Michelle had finally managed to get her face back to normal and her emotions in check. She sighed in relief, then got up wondered where she should go now. She pulled out her Scroll and checked the schedule for when the Headmaster's Address would take place. It was still a while away, which meant Michelle had some time to herself. She didn't really know what to do with that time, though.

Not noticing Kael following her, she decided to head over to the Assembly Hall. There was no harm in going there early. She used the map feature on her Scroll to locate it, then p followed the shortest path she could find on it. As she entered, she quickly realized that she was not the only one who thought about coming in early. There were others who were already in here doing who knows what.

She walked over to a random seat and was about to sit down, but realized that that seat was directly behind Kahuku, the Tiger Faunus boy she had met earlier. She thought about tapping him on the shoulder to say hi, but her nerve failed her and she decided to move away to the edge of the row of seats she was in, sitting down there instead. There she decided to patiently wait for the Headmaster's Address.

Schwarz was quite surprised when Francesca started actually talking, instead of dropping a word or a sentence here and there. "Faunus are about as trustworthy as humans. They'll just stab you in the back in the end." It was even more surprising to be getting a piece of her mind. Thus far she didn't get much more personal than her name. Not that she wasn't a bit concerned with what she was hearing, but then again, she was hearing it for most of her life.

When her thoughts turned to the violence, Schwarz had to nod. "As if they didn't learn violent approach doesn't work in the war. What did that ever accomplish? Hollow promises form the other side."

"we are near some. . . Thing. . . That we cannot stand." That one however hit the mark. Schwarz got the feeling that one was personal. She tried not to let her agitation show, but she still tensed up a little. "And what happens when you just can't take it anymore? Precisely the thing like the White Fang. If it doesn't always work, then it doesn't work at all." she said, a bit of sadness creeping into her tone. Perhaps hiding wasn't such a good idea. What if she actually managed to make some friends and then they found out? She wouldn't lie about it if she got called out, but who knew how other people's heads worked. Even that might just be the backstabbing Francesca spoke about.

She sighed. Finishing up the power bar in two bites, she got up from the bench. "I'll go to Assembly hall. I'll save you a spot, but-" she fought down a sniff, "-Maybe you want to raise your guard first." she said, fishing from her pocket the ad she torn out of the paper. Still folded, she slid it across the table to the other girl and headed for the hall. Perhaps not the best way to handle this, but being left alone again was better than making enemies. "Feel free to forget I said anything." I sincerely wish it was that easy.

As she walked, she undid the buttons on her jacket and let the sleeves slide off. Then she undid the harness holding her poor, poor abused wings with a hiss of pain, leaving herself just in a black blouse that was modified to accommodate her extra appendages. The white wings and her pale skin tone played a quite stunning contrast with her now mostly black outfit and anthracite hair. Hanging the extra clothes over one of her forearms, she continued to the hall. At least this way, she wouldn't have to have her wings crammed in a sleeping bag later on.

The hall was quickly filling up, but she located a half empty bench and took a seat on the edge. Even her folded wing still took up an extra space unless she leaned backwards a little. Sighing, she tried to be as unnoticeable as possible. Welcome to Beacon. she thought bitterly.

Khalis had arrived some time ago, having decided to lean against a nearby wall. The hall was quickly filling up, interesting character after interesting character coming in one after another. Glancing around, he decided to do some studying of the people. There was still some time before the Headmaster came and- Was that Michelle? Blinking, he glanced back at where his eyes glazed over. Sure enough, it was Michelle, although she was still cloaked. The most interesting part was she had apparently accidentally picked a spot right behind Kuhaku, realizing it and quickly and quietly moved away. That's so adorable... Khalis thought, chuckling quietly. Kuhaku, it seemed had already gained quite the reputation. No one would sit next to him, or even within a space around him. It was as if he had farted in an elevator.

