Chapter 3: The First Steps
"Wake up, lazy butt!" an excited ginger girl yelled, standing over a groggy young man with a purple streak in his otherwise black hair. He rose with a sigh, looking at his friend.
She began singing, "It's morning! It's morning! It's morning, it's MORNING!" as she bounced around him, causing several other students to start watching them in the growing light of dawn.
He sighed again, standing to make his way to the communal cafeteria washrooms.
As the students around them began their morning routines, the red-head continued her babbling. "I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours!" she said from behind a changing booth while the boy brushed his teeth.
She came out, dressed in a white shirt with a black armored vest and pink skirt. "Not that I thought we would get kicked out or anything; I mean, you're the perfect student, and I'm, well, I'm me.
"But it's just crazy, you know?" They returned to the cafeteria hall and began rolling up their sleeping bags, the boy tying the knots as the girl continued. "We've been friends for soooooo long. What are the odds we'd still be together?" She brushed her short hair lazily, then looked down at her legs and said, "Well, not 'together' together. Not that I'm saying you aren't handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?
"Right," she answered for the quiet boy, stuffing a pancake into her mouth. After putting their sleeping bags away, they'd sat at a table with a stack of pancakes before them.
"What was I thinking?" the girl chuckled, another pancake hanging from her mouth. "But still, I hope we end up on the same team together."
She looked to her friend, who was cutting up his food with a fork and knife. She slurped down her last pancake and raised a finger. "Ooh! We should come up with some sort of plan; to make sure we end up on the same team together!" She patted the boy's shoulder, then held her hand to her chin. "What if we bribed the headmaster? No, that won't work; he has a school.
"I know!" the girl said, pointing her finger in the air as the boy opened his locker. They had moved from the cafeteria to the locker rooms in a nearby tower to retrieve their equipment.
"We'll have some sort of signal; like a distress signal!" She sucked in a breath, whispering, "A secret signal! So we can find each other in the forest!" The ginger girl pointed at her friend, asking, "Can you imitate a sloth?"
"Nora," he broke his silence.
"Yes, Ren?" Nora asked.
"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise," he finished, slipping a pair of collapsible machine pistols, each with a blade on them, into the long sleeves of his green and black tailcoat.
Nora took a moment to process his response, her jade eyes darting every which way until she burst out in excitement, "That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"
"Come on, Nora," Ren said, closing his locker with a smile. "Let's go."
"But not 'together' together," Nora mumbled, following Ren out of the locker room.
The pair walked past Ruby and Yang, the former of which commented, "I wonder what those two were so worked up about." They had witnessed their entire conversation while getting ready themselves.
"Oh, who knows," Yang said, turning to her sister. "You seem awfully chipper this morning."
"Yep!" Ruby smirked. "No more awkward small talk or getting-to-know-you crap." She removed Crescent Rose from her locker. "Today, I'll let my baby do the talking!" She hugged her folded weapon, almost drooling on it.
"Well, remember Ruby," Yang said, "you're not the only one going through initiation." She shifted her weight. "If you want to grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."
Ruby let out a long sigh. "You sound like Dad!" she said to Yang, setting her scythe down. "First off all, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting?
"And secondly," she continued, not waiting on Yang's answer, "I don't need people to help me grow up!" Ruby folded her arms, stating, "I drink milk."
"But what about when we form teams?" Yang asked.
"I'll just be on your team," Ruby said with a shrug, picking up her weapon to make a quick adjustment.
"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?" Yang said tentatively, running a hand through her long hair.
"My dearest sister Yang," Ruby dropped her scythe again and walked up to Yang, pointing a finger at her chest. "Are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?!"
"What? No!" Yang waved her hands dismissively. "I'd love to be on a team with you! I just thought, I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of your shell?"
Ruby flailed her arms indignantly, retorting, "I don't need to break out of my shell! That's absolutely-"
"Ridiculous!" Weiss Schnee heard a blonde boy in a black hoodie exclaim from behind a pillar within the locker room. "There's no way I put my gear in locker six-three-six yesterday, is there?" He held a planner open in front of him, scanning the rows of lockers for the right number. "I would've remembered counting that high!"
