25

The blimp slowly descended to the platform, the entire thing shaking slightly all the while. Good thing the pilots had the airship equipped with handrails and anything that could be used as something to grab on during descents.

The rocking came to a halt as the airship finally landed, a metal bridge extending from the exits as the various personnel on board began to ready the protocols for disembarking passengers. All of us were herded into an area and formed in a line, to ensure a smooth disembarking experience. Gotta hand it to them, they didn't fuck around. I saw one of the applicants raise a stink about why he needed to be first, only to be ignored and reprimanded when he did it again.

Welp, that's one applicant who might as well say goodbye to their chances of getting a spot. No doubt, Ozpin would still let him take the test, and if he passed – provided he did get a relic – he would still be able to salvage his education and career. But what he's displaying as of now makes him more of a barking dog than a savage lion, if anything else.

Such a shame too, he had good muscles.

One, however, was immediately ushered out by the personnel, and to be honest, yeah, that was the right call. Screw protocol if it meant getting my ironed-out clothes puked on, am I right? I swear, Jaune really needed something to get if his motion sickness got in the way of a mission where lives were on the line. Just imagining the feelings of a hapless victim going to die because the one supposed to save you had motion sickness, thus making him a little later was cringe-inducing.

As we filtered out of the airship, we saw said blond boy puking his guts out at a nearby trash can. Nodding in sympathy, I patted his back, causing him to jerk slightly. When his upturned eyes glanced at me, he gave me a grateful nod and went back to puking his guts out.

"Yeesh, gotta feel sorry for vomit boy." Yang cringed but made sure to give him a wide berth. She didn't want a repeat of canon where Jaune accidentally puked over her shoes. Looking at her shoes, even with my pleb eyes, I could tell that what she was wearing were designer brand shoes. I winced, yeah, no wonder Yang was angry when she got her shoes puked on. "Anyway, Beacon lookin' fine."

Yang whistled while Ruby clung to her like a shy little kid, if said kid was vibrating purely with excitement as she watched the other applicants and bonafide students go by with their weapons on full display. She was pretty much making anime faces while drooling all over Yang's shoulder, prompting the older sibling to cringe in disgust and push her off with a grunt.

"Ew, Rubes. Gross!" Ruby clammed her mouth shut with an obvious blush, her gun nut tendencies taking over once again.

"Sorry! It's just… you already know how I am around weapons." She poked the tips of her fingers together, cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk.

"Rubes, they're just weapons." And now Ruby was offended.

"Weapons? Weapons!? They aren't just weapons!" Ruby then went into a tirade, eyes constricted like a girl possessed. "They are an extension of our very beings! A partner! A soulmate!"

"Yep, classic Ruby." I offhandedly comment, both Yang and I chuckling to ourselves at Ruby's expense. Said girl glowed bright red when some of the other applicants and students glanced her way. Taking a page from the cliche shy girl type, she immediately hid behind Yang, who gave her an amused glance.

"Oh right, by the way, me and the girls have some catching up to do." Yang's friends suddenly popped up behind her like the Avengers, all of them with grins that turned into magnificent scowls when they laid eyes on my magnanimous figure.

Yep, they still remember me trolling them. It was a memorable experience, of course they're gonna remember. Ah, the times they spent cleaning themselves after an encounter with Mr. Feces was glorious.

"So… See ya! I leave her to you Jack!" In the next moment, Yang and her squad of friends that weren't mentioned in the show after their brief introduction zoomed past us like speeding trucks. Ruby, the poor girl that she was, was subjected to the sudden force and was made into a spintop.

Not wanting to let this go the same as canon, I immediately grabbed her shoulders, the sudden stop causing Ruby to nearly cough up her breakfast.

"Whoo… Thanks for that Jack…" Ruby groaned and pushed herself off of me, a frown marring her youthful face. "Urgh… I'm gonna make Yang regret that."

"You know what, that makes two of us." I frowned as well. Back in the show, it was a gag and a way to introduce another character. It was also funny, but now that this was my reality, looking at it from a family member's perspective, what Yang did was abhorrent. "What she did here just wasn't right."

Why would you leave your younger sister in favor of your friends, when you knew that said sister had social anxiety issues? I'm gonna have to talk with Yang later. Bring Ruby along as well so we could keep the record straight.

"I… Y-yeah…" Ruby nodded weakly, but no doubt resolute in her conviction to make Yang regret what she did. Hmm… Did Yang smuggle alcohol into Beacon? Because if that was the case, I knew what was gonna make her flip. The perfect revenge, plus, it would make sure that the blond didn't die of liver failure. Can't have her becoming Qrow 2.0… Then again, we have Aura. No wonder Qrow isn't dead yet with how much he drinks.

