Disclaimer: See prologue.
Chapter 2:
The following day...
Jaune woke up this morning to the sound of his fellow Initiates starting to go about their day. He noticed that one them, a young woman with short ginger hair, was especially in a good mood this morning as she was chanting various versions of "it's morning" to a young man who looked to have the patience of a saint.
Shaking himself off from the odd early morning sleepy thoughts, he looked at his side and saw the two sisters still fast asleep. Deciding to be nice, he went to wake his new friend and her sister up.
"Ruby, Yang, come on wake up it's time to rise."
After a few moments of trying to bring the two back from the land of dreams, the two siblings and him headed to the bathroom of their respective genders to get ready for the day.
After a while they all met up and headed to get breakfast.
After breakfast, in Beacon's Locker Room.
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, with a healthy side of fruit salad, the habits ingrained by his teacher were hard to forget, Jaune, in company of Ruby and Yang, headed to the Locker Room to get prepared for the yearly and mysterious Beacon Initiation.
Mysterious because all throughout the hours since they arrived, the Initiates had asked around to their upperclassmen what the Initiation would be about. Unfortunately the upper years students were quite tight-lipped and adamant to not reveal anything.
But that wasn't of any concern for Jaune who was content on focusing on getting through this day and to officialize his entry at the academy.
So as he made his way to his locker where was stored his Mystic Codes, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed who stood before it. Weiss Schnee, the headache inducing heiress, and some random bronze themed girl who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.
'I feel for her... Oh boy... I really wasn't looking to interact with her again...' He thought with a sigh.
Taking a deep breath and breathing out to let go of his weariness, he decided to face music and walked toward them.
"Hum, pardon but-"
Sadly he didn't have the chance to keep going as, when she noticed who interrupted her discussion with the girl, Weiss after instantly recognizing him cut him off with a snarl.
"You again!?"
"Why hello Weiss... Good morning to you too Weiss..."
"Silence you dolt, Jaune, was it? Do you have any idea with who I was talking to before you interrupted us?"
'Sigh... It's really too soon in the morning to deal with her...' He thought while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not in the slightest..."
"This is Pyrrha." She pointed at the girl.
"Hello!" The newly named Pyrrha waved cheerfully.
Her good mood lifted his spirits up and he returned the wave with a small smile.
"Hello Pyrrha, I'm Jaune."
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"
And there went his good mood.
"I might have heard of it in passing..." He shrugged off.
Weiss scoffed at his lackadaisical answer.
"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"
Again he shrugged.
"I'm sure it's a good achievement."
"Oh it was more a showcasing of skills than anything else, really..." Pyrrha said as she tried to wave off the praises Weiss piled onto her.
His uncaring answers seemed to agitate Weiss even more as she waved her arms rapidly in anger.
"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"
"Oh yeah, that, don't they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters?"
"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."
"Oh I agree. I tried to desensitize my little sister to the stuff with as tasty and healthier alternatives but she didn't want to hear any of it."
"Oh I'm sorry..."
"Bah, don't be," he waved her apologies off, "it's not like you were the one to force-feed her that stuff." He ended with a shrug.
"Still, I feel somewhat responsible to have allowed my image to be used for endorsing that stuff..." She said as she awkwardly wrung her hands together. "When I think about all these children..."
He gave her a reassuring smile.
"As I said, you didn't force the parents of these children to feed them that stuff. And to be honest, my sister didn't really care about who was plastered on these boxes as long as she collected enough box tops to win those hoodies and onesies."
Weiss, not being able to believe seeing an esteemed public personality such as Pyrrha getting along with a ruffian like Jaune, decided to get between them and tried to hide Pyrrha with her petite body. Keyword, tried. He could still very much see Pyrrha's face through the void above Weiss's head.
"Even after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to talk to her?"
"Well I'd say that's up to her, not to me nor to you, especially you..." He said with a low voice.
This girl was really starting to get on in nerves, he had half a mind to curse her with a Gandr. The only thing that stayed his hand was the fact that they were soon to begin their Initiation, and he didn't want to be the one responsible to have squandered her chances.
"Actually, Jaune, I'm delighted to talk with you." She said with a bright smile.
"The same Pyrrha." He said returning her smile.
This made Weiss turn heels toward the champion.
"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of lack of decorum should not be encouraged!"
The only answer she got was a soft giggle from Pyrrha and a snicker from Jaune.
Eventually the girls went on their ways, allowing Jaune to get his stuff and quickly donning his gear.
His Huntsman gear looked like an ancient knightly armor and was made by Shirou to the demand of Jaune who wanted something knightly. Shirou was all the more happy to make use of his skills to create a set of armor for his adapted little brother. In the creation of the armor, he was inspired by what his former Servant Saber, otherwise known as Artoria Pendragon, wore when they met a few years ago in the midst of a bloody battle known as the Holly Grail War.
But what separated Jaune's armor from Artoria's was that, not only was it shaped to fit a male form and was less regal, to attract less attention on the Magecraft user in hiding, it also had the Arcs family color schemes of white with gold accents with the characteristic golden double arcs of the same aforementioned family in the middle on the top of the chest plate were was originally placed the Fae symbols.
When the student asked Shirou why he chose such a design, he answered that it was what felt more right, after all, what represented the ideal of knights better than the King of Knights herself. Thus, after days and nights of forging and use of Magecraft, Shirou proudly offered his student a less royal yet just as magnificent piece of enchanted armor.
Of course the fact the armor merely looked like a knight's was yet again a deception.
There were runes inlaid all over his Huntsman attire, from top to bottom, making it a complete Mystic Code set. The runes gave him enhanced defense, strength and speed. It's not because he had Aura that it meant that he couldn't be careful and clever and make use of the tools at his disposition.
Jaune Arc was fully decked in Mystic Codes and he loved every bit of it.
Then he stopped in his track.
'Wait... Don't tell me... The reason why Ozpin was so interested in me yesterday isn't because he could somehow feel my Mystic Codes, right..?'
He brought a hand to the back of his head and scratched it in worry.
