Book. 1
Vale
Chapter. 3
Shining Beacon
Jaune waited in the auditorium for Ruby, becoming worried when she hadn't showed up in the expected time. Slowly, he made his way through the mob of Beacon hopefuls towards the entrance, inadvertently running smack dab into someone – more specifically, a girl.
She was statuesque, muscular, and curvaceous, standing eye to eye with Jaune in her three-inch heels, with a pale olive complexion and an ovular face – which bore high-cheekbones, alongside a straight nose and pouty lips, with almond shaped bottle green eyes. Her deep red hair was pulled into a high, waist-length ponytail and held in place by a bronze circlet that bore a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains.
She was dressed in a brown, overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown material in the center and bronze trim over a black A-line mini skirt covered by a red, ankle-length sash – alongside black opera gloves on both arms and bronze plate that bore a spear on her right hip opposite two pouches, both connected to a black belt.
She also wears a large bronze gorget around her neck, causing a boob-window to form with her corset, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left bicep, with a matching bracer covering her left forearm and mid-thigh length greaves.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The pair cried at the same time, before laughing.
"Bonjour, I'm Jaune." He held out his hand.
The girl hesitated for a moment, making Jaune worry she knew who he was, before hastily replying. "P-Pyrrha!" She cleared her throat with a blush and giggled. "I'm, uh, my name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos."
"Good to meet you, Pyrrha." Jaune smiled. "I was just about to go meet up with my friend, would you like to come along?"
-{O}-
Pyrrha stared at the blonde knight in front of her, gob smacked and elated all at once.
"H-He doesn't recognize me, no, he doesn't know me!" Pyrrha thought as her face split into a massive grin. "I-I'd love to!"
Jaune smiled endearingly, before something over her shoulder catches his attention and cause his eyes to widen. "Zut alors, Ruby!"
Pyrrha turned to see what he was looking at, only to gasp in shock herself, for entering the auditorium was two girls – unnoteworthy if it were not for the fact that the taller of the two was covered in soot and icicles, with various parts of her clothing singed and burnt.
Jaune blew past Pyrrha as if she wasn't even there – which admittedly hurt more than it should – and rushed towards the taller girl.
"Wha… what happened!?" Jaune cried as he rushed up to her.
"Oh, you knew, just… blew up a little… s'all…" Ruby blushed – half from embarrassment, half from how attentive Jaune was being.
"What?!" Replied Jaune quizzically.
Ruby started twirling a strand of hair. "I, uh, I might have caused a little… Dust explosion."
Jaune blinked dumbly. "Please tell me you are being sarcastic."
"I wish…" Ruby mumbled, before scoffing. "I tripped over some… hoity-toity girl's luggage and the bitch started yellin' me-"
"You!" Cried a familiar voice.
"Oh god it's happin' again!" Ruby sighed, not wanting to deal with this all over again.
"You are lucky ve veren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss fumed, not noticing either Jaune or Pyrrha.
"Sacre Dieu, you really exploded." Jaune uttered, horrified.
"It wasn't on purpose!" Ruby whined. "It was an acci-" She's interrupted by Weiss holding a pamphlet that read; "DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals" up to her face. "What's this now?"
"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries while operating a Schnee Dust Company product." Weiss sounded off like a good cooperate drone – progressively getting faster and faster as she spoke. "Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves vith this easy-to-follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field."
Ruby and Jaune felt their brains sloshing out of their ears. "Uuhhh…?"
Weiss stared at Ruby. "You truly vant to make things up to me?"
"Yes…?" Ruby replied, not sure if she should feel insulted or not.
"Read this and never speak to me again." Weiss answered as she shoved the pamphlet into Ruby's hands.
"Uh, it seems to me you two just got off on the wrong foot." Pyrrha clumsily entered the conversation. "Why don't you two start over and try to be… friends…?"
"That's a great idea!" Jaune smiled, subtly getting between the two.
Ruby looked to Jaune before looking back at Weiss with as genuine a smile as she could muster. "Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby." After a beat she continues. "Wanna… hang out? We could go…" She looks to Jaune. "What do girls do?"