"Ahem." A fake cough caught our attention and our heads turned to see the source. My eyes caught a flash of white… Actually, it was all white, comparable to Discord light mode. It was so bright, I had to squint just to even look at the feminine figure glaring my way. "Could you please move aside, you're blocking the way."

Both Ruby and I blinked. We looked at each other, then to our surroundings. We were still in the landing area and the whole place was an open field of marble blocks. Turning back to regard the very white girl, I began to speak.

"Uh… Couldn't you just go around us?" The girl's scowl deepened, her unamused glare piercing into our very souls. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but holy shit does Weiss Schnee have the mother of all glares. I guess living with Jaques Schnee does that to a person.

Her eyes narrowed and she just waited. Likely waiting for us to move. Too bad for her, I'm not just a foot rug to be stepped on. She thinks she can boss me around because she was the heiress of an international company, well she has another thing coming.

I didn't move, my eyes never leaving her person. Ruby made to move; however my hands held her in place.

"Well, sorry princess, but I guess you'll have to remain stuck here for the foreseeable future." I snark at the possible future teammate of Ruby. Said future teammate's left eye twitched, the scar that went through it a detail that will forever cement itself that she was also badass. Not to hate on the girl, but she was a bitch in the first few seasons, so it being directed at me made me want to troll her into oblivion.

She couldn't rely on her father because Jaques didn't want her becoming a Huntress. So, free bully! Plus, she could do without that stick up her ass. In this line of work. You can't just snub a person because you hate them. Working together, even with shit relationships, is a must when in a crisis.

"Excuse me?" Weiss sauntered up to me with the bearings of a high noblewoman, and yes, that included death glare that could murder a man. "Do you know who I am?"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." I then made a face that no doubt signified a bit of annoyance. "Also, might want to get rid of that stick up your bum. Could lower your chances to make friends with your future teammates."

"Ugh, of course. It just had to be a crass applicant." For her part, she didn't go into a tirade. However, she wasn't finished. She fished out a vial of Dust from her pack and shook it right in front of me. "Do you know what this is?"

"A vial of Dust." Ruby, being the ever helpful but naive girl that she was, supplied the answer to the heiress. And for some inexplicable reason, she then shook it right in front of Ruby. And as the canon route goes, Ruby gets an allergic reaction and sneezes.

One big boom later and all of us were covered in soot, unharmed but filthy. Weiss snarled and threw the vial away, the glass already cracked from the initial explosion.

"Unbelievable!" Weiss dusted the Dust(lol) off with a scowl.

"Hey, hey, don't pin this on us. You're the one who shook that vial in front of Ruby here!" I clutched Ruby close, the girl's eyes still swirling in shock and confusion. A vein nearly popped on her head as Weiss looked like she was ready to throttle both me and Ruby, me specifically because I was being a dick.

"You… I will remember this." And without another word, Weiss strutted away, her heels clicking after each and every step, all the while dragging her luggage stacked on top of each other on a cart.

"... Welcome to Beacon, I guess." Ruby sighed dejectedly. I raised my hand and landed it atop her scalp, rubbing it lightly like one would a young child.

"Eh, don't worry. People like that are a pain to deal with, but they have their buttons." I shrugged and scratched the bottom of my chin. "Know which ones to push, and you'll have them eating out of the palm of your hands."

"But I don't want to do that." Ruby pouted and all I could do to console her was pat her head. For some reason, she liked the action. Reminded her of times when her mother was alive, even if she didn't remember that much from her earlier years.

"Uh, hey." A voice from behind caught our attention. Looking back, we saw vomit boy looking at us with an uneasy smile. "Thanks for looking out for me. I swear, motion sickness is always ignored. All I'm saying is that it's a major problem all over Remnant. I don't know why it isn't combated as much. Imagine a Huntsman getting motion sick on their way to a mission site."

And there he goes, ranting about his glaring disability. Gotta hand it to him, even he knows how bad it is to get motion sickness when on the job.

"Anyway, shall we go? The orientation is bound to start any time now." The two looked at me like I had grown a second head. They then rapidly paled when they realized that one of the most important events in their lives was going to happen, and they were either going to be late or absent.

"Quick! We have to hurry!" Ruby grabbed both mine and Jaune's hand, not caring that the other guy she was holding was a complete stranger – she was just that nice. Though, I gave my condolences to Jaune. If he already had problems with motion sickness on airships and bullheads, imagine being punted through top speed via Ruby's semblance.

"Wait, do you kn-" I wasn't given the time to finish, and Ruby zoomed through the path, evidently not using her aura because, yes, she wasn't able to use her semblance to bring along other people just yet. I kind of forgot about that. Jaune also, was a bit shocked and a smidge confused. It didn't take long before Ruby stopped, face flushed red as she tried to cover her head with her hood.

