Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or RWBY. Both are properties of Santa Monica Studios and RoosterTeeth respectively.

"Even the good leaders make poor decisions. It's the best leaders that take responsibility for them." –Kratos

Young Wolf

Remnant Era:
Chapter 1

CHAPTER 2 – A Wolf in a Pack, Part 1

Atreus had little experience with Bullheads. In fact, very rarely had he ever left the isles with his father for any sort of business that required his attention. On the rare occasions, the mayor would ask Kratos to come with him whenever he went out of town or into the Kingdoms for business trips, mostly to request some aid for supplies when resources became scarce. There was no real worry about hiring a Huntsman, since his father was almost always around and more than capable of handling the Grimm himself, and even if he wasn't present he had taught enough townsfolk how to fight and form a small band of militia.

The last time he had been on a Bullhead, Atreus was perhaps 11 or 12, barely coming up to his father's waist. He remembered seeing the sky move past and clouds fall behind as they soared, the world beneath them showing him lands that he had only seen in pictures. One trip had even let him get a glimpse of Beacon Academy, though it was far away and could remember seeing it as a castle. As the ship drew closer, though, he could tell that his estimation wasn't far off the mark.

From an aesthetic standpoint, Beacon Academy really did look like a castle. Small gray towers reaching up for the sky, the one at the center the highest of them all reminiscent of a watchtower. A single path led to the large gates leading into the school with a statue sitting in the middle of the path; a pair of huntsman standing proudly atop a rock, one brandishing his sword proudly while a Beowolf cowered beneath it. The path was also lined with lush greenery, from shrubs and bushes to trees and a large field of grass on either side, all wrapping around the entire property.

"The brochure didn't do this place justice…"

It actually made him feel a bit intimidated, especially when he saw the huge crowd of people all converging around the school entrance. Some were wearing plain clothes, the people who were here to participate in Initiation, while others were clearly students as they wore matching attire. Every last one of them was holding a weapon of some kind, ranging from typical unassuming blades and staffs to more complex ones.

Pondering whether or not he should try and mingle and see if he could maybe find out where they were going to be holding orientation, and maybe make some new friends, a rancid smell invaded his nostrils. He choked and pinched his nose.

What is that?! Urgh, it smells worse than that rotting carcass the Grimm left behind last summer!

It didn't take him long to find the source. The cause was a blonde-haired teen wearing a black hoodie underneath pristine white armor that looked like it hadn't seen a day's worth of combat. At his hip was a sword and a white strip of folded metal, perhaps a shield. He had seen something similar once before. The poor guy was green in the face and currently dumping the contents of his stomach into a trash can.

Bile was spewing out from his mouth and into the trashcan like a waterfall. His face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot, skin caked in a thin sheet of sweat.

"Um…" Atreus approached the ill teen. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, uh…" the blonde smiled shakily at him, body trembling before his stomach made a god-awful sound that resembled the roar of an angry Ursa. "H-hold that thought. Urk!"

Another round of vomiting began. Atreus looked on in pity. This can't possibly be healthy. Is he sick?

"Is something wrong?"

Atreus turned his head and found a fellow redhead approaching alongside a woman with bundled-up blonde hair, who recognized during the trip as Glynda Goodwitch, one of the professors here. "Oh, perfect timing! I know this is sudden, but do you think you could help get this guy to the nurse's office? He's not looking too hot."

"I-I'm fine…!" the blonde slurred. "Just…just give me a few…urgh…"

Glynda frowned heavily in concern. "With all due respect, young man, you most certainly do not look fine. Miss Nikos, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but could you please help me escort this gentleman to the infirmary?"

"It's fine." the girl smiled as she went around Atreus and over to the sickly blonde. "My goodness, you're pale and sweaty! Are you certain you aren't sick?"

"W-well…" the teen groaned. "I get motion sickness easily, but…ugh, never this bad. A-actually, I've been feeling queasy since I woke up this morning." His stomach let out another disturbing growl. He paled. "Oh no, not again…"

"Quickly now, before he blows chunks all over himself." Glynda advised as she led the two away. Atreus watched them go and winced, seeing the guy nearly stumble and practically doing his best to keep himself from spilling his guts.

