RWBY: Rise of the Beasts

Chapter 3: It's a Jungle Out There

As the sun rose over the horizon, the Maximals were the first ones to wake up in the ballroom. Sleep wasn't a necessity to them, and they could actually control how long they slept for. Waking up early seemed like the best option, giving them the time they would need to properly prepare for initiation.

So, after a quick pit stop for breakfast in Beacon's cafeteria to refuel their holoforms, the four Maximals made their way towards the locker room. Once there, they decided that they had better prepare for the coming task.

"Any leads so far on what this initiation includes, Rhinox?" Optimus asked.

Rhinox shook his head. "Nothing, Primal," he answered. "A few rumors are going around, but nothing is official yet."

"So, we're still on step zero then," Cheetor asked, looking around at his comrades before letting out a sigh. "Just great."

"Whatever initiation is, we have to be prepared for anything," Airazor pointed out. "And most of all, we keep our true forms a secret."

"Yeah, we knew that part already," Cheetor replied as he walked over to his locker and opened it, grabbing his armor, jacket, weapons, etc. "What we don't know is what could happen."

"It's something related to the Emerald Forest," Rhinox commented. "That much we know for certain."

"That still barely narrows it down," Optimus remarked. "Perhaps they will make us kill a certain number of Grimm?"

"Possibly," Rhinox replied with a nod. "But, Ozpin doesn't seem like the predictable type. We shouldn't rule that out yet, but it's unlikely it's something that simple."

"And that's just the initiation itself," Cheetor said as he closed his locker. "The team situation is even more in the dark."

"It could be decided at random for all we know," Airazor pointed out as she went over to her own locker. "It seems the more we think about it, the more possibilities there are."

"It's starting to make my processors hurt just thinking about that," Rhinox commented with a groan, holding his head for a few seconds. "Let's just get our gear and get ready."

With that, both Rhinox and Optimus went towards their own lockers. Considering they had been staying at Beacon for three months, it was just muscle memory for them at this point now. At this point in the morning though, almost everyone else was already up and had eaten. It looked like the Maximals weren't the only ones who wanted to get up early for initiation.

Some of the things Primal noticed were a hyperactive orange-haired girl talking with a seemingly calm black-haired boy. Optimus simply ignored them before moving onward. When he reached his locker, however, he found Weiss standing in front of it, talking to a stranger with red hair, green eyes, and was wearing a Spartan-like outfit. It appeared that the two seemed to be talking about teaming up with each other. Though things got rather strange when Weiss wore a devious smile on her face for a moment. And Optimus could have sworn he saw thunderous clouds around her for a second.

Trying to ignore that, he walked over towards them. "Excuse me, Weiss?" Weiss turned to Optimus. "Sorry for interrupting, but can I ask that you step to the side for a moment? I need to get to my locker."

"Oh, sure," Weiss said, stepping aside and allowing Primal to open his locker as he started gathering up his gear.

"Do you two know each other?" the red-haired Spartan asked.

"In a way," Weiss replied, not really sounding all too thrilled about knowing who Optimus was for some reason. "He shoved both me and a dolt named Ruby out of the way of an explosion yesterday."