'But then wouldn't it mean that he can somehow detect magic? But how!?
Shirou and I were pretty sure that anything magical was reduced to Auras and Semblances... Could he have somehow learned Magecraft..? Wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities, after all if I learned anyone else could have. But how did he learn? I'm a special case concidering Shirou taught me but that was a chance out of I don't how much! Though he does look old... He could have had decades to stumble on some Magecraft related texts, heck, considering his position as a Headmaster he could have had access to a great deal of resources to gather materials.'
He leaned on his locker and crossed his arms, his face in a worried frown.
'Great... Now I have to consider my own Headmaster as a potential Magus... Sigh, no use working myself up with that… I'll just have to be careful, meaning no outright uses of blatant obvious Magecraft within the vicinity of the school. And I'll have to stick with Elemental Magecraft during Initiation, and maybe a few well placed Reinforcement and Alteration spells, no projections though, like that less chances to attract unwanted attention on me this way...'
He raised a hand to rub his face then the pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
'That's fantastic, I just love giving myself handicaps like that, simply brilliant... Why in the Root did the bloody Headmaster have to be a Magus!? ...Or at least a potential one. That's just my luck, on all the places on Remnant to find a another Magus, it had to be in my school. Shirou often joked about his own less than stellar luck, and I'm starting to think that Avalon and his Reality Marble aren't the only things he bestowed to me- Wait a moment... Now that I think about it, didn't Shirou say he met Rin in high school..?' The pictures this thought brought to Jaune made him shiver. 'Brrr... Not what I wanted to imagine... If only at least that was Goodwitch, but no, no it had to be be the freaking Headmaster... Because of course.'
He deeply sighed and looked up at ceiling.
'If only Shirou was here I'm sure he would have some advices to give me...'
He stood in contemplation and then shook his head to focus.
'In any case, it doesn't change the fact that I've got an Initiation to complete.'
Speaking of which, he could hear Professor Goodwitch's voice through the PA system.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
From the corner of his eyes he could see Ruby and Yang making their way toward him and the exit.
"Come on, Jaune, let's go!" The little reaper exclaimed with a raised fist.
He nodded at her and followed along.
'Time to go.'
On his way a thought couldn't help but to appear in Jaune's mind.
'Though I sincerely hope that with the presence of another Magus in a school history isn't going to repeat itself and that I won't get thrown into a Grail war or something... Now that would suck.'
Unfortunately for Jaune he couldn't have known how much closer he was to the truth than he thought.
At Beacon Cliff, overlooking the Emerald Forest...
Jaune and his fellow Initiates each stood on platforms in line facing the cliffs that overlooked the Emerald Forest. Before them were stood Headmaster Ozpin with a cup in his hand and Professor Goodwitch with a Scroll tablet in hers.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Opened Ozpin, taking a sip of whatever beverage he had.
"Now," Goodwitch continued, "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."
He could hear Ruby lamenting that fact.
"What? Ohhh..."
Ozpin merely continued as if he heard nothing.
"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."
Ruby groaned even more. Though Jaune couldn't help but to notice that Ozpin exceptionally tried to avoid glancing at him. It didn't help to make him more relaxed about the situation.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"Whaaaat?!" Ruby was really overselling her reactions in Jaune's opinions.
To the side he could hear the same ginger of this morning talk to her male friend.
"See? I told you-!"
"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." He said as he took another sip as if talked about the weather.
Jaune merely sighed at the Headmaster's obvious attempt to make them stay on their toes.
"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?"
'Nope. Don't mind me. Do as if I didn't exist please, that'd be great.' Jaune while keeping is eyes straightforward.
Suddenly Ozpin looked at Jaune's direction, catching him off guard and making him slightly start involuntarily. Fortunately the Headmaster's eyes stayed on him for only a heartbeat.
'Ah damn it, he's definitely onto me...'
"No questions..?" He asked looking around. "Good! Now, take your positions."
Everyone readied themselves to get launched. Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors and bent his knees.
One by one, the Initiates were launched into the forest by the platforms they stood on. First went Weiss, then the ginger and her friend, Yang and then Ruby an instant after her. He was the last one remaining and this time he had Ozpin's complete attention. Jaune tensed anticipating any moves or attacks from the potential Magus. Then suddenly the Headmaster brought his cup of his lips, making Jaune flinch and stumble with a gasp as his springboard-like platform suddenly launched him in turn, making him lose his balance in the air.
'Bastard did it on purpose..!'
Ozpin merely took another sip as he watched Jaune fall in the sky as he tried to right himself.
"Glynda, do keep a feed on Mister Arc at all times, if you will."
"Of course sir."
As Jaune tried to right himself from his failed launch, in no fault from his part mind him, he couldn't help but to curse the Headmaster for his move.
'Seriously what did I do to that old coot!? Just because he might be suspicious of me doesn't mean he needs to be an ass about it!'
He took a better hold of Crocea Mors and activated his Magic Circuits, focusing his Od within the blade.
'Doing this should be discreet enough... Well for a definition of discretion.'
He channeled his Od into a set of wind runes and prepared to cast a spell.
'Oh boy the grounds getting awfully close, let's do i-' "Gasp!"
Suddenly before he could even finish his thought, his spatial awareness, taught by his teacher through hard sessions of training consisting of him being blindfolded and trying to dodge Shirou's strikes with his favorite shinai training sword, made him catch a spear that was fired at him in his free hand.
The spear, having been thrown with quite the strength, sent him flying toward a tree that wasn't far from his position. As the spear stuck itself on the tree, Jaune impacted its trunk back first.
'Ouch…' He thought in fake hurt, while he did felt the impact, his armor tanked the hit easily, not even needing his Aura to cushion it. 'Thanks Shirou, all his trainings weren't for nothing... Though was he sincerely obliged to use Torashinai for most of them...' He mentally grumbled.
Shaking his head to recollect his thoughts, Jaune looked around in search of the spear's owner.
"Thank you..!" He shouted to carry his voice out.
"I'm sorry..!" Came the answer.
