AN

Hello and welcome to my story

I decided to rewrite this story to celebrate my return to writing and I decided to rewrite the first three chapters into one UBERCHAPTER since I am going to start writing longer chapters.

Any criticism is welcome


I shiver in my coat even though the Vale weather could not have been more pleasant, The CCT looming over Beacon fills me with dread. When was the last time I've been in a city? Two, Three months? Traveling Sanus alone makes you lose sense of time. I make my way to the headmaster's office, the last thing I need is someone asking me about my past. No one should hear that sop story.

*DING*

The elevator's arrival snaps me from my daze, boarding and hitting the corresponding number I keep my eyes ahead and prepare for what's to come.

*DING*

The tell-tail sound alerts the only occupant in the room. A man with tousled silver hair and round shaded spectacles.

Principal Ozpin.

The man who might give me a purpose.

"Échelle 'Demi' Quirian, Reptilian Faunus declared deceased a year ago, yet here you are standing in my office." Ozpin sat forward gesturing to the chair in front of him. "Please sit, I imagine you have an explanation."

I sat down, smoothing down my coat (slightly embarrassed by the cloud of dust that fills the air before me) before looking at the headmaster of Beacon that drew up a mug while patiently waiting for my explanation.

"How much do you need to know?"I ask hesitantly, finding new interest in the dirt particles trapped between the scales on my arms which have faded from travel and growth (I might need to shed soon).

"Well," the headmaster started, pushing forth a laughably thin dossier containing three papers. "This is all the information we could find on you, compared to an average student enrolling in the same year." He pulled out a dossier nearly four times thicker and placed them side by side.

"Whoever's been trying to erase you from existence is doing a fantastic job, so if you please, from the beginning."

I sigh, just when I thought I wouldn't have to mention my past.

"From the beginning then?"

Ozpin nods.

"Well, I was born to a reptilian Faunus father and a human mother. John Quirian was foreman to a quartz and dust quarry somewhere in Vacuo. My mother, Corcea, on the other hand, used to be a merchant sailor before she met my father. We lived in a home my father carved into the side of the quarry. He was a generous foreman, working alongside his miners as a leader unlike most foremen of an SDC sponsored quarry."

The headmaster raised his hand, pushing his spectacles back with his other.

"I'm going to stop you there, you said you're father was a foreman of a Schnee Dust Company quarry while also being a Faunus, how is that ?"

I furrow my brow slightly annoyed at the implication of his question, but I answer none the less."The quarry wasn't owned by the Schnee Dust Company, although they tried to purchase it on numerous occasions." I look at my hands in my lap thinking of how vigorously my father would argue with the countless SDC representatives behind the closed doors of the meeting room in the deepest part of the house." My father would love telling the story of how he started working as a miner and working his way through the ranks. None of his former foremen knew he was a Faunus, although it is hard to discover that your best worker has scales below his neckline when he is covered head-to-toe in overalls in desperate need of a wash."

I smile, thinking of my father's tardiness and placing my arms on the table, rolling up my sleeves. "It's a shame though, his body was like a map of the cosmos..."

The headmaster caught on to my gesture directing his attention to the dull, faded scales. "Compared to my small nebulae."

The professor sat back in his chair, seemingly content with my explanation. I hoped this was enough, the constant ticking from the clockwork gears is starting to drive me mad.

"Just a few more questions Miss Quirian, according to your application you've been subject to homeschooling, May I ask of you where you gained the knowledge and combat experience to pass our entry exams ?" Somewhere along the line, the professor refilled his mug from an ornate tea set nearby.

"My mother set up trade with some of her old merchant friends and arranged to have them drop off schooling material when they stopped by once a month, the quarry was miles from any city so my mother took my tutelage into her own hands. Once I realized I wanted to be a huntress combat training was handled by a retired hunter who worked as a supervisor, he also taught me aura control and semblance usage."

The professor looked confused, pulling up the dossier and taking out one of the three papers.

"It states here that your semblance is Portal creation, yet you've been confined to a single quarry your entire life, why didn't you leave sooner..." I look away from the professor knowing where this was going. "...And why did it take you a full year to travel here."

