The First Step

The next morning, the ballroom was buzzing with excitement. After all, it was time for the freshmen to finally show off what skills they had. Once dawn sunlight shone through the windows and curtains, people were waking up in quick succession. Ruby had been one of the first, as she was very excited for the first of the few events that would take place in her time at Beacon that energized her to her core. She would be able to show off her skills and see the skills of those around her. She especially wanted to see how skilled Weiss and Blake were in combat. Other than that, she only knew Jaune and…well, it was pretty obvious how skilled he was. But before she could fight, one thing had to be done; getting ready.

Ruby turned to Yang and shook her violently. Yang groaned as she groggily awoke from her slumber. "What do you waaaaanntt?" she said, yawning and sluggish.

"Hurry and get your lazy butt up, Yang! We've got no time to waste! Today's the initiation!"

"What's the rush, sis? It's literally sunrise and they're not gonna kick us out if we show up a little late…besides they probably won't even start without us…" she said, slowly falling back into sleep.

Ruby grabbed her again and shook her so violently that her head was flailing back and forth. "NO! NO! NO! DON'T YOU DARE SLEEP AGAIN YOU LAZY BLONDE GORILLA! GET UP!!!"

Suddenly, Glynda's voice rang through the ballroom, but differently from last night. Previously it had been her actual voice, but this time, it came from a speaker.

"Students, be sure to get ready on time. If you miss this Initiation, there will be no second chances. Regardless of how talented or skilled you may think you are."

Ruby shook Yang even more violently, who had heard the message, fortunately. She was now wide awake in shock as she realized that what she had said was all wrong. They would kick them out if they missed their Initiation, their first assessment.

After the message, everyone had broken into a cold sweat and were now rushing to the toilets to brush and freshen up and shower. They then rushed to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. And then they rushed to their locker rooms, where they had been asked to store their weapons yesterday. Throughout this entire tiresome process that lasted around 2 hours with every student considered, Ruby saw a pair several times; a short, fair-skinned girl with turquoise eyes and short orange hair that reached down to her neck and burst out in different directions at the tips along with a few thin, messy bangs on her face that covered parts of her eye, and a boy with pale white complexion, pale pink eyes and long, black hair, tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back. There was also a magenta streak in his hair. Ruby discovered that the girl's pajamas seemed quite cute. Other than that, she was always talking, bubbling with energy, while the guy just stood there, calmly listening to her talk endlessly and occasionally sighing, with a somewhat sad expression on his face, probably just tired of her talking continuously with no regards to anything. From what Ruby could pick up, she heard them talking about bribing the Headmaster and being together but not 'together', whatever that meant. The guy finally spoke up in the locker room, where they were having an intriguing discussion about sloth noises.

"Nora?" he said.

"Yes, Ren?" replied the girl called Nora.

"I don't think sloths make much noise."

Nora thought for a second, which was evident given the turning of her eyes. "…And that's why IT'S PERFECT! Nobody will even guess we're working together!"

At that point, Ruby just stopped listening, and just looked at them in confusion as they, or at least Nora, skipped past her happily.

"So, little sister, you seem awfully glad today." Yang walked up to Ruby and her locker as she put her golden gauntlets, Ember Celica, on. They were both wearing the same outfit as when they first arrived at Beacon, although Ruby's was slightly different now; she seemed to be wearing a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front.

Ruby giggled before replying. "Yeeeeeep! No more awkward small talk or getting to know people!" She then pulled out Crescent Rose, in its inactive gun form, from the locker, and stroked it like how someone would stroke their pet. "Today, I let my sweetheart do the talking." She made an ugly sight as she hugged her weapon close.

"Well…" Yang cleared her throat to break Ruby out of her weird romance. "Just remember; you aren't the only one going through Initiation today. If you wanna grow and become the Hunter you've dreamed of becoming, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together with them."

Ruby groaned and made a sour face. "Ughhh, you sound like dad!" She slammed Crescent Rose onto the wooden bench beside them. "Okay, first of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting? And second, I don't need people to help me grow. I. Drink. Milk." As she said this, she pridefully crossed her arms and raised her chin, as if not growing out of milk put her above Yang.

"Okay…and what about teams?"

Ruby's pride shattered as she turned away from Yang. "Um…I don't know, maybe I'll just join your team?"

Yang spoke somewhat nervously and pulled her hair forward to stroke it. This was a first in behavior for Yang. "Hm…I don't know, maybe you should…join another team?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes at Yang and walked up to her threateningly. "Yaaaang…are you saying you don't want to be on the same team as me?"

Yang threw up her arms in surrender. "W-what!? No! Of course not, I do want to be on the same team, I just thought…maybe it could help you break out of your shell and meet new people and all?"

Ruby had a horrified face that was ironically comedic. "What the-!? I don't need to break out of any shell, that's so-"

"-Ridiculous! There's no way I left my gear in locker 636! I would have remembered counting that high…" Jaune had walked in between them out of nowhere, holding a small piece of paper in his hands. In the midst of searching for his locker he walked past another pair; Weiss and a tall and quite fit and toned red-haired young woman. Her red hair was tied in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a ringlet. Bangs of red hair fell on her face and a brownish-gold circlet with sharp designs and a sort of wide V formed in the middle that were adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains on the sides, hanging over the ears. It gave her the look of a sort of war goddess.

