Walker Elliot awoke to the sound of a girl's high-pitched ranting, looking to the left through his drowsy brown eyes. He saw a guy with long black hair (which was in a ponytail) being woken up by a girl with orange hair in white/pink getup. Though that guy in particular didn't seem particularly bothered, Walker groaned at having to wake up to... this.

"It's morning! It's morning! Itttt's morninnng!!"

Luckily, he wasn't alone in his suffering. Hazel Tikal, still dressed in her blue pajamas, was rubbing her eyes in annoyance, looking at the hyper girl and silent boy as they left the room.

"Why would anybody be excited about this time of day?" Hazel complained. "The morning is evil."

"Preach it..." Walker replied, getting up. "I know we should probably be getting up at this time anyway, but I'd rather wake up on my own terms."

"Praise the gods, amen!" Dante cried out while flailing his arms wildly, just a few yards away from Walker and still splayed out on the floor.

"Look at it this way," Skyler said, helping his friend up, "At least it wasn't how Ruby usually wakes us up."

"Please don't remind me," Dante groaned, now on his feet. "I'm getting war flashbacks thanks to that whistle..."

"I don't even want to know," Hazel flinched at the guess of what they were talking about. "Because that sounds horrible."

"You have no idea..." Skyler grumbled, beginning to walk away. "Come on, Dante, let's get ready for the initiation."
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"That's absolutely ridiculous!" Ruby exclaimed, unable to believe what her sister was suggesting. "That's like me telling Skyler that you have a cr-"

Yang's eyes widened as she saw who was entering the locker room, quickly covered her little sister's mouth, and hissed, "Not. One. More. Word. Got it?"

Ruby nodded, a bit confused, but understood once Yang let go and said cheerfully, "Good morning, guys!"

"Just because it's our first morning at Beacon doesn't mean it has to be good," Dante grumbled, opening his locker and taking out his twin axes, which were named Ebony & Ivory accordingly.

"But thank you, you too," Skyler added, opening his own locker and bringing out his gun, named Kasai. "At least we woke up on somewhat of our own terms, Ruby."

"Psh," Ruby scoffed, "I can't even find my whistle right now. I know I packed it..."

"Thank the gods..." Dante muttered.

The conversation was interrupted by a sudden cry and a voice calling out, "I'm sorry!"

They looked to see Jaune pinned against a wall by his hood due to a spear, Weiss walking past him. Suddenly, Glynda's voice came over the loudspeaker.

-Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.-

A redhead, who Skyler recognized as Pyrrha Nikos, plucked the spear back, and walked away, saying to Jaune, "It was nice meeting you!"

"Likewise..." he groaned.

"Having some trouble there, lady-killer?" Yang teased as the four walked over to him.

"I don't understand," Jaune said, accepting Ruby's offered hand and lifting himself back up. "My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

"Calling her 'Snow Angel' probably wasn't the best start," Dante suggested due to what little he had heard from Jaune's conversation with the two other girls.

"Plus, there's a difference between confidence and arrogance," Skyler added. "From what I heard, you were more the latter than the former."

The male blonde whined as Ruby started leading him along, "Come on, Jaune, let's go."
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Once they all arrived at Beacon Cliff, each student stepped on random steel tiles that lined the ground. When they all got in place Glynda and Ozpin, the former holding a tablet and the latter his signature mug, stepped up to explain the rules.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," the Headmaster said, "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

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

Skyler heard the sound of Ruby's incoherent whining before Ozpin continued, "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."

Skyler heard Ruby whine some more as the headmaster stated, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT?!" Ruby cried out in disbelief.

"See?" the hyperactive girl said to her quiet friend. "I told you!"

"After you've partnered up," Ozpin began to wrap up, "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. 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 reguard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune shyly raised his hand, "Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Everyone struck a pose on their respective tile. Skyler grabbed Kasai, seemingly ready for a quickdraw. Dante crouched slightly, bringing out both Ebony & Ivory and getting in a stance. Hazel readied her own spear, named Arachne, sliding a finger over a button on it. And finally, Walker got into a stance with his sword, Barentain, keeping a finger on a trigger that was on the hilt.

"Uh, sir?" Jaune persisted, his hand still in the air. "I've got, um... a question."

In a flash, Walker was gone first, sprung into the air by a tile, Weiss right behind him.

"So, this landing... strategy thing..." Jaune said, not noticing the other students propelling off the ground at first. "Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

"No," Ozpin answered as Dante flew into the air, "You will be falling."

"Oh, uh, I see..." Jaune replied as Dante disappeared from the ground. "So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

And then Skyler was gone, really wishing he could've heard the rest of the conversation and also wondering how the heck that guy got into Beacon.
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As Dante flew through the air and enjoyed the wind on his face, he began to slightly wish he had better weapons for a landing strategy. But luckily, he was able to time his swings right, hook onto enough branches with his axes, and land safely on the ground. As he dusted himself off, he heard a loud thunk, like something sticking to a tree.