"Go shopping?" Jaune shrugged.
"Go shopping?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah!" Weiss replied with about as obvious sarcasm as could be had. "Ve can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and…"
Weiss finally notices Jaune – who towered well over a foot taller than her, even in her heels – and gains an atomic blush. And, thankfully for all involved, the tapping of a microphone ended anything before it could even begin.
"I'll… keep this brief." Came the strange enigmatic cadence of the Headmaster. "You all have traveled here today from all corners of the globe, from varying and radically different backgrounds in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have done so, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people of Remnant – regardless of race, religion, creed, or place of birth."
Ozpin slowly scans the assembled prospects with an unreadable gaze. "But I look amongst you, and all I see… is wasted energy – in need of purpose, refinement, direction."
The students exchange looks and begin whispering quietly to themselves.
"You assume knowledge will free you of this." Ozpin continued. "But knowledge can only carry you so far, and as your time here in Beacon will tell you, it is up to you to take the first step."
Suddenly stopping, Ozpin turns and exits the stage, with Professor Goodwitch taking his place.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins." Goodwitch explains curtly. "Be ready, you are dismissed."
"He seemed… kind of off." Pyrrha spoke.
"I knew there was something off 'bout him." Ruby huffed.
"Strange…" Jaune mused.
With Goodwitch's parting words, the group goes their separate ways – with Jaune heading to the boy's locker room and the girls to theirs.
-{O}-
Jaune, now dressed in a pair of blue sleeping pants with gray stripes, had just closed his locker door when something caught his attention, that being a short Mistralian boy looking lost and embarrassed.
He was trim and long-legged, standing at five foot six, with a pale oriental complexion and an angular face – which bore a small nose and bottom-heavy lips, with monolid magenta eyes. His jet-black hair was parted on his right side and shaggy – with the rest being in a long, thin, ponytail that started at the base of his head and ended at his mid back – with a magenta streak running down his left bang.
He was dressed in a green, bell-sleeved tang style shirt – with two flaps covering his crotch and backside that went down to his knees – which covered a pair of white pants that lead to a pair of black Mistralian-style slippers.
Jaune approached with a reassuring smile. "Are you okay?"
"Ah!" The Mistralian cried, before replying with a slight accent and a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "Y-Yes, I'm just not used to… undressing front of… others…"
"That's quite common, actually." Jaune chuckled good naturedly. "There should be private cubbies down the hall, C'mon, I'll take you."
"Oh, thank you!" The boy smiled cutely.
Jaune chuckled and rubbed the boy's hair before turning to lead him to the cubbies – missing the atomic blush that spread across the boy's cheeks.
-{O}-
"So…" Pyrrha started, now dressed in a pair of, frankly childish, brown pajamas. "How do you know Jaune?"
"Hmm?" Replied Ruby as she put her clothes away, now dressed in a more appropriate – aka non-transparent – version of the pajamas she wore at home. "Oh! I met him while I was stoppin' a robbery, just showed up like one of those fairytale knights." She smiled dreamily. "Then he stayed with me until Beacon started."
"Oh!" Velvet exclaimed, dressed in a frankly adorable pair of polka dot yellow pajama shorts with a matching tank top, appearing suddenly. "I-I didn't know you two were so... "close"."
Ruby and Pyrrha blushed up a storm, with Ruby stuttering out. "N-Noy like that!" Before muttering. "'Sides, my aunt hogged him and his bed all to herself."
"Oh, so h-he's into older women?"
"N-No!"
"B-But you just said-"
"I-It's complicated, okay" Ruby yelled, face flushed like a tomato.
The tree teens stood there, faces alit with atomic blushes.
-{O}-
"It's like a big ol' slumber party!" Ruby sighed.
"I don't think my manager would approve of all the boys, though." Pyrrha replied.
"I-T don't mind." Velvet stuttered, something catching her undivided attention.
