"So this is The Commons and over there are the dorms! This place is just sort of a gathering place for students!" 

Eleanor pointed at different areas around campus as she dragged (y/n) along, a wide smile plastered on her face the entire time. 

"What do you think of the place?" Eleanor asked, turning back around to face (y/n), who gave a small nod of affirmation. 

Eleanor gave him a soft smile as she pulled him towards Grand Hall, where new students were asked to check in. As they approached the massive central building, (y/n) noticed that the two of them were still holding hands. He gave a slight tug on her arm, catching Eleanor's attention. 

"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry!" Eleanor chuckled, quickly letting go of his hand and rubbing the back of her head, "I didn't realize that I still had a hold of you!" 

The ever-silent and blank-faced (y/n) nodded as he headed in with Eleanor in tow. The hustle and bustle of the Grand Hall rang through their ears as they saw a number of desks lined with helpers taking in new students. The two chose a random line and looked around at all the other students. 

"Man, there certainly are a lot of students coming in for this year!" Eleanor said.

In some of the other lines, she spotted a closed-off girl with brown hair. In another, a well-presented girl with blonde hair. 

(y/n)'s eyes, however, were set squarely on the marble statue towards the back of the room. Wrapped in gold chains, this marble lady captivated him as he shuffled through the line. Eleanor's voice was the only thing that broke him out of his brief trance. 

"Hey! It's your turn!" 

He could see that she had been given a stack of papers as well as a uniform to wear during school. (y/n) nodded as he stepped up to the table. A younger volunteer gave him a smile as he dove into his pockets. 

"Name?" she asked as he pulled out a sealed letter. 

Adorned with the seal of the Academy's Headmaster, the letter provided all the information necessary to get him officially enrolled in Haven Academy. After briefly reading the letter, the volunteer nodded as she wrote a few things down and handed (y/n) everything he needed: A similar stack of papers and a uniform. 

(y/n) nodded as he turned to leave. As he walked out of the Grand Hall, he spotted Eleanor waving him down. 

"Hey! You got everything?" she asked, to which he gave a nod, "We're going to do the initiation soon. I'm excited!" 

A small tilt in (y/n)'s head indicated confusion. 

"You've never heard of it? Well, all the huntsman academies have this... Initiation, of sorts that's supposed to determine the teams that we stick with for the rest of our school years. They keep it on the down-low since they don't want any unfair advantages. I wonder what it is?" 

"They say it's not like the other initiation ceremonies." 

A new voice came out from their left as they turned to see that blonde-haired girl. Her beautiful blue eyes scanned the two of them as Eleanor replied. 

"Really? What's that supposed to mean?" 

"People don't really talk about it to keep it a surprise, but all I know is that Haven's is pretty different than the other schools in terms of the initiation." 

"Eleanor." 

An outstretched hand shot towards the blonde-haired girl. 

"Rio." 

Her welcome was met as they shook hands. 

"And you are?" 

The two of them turned to (y/n), who stared off to the side. 

"He's not very talkative," chuckled Eleanor. 

"Right," sighed Rio, "See you around." 

Eleanor gave her a small wave as she left. After retrieving their weapons, Eleanor and (y/n) departed for the loading bay, where the new students would be taken to their initiation. As they boarded one of the many shuttles docked at the loading bay, Eleanor caught a glimpse of that brown-haired girl from back in the Grand Hall, now sporting a highly-customized rifle. 

She took notes as she watched the brown-haired girl board another shuttle. Eleanor exhaled slightly as she ushered (y/n) onto their own transport. 

"C'mon!" she urged as the doors shut behind them. 

The two quickly got strapped in and the shuttle took off towards the mountains. The students all whispered to each other, trying to figure out what exactly the initiation was. Their chatter was cut off by the sound of an older man clearing his throat. 

"Thank you for joining us today, students," said the older man, catching the attention of everyone in the ship, "I am Professor Maine, the combat instructor here at Haven." 

More whispers broke out before they were quickly hushed. 

"As you know, you are all here today to take part in your initiation for Haven Academy. I know that we've kept the initiation itself as hushed as possible to not give students an advantage, but I will disclose it to you now," he said, "You will be jump out of this transport when prompted and use your own landing strategies to touch down safely on the ground and then move towards the stone maze that we have constructed for this test." 

"Stone maze?" Eleanor wondered, "That's what this is?" 

"You only have two objectives," continued Maine, "The first is to find a partner to help navigate the maze with. The second is to find the chamber at the center of the maze. Once you find said chamber, you will be allowed to leave and the initiation will be over. Let me be absolutely clear: The first objective is not optional. You cannot and will not make it through the maze alone." 

The worried looks of the other students filled the ship as a light ring came out from the speakers overhead. 

"I wish you the best of luck," Maine smiled, "We're dropping in 60 seconds."

The ships doors slowly opened as the ring of the air pressure filled everyone's ears. 

"H-He wasn't kidding!" laughed Eleanor as she stood up. 

Some of the more zealous students immediately leaped out with a cheer while others evaluated their options. Eleanor stepped up to the edge of the ship as she turned back to (y/n). 

"You coming?" she asked before leaping out. 

He let out a soft sigh as he stepped up to plate himself. 

Eleanor let out an excited laugh as she barreled towards the ground, spotting the stone maze that Professor Maine had mentioned earlier. It certainly was large. Her eyes then pointed towards the woods below, looking for a place to land.

As she drew closer to the ground, she activated the shield-form of IXA and placed it under her feet. When she struck the ground, she slid on IXA, surfing the ground and using Narukami as a brake. Eventually coming to stop, she hopped off her weapon as it transformed back into its lance state.

"All right!" she cheered as she looked around. 

