Finally, Rowan thought as he readied his gear from his locker after having had a proper meal from the mess hall.
Now he was ready to put his skills and experience to the test.
There were a fair amount that Rowan could tell were either not cut out for what awaited, and those that he felt would despoil the reputation that huntsmen and huntresses embodied, but some looked and had the baring that marked them as ideal future warriors.
Pyrrha was the main one on his list, but he also noticed a bulky man who wielded a mace for a weapon.
Where it not that Rowan felt an over inflated ego with a mountain load of arrogance, the one with the mace might have Rowan's respect. One look from the bulky man which had nothing but contempt in it, likely due to his faunus heritage marked by his tail, immediately earned his distaste.
An all too bubbly female voice that rang with a hyperactive tone caught his attention, and he turned to see a girl welding a decent-sized hammer for her weapon.
Her style of weapon and dress marked her as likely someone from Fiskare, and he seemed intrigued.
He hoped that underneath that seemingly innocent exterior was a decent warrior.
He'd heard the Fiskare had their tales of great warriors, and he hoped it was more than just a legend. He'd rarely faced fighters from Fiskare during his competitions and looked forward to seeing one in action.
Though he secretly felt a tiny bit of pity for the Mistralian boy, she was trying to have a conversation with.
He was going to officially meet the legendary "Invincible Girl" when he saw that trashcan-looking robot and his eye found the same black-to-red-haired boy he'd met before. He was in the company of the grey-haired boy and the raven-haired girl who'd knocked him out last night. He'd be remiss if he didn't admit he was impressed.
Currently, he was talking to a young girl who was wearing a red hood. Rowan couldn't help but notice that their hair colors were quite similar, which made him wonder if they were related. However, when he looked into the girl's eyes, he was filled with a sense of awe that he had rarely experienced before. The girl's eyes were silver, which, according to the legends he had learned from Rowena, marked her as one of the most powerful future huntsmen and huntresses.
However, she looked out of place among the older students at Beacon, and on the first day, she tripped over Weiss Schnee's bags and exploded. Then that same girl bumped right into him.
"Watch where yer goin lass," he said, though he noticed she shrank away from him as if he'd yield at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," her voice was filled with timidity. Rowan was about to tell her to calm down when the older blonde girl came between him and the girl in the red hood.
"You have a problem with my sister; you take it up with me," the girl said, putting a threat in her tone.
Rowan raised his hands and said, "I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I was simply advising your sister to be aware of her surroundings." He then walked over to Pyrrha.
At least he'd intended to introduce himself, but either by misfortune or some trick of fate, Weiss Schnee was conversing with her. What he heard from their conversation was that they'd be put into teams and Weiss was trying to get Pyrrha on her team.
Teams, the word put a sour taste in his mouth.
While he didn't have a problem with working with a team, he often preferred to fight alone. The ominous prospect that he might be on a team with a Schnee, that young blonde boy from the airship, or someone else who just shouldn't be here made Rowan wince.
He adjusted his hair and finally made his introduction.
"Well, well, I can't believe I'm at Beacon with none other than the legendary Pyrrha Nikkos," he said in his most decent greeting.
Pyrrha turned to see him, "Oh, thank you," he grinned inwardly as he noticed she recognized him.
"You've been one of the leading fighters in the tournaments going from Vale to Mistral."
No way, Pyrrha had actually witnessed him fight. This made the meeting even more significant.
"As it happens, I was in Mistral during your fight with Arslan Lionheart; very impressive," he was about to come to the point went that Schnee girl butted in.
"Do you have any idea who I am!?" Her shrill voice was grading on his nerves.
He pointed at her and said, "Step back, you cold-hearted woman," with a voice that sounded intimidating.
"How dare you, you flea-bitten mutt!" She shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.
Rowan mentally expressed his disdain for Weiss's comment. He found it disappointing that someone from Atlas and a Schnee, no less, would resort to using derogatory language towards those with faunus traits. Rowan wanted to teach her a lesson by showing her that her words could provoke someone with a short temper, but he refrained from acting on that impulse. He did not want to reinforce Atlesian perceptions that faunus were violent and savage like members of the White Fang.
Although Rowan did not like the Schnees, he utterly detested the White Fang's recent actions.
Shaking off the comment, he continued his conversation with Pyrrha.
"I've actually been lookin' forward to when I could fight ya myself," he extended his hand, giving her perhaps one of his highest honors.
"I'll be looking forward to it, Miss Nikkos, one warrior to another."
He saw Pyrrha taking his challenge in stride and shook his hand, "I hope you'll bring everything you have."
With that done, he prepared to leave, only for that trashcan robot to scoot beside him, which meant.
"So you do have more honor than I thought," the voice of the black-to-red-haired boy said.
He turned his head toward his new acquaintance.