I wonder what the heck he ate to give him stomach problems that bad… On second thought, never mind, I don't think I wanna know.

Some things were left better off unknown. His good deed done for the day, Atreus walked away from the landing pad and on to the path leading up to Beacon Academy. It shouldn't be too hard to find where Orientation was taking place, so long as he had his brochure on him.

Still, he was serious about there being so many people. By now, newcomers had already started to mingle with the actual students. Some looked like they already knew the students, perhaps friends who had reunited or something.

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty much the only guy from the isles coming to Beacon. Atreus sighed. That's kind of depressing.

Just as he thought whether or not he would make any friends here-

Boom!

-an earth-shaking explosion rocked the ground. Atreus and several others stopped mid-step, seeing a small cloud of black smoke up ahead.

"…that can't be good."

Ruby was having a really bad day.

It started out good. Woke up early in the morning, did the daily ritual of eating breakfast, playing with Zwei, brushing her teeth then got dressed, made sure Crescent Rose was oiled and maintained and ready for a brawl at a moment's notice, then headed off for the station. Her dad and she both decided to keep her enrollment in Beacon a secret from Yang until the blonde saw her.

That was when the good times ended. Yang being her usual self, glomping her excitedly and thinking she was special, which she was not by the way, then bragging about it to anyone who was willing to listen. Ruby was mortified by that, namely because she was no idiot. It was one thing for someone to graduate from a Combat School a year early, but skipping two-whole grade levels? That was rare, not to mention a good way to paint a target on your back. Now, everyone was going to think she got a recommendation because of luck, something illegal or something in between.

It got worse when Yang left her for a group of friends. She was such a traitor! Not to mention she left her to deal with a girl who was very ticked off. Granted, it was her fault for falling into her luggage carrier, but did she have to keep ranting on and on while waving around a Dust vial? It didn't get any better, either, especially once her allergies started to act up.

Ruby had a bizarre condition. Namely, a Dust Allergy. It wasn't common, but it wasn't very rare, either. According to some studies, only four in ten people develop a Dust Allergy. Typically, the symptoms varied, with Ruby being lucky in that she only had a severe sneezing reaction. That, unfortunately, led to problems whenever she had to apply Dust to the casings of Crescent Rose's ammunition or work with the stuff in class. Crystal Dust was fine; it was the stuff in powder form that set the allergy off.

Unfortunately for the both of them, the Dust vial's cork was loosened enough to let out a small amount to tickle her nose. That was all she wrote before Ruby let out a sneeze.

That said, who knew snot could trigger such a violent reaction? Ruby didn't intend to cause an explosion of fire, electricity and ice, but she did have to admit, she was curious. That curiosity only lasted for a few seconds before she remembered that she had caused the explosion and did so right in front of the angry white-themed girl in front of her. The smoke cleared to reveal her covered in soot.

She did not look happy.

"I-I'm sorry?" Ruby offered weakly.

"You complete dunce!" the woman screeched, causing her to wince. "Ugh, this is exactly what I was talking about! What on earth is a child like you doing here?! We're studying to be Huntresses! Warriors! This is no place for children!"

"H-hey, I said I was sorry!" Ruby defended. "W-who are you supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of princess?"

"Heiress, actually." Ruby turned her head. Off to the side, holding the now empty Dust vial responsible for her violent reaction, was a girl with black hair and gold eyes, a rather cute-looking bow on top of her head. "Weiss Schnee. Second daughter of Jacques Schnee, and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the leading energy producers in the world."

The white-haired girl, Weiss, smiled smugly. "Finally, some recognition!"

"Also known for its shady business practices and questionable labor laws."

Ruby had to admit, there was some satisfaction in watching Weiss' smug look faded in seconds before devolving into infuriated embarrassment, watching her stomp up to the unknown girl, snatch the empty vial in her hand while glaring at her in contempt, then stomping off. "I promise I'll make it up to you!" Ruby called at her, but received no reply. Even though they got off on the wrong foot, she didn't necessarily hate the girl. Beacon was supposed to be a fresh start for her, and she did not want to make any enemies on the first day alone.

