It was a beautiful day for initiation, and Ozpin was up to something. That much, Glynda was sure of.

First, it was the early admission of Ruby Rose. She could forgive that. Being the prodigy daughter of the late Summer Rose, it wasn't hard to see why Ozpin wanted the girl in Beacon. Though two years early was a significant stretch to cover, prodigy or not. But if it was for the reasons she thought it was, then there wasn't time to waste waiting.

Then it was the Belladonna girl, squeezing her in with a promise of discretion for her continued efforts of redemption. Highly unconventional, but Ozpin must have seen the earnestness in her to allow it, though Glynda would have preferred some stricter restrictions. However, such thoughts were diluted when she saw that the girl was grouped up with the Schnee.

And then there was Arc. A latecomer wasn't unheard of, but his transcripts made up for it on paper. Now if only his behavior actually matched said transcripts. But that was what the initiation was for, to weed out the weak and fraudulent.

But the final nail in the coffin was when the Great War planes zoomed out from Vale over the Emerald forest. Instead of being the slightest bit concerned, Ozpin was utterly calm, almost like he expected them to appear. From her perch, she watched as figures leapt from the planes into the forest, and then the planes circled around in what appeared to be a search pattern. James would probably know better. Since then, Glynda watched through the forest cameras to see…

Three maids and a scantily clad huntress?

Whoever they were, they were looking for someone, judging by the traps laid out. Glynda had a nagging feeling that Ozpin knew who.

"Sir, they're interfering with the initiation," Glynda said, looking up from the camera display, currently focused on the Rose-Schnee pair. What were they doing with that strange huntress? Shouldn't they know better than to get distracted? Killing Grimm was not the objective of their mission and now they were very off course from the temple.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he watched a different pair. "You know as well as I that missions hardly go according to plan. Rogue elements will be something that they will have to contend with."

"Yes. Rogue elements that are under our control!" Glynda all but shrieked. "If something goes wrong, I'm saddling you with all the paperwork."

"Rest assured, I have the utmost confidence that nothing will go wrong."

A loud Nevermore cry rang out, followed by the chatter of flying machine guns and large, muffled explosions. Glynda could have sworn she heard some yelling in the midst of the cacophony.

Ozpin took a long drink and pointedly ignored Glynda's glare.

Miles away, just out of sight of Vale and anchored in a cove for a quick getaway, Bataan stood in the flight control room of her manifested ship, filtering out the information her planes sent her of the Emerald Forest. Grimm, other students, and local landmarks were dotted across the map she made with pieces representing the team. After the first half hour, it turned into quite the battle map.

She had to give Jaune credit. He did well to avoid her recon planes so far. She chuckled at the thought of all their teachings being used against them. Jaune was smarter than he gave himself credit for.

A part of Bataan did wonder how he managed the flights to Beacon with his condition.

Regardless, it wasn't long before a flare had gone up. Judging from the position, it looked to be Newcastle that found him. She ordered the planes to converge on the area, crafting a new search formation.

It won't be long until-

Bataan's eyes widened as she hastily forced her planes to break away to avoid the sudden bird strike. Where the hell did these Nevermores come from?

More importantly, did they just try to peck her Hellcats out of the sky?

…

Jaune could wait a few minutes. These angsty chickens needed to know who the real eagle in the skies was.

"I can't believe that worked," Weiss said as she watched the Nevermores swerve and retaliate against the planes. Weiss had never heard of this 'skeet shooting' before, but when Ruby suggested using Weiss' gravity glyphs like this, she thought the girl was being childish and ridiculous as usual. Unfortunately, Minneapolis had latched onto the idea as well and after a few minutes of badgering, Weiss had to relent.

She was not at all curious about a possible new method of use of her glyphs, she just didn't want them to be used for such trivial games. Dust was getting expensive to use.

"Wow, you really got some distance on those magic circles," Minneapolis said with a whistle.

Weiss frowned. "They're not 'magic circles', they're dust-infused glyphs created by my semblance."

"Isn't that just the same thing? Your magic power is making magic circles with magic crystals." Minneapolis shrugged. "Tomato tomahto."

Was this girl serious? "It's completely different! Magic doesn't exist, and semblances are a manifestation of an innate and unique personal power from our aura. More importantly, Dust crystals are not 'magic crystals'!"

