AN: And we're back! Got a nice beefy chapter for you this time. I really like what we did here, and I hope you all enjoy it, too.

Once again, I feel the need to address the guest account that has been saying something about me not writing Aqua's Mission anymore because you like how this melds the worlds better. I understand that you like how this story does it, too, and frankly, I agree that this is a more interesting way to do a crossover than "x" character appears in "Y" world, but I'm not going to stop writing Aqua's Mission. If that style bothers you, then don't read it. But I'm not going to just abandon almost 4 years of work. And I'm going to have to ask that you stop bringing it up. It's going to get to a point that I'm going to start deleting these comments.

Anyway, with that out of the way, onwards!

Chapter 4

"Hey, careful!" The foreman at the docks shouted to the man operating the crane. "There's Materia in there!"

A new shipment of Materia straight from Shinra HQ in Midgar had arrived by boat to Vale, and despite it being the middle of the night, the docks crew were still forced to come out here to unload the shipment. The man who had been operating the crane had been a little rough when handling it, jostling the container with the volatile contents.

The boss was already pissed about coming in late. He'd be damned if one of these morons blew the whole docks sky high with their carelessness.

"Right, sorry, boss!" the crane operator shouted back.

"Honestly," the boss mumbled to himself, turning to look down to look at his watch, just to miss seeing a red-furred creature jump down from the top of the freighter and silently leave the docks.

The creature with no name wandered the streets of Vale, the lampposts and the flame at the end of his tail serving as his only sources of light. Even before being captured by those scientists, he had never been in a city this big before. It was almost overwhelming.

He attempted to cross an empty street, but a speeding car appeared out of nowhere and almost hit him. It was only his quick reflexes that allowed him to leap over the vehicle to avoid being hit. He ran in a random direction, desperate to get away from any people that could possibly send him back to that lab.

He ran and ran, eventually finding himself outside of Vale entirely, and inside the greenest forest he had ever seen.

This would do nicely.

Without hesitation, he ran deeper into the forest.

Nora Valkyrie stood over the sleeping form of her best friend, Lie Ren, smiling brightly as he opened his eyes magenta eyes. She was already wearing her combat uniform, a short-sleeved white shirt with a heart-shaped cutout at the chest, and a pink skirt. Her ginger hair was slightly messy, as always, but she never really cared, and neither did Ren or their ward.

"Wake up lazy butt!" Nora shouted, prompting Ren to sigh. "It's morning, it's morning, it's morning, it's morning, it's moooorning~!" She sang as Ren got up to get ready for the day.

"I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full 24 hours!" she said. "Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything. I mean you're the perfect student and I'm, well, I'm me! But I was kind of surprised, but mostly happy when Marlene was allowed to stay with us! I mean, we've been friends for sooooo long and now we're taking care of the sweetest little girl ever and we're not even together. Well, we are together, just not together-together. Not saying you're not handsome. You are handsome, but that'd just be weird… Right? Right. What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together, and that our teammates like Marlene. If not, though, I'll make sure they do by breaking their legs! Ooh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we do end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work, he has the school. Oh! We can have Marlene do the puppy dog face. No one can resist a face that adorable. Wait, no! We'll have some sort of a signal! Like a distress signal!" She gasped in excitement. "A secret signal so that we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?"

"Nora…" Ren said, finally interrupting her rambling.

"Yes, Ren?" She asked, finally stopping to take a look at her surroundings. Somehow, they had made it to the locker room, and Ren had already changed into his combat outfit, a green tunic with white pants. His long black hair with a magenta streak was pulled into a ponytail that reached his waist. He slipped his weapons, a pair of machine pistols, into his sleeves.

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise," he said.

"…That's why it's so perfect! No one will suspect we're working together.

"Come on, Nora. Let's go check on Marlene."

"But not together-together," she said with a giggle as the duo left the locker room.

Ruby pulled Crescent Rose out of her locker, humming a tune to herself as she watched the duo of the hyperactive ginger girl and the quiet black-haired boy leave. "Huh, I wonder what those two are so worked up about?" she asked.

