Chapter V: Beacon's Trials

Serva me, servabo te - Petronius Arbiter

"Save me and I will save you."

"It's morning, its morning, its morning."

Jaune groaned as he slowly got up from his sleeping pad and rubbed his eyes.

"Who's singing this early in the morning?"

He looked around and spotted an orange-haired girl singing around a boy. Jaune dropped his head on his pillow when he realized that he won't be able to sleep anymore.

After a few minutes, he got up and began to get dress. Later, he went to get his breakfast and when he arrived at the cafeteria, he saw that many people were already lined up.

Jaune joined the line to get his tray of pancakes. After he was done and looking for a table, he saw Ruby sitting at one with her older sister.

"Wait, is she eating cookies in the morning?"

He saw Ruby chomping down cookie after cookie. Ruby noticed Jaune in the corner of her eye as she continued to eat her cookies. When she finished her stack of cookies, she waved at him before she moved onto the next one.

Jaune gave her a sheepish smile and waved back. He then looked around for a spot to eat his food. He spotted a table near the window, so he quickly went over there to claim it. He luckily got to it before anyone else did and began to eat.

As he was eating, a shadow appeared over him and a feminine voice spoke "Hello, is it alright if I eat here with you?"

Jaune turned his head and froze. This caused the women behind him to smile and say, "I take your silence as a yes then." The blond still responded by nodding his head as the newcomer sat down beside him and began to eat her breakfast.

"It's the girl from yesterday. I can't believe she's sitting with me," he thought

As they both were silently eating, Jaune glanced at her several times. She still wore her dark purple pleated dress, but this time she didn't wear her black scarf. Even so, he still thought she was mesmerizing with her beautiful face and crimson eyes.

Unknown to him, the woman noticed him staring at her, which made her giggle. Her giggling caused Jaune to blush before he quickly looked back down at his food.

"Oh, don't be shy just because there is a beautiful girl sitting beside you. And you definitely shouldn't mind how she caught you staring at her."

As she said this, the blush on his face grew redder. After she turned her head to face Jaune, she said, "Well, I think it's time to introduce ourselves to each other. My name is Dahlia Aska. What's your name?"

Jaune's blush disappeared as he focused on making his own introduction.

"It's nice to meet you Dahlia. Um, my name's Jaune Arc."

When Dahlia smiled and returned to her food, the swordsman thought she did it because he said something wrong. This made him look at his own food as he said, "Sorry."

Dahlia gave him a confused look before she asked, "What are you saying sorry for Jaune?"

"I'm sorry for staring at you, Dahlia."

"Oh, i-it's fine Jaune. I already said that-."

"It's just that you're, you know, kind of beautiful, so it's hard to look away." As Jaune said this, the blush on his face returned.

However, he wasn't the only one as Dahlia developed her own blush from the compliment. She tried not to look away like the swordsman did and instead said, "That was...unexpected. But it wasn't unpleasant, it's a little flattering."

Hearing those words made Jaune smile before he returned to his pancakes. As he was eating, he heard her say, "So tell me about yourself. I think we should get to know each other a little better aside from names. Don't you?"

Interested, he raised one of his brows and asked, "What do you want to know about me?"

The woman paused for a minute to think. After several seconds, she said, "Well, since today is the day we start our training as Hunters, I'm kind of curious to see why you want to become one."

"…well, my reasons aren't really that special."

He looked over at the window and slowly continued, "I guess I want to be a Hunter because…I want to help people and protect the ones I care about from the evil that wants to hurt them."

"Like a hero, right," asked the woman as she admired the man's for his pure reason.

"Sure, I guess it's something like that. And maybe find…find an old friend. I was hoping that I would see her here, somewhere."

Jaune couldn't help but feel bitter as he said this when he remembered his fears from yesterday. Thinking back made him realize that if he didn't see Blake here, then maybe she was with that terrible organization, the same one that caused so much pain in the past years.

While Jaune kept staring at the window, Dahlia curiously asked, "What was your friend's name?"

"…Her name…her name is Blake. She's a good person…and someone I miss a lot."

He sadly looked into Dahlia's crimson eyes after he realized he couldn't say anything more than that. "I'm sorry it's just really hard for me to talk about this."

Dahlia suddenly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and replied, "No, I'm sorry for asking. It's obvious that this is hard for you, so I don't want you to feel any more uncomfortable than you are now."

Jaune was caught off guard by the contact and it made him pause for a moment. But it was comforting to know that at least someone understood his pain; better than him trying to figure it out by himself.

"And it's actually admirable that you're waiting for someone like this," continued the woman. "Knowing that you have a kind heart makes you seem…handsome."