Shaking his head, he left the two be, and continued his little search. There was someone else interesting, white wings coming from her back, taking up nearby spaces. Looks like she also wasn't a socializing person. Maybe she's a Faunus... The eyes moved again, gaze falling upon the next interesting person, then the next after and so on. A male wearing lots of heavy armor with a serious expression. Was that a beard? How old is he? Another male, cloaked almost as much as Michelle. His eyes were tempted to look away from him, to ignore him. There was that girl from before with the silver hair in a massive ponytail. She seemed to be doing the same as Khalis, although considering the ever changing smile, it must've been for other reasons. There was another female, but it seemed the speech was about to begin.

A man stepped onto the stage, and the bickering in the room seemed to silence completely, allowing each footstep to echo through the room. Grey hair, small glasses, a green scarf, a cane, narrow brown eyes. He stepped to the mic and said "I'll... Keep this brief." After a small pause, he continued. "You have travelled 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. But I look amongst you... And all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will set you free 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." And with that, he left, silence filling the room, until Glynda Goodwitch explained how the day and initiation was going to continue, then dismissed the students.

Khalis was intrigued, and honestly slightly baffled. The Headmaster Ozpin was definitely a strange character. No sooner had he thought this, a nearby blonde girl said "He seemed kind of... off, like he wasn't really there." Perhaps his thoughts were somewhere else... Khalis couldn't help but grin. This was getting more and more interesting with each passing second. Stretching, he prepared to go on another little tour, maybe find some other people, pester them a little. As the students started to leave, Khalis stopped where he was. He took one last glance at where Ozpin was, smile faded into a kind of suspicious glare. He stood there momentarily before brushing off the notion and leaving.

He followed the girl into the Assembly Hall, where it was quickly filling up with students. Kael felt his skin begin to crawl as he was surrounded by people. Pushing his way to the back, he leaned against the wall closest to the door, where he could easily escape. He stared up at a old man who began to talk as if he was the headmaster. Kael closed his eyes, trying to will away the distractions and think more of why he was here.The Grimm needed to be defeated, that was a given, but why were there so many initiates? Do so many people wish to die?

After the little speech by the headmaster, he shuffled off the stage. Kael thanked whatever deity was out there for a short lecture, as the longer they went, the more people fell over dead of boredom. However, what got him was when the old geezer criticized the new initiates by telling them that they were wasted energy. He could understand that, but to be forthright with that statement...he was trying to get something across.

While thinking upon this thought, a woman walked up and started to explain the rest of orientation. Kael simply continued leaned back while the white-haired boy left the hall.

Having taken his time to eat, Perry was one of the last students to leave the cafeteria. He would have liked to take a bit of a walk, but there was little time left until the Headmaster’s address. His Scroll wasn’t necessary this time around given how the Main Hall stood out quite clearly, even amongst the Academy buildings. Alongside, but not with, the other stragglers he made his way over.

The speech and following briefing was rather short and to the point, at least for one of them, which Perry didn’t mind at all. As they were left to their own devices now, with only the warning to be prepared for tomorrow morning, he decided an exploration of the Academy’s grounds would be a suitable way to pass the time. While he didn’t think it would take him until nightfall to do so, he figured something else to do would come up.

The fact that he had stood by the wall rather than taking a seat meant Perry managed to make it out of the Main Hall ahead of the crowd. The other students managed to catch up and overtake him fairly quickly though given his leisurely pace. As the others fanned out, he picked a building at random and headed off in its direction to check it out.

Khalis wandered the school yard and halls once more, hopefully able to find the two Fauni he was talking with earlier, but then remembered his promise to Kuhaku. He better uphold it, he supposed. Then again, maybe he should wait for tomorrow for more shenanigans. Besides, that way his teammates will be forced to deal with him. Grinning at the idea, he spent the rest of his time aimlessly wandering and pondering what tomfoolery he could get away with for his new, permanent teammates.

