Adam walked at the lead, his steps more stomps as he grappled with his thoughts. How? Why? What was wrong with him? Were his 'saviors' playing a trick on him? The thought agitated him. Would they do such a thing for their own entertainment? Would it even be something they think to do? They reached the cliffside, and the thunderous look on Adam's face caused several students to back away from the group of them walking through. Walking over to a small copse of trees nearby he sat down, a few other students already there jumped up and moved out from the shaded area to avoid the trio.

Aries and Capri sat down in a small circle near Adam. They looked uncomfortable. "What?" Adam asked, his voice sharp and he knew it wasn't right to lash out at these two but his emotions were a tumultuous mess inside.

Capri gave a sad smile. "You... um..." She wanted to try and talk about what had happened back with Weiss, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Adam was having some trouble and she wanted to help but couldn't quite figure out what was best.

Aries spoke up suddenly as he dropped back into a laying position. "That went poorly, wouldn't you say?" His hands dropped to the sides and began to dig up bits of grass before dropping them. "She made us look like the bad guys... then that goofball Jaune showed up. A nice person... for a human." Aries grumbled, Capri couldn't tell if he was trying to distract Adam from whatever was bothering him or if he was just that clueless that their big brother was having some sort of trouble in his head. Her eyes darted from Aries to Adam, his face still shadowed by the dark thoughts that must be eating away at his mind. "Why does she wear those super big heels anyway, think she's just compensating for being short? I mean... even with them you are almost a foot taller than her." Aries switched directions of the conversation so easily Capri gasped, the question caused Adam's face to darken further.

Capri reached out with her left foot and kicked Aries' leg, trying to get him to understand this wasn't the best way to go right now. "Um... Adam... are you okay?"

Grunting Adam leaned forwards and looked at the ground between his legs. Truthfully he didn't know the answer to that question, Weiss Schnee was an enemy, a person part of the family responsible for the horrific treatment of himself and a large number of other Faunus... but that look of pure terror on her face, it was like a stab to the heart, something he was intimately familiar with, and it was extremely unpleasant to put it lightly. The unease of the entire situation hung over his body and mind like a heavy shadowy cloak. "I'm fine."

"If you ever want to talk, we are here for you. We've had one another's back our whole lives, so don't think you have to shoulder everything yourself."

"Yeah, don't worry about Weiss, she's just a Schnee."

"Right, yeah..." Adam grunted in reply. 'Just a Schnee... that's right, nothing to be concerned about...' Her face flashed through his mind and he let out a heavy sigh before throwing himself back to lay down much like Aries. "Let's hope we get to fight something soon, otherwise I'm going to find something to fight." A deflection, a distraction, something to keep his mind centered and away from the strangeness permeating it. "I... we don't have time for this... let's just drop it... okay?"

Unseen by Adam Capri gave a sad smile, she was worried about him, but he didn't seem to be able to express himself yet. Perhaps he just needed some time to adjust. They had gone from a small village that was overwhelmingly Faunus to Vale, and Beacon Academy that was mostly Human... Then on top of that they met the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a group they had such a bad history with. Fighting, arguing, and spitting venom was expected, but having her look like she was fearing for her life was probably not what Adam or Aries had expected or wanted to happen. He just felt bad for scaring Weiss so much, right?

As the trio sat in silence more and more students began to arrive at the cliff side, chatting amongst their groups. Keeping an ear out it was noted that teams were being selected during the initiation somehow, and that the teams would be mostly permanent. There was also some talk already about their gaff at the locker room.

"I can't believe they would wear Masks like that."

"So obviously extremists, how did the Professors let them in?"

"They almost attack that girl, can you believe it, if it wasn't for…"

"What can you expect from animals…"

Aries went to sit up but both Capri and Adam spoke.

"Don't, Aries…"

"Not worth it."

Aries laid back, seeming to take note of the voices for later. There would be sanctioned sparring at some point for class, he'd get revenge then.

