AN: Well, it was less of a gap then last time. Enjoy!


"Aaugh" Roy gurgled as he sat up from his sleeping position on the floor. Why does my mouth always taste weird when I sleep uncomfortably? "Ugh, need caffeine. Wait, need to return pillow first." Roy staggered over to Ren, whom he found sharing a pillow with Nora. Either he's in denial, or he's so deep in the friendzone he'll never see the light of day again. Roy gently set the borrowed pillow down next to the pair, careful not to disturb them.

"Mmmm… pancakes" Nora mummered in her sleep. Ren responded with a look of disapproval on his face, despite also being unconscious. Get a room you two.

The next order of business was food. Wait, no, a shower, then food. Wait! Caffeine, then shower, then food. That seems like the wrong order. While lost in his thoughts Roy had wandered to the cafeteria doors. Looks like its caffeine/food, then shower later.

Roy was nearly blown away at the array of choices offered by the buffet along the left hand wall. There were whole chickens turning on rotisseries, shelves of baked goods, whole watermelons, and even a-

"Is that a swordfish?" Roy blurted out

"Yup" answered a voice beside him. If I keep talking to myself I'm going to meet the whole campus at this rate. Roy turned towards the speaker, a blond haired boy in a hoodie and a bit of plate armor. "It's a bit overwhelming the first morning isn't it?" The boy grabbed a plate and started loading it with sausages and eggs. "Normally there isn't quite the selection, but initiation morning is special." Once the the first plate was full, the boy began loading bacon and potatoes onto a second.

"I take it you're not a first year" Roy took a plate for himself and started filling it.

"Third-year" The boy replied. "Name's Jaune Arc."

"Roy Ember"

"I'd shake your hand but…" Jaune trailed off, glancing towards the four plates in his hands. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"You feeding your whole team?"

"I'd like to but the wheelbarrow broke last time I tried"

Roy chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

Roy stopped laughing. "You can't be serious."

"Something you'll find about hunters," Jaune explained "Is that if we're doing our job right, between aura generation and physical activity, we actually burn three or four times the calories of a normal person."

"Oh." Roy was a bit stunned "Well that explains the massive buffet"

"Yeah. Anything other requests from the fountain of third-year wisdom?" Jaune chatted

"Where can I find coffee?"

"The team or the drink?"

"The...drink."

Jaune looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in close to Roy. "You didn't hear this from me, but at the end of the cafeteria there's these big coffee tank things. Behind the one with the decaf there's a smaller one that's got coffee that literally put someone in a hospital. DO NOT let Ozpin see you taking from there." Jaune straightened up, seeing someone waving at him from over at the tables. "Gotta go"

"Thanks for the help." Roy called out as the knight walked away. Roy began walking towards the back end of the cafeteria. Alright mystery coffee, show me what you've got.


And here I thought Jaune was exaggerating when he said it hospitalized someone. Roy felt every individual fiber of his being perk up at the dark substance. His morning drowsiness obliterated, he began to dig into the food. He expected to be met with the bland, flavorless and textureless feeling that mass produced buffet food usually brought, but was surprised when he but into a sausage and found his mouth flooded with flavor. He sampled the other foods on his plate and found that they were all of high quality. Is it like this at all the Huntsmen academies? Or just Beacon? His wondering was interrupted when the spot next to him was suddenly occupied by a certain red hooded wolf.

"Good morning Roy" Ruby beamed at him from under her hood

"Morning Ruby. You're rather chipper this morning." Roy observed

"Well yeah, today's the day of initiation. Just think, soon we'll be out in the field, fighting Grimm!" Ruby squealed. "It'll be so much fun!"

You have a strange idea of fun," Roy commented "but I guess I don't have much room to talk. Most teenagers don't spend their friday evenings trying to modify an H7 rotator lock to work with an Mv actuator"

"Why not just use an H9? They have an Mv compatibility slot built in."

"The H9's a bit too big for where I need it, and I only need one directional contr-" Roy noticed Ruby's intense gaze "Bit of a weapon's enthusiast?"

"You have NO IDEA" Ruby said flatly "I poured my heart and soul into Crescent Rose, and I have never stopped tinkering with it."

"Finally" Roy threw his arms up in celebration "Someone who understands that a weapon's design shouldn't be set in stone from the moment it leaves the forge."

"I know" Ruby affirmed "There's no reason not to keep upgrading it, or altering it when my fighting style changes."

"We have so much to talk about" Roy pulled his personal scroll out "Lemme show you some pictures of Gladio Phenix."

"Gladio-what?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"It's Old-Mistralian. It means Phoenix Blade." Roy explained "Well, technically it translates to Sword Phoenix, but it means Phoenix Blade."

"Why not just call it Phoenix Blade?"

Roy raised a finger as if to answer, but paused when realization dawned on him.

"Because I'm an idiot"

Ruby patted his shoulder reassuringly "It's okay, you're among friends, well, a friend. Now c'mon, show me your thing!"

Is every other word out of her mouth an innuendo? Roy decided not to voice this thought and instead pulled up a picture of his weapon. The picture showed a black and red greatsword over five feet long.

"That is a massive sword." Ruby pointed to the top of the grip "What do the two triggers do?"

"They control the dust injectors into the firing slot" Roy swiped his finger to the next picture, in which the sword split open along the flat of the blade, revealing several connecting rails. "The top one releases wind dust, and the bottom one releases the payload. Right now I have it filled with fire dust mixed with a tiny bit of Earth dust. Gives it a little bit of impact power instead of a just a light little fireball."

"So does it just shoot through the middle then out the top?" Ruby asked

"Kindof, it's more like- you know that thing in anime where someone slashes a sword and like the actual arc that the sword traces is a projectile and it goes out and hits something? Basically that but with fire."

"That is so cool!" Ruby squealed "You said it had other forms?"

"Just one." Roy scrolled to the next photo which showed a girl with blue hair holding a trophy. "Whoops, that's my little sister" Roy scrolled through a few more photos before stopping on one that showed Gladio Phenix again, but with the grip bent forward at an angle and the blade itself retracted. "Here we go. Gladio Phenix's Cannon Form"

"Cannon?" Ruby's eyes went wide.

"I know it's vaguely shaped like a rifle, but it packs enough of a punch to turn an oak tree into splinters, so calling it a rifle doesn't seem to do it justice"

"I see your point"

Roy put his scroll away. "But we've talked about mine for long enough, what's your weapon?"

As if on cue to ruin his day, both his and Ruby's Beacon issued scrolls buzzed. Pulling them out, the pair read the message All first year students report to initiation at Beacon Cliff 20 minutes. Be ready in full combat gear.

"Wait, 20 minutes?" Ruby read off, "I haven't finished eating yet! And Crescent Rose is still in my locker" She then disappeared in a red blur, taking her plate with her, and once again leaving behind a cloud of rose petals. Roy picked up one of the petals, examining it. So does she make them, or are her pockets already full of them or what? A question for a later time. A question for now however, what am I gonna do about the fact that I haven't showered? His gaze was drawn to the rose petal in his hand. I mean B.O. and roses is better than just plain old B.O., right? He glanced around briefly then shoved a handful of rose petals into his pocket before starting off in the direction he remembered Beacon Cliff being in.