Chapter Text
In the early days of Vale, Knights filled the role of guardians and soldiers. Fighting against Grimm and foe alike. The order originated from the heads of villages doubling as the protectors.
The knights were predominantly made up of noble houses. There were four major families that controlled the house of nobles, the largest and most prominent of which were the Arcs.
The House of Arc was massive, with several branch families and territories under their control. They were known as fair nobles, boasting some of the more successful and wealthy territories under their name. Their armies were skilled, and kept the Grimm far from any towns or villages.
It was because of this success, and the trust in the Arc family, that the head of the family was allowed to marry the King's daughter.
Shortly thereafter, tensions began rising between Vale and Mistral, the kingdom to the east. There was a small island, known as Vytal, that Mistral wanted to colonize. Vytal was firmly within Vale's waters, and even had a small town on the southern tip. Nonetheless, the King attempted to appease the easterners with a small piece of the island to use for crops and fishing.
Mistral accepted at first, before deploying troops onto Vytal under the pretense of transporting their settlers to the island.
Vale followed suit, sending detachments of men-at-arms and a local knight to the island. They intended to negotiate, an attempt at peace before the worst could happen. The knight met with one of Mistral's.
No one knows which side struck first, but what was intended to be a peace talk, turned into a battle.
Vale won, but it was a pyrrhic victory. More than seventy percent of the soldiers sent perished, and the knight that returned was disgraced and cast out.
Mantle, the kingdom to the north, joined the war almost immediately, supporting their allies in Mistral. Suddenly, Vale was fighting a war on two fronts, against opponents that were more technologically advanced and had more numbers. It was a bloody war, even more so because wherever a battle took place, Grimm soon followed.
Sometime during the war, the King of Vale died in his sleep. The cause was never revealed, but most assume the stress of the war hung over him until he could not take it anymore.
The next day, the Crown Princess gave her control up to her husband, who was crowned King almost immediately. He took command of the armies of Vale and began a counter offensive, attempting to push the kingdom's enemies out of Vale's borders.
Mantle began pressuring Vacuo, the western kingdom, to join the war. They hoped that causing a three-way war would prove too much for Vale's defense. Vacuo, tired of Mantle's constant mining and destruction of their land, decided to join the war. On Vale's side.
Suddenly, the tides were turned. Mantle lost access to its dust supply as they were driven out of Vacuo, rendering their advanced weapons inert. Mistral had a sudden rebellion break out, causing their forces to be halved.
It all came to a head outside the city of Vacuo, where Mistral and Mantle mounted one last desperate attempt to win the war.
"Your Majesty! We're losing the western flank!"
The King braced as several enemies rammed against the shield wall. He thrust a borrowed spear through the small gap in between shields, and was rewarded with red spray coating his hand. Risking a glance behind him, he saw one of his more trusted lieutenants run up to brace behind him.
"Lord Winchester! What happened to the reinforcements?!" The King shouted, grunting as something slammed into the formation once more. It was hard to converse over the sounds of metal on metal, of men and horses alike screaming in pain and anguish.
"Held up by Grimm sire!" Lord Winchester shouted. The King looked at the men to his left and right, catching their nods. He pulled back suddenly, the men closing their shields over the gap. As the King fell backwards, a different soldier ran up to take his place.
"Get me a horse!" The King called out, handing his borrowed spear off to someone nearby. A tan man ran up with three horses in tow. His armor was vastly different to what the Valean Men-at-arms were wearing, looser and lighter. More chain than plate
"Ah my friend! I heard you needed some transportation!" He shouted, before he and the King clapped their forearms together and grasped in a warriors handshake.
"Ahmar! How are the Vacuan's holding?" The King asked, as Lord Winchester mounted the first horse.
"Just fine my brother! You Valeans need to keep up!" Ahmar grinned before mounting up with the King. "What's the plan?"
"Get me somewhere high, I need to see the enemy lines!" The King shouted. Ahmir grinned before setting off, the King and his lieutenant close behind. They rode fast and hard, barely missing soldiers in some cases. Ahmar led them towards a large overlook the Vacuan forces were using as a command post. The King rode all the way to the edge before stopping.
