Sky Lark blearily opened his eyes as the sounds of shuffling entered his ears.

He quickly covered them as the light from the rising sun reflected off the windows and onto his face, quickly jotting him awake.

"Oh Crap," He whispered as he quickly checked for his scroll, before letting out a sigh of relief as he saw the time was only Six-Thirty.

"Good, Still have time," He smirked to himself, looking at the mattress beside him and noting that it was empty.

"And Card already woke up? We're really on top of our game today," He grabbed his bag and went to the changing rooms, intent on changing out of his sleepwear and into actual clothes.

As he stepped between sleeping students and over spilled blankets, Sky hummed to himself a quiet tune, smiling as he got ready for the day ahead.

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Cardin sat down at a table in the Dining hall, His eyes moving about as he watched the other first years grab their own spots and start digging in, ignoring the curious looks of the upperclassmen that were staring at the new students.

He shook his head, It was no good getting nervous on this day.

He already woke up early at six, giving himself an hour to do his morning exercises before he returned to change into his outfit.

The Armor weighing down on him was always a source of comfort for him, especially after- never mind, Cardin shook his head and scoffed.

"Hey, I hope I'm not intruding or anything," Cardin's mind was pulled back to reality as he spotted a young man, another first year, hovering over the other side of his table.

"This table can seat eight people, Just sit if you want," Cardin shook his head at the confused look the teen was giving him.

"How did you-"

Carding interrupted him, "Your eyes are looking around at the other tables and your voice is shaky, You came to one of the only mostly empty tables in this dining hall hoping you could sit here and not intrude onto other people's space," He paused for a moment before he looked at the student, "Correct me where I was wrong,"

The boy smiled sheepishly and looked away for a moment, scratching his cheek as he chuckled, "You got it spot on, actually, hehe..." He stopped once he saw Cardin was still staring at him.

"I- I'll just sit over there," He pointed to the far edge of the table, still empty of people.

"Do what you want," Cardin gruffly said before he returned to his breakfast, content to ignore the boy.

"Hey Jaune! You saved us some seats," Cardin felt his eye twitch as a girl dashed behind him, taking a seat at the edge of the table in front of the boy.

Short, energetic, and with way too much sugar on her plate, Cardin could already tell she would be a headache.

"Whoa, Sis, Don't run away like that, what if you get lost and some creep tries to take advantage of you?" A Second girl walked by, sitting beside the shorter girl, leaving an empty chair between her and Cardin.

Could she not have taken a seat on the other side of the table?

"Like steal my Lien? Who would do that here?" Cardin tried his best to ignore the short red one as he continued eating his full and healthy breakfast.

He'll need a lot of energy for the day, He Better keep eating and ignore the walking headaches that seem to surround him.

"I don't know," The second girl, Tall with blonde hair, shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe that quiet kid over there," she said, receiving a sharp intake from the boy of the group.

So she was talking about him, was she? A simple glance to the left proved that yes, she was pointing behind her thumb as she leaned her elbow on the table, the thumb pointing directly at him as she looked the other way.

"Please do not imply that I would take the girls' money," Cardin spoke up, causing the table to turn to look at him.

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"Oh, you were listening," Tall and Blonde cringed as she looked in his direction, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment, "Sorry about that," She reached over with her hand, "I didn't mean anything, You were just the first person I saw,"

Cardin looked at her for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh, grabbing her hand and giving it a shake, "Apology accepted," He said before letting go and returning to his breakfast, knowing full well he had scant few seconds before another headache spoke up.

"Cool, Now that we're all friends here, Rubes," Tall and Yellow turned to Short and Red, "Why don't you introduce me to all your new friends," and time was up.

Quickly finishing his meal, Cardin stood up and left the table, hoping to have a quiet few minutes before initiation began.

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"Locker 636?" A student talked to himself as he walked down the locker room, searching for where he put his weapon, "Does this place even have that many lockers?" He asked as he looked around, searching for his sword.

His name was Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, Ladies love it. At least that's what his father tells him.

And he was not having an easy time.

