Chapter 8
The First Step
"Yep, no more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Jaune walked through the rows of lockers only to find Ruby spooning her Crescent Rose.
Looking on the map that the staff has given him, he noticed that the locker where his things were relocated was in the same row. Shortly after his talk with Ozpin, he went straight to the locker room to prepare for the upcoming initiation. If only he knew that the talk with Ozpin was that intense and would take up time, he would've gone there dressed in his armor along with Crocea Mors. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem for him to make a quick change but for the short time that he had been away from his things, somehow it managed to walk and relocate itself in locker six-three-six. He sighed at the thought, there was no way that he could have put it there seeing that he was quite sure that his locker number earlier that day only consisted of two digits.
Might as well say hi to them. He thought as he saw the two sisters.
"First of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting?"
Oh boy, here she goes. He jokingly thought as he neared the pair who was obviously in some sort of miscommunication.
"And secondly I don't need people to help me grow up, I drink milk." Ruby said as she crossed her arms.
Jaune noticed the opening for him to drop a short greeting and so he took it.
"Sorry Ruby but I doubt that milk would help you that much when you're fighting against the Grimm. Oh and, good morning to you two by the way." He said as he passed Yang and Ruby.
"Oh, morning Jaune. You see sis?" Yang said as Jaune saw a smirk on her face.
"Hi Jaune-hey! I don't want to hear that from you of all people Jaune." Ruby stuck out her tongue in retaliation.
He laughed at the difference in reaction and simply waved his hand in dismissal.
"Let's see…six-three-six, six-three-six." He mumbled to himself as he sifted through the lockers."
"This is ridiculous, there's no way I put my gear in locker six-three-six earlier." He told himself as he continued to walk through the rows of lockers.
"…I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, grown up individual such as yourself." The voice of a certain white haired Schnee reached Jaune as he progressed on his quest.
Nonetheless, his eyes remained glued onto the map handed to him by a staff.
"Hmm…I'm not quite sure." Another female student answered.
"I was planning of letting the chips fall where they may." She added.
Let's see, six-two-nine, six-three-zero, six-thre-
"Oh, good morning Jaune."
The blonde looked up from the makeshift map and into the light blue eyes of Weiss. Her smile once again made something within him skip a beat.
No! Bad Jaune! Bad! Keep your head in the game.
"Good morning, Weiss." He smiled back as he folded the map into his pocket.
He was confident enough that he could move forward from where he was without the aid of it.
"So about last night…" Jaune looked at her curiously as her voice trailed off, that was until he remembered that he had yet to give her an answer.
"Ah yeah, sure. And sorry I was a bit occupied earlier this morning with my routine so I wasn't able to give you my answer." He replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Don't worry I understand." She replied.
Jaune noticed that for some reason, Weiss seemed to keep her gaze anywhere but him but would often glance at him. He internally shrugged and placed it that perhaps Weiss was a bit more socially awkward that he was.
"Honestly, I would prefer to just let things flow as they are." The knight would've stabbed himself at the sight of Weiss's saddened reaction if not for his stubborn grip with reason.
"But if we, by any chance find ourselves to be partners during the initiation then I am more than happy to be your partner."
He shifted his weight uncomfortably as he felt someone watching him.
"Sure, that's okay." Jaune somewhat regretted the way he made the young heiress let on.
Though the family reputation was also at fault as to why he couldn't say 'yes' to her directly.
"Cheer up Weiss. I'm sure things will work out." Jaune's attention was somewhat, forced towards the direction of the familiar voice.
His assumptions were correct when he was faced with the very girl that he had spared earlier. She wore the same set of armor as she did earlier. Well, Jaune couldn't really judge her for that as he virtually wore the same thing in exception with his current lack of armor and sword. She closed on the two from behind the young knight.
"Wait, aren't you the girl that I sparred with earlier?" He asked, deciding to take the initiative for once.
"You sparred with her!?" Weiss's blurted out as she backed a few steps.
Both the redhead and blonde looked at her due to the rather exaggerated reaction. She then positioned herself between the two.
"Umm…yeah. Why is that something bad?" Jaune asked, genuinely confused and curious.
"How are you still alive!? I mean, do you have no idea who you are talking to?" Weiss asked with still a tinge of surprise.
"Not the slightest, no I don't." He simply said, openly admitting his cluelessness.
Hope she's not some daughter of a big corporate president like Weiss. The last thing I need is-
"This is Pyrrha." Weiss said as she introduced the redhead.
"Hello again." Pyrrha waved at him from behind the lite Schnee.
…uhhh…okay. How was that a bad thing?
Jaune's blank gaze on the heiress made her rub her temples.
"Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss said again.
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."
Jaune's mind searched the said school through his inner database and concluded that…
"Never heard of it. Kind of self trained with some help of my..." He trailed off as he shuddered with the memory of his first spar against his sisters.
"really crazy family. Only know the schools within Vale." Weiss scoffed a bit.
"She's won the Minstral regional tournament, four years in a row. A new record."
"Not that much into sports especially when I find myself pitted against a nest of King Taijitus most of the time."
"That doe-wait you fought them single handedly?" Weiss looked at him as if she saw him under new light.
"For the most part. My older sisters and dad would charge in once I ran out of aura though." He said sheepishly.
" Anyway." Weiss continued as she brushed an invisible lock of hair.
"She's on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box." Jaune narrowed his eyes on Pyrrha at Weiss's declaration.
She does looks like…wait.
"You are her!" Jaune gasped and took a few steps back.
"They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters." He added.
Jaune heard a snicker not far from them followed by Yang's distinct taunting voice. "Finally, Jaune actually noticed her!"
"Oh hush Yang!" He shouted back as the two sisters disappeared from his sight, hindered by the many lockers that lined the walls.
Pyrrha giggled at the playful exchange. "Yeah it was cool…" She said.
"Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Both the Spartan and the knight said at the same time.
Both smiled at each other with the sudden mix of their voices. Before any more words were to be exchanged the voice of Professor Goodwitch was broadcasted throughout the locker room. Her summons to the cliff facing Emerald Forest abruptly ended the trio's conversation as Jaune rushed to equip his gear.
Minutes later, Jaune stood atop of the cliff overlooking the said forest along with his fellow students. He was last amongst the batch that was about to take the said initiation, the very moment where pairs were to be decided. He watched as Professor Goodwitch tapped on her data pad while Professor Ozpin looked onto the trees. He relished the cool breeze that caressed his skin but at the same time, his instincts were screaming at him that something definitely bad was about to happen.
Jaune clasped Crocea Mors's hilt as he was filled with both excitement and nervousness. He looked beside him where Ruby stood, next to her were Yang, Cardin, Ren, Nora as well as Weiss and Pyrrha.
Hmm…I wonder where Blake is. He was pulled back into reality as Ozpin cleared his throat.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, but today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Jaune couldn't help but look at the silver haired huntsman with a new level respect, partly because of what he did for him and mostly as he still seem to hold on to his hot cocoa despite the daggers that Professor Goodwitch was throwing at him.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams…" The fellow blonde, albeit lighter in coloration, started.
"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…today." Glynda announced matched with her eyes narrowing.
"Wha-awww." Jaune suppressed a smile as the red cloaked girl whined cutely.
"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 could work well." Ozpin explained.
"Awww."
Ruby…just stop please. Jaune thought as he saw the eyes of his fellow students lock onto Ruby along with Ozpin's and Glynda's.
"That being said, first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin said then took a sip of his almost constant drink.
Jaune heard Ruby blurt out a loud 'what?' followed by Nora's 'see, I told you'.
"After you partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die." The man who wore dark green and black warned the students that stood before him.
Jaune balled his free hand to a fist as he became determined to prove himself to the professor.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene."
"So we're all alone huh." Jaune silently mumbled to himself.
"You will find an abandoned temple by 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 to grade you appropriately." Professor Ozpin once again dented his drink with a much longer sip.
"Now, are there any more questions?" He asked to which Jaune raised his hand silently.
"Good. Now, take your positions." He announced which Jaune's raised arms wavered ever so slightly.
"Uhh…sir I got a question." The knight persisted which earned the attention of the said professor.
"Yes Mister Arc, what is it?" He responded all the while still drinking his precious hot cocoa.
"So are we going to-" Jaune stopped in midsentence when he saw Weiss was launched into the air.
"Never mind." He sighed as his question was answered even before he actually asked it.
Great, I should've known that we would be launched into the forest.
He crouched and widened his base much like his usual combat stance. He saw the two professors eye him appraisingly as he did. He listened to the mechanisms being engaged as one by one, his friends and acquaintances soared into the horizon. He could hear the gleeful cries of Nora and Yang as he and Ruby exchanged motivational glances. He watched the young girl herself get launched into the air and sighed once more.
"I really hate flyiiiiiiiinnngggg!" What started as a simple statement ended with a scream as he was thrown onto the air.
Bonus
"Well…that's unfortunate." Ozpin sipped on his still steaming mug of his favorite sugar.
Glynda eyeing him sharply as she tried to think of a way to stop her employer's addiction to the sugar filled drink as well as the caffeine filled variation.
