Bronze and White 1

His boots hit the tree branch, balancing himself atop it as he looked all around him. He had landed much deeper into the woods than most of his classmates, having used a grappling hook arrow to sling himself forward in the trees. As he listened he found that indeed no one else was around him. He dropped to the ground and began to jog through the forest, fairly care-free as he pressed on. He had always been pretty easy going, something that Mydnight had always appreciated about his first friend. Mydnight had referred to him on more than one occasion as a clown, the class clown, in fact, always managing to make anyone laugh if he wanted them too.

He had always been gifted with a comedic mind and timing to go along with it, though of course, his teachers would highly disagree if you asked them. He had often interrupted lessons and Qrow had been their only teacher that had ever let it slide from time to time as he had never taken the job too seriously. Everyone at Signal knew that Qrow disliked teaching, it wasn't as if he ever hid it from view, and most students thought he only had tolerated the position simply to focus on training Mydnight.

This had naturally made Qrow one of the most disliked teachers and had given Mydnight the role of teacher's pet which many of his classmates had loved to make fun of him for at first, being a Faunus and all. At first, Qrow had tried to make the students stop but before long Mydnight had decided to stop letting it go, stood up for himself and demonstrated to those students just how much of a gap there was between himself and the others. Bronzine had witnessed on multiple occasions just how strong his friend was, and after all said and done he had made friends with the wolf boy early on in their first year at the academy.

This, in turn, had also made Bronzine somewhat of an outcast. Not as much as Mydnight or Ambur had been, but an outcast nonetheless. He had grown up in the southern area of the kingdom of Vale on a farm. When it had come time for him to pick a school to go to his parents had saved up the money needed to put him through combat school as he had wanted. Back then his motivation had simply been to learn how to keep a watchful eye over his family's land and take care of their small town but the longer he stayed at Signal the more his ambition had grown. He had become a very formidable fighter in the last four years and had decided to continue his combat training at Beacon so he could become a fully fledged professional huntsman.

This, however, had not dulled his comedic disposition, figuring that if you were going to spend your entire life slaying monsters you may as well have fun with it, right? As he walked on he was eventually snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a monster's roar through the brush just ahead. He readied his bow and slowly crept forward, taking cover in a bush and catching a glimpse of his first Grimm of Beacon, a simple Ursa stalking around the forest looking for a target. As he drew his bow from his back and cocked an arrow with a burnt dust infused tip he took aim, looking down the arrow to his target, the monster's head of course. However before he could shoot he heard another student yell off in the distance, distracting him for a moment, looking to the direction the scream had come from.

He couldn't see the source through the trees, however, it did distract him long enough to where he did not see or hear the approaching Ursa, coming up from behind him, and didn't notice it until it had cast a shadow in front of him. He sprang up, rolling forward out of the brush. He rose back to his feet and spun around before quickly re-aiming his notched arrow. He shot it clean through the Ursa's skull, the dust tip exploding outward, disintegrating the monster from the inside out. However this action had taken him dangerously close to the one he had been trying to sneakily kill at first, and as he looked behind him he saw the beast winding up his arm for a downward slash.

As quickly as he could manage he ducked and spun around, his bow transforming into his two short swords so he could thrust them above his head, blocking the slash from the Grimm. However, as he stood, forcing the monster's weight off of himself, he turned to slash at the monster only to hear what sounded like a rush of energy as an orb of blue glowing aura slammed into the back of the beast. It howled in pain before falling to the ground and turning to smoke until it had disappeared, Bronzine looked through the smoke to see the woman who would become his partner.

She was shorter than he was, around five and a half feet tall with long flowing pink hair and crystal blue eyes. Her hair was so long in fact that it flowed all the way down her back and ended just past her butt, pulled up in a ponytail. She wore a pink and black striped hoodie with fur lining the hood and a pair of blue skinny jeans which flowed down into her matching high tops, checkered in pink and black. He saw her lower her hand, presuming that that was where the blast of blue energy had come from, before speaking up.

"Out of everybody on that cliff it had to be one of the freaks," she rolled her eyes before walking up to him and sizing him up. "I guess you'll have to do," she sighed as she eyed him up and down.

"Uh, nice to meet you too?" He thought out loud with a smirk, "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Ugh this is gonna be a long day," she sighed again before walking past him and heading back into the trees. "Come on then," she grumbled out before Bronzine shrugged his shoulders and reluctantly followed her. "What's your name?" She asked sternly.

"Bronzine," he grumbled. "What's yours?"

"Rosaria Avalon," she replied, "Don't forget it. What's your semblance?" She asked as if interrogating him.