Tens of thousands of soldiers fought below, with blades and arrows aplenty. Metal clashed against metal in an orchestra of destruction. They could see the western flank had become a wild skirmish, with no real order or King unclipped a sword from his belt, one of gold with glowing blue edges. The gem in the center of his crown began glowing the same shade of blue.
The wind picked up suddenly, lifting sand off the ground. The ground rumbled, before suddenly a pit opened up in the center of the Mistralian lines. It grew steadily, dropping entire formations of soldiers into it. The wind was whipping, as tornados began forming among the enemy ranks.
The King rode back the way they came, down the hill and towards the front lines. He stuck the sword in the air, a harsh blue light emanating from it.
"Rally to the King!" Lord Winchester screamed at all they passed. Horses were mounted by those who had them, while others ran behind on foot. Horns blasted, signaling the counter-offensive to anyone who couldn't see the charge already forming.
The King crashed into the enemy lines, and it's said every swipe of his blade threw a dozen men from their feet.
"The battle was won shortly thereafter and the King, whose name was lost to time, became known as 'The Warrior King'. The End"
Saphron Arc closed the hefty tome and set it upon the night stand. It wasn't the first time she had read it, but it was the first time she had to read it to an audience.
"B-but Saph, what happened to the King after that? And all the Knights?" Jaune, her little brother, asked. Saphron giggled at the wondrous expression on his face. 'I guess I was a little starstruck when I heard the story too.'
"Well, the King founded the huntsman academies, so the Knights could fight Grimm instead of each other."
"So… does that mean dads a Knight?" Jaune asked.
"I… suppose? In a manner of speaking you could consider him that yes." Saphron replied, trying to compare their rough and rugged father to a Knight in shining armor. The image didn't fit very well.
Shaking her head to dispel the image, Saphron leaned over and kissed Jaune on the forehead. "Goodnight, little brother. Sweet dreams."
"Saphron?" He called out before she reached the door. "Can I be a hero, like the King?"
Saphron let out a small giggle. "Of course you can, like dad. Maybe he'll show you some tricks." With that she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Meanwhile, Jaune sat up in his bed, grabbing the book Saphron had left behind.
'History and Legends of the Great War and the Warrior King'
Hugging the book to his chest, Jaune rolled over in his bed and gazed out the window into the night sky.
"I'm gonna be a cool hero and get all the girls!"
"Hrrnk…" Jaune laid over the trash can like it was a great shrine to the gods. He had offered his stomach contents as a sacrifice, but he somehow doubted he would get a blessing in exchange.
"Better out than in…" he muttered, finally standing from the waste basket to take a cursory glance around the terminal, finding disgusted looks being shot back. 'Hey… motion sickness is very common…'
Standing up, Jaune slowly walked from the waste basket back to the main portion of the airship, where the massive windows showed what lay below.
'After everything… I finally made it to Vale.' He thought, before looking out the windows. His jaw almost hit the floor.
Jaune's father had told him stories about the cities before, but he never mentioned how massive they were. Towers stretched as far as the eye could see, streets scattered like veins full of cars. Jaune pressed his face to the glass as the airship began to lower, motion sickness all but forgotten.
Off in the distance, where the city ended and the Emerald forest began, he could see a shining green light.
His view was obscured by the airport as they finally came in to dock, the sudden motion reminding him of his ailment. Thankfully he didn't have much else to give.
The intercom came on with a chime right as some flight attendants began opening the terminal doors. "This is your Captain speaking, we have finished landing and are now ready to disembark. Have a lovely time in Vale and thank you for flying Frontier Airlines."
Grabbing his bag, Jaune walked out of the terminal with as much pride as he could muster. He was still getting some dirty looks, especially since his former shrine was next to the exit, but for the most part folks were too busy leaving to care. Jaune followed the crowd out the airship and threw the terminal hallway before coming out into the airport itself, which on its own was almost the size of his village.
Jaune almost ran for the exit in excitement, slipping past people as best he could. He pushed the double doors open and came to a stop just outside as the light and noise hit him.
People, more people than he'd ever seen in one place, all wearing bright colors and rushing to and fro. There were cars lining the roads, hundreds of different kinds and colors. A far cry from the few ancient vehicles he'd seen before. There were towers that were so tall he thought they might scrape the sky itself.