"Yeah, unless sneezing is the magic word to make them explode," Ruby added.

"Sure sure." Minneapolis waved her off and started to walk away. "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Those Hellcats are going to make mincemeat out of those Nevermores soon so we're going to need to find some more."

"I think I saw some this way," Ruby said, ready to zoom off again. But before she could, Weiss grabbed her hood with a hard tug.

It was time to put her foot down.

"Ruby, wait," Weiss said. "We need to head for the temple and get our relics."

Ruby stared at her like she grew another head. "But, but what about Jaune?"

Weiss felt her eye twitch. "What about him? In the time we've spent doing this little hunting game you roped us into, he's probably already made it to the temple and left. For all we know, he could have been caught already and then we wasted time for nothing."

"I- Well- Uh-" Ruby sputtered out. She then whipped her head towards the tanned tracker. "Minnie! Jaune hasn't been caught yet has he?"

"I think I saw a flare go off earlier so contact was made." Minneapolis said, leaning against a tree. "Haven't gotten word that he was caught though. He might have gotten away."

Ruby turned back to Weiss with a hopeful grin. "See? We helped."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm thrilled to be of service. Now how about we help ourselves to finishing this initiation?"

"But…"

"But what, Ruby?" Weiss stomped forward into Ruby's space. "We're done here. No more games. We have nothing else to do than to finish this mission, or is that too complex for your brain to handle?"

Ruby's eyes grew despondent and downcast. Her body withdrew with every word. "I just wanted to…"

How this simple girl got into Beacon was beyond Weiss. "To what? Play around? Today is the most important day to enter the most important school and I'm not going to waste it because my partner wanted to get distracted with a silly game in exchange for silly stories about her silly mother!"

Ruby's gaze was fixed upon the ground as she trembled like a leaf under the verbal barrage. Weiss mentally sighed. Ruby really was just a child in the end. No amount of skill could make up for an ounce of maturity.

"...-ack."

"I can't hear you over your mumbling, dolt."

"I said," Ruby looked up and Weiss had to stop herself from flinching, "Take. It. Back." She sniffed once. Her eyes glistened with tears that threatened to spill any second. Her expression was a twisted amalgamation of anger and deep sorrow. The trembling that was seen as submission was now simply an attempt at keeping herself in control. "I don't care if you talk bad about me, but don't you dare say anything about my mom. I never got to know her, but everyone that did told me she was amazing; but they never bring her up unless they're drunk. You probably have no idea what that's like. You could probably buy several moms with all your Dust money but they'd never be half as great as mine was."

Weiss had been ready to apologize a bit for overstepping herself, but those thoughts were soon trampled over and their replacements marched forward without hesitation. "Excuse me? Listen here you little red nuisance, being one of the richest families in Atlas doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows at home. You might need alcohol to get people to remember your mother, but at least your mother didn't drink herself into a constant haze to forget her family even existed half the time! It must be so nice to have a mother that actually cared about you."

Ruby reeled back as if she was slapped, but Weiss pressed on, flourishing her words like her rapier. "If you're going to be so insistent on chasing stories like fairy tales instead of becoming a huntress, then our partnership ends here. Perhaps on your way home, you should try to re-evaluate your priorities and maybe consider a career change."

Even as the last venom laced word left her mouth, a part of Weiss felt dirty for preying on the sensitive issue like Beowolf on a raw wound. It was something her father would have done. But what's done is done and a Schnee cannot back down like a coward.

"Are you two done?" Minnie asked, appearing a few feet away with her arms crossed. Her expression was hard to read as she blew a bubble gum bubble, but she seemed a mix of bored and unamused.

"I believe so," Weiss said, shooting a glare at a flustered Ruby.

"Good."

Chop! Chop!

Ruby and Weiss yelped and clutched the top of their heads from the sudden strike. Weiss opened her mouth to speak.

"If the next words out of both your pie holes aren't 'I'm sorry' then so help me I will use you both as Grimm bait!" Minneapolis growled out, eyes fixed onto them like an apex hunter, waiting for a single toe to step out of line. It was a look that Winter often bore during training sessions.

Weiss' mouth clicked shut.

"I expected better of a pair of Huntress trainees, but instead all I see is a pair of greenhorn brats that would rather fight like feral cats until the Grimm come calling." Minneapolis paced back and forth as she talked. "If this is the best of the next generation of Hunters, then Remnant is in for a world of hurt.

