Standard Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else I may reference. I have some claim to my OCs.

Chapter 3

It took a bit of searching, but we found the main hall where the rest of the students were gathered. The place is crowded, students standing around talking, messing with scrolls. Heh, if not for the fact that everyone is armed you could mistake it for a normal school on Earth.

A voice called out over the crowd. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang Xiao Long, brawler, sister to Ruby, really high on my 'People Who Can Most Likely Reduce Me to a Smear on the Ground' list.

"Oh, I gotta go. I'll see you both after the ceremony." Ruby then proceeded to leave us and headed for her sister.

Jaune raised an arm. "Hey wait!" She was gone. He sighed. "Great. Where am I supposed to find another nice quirky girl to talk to?"

"…It's a mystery." I said with a smile. 'If only you knew.'

He looked at me. "You leaving too?" The poor guy seemed pretty worried I would do just that.

…Leaving would be like kicking a puppy. I shrugged. "Nah."

"Thanks."

We both moved to find a place in the crowd.

It wasn't long after we stopped when…

"YOU!"

"Oh god it's happening again!"

Naturally this gained the attention of both of us…and just about everyone else in a small radius. They weren't exactly being quiet, and people do love a show. Especially a comedy.

I just sighed, shook my head, and turned to Jaune. "Hold on a moment, I'll be right back."

I started walking over. I stopped for a moment, and then I pulled my scarf up.

…It sure felt like I was headed into combat.

"You really want to start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?"

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

"Hello." I walked up and…Oh God Weiss has a scary glare. "I couldn't help but overhear…"

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"…You weren't exactly being quiet." I gestured around and several people gained the suspicious look of someone who has become rather suddenly interested in something else. "It wasn't hard to hear."

She actually seemed surprised at that, I guess she got a bit too focused.

"Anyway. Have you actually read that pamphlet yourself?"

"Excuse me?" Aaaand the glare is back.

"Because I used to work around Dust. There was an incident one day that seems rather like this. Dust in the air, leads to explosion. We all got a lecture on Dust safety, but between the one who sparked off the explosion and the one who got the Dust in the air in the first place, it was the latter who got yelled at." Weiss looked like she was about to start yelling at me. "Yeah, that incident stuck in my head because one of the other guys was breathing in when the explosion went off, he had to go to hospital because of burns on the inside of his throat." That left a bit wide eyed. "Food for thought."

I turned and left before there was any response.

I wasn't kidding about that accident. Dust is freaking dangerous if you're not careful.

I think that 'burns inside the throat' thing stunned them a little.

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde and scraggly over there."

…But if that display of sarcasm is any indicator I have to admit, she rallied magnificently.

Jaune seemed to perk up when he heard Weiss. Maybe I should try to save him some pain later.

"Um, Jaune. I'm fairly certain she was…"

"Eh-hem. I'll keep this brief"

Oh. Ozpins speech. I don't really remember much of this.

"You have travelled 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."

Okay, standard motivational stuff…

"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 can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

I just stood there, I barely heard Goodwitch speak. When she dismissed us, I just walked away.

####

The speech was still in my head that night.

'Wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction.'

Those words describe me with far more accuracy than I'm comfortable admitting.

For the last year, since I arrived in Remnant, I've been working to be a Huntsman. I have to admit the idea appealed...

…The idea was all I had.

I arrived on Remnant, alone, no money no explanation, no possessions besides the clothes on my back. I was lucky things worked out with me getting work. Being a hunter seemed cool. But in my more depressed moments I've had to admit that it was because I was looking for a goal, something to shoot for, a purpose…

…A reason to exist.

Everything I knew was gone, never to come back.

I latched on to that goal, and for the next year it was, eat, sleep, work, train…

I sighed. This train of thought isn't unfamiliar, I've long since accepted that Remnant is my home now. Even if I did go back…I've been gone too long, and there would be questions that I just wouldn't be able to answer.

'Arrgh, I gotta get out of my head.'

I got ready to go to sleep. I just want this day to be over and the next to begin. I went into the ballroom…why does Beacon have a ballroom anyway? When the place was being designed did someone say, 'Hey? You know what this warrior training school needs? A place to hold fancy formal events!'. I don't see how it follows.

I was heading to my sleeping bag when a voice came from behind me.

"Hey Sam! Where've you been? You just disappeared after the ceremony."

Oh, Jaune.

"Yeah, sorry. I sort of got lost in my thoughts and needed time to get my head strai…Dear god, please tell me that's not a onesie."

"Huh?"

"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!"

The sound of familiar shouting drifted over the ballroom.

I sighed. Palm, meet face. I have a feeling you two will be meeting again over my time here.

I just stood there in that position for a moment.

"Fuck it, I'm going to bed. Don't wake me unless they pull out actual weapons…On second thought not even then. Goodnight."

####

Thankfully I managed to get through the rest of the night without further incident.

It's difficult to describe how I felt, it could be described as a mixture of excitement, several different kinds of fear, and a vague sense of disbelief that this was actually happening to me.

I went through the process of getting ready in deep thought for a while. Trying to plan out what I'd do in the forest. A somewhat futile effort since what would happen in the forest really wasn't something I could predict, but it made me feel better.

…Although I still have the feeling I'm forgetting something.

I drifted along until I'd got my breakfast (pancakes, yum) when…

"Hey Sam."

I looked up. I almost walked right by a table where Ruby, Yang and Jaune were sitting.

"Huh? Oh, morning Ruby, morning Jaune, morning…" 'Wait! I haven't officially met Yang yet!' "Uhh, sorry I don't think…"

Ruby seemed to realise what I was about to say. "Oh, right. Yang this is Sam, Sam this is my sister Yang."

"Hi." I held out my hand, she shook it. "Hey."

…Well they can't all be great introductions.

"So Sam, Jaune said you disappeared for a bit yesterday." Ruby spoke up.

"…Yeah…Ozpins speech made me think a bit and, well…it's complicated. I'd rather leave it at that for now."

She dropped the subject. Things were fine after that. I'm not a great conversationalist so I mostly just listened.

Soon enough breakfast was over and we went to the lockers.

I got all my equipment together. Rifle? Check. Knife? Check. Spare pistol? Check. Armour? Check. Grappling hook? Check.

I smile a bit. This one has retractable claws set to a remote on my belt for easy retrieval. A grappling hook is one of those things you don't think you need, until you're in a situation where you lament not having one. I've seen Freeman's Mind, a grappling hook could solve so many problems.

Case in point. My landing strategy.

Basically, when I get near the trees I throw the grappling hook. When it catches I let the rope slide through my hands, reduce my speed and turn my fall into a controlled swing. Or at least make the crash less painful.

I'm as ready as I think I can be.

…So why do I still feel like I'm forgetting something.

Arrrgh.

These introduction chapters kicked my ass.

I'm not really sure how good they are (probably not very), I just could not get it straight in my head.

Writers bock is a pain.

Minor thing, in chapter two I tried calling the facility Sam worked 'Telkan'. I thought it might be better than just saying 'the facility', but somehow it felt a bit worse to me so I edited the chapter a bit.

Anyway, with the intro over the forest begins and I hope my ideas should flow easier.