His blush began to go into a deeper shade of red. He tried not to stutter as he replied, "Um thanks, I guess. That…kind of makes me feel better."

From that point on, they moved on to talk about other things. Neither of them noticed that as they enjoyed their conversation, they became the only ones in the cafeteria.

"So, my locker number is 634. Now all I have to do is remember where it is," Blake thought as she walked into the locker room.

Yesterday before they went to the ballroom, they were told to place their weapons in the locker rooms and take their new scrolls that had their passwords on it. With her scroll in hand, the Faunus walked along the lockers, each having a number that she followed to find her own. Once she found it, she pushed in the codes to open it and find that her personal weapon, Gambol Shroud, was in there.

Her hand reached for the hilt of the weapon and took it out from the locker before she examined it. The weapon itself had a black color; pulling the blade out from the sheath, she swung it to see that it was sharp and sleek like its owner.

Clicking the trigger, she made sure that it was working fine before she considered putting in the ammo later. Doing this check-up may seem like a waste of time, but in the heat of combat, every part of the weapon needed to function properly for her to use.

"Looks like everything is good," she thought as she mounted the weapon onto her back. When she closed her locker, she went over to a nearby bench. Once she sat down, she closed her golden eyes and thought about what will happen today.

Thinking actually made her a bit nervous because this is the day that she has been waiting for a long time. It was the day when she can truly take her first steps toward becoming a Huntress.

For years, she had worked for the White Fang. During those years, she always feared that her work, her loyalty to the group would stop her from seeing Jaune. Blake feared it would stop her from keeping her promise with him.

Now that she is here in Beacon, a part of that fear is gone now, but she could still feel the rest haunt her, especially when her thoughts went back to Adam.

Sighing, her right hand reached for her pocket. Pulling something out, she looked at it to see that it was the photo that Jaune gave her before she departed many years ago. The photo always gave her as much happiness as it did with great pain. When she recalled the happiest moments of her life spent with Jaune and his family, the tears would always threaten to fall, so she would bite her lip to try to stop them.

But just like those other times, especially now, tears fell regardless of her effort.

Blake missed her dear friend so much. She experienced many hardships in her life, but the hardest thing she had to do was leave Jaune so that she could return to the White Fang.

She regretted doing this, especially since the White Fang began its violent streak. Every day, she thought about what could have happen if she had stayed; it is this question that haunted her for years and even now as she sat pondering.

Sighing again, she sat down on the bench with the photo still in her hands, eyes still red from the tears in her eyes.

Ruby and Yang walked in as she looked at the photo. She didn't notice their presence as her mind only focused on the photo in front of her. Ruby, however, took notice with joy and, hoping to start another conversation, asked, "Hey Blake, how's it going?"

But Blake, who was still dazed, got up and passed the two sisters without saying anything as much as a word. This made Ruby feel worried while Yang felt a bit confused about this.

"Geez what do you think is wrong with her?" Yang asked.

"I don't know, but it looked like something's bothering her. I kind of wish she would talk about it; seems better than dealing with it alone."

Both sisters decided that it was best to not interfere. Instead, they went onto their lockers to make ready their weapons.

Blake walked out of the room and as she was walking, she passed by the dining hall. When she looked inside, she saw that only two people were there.

One was a girl she didn't recognize and the other was the blond boy she saw yesterday. They were both talking and laughing with each other. Seeing this only made the Faunus remember the sadness she experienced moments ago.

"It must be nice to have a friend that you can talk to," she thought as she continued walking to the door out of Beacon.

A few minutes after she left, Jaune and Dahlia were walking together to the locker room. Once they arrived at the door, Dahlia turned to give Jaune another smile.

"Well Jaune, it was a pleasure meeting you and I enjoyed our time together. I'll be sure to return the favor later."

"It was nice meeting you too Dahlia and I guess I will see you around, right?" Jaune said.

"Oh, you will. But…before I go, I wanted to give you something."

Dahlia got closer to Jaune as he asked, "Um, Dahlia what are you-," and quickly leaned her head towards his. The swordsman could never finish his sentence when she did this because he felt her lips make contact with his cheek.

This caused him blush from the unexpected contact. The few seconds after Dahlia pulled away, she moved closer to the frozen blonde's ear and whispered, "I'll see you later handsome. Try not to feel too sad, alright?"

Her words caused his blush to become redder, a sight that made the girl giggle as she walked away around the corner of the hallway. When he was sure that she was gone, his blush disappeared as he sighed and went inside the locker room.

"She just loves to tease me; it's going to leave my face permanently red if she doesn't stop it. Now back to why I'm in here, my locker number is 636. But where is it?" Jaune thought as he searched for his locker number.

