Author's Notes: The inspiration for this story came from two sources; the first was RWBY, a show by Rooster Teeth. The second source was from a debate with a friend, arguing about Black Rock Shooter's limited number of episodes. (We were watching one of the episodes for RWBY at the time) So, I decided to write this story :P
Also, the characters are all teenagers, except for those that are actually noted to be adults. BRS also doesn't wear the same outfit in the anime, she wears a tank top instead of the bikini top.
Finally, RWBY and Black Rock Shooter are NOT mine, I do not own anything except for the OC characters!
Anyway, let us begin!
Black Rock Shooter groaned loudly, covering her head with her pillow as the bright morning sunlight streamed through her window. She wanted to go back to sleep, it was way too early to wake up yet. She clenched her eyes tightly and willed herself to fall back asleep.
Upon hearing the sound of Rock's groan, her kitten Ron looked over the side of his basket towards her and tilted his head to the side. He hopped over the basket and noiselessly padded across her bedroom until he was directly at the edge of her bed, looking straight upwards.
He meowed, which Rock didn't hear, then sprang up onto the edge of the bed. Rock shifted her head slightly, but gave no other sign of having noticed the fluffy black cat on her bed.
Meowing again, Ron pawed at her foot through the blankets, trying to get her attention. After no response, he moved to her head, but became fixated on a bit of her hair that was visible between the pillow and the blanket.
Purring loudly, Ron began to playfully paw at her hair, which Rock quickly pulled away from him and under the blankets. Unfortunately, Ron perceived this as a game of Chase the String and promptly dove forward, meowing again.
The moment that Rock felt Ron dive onto the top of the pillow, she quickly caught him in her hands and arose from under her pillow with spectacular bedhead. She smiled at the kitten in her arms, once again playfully pawing at a strand of her long black hair.
"Any particular reason you decided to wake me up today, Ron?" Rock asked, glancing at her alarm clock.
With a gasp Ron sat bolt upright and looked at the digital date displayed on her clock. It was September 8th… her first day at Nova Academy...
Quickly putting Ron back down on her pillow, Rock rechecked the time on her clock and let out a breath. It was still only 6:49 in the morning, she didn't have to get up until 7. However... Ron waking her up gave her the extra ten minutes she could use to get ready and out the door easier.
Tossing her blankets aside, Rock left Ron on her pillow and quickly ducked into her bathroom and had a shower. Upon her return, Ron was back in his basket, curled up in a fluffy black ball. She smiled at him and quickly got dressed, gathering her cell phone, wallet and keys as she headed out the door of her apartment.
Quickly arriving at the train station, Rock flashed the attendant her Nova Academy ID card and quickly boarded the waiting train, lucky that she was 5 minutes early.
As she waited, Rock looked around the slowly filling train car at the only two other kids that were her age in the train car, both of whom were standing a few feet away. One was a girl wearing a dark black jacket and pants with two curved green horns extending through her jet black hair. She also had green framed glasses.
Rock wasn't surprised by the horns in the slightest, it was the girl's companions' appearance that made her do a double take.
The girl had two black skulls floating around her, both having just appeared from behind her back. They glowed with green light from the inside, and seemed to be like pets to the girl...
Taking her gaze away from the skull girl, Rock instead looked at the other horned girl. This girl however, had red horns and was reading from a small book with a faint smile on her face. Rock assumed they were sisters.
A bell chimed and the train shuddered, slowly picking up speed. Rock glanced out the nearest window in surprise, watching the station platform start to drift past her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rock saw the two horned girls approaching her and turned to face them.
"Are you going to Nova as well?" The red horned girl asked, closing the small book with a snap.
"Yeah, my name's Black Rock Shooter." Rock replied, watching the green horned girl's constantly orbiting skulls out of the corner of her eye. for some reason, they made her slightly creeped out.
"I'm Black Gold Saw... But just call me Gold." The red girl replied, then she nudged the green girl. "This is my sister, Dead Master."
"Hey..." Dead Master said quietly, averting her gaze.
"You can just call me Rock. I hate having such a long name." Rock replied, then gestured to the two empty seats beside her. "You can sit here, if you want."
Gold smiled and sat beside Rock, with Dead Master on her other side, the two skulls orbiting around and between hers and Gold's horns.
"So... First year, right?" Gold asked, resting her book on her lap. "DeeDee is in her first year." She tilted her head towards Dead Master, who was still not looking at Rock.
"Yeah, first year at Nova. Are you in your second year?" Rock asked, taking note of Dead Master's apparent nickname.
"Yeah, but the first and second years are in split classes this year. At least I get to keep an eye on DeeDee. otherwise she'll just sit in a corner and read with Ebony and Ivory."
At Gold's comment, Dead Master turned towards Gold and hissed. "No I won't! Besides, Nova is a fighting school. Why would I read during practice?"
Gold rolled her eyes and smiled before turning back to Rock. "So, what does the star mean?" She indicated the white star on Rock's long black duster with a jut of her chin.
"Oh, this? It doesn't really have a meaning that I know of... I just liked it, I suppose..." Rock said, looking at one of five white stars emblazoned upon her duster. there was one of her chest, one large one on her back, one on the hood, and one on each wrist. But she'd never given them a meaning before.
"Hmm... you know, DeeDee's got a thing for skulls. In case you haven't noticed." Gold laughed, and Rock saw Dead Master scowl behind her. "Ebony and Ivory, that's their names." She was referring to the floating skulls.
"Are they like... pets?" Rock asked, hoping she didn't sound rude in referring to them as pets. They reminded her of a Familiar... Or two, for that matter.
"Basically." Dead Master shrugged her head, and one of the skulls drifted in front of Rock, which made her shoulders tense.
