"You know, if there's one thing that's always stayed the same during my travels, it's the wildlife." Musashi said, the woman taking a deep breath of fresh air as she and her apprentice stood among the trees of the Emerald Forests.

"That's a nice sentiment and all but I have to ask…" Jaune said, the blonde adjusting his travel backpack into a more comfortable position, "What exactly are we doing here, Musashi?"

"Why, this is your final exam, of course." Musashi said with a slap on the boy's back. The blonde would have stumbled over and fallen flat on his face from the force alone had he not grabbed a nearby tree to balance himself.

"...Huh?" Jaune asked, looking at his mentor with an expression of pure confusion, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Sure. You see the edge of that cliff way over there?" Musashi asked, pointing to a faraway location, "Well, once you get over that, Beacon Academy will just be a hop, skip, and a jump away."

"I don't like where you're going with this…" Jaune said as the feeling of pure dread and horror started to creep all over him.

"Your task is to get through this whole forest, get over that cliff and reach Beacon Academy's auditorium just in time for the Headmaster's speech." Musashi said, the woman looking at her apprentice with a proud smile.

"I don't know what you're smiling about but can't we just take the Bullheads?" Jaune asked.

"Well, we could but the problem is that I'll be taking the Bullhead to Beacon, too." Musashi said.

"How is that a problem?!" Jaune asked.

"Well, if we both went on those flying machines, then I would have to endure through the smell of your puke, would I not?" Musashi asked, the woman instinctively pinching her nose at the thought.

"Urk… I-I suppose…" Jaune said, the boy dreading the thought of his airsickness, "T-then we can just take separate Bullheads."

"Nope. Why, you ask?" Musashi said, "Because what sort of person would I be if I subjected other people to that horrible condition of yours?! A monster, that's what!"

"...I hate you." Jaune said as he glanced between the forest in front of him and the grinning face of his mentor.

"That's the spirit. Use that energy and channel it towards getting through this whole forest and making it to Beacon Academy." Musashi said as she patted the boy on his shoulders, "Remember to make use of everything I taught you."

"Wait, what happens if I don't… make it in time…" Jaune said, his sentence trailing off as he saw that his mentor had mysteriously disappeared, "How does she keep doing that?!"

As his voice echoed throughout the Emerald Forest, Jaune looked at his faraway destination before slapping himself on his cheeks.

"You know what, I've made it this far." Jaune said to himself as he took the first of what was sure to be many exhausting steps, "A hike through a forest teeming with Grimm shouldn't be too much trouble."

[~]

Ruby Rose, at just fifteen years old, had been invited to join Beacon Academy a full two years early. Invited not just by some random person but by the Headmaster himself. That very fact should have had the young Huntress-in-training pacing around the Bullhead in excitement but unfortunately, the silver-eyed girl was a bundle of nerves right now.

Staring out of the Bullhead's window, the young girl found herself pacing on the spot again as she looked around at the people around her.

"Nope. Not a single familiar face in sight." Ruby thought to herself with a sigh, "Well, except for-"

"Hey there, sis, you seem tense." came the cheerful tone of her sister as the blonde wrapped an arm around her neck, "Why don't you relax a little bit? Talk to someone."

"Talk to who?" Ruby asked as she scanned the different faces around her, "I don't know anybody here, Yang."

"Not even that John guy you told me about?" Yang asked with a snort.

"His name's Jaune, Yang!" Ruby said with a pout.

"Right. Jaune. Aren't you a little old to be making imaginary friends?" Yang asked.

"He's not imaginary! How many times do I need to tell you that?!" Ruby shouted out, gaining the attention of a few people on board.

"Right, right. The guy friend you met a year ago-"

"Nine months!"

"Right, nine months ago who went on a, what was it again?" Yang said a teasing smile on her face, "A super cool training trip around Remnant? Did I get that right?"

"Yup."

"Well, where is he?" Yang asked, "I don't see him anywhere."

"He's probably just… on another Bullhead…" Ruby said as she shuffled her feet, "Yeah, that's it! He's just on a different Bullhead than us."

"Uh-huh… You keep telling yourself that, sis." Yang said, "Alternatively, you could start your life here in Beacon by making new friends."

"...You make it sound so easy…" Ruby muttered to herself as she looked around the Bullhead with a reluctant expression.

"That's because it is!" Yang exclaimed as she and Ruby looked over the other occupants of the Bullhead, "All you have to do is walk up to one of these people and ask them if they want to be friends. Boom. Easy, right?"