Watching Weiss retreat until she vanished into the campus' main building, Ruby turned her attention to the black-haired girl, wanting to thank her for her intervention and maaaybe ask about her weapon, but found that she was gone and nowhere to be seen. Was she a ninja or something?

"Hey, is everything okay?" Ruby saw a copper-haired boy approach with worry, taking note of the utterly adorable set of dog ears atop his head that she was oh so tempted to rub her fingers on. Gods she missed Zwei! "I saw smoke coming from here and-"

"It was my fault." Ruby said immediately. "I, uh, kind of fumbled with some Dust, I sneezed and-"

"Let me guess, Dust allergy?"

Her eyes widened. "You too?!"

The boy nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. I break out in hives whenever I touch the stuff. Father hasn't allowed me to touch any since unless I was being watched and had some leather gloves on." He gave her a curious look. "Are you…going to get up?"

Ruby blinked, then realized she was still sitting on the floor all this time. Blushing, she quickly shot up to her feet. She realized that this was a good opportunity to try and make a new friend. While she wasn't entirely sold on the idea, what with Yang being here and all, there was no harm in trying, right? Besides, how hard could it be? Yang always made it look so easy!

"I'm Ruby!" She held out her hand. "And you are?"

"Atreus." He took her hand into his. Oh, wow. They're so rough!

Phase one, introductions. Complete!

…crud. What came after introductions? Did they exchange contact info now? Wait, no, that sounded way too up front and casual. She was nowhere near that bold! Darn it, where was Yang when you needed her?!

Meeting Ruby had been interesting, all things considered. She reminded him of the kids back home at Lapis, nervous but at the same time very excitable. The look on her face told him that she was really nervous, not that he blamed her. Beacon was huge, there were a lot of people, and unless he was mistaken, she looked a little younger than everybody else.

He had done his best to try and make her more comfortable, such as showing her where the opening ceremony was going to take place. Along the way, the two talked a bit about their personal lives. Like him, Ruby grew up on the isles, though whereas Lapis was located closer to Atlas she grew up near Vale in a small little community called Patch. Unlike Lapis, which was home to the rare and dangerous Albino Grimm, hers had more mundane monsters roaming about, including Ursa and Beowolves. She lived with her sister and father, and studied at a Combat School called Signal, where she learned how to fight, mostly underneath her uncle.

That conversation also led to her showing off her weapon. Atreus had to admit, he was interested seeing her in action with it. The weapon, a scythe that also doubled as a sniper rifle, looked complicated and hard to use. Not to mention it was bigger than herself when unfurled. She looked so skinny, too!

He didn't show her his weapon, mainly because of the advice his father gave him. Beacon was another ball game, and some people weren't going to play nice. Not everyone was going to be accepted into Beacon's combat studies, so naturally this meant the other initiates were going to be forced to compete against each other. Some would go on to study here at Beacon Academy, and the rest would leave for home in disgrace. Ruby seemed genuinely nice, but Atreus kept his secrets to himself.

Maybe after everything was over, though, he could show her. He would definitely love to have her as a friend. Hey, who knows? Maybe she would be his first friend here at Beacon.

After they arrived at the auditorium and split up, Atreus searched for an empty spot. He eventually found one and settled in, patiently waiting for the speech to begin. As he waited, he took a quick glance around the room and evaluated his competition. As he expected, almost everyone had some kind of weapon on their person, though a few appeared to share similar thoughts with Atreus and purposely kept their weapons in a "sheathed" state or out of view from everyone else. Some looked average, others looked like they had spent their whole lives for this moment.

"This is a lot of people." Atreus muttered to himself. "Wonder who many will be going home after Initiation is over?"

"Probably less than half of what you see."

Whoops. I said that out loud, didn't I?

Atreus looked next to him and found a girl with black hair and gold eyes next to him, a book in her hands. At the back of her waist was her weapon, a blade attached to what looked like the barrel of a gun.

