Chapter 1: The Arrival.
"I'm tired." Phyre mumbled, leaning against the airship's wall. He was a tall guy dressed in what seemed to be a Vale tanker's uniform from the Faunus war with a brown leather jacket. He had black spikey hair with fiery highlights and fire coloured eyes.
"Well I hope she was worth it." Obsidian sighed as he looked out over Vale from the window. He was taller than Phyre, standing at seven foot. He was clad in ancient black armour, aqua coloured shirt and to top it off, a Black leather trench coat. A cloak of black hair that reached down to his lower back, partially obscured his black eyes and scared face.
"Oh believe me, she was." Phyre said sleepily. He leaned his head against the bulkhead and was about to doze off when something interrupted him.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon." Phyre looked up, smoke starting to float up from his shoulders. In the window was the hologram a woman with blonde hair, green eyes and glasses who seemed to look important.
"Who's that?" A girl with a mane of blonde hair asked.
"My name is Glenda Goodwitch." The hologram continued.
"Oh." The girl said.
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honour to attend this prestigious academy." The woman rattled on. Phyre let his head hit the bulkhead out of boredom and tiredness, causing sparks to fly. Obsidian rolled his eyes at his friend and continued to listen to the woman's speech. Once she had finished Phyre raised his head again.
"Is it over yet?" he asked sounding less and less enthusiastic.
"Alas my friend, it is." Obsidian replied.
"Good!" Once again Phyre let his head flop against the bulkhead sending more sparks into the air. A boy then ran past Obsidian being violently sick.
He smiled. "I guess the view isn't for everyone." The blonde girl and her capped friend next to them started freaking out about by the by-product of vomit boy, and he laughed.
A few minutes later the airships docked at the cliff and began offloading their passengers. Vomit boy was the first one out and decided to empty the rest of his stomach's contents into the nearest bin. As Obsidian passed he gave the boy a reassuring pat on the back. He and Phyre strolled serval yards away from the airships and took in their surroundings. Obsidian took in a deep breath of the fresh air and smiled as he exhaled while Phyre's smoke has been replaced a gentle heat haze that rose a few inches above him.
"So, we made it then." Obsidian said with a large smile.
"We sure did." Phyre replied grinning as he placed a hand on Obsidian's armoured shoulder. He was then immediately distracted by a group of passing female students. Obsidian was about to say something when there was a sneeze and a tremendous explosion simultaneously. They both of them spun round, Obsidian with his bow at the ready and Phyre's fist a flame thinking that they were under attack. They then calmed as they saw that it was just the red caped girl from the airship who seemed be getting a proper telling off from a white haired girl and porters picked up what seemed to be her luggage.
"I think we should go somewhere else." Phyre suggested. Obsidian nodded and they walked off. The pair spent a good few minutes walking round. Obsidian was impressed by the work that had been put into the gardens that surrounded the academy. Phyre didn't pay much attention to the gardens, for as long as he could remember he'd had very little to do with such things. He stuck his hand in his jacket and kept walking. Finally they decided to go to the court yard where other children who'd been on the airships were gathering. Once there Obsidian nudged Phyre in the gut.
"What?" Phyre said turning to his friend. Obsidian pointed to a girl with red hair in a ponytail and was wearing Amazonia style armour. He shrugged. "She looks good."
Obsidian scowled at him. "That is Pyrrah Nikos one of the world's greatest champions!"
"Yeah, like I said; she looks good." Phyre said turning his attention to the stage. Obsidian face palmed and shook his head in despair before also looking at the stage.
A tall man dressed in green and walked with a cane came on to the stage and looked over the new arrivals. He took a deep breath and gave thought provoking speech. It covered various subjects, including their training and how it might be not enough to help them in their upcoming years. Then the same holographic woman from the airship appeared, only this time she was real. She proceeded to tell the new students where they would be spending the night; the ball room. Once she had finished she let everyone go.
