Quick note: There might be a little too few dialogue changes from the last chapters since I don't bother on fixing it.
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Somewhere in Beacon hallway

After Ozpin's brief speech, the students were free to explore the rest of the academy until they were told to arrive at the ballroom at 6 pm where they will stay in for the night.

As for the German, he took a short visit to his temporary room where all of his stuff was. He admitted that he'll miss the room, even though it is not that great than the other dorms.

Opening the door, he met with a familiar face. It was Glynda and she had already packed his stuff on a bag, filled with all of his clothes, Weapons, and the supplies in the crate. 

"You showed up early," Glynda spoke first while handing him over the bag. Hartmann was about to say something, but Glynda already knew. ", and yes I fill in all your stuff in that bag."

Opening the bag, Hartmann saw his uniform inside of it. What surprised him is that they were all neat, clean, and tidy. He thinks that Glynda might of done it too.

"Thank you, Ms. Goodwitch." He thanked. Forming a smile to the middle-aged woman.

"Now run along, you still need to gather with the first years in the ballroom. I already prepared sleeping bags including one for you. I still have many things to do." She said with her usual mood expression.

Without any words, Hartmann stepped outside and let her pass. He then adjusted his bag on to his shoulder, after closing the bag with the zipper. All of his stuff ready, he walked down the halls and made his way to the Ballroom.

The halls were a little quiet, only a few students walking down the hallway, mostly second years. He made sure none of his items slipped off from the bag and continued walking to the ballroom.

The sky was getting a little dark. Hartmann checks the time on his scroll, which is at 5 in the afternoon. He decided to go to the locker room and put down all his stuff.

Few minutes later
It wasn't a long walk, but Hartmann made it to the locker area. There were thousands of lockers with different numbers on them. The first years, including him, felt free to choose which locker they want to put down all of their stuff.

Lots of lockers to choose from, but Hartmann just gonna go with the flow and pick a random locker to put his stuff in.

Eventually, Hartmann made it to a locker with the numbers #420. He thought those 3 numbers can be easy to remember in his brain. He would have gone for the simple ones like #001 or #100, but they were either far away or are already taken.

Without any more thoughts, he put his bag, his weapons, and his uniforms inside the locker. The last thing was his grey hat on his head. He had some history with it, even wearing it while joining the tank crew. It may look old, but he'll keep it till the very end of his life.

Hartmann takes off the hat, leaving his brown short hair exposed, and safely put in the locker on the very front. He shares a smile with it, despite it not having a mouth and then he closed the locker. 

The only stuff he didn't put in was some spare clothes and his scroll. He'll plan on changing after this and maybe tinker with the scroll a little if he gets bored. 

Hartmann hears another locker opened up next to his right. Turning to said direction, he saw another one of the students a few feet back from his locker. He didn't get a good look at what their appearance are until they close the locker.

The person reveals to be a girl as tall as him with red hair tied to a ponytail, which was curled slightly into a loose ringlet.  She also has green eyes with her light-green eyeshadows around the far upper corner. She looks to be muscular as well.

Her attire is somewhat similar to what those Spartans wear back on earth. She wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Also, she wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She even wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt.

Hartmann tilted his head at the fact she does resembles the Spartans in ancient Greece. Not to be confused by her beauty, which most guys fall for. He didn't focus on that though and kept staring at her in disbelief.

The redhead felt someone was staring at her. She looked to her left and she saw Hartmann staring at her, which made her startle. "Oh! Hello there.." 

Hartmann was taken aback and step back a little. "Oh, I am sorry. I did not think you would have noticed me." He apologized. 

"No No, It's okay." The redhead spoke up. "I know the feeling."

"If you do not mind for me to introduce myself. My name is Erich Hartmann. What is your name, madam?" The redhead let out a chuckle from his attitude. She answered.

"It's Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos. Although I am quite surprised you haven't known me yet." He stared at her with one of his eyebrows raised. His mind thought of that sentence of how she was surprised he does not know her yet, even when he is not from here.

"Um...Pardon?"

"I am one of the known world-renowned fighters in the mistral region tournaments. I have won them four years in a row, which is a new record for me, but I don't mind about it." She explained.

Hartmann just stared at her dumbfounded on what she said. "I..never heard of them."

"Oh. Well, that's alright. Not many people know about it other than Mistral and Atlas." She replied. "Are you Mistralian or Atlesian, by any chance?" 

"No, I am Vacuan," Hartmann answered her question, even though it was lie as he is not born in Vacuo. "That place does not suit me. Their academy also." He said about shade academy.

"I see. I've heard that place followed their rule; if you can survive there, you are welcomed there." Pyrrha said. "No offense, but you really don't look the par for that place, depending on your appearance." She observed his Physical appearance.

Hartmann sighed as he know what Pyrrha meant. His slim appearance instantly means that he is weak from other people's perspectives. Especially when they look at his face, his innocent cute looking face. He hated it because it made him look very weak and not strong.

This happened back on earth, many German soldiers but mostly the officers called him weak when they saw a glimpse of his face. Only a few seconds and they will indicate Hartmann that he is weak. But, the country was losing the war, so the Army conscripted many weak people like him to the war for extra manpower.

