Light, colors, fluttering left and right quickly. I couldn't see straight, vague figures speaking to each other over a cacophony of noise.
"You know this is crazy!"
"Their true future is-!"
I couldn't make out their voices that well, clawing static at my ears prevented it.
Couldn't focus, too cold… The colors replaced with ice, covering my vision.
"You would kill-!"
Their voices slowed as their forms began to dissolve.
"Even him!"
"Not if-"
The ice covered my vision and the colors stopped, all replaced with a vague blue.
Couldn't see, couldn't think. Couldn't hear.
How long did this last?
I couldn't tell.
"...W…"
More figures, two. Replacing the old.
"...Wa…"
They were talking. To who?
"Wake…"
To me? But…
Who even am I?
"Wake up…" A voice coaxed softly.
But I didn't want to…
"Wake up…" It continued, the ice over my vision began to thaw.
"Wake up."
"Wake up!"
I jolted up, eyes flying open. I couldn't see for a moment, but as my eyes adjusted, I could tell I was in some kind of hospital.
But beyond that…
I didn't know anything.
The vague dream was leaving my mind, and I reached for my memories.
How did I get here?
Yet, nothing came.
I didn't even know my name…
What was my name?
I reached a hand to my head and rubbed my forehead, "What the hell…" I managed, my voice weak and dry from dehydration.
"I see you're awake." A calm male voice spoke to me, and I raised my head towards the source.
The man cut a tall figure, wearing a black suit and what appeared to be some kind of green neckwear, he had a cup of coffee in his hand and a scroll in his other hand.
Next to him was a woman, only an inch shorter than the man, who easily reached about 6'6'' if my eyes weren't lying to me. Although she did wear heels. She, too, has a scroll in her hands, although the other one had a clipboard in it.
"Who are…" I try to speak, but end up coughing as my voice was still completely dry.
"Now, now." The man speaks, "Glynda, can you get this young man some water?"
"Yes." She responds, before walking off, leaving me with the man.
The man walks forward and pulls a chair up, sitting across from me, "What's your name?"
"I… Don't know."
The man's eyebrow quirked in mild surprise, "Really now? Do you remember anything?"
Again, I try to think back, but it was like there was some kind of barrier, I scratched and scraped inside my mind but I couldn't bring anything to the forefront.
"No… Nothing."
"Curious." The man leans back, "Well. I am Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, an Academy for Huntsmen. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
I didn't. I hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about, or who he was supposed to be. Even if, for one reason or another, his gaze seemed oddly familiar to me…
"I...I don't."
"I see… I'll have to try and remind you, but beyond that. It seems you have a case of Amnesia."
"Amnesia…"
"Yes. You have no memories, it seems. Don't worry, though. Glynda and I will do our best to help you get them back."
As if on queue, Glynda returned with a bottle of water, which I took and opened, quickly drinking it. The water was refreshing, washing down my throat and clearing my voice.
Glynda spoke to Ozpin, "So, what did you learn?"
"He doesn't remember anything."
"That's… Fantastic." The sarcasm leaking off her voice was very evident, even to me.
"Well." Ozpin notes, his professional tone never wavering, "It certainly complicates things for us."
"Where do we go from here?"
"First. How about we give him an abridged history of… Everything?" Ozpin suggests, "He needs to know what he's getting into before I can plan ahead."
"I'd love to help, sir, but you know I need to welcome the new students soon. I don't think I have time for it." Glynda frowns, "Should we just let him rest here until after the new students have been brought in? We're not in any rush."
"See, Glynda. I think this young man would be a fine addition to our school."
The tall blonde looked taken aback, "Really, Ozpin? Sure, he looks about the age, but he doesn't remember anything! First Ms. Rose, now-"
"Glynda." Ozpin interrupted. His voice had a soft but stern tone to it, "Trust me on this."
Glynda stared at him for a solid few seconds, before sighing and deflating a bit, "Alright, sir. I apologize for my tone."
"Don't worry about it Glynda. Now, you should go and greet the new students. I'll speak to our Amnesiac."
With that, she nodded and left. Leaving me with the man sitting next to me.
"Now." Ozpin starts to stand, "I'm going to go get you some clothes to wear. Then, I'll take you to my office, where I'll try to inform you as best I can about our world… And maybe we'll find out your name, or at least, maybe we'll give you one. Sound okay?"