"It's okay..!" He answered back.
Then he looked at himself.
'No seriously. While that might have not been the more dignified landing, and kind of hit my pride, at least I managed to save up on magic so... That's a plus... I guess.'
Shaking the thought off he pulled the spear out of its position in the trunk easily and fell back to earth.
Intrigued by the spear, he did an once over on it with Structural Analysis, recording another weapon in his portion of the Unlimited Blade Works.
'Three alternate forms?" He thought with a raised eyebrow. 'I'd say overkill but considering the occupational hazard... Must be a pain to maintain though, same as Crescent Rose now that I think about it... Meh. Whatever fits them.' He lackadaisically thought with a mental shrug. 'Personally I'll stick with my sword and spells thank you very much, way more reliable.' He nodded to himself.
Suddenly he heard movements from the bushes before him and readied himself for anything that could come out of them.
Fortunately he found out that it was just Weiss who walked in from out of them, as he allowed himself to relax.
Only to tense again as he remembered what the professors said back then at the cliffs, making him look at the heiress with a guarded expression.
"Tell me we haven't just been partnered..." He asked while stepping back from her.
At this she huffed and turned heels back where she came from, snatching a cheering Ruby in the way.
"Better you than me Ruby, better you than me. Your sacrifice shall be remembered." He dramatically said.
Then he heard a melodious giggle and looked to the sides, seeing Pyrrha appearing out of yet again other bushes.
"I take it your relieved to not have been partnered with her..?"
"Oh you have no idea." He shook his head with a smile.
Twirling the spear in hand, he handed it over to its owner.
"Thanks..." She said as she grabbed it.
"You're welcome, and thanks for the help. I'm not proud of it, but when I was launched I was kind of caught off guard."
"It's alright, you're welcome." She said with a warm smile.
"So... I take it we're now partners..?"
"It would appear so, partner."
"I look forward to our collaboration." He joked.
"So do I!" She said with an even brighter smile.
Then two began to march to continue the Initiation.
Back to Goodwitch and Ozpin at the cliff...
Headmaster Ozpin was currently observing Pyrrha and Jaune, his actual point of interest, on his Scroll when Professor Goodwitch walked up behind him, holding her familiar Scroll tablet.
"The last pair has been formed, sir." She tapped on her screen currently displaying the ginger girl and her friend. "Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy... I can't possibly imagine those two getting along. What about Miss Nikos and her interesting partner..?"
"So far they've been doing well. They are making good time and progressing without any problems. And Mister Arc has been an exemplary model of civility and professionalism in the field."
"So no apparent signs of him being affiliated with... Her..?"
"Not obvious signs at least, not that he'd show his hands were it to be so of course. However, I do not know if he has really any connection to her... Obviously that's still within the realm of possibilities, I wouldn't put it pass her to do such a thing after all, but this case is different. She would never do something that obvious."
"Maybe he is a distraction..?"
"Perhaps, that could be another possibility. Yet again I find myself very much doubtful. The magic his gear and he himself emits fells absolutely nothing like the one of the time of the Brothers. That and the Arcs were always proud and staunch defenders of the Light, I would know as I've been reincarnated in their family quite a few number of times. And our sources' informations of them back at their village of Domremy gave us nothing to suspect they could have been either affiliated or contracted in any way by her."
"What does it mean then, sir? Is there other supernatural factions on Remnant?"
"Not to my knowledge. Since the gods departure magic has always been a rare commodity, only the Maidens, I, her and the Grimm to a certain extent stayed a relative constant. I think he is something else... Only time will tell us where Mister Arc fits within all of this."
The two were left to their own thoughts as they kept watching the new partners going about their way.
A few moments later...
As Pyrrha and Jaune both made good time in the forest, they conversed of various subjects and quickly started to become fast friends, they also kept quiet and readied themselves for combat each time they heard gunfires echoing in the forest.
But overall everything was fine. They had yet to met any Grimm, certainly because of the bare amount of negativity they emitted so much they were having a good time. However their relatively peaceful instant came to an end when they stumbled on a cave entrance.
On its face could be seen drawings, primitive pictographs really, of human figures with various primitive weapons surrounding a scorpion like animal.
Jaune turned toward his partner.
"I think we can both agree that doesn't look good." Jaune asked arms crossed.
"Yes. It's quite obvious that these drawings are a warning of some sort." Pyrrha answered with a nod, her ponytail bouncing behind her head.
"Yeah, but the question is would Ozpin hide relics inside such a place?"
They looked back at the cave then at each other. Both let out a sigh.
"No much choice but to go inside to check it out isn't?" He asked lamely.
"I'm afraid so." She smiled wanly.
"Sigh... Alright, it's not like we expected this Initiation to go smoothly without any troubles. I'll take point, cover me with your rifle?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Got it." She nodded with a brave smile. "Though, how will we see anything? Should we make a torch?"
"Don't worry, I've got that covered." He said unsheathing Crocea Mors as he advanced toward the cave.
The two stopped at the mouth of the cave and Jaune held his sword before him, like one would a torch, and channeled some Od in its fire runes.
Instantly the sword was set aflame, lighting up the darkness inside the cavern, the light of the flames bathing the walls of stone in light.
"Interesting." Pyrrha said bemused by the sword's function.
He grunted in a noncommittal answer.
Then they both continued to walk in silence within the cave's interiors, staying vigilant for anything that could jump at them behind any of the stony corridors. They kept walking like this until they noticed a golden yellow glow beyond the light of Jaune's sword.
They immediately stopped, and after agreeing upon it, against her better judgment, Pyrrha let Jaune advance forward ahead of her in reconnaissance.
He took a few steps until he stopped in his tracks as he saw what was the source of the glow, his face blanching at the sight. His partner who was following him not to far behind did the same.
"H-huh… Pyrrha..? We might want to get the hell out of there. Like, really quick..."
"Y-yes... That sounds sensible..."
Unfortunately for them, the slight amount of negativity they just emitted was akin to a flare for the sleeping giant Ancient Death Stalker before them. The Grimm, awakened by their respective negativity quickly took notice of the firelight and the two humans that were lit up by it..
