Male Reader x RWBY: Volume 1 / Reader x Yang

Chapter IV: Initiation

Author's Note:

Your thoughts are represented by italics.

You rise with the sun, before anyone else has awoken. Years of early mornings have trained your biological clock to wake you earlier than others. Quietly you roll up your bamboo mat and pick up Rhino's Charge, silently exiting the room. You walk through the halls of the main building, leaving through a side door which leads out to a large expanse of grass. You walk out a little further, away from the concrete and brick of the school, and look up, enjoying the warmth of the morning sun as it washes over your body. You have a few hours before you are scheduled to meet at the edge of the Emerald Forest for initiation, and decide to spend them training, just like you would have were you still at Sun Zhang.

You begin with basic endurance, and from there move onto strengthening your forearms, shins, and fists by repetitively striking hard surfaces (in this case, one of the buildings stone archways). This training allows you to forgo the use of heavy armor, instead ensuring your body itself could withstand any strikes without serious injury. By the time you've finished with open hand training, the sun has fully risen, and you can hear your fellow students beginning to rise.

Despite initiation not starting for another two hours, you wrap Rhino's Charge over your right shoulder and under your left arm, and make your way to the Emerald Forest, preferring to avoid conversation. Upon arrival, you notice a line of square metal platforms, each baring the Beacon crest. Assuming they have something to do with initiation, you avoid them, and settle yourself in the nearby grass, closing your eyes to meditate.

"Mr. (L/N)?" You hear a woman say. Opening your eyes, you see Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin approaching you. "You are aware initiation doesn't begin for another half hour? How long have you been here?"

"I don't know the exact time, but if I had to guess I would say about ninety minutes." You tell the two.

"And why wait here for so long?" Professor Ozpin asks. "Why not join you peers in the cafeteria? Eat and socialize."

"I'm used to postponing breakfast until after four hours of rigorous training. As for socializing, it's not really my scene."

"You realize you are to be on a team of four during your stay at Beacon?" Goodwitch asks. "You'll have to forego your antisocial behavior soon enough."

"I have no issue socializing," you say, "rather, others have difficulty getting past my, unorthodox habits, to form any true relationships. Besides, I would rather wait to get a sense of my would-be colleagues before I decide to associate myself with them."

The two Professors seem to have nothing left to say, because they simply nod and open their scrolls, preparing the soon to come trials. The other candidates soon arrive, and you are all instructed to take place on one of the metal squares. As soon as you have all done so, Professor Ozpin begins speaking, offering instructions on what to do once inside the forest. It seems simple enough; find the temple, collect a relic, and make it back alive. You place your left foot slightly forwards and bend your knees preparing to be launched into the sky, and soon enough the air is full of the bodies of your fellow students. Soaring through the air you begin to feel gravity pulling you back to Earth. Pulling your feet forwards so they're underneath you, you add a slight bend to your knees in preparation for the impact. You land with an Earth shattering crash, your right knee and fist planted in the ground. Standing up, you dust yourself off and walk out of the ten-foot radius crater you just created, to find the most beautiful view before your eyes.

A large boulder stands at the edge of a small lake being fed by a waterfall which extends about forty feet above you. The water from the fall hitting the lake creates a pleasant cloud of mist which is carried in the light breeze. A number of lily pads and aquatic flowers are sprinkled throughout the lake, adding a touch of color. Though the other initiates might rush to find the temple, you are in no such hurry, and decide to sit upon the boulder and appreciate the scene for a while.