"Haven't unlocked it yet," he admitted quietly before she rolled her eyes and looked back ahead of them shaking her head.

"Of course not," she complained, looking to the sky and raising her hands out in front of her, groaning toward the sky. "Why would you, that would be too easy," she shouted lightly before sighing and continuing through the brush.

"Well, what's yours? How'd you do that back there?"

"Aura manipulation," she sighed.

"You must have a lot of it if you can run around blasting Grimm like that?" He wondered aloud but she never answered him.

After a few moments of silence she began to speak again, "Couldn't have your hot wolf friend OH NO that would be too good," she let out as he cocked his head to one side.

"Huh, wouldn't have picked you as the Faunus loving type," he smirked to himself.

"Who said anything about love?" she questioned looking back to him with her face scrunched up as if she was disgusted by his words. "I said he was hot."

"Ya well for your information he hasn't unlocked his semblance either so boo hoo," he rolled his eyes, beginning to realize just how long the rest of his four years at this school was going to be. "Are you just gonna be like this forever cus if so tell me now."

"Huh," she huffed before looking back ahead of them, forging through the forest in silence until the two finally reached a clearing, once again hearing several Grimm surrounding them in the trees. As the two took a ready stance they found themselves back to back. "At least you're decent in a fight," she sighed before the monsters revealed themselves, charging from the brush at them.

"Man I hope the others are doing better than this."

/

Olivier had been wandering the forest alone for what had felt like nearly half an hour. She couldn't believe that she hadn't run into anyone else and it was starting to sour her mood, knowing all too well that if she didn't stay positive she would be fighting even more Grimm than the few she had already run into. "Man am I going the wrong way or what?" She asked out loud, clear frustration in her dainty, ladylike voice. As she walked she fought to keep her balance, always able to keep up her ladylike posture as she walked across the uneven ground in her heels. She had seen plenty of girls fail to walk on dirt in much shorter heels than her own, and much thicker heels also.

There it was again though, the growls of at least one approaching Beowulf, snapping her out of her concentration, whirling around to find the beast charging at her from where she had come from. She stopped in her tracks and pressed her thumbs into two buttons on the straps of her backpack, the device transforming, changing from a backpack into much smaller telescopic pieces which stretched down her legs and arms.

As it passed each of her joints, it would leave behind a circular node, including her knees, elbows and the palms of her hands, each of them glowing red as they completed their transformations. As the Grimm finally reached her she crouched quickly, dodging the swipe it had aimed at her head, before hurling a kick upward at the beast, connecting with its chest and knocking it slightly into the air before she stood and spun quickly, her elbow colliding with the falling Grimm's torso solidly. As it did, what sounded like the blast of a shotgun would be heard as the node on her elbow ejected dozens of small dust pellets into the monster, mimicking the spread of the firearm each node had been designed after.

The monster was tossed backward into the air several feet, though before it had the chance to land and recover, Olivier had sprinted around it until she faced it's back, thrusting her palm forward into the monster's spine and again, setting off the node on her palm into it's back, the creature dying upon receiving so much damage to its spine. With the flick of her wrist, the weapon changed back into its backpack form and she wiped her brow, fixing her hair and continuing through the brush as if the encounter had never happened.

Pressing onward she eventually came out of the woods, finding herself at the foot of what appeared to be a ruined fort or castle. The ramparts were extremely tall with what was left of several bridges and supports, crumbling in their disrepair. In the distance, she could see the back wall of a circular stone building but figured that the castle would be a much better hiding place for the relics their new headmaster had sent them to retrieve. As she walked across the old stone bridges toward the main tower she could hear the stone groaning, tiptoeing softly across the rest of the way until she finally had made it to the doorway of the large stone tower.

She walked inside and could barely see, retrieving her scroll from her pant pocket and activating its flashlight, she shone it around the large empty room, finding nothing but a ruined staircase and old ruined wooden remains of crates and chests. "Well, I guess this isn't the place then?" She sighed to herself before turning around and had to stifle a scream. Another girl stood in the doorway with her hand outstretched and her mouth hanging open, as if she had been about to say something. Before Liv could register that the stranger was a student she activated her weapon, the girl watching the nodes extend down her body before throwing her hands up in the air.

"Sorry!" She spat out quickly, "I didn't mean to scare you I just saw you walk in here and came to find you," she pleaded. Olivier tried to calm down and looked the girl over. She had very deep green eyes, nearly looking brown in the dark room. Her hair was deep brown and styled in a braided crown atop her head. She wore simple brown combat boots with green leggings, a brown knee length skirt and a green and brown unbuttoned plaid flannel with the sleeves rolled up over a t-shirt.

