"GOOOOD AFTERNOOOOON, FREDDIE!"

Frederick was jolted awake from his nap by the sudden, jarring approach of the resident doctor on campus. Of course, he wasn't thinking of Bartholomew or himself, but one of the women on the medical side of things.

"...I told you not to call me that, Arach." The staff member sat back upright in his office chair, noticing that it was only that woman and himself in the third floor staff room. Being the massive building that it was, Beacon Academy had multiple staff rooms on various levels, yet she just happened to be using the same one as Frederick, much to his dismay.

"Oh, yes! Hit me with that aggravated scowl again!" The giddy doctor bounced up and down, causing her long, unkempt brown hair to slightly loosen from her haphazardly tied ponytails. The woman did little to hide her eccentricities, nor did her orange, half-buttoned top and open lab coat do much to obscure her well-endowed assets.

While the students at Beacon were likely all-too-eager to interact with the gorgeous, manic doctor, Frederick always viewed her presence as a source of frustration ever since he'd started working at Beacon. To top things off, he still had plenty of grading and test planning left to do on his end, and that brief nap was supposed to be his momentary reprieve from the chaos. Now, it was being interrupted by this nutcase.

"Shut the hell up, Doc… don't you have medical files to review? Those first-year runts haven't been treated yet, right?" He turned on the coffee maker on his desk, preparing a cup for himself, then resumed his work from a couple nights ago, grading papers from a second-year course test.

Hardly even acknowledging his question, Arach sat on the edge of his desk, going over files on her Scroll. "So many interesting students, I couldn't help myself! Their history, their Semblances, their motivations! It had me squirming all night! So exciting! So enticing! So SATISFYING! It had me so hot and ready... but then I got bored, so I came here!" The doctor spun around to face Frederick. "Say, make me a cup, too? I take mine with five sugars! Maybe six? Should I upgrade to seven? Oh, LUCKY number seven!"

Frederick frowned. "The last thing you need is extra sugar… or any caffeine, honestly."

Arach busted out in laughter in response. "KYAHAHAHAHA! Rejected outright! Woe is me, shut down and denied the pleasures of afternoon coffee with a muscly hunk!... Oh well, c'est la vie! Back to the hell's of my daily routine; I venture forth!" Arach hopped off Frederick's desk, skipping jovially out the door into the hall, humming some off-key variant of "This Will be the Day."

Yikes, that doc is one hot-mess of a woman. Even still, something about her always seemed off to Frederick, and not just in regards to her unreadable, pixie-girl attitude.


Grimm corpses littered the grassy soil, casualties of another newly-formed team defending their own encampment. Tsubaki kept the Izayoi deployed as she checked on the status of her colleagues.

First was Weiss Schnee, a friend of hers from middle school. Along with the Kisaragi heir, the three of them had been close friends for their time together, despite Jin's aloof nature. However, the trio didn't have the fortune to enjoy their high school years at the same location, so they were forced to communicate through occasional Scroll messages during high school. Meeting once again at Beacon's Initiation was an unexpected, but highly welcome turn of events. The Schnee heiress was quite excited to meet her old friend once more, but sadly they didn't have much opportunity to catch up, what with the constant Grimm engagements.

You've certainly improved your footwork after all these years, Weiss. I suppose that's natural, given your upbringing. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to speak more once this test is complete.

Second of her teammates was Nanase Iizuka, a peppy girl with a Semblance that allows minor manipulation of wind currents. Though rather quick to jump to conclusions, she certainly seemed experienced enough in battle against the Grimm to show that she was no slouch in combat. However, her level of confidence seemed to indicate an overestimation of her own capabilities. Perhaps not to the point of arrogance, but I'd best keep my eye on her, regardless.

Last, but certainly not least, was Enkidu Gaien. An absolute tank of a man, his monk-like robes were worn from waist-down, revealing musculature that hardly seemed achievable by someone of his age. A practitioner of various traditional martial arts, he was very soft-spoken, only interacting if he had something important to share, or a question to answer.