"Yeah... I really am." was his only response for Pyrrha's compliment. He looked down a moment while rubbing his right arm.

Pyrrha felt pretty bad now after saying that. Looking at the Grey-uniformed boy of her age, he wasn't pretty fit to survive all on his own. Pyrrha herself is already strong enough since she had been training for the region tournaments a few years back.

"I'm sorry for saying that to you. I didn't really mean it." Pyrrha apologized with a worried look on her face. Hartmann just responded with a sad sigh. The redhead knows he might have been through a lot in Vacuo.

A lot of people who don't survive there have. Some people decide to live in villages, some moved to other kingdoms and a few might have even turned to banditry as for vengeance on how they were treated. The last part was horrible and she was glad Hartmann did not go to that path.

Pyrrha then put a hand to one of his shoulders. "Look, if they think you aren't strong enough or even think you won't even survive long enough, then prove em' wrong." She encouraged.

"What are you trying to say?" He asked.

"I'm saying that if you don't want to be called weak, then prove em' how strong you can be." Pyrrha gave him a smile of encouragement. She was right. He wanted to be a different person than his usual weak and fragile self. This is a different world after all, so he needed to change for himself. Hartmann gave a smile and nod to Pyrrha. "Just don't go too overboard when you're training."

Hartmann chuckled. "I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Pyrrha. I feel like a different person already." The redhead spartan smiled.

"No problem." Pyrrha let go of her hand from his shoulder. She then grabs her spare clothes and put down most of her gear back in the locker.
"I have to go change now, I'll see you in the morning!" Pyrrha waved to the german as she is walking out of the locker room.

Hartmann stood there waving back at Pyrrha. "Goodbye." After Pyrrha was out of his sights, Hartmann thought that he has just made another friend. Coco, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Ruby, Jaune, and now Pyrrha. 7 friends already and he hasn't even enrolled yet.

He wasn't sure of the blonde bimbo, which if he wasn't wrong that her name was Yang..something. The black-haired bowed girl is in that same boat too. He didn't even know her name yet, and when he was about to introduce himself, she just walked away without any word. So he doesn't consider them friends yet.

The last person he met was the white-haired girl, which was Weiss Schnee. She had been acting like a total brat to him at first sight. Only because he knew about Ruby and she just shouted at him. But after meeting her again, she acted more civilized. She didn't immediately shout at him at that time. Heck, when he didn't mean to compliment her, Weiss quickly turns her head away from him and he was sure he saw her cheeks turn red a little.

Hartmann didn't know why she acted like that, but he knows that Weiss does not fully hate him yet. They just have to talk to each other more often. Maybe it will fix their relationship to become more of a friend.

Having too much time on his thoughts, he went out of it and check on the time, which is almost 7 pm. Glynda had told the students to go there at 6, which was half an hour ago, so Hartmann needed to go there now. Grabbing his needed stuff, he went off to the ballroom.

Short Timeskip

The first-year students were all gathered in the ballroom. They were all either sorting out their things, talking with their friends or just enjoying the nighttime view from the windows. 

Hartmann had recently changed from his tank uniform into something a bit simple. A black t-shirt with grey pants. He moved his sleeping bag away from a crowd of people and somewhere more space free. 

He played around with his scroll the entire time. He is currently watching a video of 4 men wearing fancy suits and shades dancing around while carrying a coffin on their hands with music playing. The music was pretty catchy along with the video being a little entertaining.

Eventually, he got bored and decide to search for his new friends. With a lot of people in the ballroom, it made it difficult to find them. Until a familiar voice called out is name.

"Hartmann? Hey Hartmann, over here!" It was the 'Natural Blonde' himself, Jaune Arc. The german look towards the source of his voice. There he was, a few feet away from his spot. He had one of his hands holding his sleeping bag, which covered his entire body while his other hand is waving at him.

He wondered what Jaune was wearing when his arms were covered in blue clothing. Either way, Hartmann still walks over to the blonde. "Hello, Jaune. You found a spot for yourself, too?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, I'm not that comfortable sleeping with anyone near me, unless they're my sisters."

"Do You have any siblings?" Jaune nodded again. "How many do you have?"

"Seven." He reluctantly said. This made Hartmann shocked when he has that many siblings.

"Are you serious? You have that many siblings?" Hartmann asked just to make sure he wasn't lying.

"Yep. All seven sisters. Sure they do take care of me, but sometimes living with them can be a nightmare." Jaune said as he think back all the stuff they did to him. "One of the worst ones is when they dress me up as a girl..."  Hartmann chuckled. He was glad he didn't have that many siblings as Jaune, but at the same time, he felt bad for Jaune having seven siblings. Jaune said that he was the man in the house back at his home. His father died two years ago so he is left at the care of his mom and his seven sisters, which makes eight girls. 

"I would love to hear your past life, but I think you should put down the sleeping bag of yours?" Hartmann pointed out to the sleeping bag that Jaune had been holding for the past 5 minutes which also covers the front of his pajamas. Jaune noticed and chuckles in embarrassment.