"Ruby, no, Rookie," Minneapolis said as she stopped in front of said girl. "Stand up straight. Look me in the eyes. Do you want to be like Summer? Do you want to be a Huntress?"

"I-I do."

"I can't hear you from under all that snot, Rookie!"

Ruby sniffed. "I do."

"Bullshit, I don't believe you. Louder!"

"I do!"

"Say it like you mean it!" Minneapolis roared. "Show me your war face!"

"I WANT TO BE A HUNTRESS!" Ruby yelled back.

"Then fucking act like one!" Minneapolis chopped Ruby over the head again, nearly driving the girl to her knees. "If Summer saw you right now, she'd be disappointed that you would throw away your chance to be a huntress just for a few stories. Guess what, Rookie? I'm not some fucking fairy that shows up once in a blue moon. I'll still be around to tell you everything you want, but you have to hold up your end of the bargain by becoming a better Huntress. That means it's time to quit screwing around and finish your mission. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Now wipe your face and quit crying. Make your momma proud."

Ruby nodded and sniffed once more, wiping her tears away once the Huntress focused on Weiss.

"I'm only going to say this once, Snowflake, so pay attention or I'll knock it into your frozen skull. That," Minneapolis pointed at Ruby, "is your partner, for better or worse. When she trips, you pick her up. When she gets stuck, you pull her out. Never abandon your partner because you never know when she'll need to do the same for you. Right now, she's younger and less experienced than you, so you need to shut up and show her the ropes instead of trying to strangle her with them." Her glare bore into Weiss like a fire dust drill. "And you'll do it with a smile or I'll break that toothpick sword of yours off in that frozen ice block you call an ass."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Weiss had heard stories about drill sergeants from Winter, but they clearly undersold the pure intimidation she felt at that moment. Was this strange Huntress a former Atlesian military officer? No, Atlas wouldn't condone that attire of hers in a century. Vacuo perhaps?

Minneapolis stepped back and gave them both an appraising look. "One last thing left to do. Now that you know how much you fucked up, I want to see some apologies. Consider it your first bonding exercise so make them sincere. Feel free to start with the family wounds you opened. It's something you two have in common."

Weiss chewed on the corner of her lip as she made eye contact with Ruby. Her Schnee pride wanted to stand firm, but it was still a tainted pride. To hold to it would be to spit in the face of every reason she took to come to Beacon. No, she had to start somewhere.

"Ruby, I-"

"Weiss, I-"

They both balked at each other, but Weiss held her hand up first. She took a deep breath and began. "Ruby, you can be so childish, and dim-witted, and hyperactive, and more that I could list, and that's not even going into your fighting style…"

"Is this going somewhere?" Ruby asked quietly.

"But," Weiss gave her a silencing glare, "I can see that you have the potential to be a great huntress. I'm not… experienced in working with others, but if you can take a moment to stop and listen to me, I can make the effort to be… nicer. I got carried away before. I didn't mean to belittle your mother like that. I'm sure she was an excellent Huntress."

Ruby sniffed again, seemingly about to cry once more but with a smile this time. "Thanks Weiss. I'm sorry about what I said about your mom and your money. I didn't… I didn't know. I just... kinda assumed…" Ruby started to trail off awkwardly, but managed to fumble together a response. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be here. That's what partners are for, right? Like Minnie said, I'll pick you up when you need it."

Weiss nodded. "I appreciate it."

Off to the side, Minneapolis nodded as well. "Good good. That's what I like to see." She then made a rather shark-like grin. "Now hug it out."

Weiss blinked. "Wait, what?" But it was too late. She was tackled to the ground, arms pinned to her sides as he was embraced by a red blur.

"We're gonna be the best partners Beacon has ever seen!"

"Ruby! Get off me! Stop! Did you just wipe your snot on my dress?"

It took a few minutes to get Ruby to let go, but in the end, Weiss felt like some weight was lifted off her shoulders. No. There was more weight, but now the weight was shared with her fri- partner.

Friends do not rub snot over each other's dresses.

Ruby's smile was practically beaming at her, looking far more natural on her face than the broken sorrow did. It made Weiss want to smile as well.

'Maybe I'll allow it. Just this once.'

"I hate to bring things down again," Weiss said, "but now we're even later than before. We need to hurry to the temple, which we still don't know the location of."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan!"