She had pale white skin and vivid green eyes, along with light green eyeshadow in the far upper corners of her eyes. She was wearing quite a bit of armor compared to other females in Beacon and seemed to be exceptionally skilled in combat. Her top was a piece of armor; a brown overbust corset that had a vertical strip of lighter brown down its center. A large bronze gorget was around her neck with an emerald embedded in the middle. Underneath this, she wore black elastic mini shorts and a red ankle-length sash wrapped over the shorts. On her arms, she had brown opera-length gloves, with a bronze bracer on her left forearm and a bronze bracelet on her left bicep. On her sash was belt that had a circular bronze plate with the emblem of a spear diagonally placed on a round shield engraved in it on her right hip, while there were two pouches on her left. On her legs, she wore elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh and continued downwards into her boots. She also had bronze cuisses that begun from her mid-thigh and ended above her knees. This armor was worn over black thigh-high socks and brown boots that reached up to her mid-calf and had a bronze trim.

"So, Pyrrha, have you decided what team you want to join? I'm sure everyone must be eager to be on the same team as someone so strong and popular as you." Weiss spoke to this girl after a few moments of awkward, nervous silence. Pyrrha was a quite famous individual, after all. As a result, she tried flattering her and end up on her good side, speaking with her high-and-mighty attitude to appear confident.

"Hmm…I'm not quite sure. I was hoping to let the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha replied in a polite manner, unexpected from someone of such high stature.

Weiss was somewhat taken aback by her way of talking, but continued with her grand plan, nonetheless. "Well, I was thinking we could be on the same team together!"

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied to her with a gentle smile.

"Great!" Weiss was blowing up with excitement on the inside, which she obviously could not show on her face. If teaming up with Pyrrha was successful, it would be perfect!

'The smartest girl in class joining forces with the strongest girl in class…we'll be unstoppable! I can see it! The bright future that awaits! We'll be popular! Celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!' was what was running through Weiss's head. Pyrrha gave her a confused look when she turned away from her and giggled to herself.

However, as if on cue through a horrible twist of fate, Jaune walked in between them and leaned on Weiss's locker with his right arm.

"You know what else is great? Me." Weiss turned around and almost immediately formed a sour expression. In contrast, Pyrrha gave him a curious look. She had seen him yesterday in the amphitheater and heard him saying something about wanting to talk to a nice and quirky girl. "Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." He continued talking, ignoring the looks given to him, trying to please Weiss. Clearly, it wasn't successful.

"You again?" she replied, giving a dissatisfied look.

Pyrrha came in between and waved at him, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jaune ignored her, sliding in between the two, which was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise for Pyrrha. A sense of relief began tugging at her.

Jaune continued his attempts. "So, Weiss!" He turned to Weiss, noticing she didn't have any earrings, unlike yesterday. "Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me yesterday." He puffed out his chest, standing pridefully and raised his arm to try and show off his muscles, which weren't very impressive. He gave her a sad attempt of a handsome, manly smile.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Weiss facepalmed to stop looking at him.

"Oh, no, no need to be embarrassed!" Jaune kept smiling at her, feeling slick, as he shook his hands in front of her. He then crossed his arms again and turned a little, still keeping his eyes on her. "So, been hearing rumors about teams. I was thinking maybe you and me would make a good one. What do you say?" He winked at her, at which she nearly gagged.

Pyrrha interrupted his poor attempts. "Actually, I think teams are comprised of 4 students, so-"

"You don't say." Jaune looked at Weiss, and then slid up to Pyrrha, trying to hit two birds with one stone. "Well, hot-stuff, play your cards right, and maybe you could end up on the winning team." He pointed at himself with his thumb, trying to look confident and prideful.

"Wait!" Weiss butted in between them, pushing them away from each other with her arms. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

Jaune gave a smile and bent forward slightly. "Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."

Weiss was slightly flattered by that nickname. "Well, this is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" she waved at him from behind Weiss.

"She graduated at the top of her class in Sanctum Academy."

Jaune looked at her with a poker face. "Never heard of it."

Pyrrha felt the comforting warmth of relief in her stomach grow as Jaune said this.

Weiss gave an attitude-filled scoff. "She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row! It was a new record!"

Jaune simply raised his eyebrow in confusion. "The what?"

And again. It took everything to contain her relieved grin. Even then, her shoulders relaxed.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at him and flared her nostrils. 'This guy…' Out of frustration, she flailed her arms wildly and gave the only other grand achievement she could think of. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" she shouted.

Jaune gasped, utterly surprised. Pumpkin Pete's was his favorite…well, everything. He was wearing its merchandise at that very moment! "That's you!? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Weiss crossed her arms and smirked at his reaction.