I ran a hand through my hair and laid back, "...On one condition."
"What is it?"
"...Can I have a mirror?"
"Of course."
Ozpin walked off briefly, returning with a mirror, which he handed to me, "Now, I'll be back."
I turned my attention to the hand-mirror as his footsteps started away from me, and I soon heard a door close, indicating that I was alone.
My skin was bronzed, I couldn't tell if I spent a lot of time out in the sun or if I simply was born that way, but there it was. My hair, meanwhile, was medium length and black. It covered my ears and fell just above my eyebrows, I was laying down, so I couldn't make out anything about the back of my head, but my hair seemed to at least cover the nape of my neck.
My eyes, meanwhile, were a light brown and stared back at me with a look of curiosity, and they sat over my somewhat flat nose. Overall, my face was somewhat of an oval shape, and I wasn't sure if I could be considered good looking or not… Not that it really mattered. Who was I going to impress? The vague empty space in my head where my memories used to be?
Or Glynda. But I think she was just a little bit too old for me.
Wait… How old am I?
That would need figuring out.
I lifted up the blanket covering me on the medical bed and noted that I was just wearing a blue-ish medical dress that covered the length of my body, which was thin and somewhat toned from what I could tell.
With a self-appraisal finished, I took the time to scan the room I was in.
There were several beds in a row with mine, all empty, and there were several IV stands next to them. Definitely a hospital, or at least a medical bay.
There were curtains, all pulled back next to each bed. For privacy I guess, but with no one here, they were all open, giving me a clear view of a door at the end of the room, a frosted window on it with black print spelling out something I couldn't read. It was backwards from inside.
As I was trying to make out the words, Ozpin came through the door, carrying a folded set of clothes, which he sat at the foot of my bed, "This is the school uniform. Apologies, but it's the best I could do on such short notice. You'll need to go and get more clothes yourself, but that's in the future. I'll afford you the privacy to change, just call me when you're finished."
As my mind grew more coherent, I began to question just why Ozpin was so eager to get me into his school. I didn't know the first thing about it, or him, or anything really, but I would assume someone with no memories would be the very last person I'd want in my establishment…
"Professor Ozpin. Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course." Ozpin stopped and turned towards me, I had caught him in the middle of leaving.
"Why are you so sure I'd be good for your school? I don't even know my name. I doubt I'd be very good at being this… What, a Huntsman, you said?"
Ozpin stared at me for a moment, he looked as if he wanted to say something for a moment, but he stopped himself and shook his head, "Don't worry too much about it young man. Trust me, I know best."
I didn't know if I could really believe that, but did I have much of a choice?
"...If you say so, thank you."
With a nod, he turned and walked out, leaving me to change.
…
..
After I slipped into the uniform and buttoned up the jacket, I had to wonder just how Ozpin knew exactly what my size was.
Maybe they just had uniform sizes for people of different heights or something? Not that I knew.
Once I called him back in, he simply opened the door and beckoned me to follow, and so, for the first time, I walked out of the medical ward and into the hallway.
This was, for sure, not a hospital. It looked too nice and uniform.
"We're… At Beacon, right?"
"Indeed, you're rather perceptive for someone in your circumstance."
...Yeah, I was. Weird.
We started to walk down the hall, and Ozpin started to speak.
"Allow me to give you a brief overview of the world, and what you need to know. Then, I'll need to test some theories, to get an idea for your abilities."
"...Alright."
And so he did.
Ozpin told me the name of the world, Remnant, he told me briefly about the Kingdoms, and the one we live in, Vale, in particular. He spoke as we walked through the halls and up flights of stairs about the Grimm, the enemies of humanity. He didn't seem too interested in telling me the exact history of the world, not that I was complaining, but he did his best to get me up to speed with the essentials.
We soon arrived at the top, and I was amazed at how Ozpin managed to not be out of breath from walking that many flights of stairs, and as we headed through the double doors into his office, he spoke, "So. You know of our fight, and of the kingdoms. Now, I will tell you about Aura, and Semblances, to test my theories with you."
We walked over to his large oak desk and he sat behind it, beckoning me to sit in one of the chairs in front of it, and I did so.