"The way you say that makes me worried."

"Oh relax, it was all part of the plan before we met Minnie."

"... Now I'm even more worried."

Minneapolis chuckled. "I think I know where this is going."

"It'll be fine. Trust me," Ruby said.

So Weiss trusted Ruby.

It was not fine. Ruby could not be trusted with planning.

Yang learned a few things from Sheffield. Not anything she had beaten out of the maid, but more that the maid had beaten into her.

One, Yang needed to practice a lot more against small, slippery opponents.

Two, bullets made of dish detergent exist and taste terrible. Yang was sure that the maid was purposefully aiming for her mouth every time she swore.

Three, the maid has to be some kind of pervert, showing off her bikini wax like that while fighting. But it did the job of distracting Yang from blocking the axe kick, not that Yang would ever try such a bold tactic.

But Yang was able to piece together a few answers to her questions. Okay, Blake got the answers, but only because the maid was purposefully ignoring Yang's banter. Same thing in the end.

Not that Yang would admit it, but it may have also had to do with Blake scoring more hits too. And Sheffield knew it.

First, and most surprising, Sheffield actually is a maid. The Head Maid for Jaune's family no less. What kind of family hires a maid with combat skills? Better question, why wasn't she a huntress?

Second, Sheffield wasn't actually trying to kill Jaune. She was trying to drag him back home after he had run away from home to "persist in his foolish endeavor of becoming a Huntsman." And he stole some important family sword too. The maid seemed rather ticked about that, as far as her expressions went.

But to Yang's surprise and relief, Sheffield was rather straightforward about her lack of panties. They were too restrictive of her mobility (whatever that meant), but it was clear that it wasn't Jaune's idea.

Good. He can keep being Ruby's friend for now.

"As amusing as it is to trounce you over and over, shouldn't you be running along to finish your objectives?" Sheffield asked, dusting off her skirt. "I don't think your teachers would appreciate tardiness."

Yang wiped off some sweat from her brow. "My sister hasn't gotten her relic yet. What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't wait for her?"

Sheffield's expression cracked for a moment, but was swiftly repaired to impassiveness. "Very well. I suppose there's no point in indulging your attempts at keeping me occupied any longer."

Yang's eye twitched. She made a note to ask Jaune if this maid is always so insufferably smug. "I don't know about you, but I can go for a few more rounds."

"Not unless you're willing to fight without shooting," Blake interjected. "We need to save some ammo for the trip back, Yang. How many shells do you have left?"

Yang patted down her ammo pockets and frowned. Crap. She may have used a few too many shells this time. "Whatever, I'm down for a good old fashioned brawl," Yang said, retracting her gauntlets.

"Sadly, it won't change the outcome." Sheffield shifted into a martial arts stance that Yang couldn't identify.

But before either of them could attack, a roaring screech pierced the air. The three of them turned to see a massive Nevermore on approach with a smaller swarm trailing after it. But what stole Yang's breath away were the figures on the lead Nevermore. Ruby and the Schnee girl clutching the feathers on its back, and then a tanned girl dangling from the leg by a chain, whooping with joy as she swung around.

"Best. Hunt. Ever!" the girl cried out.

"Ruby! Get down from there!" Yang yelled up at them.

The war planes from earlier suddenly arrived as well, flanking in from the sides, and their guns opening fire upon the trailing swarm. The bullets shredded through the fledgling Grimm like paper.

"What are those fools doing?" Sheffield asked.

But she was never answered as another roar came from the side, down on the ground. This one belonging to an Ursa ridden by a pair of girls, a student and a… another maid.

Were all of Jaune's maids perverts?

A mistralian guy in green ran up out of breath like he was chasing them for miles, but his partner already left to grab a relic.

"I'm Queen of the Castle! I'm Queen of the Castle!"

Did that maid just snap the ursa's neck with her hands?

"Please do not jest about that, Lady Valkyrie," the top-heavy maid said, prancing over to her. "Usurpers of the Crown are dealt with severely."

"Ha! Don't be so serious, Sirius. Oh, Ren! You can be my knight!"

Yang turned to Blake and pointed at the group. "I'm not hallucinating, right? You saw all that too?

But before any answers could be had, there was yet another cry, but this one more human-like. The source of the cry soon appeared as Jaune sailed over the treetops, crashing into a falling Ruby and hurtling them both into another tree.