About fifteen minutes passed and it seemed everyone had arrived. Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin arrived as well.

"Please line up along the cliff, you will find individual platforms to stand on." Professor Goodwitch announced, her voice carrying over all of the individual conversations taking place. In one hand was a scroll tablet as she walked back and forth reassigning students to different platforms. During this Professor Ozpin sipped from his mug and looked out amongst the students, his eyes seeming to rest on some students longer than others, Adam felt the man's gaze on him as if he was seeing through to his soul.

Perhaps for 'fairness' Adam, Aries, and Capri were separated by several platforms, it wasn't explained why, they were simply moved around. It took nearly five minutes for the entire group to be settled and Professor Goodwitch returned to Professor Ozpin and whispered something to him, drawing a slight nod but no further sign of what was discussed.

Professor Ozpin began his speech. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

As if practiced Professor Goodwitch stepped in next. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, 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. Are there any questions?"

Adam saw Jaune raise his hand and try to speak up but was completely ignored by Professor Ozpin who seemed to have a small smile on his lips. "Good! Now, take your positions."

Jaune eventually just spoke up, clearly made nervous by what he just heard. "Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." Somehow he doesn't notice the platforms beginning to catapult the other students off the cliff. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

The smile never left Ozpin's face. "No. You will be falling."

Jaune gulped audibly as he was positioned near Adam. "Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

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

"Uh-huh... Yeah…" whatever was going to come next Adam missed as his platform fired him into the air. With a thought he imbued his body with Aura, resisting the wind and elements as he hurtled through the air. Rotating his body he looked around trying to pinpoint where others were falling, seeking one of his six targets. Red and black caught his eye first, Ruby, discharging rounds from her sniper rifle, reducing her forward momentum. A white blur fell from the sky before skipping across the air like a stone across water, Weiss using her glyphs. Then one that made him shocked, pulling ahead of the entire pack was a golden streak, bursts of fire indicating she was using her weapon to actually go faster. 'She's insane.'

Not only would she be far away from others unable to get a partner early on she would be cut off if she was overwhelmed. That had to be Yang, maybe she was serious in avoiding being on the same team as her little sister.

His closest choices as he fell were Weiss or Ruby, and he did not think highly of either girl. One was the heiress to such a dark hearted company he could barely see her as anything but, not to mention the strange feeling that had popped up earlier. Ruby was young, highly naive, and difficult socially… she talked too much.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a weapon going off and a red and bronze spear flying past him. At first he thought it was an attack before hearing, distantly a girl's voice call out "I'm sorry!" He tracked the spear's direction and saw Jaune pinned to a tree by it. Twice now he's had a spear thrown at him, probably the same girl if Adam had to guess. The distraction, though short made Adam miss the opportune time to reduce his speed, he drew Blossom quickly, reversing the grip he slammed it into a tree, the momentum was instantly cut, Adam felt a rough yank on his shoulder as he came to a sudden stop, luckily his Aura took the brunt of the force. 'Who to find?'

Aries flew through the sky whooping loudly as the sensation of freedom filled his body. Sunlight gleamed in his hand as he projected his landing site, it seemed clear enough, no Grimm or other students to accidentally run into. Aiming the point of his weapon towards the ground he released a burst of bullets, the recoil was strong enough that for just a moment he seemed to stop before dropping the rest of the way to the ground. "Now to find… shit." As he looked around he made eye contact with a girl in black and white with a bow on her head. "My new partner I guess."

The girl looked as shocked as Aries, she was hiding up in a tree, probably planning on finding herself a partner of her own choosing. "My name is Aries."

The girl nodded once as she dropped from the tree, eyes darting to the mask hanging by his waist. "Blake." Nothing more.

Aries let out a sigh, she spoke less than Adam it seemed. Well he couldn't change his partner, he was certain that somehow the Professors were watching and already marked down his connection with Blake. "Any idea which way to the ruins we are looking for?"