"Every living being with a soul has Aura, and thankfully for us it seems your Aura has already been activated. That saves us the trouble of needing to unlock it. Yours is rather strong, which is always good, but it's important not to rely on it."
He continued to explain what Aura was. A projection of our souls, that every being except Grimm had some kind of Aura, and how we could project it out to act as a shield against harm, and that it was a Huntsman's greatest tool.
Finally, he went on to Semblances, "I won't take too long on them, as we are running somewhat short on time, but a Semblance is the ultimate projection of who you are. Your semblance is partially shaped by who you are as a person, and is completely unique to you. In time, I'm sure you'll learn what yours is. But for now, I would like to test something with you."
"What is i-"
Suddenly, faster than I could possibly detect, Ozpin stood up and brandished his cane like a sword, he swung it at me and I reflexively went to throw up my hands to shield my face against the oncoming blow.
But the blow never came.
I had winced back at the strike, but as I slowly opened my eyes, I saw a white barrier projecting from my hands. Ozpin's weapon was completely stopped, like it had struck against a brick wall for all the good it did him to swing at me.
"W-What the hell?" I respond in shock, and the barrier disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, leaving Ozpin's cane to sail towards my face, only to stop a few inches from my hands.
As he moved the staff away from me, I saw a smile come across his face. He looked genuinely happy, or at least pleased.
"So. It seems my theory was correct."
"W...Was that my semblance?"
"No, it was something much more powerful."
"Eh?"
"Magic."
"Magic? But didn't you say-"
"Indeed." Ozpin sat back down, "Magic vanished from this world thousands of years ago. Except for you, it seems."
"Why me?"
"...I have my theories, but for now, we will simply have to accept that it is what it is, and move forward."
Something in his tone led me to believe he knew more than he let on, a lot more, but I couldn't bring myself to confront him. This was all confusing, and honestly overloading my brain.
"W-Well, what do I do?"
"I need you to trust me, and do as I ask. I can guide you, young man, but it will need to be done very carefully. Okay?"
"...I don't really have much of a choice, Professor."
"Indeed."
He stands up, and walks towards a corner of the room, then I saw him kneel down and produce an elongated wooden box, that he promptly opened and produced something out of.
Standing, turning, and walking towards me, I saw that he was holding a staff.
It was a beautiful one, too. The bottom covered in steel, and an ivory pattern crawling its way up the beautiful dark-brown wood, all the way to the top, where a large green gem sat at the top.
"I want you to have this. It will act as your weapon, and your means of focusing your magical power more concisely."
"...Why do you have this?"
"I'll leave it to your imagination. Some day, I'll explain everything to you. But for now, know that I have the capacity to train you, and I will. To that effect, you will be a student at my school, and you will try to have as normal a life as possible… Aside from the fact that you and I will need to spend a lot of time preparing you."
"Preparing me for…?"
"The future, of course. It's always uncertain."
He held the staff out to me, and I carefully reached out and took it, before going to stand.
It was tall, not as tall as me, but it easily went up to my torso. "So… What now?"
"I would love to test your abilities, but that simply isn't possible right now. I need to go greet the assembled students, and you need to go down and… Mingle, I suppose."
"Wait-" I state as he goes to walk out.
"Hmm?"
"I… I don't have a name."
Ozpin blinked, before facepalming, "...I knew we were forgetting something. Apologies. Hmm…"
He looked around the room, before his eyes settled on something on his bookshelf, "...How about we call you Noire for now? Noire Vienna, for a full name."
Noire… Sounded nice, but also a bit strange. "I guess I'll take it. It's not bad."
"Good, good. Now, let's get down, shall we?"
As we were leaving, I glanced back at what he was looking at earlier, and caught a glimpse of a man in a trench coat smoking a cigarette.
...Weird.
…..
…
Ozpin separate from me once we got to a fork in the stairs, he said he had to get ready to give orientation. I didn't bother to ask him what this Orientation was, given that they'd been talking about new students all day.
I, in the meantime, was left on my own to find my way down to where the other students were supposed to be in this massive, sprawling building of this massive, sprawling academy.
Eventually I found my way down, and rounded a corner leading to what I presumed to be the auditorium, when I ended up bumping into someone.