"I hope you're ready for what awaits," Rowan greeted.
Jacen had gotten his stuff out of his locker and ensured Skipper was ready.
"Ready to show what we can do?" Jacen asked, earning an affirmative tone from his faithful companion.
He saw Rouge and Gray go for their weapons when he spotted Yang waving to him.
"So, how'd you enjoy your first day at Beacon?" Yang asked in her energetic way.
Jacen shrugged, "Still too early to say, but I feel like it hasn't been the worst experience I've had."
Yang patted him on the shoulder, "You managed to gather more friends than Ruby did," she pointed at Ruby, who'd just gotten her weapon out, and mentioned how she'd finally let her "baby" do the talking for her.
"She seemed fine when we first met," Jacen observed, to which Ruby looked in confusion.
"I'm just no good at, you know, people," Ruby said with apparent timidity.
"You know, Ruby, there are more people than just myself and Jacen here," Yang said, patting Jacen's shoulder again.
"You just need to be able to break out of your shell."
Ruby grunted, "You sound like dad!" She placed her weapon back in her locker, then, turning her attention to them, planted her hands on her hips.
"I don't need people to help me grow; I drink milk," she said, crossing her arms and sounding proud.
"You know, Yang isn't wrong," Jacen added to Yang's point.
"My father once told me it's through the shared experience of others that a person can grow."
Ruby seemed to brighten up a bit, then grabbed her weapon.
"So, hopefully, we end up on the same team," Jacen told Yang.
Yang showed a curious look on her face, "So, not to sound completely discourteous, but did those other scars you have come from your beowolf fight?"
Jacen flushed slightly, remembering she'd seen Jacen shirtless, and, really, what would he say?
Oh, I barely survived an encounter with a grumpy clanker with the worst case of bronchitis I've ever met; he winced inwardly.
Though part of him felt shame for only revealing part of the truth.
Inwardly, he hoped that the Force would give him that chance and that Yang wouldn't think he was utterly insane.
The Jedi Order had always discouraged the idea of forming attachments, be it love or friendship. But Daro, a Jedi Knight, had shown that it wasn't a bad thing to have these emotions. He had proved that they could be a source of strength for a Jedi. However, the problem lay in the fact that if these emotions were not kept in check, they could become twisted and give rise to hatred - a dangerous emotion that could lead to the dark side of the Force.
Just as he had with Tukson and Dusky, he wanted to trust people with who and what he was without the looming threat of the Empire showing up.
Switching gears, he returned Yang's gesture, "Remind me after today, and I'll tell you," he promised.
"Well, I guess we'll see what that Force power of yours can do," Yang said with anticipation.
He gave her a curt thumbs up and then sensed condemnation outside the group.
He turned his attention toward a rather tense conversation with Rowan, and, ah, of course, Weiss had to be everywhere to cause a stir.
At the sound of "flea-bitten mutt," he winced; it wasn't so much because the little princess used a faunus slur, but instead, he feared that the 7 feet of bad attitude and muscle would probably take that chance to break her like a porcelain doll. In fact, Jacen sensed Rowan was weighing that option, but chose a different way.
Imagine Jacen's surprise when he brushed that aside and then continued his conversation with the armored girl with red hair, and, what's this, he shook her hand even though he promised that he couldn't wait to fight her.
At that instant, Jacen now knew that he had a greater sense of honor than he'd realized.
"So you do have more honor than I thought, "Jacen said with genuine sincerity.
Rowan turned to regard Jacen, "I hope you're ready for what awaits," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jacen had seen warriors of all stripes throughout his travels with his master and during the Clone Wars; Rowan was among those who had a sense of honor, but they also always looked forward to a challenge as a means to test their skills.
Moreover, it seemed like Rowan was also the kind of warrior to show at least some civility for a fellow warrior they respected.
Jacen hoped that what he said next wouldn't have him facing whatever look Rowan showed Weiss.
"I rather hope we can work together if we end up-," he stopped when Rowan placed his strong hand on Jacen's shoulder.
"We'll definately see about that, lad," Rowan said.
"I hope you'll be worth being on a team with, I'd hate to see ya get eaten by a King Taijitu."
The analogy painted an unsettling image in Jacen's mind as that particular type of Grimm often manifested as two inverted twins, one wholly black and the other ghostly white.
Not to mention they reminded Jacen of the time he'd nearly fallen into a pit full of Blood Vipers in his early days of being Daro's padawan.
How many times had he nearly died because he was too reckless?
Rowan had gotten dangerously close to him enough to where he uttered a threatening whisper.
"If I see ya lad, you'd better be prepared," with a seemingly friendly grin, he walked out of the locker room.
Rowan's words rang with the sound of an indirect challenge.
"I'm hoping he didn't say anything too harsh," he noticed the red-haired girl from before looked somewhat concerned.
