Jaune stood up carefully as the ship landed, cautiously winding his way between all the students that were milling about and talking with their friends. Ships made him queasy and there was no way that he would be seen throwing up in front of all of these potential partners.

He had an image to maintain and vomit boy was not the image that he wanted. He had to be better. He NEEDED to be better.

He watched as two girls walked out of the ship ahead of him and silently followed them. It wasn't that he was following them persay. They just happened to be ahead of him and there was only so many exits off the ship.

Just the one, as a matter of fact.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" The blonde girl commented. She had to be the elder of the two, as the smaller girl didn't look a day over fifteen or sixteen, if he had to guess. Jaune wandered what she was doing here in that case. But he amended that she could also just be short. He resolved to figure that out later.

Knowledge was power, and Jaune intended to be the strongest. The taller girl was quite fetching, from what Jaune could see, being a fair skinned woman with bright golden hair that ran all the way down to the small of her back, with a cowlick sticking up in the center of her head, reminding Jaune of the stem of an apple. He couldn't make out her facial features, since he was behind them, but he assumed that she was attractive. She sounded it anyway.

She wore a tan jacket that exposed her midriff, with golden brown piping and puffy sleeves. She wore long brown belt that was atop black mini-shorts, with a pair of brown knee high boots with bright orange socks finishing up the ensemble. But that was admittedly difficult to discern as over her shorts, she wore an asymmetrical, white, ruffled material that ran all the way down to her knees.

Building a profile for the blonde bombshell in his mind, to be added to later at his leisure, Jaune turned his attention to the shorter girl. She wore a black long sleeved dress, that had red trim on the sleeves, with a cincher of some kind on her waist. The skirt of the combat dress she was wearing had red trim and red lining. Which was worn over thick black stockings and black combat boots. Her laces were red, and red trim ran throughout the top of her boots, and the soles were red. The only thing else worth noticing was the red hooded cloak she had fastened to her shoulders. From what Jaune could see, she had short black hair in messy pixie like cut, that...gradually faded into red tips at the ends.

The shorter girl turned to the taller one, pointing at the people nearby. "Ohmygosh, sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!"

The blonde pulled the girl by the hood as she started to wander off. "Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons."

"Just weapons!" The girl said, offended by the very idea that any weapon could be 'just a weapon'. "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh they're so cool!

You can tell a lot about a person by the weapon they wield and how they choose to use it, Jaune would admit that the girl had a point, but she was taking it a little far.

"Well…" The blonde trailed off, "Can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" She said, trying to placate her sister.

The girl in response, pulled out her weapon, shifting it into its scythe form. "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people but better…"

The blonde pushed her sister's hood down over her face. "Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?"

The girl, Ruby pulled her hood off of her face and fixed her hair. "But...why would I need friends if I have you?"

"Well…" Several people caught up to them at this point, the blonde quickly linking arms with them. "Actually my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. Kay, see ya, bye!" And with her piece said, she and her friends darted off, leaving Ruby in the lurch.

They fled so fast that Ruby's head started spinning, not being helped by the fact that it seemed like everyone suddenly decided that they were late and started barreling forward, spinning her around in circles. She cried out once she got her bearings.

"Wait! Where are you going?! Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are they? Do we even have dorms?" But her sister was long gone. "I don't know what I'm doing…"

This would be the perfect opportunity for Jaune to step in and make a terrific first impression. The best.

But instead of doing that, he merely observed as Ruby stumbled and fell backwards into a luggage cart, sending cases flying. A Schnee was standing over her, glaring with her arms crossed. If memory served Jaune correctly, this particularly Schnee had to be Weiss.

But what was she doing here?

Weiss was a young woman with pale skin and even paler white hair that was pulled back into an off center ponytail. She was wearing a thigh length strapless dress that gradually changed from white to blue. Over the top of the dress, she wore bell sleeved bolero jacket with the same kind of gradation on it, with the Schnee logo prominently displayed on the back.

"What are you doing?!" She yelled, berating Ruby.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I just-"

"You just? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused!" She stated loudly, trying to make it sound like a question when it really wasn't.

"Uhh…." Ruby responded, deciding to pick up one of the cases rather than continue to plead her case.

"Give me that!" She said, snatching the case from Ruby, opening it to reveal dust bottles. "This is Dust-mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

Ruby said nothing, not sure how to respond to this.

