Laying down on the futon that passed for a bed for the newest students of Beacon Academy, Weiss Schnee sighed; the day hadn't been going as well as she had imagined it in her mind. Far from being welcome to the academy, no one in the staff seemed to have much idea of who she was - though perhaps that was a matter of course for all their students, she could appreciate their professionalism. Being forced to practically sleep on the floor also wasn't what she had been expecting when she'd left the family home behind to become a Huntress.

However, she could handle all of that; what she couldn't handle was the sheer gall of some people. If looks could kill, the blonde girl that was lying down not too far from her would have been set aflame. Instead of sleeping at this late hour after an exhausting journey via airship like any sane person, the bimbo - she felt comfortable calling her that - was typing away at her scroll, which emitted a light that quite stubbornly refused to leave Weiss' eyes, making it impossible for her to rest.

Giving up on her futile effort, she grumbled under her breath and sent a glance over the admittedly quite beautiful blond hair - though messy, it was obviously handled with care - to see what manner of text messaging could be so important. If it was some sort of spam letter that was keeping her up, there would be words.

LittleSun: So yeah, the hall isn't that great a place to sleep, it's kinda packed actually.

BigRed: But you get to sleep in sleeping bags with everyone else, sounds great! Wish I could be there.

LittleSun: I'm sure we can figure something out later. Speaking of, looking forward to initiation tomorrow! I heard we're forming teams.

BigRed: Yeah, sounds cool.

LittleSun: Wait, how did you know about it already?

BigRed: I miight have been told about initiation. :) It's no big deal.

LittleSun: Well isn't someone important? Spill the beans!

BigRed: Nope, I'm not supposed to tell anyone. Especially you.

LittleSun: There will be a reckoning for this.

BigRed: Huh-uh. Shivering in fear up here.

LittleSun: Smartass. :P G2g, need to get sleep, and someone's reading over my shoulder.

The screen abruptly turned black and the blond-haired girl pivoted to stare back at Weiss, who felt a slight amount of shame but suppressed any blushing. She was the inheritor of the Schnee name, dammit! She wouldn't be embarrassed just because she was caught snooping. Besides, it was the girl's fault for having her phone be the only bright source of light nearby.

"Something I can help you with, princess?"

The derogatory tone erased whatever guilt she might have still felt.

"Excuse me, but my name is Weiss. Weiss Schnee." She waited for a moment for recognition, but all she got was a raised eyebrow. Deciding to be the better person, she let it go and softened her voice. "I was wondering what you were doing instead of sleeping. Who was that?"

"My younger sister. She has a…condition, so she couldn't be here." There was a mischievous glint in the other girl's eyes. "Sorry about that, princess. I'll let you get to sleep now."

A sister? Weiss felt a pang of regret, and decided to let things go at that, watching the blond tuck herself into her sleeping bag to sleep. If she was coming to Beacon too, the girl's sister couldn't be much younger so she could handle being alone. Though it was a shame that she was sick on the first day.

Dismissing the thought from her mind, she joined the other students in blissful sleep.


The headmaster's explanation of the partner system was nonsensical, disordered, irresponsible and judging by miss Goodwitch's complete lack of reaction, perfectly expected. Oh, every academy had their quirks, but leaving the most important part of initiation completely up to chance? As far as she was concerned, it was pure madness. What was the point in trying to convince Pyrrha Nikos, someone who would probably be the greatest huntress of their generation, to partner up with her if she had no control over it and might just as well end up with a bumbling fool?

Still, she held her tongue from speaking any complaints. Beacon was a prestigious academy, and clearly this unorthodox method hadn't stopped any of its past students from becoming great; perhaps it was a test, meant to show that those with great potential could make their own luck. So, she kept silent, and soon enough her turn came and the strange mechanical catapult did its work, sending her flying into the air.

She was ready, using glyphs to both slow down her descent and propel herself further into the forest, when a great gust of wind came unexpectedly, blowing her off her trajectory. Holding back the scream that would normally have come from her lips, she managed to restrict herself to a slight "eep". By the time she'd righted herself it was too late; she'd been blown away from the center of the forest, toward a large rock formation. On the verge of panic, she deployed a new glyph, trying to slow down her descent to little avail, and she crashed harshly into the ground, making a small crater.

Fortunately, she'd been at the right angle and her aura absorbed the impact, leaving her with nothing worse than a swimming head and vision that took a second to focus again. Much worse was the fact that she'd lose track of where she'd ended up. Was the forest to the East or the West? She frowned in annoyance, trying to focus. If she made for the wrong direction, initiation could be over by the time she'd made up for her mistake…

"Are you alright?"

Someone shouted in her ears, making her jump up in surprise. How had they snuck up on her? She pivoted around, Myrtlemaster at the ready in case it was needed, and blinked in incomprehension. There was no one there, but in the distance, she could see the border of the rock formation, and behind it a black wall with several red lines running through it, rising much higher than the rocks themselves. On each side, two black pillars rose into the air, thicker than buildings.

"Wha-"

"Look a bit higher."

The voice came again, almost hurting her ears, and she realized that she'd been wrong to think it was shouted; it had the steady cadence of casual talk and the tone of a girl around her age, it was just that the volume of it was magnified to the extent that it sounded like someone shouting at the tops of their lungs, if not even louder. It shook the air in such an intimidating way that Weiss found herself almost instinctively obeying, lifting her head to look higher up.

"T-this isn't possible."

A stuttering mutter came out of her mouth as her knees started to shake, and she dropped her sword, taking a step back instinctively at the impossible sight. The fall…yes, the fall must have shaken her more than she thought! She was unconscious, and this was a hallucination! It was the only explanation for what she was seeing.

High above, at the summit of the strange black wall and covering a large portion of the sky that she could see was the young face of a girl, two immense silver eyes peering down at her cheerfully. It was like she was a bug being stared at from high above. But no, it had to be a hallucination.

"Hi, I'm Ruby!"

Mercilessly the voice came down again, shaking her to the bone and reaffirming its terrible reality. She could only stand there transfixed, repeating denials over and over in a manner most unbefitting that she would have been ashamed of in any other situation. Heedless to Weiss' fear, the titanic girl continued excitedly, her speech accelerating and coming faster and faster.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you right now. Hum, I'm also a student at Beacon, and they told me to wait around here, and that whoever I met first would be my partner. This is kind of awkward…I'm not used to this."

"No, no, eeeh?"

The trance that Weiss had entered was broken as the girl that rose into the sky moved, her hand moving forward past the boundary of the rock formation, crossing hundreds of feet in an instant, and closed into what was almost a fist, leaving only her index finger to continue onward toward the comparatively minuscule Weiss. Before the heiress' wide and disbelieving eye, a pillar descended from the sky toward her, larger than her entire body. She backed up in a panic.

"N-no, please! Stay way!"

She felt the ground swim under her; it was just too much. It didn't make sense, it just couldn't be. As her legs gave out, she heard the thundering yet youthful voice ring out cheerfully one more time as high above a cheerful smile formed.

"Nice to meet you, partner."


Author's Note: Took longer than i wish it had, but here it is. Fortunately the next one shouldn't take as long.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Your feedback is very much appreciated. If there are any suggestions or requests for future scenes, feel free to ask! Even if they don't fit in the story itself I might write them as bonus chapters.