While he was searching, he passed by Ruby and Yang who were talking about something involving 'milk' and 'shells'.

"Must be about a party. Those two sure like to have fun."

Jaune continued on until he saw Weiss talking to a red-haired girl. He overheard Weiss when she asked, "Well I was hoping if we could be on the same team together."

"Well, that sounds grand."

Jaune then heard the heiress say, "Great," before she created a sinister smile with thunderclouds forming behind her. An idea came into mind when he saw an opportunity to mess with her.

He walked over behind Weiss and said, "You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc, nice to meet you."

Surprised, the heiress looked at him and felt disturbed by his presence.

"Oh, you again."

However, the other girl seemed happier to see him. At least happy enough for her to say, "Nice to meet you Jaune," with a hand wave.

Jaune could see that this new person wore gold armor. She also had emerald eyes, a beautiful face, and an athlete's body. Her pure red hair only added to her beauty along with the smile that could make any man melt. Although he almost became one of such people, the blonde managed to say, "Hey, nice to meet you too, beautiful. Oh, uh, sorry, I mean pretty, I mean…nice to meet you too."

His fumble managed to make her giggle as she appreciated the compliment. Weiss didn't like how Jaune's attention was more on the other at the moment.

After he recovered his brave front, Jaune said," So Weiss, heard about your interest in me the other day."

While he began to flex his muscles, Weiss looked away from him and placed her hand to her forehead.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

He stopped his flexing and said, "Oh, don't be embarrassed, I was just joking around. But on another note, I heard your talk about teams, and I was wondering if we can be on the same one together."

The redhead spoke, "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each so-"

"If that is the case, then I would love to have someone like you in my team."

The comment made the girl blink in surprise as she felt a small heat creep into her cheeks. Although Jaune didn't notice it, Weiss did and quickly walked between the two before pushing them away from each other.

"Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not the slightest clue, Snow Angel."

From there, Weiss told Jaune everything that he needed to know about Pyrrha. Listening closely, the blonde honestly admitted he didn't know her in every sentence until he finally recognized something.

"That's you?! They only do that to star athletes and cartoon character," gasped Jaune as he finally made the connection when Weiss talked about the cereal.

An image of the cereal box brand appeared behind her beautiful smiling face.

"Yeah it was pretty cool, but sadly the cereal isn't good for you."

"Does it really matter? I love eating it." Jaune happily said.

Unamused by this, Weiss asked, "So, after hearing all this, do you honestly believe you're in the position to ask her to be on your team?"

"…No, I don't think I am," Jaune sighed as he realized she was right.

Surprisingly, Pyrrha walked over to Jaune and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Actually, Jaune I think you would make a great leader."

Jaune took a few seconds to look exchange glances with Pyrrha before he slid her hand off of his shoulder.

"No…no, I don't think I would. Maybe as a teammate, but not as a leader."

Although concerned, the redhead couldn't help but ask, "Why do you say that Jaune? Did you have a bad experience of being one?"

"Well...I don't think I can shoulder the burden. I'm not exactly the most capable person." Looking into Pyrrha's eyes, he finished, "I don't want my friends to die if I ever make a mistake, especially if it's someone I care about."

His mind wandered to Blake as he said this. Now lost for words, the blonde slowly walked away, leaving behind the two others who watched him out of concern.

Weiss looked at the other and asked, "I don't think he said that to just answer the question. What do you think that was about?"

Shaking her head, Pyrrha replied, "I'm not sure either. Maybe he's just really nervous about the initiation. I…hope he doesn't feel too bad."

Weiss just shrugged her shoulders as she closed the door to her locker. "Well, with that out of the way, Pyrrha, what do you-."

While the two girls talked, Jaune continued to look for his locker. Unfortunately, he didn't have much luck as his focus was on something else.

"Blake, Where are you?"

Once all the first years arrived at the cliff, each one of them lined up on a platform and waited for the teachers to speak. Jaune, standing beside Ruby, looked around and saw Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha, and even Dahlia waiting in the suspense.

When his eyes made contact with Dahlia's, the girl smiled and waved at him. He gave his own small wave just as Ozpin said, "For years, you have all trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

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

As she finished talking, Jaune heard a small groan coming from his left.

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

When he heard the groan again, Jaune looked in that direction and saw that it came from Ruby.

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

"What!"

After explaining what would happen in the forest, the headmaster finished with, "Good, now take your positions."

Everyone got their stance ready except Jaune as his mind was on the matter with teammates. All the people he knew so far were women. They each were special in their own way, but he had to consider their bad sides as well.