"Oh, who knows," Yang said, her gauntlets already attached to her wrists and Cloud's Buster Sword already strapped to his back. "So!" You seem awfully chipper this morning."

"Yeah, I thought you'd be down in the dumps after everything that happened yesterday," Cloud said.

"Nope, cause today is gonna be great," Ruby said as she began to cuddle Crescent Rose close to her chest. "No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff. Today, I let my sweetheart do the talking for me."

"You're forgetting Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation," Yang said as she ran her hands through her hair. "If you wanna grow, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."

"Yang's right," Cloud said. "You can't spend the rest of your life avoiding people. It won't be good for you in the long run."

"Ugh, you two sound like Dad," Ruby groaned. "Okay, first of all what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And second, I don't need people to help me grow up. I drink milk."

"Ruby, kids drink milk," Cloud said.

"I meant whole milk!"

"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked.

"Um, I don't know, m-maybe I'll be on one of your teams or something…"

"Or maybe you could try being on someone else's team instead?" Cloud gently suggested.

Ruby gasped dramatically. "Does my own sister and best friend not want to be on the same team as me?!"

"W-What?! No! Of course we do," Yang said. "We just thought maybe it would help you break out of your shell a little."

"What?! I don't need to break out of my shell, that's absolutely—"

"Ridiculous!" Jaune's voice interrupted, prompting them to look over and see the blond boy holding a piece of paper and looking, once again, incredibly lost. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered counting that high. Ugh, why does this have to happen today?!"

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?" Weiss asked, her locker fortunately ending up right next to the red-haired former champion. Both of them were in the process of retrieving their weapons, for Weiss her rapier, and for Pyrrha a sword and small circular shield. "I'm sure everyone would be eager to unite with a strong, talented individual such as yourself."

"Hmmm… There might be some, but I'm not quite sure," Pyrrha said. "I was actually planning on letting the chips fall where they may.

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."

"That sounds grand."

"Great!" Weiss said. This will be perfect! She thought to herself. The smartest girl in Beacon paired with the strongest girl in Beacon! Together we'll be unstoppable, popular, and get perfect grades! Nothing will stand in our way!

"Well, hello, name's Jaune Arc," a scraggly blond boy suddenly introduced himself, snapping the heiress out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" she asked, before finally recognizing his as "tall, blond, and scraggly" from the day before.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune," Pyrrha said.

"You too," he absently said, gently brushing her aside, in a move that left Weiss completely flabbergasted. Who dismissed Pyrrha Nikos like that? "So, Weiss. I couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me yesterday."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Weiss said.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, but flattered as I am, I'm afraid I have to decline."

"…What?"

"You see, I've already met the most beautiful girl here and I hope to get to know her better," he continued, completely oblivious to Weiss's confusion. Or more likely not understanding why she was confused. "I'm not saying you're not beautiful, you are and so is your friend here. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Hello. I'm Pyrrha."

"Nice to meet you," he said before turning right back to Weiss. "What I'm trying to say is, I hope you're able to find someone else and that you have a lovely day." With that, he left, leaving an absolutely dumbfounded Weiss behind. She didn't think she had ever before been rejected for an offer she had never even made.

"Well, at least he declined your offer politely," Pyrrha said, trying to console Weiss.

"I didn't make any kind of offer!" Weiss yelled. "Arc is either delusional or an idiot, probably both!"

"Okay, I believe you," Pyrrha said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. But Weiss could tell from her tone of voice that she didn't actually believe her. Oh no! Weiss mentally shouted. I'm making myself look like a love-struck fool in front of the Invincible Girl! Oh, Arc, you're gonna pay! "Just calm down, Weiss."

Weiss took a deep breath. "Sorry. And besides, I've already had one boy attempt to "flirt" with me and I don't want another. In fact, I want them to stay as far away from me as poss—"

"Yo, Weiss."

Oh, come on!

Weiss whipped her head around and found that insufferable red-haired bodyguard from her party standing right behind her. Reno, or something. Why was he here?!

"How've you been, Snow Angel?"

"Fine, until just this second," she said, glaring at him.

