The new members have their first taste of action

Once again, the women of team RWBY were gathered in the main coliseum of Beacon. This time, they had arrived to their destination with Pyrrha. Now the five girls chatted amongst themselves, anxious for what would come next.

Watching yesterday's fight had removed any doubt the girls had felt about joining Valoress. Even Blake's paranoid personality had decided the risks were worth taking, if the club could make her fight like that. Pyrrha seemed especially giddy about the prospect of proving herself against the best of the best.

They only had to wait a few moments for the rest of the new members to arrived. Team CMSN greeted them with a wave as they approached. Ruby considered herself fearless, but if she was being honest, the women of team CMSN had never stopped being unsettling to her.

Cinder had the appearance that she was always scheming... Not to mention the jealousy her appearance could inspire. Ruby was confident in her body, but Cinder was a woman among girls that few at Beacon compete with. Yang, Pyrrha, and _maybe Blake were the only ones close. _

Emerald was cool and much calmer than her teammates. She was the only member that RWBY had interacted with in the past. She wasn't exactly innocent, but she didn't seem to enjoy causing mischief like her teammates did. Ruby didn't know much about her past, but it wasn't hard to imagine it wasn't good to form a semblance so perfect for theft.

While Cinder wielded mischief as a weapon to gain influence, Neopolitan was a different story. She seemingly thrived in it. Despite her short stature, she was terrifying; her expression never wavered from a wicked smile. Ruby hoped her team never drew the ice cream themed girl's ire, or she would never feel safe from being pranked again.

The two groups exchanged the barest of introductions with each other before they devolved into into trash talking. The arrival of Glynda Goodwitch swiftly put an end to that.

"Hello ladies, it's good to see that you've all brought your combat gear. By arriving today, you've officially become Valient. Unless you break one of our rules, your place among us is no longer in question. The longer you stay with us, the more benefits you will reap. We will keep you waiting no longer," Glynda said as she walked onto the stage, ready to begin a long-winded speech about how the club would truly function.

"Normally, I would be the one giving this speech; however, as forfeit for losing yesterday, Amber here has so generously volunteered to explain in my stead. Amber!" Glynda called out her name and the doors to the coliseum slowly slid open.

Two brunettes walked into the arena. They both had dark tanned skin. One of the women had dark orange stripes rolling across her skin and feline ears poking through her hair. Blake barely withheld a gasp as she recognized the traits as being that of a tiger faunus. She only knew of one such person on Remnant, and they certainly fit the bill of being a politically powerful woman.

Despite her outfit being somewhat revealing, the faunus hid her identity with a mask. Even showing her midrift and cleavage, she appeared much more confident than the woman next to her.

The other woman didn't have any visible faunus traits, nor did she wear a mask. The staff across her back confirmed this was the woman who had lost yesterday's fight. Despite losing, she had put up an incredible display. The women strode onto the stage next to Glynda. The unmasked woman still looked a bit nervous as walked into the front of the group. Was she just nervous about speaking in public?

"H-Hello everyone! I'm Amber! Like, Glynda said, I lost yesterday so I have to give this speech..." The woman next to Amber coughed and the woman flinched slightly.

"... Right... And I have to do it dressed however the winner would like me..."

'Oh. So that's why she's so nervous! I wonder if she has an embarrassing outfit on underneath her combat outfit.' Ruby wondered with a smile. She enjoyed the idea of making Weiss wear an embarrassing T-Shirt for a day.

The faunus strode up to her fighting partner and slowly began taking down the zipper. With every inch she pulled down, the woman in front of her flushed further.

Ruby realized her expectations were WAY off when the tiger faunus finally got the zipper all the way down. She reached her hands up and grabbed the fabric around the woman's shoulders and in one swift motion, completely removed her entire outfit.

'Oh. OH! That is NOT an embarrassing T-Shirt! I didn't expect the forfeits to be this harsh!' Ruby thought with a flushed face as the woman in front of her was divested of her jumpsuit, leaving her exposed for all to see.

Team RWBY's eyes went wide as the woman was left completely exposed. Was this seriously the type of forfeits they'd have to come to expect? Ruby found something about the woman being **** to show off exhilarating. A thought deep within Weiss thought being humiliated like the woman in front of them, might be enjoyable. Yang liked the idea of putting her opponents through embarrassment like she was seeing. Blake honestly felt all three of those feelings.