---

The next morning, all the would be students were perched and waiting at the edge of a tall precipice overlooking a lush and lively forest. The echoes of roaring could be heard even from where they stood. Everyone was anxious to start, nervous about messing up, and excited, with various other mixed feelings. One poor blonde fellow seemed especially nervous and uncertain. Professor Ozpin and Glynda explained some things to them all, first. "Now." began Glynda. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about he assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today." There was some murmuring among the students about this new information. Ozpin continued, saying "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." More muttering. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Aaaand there drops the bomb. More grumbling than ever erupted from the students, disbelief and panic rising in them. Khalis honestly couldn't believe it. Happy go lucky like this? Is this really the best way to evaluate who works well with whom?? Ozpin explained further that they were to find relics deep within the forest, choose one and return to the top of the cliff. Despite the various dangers, such as the beowolves, the ursas, other grimm, other teammates, the faculty would not be intervening. Thiiis oughta be fun... Khalis already had a sinking feeling. Poor blondie was still confused, yet people were already being launched into the air.

Khalis got himself riled up, imagining how exciting it would be, and how random. He loved random. With a shout of joy, he was launched off, then decided to lay in the air temporarily. It was comfy, that much was certain. When he came close to landing, he pulled out his scythe, then activated his Semblance, channelling it through most of his weapon. Then, using the blade of the scythe as a sort of tether to the ground, he spun a few times, 360ing while the scythe remained lodged but circling through the dirt, before launching into the air again and landing gracefully with a grin. "Now to get started!" And, despite the future dangers, he walked merrily, practically skipping through the Grimm filled forest

Elrios only watched as Ozpin explained the rules to the students. Elrios wasn't really paying attention, he was more focused on preparing to fight the hundreds of Grimm on the forest floor.Elrios did hear the part were the first person we meet will be our partner. That did not sit well either Elrios, a lot of the students at this school, though he did not meet any of them yet seemed a little mean and scary already. He hoped that who ever he was paired with was nice or alert kind most of the time. Elrios refocused in the matter at hand, reloading his cannon, 6 shots ready to be fired, he waited to be launched into the air.

Elrios did not have to wait long, after only 10 seconds everyone was launched into the air. Elrios wasn't a fancy or a showy person, he took the simple path all the time. Elrios twirled his cannon above his head, then began to swing it around his body, causing him to twirl also because of the momentum. In mid twirl, he shot a cannonball behind him, propelling him towards the forest of evil like a bullet. Elrios smashed into the ground making a large and beep crater, he reloaded his cannon "Only 5 shells huh, got to make do" he mumbled, as he strolled into the Grimm infested forest.

Michelle looked over the edge of the cliff, examining the forest below her. It was beautiful, although the growling she could hear ruined the sight a bit. She returned her attention to the Headmaster, who then explained how the test was going to work and how the pairings would work. That certainly surprised Michelle, but it wouldn't really affect how she would act. All she had to do was hope she found a suitable partner.

Then she was launched into the air. Instantly her senses were alert, looking for potential landing spots. She kept her sniper rifle Artemis aimed at the ground, waiting for the right moment. When she was close to the ground, she fired a bullet at the ground. Her sniper rifle had been set to fire her wind bullets, set to max intensity, so when the bullet hit the ground, it created a shockwave of wind that propelled her back up into the air. At the peak of the arc she was traveling in, she landed gently on a tree branch. She then crouched and looked around through her scope, looking for potential threats and partners.

Schwarz didn't get much sleep last night. Even though she decided to be honest with the other students and not hide, she still stuck out even among most of the faunus. The sleeping bag wasn't quite comfortable either, so she decided to roam the school building. To her disappointment, most of the doors were locked and so all she could really explore was the scenery outside the windows and whatever areas were designated for recreation in between the periods. In one such room though, she found a hidden treasure.

There it was, a white piano and an assortment of other instruments, probably intended more for decoration than usage. She crept closer to the antique instrument and tried tugging on the cover of the keys. To her pleasure it creaked open. The piano looked like it wasn't used in an eternity, as evidenced by the dust it collected. If Schwarz had to guess, she would say not too many here would keep the delicate fingers necessary to play it. She was worried for a while it wouldn't work, but as soon as she pressed down one random key, her face lit up as it was perfectly tuned.

