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"Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Russel Thrush and Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team Cardinal." The headmaster said, as the letters CRDL appeared on screen beneath the images of them. "Led by… Cardin Winchester!"

I clapped politely, and next to me, Pyrrha did the same as team Cardinal walked off the stage.

"Jaune Arc." I stood as I heard my name called, and I walked over to the stage, a spring in my step. "Pyrrha Nikos." I felt my partner fall into step next to me, and I couldn't help but smile. I wasn't nervous, I couldn't be nervous right now. I had done it, I had made it in. "Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna."

"The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces, from this day forward you will work together as team Bastion." The headmaster said as the letters BASN appeared on screen. "Led by… Jaune Arc!"

"HUH?" "WHAT?"

It seems that I wasn't the only one who was confused by the headmaster's decision, as Weiss, the pretty white-haired girl from earlier voiced her confusion alongside me.

"Congratulations young man." The older man said with a little smile, and I couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on up in his head. Pyrrha, on the other hand, seemed happy for me, and punched me in the shoulder with a bright smile. Or maybe she wasn't all that happy with me, the punch took more than ten percent of my aura with it.

'Just how strong is this girl?'

We made our way off the stage as Ozpin shooed us away, making space for the next team to come up.

"Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces, from this day forward, you will work together as team Valor." He said, the letters VLYR came up on screen. "Led by… Ruby Rose."

I smacked my hands together, clapping loudly for my friend, even as she tried to peel her sister off of her. Her sister, Yang, simply laughed as she told her little sister how proud she was. My smile stretched a little wider, and not for the first time today, I wished my own family could be here to see this.

"This is us." I said, holding up my scroll to the scanner next to the door. The small screen turned green and beeped, allowing me to grab turn the doorknob and open the door. "Huh, neat."

Inside, we found our dorm. Our stuff was already there, I could see my own bag resting on the fluffy red carpet that covered the whole floor of the room. I didn't seem to have nearly as much luggage as the girls, but then again, I always packed light. It had led to a whole lot of carrying stuff for my sisters on holiday, since I always had extra space left over.

On the other end of the room, there were 4 beds arrayed against the far wall, each with about 3 feet of space between them. To my left, there was a door, probably the bathroom, and behind the beds was a window that looked out over the school gardens. It was a good room with an even better view, even if it was a little cramped.

As the girls filed in behind me, I noticed how tired they all seemed. Their combat outfits all had their fair share of wear and tear, even Pyrrha looked a little worse for wear, and I was sure I looked a mess myself. Years of living in a house with 8 women had taught me a lot, though.

"Uhm, I'll make myself scarce while you guys get settled in. That way you can shower and get changed without having to worry too much." I told them, and I could see the relief in their eyes that I had offered without needing to be asked. "I'll just leave my scroll number here, just message me when you're all done." I finished, writing out my number on a piece of paper before walking back out into the hallway.

"See you later Jaune." Pyrrha waved at me as I left.

"Later!"

I had no idea where I was going, but I didn't mind it much. As much as I might not need to sleep or even rest much, I still needed time to wind down. The day had been hectic, and despite the fact that we'd won in the end, there had been plenty of close calls for all involved. So, I just walked around for a bit. The halls were mostly empty, only a few stragglers still roamed the halls, most of them older students who were coming back to their dorms late.

After a while, I called up my attribute page. I had gained more than a little Dust from initiation, and I was keen to spend it.

Jaune Arc

Level: 27 - 32

HP: 100/100

AP: 360/360 - 400/400

Vigor: 10

Mind: 18 - 20

Endurance: 15 - 16

Strength: 20 - 21

Dexterity: 13 - 14

Intelligence: 10

Dust: 52197 – 3283

It was progress, a lot of it. I had never before gained so much Dust, or so many levels at once. And the rush of strength that filled me when the changes took hold made me shudder. It felt incredible.

In just a month, I had grown so much. I had gone from being completely useless at Level 1, to qualifying for Beacon, something that took most people years of effort to achieve. 'Most people don't need to constantly risk their lives to get better.' A little voice whispered in the back of my mind. And I had to concede the point. As explosive as my growth had been, most of it came in bursts after life-threatening battles. Battles that I could have simply prepared for normally over time without almost dying if I hadn't had my semblance.

Now that I was here at Beacon, though, there was nothing holding me back anymore. I could learn how to fight better just fine, that had never been an issue. My family had just refused to train me how to fight when they noticed I wasn't getting anywhere with my conditioning. Now that I was actually stronger, the training I would be getting here would be beyond useful. The better I was, the better I could leverage my strength.

Thinking of my family hurt, but it wasn't the sharp sting I'd felt every time they tried to convince me to stop trying. It wasn't the burn I felt when I got angry at them either. It was a dull ache now. I had proven them all wrong, I had made it in, I was a student of Beacon now, and I was stronger for it. I had the ultimate 'I told you so' to rub into their faces. And yet, it didn't make me feel any better. It was a different kind of ache, but it still hurt.