"Run..." Jaune whispered, trying to not agitate the monster before them.
Sadly the Grimm heard him and let out a deafening screech before charging.
"Run!"
They turned tails and did a mad dash back to the cave's entrance.
As they navigated the cave's interior while doging falling pieces of the ceiling, caused by the oversized Grimm that had outgrown the cavern it had been residing in for centuries, damaging the cave in its pursuit of the humans, they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Jaune looked back and saw they had gained more ground between them and the Grimm, and a plan took shape in his mind. So he swallowed his saliva and looked at Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha! I have a plan to give us more time! Just run ahead and don't stop!"
She looked at him with uncertainty for an instant and then nodded at him with trust and determination in her eyes.
"Okay!" She shouted and then with a burst of Aura dashed out of the cave back in the forest proper, and out of sight of Jaune.
Narrowing his eyes into a focused frown, Jaune switched his sword to his other hand and looked back, bringing his now free right hand toward the charging Grimm and aimed at it with all of his fingers held together. Flaring the entirety of his Magic Circuits to life, electrical circuit-like patterns burning brightly upon his visible skin and showing through the most thin parts of attire, he focused on casting the well-known curse spell named Gandr, most precisely its overcharged in Od version known as a Finn Shot, and sent a wild salvo of bullet-like black and dark-red energy blasts at the Grimm. The curse wasn't doing much damages to it, barely chipping away at its hardened ancient chitin, though at some point he did manage to get one of its eyes, angering it even further in the process, but it was aplenty enough to slow it down. Then Jaune, taking advantage of it being distracted, took hold of Crocea Mors back in his good hand and as he himself exited the cave he turned on his heels, saw the Death Stalker shaking off the curses and getting closer, and jabbed his blade into the ground. He quickly channeled his Od within the earth runes of his sword and focused on what he wanted to realize.
Not even a moment after he jabbed his sword and just in the nick of time before the Grimm could get any closer, a literal wall of rocks sprung between him and the Grimm, trapping it within this earthen tomb. For good measure Jaune took advantage of the connection through the magic of the runes to cast a Reinforcement spell on the wall, enhancing its durability.
Behind the wall as they stood before it, Jaune and Pyrrha, who had regrouped with her partner when she saw what he had done, could hear the Grimm smashing and striking against the rock.
Its angry screeches could even be heard.
"Phew…" Jaune breathed in relief.
"Indeed. That was quite the adventure."
"Huff. You can say that again partner."
Suddenly a loud impact could be heard and crack in the wall appeared, letting more of the Grimm's screeches passing through.
'Damn it's strong...' He thought impressed.
"For how much longer will this hold?" She asked in worry.
He only could shrug at that.
"You're guess is as good as mine. But personally I'd rather be far away from that when it happens. Preferably with more people around, you know, strength in numbers and all of that."
She nodded and the both of them hightailed from the premises.
A bit after...
After running from the Grimm for what felt like half an hour but was actually more close to a dozen of minutes, Pyrrha and Jaune saw they finally arrived to the actual place where the relics where awaiting them, the ruins of some ancient temple. And there were people already present, Ruby's big sister Yang, and the black themed girl they met yesterday, a girl going by the name of Blake as he found out earlier this day.
They finally arrived before the ruins, where Yang instantly recognized Jaune and waved at him.
"Sup Jaune! I see ya found your partner!" She said in a upbeat way. "Woaw, and it's Pyrrha Nikos to boot! Hi, Yang's the name, and here's my partner Blakey."
"It's Blake..." The black haired girl said dryly.
"That's what I said." Yang grinned.
"Hello!" Pyrrha answered, always happy to make more acquaintances.
Jaune looked at the ruins and saw the relics, which where actually chess pieces, the imagery didn't escape his notice.
"So I take it we're among the lasts." He stated more than asked, his eyes roaming the chess pieces as he considered which one to choose.
But Yang answered anyways.
"Yep." She said while putting emphasis on the p. "A lot already paired up and went back, me and Blake arrived not too long ago. Say, have you seen Ruby?"
The question brought him out of his musings.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, but that was a while ago by now, right after being launched. And hum, by the looks of it she was partnered, with Weiss Schnee."
She made a face as if she was tasting lemon.
"Schnee..? Not that girl in white and high heels Weiss Schnee right..?"
"Afraid so."
"Oh man..." She said as she brought a hand to her forehead.
"Yeah. Tragic I know." He said neutrally. 'I dodged a bullet with that one...'
"Sigh… Well at-"
But before she could say anything more, they heard a cry coming from above their heads. They looked up and saw one of the subjects of their discussion, the aforementioned Ruby falling down from the sky.
"Heads uuuuuuuup!" She shouted in warning.
But just as she was about to hit the ground panicking, Jaune instinctively drew his sword and aimed at her.
"Hey what you're doing?!" Yang scolded Jaune, her eyes beginning to take a shade of red, her big sister instincts sadly clouding her judgement.
"No wait!" Pyrrha stopped her. "Trust him on this."
But before she had any time to say anything more, Jaune had already channeled some Od into the wind runes of Crocea Mors' blade, creating a updraft of wind that formed into a tornado beneath Ruby, slowing her fall down and carrying her safely all the way to the ground, unarmed.
As her feet touched the ground, the winds dissipated into nothing, leaving the girls and especially Ruby all looking at him either somewhat interested, impressed or in awe.
"That was awesome!" Exclaimed Ruby as she looked at him with eyes shimmering in admiration. "Thanks a bunch!"
"Eheh... You're welcome..." Jaune responded awkwardly with a wry smile, sheathing his sword before scratching the back of his head.
As Blake was looking on she couldn't help herself but to turn to her partner in askance.
"Why did your sister fell from the sky?"
"I..."
But before she could properly formulate her thoughts, she was interrupted by what Jaune would have described as madness.