She waited for him to pass before approaching a girl with scarlet-red hair wearing bronze armor with an ankle-length sash around her skirt that matched her hair.
"So Pyrrha," Weiss began, "have you given any thought to who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual, such as yourself."
"Hmm… I'm not quite sure," Pyrrha said, adjusting the bronze circlet that poked out from beneath her long hair. "I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."
"Well," Weiss continued, "I was thinking we could be on a team together?"
"Why, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha said with a respectful smile.
"Great!" Weiss said, smiling broadly.
She turned away from Pyrrha, steepling her fingers while thinking to herself, 'This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class teamed with the strongest girl in class! Together, we'll be unstoppable! Popular! Get perfect grades! Nothing will come between us!'
"You know who else is great?" a voice cut through Weiss' inner monologue. She whipped around to see that blonde boy who'd been following her since yesterday. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meetcha." He leaned on a locker, interposing himself between Pyrrha and Weiss.
"You again?" Weiss soured, glaring at the idiot.
"Nice to meet you, Jaune," Pyrrha spoke up, waving at the blonde.
He gave Pyrrha a smile before turning back to Weiss. "So, Weiss," he said, lifting an arm in a flexing posture, "I couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."
"You've got to be kidding me," Weiss said, palming her forehead.
"Don't worry," Jaune went on, "no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do ya say?"
"Actually," Pyrrha started, "I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-"
"Ya don't say?" Jaune turned to her. "Well, Hot Stuff; play your cards right, and maybe you could join up with the winning team!" He threw a playful thumb at his chest piece.
Pyrrha smiled shyly under his attention as Weiss interposed herself between her and the flirt.
"Jaune, was it?" the heiress said, placing a hand on both of their chests and separating them. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."
"This is Pyrrha Nikos."
"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved.
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class from her old combat academy, Sanctum."
Jaune shrugged. "Never heard of it."
Weiss scoffed. "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row! A historic record!"
"The what?"
Weiss squinted at him before continuing in an angry rant, "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"
Jaune finally knew what she was saying, gasping and pointing to Pyrrha excitedly. "That's you! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"
"Yeah," Pyrrha said, nodding. "It was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."
"True," Jaune said. "I'm more of a Granny Oats guy myself."
The two of them shared a smile before Weiss cut in. "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" She'd finally managed to wound Jaune's confidence.
"I guess not," Jaune said, visibly deflating. "Sorry."
"Actually, Jaune," Pyrrha said, patting his shoulder. "I think you'd make a great leader."
"Oh, stop it," Jaune said, smiling wryly.
"Seriously, please stop it," Weiss put her hands to her waist. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"
Coming back to himself, Jaune said, "Sounds like Pyrrha's onboard for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick." He looked at Weiss. "Now, I know I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I can pull a few strings; find a place for you? What do ya say?" He leaned toward the heiress, smiling as charmingly as he could manage.
"Ok, that's a bit too close," Weiss held her hands up to keep Jaune at bay. "Pyrrha, a little help please?"
Pyrrha, who had moved back to her locker to retrieve her weapons, looked at the two for a moment before hefting a red and gold javelin. She threw it at Jaune as he turned towards her, the point catching the scruff of his hoodie and sending him flying into a pillar.
Weiss nodded approvingly as Pyrrha called after Jaune, "I'm sorry!"
A voice came through on the intercom, instructing all first year students to head to Beacon Cliff for initiation.
"It was nice meeting you," Pyrrha said as she walked past him and retrieved her spear.
"Likewise," Jaune muttered defeatedly, letting his head hang as the girls left.
"Having some trouble there, lady killer?" a masculine voice asked. Jaune looked up to find a tall boy with burnt orange hair leering down at him with a toothy smirk. He wore a gray and gold chestplate with a phoenix symbol on the front.
"I don't get where I went wrong," Jaune said, righting himself. "My dad said all women look for is confidence."
"'Snow Angel' wasn't the best start," the boy said. "You gotta ditch the nicknames until at least the second date."
