Initiation IV

"This year's newcomers seem promising enough."

In a darker room, sitting behind a table sat a line of Huntsmen, all teachers at the renowned Beacon Academy. In front of the table stood the well-known Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress of said academy, silently observing the Huntsmen and screens while regularly glancing toward a specific screen.

"Promising enough is a bit harsh, isn't it? I mean this is the smallest number of people we've had to save in years."

"Yes, but he has a point. Though we haven't had to save that many, most of those who made it through either fought very little or barely made it past the more entry-level Grimm because they thought themselves too good or couldn't get along with those around them. We even had to step in to stop a fight between two students, and now we have to move around some pairings because of them."

"The three of you make good points, but even if the majority are mediocre or lesser, the better ones are definitely above average. Such as the team that took down the pack of Ursa without getting hit a single time. The team that took out two Death Stalkers at the same time? And let's not forget about that magnificent show of prowess against that Nevermore! You know, it reminds me of a similar time in my youth. I had been facing a Nevermore, solo of course, and…"

As the rest of the Huntsmen drowned out the flamboyant, often over-the-top recreation of events he often made, they began placing and grading the new first-years. Nothing affects their official grades or status, just simply knowing who best to pair with during classes for the best improvement.

But among the graded teams, there was one particular one that stood out among them. One which managed something most before them couldn't dream of pulling off during their Initiation. A team that would most definitely go on to do great things, should they survive, and they were…

<Argento POV>

"And finally: Argento Chrono, Celestia Zeros, Dawn Trudeau, Eugene Cordova."

As our names were said, we walked on stage from the side. Looking out to the crowd I could see all the previous 24 teams that were made before us grouped together; a select few were looking incredibly confused for reasons I don't care about.

Then there were people who I assumed to be our teachers around them, among which I noticed two familiar teachers from RWBY's time.

"The four of you retrieved the Silver V Cards. From this day forward you will work together as team AZTC [Aztec Gold], led by Argento Chrono."

For a short moment as the collected crowd applauded I gained a confused look on my face because there were no Aztecs in the history of Remnant. Then I simply let it slide as a shade of gold because that's a can of worms I'd rather keep closed.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked over to see a smiling Eugene, seeming quite happy for me, which I responded to with a smile. As we walked off stage and took the spot directly in front of the rest, seeing as that was the closest point, Glynda walked on stage with a tablet in hand.

"Now that we have the final team formed, we have taken the liberty to make the introduction to your daily life as simple as possible. You will have a map of the school grounds sent to your scrolls, detailing areas you are allowed to be with or without permission.

Do take note that you must gain permission because those areas are either too dangerous or simply faculty-only areas. Attached with your maps you will all find your schedule for the semester and a map leading to your dorms.

Your year will all be situated in the student building named Polaris, and classes do not begin until next week. Take this time to familiarize yourselves with your dorm rooms and your campus, but most importantly with each other.

That is all for now; your uniforms are in your dorms along with your belongings that were taken before Initiation. You are dismissed."

At her dismissal a tidal wave of held-back chattering exploded, visibly causing one of the faunus to flinch due to her more enhanced hearing. Noticing my concerned gaze she gently smiled and waved, which I took as her saying she was okay.

Smiling back and nodding, I looked to my team as we began walking to our dorm. Then I noticed Celestia giving me a look I can't quite describe.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just seemed quite concerned about that girl over there. She catch your fancy already?"

"No, the noise just seemed to bother her; given her ears, I assumed she must've been more affected by the sudden increase in volume, but she seemed okay. Why, you worried I'll steal the ladies from you?"

Lightly flapping her wings so she slightly hovered over the ground Celestia began going backward, staying a little in front of us as we continued on our way to our dorms along with some of the other teams. While some went to explore the campus until dinner, which was later than usual to account for Initiation, the rest of us decided our day had been long enough to warrant a rest.

"Nah, I don't have lady problems, they love me."

"It seems we have something in common then."

"Wow, I didn't know you had such a large ego. What shall I ever do with a leader unable to see past their own mirror?"

