There she was. Pyrrha Nikos. The Invincible Girl. A true prodigy of combat. A perfect partner for anyone lucky enough at Beacon. And by 'anyone', Weiss obviously meant herself. She would have no less, as befitting a Schnee.

Of course, Pyrrha was probably thinking similar thoughts. After all, why else would she transfer to Beacon, the best school on Remnant, but to have a partner capable of keeping up with her? While Weiss was still learning a few things in combat, her intelligence would make up for it in the academic classes. Perhaps Pyrrha might even teach her a thing or two about fighting. Yes, together, they would be indomitable. They would be brains, brawn, and beauty.

It was a shame about all the rubes running around, especially a certain ruby-colored one. They certainly didn't have a chance to match up with Pyrrha as well as Weiss could. But that was no reason to slack off, it was up to Weiss to offer herself as an optimal candidate first to get ahead of the competition.

"So, have you given thought to who your partner will be?" Weiss asked after introducing herself. "Or team? I'm sure anyone here would love to have you on theirs."

Pyrrha, as polite as she was on camera, simply said, "I don't know. I was thinking of just letting the chips fall where they may."

Perfect. "In that case, might I suggest that I join your team?" Team. Not partner. No need to be so presumptuous so soon.

"That sounds grand, Weiss." Pyrrha smiled.

Excellent. Nothing would stand between her and total victory over Beacon.

"Pyrrha!" A blonde, scraggly boy skidded to a stop next to the champion. "Are you single?"

Pyrrha's eyes bugged out and her face began turning as red as her hair. "W-What?"

"Everyone's talking about teams and the two other people I met are teaming up." He jerked a thumb back the way he came. "I know we only met yesterday but I kinda don't know anybody else here, so mind teaming up with me?"

"O-Oh." Her blush drained away. "No, I don't mind at all."

Weiss heard her little world shatter, much like a window that she wanted to propel this boy through with her glyphs in the next five seconds.

"Excuse me," Weiss said, tugging the boy away, "but who do you think you are? Do you even know who you're talking to?"

"What? Yeah. Course I do." Good. "She's Pyrrha Nikos. Fashion model and small time celebrity."

Weiss choked on air. Meanwhile Pyrrha, bless her soul, was too polite to correct him.

"I'm Jaune Arc, by the way." He held a hand out.

Arc. The name rang a bell, a small one, but that wasn't important right now. "She's not a fashion model, you dunce! She was the top student at Sanctum Academy."

The blonde boy just stared dumbly at her. "Okay, so she's really smart?"

"She's the four time in-a-row champion of the Mistral Region Tournaments!"

"Ohhh, cool." The non-chalantness in his voice still irked Weiss, but at least now he realized he was standing in front of his betters. Jaune turned to Pyrrha and said, "Guess that explains why I didn't hear of you. My family doesn't really watch wrestling shows."

Weiss began to wonder if she could find a reasonable excuse to tell the teachers for throwing him into a wall.

While Weiss silently fumed, Pyrrha took the moment to speak up. Unfortunately, not to correct the blonde fool. "I don't think you should worry too much about teams, Jaune. I think they're made up of four people, not two. And from what it sounds like, you know more people here than me. If anything, I should be worried about not finding the other teammates."

That was a lie, Weiss knew. Pyrrha could pick anyone she wanted. She could probably ask the headmaster for the cream of the crop, which would include Weiss of course. She was just too polite to turn the boy down.

"You're right. We need to find other people to join our team," he said.

"And what makes you think Pyrrha is going to be a part of your team?" Weiss asked. Such arrogance to assume these things.

Jaune gave her a bemused look, which looked awfully condescending with their height difference. "Because I asked her if she wanted to, and she said she didn't mind?"

Weiss bit back her biting retort. She couldn't refute that, but a Schnee doesn't give up. "Well we still don't know for sure how they are going to arrange the teams, so I wouldn't get your hopes up." Of course, that applied to her as well, but she would make do.

"What are they gonna do? Throw us into a forest and make us pick our own teams?" he joked.

"What kind of teacher throws kids off a cliff to make them form their own teams by eye contact?" Jaune grumbled and he slowly pulled himself towards the end of the spear that pinned his hood. "Landing strategies, my ass. What kinds of places are we being sent to that can't be reached by landing safely? Would it have killed them to hand out parachutes?"

Jaune now knew what Roman meant by needing aura to survive Beacon. He probably would have splattered on the ground if it wasn't for the spear pinning him to the tree. He was lucky that he wasn't impaled. Now if only he wasn't pinned in such an awkward angle, or twenty feet off the ground. He looked like a damsel in distress.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Pyrrha called up to him.

