but as soon as I was about to bend down and grab it again, it was kicked again by another traveler, sliding it from my grasp yet again.

"Stop!"

And it happened.

"Quit kicking it!"

Again.

"What?!"

And again.

"Dammit!"

And again.

"Get back here!"

And once again.

"Argh!" I've had enough of this, I made a roll for the plastic container that held the only solution for my vomit breath, and I finally caught it in the middle of it's repetitious act, "Aha! I've got you now!

However, when I was walking, it made the toothbrush container shake with every step I took, but there was no shaking to be heard, just a lightweight in his hands.

"Please don't tell me…" I opened it to hopefully prove myself wrong, but was horrified to see that the toothbrush container was as hollow as my will to live, "Awww, man."

Angrily, I made my way back to where I abandoned my suitcase, thankful to see that it hadn't been stolen. I set the empty toothbrush container inside the suitcase, zipped it up, and made my way outside.

'Maybe there's a grocery store around here somewhere…' As I was walking towards the nearby bus stop about three blocks away, I pulled out my phone and looked at the bus schedule and it's route, the good news was that Beacon Academy was only ten minutes away, the bad news is that there wasn't a grocery store anywhere near the route the bus was taking, which means me and the people I talk to will just have to deal with my vomit breath until the orientation ends.

As I continued to walk to the bus stop, I noticed a beautiful stranger, vibrant red hair and emerald eyes that seemed to draw the attention of every living being, or at least, she grabbed mine. She wore a knee-length red dress that fit well over her figure, with a pair of dark gold high heels. It wasn't until she looked at me did I notice I was staring at her, turning my face nearly as red as her hair. I tried playing it cool the only way I knew how.

"Hey, look at that!" I pointed to the sign. Nailed it.

She seemed confused for a moment until she started laughing, as she saw just what I was pointing to, "What? You mean the bus schedule?" She continued to laugh and only until the bus arrived did it slack off gradually.

Gradually being the key word.

As we made our way onto the public transit system, a few heads turned at her quiet, but noticeable giggle, and after a while I started to laugh as well, showing my vulnerability to such an infectious sound.

"Oh," she wiped a small tear starting to form on the corner of her eye, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, I just-"

She was cut off by more laughter.

"I'm sorry," her laughter started to cease, "I don't know what was so funny, it was quite charming honestly."

"It's okay," it felt good to laugh. To smile, "To be honest, I just didn't want you to think I was intentionally staring."

"It's fine," warmness in her voice enveloped me, "I space out a lot too."

After a few moments of silence, she broke the deafening sound, "You wouldn't happen to know who I am, would you?."

"Um," the question caught me off guard, "I can't say I do, should I?"

"No," it was noticeable that some tension in her voice had been released, "I'm glad you don't, it seems too many people know who I am."

She spaced out on the second part, letting even more silence echo between us. Now it was my turn to break it.

"Who are you?" I said, curiosity getting the best of me, and after a moment of her just staring, she finally answered.

"Pyrrha," she said with what appeared to be a genuine smile, "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Well," I put my hand out for the shaking, "I'm Jaune Arc, and you wouldn't happen to have any gum, would you?"

She covered her mouth with her hand, stifling more laughter, "Sure," she fished a pack of cinnamon gum from her tarnished gold purse, "here you go."

"Thank you so much," I eagerly grab two pieces of gum and went to town on them immediately, feeling the effects turn the bad taste in my mouth into a far more tolerable one. I handed the pack of gum back to her and she placed it back into her purse.

"Not a problem," she cheerily replied, "I noticed your suitcase," she motioned down towards the brown case, holding an underwhelming amount of supplies."

"Oh yeah!" I had nearly forgotten about that, "I'm not from Vale, I arrived from Atlas to attend Beacon Academy."

"You too?" She looked surprised, "Well then, I'll be seeing you at orientation I guess!"

"Yeah," I gave a wide grin, "Save me a seat?"

"Sure thing!" She laughed, we carried on a normal conversation, talking about things we liked, what we wanted to do after school, all of that. Sadly, the exchange was cut short not due to arriving at Beacon, but the yelling that became more clear once the doors of the bus opened.

"I'm so sorry!" said a younger girl with black hair with red tips, "I didn't see where I was going, and I was lost, and-"

"And nothing! You can't just go around running into people's things without even thinking of where you're going, what makes you think that's okay?" an older, white haired girl said while towering over her, she may have had white hair, but she was anything but old, she was most definitely in my age range.

I looked at Pyrrha and she nodded, as though we had come to some silent agreement.