Pulling the chair up, she flexed her fingers and took a breath, trying to recall the song she wanted to play. Closing her eyes, her fingers started working their magic on the keys. It was quite a sad piece, but it was reflecting her own feelings perfectly. It didn't even came to her mind that she might wake someone up. The ball room was quite far now though, and she really wanted to keep playing. She figured this was going to ber her favorite spot in the whole school.

Finishing up the piece, she sighed. The clock shown close to midnight, and she figured she better try to get at least some sleep before tomorrow.

---

Nearly arriving too late, Schwarz saw the other students lined up at the edge of a cliff. The only spots left were of the far side, and she lumbered over to the farthest one. Then, as professor Ozpin spoke, students started flying. Her face turned into a grin - this couldn't have gone any better! As the headmaster said, all she had to do was to find the temple and grab a relic. Oh, right, and find a partner on the way. One that despite everything reason called for was apparently going to be determined randomly. Well, at least she didn't have to think about whom to pick.

Soon most everyone was launched, and now it was her turn. Schwarz's wings unfolded with a fluffy sound and she leaned forward on the platform, Swansong ready in her hand. Then she felt the push. She was a little bit surprised at the force that launched her and the air resistance made her wings trail behind her for a while before she slowed down enough to force them into position. Schwarz set her wings to take her up, bleeding off speed and conserving some of the kinetic energy in altitude. Her wings might have not been big enough for het to take off and fly, but they were good enough for maneuvering and gliding.

As she came to a stall, she let out a happy giggle, enjoying the moment of weightlessness. Pulling her wings closer, she strted falling and picking up speed again. When she had enough, she unfolded the wings again and started leveling her glide, hoping to cover as much distance back as she could in the air, while nervously checking the sky for any danger. She didn't have to wait long. Already she could see an ursa sized nevermore nearby. Briefly the two fire cristals on her staff lit up, but soon Schwarz realized the winged grimm didn't notice her yet. Not wanting to alert it to her presence, she calmed herself down and continued her flight, turning north to avoid the Grimm creature..

Thrown off a cliff.

First, he had been treated to the sight of rampaging chickens. That alone had shattered the whole "elite" and "mystical" feeling that Beacon gave off. He was prepared to forget that and start anew to be impressed again. While the headmaster's address did give him a sense of accomplishment in actually arriving here, allowing him to go to sleep that night with a new sense of purpose and hope, the whole atmosphere beacon gave off just felt too clean for him at the moment.

...Then he was told he was going to be launched off of a cliff right into the middle of a grimm infested forest. Goddamnit Beacon.

Watching one by one as fellow first years were flung off of a cliff, Gerald braced himself. Finally being flung into the air, he allowed himself to soar for a bit, his black coat actually buttoned up to avoid whipping around in anyone's face as he flew. Allowing himself to soar for a bit, Gerald reached into his coat and pulled out Anwarter, loading a six round string of dust shells that he knew had the pattern "Red-Red-Blue-Red-Blue-Red". Aiming in front of him, he fired to rounds, explosions causing the leaves and smaller branches to blow off of the tree he planned on using as a landing device. Firing the third round, the ice bayonet formed and he used it to stop himself on the tree, stabbing into it and watching as it carved a line straight down the tree as he slowly made his way to a stop. Finally arriving on the forest floor, Gerald took a moment to appreciate the fact he was alive.

God. Damnit. Beacon.

Surprisingly, the school grounds were more than large enough for him to explore all the way until the sun came down. Granted he had spent a good deal of time in the central tower. Though he wasn’t able to ascend to its highest levels as that seemed to be Ozpin’s office, but even with the limited access Perry was still able to get a fantastic view. All the more so when he probably broke a few safety regulations and climbed out a window that probably wasn’t meant to open. As his legs dangled off the ledge, he sighed, relaxed, and took in the amazing sight that was laid out in front of him. With the sun falling over the horizon, painting the sky with flames, Perry passed the time away.

