A.N. (7/12/20) - I've been really lazy these past few days. Just started this chapter on a Thursday and only finished a few hours before posting.

Chapter 12 - Initiation

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

Rin eyed the tiny cup nestling in her hands with a hint of suspicion. It was early in the morning and she had suffered through the multitude of alarm clocks in order to get to the staff room.

"I'm not one to drink coffee."

"Nonsense! No matter what Glynda says, everyone can enjoy a good morning cup."

Rin looked up to see the bemused smile of Ozpin as the man took another sip out of his own mug. Rin was currently alone with Ozpin in the staff room waiting for the rest of the teachers to come by. Ozpin had already had a pot of coffee brewing by the time Rin came and had taken to making her a cup without asking.

"I'm really more of a tea person."

"Maybe so, but sadly we've run out of teabags at the moment."

"Really? I'm pretty sure I saw a box full of them when you opened the cupboard earlier."

"You must be mistaken," Ozpin lied smoothly. "I definitely didn't see any when I last checked. It must have been something else you saw."

Rin eyed the bubbling concoction in her hands with growing sense trepidation. A strange smell filled the air that gave off a sort of... spicy aroma. The liquid didn't seem to have the normal color she expected either. Rather, for some strange reason, it was a blackish almost purple color. A sinister pop shook her out of her thoughts.

"W-Why is it still boiling? Shouldn't it have cooled down by now?"

"That's one of Bart's special concoctions," Ozpin explained. "It's a specialized blend of finely grounded Fire Dust and imported Vacuo Shores. Perfect for warming you up in the morning while clearing your mind and keeping you awake."

A shiver went down Rin's back. Rin remembered the first time Tukson introduced her to the fine art that is Dust coffee. Due to certain actions of her youth, she had a mild trauma that made it hard for her to have a good opinion of the popular beverage. Still, if Ozpin was willing to take the effort to offer her a cup even though she was young in years, then the beverage was probably gonna be something special.

Ozpin gestured her with his hand as if telling her to go on.

Seeing that she had no other choice, Rin sighed and took a sip.

"..."

It tasted... horrible! Extremely bitter to an unnatural degree and almost burning her tongue. If Rin was tired before, now she was alert and felt like she just injected herself with pure adrenaline. Rin almost spat the foul liquid out of her mouth until something strange started to happen. The taste... started to change. A strange prickly sensation started to cover her tongue, and the flavor started to mellow out into a bearable state that Rin found herself enjoying.

Sensing her pleasure, Ozpin patted her on the shoulder and gave her a wink. "Always a pleasure converting another one to the cause."

T-This... this was something alright. Rin couldn't see herself going back to drinking tea after today. Rin took another sip and was happily surprised by the fact that her tongue adapted to the initial bitter taste, allowing her to enjoy the flavor without repercussion. A warm feeling soon started to spread through the rest of her body, and her body relaxed under its warmth.

"Glynda never saw the appeal, unfortunately. I dare say she blushed a storm cleaning up the spill she made after spitting it out when she first took a sip. And ever since she never touched another cup."

"Y-Yeah~" Oh wow, she already finished her cup. Why didn't she grab a large mug like Ozpin?

Rin held out her hand as Ozpin helped refill her cup. Allowing her time to take a sip, Ozpin waited until it looked like she was done.

"So what are your thoughts on the upcoming trial today?"

Rin shrugged. "I already told you how it would've gone if I never appeared. Did you change how you're assigning teams this year?"

"Not particularly. And by that, I mean not at all. I might mix up the order of who's getting launched, but otherwise, it should be as you remember it."

"Rememb— is that the right tense? Sorry, it's just that it's supposed to be a future event and all."

"I thought you believed otherwise. Isn't this part of your theory on parallel-timelines, thus making your version a record and not an actual event you can classify as happened in the future?"

Rin tried to think about it, but the fugue-like state she was feeling from the coffee made her lazy. Strange, even though she was caffeinated to the extreme, she was starting to feel sleepy again. "M-Moving on. I'd thought you would've changed it since I'd know how you would do things this year."