"I get it, you're still a little mad at me," he said. "I admit, I came on a little strong last time."

"'A little' is an understatement," Weiss said, crossing her arms in irritation.

"But, I think we can sweep our first meeting under the rug after today."

"And why should I?"

"I've been hearing rumors about teams, and I was thinking that you and me would make a pretty great one," he said. "After all, we took down that robber together, so why not make it a regular thing?"

"Reno, I think teams are comprised of 4 students, so—"

"Yo, even better!" Reno shouted, interrupting Pyrrha. "You, me, and my cousin on a team together would make us the best team in Beacon ever."

"Really?" Weiss asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "And why do you think this cousin of yours would make us Beacon's best team?"

Reno pointed to Pyrrha. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Weiss turned to look at Pyrrha, and her eyes widened in shock. She quickly whipped her head back and forth, looking at both redheads.

"P-Pyrrha, he's your c-c-cousin?" she asked in complete mortification. Now that she really thought about it, she could see the resemblance. They both had the exact same shade of red hair, the same emerald eyes, and similar facial structures.

"Yes, and being on the same team as him wouldn't be the worst thing ever," Pyrrha said. "I think it would be quite… interesting."

"Yo, sounds like Pyr is on board for Team Reno," the boy said, leaning in close to Weiss with a sly smile, forcing Weiss to lean back to maintain her personal space. "You better hurry, Weiss, spots are filling up quick. But, I think I'll be able to pull some strings and find a place for you. What do you say?"

"Alright, that's a bit too close," Weiss said. "Pyrrha, please deal with your cousin." A spear suddenly whizzed past her head, snagging Reno's jacket and launching him screaming across the locker room. Eventually, it found its way to a wall, embedding itself and trapping his jacket.

"Not cool, cuz!" he shouted.

"Sorry, Reno!" Pyrrha said.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation," Mrs. Wallace's voice suddenly said over the intercom. "Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss huffed and made for the exit, walking past the struggling Reno. Pyrrha stopped to retrieve her spear. "Good luck out there, Reno," Pyrrha said before following Weiss outside. "And please be safe."

"Thanks, Pyr," he said, his tone deflated.

Cloud walked over and reached a hand down to Reno as Ruby and Yang walked up to his side. "Need a hand?"

Reno looked up at Cloud and gave him a confident smile before grasping the blond's forearm and being pulled to his feet. "Thanks."

Yang chuckled. "Man, you're quite the lady-killer, aren't ya?"

"That doesn't usually happen," Reno said, prompting Yang to roll her eyes.

"Whatever you say."

"Who are you?"

"Reno, these are my friends, Yang and her sister Ruby," Cloud said, gesturing to both girls.

"Sup," Yang said.

"Hello," Ruby greeted.

"Yo, the name's Reno Sinclair."

"So, Reno, why were you making a move on the Ice Queen?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, she's mean," Ruby said. "Every time she sees me, she starts yelling."

"She's not all bad, you guys just haven't gotten to know her yet," Reno said. "I bet inside she's a really nice girl."

"Yeah, and I bet Beowolves are actually cute and cuddly when you get to know them," Ruby said sarcastically.

"All right, listen up! I know ya'll heard the announcement the first time!" A new, way harsher, male voice suddenly yelled into the intercom. "All first-year students, get your asses to the cliff right now if ya'll want to stay in this school!"

"…I guess we'd better head to the cliff," Cloud said.

"…Good idea," Reno said. "Hopefully, fate will bring me and that beautiful snow angel together again."

"Reno, if you plan on getting with Weiss, calling her 'Snow Angel' probably isn't the best way to do it," Yang said, as she and the others exited the locker room.

Ozpin stood at the edge of Beacon Cliff, presiding over the prospective first-years. Standing on either side of him was Glynda and her husband, Barret Wallace. Barret was a truly intimidating figure. He was tall and stocky, with dark skin and large arms. His black hair was cut very short, and he had claw mark-shaped scars on his face. He wore a beige vest, green cargo pants, and black combat boots. But the most striking thing about him was that instead of a right hand, he had a gatling gun attached to the end of his arm.