"You see... I can only spawn a portal to a place I can or have seen, picture or otherwise, but summoning to a place I've seen in a picture will place me in that exact spot and if a change has been made since the photograph was taken I run the risk of spawning a portal in a wall."I smirk, thinking back on when I first tried to come here only to tentatively touch the wall of a new dust shop. "So I just hopped from horizon to horizon, stopping at the odd village to rest."

It's gotten dark in the meantime, seems we've been here a while.

"That's enough, for now, Miss Quirian, you must be tired. I'll have someone show you around and where to freshen up, you seem to need it."

I look down at my outfit, Black boots caked with grime, navy blouse and shorts faded by sun exposure and to top it all of my turquoise trench coat and leggings look closer to ice blue due to the sheer amount of dirt trapped between the fibers. I run a hand through my hair, following the transition from midnight blue to purple causing some of the powdered quartz to stick to my now oily hand. The professor is right, I need to get myself cleaned up.

I stand and extend my other non-oily hand to the headmaster. "Thank you for this opportunity."

He stands and shakes my hand. "You're welcome, but I suggest you rest well tonight for tomorrow I want to hear what happened to your parents and why I still have a certificate verifying your death."

I flinch at this. Did he have to bring it up now? "Don't the files say enough?" I ask with downcast eyes. I'm already in the elevator preparing to go down.

"I highly doubt a mining accident could eviscerate an entire quarry." was the last thing I heard before the door shut. so that's how they ruled it, A mining indecent couldn't have been further from the truth.

*DING*

The elevator's doors slid open slowly, revealing the mostly empty lobby of the CCT. A single soul standing in the lobby approached me while I fetched the tattered duffel bag I left at the entrance. While checking my only possessions a presence looming behind me became more prominent, turning round I was met with a view like no other.

Realizing the near two-foot size difference and where my eyes have landed the woman took a step back to fill my gaze. She seemed to be middle-aged and had blonde hair tied back in a neat bun. She had beautiful emerald eyes framed by thin ovular glasses and she wore a pleated top with a wide keyhole neckline that accentuated her sizeable bust nicely alongside a high-waisted black pencil skirt. She looked quite fetching, to be honest.

"Professor Ozpin requested that I lead you to the dormitory building." She spoke with a stern voice resonating professionalism. "Since you have arrived a day early and don't have accommodation we have decided to allow you to rest in one of the dorm rooms until the other students arrive." She gestured for me to follow her out of the building and led me to the courtyard. I grabbed my single duffel and followed attentively.

"Thank you, Miss..."

"Goodwitch."

We walked in silence until we reached the dormitory building after which Professor Goodwitch pulled out her scroll to open the first door in sight.

"The rest of the students should be arriving tomorrow afternoon, till then you can rest and freshen up here. I will come to call you in the morning to continue your meeting with the professor. Should you wish to clean your clothes just follow the signs to the laundry room."

We exchanged curt nods and with that, she shut the door. I turn and admire the room. In front of me stood four beds parallel with each other, along with the walls to my left and right stood two large dressers with the sides of the room having two doors, one leading to a bathroom and upon inspection, the other was revealed to be a closet. The room was clearly designed to economically accommodate a group of four in relative comfort.

I sighed aloud, knowing my chances of landing in this room again are slim, I pulled out the bedroll I traveled with and laid it on the ground. I take my nightgown from my duffel and move to the shower intending to get myself cleaned up, putting my nightgown on the adjacent basin and turning on the tap, rolling up my sleeves I put a hand under the running water to gauge the temperature, as expected the moment the dried scales on my arms were exposed to the warm water they expanded and cracked, peeling away slightly.

Instead of making a mess in the shower I stepped away and began peeling away at the outgrown skin. I've never liked the strange sensation that accompanied my shedding process but I have grown used to disposing of the dead skin, I finally stripped down, placing my outfit aside for later cleaning, and stepped into the stream of lukewarm water, carefully washing out my hair to prevent the powdered quartz from falling out. After a few minutes in the shower, I quickly dried off with my own towel which joined the washing pile. I put on my nightgown, following the same midnight blue to purple colour gradient within my hair and hanging down to my knees. I left the bathroom with my outfit and towel in hand, I grabbed my weapon before entering the hallway and started following the signs to the laundry room. Since I didn't have my combat outfit on to have my sheath with me I simply hung my sickle-pistol hybrid loosely around my shoulders by the chain connecting the miniature sickle to the main weapon.

