Ch 17: GO!

The first batch of first-year students was lined up at Beacon Cliff, looking over the edge at a sea of green that stretched as far as the eye could see. Ray stood in the third space from the far right end of the line with Yang on his left and Ruby on his right. All of the students were positioned next to a metal plate laying on the ground engraved with the crest of the Kingdom of Vale, two single-bladed axes crossed in front of a laurel wreath. A wide variety of emotions could be seen on the student's faces ranging from fear to excitement, anticipation to confusion, bravado to confidence, and everything in between. Standing before the students with their backs to the cliff were Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch giving the students some last-minute information before their initiation trial began.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began before turning the briefing over to Glynda.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard the rumors 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…" Ruby, along with several of the other students, blanched at that announcement.

"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 with whom you can work well." Ozpin added to stress the weight of what lay before them.

Ray squeezed Ruby's shoulder in a silent show of support as she and the other new students, who didn't feel like they had made any friends yet, groaned.

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

Ray's lips twitched slightly, wanting to smile, as he detected the underlay of humor in Ozpin's voice as he dropped that bombshell. [He is enjoying this way too much.]

"See? I told you-!" Nora also found the situation enjoyable as she bopped Ren beside her on his shoulder.

Ruby, on the other hand, found nothing funny about the situation and, with a face like her entire world had just shattered, couldn't help crying out, "Whaaaaat!?"

"After you have partnered up," Ozpin continued, "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."

Jaune gulped and laughed nervously at that as it finally started to sink in for him that the dream he had held for so long of being a Huntsman might not be all sunshine and rainbows. Ray shot him a glance that held sympathy, but not a drop of pity [Sorry, Jaune. But this is what it means to be a Huntsman. Now show us all that you got the guts to stick with your dream and not just survive, but thrive.]

"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 finished.

"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune raises his hand hesitantly to ask a question

"Good! Now take your positions." Ozpin ignored him.

Everyone positions themselves on top of their metal plates and strikes a pose. Except Jaune. Weiss brandishes her rapier before her. Pyrrha readies her shield. Blake drops to all fours in a sprinter's stance. Nora crouches low. Ren wields his weapons. Yang raises her fists. Ray turns his back to the cliff and stands with his hands crossed behind his back, and his eyes closed. Ruby relaxes her knees and readies her body. But Jaune just stands there with his hand still raised, though the step forward he had taken to try and attract Ozpin's attention had positioned him perfectly over his plate.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." Jaune continues to try and ask his question, missing the sight of the first tile at the far left end flipping up into a springboard, launching Weiss up into the air and off the cliff. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" The launches continue, once every two seconds.

"No. You will be falling" Ozpin answers straight-faced.

"Oh, uh, I see…" Jaune still hasn't noticed the students flying through the air. "So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No, you will be using your own 'landing strategy'." Ray rolls his eyes at Ozpin's attempt to keep a straight face as he answers Jaune's questions. He can almost hear the laughter bubbling just below the surface. [I think Ozpin has picked up a bit of a sadistic streak over these many years.] He glances over his shoulder at him and Glynda. [I wonder who's on top?] Perhaps sensing the direction of Ray's thoughts, Glynda shoots a glare over at him. Ray smirks back and sends her a wink in return before turning back around.

"Uh-huh… Yeah." Jaune still hasn't noticed what is going on to his left.

Yang sends Ruby a wink over Ray's shoulders, puts on her gold banded aviators, and taps her raised gauntlet with Ray's before flying off with a *Wooo-hooooooo*. Ray gives Ruby a high five and follows. Seconds later, Ruby launches as well.

Jaune has finally noticed what's going on and rushes to get out his next question, "So, what exactly is a landing strategYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!..." But, before he can finish, he is launched off the cliff with a scream.

Ozpin turns to watch all his new students soaring through the sky, their bodies stable and under control. Except Jaune. Jaune is tumbling end over end, limbs flailing like a rag doll. Ozpin just sips his cocoa like everything is perfectly normal.