Because before she could continue, several crashing noises could be heard coming from the forest ahead of them, as an Ursa came out of the woodwork, claws swiping blindly before it in empty air, just as a pink blast of energy hit it in the back, making it crash into the ground, revealing that it was used as a ride all along.
"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" Did its rider as she dismounted from its back.
Then she raised herself up and groaned, seemingly saddened by its death.
"Awwww... It's broken." She lamented as she dashed onto its neck and observed the disappearing body of the Grimm.
Not even a moment later her male black haired friend came up behind her panting and leaned on the creature.
"Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again."
He looked up again and noticed that his partner, who it seemed was named Nora, had run off again, and frantically looked around for her. What he hadn't yet realized was that she was now at the ruins of the temple, staring at a chess piece, a rook, colored in gold.
"Oooohh..." She cooed before suddenly grabbing it, then against all odds she started to dance and sing atop the ruins. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"
But her fun was short-lived as her partner called her, making her stop dancing with the rook on her head, then with a mock-salute she dropped the relic into her hand and skipped of to her friend.
"Coming, Ren!"
Jaune thought the madness would have been done now, sadly for him he would soon be proven wrong, as Akasha seemed to continue wanting to mess with him.
"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Asked Blake yet again to her partner.
"I..."
But before she could add anything else, she was interrupted once more as they heard an explosion of rocks right where Pyrrha and Jaune came from, in the direction where the Death Stalker had been imprisoned, with it letting out an even madder screech.
While everyone looked at each other wondering what that was with a certain increasing amount of worry, Pyrrha and Jaune slowing faced each other, their faces displaying dread.
"I think it's out..." He unnecessarily stated with a whisper.
She could only nod with her lips thinly pressed together. Then he let out a sigh and called out to those present.
"Hum, guys? Just so you know there might be, well actually, there is a good possibility that an Ancient Death Stalker is coming our way."
This left those present looking at them with their eyes and mouths wide open. They stayed like this until another screeching sound was heard, closer to them.
"Did he just say there was a Death Stalker coming our way?" Blake yet again could not help herself but to state the evidence.
Which did not help Yang, who as she got more and more nervous by the chaotic events, eventually got angry to the point of growling and erupting in small bursts of fire, eyes flashing red. Jaune idly thought back then that she had reached her boiling point.
"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!
Oddly enough, it would seem that she got her wish as for two seconds, Yang was allowed to cool down, though her peaceful time out died an ugly death, as Blake and Ruby looked up.
"Umm... Yang?" The little sister tugged at her older sister's sleeve and pointed up at the sky above.
They thought the Death Stalker's come back would be the only thing they'd have to worry about, sadly they were wrong, as not even a few moments after a flying Grimm made its apparence.
In the sky, Weiss was revealed to hang on a talon the size of her entire body that belonged to a gigantic Nevermore.
The hanging heiress called down to Ruby.
"How could you leave me?!" She cried as she tried to hold on on the slippery talon.
"I said jump!" Ruby shouted at Weiss.
"She's gonna fall." Blake tried to helpfully inform.
"She'll be fine." Ruby waved her off.
"She's falling." Ren neutrally said.
Jaune sighed at this and unsheathed his sword again while shaking his head at the situation.
'I sincerely hope that's not going to be a recurring thing...' Then as he aimed his sword at the falling form of Weiss, he couldn't help but looking up with a deadpan. 'I just jinxed myself isn't?'
With a sigh he did the usual process of activating his Magical Circuits, channeling his Od into a wind rune, leading him to unceremoniously catching Weiss and deposited her on the ground.
She looked at him and huffed while crossing her arms.
"Don't think for a moment that makes me indebted to you..."
"You're welcome Weiss. Think nothing of it Weiss..." Jaune dryly said.
"However," she started as she looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "I'm willing to commend you for your apt use of Dust. Not many can show such an amount of fine control with it."
This left the people present looking at her flabbergasted, which she quietly took notice of. However before she could even begin to react to their stare a giant form crashed in the clearing where was located the temple's ruins. It was the Death Stalker, it finally arrived and it announced its presence through its usual rageful screeching.
"Great! Now we're all going to die together!" Yang said frustrated.
'Not if we play it smart.' Jaune thought.
Ruby though wasn't about to go down without a fight, and decided to launch herself at the Grimm.
"Not if I can help it!" With the sound of a battle cry she rushed towards it.
'Wait what?' He blinked. 'That's not playing it smart at all!' He mentally screamed as he went after her.
"Ruby, wait!" Both Yang and him called out.
As Ruby ran while screaming, she fired Crescent Rose at her back to boost herself, crossing quite the distance, and charged at the oncoming Death Stalker. When the two met, the Grimm swiped Ruby away and knocked her back.
Fortunately Ruby was able to rise herself up, albeit slower than she'd have liked.
"D-Do-Don't worry! Totally fine!" She said as she tried to show a brave front.
She then turned back to the monster and shot it in the skull, afterwards she ran away from it and sheathed her scythe as the Death Stalker now went after her.
"Ruby!" Yang cried as she tried to reach her. Suddenly she felt a gust of wind and realized from her periphery that Jaune had passed by her in a burst of superhuman speed.
As Ruby rushed towards Yang, the Nevermore cawed above their heads, and after flapping its wings it released lines of sharpened feathers with hardened points that were dangerously getting close to Ruby, but then Jaune appeared before her with his shield raised above them, facing the sky and not the feathers, but before Ruby got even the time to ponder about how the shield wouldn't be able to protect either of them positioned like it was, with a burst of energy a dome-like structure rose up around them, caging them in what appeared to be a forcefield.
The Grimm's feathers were deflected armlessly, left to either stuck themselves in the ground or bouncing back off of the energy shield.
"Ruby!" She heard her big sister call her. "Oh thank goodness... Thank you so much Jaune!" She said in relief, with clear gratitude in her voice.
