Haven Academy was a beautiful place, and Joanna was extremely excited to finally be here. She not only worked hard in combat training but also academically, to prove that she was more than just muscle. Joanna and Sophia stand with the other first years in the main hall of the school. They listen as the headmistress gave an opening statement. 

"Hope you all have a wonderful time here at Haven, and good luck at initiation tomorrow." said the headmistress.

"Hi, I'm Simon." a boy said to Joanna.

"Oh, hello, I'm Joanna." Joanna replied with a friendly smile.

"I'm from Vale. Where are you from?" Simon asked.

"Mistral." Joanna answered.

"Ah, so you're local." Simon said.

"What do you want?" Sophia asked, her voice having a hint of hostility in it.

"I-I just wanted to talk..." Simon replied nervously.

"Why?" Sophia asked him.

"Because I didn't have much friends back in Vale, and I thought I'd make a few while I'm here in Haven." Simon told Sophia.

"Well, buzz off! There's plenty of other people here, go make friends with them, cause Joanna don't need any, she has me!" Sophia growled.

"Woah, geeze! Possessive much?" Simon said walking away.

Joanna frowns as she watches Simon walk away, then she turns to her friend.

"There was no need to be so rude, Soph." Joanna told her.

"I wasn't being rude, I was making it clear that you're my friend." Sophia replied bitterly.

"But...can't I have other friends too?" Joanna asked.

"What do you need other friends for!? Isn't my friendship good enough? Aren't I good enough?" Sophia asked frowning sadly.

"What? No! Of course you're good enough!" Joanna assured frantically.

"Then...why were you asking if you could have other friends? We don't need other friends, you have me and I have you...we don't need anyone else." Sophia said putting her hands on her hips.

"Y-you're right...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Joanna apologizes.

"I know you didn't, it's not your fault you're naïve. And I'm sorry for being so snappy." Sophia said calming down.

"Come on, let's go, they're about to serve dinner." she added grabbing Joanna's hand and leading her to the cafeteria where the other students were heading.

After dinner all the first years slept in the main hall, cause they haven't been assigned to teams or dorms yet. The next day was initiation day, the day students would be grouped into teams of four. All the first years were told to go out into the Grimm infested forest and to partner up with the first person you see, and then the next pair you come across will be the rest of your team. 

"I hope we run into each other out there. We have to be on the same team." Sophia said shining her spear.

"Yeah, I hope we end up on the same team too." Joanna said hooking her lasso to her belt.

"Hey, your sword looks awesome, what else does it do?" a blonde boy asked. 

"It's just a sword. But my lasso does have Dust woven into it to make it durable and unbreakable." Joanna answered showing off her sword.

"Wow, you must be pretty bada** to have an old school weapon like that." the blonde boy said.

"I have an old school weapon too! Guess that makes me a bada** as well." Sophia butted into the conversation with a cocky grin.

"Um...yeah..." the blonde boy replied.

"This is my friend, Sophia. I'm Joanna." Joanna said patting Sophia's head, in between her cat ears.

Sophia angrily bats away Joanna's hand and grumbles. 

"I'm Carter. It's nice to meet you lovely ladies." Carter said, extending his hand out to shake theirs.

Joanna excitedly shakes his hand, nearly crushing it in the process, but Sophia just left him hanging. Then the bell rings signaling that the students had to get to their starting positions.

"Guess initiation is starting, good luck to the both of ya." Carter said before walking off.

"Thanks, good luck to you too!" Joanna replied waving.

"Thank the gods, I thought that idiot would never leave." Sophia groaned.

"Aw, come on, Soph, just because we won't be friends with anyone else doesn't mean we can't be nice to people. I mean...we do eventually want to get boyfriends, right?" Joanna asked nervously brushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"Boyfriends? Pfffft...hahahahaha!" Sophia said before bursting into laughter.

Joanna was very confused...why was Sophia laughing like that? Did she inadvertently say something funny or amusing?

"What did I say that was so funny to you? *gasp* Was it about the boyfriend thing? Do you not like boys? Oh, Soph, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume anything." Joanna replied.

"No, it's not that, it's just...oh gods, I knew you were naïve, but I never realized just how naïve you were." Sophia laughed.

"N-naïve about what?" Joanna asked frowning.

"That you honestly think anyone would be interested in us." Sophia said.

"W-why wouldn't they be?" Joanna said meekly.

"Um, hellooooo? I'm a faunus freak and you're a seven foot tall freak. Everyone hates faunuses, and men hate dating women who are taller than them...that's just the facts of life." Sophia explained.

The tall girl wraps her arms around herself and starts tearing up while hanging her head.

"Oh, don't cry, Jo, I'm not saying this to be mean. In fact, I'm actually being nice by telling you the truth. It's better that you accept it now than have your heart broken later on. I mean...if you did end up with some guy for a while...he'll probably just leave you like your dad left your mom. You don't want that to happen to you, do you?" Sophia said patting Joanna on the back.

"Well...no..." Joanna mumbled.

"Aw, don't worry, Jo, you'll never be alone, we both won't as long as we have each other. Besides...we're strong independent women, we don't need boyfriends, girlfriends, or whatever." Sophia told her friend.

"let's not be late to our starting positions, come on!" she said walking out of the locker room.

"*sigh*...okay." Joanna sighed.

She shakes her head to get rid of her racing thoughts and concentrates on the task at hand. Twenty minutes later, Joanna is running through the forest looking for Sophia. Though, the person she actually runs into and becomes partners with is Simon...the boy she met during the headmistress's introduction. She knew Sophia was gonna be upset that they weren't going to be partners...but there was still some hope that they'll be on the same team, so it won't be so bad being partnered up with Simon. From there, Joanna and Simon fought Grimm together as they made their way through the forest, searching for two more students to be their teammates.