"Do you want to break it up? Or would you like me to?" Pyrrha asked confidently, ready to help in any way she can.

"Like I said," I walked away from Pyrrha, looking back and flashing a bright smile all the while, "Save me a seat in the auditorium!"

She smiled back and made her way in the direction of the school, and as I see her walking away, I notice just how grand the school actually is, filtering out the argument that made me get off the bus first, I focused on the fine details of Beacon Academy.

The school was shaped very much like the Disney castle you'd see in the opening of the movies and shows of the infamous franchise, the highest point of the castle being as pointed as an elf's ears, and all other towers surrounding the school sloped off at a perfect, forty-five degree angle, making the most OCD of people satisfied. The next thing was the entrance, light gray and thick concrete walls that seemed to protect the school from any outside threats, and it all lead into its own little park, complete with ponds and forestry.

'Focus, Jaune!' I chastised myself internally, 'you're walking this direction to break up this argument, not to gawk at the school.'

When I turned my attention back to the fight, I noticed a new face, a black haired girl who had a matching bow on top of her head, she had golden eyes that seemed to glow in the light and light skin, but it was still evident that she had spent some time in the sun, making her look several shades darker in comparison to the white haired girl, as she could almost pass off as an albino.

I saw the white haired girl yank something out of the black haired girl's hands, storming off in a frenzy. I noticed the younger girl with the red-tipped hair attempt to say something to her apparent savior, but had either not heard her, or ignored her. Either way, she is to be praised to stop that one girl's tyranny.

The younger girl slumped down in defeat, and said just loud enough for people who were close enough to hear: "Welcome to Beacon…" and then curled up in an upright ball with her arms around her knees.

"Hey," I said nervously, expecting that it was her turn to blow up, either way I held out my hand to help her up, "I'm Jaune, and you look like you need a friend."

"I'm Ruby," she smiled faintly, obviously still upset at the argument that happened before the 'knight in shining armor' arrived, "and a friend sounds really nice right about now."

"All I'm saying is, motion sickness is a much more common problem than what people let on!" I made the stupid decision to recount all of my plights to the young girl named Ruby, who was laughing all the while when I told her my many difficulties that came with today.

"I'm sorry," Ruby put her hands up defensively, "Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh yeah," I wiggled my eyebrows deviously, "what if I started calling you... klutzoid?"

"That really the best you can think of, Jauney-boy?" Ruby said with a smug frankness, making me cringe at my very own word choice.

"Agh," Jaune said, "yeah… that's the best I can think of…"

A moment of childish laughter enveloped the atmosphere, lightening the discomfort I had originally felt in my own, poor nicknaming.

"Alright," Ruby's laugh slacked off quicker than Pyrrha's did, "I won't call you Vomit Boy."

That small act of kindness let an unrecognized bit of weight off of my shoulders, making me thank God for the saints I have had pleasure of socializing with today. Despite the bit of kinship demonstrated in that moment, awkward silence soon followed.

'I've really got to get better at this 'socializing-with-girls-thing,'' after this specific moment, I had never felt more determined to make a change in my socialization habits.

"So how did you get into Beacon? I asked, attempting to uphold my resolve, "I mean, there's no doubt you're smart, but I thought this place was only accessible to juniors and seniors."

"I was always at the top of my class, and since Yang got into Beacon, Headmaster Ozpin did some research on me as well and allowed me to come to Beacon early."

"Wow," that was all I could say, I had no idea the person I was talking to was so smart.

But then he wondered, is that the truth? Or did she come here by other means?

He really couldn't be one to judge. Beacon was unbelievably hard to get into, so I can see why someone would be willing to do whatever they needed to in order to make their transcripts nice and neat.

"So why did you help me?" Ruby asked, snapping me out of my thoughts, "I mean, I appreciate it, but I haven't even met you until today and you've been nothing but nice to me, what gives?"

"My mom always said strangers are just friends you've never met yet." I said easily, wanting to let the younger girl know I had the purest of intentions as far as reaching out to her.

Ruby seemed pleased at that answer and went back to walking with me, quietly and contently, both of them unaware of the time that was passing before them.

"Where are we going?" She asked inquisitively, "I enjoy walking around, but we've been doing this for a while now, haven't we?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," I answered truthfully, "I've just been following you. I haven't really been keeping track of where we've been, I've just been talking."

She pulled her phone out, "it's 11:39 and orientation starts at twelve, so we may need to find a directory.