But the one thing he focused on, was that green light in the distance, sitting atop a mountain. Beacon Academy for Huntsman.
'Hero, here I come'
The City of Vale, Jaune decided, was far too massive.
So much so, that it took him four hours to get directions to the Beacon Academy Airship Docks. Luckily, he still managed to get there while the last students were still boarding.
Gripping his fathers sword, Jaune jogged forward to catch up. He was so focused on getting to the ship that he didn't notice the girl walking past him until it was to late.
"Oof!"
"Crap!"
Tumbling over her, Jaune landed face first on the pavement. Groaning, he tried to roll over only to realize he was still on top of someone. Blue eyes met amber as he looked down at the girl under him.
A beat of silence passed before Jaune scrambled off her, face flush with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was-"
"It's fine. I wasn't looking either," the girl interjected, one hand coming up to run through her black hair. There was a small red mark where her forehead had collided with his.
There was a book on the ground beside her. Jaune grabbed it before standing up properly and offering a hand.
"I'm really sorry about that. I was in a rush and didn't see you."
The girl took his hand, letting him haul her up. "Like I said it's fine. I wasn't paying attention." She very pointedly looked at the book in his hand, which he made to hand back.
"Final call: Beacon Airships. Final call."
"Crap!"
They both ran for the ramp, just barely making it into the ship before it began retracting and the bay doors closed. The ship was entirely open on the inside, students just milling about or looking out the windows.
"Hey, uh, can I have my book back?" The girl beside him asked, eyes focused on the object now under his arm. Mumbling an apology, Jaune handed her back the book, but not before his eyes caught the title.
"Thief and the Butcher, huh? I've never read it but me and my sisters loved the movie."
The girl took her book with one eyebrow raised "Really? I've never met a hu- another human who liked it."
"Yeah, well…" Jaune scratched the back of his head, his socially awkward side finally catching up with his small talk. "One of my sisters is a big reader, and she went through a phase where she was obsessed with faunus literature and mythos. Kinda dragged the rest of the family into it."
Silence stretched between them for a moment. Jaune felt the very uncomfortable atmosphere as she just stared at him.
"Um, I'm Jaune by the way. Jaune Arc."
"Blake."
One word, one syllable, no emotion whatsoever. Jaune was many things, and according to his family dense was certainly one of them. But even he was aware when he was carrying a conversation.
Luckily, or unluckily, his stomach soon gave him a reason to disengage promptly.
"Well nice meeting you -hrk- Blake but Igottarunreallyquick!"
Blake watched the blond human, Jaune, run off covering his mouth. From the timing, she assumed it was something motion sickness related. 'Well,' she thought with a chuckle, 'I hope it wasn't just my face'
Still, he was minorly intriguing. First human she had met that actually liked a faunus related movie. Then again, before recently most humans she met were on the battlefield.
Angling to watch out one of the massive windows, Blake watched as the airship continued to gain altitude, slowly leaving the massive metropolis of Vale behind.
It had been… odd being in such a large city. Most of her life had been spent in medium settlements or small villages. There were exceptions but Vale was a beast unto itself in terms of pure landmass.
As the city gave way to forest, Blake turned to look at the cliff they were approaching, and the near-palace crowning it. Beacon Academy was nothing if not grand. Towers and spires surrounded the campus, with arched architecture that was more reminiscent of royalty than any educational institution.
The opulent sight was disturbed by the sudden cramp atop her head. Blake winced as muscle struggled against tight fabric. Trying to be discreet, she reached up and adjusted the fabric tied around her faunus ears. She cursed that it was necessary, but racism, and the fact that they were relatively recognizable features, made it so.
How she was going to hide her features for four years, Blake wasn't sure. One idea she had was to try and end up on an entirely faunus team, but that came with its own issues, one of which was her own species disgust at her hiding her heritage. Blake just had to hope that she could find a team that was both alright with her being faunus, and helping her hide it from everyone else. That, or she and her ears were going to have a very long four years.
The airship began its descent, turning to line itself up with Beacon's landing pads, which were far too small for them to land on. From what Blake could figure out, the large Airships were only really used to transport massive student groups. On a normal day, the pads were only meant for Bullheads and Airbuses.