Once I arrived I set my clothes aside to wash and turn to the open room, I raised my hand and visualized the Beacon Cliff side before tearing open a swirling midnight blue portal with a swift jerk downwards, stepping through without hesitation I stand at the exact spot I visualized out over the emerald forest. I let out a sigh of relief knowing I can finally do this peacefully

It was a beautiful night, not a single cloud in the sky, the fractured moon sending soft light down to earth. I walked up to the cliffside, looking down to see a structure built over a foggy abyss. I looked around and dug my Kama blade into the cliff edge and wrapped the chain around my waist, hooking the miniature sickle into one of the links. Happy with the makeshift harness I walked up to the very edge of the cliff and turned my back towards the drop, with a deep breath I leaned back, placing my feet on the cliff face I rested my body weight on the chain, laying myself parallel with the ground and starring up at the stars.

I stargazed in silence for a good ten minutes before being alerted to approaching footsteps, minutes after they stopped Professor Goodwitch leaned over the edge, staring straight at me with a look of concern.

"Don't worry" I reassured her. "I do this all the time."

She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You regularly hang from cliff faces by a flimsy chain?"

I simply stared at the sky, not even bothering to answer her question.

"I saw you exit your portal from within Ozpin's office and decided to check up on you." She stated a hint of care in her voice.

"I'm stargazing while I wait for my clothe's wash cycle to finish if that isn't a problem."

"May I ask why are you dangling precariously on the edge of the cliff ?"

I could have sworn there was a hint of sarcasm in the usually strict voice of the woman above me.

"This is how we stargazed back in the quarry, hanging from platforms." Unlike the question my answer was serious.

"Well I suggest you turn in for the night, you have a long day ahead tomorrow."

She seemed to react to something in the distance and then she hurried off uttering a quiet "Rest well."

I took upon her suggestion pulling myself up before fetching my laundry and opening a portal to the dorm I'm sleeping in. I laid down in my bedroll, mentally preparing myself for tomorrow.

It's going to be a long day

My eyes fluttered open in the darkroom, judging from the low light I would say its about five in the morning. Instead of complaining about the time of day I sat up in my bedroll, searching for the nearest clock to confirm. I finally found the digital alarm clock on one of the dressers the readout confirmed that my estimate had only been off by ten minutes, with a few spasming stretches and a mighty yawn I heaved myself up, slightly disoriented, before retrieving my freshly cleaned outfit and changing right there in the middle of the room, since no-one else was around.

The rest of the students arrive later today and the headmaster is waiting to hear the rest of my story, which I was not ready to share, but I guess I don't have a choice in the matter. Turns out of I dressed just in time, since the door flew open the moment I popped up my coat's collar, revealing a wide-awake Glynda Goodwitch carrying a tray with three mugs and a large teapot.

"Oh ... you're awake. I was told to wake you but you've seemed to handle that yourself." She sounded surprised at my early awakening although I wouldn't have been surprised if the students she usually dealt with were slobs.

"Traveling Sanus for a year really has a lasting impact on your biological clock," I said with a smile knowing of the many early mornings I've been forced to endure traveling the deserts of Vacuo.

"Well ..." She shrugged, bringing my attention to the tray. "I've been told to wake you and bring you up to the professor, Seeing as you have already handled the first half let's get through to the second."

We approached the headmaster's office in relative silence, idle chatter about rusk preference being the highlight of the short trip, turns out Professor Goodwitch and I share a preference in buttermilk rusks while the headmaster prefers oat rusks. I made a mental note of the seemingly useless information should I feel the need to use my baking prowess to bribe my teachers, which in itself might seem like a bad idea, but it's worth the risk. I knew a girl that would call it a big Rusk. Thankfully she wasn't here.