And so it is, a perfectly normal day at Beacon. The sun is shining, the wind is gentle, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and a little bird can be seen flying peacefully in the sky over the forest…

Until it meets a flying red riding hood and explodes into a shower of feathers, "Birdie, no!".

*Bang Bang Bang* Ruby fires off a few rounds from Crescent Rose to arrest the speed of her fall. Once she reaches the trees' tops, she changes from gun to scythe and catches onto a large branch. Swinging around the branch once, Ruby unhooks her scythe from it by switching to war-scythe form for a moment and launches herself to the next before switching back to scythe form and catching that one.

Ren flips through the air, embedding StormFlower's blades into the trunk of a tall tree, and spirals down it to the ground. He pauses for a moment to dust off his sleeves and glances up as he hears an explosion overhead. He sees Yang and Ray whizzing by.

Ray is sporting a pair of glider wings from his back made from Aura as he flies along next to Yang. Yang is using the recoil from firing her gauntlets backward to increase her speed and stay aloft. The two are laughing and performing rolls and flips around each other as they descend. Just before they hit the treeline, Ray swoops in under her and rolls onto his back, looking up at Yang as she looks down at him. The two share a smile before Ray winks and performs a barrel roll, and Yang rolls to her back, flipping their positions. Yang blows a kiss at Ray before firing one final round, sending herself shooting down into the canopy. She crashes through the leaves back first before flipping around again to face forwards once she has descended below the leafy canopy and bounds from trunk to trunk to land on the ground with a roll and a "Nailed it!".

Ray, meanwhile, after separating from Yang, embedded several of the studs from his boots into his Aura wings. Using the force from pushing the studs against his wings has transformed his glider-wings into jet-wings. With his newfound power of flight, he quickly gains altitude and begins to circle the forest to watch everyone else land.

Using her Myrtenaster as a conduit, Weiss uses her Semblance, Glyphs, to conjure a white glyph in the shape of her crest beneath her feet. She lands on it for a brief moment before hopping off to another one as the first disappears. Weiss's Glyphs Semblance is a rare hereditary Semblance passed down through the Schnee family that allows her to generate glyphs using her Aura. These glyphs can have various effects based on the glyph's shape and the Dust injected into it. The glyphs can be placed anywhere around Weiss, even in the air, the only restrictions being that it must be within the range of her Aura and line of sight.

Blake has taken a similar approach to Weiss's. Using her Semblance, Shadow, she can create a semi-tangible, static clone of herself, the generation of which allows her to push herself in any direction away from it. By using Dust in conjunction with her Semblance, Blake can also imbue her clones with elemental properties. Creating clones as she descends and using the push from their generation, she slows her fall and directs herself to land on a broad, sturdy branch of a tall tree.

Pyrrha takes a very direct approach. Using her Semblance to hold Akouo steady in front of herself, she crashes through several trees before landing on a large branch with a roll and taking a shooter's stance as she tracks through the sky with rifle-Milo, looking for something. She spots Jaune screaming and tumbling helplessly through the air. Taking careful aim, she changes Milo to javelin form and throws it at him. After a short pause, she hears a twang as her spear strikes true, followed by a faint "Thank you!" from Jaune. "I'm sorry!" Pyrrha calls back, waving her hand.

Nora has the most straightforward 'landing strategy' of all. She just lets herself fall, crashing through the canopy to slam into the ground in a superhero-landing with a resounding *Boom*.

Seeing everyone has landed safely, Ray sends out eight small bolts of electricity to each of his friends and family, stimulating their eardrums to vibrate.

"Good luck, gang. See y'all for lunch after this is over. Last one to the temple is buying!" They all seemed to hear Ray speaking right next to their ears and looked around confused until they heard an explosion of air ring out overhead and looked up just in time to see an azure blur streaking overhead towards the temple. Not only the students but the Grimm as well. Ray's careless actions had disturbed the Grimm in the forest, making them far more active and aggressive than usual.