As the aircraft finished its docking, and the doors opened, Blake made her way to the door, sticking to the edge of the crowd. Passing through the threshold, she was pretty sure she saw the blond human from before evacuating the contents of his stomach in a random trashcan.
'A good person would stay behind and look after him.' Her mind whispered. Blake shook her head and cracked open her book, attempting to distract herself by the tried and true 'read and walk' method.
Boom!
'Was that an explosion?!' Blake's ears flattened before she could think to stop them, as she spun around looking for the source. White hair caught her eyes less than a second before her teeth barred in a snarl.
"Schnee…"
Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest and cruelest exploiters of faunus labor. Blake's hand went to her weapon for a brief moment before she remembered where she was.
'Violence is what made you change. Don't destroy your second chance before you even started' With incredible effort, Blake released the hilt to Gambol Shroud, and took a deep breath. She could hear the blasted Schnee screaming at some poor girl over it all. The girl seemed to finally have enough, yelling back words Blake could hear clearly now that her ears weren't ringing.
"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!"
'Just because I can't hurt her doesn't mean I can't have fun' Blake thought to herself with a smirk before calling out
"It's Heiress, actually…"
'Great job Jaune, you're 0-2 so far'
He had thought he was doing so well too. First talking to Blake on the Airship, then trying to befriend Ruby after he found her in the courtyard. But of course, as soon as they reached the Auditorium, she vanished in a flurry of rose petals. What kind of B.S. magic trick that was he had no idea
"Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" He said to himself.
"I don't know about nice or quirky, but I fit the third category" A voice replied behind him. Jaune spun, starting, only to find the girl from the Airship behind him.
"Gods you scared the crap outta me!"
She looked at him with the same neutral expression as before. "Apologies, I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's fine. Sorry for almost throwing up on you on the ship." Jaune cursed himself as soon as the words came out, but much like his actual vomit, the word vomit just happened every time he was faced with a pretty girl. 'Great job reminding her of that…'
"Don't worry about it." Blake replied, expression not shifting even a smidge. 'Seriously, for someone who approached me this time she is giving me nothing to work with.'
Luckily the silence was interrupted by the sudden sound of feedback. They both turned towards the stage, where a man in a green suit stood, leaning on a silvery cane. 'That must be Headmaster Ozpin.'
Jaune was shocked at how young the man looked, despite his grey hair.
"I'll keep this brief" The Headmaster adjusted his glasses before continuing.
"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. 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 knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
A very stern blonde woman approached the microphone as the Headmaster stepped back.
"You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, initiation begins. Be ready."
'Cryptic speech.' Jaune was sure there was some hidden message or moral to what the Headmaster said, but it was what the second lady said that caught his attention. 'What kind of initiation?! If it's a huntsman test I'm screwed!'
No one ever told him there was going to be an initiation. Then again his father never talked about Beacon, and the other students around him probably thought it as common knowledge. If it was standardized he couldn't even ask the other students without being found out. He needed to get information without looking suspicious. Unfortunately the only source of information nearby was about as readable as ancient Mistrailian.
"So, looking forward to initiation?" He very subtly enquired. Blake raised one eyebrow, which was so far the only other expression he had seen on the quiet girl.
"Not especially. Unknown mission with unknown parameters. I don't suppose you have an idea what to expect tomorrow?"
Not standardized. That made things a lot easier. Jaune did wonder why she thought he would know anything. 'Maybe she didn't go to a prep-school either but assumes I did. Must be strong then.'
Most students in Beacon had attended some sort of pre-acadamy. From the age of 12 it was constant training and learning to prepare them for the Beacon entrance exams. Being able to get in without those credentials meant passing the exams with no formal training.
"Sorry, I got nothing. But hey they wouldn't have us attempt anything we couldn't handle right?" Jaune asked, praying he was right. The crowd began moving towards the exit of the auditorium as he spoke, taking him and Blake along with it.
"Not necessarily. If it's meant to double as an entrance exam then it's very likely we will have a decently difficult task to test how worthy we are." Blake replied, crushing his hopes for an easy test. "I expect, since it's a huntsman school, the test will be grimm related."
Ice gripped Jaune's heart at the thought. Logically, he knew he would face grimm at some point. But he didn't think it would be the literal second day of school.