"Oh, it's nothing that I can't live with," Jacen said with a shrug and was preparing to introduce himself when Jaune, not reading the room apparently, got between Pyrrha and a still-livid Weiss.
"So, I've heard we'll be in teams; if you wanted, you could join my team," Jaune's voice was taking a rather odd tone indicating he was fascinated with the ice queen.
"Never in a million years," she said, brushing Jaune away.
Then Pyrrha said to him, "I'm open to joining," she said cheerily.
Jaune turned around as if just now noticing her, "I'm sorry, and you are?"
Weiss gave a sound of disbelief, "You've never heard of Pyrrha Nikkos?"
Jacen's expression conveyed a mix of shock and awe. He had heard of her before, but he never expected to meet her in person. She was a legendary figure in the world of competitive tournaments, renowned for her unparalleled skills and unbeatable record. The news had dubbed her "The Invincible Girl" and her reputation preceded her wherever she went.
However, Jaune didn't have the slightest clue as Weiss was explaining until, completely frustrated, she shouted, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes box!"
The audible gasp of surprise Jaune let out indicated that he finally got the message.
Inwardly, Jacen wasn't surprised seeing how many times he'd gone out shopping and seen her face on said cereal boxes.
"It was pretty sweet," Pyrrha said in that cheery voice, which seemed to drop a bit when she added, "Although the cereal isn't good for you."
Good enough for anyone trying to make a Hutt of themselves, Jacen thought inwardly, recalling how many calories were in it.
To his side, he noticed Skipper had activated his holo-protector showing a 3D image of the cereal box with all three looking at it with confusion and curiosity.
"I didn't know Skipper could do that," exclaimed Jaune with excitement in his voice.
Weiss seemed to be at least curious, "Where did you even get that thing?"
Ah, so she can be somewhat pleasant, Jacen thought.
"You'd probably never heard of it before; at least it's not from any manufacturer in Atlas," he said though Weiss was showing him a look of suspicion.
"I highly doubt you could even afford something this complex," her tone was beginning to imply something Jacen was all too familiar with.
"So you are a delinquent," Weiss said, folding her arms indignantly.
"I'll bet you stole that from someone."
He let out a sigh, ordinary people might crack under such an accusation, but fortunately, he had an alternative.
He reached out through the Force and moved his hand as if to cup his chin. "I didn't steal him; I built him myself," he said calmly.
Weiss's mood seemed to soften as she repeated, "You didn't steal him; you built him yourself."
"You want to go get yourself ready," he added something he knew she wanted to do anyway.
"I want to go get myself ready," adjusting her hair, she went outside.
"Chaos take me for not doing that sooner," Jacen muttered to himself after letting out an exaggerated sigh.
"What was that?" Jaune asked with wide-eyed fascination; even Pyrrha seemed curious.
"Oh, just one of my ways to end an argument in a way that doesn't get overly confrontational," Jacen replied.
"Sounds rather useful," Pyrrha stated with equal fascination.
Jacen nodded in agreement, then looked over to where Rowan had walked off, "Still rather hoped isn't implying what I think."
"Dog boy is probably not the one to be making friends with," Yang's voice rang from behind him.
Jacen couldn't argue, but he felt he might be able to earn his respect.
Speaking of which, "So who was that girl you and Ruby were trying to talk to?"
Yang shrugged, "Oh, she was quite chatty," she said sarcastically.
"Seemed she wanted nothing more than to be left alone to read her book."
Jacen turned to her with a curious look, unsure why he was interested, "Did she at least tell you her name?"
"Blake, I think," Yang said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.
What was it about her, he thought to himself.
She seemed to shut people out deliberately, but it's clear there was some reasoning behind it.
His mind returned to when he'd caught a brief glimpse of her on the airship and her expression regarding a White Fang rally that turned deadly.
Inwardly he grimaced; it wouldn't be polite to go poking around where he shouldn't.
"Well, hopefully, she comes out of her shell," Jacen said doubtfully.
With a final nod, he made his way out of the locker rooms.
Weiss had nearly made her way toward the gathering areas when she seemed to snap back into awareness.
"What happened," she spoke as if she'd just awakened from a dream.
It dawned on her that she wasn't in the locker rooms speaking with Pyrrha.
It came back hazy at first, but eventually, she got it.
That delinquent, she thought angrily.
Somehow, he'd tricked her into leaving, and she felt she had forgotten something.
She scolded herself for being unable to resist whatever that semblance of his was, mind control, memory alteration?
Her thoughts continued to reel, but eventually, she shook her head.
Now wasn't the time to have her head filled with those kinds of questions.
As a member of the Schnee family, she felt the need to prove herself and demonstrate that she deserved her place here. Despite her reluctance, she decided to confront the troublemaker who had almost caused an explosion on their first day.