"No."

Aries sighed and looked at the sky while planting Sunlight in the ground. A few seconds later he pointed in a direction. "This way is north. Professor Ozpin said it would be in the North area. I'll lead, cover me in case anything shows up."

Aries didn't bother to wait for a reply before beginning to head north, nor did he avoid obstacles, Professor Ozpin did say destroy everything in your path. Aura raised to the maximum he moved in a straight line through brush, bush, and even small trees in a jog, weapon slashing left and right to keep his path cleared. Brute forcing a problem will work eventually, doesn't matter if there is a million options, one of them is correct. A simple and direct solution fit his thought process.

Only minutes passed and Aries was forced to stop, the destruction seemed to have drawn the attention of nearby Grimm, a small pack consisting of three Boarbatusks showed up, grunting and stamping their feet as they prepared to attack. Glancing behind him he was actually shocked that his partner Blake was no where to be seen… "that's just great!" He complained to himself as he turned to face his enemies. Three verses one, not great odds, but he was fresh, full of Aura and aching to let out his frustrations. "Alright then, come at me!" His defiant roar echoed as he rushed forwards, Sunlight transformed into a rifle as he began to spray rounds at the largest Boarbatusk causing it to flinch.

The others ran forwards, heads low and tusks slashing. Aries dodged to one side to force one to block its companion, narrowly dodging the tusks and spikes of the nearest one slashing out with the extending blades of Sunlight, it wasn't deep enough to kill it. At that moment he realized the one that hesitated had come up on his blindside and hit him squarely, he had been tunnel visioned on trying to remove one of his enemies.

The hit threw him but was not enough to shatter his Aura, still he felt pain in his ribs from the power of the blow, it had struck his side where there was a gap in his armor. This was going to be an annoying battle. Adjusting his grip on Sunlight he rushed in, aiming at the wounded one, he leapt to the side to avoid the smaller unhurt one and brought the halberd's blade down onto the unguarded neck of the Boarbatudk, decapitating it.

The big one came in again, having turned around from its previous charge, it was deceptively fast for its size, not to mention it was covered in more white armored plates than the other two. This time he was ready and dodged the charge, firing several rounds into its side however most were stopped by the armored plating protecting its body. Aries was forced to skip back as the smaller one came in again, their attacks weren't complicated but were strong. Making a split second decision he threw Sunlight at the rear of the smaller one, triggering the small mechanism on the butt of the halberd for additional velocity, it pierced through and the spear head could be seen sticking out near the neck of the Boarbatusk.

This just left the big one which was coming around for another charge. Aries dipped his hands into a pair of pouches on his hips, the white and silver gloves now coated in a yellow powder, Lightning Dust. "Come on! I'm ready for you!" He shouted, bringing his hands up into a fighting stance. Just then a single shot rang out and one of the Boarbatusk's eyes exploded into gore and brain matter as it slumped over dead. Truthfully he was fairly certain the rest of the fight would have gone poorly, he would have won in the end but he would have expended most of his Aura.

"Thanks." Aries grunted, annoyed that she had vanished before the fight had begun but helped out in the end. At least he assumed that the shooter was Blake, who he still couldn't see. A moment later she dropped from a hidden spot in the trees, somehow her black and white outfit wasn't giving away her position.

"Let's go…" Blake turned and began to walk into the forest without disturbing the foliage, Aries didn't have much choice but to follow after. Retracting Sunlight he slung it over his shoulder and kept his cackling hands ready, it was faster to respond with his hands in the brush than to try and swing a six foot halberd.

Capri landed easily and quietly in the forest, unlike others she just used her body to slow herself before rolling on the ground. No weapon fire to give away her position. Even so she already heard a voice nearby that made her blood run cold.

"That horned bitch landed over this way!"