"I told you, I got this," he replied. Thankfully, this was where all that physical training came in handy. Just a little bit more… there! His hood was free, but it was going to need a serious patch job later. "See? I did it. Now I just have to get down… with your weapon. Oh boy."

"Jaune, I can-"

"Hold on, I can get it. Just need to wiggle it a bit." Still hanging onto the end, Jaune repeatedly did pull ups, but after several of them, he still felt no budge. He looked down at Pyrrha. "You've got a crazy throwing arm, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

"Let me try one more- Whoa!" Jaune yelped as the spear suddenly gave way and he plummeted to the ground like a quadriplegic cat. He managed something resembling a tumble before the end, but he still ended up eating dirt. "Got it," he said, raising the spear above him.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha said as she knelt beside him. She gasped when he sat up. "Jaune, your nose is bleeding!"

That explained the wetness he felt. At least it wasn't another broken nose. "It's okay. I've had worse falls in training."

"But what about your aura? Why didn't you use it? Are you low on it?" Her questions were rapid fired with concern. Any other time, Jaune would have been delighted to have a pretty girl like her care about his injuries, but all he could think about was how to explain his lack of aura.

'Can I say I ran out of aura? Wait, how do you run out of aura? Does it work like a battery? Forget it, we got up a few hours ago. If I had aura, it probably would have been filled. A tumble like that wouldn't have drained it.' A poke on his cheek pushed his train of thought to a screeching halt.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. "Do I need to take you back to the cliff?"

"What? No, I'm fine!" Jaune quickly stood up and wiped the blood from his nose. "See? No need to go back." A thought occurred to him. It was a bit of a long shot in many ways, but he wouldn't have considered it had Ruby not been so nice about his sword. Like mom said, friends are strangers you haven't met yet. "Unrelated note, how strong is your aura?"

If Pyrrha was surprised by the question, she didn't show it. "Fairly strong. I wouldn't last long in 'wrestling' if it wasn't," she said as she stood up.

Little bit of confidence. Here goes nothing. "Then could you help me unlock my aura?"

Pyrrha blinked in surprise.

'This was a terrible idea. I'm going to get kicked out. Abort! Abort!'

"Of course," she said happily.

Jaune let out the breath he was holding. "Thank you so much. I tried to get it unlocked before coming here, but it didn't work out." Technically true, but no need to incriminate himself even further.

"Let me try." Pyrrha placed her hand upon his chest. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Her hand glowed red and it pushed out onto his chest, sinking in like a sponge. Jaune could have sworn he tasted maple syrup this time, and a feeling of being twisted around.

Seconds passed. The corners of Pyrrha's mouth turned down. Jaune thought he felt something lurch and scrape, but that couldn't be right. After nearly a minute, she let go, slightly panting. "I can see why you haven't gotten it unlocked. I've never felt an aura like yours before."

Jaune smiled wryly. "That's what I've been told. I was kinda hoping it would work this time."

Pyrrha rubbed her chin in thought, then said, "Perhaps if we get another student we might be able to unlock it?"

'Except that didn't work last time,' Jaune thought. But then again, two huntresses had to be better than two club bouncers. "Sure, why not? I think I saw Ruby being dragged away by that girl in white."

"Weiss Schnee?"

"Yeah, her." Jaune paused. "Wait, you mean the singer? That Weiss Schnee?"

Pyrrha's mouth twitched upwards. "Yes. That one."

Huh. Well that made Jaune feel a bit better. If a singer could be a huntress, why couldn't he be a huntsman? And yet, it begged the question of why there were so many celebrities here? He really should start paying attention to the news more often.

"Do you think I can get an autograph for my sisters?"

"Ruby!"

"Jaune?" Ruby turned to see Jaune pop out of some bushes. He jogged up to them but focused on Ruby.

"How'd you find us?" she asked, watching as Pyrrha Nikos followed not far behind.

"My cousin Minnie is an expert animal hunter. I picked up a few things about tracking on family camping trips." Jaune held up a small, crumbly object. "I just followed the cookie trail you left."

Ruby's eyes widened and her hands went to her cookie stash pack. Sure enough, there was a small tear at the bottom and bits of now-crushed cookies she had taken from the cafeteria were falling out. From the size of the tear it had to have been from one of the Beowolf claws she dodged.

Initiation could wait. All the Grimm here needed to die. She voiced her thoughts, fists clenched, her eyes burning with fury.