"What are you?" Jaune asked cheekily. "A love expert?"
"Eh," the boy said, examining his finger nails. "I'm not that interested in love, though I have witnessed many troubled couples. Guess I picked something up." He shrugged.
Jaune smiled, reaching a hand out to the boy. "I'm Jaune."
"Cardin," the boy said, taking it with a strong grip. "If it doesn't work out with your lady friends, you can always join my team." He dropped the handshake, waving to Jaune with the back of his hand as he left the locker room.
"We'll see where the chips fall," Jaune said to himself, rubbing the hand Cardin tried to crush.
"Jaune?" Ruby called, poking her head out from behind a pillar. "Are you talking to someone?" Yang joined her soon after.
"Sort of," Jaune said, glancing at a nearby clock. "Come on, or we'll be late!" He waved for them to follow, leading the girls out of the tower.
A group of first year students stood on large metal pads overlooking a massive forest. Each had various levels of armor and different weapons; some were nervous, but most were calmly enjoying the breeze.
Professor Ozpin and Glenda Goodwitch stood in front of the assembled students. Ozpin took a sip of coffee from a rather large mug before addressing his students: "For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." He gestured to the expanse of pure green that stretched beyond the cliff.
He took another sip as Glenda spoke up. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." A few students looked at each other as she continued, "Allow us to put an end to your confusion. You will all be put into teams. Today." An excited murmur passed through the gathered students.
Blake, who was possibly the farthest away from anyone she'd met recently, shifted in place uncomfortably.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin said, his voice growing ominous. "It is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
Ozpin's last comment shattered Ruby's confidence immediately, leaving her to gape at their instructors. Meanwhile, Nora gave a smug grin to Ren.
"After you've partnered up," Ozpin continued, "make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way." He looked over the assembled students. "Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."
Jaune gulped, pulling at his collar.
"There won't be any grimm down there," Glenda pointed out. "However, the natural denizens of the Emerald Forest should prove to be challenging enough for most of you." She eyed the sweating Jaune with displeasure.
"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene," Ozpin said. "Your objective is to find an abandoned temple within the forest. Each pair will recover a relic from within, and then get to the extraction site with it in hand."
"We'll send the location of the site to your scrolls once you've recovered a relic," Glenda added, holding up a tablet of her own for emphasis. The device had two metal ends with a hard light screen between them.
"Any questions?" Ozpin said.
Ren lifted his hand and asked, "How are there no grimm in the forest? Are they not ever present throughout the world?" Several students looked at him, but Ozpin didn't answer.
"Yeah!" Cardin interrupted, folding his arms. "You can't take it easy on us just cause we're first years."
Jaune also raised his hand. "Yeah, um, sir?" he asked, expecting to be called on next.
"Good," the headmaster continued, ignoring the outbursts. "Now, take your positions."
Each student took a stance on their metal square, readying themselves. Every student except Jaune, who stood around with his hand up.
"Uh, sir?" Jaune waved insistently as the first of the students were being launched by the platforms. "I've got a question."
Weiss shot off the cliff, maintaining her elegant poise while sailing through the air.
"So, what's the strategy with, uh, landing?" Jaune asked, his panic increasing as more students left. "Are you dropping us off, or something?"
Blake folded her sword into a dense sickle, holding it by a black ribbon as she leapt off the cliff.
"No," Ozpin finally responded. "You will be falling."
Cardin hefted a large mace, then swung it down. The hollow head let off an explosion that propelled him forward with his launch.
"Oh, I see," Jaune said. "So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"
Nora took to the sky with a gleeful, "Whee!" She spun in a cartwheel motion, disappearing into the distance.
"No," Ozpin answered Jaune. "You will be using your own landing strategy."
"Huh, uh, okay," Jaune said as Ren leapt into the air.
Yang gave Ruby a wink before blasting off the springboard.
Ruby looked to Jaune with a confident smirk before taking to the sky, leaving him the last student on the plateau.
"So, what exactly is a landing stratagiiieee!" Jaune was hurled mid-sentence, flailing and screaming as he careened over the forest.
Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and turned to watch the students descend into their first of many trails.