Feeling lost and confused, Elena let herself get swept along by the sea of people. She might have only been small, standing at 5ft 3, but that was no excuse for people to keep bashing and knocking her about. It wasn't like no one noticed her since she was dressed in a hoody that was a swirl of every colour of the rainbow, with each colour changing position, pink shorts and pink highlights in her hair. A kind faced Faunus girl then walked purposefully up to her. She had blonde hair and wore faded yellow tank top with light brown genes. Her ears were that of a chinchilla. She offered Elena a hand and led her out of the crowd.
"Thank you." Elena said feeling slightly embarrassed.
"You're welcome." The Faunus girl replied. "I'm Hope Gold." She held out her hand.
"Elena Rainbow." Elena shook Hope's hand and smiled.
"You looked a little lost." Hope said
"It seems everyone got the memo about the layout of this place except me." Elena replied, a small blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Well don't worry, I know where-" She was cut off by the sound of someone being surprised then what sounded like armour hitting the ground. Both girls looked to see a boy with black hair and fiery highlights helping up an exceedingly tall boy with black armour.
"Dammit Phyre! What do you think you're doing!?" the taller of the two asked sounding very annoyed.
"I mayyyyyyy have gotten distracted." The other replied, rubbing the back of his head while giving a sheepish smile.
"May have huh? God dammit Phyre!" the first one said before dragging his counterpart off.
Hope frowned. "I wonder what that guy's problem is?"
"Which one?" Elena asked still feeling confused.
"Both of them." Hope sighed. "They both seem like idiots…" they then began to make their way to their destination with hope in the lead. As they walked past Phyre and Obsidian, who'd stopped, Phyre to a good look at them only to get wacked round the back of the head by Obsidian.
"That's rude y'know." Obsidian said shaking his head in despair.
"Yup, fun though." Phyre replied with a smirk
"I give up." Obsidian sighed. They then made their way to ball room.
The ball room was amazing. Elena looked up, down and all around, taking in all the fancy carving and glass work. She'd had a sheltered life, therefore not seeing the beauty that was now around her. Hope smiled as she watched the rainbow coloured girl get entranced by the light patterns that were created by the sun and the chandeliers. Hope then looked around the room. It was packed with sleeping bags, all lined up in neat rows.
"Hey, Elena." The rainbow girl snapped out of her trance like state. "Let's grab our stuff and find a place for the night." Hope said.
"Okay." Elena replied. She followed hope to a large stack of baggage in the centre of the room.
A large portion of the baggage consisted of white suitcases that all had a black snow flake printed on them. Hope turned her nose up at them and did her best to avoid them, confusing Elena in the process. After a few minutes of searching both girls had their belongings and found a nice quiet corner of the ball room. Hope dumped her two suitcases onto the ground. Elena then put her single rucksack down beside them, feeling like she was a little ill-equipped. Hope the lent against the wall and sat down.
"Sit down then." She said looking up at a still standing Elena. Elena then quickly sat down. "Beacon already getting to you?"
"Yeah…" Elena replied.
"So… where you from?" the Faunus asked.
"Who me?" Elena replied.
"Yes you." Hope smiled.
"Well… I come from the countryside, in the farm district." Elena began. "You just follow the road out of the city and follow it 'til it ends, then take the dirt road and eventually reach my house… I'm sorry, I'm waffling." She apologised.
"No, it's fine." Hope said sounding genuinely interested.
"What about you?" Elena asked.
"We used to live in Minstrel, but then we had to move to Vale because of my mother's work." Hope replied.
The girls moved on from their backgrounds and talked about various other things before going to get something to eat from the food hall, which they'd been told about earlier by Glenda. They didn't talk much over the course of their meal, but what little they did say was about the Grimm. They continued their conversation as the left the food hall and went back to the ball room.
"Their only weak spot is the back of the neck, you strike there you're guaranteed to kill- … oh my gosh." Hope said in an unimpressed tone.