He noticed that Miss Rose, her sister, and their friend, Zack's protégé, had finally arrived and had each taken their positions on three of the metal slabs on the ground.

"For years, each of you have been trained to become warriors," Ozpin said. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," Glynda said. "So, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates…today."

"What? Aw…" he heard Miss Rose whine to herself.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin said. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Miss Rose's distress only seemed to grow. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT?!" Miss Rose exclaimed.

"See, I told you," Miss Valkyrie said to Mister Ren, drawing their gaze. He couldn't help but think of their young ward, and the responsibility the two of them had willingly, and gladly, taken on. It warmed his heart to see such dedication in those so young, and he felt a sense of relief that young Marlene had been brought to Beacon.

"So, if you don't like your partner and want to swap for another? Too bad!" Barret shouted, startling the students. "You're stuck with your partner till graduation, so don't come whining to us about getting another one, cause there ain't no way in hell it's gonna happen. You understand?"

"Yes, sir!" all the students shouted in unison, clearly scared of him.

"Thank you, honey," Glynda said.

"Any time, Angel," he replied, the two of them looking lovingly into each other's eyes. The students seemed to grow confused, so he quickly glared at them to get them nervous again.

Ozpin cleared his throat. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. So don't hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Mister Arc grew visibly nervous at that statement.

"A little too easy, but who am I to complain," Mister Sinclair said.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation," Ozpin continued. "But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately."

"But if any of you try to pull a fast one and try to take all the relics so you end up on a team with friends, consider your ass kicked out of Beacon!" Barret shouted, once again scaring the students.

"Indeed. And make sure to employ your landing strategies. Now, any questions?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, um, sir—" Mister Arc raised his hand.

"Good," Ozpin said, completely ignoring him. "Now, take your positions." All of the other students, besides Mister Arc, braced themselves, before one by one, the metal slabs they were standing on launched them into the air and into the Emerald Forest.

"Um, sir?" Mister Arc continued asking, somehow not noticing the other students being launched. "I've got a question. So, this landing strategy thing, what is it exactly? Are you gonna drop us off or something?"

"No. You will be falling."

"Oh, ok. So will we be given parachutes?" Mister Arc asked.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh-huh… So what will be a good landing strategy for meEEEEEEEE!" Mister Arc was suddenly launched mid-sentence, his limbs flailing wildly as he flew through the air. Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he watched.

"I give Arc about 10 seconds," Barret said. "20 if he's lucky."

"Birdie, no!" Ruby yelled as she slammed into a bird in mid-air. She pulled out Crescent Rose, and fired several shots towards the ground, using the recoil to slow her descent, before unfolding the blade and using it to swing around a tree branch and land safely. She immediately started sprinting into the forest, desperate to find her sister and Cloud.

Gotta find Yang and Cloud, she thought. Gotta find Yang and Cloud, gotta find Yang and Cloud, gotta find… "Yang! Cloud!" she called out, hoping either one of them could hear her. Ugh, this is bad. This is really bad! What if I can't find them? What if someone else finds them first? Who else can I partner with? There's always Jaune… He's nice. Funny. But I don't think he's very good in a fight, though. Aerith? No, I didn't see her at the cliff. She's probably a second-year. Oh! What about Blake? So mysterious, so calm. She said she'd like to talk with me some more. Plus, she likes books. There's also Yuffie, she was nice, fun, she's a Faunus like me, and she even liked my eyes. Ugh! Okay… Who else do I know at this school? There's Yang, Cloud, Jaune, Blake, Yuffie, and…

Ruby was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts and came to a complete stop when she heard the sound of fighting nearby. The fighter's grunts sounded like a girl, specifically a lot like Yang whenever she fought.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, using her Semblance to speed towards the source of the nearby battle. "Oh, please don't have a partner yet!"

Little did Ruby know, she had just missed a certain girl clad all in white by mere seconds.