Regaining her composure, she prepared herself for her test of worth.
Everyone had gathered on a cliffside overlooking a vast green forest far below.
Ozpin could see the anticipation from the new students who'd be attending Beacon this year; many of them showed determination, though one of them seemed like he didn't know where he was.
He adjusted his glasses and focused on where Jacen and Ruby had positioned themselves on opposite ends.
Time to see what our Jedi Knight can do, he thought, sipping his coffee.
He'd already witnessed his fighting capabilities which marked him as having great instinct, and despite his relatively young age, he has the air of someone who's undergone a lot of real-world training, which a school simply didn't prepare one for.
That alone counted for a lot in the world of huntsmen and huntresses.
He grinned inwardly, it had been a few years since he became the headmaster of Beacon, and this part at least never ceased to amuse him.
What better way for teams to be forged, especially if they comprised people who were opposites?
The sight of Ruby Rose briefly reminded him of when the members of the future team STRQ were gathering for their "toss-up."
He laughed inwardly as he recalled Qrow Branwen wearing a skirt because Tai had convinced him it was a kilt.
How things had changed since then, a pang of guilt tugged at the back of his mind.
Summer Rose had died, and Raven Branwen had left his group, adding to his list of regrets.
Perhaps the appearance of the young Jedi will bring about a different outcome in ensuring that events don't repeat themselves.
Putting on his best professional face, he addressed the gathered students.
"For today's mission, you'll be going through the Emerald Forest till you reach a ruined temple in the center," he began.
"Once there, you'll find a collection of relics, and your objective is to return to the top of the cliff once you've acquired your relic."
He stopped and let an amused smile cross his face.
"I'm sure you've all been curious about how teams are assorted," he said, getting everyone's attention.
"Allow me to put those rumors to rest."
He aimed his cane at the panels the students were standing on.
"After completing your landing strategy, the first person you meet will be part of your team for the rest of your time at Beacon."
Ah, the mixture of emotions from that statement.
Rest of your time at Beacon, Jacen repeated inwardly.
He sensed a strong feeling of curiosity and excitement from nearby. He turned to see that Rowan was looking at him with clear interest.
"Better be prepared," Jacen read in that face, then refocused.
The mention of the panels and landing strategies didn't make sense until he noticed the level between the cliff and the bottom reaching into the forest.
Sudden realization hit him, and he cracked his knuckles with a bit of confidence.
During the Clone Wars, he had participated in multiple high jumps with his fellow troopers. These jumps would often take them into cities that were controlled by the Separatists, or into heavily forested worlds where the Separatists were known to be preparing for an attack. Despite the risks involved, he and his team always carried out these missions with great precision and skill, relying on their training and experience to ensure their success. Whether they were dropping in behind enemy lines or securing a critical objective, they knew that their actions could mean the difference between victory and defeat for their side in the ongoing conflict.
A slight twinge made him ask, "We aren't going to encounter any Grimm, are we?"
Ozpin turned to regard him, "We have defensive capabilities that keep the Grimm out of our training grounds, so the only encounters you're likely to have are with the native wildlife."
Ozpin wasn't kidding; Jacen could sense the assortment of wildlife that lived in the forest. It was nice to know not everything was dark and eager to kill you in ways too unimaginable.
Though he knew the wildlife was the least of his concerns.
If he encountered Rowan in the forest, he had a feeling Jacen was going to be put through some kind of test, and if he encountered Weiss, he'd have to put up with her stuck-up attitude, not to mention she was already suspicious after his mind trick wore off.
Regardless he made himself ready for the jump, showing a two-fingered salute to Yang, then motioned for Skipper to get prepared.
Bloody hell, Rowan thought regarding Ozpin's words.
He turned his gaze on the black-to-red-haired boy, noticing that he'd gone from slightly nervous to suddenly calm as if he'd done something like this before.
That only confirmed that he likely had real world experience and if he encountered him in the forest, Rowan wanted to see just how skilled he was when faced with a real challenge.
Once again, demonstrating how green he was, that blonde idiot didn't seem to understand the meaning of "landing strategy."
"Um, this landing strategy," he said in his annoying voice.
"Are you going to drop us off?"
"No," Ozpin said, "You will be falling and using your landing strategy."
Cracking his neck, Rowan readied himself to launch with a grin as he let about 5 percent of his semblance run loose, and when his platform went up, he shot forward with the force of a bullet leaving a gun.
With a quick nod to his faithful droid, Jacen made himself ready, diving deep into the Force to help him find that perfect spot to ensure he landed on the ground without being heavily damaged.
His platform lifted, and he leaped into the air, followed by Skipper, who screamed at first but immediately activated his side booster rockets to propel him forward.
With all the students now launched, the die was being cased, and where ever it landed would be how things would be.
END