"What is it?" Elena asked curiously.
"It's those two idiots from the courtyard." Hope sighed.
Indeed it was Phyre and Obsidian. A little while ago they'd been approached by four boys who wanted to have an arm wrestling match. Phyre declined the offer, deciding that it might be a risk to the boys' health, however had learned that their names were: Cardin, Russel, Dove and sky. Obsidian on the other hand accepted. One by one he took on the boys, each one. By the time Cardin was having his go against obsidian, a small crowd had gathered. The battle then began. Cardin put all of his force and a few pointless sound effects into the wrestle. it took no more than 30 seconds before Cardin's arm was on the table with Obsidians on top.
"Any other challengers?" Phyre asked with a smile.
"Let me at him! Let me at him!" a ginger haired girl repeatedly shouted whilst being restrained by a boy with black hair and pink eyes.
"No Nora. We have a big day tomorrow." The boy began dragging her off.
"But Ren! The fighting!" the girl shouted in protest.
"No." and with that the boy dragged her off.
Obsidian chuckled as her watched the energetic girl get pulled away from the crowd. He then spotted something small and colourful approach from his right. He turned to look at whatever it was and was pleased to see that it was a small, pretty girl with adorably nervous expression.
"May I try?" the girl asked timidly. The Faunus girl behind her looked intrigued at her friend's question.
"Why certainly." Obsidian replied with a smile. The two then go into position, allowing the girl to take Obsidian's hand.
"3, 2, 1, go!" Phyre announced.
For the next three and a half minutes the petit girl battled against the tower of power that was Obsidian. Phyre gave the running commentary that had been going since the first wrestle against Sky. It seemed like Obsidian had it in the bag, but then ever so slowly his arm started moving the opposite way until it eventually made contact with the table. The crowd gasped, then clapped at the girl's performance.
"Thank you." She said timidly as she got up.
"No, thank you." Obsidian replied.
Elena then walked back to a surprised Hope. She had a large smile painted across her face and her highlights seemed to be glowing.
"How did you?" Hope asked sounding a little confused.
"I have no Idea." Elena laughed. Hope sighed and they headed back to their corner, ready to call it a night.
A couple of hours later, the spectacle that was Obsidian's arm wrestling had finally stopped. However before it had numerous people tried their luck against Obsidian. All bar a handful of challengers had failed. Among those who were victorious was that rainbow coloured girl. As Obsidian lay in his sleeping bag her image kept sliding into his thoughts.
"So, the girl." Phyre said.
"Which one?" Obsidian asked.
"The rainbow coloured one." Phyre replied, igniting a small flame on the tip of his finger.
"What about her." Obsidian put his hands behind his head.
"What happened when you two wrestled?" the Pyromaniac asked, transferring the flame from finger to finger.
"I lost." The dark haired night answered.
"No, really?" Phyre said sarcastically. "How did she beat you, she must have been two foot shorter than you."
"I don't know and I don't care." Obsidian sighed, placing his hands behind his head.
"I thought I was complicated… and I have no memory." Phyre lay down in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes "Night man."
"Good night Phyre."
Before long the whole ballroom had gone to sleep even the night owls had found themselves dozing off. But In the early hours a small pink light illuminated a small girl in the corner. It was Elena. She had woken with a throat dryer than a desert. For a few moments she stared into the pink ball of light, trying to think on how to navigate to the water tanks at the other end of the room. She looked up from her light source and into the inky black beyond. 'Why did it have to be night?' She thought to herself. Slowly she rose from her sleeping bag and timidly started walking. She took great care in manoeuvring around the sleeping bags in order not to disturb anyone. However, despite being able to see the sleeping bags, she failed to see a pair of long legs protruding from one of them. She caught a foot on the log like limbs and tumbled down onto the bag's occupant. She tried her best to figure out what just happened. This gave the occupant enough time to wake, then sit up.