Jaune grunted because of the effort. Then to make a bad situation even worse, the Death Stalker approached them, it raised its golden stinger above the heads of a scared and awed Ruby, and of a Jaune whose mood wasn't getting better, and struck at them. Fortunately the stinger was deflected backwards when it made contact with the shield. However, the strength behind the Ancient Death Stalker's blow made Jaune use more of his Od to feed the runic arrays on Crocea Mors' shield than he was comfortable with, temporarily preventing him to counterattack with his sword. He started to consider using the precious amount of Hard-light Dust embedded within it to alleviate the burden.
"Could someone deal with this thing!?" He called out.
At this a white blur raced past Yang and reached the stinger just as it was about to strike again.
"You are so childish!"
Under Ruby's eyes, the stinger was encased in ice. She then stared at her saviors.
"Jaune, Weiss..." She said amazed by their actions.
However Weiss wasn't much caring about Ruby's wonderstruck expression as she removed her weapon from the ice, which was named Myrtenaster as Jaune learned with a quick almost unconscious use of the Structural Analysis spell before disactivating the shield with a relived sigh.
"And also dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style-"
"Wow you don't pull your punches..." She heard Jaune mumble, making her flush in embarrassment.
"But I suppose I can be a bit... Difficult..."
She saw the eyebrow Jaune raised at her. "I'm trying! Look Ruby, the point is if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... Nicer."
This genuinely impressed Jaune, he hadn't thought he'd see the stuck up heiress trying to compromise.
"I'm not trying to show off." Ruby countered. "I want you to know I can do this."
"You're fine." Weiss sighed as she walked away.
Ruby breathed a sigh out of relief, then closed her eyes and clasps her hands with a gratefully whisper.
"Normal knees..." She then remembers Jaune was besides her and eeped at his bemused smirk before getting up and had a proper look at the Death Stalker as it struggled to escape with its tail trapped in the ice. "Whoa..!"
Yang then rushed up to Ruby and gave her a hug, which Ruby grunted at upon receiving.
"So happy you're okay!" The two sisters stared at each other for a moment in relief under the sight of Jaune who couldn't help but to think about his own sisters at the nostalgic sight, then they all looked up at the Nevermore as it still flew above them and cawed ominously above their heads.
'I've got half a mind to use a Noble Phantasm..." He idly thought before shaking off the idea. 'Sadly no can do, discretion and all that, better to regroup somewhere else with more space.' Then the turned to the group. "Guys? That thing's circling back! I highly suggest we bail out of there!"
"I concur," Weiss began, "there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us."
The group of Initiate stared at the relics.
"They're right." Ruby nodded. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs." She nodded again to Weiss. "There's no point in fighting these things."
Jaune nodded in agreement.
"Retreat to fight another day, good strategy as any!"
Ruby went over the relics' stand and grabbed the remaining gold knight and Jaune who arrived an instant later took hold of a gold rook, slightly bemoaning he couldn't have picked the knight, then they smiled at each other, proud of having managed to get this far. In the background the Death Stalker continued to fight its bonds, cracking the ice a little in the process.
"Time we left!" Ren shouted in warning.
"Right." Ruby nodded as she waved to the others. "Let's go!"
Thus Jaune and everyone else ran from the scene.
A short moment later...
The group finally headed out of the forest into open ground with a much bigger series of abandoned structures in the vicinities as the Nevermore followed them from the air. They spread out when it passed above, concealing themselves behind some of the stone blocks belonging to the ruins as the Grimm perched on a high column and cawed.
"Well, that's great!" Yang exclaimed annoyed by the flying menace.
Jaune looked behind and noticed to his chagrin that the Death Stalker had managed to yet again free itself as it bursted onto the scene.
'That thing is quickly beginning to get on my nerves...' He thought irked at the Grimm. "Move on!" He called out to the others.
The group emerged from their hiding spots, causing the Nevermore to rise up into the air.
"Nora, distract it!" Ren called out.
Nora obliged, running out from her block and jumping through the feather projectiles before she reached to her weapon behind her, launching several heart-topped shells from its grenade launcher mode, bursting into pink electricity when they hit the Nevermore and causing it to retreat. She was unaware of the Death Stalker rushing up behind her until Blake and Ren performed a cross-slash with their respective weapons against its shell. Weiss landed next to Nora so she could create a jumping platform beneath them, both leaping to safety while Blake and Ren were now being chased.
"Go, go!" Pyrrha shouted as she stopped running beside Jaune, taking her weapon and firing red shots alongside Ren's green blasts for a second, followed soon after by Jaune who launched short bolts of lightning, to not stress his Magical Circuits too much, at it from afar the attacks disorienting and stunning it, allowing the group more breathing room to run again.
The eight raced over the ancient stone bridge, not noticing the Nevermore was closing in on them until it used its giant wings to shatter the path right in the middle, forcing Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Nora closer to the central collection of columns and leaving Blake, Pyrrha, Ren and Jaune on the other side with the Death Stalker. Ruby fired at the retreating avian Grimm while Blake was beaten back by the scorpion.
Nora, seeing her partner and the others in need of more muscles, jumped as high her legs would allow then placed one foot on her hammer and fired it, flinging herself off of the portion of the bridge she was on, launching her right dead center into the Death Stalker's skull. She fired it again just as its stinger came down on her, and blasted herself back again. But in doing so she accidentally knocked into Blake, making her fall from the edge, sending her into the chasm below, fortunately she saw the Nevermore above her and launched her whip so the gun's blade could sink into the edge of the bridge, circling around and leaped onto the aerial Grimm's back. As she dashed all over its body, she took the opportunity to slash at everything into reach before jumping off of it, landing on the other side of the ruined platform at the top of the columns next to the rest of the girls, who all would eventually take care of it on their own.
Down below Pyrrha, Nora, Ren and Jaune were still busy battling the Death Stalker.
"We gotta move!" Jaune said as they all rushed towards it.
The Death Stalker aimed a claw at Pyrrha, but she managed to deflect it with her shield and slashed it with her blade. The Grimm scorpion recoiled and swiped at her with its other claw, but Jaune was there to absorb the impact with his shield, instantly redirecting its kinetic energy towards it with trace amounts of Od, knocking it back allowing Pyrrha who leaped over her partner to attack the Death Stalker's face. Ren then ran up firing and got on the stinger when it tried to skewer him, shooting at the junction between it and the tail while Nora fired more grenades at the attacking claws. Pyrrha hurled her javelin straight into one of the monster's eyes, depriving it yet again of another one, making it throw Ren to the side from the pain and anger.