112 unread messages

For the first time since I had left home, I opened them up. They hadn't stopped coming since I set off a couple of days ago, all 7 of my sisters along with mom and dad had been texting and calling me almost non-stop, even Saph, who was up in Argus with Terra. Until now, I had ignored it, even going so far as to put it on silent or even turning it off when I was particularly bothered.

I had made it now, though, there was no reason to not talk to them anymore. My finger hovered over the call button, all I had to do was press it. For a while, I sat like that, just working up the nerve to call. That was when I got a message.

Hey Jaune, it's Pyrrha. We're all done here.

I breathed out a little sigh as I all but deflated. I closed the contacts app and navigated over to my messages. There were plenty which I had left unread, all of them asking me to come home, or even just if I was okay. I went over to my chat with Jade, the only person who hadn't sent me a single message.

I made it in.

Four simple words, but they were laced with so much importance to me, and to Jade as well, that it was all I had to say. It took literal seconds before I got a reply, and what she said painted a sad little smile on my face.

I love you. Stay safe.

As the door closed behind Jaune, I couldn't help but smile. It was nice of him to think of their privacy, even if I could tell that he was tired too. That just cemented how right I'd been to pick him as my partner. At first, I had planned to let the chips fall where they may, but faced with someone who had little to no idea who I was, and who obviously couldn't care less, I hadn't been able to help myself.

Sure, he might not be as fast, or as strong as the others, but he more than made up for it in my eyes. Even if his calls about the cave had been wrong, they could just as well have been right, and he had even helped lead the fight against the Deathstalker, despite the gap in skill between them.

'And he actually treats me like a person.' The thought put me back on cloud nine. It was the whole reason I had come to Beacon in the first place, to escape the fame that followed me all throughout Mistral. 'And yet, the first person I spoke to just wanted to partner up for my strength.'

I spared a glance for the white-clad girl who had approached me in the locker rooms. It had been annoying, but no more so than I was already used to. But as she sat down onto the bed and huffed, I couldn't help the spike of annoyance that flashed through me.

"Hmph, at least he has enough sense to give us some privacy." She said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" My lips pulled down into a little frown at what the SDC heiress was implying.

"Well obviously," The prissy girl drew out her response "he isn't fit to lead this team. I mean, there's us, we're clearly more suited. Gods, he didn't even know who you were." Weiss said, the thought of it making her nose scrunch up like she smelled something foul.

I looked over to our last teammate, but Blake was simply lying down on her bunk, a book held in front of her face as she did her best to tune out the conversation. Seeing as I wasn't going to get any help from her, I spoke up again.

"I think you should give him a chance. He did a good job with the Deathstalker." I did my best to stay polite, but some of my annoyance must have slipped through, judging by the wan look Weiss shot me.

"If you say so. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take a shower." She said, grabbing a pair of nightclothes from one of her dozen or so suitcases stacked by the door. I let out a sigh of relief as the heiress disappeared behind the bathroom door, and soon the sound of the shower running drowned out anything else in the room.

Looking over at Blake again, the black-haired girl did her best to ignore everything around her as she continued reading. Great. One teammate doesn't like your partner, and is in it for your fame, and another who just doesn't care.

'At least there's Jaune.'

As I lay in my bunk with the lights turned off and my teammates soft breathing as the only sound in the room, I couldn't fall asleep. My aura was recovered, the exhaustion from initiation had washed away under the hot water of a shower and I was wide awake. I had chosen the bunk on the far left, with Pyrrha taking the one next to me while Weiss had the next and Blake was on the other end of the room from me.

Despite that distance, though, I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep around the girl. As much as she had helped during initiation, I could still feel the cold steel of her gun barrel pressed into the small of my back every time I saw her. I don't know what possessed her to do it, but I'm not sure I want to know. After all, who threatens someone that had just put their life on the line to help you, even if that help might not have been needed.

Blake apparently.

After another minute or so of quietly lying there, I gave up on going to sleep at all. I grabbed Crocea Mors from where it was leaning against the foot of my bed, and as quietly as I could, I made my way outside.

It took me a while to find it, walking through the winding corridors of the school with no light but that of the broken moon, but I eventually found myself standing on the cliffs leading down to the Emerald Forest. A small smile formed on my face as I was reminded of the nightly hunts I had done at home. Sword and shield in hand, I used the latest skill I had learned, losing a chunk of my aura while a black sheen appeared over my shield.

"Round two?" I asked quietly, the forest didn't respond, but a howl in the distance did.

A/N: Hello again! This chapter is a lot shorter than the last, and a whole lot less action packed, but this is the end of the introductory arc, and sets the stage for the early team dynamic in team BASN, along with the conflicts they are going to have.

It also shows us a little about what Jaune's routine is going to look like while he studies at Beacon, before I really get into the school life.

I wonder if you have any feedback for me on Pyrrha's POV. I'm not planning on doing many scenes from other people's POVs, but I thought that was a pretty important one. I do have some trouble writing from a woman's perspective, since I find it hard to put myself into their shoes.

As always, feel free to leave a review if you have questions or feedback. Thanks for reading.

Have a good one!

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