"This is my partner for the next four years," Weiss muttered, facepalming. "Unbelievable."

But before Ruby could run off and unleash her cookie vengeance, a pair of strong hands gripped her arms. "Hold it! I need your help again. Something you can actually fix instead of a dud sword."

Fix something that wasn't a sword? What could she do if it wasn't weapon related? She wanted to decline, but Jaune was a nice guy and he was asking for help. Least she could do was listen. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Well.. um.."

Ruby could see the awkward hesitation bloom across on his face, as if he suddenly felt self conscious about his request at the last second. It was a feeling Ruby could relate to. Were it anyone else, she probably wouldn't be able to pull it out. "Come on, no dumb questions with me, remember?"

He did, and that gave him enough confidence to ask, "Can you help me unlock my aura?"

"You don't have your aura?!"

Ruby jumped, thinking that had leapt from her mouth and was ready to apologize, but she realized soon enough it had erupted from Mt Bossy Britches, also known as her partner, Weiss.

"How do you get into Beacon without aura?" Weiss continued. "Are the standards here dropping so much that anyone can get in?"

"Why are you complaining? They let you in, didn't they?" Jaune said casually. Had Ruby not been looking at his face, she would have thought it an insult, but there were no signs of malice in his face or voice. Still, phrasing!

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss stomped towards Jaune, her weapon arm shaking with restrained fury. Despite the height difference, she made Jaune back up a few feet. "I'll have you know that I was trained by some of the best tutors in Atlas. I excelled on all my exams for the academies. Atlas Academy was begging for me to stay there! Are you implying I'm not good enough to be here?"

"What? No! I was just saying that-"

"I look weak? Fragile? Is that it?" Weiss jabbed a finger at his chest. "I am not some glass figurine to be put upon a shelf. I can handle myself, thank you very much."

Ruby wanted to step in and calm things down, but it was clear a few sensitive nerves had been pressed. Ruby was going to have to walk on eggshells for the next four years, wasn't she? Great. Where was Yang when she needed her? She was always better at this stuff.

But the next best solution came in the form of Pyrrha, cutting between Jaune and Weiss. "He didn't mean it like that, Weiss. He was just surprised that a renowned singer like you is attending a huntsman school." Ruby noticed her smile was oddly serene as she said that.

The words deflated Weiss' anger like a leftover helium balloon. She stared at Pyrrha, and then glared past her at Jaune. "Is that true?"

Jaune gave a wry grin. "Would it be a bad time to ask for an autograph for my sisters? They're big fans."

Weiss simply pursed her lips together in a deep frown and stalked away, muttering about idiotic boys. Jaune's shoulders sagged a bit and Pyrrha gave him a consoling pat.

"So…" Ruby spoke up, bringing their attention to her, "what's this about your aura?"

Jaune quickly explained the situation, with Pyrrha backing up his words. Needless to say, Ruby never heard of something like this before, and she wasn't exactly an expert on aura. If Pyrrha freaking Nikos couldn't jump start his aura, Ruby wasn't sure how she could contribute much more.

"We're trying for quantity over quality," Jaune said after she voiced her concern. "I don't know if this'll work either, but I'm running out of options here. Can you please help? I'll buy you a box of cookies after this."

Ruby had to hand it to him, Jaune knew how to drive a bargain. "Alright, let's get your aura pumping!" She grabbed one shoulder while Pyrrha held the other and began the chant.

Ruby poured part of her soul into him and immediately understood what they meant. Jaune's aura was huge! And it tasted like metal and saltwater. For a brief moment, Ruby saw a blue crystalline cube, but the moment her aura touched it, Ruby found herself in a new place. It felt like the garage when her sister would work on her bike, but this was on a much bigger scale. In fact, Jaune's aura looked like a ship of some kind, like an actual sea ship, not an airship.

Her flowery aura raced across and around his, examining it for buttons, levers, anything to pull at, but it was sealed tight. Still, that didn't deter Ruby in the slightest. She poked and prodded around, looking for something familiar to latch onto. While searching the 'top' of his aura, Ruby felt her soul resonate with several points of contact. They were big and felt like firearms of a kind, except they were heavy, unwieldy, and unmoving. Her aura tried tugging and pulling but there was almost no budging, even with the slight shaking sensation she felt from Pyrrha's efforts.

After a few more tries, Ruby broke out with a gasp. Across from her, Pyrrha took some deep breaths of her own.

"You guys weren't kidding," Ruby said. "I don't think my sister's aura is this big or heavy. What are you eating to get so much?" Ruby looked Jaune up and down. "And so tall?"