Pyrrha and Ruby looked up in time to see a shirtless Jaune walking through the room with his sleeping bag in hand and couldn't help but blush at the sight. Now Jaune wasn't as built or as shredded as some of the other boys, but that meant he didn't come off as vain as they did either. But he was well built, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest, with arms and legs to match – not focusing solely on his upper or lower body like the rest – with slight abs, all of which was covered in light scars that crisscrossed his form – from man-made weapons to Grimm claws, beaks, and talons.
"O-Oh my!" Pyrrha breathed out,
"Uh huh." Agreed Ruby. "Mama likes!"
Jaune – oblivious to the working of the three girls' minds – smiled and waved as he passed them by, walking towards a secluded corner that was occupied by a bow clad Raveonette.
She was dressed in a black silk, long-sleeved, chemise that ended mid-thigh and bore stylistic purple stems and thorn designs that lead to the flower of a black rose outlined in purple resting over her left breast.
In her right hand was a black book that read; The Man with two Souls, which she seemed engrossed in.
Jaune gently cleared his throat. "Bonsoir, do you mind sharing this corner with me?"
The girl snarled slightly and whipped around to glare at Jaune, only for her face to suddenly soften at the sight of him, clearing her throat with a blush and spoke in a soft voice. "N-No, I do not mind at all."
Jaune beamed at hearing her accent, before replying in Valean. "You are a Valean, no?"
The girl looks surprised for a moment, having not noticed his accent, before smiling and replying in Valean as well. "Yes, I am." She chuckled. "And I do apologies, it has been quite some time since I was able to speak freely in my native tongue."
"I know what you mean!" Jaune beamed as he sat next to the girl like he had known her for years instead of seconds. "Between dealing with foreign diplomats and the rising number of people in Vale who don't speak it, I'd almost forgotten the language all together!"
The pair of faunus began merrily and energetically conversing in their native languages, and it was in the middle of this that Rub and Pyrrha found them.
"Do you have any idea what they're talkin' about?" Ruby asked, unable to take her eyes off the animated pair – nor able to prevent how tight her heart felt at the sight.
"I only know a little Valean, mainly because of the conversations I've had with Queen Aurora." Pyrrha explained, feeling the same was as Ruby. "But they're talking to fast for me to keep up, I'm only getting every other third word."
"Yeah…" Ruby looked to Pyrrha and Velvet. "Is this botherin' you too?"
Pyrrha and Velvet sputtered awhile, before the both of them meekly replied. "Yes."
"Thought so." Ruby hummed, before boldly walking up to the pair and yelling. "Heya, Jaune, ain't cha gonna introduce us to yer new friend ?"
"Hm?" Jaune sounded as he turned, only to smile once he saw Ruby and Pyrrha. "Oh yes, I suppose I should." He turns back to the girl, not noticing Ruby's vindictive look towards her. "Blake, this is Ruby, Pyrrha, and Velvet, my friends I was telling you about."
The now named Blake nodded and stood, speaking in a soft, but intense tone. "Bonsoir, I am Blake, Jaune… has told me much about you."
"Darn tootin'!" Ruby grinned territorially. "After all, he did spend two weeks with me before the school year."
Jaune looked between the three girls as they entered a silent staring match, reminding him of when some of his sisters like the same boy. But he dismissed that easily, after all, there's no way someone like him could get the affections of three girls he just met – well, more or less just met anyway.
Jaune tried to step in before a fight erupted, but he was beaten to the punch by a pale-blue lace nightie – the kind Jaune's grandmother used to wear – clad Weiss stomping up to the trio in all her four-foot nine glory.
"Could you please keep it down, people are trying to sleep!"
Unfortunately, this seemed to be the spark the powder keg was waiting for – as the four girls ended up going at it, with a Weiss ending up in the middle.
"Merde…" Jaune sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What's going on here?" Asked a familiar voice – now dressed in a green, short-sleeved cheongsam style shirt over white shorts that showed off his long, toned legs.
Jaune turned to the Mistralian boy from earlier with a defeated look. "I tried introducing my friends to one another earlier, and it ended up like this."
"Oh my, that is unfortunate."
"Yup." Jaune replied, popping the P, before slapping his forehead. "My mother would flay me for my lack of manners!" He turned and presented his hand to the boy. "My name is Jaune Arc, pleasure to meet you."