"How lucky of me to land near a pack of Beowolves," Tifa said to herself as four of the Grimm surrounded her. She dove out of the way of the claws of a lunging Beowolf, allowing it to tackle another member of its pack. She heard a twig snap behind her as a third Beowolf tried to attack her, but she spun around and slammed her heel into the side of its head, sending it flying into a tree, briefly stunning it.

A fourth Grimm charged at her, swiping its claws wildly, forcing her to bob and weave to avoid them. Until eventually, the Beowolf overextended its swipe, allowing Tifa to unleash a flurry of punches onto the beast, ending with Tifa flipping backwards and kicking it in its jaw, making it stumble backwards. She got in close to the Beowolf, grabbed its waist, lifted it up and then jumped into the air, and slammed it down on its back, shattering its torso and killing it.

She heard growling and looked up, seeing that the first two Beowolves had recovered and were now charging at her. She ran from them and towards a tree, used her momentum to run up it and flip into the air right over the two Grimms' heads. While in midair, she poured her Aura into the Fire Materia in her gloves.

"Fire!" she shouted, launching a fireball that incinerated the two Grimm. Before she could relax, she heard a growl come from the lone survivor. Tifa smirked, got into a combat stance and gestured for the monster to bring it on. She and the creature charged at each other, and at the last moment, Tifa ducked under its claws and punched it hard in the torso, sending it flying into a tree with a sickening crunch. As it disintegrated, Tifa could see that it left an imprint in the tree trunk.

"I hope that's the last surprise I see," she said, before hearing rustling from a nearby bush.

She readied her fists, and…

Ruby pushed her way through the bushes, desperate to get through them before Yang found a partner. Finally, she burst out of the foliage, and stopped just short of a gloved fist about to hit her in the face. Ruby looked up, and saw a pair of red eyes, which initially gave her hope, which quickly vanished when she saw black hair instead of blonde.

"You're… not my sister," Ruby said.

"Last time I checked," the girl lowered her fist, and Ruby realized that it was Tifa.

Oh no, I've partnered up with Yang's enemy! Ruby thought. This is a disaster! What am I gonna do?! No, calm down, Ruby. Yang and Cloud told you to make some friends and that's what you're gonna do. Just relax, introduce yourself, and hope Yang doesn't get too angry. "Uh, hi. I'm Ruby. And I guess we're partners now," Ruby said with a nervous chuckle.

"I guess we are. The name's Tifa. And you're lucky I didn't knock your block off."

"Yeah, that, uh, would've been bad."

"So, Ruby, I don't suppose you know which direction the temple is in?" Tifa asked.

"Uh, no, sorry," Ruby said. "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going when I heard you."

"It's alright. But we might want to get moving if we want those relics."

"Right," Ruby said, and the newfound partners began heading deeper into the forest.

Ok, Ruby, Tifa is going to be your partner for the next four years, so you need to get to know each other, Ruby thought. Just, start by asking her a simple question. "So, Tifa, what weapon do you use?"

"Don't have one, unless you count these," Tifa said, holding up her fists. "And I can use my Semblance to coat them in ice to make a pair of gauntlets. What about you?"

"Oh, I use a scythe that can turn into a sniper rifle called Crescent Rose," Ruby said proudly.

"Oh, so that's what you've got on your back. You must have gotten some serious muscle from carrying that thing around."

"It's not really that heavy, so I don't think I can get super strong from it. Besides, I have too much of a sweet tooth."

"Yeah, even I'm not immune to the power of sweets," Tifa said with a chuckle. "So, what made you think I was your sister earlier?"

"Oh, well, your grunts kind of sounded like my sister's when she fights," Ruby said. "You two even prefer fighting with your fists."

"Really? Well, maybe you could introduce us sometime."

"You… kind of already know her," Ruby said nervously.

"I do?" Tifa asked, looking back at Ruby with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah. She has blonde hair and… purple eyes," Ruby said, bracing herself for what was next.

"You're Yang's sister?!" Tifa yelled.

Oh no, I blew it! Ruby thought, panicking internally. "Yes? Please don't hate me!"

Tifa sighed deeply. "Don't worry, I don't hate you. As far as I can tell, you're way better company than that blonde brat."

