Chapter 3: Ozma's Suspicions

Ozma stared into her coffee cup as the night sky began to turn to day. As the dark blue of Remnant's world gave into the weak strains of early light, she pondered many things.

Most of them had the name Aurelius Arc.

In her millennium of existence, there had been a limited number of people whom she had genuinely feared besides the obvious one. Because of their limited life span, most humans and faunus generally could have a very limited impact on Remnant in the context of dealing with an immortal enemy. Compared to the danger that Grimm posed in their massive numbers, what could humans and faunus do, even with dust? Ozma would just come back. More than that, without knowing the secret of Salem's existence, what could even capable powerful hunters do to someone like Ozma to injure her?

She was comfortable admitting to herself that she feared Aurelius Arc. Few men in the last thousand years had his kind of effect. As the leader of the Vale Foreign Legion and the founder, in fact, the number of settlements lost to Grimm had decreased by over sixty percent in recent decades.

The fact that there was still a Mountain Glen was proof of the kind of effect the man had.

That wasn't even the most fearsome part of him. He knew her secret. Or at least knew that she was immortal and that the Grimm were not mindless. It was after the death of his son Hadrian that Ozma had informed him of Salem, or more correctly, the man had stormed into her office and demanded answers with cold, knowing eyes. Hadrian Arc had apparently come across one of Salem's agents, but before he had died, he had managed to contact his father. A father that Aurelius admitted had already known he was sending his son to die.

Ozma would never forget the way Aurelius had looked at her, as if he was waiting for mere confirmation rather than information. The way he had spoken of his son, as if he was just another casualty.

Ozma had given in, and since then, Remnant had no better defender. With the maidens lost to the winds, Aurelius Arc held back Salem. A man with no magic, just a steely will and a semblance that was hard to fathom. Not even James Ironwood compared in dedication.

She was aware that Aurelius, with his Semblance, could see glimpses of the future and the paths to get there. It was for this reason that she was willing to give the man so much leniency. If Aurelius had wanted to, it would have been all too easy to assist Salem's plans by now.

While no one was above suspicion, Aurelius was about as close to being above it as one could get in Ozma's book.

Sending his grandson here was an odd move, but it didn't worry Ozma.

Aurelius Arc had forged a weapon out of his own grandchild. A cold despicable action but if Aurelius Arc of all people thought it was necessary Ozma would not gainsay him.

Ozma stared out the window in her office and then raised her cup, toasting the air, "I hope you know what you're doing, Aurelius," she murmured before she took a sip.

Habit woke Jaune up at the crack of dawn. He packed up his sleeping bag efficiently before taking a jog around Beacon to loosen his muscles and warm his body up to readiness. A quick cold shower wiped away his sweat before he dressed in his armor and jacket.

He popped a pair of earbuds into his ears as he went about assembling his breakfast, letting the blast beats pound through his ears and getting himself into the zone.

He ate quickly and efficiently but found himself with far too much time on his hands as he pulled his sword from his locker.

He drew Crocea Mors free and began to wipe down the blade with oil more out of a need for something to do with his hands than anything. He took deep breaths circulating his aura through his system watching it shimmer over him as he focused.

Everything he had built himself to be would be tested in just a short period of time. Would he be up to the challenge?

"I won't let you down Grandfather," Jaune murmured to his sword, staring at his reflection his blonde hair swept back away from his face.

"These first years are really loud, eh Violet?" said a boisterous female voice cutting through the pounding music in Jaune's earbuds.

"Whatever you say, Scathach," a second non-committal voice responded.

From around the corner emerged a tall red-haired woman with laughing red eyes and blue armor encasing her body in a form-fitting way. Next to her was a blonde woman with blonde hair held up in a ponytail that still draped down to her waist, clear, familiar blue eyes, and an open blue jacket covering dark black clothes. Jaune noted that, for some reason, she had familiar golden arcs on her jacket and idly wondered if she had also served in the Vale Foreign Legion.

Jaune found himself staring at the blonde, struggling with a strange feeling upon seeing her. She seemed familiar, but for his life, he didn't know why.

Both girl's eyes landed on him, and he met their gazes firmly.

The blonde girl looked shocked, her mouth hanging open, while the tall red-haired woman cocked her head, seemingly confused.

The red-haired girl spoke first, "What are you doing here so early first year? Don't you know there's like an hour to initiation?"