Who was hunting her down? Why? They weren't even trying to hide it yelling like they were, and as far as she knew there weren't any other Faunus girls with horns. She hasn't made any enemies. Without thinking she turned away from the voice and took off in a full sprint, leaping over brush and choked pathways with inhuman grace, fear clouding her mind.

Suddenly an arm lashed out and grabbed her around the waist, the second hand of her captor clamped down over her mouth. Her instincts kicked in and she struck out with her head, cracking her thick horns into her captor's forehead… Then instead of being let go like she expected to happened the world seemed to suddenly shift under her feet, her stomach roiled, and suddenly everything was back to normal except she wasn't where she had been before, and her captor was still holding her, a second passed and again the same feeling over took her body and again the place she was standing was different but the one holding her remained... Crimson eyes locked with her blue eyes and she realized who it was. She tried to speak but her mouth was still covered by the boy's hand.

"I'm going to let go... please don't headbutt me again..." Daiki said, they already locked eyes so by the rules of the Initiation they were partners.

Capri's face began to burn. 'Teammates... teammates... teammates...' She was chanting in her head, trying to get the conversation with Yang the night before out of her head. It seemed he had also followed her after everyone was launched from the cliff. Looking at him she realized even now out for combat his now white shirt was still unbuttoned, or actually it never had buttons held 'closed' by a few tied strings but most of his chest and abdomen was still visible. Trailing further down he was wearing a sash over a pair of very loose fitting but thick crimson pants and a satchel was riding on his left side, wrapped around his right forearm was a golden coil, on the end resting on the back of his hand was the mouth of some ferocious beast... snapping her eyes back up to his face she noticed two rivlets of blood trailing down either side of his face coming from his forehead.

The hands came away at the same time and Daiki stepped back, breathing very heavily but she doubted it was from her struggling or hitting him. Daiki reached up and wiping the blood off of his face. "Your brothers don't have to worry about anyone stealing you at least." His lips curled into a mischievous smile, as if the cuts on his head were some sort of huge joke or prank. A moment later there was a shimmer of light as his Aura covered his body and the small but bleeding cuts began to seal themselves and soon the blood stopped entirely. "Sorry, I heard them talking on the cliffs and couldn't leave it be but it was too late once we were in the air."

"What did you do earlier?" It just occurred to her to ask... her stomach was still rolling threatening to put her breakfast all over her new partner.

Daiki took a deep breath and nodded. "My Semblance, Blink... Basically I can teleport anywhere I can see... but the further away it is the more exhausting it is... and carrying someone else over two full range Blinks have left me tired... let's take a break yeah?" Without waiting he dropped back with his arms out, landing on the grassy floor. "Give me like ten minutes, then we can look for these relics Professor Ozpin said to find."

Capri nodded even though Daiki had his eyes closed he laughed, as if he could see her reaction. "Yeah, that's fine... um... thank you for helping me Daiki." She turned away and decided to climb a tree to see what was around them, breaking from the top she could see in the distance there was smoke to the southwest. It was spreading but not too quickly, it wasn't a threat to them from where they were now. She continued to scan the forest, and spotted in the distance a few stones that didn't seem natural, it would take a while to walk there, but she didn't see a reason to rush Daiki. Climbing down from the tree she didn't see him laying where he had been... did he abandon her? Where did he go? She began to panic, looking around rapidly. A couple seconds later he came out from behind a tree adjusting his sash and pants.

"Umm... you okay?" The look of panic had been clear as day on her face.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I thought you left without me."

"Can't do that now, we're partners for the next four years aren't we?" The brilliant smile returned to his face as he held out his hand, palm up. "Let's go get our relic and get out of this forest. What do you say, Capri?" Capri nodded and took his hand with a noise that sounded like an affirmative.

"You just had to burn the whole forest down didn't you Schnee?!" Adam roared as he held her in his arms, running through the flames, aura pulsing as the heat fought against its protection. The heel on one of her shoes has broken, something he was sure should have happened before and yet she seemed so unready for it. Honestly he wanted to dump her in the dirt and flee the flames as quickly as he could but while he had been scouting they had made eye contact by accident so she was his partner now.

