Blake followed her new Cabal, and Yang, towards the clifftop where they could see Ozpin and Goodwitch waiting. Ruby was in the lead, Pyrrha and Yang flanking her on either side and Blake bringing up the rear. Despite that, there was an immediate sense of belonging that reminded Blake of her first few years in the White Fang, the feeling that had decayed as the organization became more radical and she remained moderate.

Ruby and Pyrrha had gone over a bevy of other, smaller topics last night, but the one that stuck out to Blake was Shadow Names. It was dangerous, apparently, for an enemy mage to learn your name, so most Mages came up with a second, fake name to use when it came to Magic. Ruby's was Rose Petals Wilting, and Pyrrha's was Magnetic Spartan.

But from the moment they had met and Ruby had recognized her as a Mage, she had opted to introduce herself using her real name. She had chosen to trust that Blake didn't mean to harm her. And Blake was going to do everything in her power to prove her new Cabalmate correct.

"So, you have the ghost of Nicholas Schnee as a familiar?" Blake asked as they walked along. Ruby's head bobbed.

"My Legacy, that's like, a way you focus on learning your magic that gives you abilities you can use without hurting Sleepers, is called the Stygian Heralds. We believe in summoning the souls of Heroes to fight with us and mentor us. I have Nicholas Schnee, Gretchen Rainart, and Summer Rose as my mentors and Familiars.

"Summer Rose?" Blake said, "Are you related?"

"Summer's our mom," Yang said, "Well, my stepmom. But yeah, she went on a mission a bit before Ruby Awakened and… well, she never came back. Ruby summoning her ghost answered that question fast."

They finally arrived at the cliff, taking their places as Goodwitch began to speak, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"Son of a gun," Ruby muttered.

"These teammates will be your family for as long as you're at Beacon," Ozpin picked up, "So it's important that you find someone you can work with-" Ruby or Pyrrha… and maybe Yang. Got it, "-That being said, the first person you meet eyes with upon entering the forest will be your partner for the next four years. Once you do, make your way to the ruins on the north of the forest and retrieve the relic waiting for you there. Do not hesitate to kill every Grimm you see, because we will not be interceding short of an absolute disaster. You can and possibly will die if you don't take this seriously. Now, take your positions for deployment."

Blake met Ruby and Pyrrha's eyes, before settling into her position for launch while another student tried to ask questions, only to get stonewalled by Ozpin at every turn. She watched Ruby and Pyrrha get flung into the forest, followed by Yang, then took off herself.

Pyrrha had always loved deployment, had done so since her childhood practicing impractical landings to Old Man Grey laughing and clapping. And then, after an Awakening that had been more sound than sight, the grinding of glacier against stone with each step, the crash of thunder and howl of solar winds, flashes of vision, of many eyed wheels watching her as they turned with the grinding of a million, billion gears, winds beating so hard they had whipped monsoons and tornados, he had taken her out back, smiled at her with perfect teeth despite his age, and unlocked her Aura before kicking her off a cliff to practice her first real landing.

It had, rather predictably, been an all together terrible affair. If she hadn't had her Aura unlocked, it probably would have, at minimum, dislocated a joint and likely done far more damage to herself. Instead, she had climbed up the path back up the cliff, and thrown herself off it without hesitation, the thrill of her stomach falling out from under her causing her to laugh the whole way down.

Pyrrha breathed in and opened her eyes, catching sight of Ruby and Yang grinning just as widely as her, then her eyes traveled further past Blake and watched a flailing boy. Did he not have the training for deployment? That was strange.

Halfway through a flip, Pyrrha weaved magic into a spell to manipulate her velocity, rocketing towards the ground with Akoúo̱ bared as she smashed through the treeline. Landing with enough force to crater the ground, she took half a second to aim and then threw Miló to catch the boy.

Next to her, a vortex of wilted rose petals hit into the ground and swirled, before reforming into Ruby, who very deliberately met Pyrrha's eyes. Partners, then, "Nice save."

"Thank you. Is that your Semblance?"

"Petal Burst," Ruby said with a nod, "it lets me transmute my body and anything I'm touching into rose petals and back. It's pretty useful."

"I bet," Pyrrha said, "mine is polarity, I control magnetism."

Ruby nodded. Any Alchemist worth their salt had at least a passing knowledge of Forces. It wasn't their forte necessarily, but you had to know how different metals heated and cooled.

"Let's go get your spear back," Ruby said, leading the way.

Weiss bounced off one glyph onto another, using them to reach the ground as quickly as possible and landing with a roll. Popping up, she began to look around, drawing Myrtenaster, chambering ice Dust, and sent a spike of ice to impale one of the Beowolves nearby. Skating along, she dodged a second's claws and drove Myrtenaster into it's jaw and brain.

Pyrrha, had to find Pyrrha. She wanted the best partner at Beacon, and that was obviously Pyrrha Nikos. Which meant everyone in the forest would be looking for her. And after Pyrrha, everyone would be looking for Weiss.

"Uh," a voice called from above Weiss as she walked along, "Hello? Can I get a bit of help?"

Weiss kept walking, determined to find Pyrrha… only for the girl she was hunting for to come out of the treeline behind that brat from the other day. Oh, no. No, no, no.

"Pyrrha!" Weiss said anyways, "Why don't we be partners?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "I'm sorry, Weiss, but I'm already partnered with Ruby. This boy doesn't seem to have a partner yet, why don't you partner up with him?"

Pyrrha finished the statement by pulling the spear from the tree, letting a blond haired boy drop from it and land on his chest with a loud "oof" before he scrambled to his feet with a loud "I'm ok! I'm ok!"