Hey guys! I am in no way affiliated with RWBY or Rooster Teeth, and gain nothing from this work of fiction. Enjoy! (Also, sadly, nothing interesting really happened this time around. I'll think of some trivia for the second part.)

Unusual Circumstances

He was standing atop a metal plate on Beacon Cliff, but his mind wasn't really there. He was thinking about what Yang had told him in the locker room. Plenty of fish in the sea? She thinks I don't know that? I know Weiss isn't the only girl in the world, but she's the one I'm after. You don't take a mackerel over… something that's rarer than a mackerel… Yeah… And besides, if I keep going after Weiss, she's bound to see that I'm the one for her at some point. I'm not a quitter. He sighed. Now's not the time to be thinking on this. I should probably pay attention to initiation. Ozpin was standing in front of the students with Ms. Goodwitch to his left and Professors Teknos and Frost to his right. Professor Teknos was standing at attention in full red and black combat armor. His armor covered him from head to toe, leaving only his blank face exposed. Very professional. Professor Frost, on the other hand, was anything BUT professional. He was drinking from a flask and wore very casual clothes. His stance seemed to say that he was not taking this seriously. Jaune's attention was drawn to Ozpin.

"... it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Jaune's jaw dropped.

How will we be paired with someone we can work well with if we don't really have a say in who we're partnered with!... Wait, did he say landing?

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die." Jaune didn't like the sound of that. Not one bit. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at 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, and grade you appropriately. Also, Ms. Himora, you are aware of your specific stipulation for initiation, correct?"

"Yes sir." Ozpin nodded.

"Good. Now, are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir?" Ozpin ignored him.

"Good! Now, take your positions." Jaune tried again.

"Uh, sir? I, um, I have a question. So, this landing… strategy thing… Uh, wha- what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

"No. You will be falling." Jaune gulped.

"I see. Did you, uh, hand out parachutes… or… something?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Jaune was still confused.

"Uh-huh… Yeah… So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!" Halfway through the word "strategy", he felt the metal plate under him lift with enough force to throw him like a catapult. He started spinning helplessly as he rose into the air and then descended towards the forest. OH GOD! I think I'm gonna hurl!

She wasn't too happy about her "stipulation." "Limitation" is what it really was. She was told to use her Semblance sparingly. She would actually lose points if she relied too heavily on her Semblance during initiation. I bet Talon had something to do with this… What am I saying! OF COURSE he did! Talon had always tried to train her to fight hand to hand or at least with a weapon. She didn't see why. Unless she was fighting Talon or he had put a rule in place where she couldn't use it while training, her Semblance was strong enough to get by without the need for close quarters combat. But, she did admit her body wasn't as strong as it could be as a result. It didn't need to be. She noticed the trees of the forest were getting closer. Of course, she couldn't just make a Dust board to land. That would be "relying on her Semblance too much." So, she surrounded herself with an impenetrable armor of Dust. Talon referred to this as her going "Dust-girl mode." Whatever that meant. She went right through a tree hard enough to make her whole body vibrate, then through another tree. When she hit the ground, she shook violently. Luckily, her Dust armor took the major part of the impact. She bet even Talon would've been recovering for a while after THAT big of an impact. She stood up, returning her Dust to their vials. She shook her head, and was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness. Woah… Can someone stop the spinning world please?... She heard something from her right. At least, she thought it was her right. She heard growling. A lot of it. Oh boy, Grimm… I might be screwed. Were they attracted by the sound of my impact? She started to recover enough to look around without feeling sick to her stomach. She saw at least 4 Beowolves closing in on her. Lovely. Come on, Rie. Get it together. The dizziness faded away, but the Grimm had her surrounded. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Normally. However, she couldn't use her Semblance like she normally would. She used the Dust around her waist to create a Dust spear. "Alright, uglies. Who's first?" The one behind her charged. She turned and stabbed hard into the creature's mouth. The Beowolf stopped, then crumpled to the ground. Before she could dislodge her weapon, another one charged. She let go of the spear and jumped back. Right into another Beowolf's swipe. She was sent a few feet away. Before she could get up, the three Grimm were closing in fast. Good job, Talon. You've killed me. She closed her eyes. Come on! Think! She had an idea. She let Dust stream out of her vials around her torso. She opened her eyes, willed the Dust into the eyes of the Grimm, then scrambled away from them as fast as she could. She heard a shotgun blast from behind her. One of the Grimm was sent flying backwards. Before she could tell what was happening, she saw a harpoon fly into another of the Beowolves. That Beowolf was slammed into the last standing Grimm, knocking it away.

"Can't ye pick on someone yer own size, ye dumb animals?" Rie smiled. Sam ripped his harpoon out of the Grimm that it was resting in via the chain that attached it to his giant gauntlet. It turned into an anchor, and Sam left it on the ground. "Now, get out of here 'fore I rip yer fur off and turn it into a rug!" The Grimm made no effort to leave. "Alright. It's yer funeral." He started swinging his arm around. The anchor started to gain speed and height. As the Grimm charged, Sam slammed his arm down. The anchor lodged itself into the charging Grimm's head. Sam, for good measure, walked up to it and put his shotgun to it's chest. "Say goodnight, ya filthy monster." He pulled the trigger. The Grimm flew back, off of the anchor. The anchor started falling towards Sam. Rie flinched in horror.