"Are you making fun of me?" Ruby asked as she pulled herself away from her sister, "You are, aren't you?"

Before Yang could respond, the holographic form of Beacon's Deputy Headmistress appeared nearby as it instantly grabbed everyone's attention.

"Oh, look, it's Professor Goodwitch. Looks like she's about to make an announcement." Yang said, the girl not even waiting for a response from Ruby, "Come on, Rubes, I bet she has something important to say. Wouldn't want to miss it now, would we?"

"Subtle, Yang… Very subtle…" Ruby muttered to herself. The young silver-eyed girl then joined Yang and the rest of the Bullhead's occupants as they eagerly awaited to see what announcement the Goodwitch hologram had in store for them.

"Greetings, prospective students, and allow me to be the first to welcome all of you to Beacon." the hologram said, bowing as it did so before continuing, "Do understand, however, that though I have welcomed you to Beacon Academy, that it does not necessarily mean you will be staying for long. There is still much for you to do before you can call yourself its newest student. The first of which is to attend the welcoming speech by Professor Ozpin at the auditorium. Once the Bullhead has landed, simply follow the signs placed around the campus and you will find yourself there in no time at all. That is all. I hope to see you all soon."

With a small smile and a bow, the hologram then disappeared into thin air as if it was never there in the first place.

"Can you feel that, Rubes? All the hairs on my arm are standing on end from the excitement alone. Feel it." Yang said as she extended an arm towards her sister.

"Yang, I am not going to start feeling your arms." Ruby said as she took a step back from the blonde.

"Ugh… You're no fun." Yang said as the Bullhead finally landed on the grounds of Beacon Academy. The two sisters let the rest of the crowd file out first as Ruby didn't want to be stuck in the middle of so many people.

Once there was nobody left inside the Bullhead, however, Ruby made full use of her Semblance to quickly dash out and into the courtyard of Beacon Academy.

To say the young girl was star-struck would be an understatement. Twinkling stars had taken the place of the girl's irises as she took in her surroundings. Once her eyes landed on the sprawling towers of Beacon Academy, however, the prospective Huntress-in-training dropped to her knees as she started foaming at the mouth.

"Uh… Rubes? You okay?" Yang asked, the blonde placing a cautious hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Yang, it's Beacon Academy…" Ruby said as she pointed to the buildings in front of them, "The real Beacon Academy."

"Yeah? So?" Yang asked with a tilt of her head.

"So?! So?! What do you mean by that?!" Ruby asked, the girl acting as if her sister had just pissed on the grave of Summer Rose.

"Rubes, we've been here before. Countless times." Yang said, "With Uncle Qrow and dad."

"Yeah but all those times we were just visiting." Ruby said as she stressed the last word, "Now, we're finally here as official students!"

"Not yet, we're not." Yang said, "Remember what holo-Goodwitch said? There's still a lot of stuff for us to do and the first is-"

Ruby gasped, the young girl mentally slapping herself for forgetting, "Professor Ozpin's speech! Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go, already!"

"Uh, actually…" Yang started to say, her sentence trailing off as a group of people that Ruby could barely recognize appeared from out of nowhere, "Me and a couple of friends want to do a bit of exploring so I'll see you there! Kay, thanks, bye!"

"No, wait… Yang!" Ruby shouted out with an outstretched hand, a frown appearing on her face as she stared at the spot Yang had been standing on just a few moments ago, "Ugh… stupid Yang… stupid big sisters…"

Distraught at having been left behind without a second thought, Ruby started making her way towards Beacon's auditorium all on her own. The young girl didn't make it too far, though, as she felt someone pull her back by her hood, startling the young girl while also choking her a bit.

"Whoa there, little lady." said a vaguely familiar voice as a bell cart filled with white suitcases suddenly passed by mere centimeters from her face.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" a girl with pristine white hair tied into a ponytail shouted out as she pushed the bell cart forward. Possible disaster averted, Ruby turned around to give her heartfelt thanks to her newfound savior.

"That was a close call, huh? Who knows what would have happened if I wasn't there." the woman said - for it was a woman, if the mountains in front of Ruby's face was any indication - as she looked down at Ruby with vibrant pink eyes, "Well, you better get going, kid. I hear Ozpin's speech is starting any minute now. Wouldn't want to be late for that, would we?"

As the woman started to walk away, Ruby's brain was working overtime trying to figure out where she recognized the woman from before a light bulb lit up inside her head.

