Ch. 6 Turf war
When Jaune arrived with his bag, the ballroom was showing signs of a turf war. It seemed some girls banded together to claim a quarter of the ballroom to be female only territory. The men weren't nearly as united, though some groups formed amongst them as well. In the "in-between lands" smaller mixed gender groups and individuals without allegiance dotted the place.
Jaune spent a good minute surveying the area looking for his friends. The first familiar thing he noticed however was a familiar brass eagle emblem. The guy wearing it must have been Winchester Jr. Though, why did he wear it all the time?
"The git's showing off…" realised Jaune. "Eh, like father like son I guess."
Looking around some more he noticed Nora waving him over to a… was that a blanket fort? Apparently Nora claimed the corner and tied up a blanket above it to form a sort of roof.
"Hey Nora, nice fort."
"Right? If I had more time and materials I'd build a proper castle, but for tonight this will have to do."
Jaune smiled at that, she really was like his younger sisters.
"So, save a spot for me inside? Or am I acting as a guard for the fort?"
"Oh! Could you? Having a guard would be so cool."
"Sure, I don't mind. Thanks for saving me a spot in your territory."
Jaune was familiar with blanket forts and though he was used to heat, that didn't mean that he particularly enjoyed sleeping in one. But he could appreciate a good fort.
"No Ren, you're sleeping inside. You're the queen's personal guard and so cannot leave my side."
Seemed Ren intended on capitalising on Jaunes idea, though he was unsuccessful. Jaune merely offered a silent prayer for his fallen brother. Since the two of them were so close he suspected this was far from the first time something like this has happened.
Jaune rolled out his sleeping mat and sat on it. He contemplated taking out his journal to sketch some more ideas in, but was pleasantly surprised when another familiar face approached him.
"Hey, ye're Jaune right?"
"Yup, Maroon and Cocra?"
"Other way round, I'm Cocra, that's Maroon."
"Ups, sorry not the best with names. Glad you both made it here. Sorry I ran off last time."
"We don't hold it against ya. Dunnow if we'd even make it out without ya anyway."
"You here with the ReNora couple?"
"Yeah, something like that. Wasn't expecting a turf war when I came in here but I've secured myself a spot by swearing allegiance to queen Nora. I recommend you two to do the same if you want a good night's sleep."
"Spoken like a knight. But I s'ppose it's a good plan. Y'd think that future huntresses wouldn't make such a deal out of having to share a big room with a bunch of guys. What will they do if they end up on a team with a bunch of guys?"
"That is if they pass the initiation. Beacon only admits 40 students per year. There's something like a hundred of us here now. Think the rest will go civilian?"
"I imagine they'll either try for the police force or try again next year. Most police officers, firefighters and such are people that failed to get into one of the academies. Primary huntsmen academies like Signal or Pharos have classes that are supposed to help you get into jobs like that if you fail here."
"Huh, didn't know that."
"Yeah, I only know cause I went to Pharos when I was younger, but my parents moved to Vacuo. I learned to fight from my dad from then on. I met Maroon there, so it was worth it in my book. Came back here because I grew up in Vale."
"And she dragged me along."
"Sounds like you had a rough time. Anyway, you mind looking after my stuff for me? I'll go and secure some rattions."
"Ooh, snacks! Get some for us too! Go go go!"
Jaune laughed and started walking off to the kitchens. Thanks to spending the past two weeks here, he had an advantage when it came to both finding the way and not having to deal with the cafeteria. The chefs knew him personally by now so he could just come to the outside door to the kitchen and skip the line.
And so Jaune received a bunch of plastic food containers full of all sorts of foodstuffs and turned back to walk to the ballroom.
When he came back to Fort Nora as it was now called, he was celebrated as a hero. Some surrounding students gave him dirty looks but had to go to the cafeteria to get their own food.
Jaune spotted Winchester in particular glaring at him as he and his group left. Jaune thought nothing of it. The git could glare all he wanted.
=O=O=O=
By the time it got dark, the turf war calmed down. Jaune was already laying down in his sleeping bag. The knowledge he would need all the rest he could get for tomorrow together with his tendency to wake up early made for a compelling argument for an early night.
Allas, he couldn't fall asleep with all the chatter surrounding him. But laying there with his eyes closed was better than nothing for now.
Quietly he contemplated the day's events. It was certainly nice to meet up with friends, but making new ones was the cream of the crop. His mother always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Jaune with years of experience dealing with customers knew it wasn't quite that simple, but…
But maybe he could make friends with his peers for once. During his apprenticeship he was starved for friendship, so the fact he managed to make a few in these past two weeks was… pleasant.
