Chapter 5- Initiation Begins
A/N: What's up? I think I'm going to stop making promises as far as exact dates for my publishings... I have the Episode 8 fight done, and I'm working on writing the decoration of the team's dorm, which is surprisingly difficult. Also, for those of you who HAVEN'T been sent here from my friend chris210racer, go check him out! We reference each other's stories several times throughout our fics, although he is farther ahead as far as publication. Anyways, sorry it took so long to submit this, but I hope you enjoy!
Lie Ren was not a morning person. But damn if Nora Valkyrie knew or cared.
"Wake up, lazy bud!" Nora sang, poking Ren awake.
Ren groaned and got up, knowing that there was no way Nora would let him go back to sleep. He brushed his teeth, brushed his hair, rolled up his sleeping bag, and otherwise got his things in the ballroom ready in dead silence, Nora chattering away at him at sixty miles per hour the entire time. The two had been friends since they were little, and Ren had gotten used to this routine. Nora kept talking as they went to breakfast.
"We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not 'together-together'... Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?" Nora talked in circles about this until they were halfway done eating.
"Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together!" Nora said through a mouthful of pancakes. She slurped them up and continued.
"Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school." Nora said, looking dead serious at that last part but still somehow very... Energetic.
She continued plotting even as they went to their lockers and got their things. As Ren took out his twin bladed SMG's, the Stormflowers, she kept talking.
"I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal!" Nora gave a small gasp, then continued, "A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?"
Finally, Ren spoke for the first time all morning.
"Nora?" he said as he reloaded his weapons.
"Yes, Ren?"
"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." he said, sounding slightly amused as he sheathed his weapons -somehow- in his sleeves.
Nora thought for a moment, then continued with her usual energy. "That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"
"Come on Nora. Let's go." Ren said, shutting his locker.
"Not 'together-together'..." Nora said with a small giggle, following Ren past Victor, Nick, Ruby and Yang, whose lockers were just a few away from theirs.
"Wonder what those two are so worked up about?" said Ruby, reaching into her locker and taking out Crescent Rose.
"Sounds like someone had a little too much coffee." Said Nick.
"Maybe she stole Ozpin's." Joked Victor, earning a laugh.
"Oh, who knows?" Said Yang, after she finished laughing, and then added, "So, you seem awfully chipper this morning Ruby!"
"Yep! No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said contentedly, stroking Crescent Rose and sighing happily.
"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Yang said sternly.
Ruby sighed in frustration. "You sound like Dad!" she said, sounding annoyed. "Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!"
"Ruby, if drinking milk had anything to do with growing, I'd be competing with Victor." Nick said, earning another laugh from the group.
"But seriously, what about when we form teams?" Yang asked Ruby.
"Um, I don't know, I... I'll just be on your team or Victor or Nick's team or something..."
"Ruby, you need to learn to be a bit more outgoing. Try to make some friends! What's the worst that could happen?" Victor implored.
"I'm with Victor, you should try being on someone else's team!"
"Yeah, it'd be a great way to make some new friends!" Nick agreed.
Ruby looked at them all accusingly. "Are you all implying that you don't want to be on the same team as me?"
All three shifted uncomfortably.
"What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!" Yang said quickly, playing with her hair.
"Yeah! You'd be a great teammate! It's just that maybe it'd be better if you... Maybe... Made more friends!" Victor said, smiling nervously, hand on the back of his head.
Nick said nothing, looking the other way and pretending that he'd spaced out.
"What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely-" An indignant Ruby began.
"Ridiculous!" finished Jaune, cutting her off and walking straight past them, paper in hand. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?" Jaune said, distressed and oblivious to the conversation he just ended.
As he finished, he passed Weiss and the pretty redhead who had been talking to Luxia and Chamele the day before.
"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!" Weiss said to her.
"Hmm... I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha replied nonchalantly.
"Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss said hopefully.
"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied, giving a friendly smile.
"Great!" Weiss said happily, while thinking: "This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!" She began laughing maniacally in her head when suddenly, Jaune, who had clearly found his locker, interrupted her train of thought.
"You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." Jaune said with his trademark overconfidence.
"You again?" Weiss said, irritated.
"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha quickly moved closer, trying to get Jaune's attention.
"Yeah, yeah," Jaune said, moving past Pyrrha and continuing to flirt with Weiss.
"So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear you're fondness of me the other day." Jaune said, posing slightly and flexing.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Weiss said in exasperation.
"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed! So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?" Jaune continued, either missing or ignoring Weiss' obvious disinterest.
"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" Pyrrha started, finally catching Jaune's attention.
"You don't say." Jaune interrupted, quickly moving over to Pyrrha. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Jaune said, cocky as ever.
Weiss moved over and separated the two.
"Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Weiss asked Jaune.
"Not in the slightest, snow angel." Jaune replied, still confident.
"This is Pyrrha," Weiss said, as if Jaune should know who she was.
"Hello again!" Pyrrha said, giving a friendly little wave.
"Pyrrha graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum!" Weiss said to Jaune.
"Never heard of it." Jaune said, forgetting his conversation the previous day with Luxia and Chamele. Weiss scoffed, and continued.
"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"
"The what?" Jaune said, still clueless.
"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss said, comically flapping her arms in anger.
"That's you?!" Jaune gasped, finally recognizing her. "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"
"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha admitted.
"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked Jaune.
"I guess not... Sorry..." Jaune said, hanging his head dejectedly.
"Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!" Pyrrha said quickly, trying to cheer the boy up.
"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune said, brightening up immediately.
"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" Weiss said.
"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?" Jaune said, moving closer to Weiss.
"Alright, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?!" Weiss said, looking at the fiery-haired girl pleadingly.