The boy took Jaune's hand in his own, much smaller and softer one and smiled. "My name is Lie Ren."
Before either boy could speak once more, an energetic voice sang out in a rhythmic, almost melodic tone. "Ooohhh, what's going on over here!"
Bouncing up to the pair was a squant, curvaceous and muscular girl their age that stood five-foot fuck all, with a pale complexion and a long face – which bore a narrow nose and thin lips stretched into a nearly manic smile, with large electric blue eyes. Her bright orange hair was done up in an Atlassian braid – that being two braids that ran the sides of her head from either at or above the temples and rested over her shoulders – ending on either side of her generous bust.
She was dressed in a gray T-shirt that read: BOOP across her bust – with a symbol of a hammer and lightning bolt going through the first O – and struggled to not burst at the seams, alongside a pair of pink Mistralian Bloomers and dark-blue thigh-high socks, with her generous thighs spilling out between the two.
The short-stack of a girl stopped suddenly and blinked owlishly – rapidly switching from Jaune and Ren, her manic smile slowly growing manic even larger – before saying. "Gasp! Did Renny find a friend!?"
Ren's face flushed a vibrant hue of red, before whining. "N-Nora!"
The now named Nora giggled cutely before bouncing up to Jaune, craning her neck to look up at the much taller man. "Wow, you sure know how to pick 'em, Renny!"
Ren's blush deepened and crept onto his neck and ears. "N-Nora!"
Nora and Ren then devolved into Nora relentlessly teasing the poor Mistralian boy who was half a foot taller than her – though she probably had fifty pounds of muscle on the boy.
Jaune looked between the seven other teens and the approaching storm that was a furious Glynda Goodwitch and could only utter a single word in despair.
"Merde…"
-{O}-
Jaune glumly sipped from his small bowl of coffee and morosely munched on a slice of bread slathered in orange marmalade and butter. "Not even students yet, and we've already got detention…"
"Be quite!" Weiss shrieked in a whisper. "You and your… youness got us in this spot of bother in the first place! Not t-to mention that… s-shameless attire you vere vearing!"
"Pretty sure it was yer screamin' that got us sent to the school equivalent of the slammer…" Ruby mumbled past a strawberry and cream slathered biscuit.
"And I vould not be screaming if it wasn't for your three-way in the ballroom!" Weiss shot back hotly, missing the inuendo until Nora started giggling, continuing around an atomic blush. "T-That's not vhat I m-meant and you know it!"
"Yes, I'd rather not imagine you in a three-way." Blake snarked in monotone.
As the three teens go off once more into an argument – Jaune, Velvet, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora look on in various states of emotion, from deadpanned acceptance to manic enjoyment – and everything in between.
"Should we…" Pyrrha began. "Stop them…?"
"I've learned it's best to not get involved in such matters when it comes to women arguing." Jaune sighed.
"Wise words." Ren agreed, nursing a foul-smelling herbal tonic. "Wise words indeed."
"Besides!" Nora bounced, doing… interesting things to her generously endowed frame. "Why miss the free entertainment!"
With nothing else to do and having witnessed more "catfights" than he cares to recall, Jaune looks around the cafeteria – people watching – until his eyes land on the now combat ready Nora.
She was dressed in a white, high-necked top over a pink skirt held up by a large, power-lifter type belt – which bore an ovular silver belt buckle bearing a hammer logo crossed with a lightning bolt – with the same pair of dark-blue thigh-highs she wore last night tucked into a pair of dark-blue leather combat boots with white fabric sides, alongside pink laces, soles, and accents.
Covering her shirt was a silver chest piece that was stylized to follow her generous anatomy and covered in a combination of Atlassian runes and Mistralian patterns, this in turn was covered by a dark-blue, short-sleeved bomber jacket. To finish off her attire was a pair of dark-blue detached sleeves covered by silver gauntlets in the same style and decoration as her breastplate, alongside a similar tiara that bore a pair of wings on either side.