"It's you!" Ruby shouted, the young girl appearing in front of the pink-eyed woman in a flurry of rose petals. With a pair of twin swords were strapped to the woman's side, she was wearing what seemed like a blue dress, a red piece of cloth wrapped around her midriff as well as a pair of heels, the identity of the woman in front of her was unmistakable even for someone as socially awkward as Ruby. With an accusatory finger, Ruby continued, "You're the woman who dragged Jaune away nine months ago!"

"Hehe, that's me, alright." the woman said as her pink eyes twinkled with pride, "Miyamoto Musashi's the name, by the way."

"Oh, uh… I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." Ruby said as she held a hand out in greeting. Musashi, in response, took the girl's hand in her own as she gave the young girl a violent shake, an act that surprised her.

"I thought I recognized you. Ah, it's so nice to finally meet you in person!" Musashi exclaimed, an excited look on her face.

"Y-you know who I am?" Ruby asked as the young girl played with the frills of her skirt in embarrassment.

"After all the times Qrow told me all about you, how could I not?" Musashi said, as Ruby looked up at the woman in surprise.

"You know Uncle Qrow?!" Ruby asked, any hint of the young girl's shyness from a few moments ago suddenly disappearing at that revelation.

"Of course. Not to toot my own horn but me, him, and Jaune have worked together in the past." Musashi said, "Killing Grimm, saving people and all that."

"That's right, I almost forgot." Ruby said as she mentally slapped herself, "Where is Jaune? I didn't see him in the Bullhead."

"Ah, don't worry about that kid. He'll be here." Musashi said, a knowing smile on her face.

"Uh, okay…" Ruby said but before the young girl could question further, she was abruptly cut off.

"So, Qrow tells me you've been working on your own personal weapon this past year." Musashi said, startling the young girl over how direct she was, "How's that going?"

Almost immediately, Ruby took out her baby, Crescent Rose, as she unfolded the weapon from its compact form into its scythe form to answer Musashi's question.

As she finally finished explaining every intricate detail of the masterpiece in her hands to the woman, the young girl looked up expecting to see Musashi freaked out at how animated and excited she could be about weapons but instead she was greeted with a look of pure excitement.

"That's amazing!" Musashi exclaimed, the woman examining the piece of weaponry in front of her with a spark of excitement in her eyes, "You're saying you built this all by yourself?!"

"W-well, I had some help… Mostly from Uncle Qrow…" Ruby said, the girl taken aback by Musashi's excitement.

"Don't sell yourself so short, Ruby Rose." Musashi said as she patted her on the back, "You had some help, sure, but if you weren't determined to build Crescent Rose in the first place, it wouldn't have been completed even if you had help along the way."

Ruby's face flushed with embarrassment at the sudden praise she just received from the woman she just met.

"Thanks…" Ruby said, a small smile on her face before she started looking around with a confused look on her face, "By the way, are you sure this is the way to the auditorium?"

"Eh, probably…" Musashi said, shrugging as she took a look at their current surroundings, "I mean, how many auditoriums could Beacon even have, right?"

[~]

"So Yang, you've been here before, right?" one of Yang's friends asked as the group of teenagers took a short impromptu tour around Beacon, "Anywhere cool we should go to first?"

"Well, if you're looking for cool, there's-"

"CAW! CAW!"

Whatever Yang was about to say was abruptly cut off by the cawing of a small bird nearby, an act that made the blonde flinch both in surprise and annoyance. Looking up at a nearby tree, Yang had a deep scowl on her face as she glared at the bird perched on one of its branches.

"Yang? Everything alright?" one of her friends asked.

"Everything's fine. Actually, can you guys go ahead first? I need to… make a call to my dad about... something." Yang said.

"Okay, if you're sure. See you later." As her group of friends were finally out of earshot and out of sight, Yang rounded on the little black bird looking down at her.

"What?! What do you want?!" Yang asked as her eyes flickered between lilac and crimson.

"Caw! Caw!" the bird said as it looked at the direction Yang had just come from. Turning around, Yang saw that the bird was looking at Beacon's auditorium.

"I'm not gonna miss the speech. Besides, it's still too early." Yang said. Before she could walk away, however, the bird flew down from the tree and started flapping its wings in front of Yang's face.

"Caw! Caw!" said the bird once more as Yang tried to slap it out of the air.

"Leave me alone!" Yang shouted, the blonde growling at the bird in front of her face before sprinting away and trying her best to lose her pursuer, "Stupid Raven…"

[~]

"There, see? Looks like we made it just in time." Musashi said as she and Ruby arrived at the auditorium. Ruby, for her part, was exhausted from running all over the place in search of the building. Having pushed her Semblance to the limit, her aura was well below the halfway mark but what surprised her the most was that Musashi was able to keep up with her without so much as breaking a sweat.