"I don't think it works quite like that," Pyrrha said.

"It doesn't."

The group turned to see Weiss standing off to the side, arms crossed, foot tapping, and expression sour. "Aura is a manifestation of the soul, not the stomach. If he has large reserves, it's likely because his family line has large auras. Furthermore, the idea of using quantity is ridiculous, but if I hadn't seen it, I would have had a difficult time believing Pyrrha couldn't do it by herself."

"Not that I don't appreciate it," Jaune said, "but why are you helping?"

Weiss sniffed. "We don't have all day to do this, you know. If you're all so insistent on doing this, then the faster this is done, the faster we can finish this test." Her eyes narrowed. "Don't get any wrong ideas. I simply will not have my standing be dragged down on the first day."

That was… the nicest thing Ruby heard from Weiss all day. Maybe Weiss wasn't a lost cause yet.

"What are you grinning about, dolt?"

"Nothing." Ruby skipped over to her partner. "So, partner, how do we unlock his aura?"

Weiss stood straighter. "It's not an exact science but there are a few visualization methods that might help. First, we need an idea of what Jaune's soul is like. What did you see?"

"It felt stuck, like it was caught on something," Pyrrha said. "It was heavy and metallic, but hollow, like it was meant to float."

"It felt like I was at the beach at first," Ruby said, "but then I saw some kinda garage with a giant ship in it. My soul pointed out something that felt like guns. Heavy guns."

"Sounds kinda like a dry dock." Jaune blinked. "Which kinda makes sense now that I think about it."

"Why's that?" Ruby asked.

"My family owns a lot of old warships for our company. Dad called it a ship escort business, but Mom didn't like that term for some reason."

"Ship escort?" Weiss' befuddled face turned to realization and then to shock. "Wait. Your family owns the Azur Lane Shipping Company?"

"Yes?"

Now Ruby was surprised as well, but for slightly different reasons. The company was known for working to protect coastal cities and shipping lanes from the Grimm, especially in places where Atlas military couldn't reach. Thanks to them, a lot of remote places were protected by routine patrols. But what shocked Ruby was how this contradicted the lengths Jaune's mom went to to stop him from attending Beacon. Shouldn't she want him to be able to fight Grimm as well?

Weiss' eye twitched. "That's even less excuse to not know who I am!" She took a deep breath to calm down, but she gripped her rapier a little tighter. "Focus. If Jaune's aura presents itself as a docked battleship, then perhaps to unlock it we need to get it back into the water, so to speak."

"If it's in a dry dock, there should be a way to flood the place to get it floating," Jaune added. "Maybe? I've never really seen my soul before."

"I don't recall seeing such things, but that does give me an idea," Pyrrha said, rubbing her chin in thought. "I'm willing to try again now."

They tried it again. Pyrrha's aura wrapped the bottom of the ship while Ruby's ran along the sides. From what Ruby could tell, Pyrrha was doing the heavy lifting (quite literally), and while it was impressive to see, it wasn't enough. There had to be something else.

Ruby checked for the floodgates. She found something resembling it, but there were no levers or controls she could find. Frustrated, she floated around the chains for-

Wait, chains?

Her aura poked and examined again. They were chains, taut and strong, leading from the dock up to the ship itself. Running her petals up the chain and onto the ship, she could find where they hooked into his aura, keeping it still. This had to be the key to unlocking his aura!

Ruby's aura gripped the chain and pulled with all her aura's strength. At first, it would not budge, but then thanks to Pyrrha's efforts, it gradually moved until it popped off the handle. Success! There were more chains left, but it could be done.

Relaying her discovery to Pyrrha, they worked in tandem to release all the other chains, each one getting easier with the more slack they got. It wasn't long before they popped off the last one and Ruby watched as the aura would activate.

…

Any second now.

…

"Oh come on!" Ruby exclaimed aloud, startling Jaune. "What are we possibly missing?"

"This is unusual," Weiss said, now more than a little curious at their efforts. "Perhaps it needs to be jump started with your auras now?"

"Maybe you could help and add your aura, see if that does anything," Ruby said, frustration filling her voice.

Weiss sighed. "Very well, but I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' afterwards." Weiss approached, her hand glowing with a snowy blue aura. A blue that looked like-

Whatever Ruby was about to think was cut off as several sudden things happened in a moment. Flood waters rushed in, the ship rumbled with new power, Ruby's aura was kicked out, and then Ruby herself was knocked back on her butt.

When she regained her senses, she said one thing, "What the heck was that?"

Here's your initiation arc. I'll try not to make it boring/cliche.

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