"That might take too long," I looked around for a directory, although there were none to be seen, "We can probably make our way back to the front of the school and follow the crowd, it would be much more easier."

She nodded her head as I turned to lead the way back to the entrance of the school, walking at a faster pace in order to get there in time for both the orientation and to snag the seat Pyrrha had, hopefully, saved for me.

After a following the trail me and Ruby had been walking on for so long, it led back to the main entrance of the school. We still had plenty of time to spare by the time we walked through the grand doors of the school, and with that fact in mind, we didn't have to rush to find the auditorium, giving us both a lot more wiggle room as far as 'taking time' was concerned.

Within a few minutes of searching, we found said area, making our way inside to, yet again, gawk at an amazing piece of architecture.

To say it was impressive would be an understatement, as a glass ceiling covered the entirety of the area, allowing all students to bask in natural light as opposed to a more signature auditorium in most high schools, all of them being poorly lit and stuffy. The walls were a stainless white marble, tall and round pillars that seemed to stretch on for fifteen or so feet, supporting the glass ceiling. The room was rounded into a perfect circle, with bleachers surrounding the area above ten feet in the air, giving more space for students and staff alike to sit in case the already vast area was too cramped. The next most noticeable thing was the stage where we would be hearing Headmaster Ozpin welcome us to his school, it only stood about five feet in tall, making it fairly easy to climb up on the stage without the use of the stairs on either side of the stage.

"Hey, Ruby!" A blonde yelled, her voice very clear, even against the conversations of the crowd, "I saved you a seat!"

"Ooh," she turned to me, " I gotta go now, Jaune, but thank you for helping me!" She waved me off and made her way to over to the vacant seat next to the blonde, a small argument that seemed to follow almost as soon as she sat down.

After hearing the word 'seat', I wondered where Pyrrha was and if she saved me a spot. My eyes scanned for her and after a solid minute of standing there, looking, I heard a clear and proper voice call out my name.

"Jaune!"

I looked to see where the proper, but familiar, voice came from. I saw Pyrrha wave me over, signalling towards the seat she had kept open for me. I smiled and made my way past clustered groups of people.

"Excuse me! Pardon! Gotta get through! Sorry!" I wiggled my way through walls of people and finally made it to the seat where my new friend was, relieved to find she had stayed true on her promise.

"Hello!" Pyrrha's voice rang happily, "I hope this seat is okay."

"Oh yeah," I said reassuringly, "a little of something is always better than all of nothing."

Her brows rose with agreement, as well as a smile that soon followed. Before I could carry on a conversation, the room grew silent as a fit, light gray-haired man walked onto stage and tapped his microphone.

"May I have your attention please?" Silence soon follows, "thank you."

"I'll… keep this brief," he began, "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 skills to whatever it is that you desire to do. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

'He seemed… out of it.' I thought internally, I was snapped out of any thoughts once more, by another person who stepped on stage, this time a woman.

"You all will gather at the ballroom tonight - tomorrow, your initiation begins." She added at the end of Ozpin's speech, "Be ready, you are dismissed!"

"Initiation?" I said aloud, "What does she mean by 'be ready'?"

I began to panic, I felt my blood run cold, it doesn't matter how I prepare for whatever lies ahead, I won't ever be ready! I started to hyperventilate, I felt the walls close in on me, my world was spinning and my heart was pounding.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha looked worried, "are you okay?"

Afraid that I was going to have an audience, I steeled my nerves and began to gather my bearings.

'You need to breath, Jaune,' I chided internally, 'breath.'

I met Pyrrha's eyes, "I'm fine, I just remembered something, that's all."

She didn't look convinced, but decided to drop it anyways.

"Okay then," she gave a smile, "well, if you need something, don't hesitate to ask!"

"Thank you," I said, finally gaining a bit of composure back. Right under the surface, I still feared for tomorrow, but I had to keep a level head if I wanted to pass off as though there wasn't a worry in the world, "I'm going to go make a run to the grocery store," I slowly helped myself out of my seat, making sure to show I was in no rush to get out and put out the image of calmness and collected-ness for any onlookers.

"Okay," she made her way up as well, "I'll see you later then!"

"Sounds good," I made my way out of the auditorium, pushing my way out of the crowd once again. I had to get out of here, get some fresh air.

As I finally made it outside of the school building, I finally let the emotions flow, my face stating the concern without the words ever needing to be said. Chances are, I'm going home after tomorrow, with more shame to my name than there ever has been.

But I had to keep pressing forward, even if it means the truth comes out.

RWBY is property of Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum, I own no characters or the company itself.