When Jaune put down his sleeping bag on the ground, hid entire PJ clothing is exposed. Hartmann stares at it in disbelief when he noticed. Jaune's PJ was all blue, but it was not those that Hartmann is focused on.

It was the cute little bunny that is in the very middle of his Pajamas. The blonde boy wanted to be a warrior like what his Father, Grandfather, and great grandfather was, and yet here he is wearing an all blue pajamas with a cute and innocent bunny head in the middle.

"Um..what are you looking at?" He heard Jaune asked and he set his eyes back to him. Hartmann clears his throat a little.

"Sorry, but...what is that?" Jaune looked down to see what Hartmann is pointing at, which he noticed the German is looking at the bunny head in the middle.

"Oh, that's pumpkin Pete. This is the blue pumpkin PJs that I won from opening many packs of Pumpkin Pete cereal boxes until I got a card for it." He explained with a smile on his face.

"Aren't you too old for it? I mean it looked like it's for kids, and you're almost a young adult." Jaune let out a small sigh. He had been told of that with a few people even some of her sisters and mother.

"I thought of getting rid of it, but it reminds me of my sisters who helped me by opening the cereal packs. I really wanted it and my sisters helped me without any questions."

"Oh well if that is the case, then I am sorry for asking that question."

"It's okay." Jaune accepted his apology. "Now, if you'll excuse me I need to find a bathroom somewhere because I need to go right now." Jaune held his groin tight signaling he wanted to pee so bad.

As he leaves, Hartmann chuckled and called out for him. "Good luck." That was a good conversation he thoughted. Time for him to find the others. He walked around the ballroom to find Ruby, Pyrrha, or Yang. Maybe he can find Weiss or that Bow girl.

Speaking of the devil, he saw the black bow girl sitting on the corner. She was reading a literature book with a candle next to it on top of a table. And as if that wasn't enough, Weiss is a few feet away from him as she is preparing her sleeping bag. Hartmann thought which girl he would talk to, and then it clicked to the black bow girl because he did not know her name yet.

Already made his decision, he walked to the black bowed girl which she was still occupied by her book. She had her pajamas on, which is a black, long-sleeved shirt with white edging over a purple undershirt and a matching skirt.  When the girl was busy reading, she saw a glance of grey color walking towards her. Her eyes shifted from her book to Hartmann. "Um, Hello there..."

The boy waved nervously at her with a smile. She just stared at him for a few seconds. "Hi." Was her response as her eyes went looking back at her book. She stopped for a moment and set her eyes on Hartmann again. "You're the guy that is with that girl who exploded, right?"

"Hehe...." He chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, I was the guy. My name is Hartmann if you have not known it." The black bowed girl shifted her eyes back to the book while told him her name.

"Blake. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a book to read here." Blake flipped the next page of her novel book. Hartmann saw the cover of the book that says "A man with souls". 

"A man with two souls? What is that?" Blake looks back at him when he asks that question.

"Well...it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body," Blake explained. "I still have a little trouble reading some of the parts."

"You really like to read books, don't you?" Blake eyed the 3 other books near her that is still in progress of finishing, especially her private book 'Ninjas of love', it was a good thing she had the book on the bottom. Looking back at the german, she nodded.

"Yeah. I read books just to kill my free time."

Hartmann smiled since he also red some books back in his homeworld, while also red a few in this world too. Some of the books resemble the ones back on Earth and the writing seems clean. Not to mention that he is slowly beginning to speak English perfectly during his time here.

"I also love to read books since I was a kid. I mostly read fairytales and novels. The best part about reading them is I can picture the scenery in my mind. Whether it is about Romance, Tragedy, or even when the character is at war." Hartmann explained. Blake smiled at his interests in books. She thought she is the only one who likes to read literature in this school. She sure had some weird looks from students passing by and granted the name "Quiet emo girl", even by herself.

Blake was glad there was another person that is like her, even though she and Hartmann does not look the same on appearance. She closed the book, not before placing a bookmark on the current page she was reading, and then she placed it on top with her other books. "That's good to hear." 

"Hel-loooo!" Blake and Hartmann heard a sing-along voice a few feet away. Hartmann turn his head around with Blake leaning to her left, they saw Yang walking towards them. One of her arms waving at them and gripping ruby's arm with the other.

Ruby was struggling to let go from the blonde's grasp until she succeeded and turned away, crossing her arms. Both girls were wearing their pajamas. Ruby's pajamas consist of a black tank top featuring a heart-shaped Beowolf design on the chest and long white pants decorated with pink roses.  Yang's pajamas consist of an orange tank top with what looks to be an emblem on the front in red, and black boy shorts.

"I believe you three may know about each other," Yang said, gesturing to them and her little sister.

Hartmann nodded at her while Blake stared at Ruby. "Aren't you the girl that exploded?" The german let out a snicker, so does Yang. Ruby sighed and turned around to them.

"Y-Yeah, my name is Ruby Rose." She offered a handshake to Blake, the latter accepted and shook her hand then she pulls away. "But, you can call me crater..." She cut off her sentence about her nickname. "...actually just call me Ruby."