Well, if she was a senior student at this school, then he at least knew what to call her, "I'm checking over my weapon, Miss," he said simply before sheathing Crocea Mors's home in its sheath.

"Oh, so polite," the red-haired girl grinned at him, "I'm Scathach. What's a cute boy like you doing attempting to become a huntsman?" she leaned over, grinning fiercely at him.

Jaune gave the girl a dry look, "Grimm don't discriminate. They'll tear you apart no matter who you are.' He gave her a wry grin, "Plus, it's family tradition," he didn't truly mind the times when a woman doubted his capabilities as a man; it wasn't personal, and she hadn't really even been impolite.

Scathach shrugged carelessly, "Fair enough; I was more curious if you'd like to hear some expertise from an upperclassman. I could give you some tips about initiation?" her grin widened, and her eyes ran over him from head to toe.

Jaune was about to respond before the blonde, who hadn't spoken yet, suddenly interrupted, "What's your name?"

Jaune turned and cocked his head at the girl, confused, "Huh?" he said intelligently, thrown off by her abruptness.

Scathach looked put out by her companion, "Easy there, Violet, I'm the one chatting our adorable underclassman up. You can wait your turn."

Violet glared at Scathach before turning back to Jaune. "What's your name?" she repeated, and Jaune noted an almost desperate edge in her tone.

"I'm Jaune," Jaune replied.

Violet stormed forward, grabbing Jaune's jacket, and Jaune twitched, having to restrain his instinctive response to such an aggressive move.

"Your last name," Violet bit out, glaring at him.

"It's Arc," Jaune replied nonplussed.

Violet's eyes widened, and then her grip tightened, "Jaune, don't you remember me?" she asked, staring at him with eyes that were starting to look wet.

Jaune looked at Violet, the familiarity pressing on him, but nothing came to him, it was a strange feeling but he didn't really know how to handle it, "I'm sorry, miss, I don't know who you are."

Violet's clear blue eyes looked shattered, and she audibly gasped, "No! You don't mean that! It's me, Jaune, Violet?!"

Jaune looked at Scathach wordlessly, asking for help, but the girl looked just as shocked as he felt.

Jaune gently raised his hands up, gently prying open Violet's iron grip, looking down at the girl gently, "I'm sorry," he said, giving Violet a gentle smile, "I think you have me confused with someone else."

He finally managed to remove Violet's hands and backed up slightly, looking at the girls feeling slightly nervous despite himself.

"Lieutenant-" Jaune turned to see Weiss had come around the corner dressed in a snow white outfit, adjusting a rapier about her waster, "I mean Jaune," Weiss hastily corrected, a small but visible wince on her face, "I didn't expect to see you here so early," she gave him a small hesitant smile.

Jaune gave the girl a warm grin that he didn't quite feel, still very aware of Violet gazing at him with wide eyes; he shrugged his shoulders, "The Vale Foreign Legion is kind of big on waking up early."

Well, at least his grandfather was. He would never forget the month spent training on waking up to instant awareness. Grimm attacks worked better than coffee in his humble opinion.

"Please," he heard a whispered voice, and he turned to see Violet gazing at him with the eyes of someone whose soul had been broken.

Jaune frowned uncharacteristically, then looked at Scathach, "Maybe you should take your friend to the doctor stationed here; she doesn't seem well," he gently nudged her along. Whoever this girl thought he was, she seemed to be experiencing a great deal of shock upon encountering him.

"I-" Scathach paused, looking between the two of them before she curled an arm around Violet and gently guided the girl away, for the entire distance they walked, Violet's eyes remained centered upon him before they turned the corner.

Jaune hummed softly to himself, gazing after them thoughtfully.

"Is she all right?" Weiss asked, stepping up to his side and looking after the retreated pair, "She wasn't bothering you, was she?"

Jaune sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I'm not sure. She seemed to think she knew me, but I didn't know her. Whoever she did know, the memories can't be all that pleasant; I'm sorry that I caused such a reaction."

Jaune looked down, unsure why his heart felt so heavy.

A soft hand gently settled on his own free hand, and he looked to the side to see Weiss looking at him with a soft expression on her face, "Are you alright?" she asked, though she seemed unsure of her own words, as if she was completely unused to such an action.

"Fine," Jaune shook his head and gave Weiss a soft half-smile, "We need to focus. Who knows what initiation will comprise of."

Weiss blinked, and then her cheeks tinged red, and she smiled and nodded, "Indeed, I've heard we receive partners during initiation. Are you thinking of anyone?"