"What are you brain dead?" Weiss asks, before barrelling on without waiting for a response. "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!" She starts to shake a bottle in front of Ruby, releasing some dust.

Okay, if there was ever a time to interfere, it was now.

"That's enough," Jaune spoke up, stepping forward and gently maneuvering Ruby away from the cloud of dust that was about to be in face. "Do you not notice the dust being released by you waving it around like that? I have to say, I'm not impressed by anything that I've seen today."

She gasped, and blinked at Jaune, before gaining a second wind and glaring at both of them now.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? Why, I could-" Weiss started to say, still waving around her bottle of dust, releasing it every which way, causing Jaune to sigh and resort to drastic measures. For him anyway.

He grabbed the hand that was waving the dust bottle and pried it out of her shocked hands. At her openly gaping at him, he spoke to her calmly, as if he were reciting notes from a class.

"Weiss Schnee, age 17. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world. But is also infamous for its controversial labor practices and questionable business partners. Is that everything you want us to know, or should I go on?" He asked, releasing Weiss's hand but pocketing the dust in her distraction.

"I…Well…I don't…" Weiss stuttered trying to think of what to say. She quickly tried to change targets, turning to Ruby again. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well, I-I…" Ruby tried to explain.

"Don't answer that." Jaune said, narrowing his eyes at Weiss. He couldn't stand bullies, nor would he tolerate them.

"What are you even doing here?" Jaune threw back at her. "This isn't Atlas you know. Common courtesy and decency does in fact go a long way here. If you're expecting us to lay down and cater to you, then I suggest you run home to daddy princess." Jaune told her, glaring into her icy blue eyes. "We're here to fight monsters, not complain about accidents."

"Wha-How dare…" Weiss tries to say as Ruby chuckles at her dressing down. "The nerve of...Ugh!"

She tried to get up in Jaune's face, but Jaune towered over and it only made her look foolish. She walked off in a huff as her servants began to gather up her luggage and follow.

Ruby called off to the storming Weiss. "I promise I'll make everything up to you!"

"Even though you didn't do anything?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Well...yeah, she thinks I did, and I don't want to deal with any unwanted attention...I just want normal knees…" She trailed off, poking her fingers together.

Jaune wasn't sure what to say to that, so he held his hand out. "Welcome to Beacon then, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Ruby took his hand, shaking it, and then not letting go. "It's nice to meet you Jaune! I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." She introduced herself, still not letting go of his hand.

Jaune wasn't sure of the protocol, but he was pretty sure she should have let go by now. Would it be weird if he said something? Or should he just wait for her to let go? His choice was made for him when she finally let go and smiled at him.

"Thanks for your help there Jaune. I needed some help and my sister…" She said, her smile changing into a frown.

"No big deal, I can't stand bullies, so I couldn't just watch." Jaune responded, thinking to himself. 'I will never sit back and watch again.'

Ruby smiled at him, agreeing with his statement, before pulling out her scythe and stabbing it into the ground. "So...I have this thing! Jaune, meet Crescent Rose, Crescent Rose, Jaune! She's a customizable high impact sniper rifle that shifts into a scythe!" Ruby explains, confident in her descriptions and introduction.

Jaune looked over Crescent Rose, letting out a whistle of appreciation. "She's a beaut alright, it's nice to meet you Crescent Rose."

"So...what do you have?" Ruby asked blinking at up at him.

"I have this guy," Jaune said, pulling out his weapon of choice. "It's a longsword with a scabbard that transforms into a heater shield. Or, alternatively, I can shift the scabbard into wider blade for the sword. My shield also has hard light dust in to extend the edges to make an even wider shield or to transform my sword into an axe and gravity dust for various purposes. Crocea Mors, meet my Ruby Rose." He said, handing her the sheathed blade for her inspection.

"That's so cool! It's like a super sword and axe!" Ruby squealed once she had looked over the sword and expanded the shield once.

Jaune chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I like to call it my sword sword."

Ruby giggled at that. "I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, so...I guess I went a little overboard when I designed it."

"Nothing wrong with that," Jaune replied, putting his blade back up. "You like what you like, and because you like it so much, you'll keep up with it and it won't let you down at crucial moments."

"I never thought of it that way…" Ruby said, before turning to Jaune again. "Did you make yours?"