That man is formidable, indeed. Though It'd be dishonest of me to say that I have a clear understanding of what's going on in his head.

Though perhaps not the most well-balanced team composition, they'd be able to fend off the onslaught of smaller Grimm patrols well enough. It was an unfortunate twist of events that seemed to put them at the epicenter of constant attacks, but they'd have little choice but to persevere until the clock had run down.

"You've certainly perfected your form, Tsubaki." The heiress gave a light chuckle, easing her stance as the immediate Grimm incursion had died down. "I can't wait to see the look on Petra's face when she sees you in action."

"Ah, so you two still bicker as always?" The redhead couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's disdain for the Lagerkvist heiress. "Some things never change, I see."

Visibly embarrassed, Weiss crossed her arms and turned away. "Hmph… If you think that'll ever change, I'd recommend you not get your hopes up."

"Ooooh, don't leave me out of the loop!" Nanase casually injected herself into the conversation, a jovial smile upon her face. "Is this Petra chick a family member of yours? Friend? Wait, could she be your secret lover—?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Weiss snapped back at the energetic teen. "All three of those guesses were off the mark! Most notably that last one!"

Tsubaki giggled, taking note of Weiss' quick temper. I suppose there are some ways in which she hasn't improved. As Nanase continued to pester her teammate, Tsubaki turned towards Enkidu, who had begun to silently meditate in front of his tent. So he's keeping to himself… Well, I suppose that's fine for the time being. In truth, the Initiate found herself rather frustrated with the man's isolation, but she also didn't wish to overstep boundaries with a student she had just met.

Yet at that moment, Enkidu's eyes shot wide open, followed by his body leaping to combat-ready posture, looking off to the clouds above. "Watch the skies!" He called out, warning to his allies as a massive black figure flew overhead, briefly blocking out the sun on its passing. A Nevermore, soaring far above them, chased its desired prey with fervor.


"Jaune, it's diving again!"

"Why at me, specifically?!"

The frantic teen rolled to his side to dodge the claws of the beast as it swooped down, skating across the ground with its razor-like talons before lifting back up into the sky. Though Yumi had launched many ice projectiles at the winged Grimm, its thick hide hardly seemed to have received any punishment. If anything, their pursuer had only grown more angry as they attempted to defend themselves.

"It's far too resilient for me to defeat with my Ice alone, Jaune!" Yumi looked up to the top of the hill they were climbing before they were attacked. "Additionally, that Nevermore seems to have attracted more Beowolves… Can you distract it while I deal with this pack?"

Jaune gripped Crocea Mors, sweat beads forming throughout his body. Just how the hell am I going to keep that monster busy by myself?!

Doth thee desireth the means to defend thyself?

Jaune clutched his head as a sudden pain spiked from within. Losing grip of his blade, the boy's vision began to double, then cloud. Flashes of hot and cold rapidly shot through his body as he struggled to remain conscious.

What… what's going on… I… can't…

"Watch out, Jaune! It's circling back around!"

Though he couldn't see its approach, Jaune could hear the banshee-like screeching of the hostile bird, knowing it was descending upon him rapidly.

Damn… it…

In desperation, Jaune gathered what strength he could muster, and leapt off the hillside, his legs giving out upon landing. As he rolled down, a violent crash could be heard from behind him.

The hill steepened as he rolled through sharp, thorned shrubbery that ripped at his clothes and flayed his skin, casting his arms and legs in crimson. Finally, the hill gave way to a vertical cliff face. Unable to halt his momentum, the young boy was flung off the side, to the shrouded forest below.


Though it wasn't diving for them, Tsubaki wasn't going to let that monstrosity terrorize the other students any longer. "Weiss, Nanase! I need a launch Glyph and upward gust!"

Weiss stepped back in shock. "You can't be serious, Tsubaki! Why even bother picking fights with that thing when it's clearly not even interested in us?!"