Dante headed towards the sound and stopped when he saw a guy with black hair, a gray shirt, black pants, and a sword in the middle of being sheathed on his back. At the sound of Dante's footsteps, the guy turned to reveal that it was the same guy Dante had somewhat conversed with earlier that morning. The two locked eyes before Dante smiled widely.

"It's a small school after all!" he said, walking over and sticking out his hand. "The name's Dante Williams, partner! Yours?"

Dante's new partner blinked a few times, a bit taken aback by the amount of enthusiasm, but nevertheless shook his hand, "Walker Elliot."

"Well, nice to meet you, Walker! Now let's go find those relics, and maybe possibly some friends along the way!"

As they began walking, the black haired male turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "Are you always this enthusiastic, or...?"

"Oh, no, not all the time," Dante waved off. "I always like to make good first impressions, so I greet people as cheerily as I can. I might go a bit overboard at times, but I do try not being annoying."

Walker nodded, "I suppose that's understandable. And by finding your friends, I'm guessing you mean that guy you were hanging out with this morning?"

"Skyler? Oh yeah, we're practically brothers. We go way back. Though I am beginning to wonder how the heck he'll make it to the ground with that weapon of his. Then again, I made it just fine, and he's smarter than me, so who knows? He probably had a smooth landing."
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Skyler did not have a smooth landing. Though initially stumped at how on Remnant he was going to land, he quickly pointed Kasai at the ground and pulled the trigger. Flames spewed out of the nozzle, somewhat slowing his descent to the ground, though not by much at first. When he felt as though he had slowed down enough, the brown haired boy released the trigger and found himself in free-fall. As he fell under the tree line, Skyler used the bladed part of Kasai to hook onto a branch, stopping the fall.

But not long after he caught his breath, the branch snapped and he tumbled down the tree before landing flat on his face. And just to add insult to injury, the branch that he had broken off bounced off of his back and landed beside him.

"Ow..." Skyler groaned, really thankful for Aura at the moment before getting up.

He jumped at the sound of shotgun blasts and looked up just in time to see a yellow blur shoot past him. Skyler grinned, knowing exactly who that was, especially after he heard her whoops and cheering. Yang was always a show off. Deciding to follow her, not having any complaints about having her as a partner should he not run into anyone else. It would be kinda nice, actually...

Skyler felt his face heat up at that last thought and he shook his head in protest. Nope. This wasn't Signal anymore. He was over that. Skyler sighed in exasperation at himself. Maybe if he kept telling himself that, it would eventually become true. Hopeless, one-sided crushes were not healthy. Yang was way out of his league anyway. She most likely only sees him as one of her childhood friends. Probably the only reason she still hung out with him-

His self-reprimanding thoughts were interrupted by a loud thunk just a few trees ahead of him. He skidded to a stop, but just a second too late. A spearhead had stuck into a nearby tree, a rope attached to it. A blue-shirted figure zoomed by, holding onto the other end of the rope, and began to wrap around the tree. Unfortunately, mid-swing, the figure accidentally slammed into Skyler, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

"Ow..." the figure, a dark-skinned female, said, pushing herself off of Skyler. "Sorry about that... You're not dead, are you?"

"Kinda wishing I was..." Skyler groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position and finally locked eyes with the girl.

He quickly recognized her as the girl from earlier that morning. She was wearing a blue shirt, as well as blue jeans, had dark skin with freckles located variously on her pretty face, and had long brown hair. She offered her hand, a bit embarrassed by what had just occurred.

"Sorry, again," she said. "The name's Hazel. Hazel Tikal. I guess that makes me your partner."

Skyler took her hand and she pulled him up, "My name's Skyler Yin, and yes, it appears that way."

Hazel walked back to the tree she had latched onto to retrieve her weapon. It appeared to be a spear, but with the spearhead attached to a long rope. However, once Hazel picked up the pole section of the spear, she pressed a button on it that pulled the rope into the pole, reattaching the spearhead to the rest of the weapon.

"Nice spear," Skyler complimented. "Hope you have a better landing strategy for it next time though."

"Oh, look who's talking, Mr. Bladed Gun," Hazel retorted with a sly grin. "Come up with any good strategies for landing with that thing?"

"Hey, I would've made it... that branch was just too weak to handle me."

The girl let out a laugh and pointed at him, "You. I like you. We're gonna be great partners, I can tell."

Skyler smirked as they began walking, "You think I'm funny, just wait until you meet my friend, Dante."

"He a jokester?"

"Sort of... less of laughing with him and more of laughing at him is a better analogy."

"Oh, we're gonna get along great."
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And I suppose that should wrap up this chapter. I originally wanted a fight with a Grimm or two, but then I remembered that another chapter existed before "Players and Pieces", so be prepared for more action in the next chapter! Till next time guys!