"Oh, did you want a peek?" Catching his gaze, Nora gives Jaune a devilish look. "You only had to ask; I might even be willing to… "lose" a few layers…"
Jaune, despite himself once more from such direct teasing, blushed heavily, before Ren and surprisingly Pyrrha got on Nora's case – once more causing a disturbance, thought thankfully not enough of a one to summon Goodwitch's ire.
Jaune had a sneaking suspicion this would be a common recurrence should they all make it into Beacon, though it was thankfully broken by Professor Goodwitch's voice – which emanated from the overhead speakers rather than behind the troublesome teens.
-{O}-
Lined up upon the cliffs of Beacon, the hopefuls overlooked the Emerald Forest with mixed feelings atop their individual tiles bearing the Royal Valean emblem. Stood aside was the ever-proper Professor Goodwitch and the enigmatic Headmaster.
"For years, all of you have trained to become Hunters, protectors, and today your abilities will be tested and evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin started.
Continuing, Glynda spoke. "Now, I'm sure you have all heard rumors about the assignment of teams and partners." She looks over the assembled teens, silently daring any of them to speak – they choose wisely to not. "Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."
"Moreover." Ozpin called as the hopefuls started to buzz with whispered worries. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is imperative that you pair up with those whom you work well with." He smiled evilly. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."
"See?" Nora called out, looking at Ren. "I told you!"
"After you have partnered up, you will make your way to the northern end of the forest, there you will find the ruin of an abandoned temple which contains several relics. Each pair of partners must choose one and returns to the top of the cliff." Ozpin explained. "You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, along the way you all will be met with opposition. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… otherwise you will die."
A sober silence washes over the students, their mortality suddenly, forcefully forced into their faces.
"Though you will be monitored the entire time you are in the forest, our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin looked over the now suddenly worried and even scared students. "Any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand. "Sir, I have a question."
"None? Good!" Ozpin smiled, ignoring Jaune. "Now, take your positions."
The assembled teens begin to pose on their tiles.
Nora crouched low with her weapon – a two-handed grenade launcher/axe combination weapon with a hammer head opposite the beard of the axe, named Magnhild – in low ready. Ren in a Mistralian martial arts stance – twin bayonetted machine pistols – StormFlower – held ready. Pyrrha turtled behind her shield – Akouo – with her spear – Milo – pointed outwards.
Ruby with one foot resting upon the twin blades of her gun/scythe – Reaper – poised to fire. Weiss assumes a fencer's stance with Myrtenaster pointed upwards in front of her face. Velvet assumed a kickboxer's stance. Blake held a sheathed backsword in her left hand and crouched slightly.
"Um, sir? I've got a question." Jaune, Jaune still has his hand raised – missing Weiss being launched into the forest at Mach fuck. "What is a landing strategy? Are you dropping us off?"
"No." Ozpin replied curtly. "You will be falling."
"Oh, I see." Jaune did not see, especially not the other teens being launched into the forest. "Will you be handing out parachutes, jetpacks, perhaps?"
"No." Repeated Ozpin. "You will be using your own "landing strategy" to safely make it into the forest."
Seeing how Ozpin won't give him a straight answer, Jaune looks to Glynda. "Is… is he always like this?" Glynda said nothing, but the twitching of her eye was enough for Jaune. "Oh, oh you poor woman…"
It was at this point that the unaware Jaune was flung into the forest, ass over teakettle.
As the teachers watch as their potential students fly – or tumble – into the forest, Glynda turns towards Ozpin with an irate expression.
"Yes?" Ozpin asks, not looking up from his tablet.
"Would it kill you to not be enigmatic for five minutes?"
"Yes, it would."
"Well, if Queen Aurora's only son dies because of your incessant desire to come off as mysterious." Glynda scoffs. "Well, I hope it was worth it to impress a gaggle of seventeen-year-olds."
Ozpin made a face that said, "I hadn't thought of that", before replying. "Oh…"
"Yes, "Oh…"."
Sorry for being so late to update, life's been hectic as of late, and trying to make up a world that still falls in line with RWBY is a tab bit hard – yes, I know I could just make up whatever I wanted, but then what's the point of writing fanfiction then?
And sorry for leaving out the "meat" of initiation, but this chapter was already getting pretty long as is.