"Because we have the means to fight it, and there's no guarantee that its target has the same capability." Tsubaki channeled a powerful light into her blade, and wings began to manifest from her buckler. "Please, support me as requested, or I will have little choice but to engage the Grimm independently. Even if we can only temporarily ground it, we'd still be giving both ourselves and the other students a significant advantage if we took the initiative." She looked up to see the massive Grimm pivoting around for another pass. "It's coming back this way, Weiss."

Weiss reluctantly sheathed her rapier, stepping back to focus her Semblance on the ground beside them, generating a gray-toned Glyph on the ground. "Just to be clear, I find this needlessly reckless."

Nanase gave an enthusiastic wink, channeling wind around her forearm. "I'm ready when you are!"

"Will you be joining, Enkidu?" Tsubaki asked the tall man that had remained on guard since the Nevermore's initial swoop.

Without words, the monk-like warrior nodded, readying himself as the Grimm approached.

"Let's go, then!" The two leapt on to the Glyph, which flung them up towards the treeline. With the added gust of wind that followed, they sailed further upwards, blowing past the trees until they could see the horizon. The Nevermore rapidly approached, though seemingly unaware of its sudden company.

The wings of Izayoi's buckler flapped as Tsubaki spun herself and Enkidu around. "Engage first, I'll be right behind you!" Letting go of the man, she watched as he rushed through the skies, speeding toward the Grimm like a human missile.


There was a crack in the air, like two forces of great kinetic energy being smashed into one another. Though Yu had instructed her to help set up their tents, Ruby couldn't help but be distracted by the sounds of battle off in the distance.

"There's still a lot of fighting… I hope Yang and that other guy are okay." She fumbled with the tools and tarps, struggling to focus on her task. While the safety of her sister and teammate were at the forefront of her thoughts, she also had something else stuck in the back of her mind.

I know a bit about Persona's, but that sword… I could've sworn it had disappeared on its own.

Ruby wanted badly to ask Hyde about it, but Yu had the boy rest by the tree that he'd been knocked into. That other guy had nearly drained his entire Aura in a single, back-handed swing. I've never met someone that strong before. How is that even possible?

"If you're antsy, I might ask for your help with something else." Yu finished up his last tent, noting that Ruby was struggling with hers. "I have a feeling that Ragna won't be eager to come back on his own. Hyde should be back in fighting form soon enough, but we can't complete our Initiation if the whole team isn't here."

"Wait, are you asking me to go find him?" Ruby was uncertain about chasing after the guy that could snap at the drop of a hat. "I can deal with the Grimm, sure, but that guy seems a little too…" Trailing off, Ruby averted her gaze from the young man that had asked her to take such a risk.

Gently smiling, Yu tossed a couple protein bars toward his teammate. The supply drop, while technically designed as a rocket-propelled weapons locker, had been filled with all sorts of survival tools and camping supplies. That said, in terms of food the options were limited to those bars. If they wanted more to eat, they'd need to forage.

"Your Semblance allows you to move far quicker than Hyde and I could, and Izanagi can't travel too far from me without being called back." Yu gave Ruby a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "I can completely understand why you'd hesitate, given the circumstances. But you're the only one of us who can catch up to him at this point." He chuckled as a thought seemed to cross his mind. "Besides, you don't want to be stuck with cleaning duty, do you?"

"Oh yuck!" Ruby laughed with Yu as she thought of having to scrub toilets on her first week. "That's a hard pass from me!"

Pocketing the protein bars, Ruby picked up Crescent Rose, shifting it into its rifle form. "Okay, then I guess it's up to me, then!"


"Ugh, surely it didn't have to be a boy?"

Erika begrudgingly carried the unconscious initiate on her back as Kati merrily walked in front of them, humming the lyrics to some pop song that Erika could only faintly recognise the melody to. They'd found the young man knocked out and bleeding with an inactive Aura, likely having been chased off the cliffside by that rampaging Grimm. The girls had taken refuge under the cover of the forest, but very little light made it past the thick tree branches above, so they could only hear continued fighting off in the distance. So those people are taking that Nevermore head-on? Bold, but foolish.