Her eyes locked onto his ice blue, meeting with his oceans, seemingly searching through him as if to ferret out his answer before he spoke.

Weiss blinked, and then her cheeks tinged red, "I mean, not that I'm thinking of anyone or anything," she said forcefully.

Jaune paused, considering the question before his answer came to him, "I've trained my whole life to become a huntsman, and I know my capabilities well. Whoever my partner is, I'll give them everything. I've only really worked side by side with my grandfather before, so I suppose my only real hope is that I won't weigh my partner down."

Weiss nodded and then cocked her head, "Why would you think you'd weigh your partner down?"

Jaune frowned and looked down, his cheeks reddening slightly from embarrassment, "I'm not the most capable when it comes to combat, probably from a lack of talent, but," Jaune looked up seriously, meeting Weiss's eyes firmly, "I've dedicated everything to become a Huntsman. If I don't match up to Beacon's standards right now, I'll just push myself harder and show the professors I have what it takes."

'Eh?'

That was the thought Weiss Schnee was having as she looked up at the sparkling blue, passionate eyes of one Jaune Arc.

Not the most capable? This boy had decimated a detachment of White Fang in seconds! A lack of talent? What was Jaune thinking?

Weiss opened her mouth, though she was unsure exactly what she would be saying. Where to begin to correct Jaune's self-image of himself, but she found herself interrupted as her eyes locked with bright emerald ones peeking out from behind a group of lockers; the girls face turned almost as red as her hair.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment before Weiss realized who she was looking at.

Wait, was that Pyrrha Nikos?

Pyrrha Nikos stepped out from behind the lockers and approached them, her heels clicking across the ground as she approached them, the red fading from her face.

Jaune turned around as she approached, and they both looked at Pyrrha, who stopped in front of them, gazing at the pair of them with a perfectly poised expression.

She looked at Jaune and spoke, "I would like to fight you," she said simply, then she blinked and clapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified.

Weiss blinked and looked at Pyrrha Nikos, confused; she couldn't have heard that right.

Jaune hummed and stroked his chin before something seemed to occur to him, "Oh right, we fought in Argus," he held out a hand to the girl, "You're Pyrrha, right?"

Pyrrha Nikos nodded her head up and down somewhat robotically, "Yes, I am," she said stiffly, reaching out to shake Jaune's hand.

Weiss would have thought she was offended if she hadn't seen her emerald eyes gleaming like stars as she looked at Jaune.

Jaune gave the redhead a warm smile, "Sure, we can spar again sometime; you must be pretty into fighting, huh?"

Pyrrha Nikos blinked, starring at Jaune Arc somewhat unnervingly, before a wide pretty smile spread across her face, "You could say that," she said simply.

Weiss looked unbelieving at the two of them; she opened her mouth to explain to Jaune who exactly he was talking to and was even close to phrasing it in a way that didn't show how utterly aghast she was that he didn't know.

Then something even more unexpected happened; Pyrrha Nikos shot her a pleading look.

If Weiss were to judge what the look said, it would simply be, 'Please don't say anything.'

Weiss was an expert on such looks, having shot many of them to her sister Winter herself. Watching as Jaune obliviously chatted with a smiling Pyrrha, Weiss closed her mouth.

More than most she could understand not wanting others to know who she was.

"Shall we get going?" Weiss asked, and Jaune turned to the girl who was giving him a warm smile.

"We should," Pyrrha said, nodding, a small happy smile on her face, "Don't want to be late for the start of initiation."

Both girls took positions on either side of Jaune, and he noted that they stood a little closer than strictly necessary, but he let it pass without comment. They were both probably nervous about initiation as he was, and if a little closeness gave them comfort, he would, of course, provide it.

They walked through the locker room and then out onto the school ground surrounding the cliff which overlooked a massive swath of trees, Jaune noted that a number of other students had already taken their position on what looked to be round plates.

They each took a plate side by side, and Jaune spotted a red and yellow pair exit the locker room, then beelining in their direction.

"Heya, Lady Killer," Yang greeted Jaune with a cheeky grin before walking by him to another plate.

"Hey yourself," Jaune greeted.

"Hey, Jaune," chirped Ruby, smiling at him, though Jaune noted her smile seemed rather pasted on, and he noted that she seemed to be trembling slightly.

Jaune gave Ruby his patented warm smile, "We got this right, Ruby?" he asked, not feeling the emotion himself but noting that Ruby's trembling halted, and her smile seemed rather more real now.