The bow girl let out a giggle. "Already stick in with that name?" The german beside her gave Ruby a smug smile. She looks away in embarrassment and pouted.

"S-Shut up..."

"So, what's your name, lovely lady?" Yang asked Blake. The bow girl gave her a confused look with one of her eyebrows raised. 

"It's Blake Belladonna." She answered.

"Well Blake, I'm Yang Xiao-Long. Ruby's older sister." She introduced. "I like your bow. It goes well with your...pajamas." Blake narrowed while Yang nervously laughs about her compliment.

"Uh...thanks?" Hartmann shook his head in disappointment at Yang's attempt to socialize or maybe, in this case, flirting?  

Then something clicked from his head. "Hey, Yang? Did you say you were Ruby's older sister?" Yang turned to him and nodded.

"Yup. Her loving sister." She ruffled ruby's hair with her right arm, smirking. Her little sister growled and threw her arm away from her hair. Yang liked to mess with her sister, mostly at home, although she still cares about her when she has a problem or needed some help. "Why'd you ask?" Yang asked back, wondering.

Hartmann observes the two girls. Yang said they were sisters, but on appearance, they don't really look the par. "You both look very different to be siblings." One example was their hair. Ruby being crimson while Yang being gold. "Also, your last names are different. May I ask why?" Blake has that same question in mind too.

"Oh! Well, were not actually blood-related sisters. We're more like, half-siblings." Ruby explained with Yang nodding in agreement. 

Blake and Hartmann raised their eyebrows. "What does that mean?" the Former asked.

Yang's turn to explain. "We share the same parent, which is our dad. He had two wives which are similar to us before my mom decide to run away while Ruby's mom is dead." Hearing this, Ruby's eyes and ears perked and looked down sadly. Yang looked to her and quickly comforts her. "S-Sorry for explaining about that, sis."

Blake and Hartmann were a little shocked when they found out their moms were gone and their father was one of the parents they only have. "Sorry for your loss." Blake paid their respect, so did Hartmann as he nods.

Ruby calmed down and smiled at the German and the bow girl. "So, what have you two been doing?" She asked.

"We were just discussing books, like fairy tails or novels," Blake answered. She showed one of her books, the cover had a person with a black helmet and a yellow visor covering their entire face, with the title named 'Never Say Goodbye'.

"We both have an interest in them, so we talked it out and also about our opinions." Hartmann and Blake looked at each other and smiled, having the same thoughts. 

"Oh, I love books! Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters." Ruby exclaimed. Yang smiled proudly at that. "They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

Blake laughed a little. "And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves." Ruby said.

"Wow, that is very ambitious for a young child like you." Hartmann smiled before frowning. "Unfortunately, the real world is not like a fairy tale." He thought about the war back on earth. When he was little, he read about a book that War is all about the adventure and becoming the hero to be known by the people. Apparently, all of those were lies and that war is basically hell. He learned this from his friend when the latter's brother was one of them in the first world war. Then he get to experienced it in the second world war.

Blake agreed to what Hartmann said and nodded. "Well, that's why we're here, to make it better," said Ruby with confidence.

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang begins to hug Ruby tightly and lifted her to the air. The latter tried to let go of her grasp while kicking the air.

"Cut it out!!" Ruby punches Yang as they erupted to a cloud of smoke, fighting. Hartmann and Blake let out small laughs seeing the two half-sisters doing siblings things, which includes silly fights like that.

"Ok, you two. I think you should keep it down a little, there are-" Hartmann stopped mid-sentence when he saw Weiss stomping towards them with an angry look on her face. She too is wearing her pajamas which consists of a faded blue nightgown with short sleeves and white trim and displays the Schnee Crest on the upper-right chest. She also had her hair down which made her a bit attractive to Hartmann, but that's not what he is focusing right now.  'Scheisse' his thoughts spoke when Weiss made it to them.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" Weiss made eye contact with Yang which had her left leg trapped by Ruby before the latter let it go. 

"Oh not you again!" The Heiress and the blonde bimbo shouted to each other in unison. 

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Ruby spoke up, trying to defuse the situation.

"Y-Yes, Ruby is right. We should just settle this tomorrow morning and not risking of waking everyone up." Hartmann said as he went in between Weiss and Ruby, with the latter trying to calm down her big sister.

"Oh, now you both are on my side?? I don't mind you though, but no way I wouldn't want to be with you!" Weiss shouted to Ruby on the last part as she didn't mind of Hartmann, which was a bit strange to the German.

"I-I was always on your side!" Ruby said to Weiss.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" Yang continued.

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss pointed out.

"Frauleins!" Weiss, Ruby, Yang, and even Blake turned to the German, while silenced by his short outburst, even though they didn't know what the word meant. Hartmann calmed down a bit and continued. "Look, it is already night time. We are all very tired here and you both arguing will not help us. We can discuss this tomorrow morning, but for now, we should all get some rest here." He looked to Ruby. "Ruby, why don't you take Yang back to your sleeping bags, while I take the heiress with me."