Eventually, when the chilly late night breeze reminded him of the time, he clambered back inside the building. Walking through the Academy with only his footsteps as company gave the school an eerie sort of atmosphere, though it wasn’t unpleasant. Not when compared to patrolling the edge of camp with shadows, and the creatures that lurked within them, clawing at the light’s edges. Following the path that led back to the Main Hall, Perry was almost sidetracked by the music that drifted through the otherwise silent night. Though he paused to listen, he didn’t look for the source. It was a slow, mournful piece and he didn’t feel like intruding on the moment. With the tune in his mind he continued back to the Main Hall.
____________________
Gathering amongst the other first years at the cliffs, Perry had a slight look of disbelief when Miss. Goodwitch revealed how their partners would be selected. While he wasn’t averse to working with others, he did at least like to know who they were beforehand. Suspecting there wasn’t much point in arguing with the odd pair of staff members and that he wouldn’t be allowed to pass if he simply refused to make eye contact with any other individual, Perry stepped up to the plate alongside his peers.

When the platform threw him up into the air, Perry took the time to observe others’ landing strategies. While others relied on their equipment, or elaborate movements to bleed off the momentum, Perry’s method was simplistic. With his feet braced in front of him, and Aura activated, branches essentially exploded when he smashed through them before finally coming to a halt. Stepping out of the furrows he’d made when coming to a halt, Perry brushed a bit of dirt off himself before finally looking around. There were no Grimm in the immediate area, but given he’d landed quite a bit from his objective, Perry was more than willing to be he’d run into some along the way. Blast Bicell was kept sheathed for convenience’s sake though. He might have wielded the weapon skillfully, but carrying the massive thing was a pain, all the more so in a forest where branches and what not would get in the way.

The night before had been peaceful enough. The others were out rather fast except for a couple of girls that started a fight with each other. How annoying. Still, it was a new day now, and the initiation was on them. The teachers, Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch. The woman spoke, she mostly caught Francesca's attention however when she "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

What a way to choose someone's partner for the rest of their time at the academy. Well, Francesca didn't really have anyone in mind anyhow. She just went with it as it was. She put her earphones in her ear, secure her music player, and readied for launch. Something that someone was unprepared for. Still, the catapult sent Francesca flying into the air. "My own landing strategy, huh?"

As she fell through the sky, she felt for her equipment to assure herself everything was in it's place. Greifen was on her left side and Bulletedge on her right. The forest below drew closer and closer as she soared through the sky. She closed her eyes as her body simply dragged through the air. She opened her eyes and grabbed Greifen releasing it to it's whip form. It's form followed behind her as the wooden branches closed in on her. Greifen's arm reaches out and grabs ahold of a branch but only enough to slow her momentum. Her free left arm grabs another branch to lower her momentum and comes out of it in a flip. Greifen again extends it's hand to a branch slowing her enough to stop her. From there, she drops to a tough branch below scouting out a way to make it down to the bottom.

After hopping from tree to tree, Francesca eventually makes it down to the bottom of the the forest. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she looks around. No signs of anything yet. Well, nothing aside from the trees and greenery. Now unsure of where to go, she walks in a direction, hoping to find her objective.

Khalis had heard some explosion already. Was there a Grimm nearby already? And what the heck is it that causes explosions? Silently running towards the sound, he was filled with both anticipation and ideas, but decided it'd be better for him to think on the spot for some things. After not much walking, he sneaked around as quietly as he could, peeking through some bushes. It was some guy, although he was just coming out of a small crater, brushing dirt off himself. Well, thats one way I guess... Must be pretty reliant of his strength. Khalis was only halfway through examining him before there was a sudden whiff of terrible breath, almost making him gag. He turned to find the source with an annoyed expression to come face to face with a Beowolf, creeped down next to him and growling at him.