"Heh! Yah we are!" Ruby raised up a fist in front of Jaune and Jaune looked at it confused.

Ruby blinked, then blushed heavily, looking down and beginning to lower her fist before Jaune gently caught it with his own hand, "I'm sorry," Jaune said, "There was obviously a greeting I missed there; what was I supposed to do?"

"Uh?" Ruby blinked her cheeks flushing even brighter as she looked between Jaune and her hand, "It was a fist bump, we bump fists?" she said weakly.

"Ah, of course," Jaune nodded seriously, releasing Ruby's hand before forming a fist with his own and bumping it gently into her own soft fingers.

Ruby blinked and then smiled happily at Jaune before she blurred to her own platform.

There was gentle murmuring among the students for a couple of minutes before Headmistress Ozma walked out, followed by Professor Goodwitch.

Ozma walked over to stand to the side of the platforms, Professor Goodwitch following close behind. Ozma took a long sip from her coffee cup and then began to speak, "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. Your objective is simple, to retrieve a relic hidden within in the forest. There have been…" Ozma paused to take a sip, "rumors over how your partners will be selected. As potential students, you all have a strong interest in being paired with people with whom you work well. That being said, your partner will be the first person you lock eyes with when you land."

Jaune noted Ruby's face visibly paled at the release of that information.

Ozma took another sip from her cup, "Good luck," she said simply.

Then, a platform creaked, and a student was launched into the sky above the forest.

"A hot drop, huh?" Jaune murmured to himself, a small amount of respect in his tone, not too much, though he'd already been doing such things for the better part of a decade. A forest near this school couldn't have a Grimm presence that was all that high.

More platforms triggered, launching students into the sky while Jaune pondered this turn of events.

"Are you prepared, Mr. Arc?" Ozma said abruptly, and Jaune turned to look at the woman.

Jaune frowned, looking at the woman, and opened his mouth to respond before he closed it, and shook his head, "You're playing some kind of game," he said.

Ozma raised an eyebrow at him, and Professor Goodwitch seemed taken aback.

"It's fine," Jaune sighed, "I guess I'll just have to show you to take me seriously."

Jaune felt the platform tighten preemptively, and he braced his knees against it, kicking off the platform just as it triggered, sending him soaring through the sky far higher than any of the other students had went on launch.

Jaune let himself soar through the air for a couple of movements, enjoying the weightless feeling in his gut, before he contemplatively looked down, surveying the forest. Distantly, he spotted what looked like a clearing through the forest near the cliffs. He flared his aura in his eyes, sharpening his vision, and saw clearly a stone structure.

Probably where the relics were, he decided.

Jaune looked down. There wasn't a need to decimate the wildlife below with one of his typical hard landings; it wasn't like there was a massive concentration of Grimm below him.

He concentrated, channeling a small amount of aura beneath his right foot as he reached the apex of his arc, letting himself fall like a rock toward the ground.

He crashed through tree branches until his right foot made contact with the ground, detonating the aura underneath his foot, neutralizing his impact, and causing the air to erupt away in a shockwave but keeping the ground intact if windswept.

Jaune heard a shrill whistle of air being displaced by a sharp object and raised his hand, catching a red and gold spear before it would have speared the tree next to him.

"Sorry! Please hold that for me!" cried out a familiar soft voice from above Jaune.

Jaune examined the spear and then chuckled to himself, "I guess that means she chose me, huh?" he said aloud.

Some minutes later, a red and gold-plated girl stepped into the clearing, her cheeks flushed with a small but noticeable smile on her face.

Jaune raised an eyebrow at her.

Pyrrha shrugged, her cheeks brightening further, "I saw my chance, and I took it," then she looked down, "Sorry about that, maybe that was a little too forward. It's just, well, you're all I could think about since we fought."

Jaune cocked an eyebrow at the girl, "Oh," he said, somewhat taken aback.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she seemed to realize what she had said, "Not like that! I mean, sort of like that! I mean, I don't really know! This has never happened before!" her face was now closer in shade to a fresh tomato.

Jaune chuckled despite himself and then tossed her spear back to her, which she caught with ease, "I don't mind," he said honestly, "I didn't realize I'd impressed you so much."

Pyrrha opened her mouth, closed it, then nodded a short up and down motion, "You did, you… you don't mind being with me?" she asked looking down.