Unbeknownst to me, there was familiar trouble brewing behind me

<Dawn POV>

As I watched Argento and Celestia mess around so naturally and somehow perfectly navigate their way to the dorm, I couldn't help a twinkle appearing in my eyes.

"Fufufu~"

[Eugene] - "??"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Probably not, but if you're plotting something you should do something about the face you're making - it's a dead giveaway."

With an eye twitch at his words I raised my fist and coughed lightly into it, and once I lowered it my "plotting face", which I've been told is something I have by my family and now Eugene, went away and was replaced by my resting smile. Making sure to lower my voice just a tad bit more, just in case the duo in front of us could hear me, I continue on while keeping conscious control over my face.

"Well as I was saying, from what I've gathered our dorms consist of four rooms total. One bedroom, one living room, a closet, and a bathroom. All of these are shared between the four of us, so we'll all be sleeping in the same room."

"Okay, and what are you getting at?"

"Well, what do you say conveniently making sure they have beds situated next to each other?"

As he looked between me and the duo a few times, he seemed to finally get it as his eyes slightly widened before settling on me with an amused look.

"Are you seriously shipping your teammates right now?"

"What, and you can't see why?"

"…fair point, but you really have to do something about your plotting face."

"But I thought I was controlling it!"

"You are, but it's really obvious when you have it on. I can only do so much, just make sure they don't notice."

Taking another look at Eugene I see a playful smirk resting on his normally calmly neutral face.

And I have to say, he looks quite good that way.

<Argento POV>

Once we finally reached dorm room Polaris, Celestia stopped hovering in front of me and began walking slightly behind me as the other two caught up to us completely. In front of us was a massive building, easily fitting 100 students and then some.

I had a guess the dorms, and Beacon in general, would be much bigger because of how much larger and more in-depth the world seems to be compared to RWBY. But this is just ridiculously enormous.

[Argento] - "Well I knew it would be a big building to house all 100 students but damn, it looks more like a high-end hotel."

[Celestia] - "Instead of gawking at it from the outside, how about we go inside to do that? We were on the top floor, right?"

[Eugene] - "Yes, Floor 6 room 5."

Finally breaking away from staring at the massive student building, which was somehow only one of four, we made our way in to find a massive hall filled with various activities to pass the time.

There was some table tennis-looking tables, some tables that were most definitely pool tables, a various collection of tables for different card games, a mini-bar that seemed to be locked and empty for now, and a large selection of varying gathering rooms that all had walls of glass; behind these walls were various seating arrangements and TVs that no doubt held many different games and movies.

It seemed the trust they were putting in us students was simultaneously very high and mediocre, given the freedom of so many choices to slack off but cutting off the alcohol for now. Ignoring the obvious attempts to create inter-team relations among our year for a moment, I guided us to the room upstairs, where we were given the choice of an elevator or stairs.

Knowing that it is most likely we will be using the elevator or window to go in and out of our dorm, I decided to make it simple and choose the elevator. Now in the back of my head was a constant slight worry over Celestia's wings, since they are definitely larger than comfortable for the space shown in RWBY, but when the elevator came down and opened to an industrial-sized elevator my worries were mostly erased.

Though I didn't know Celestia caught this worry and the sigh of relief that came with it since she decided to not comment and simply smile. I noticed as I pressed button 6 that there were 7 buttons, which I assume made the 7th button for the roof, which was definitely somewhere I wanted to go eventually.

Finally stood in front of our room, the nameplate AZTC was proudly stuck to the right of the double doors. Doing as was instructed, I swiped my scroll across the nameplate, causing a faint shade of gold to pulse across the name as a clicking sound was heard.

[A/N: The shade of gold was their team's namesake, so for other teams that have team names after colors it will be those shades and colors for their pulse.

Also, I will be putting a rough idea I drew of the floor plan I invision when I see their dorm. While I am confident in my description, I know some people really like visuals which is why I try to do so when I can.]

Putting my hands on the handles and exhaling, I pushed them down and inward, opening the door to my resting place for the next 4 years; what greeted me was most definitely something I could get used to.