"And probably even less will be training as huntsmen and huntresses. The rest will be left to the general studies."

"I guess…?"

Realizing he hadn't expected to receive an answer to his question, the girl shrugged and went back to her book. Her interest didn't last for every long, though, as she noticed his ears.

"…wolf or dog?"

Atreus looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to be rude," she raised her hands in defense. "I was curious. I usually can't tell the difference between wolf and dog Faunus."

"For what it's worth, neither can my dad." Atreus smiled wryly. "I'm a wolf Faunus. Name's Atreus. And you are…?"

"Blake."

Atreus noted that she seemed more interested and casual with him now, compared to her earlier disinterest. Maybe she just felt more comfortable around Faunus? She didn't have any extra features that he could see, but you could never tell. For all he knew, she kept her features hidden. Some Faunus did, not wanting to attract trouble because of the discrimination Faunus received from humans. Atreus himself had experienced it a few times, hearing the slurs and name-calling, but he never experienced the physical violence.

Some brave fools that did try usually found themselves being stared down by his father, hand firmly resting on his ax. All it took was one look, and they'd be sent running to the hills.

To be fair, his father could be downright terrifying when he wanted to be.

Eventually, the sound of a man clearing his throat caught everyone's attention. They turned their eyes to the podium and saw to people, one everyone recognized as Glynda Goodwitch, who appeared before them while aboard the bullhead as part of a projection and welcoming them to Beacon Academy. The one standing in front of the microphone was a man, dressed in a dark suit with fading gray hair with cane in hand.

Atreus knew who he was immediately by the pictures of the pamphlet alone.

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy.

"I will keep this brief," Ozpin began slowly, eyes scanning the crowd of people before him. "You have traveled 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."

Atreus glanced at the people around him and Blake. Some preened at what they thought was praise, glancing at each other with smiles and grins all around. Others were more arrogant and haughty like they thought Ozpin was talking about them specifically. The odd few looked on with disinterest and looked more bored than anything, just waiting for the headmaster to be done so they could move on with their lives.

"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

The looks faded, replaced by anger and confusion. Whispers slowly began to fill the auditorium while Atreus continued to listen.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Having finished, the man turned on his heel and left the students behind while Glynda Goodwitch took over. Atreus mulled over the meaning behind his words and took another look around the auditorium, taking in the appearance and mannerisms of his fellow initiates.

"Father would have approved."

Blake gave him an odd look.

Unbeknownst to the possible students of Beacon Academy, Ozpin had kept his eyes on one person in particular throughout his speech. Glynda had noticed the stare when he had finished delivering his speech, but chose not to remain quiet. She told the students where they would retire for the evening, leave them to establish bonds and associate themselves with others, then left with her superior.

"It seems this year will be a curious one." Glynda remarked as they walked.

Ozpin casted a glance. "What makes you say that?"

"Have you seen the initiates this year? Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Pyrrha Nikos, alumnus of Sanctum and regional tournament champion several times over. And lastly, Blake Belladonna, daughter of the founder of the White Fang…" She paused briefly, then aimed a questioning look. "…and former terrorist. On the subject of Miss Belladonna, why did you send her an invitation?"

"Everyone deserves a fair chance, Glynda. She's just one of those misguided youths who realized what kind of path she was walking, and wants to steer clear of it." Ozpin frowned. "That said, I do wish she chose to assume an alias. It won't take long for people to realize her surname, especially Miss Schnee. I don't need to tell you what sort of grief that family has had over the years because of the SDC's treatment of its workers."

No, he did not. While she was certain that Jacques Schnee was not entirely responsible for the treatment of his Faunus employees, as the blame could not be solely directed at the man who ran the show, he was still one of the many cogs that made up the harsh conditions and treatments they had to undergo. That and the White Fang's repeated attacks against the Schnee Family in particular more than contributed to the apparent hostility. She didn't blame the man for hating the White Fang as passionately as he did, but that was no reason to take his anger out on his employees.