Jaune frowned, walked up to her, and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "We're partners now. I'll give you everything I have to support you," he said firmly. Pyrrha looked up, her emerald green eyes wide, her pupils expanded, looking at him with an expression Jaune was unsure how to interpret.

Pyrrha slowly nodded, "I'll give you everything as well," she said simply, though her tone seemed odd to Jaune in a way he couldn't quite place.

Jaune grinned at her, and Pyrrha responded with a small, soft smile of her own.

"Alright, we need to get through this forest," Jaune said, taking a quick glance at the sky, "I'd say we head in that direction; I spotted some structures while I was falling."

"Ah, great!" Pyrrha smiled brightly at Jaune, and he responded with a half-smile of his own.

They began to make their way through the forest, treading with ease through the trees and underbrush.

For some time, they walked through the forest, and the silence was somewhat getting to Jaune. He wondered why Pyrrha was so quiet but he was unsure of how to broach the topic as he noted that her eyes seemed locked onto him as he walked.

Finally, Jaune asked, "Are you alright?"

Pyrrha startled, nearly tripping over the ground, and her face flushed a bright red.

"Fine!," she said her voice rather high pitched, she coughed, "I'm fine," she said in a slightly more normal tone, "Why do you ask?"

Jaune wondered how to say the next words politely, but he was unsure. "It's just that you haven't taken your eyes off me for the past fifteen minutes. I was wondering if something was wrong."

Pyrrha's face turned even more red, resembling a cherry hue, and she mumbled something.

Jaune cocked an eyebrow turning to look at her, "I'm sorry I didn't understand that."

Pyrrha shook her head, "It's nothing. I'm just happy you're my partner, that's all. Hey, what's that up ahead!" she blatantly changed the subject and picked up her pace.

Jaune cocked a bemused eyebrow after the girl but then shook his head; who was he to judge?

He followed after her and they emerged into a clearing where there were some ruins and a chessboard full of white and black chess pieces.

"The Relics, you think?" asked Pyrrha.

Jaune nodded, "It's the structure I spotted from the air, at least; which piece do you want?"

Pyrrha hummed contemplatively looking at Jaune then the chess board before she took a white rook piece, "This one I think," she said.

Jaune heard the tramp of feet and the rustle of disturbed leaves and turned to see Yang and Blake exiting the forest.

"Hey," he said simply.

Yang blinked, and then a sly smile slipped onto her face, "Hey there, lady killer," she said, a wry grin on her face, "Should have known you would get here first," she shrugged her shoulders her golden hair cascading down her back.

Blake's face looked impassive as she gazed about the clearing, "We should grab a relic," she said simply.

Yang sighed and then walked up to the chess board, glancing about it before selecting a knight. "There, done, happy?" She looked back at her partner with a raised eyebrow.

Jaune could have sworn he saw the ghost of a smile flicker across Blake's face before it disappeared, "Not particularly, still happier than you were about those Grimm a while back."

Yang's eyes widened, and she glanced at Jaune before she turned to glare back at Blake, "Funny, seeing as you didn't help with that much, did you."

Blake shrugged, "You had it handled; who was I to disturb?"

Yang sighed before she looked at Pyrrha, "So this is your partner, huh?" she said, and Jaune noted a slight edge to her tone as she examined the red-haired girl.

"I am," Pyrrha said, simply meeting Yang's gaze, her hand placed on a slightly cocked hip.

The trees rustled, and then Nora and Ren emerged into the clearing jogging. Well, Ren was jogging, Nora was sitting on top of her shoulders, giggling and cheering.

"Go Renny! Training only means something when it's done every day!"

"Nora," panted Ren, "We're currently taking an exam. Is now the time?"

"Of course!" Nora spotted them and then leaped off of Ren's shoulders, "Heya, everyone!" Then she spotted the chessboard, "Ooh!" she sprinted over to it.

Ren came up beside them, looking a little worn down, "Hello," she said softly.

Jaune frowned, "You look a little tired. Do you want a top-up?"

Ren turned looking confused at Jaune her head tilted to the side in adorable confusion, "Uh sure?" she said softly.

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder and flexed his semblance, rapidly refilling Ren's aura reserves to full. His yellow-white aura crackled over Ren, and Ren's cheeks lit up a soft red. She bit her lip, but not before a soft, breathy sigh escaped her lips.

In seconds Ren was recovered and Jaune removed his hand from her shoulder giving the girl a warm smile, "All good?" he asked.