"No, it's a family blade, although I have modified it a fair amount since it's come into my possession. My great great grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Hmm…" Ruby responds, before looking around. "Hey, do you know where we're going?"

"Yeah, we're almost to the auditorium. You can see the entrance there." Jaune points forward, and sure enough Ruby could see the auditorium.

Ruby laughed. "I had no idea!"

She quickly stopped laughing when she heard her sister calling her.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" She yelled, waving her over. Ruby nodded, turning to Jaune. "Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

Jaune nodded to her as they walked past Pyrrha Nikos hovering at the door, noticing her watching him but choosing to ignore it. She was probably doing the same thing that he was earlier, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to meet the invincible girl at this point.

His attention was drawn to the center of the stage, where the Headmaster was standing front and center, readying the microphone with Professor Goodwitch standing beside him.

"I will keep this brief," He started the orientation. "You have travelled 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 only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Jaune frowned at the speech, as he slowly digested what was said to him. He disagreed with the sentiment that he needed to take the first step. Or that he was dedicating his life to protecting the people. He wasn't altruistic like that. Not anymore. The first step had been made for him years ago. He was here for power, and for directions. Anything extra was simply welcome, but unnecessary.

The headmaster left, and then Goodwitch stepped up to talk. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation will begin. Be ready. You are dismissed."

The first thing that Jaune heard when he stepped into the locker room was Ruby.

"No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to know-you' stuff. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said as she stroked Crescent Rose.

"Hey now, as a mother, you really should do all the talking for your baby instead right?" Jaune joked, stepping into the conversation. "Jaune Arc, he introduced himself to the sister, hoping she wouldn't hold on to his hand like Ruby did.

"Yang Xiao-Long," She returned, squeezing his hand once before letting it go. Despite himself, an eyebrow raised.

"Xiao-Long? Not Rose?"

Yang shook her head. "Different mothers," She explained, before turning to Ruby. "Remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up, you're going to have to meet new people and learn to work together." She lectured.

Ruby sighed and threw up her hands in defense. "I did!" She said, retreating behind Jaune. "I met Jaune! Mission accomplished. No more growing up necessary, now it's time to fight!"

"Teams are made of four people Ruby," Yang reminded her.

"I'll leave you two to it, I still need to grab my gear, I'll see you at initiation!" Jaune said, walking off to find his locker, pulling out his map as he did so.

Jaune passed by Weiss and Pyrrha as they were chatting near his locker. He did his best to stay out of Weiss's line of sight as he had no desire to deal with her today. He sighed, already knowing that wasn't in the cards.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thoughts to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself!" Weiss said, laying it on just a bit too thick in Jaune's opinion.

"I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha responded, sounding like she'd rather be anywhere but there. Jaune didn't blame her. Weiss was sort of a lot to deal with.

"Well...I was thinking that maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss proposed.

"That sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied, with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. Maybe Jaune read her wrong earlier. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Great!" Weiss said, partnership assured.

Jaune would have left it there, but he needed to pass by them, and there was no way about it. "Excuse me, but I need to get by."

Weiss literally growled at him. "You again!"

"Me again," Jaune confirmed. "Jaune Arc, at your service." He said, giving them a bow.

Pyrrha hurriedly stepped forward to meet him. "It's nice to meet you, Jaune! I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Weiss complains. "You don't know who she is?"

Jaune stared at her, he just couldn't help himself. "Dude, she JUST introduced herself. How could I not know her? She's Pyrrha." He told her, getting a snarl from Weiss and a smile from Pyrrha.

Of course he knew who she was. How could he not? But he could also see that she was clearly uncomfortable with the attention and so he wouldn't draw attention to it. He assumed Weiss wanted something similar but she was going about it the wrong way.

"Seriously, please stop it," Weiss told him. "This kind of behaviour should not be encouraged."

"I agree. I shouldn't have to keep lecturing you on decency and manners yeah? Will this be the last time?" Jaune asked, watching as her face slowly but surely turned red.

Before she could respond, an announcement played on the intercom system. Professor Goodwitch's voice blaring through it. "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss passed by Jaune, giving him a dirty look as she did so. Pyrrha followed her, giving Jaune a smile and a wave as she passed. "It was nice meeting you!" He called after her.

Ruby and Yang came up after that, Yang grinning at him. "Having some trouble there lady-killer?"