"I trust that your integrity wouldn't allow you to divulge to your friends Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long merely to gain an upper hand over the competition." Ozpin took another sip out of his own mug. "Did I assume incorrectly?"

Rin looked to the side awkwardly. "K-Kinda. Honestly... I did think about it for a while, telling them I mean, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking."

"Oh?"

Rin took a moment to think about her next words. This next part of the conversation was probably gonna delve into a few of her insecurities she's been noticing recently.

"You know that... ever since we've had that meeting you've been taking the idea of my knowledge of a possible timeline rather easily. I'm still surprised you were willing to accept my story so easily."

"We did spend a while going over the details you've recalled."

"Yeah. And I recall you asking why I came to you in the first place. And I answered that if my knowledge could help others and prevent problems from forming in the first place, then it is my duty to others to make sure that such problems were handled before they grew out of hand."

"Yes, and we have managed to change things too." Ozpin's expression grew dark for a moment. "While Lionheart's betrayal hurt me personally, I believe James is grateful for you trusting him to take care of that particular problem."

"Yeah. Ironwood's been a great help." Rin had met the man over video conference a few times, and she got the impression that the man was someone she could respect.

"Did you know he once made an offer to help shelter Amber in Atlas?" Seeing the confused expression on Rin's face was answer enough. "At the time I refuse, of course. Two Maidens in close proximity together under a somewhat militaristic society? That was something even Qrow in his most drunken state would have agreed that it was a bad idea." Taking another sip, he continued. "Sure, I understood his reasons why he thought it was a good idea. Having the Fall Maiden so far away from her protected Vault would be an additional factor in security, and the two Maidens could have protected each other from harm if needed. Even so, there were more reasons not to do so than there were to go through with the idea."

Setting the mug down on the table, Ozpin sighed and crossed his fingers together. "But... with your claims on her possible attack, I'm starting to question if maybe it would be better to move her for now. Since we can't send her to Haven Academy for obvious reasons and the fact that we don't have anyone trusted in Vacuo, Atlas is honestly the only place we can send her that I trust to keep her safe."

"Have you heard about Cinder or her followers?"

"No. We looked into the student registry for all four Huntsman Academies. They're not in either of them, and we've gone over the past few years just in case. I also had Qrow try to search for Marcus Black to see if his son had been recruited or not, but no one's been able to tell him where the two lived."

That's... a good thing, right? It's not like Rin was worried about Ozpin losing faith in Rin's supposed prediction of the future. There were other events that she could use to prove the legitimacy of her foreknowledge, the biggest being Lionheart's betrayal. That said... did her butterfly effect cause more harm than good?

"But even so, with all that you have told us, we are now more prepared for any attempt that Salem will throw at us." Ozpin looked Rin in the eyes and smiled. "So yes, I must give thanks to your decision about opening up to us. You have contributed a great deal in our efforts against Salem. Are you having doubts about thinking that you should have chosen otherwise?"

"No. You were the only one capable of mobilizing the necessary resources to handle the problems I foresaw, and I took advantage of my foreknowledge to learn how to convince you to help handle it." Rin's thoughts on this were absolute. If things had gone as the show had depicted, Cinder would currently have half the power of the Fall Maiden. Now, due to Rin's efforts, Amber will not end up in a coma fated to slowly die until her Aura is transferred to another candidate.

"Then what is the problem?" Ozpin asked with some curiosity.

"Well... it's stupid." Rin shuffled in her seat. "I know things and I made sure to act on what I know. And yes, this means that sometimes the people I know are unfortunately someone I knew before having met them. But then I look at some people I know. And I see... not them, but the people they could be. And not just that, but I see what they could have been."

Rin felt something tug at her chest as she spilled her thoughts. "Look at Ruby. Graduating two years early the same year as her sister. Compared to when I first met her, she's more confident in her skills and decisions. And I feel horrible that I want Ruby to be more like the Ruby I know, the one who's destined to lead a group called Team RWBY and make friends with another group called Team JNPR. But I know how Team RWBY came to be and knowing that this Ruby is different is hard, because I have no guarantee that it will be the same Team RWBY I remember and I can't help but feel is it wrong for me to wish for them to team up anyways."