Ren nodded mutely, her cheeks a soft red as she looked away, "Thanks, Jaune."

Nora bounded back over to them, holding a rook piece, "We're the queens of the castle, Renny!" she giggled, shoving the piece under her friend's nose.

Jaune hummed, noting the piece was exactly like theirs; a Hunter team generally had four members; would they perhaps be paired with those who picked a chess piece like theirs?

"I told you we should have taken the Nevermore!" came a loud familiar cry.

"Oh yes, take a wild Grimm! Wonderful idea!" came another familiar cry.

In a burst of Rose petals, a red blur emerged from the trees, dragging along a white blur.

Both blurs shot straight at Jaune who braced himself before catching two separate bodies going at high speed, the white one with his left arm, the red one with his right arm.

The body turned out to be a panicked Ruby, who turned and twisted in his left arm, trying to get a look back to where she had come from, and the white blur turned out to be a dazed Weiss who clutched onto him with an iron grip.

"Are you girls okay?" Jaune asked, concerned.

"Jaune," cried out Ruby, spinning around in his left arm's grip, "There's a Hydra chasing us!"

Jaune's lips thinned into a hard line, a Hydra, a B Class bordering on A class Grimm, depending exactly on how many heads it had obtained.

Jaune looked seriously at the other prospective Hunters around him, "We need to move."

Ruby seemed recovered enough to stand now, so he let her down gently to the ground, "Ruby," he said seriously, looking the girl in the eyes, "Go grab a relic for you and Weiss,"

Ruby rapidly nodded and blurred out of existence and then reappeared with a knight piece, "Now what?" she said.

Jaune frowned thoughtfully. He wasn't particularly concerned about the Hydra, but he didn't like the current terrain much for engaging it, especially when he was unaware of his compatriot's abilities.

Weiss took a deep breath and steadied herself, and Jaune let her down where she stood on somewhat shaky feet. Still, her aura should take care of the rest.

"You good to go?" he asked her seriously.

Weiss shook her head, then nodded, "Yeah, just needed a minute."

He looked at the rest of the prospective Hunters, who were looking at him seriously for some reason, "There's a gorge a little east of here that if we go up, we'll be back at Beacon. We'll engage there if we don't outrun it by then."

The assembled Huntresses in training made noises of agreement.

Together, they turned and sprinted off towards the cliffs, and Jaune fell back, taking the rear guard position by instinct.

They ran in a line, sprinting through trees rapidly, and Ruby blurred back and forth over the line, anxiously fluttering about somewhat like a hummingbird.

Jaune could hear the hydra still crashing through the trees behind them, and he only had to glance back to see massive black necks soaring over the treetops.

Forty-six heads, good to know, he thought idly.

They emerged out into a section of stone ruins, crossing over a bridge, before a hydra neck burst from the trees, rapidly racing towards them. Jaune spotted the glint of fiery orange natural dust deposits in its mouth, and he spun, raising his shield and triggering an explosion of ice just before the fire raced towards them, being met with its opposite element in a thunderous eruption.

Jaune didn't move an inch from the force and casually turned back to see his fellow hunters in training looking at him.

"Looks like it's a fight," he said calmly, "Who here has fought a Hydra before?" he asked rhetorically because, of course, they had.

Jaune expected a number of affirmative responses but was shocked to see simply blank stares at him.

Weiss coughed politely, "Jaune, any education you might have would be appreciated," she eyed him with a rather bemused look to her eyes, an understanding of something that it seemed no one else shared. Not to mention that, unlike the other prospective Huntresses, she seemed remarkedly unbothered by the situation they were facing, as if she already knew the end result.

Jaune wasn't sure why anyone needed a repeat lesson, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt, "Hydra, depending on age, grow several heads." He blocked a lashing head aimed at one of the others. "Judging by the look of this one, I would say it's several decades old. Each head can have a dust deposit that the Grimm pulls from the ground and stores in its mouth." He stamped downward, breaking one of the head's skulls and scattering chunks of dust beneath him but not severing the neck, which would have allowed for regrowth. "The best solution to stopping them is to cut their core of dust in the center of its body, but their heads make that difficult, especially as if you cut a head, more will regrow, meaning it's best to break its form without severing the neck." He batted another away with a crack like a gunshot breaking the head's jaw. "In a team, it's best that the majority run distraction while the person with the best aim waits for a shot to trigger its dust core."