Something inside Pyrrha really enjoyed what she was seeing. It wasn't just the woman's body she was enjoying. For the past few years Pyrrha had been so beyond bored with every fight she'd had. They didn't have any stakes nor rewards beyond pride and each one felt dull, especially as she won all of them. Would this finally be the chance to fight with real stakes, that she so desperately wanted?

Cinder and Neo looked like they were already plotting the humiliating punishments they'd be putting their defeated opponents through. Emerald looked largely indifferent.

Now that she was dressed the part, Amber finally began to explain how the club would work.

"Ignoring my state of dress, I'll explain how things work around here:

First off, we have a few major rules that we expect you to follow: All fights must have proportional and fair stakes decided upon before fighting. These stakes MUST be followed through on, unless both sides agree to renegotiate. If someone in the club thinks that the stakes are too high for a loser, they may challenge the winner to lessen it. The winner gets to pick the contest however, and should the challenger lose, they must also complete the forfeit as originally agreed upon.

Lastly, the club and its members must always be kept a secret. As long as you follow those rules, you'll continue to enjoy the benefits we offer.

As a club, we will meet once a week for sparring night, and once more for a miscellaneous activity. You may also continue to use the club facilities for your own training, which we'll show you later.

During each semester there will be a competition spanning the full length of the semester. Your results within the sparring matches and other activities will give you points towards that competition. Unofficial spars do not contribute to your point totals. At the end of the nine week period the top students will receive a reward. The punishment for being low will be severe... You will not be kicked from the club, but believe me, you do not want to be last.

Lastly, during the Vytal festival you will have the pleasure of meeting and sparring against other members of Valoress across the world. We'll give you more details on that, and this semesters competition, at a later date." Amber finished her speech. Considering she was explaining the traditions and history of an ancient society, it was surprisingly brief. Before anyone could ask any questions, Glynda returned to the microphone.

"Thank you Amber. I believe you're able to dress now," The brunette quickly began doing so, "Now, I'm sure you're wondering when this sparring will begin... Wonder no more. We will begin right now. I see you've all brought your weapons."

At the mention of a fight every student perked up. Some of their instincts sent their hands down to their hilts, Glynda smiled a bit at their eagerness.

"However, this coliseum is not an adequate venue for such an event. If you'll follow me, I'll lead the way to your new favorite place." Glynda turned on her heal and began marching towards the door. She always loved this part of initiation. The class followed closely behind her, as did Amber and Sienna.

As Glynda led the group through the building housing the coliseum, team RWBY whispered amongst themselves.

"Did you guys know the club was that serious with its forfeits?" Blake asked her team. Her tone wasn't doubtful or anything, but she seemed seriously surprised that her team would be fully on board potentially facing humiliation like the poor brunette they'd watched.

Ruby and Yang shared a look then shook their heads, "No. We had no idea." Ruby said.

"Well, it certainly will make us fight harder, if nothing else." Yang said with an easy tone, her casual tone didn't hide the blush on her face.

"I... No. I wasn't aware but..." Weiss said carefully.

"But what?" Blake asked.

"Winter sent me a text this morning about how proud she was of me... She also told me to text her after tonight. I guess I'll get my answers then." Weiss said. Her face was slightly flushed, as if she were still coming to terms with this new side to her older sister.

Blake opened her mouth to speak further, but Glynda beat her to the punch, "Alright ladies, we have arrived."

Team RWBY looked up to see that they were standing in front of a large huntress mural. They'd been winding down various secluded hallways until they arrived. No freshman present had ever seen this hall, much less the beautiful mural in front of them. It seemed to be a symbolic depiction of the huntresses eternal battle against the grimm. The moon stood prominent between the two sides.

"Why is such a gorgeous painting hidden so far into the school?" Weiss asked, but no one answered her.

Glynda lightly tapped her scroll to the painting, directly over top of the moon. Gasps rang out through the group as the moon split apart and revealed a door.

"Welcome home girls." Glynda gave a brief gesture and then entered the new opening, expecting them to follow.

If the mechanism was amazing, the facilities it hid were even more incredible. They were standing in a domed courtyard that was flooded with natural light. Somehow, this courtyard was filled with a beautiful garden, even so deep inside a building.