Her features were much softer than Liv's were making her look much more innocent than Liv's more defined facial features. "Huh..." Liv sighed as she deactivated her weapon and placed a hand over her heart, calming herself before she finally spoke up. "Don't sneak up on people like that jeez," she huffed before walking over to the girl and stepping out into the light of day with her walking beside her.

"I didn't mean to I just wasn't sure if I really saw someone, I thought maybe you were a ghost," she admitted with an innocent smile, getting a small laugh out of Liv. "What's your name?" She asked before she began to fish around in her shirt pocket for something. Liv took the opportunity to size the girl up now that they were side by side noticing that, as usual, the girl was much taller than she was. Her boots had short wedged heels in them but even without them, the girl was probably around five foot eight or so.

"Olivier," she said with a smile before extending her hand to the girl who gladly took it with her free hand and shook. "What about you? Have you not found a partner yet," she asked as she quickly looked around and the girl finally was able to get the item she was looking for out of her pocket.

"I'm Gretchen, Gretchen Reinhardt," she smiled back before showing Olivier what she had been trying to grab. "I think you and I are the last ones to pair up cus I already found the relic. Everyone else who was there," she pointed to the circular stone building that Liv had opted not to go to first, "already had a partner," she blushed. "Sorry if you wanted to pick the relic," she said softly before handing the chess piece to Liv, a White bishop piece.

"Oh no don't worry about it I'm just glad you found me or else I would have been searching those towers forever," she laughed before handing the girl back the piece to hang on to before looking at the weapon stashed on her back. It appeared to be the stock and trigger system from a shotgun with the cylinder from a revolver rather than an ammo tube, with a short barrel, though Olivier could tell the barrel was folded down and not at its full length. "So whatcha got there?" She asked curiously, her partner answering quickly having seen Liv look the device up and down for several seconds.

She reached back and took hold of the weapon, the stock being narrow and round enough for her to hold the weapon upright in one hand before pressing a small button between the stock and trigger, the short barrel transforming into a much longer silver single-edged blade with a newly lengthened barrel resting atop it. "Gun blade, nice and simple," she replied with a smile, "Nothing as complicated as whatever you were about to shoot me with," she giggled before watching Liv shrug and blush.

"Well I think it's pretty cool," She complimented, "Does it have a name?"

"I just call it Reinhardt," she smiled before returning the weapon to her back, "What about you? I saw all those nodes on your joints are they like, pressure activated?"

"Yep, shotgun blasts from physical strikes. Both of our weapons have 'heart' in their name," she laughed before turning her back to Gretchen for a moment to show her backpack to her, the girl quickly finding a golden nameplate on the bag labeled 'Isenheart,' before she turned back to the direction they were walking.

"Wow!" Gretchen exclaimed in surprise, "Meant to be," she laughed out at the irony.

"I guess it was," Liv laughed in agreement as the two girls came upon the small building, finding several of the students crowded around it, picking pieces and beginning to break apart and head back toward the cliffs. Among them, she found Bronzine and his apparent new partner seemingly ready to start walking back through the forest. "Bronzine!" She called over to him, waving her arm in the air as he turned his head to acknowledge her.

"Hey Liv," he smiled as he had never smiled before, so happy for someone to interrupt his new partner's constant complaining. "I see she found you," he commented as he pointed to Gretchen who nodded her head in response.

"Yep, not a ghost," she laughed out before Liv spoke again.

"Ya, she did and thank god I would have been searching those ruins all day. See you found yourself a partner too?" She asked, baiting the pink haired girl to turn around and face her. As she did Liv could see the immediate scowl on her face.

"Oh look the losers friends showed up, great!" She complains before rolling her fluorescent blue eyes at Olivier and turning to walk away back into the forest.

Liv was appalled, having been brought up with such a high standard for manners had not prepared her well to deal with people with that kind of attitude. As soon she was out of earshot Liv spoke again as she saw Bronzine's shoulders sag as he sighed, "What a bitch," she whispered out, shocked.

"Oh you have no idea," Bronzine whined before taking a deep breath. "She's been like that ever since I ran into her. Feel bad for whoever we get put with on a team with honestly because I think she's gonna be like that for a damn long time." As he finished he turned to go, "But she is my partner and I can't let her go wandering off alone, it'll look bad if she shows up without me you know? Come on we should all be getting back anyway."

The two girls followed Bronzine and Rosaria into the forest, catching up with the boy to continue talking to him. "So did you see Ambur and Mydnight?" She asked.

"No, we saw pretty much everyone else though."

"I hope they made it," she commentsled, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I think they did. When we got there pretty much every other pairing was already there except Ambur and Mydnight. I think they may have become partners and beat all of us to the relics. Hell, they are probably back at the cliff already knowing him."