Jaune looked back just in time for a red-and-gold-colored spear to fly just past his cheek, snag his hood and send the fair-haired boy flying, nailing the hood and Jaune into the wall a good distance behind him.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called out to the dazed boy.
While this exchange was going on, about 20 feet farther down the lockers, Luxia and Chamele were having their own conversation.
"So who would you want to be on a team with?" Luxia asked the shorter girl.
"Well, you for sure. We fight well together." Chamele answered, absentmindedly twirling one of Backslash's daggers with her fingers.
"No, I meant other than me. Of course I'm hoping we're on the same team, but that's still two more people left." Luxia said, pulling Springsting, blade half extended, out of her locker and sheathing it on her back.
"Well, I guess Nick and Victor seem like good teammates. Nick's semblance would be unbelievably useful to have on a team, and Victor's clearly pretty damn strong."
"What do you mean?" Luxia asked, looking at Chamele with a confused look.
"Did you see those gauntlets? They've got to weigh a ton! Miniguns aren't exactly paperweights, and I can only imagine how much ammo he has to carry in that backpack. Plus, that's not even counting the swords and gauntlets themselves! He's got to be carrying like 150 pounds on him!"
"I guess so... But how? He was moving his arms around like the gauntlets weren't even there! Is it possible that he's that strong?"
"Well, he's got his size for one thing. You've got to train pretty hard if you're going to fight while carrying all that extra weight, not counting his gauntlets."
"Even then, that's crazy! If his weapons are really that bulky, how could anyone fight with that?"
"Maybe his semblance is his strength? Who knows?"
"Hmm."
Both girls stood there for a second, then Chamele asked Luxia, "So, who do you think would be good teammates?"
"Umm... Well, Pyrrha would be fun but we've got such similar weapons. Besides, it looks like she's with Weiss and Jaune. Ruby seems like a great teammate, she's got to be an amazing fighter if she got accepted into Beacon at 15. She seems super fun, too! Other than her? I'd say Nick. We could seriously use a magic user on our team. Victor seems great, but honestly we don't know as much about his fighting style as we do Nick's."
Before they could continue their conversation, Jaune flew past them as he was speared by his hood into the wall, accompanied by an "I'm Sorry!" from Pyrrha. As they began to laugh, Goodwitch's voice blared through the intercom.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
Weiss passed Jaune on her way out. Pyrrha followed, grabbing her spear and dropping Jaune to the ground. "It was nice meeting you!" Pyrrha said sincerely, as she continued walking.
"Likewise," Jaune mumbled as he slumped against the locker.
"Having trouble there, lady-killer?" Yang teased as she walked up, Ruby close behind.
"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" Jaune groaned.
"'Snow angel' probably wasn't the best start." Yang said, as Ruby offered him her hand, which Jaune took. Then, Victor and Nick walked up.
"It'd probably help if you would pay attention to what they're doing-" here, Victor gave a few coughs that sounded awfully close to 'redhead's interested'. "-sorry, anyways pay attention to what they're doing. Weiss didn't seem that interested, and she doesn't seem like someone I'd want to date."
"I'd also suggest that you learn to watch behind you, you never know when there might be, perhaps, a spear or suitcase rack." Luxia added, walking past with Chamele and laughing.
"Come on, Jaune. Let's go." Ruby said, walking out, supporting a still slightly-dizzy Jaune.
The students all walked to Beacon Cliff together, and found Ozpin, now with his coffee cup, with Glynda next to about thirty or forty metal circles near the edge. They were each instructed to stand on a metal circle and wait until the rest of the students arrived. Once everyone was there, Ozpin and Glynda began addressing them all.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin said.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Goodwitch added.
"What? Ohhh..." Ruby said, uneasy.
Ozpin continued, "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 can work well."
Ruby groaned.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Ruby looked horrified.
"Whaaat?!"
A few circles away, a still-hyper Nora told Ren,
"See? I told you-!"
Ozpin sipped his coffee.
"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 gave a nervous laugh, then gulped loudly.
"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. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand.
"Yeah, um, sir?"
"Good! Now, take your positions." Ozpin said, ignoring Jaune.
Everyone posed on their tile. Nora crouched low, Ren unsheathed his weapons, Yang raised her fists, and Ruby readied herself. Victor flexed and unsheathed Hellfang's swords, crouching low and pointing the swords to both sides at a downward angle. Nick extended Maelstrom and simply stood with it. Chamele crouched into a fighting stance, took out Backslash and twirled both daggers around her fingers. Luxia took a step back, bent her knees, and leaned forward a little bit. Jaune still had his hand raised.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." Jaune said, missing Weiss as the tile beneath her sprung up and launched her towards the forest at the base of the cliff.
"So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"
"No. You will be falling." Ozpin said nonchalantly, taking another sip of his coffee. Another few students were launched behind a still-unaware Jaune.
"Oh, uh, I see... So, did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?" Asked Jaune, who was getting a feeling of distinct fear of what was about to happen.
"No. You will be using your own 'landing strategy'." Answered Ozpin, still calm as ever.
"Uh-huh... Yeah." Jaune said, fear intensifying.
Behind him, Nora and Ren were both launched, the former with a maniacal smile on her face. Next, Yang winked at her sister, put on a pair of aviator shades, and yelled, "Woo-hoooo!" Seconds later, Ruby was launched behind a still completely unaware but very fearful Jaune.
"So, what exactly is a landing strateg-EEEEEEE!"
Jaune was cut off as he was finally launched, screaming, into the forest.
Ozpin simply took another sip of his coffee, face impassive.
A/N: I freaking love Ozpin's nonchalance at literally throwing students into a monster infested forest. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! Please leave a rate, if you leave a review you are awesome, and I've still got the drawings I made as well, if anyone wants to see. Alright, as always, have a good one, I'll see you all next time!
~VA