"Why hello there miss wrestler." Elena looked up to see it was that boy she'd had the arm wrestle with. "Isn't it a little late for a stroll?" he said smiling. Elena nodded. "So may I ask what you're doing up?"
"I woke up and I was thirsty and I went to go get a drink and I was nervous because I'm afraid of the dark and I didn't see your legs so I tripped and I'm really sorry." She blurted out, sounding upset.
"Ah don't worry about it, it happens to all of us." Obsidian said with what looked like a smile in the pink light.
"I guess so…" Elena replied.
"You know, you never gave me your name when we arm wrestled." Obsidian pointed out.
"Neither did you." Elena countered.
"Touché. I'm Obsidian stone."
"Elena Rainbow." Obsidian then got up.
"Well Miss Rainbow, you star here and I'll get you that drink." He then disappeared into the dark.
Elena seemed to be waiting for an eternity as she waited for Obsidian to come back. She started wondering what kind of name Obsidian was but as she thought about it more, the more tired she became. Finally she slumped onto Obsidian's sleeping bag and drifted off in the residual warmth. It was at this point that Phyre decided to wake up. Lighting a flame on his index singer he sat up and looked around, only to discover that small girl from before in place of his friend. He stretched out the non-flaming hand ready to prod the girl awake.
"What do you think you're doing?" Phyre looked round to see where Obsidian's voice had come from. He then emerged from the dark carrying a small bottle of water.
"I think I'm wondering why there is a girl on your sleeping bag." Phyre stated looking up at the giant.
"She wanted a drink." Obsidian said.
"Of course." Phyre said sarcastically, as Obsidian sat down. "What you going to do with her?"
"What do you mean?" Obsidian eyed his friend.
"As in what are you going to do with her?" Phyre replied.
"Well, I was thinking of letting her sleep here." Obsidian said, looking at Elena who had now curled up into a ball.
"No." Phyre said in a serious tone.
"If I wake her and make her move she may not get back to sleep, judging by what I'm seeing, she needs sleep." Obsidian replied in his own serious tone.
"So do you." Retorted Phyre.
"That's rich coming from you." Obsidian smiled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Phyre asked, starting to heat up.
"All I'm saying is you can't lecture me about sleep when you were up most of last night with a girl." Obsidian said smugly. Phyre then tried to lunge at him, but was stopped by his sleeping bag. This caused him to fall short and smother poor Elena, who somehow hadn't woken up.
"Excuse me." A new female voice penetrated the dark. Obsidian and Phyre turned around to see the chinchilla Faunus from the courtyard. "What do you think you're doing to my friend?"
"Friend? What friend? It's just me and my friend." Phyre replied.
"The one you're lying one." The Faunus stated.
"I have no idea what you're on about." Phyre said confidently. There was then a muffled squeak of fear from under Phyre's sleeping bag and Elena quickly scrambled out from underneath it. "Oh, her. It's exactly what it looks like, wait, no, it's not what it looks like… Obsidian what does it look like?" Obsidian shook his head to say that he had nothing to do with what was going on.
"It looks like you were lying on my friend." Hope said in an annoyed tone.
"Well… you see, I woke up to find your friend next to me instead of Obsidian. He then returned and justified her presence by saying she wanted a drink. We had an argument, I lunged at him but fell instead and landed on your friend." Obsidian looked at Phyre with an impressed look as he hadn't cocked any of it up.
"Even if that's true, you come near me or my friend, you'll regret it." Hope said with a poisonous tone and gave Phyre a murderous look. She then turned to Elena. "Come on Elena, let's go back to bed."
"Your water." Obsidian said, holding the bottle up to the rainbow girl.
"Thank you." She took the bottle and then disappeared into the dark with the Faunus.
"Well that was a thing…" Obsidian said as both boys lay back down.
"That Faunus is going to kill me." Phyre stated worriedly.
"No she's not, now go to sleep." Obsidian reassured him.
"Tomorrow I'm going to wake up in a ditch, dead and on fire…"