"Ah, there he is," Sheffield said, but making no move to secure him, as if she was confident there was no escape.

The giant Nevermore cried out once more, this time in pain, as its throat was strangled by chains that anchored it to the trees below. It flapped its wings to lessen the grip, but in the moment it was held aloft, the planes shot it down like a crippled turkey. The brown and white figures fell from the bird, the former catching a ride on a passing plane, and the latter using dark glyphs to slow her fall.

"Okay, I think that's enough-" Yang started.

It was then that a massive Death Stalker burst through the forest chasing a rather renowned redhead. It gained ground quickly, but broke off when a third maid appeared (modestly dressed, but Yang was still suspicious) and held it off with an umbrella.

Why did Jaune have so many combat maids? Was there a secret Huntress school for maids?

"Jaune!" Pyrrha raced over to him.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune waved back at her.

"Ruby!" The Schnee dropped from the heavens.

"Weiss!" Ruby also waved back.

"Nora!" Nora added.

"ENOUGH!" Yang roared, her hair lit ablaze by her semblance. "Is there anyone else that wants to make a dynamic entrance? No? Good! In case you haven't noticed, we have Grimm to deal with."

Blake tapped her shoulder and pointed. "You mean those Grimm?"

Yang followed to see the Nevermore had crashed into a heap, slowly turning to ash. Likely broke its neck in the fall. The Deathstalker on the other hand was being handled by the three maids with the help of strafing runs by the planes.

Under normal circumstances, Yang would go help, but nothing about this was normal and so she took advantage of the distraction to run over to Jaune and Ruby as they clambered down from their tree. Well, more like fall onto their butts from the branches.

"Ruby! Why the hell were you flying on a Nevermore?" Yang asked as she pulled Ruby up and into a smothering hug.

"Wha- Yang! I was just trying to hunt some… wait." Ruby gasped and flailed in Yang's grasp for a moment. "Yang! Minnie knows mom! She knows mom!"

Yang blinked. All thoughts of chastisement were drop kicked off a cliff. "What? Wait, who's Minnie?"

"Crap, Minnie's here too?" Jaune said as he got up.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked as she slid to a halt, but in doing so almost knocking him over again. "I'm sorry!"

"I'm fine thanks to my aura." Jaune popped his back. "Ugh, now I know what an artillery shell feels like."

"Your family sent maids and planes after you, by the way," Yang added.

"I noticed," Jaune replied dryly.

"What the heck is up with your family's taste in maids?"

Jaune shook his head. "Don't even get me started on that." He frowned. "Wait, which maids?"

Before Yang could respond, a shrill voice called out, "Ruby!"

A very disheveled Weiss Schnee stomped up to them with a look of simmering frustration. She stomped right up to Ruby and shook a finger in her face. "Rule number one of our partnership: You are no longer allowed to make plans without consulting me first."

"Aww, but it worked out!"

Weiss' eye twitched. "It almost didn't!"

"Hey, cut her some slack, will you?" Yang growled. She wasn't going to let some uppity diva bully her precious sister. "You're still in one piece, Ice Queen."

Weiss began to retort, but Jaune cut them all off. "Guys, you can argue about this later. We need to grab the relics and get back to the cliffs."

Relics. Yang almost forgot about them, having already acquired her own. "I got mine. Last four are all yours."

Weiss looked like she just ate a lemon. She shot Ruby a glare, but nodded at the ceasefire agreement. "Let's go."

The four latecomers then turned and dashed for the remaining relics, two knights and two rooks. Yang watched as they crossed the field, but something was wrong.

Why was it so quiet? What happened to the Deathstalker?

Yang's eyes widened at what she saw. "Ruby, wait!"

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

A/N

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I said I would get a chapter out and I was determined to make it before the next year.

So! We're almost at the end of this arc. I'm kickstarting quite a few things here, starting with that little blowup between Ruby and Weiss. Was it a bit much? Maybe, but I got plans that need some groundwork to get going.

Plus, it'd be rather boring if this initiation was entirely 1:1 with canon.

Also, can I just say that writing Sheffield and Minnie this chapter was an absolute blast? It almost wrote itself really.

The maids are here and Jaune is in the home stretch. Will he make it? Find out next time!

Please leave comments! Thanks for reading!