The First Step, Pt.2

The First Step, Pt.2 is the fifth episode of RWBY, which premiered on the Rooster Teeth website on August 15th, 2013.

Summary
An overhead view of the Emerald Forest is shown with a large black bird flying high above the trees, before Ruby Rose slams into it. The focus changes to the initiates as they each use their landing strategy, with the exception of Jaune Arc who continues to fall wildly. Ruby is the first to land, using the recoil from Crescent Rose to slow herself before using the blade to spin around a branch and land. Weiss Schnee uses glyphs as platforms.

Lie Ren uses the blades of StormFlower to latch onto a tree trunk and spiral down the tree until hitting the ground and brushing himself off. A moment later, Yang Xiao Long flies overhead, using Ember Celica to propel her forward, thoroughly enjoying the flight. Pyrrha Nikos uses Akoúo̱ to safely crash through three trees before landing on a branch. She then switches Miló to its rifle form and scans the area for Jaune, before transforming Miló into its javelin form and launching it at him to pin him to a tree.

Meanwhile, Ruby lands on the ground with a thud and begins running through the forest, desperately hoping to find Yang while contemplating other partners based on the people she knows. At first she thinks about Jaune, who is nice and funny, but probably useless in battle. She then considers Blake Belladonna, based on their love of books and because she is calm and mysterious, but she fears that she wouldn't be able to hold a conversation.

While trying to think of who else she knows, she runs into Weiss, making them both partners. Weiss, however, rejects Ruby at first and walks off, running into Jaune, who is trying to unpin himself from the trunk of a tree. Seeing no other option, Weiss returns to Ruby, much to Ruby's delight. Shortly after, Pyrrha arrives to see Jaune hanging from the tree and asks if he has any more spots on his team.

While Weiss wishes to not waste any time in completing their mission, Ruby is eager to create a friendship with her and shows off her speed to convince Weiss that she would be a good teammate and isn't useless. Weiss herself is surprised by Ruby's speed, wondering how she got to one spot so quickly. As Ruby runs off in excitement, Weiss is left alone. At first, Weiss maintains her annoyed attitude, but she quickly becomes nervous as she hears rustling in the bushes around her. She calls Ruby's name, and a low growl is heard, turning Weiss' nervousness into fear. She soon notices multiple pairs of glowing red eyes around her, and when a Beowolf comes out into the open, she calls out to Ruby.

Trivia

 * Although mentioned by Ruby, Blake does not make an appearance in this episode.
 * According to the DVD commentary, Blake was intentionally not included in the episode, (particularly not her landing scene) to avoid revealing that she was a Faunus, as she would "just land on her feet."
 * The doodles that appear in Ruby's head are made by Jordan Cwierz, the same person who draws Rooster Teeth Animated Adventures.