He woke up late, so he barely had time to change before he needed to go to the dining hall. He annoyed a scary-looking guy when he was asking to sit at his table, and his new friend's sister decided to call him "Vomit Boy"

It was horrible!

But Jaune had to have hope, he could do this! He would pass get put into a great team, learn how to become a strong Huntsman, and then he'd be a hero just like his father!

All he had to do was find Locker 636.

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Cardin felt a small smirk spread on his lips before he quickly removed it when he heard the footsteps of his friend trying to sneak up on him.

"I know you're there, Sky, I can recognize your footsteps," He said as he closed his temporary locker, feeling the solid weight of his weapons on his body.

Revolver on his hip and Mace on his back, Armor on his chest, arms, and thighs, and a red belt around his waist holding pockets of bullets.

It was heavy, Most civilians would have trouble moving with his armor on their body, let alone the full getup. But not Cardin.

Something was calming about having heavy equipment. Perhaps that's why his semblance was the way it was.

"Oh come on! You know that's weird right?" Sky complained as he leaned on the wall beside the lockers.

"Recognizing the footsteps of someone who likes to surprise me?" Cardin raised an eyebrow.

"Talking to someone who's behind you! You're not some spy movie villain, Stop it!" Sky complained, lazily spinning his halberd in his hand, hearing the axe head shear through the air.

"I could say the same to you," Cardin gave his arms and neck a stretch before he started walking towards the Beacon Cliffs, where Initiation was taking place, "Nobody our age should be as loud and obnoxious as you, Stop it," he smirked as he heard the dramatic gasp from his friend.

"Oh no!" Sky cried, arm over his head as he fell onto Cardin like a dramatic damsel in a theater play, "I shall stop enjoying my life, whatever shall I do?"

"Do you remember the plan?" Cardin ignored his friend's antics.

Sky straightened up, "Of course, Get to the ending and save twin chess pieces," He repeated the plan, nodding at Cardin.

"Good, We need to be quick," Cardin nodded to Sky.

The had a plan in place.

Be the first to reach the Chess Pieces.

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"Hey, Tall and Grumpy, long time no see," Cardin felt his eye twitch as he looked at the student to his right.

The same Blonde chick from breakfast.

"Look, I know we probably got off on the wrong foot, so I wanna' make sure to clear the air between us, I'm Yang, what's your name?" She smiled up at him.

"What's your last name?" He asked her in return, still not fully turning his head at her.

"Xiao-Long, why?"

"Nothing," Cardin shook his head, "I'm Cardin Winchester, And there are no hard feelings," He frowned as Professor Glynda Goodwitch started talking, going over things he and most students already knew.

However, it was something that Headmaster Ozpin added that caught his attention.

"The First Person you make eye contact with after your landing will be your partner for the next four years,"

Cardin felt his eye twitch.

Coco should have told him it was going to be some bullshit like this.

It was now not only a game of speed but also of chance. If he wasn't lucky, he could be partnered up with a weak annoyance who will do nothing but hold him back!

But unless he chose to run all the way with his eyes blindfolded, he didn't have much of a choice. Hopefully, luck would be on his side.

Cardin scoffed at that idea.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin ignored the reactions from the students.

Cardin looked at the Emerald Forest below, It would take at least an hour or two of running to reach the end of the forest. Luckily they all had Aura, so they should be fine.

"You will meet opposition along the way," The Headmaster continued, "Do not hesitate to destroy everything along your path, or you will die."

Cardin felt his cheek pull into a smile, but he didn't try and remove it.

He would enjoy killing those Grimm, those disgusting Monsters.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics," Cardin noted that he must be talking about the Chess Pieces Coco mentioned.

"Each pair will 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-" The boy who sat at his table during breakfast raised his arm, And Cardin could already see where this was going.

He gave his Gun a pat before tightening his Mace to his back even more.

"Good, Now take your positions," Ozpin ignored the boy.

Cardin rested his hand on his revolver, ready to pull it out in a moment's notice as he spread his legs apart, ready to be thrown off the cliff by the platform beneath him.

Glad that Pharos Academy taught landing strategies.

And not ten seconds later, All 20 of Beacon Academy's new first years were flying through the air over the Emerald Forest.

Initiation has Begun.