Ruby nodded and held one of Yang's arms. "Come on, sis." The blonde still had her eyes glared on her heiress, with the latter doing the same thing.

"Let's go." Hartmann escorted the Heiress back to her spot, which she immediately obliges and walked with him. "Goodbye, Blake." He quickly waved to the bow girl. She waved back and then blew out her candle.

When Hartmann escorted Weiss to her sleeping bag, the Heiress spoke to him. "Why did you have to intervene like that?"

Hartmann sighed. "I just want to get some rest, okay? Also, maybe you should make up with Ruby."

"And why should I?" Weiss crossed her arms.

"Well, she can be your new Freund." He assured. "You already made up with me, right?"

Weiss stood there while swimming in her thoughts. She kind of made up with him, but it didn't count him as a friend, more like an acquaintance. Nevertheless that he did apologize back at the auditorium. she guesses that might be enough for her to make up with him. Weiss then shook her head and look back at him. "Didn't you say you were tired? Go back to your sleeping bag then." She said with a stoic expression, avoiding his question.

"Oh, sure. I will see you in the morning." Hartmann walks back to his spot as Weiss silently cursed herself at her expression. She sighed and went inside her sleeping bag and sleep for the night.

The next morning

It is now morning and it is time for initiation. Some students had already woke up and tidy up their bags, while the rest were still sleeping, one of them was Hartmann.

A few minutes later, the German woke up and stretch his arms. He grabbed his scroll and turned it on. It was 7:00 AM, which means it is 7 in the morning. He still had an hour left before initiation begins. When he was about to stand up, he heard a shout. 

"WAKE UP, LAZY BUTT!" The shouting came from his left. He saw an orange-haired girl looking down at another student still laying down on the sleeping bag. The student is a boy with long black hair that ends midway down his back. There was also a magenta streak on the left side of his hair.

The boy let out a groan while getting up from his sleeping bag. "It's morning. It's morning. It's morning. It's Morning!" The orange-haired girl shouted excitedly in a singing voice while dashing around him, which the black-magenta haired boy sighed as he got up. Hartmann chuckled a bit and stood up. He decides to go to the bathroom and wash his face, getting rid of his tired face. 

In the Bathroom
Hartmann is by the sink, washing his entire face with the sink water and also washing his hands. There he saw the same orange-haired girl and the Black hair magenta streaked boy right beside him. The girl was holding a toothbrush and toothpaste while the boy is brushing his teeth.

The girl continued. "I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?" She was still energetic while the boy kept quiet. 

Hartmann sighed and walk past them. "Excuse me." 

"Oh, sure!" She exclaimed and let him pass.

To the ballroom, again

Hartmann is fixing his sleeping bag while tying it up, it was a good thing he had some experience with tying ropes at objects. To his left, there is that energetic girl again along with the quiet boy. As usual, she kept talking and talking while combing her hair as the boy kept his mouth shut and tying up his sleeping bag.

"We've been friends for so long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not 'together-together...' Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?" 

'So that is how he can stand all of her talking.' Hartmann thought when the orange-haired girl brought up the part that she and the quiet boy had been friends for a very long time. It must've been a bit sad for the latter that he had to put up with that kind of behavior.

When the German had done fixing his sleeping bag, he looked around the ballroom and saw that Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake weren't present. They must've woken up and went elsewhere in the academy. 

After putting down his bag, he walked off to the cafeteria to get something to eat. During that, the energetic oranged-hair girl was busy talking to her quiet friend that she didn't notice Hartmann's presence behind her. Then she accidentally bumped into him from behind.

Hartmann almost loses his balance and if not he would've fallen to the ground. He regains his balanced and then he heard the orange-haired girl apologizing. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry about that! I didn't see you there!"

"I-It is fine."

Despite accepting her apology, the girl kept talking with seemingly all of her enthusiasm. "I am just excited because me and my Renny boy are going to be students of beacon academy and I really can't wait to be huntsmans with him which we had planned to be since we were little well mostly me actually but now this is our chance and we-"

"Nora." 'Renny' finally spoke up which silenced the orange-haired girl, who is Nora. "Maybe I should do the talking here and you can help with our stuff," he said calmly.

"Sure thing, Ren!" Nora dashed away from them and went to her sleeping bag and fixed it. Ren sighed and look to Hartmann.

"I'm terribly sorry about my friend's behavior." 

"That is okay. Some people tend to be energetic like her." Hartmann said while thinking of Ruby as she along with Nora is almost the same as in energetic.

"It's her thing. Energetic as always." Ren let out a chuckle.

 "I'm finished!" Nora dashed to Ren's side as she is done with her sleeping bag.

"So, what are your names?" Hartmann asked them.

Nora answered first. "Well, I am Nora Valkyrie! And this is Lie Ren!" She wrapped her right arm with Ren's left arm, with her other left arm holding up a peace symbol like they were taking a picture or something.

Hartmann chuckled. "My name is Erich Hartmann. Nice to meet you both."

"Like always!" Nora smiled widely as she let go of ren's left arm.