Sitting there momentarily, Khalis manually turned the Grimm's head away, whispering "God, smells like you guys are evil for something. Shh!", before focusing back on the person. Then the Beowolf roared back, sending more of the odor his way. Not able to take it anymore, he stood up, then just turned to the Beowolf and said "God, you know, I was trying to use the element of surprise, but I just can't take it anymore. Go and brush your goddamn teeth, you damn dumpster mouth!" The he turned to the person, and simply told him "Sorry, can we get a do-over?" while shrugging. The now annoyed Beowolf didn't waste any time trying to attack his victim, but Khalis had been ready a long time ago, dodging with ease as it went for a powerful vertical strike. He landed in between the two of them, then stood up straight, thinking. "Size, all right-ish, power seems a little weak, your speed is pretty good, but your form and your breath are just-" Khalis paused, expression reflecting his next word "Bleh..."

While Khalis might have slipped past Perry’s notice, the same could not be said for the Beowolf that had crept up to the other student. Its bloodlust was more than enough to send tingles running up his spine, even ignoring those of its pack that followed from further away. Turning to look at the bushes, he raised an eyebrow at the other boy’s strange antics. ‘What an odd one,’ he thought to himself as he continued to observe. By the time he realized that he might very well find himself in a partnership with the odd student, the boy had already turned around and sealed the deal. With a sigh as the boy jumped away from the Beowolf’s claws, Perry shook his head. It seemed his partner was awfully talkative, regardless of the situation.

“While I’m sure it cares for your thoughts on it, perhaps you should kill it now?” His voice was soft, but it was accompanied by the mechanical hiss of Blast Bicell unfolding. As if drawn by their pack member’s aggression, numerous Beowolves stalked out of the bushes around the pair with even more lurking behind, red orbs gleaming with bloodlust. Twirling around the massive weapon idly, he strolled towards the nearest Grimm and grinned as nothing but hate filled its eyes. One decided to charge, but with a simple lunge Perry put an end to that. Hefting the impaled Grimm off the ground as it clawed in vain at the lance tip buried through its chest, he sent it flying through the air with a flick of its arm. As if its body hitting a tree and crumpling to the ground lifelessly was a signal, the pack burst into a flurry of action and charged towards the most obvious threat around.

After listening to the long lecture of the female teacher, Kael wondered outside, wanting to get away from it all. It was never good when a teacher began to ramble on. Seeing that the sun was beginning to fall, he made his way towards the dorm building when he looked up into the night sky, and became captivated by the positions of the stars. They had always amazed him, their many different amounts of shining and then their different shapes if connected. For the rest of the night, he laid on the ground, looking up into the sky.

---

After waking up, he found the giant crowd of students marching in a direction. Not wanting to be left behind, Kael hopped from his "nest" and found his stomach to be growling. Had he missed breakfast? He began to slightly growl as his huger pangs became worse. He reached into his pocket and began to snack on those, hoping it would stop.

Following the masses, they were all led to a cliff. Listening to the female teacher again, Kael sighed at the annoyance. But, he did listen to the rule of the teammates. Hopefully, he would find somebody he could have some common interests. Maybe Schwarz. She seemed nice.

He watched as the students were then launched. Looking down, he saw that he was also moving at some speed. Huh. When did that happen? Taking the initiative now, he grabbed both halves of his zhen and prepared to land. Seeing a good-sized tree approaching him, Kael thrust out his blades into the tree while going past it. One of his blades did not stick into it, grazing by, but the other stuck into it with a good amount of force. Kael abruptly stopped, hanging in the air by one hand. What a predicament.

Putting his legs on the trunk of the tree, he began to push outwards, pulling his sword out. He began to fall down, but he managed to twirl onto his legs with a bit of a stumble. He was not meant to do acrobatics as he sighed at the thought. Dusting himself off, he began to walk through the dense foliage, making sure not to trip over a root and ensuring not to break a twig. No point in being eaten. Would probably be a traumatic experience.

Moving around, he stalked for the next ten minutes, looking to see if he had been surrounded by Grimm, but no sign of them. However, there seemed to be somebody nearby, as he saw a uniformed individual, a girl with short black hair. Damn it! It was not Schwarz. But, coming out of his hiding spot, Kael lifted a hand in gesture of welcome.