Glynda could already see herself at her desk, reprimanding the two most noteworthy initiates who may become her students if all went well. Why the Chieftan of Menagerie's daughter had chosen to go by her actual name instead of a fake one, she could not understand. It was as if she was begging for trouble. That bow atop her head, assuming it was to help hide her Faunus traits, would not do much if people knew who her parents were. Claiming they adopted her would not help her, either. People would note the similarities and figure out who she was.

Then again, who would believe the daughter of the White Fang's founder would be here at Beacon Academy of all places?

Hiding in plain sight, she supposed. However, how long would that illusion last?

"On the subject of initiates…" Glynda opened up her Scroll and showed the screen to the Headmaster. "Regarding Jaune Arc-"

Ozpin stopped her with a raised hand. "I've already been made aware. Peach informed me about his condition. Poor man has the stomach bug, and his motion sickness did not help matters. As much as I hate wasting the potential of the youth, and unless he somehow miraculously gets better by tomorrow morning, please pull Mr. Arc from the roster."

"Of course." Glynda pulled up a different screen from her Scroll, showing her pictures of the initiatives. She tapped Jaune's picture, then dragged it down to the bottom, where it promptly vanished. "By the way, I've noticed you were giving one of the children quite the look. Another personal interest, I assume?"

It was no secret among the staff that Ozpin tended to give special treatment to people who caught his eye. Ruby Rose was one such individual, who in spite of Glynda's own protests now had the chance to participate in Initiation two years early. While she was aware that the girl was special, she believed that she was not quite ready for what Beacon had to offer. Simply put, Ruby just was not ready yet. There was also the educational gap to consider. In combat, she was excellent as one might suspect, but academically speaking she often hit roadblocks. She was not dumb, but she had a harder time understanding certain concepts and mathematical equations and whatnot. One year might be doable, but skipping ahead two whole grade levels was going to make adjusting to Beacon very difficult.

Despite her insistence, Ozpin allowed the girl a chance anyway. And if she was anything like Summer Rose, she was going to be a student here at Beacon Academy. Sometimes, Glynda wondered just went through that man's mind some days, but she would rarely ever question his judgment, no matter how much she wanted.

As for the person she saw in the crowd, she would admit the boy looked capable, physically speaking. Granted, she imagined he would be facing difficulties from his peers because of his Faunus heritage, but she had an inkling feeling that he would do well here.

Ozpin gave her one of his mysterious smiles, the ones she hated the most because it was one of those signs that he knew something, but wouldn't tell her anything until she learned about it for herself. "Oh no, nothing of the sort, though I will admit that one has my particular interest, albeit for reasons different from Miss Rose."

Glynda raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She imagined that she would soon find out once Initiation began. Still, curiosity roused, she took a quick peek at his file.

The copper-haired Faunus, Atreus, grew up in a village called Lapis, located on an isle not too far from Solitas. He was self-taught and did not attend any Combat Schools. His scores in the practical exam were rather incredible, easily the highest scoring out of everyone who took it. She did take notice of the personal notes written by the examiners, which claimed that the boy had rarely activated his Aura. That was a little concerning to her, given what Beacon Academy would have its students face in the future.

As for his family, there was little to no information about them. All that was told was that his father worked with the local militia and his mother was apparently an unsanctioned Huntress, but that was it. No further information, which raised a few alarm bells. Glynda felt that had James saw this he would have been paranoid and conducted an in-depth investigation about his private life.

Nothing that she read gave any indication about what made this boy so special. Perhaps it was just something Ozpin himself saw, whatever it was.

Glynda sighed to herself and shook her head. What was it with her boss and his secrecy?

Night had arrived and the initiates had gathered in the ballroom as instructed. By now, the initiates had all changed into their nightclothes. Many had already formed into small clusters, mostly on the northern end of the room, already taking the initiative to learn about their future classmates, teammates, rivals, etc.

Atreus found himself sitting off to the side, away from the clusters while looking around the room. It seemed like almost everyone had found people that wanted to associate themselves with or were in the process of becoming fast friends, whereas he was just hanging back, mostly because he really had no idea what to do.