"There, there. Only me and blondey over here saw you doing an oopsie." Ruby hid even further within her cloak. I looked at Jaune and he turned away while scratching his cheek. "Anyway, this way. You're lucky I have the map memorized when we first left."

And so, off we went. Damn, this was one lengthy encounter.

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We stepped into the crowded auditorium, a large number of the applicants murmuring to one another to pass the time. None of them deigned to look at us, too busy stowing in their thoughts about the upcoming orientation.

An arm raised amongst the crows caught our attention. Looking at the source, we saw Yang who was waving at us with a huge grin on her face. Surrounding her were her cohorts, who were still giving me the stink eye.

We were about to meet them, only for a familiar living discord light mode to stop us on our path. The moment she stopped right in front of us, she gave us a pamphlet, or more accurately, shoved it into Ruby's hands.

"Sorry for earlier." Weiss turned her head away, clearly embarrassed from having to do this in public. "This is my apology." She then glared at me. "You, however, I haven't forgotten your insults."

She turned around and went back to her seat, eyes closed as she elegantly laid her behind against the very uncomfortable chair.

"What was that about?" I scratch my head. I know what she meant about her holding a grudge. Hell, I would too if I was insulted directly to my face, but I was more curious about the pamphlet she gave to Ruby. "And what's that?"

"Uhh… The title says, 'A Guide to Different Types of Dust and Their Uses - Crackhead Edition!'" As Ruby read the title out loud, she began to get even more excited, her voice getting louder and louder. "Jack! This is big! It's a limited-edition magazine on various Dust types! A magazine that isn't sold in just any stores! I always wanted to get my hands on this! Ohhh… I can just imagine the different combinations and mixtures to make bullets!"

I sighed and let Ruby mutter to herself, my hand dragging the teen as she rattled different types of calibers for each and every gun type. Beside me, Jaune was obviously confused, his eyes never leaving the muttering girl right beside him.

"Uh, is she okay?"

"Yep, don't worry. This is normal for her." I shrugged. "By the way, look alive. Blond brawler coming at your twelve."

"Coming at my what?" Jaune blinked, only for his head to meet a callused palm that stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey Jack, Rubes. Vomit boy." Yang greeted each and every one of us with a smile. The last title, however, insulted Jaune, as it should. "Finally arrived, huh?"

"Hey!" Jaune wanted to retort, but his bravado vanished when he realized he was talking to the girl that bodied Cardin. You know, the giant mass of muscle that towered most of the other applicants here.

"'Sup. So, mind telling me why you ditched Ruby?" I stared at her unamused. Yang's response was a weak grin.

"You had it handled. Plus, I doubt you and my friends mix well together." One quick glance at her friends and it told me everything I needed to know.

"... Fine, just look out for your sister a bit more." I gestured towards Ruby, who was still reading and worshiping the magazine like it was a holy relic. "Anyway, I forgot to ask for this, but what's your name, blondey?"

"Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it." He then made a pose. I… Well… Looking at it from the screen of a television was amusing. Looking at it in real life just made me feel second-hand embarrassment.

"Really?" Yang, for her part, actually seemed amused. In fact, she looks like she has found another thing to play with. I winced. Yeah, Jaune has my condolences, but I sure as hell ain't voicing it out aloud. What I could do, however, was divert attention.

"Hey look, it's starting." I pointed at the stage and those listening to us immediately turned to the elevated platform. From behind the curtains situated at the sides, both Ozpin and Glynda made their appearance, faces stoic. They slowly made their way to the lone microphone at the center of the stage at a steady pace. Once there, Ozpin tapped on the microphone causing the speakers around the auditorium to blare to life, my ears ringing from the feedback.

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose… direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin then stepped away from the microphone and gave the stage to Glynda.

"All of you are to deposit your weapons in the locker rooms right down the hallway. The numbers assigned to your ticket are your locker numbers. You all may explore the academy for the day but convene back at the Grand Hall once night falls. It has been repurposed to act as your temporary lodgings for the night. Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM is the start of the initiation. Failure to arrive on time will result in disqualification. Dismissed."

And without further ado, both Glynda and Ozpin left the stage back the way they came from. Meanwhile, most of the students around us had question marks hovering above their heads. Hell, Yang and Ruby had them too, and they already met with the headmaster weeks before.

"So, uh… What now?" I asked the girls and all I received were confused looks. Well, this was going to be a long day. At least Ozpin was still sticking to canon. Acting as the enigmatic Headmaster must truly be tiring. I pity the man.

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A/N: This chapter delay was brought to you by: Blackouts. Stupid electric company making me lose tons and tons of progress with writing the chapters...

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