If Adam didn't know any better she seemed to be more upset about the broken shoe than anything else happening at the moment. "I-I didn't mean to! -You surprised me, then the Beowolves showed up... and there was that loose stone in the ground..." She made her arguments but they weren't very strong, she knew it, and so did Adam. The acid in his voice had burned her worse than the fires raging around them, her face red from embarrassment at the mistake, and being carried by someone who obviously considered her his enemy. Ahead of them a blur of red flew past and continued north, heading towards where Yang had landed according to Adam's rough estimation. So on top of almost killing her new partner and herself other students had been caught up in the inferno. 'I'm never going to live this down...' She thought to herself, Adam had all the ammunition he would need for the next four years to win any argument between the two of them.

Adam poured his all into the spring and soon the flames abated as they got away from the center of the fire, but he didn't stop then, he kept running to outpace the flames and buy some breathing room, literally and figuratively. Another minute at a full sprint and he was winded, slowly down to a walk before stopping entirely.

"Than-" Adam dumped her on the floor unceremoniously instantly cutting off what she wanted to say.

"You aren't allowed to use fire anymore without permission... fuuuuck... The professors aren't going to be happy about this." He groaned as his lung pumped like bellows.

"I was trying to thank you!" She shouted as she stood up, dusting off her skirt and almost falling because of the broken shoe. "Brute..."

Adam grunted at the mild provocation, it wasn't the worst someone had called him, it wasn't the worst she had called him either. "We're alive, no thanks to you." Bitterness tinged his voice as he looked around, having lost the direction they were supposed to be heading in. "You should watch your step in the forest, it isn't like the city or training hall. Get some practical shoes in the future like that girl Ruby, combat boots... for combat situations."

Weiss bristled at the admonishment. "I don't need a lecture from you!"

Adam gave a short snort. "Someone has to teach you to fight properly, otherwise that pretty little head of yours..." Catching himself he shook his head. "Doesn't matter, ignore me or not, we need to finish the test." A few second of looking around he picked a new direction and began to walk.

"W-wait!" Weiss cried after him, and was shocked when he did so. "I... can't keep up with my shoes like this."

Adam sighed heavily and sat down, tugging at his boot strings, a few moments later he tossed them over to Weiss. "Might be a bit big, but better than broken shoes."

Weiss caught his black boots and looked at them confused, he wanted her to wear his clothes? They weren't... no... this was just because he wanted her to be able to keep up. "Fine..." She muttered and went to sit down before giving him a pointed look. "Don't look."

"Excuse me?"

"Turn around, I need to sit down."

Adam snorted again but did as she asked, folding his arms he dug his toes into he dirt through his socks, it wasn't unpleasant yet, but he knew in a few minutes the socks would be wet from the fresh grass. There was the sound of cloth brushing cloth then the sound of hard leather being creased, Adam turned his head slightly. "I said don't look!" Weiss yelled at him and he shrugged and turned his head back away from her.

It didn't take long before she was done putting on the oversized boots. "Okay, I'm ready."

Adam turned around and found the height difference had grown even bigger without her oversized heels. "Might be faster to just carry you." He muttered as he gave her a once over. "Let's go."

Slower than initially expected due to the lack of his shoes and Weiss walking in shoes many sizes too large for her feet. To try and save time they attempted to cut a cross a large clearing, but that was a mistake.

"HEEELP!" Weiss' piercing and horrified scream echoed across the clearing as she suddenly found herself gripped in the claw of a massive Nevermore, it was already attempting to regain altitude to escape with its prey.

It took a moment to process what he was seeing but Adam gave a primal roar as he pushed his body to the limit as he enhanced his body with Aura and leaped. His fingers barely were able to close around the tailfeathers of the ascending Nevermore. If someone was going to kill Weiss Schnee it wasn't going to be some random Grimm.