That and he caught the not-so-subtle glares a few people were throwing him. Especially the guy with the crew cut. Actually, he had been glaring at him for what felt like a good half hour, though Atreus was certain he had done nothing to offend him. Maybe he was just one of those people who disliked him simply because he was a Faunus.

Atreus sighed and put himself more comfortably against the wall before taking out his journal. A gift from the mayor when he turned seven, just before his father began to teach him how to fight to protect himself after the Huntsman had arrived at Lapis and took pity on the poor boy, unlocking his Aura and all. Stories that his mother had told him, notes about his father's fighting style and how he could adapt to said style, schematics and blueprints of his weapon when it was still just a twinkle in his eye; everything that ever passed through his ears or danced in his mind was put to the paper with a pen.

Speaking of weapons, before they arrived at the ballroom the teachers asked them to put away their belongings in a locker. Each student received an electronic passcode sent directly to their Scrolls, so the only people who could open the lockers would be the owner of that passcode. This was so that no one else could open the other person's locker and take their belongings, especially their weapon. It certainly eased his worries, especially considering the amount of blood, sweat and tears he poured with the blacksmith to make Vulpine Recluse a reality.

For the record, the mayor's daughter came up with the name. He had no part in the naming, much to his chagrin for not having a good naming sense. Every suggestion was shot down either because it sounded childish, or because his father gave him this really weird look that suggested even he had no idea what to make of it.

Seriously, how was it that a twelve-year-old girl had better naming sense than a teenager?!

Atreus opened his notebook to the last page filled out, written yesterday morning. He had been so excited about Beacon that he hardly slept last night. After all, his dream was slowly coming within reach. Soon enough, he would be able to catch up to his mother.

"So, here I am at Beacon Academy. It is…a lot bigger than what I was expecting. There are so many people here too. Honestly, it made me realize just how small Lapis may have been when compared to the rest of the outside world. I do not know if I will make any friends here, but I am really hoping I do. I did meet one girl who seemed to like me, Ruby I think her name was. Maybe when Initiation is over, and she was accepted, we can talk. That is, assuming I am accepted. I have no idea what Initiation will be like or what we will be doing. All I do know is that students are going to put into a group of four people. If I make the cut, I hope I will put on a team that treats me fairly. To be honest, I do not know what to do if someone hates me just because of my ears. Maybe I could try doing what father does and give them that glare?"

Atreus paused in his writing, putting the pen to his lips. Thinking about the positives, maybe dealing with racism when his father was not present would be good for him. Kratos always did stress the importance that there would come a time when he must deal with problems by himself, even if one self could not resolve some problems. He could handle the slurs and harsh words, but physical prejudice was something he had yet to actually experience. He felt he could defend himself if it ever came to that, though. He wasn't weak.

He shrugged and put the pen back on the paper, only to stop when he saw someone approaching. He looked up and saw Pyrrha Nikos, now clad in baggy red gym clothes of all things. She didn't seem as though she was approaching him specifically, instead moving towards what she thought was a suitable place for her to lie down and rest. He was not the only person to notice her presence either; several other initiatives took notice of the girl praised far and wide in Mistral for being undefeated and either broke out into excited, hushed whispers or scooted slightly closer to her.

"Hello," Pyrrha greeted him amicably. "Is this spot taken?"

Atreus shook his head. "No, you're good." Pyrrha smiled and thanked him, plopping herself down on the open space next to him and set her sleeping bag down at her feet. The girl sighed in relief and slumped on the spot, no doubt happy that she finally found someplace to sleep in a cramped space as this. "I take it all the other good spots are taken?"

"There's that, but I was looking for someplace close to the back of the room. There's less people around here," Pyrrha answers him and stares inquisitively. "Pardon, but have we met before?"

"Earlier today. You were helping Professor Goodwitch get the guy who was puking to the infirmary." Pyrrha's eyes lit with recognition, now recognizing the wolf Faunus. "Speaking of, how's he doing?"

"I have no idea. I dropped him off at the infirmary and stayed long enough to see him get settled in. I did hear from Professor Goodwitch that he'll be pulled from Initiation if he doesn't get better by tomorrow." Atreus winced and recalled how sick the blonde seemed when they disembarked the Bullhead. There was no way he was going to recover quickly enough to make it to Initiation tomorrow. Pyrrha shared his thoughts. "It's a shame. He kept talking about how he couldn't afford to miss it."