Weiss is definitely someone he didn't want to be paired up with. He considered pairing up with Dahlia, but her attraction for the blonde made him feel vulnerable and he didn't want to blush every time he's near her.

"Yang's out of the question. Especially with a…I don't even want to finish that thought."

He considered Ruby, but he didn't know what to make of the young girl. She's a nice girl to talk to, but with the weapon she had, it made him paranoid to be even near her at times.

The last person he would consider to be his teammate is Pyhrra. If he was paired up with her, then the rest of his years in Beacon wouldn't be so bad. But her celebrity status made him feel beneath her and Weiss's earlier words only made it seem like he has no chance of being with her at all.

"But I can't say that for sure until it happens, so…I guess we'll wait and see."

One after another, the students were launched into the air by the platforms. Jaune didn't notice it was his turn until it was too late. When he was launched, his body flung through the air as his mind screamed, "What kind of initiation is this?!"

After her own launch, Blake quickly looked for a way to land without pulverizing her feet into the ground. When she saw the branches in the trees of the forest, she took out the weapon from behind her back and then folded the blade to change it into its scythe form.

She threw the blade towards a tree branch where it easily latched onto the wood. With both hands on the ribbon, she swung herself to another tree branch. At the end of her swing, she pulled on the ribbon and discharged the gun, making the blade slice through the tree branch.

After she landed on the branch, she placed the weapon back into its sheath and mounted it onto her back. As she stood up, she heard shots being fired in the air above her. She looked up to see that Yang flew by, using her weapons to keep herself flying forward.

Blake jumped off the tree branch and surveyed her surroundings. She noticed nothing around her, she took a minute to catch her breath as she took out the photo again.

Seeing the picture reminded her that she is still looking for signs of Jaune in the forest. Now all she had to do is search for him, yet a part of her couldn't help but fear for the worst again. Fear that the person she's looking for isn't here, but gone as she spent her long years with the White Fang.

She quickly pushed those fears away and as she began to run, she whispered, "Please be here Jaune. Anywhere, so I can see that you're safe or even here."

Jaune was still flying in the air as he tried to figure out his 'landing strategy'. He thought of shouting for help, but he didn't think he's allowed to do that. He did his best to come up with new solutions, but each one seemed worse than the last and it wasn't helping him prepare for his eventual reunion with the ground.

Looking down, he noticed that his reunion was right on schedule, so he did the only thing he could do. He quickly spun with his back facing the ground and closed his eyes as he hoped that his back will help him cushion the fall.

Or it would make the enormous pain he's about to feel a hundred times worse than he could have felt from the front.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha rolled onto a tree branch and took out her weapon, Milo, in its gun form. She quickly looked around as she tried to find the person who would be her partner, although her mind seemed set on finding Jaune.

The blonde boy is someone who intrigued her. He's the first to not recognize her as a celebrity, but as a person who was no different from anybody else. That is one of the many reasons why she desired to be with him.

"As a partner. Only as a partner, I mean, what else can I see him as?"

Thinking back when she first met him, she remembered the strange feelings she had about him. It first began when he called her beautiful and when he said he would 'love' to have her on the team, she could remember the heat on her cheeks.

Unknown to her, the same blush appeared over her face as she thought about him. When the warmth didn't disappear, she quickly looked at the reflection of her shield to see that her cheeks were as red as her hair.

"Maybe it's more than that…or I'm coming down with something. I should probably get myself a check-up later."

Pulling herself from her thoughts, Pyrrha continued her objective as her eyes returned to the scope of her weapon. When she looked in one direction, she saw that Jaune was about to crash into the ground, so she quickly changed her weapon into its javelin form.

Once the weapon finished forming, she did her best to aim it at Jaune. But a second later, his body suddenly disappeared, leaving the red-head to look at the empty sky.

"Where did he go?"

Suddenly, a white light shined brightly from another location and Pyrrha felt the presence of someone's Aura. Unlike the others, however, she felt safe and warm from this one. Once the light was gone, she concluded that Jaune was the cause of it.

"He must have a lot of Aura to give off that much,"

She began to sprint towards that location and smiled as she made up her mind. Jaune was definitely the partner she wants to be with for the next four years in Beacon and she was going to do her best to make that happen.

Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch were both still at the cliff and monitoring the performance of the students in the forest. When the white light appeared over the forest, they both gazed away to shield their eyes until it finally died down.

"Professor Ozpin, whose Aura was that?"

The headmaster took a sip of his drink and spoke, "I believe that is Jaune Arc's Aura."

Goodwitch raised her eyebrow, surprised to hear this.

"It's strange for his Aura to go off like that. What do you think caused it to go off like that?"

