"Excuse me! We'll now announce the teams, their members, and their leader!" Headmaster Ozpin's voice thundered through the auditorium, and everything went dead silent.
"Of team CRDL, Cardin…" Ozpin began naming off the members of each team, then the leader. Lavender, a short, redheaded fox faunus, turned to her childhood friend, Cerendan. He was tall, almost 6 feet, with short brown hair. Dressed in his typical attire of a leather jacket, tee, and jeans, he had an intense presence that tended to help others focus. "I'm glad we became partners, Ceren. I don't want to be with three people I don't know…" she smiled at Cerendan, and he smiled back. "Me too. We'll roll with any punches we get, right?" Lavender began to speak, then cut herself off at Ozpin's voice.
"Of team CLDN (Celadon), Cerendan Eldren, Lavender Farren, Dawn Goodrich, Navarone Choden. The leader of Team CLDN will be… Cerendan Eldren."
At each name, another person joined Ozpin, until there were 5 including him on stage. He shook each new team member's hand, then turned back to the crowd of students, novice and veteran alike.
"This will be the end of the ceremony. You all have a free hour before classes. Those who were just placed in a team will have a week before classes start. You all are dismissed. Thank you." He took a sip of the mug in his hand, turned, and walked off stage.
The four new students at beacon, under the name of Team CLDN, gathered outside the dorms, and sat under a tree, facing each other.
Cerendan looked at each of his team members, and smiled. "Well, then, let's get acquainted. We're a team now, so we ought to be friends too. I'm Cerendan Eldren. I'd prefer if you called me Cere, or Ceren if you feel the need to be formal."
Lavender smiled shyly. Dressed in a grey sweater and blue jeans, her natural orange-red hair fell around her head and on to her shoulders in curls. "I'm Lavender Farren. Ceren calls me Lav, and you can too, if you'd like. It's nice to meet you two." Seeing the other girl, Dawn, sit up straighter, Lavender gestured to her.
Dawn, wearing a blue denim jacket over a sunrise orange blouse, and blue jeans. She seemed angry, or annoyed, at least. "My name's Dawn Goodrich. I hope you're as skilled in battle as you are in pleasantries." shaking her head, Dawn leaned back and waited.
Surprised at the hostile greeting, the wolf faunus stood and bowed to the three. He wore a simple monk's robe, yellow with orange trim. His hair was buzzed, making him seem almost bald, despite his obviously youthful appearance. "I am Navarone Choden. I am honored to make your acquaintance." Cerendan stood, and bowed in return, with Lavender following suit. Dawn stood and leaned against the tree. "Same to you, I guess." she muttered. "C'mon. I want to get our room set up."
Navarone raised his eyebrows in shock. "Didn't you hear that Ceren is our leader? You ought to ask before you assume."
Dawn laughed, and tossed her short light blue hair. "He might be leader, but he's certainly not the boss of me. I follow no one's orders." Navarone stepped forward, but was stopped by Ceren's outstretched arm. "Don't worry about it, Navarone. I planned on heading to the dorm anyway, and I don't want you to follow my orders like they were law anyway. Let's learn to work together, ok?" Ceren wore a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes until he looked at Navarone. "It's ok. Thank you, Navarone. Mind if I call you Nav?" he grinned.
"Oh… if that is what you wish, I don't mind at all. If you don't mind my asking, would you tell us about yourself?" Nav asked as the four began walking into the dorm building.
"Let's see… hmm… well, I'm 18. My passion is programming, personally. I could write lines of code all day, if I had the time. I'm from Atlas… that's kinda it, ha! I'll tell you more when I think of more, if that's ok." Ceren grinned again at Nav, and held the door for the three following him.
"Of course, of course. I don't mind at all. Patience is a virtue, and it's best to get to know someone over time, as well, so it's for the best." Nav returned the grin, and turned to Dawn. "What about you, Dawn?"
She seemed surprised, then shrugged. "I'm from Vale. I'm 19." She gave a stare that held no patience for more questioning, then turned around again, walking a few feet in front of the others.
Ceren raised an eyebrow, put a hand on Dawn's shoulder, and stopped. "Lavender, Navarone, please continue toward the dorm room. We'll catch up." Dawn, who had turned to give a disdainful glare, now gave a poisonous one.
"Yeah, ok, Ceren. Don't be too long, ok?" Lavender seemed nervous.
"Will do. Go ahead, now. We'll be just a minute or two." His voice was hard, and left no room for discussion. Even Dawn was less poisonous in her glares. Navarone nodded and left with Lavender. Soon, even their steps were inaudible, and only then did Ceren speak.
"Now then. What's wrong? We've been nothing if not kind to you, and you've been disdainful at best. I want to be your friend, and I'm willing to help you with whatever happens to be wrong, but you gotta give me something to work with." He fixed her with a stare that was questioning, but not unkind, either. Confusion flit across her face for a split second, then was gone. If he hadn't been looking for some emotion, he wouldn't have seen it.
Dawn's face fell, and she spoke quietly. "My friends told me that if I didn't make sure that I was on their team, they'd stop talking to me." She slumped against the wall.
"Then they aren't your friends. Friends are the kind of people who would help you, no matter what. Friends especially don't make threats over something out of your control. I promise, Dawn. I'll be your friend. Lavender is a really nice person, once you get to know her. I know for a fact that she and I are willing to be your real friends. Nav could very well be similar. I haven't known him long enough to be sure, but he seems nice, if different than you might be used to." Ceren was visibly angry, motioning with his hands emphatically. He calmed down a bit once he mentioned Lav, though. Dawn's eyes widened in shock.
Her eyes met Ceren's, and she smiled. "If you'll accept my apology for being rude before, I'll accept your offer of friendship. Deal?" She held out her hand.
Ceren gave her a wide smile, and took her hand. "Deal. Let's catch up to the others, ok?"
"Yeah, let's." Dawn followed him, smiling. They came upon an open door, with Lav's voice emanating from it. "So… four beds, obviously… nightstands… dressers? Yeah, I think so…"
Ceren and Dawn walked into the room to find Navarone, Lavender, and a mess of wooden boards competing for floor space. There were four mattresses leaning against a wall, and a large window set into the middle of the back wall. The floor was a thin carpet, the color of grass, and the walls were painted a simple white.
"Hi, guys… I'm sorry about before. I was stressed over something, but it's no excuse. Anyway, uh, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate being able to start over with you guys…" Dawn was looking at her feet, blushing, until Navarone spoke up, "Please do, Dawn."
She looked up quickly, and gave a wide smile. "Thank you! Anyway, I'm Dawn Goodrich. I'm from here in Vale. I enjoy doing just about anything, really, if it's with my friends… I'm hoping that I haven't ruined us all being friends." She was dejected again. Navarone smiled, stepped toward her… and fell on his face. Lavender laughed, and helped him up, saying, "Gotta watch out for the boards, Nav."
He narrowed his eyes at the boards, and replied curtly, "They've gotta watch out for me." The four members of Team CLDN laughed, and laughed. Once they settled down a little bit, one of them would crack a joke about it, and they'd all be at it again.