"Nah, just making some more friends, the more the merrier right?" Jaune responded dryly, getting a chuckle out of her.

"Come on, guys, let's go." Ruby said, grabbing Jaune by the hand and pulling him towards the cliff.

Jaune found himself standing on a silver tile with all of the other initiates while Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda were in front of them. Ozpin with a mug of coffee or hot chocolate and Goodwitch with a tablet.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin says to the students, making eye contact with each one of them, to ensure they were listening.

Professor Goodwitch continued where he left off when it became clear that he was done talking. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of 'teams.' Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"What? Ohh…" Jaune heard Ruby say to herself, apparently nervous.

Headmaster Ozpin continued, finding his second wind. "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 that you can work with well.

Ruby groaned.

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

Wait, what?

Ozpin resumes the explanation. "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."

"I don't like the sound of that…" Jaune muttered, wondering who his partner would be. He would much prefer this not be left to chance, but what could he do? He hummed to himself as an idea formed.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Ozpin ignored all raised hands. "Good! Now, take your positions."

Jaune stood next to Ruby, ensuring that he would be launched first, and fairly close to her. "Ruby, do you want to be partners?" He whispered.

"Yeah, but who knows if we can manage that." Ruby complained quietly to him. Both of them said nothing as someone ahead of them got launched into the air.

"I have a plan." Jaune said as he pulled out his shield, expanding it and lighting both the light dust and the gravity dust. He watched as a brown haired bulky teen got launched, then timed the time it took Weiss to get launched. Yang was next, and he was fairly sure that his plan would work.

Actually...maybe he was overthinking this? The headmaster never said that their positions couldn't be on the same launch pad. With that thought, he stepped off of his pad, and stood on Ruby's next to her, drawing all eyes to them. "Is this against the rules?" He challenged, locking eyes with Ozpin, who stared back at him before chuckling.

"I suppose not."

"Yay!" An orange haired girl cheered before skipping onto the same platform as a black haired tired looking man and hugging him immediately. "Now we don't even need the sloth signals Renny!"

"I still don't think Sloths sound like that."

"You ready Ruby?" Jaune asked the girl, who was staring at him like she'd never seen him before.

"Wha-"

"He just said to take our positions, he never said or specified that it had to be seperate tiles. I was considering trying to angle it so we met mid flight but I was wondering if I was overthinking it and it looks like I was." Jaune explained.

"That's so awesoooooo" Ruby said, being interrupted as they were suddenly launched into the forest.

Jaune grabbed Ruby's hand as soon as he felt the pad launch them because there was a good chance that they would be separated once they were launched. Which would render this whole exercise pointless.

With Ruby secured with one hand, he held up his expanded shield with the other. "Use your other hand to hold on!" Jaune said, prompting Ruby to use her free hand to grab the shield, balancing the weight and with that secured, the gravity dust lightened them enough for them to simply glide down at a leisurely pace.

"That was so cool! You were all like bwoo bwoo! Grab my hand Ruby! And that was so cool!" Ruby gushed once they landed.

Jaune laughed at her impressions. "I'm glad you approve, partner, so we're heading north. We don't want to waste any time. If we get there fast enough, we might be able to pick our teammates."

Ruby said nothing, merely vanishing and reappearing in front of Jaune at a speed that he could barely track. "If there's anything that I'm good at; it's not wasting time!" Ruby stated proudly.

Jaune looked behind him, seeing the rose petals. "That's pretty fast," he commented.

"Jane," She said, putting an arm around his waist, "You're about to see a whole different side of me today, and then you're going to be like 'Wow! I'm so glad I made that Ruby girl my partner! She's really really cool...and I want to make her cookies!"

"Cookies?" Jaune asked, gently removing her arm from his waist.

"Cookies," she asserted. She then vanished again in a shower of rose petals, which Jaune waved away from his face as he heard crackling and rustling around him.

"Ruby?" Jaune tried, as he pulled out his sword and returned his shield to it's default heater shield form. There was no response from the girl as a large beowolf emerged from the bush and approached him.

"These things never come alone." Jaune said to himself as the beowolf roared and leapt at him. He could tell it was a young one by the way it simply leapt at him with no semblance of strategy or thought. He simply bashed it in the head with his shield, and then stabbed it in the head before it could recover or gain it's bearings.