After a short elevator trip, we stood in front of the headmaster's office. The elevator doors slid open I was greeted by the ever-present warm smile of professor Ozpin, gesturing for us to come sit.

"I hope you have rested well miss Quirian, and that the dorm beds were not as uncomfortable as students claim ?" He gestured at the tray miss Goodwitch brought in, taking his own mug and filling it with the unknown brew.

"Well I wouldn't be able to comment on the bed's comfortability since I slept in my bedroll, I will say it was great falling asleep knowing I won't have to worry about a grouchy inn-keeper or Creature of Grimm waking me in the morning."

During my sentence, I filled myself a mug which I took a cautionary sip from. The brew was bitter with an earthy undertone that was surprisingly enjoyable. I made a mental note to complement the headmaster's taste in coffee and ask where I can buy this brew.

"Glynda told me about your little stargazing venture last night. Mind telling me why you prefer dangling from a cliff instead of I don't know ... laying on the ground, I'm sure it's much safer." He said with a slight hum of sarcasm.

Miss Goodwitch was silent throughout the entire meeting, taking satisfied little sips from her mug with only a slight smirk of satisfaction at the mention of her small recon mission. Little did I know she sped off for a more serious mission.

Looking down at my coffee, silently trying to formulate my story in the ever constant swirls accompanied by the clock tower's ticking.

"Well since I was five ..."

I ran to my father when he climbed off the ladder, Immediately grabbing at his waist. It was well past ten at night but my father was just coming back from an 'errand'.

"Papa where do you go when the sun goes to sleep ?" He reached down and ruffled my hair which I kept short at the time.

"Well, my little nebula let me show you, just don't tell your mother or I'm sleeping in the mine for a week."

My father was not a particularly handsome man but he had some things going for him, chiseled face with slight stubble, hair the same shade of midnight blue mine begins at and his star mapping scales peeked out of his collar.

In reality, his entire body save his head was covered by the onyx scales flecked with white but they are covered by his overalls nearly all the time.

When we reached the observation deck that connected the entrance of the quarry to the top of the mountain via rickety elevator my father strapped both of us to a harness, leaped the thin railings and gesturing for me to do the same but ... I froze.

"I...I...I'm scared."

My father had a mischievous look in his eye when he leaped the flimsy rail again.

"My little girl ... My little nebula ... remember these words."

During the conversation, he turned me around and when he finished ... he charged, breaking down the railing and sending both of us flying ... then the ropes snapped.

When the ropes snapped tight we were forced to look up and my jaw dropped.

I was awestruck at the tapestry of stars above. I raised my hand against the sky, my inherited white flecked onyx scales blended seamlessly with the night sky.

"Remember these words, my girl."I almost forgot my father was beside me but I listened carefully anyways.

"Fear is a weed, snaking in the dark. It vines within the mind, corrupting it. It germinates in tribes, dividing them. We who are controlled by fear must push past it or it will blind us from the stars above.

We spent the next hour stargazing, my fear long gone with my father's random philosophies sticking in my mind.

Later that night we went on a mission to find the broken rail to prevent my mother's wrath. She may have been a retired sailor but she was a sailor none the less.

With the railing fixed we retreated to the home my father carved into the quarry wall for a good night's rest.

"... sure my mother noticed a steel pole plummeting to the bottom of the quarry at midnight and gave us a right earful the next morning but that's how I learned stargazing is more enjoyable from a cliffside."

I looked at the clock behind the Professor only to find I couldn't reverse it properly leaving me to just assume it's six. I also noticed the Professor processing my memory deeply.

"Well miss Quirian that certainly explains a lot, even though I still wish to hear the story behind the death certificate I had revoked yesterday and why it was filled by the Schnee Dust Company but I rather not rush you into such a traumatic experience so soon."

At that moment the clock struck six, alerting everyone in the office and causing the headmaster to look at the teacher to my left.

"Well Glynda it would seem we are to head out and start preparing for students arrival, you are welcome to head out and socialize miss Quirian..."

At that, I raised my hand."Please call me Échelle, miss Quirian is what the miners called my mother."

"In that case, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day Échelle."

With that, I got up and left, slight dread building within me ...

The truth will come out soon and I won't be ready.