"Wow, he really doesn't mess around huh?" Gretchen added before Bronzine laughed.

"No, not really. That's why he needs me, to help him relax and have fun. Without me around he'd be all business all the time and what fun would that be?" He gave a big smile as he turned to them and began to walk backward with his arms folded behind his head.

"Hm," Liv smiled thoughtfully, "of course."

As the students eventually made their way back to the cliff and found their way up it they were all not the least bit surprised to find Mydnight and Ambur atop it, as they had expected to. The entire group made its way into the dining hall again to eat lunch. The class had been broken up into several small groups to undertake the day's challenge of team placement since there were far too many students to monitor at the same time in one big group challenge. Not to mention there weren't enough chess pieces lying around in Ozpin's office for something like that. As the six students ate together they began to chat, trying to get to know one another much better now that they were all partners.

"So what took y'all so long?" Mydnight teased as he dug into his food.

"Look not all of us are as badass as you are okay?" Bronzine laughed back, "Can't kill Grimm with the same finesse as you."

"Oh that's what took you so long," Mydnight laughed again, and the entire group looked to him in confusion before Ambur spoke up to timidly answer the question on all their minds.

"We uh...we didn't run into any Grimm," she smiled out with a blush as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Ugh what? Not a single one?" Olivier retorted in disbelief.

"Not a one," Mydnight replied with a satisfied smile on his face and the rest of the group began to pout. All except Rosa who seemed to be more impressed than jealous.

"Well, that just means you have a better handle on your emotions than the rest of us huh?" She complimented as her bright blue eyes looked him all over. Bronzine was the most shocked out of the entire group at his partner's words.

"Did you just...say something nice?" He joked before her elbow lightly connected with his ribs, coughing once in shock before she ran her thumb and index finger across her lips, telling him silently to zip it.

After a few moments of silence, the subject was changed. "So we've got the Signal Academy crew right?" Mydnight asked aloud, gesturing to himself Ambur and Bronzine. "Where is everyone else from?"

Rosa spoke first, as if she had been waiting to answer questions as long as they came from the wolf teen's mouth. "Vacuo," she rolled her eyes, "It's SO much nicer here, so glad my family decided to move here after high school," she stressed before the others spoke up.

"Anima," Liv said as she spread her napkin out over her lap and began to delicately cut herself some food from the large platters. She seemed quiet for a moment as the others waited for more information. She took notice of this and reluctantly continued on. "My family runs a vineyard north of Mistral so," she said quietly before taking a bite of her food and chewing it all the way and swallowing before continuing. "They were able to afford to send me out here instead of Haven."

"Wait a minute," Gretchen held up her pointer finger as she seemed to recall some information that had slipped her mind. "Olivier what? Which vineyard, there aren't very many north of Mistral," she asked as if she already knew the answer.

Olivier sighed, knowing she now had to answer the question she'd been avoiding. "Antoinette," she groaned out as Gretchen's jaw dropped and out of everyone else at the table only Mydnight seemed to have heard the name before as his ears perked up and he stopped chewing his food, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he snapped out of his stupor and swallowed his food as Gretchen spoke up.

"You're...Olivier Antoinette?!" She asked excitedly, "Antoinette Vineyard?!"

"Huuuuuh...yesss...don't make a big thing out of it," Liv sighed as she rested her head in her hands.

"Make a big thing out of it? Your family makes the most popular wine on the planet Liv," Mydnight laughed.

"Yes well," She began quietly as she glanced at her partner and then over to Mydnight, "I came here to write my own story where I wouldn't be in my parents shadow so if you would please, just not say things like that it would be really appreciated," she let out sternly.

Everyone in the group seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before nodding their heads or shrugging their shoulders and going back to their food. "Thank you," she spoke to them gently. "I take it that means you're from Anima too then?" She asked her partner.

"Yeah I am," Gretchen smiled before continuing, "West of Mistral but pretty close to the city thankfully."

As the students talked into the late afternoon they noticed the dining hall filling up more and more with students who had finished their challenges in the Emerald Forest. Eventually, once the room seemed to be filled to capacity they all heard a voice come over the school's intercom system. Professor Goodwitch's voice filled the room as she spoke to them all.

"All freshmen students to the auditorium for team placement please, all trials have been completed at this time."

As the six students looked back to each other they all stood from their seats and began to file out of the room, staying together so they could all sit together for the ceremony. As they entered the auditorium they all felt a sense of nervousness wash over them before stepping forward and finding seats. Olivier was the only one able to muster words on the situation as their hundreds of classmates took their seats.

"Here we go."