Her stomach sank, and now it took everything to contain her frown, but Pyrrha still beamed back at him. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss glared at him as she asked him this, hoping he would break his unsightly act of confidence.

Jaune drooped and looked down at his feet. "Yeah, I guess not…sorry."

Pyrrha walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, still smiling. "Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!"

Jaune looked at her, visibly flattered. "Oh, stop it!"

Weiss simply looked on at this with a sour face. "Seriously, stop it. Don't make him delusional."

Jaune slid up to her and smirked. "Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick!" As he said this, he bent forward again. "Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?" He moved in closer.

Weiss put out her arms, trying to keep him away. "That's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help?"

Jaune turned to Pyrrha, hoping to play some slick moves on her too, but instead he was met with a red-gold javelin straight to his hoodie. He screamed as he was pulled across the room and pinned onto a column. "I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called after him, giving a nervous smile.

Before Jaune could reply, the speakers rang out a voice again. It was Professor Goodwitch. "Would all freshman students please gather at Beacon Cliff for Initiation? Again, all freshman students gather at Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss walked by a pinned-to-the-wall Jaune and scoffed at him. Pyrrha followed after her. "It was nice meeting you!" she said, trying to sound polite and apologetic.

Jaune simply sighed. "Likewise…"

Yang walked up to him alongside Ruby. "Having some trouble there, lady-killer?"

Jaune sighed again. "I don't get it…my dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong…"

Ruby helped him up, while Yang continued walking. "Maybe 'Snow Angel' wasn't the best start." she said, giggling.

"Come on, Jaune. Let's go." Ruby said as she hauled him along.

At Beacon Cliff, a cliffside some distance away from the campus that stood over a lush, green landscape of trees, several students were gathered and lined up in front of the Headmaster and the Vice, each student standing on a square metal pad with the emblem of Vale on it. This group of people seemed to be the last bunch of the freshmen conducting the Initiation.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Here and now, your abilities and training will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." The Headmaster was the first to speak and gestured to the greenery below.

Jaune froze up, in cold sweat. "Aren't we…a bit too high?" he muttered, looking down at the forest.

Glynda spoke up next. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about assigning teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion." She looked at each and every student lined up in the eyes. "Each of you will be given teammates, put into teams of four. Today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. You will be sharing rooms with them, too. So, it is in your best interests to be with people with whom you can work well. That said, you won't really have any say in who you team up with." Ozpin said.

Ruby made a small, unnoticeable whimper as she heard those words.

"Additionally, the first person you make eye contact with as soon as you land in the woods will be your partner for the next 4 years."

Now Ruby was the one in a cold sweat. If her partner ended up being that girl…Ruby could practically hear her dreams shatter.

"Once you have paired up, you will make your way to the ruins of a temple deep in the forest and retrieve a relic. Each pair must choose one. After acquiring a relic, you will return to this cliffside, but at a different cliff. A hint to figure out which one: it will be preceded by stone structures." Ozpin looked at each of the students, understanding their emotions through their eyes.

"Of course, you will be faced with opposition. This forest is home to many Grimm, and each is a threat in its own right. Do not hesitate to destroy all in your path, or you will die. And you will need a partner to survive."

Jaune laughed nervously and gulped. 'I am so dead…'

"Naturally, you will be monitored and graded the entire time. However, we will not intervene. You and your partner will have to ward off any and all dangers on your own." Ozpin paused for a brief moment, before continuing. "Your performance in all areas will be graded. It will also be the deciding factor in your teams. So make sure to survive and do well. Any questions?"

Jaune nervously raised his arm. "Um…sir…?"

"No questions, good! Now, take your positions. You will be launched individually, one after the other." Ozpin said, seemingly ignoring him. "Oh, and, before I forget, any other pair you meet should be considered an enemy."

Every student besides Jaune shifted, bracing themselves. There was a sudden, tense shift in the atmosphere that Jaune now felt threatened by.

Still, he kept going. "Yeah, um, I have a question…" He paused as he saw Weiss fly off. "So, uh, this whole landing thing…what is it? Are you…dropping us off?"

"No. You will be falling." Jaune was surprised at how Ozpin could keep such an unsuspecting poker face while saying that.

"Ohhh, I see…so, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

The girl called Nora was launched off next. Jaune could hear her cheer excitedly in the distance.

"No. You will be landing by your own means."

A large dude in armor with a bird drawn on his chest plate was sent flying next. He seemed to have braced himself like a gorilla.

"Uh-huh…yeah…"

Yang pulled out aviator sunglasses with shades of blue seemingly out of nowhere and winked at Ruby before putting them on and being launched. She was cheering too. Before Jaune knew it, Ruby, who had been beside him, was up and away as well.

"So then, um, how exactly are we getting-"

Before Jaune could finish his sentence, he was launched off the face of the cliff. Freefalling through the air and scared spineless, he finished his sentence sobbing at the top of his lungs.

"-DDDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN!!!??"

Ozpin stood there, watching his new students freefall through the sky, sipping his coffee calmly and wondering if Jaune had anything important to say.

The Beacon Initiation had officially begun.