Welcome to the second short story of Stories From Haven Academy.
I do not have any claim to writing RWBY stories other than as a fan-fiction author. I do not own the rights to any of the names, characters, or places in this story-even my own characters.
Feather closed her book, satisfied with the ending. It ended well, with the main character leaving Vacuo on a fancy airship along with her children, and the villain having a most horrible end.
She preferred this book to the ones sold at the nearby bookstore. This book she got from a store farther away, in a less… discriminatory neighborhood. This one was the story of Faunus raiders attacking a settlement in the region near Vacuo, and the settlers there. When the raiders turned out to be not as bad as the settlers first thought, and the head of the militia turned out to be impersonating the raiders on occasion and embezzling, it turned out not to be quite as black and white as it was before.
In any case, she put the book in the (ahem) bookcase in her room, and removed her reading glasses. They helped her see thing more distinctly at a close range. She could operate just fine without them, except when it came to reading. She picked up the black case from off her nightstand, and opened it. There was nothing in it, of course, as it was the case for her glasses. She put the glasses in there, closed it, and put it in her pants pocket.
She turned to her closet, and opened it. Inside was her wing pack, Ace. The white and blue wings were not what she was after, though. She was after the white hoodie, instead.
She hated hiding that she was a Faunus. But if she didn't, well… The last time she and her family moved, it was because the neighbors hated Faunus. They moved here, particularly, because it was one of the few places in their price range. To her knowledge, the neighbors didn't know there were feathers growing out of her scalp.
She put the hoodie on over her blue shirt, and out of her room. She walked down the stairs to the downstairs hallway, and went to her father's recording studio. He made videos for the internet. Since the videos allowed it to be ambiguous to whether or not he was a Faunus, it was a good way to make money.
The sign next to the door was not lit, so he was not currently recording. She still knocked, though, as it was polite.
"Come in," her father said.
She opened the door. The small room was dominated by the recording equipment and her father's computer. He sat upon a revolving chair, that's what she assumed it was called. The feathers in his white hair were just like his daughter's.
"I am just going out," Feather said.
"Are you meeting Lorna?"
"Yes." Ever since Lorna had enrolled in Haven, they hadn't seen each other. Both were too busy with their studies to meet. But now that it was the summer break, they could meet again. "I will not be gone for long, father."
"Okay. See you when you get back." As Feather left she could hear her father grumbling about how he needed to teach her to use contractions.
She walked down the hallway, to the door leading outside, and went outside. Before she did so, she put her hood up. It was lightly raining. Not uncommon in a coastal area like Mistral. Her hoodie would be good enough protection against the rain unless it came down harder. Then again, it was raining like that earlier, so perhaps it was calming down.
She walked down the steps of the porch, and out onto the street.
She kept going until she came to a coffee shop. It was warm inside, compared to outside in the rain. There, she went inside to meet Lorna.
The wait was long. She had said four o'clock, and it was now… four seventeen. Feather had miscalculated the time it took to get from her home to the coffee shop, but that was only by a couple of minutes. Lorna was taking not forever, but it felt like it.
Eventually, Lorna arrived. Unlike Feather, Lorna had made no attempt to hide her Faunus heritage. The foxlike ears were not hidden on top of her head. Though apparently she had gotten a haircut, as her orange hair was shorter than she remembered. She still wore an orange jacket and scarf over her white shirt and orange pants, though.
Lorna noticed Feather immediately. She waved and went over to her table.
"Hey, Feather. What's gone on with you since we last met?" Lorna asked.
"Not much. Do you remember that book I told you about last year?"
"Um, not really."
"Well, I just finished it."
"Studies are that tough?"
"Yes. I have not had much time outside of school to do anything else."
"Asylum's still running?"
"It was almost shut down during the second trimester." The memory was not a good one. "But anyway. How is Haven?"
"Great. My team's good, and the staff's tolerant. After the first week, nobody wanted to bug me." That sounded like Lorna. She always had a way of… convincing people that
there are better things to do than bother her.
After a lengthy conversation, the two left the coffee shop together, and began walking downtown. All the while, they discussed random topics that helped pass the time.
Then, they arrived that their destination.
The old, run down building looked like it had been built over a century ago. Even with its many renovations over the years, it looked more a haunted house than a school. The sign above it said "Asylum."
The pair walked through the recently painted doors, Lorna instinctively going first. The lobby wasn't much to look at, similar to the outside. The rug had stains from the blood of students being rushed to the hospital after a bad sparring match, or spilled soda or milk. The paint had been scraped from some sections of the wall. And one of the steps in the stairs was missing. But, it was all they could do.
This school housed some of the students who were homeless, and their budget only allowed for repairs to be made every so often. Sure, an accidental scrape meant that they would get to it eventually, but if there were bullet holes or a board was considered hazardous, they repaired it right away. The building inspectors were looking for any excuse to close them down.
This combat school was for Faunus who couldn't afford or were rejected by the other schools. Where the funds came from, no one had any idea. Some believed it was the White Fang or a philanthropist who didn't want to be associated with the school.
Whatever the reason, this is where both Feather and Lorna had trained. Sure, they were in different classes, as Lorna was one year older than Feather, but they had maintained a friendship for several years. This is where they met. This is where they trained. And this is where they would spar.
The day after they had met at the coffee shop, Feather and Lorna would now spar. The previous day, Feather had reserved the sparring room at Asylum for their fight. Now they had come back, with their weapons, to see who was the better fighter.
Feather's light armor would help against Lorna's claws. The very ornate, blue and white armor had been given to her by Asylum, and specially built, as she had learned, by Onyxcorp. Lorna preferred an orange and white jumpsuit instead of armor, though.
As they entered the sparring area—the sparsely furnished basement of the school building—, Feather drew her swords. Across the room, Lorna extended her claws. She had a multi-purpose gauntlet on her right hand, which she used for combat. There were all sorts of tools in her gauntlet, but the main feature was the claws.
On the intercom, the combat instructor's voice boomed. "Let the match begin."
Feather and Lorna charged each other. Feather swung her swords in two arcs going different directions, starting in front her chest, and ending up several feet away to her sides. She also gave the attack a boost from her magnetic semblance.
Lorna dodged the attack, jumping back several feet. Feather pursued after her and began a spinning arc, twisting her body around to add more of an impact to her attack. In the brief moment she took her eyes of Lorna, she heard the sound of Lorna's grappling hook firing. When she ended the arc, Lorna was gone. Believing that she would appear behind her, Feather spun around, and slashed what was behind her a moment ago.
Lorna was there, holding Feather's blade in the grasp of her gauntlet. Feather slashed again, from below, and landed a blow. Lorna staggered back. Her aura, of course, protected her from the sharp edge of Feather's blade.
However, as the combat instructor said, "The match is over."
"Good match," Lorna said, holding out her left hand.
Feather put away her swords. "Good match. I got you, for once."
"Yeah. I guess Haven's actually a downgrade."
She grinned. "No. I am simply the better fighter."
"Yeah, maybe. We'll have to see someday."
"I thought this was 'someday,'" Feather said confused.
Lorna simply gave her a look that let her know she was kidding. They had a bit of a laugh and continued out.
So, did you like that?