Her eyes pointed towards the sky, looking to see if she could find (y/n). 

"Oh shit." 

It was pretty hard to miss him, considering that he was falling directly towards her. Doing nothing to slow his fall, (y/n) fell in almost a pencil-dive towards Eleanor, feet first. 

"Oh shit!" Eleanor swore as she activated IXA's shield form again. 

The diagonally falling (y/n) landed directly on IXA's shield, pushing Eleanor back as she groaned out. Once he came to a stop, he simply hopped off and began walking to the maze. 

"What in the world are you doing?!" Eleanor cried out, "You! You..." 

Her voice trailed off as she spotted armored boots on (y/n)'s feet that almost looked like the scales of a serpent. She watched as they faded away from his feet, wondering if that was his semblance. 

Eleanor let out a groan as she caught up with (y/n). 

"I guess we're partners now," she grumbled, "You want to tell me your name now?" 

(y/n) gave her a slight look before turning back to look in front of him. 

"You can speak, right?" Eleanor asked. 

He gave her a small nod, which caused her to huff in annoyance. 

"Right on," she muttered as they approached the maze. 

A clear opening invited them into the stone labyrinth as strange rumbling sounds could be heard from the inside. 

"What do you think that is?" Eleanor asked, to which (y/n) gave a curt shrug.

They looked to each other and gave the other a small nod before heading in. The maze demanded an instant left turn as the two complied, following the set path that the maze had laid out for them. 

"You know, I thought there'd be more... fighting involved in this," commented Eleanor, "I haven't seen a single Grimm since we landed. I think they might all be in here." 

Her comment made (y/n) tighten his grip on his weapon. 

As they navigated through the maze, they eventually came to a fork in the road. The path diverged into two separate paths: A left corridor and a right corridor. 

The two chose the right corridor, walking down it until they came upon a dead end. A rumbling came from behind them as they turned around.

"Rats..." muttered Eleanor, "Well, at least we know it isn't this way." 

As they returned to the junction, they noticed something strange. The previous paths were blocked off and a new one had opened to their left. The route that they had taken to get here and the left corridor had completely disappeared, as if they were never there at all. A new path appeared in its place. 

"What the... This is the same place, right?" asked Eleanor, "But... There was supposed to be another path in front of us? Where did it go?" 

As she stepped to investigate the new path, a pair of claws sprouted out towards her, Eleanor quickly stepped back as a group of four beowolves darted around the corner. 

"There they are!" cheered Eleanor as she drew IXA. 

Two of the Grimm charged Eleanor and she responded with equal enthusiasm. Dodging a swipe from one of the beowolves' claws she counted with a strong stab that ripped through its torso, turning it into nothing but ash. As the second drew closer, the blade of her sword open like a flower, revealing a ranged function to the weapon. 

Electricity dust quickly charged up and then was launched at the charged beowolf, killing it instantly. Eleanor turned around to watch (y/n) fight his Grimm, eager to see his style of combat. 

The two Grimm were both slashing and biting away at him, with (y/n) blocking their every move with his weapon.  His long crucifix-staff allowed for extended reach as he drove it into the eye of the first beowolf. It roared out in pain as (y/n) struck the second one, snapping its neck and killing it. He dealt with the last blinded Grimm, stabbing it through the throat as he moved on. 

"Nice moves," she complimented as he walked past her, "Guess I was right about all the Grimm being in the maze." 

He let out a slight hum as they continued to navigate. All of the stone passageways looked the same and the two had absolutely no idea how close they were to the center. Eleanor looked up the tall walls of the maze and contemplated just going over the top, but she wanted to do it right. She even asked (y/n), but he responded with a simple shrug. A familiar rumbling roared out near them as dust began to fall from the stone walls. 

A stone wall jutted out behind them, slowly closing off the way they came from before while a previously blocked off wall slowly slid open to reveal another chamber to their left. 

"Oh.... I get it now..." huffed Eleanor, "The maze shifts. It's not as straightforward as I thought... Damn! That's clever..." 

Another pack of Grimm came running out of the newly revealed path as the two prepared for battle. 

"And when a new compartment opens, the Grimm arrive!" 

Eleanor quickly dispatched of her Grimm, but noticed something strange about the way (y/n) was fighting. His swings were often heavy and fast, causing him to sometimes stagger and overcorrect. He certainly had a lot of talent, but his skills were unrefined and could definitely use some work. 

The two continued forward, walking through the sprawling maze and putting down whatever Grimm stood in their way. After about an hour of straight walking and fighting, Eleanor had finally had enough. 

"Ugh!" droned Eleanor, "This sucks! When are we going to find the center! Honestly, I think I've had it up to-" 

The maze shifted again and the wall next to them opened up to reveal a large, circular open area. 

"You've got to be kidding me..." muttered Eleanor as she let out a chuckle at the irony of the situation. 

In the middle of the room lied a pedestal with a button on it. The two approached it carefully. 

"I assume this is the middle," said Eleanor, "What do we do? Do we push it? What if it's a trap like in all those old adventure movies?" 

(y/n) wasted no time, immediately pushing the button, much to Eleanor's dismay. 

"Huh?! What?! Why?!" 

A much louder rumbling rang out around them as dozens of passageways opened around them, with one massive one opening up to the north. The very walls parted like the Red Sea, revealing an exit. 

"Alright!" Eleanor cheered, "The exit!"  

Her cheers were soon replaced with annoyance as dozens upon dozens of Grimm poured from the other revealed paths. 

"Oh. Great..." she muttered as she pulled out her weapons. 

(y/n) and Eleanor prepared for battle, their initiation almost complete. 

"Ready?" she asked. 

He gave a simple nod in response.