"Um, why do you hate my sister?" Ruby asked. "It could be just me, but you two seem like you could be good friends."

"Yeah, well, that ship sailed after she came into my uncle's club and grabbed his boys. Let's just say that's a good way to get on my bad side."

"Ok, that does sound bad, but Yang isn't a bad person," Ruby said. "She's always been there for me and protected me whenever my eyes drew…unwanted attention. So, could you maybe try to… get along with Yang? I mean, you are my partner, so you're gonna be seeing her quite a bit."

Tifa sighed again. "…Alright, I'll try to get along with Yang. But don't get your hopes up, Ruby. We'll be able to tolerate each other, but I doubt we'll be friends."

"Thanks, Tifa."

"No problem."

Weiss was starting to believe that wearing wedge heels in the forest may not have been a great idea. She had spent the past several minutes swatting away foliage, and ended up tripping over a tree root.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, glaring angrily at the root.

Attending Beacon really hadn't been going as well as she thought it would.

She picked herself up, dusted her dress off, and walked into a nearby clearing. She heard a strange sound, prompting her to turn around, only to see a dozen rose petals gently falling to the ground.

Rose petals? Weiss thought. Was that-? No! Get that brat out of your head, she's not worth your time. All you need to do is find Pyrrha and make it to the relics. Now, where would-.

She heard a twig snap and the bushes behind her began to rustle. She sighed. "Alright, Ruby, I know that's you. Come out, so we can get this over with." She didn't get a reply, only more rustling of the bushes. "Ruby?"

She heard a growl behind her and turned to see several large, muscular, dog-looking monsters, with a single long tentacle sticking out of each of their heads stepping out from the bushes.

"Wrath Hounds," Weiss muttered. There were six of them, with one being noticeably larger than the others, presumably the Alpha. The six monsters surrounded Weiss, allowing her to draw her rapier. The Alpha lunged at her, but she backflipped out of the way. She got into a combat stance, and remembered her sister's words from her training.

"Calm yourself, Weiss, and remember your training. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward, not that forward." Weiss adjusted her footing to match her memory. "Slow your breathing, wait for the right moment to strike…" Weiss spun the cylinder on her rapier to Fire Dust. "And… Now!"

Weiss rushed towards the Alpha Wrath Hound, her rapier wreathed in flames. However, before she could land the attack, a blond boy with a massive sword leaped out from the bushes and in front of the Alpha to strike it with his sword. Weiss brought herself to a sudden stop to avoid hitting the boy, but accidentally discharged the fire from her weapon, sending it flying into a tree and setting it ablaze.

The boy turned to look at her, a confused look on his face. It was only for a second, but still enough time for the Alpha Wrath Hound to strike at him, giving the boy just enough time to block it with his huge sword, knocking him back into Weiss.

"Hey, watch it!" She shouted. "I could have killed you!"

"You'll have to try harder than that," the boy muttered. The Wrath Hounds began to surround the duo. Suddenly, the burning tree fell over, startling them, and the fire began to spread to the nearby foliage.

"We have to get out of here," Weiss said.

"Right. Do you have any Lightning Dust?"

"What?"

"Do you?!" the boy asked again, much more forcefully.

"Yes, I do," Weiss said.

"Hand it over, quick."

Weiss pulled a vial of Lightning Dust out of her pouch and handed it to him. "What are you planning?" she asked.

"Just get ready to close your eyes," the boy said, before throwing the vial into the air, much to Weiss's confusion. The boy quickly placed a green Materia orb into one of the round slots in his sword, and activated it. "Lightning!" he shouted. Weiss immediately slammed her eyes shut, and a lightning strike hit the thrown vial, creating a very bright flash that blinded the Wrath Hounds. Weiss felt the boy grab her arm, causing her to open her eyes again. "Come on, now's our chance!"

The two of them ran out of the burning area, leaving behind the howling Wrath Hounds.

After several minutes of running with his new partner, Cloud and Weiss finally stopped to catch their breath. He could see the smoke rising from the clearing they had escaped from.

Hopefully the Wrath Hounds hadn't been so lucky.