They walked in silence after that, following the stream of students slowly making their way to the ballroom. When they got close, Jaune saw a girl in what looked like some kind of school uniform directing students.
"Boys changing rooms are on the right, girls on the left. If I see a single one of you trying to sneak by I'll shove my handbag up your a-" A second girl in the same uniform with rabbit ears grabbed the first by the collar and pulled hard, cutting her off, before speaking in a soft voice
"Boys please go right, girls left. After you change you can go to the ballroom area…" The poor faunus was red trying to speak.
Jaune felt Blake tap his arm. "Meet up after?"
"Sure." He replied, still confused as to why she was sticking with him. Not that he minded but knocking a girl over and almost throwing up on her wasn't exactly what he would call a stellar first impression.
"Remember son, all you need is confidence." Jaune's fathers words rang in his head. Technically he did start the first conversation, but somehow he didn't think that's what his dad meant.
Either way, it was a mystery he could solve after initiation. 'If I even survive' He mused in the changing room, a repurposed bathroom, taking off his hoodie in the meantime. As it went over his head, something slammed into him.
"Oof!"
"Watch yourself Arc."
For the second time that day, Jaune was on the ground. He stared at the tall boy who had rammed into his shoulder with more than a little confusion. The muscular boy had already moved on to what looked to be his friend group, who were helping him take off very nice looking plate armor. While the random attack was upsetting, Jaune was more concerned how the boy knew his name when he hadn't introduced himself.
Standing and brushing himself off, Jaune wandered to a separate area to continue getting ready for bed.
'Blake, initiation, and this guy. The word of the day is confusing…'
Blake had made many bad decisions in her life. Most of them were enough to have her locked up for life, and she was starting to think she made another one.
"...Honestly the third act felt a little rushed but my sister said its more fleshed out in the book, but the director had to cut it for time."
The plan was so simple. She already met a human who seemed to accept faunus, why not try to be on his team? That was of her issues taken care of. There was just one teensie little problem.
"...they totally should have left that scene in, it humanized the character so much! But the studio was worried it would ruin the 'moral grey' image he had, like that wasn't what his entire character arc was about?"
He. Wouldn't. Shut. up.
It should never be said that Blake didn't enjoy discussing her books, and by extension the movie adaptations. But Jaune had not stopped talking since he came out of the changing room. She didn't know what happened to the relatively quiet boy from before, but obviously he had taken her following him around as permission to open up all the way.
"...I appreciate that the main actor really studied the book for the role, I just wish the other actor-"
"Jaune."
"Yeah?" How to phrase it in a way that wouldn't hurt his feelings, she wondered. 'Screw it'
"I would like to read for a bit, please." Blake intended it to come out semi-soft, but her annoyance made it sound more like a bite. She winced and waited for him to look hurt, but was surprised when he just blinked.
"Oh, okay. I'll let you do that." Jaune reached into his own bag and pulled something out as Blake got settled against the wall and got back into the chapter he had interrupted. 'I still can't believe he's wearing a onesie.'
The sound of flipping pages broke her out of her thoughts. She looked back over at Jaune to find him reading a comic-book. With a sigh that was fueled by more exhaustion than someone her age should have to deal with, Blake reached into her own book pile and grabbed a random one, before tossing it in his lap.
Jaune jumped as the hardback landed in his lap, before turning to Blake with a questioning look. "If you're gonna read with me, it's gonna be a real book." And with that she went back to reading her book.
She didn't see Jaune's reaction, but the telltale sound of real pages being flipped a few seconds later told her he was doing as requested. A small smile graced her face 'I guess you can be trained.'
Much to Blake's chagrin, her reading was yet again interrupted by a shrill cry.
"Helllloooooo~"
With a huff, she put her book down again to see who the latest annoyance was. Low and behold, it was another blonde, this one with a mane fit for a lion. She was dragging a shorter dark headed girl behind her that looked vaguely familiar to Blake. 'She was the one arguing with the Schnee…'
That one her points in Blake's book, which were immediately docked for interrupting her quiet time. The blonde stopped just short of her and Jaune, before throwing the shorter girl in front of her. "I believe you allll know each other."
"...Aren't you the girl that exploded?" Blake asked as Jaune looked up from his book for the first time.