"Well, who knows? Maybe he'll be put in General Studies?" Atreus offered weakly. Pyrrha nodded, but was still pitying the 'vomit boy' for the hand he had been dealt.

A brief period of silence fell between them. Atreus was about to continue writing his journal before Pyrrha spoke up again.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sheepishly as she held out a hand. "I never introduced myself. I'm Pyrrha."

Atreus smiled back and grasped her hand, feeling the calluses on her skin of her palm. Proof that she wielded her weapon and fought with it for a long time, perhaps as long as he had been hunting the white demons that plagued the isles. "Atreus. Nice to meet you, Pyrrha."

The sun was already in the sky by the time Atreus stirred, neck stiff. At some point without him realizing it, he had fallen asleep with his head on his shoulder, pen dangling loosely from his fingers and his journal lying abandoned on his lap.

When did I fall asleep?

Rubbing his eyes and yawning Atreus stowed his journal and pen away in his bag before standing up, stretching his limbs and ridding himself of the annoying cricks and stiffness in his joints. He rolled his neck and shoulders and sighed with relief, then looked about the room. Most of the students were still asleep while others were early risers, already preparing their things and heading to the cafeteria to feed their bellies. At the thought of food, his stomach gurgled and demanded substenance.

Meat sounded wonderful, now that he thought about it, though he doubted Beacon was serving steaks or lamb chops.

He gathered his belongings and made his way to the cafeteria. It was not hard to find by trailing some of the initiates already on their way there. It was not as big as the ballroom, but it was still incredibly large and was easily the length of a football field. Several rows of tables and benches were neatly lined up into three columns that ran from the entrance at the end of the room all the way to the counter where the lunch ladies were taking orders. The initiates barely took up any space at all. If anything, they weren't taking up enough of the seats available. Another indicator of how many people were attending Beacon.

Atreus made his way to the counter to look at the menu and decide where to go from there, only to halt and stare.

"What the…"

He rubbed his eyes and blinked, staring at the sheer absurdity that looked back at him in defiance. The sight in front of him looked normal enough: two initiates, one a boy with a girlish face and the other a girl with a wide grin plastered on her face were eating breakfast comprised of pancakes, milk, cereal and juice.

What was not normal was the skyscraper-sized tower of pancakes lathered and doused in maple syrup that reached up towards the absurdly high ceiling. Had he not known any better, Atreus swore the tower of pancakes poked a hole through the ceiling and was reaching towards the sky.

"Did you want some?" the grinning girl asked him suddenly, snapping him out of it. She took a chunk of the tower with her fork and offered him a piece. "Here!"

"…huh?" was all Atreus could say. He was at a total loss.

The girlish boy sighed. "The tower isn't as long as it looks."

Wait, what? What was that supposed to mean?

Were all people outside the isles this weird?

Insanity aside, Atreus took the two up on their offer and ate with them. It was free food, after all, and he'd be a fool to fight on an empty stomach. On the plus side, he did become acquainted with the two. The pancake girl, Nora Valkyrie, was awfully chatty and easily excitable, and maybe a little bloodthirsty seeing how pumped she was to, in her words, "break some legs." By contrast, Lie Ren was soft-spoken and as cool as a river stream.

The three exchanged some pleasantries, Ren even asking him about his thoughts on how initiation would go before they relocated to the locker room, where they would retrieve their weapons and wait for further instruction.

"Move it, animal!"

A vulgar brown-haired man in full-plated armor rudely shoved Atreus to the side. The Faunus frowned and glared at the man's fleeing back before shaking his head. He could deal with problems like this another time. Instead of letting obvious racism get to him and affect his performance, he made his way over to the locker and input the code. To his relief, Vulpine Recluse was untouched and was exactly as he left it the other day. He really didn't want it to be stolen.