The headmaster silently chuckled as he replied, "That would most likely be because of the fall. And it seems like something interesting came out of it, but it has yet to reveal itself in its full form. Perhaps this is a sign that the upcoming year will truly be an interesting one to look forward to."

When Goodwitch closed her eyes as she shook her head from this, both professors returned to monitoring the performance of the students as if the conversation has never taken place.

Crouched on a branch, Blake saw Yang sprinting by in the bushes below. The brawler clearly didn't notice her, as she looked through one group of bushes and asked, "Ruby, is that you?"

The Faunus watched from the tree as she saw the blonde begin her fight against two Ursas. She even quietly chuckled when she saw the fighter easily get angry because one hair strand fell off of her head.

"You…MONSTER!"

Once Yang finished slamming the Grimm into a group of trees, Blake could see that it was time for her to intervene. As she took out her weapon in its scythe form, she silently dropped down from the tree. With the other Ursa facing Yang, the Faunus threw her weapon at the Grimm's back.

After making contact, the Ursa fell moments later. Blake tugged the ribbon on her weapon to recall it before she mounted it on her back. After doing that, she looked at Yang with a smirk on her face.

Yang returned the smile as she said, "I could have taken him."

At that moment, the two felt the forest shake as a white wave of light pasted through them.

"Whoa, what was that?"

"I don't know," Blake replied as she began to walk away.

"Hey, wait up for me," yelled Yang as she did her best to catch up to her new partners.

When Jaune opened his eyes, the first thing that came to his mind was the question of whether or not he is dead. He felt the wind breeze past him, heard the rustling of leaves, and shots being fired in the air.

"Well, there's my answer," he thought as he got up and dusted off the dirt from his clothing. When he looked around, he saw that nobody was in the area. He also noticed that he surprisingly didn't feel any pain in his body.

When he looked down at where he fell, his eyes widened at the sight. He saw a human-size crater on the ground below him.

"Whoa, did I do this?"

He suddenly heard something move around him. Now alert, he drew his blade and said, "Who's there?"

"Jaune, it's me. You can relax."

He recognized the voice to where he put down his weapon and called out, "Pyrrha?"

On cue, the redhead stepped out of the tree and waved at him. Jaune smiled as he put his weapon away and walked up to her.

"So, since we both made eye contact with each other, it looks like we're partners now. But honestly, I'd like to be your partner only if you're okay with it. So…what do you think," Pyrrha shyly asked.

Happy to see his first choice standing in front of him, he quickly replied, "Yeah, I absolutely would want you to be my partner. I mean…sure, that sounds good."

The answer made the redhead happy to know that he agreed. It also made the heat in her cheeks return, but she managed to keep it down this time.

"Well, we should probably get going. We're going to need the rest of the time to finish our objective."

"Yeah, we should. I think I saw the temple in this direction, while I was flying…or falling, if you prefer something more accurate."

Pyrrha almost giggled as she asked, "Was the fall harder to manage than you thought it would be?"

"No, it's just that I wasn't expecting it to happen. After my recent experience with flying, I don't think I want to become 'vomit boy' again."

The two, newly formed partners continued their light conversation as they made their way to the temple. They were enjoying their talk so much that they never paid much attention to the cave that had rocks blocking the entrance.

Deep within the cave, a creature could hear the two people outside talk, even laugh at one point. It opened its red eyes and quietly chittered as it woke up. After it spent a few minutes for its exhaustion to pass, it charged at the only exit in the cave. A few seconds later, it broke through the rocks and looked around to search for its prey.

Angrily snapping its pincers covered by its white and red exoskeleton, the Deathstalker loudly screeched as its yellow stinger hung in the air. When it barely heard the earlier conversation make noise in a distance, the Grimm slowly charged after the two, ready to destroy them with all its power.

Authors Note

So sorry again if I realized this chapter late. Again…But I'm happy that more people are getting interested with the story. Makes me smile every time someone makes a review. Thank Storygazer for putting a part of his time to proofread this chapter. We should appreciate his work in doing this. On a side note there was a Lunar Eclipse last week. That was cool, but I didn't want to stay up to late to just look at it. This Lunar Eclipse supports Jaune and Blake :D. If you people see it that way because the moon can't be black unless it is not there.

Dahlia is also Storygazers creation so the credit goes to him, not me. So lately I have been playing a lot of lol again. Sorry. Very addicting pc game. I also got the RWBY volumn 2 poster and it is so BADASS you guys should definitely get it. So this is me done talking and preparing to play league and get out of low elo. So far I'm in Bronze 4 yay me. I'm also happy for my story to be apart of a community. Thank you for whoever did that. Hopefully I leave you guys from wanting more.