On a table in the center were eight black slates. Each one had one of their names written below it. When Glynda gave the go ahead, they all found the one matching their name.

Now that she could look closer, Ruby could see that it was a slab of entirely black, like it was painted with the night sky itself. It didn't have any obvious buttons. Its designed reminded Ruby of their invitation, and how it opened. She lightly pulsed her aura and suddenly was holding a fully functional scroll.

"Ms. Rose has discovered, these are your club provided scrolls. They are programmed with the most advanced encryption on Remnant. Any and all club communications will come through these. Additionally, they have alpha-designated priority when going through the international scroll network. In other words, your communication will always be the highest priority. Still, you are allowed to use them however you see fit. They are also your ticket into the club, so please take care not to lose them."

Ruby went wide-eyed as Glynda explained the insane technology within the scroll she held. Alpha-level priority was granted only to the most valuable hunters Remnant held. Her mother had been officially granted that privilege before retiring. Her uncle Qrow still held it.

"As you can see, this is the central courtyard. It was most recently adapted into a garden by a previous member," Glynda stared directly at Ruby, "Some of you may know her, the rest will meet her eventually I'm sure."

Ruby felt pride swell inside her. She hadn't realized her mother had held such sway in Valoress, especially considering how little she talked about it.

Glynda began walking deeper into the facility. The students had **** but to put away their scrolls and follow her. She led them down a short brick staircase that opened into a massive arena.

"Welcome to the most important room in this entire facility. This is the sparring arena." Glynda didn't feel the need to elaborate further on the arena.

The arena area was actually made of several smaller arenas. There was one large central arena, flanked by four smaller ones; laid out similar to the 5 on a dice.

"You may tour the rest of the facilities on your own time. Tonight, we have a purpose. To get you all familiar with our club practices, you'll be participating in a short tournament." The new recruits perked up at the mention of a fight.

"It will be a single elimination, randomly seeded tournament. Since you will be expected to fight multiple times in a row, round one will have an aura limit of 75%, round two will limit at 50%, and round three will end at when your aura is in the red. It is vital that you conserve your aura as much as possible. Each loser will face a forfeit, and the overall winner gets to issue a group punishment that every loser must follow. Are there any questions?"

A single hand shot up, "Yes, Ms. Xiao Long?" Glynda answered.

"Is there any restrictions about the forfeits we choose?" Yang asked curiously, already devising the stakes she would propose for her fight.

"That is a very good question. In general, forfeits should never physically harm the victims, only their pride. They also should have limited time frames; and shouldn't reveal the club to the public in anyway. Public punishments are okay, but please consider the public's consent. There should be no legality problems with your forfeits, especially considering how lax Vale's laws are on public decency. If you somehow can't stay within those guidelines, we will be having major words. Most importantly, the punishments should be specific. We frown upon punishments that are too vague, since both girls didn't agree specifically to it. Otherwise, as long as both girls agree, anything goes. Higher-ups in the club hold the right to veto any forfeit. Does that answer your question, Yang?" Glynda explained her answer very thoroughly, leaving barely any room for follow up questions.

"Do forfeits have to be similar to the one that Amber had earlier?" Weiss asked nervously.

"Well no. However, they usually end up that way because not everyone has access to the same resources. For example, its difficult to wager Lien, because having hugely uneven wealth pools is pretty common. It also wouldn't be very risky for many people, yourself included. However, everyone has dignity to risk." Glynda explained to Weiss, who couldn't fault the professors logic, but couldn't help but feel as if the 'everyone' was directed at her.

"Anymore questions?"

There were none.

"Perfect. Amber, generate a bracket for us." Glynda requested from her fellow leader. Amber synced her scroll to the arena's main computer and set up a bracket. Then, she entered everyone's names and started the randomizer. It was as follows.

Round one:

A: Ruby vs Weiss

B: Blake vs Neo

-

C: Pyrrha vs Emerald

D: Cinder vs Yang

"Remember, If you lose, you are out. The winner of match A will play the winner of match B; then the winner of C will play the winner of D. Finally, the two remaining huntresses will fight in the finals! May the best huntress flourish!" Glynda called, officially beginning the tournament.