"Ah, don't be like that, Erika! Better this guy than that long-haired creep and the muscle jerk, right?" Kati grinned such that her face barely had enough room for the massive smile. "Besides, you've gotta get over that whole guy-hate thing you've got going on."

Rolling her eyes, Erika scowled back at her jovial companion. "I don't hate them, I simply don't see why we couldn't just leave him and find more appropriate teammates. Man or otherwise, I'd hardly consider an oaf with an inactive Aura to be of much use to us. If anything, he'll probably just weigh us down. Do you seriously want to go our entire time at Beacon with dead weight on our shoulders?"

"Sheesh, for a pyro, you're pretty cold-hearted, huh?" Kati twirled her staff in her fingers as they made their way around the cliff, hoping to find a safer way up the vertical incline.

Perhaps. Erika was raised as a sister of the Licht Kreis, an organization of the Holy Church of Remnant. They were devout followers of the religious faith, and held power within the Church that dwarfed their brother-order of Ritter Schild, and were second only to the Cardinal's Inner Circle, as well as the mysterious Burial Agency. The Wagner child had no knowledge of their inner workings, as they were quite secretive in regard to their goals and achievements.

Over the years, Erika Miyashiro Wagner had gained notoriety as the "Flame Tyrant of the Sister-Order," having bested both her sisters and brothers in countless duels, growing both in exceptional power, but also in exceptional narcissism. In her eyes, weak and incompetent women weren't worth her time, and her disdain for weak men seemed to many as even greater. Her reputation grew until her superiors eventually decided that she could no longer serve as a Sister until her attitude and worldview had changed, and was sent on a pilgrimage to earn her way back into their Order… by becoming a certified Huntress. They hoped that forcing her to work with people outside the Church would improve her attitude.

Unbelievable… to think that I'd be saddled with these kinds of people.


"VPD, Open up!"

Gordeau groaned as the knocking continued, as it had for almost ten minutes. "Give it a rest, Kagura! We don't open until 9, and it's barely past noon!"

There was a light chuckle on the other end of the door, but his friend was persistent. "Aw, c'mon Gord! Make an exception for an old pal? Please?"

You've gotta be pullin' my leg, man… Gordeau relented, opening the bar door for the cop. In walked Officer Kagura Mutsuki, a Sergeant of the Vale Police Department, and frequent patron of "Greedy Goliath's," the bar that Gordeau's grandfather had left him before passing away.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Kagura smiled as he took off his cap, showing off a fresh haircut.

The bar owner couldn't help but snicker at his old friend. "Man, I remember the days when your hair was almost shoulder-length. The clean-cut look just ain't your thing, man."

Kagura sighed in response. "Trust me, if it wasn't regulation, I would've kept it that way." However, the officer clearly had something on his mind, as he quickly changed the subject. "Say, I'll be on duty this evening, so I could sure use a pick-me-up!" Grinning ear-to-ear, Kagura locked the door behind him. "All off the record, of course."

"Fine, but it's goin' on your tab. Can't go ringing you up this early." Gordeau began looking for a certain bottle in particular. "The usual, right? I remember Qrow lovin' this crap, too…"

"Man, not all of us are into that fancy Atlen shit you drink!" Kagura watched as his pal poured his favorite amber beverage into a short glass. "Besides, that dusty old bastard hasn't been back for weeks now. More for me, right?"

"Well, it ain't like we've had much business these days, so you're welcome to as much as you can stomach." Looking for a wine bottle on the opposite end, Gordeau added: "Also, this baby's a 1079 vintage, from back in the ol' Mantle days. I'm talkin' Pre-War."

Kagura enjoyed his own drink as the man gushed over the history of the Mantlese wine. "Hell, isn't that the same stuff Hilda used to drink? Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her since our Academy days. Now that was one Grade-A babe! What I'd give for an evening with her…"

"Careful what you wish for, man." Gord chuckled as he poured himself a glass. "The only thing more dangerous than the crazy type, is the ambitious type."