"They're her Familiars. Somehow she bonded two of them instead of just one." Gold explained, eyeing the silent exchange between Rock and the skull, which she knew was Ebony. She smiled as it slowly drifted back to Dead Master and joined its twin in lazily levitating around her horns.
"Oh, okay." Rock nodded her head at Gold, her shoulders slowly relaxing as the train entered a tunnel, momentarily making her look out the darkened window. She turned back to Gold and Dead Master when she felt a tap on her arm.
"Do you have a Familiar?" Dead Master asked, holding up her left hand. Ebony glided to her outstretched hand and she stroked its forehead.
"No, I just have a normal pet cat, his name's Ron." Rock said as she slowly shook her head. "I found him over the summer and I've taken care of him ever since then."
"Well, Familiars are uncommon, to be honest. Especially having two of them." Gold laughed slightly. "Our mother has a black bear as a familiar, and we always call it 'Mama Bear'. Our dad doesn't have one though."
Rock laughed slightly as well, but suddenly she inhaled sharply and shielded her eyes as the train emerged from the tunnel into the dazzling morning sunlight.
After her vision cleared, she looked out the window once again and saw Nova Academy across a long bridge over a huge lake. The massive cathedral sized buildings were backlit with the still rising sun.
"Yup, the Sunrise Effect. Not surprised that you both got it." Gold laughed as she slid her small book into a pouch on her hip. "Trust me, they have solar panels on the roof angled specifically for the first day."
Rock's cheeks turned slightly pink at Gold's comment and she nervously ran her fingers through her long twin pigtails.
Today was the first day at Nova Academy...Now she was feeling nervous.
Rock groaned quietly, hoping that she didn't somehow do something stupid. she ran her fingers through her pigtails again as the train slowed and stopped at the platform for Nova. there was a tall bearded man in a suit waiting near the middle of the platform. beside him was a woman with a similar suit, but her entire left arm was missing.
when the doors opened, someone shoved Rock out of the doors, making her take a slight stumbling run for a couple of steps. she straightened up and was in front of the bearded man.
"judging by your surprised expression as you exited, i can correctly assume you were shoved." he said in a quiet voice to Rock. "but, i am certain you are enthusiastic in your own rights."
Rock grinned slightly as the other first year students began gathering on the platform behind her. Dead Master and Gold stood on either side of her, and Rock could hear Gold silently giggling at her.
"first year students! welcome to Nova Training Academy. I am Professor Flint, and this is my assistant Cyan." the bearded man gestured to the woman beside him, who nodded and held up her right hand.
Rock's gaze lingered for a second on Cyan's missing arm, and she flexed her fingers to assure herself that she still had both arms. she wondered what events culminated to the loss of her whole arm...
"you all may be wondering how i lost my arm." Cyan announced, her voice sounding loud and clear across the platform above the scattered whispers about her injury. "But..." She paused for a moment before smiling. "You should have seen the other guy."
"Now, without any further ado, follow us to the main courtyard, where the opening ceremony will take place." Professor Flint announced, turning around and walking through a large archway.
All the first year students followed him and Cyan out into the massive open courtyard. Dead Master walked beside Rock near the front of the small crowd, Ebony and Ivory staying near her shoulders. As they passed through a freestanding arch topped with a solid red banner, the first year students suddenly saw a dozen shadows on the flagstone roadway. Rock glanced upwards and her jaw fell open.
Several winged people were flying all around the huge open courtyard, most of them with long hair trailing behind them. However, one boy in particular caught Rock's eye. He had medium length spiky silver hair and his flexible silver wings were much larger than the others around him.
Rock refocused and saw that everyone else around him were wearing tight or fitted clothes, which she assumed help reduce drag. But he was wearing a white duster with what seemed to be segments of silvery armour attached on the shoulders.
Just as suddenly as they appeared, the flyers vanished from sight.
Dead Master grabbed Rock's wrist and shook her from her reverie. They followed Professor Flint and Cyan across the courtyard until they stopped beside a small table covered with a red cloth.
"Samurai, Gladiator, Viking, Ninja. Can someone name what weaponry first comes to mind when you hear these warrior names. Just raise your hand." Cyan called out, her voice eerily clear above the fidgeting and the occasional whoosh of a flyer overhead.
Dead Master bit her thumb nail as she thought of her answer, but Rock shot her hand up right away.
"Yes, you with the black pigtails. What do you think of when you hear those names?" Professor Flint asked, pointing to Rock.
"Katana and Wakizashi, Roman Gladius, Longsword and Battleaxe, and Ninjato and Shurikens." Rock replied. "Though the Gladiator has a large variety of many sets of weaponry due to the theatrical nature of the Coliseum, as well as the Ninja utilizing a diverse arsenal of... many other..."
Rock stopped talking after realized she had gone overboard with her answer. She loved weaponry of all kinds, and she even worked for a repair shop over the past few summers. She blushed and looked down at her feet, her hands behind her back.
"Might I ask for your name?" Professor Flint asked after a second. Rock's head shot back up and her face became fully red. She didn't say anything due to her embarrassment.
"Black Rock Shooter." Dead Master came to her rescue and blurted out beside her. "But just call her Rock."
"Well, Miss Rock... Could you step forward please?" Professor Flint asked, gesturing to the area beside the covered table.
The students ahead of them moved aside and stared at Rock as she approached Professor Flint. She glanced back at Dead Master before the crowd closed the gap. Dead Master nodded to her once in encouragement, making Rock stride forward determinedly, her jaw set and confidence in her sapphire blue eyes.
Closing Remarks: This is it, first day at my equivalent of Beacon Academy from RWBY. Let's see how things turn out for Rock in the next chapter :)