"Hey, I....found...you..."

Kuhaku stood at the edge of the cliff with his arms crossed as usual, staring out the massive forest below. Tail swaying absently behind him, his ears turned in the direction of the Headmaster and Ms. Goodwitch as they spoke. He, himself, standing unmoving.

Professor Ozpin and Glynda began their explanation to the students.
"Now." began Ms. Goodwitch.
"I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about he assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."
"Tch!" Kuhaku scowled as he half wanted to remove his mask to spit at the notion. After the Headmaster's Address, he was a little annoyed at the fact that he had yet to see a faculty member that wasn't a human. Now this? Why did they have to be assigned teammates? Why be part of a team? Couldn't he go through his time at Beacon alone? But, thinking about it, it made a little sense. His parents had been a pair, after all. That made him wonder as to the other members of his parent's team...

The other students murmured amongst themselves over this new information, attempting to digest and understand it.
Ozpin continued, saying "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."
Not going to happen. He didn't exactly work well with others if his time at Signal Academy was anything to go by.
There was more muttering from the other students.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." the Headmaster finished.
Absolutely idiotic. Kuhaku was quite visibly not happy with any of these proceedings.

As students were then launched off of the cliff, he quietly sighed. Might as well get things over with. At this point, there wasn't much he could do anyways. He applied, got accepted, and now was forced to obey the rules and regulations set forth by Beacon's academy. If this was their decision, he would have to respect it. Even if he didn't necessarily agree with it or like it. Uncrossing his arms, he stepped forward and was ejected off of the cliff side and into the air.

The night prior when the student body had gathered in the ballroom to all sleep together, he decided to make a few adjustments to his weapons in preparation for the initiation test. The decision to have both genders sleep in the same room together was something else he couldn't help but question. What exactly were they inviting by doing that? It was especially annoying when, as he worked on his weapons, he kept getting odd looks from both sides. He didn't have any belongings with him and it was a habit for him to sleep half-naked anyways. If they didn't like it, they could've just ignored him as he worked. The main adjustments he completed was to detach his chains from his gauntlets and completely wound them up within the winch device he had harnessed to his lower back. Requiring him to manually hook his chains to his gauntlets if he needed to use them.

Wind loudly whipping around him as he descended towards the forest canopy at an alarming rate, he decided to prepare for the worse and at least be combat ready. Smacking his gauntlets against the sides of his hips, he slid and hooked his chains onto them. Stretching his arms outward, he pulled out a length of his chains and let the slack freely dangle at his sides as he neared the forest floor, the chain links clinking against each other musically. Landing with a thud he made sure to roll forward to preserve his joints and maintain momentum. After rolling, he lunged forward and punched his right fist outward. With a loud pop the hidden spike within his gauntlet shot outwards and slammed into a tree branch, burying itself deep within the bark and wood. The wood having splintered from the violent force of its impact. The device on his back then activated, shooting Kuhaku's body forward as it mechanically wound the chains back up, pulling him along the length of the attached chain. With an acrobatic flip, he squatted perched on the tree branch. Ripping the spike from the wood, he turned his head up towards the sky.

Sniffing at the air, his ears frantically twitched and acted as radar dishes. The main goal here was to locate some...relics and return safely with them. Complete that task, and your future at Beacon was sealed as a student. He would worry about teammates and a team later. He only hoped that whoever he would eventually be paired with would be a quiet and competent partner. Ascertaining the general direction he needed to head in, he detached his chains from his gauntlets. Unhooking them, he let the winch device on his back swallow the chains up, completely winding them up again. Staying up in the trees should keep him relatively hidden and safe from Grimm and other students, he figured. With a lunge, he began his search for the relics, bounding from one tree to another in silence.

Coral glared at the morning haze that lingered over the forest that they'd soon be wading through. Yay, trees... trees weren't really her thing. Why not do this sort of thing somewhere equal opportunity, like underwater? No one would have problems with that, surely. At least, no one who mattered.