"Ren!" Nora cried out in worry.
Her partner was about to hit the side of a stone block hard but was cushioned by a sudden gale, courtesy of Jaune who noticed the stinger hanging limply.
'We need a more effective solution to deal with it...' Then he had the beginning of a plan. "Okay, real quick, what's your Semblances!? I still haven't found mine by the way!"
"I can hide myself and others from Grimm!"
"I can get stronger with lightning!"
"I can control metals!"
"Okay, okay... I can work with this. Think Jaune, think..." He said his eyes flicking to to his allies and the Grimm.
Suddenly he had an idea.
"Ren! Can you hide yourself from it and work on its legs?!"
The young man nodded.
"Good! Aim for its joints! Pyrrha! Once it's immobilized can you get rid of its stinger?! It's the most dangerous thing besides its pincers!"
"Yes!"
"Awesome! Nora! I'm going to give you a pick me up with some lightning! When you're charged strike at my go!"
"Got it fearless leader!"
"Alright let's do this! You're on Ren!"
The ninja-like Mistralian nodded then activated his Semblance, his colors turning in mute shades of grey, and dashed at the Grimm unseen by it. And with swift slashes of his bladed dual SMGs he eventually managed to render the now limbless scorpion looking creature immobile.
After Ren rid the Death Stalker of its means of locomotion, Pyrrha shot a few well placed hits at the stinger's joint, weakening its connection to the rest of the tail, before launching her shield at it like a discus using her Semblance on it to guide it in the air, severing the stinger completely, not only causing it to fall into the Death Stalker's back but rendering its back less dangerous to be near.
"Done!"
Then Jaune pointed his sword toward the Grimm, right below it, and channeled his Od in the wind runes of his sword.
"Pyrrha! Prepare to give Nora a lift with your shield!"
The hoplite took a knee and readied her shield to allow Nora to use it as a springboard.
Instantly a vortex of wind appeared below the Grimm's body, quickly getting speed until it formed a controlled tornado that lifted the Grimm up in the air, at least the height of a four to five story building, and kept it floating in it, the Grimm screeching in rage flailing its pincers uselessly.
"Nora go!"
The bomber nodded and runned at Pyrrha then jumped on the hoplite's shield who then launched Nora up high in the air, the bomber using her weapon to boost herself up.
Once Nora was high enough, Jaune pointed his sword at her and then channeled his Od into the lightning runes, sending a supercharged stream of plasma, otherwise known as lightning, right at Nora who absorbed the power of the bolt of electricity, making her look like a raising star.
Jaune then plunged his sword into the ground and then channeled Od into the earth runes, summoning a pike of stone beneath the Grimm that he then used the Alteration spell on, to sharpen the pike into a deadly earthen weapon, and used the Reinforcement spell on its tip to temper it.
"NOW!"
He cut off any power to the tornado which instantly dispersed letting the Grimm fall back to the ground.
"HEADS UP!"
A thunderous strike hit the Death Stalker right on the stinger embedded in the middle of its back, sending it to be speared by the stone spike right in its abdomen and through its damaged back in an explosion of dark ichor, the impact and force on its fragile inners killing it instantly.
'I'd like to see it try to escape from this...'
They all looked at the gory sight with wide eyes, a few of them having trouble believing what they just achieved. Then Nora raised her arms and shouted in happiness, still riding the rush the lightning bolt gave her.
"We're awesome!"
They all laughed at her then looked to see how the other four girls were doing only to look in awe at the sight of the Nevermore's execution.
After a few moments of watching petals flying from Ruby's cape, Nora couldn't resist adding something else to the silence.
"Meh, our kill was more awesome." She said pointing at the dissipating Grimm.
This made them giggle uncontrollably from the relief.
After a few couple of minutes, all eight teens regrouped together and headed back to Beacon with their prises and their Initiation completed, leaving for good the ruins of the Emerald Forest.
With Goodwitch and Ozpin.
Both professors had attentively looked at the way how the Huntresses and Huntsmen-in-training dealt with their respective Grimm. Their interests mostly fell on Jaune's group, of course they kept an eye on Ruby's, impressed by the younger prodigy's plan and ability to rally her peers to end the Nevermore, but they'd be lying if they'd say they weren't more interested by Jaune and his group, or more exactly his abilities.
"It would seem that Mister Arc is as gifted with leadership than he is with the arcane arts..." Said Ozpin as he took a sip of his cup.
"Yes..." Responded Goodwitch with a nod. "I presume he shall be made the leader?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed." Ozpin nodded without hesitation.
"Is it that wise to confer this kind of power and responsibility to such an unknown individual?" She asked with a pointed look at her colleague.
This made the Headmaster chuckle.
"Oh my dear Glynda, I actually believe that this will be a most ideal opportunity to see where Mister Arc's loyalties lies."
This made Goodwitch let out a noncommittal grunt.
"I see. You plan to make use of his responsibilities to gauge his character and personality. This is a rather dangerous gamble..."
"One I'm willing to take. After seeing his performance, more exactly the ways how he took care to protect his peers and how he interacted with them, I am led to believe that Mister Arc is a close follower of his family's principles. And after all, it is not like if we weren't planning to keep a close eye on him..." He said as he took a last sip of his cup, finally finishing it.
They both turned back to the academy and headed to the teachers lounge. They had teams to name.
A couple dozen of minutes later...
Jaune and the rest of the Initiates who had successfully completed Beacon's Initiation were all standing together within the Amphitheater, also present were their upperclassmen and their professors who had come to attend the welcoming ceremony and the naming of teams presented by Headmaster Ozpin.
As another team was formed, the audience gave one more wave of ovation, while Jaune and those he fought the Death Stalker with walked up to the stage to take their places in front of the Headmaster as their faces filled the main screen.
