18

She should have taken one of the private bullhead's crew members to help her bring all of her luggage inside. Unfortunately, her desire to be as independent as possible led to the current predicament of her having to deal with crates of dust and her clothes stacked haphazardly on top of one another in the middle of a very warm day.

"Just summon something to push it for you." The person reflected from the metallic rate voiced its opinion.

Another thing that just wouldn't leave Weiss alone. She already looked up the proper prescription drugs but it would be very complicated to sneak them into the Schnee manor. And if she was caught in Beacon…

To make matters worse, Beacon didn't allow her to a secluded landing platform, apparently it was only for the headmaster or emergency use, and she now had to deal with gawking peasants.

"Don't call them that, they don't like it. And putting down rebellions is such a chore…"

Deep breaths Weiss, it's only stress getting to you.

So absorbed she was in her thoughts that she didn't notice two other applicants directly in front of her trolley.

The blonde girl, probably a head taller than her, barely noticed the collision and would probably continue walking if it wasn't for Weiss' indignant yelp and panicking shouting of the little girl with a red cloak next to her.

That does it! "Watch where you go, you utter imb-"

"Shut up." A sharp command from the aberration made her almost choke on her words to the confusion of the two girls in front of her.

"Do you want some help?" The smaller girl asked innocently. Only now did she notice that half of her possessions were covered in a red mass that prevented them from falling over.

"Take it." In her bewilderment she could only nod dumbly. The red mass put the crates back in place and then condensed into an entanglement of red vines.

"These should stay for an hour or two!" She cheerfully supplied, clearly proud of her work. The blonde just looked on, not caring in the slightest.

"Ehm… yes, thank you for your assistance." And as a proper person she would reward the action. She reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of lien cards, she didn't even bother to count, it was a spare change by her standards anyway. To her surprise, her helper had a different idea.

"Eh? It was nothing. I did it because I wanted to help, not for the money." She said awkwardly, unsure whether her rejecting the money would be offensive or not. As soon as she finished talking she started walking to the ceremony hall while dragging the other girl with her.

This place was very strange for Weiss, she did prefer an unknown freedom over the golden cage but it was quite a jarring experience. And what was with it with the voice being on edge over them.

"You should know that going into a battle blind is a foolish idea. Especially against such an unknown."

Weiss didn't know what it (or she) was talking about. They both seemed normal for her.

"Ah, my dear twin, while you use your eyes to see, I don't have that opportunity but I do see nonetheless. Those two weren't normal in the slightest."

-BBW-

It took her an unreasonable amount of time to lose all of the people who wanted an autograph, photo or those weirdos who kept asking for her hair or spit. She hoped none of those would get past the initiation. It may be a bit callous of her but she chose Beacon over Haven to avoid such incidents.

Pyrrha climbed out of the bathroom window, and while she was proud of both her muscles and appeal, it wasn't always a good thing. She saw a pair of girls on a rooftop, one with a ponytail, raging over something she saw at the airship docks, while the taller one with a black ribbon was looking directly at her and barely containing laughter. After realizing that hanging out of the window was the only thing she could do, it was a godsend providence when the girl at the roof threw her a rope. She didn't even question why she had one on her person in the first place.

"Thank you, I don't think I planned it out well enough." Pyrrha gave a sheepish smile as she climbed on the roof. Her black haired savior was smirking while the other one wore a small frown but it didn't seem it was her fault.

"Don't mention it." She brushed her off. "You being stuck in there would distract me from reading." She said, smirk still in full effect. "Why were you there anyway? Oh, were you trying to peep into the bathrooms?" The smirk changed into a grin as Pyrrha's cheeks grew red at the accusation.

"Wha-, no of cour-, how can you say such a thing! There was just a really big crowd at the exit and I had to improvise!" She defended herself. "What were you doing on the roof?!" She hoped that a change of topic would bring her embarrassment to an end.

"I was enjoying some natural light and a good book. Ilia was spying on the other students." She rolled her eyes at the feeble attempt to change the focus of the conversation but went along. But just to make sure she was able to use this as blackmail material later she needed to attach a name to the face. "So, does Beacon's amateurish peeper have a name or…?"

Pyrrha once more bristled at the insinuation, hopefully she would let it go soon enough. "Oh, right. My name is Pyrrha Nikos." And 3, 2, 1.

Nothing came. She gave them her professional smile and braced for the onslaught of fangirlism.

The one with the ponytail still had a slight frown and was throwing glances downward. Did that girl with an overencumbered trolley do something to her? There was no recognition in her eyes when she turned to her. "Ilia Amitola."

"Blake Belladonna." The tease answered absentmindedly, deep in thoughts as she looked at Pyrrha. "... sorry for the staring, the name just sounded familiar."