It's going to kill him! Sam didn't seem to noticed the anchor. Until he dropped his gun and caught the anchor with his free hand. The anchor turned back into a harpoon, and he placed it back into his gauntlet. He picked up his shotgun, then clipped it to his hip. Ok, now THAT was cool! Sam turned to face her.

"Ye alright lass?" Rie nodded. Sam walked over to the smoking body of the Grimm she had killed. He ripped her Dust spear out of the monster, then the Grimm started dissipating faster. He held the spear out to her. "I do believe that this be yers." She smiled. The Dust started to evaporate, then returned to her vials.

"Thanks, but I could've handled it." Sam laughed.

"That's not what I saw, lass! Why didn't ye just blow them away with yer dust?" Her smile faltered.

"My special 'stipulation' is that I have to try to stop relying on my Semblance entirely." Sam nodded.

"Ah. I see." He clapped her on the back. "Well, shall we?" He gestured to the north.

"We shall. After you." They both smiled, then walked towards the northern part of the forest. Rie tried very hard to focus on the initiation instead of the handsome man walking by her side. She mostly succeeded. Mostly.

He was… he didn't have the words. I knew Rie wasn't the most capable fighter, but good LORD that was awful… He had never seen her fight that badly. To be fair, she was recovering from her landing, but that wasn't that much of an excuse. He had trained her as much as she was willing to learn, but he wouldn't have known she had any training based on that fight. He just hoped she showed better combat skills throughout the rest of the initiation. If she didn't, she wouldn't be accepted. Sam, however, was very good at normal fighting. At least Rie had him watching her back. He couldn't watch only them, as much as he wanted to. They weren't the only ones going through initiation. He jumped through the trees to find some more students to watch. He noticed Ruby and Weiss walking together. That's not going to end well. At least they're both good fighters… if what Ozpin showed me of Ruby's fight with Roman is any indication. He kept moving. He noticed a male teenager with long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back walking with an orange-haired girl. The boy wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The girl wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist. Her pink skirt ended mid-thigh, and had a turquoise bow at the back. She had some armor around a white sleeveless top that had a heart shape cut into it. She was carrying a hammer- which seemed far too heavy for her to lift- in her gloved hands. The boy was carrying no visible weapons. Talon watched them for a bit, and heard what sounded like a girl screaming off in the distance. At the same time, he heard an Ursa's cry from below him. He wanted to help whoever was screaming, but he also wanted to see these two fight. Instead of fighting, however, the girl picked the boy up with one arm and threw him into the air. She then turned her hammer into a type of gun. She jumped onto the back of the oncoming Ursa, then shot it in the back with something explosive. She appeared to be trying to steer it. The boy landed on the Ursa's back behind the girl. She looked back and smiled, then kicked her heels into the Ursa's side.

"YEE-HAW! Giddyup!" The Ursa started running, and Talon decided to try to track them as they headed north. Not like he needed to try too hard. He heard the explosions from the girl's weapon every time she fired it- and that was pretty often. He followed them all the way to the northern end of the forest where the relics were being kept. The girl let out another cowboy yell as the Ursa fell. "Aw… It's broken…" Talon couldn't help but smile. The boy slid off of the Ursa's back and leaned against it, panting.

"Nora! Please… Don't ever do that again…" Ren looked at where Nora was and noticed that she was long gone. Nora was already at the 'relics'- which were simple chess pieces- and had grabbed the white rook.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Talon laughed softly at this. The boy, however, wasn't amused.

"NORA!" Nora had the piece on her head. She saluted and tipped her head, dropping the rook into her free hand.

"Coming, Ren!" She started skipping towards Ren. Talon was prepared to keep watching, then he felt the presence of someone behind him.

"I wish I knew how exactly you do that." He turned to see a misty Michael floating right behind him. Michael floated to "stand" right next to Talon, then solidified into his normal form. "And before you say it, I know your body was bonded with water. That still shouldn't let you do this." Michael laughed.

"Oh, admit it. You're just jealous of my powers." Talon smiled, then attempted to whack Michael upside the head. His hand connected. With water. Michael's now watery face looked at him and smiled. Talon drew his hand back, and Michael solidified again. He stuck his tongue out at Talon. Talon smiled.

"Well, you watch them. I'm gonna see if I can find Rie and Sam." Michael nodded, and turned back into a mist. Talon jumped from his perch and went to find Rie and Sam. He heard shotgun blasts and stabbing sounds from his left. I guess that's them. He hurried to the source of the combat, but stopped when he heard a loud roar nearby- a roar he had never heard before. He was still a good distance away from the fighting. He decided to look into it. He looked through a clearing in the trees, and gasped at what he saw.

To Be continued...