"Oh, hey Ruby."
"...Hey Jaune."
"And I'm Yang!" The blonde girl exclaimed. Blake just blinked before opening her book back up. Jaune could deal with that mess.
"Sorry guys, Blake's been trying to read all day. What's up?" She heard Jaune ask. From what she could tell the shorter girl, Ruby, was even more shy than Jaune. Blake peaked over her book and saw the girl fidgeting with her hands, face the same shade as her namesake.
"Just wanted to check in. You two are the only people Ruby knows so we figured we could share ideas?" Yang said with so much confidence that Blake called bullshit. If she had to guess, Yang was forcing Ruby to socialize, though what the relationship there was she wasn't sure. Ruby looked like she was barely old enough to even be in Beacon.
"Eh me and Blake haven't really come up with any ideas. You guys know anything about initiation?" Yang took the question as an invitation to sit down, dragging Ruby down with her.
"Well, Usually it either involves the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall" Blake's ears perked at the latter before she could stop them. 'The school is nowhere near where the train was. Calm down.'
Yang continued, oblivious to Blake's inner turmoil "Other than that, they keep the details confidential from year to year. Every initiation is different."
"Our dad had to do a search and rescue." Ruby said softly. "They had a few upper years acting as civilian stand-ins."
Blake wasn't surprised. Like she had said to Jaune, it was likely that initiation would involve something they would actually have to do as huntsmen.
"Huh, so it's pretty likely that we have to retrieve something or reach an objective. Probably to encourage teamwork." Jaune mused, hand cupped under his chin.
"Yeah. Speaking of which, do you guys have any idea who you're going to team with?" Yang asked. Blake figured the next words out of her mouth were going to involve shoving Ruby in with them.
"I wasn't aware teams were by choice." She replied, keeping her tone neutral.
"Well they aren't but I'm sure we could all end up on one if we really tried?"
Jaune, fully into the conversation now, leaned forward. "I'd be willing to bet teams are decided by how well you work together in initiation. So if we all stick together it'll be easy!"
Blake gave him a healthy side-eye that the oblivious boy missed. One talkative blonde she could handle. Two was pushing it, and that was without adding the socially awkward landmine, who she now assumed was Yang's sister from the comment about 'Our dad'.
The two kept scheming, with Ruby rarely chipping in. Blake tried to ignore it and read her book, but was surprised when Ruby shifted over to her side of the group. She didn't say anything for a few minutes, seemingly content to examine Blake's book collection. Finally, after she had leafed through the pile, she spoke.
"What are you reading?" Blake gave her a curious glance. Annoyed as she was at the constant interruption, that didn't mean she had to be rude.
"It's a book about a man with two souls, each fighting over control of his body."
"I love books. Yang used to read to me when I was younger. Stories of heroes and monsters." Ruby was less and less nervous looking the more she talked. Blake could tell she was rather passionate about it. "Its part of the reason I wanted to be a huntress."
"Why is that? Hoping to live happily ever after?"
"Well… I hope we all will. I mean who doesn't want to be a storybook hero? I've always wanted to fight for what was right, and protect people."
"Thats very ambitious, but unfortunately the real world isn't a story book." Blake winced at how bitchy that sounded, but she was just being truthful.
"Well that's why we're here. To make it better."
Blake wasn't sure whether to call her inspiring or naive. A small part of her brain pointed out that if Ruby was naive, then she was no better. 'Making the world a better place for faunus is my goal. Hers is just less exclusive.'
At some point the girl had taken Blake's silence as an end to the conversation and rejoined the others in plotting. Blake closed her book and reached for the candle she had lit. They weren't stopping anytime soon but if she wanted to do good tomorrow, then she needed her rest.
It was certainly going to be an interesting day.
"636, 636, where the hell is 636?!" Jaune mutter-yelled. The morning had started off so well, with a delicious breakfast made by the Beacon staff. Yang had shown she was not a morning person, moving around like a zombie until after she had been fed. Ruby was obviously nervous, flitting around like a humming bird, while Blake had already been gone by the time they woke up.
The problems came when they were instructed to retrieve their gear from the locker rooms… which Jaune had absolutely no recollection of being in. Sure enough, his sword was missing, and in its place was a locker number and combination.