Ilia tensed up but after a quick gesture from Blake calmed down again. Pyrrha didn't pay that any mind. She was just too happy to find two people who didn't go crazy at the sight of her. Sadly it was quite clear that the two of them intended to be partners but the teams were made of four people. Now just to make sure they are okay with it. Small talk shouldn't be too hard.

"Well… I don't think I have ever met you but maybe if you went to Sanctum you could have heard it in passing." Just like that, as long as nobody was talking about the tournaments everything would be fine.

"Oh, no, we were both homeschooled. Don't sweat it. I've probably mixed something up." Blake gave her an awkward smile. "So you are from Mistral? What brought you to Vale?"

They continued to talk for a few more minutes until Ilia's spying was brought up and she went on a rant about Schnees and faunus rights. At that note Blake dragged her off to the cafeteria while Pyrrha went to the mess hall so she could set up some privacy. Maybe she should sleep in a closet, it wouldn't be that hard to open the lock with her semblance.

-BBW-

"I'll keep this brief. You've 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 finished his speech and stepped away from the microphone. The reactions were mixed. Some were insulted, some ignored and some already knew what was ahead of them. For Ruby, it was just showmanship. A foreboding speech to scare off the weak. She didn't mind. Better for them to stay safe than be caught unprepared in the field.

"You will gather at the bottom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins, be ready. You're dismissed."

Will we get to kill grimm and they will rate us? Or will we fight one of the professors? Or…

"Stop overthinking it, Rubes. We will see what tomorrow brings and deal with it." Yang stopped Ruby's mind from going mile a second. "And don't forget to get a proper sleep tonight! No weapon fiddling for the entire night." Ruby would definitely protest this but considering how tired she was from all the packing she did yesterday, she conceded.

"Fine… wanna go get dinner?"

-BBW-

Oh brothers! Pyrrha Nikos is here! I need to get her as my partner! We will be unstoppable! Weiss contained her excitement behind a practiced smile, now just to find her and approach with the proposition. She ran off to the bathroom to calm down and get her thoughts in order. Something that seemed rather futile, for as soon as she left the stall the wall with several sinks had one long mirror. And that thing was pouting of all things.

"That girl never fought with a partner before. Are you sure that you really want her to be yours or is this just about publicity?" Her 'reflection' leaned on the side of the mirror. There were traces of disapproval in her gaze.

Weiss quickly checked the other stalls before freezing the bathroom lock with a bit of ice dust.

"Why don't you leave me alone!" She finally snapped, she tried to ignore it but it just wouldn't go away. The reflection froze in place with eyes as wide as saucers before her expression changed into a beaming smile radiating pure bliss.

"You will finally talk to me?! I feared you would be in denial much longer…"

"There is nothing to be in denial about! You are just a noisy figment of my mind that came around due to the trauma! One day, I'll get rid of you!"

"Oh, my dear twin, I am so much more than that." She gave Weiss a warm smile and leaned towards the mirror's surface. But if you don't wish for my counsel, I shall let you rest. Good luck tomorrow." With those words her reflection became the usual one with a vertical scar over her eye.

Weiss barged out of the bathroom shortly after, not caring about the destroyed lock. It would be fixed after the school year starts properly and if any boy would try to take a peek… it would be his funeral.

-BBW-

"I get that she won the genetic lottery but you can't keep staring at her like that. Either stop or go have a word." Blake told her friend in a deadpan without taking her eyes away from the food. For the last five minutes in the cafeteria, Ilia kept staring at the blonde bombshell a few tables away. And it wasn't the usual annoyed or angry glare. A bit of worry, smidge of concern and some longing. Not a crush stare but weird nonetheless.

"It's not like that!" Ilia shot back and then quickly looked around. She leaned closer to her and whispered. "I think she may be a faunus too."

Blake quirked an eyebrow at that and gave the blonde a once over. Unless Ilia meant her being a cow faunus, and she really hoped that wasn't the case, although the horse jokes are fine, there wasn't anything unusual. There wasn't any piece of clothing out of place to hide her features and she was showing quite a bit of skin too. Maybe she was like Ilia and could pass for a human without much problems. Or maybe she hid the ears in the literal mane of shiny blonde hair. If she turns out a liones I won't be too surprised.

"Why you think so?" She had her own guesses but she wanted to hear Ilia out.

"Well, I tried to get a better look at her with my semblance and… she felt scaly… I don't know how to describe it." Ilia mumbled out.

Figures… Blake made sure to thank the brother gods and her parents for her semblance and the fact that she learned how to use it some time ago and didn't need to deal with it being wacky.

"Hey Blake… you have a better sense of smell than I do, can you try to… you know…" She kept muttering something under her nose at the end but Blake was now too focused on not simply grabbing Ilia and marching her over.