Team Ruby and Team Juniper. Rin knew these girls and boys. She, or rather Erik, had watched them grow up into great Huntsman and Huntresses. But those people were built by loss and tragedy. To make these children - and yes, Rin saw them as children - take a path so similar to what Rin knew. Is that her right?

Yang was supposed to be partners with Blake. She was supposed to fight against the White Fang and Cinder's minions. She was supposed to be framed for an unprovoked attack on Mercury at the Vytal Tournament. She was supposed to lose her arm against Adam Tauros. She was supposed to meet her mother and come to terms with their relationship. She was supposed to fall in love with Blake.

But should she? How much of that will happen if Yang doesn't find herself in the same circumstances as it could have been? Can she still fall in love if Yang finds herself partnered with Pyrrha? Or Jaune? Or her sister Ruby?

And Ruby. Ruby is even more different from how Rin remembered due to so many changes Rin made. Will Ruby even be made leader of her team, whoever they might be?

Several weeks ago, Rin took a look at herself in the mirror one day and flinched. Because she couldn't see that the girl in front of her was her reflection. For at that moment, she saw the eyes of someone who looked at others and only saw them as parts of an idea she wanted to create. During the next few days, Rin couldn't look into a mirror without flinching and forgetting that this was who she was now.

"And then I had these thoughts that maybe I could tell Ruby and Yang how they would choose partners, but then I can't explain how I know without lying to them or slipping at who they might end up with and it just makes me think about what kind of person I am to worry about such things."

This was the problem with her. No matter how much she adapted to this life, ultimately she realizes that she's a manipulator of circumstances who takes advantage of her unique knowledge to get involved with key characters she knew about. To this day, Rin still wonders whether she befriended Ruby for natural reasons or whether it was due to her status as the main protagonist.

Ozpin was silent for a moment, with the only sounds in the room coming from him tapping the side of his mug. A moment later, he slowly replied with a quiet voice, "I think I can easily relate."

"..." He could. For even though Rin is special for having her soul merged with another person, Ozpin is not only the same but is also the accumulation of an unknown amount of people all fused together into one person. As far as Rin knew, no one else on Remnant except for Ozpin can come close to understanding what she is going through.

"I understand the feeling of being manipulative. I've had this conversation several times throughout my lives with myself. And in my case, quite literally. Many of my hosts have come to me with this exact topic with differing measures of worry. The feeling of knowing the truth behind the Grimm and understanding that by not telling others about the threat we have to lie and work around others if we want to keep it a secret. The pain we undergo in having to lie to our friends and family, no matter what we feel about telling them."

Ozpin gave a tired chuckle, letting his true age leak out for a moment. "During my first few reincarnations, I found myself often comparing my new companions with those I've previously had, forcing certain ideals on new comrades based on experiences of previous lives. The transition from one life to the next is not always so clean-cut as I make it out to be, and sometimes past regrets just... transfer on to the next. And with regrets, comes expectations. While your worries are slightly more unique than mine, ultimately I believe I can empathize with you. It... is a heavy burden for those cursed with circumstances such as us."

And this isn't a problem that just affects them alone. In Volume 6 where it is revealed that Ozpin has been lying to them for various reasons, Ozpin's secrets being revealed affected the trust he built with his students and Qrow. This caused a strain in their relationship, forcing a divide between him and the rest of his companions. Qrow took his betrayal the worst, having listened to Ozpin almost his whole life, making it even worse when Qrow rejected Ozpin for his lies.

Rin hasn't told Ozpin this particular knowledge yet. So far, she's gone over the first three volumes in great detail with Ozpin and his group while rationalizing that any further into the timeline wouldn't matter too much if large changes were gonna be made. In fact, Ozpin himself asked that while he would hear out Rin's explanation on large important events he would rather he didn't know about his personal future in this alternate timeline. Rin hasn't even told him who would eventually replace him in the case of his death.

So yes, the two of them had issues with honesty that probably necessitated some therapy for both of them. And it's not like they can just talk their problems out with a psychologist. A psychologist needs honesty, and Rin and Ozpin had too much to hide to risk revealing to someone uninvolved.