"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR."
Amid the clapping, Nora laughed and gave Ren a hug.
"Led by..." The Headmaster eyes met the Magecraft user's. "Jaune Arc!"
This made Jaune glow in happiness, honored to have been chosen for such a position.
"Congratulations, young man." Headmaster Ozpin nodded.
"Thank you Sir." Jaune beamed, having temporarily forgotten his suspicions about the older man.
A grinning Pyrrha offered a friendly shoulder bump to Jaune, who gave her a smile.
Then Headmaster Ozpin finally called Blake, Ruby, Weiss and Yang, and the four were quick to stand before him. After mentioning their achievements he named Ruby as the team leader of Team RWBY. To the surprise of Weiss who looked at her with wide eyes. Ruby on her part was shocked by the news as Yang went over to hug her sister.
"I'm so proud of you!"
On the sides Ozpin, amid the last round of cheers, smiled enigmatically.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... Interesting year." He whispered to himself while eyeing both Ruby and more attentively Jaune.
The group rejoined each other to congratulated themselves for their successes.
Eventually they all departed from the Amphitheater and headed to their new dorm rooms to get some rest from the events of the day.
In the newly minted Team JNPR's dorm room.
As Jaune lied on his bed, his arms cushioning his head and looked at his unpacking teammates, he couldn't help but to let out a relived sigh.
'I can't believe that I'm finally an official Huntsman-in-training who's going to be studying at an academy, Beacon at that... I can't wait to tell my family..." He smiled happily. Then his smile changed bittersweet. 'I'd have loved to tell Shirou, I bet he'd be overjoyed for me. Knowing him he'd have either baked a cake or totally wiped up a celebratory feast." He let out a wistful sigh and managed to smile at the thought of his big brother dressed in his familiar apron.
Off to the side Nora was in the middle of breaking in her bed in her own way by jumping on it. With Ren who, barely, tried to reign her in as he looked at her fondly, most likely happy that he'd get to pass the next four years with her as his partner. Pyrrha was looking on the two of them with a fond smile of her own, certainly happy to have ended up in this team.
'Hmm… I wonder if I should find a place somewhere to put up a Workshop. I mean I don't really have any use for it at the moment, but the one back home is, well, back home. It's not like I'd have much opportunities to go all the way back to Domremy... Ideally I would have liked to put one somewhere on the academy's grounds and hide it under a Bounded Field, like the one back home, but I don't know why something tells me that wouldn't be much wise to do within the territory of a potential Magus.' He thought that last part dryly. 'Sigh... I'll bother with that later.'
"Everything all right Jaune..?" He heard Pyrrha, the Root bless her soul, ask in concern as her eyes had wandered to him and she noticed his frown.
"Hm? Oh yes, don't worry, I was merely thinking back to today's events." He waved her off.
She sent him an understanding smile.
"Indeed, this was quite the day." She lightly chuckled. "But I'm glad and proud about what we all managed to do together."
It seemed the hyperactive bomber of the team agreed with her.
"Yeah! Team JNPR is going to be the best team of Beacon!"
"I'm sure that if we keep doing our best and keep surpassing ourselves this objective is doable." Ren said with his tranquil voice in opposition to his more rambunctious partner.
Jaune could only smile at this and close his eyes peacefully.
"Yeah..." He'd say content of where he was. "We'll be the best."
A/N:
Finally! I'm done with this chapter... So long, so many words..! Not again please... Spare my sanity!
Chapter 2! The (in)famous Beacon Initiation... Oh you all don't know how much I'm glad I'm done with this specific segment.
But more on that later.
So, about his Huntsman outfit. Yep, I did do that. I made Jaune look like an Arc version of a male Artoria Pendragon.
One of the reasons behind this choice is that I saw one day an artwork by the most talented Alex-kellar on Deviantart with Jaune dressed as Arthur Pendragon of Fate/Prototype, with a Weiss dressed as Rin (go show that person some love!), and I thought, hey that looks awesome, if I ever write something RWBY and Fate related I must somehow do something with this. Thus the armor adapted into a Mystic Code.
That, and I honestly had no idea what else to do for a Magus-like Jaune besides dressing him in a outfit that screamed, "I'm a Magus! I can cast spells!", so I figured... Meh, why not..?
Also, this outfit might make another appearance in another story that I'm tentatively considering to write. Just five words as hints: Heroic Spirit Jaune of Arc. But I shan't say no more.
I must say I had a bit of fun writing Jaune's rant at the beginning. I felt like this was a good way to show that no matter his Magecraft or Huntsman skills, Jaune stays the same Jaune we all love/like and it added some comedy. Well at least I hope that was comedic.
On the Initiation proper... So, can I say how much I hate writing about it? Because I do... That's one of the reasons why I totally skipped it back in ICH.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm hella proud of what I managed to pull out of my as- hat, especially that scene with JNPR finishing the Death Stalker. I mean sure, might have not been the most original, but I sure liked and had lot's of fun writing it.
But Beacon's Initiation as a whole is such a chore... I mean, okay that's one occasion to show off your characters, and I get that, but considering it's the literal beginning of it all, well… Depending on how you manage to balance it all, it could either be a boring tweaked copy and paste of canon or something totally out there... You guys see what I mean?
And the length... I mean sure I could have partitioned it in half but I really wanted to get segment of the story done and over with. Which I'm very much glad about.
By the way, if I could get your thoughts on how good/bad I did that would be great.
About Jaune wanting to set up a Workshop. While it's true that Jaune isn't really a bona-fide Magus doing research to get to the Root or whatever, he is still a Magecraft user that needs a place to practice his magic, spells and such. And as he was taught by Shirou, who himself had the habit of practicing his Magecraft in his shed out of sight back at the Emiya mansion, and then in relative privacy at the Clock Tower, he passed on that habit to Jaune.
Really all there is to it.
Anyhow, no matter how I felt about writing this chapter, I hope at least that it was entertaining. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and opinions.
Fyr out!