After taking a deep calming breath she spoke out. "First. I'm not that good. Second. See the girl near her? I don't know what she has to do with roses, but half of this room and the entire mess hall is covered in her scent, so even if you had an actual tracker they wouldn't be able to sniff anything. And third. I'm not some perv who goes around sniffing at people!"

At least Ilia had the decency to look ashamed.

"Yeah that red one is weird…"

This was turning into a major headache for Blake. "You know, I'm pretty sure your semblance is a big violation of privacy… What did you see about her."

Ilia activated her semblance again, her pupils covering the entire irises, before she turned it off and addressed Blake. "It's just really weird… Usually I can see at least some outlier of the body, nothing detailed but I can get a height or something like that. With her it's like she is just a red blob that doesn't even care about the shape of a human body."

"Well, maybe she is a shapeshifter? I've seen some really strange semblances." Blake supplied an idea. While a shapeshifter would make her really paranoid she was interested in the limits of that kind of semblance. "Finish the food already, I don't like leaving our stuff unattended in the main hall.

-BBW-

Pyrrha was really thankful that the initiates were being tested a small group at a time. And she even lucked out to be in the same group with Blake and Ilia. The few people who did recognize her were either too shy to come to her or were getting ready. Unfortunately there was still one exception.

"Hello Pyrrha, I believe it would be beneficial should we be on the same team." Weiss Schnee walked up to her with a polite but clearly fake smile. She was sure it was fake, she saw the same smile every time she saw her own photos in the magazines.

She inwardly signed. Hopefully people would start to treat her like a normal student at some point. "I wouldn't mind but I think it's meaningless to talk about it now. For all we know the headmaster can just do it at random." She tried to politely decline. She wasn't sure whether or not her message was received.

-BBW-

Ruby was a bit worried about what just transpired. Yang went into a bathroom to freshen up, then there was a small explosion, some yelling, and a ninja guy named Ren apologizing. Yang then came back with a small handwritten book on how to break the maximum amount of bones in the human body without killing the recipient. Penned by Nora Valkyrie.

Oh well, at least she found herself a friend.

-BBW-

Okay, these two would work fine together. These guys are terrible so they will go this way as not to jeopardize the chances of others. Ozpin mused in his mind as he applied the last-minute correction to the launching platforms, now seeing where every single one of them stood. Now it was time to address the hopeful students and get it over with.

He took a look at the assembled students, took a sip of his coffee and started.

"For years you have trained to become warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda smoothly took over.

"Now, I'm sure many of you heard the rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

Now that Glynda put a bit of worry into them, he could continue. If only they could stay quiet and not start to whine immediately…

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.

That said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

This caused a bit of a riot among the students, but some were clearly fine with those odds.

"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."

Hmm, either they don't take this seriously enough or are actually aware of the dangers. Considering the amount of puffed out chest… he would bet on the latter.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation but our instructors will not intervene."

His coffee became cold, so he took it as a sign to wrap it up.

"At the end of the forest you will find an abandoned temple."

Dammit, what did we put there this year? He subtly rocked back and forth to take a look at Glynda's scroll.

"It will contain several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff."

"Are there any questions?"

He saw a few people try to raise their hands but he quickly looked away. If they weren't able to understand instructions this straightforward it was their fault.

"Good luck."

And he launched all the pads simultaneously.

/

/

/

Infodump

Aura laws

Each kingdom has a different approach to the control of what are essentially minor superheroes. Vacuo has a hands off approach. Mistral has a voluntary registration. Vale has a mandatory registration and should a semblance appear, a short training course is recommended. In Atlas it's much more complicated. While not illegal to have an unlocked aura, it's simply not worth the effort more often than not. Should you have an unlocked aura while being a citizen of Atlas then

You must be registered

As soon as you are, you are legally considered a soldier in reserve. For example, should Jacques Schnee have his aura unlocked for extra protection and then accused of criminal activity, he would be tried in a military court. And there are plenty of people who would be more than happy to take away his power. Also, in case the kingdom is under attack, you will be called up, given a weapon and ordered to fight.

Should a semblance appear, you would be ordered to have a year of training/service after which, depending on how useful your semblance is, you can be kept in the army as a 'specialist lite'.

Replies

To merendinoemiliano: Yeah, about that… Jaune will show up soon-ish? Within this arc but not anytime soon. He will have slightly different backstory and won't be as useless but otherwise he will be somewhat the same. Think Jaune from the end of vol6 skillwise. Honestly, I just didn't want to deal with him and waste one or two characters to babysit him.

To alejandrogomezfe: No, Weiss' condition and maiden powers are different things. I will get to this AU maiden stuff soon enough, or at least a part of it. Weiss is a part of the main cast and her part will be done in the story proper, not in infodumps.