'Gosh, is this why all Huntsman and Huntresses all end up crazy?' Rin looked at Qrow, Taiyang, and Raven for examples of that particular thought. The three that were mostly involved in Ozpin's war were probably the craziest Huntsman and Huntresses around. While Taiyang might be the most normal out of the three, even he had his own problems. Rin heard stories from Yang about how he used to be absent-minded for years after Summer's death. Almost to the point where Yang had to describe him as neglectful, forcing Yang to sometimes act as the adult for Ruby.

"...does it ever get better."

Ozpin closed his eyes and leaned back onto his chair. "Some days, I feel like I can answer yes. Most days, I try to remember the reasons I act that way and hold on to those reasons. Because... if I forget why I'm destroying myself, then all of my efforts will end up meaningless."

"Still doesn't exactly solve my problem. Initiation is only a few hours away, and I can't decide if it's better for Teams Ruby and Juniper to form or not."

"Try not to worry. Why don't you just trust that things will work out? Try... believing in fate for once."

Rin snorted at the unintentional pun. Fate, huh? That was basically the story of her life. Literally, in some cases.

"You know what, maybe you're on to something. Thanks... Dumbledore."

The serious mood disappeared and Ozpin smiled. "One of these days, I'll have to read those books you're always referencing."

Glynda Goodwitched walked in to see the two of them smiling at each other, two cups of cold coffee resting in between them.

"Bart and Peter have already moved out to control the number of Grimm in the forest. I'll be out resetting the launch pads for the upcoming Initiation. Miss Tohsaka, can you please go and wake up the students so that they can prepare for the day?"

Rin took a look at her cup, shrugged, then downed the entirety in one quick gulp. Setting it down, she got up from her seat and stretched.

"Welp, I guess everyone's been waiting. I'll go get things started then."

}-{

Jaune stared at the flying Grimm that just passed over him. Sure, it was a tiny thing. But to date, Jaune has yet to have slain even a 'tiny' Grimm, or any Grimm for that matter.

Last night was a real stress tester. Jaune had been unable to sleep easily, causing him to have trouble waking up earlier this morning. Then there was that moment where he forgot where he left the sword Rin lent him, and then there was that fight that broke out between Yang and that white-haired girl. Ruby had mostly stayed out of it and instead helped him out with searching for Sasaki Kojiro instead.

And then it all came back to now, where he's currently trying to NOT freak out before the test can even start.

Yeah, it's just a test. Just think of it like a school test. Sure, regular school tests don't make you go into strange forests to fight off eldritch abominations. No, they only test you on things like math and history. The true horrors of humanity.

"With that in mind," shoot! How long have they been talking? "The first person you make in eye contact with will be your partner."

"WHAT!" This came out of his mouth with a shock. No one else seemed surprised by this. Even Ruby seemed to be taking this in stride, and from what he learned about her earlier, she was supposedly two years younger than him. Man, was everyone some kind of badass warrior, him being the exception?

From one end, students suddenly started being launched into the air one-by-one. Okay, this is actually happening now. You can do this. Just remember all the training you did with Rin.

'Jaune, you idiot! I told you to move right! I can't keep healing you if you're too dead to learn to dodge.'

Remember your training with Rin.

'Hey Jaune, I've been working on a little experiment with a few Dust crystals. Try to not get hit while I test them out on you.'

Rember your training...

'Dodge! Oh my gosh, you're worse than abridged Gohan! It's not that hard!'

Remember...

...wait a minute. Rin never taught him how to do a landing strategy! Shit! Okay, you can figure something out. Just... ask the Professor. Surely they won't just throw you off if you don't know how to handle this, right?

"Um... Professor Ozpin?"

"Yes?" As he said that, the student to his very left just got launched off into the air. Jaune gulped nervously before continuing.

"So... I might have missed a bit during your explanation but... what's exactly a... landing strategy?"

Jaune trailed off as Ozpin gave him a weird stare, before raising his mug and taking a loud sip.

"...I'm sure a bright fellow like you can figure it out."