Another head shot forward, and Jaune spun his sword, driving it through its skull and binding the head to the ground from how deeply sunk his blade was.

He pointed down the Hydra head's neck, pointing at a spot where the horn on the back ended, "The shot should go about there; fire dust is best; any questions?" he asked politely.

The assembled girls looked at him for a long moment.

"You heard him," said Ruby, stepping backward and readying her scythe, "Get to it!"

The teams moved together, stepping forward to beat back the heads that were trying to storm towards them.

Ren used her literal hands, blasting heads away with a burst of pink aura. She dodged and weaved between the necks, occasionally shifting her guns to send bursts of suppressive dust fire to give her space. Nora laid waste with her Hammer smacking heads aside. As she went, she cackled madly, pink explosions erupting around her. Pyrrha blew the heads that tried to approach her red eyes out with pinpoint shots.

Yang met the heads fist first, her punches blowing the heads back as she leaped over others who tried to get the best of her. Shadow clones of Blake flickered about, distracting the heads away from the body.

Weiss clicked a chamber on her rapier and submerged several heads in a block of ice before she shifted, sending a blast of lightning coursing through the Grimm, stunning several of the heads.

The heads were slowly pulled away from the body, creating an opening as they attempted to deal with the girls that were causing so much damage. Jaune stepped forward, batting heads away, creating an opening directly in front of Ruby. His swings of his sword and shield blasted heads away with blunt force.

A minute of high-intensity combat passed, and Jaune's sword and shield flickered through the air like gleaming silver ghosts attempting to push the heads or incapacitate them enough for Ruby to get her shot.

For the briefest seconds, a neck shifted.

Ruby didn't miss the opportunity, she slung her scythe from around her shoulder and aimed it in not even a second. She fired, and a bullet gored through exactly where Jaune pointed. The Hydra's body rippled and then exploded in a ball of fire, soaring up into the sky and pushing several of the prospective Hunters back through sheer force.

The hydra's body collapsed to the side and began dissolving.

Jaune turned around smiling and patted Ruby on the shoulder, "Simple, right?" he asked, a cheerful smile on his face.

She looked up at him with an unreadable face; she almost seemed nonplussed, but Jaune didn't think that was it. As far as the end-of-exam issues went, that was rather mild.

Jaune turned to the rest of his companions, "Everyone, all right? No one's hurt?"

The other hopeful hunters also looked at him with rather blank expressions.

Several seconds of silence were broken as Ruby coughed slightly and looked up at him with a small smile, "I think we're all fine, Jaune," she said softly, gazing at him with her silver eyes, which seemed to be almost shining with an emotion that Jaune couldn't name.

They climbed back up the cliff with little hassle and were directed to a staging area, being told to sit with their teams who were apparently the partner group of the relic they had picked up. Seeing as no one else had made it back yet, they were free to sit wherever, and the group of eight had chosen to sit together.

Jaune was sitting next to Ruby and Pyrrha; the smaller girl seemed to have attached herself to his side since the fight, asking a multitude of questions about how he had decided to fight at the cliffs and how he had known where she should aim.

Jaune appreciated the conversation and had discovered Ruby herself was fairly knowledgeable, though she was less focused on the academics surrounding them and more focused on her own experience combatting them.

The conversation eventually shifted as they waited toward other topics, and Jaune discovered Ruby's fascination with comics and video games. Although he had minimal experience with them, he found himself enjoying how happy and energetic Ruby was talking about them.

Perhaps he should look into trying some of them.

More students stumbled in, looking like they had gone through a war zone until, eventually, the auditorium was filled with around half the people Jaune had seen on the cliff.

Ozma stepped onto the stage, "Around you are the teams that have passed Beacon orientation. I will now ask each group to come up here in turn and be assigned their team name."

The teams were announced until Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were called up to the stage.

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Ren Li, from now on, you will be known as team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Polite applause ensued, and Pyrrha gently tapped Jaune on the arm, giving him a warm smile.

"Whereto fearless leader?" she asked softly, if Jaune was to describe her expression, it was pure relief and happiness. A rather strange expression all things considered but Jaune let it pass without comment.

Nora loudly cheered, saying something about breaking everyone's legs, and Ren gave him a soft smile.

Jaune shrugged, nonplussed; he had never led a team before.

He gave his team a half smile, and strangely enough looking at their expressions made it so this smile was more felt than his usual ones.

He would have to write his Grandfather, maybe he would have some advice.