Unlike RWBY the door into the room was double doored and led into what I could only describe as a living room. Honestly, I thought the double doors were a bit much, but they barely took up any of the free space that was in this room, since it was extremely spacious with two single doors in the corners on the right wall with a similar double door in the middle of the left wall.

On either side of the double door to my left was a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf covering the entire wall. It extended to some of the back-left wall until it stopped a little before the massive window letting in plenty of light and, if open at this height, definitely plenty of airflow.

Situated in the middle of the room were three couches and a long, low table; one long couch across the length of it facing the right wall with smaller couches on each end of the table. Across from the long couch was a wall-mounted TV that was pretty massive in size for a personal TV, and the corresponding remote seemed to be laying on a small shelf directly below it with a small booklet I can only guess is a guide on how to use the TV.

Moving on from that I went to the first door on the right, the one closest to the entrance, and opening it inward I was greeted with a small room that was connected to two other rooms, both with a sliding door. Not commenting on the fact the other three were just following me while we looked around, I gazed at the objects to note that there was a washer and dryer in the corner next to the door, and next to those was a decent-sized collection of bins.

Putting two and two together, I opened the sliding door across from the swinging door to find a decently sized room for the single toilet against the opposite wall. On the left wall was a good-sized sink with a mirrored cabinet above it.

Going back out and to the next sliding door, there was a minor step down into a bathroom tile, and looking around I found a neat setup. Along the wall opposite the entrance were four separate showers with a curtained front, and in an alcove on the other end of the room was a massive and deep bath, no doubt capable of fitting all four dorm mates.

Each shower and the bath had its own drain, while the floor between the two held two drains on each side for any spillage out of the other areas. Opening each of the curtains I noticed there were no supplies for actually taking a shower. Instead, an identical laminated sheet was in each detailing all the different products Beacon offers free of charge and where to get them.

Though I was excited to finally take a shower after the long two days it's been, I decided that finishing the tour, eating, and making sure the girls got theirs first was only fair. Exiting the bathroom I guided the ducklings behind me to the second door on the right wall, this one in the corner with the window, and opening it I found a large and slightly cluttered closet for the four of us.

The only things cluttered were the several packs and boxes from each of us holding our stuff that was situated in four small piles around the room; on top of each of our piles were several pairs of the uniform, tailor-made with measurements sent in well-before. On the wall left of the door was a window in the middle, letting in plenty of natural light and air to the large closet.

Directly across the window was a floor-to-ceiling mirror, and on every available surface were deep alcoves with numerous hangars, bars, compartments, and more for the various items of clothing and even jewelry the students might have. With more than enough space for 4 people to change at once, I was seeing a pattern of big enough for 4 at a time, which works for same-sex teams.

Finally, exiting the closet we made our way to the bedroom, and opening the double doors situated in the middle of the left wall led to a room much bigger than the ones in RWBY ever looked. Glancing about the room, I made a note that there was for sure no way Team RWBY would need to make those comically dangerous beds this time.

Situated along the wall opposite the doors were four beds, each with a nightstand to its left or right and with a chest at the foot of the bed. Each bed had to be at least King sized, and there was a decent gap between the four beds right in the middle, pretty much creating two pairs of two beds.

The wall to the right of the doors held a window of similar size to the living room's, and along the ends of each wall on each side, connected to the wall that held the door, were four big desks with decently sized chairs with a low back. Going over to one of the desks, on it were smaller laminated sheets detailing different types of desks and chairs that Beacon offers to switch or make should the students wish to change theirs.

Looking back to address how we should make the sleeping arrangements, I noticed Dawn had already pulled Eugene over to the duo of beds by the wall away from the window. Shrugging at their actions, I took the bed closest to the window since the one next to it had more open space to move around for Celestia's wings.

As I began talking to the others about the showering and bathing situation for now, I decided to ignore the curious gaze that kept staring at me. I have an idea why Celestia is doing so, but if she wanted to talk to me about it she would.