“The First Step” opens with Lie Ren, a character voiced by series creator Monty Oum, waking up and being badgered by his overactive best friend Nora Valkyrie. She’s extremely excited about all the potential things they get to do as hunters/huntresses-in-training and Ren is just the quiet type compared to Nora’s upbeat and hyper personality.
They leave the locker room and pass Ruby and Yang, who discuss the initiation. Ruby is excited because now she gets to let her weapon do the talking. Meanwhile, Weiss tries to recruit one of the top of their year to be their class, a girl named Pyrrha Nikos. Jaune
attempts to recruit Weiss, who turns him down, but he persists. He then tries to recruit Pyrrha, only for Weiss to let him know how elite she is and how skilled and talented and popular, having landed even a commercial for cereal due to her athletic and combat prowess. Jaune
realizes she’s out of his league, but Pyrrha is nice and friendly enough that she says she’d love to join his group anyway.
Once all the first years are assembled at the cliff’s side, Ozpin and Glynda inform them that they are going to be put into teams today. Their initiation consists of finding relics at the end of a dangerous forest and returning to the cliff top. They will be launched into the forest and use their own landing strategy.
With respect to teams, Ozpin says that the first student they make eye contact with will be their partner for the next four years at Beacon Academy. They will be monitored and graded for the duration of their initiation, but no member of the staff shall interfere, so it is in their best interests to kill anything they come across, lest they be killed themselves.
Ozpin asks for any questions, and when Jaune speaks up, Ozpin interrupts with, “Good,” before the students start launching one by one.
Jaune
asks Ozpin what a landing strategy is, and if they’re going to be dropped off. Ozpin declines, saying they’ll find their own way to survive, and before he can ask for clarification, Jaune is the last to be launched. Ozpin and Glynda watch as the students fly off, him sipping his coffee and her observing them intently.
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