Random teams worked for her as well as anything else. It wasn't like she knew anyone here, anyway, and this way people who were already buddy-buddy from going to the same school or whatever wouldn't have an unfair advantage over poor friendless people like herself. Yes, it was only fair for things to work this way, and all of those friendly people with friends already? Yeah, they could go die.

By being flung by a catapult. She hadn't been expecting that one. Sure, she'd come without doing much research on whatever initiation Beacon might have, but wasn't that a bit strange? Why not just drop them at the foot of the cliff? Wouldn't that do the same thing without also threatening to smash them into airships? Well, she certainly wasn't going to chance running into off-course air traffic. Her pad made an alarming clack noise, and she crouched down to hopefully absorb some of the shock of getting flung into the air.

The instant acceleration tore at her skin and it took her a few moments to realize that her vision had gone completely black. Apparently the brain needed blood to function properly, and the Gs of being thrown into the air made that a bit difficult. Thank goodness she hadn't gone limp, but certainly there were better ways to do this whole thing. Her vision returned shortly, but she was still moving incredibly fast, and at a high altitude. This simply would not do. She activated her semblance for a moment, teleporting herself as far downward as she could, her clone lasting just a second before dissipating into a puff of smoke. Good, she was closer to the ground, and she'd lost all of her momentum by transferring it to the clone. Now to get the rest of the way to the ground: it was as simple as waiting for the ground to get within range and then teleporting down again, and she was back on solid ground.

Coral let out the breath she'd been holding as she dropped the last two feet she'd left herself for safety's sake. Sure, the forest wasn't great, but it was better than the air. So, part one was done: don't die, check. Now she had to find a relic and look at someone. That seemed easy enough. The morning sun was in that direction, so the ruins would be that way. She probably had farther to go than everyone else, since she had brought herself down so soon, so she set off at a run. No way was she going to be the last one there.

"Yeah, bad breathe and all." Khalis remarked in agreement. Releasing his scythe in a puff of dust and waited for the opponents to attack, and sure enough they did, although most at his new companion. With a small spin, Khalis used the inertia from the spin and brought his scythe down with great force, splitting one of their heads in two as in crumpled the ground. "Surely you can handle the other two?" He said, turning to see that one of them was coming towards him from behind. Khalis jumped in the direction of where his scythe was lodged, causing the scythe to spin back with the blade up, albeit barely off the ground. Once the Beowolf got within range, it lunged at him, but all he had to do was kick the scythe handle down into the ground, the bladed side erupting up and out of the ground, lodging itself into the Grimm's stomach. It was still alive, and clawing its way to Khalis uselessly, who retracted slightly with an indifferent expression. "On second thought, they're not very strong at all." He had ignored the other Beowolf however, and it wasted no time in pummeling Khalis, sending him off in the distance out of Perry's sight.

-Disregard this post-

Elrios was mostly daydreaming about food, it was a bad habit that Elrios developed over the years, he would just stare of in to space and think about food. He had lost track of time since he had fallen from the sky, he hadn't really seen any Grimm either. " Isn't this a Grimm infested forest" Elrios mumbled to himself as he continued to stroll through the forest, completely unaware of the Grimm lurking in the shadows.

Elrios hadn't even walked another 10 second before the Grimm decided to attack. A pair of Ursa Minors jumped out from the bushes poised to attack. Elrios raised his cannon in defense, but before the beasts could even attack, they were set on fire by a rain of bullets. Dancing like monkeys the Ursa Minors tried to put themselves out, but Elrios wasted in swinging his cannon in a wide arc to the left, smashing one of them, blasting it apart, leaving the first Grimm to be finished of by the fire, Elrios attacked the second grimm using the momentum of the first swing to spin and smashed his cannon into the second Grimm effectively blasting it into pieces from his heavy attack. Elrios fell to the floor in exasperation as the fires finished of the 2 Grimm, wondering who had helped him fight them off. His answer came to him when he looked up into the trees and saw a woman looking back down at him." Well I guess that's my partner" Elrios said to himself as he waved and smiled at the woman.