...wait, what?

}-{

Blake heard a loud pitched squeal from behind her as she traveled through the air. Huh, wondered who that was. Either way, she was about to land so she better get ready.

Taking out Gambol Shroud, Blake threw the hook end towards a wide trunk and swung around for a bit before landing safely. From above her, she could see several other students fly by.

Okay, let's go over what she should do next. First, look for a partner that she can handle dealing with for the next four years. First off, no racist bigots. So that Cardin guy she heard talking last night is probably out. Speaking of last night, there were a couple of loud and active students she noticed as well. Blake imagined partnering with the loud orange-haired girl or that Yang person who kept arguing with the Schnee. Somehow, Blake felt that she wouldn't get much peace if she partnered up with them.

So who does that leave her with? There was Pyrrha Nikos. Weird how no one seemed to talk to her except for the Schnee. And that right there is a reason she might have to avoid the red-haired girl from now on. If they knew each other from before school...

Blake jumped from tree to tree while searching for a partner.

Maybe she can partner with that silent black-haired boy. No, no boys. Adam is still a recent wound and not something she wants to poke at. Sure, it's not like it's a guarantee that partnering with a male will lead to a romance option, but there were a lot of precedents that made Blake wary. And by that logic, the blonde nervous guy was out also.

Stopping at a session of bushes, she pulled out her sword and started to hack away at the foliage.

Who else? There was Yang's sister, Ruby. Sure, she looks a little young. But so far it seems that she's apparently the more mature one between the two sisters. Blake can imagine working with the girl for the next few years. Honestly, at this point, Blake felt that she could work with anyone. Well, anyone except...

Blake suddenly found herself at the end of a pointed weapon. The tip pointing in her face had appeared right while she finished cutting through the bushes.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't notice anyone was there. Sorry about that." Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation, lowered her weapon to her side. "I guess this makes us partners. As my new partner, I am expecting you to be aware that you will have to live up to a certain standard now that you are going to be working with me." Holding out her hand, Weiss Schee looked straight at Blake.

At this point, Blake felt herself questioning how life will be life for the next few weeks, no, days if she partnered with the Schnee. No, this simply will not work.

"What color are my eyes?" Blake suddenly asked.

"Eh?" The white-haired girl was suddenly caught off guard. "Er... sorry, what?"

Blake quickly turned around and started to run. Nope, Weiss Schnee did not know what color eyes she had. Ergo, their eyes did not meet, and thus they weren't partners.

Simple logic, really.

"Hey! Get back here! Stop running away and get back here!"

Sim~ple logic.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Blake smiled and continued to run away while a frustrated Schnee continued to chase her. Huh, guess some things in life don't change after all.

Damn, it took a while to write this. I've been putting off doing anything these past few days since I've been going through a weird lazy mood where I just didn't want to do anything. Seriously, I've been waking up around 12 pm and sleeping around 10 pm while doing nothing but stare at the ceiling for most of the time in between. Either that or reading fanfic on my phone in my hand while lying in bed.

Now that I have more time to write I'm gonna switch to a weekly schedule soon. Not next week though, since I'll be busy that week. I'll probably spend that time going over past chapters and fixing a few grammar mistakes I missed the first time.

(NOTE: This chapter hasn't been checked for grammatical mistakes. I'll remove this part once I check all chapters up to this point.)

So yeah, let's talk about what's happened in this chapter so far. I had that talk with Rin and Ozpin, which I felt is a big thing that usually isn't addressed in self-inserts. With all that foreknowledge, how morally righteous does it make our main character if all of their interactions are tainted with hidden intentions and general manipulation. Let's not forget that sometimes, these self-inserts are also older than what they portray themselves as, which adds another factor of deception and wrongness to an already unnatural situation. This is why I wanted E-Rin to talk to Ozpin because he's the closest person to understand such feelings that no one else can ever relate to.

I know I didn't really get into too much into the actual initiation event. I got too into writing the Rin/Ozpin scene. The next few chapters will go over the imitation for a while. I'll just say it now and I don't plan on changing the teams too drastically. Make out the meaning of that as you see fit.