Retrieving his bow from the locker, he fashioned it to his back and double-checked his equipment. The rotors looked like they were in good condition, but just to be on the safe side, he gave them a small test. Briefly removing the bow and switching it to its blade form, Atreus saw the chains fall and slip into the rotors, then proceeded to extend and shorten the chain. The rotors clicked and whirled, shortening and extending the length of the chains as it was meant to do. He smiled to himself and switched the weapon back into its long-raged mode, once more returning it to his back.

"For the last time, Yang, I don't-oh, Atreus! Hey, over here!"

The copper-haired boy perked his ears and looked over his shoulder. An excited looking Ruby Rose was waving at him. She was in the company of a taller, older woman with long blonde hair, yellow gauntlets wrapped around her wrists with shells loaded in the gaps.

"Hey," Atreus greeted back amicably as he walked over to her. "Long time no see."

"Ooh, is that your weapon?" Ruby's eyes immediately zeroed in on Vulpine Recluse. He swore he saw her silver irises glitter with stars. "What's it's name? What can it do?"

"Down girl," the blonde-haired woman tapped Ruby on the head while smiling in exasperation. "Sorry 'bout Ruby. In case you didn't notice, she gets really excited whenever she sees somebody's weapon."

"I noticed," Atreus remarked dryly before extending his hand. "I'm Atreus. You?"

"Yang Xiao-Long, Ruby's older and cooler sister," the blonde shook his head while grinning. "And her only sister. And before you ask, we're half-sisters. Same dad, different moms."

Atreus let out an 'ah' of understanding and nodded. He noted how firm her handshake was and the roughness of her knuckles. The skin looked as though it had repeatedly been torn and ripped open, or at the very least was wearing thin. She must have practiced a great deal of hand-to-hand combat.

Wouldn't compare to her father, though. He would be impressed if she could knock out a Beowolf in a punch.

"So, I hear you helped out my kid sis when she exploded?"

Ruby's cheeks almost immediately turned cherry red and whined. "Yaaang, why'd you bring that up?! And it wasn't even my fault!"

"I didn't do much," Atreus shook his head. "I just helped her up and showed her to the auditorium. That's it."

"Still, I appreciate it." Yang told him. "Anyway, how do you think Initiation's gonna play out? Everyone's talking about how the teams are going to be set up."

"We'll know once Initiation starts."

That said, Atreus was worried about how the team selection would go. From what he heard, everyone would be placed on a team of four. There was no mention or word of how the selection process would go, though he assumed it would likely be done during or after Initiation was complete. Perhaps team placement would be based on their performance.

I'm starting to get nervous, Atreus bit his lower lip. What if I get placed on a team that doesn't like me? Or has problems with Faunus?

"Attention, all initiate applicants." Glynda Goodwitch's voice chimed through the speakers. Immediately everyone in the locker room went still and ceased their chatter to listen. "Initiation will begin in ten minutes. Will all applicants report to Beacon Cliff? I repeat, all applicants, report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

The announcement ended shortly after. Everyone slowly began to exit the locker room and head to the location Glynda specified. "Guess it's time," Yang noted. Ruby smiled at Atreus and waved as she left, the older sibling following close behind her. "See ya around, Atreus! Hey, who knows? Maybe we'll be on the same team together?"

Atreus shrugged. He triple-checked his equipment one last time before going after the two.

That said, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Why did it feel like something was going to happen…?

NOTE: Ugh, finally done. I'm starting to see why people don't like rehashing Initiation. It's an utter slough to get through, not to mention it does little other than introduces characters we already know.

I'll probably skim over some parts of what remains of Initiation and focus mainly on Atreus meeting his partner and them battling their way through the Emerald Forest.

Quick thing to say about Jaune. He is being replaced as the leader of his team, but he will not be removed from the story. I do have plans regarding him, mainly plans that involve him being beaten into the ground, screaming at Atreus and calling him a devil for making him undergo hell.

Then again, it's his own damn fault for asking Atreus, the kid who was raised and trained by KRATOS, to train his scrawny ass.

Regarding "Something Wicked This Way Comes," I will say this as many times as I need to before you understand. It will be updated when it is updated.