Ruby was about to ask who Musashi exactly was before she was cut off.

"Well, I'll be seeing you around, Little Red." Musashi said as she patted Ruby on the shoulder, "I have some things I need to be doing right now. Good luck in Initiation."

Before the young silver-eyed girl could even respond, Musashi had seemingly vanished into thin air. Looking at the spot where the woman was just standing, Ruby looked around to see find any signs of the woman to no avail.

"How did she do that?" Ruby asked herself before she spotted a familiar mane of blonde hair. Having finally caught her breath, the girl then made her way to Yang's side.

"Hey, Yang, thanks for… leaving me alone…" Ruby said, the girl's words trailing off as she saw a familiar scowl on her sister's face, "Uh, Yang…? Is… everything alright?"

"That stupid Raven just won't leave me alone." Yang said, arms crossed as she glared at the empty space in front of her, "Stupid old hag."

"Well, at least you're in Beacon now. She won't be able to bother you now, right?" Ruby asked.

"Gods, I hope so…" Yang said, a sigh escaping her lips. Wiping the scowl on her face, the blonde then turned to face her sister with a smile, "So, what have you been up to? Made any new friends yet? Better yet, found that imaginary friend you told me about?"

"Ugh, shut up, Yang. I told you, he's real." Ruby said with a huff, "And yes, I did make a new friend."

"Oh? Care to elaborate?"

"Well, she was this lady with these cool twin swords strapped to her side." Ruby said, "Best part is that she didn't freak out when I started showing her my baby!"

Before the their little discussion could progress further, the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and his Deputy appeared on stage. Giving a few taps on the microphone in front of him, the Headmaster started to speak.

"Ahem. I'll… keep this brief…" Before the man could get further in his speech, the doors to the auditorium were slammed open. Heads turned to see a woman standing at the entrance with a proud smile on her face.

"Headmaster, wait! You have one more student!" the woman shouted and not a moment later, a boy with blonde hair caked with sweat appeared beside her. As he stepped foot into the building, the boy promptly collapsed into a heap. With the backpack weighing him down, it took every ounce of strength - what was left of it, anyway - for the boy to even remained on the ground.

"I'm… I'm… here… Professor… Ozpin…" the boy said, his volume no louder than a whisper but was clearly heard by everyone in the room as all those in attendance had been stunned to silence by the woman's actions.

"He's not late, is he?" the woman asked as she looked down at the heap of mess beside her that was liable to collapse at any moment now, "Well, even if he is, I'm sure you can make an-"

Whatever she was about to say was abruptly cut short when a chair wrapped in a purple glow suddenly came flying at her face.

"Miss Musashi." came the seething voice of Glynda Goodwitch as she stalked towards the woman, "Please do not interrupt the headmaster's speech."

"Glynda!" Musashi exclaimed, the woman rubbing the sore spot her face as she spotted the blonde Deputy. An excited look appeared in her eyes as she rushed forward to embrace the woman, "It's been so long! I've-"

"Miss Musashi!" Glynda said, cutting off whatever Musashi was about to say with a death grip around the woman's throat, "Please contain yourself."

"Y-yes, I'm sorry! Please… forgive me…" Musashi said, the woman finding it a struggle to breath with a hand gripped tightly around her neck.

"Glynda, if it's not too much trouble, could I ask you to bring the young Mr Arc to the infirmary?" Ozpin asked all of a sudden, his voice booming around the auditorium, "I may not be a doctor but it does seem to me like he's severely dehydrated. I would hate for his first day in Beacon to be his last."

With a deep sigh, Glynda loosened her grip around Musashi's neck before she dragged both her and the unconscious young boy beside them towards Beacon's infirmary with her Semblance.

"Yes, sir. Right away." Glynda said.

"Appologies for the sudden intrusion." Ozpin said once the doors to the auditorium closed once more, "Now, where was I?"

[Chapter END]

A/N: And that's it for Chapter 10. Sorry to disappoint some of you but I decided to start Beacon this chapter. However, that doesn't mean we won't get small snippets of Jaune and Musashi's adventures in later chapters.

As for this one, I initially wanted to make it longer and stretch it all the way to the end of initiation and form the teams but I think I'll just save all that for the next one. Stay tuned for that one, guys and gals.

As always, faves, follows, and reviews are always appreciated.

NoXIV signing off