"Erich...i'm sorry but I think I heard about that name before," Ren said.

"It's fine." The German exclaimed. "Anyways, I am going to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I will see you later."

Nora's eyes wide a little."You're going to the cafeteria?? We're about to go to the cafeteria!" Nora said excitedly. "Hey! Why don't you go with us?? The more the merrier!"

Ren shook his head slightly. "Nora. I don't think he would accept it."

"Okay." Nora and Ren look to Hartmann. "I guess it will not hurt if I can go with you two. I could use some company."

Nora smiled all the way to her cheeks. "AWESOME!" She jumped to the air along with both of her arms. "Then Let's go right now!" She grabbed one of his arms.

"Wait, what are y- WOOAH!" 

Nora zoomed away from the ballroom, dragging Hartmann with her. Ren stood there as he saw her energetic friend dragged the poor German out of the room. He let out a sigh. "It's gonna be a long day," said Ren before catching up to them.

Timeskip to the Cafeteria

Hartmann went to the school cafeteria along with Nora and Ren. He didn't want to bring them along, but it's nice to have some company. They dig in on pancakes that Nora really wanted for some reason, but he didn't mind.

Nora was already slurping on a full pancake while ren is still chopping them to little pieces. The hyper ginger girl still speaking to Ren when eating.

"Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together!" Her voice was muffled by the pancake on her mouth.
She slurped it all without even chewing them. "What about you, Hartmann? Want to be with team Renora?? We could be unstoppable!"

Hartmann swallowed a piece of the pancake before answering. "Maybe. If we do though it will be cool, I guess. Also, Renora? Since when did that name made up?"

"We had that name for a long time. Ren and Nora, ReNora." Ren answered. "But it's not like it will be a big of a name for us."

Nora slurped another batch of Pancake while overhearing the conversation. "Speaking of Teams, we should come up with some sort of plan to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school."

Both boys sighed a little and kept eating their pancakes slowly. Hartmann had already finished his pancake and got up from the table. "It was fun sticking around with you two, but I am gonna go now and get my stuff for initiation." He said.

"Okay! See ya! I hope we can be on the same team!" Nora said excitedly as Hartmann walks away, leaving Ren alone with his hyperactive friend.

To the Locker Room
It is still a few minutes left before initiation starts and our German boy is at the locker rooms to choose which guns he will bring. Ozpin told him the initiation involves killing those Grimm creatures along the way, so he chose his trusty MP40 to kill them much faster and easier.

He put on his tank uniform again, but he didn't put on his hat. Instead, he will replace it with the M35 steel Helmet for extra protection. 

Hartmann saw another object in his locker along with a message right beside it. The object beside the message was a blue square-like object. He observed the square object with interest and that is where the message comes in.

He opened the envelope and what inside it was 2 pieces of paper. One was a picture and the other was a note. He looked to the picture first and saw the image.

Hartmann muttered what the object in the image is, he guessed it was some sort of futuristic parachute. After staring at it for a few seconds, he set his eyes on the note.

"Hello, Mr. Hartmann. When you read this note, you notice the square object right beside it. That is what we call a Glider. It will be useful for your initiation. I don't have time to explain all of this, but what you have to do is to throw the square object in the air while falling and it will automatically activate the glider. Make sure to hold onto those two bars or else you will fall." 

- Glynda

After reading the note, he looks back to the square object and silently thanked her for it, for the part that it help him during initiation. He grab the square glider and put it in his pocket. Closing the locker and locked it, he was already set for initiation. He just has to wait for Goodwitch to call out the first years.

In the meantime, he has some spare time to find his friends that he met. Then he saw two ponytailed girls a few feet away. It was Pyrrha and Weiss, readying their equipment. Smiling, he adjusts himself and make his way towards them.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself." Weiss asked while complimenting her.

"Hmm...I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha answered.

"You know, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." She said.

Pyrrha smiled. "Well, that sounds grand!"

"Wonderful!" Weiss exclaimed. She quickly turned away from the redhead with a scheming pose and a maniacal smile on her face as her thoughts spoke free. 'This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!'

"Hello? Weiss? Can you hear me?" A voice called out for her.

"Hmm?" Weiss shook out from her thoughts and went back to reality. She looked in front of her and she saw the German standing there. "Ah!" She flinched and stepped back, unaware of his presence. 

Hartmann chuckled. "Guten morning, Ms. Schnee and to you to Nikos." 

"Morning." Pyrrha smiled and waved her hand to him.

"You should not sneak on someone like that, y' know? Especially if said someone is an Heiress." Weiss said with her same old expression.

"Sorry." He rubbed the back of his head. "What were you two talking about just now?"

"Teams. Every academy has them and we were wondering which individuals we're gonna pair up with." Weiss explained. "I was thinking Pyrrha and I might get paired up, along with other 2 students, but importantly me and her because I am the smartest and she is the strongest."

"I'm just letting the chips fly and go on whoever I paired up within the initiation," said Pyrrha.

"I was wondering of that, just a while ago," Hartmann said remembering what Ozpin told to him about initiation. "Hey, do you two think that maybe I can be in your team? Just saying it." 