Sure there are some people he won't get along with but why let that sour his dreams. He may even find his first judgement wrong. Maybe the Shnee girl really just had a bad day. Maybe Winchester is just strung up before initiation.
Maybe… but now he should focus on passing the initiation himself, he was no prodigy. His father made sure to beat that fact into him. So now it was time to sleep properly.
=O=O=O=
Jaune woke up early, even earlier than usual. But then again he was nervous. So he quietly packed up his things and went off to store them in his locker in the locker room. While he was there he took a shower and picked up his chestplate. When he finished strapping himself into it, the other early birds started flowing into the locker room.
Jaune didn't know any of them so he decided to go wake up his friends. The fact he had some still brought a dopey smile to his face.
While he wasn't paying attention he nearly bumped into someone in the door. A brunette with a bow on her head.
"Oh hi, sorry my mind was elsewhere."
"It's fine."
"Anyway sorry again, see you later maybe."
With that he walked away before he could make more of a fool of himself.
=O=O=O=
Jaune let his friends go get ready and went to the cliffs ahead of them. The place was close to the lookout spot he spoke to Qrow at.
"Good morning, professor Ozpin, professor Goodwitch."
"Good morning mister Arc."
"Mister arc, are you ready for the initiation? You seem to be lacking your weapon."
"Oh, I store it with my semblance. I thought professor Port would have told you?"
"He might have mentioned something to the effect. Though he took the remaining time before the year starts to take some missions and will only return later today. Collecting material for Grimm studies I would imagine."
"I see. Anyway, how long before initiation starts?"
"Half an hour still. You're still somewhat early mister Arc."
"Ah, I have a habit of waking up early. By the way I presume our aura will be monitored during the initiation?"
"The details of initiation are still confidential, however if I may, why do you ask?"
"Well, according to professor Port I triggered the large aura fluctuation alarm when I used my semblance after the exam. Just thought I'd make you aware that my total aura capacity is variable so depending on when the initial calibration is taken I can lose about half of it by taking out my weapon, or gain more aura than I had initially when I put my weapon back."
"That is curious mister Arc. I'd be interested to hear more about your semblance. Should you pass the initiation, of course."
"Of course, sir."
"I'll admit I'm curious to see how all of you will do. There are some remarkable students this year. You amongst them. While many students make their own weapons initially, there are many who'll in time employ the help of someone of your skills to either upgrade or completely reforge them."
"Yes, I'm familiar with the process, sir."
"Of course. I hope the fact that you have skills to fall back on in the event of not passing provides you with the calmness to make sure you do pass the initiation. I believe you have what it takes, mister Arc."
"Thank you sir."
As they spoke the students slowly started to trickle in and soon professor Goodwitch made the last announcement for the first years to make their way to the cliffs.
Professor Ozpin meanwhile tapped away on his scroll, no doubt making some last minute adjustments.
Soon every student participating in the initiation has gathered. Jaune noticed that there were a few faces missing compared to last night. Whether they decided to not go through with the dangerous task on their own, or missed the time window is debatable and in the large scheme of things unimportant. It did however provide a short distraction which he used to calm his nerves. It was the voice of professor Goodwitch that prompted him to stop his musings.
"Thank you students for assembling here. As you know in a few minutes your initiation will begin. Your mission today is twofold. You'll assemble your teams and prove that you deserve to be here. Admittedly only 40 of you will be admitted to Beacon. The rest of you will receive a participation certificate and a recommendation you may attach to your CV when applying for a job elsewhere. Consider this your last chance to back out as once the initiation begins we will not interfere until the first 40 successfully complete their task and return here."
Only once she was done talking did Ozpin raise his head from the screen.
"I'm sure you're all curious as to how you'll assemble the teams you'll stay with for the rest of your time here. The first part of this is to choose your partner. This is the person you will come to rely on and support in turn. While I'm sure some of you would like to pick and choose, the reality of life as a hunter is that alliances are often formed by pure chance. And so it will be here as well. Thus the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die."
Jaune could barely hear the reactions of the other students. His mind wandered to the last minute training he received from his father. He would have to give it his all… or he will die.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune raised his hand.
"May we have a description of the relics, sir?"
"I'm afraid not mister Arc, identifying them and their individual worth is a part of the test."
"I see, thank you sir."
The professor merely nodded back and the launchpad under Jaunes feet activated. Jaune wasn't all that surprised. His father trained him to be able to jump out of a bullhead and Qrow was rather talkative when asked about his time at Beacon. When Jaune first stood on the steel plate half an hour ago, things clicked into place.
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
And we're off! Partners, teams, friends and enemies! All will be revealed in next week's chapter: Ch. 7 Initiation