"One down, several to go," Jaune said to himself as he could now see several more climbing out of the woodwork. They were trying to encircle him, so that they could pick at him from every angle.

He lunged towards the nearest one, but then he saw a smattering or rush petals and veered off course, trusting his instincts. He was rewarded with Ruby appearing right where he had originally been aiming for, slicing that beowolf in two.

"Gotcha!" She said as she scored a hit, using the momentum from her speed to increase her cutting power.

Jaune said nothing for a moment, quickly dispatching his new chosen target before he felt that he needed to speak up at this point, before this happened again in more dangerous conditions. Together, they made short work of the pack of beowolfs and found themselves in a quiet clearing once again.

"Ruby." Jaune said, putting his sword and shield away. "Before we go any further we should probably discuss some battle tactics.

"Battle tactics?" She responded, putting her weapon back up for now.

"Yeah, things like I should be in front in small spaces since I have a shield and can block attacks, things like that,"

"Oh! I see! And you've already come up with some ideas for us already?!" She asked excitedly, stars appearing in her eyes.

"Something like that. The main thing I want to get across before we go any further is that we need to communicate in battle." He said, enunciating the word communicate as he spoke. "For example, where did you go when you vanished?"

"Oh? I was scouting the area!" She said, puffing out her chest proudly.

"And you didn't say anything or tell me because?"

"I uh...I thought you could handle it…?" She trailed off, realizing that the excuse sounded weak even to her ears.

He nodded at her. "Thanks for the compliment, and I could, THIS time. Bad tactics lead to bad habits, which leads to death. What if I couldn't handle it? Or if I didn't see you coming earlier and after you struck the grimm, I struck YOU?"

Ruby gasped, the idea having never occurred to her. "But you wouldn't!"

"If you don't say anything, how would I know? Or if I just do things and you don't know what's going on, who knows what would happen? What if I had just grabbed you when we launched and didn't tell you what I was doing?"

Ruby blushed, seeing what he was getting at now. "I might have freaked out and could have hurt us, or ruined the plan. I'm sorry."

Jaune nodded, glad that she got it. "It's no big deal, just trying to head something off before it could become an issue. It's not You and I vs the world here. It's US vs the world now."

Ruby mouthed what he just said to herself before blinking at him. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, it's different."

"How?"

Jaune hummed to himself, before deciding to change the subject. "Anyways! We need to head north, and times a wastin! You said you were scouting the area, can lead us out of the forest?"

Ruby eyed him suspiciously for a moment, before nodding. At that, he bowed to her, exaggerating the bow. "Well then my lady, lead the way," He waggled his eyebrows at her as he said this as well, causing her to roll her eyes and giggle at him.

Jaune couldn't help but think that this was the start of a beautiful partnership.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by...Cardin Winchester!" The audience clapped to applaud them.

Jaune wondered to himself if all initiations went It was smooth sailing straight to the Relic Sight. At one point Ruby wanted to try to hitch a ride on a Nevermore of all things but Jaune put a stop to that as soon as she voiced the thought and they were on their way. They made it to the sight, grabbed the white knight pieces and were on their way. Jaune was actually surprised with how smooth it was.

Team CRDL left the stage and was replaced by the next group. " Weiss Schnee. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. Lie Ren." Ozpin names each of them as they stand in front of him. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team WPNR(Windsor).

The audience clapped again and Nora hugged the one known as Ren. Jaune looked at all of them, feeling sorry for the team led by Weiss Schnee.

"Lead by, Weiss Schnee."

More clapping, and Jaune shook his head. "Those poor souls."

"And finally. Jaune Arc. Ruby Rose. Blake Belladona, and Yang Xiao-Long." Ozpin announced the last team as WPNR left the stage and Jaune and his team stepped up. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JRBY (Jordy). Led by...Jaune Arc!"

More applause, as Jaune stepped forward. Ozpin looked him in the eye as he offered his hand.

"Congratulations young man." he said as Jaune shook his hand.

"Thank you sir. I won't let you down." He promised.

"Of that, I have no doubt. It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year." Ozpin said to himself as Jaune walked off the stage, reuniting with his team.

"Jaune Arc...where have you been?" Ozpin said to himself as his eyes never left the young man, currently fending off a over affectionate pair of sisters while their stoic teammate watched on with a small smile.