Pyrrha and Weiss thought about it for a moment. The former did say she will let the chips fly, but having Hartmann joining with her team with Weiss' can be okay. She thought of him as a nice person at first sight.

Weiss on the other hand has mixed feelings about him. One of which is that he may screw up the team, but on the other hand, he is very kind and opened. He did apologize to her about the fiasco with that red-caped dolt, whom she still has a grudge. But her view in the german is not like with her.

  "I think that will be wonderful," Pyrrha answered first with a smile.

"I guess that'd be great." Weiss followed, seemingly giving up on her thoughts and just went with it. Hartmann smiled at her response. Then another figure came up to them out of nowhere and went in between of Pyrrha and Weiss. To no surprise, that figure was Jaune Arc, with his eyes staring at the Heiress.

"You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." He introduced.

"You again?" Weiss said irritatedly.

"Hello, Jaune." Hartmann greeted him.

Pyrrha somehow hurriedly went to Weiss' right side and waves at Jaune. "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

"Yeah yeah," Jaune replied, rudely pushes Pyrrha aside as he talks to Weiss while posing slightly. "So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Weiss put a hand on her head, still irritated by Jaune and his attempts to flirt with her.

"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed!" Jaune smiled and crossed his arms. "So, been hearing rumors about teeaams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?" He asked.

"Well, I don't think two people are enough for a team." Hartmann clarified.

"He's right. I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" Pyrrha said, getting their attention before Jaune cuts her off.

"You don't say." Jaune slides his way to the redhead. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

Weiss quickly went between to them and separates them with her hands. "Jaune is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, snow angel." Both Weiss and Hartmann sighed as the former continued.

"This is Pyrrha." Weiss gestured to the redhead

"Hello again." She waved.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

"Never heard of it," Jaune said.

"She did win the Mistral Region Tournaments from what I heard." Hartmann joined in.

"Four years in a row! Which I call a new record for her." Weiss finished.

"The what?"

Weiss begins to grit her teeth in frustration. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss shouted while waving her arms around angrily. Jaune let out a shocked gasp after that.

"That's you!?" Jaune exclaimed. "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha smiled before frowning. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

'I would not forget my experience with eating that cereal...' Hartmann said in his head while remembering the first time he tried that cereal.

Mini Flashback
Hartmann is at the cafeteria along with Velvet and Fox having lunch together. The german noticed a bowl next to velvet that still has some leftover cereal. 

"Hey Velvet, you are not eating that?" He pointed to the bowl.

"My pumpkin Pete, cereal?" Hartmann nodded. "I'm kinda full, so i don't think of finishing my cereal...." Velvet rubbed her arm looking like she was hiding something.

Fox slowly shook his head and said the truth. "She hates the Cereal, so she wanted to throw it away." 

"Fox!"

"Why would you waste such a good cereal?" Hartmann asked, confused.

"Because the cereal is gross," Fox answered. "Even me, Coco, Yatsuhashi, and almost all the students here hates it." 

"Pass me the bowl. It can't be that bad." Fox and Velvet hesitated a little. They didn't think he would immediately want to taste the cereal. 

"Y-You sure?" Velvet said. 

"You won't like it..." Fox warned.

"Nonsense. Just give me the bowl."

"Okay..." Velvet slowly pass him the bowl of pumpkin Pete cereal, which he grabs it along with the spoon. The two CFVY members had worried looks in their faces. Their friend wanted to taste the most horrible cereal ever.

Hartmann took a spoonful of the cereal with the spoon, then he ate it without hesitation. Fox and Velvet leaned forward, still had their worried looks as they can hear the crunches from the German's teeth.

"See, it is not that-" Hartmann stopped chewing as his eyeballs shrink. He dropped the spoon and look to Fox and Velvet, which they stared at him, worried. "Where is the nearest trashcan?"  He asked, still has cereal in his mouth.

"O-Over there." Velvet pointed to the trashcan.

"Danke..." Hartmann instantly got up from the table and made a dash to the trashcan. Fox and Velvet can hear him throwing up along with a few students hearing it in disgust. 

Velvet covered her mouth in shock while Fox sighed and hooked his head. "I warned him..."
End of Mini Flashback

Hartmann shivered as he would never eat that pumpkin Pete cereal ever again in his life. He got out of his thoughts and look back to Weiss, Pyrrha, and Jaune.

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked.

"I guess not... Sorry..." Jaune hangs his head down and slumped.

Hartmann put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Do not worry, Jaune. If possible, I can join to be on your team." 

Jaune smiled at him. "Thanks, man."

"Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!" Pyrrha said, encouraging him. 

"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune immediately brightened up.

Weiss walked from behind them. "Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"

"Sounds like Pyrrha and Hartmann is on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quickly and there is only one left. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, and find this last spot for you. What do you say?" Jaune leans closer to the Heiress, which made the latter very uncomfortable.

"All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?!" Weiss asked.

Jaune looks back, just in time to see a spear strike him to his hoodie, sending the poor blonde into a wall. Hartmann startled from it while looking back to the redhead.