Weiss turned to look at Cloud angrily. "What were you thinking?!" she yelled. "That should have been simple!"

"Yeah, it should've," Cloud said. "I could have taken them easily if we didn't have to worry about that fire."

"Well, perhaps if you had actually put some thought into the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!"

"First off, I didn't hear anything that sounded like fighting, so I thought the Wrath Hounds were just attacking an animal. I didn't know you were even there," Cloud said, standing up taller than her. "Second, why did you think it was a good idea to use fire in the middle of the forest?"

"I had it handled, if you hadn't gotten in my way."

"Sure," Cloud said, just not wanting to argue with the girl any further.

Weiss looked like she wanted to argue further, but instead just sighed. "Well, since we're partners now, I guess I should get used to your 'strike first and think never' attitude," she said. She seemed just determined to piss off everyone in Beacon, wasn't she? "You're just as bad as that brat with the weird eyes."

"Her name is Ruby," Cloud said sternly. "And you're just as delightful as she said you were. Also, my name's Cloud, in case you were wondering."

"Whatever," she said, turning on her heel. "Just try to keep up. I refuse to get a bad grade because you're too—"

The two of them heard what sounded a lot like a throat being cleared coming from above them, and looked up in confusion. They saw Jaune dangling from a tree, Pyrrha's spear having impaled his hood to keep him in place. Cloud took a look around, and couldn't see any sign of Pyrrha anywhere, further confusing him. Why had she trapped Jaune against a tree?

"Hey, uh, how's it hanging?" Jaune asked, chuckling awkwardly. While Cloud was genuinely concerned for his fellow blond, a satisfied smirk graced Weiss's lips.

"Uh, we're doing good," Cloud said. "It's Jaune, right?"

"Yup, that's me," he said. "Could you guys help me down?"

"Well…"

"Apologies, Arc, but as much as we'd like to offer you some assistance, I'm afraid my partner and I can't let anything impede our goal," Weiss said, looking awfully satisfied with herself. "So, you'll just have to stay there for awhile."

"What?" Cloud asked.

"What?!" Jaune asked, much louder.

"Come on, Weiss, we can't leave him up there," Cloud said.

"And what do you propose we do to get him down?"

"Well, uh…" Cloud said, not able to come up with anything.

"Just as I thought. Now come, we've wasted enough time already." Weis turned around and began walking away.

Cloud sighed and looked back up at Jaune. "Sorry, Jaune. But if I know the owner of that spear, she'll be here soon to get it back." He reluctantly turned around and began following Weiss, leaving Jaune behind.

"Hey! Wait! Come back!" Jaune called out after Weiss and her partner left him to dangle from the tree. He groaned. "What did I do to deserve this?" Was this payback for him rejecting Weiss earlier? If so, then he was starting to think he may have dodged a bullet. She looked so happy to see him suffer, he couldn't imagine the hell she'd put him through if he had accepted her advances.

"Jaune?" a voice called from below. He looked down and saw Pyrrha looking up at him. "Would you like some assistance?"

"Uh, yes please," he said. "I'm not really picky at the moment.

She smiled and he smiled back. It was then that Jaune realized that Pyrrha must have some pretty serious skills if she was able to snatch him out of the air the way she did. And now she was his partner. After getting airsick on the ship, getting lost on campus, and launched through the air, he was starting to think that maybe his luck was finally turning around.

AN: Yup, we're mixing up the teams. One of the biggest disappointments in a lot of crossover stories that I've read of this nature are that they add 4 characters from another property, enough to form their own team, and then all get put together and very little changes in the story from canon. For example, if a story has 4 characters from, say, Fairy Tail all form a team, but Team RWBY is still the focus and the Fairy Tail characters are just kind of doing nothing like Team JNPR were during the first two volumes, leading the entire team of FT characters to become completely redundant. So, to force us to be more original, we mixed the teams up, forcing us to not rely on canon events just playing out the same way they did in the show.

Also, Glynda and Barret's relationship was based very heavily on Izumi and Sig from Full Metal Alchemist, in case you couldn't tell. And I love it.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!