Yang and Ruby split off as soon as they got to the locker room, finding their gear rather quickly. Jaune, meanwhile, was stuck counting off lockers as he got farther and farther in. Finally, he started seeing numbers closer to what he was looking for. With a sigh of relief, he counted to the exact one.
"Finally… why is it all the way down here?"
"Peace and quiet."
Once more, Jaune jumped and spun, and once again it was Blake behind him, leisurely flipping through pages.
"Gods Blake, you're gonna give me a heart attack!" The slightest curl adorned her lips as she looked up for a brief moment before returning to her book. "And what's with the locker thing? I swear we didn't put our stuff in lockers yesterday."
"You didn't. We were supposed to after changing for bed. I saw you still had your sword so I figured I'd help out." And due to her anti-social nature, chose a locker away from everyone else. Jaune blocked the headache coming on by focusing on the keypad separating him from his family heirloom.
As he opened the receptacle and began strapping his sword belt, he noticed the sound of turning pages stop. It only took a few seconds for that to be followed with a question.
"Is your weapon… just a sword?" Blake sounded so confused, it almost made Jaune chuckle.
"The scabbard is a shield as well but the sword is in fact just a sword. Family Heirloom."
"So you don't have any range options? What do you do against Nevermore, or anything else that flies?" That… was a difficult question to answer. Without ever having fought grimm, he couldn't really give his go too strategy. 'Time to put my bullshitting practice into effect.'
"Oh you know, hit them when they get close."
Blake's face said it all, pure doubt. Even Jaune cringed a little at his answer. Luckily the intercom stopped her from asking anymore questions.
"Attention, all first years please make your way to the cliffs bordering the Emerald Forest. There is signage posted. I repeat, all first years…"
"Huh, Yang's guess was spot on. Welp, time to go." Jaune hurried away from the locker, trying not to let the absolute shame on his face show. He heard more than saw Blake get up and follow after him.
Somewhere on the way Ruby and Yang met up with them, falling into step while deeply engaged in an argument about… milk drinking?
'Bigger issues Jaune.'
The cliffs of Beacon were both beautiful and terrifying. The Headmaster was standing on the edge without a care in the world, sipping a cup of coffee. Small metal squares seemed to denote where they were meant to stand. They were the last four to arrive, so Blake took the very end. Jaune went next to her, followed by Ruby and Yang being next to the rest of the students.
The Headmaster turned and looked over them with a critical eye. Once he seemed satisfied, he spoke.
"For years you have trained to be warriors. Today, those skills will be tested in the Emerald Forest."
The scary blonde, who Jaune now realized was the professor they saw on the ship's hologram, took over from there.
"I'm sure you are all curious about the assignment of teams. Let me assure you, you will be given teams today."
Ruby made a distressed noise next to him. Jaune understood the girls plight, but he hoped they would get assigned together anyway.
Ozpin took over once more. "These teams will be together for your remaining time in Beacon, so we recommend getting paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."
"WHAT!?" Ruby and Jaune screamed at the same time. He was pretty sure he heard a 'Knew it!' from further down the line.
'How can we make sure we find each other fast enough? Plus teams are four people, so how do they decide partner pairs… wait what did he mean land?'
"After pairing up you will make your way to the forest ruins in the north. You will meet opposition in the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die."
'Because fuck health and safety right?' Jaune thought hysterically. He knew Beacon would be brutal but high risk of death on day one? Most of the other students didn't even have armor!
"Upon reaching the ruins, you will find relics. Your task is to acquire one per pair and return to the Beacon cliffs. Are there any questions?"
"Um yeah, sir?" Jaune raised his hand.
"Good! Please take your positions."
"Um sir, what exactly did you mean by landing? Are you dropping us off or…"
"No, you will be falling."
"Mhm I see. Uh did you hand out parachutes?"
Before Ozpin could answer, Blake elbowed him in the side. Jaune turned to find her giving him a confused look.
"If you don't have a landing strategy, why don't you just tank it with aura?" She whispered. Jaune gave her a confused look as something under him clicked.
"What's aura?"
The last thing Jaune saw as he was suddenly launched into the air was Blake's expression.
She looked terrified.