"Heilige Scheiße!(Holy Shit!) You could have hit him!" Hartmann shouted from her dangerous action.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized to both Hartmann and Jaune who is still stuck to a wall.

The intercom system turns on while revealing Glynda's voice as she is announcing to the students. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss passes Jaune as he hangs from the wall of a locker on her way out. Pyrrha follows her, grabbing her spear and dropping Jaune to the ground. "It was nice meeting you!" She said as she left with Weiss on her tail.

"Likewise..." Jaune slumped against the locker. Hartmann stayed behind with Jaune and looked at him.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" He asked.

"A little hurt, but ok," Jaune said, still slumping against the locker. 

Yang and Ruby then came up to them with all of their gear ready as the former asked. "Having some trouble there, lady-killer?"

Jaune sighed. "I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

"Calling her 'Snow angel' was not really the best start," Hartmann advised with Yang nodding in agreement. Ruby offered a hand to help the blonde up.

"Come on, Jaune. Let's go." She said. Jaune grabbed her hand and uses her to lift himself back up as the red hood girl leads Jaune out of the locker room by supporting him and his damaged self-esteem.

The German and the blonde bimbo watched them walk away before the latter nudge into the former. "So, ya ready for the initiation?" She asked while readying one of her yellow gauntlets.

"A little bit nervous, but I think I can handle it."

"That's good to hear!" Yang roughly patted his back with her gauntlet, which he almost stumbled down. "I'll see you there." Yang headed out of the locker room, catching up to Ruby.

"S-Sure..." Hartmann walked out of the locker room and head towards the beacon cliff as they were told for the initiation. 

At the Beacon Cliff

The first-year students, along with Hartmann, Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune, Blake, Yang, Ren, and Nora, were all gathered at the edge of Beacon cliff, overlooking the forest. They were all standing on silver tiles for some odd reason.

In front of them were Ozpin and Glynda, with the former holding his signature mug and the latter holding a tablet. Both were explaining about the initiation for the first-years.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," said Ozpin to almost all of the students.

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

"What? Ooh.." Ruby said silently

"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." Hartmann looks to the rest of the students along with his new friends, wondering who will be his teammates in the initiation. Ruby groaned at Ozpin's words.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next FOUR years." This had shocked a few of the students, including Hartmann. Ruby was the one that was shocked the most as she even heard glass breaking in her head. 

"Whhaaaattt!?!?" She shouted.

"See? I told you." Nora said to Ren with a pose.

"Well, this is going to be interesting..." Hartmann sarcastically said to himself. "I just hope I can find the right partner if I can."

"After you've partnered 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." Ozpin advised

Hartmann exhaled nervously while Jaune gulped. Nora just smiled happily at Ren.

"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 regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." Ozpin explained. 

"Are there any questions?"

Jaune immediately raised his hand. "Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good!" Ozpin exclaimed, ignoring Jaune's question. "Now, take your positions."

Everyone begins to strike a pose on their tiles. Nora crouches low, Ren wields his weapons, the brown-haired full armored boy crouches and readied both of his hands, Yang raises her fists, Ruby readied her body, Hartmann took a knee on the front and put his hand on the pocket where the square thing is. All the while, Jaune is still raising his hand and asking questions.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." As Jaune still asking questions, Weiss was the first to be launched from the tile. Seeing how she was launched, Hartmann was a bit worried about this, but regain his composure. More students are being launched, one of them being blake.

Hartmann focused on his landing strategy after getting launched. He then heard someone clearing their throat, trying to get his attention. Hartmann turned his head and it was Glynda herself.

She spoke to him. "Did you read my note?" Hartmann nodded to her. "Good, use it well, and try not to get killed this time." She went back beside Ozpin. Hartmann wondered why she began to act protectively to him. Not wanting to waste time, he shook out from his thoughts and went back overlooking the forest.

Jaune is still asking about the landing strategy. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin clarified. More of the students is being launched, including a green-haired mohawk dude. 

"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Hartmann silently chuckled since he had some sort of a parachute in his pocket and can be deployed mid-air. All the while, Nora gets launched as she screams excitedly. Ren follows suit along with the armored guy.

"Uh-huh... Yeah," said Jaune still curious.

At Yang's turn, the blonde winks at her younger sister and the German, then puts on a pair of aviators and flies off with a "Woo-hoooooooo!" a second before Ruby joins her.

Hartmann exhaled again as it is his to get launched. "Here goes nothing!" he said to himself before the silver tile launched him to the forest. Jaune was the last one standing.

"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!" He asks this part just when he finally has to get hurled with the cloud of students now making their way down into the forest below under the eyes of the teachers.

Ozpin however, calmly sip down his mug, wishing good luck to the students.

==To be continued== 

Well, that took a while. 2 months later, I finally finished this chapter. I apologize for those who waited long for this, but I have some obstacles in life.

As seen, the next chapter will be the initiation. Stay tuned for it.

While waiting, you can answer these 2 questions I put up for you:
1. Which character do you think will be paired for Hartmann?
2. Do you think Hartmann will be put on a team or become a one-man guy?