"Oh, sorry!" A female voice apologized quickly, immediately of note was a strange accent I couldn't place the origin of, "I wasn't really paying attention!"
"It's fine!" I quickly say, trying to wave it off and get a look at my assailant at the same time.
She was a tanned girl, her skin almost a light brown, and her hair was red highlighted by yellow highlights, held up in a ponytail which kind of obscured its real length. Her eyes were a dark blue, currently shimmering with feelings of concern. She wore a khaki colored tunic that extended down to her knees, mired with the occasional white wrapping. Her short sleeves revealed a tattoo of a dragon riding up her right arm.
She was shorter than me by at least a foot, and I remember vaguely being 6'3'', so she was pretty short. She also had a pair of wolf ears, which were an immediate weird factor for me. Were those real?
"So!" She starts, "Uhm, sorry. I was kind of spacing out. I'm new to Beacon and I'm just, really really nervous. Uhm - I'm Sangria! Sangria Delilah! It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand to shake mine, and I reciprocated.
This girl was weirdly friendly, but I wasn't one to turn down a friendly face when I was so lost, "Uhm, hi. I'm Noire. Noire Vienna."
She retracted her hand after a rather enthusiastic shake, "Do you know where the orientation is? I thought it'd be in here, but this just seems to be some kind of really big classroom."
"Oh, really? Damn, I was about to make the same mistake as you, then."
"Oh." She frowns, "Want to walk around a bit till we find it?"
Well, I guess there could be worse things to do in this situation, "Sure, beats wandering around alone anyways."
So, we turned and headed out the double doors to the building and started walking, she took the lead and headed towards where some other students were walking, but at a slow pace. She seemed more interested in conversation, "So, that's an interesting weapon. What is it?"
"Uhm, just a Staff." I had been holding it in my hand, so I just held it up a bit, "It's got a gem on the top."
"So, it's not a gun or anything?" She seemed surprised, "That's interesting!"
"Uhm, no, it's just a staff. Why? Is your weapon a gun?"
She reached on her back and grabbed something that was folded up to at least the size of my forearm, but when she hit a button, it suddenly expanded. The full-sized weapon was some kind of Halberd, grand in size and, just from the looks of it, it was intimidating.
"It's a Halberd and a Shotgun."
Suddenly, the blade of the weapon folded downward, revealing the barrel of a gun.
I suddenly felt incredibly incompetent for some reason.
"Ah, is that common? Weapons like that?"
Sangria looked at me confused, "Of course it is, I think most Huntsman use weapons like this these days."
As if on queue, a strange red blue crossed my vision and stopped in front of Sangria, causing the two of us to stop walking, "Oh my god! That's a really cool weapon!"
The girl was about the same size as Sangria, but the similarities ended there. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were silver. Her hair was black at the root but red at the tips, and she wore a black outfit with a rede cape.
She was also holding a giant Scythe, that she took out about as quickly as she appeared here, "This is my weapon, Crescent Rose!"
Before I could adjust to the girl and her giant weapon, another voice called from behind us. Male and hurried in tone, "Ruby! Wait up! You just rushed off!"
I turned and saw a male with blonde hair wearing white armor, at his side was a sword and some kind of collapsed piece of equipment. He seemed out of breath, and stopped, panting in place, "Geeze, you left me behind!"
"Oh, sorry Jaune!" The girl that was apparently named Ruby apologized, "I saw someone with a cool weapon and had to check it out!"
Jaune huffed, "And mine isn't cool?" He mutters beneath his breath, drawing his sword and looking at it dejectedly.
Sangria started chatting up Ruby about their weapons, so I went over to Jaune. "Hey, you're not alone. I've got a staff. Apparently that's not very cool."
Jaune looked over my staff, "Hey, it's pretty cool. Especially compared to this." He shows off his sword, admittedly plain looking, and then took his shield off his belt, "And this." Which at the very least had some decal on it.
"Nah, no shame in something just being utility. At least you can stab things with yours. What am I supposed to do with this? Beat people over the head with it?"
"Looks like a dust crystal on the top, maybe you use that?"
"Dunno, maybe."
I turned and noticed the two girls were starting to walk off, "Well, let's not get left in the dust. My name's Noire by the way."
"Jaune Arc! Good to meet you."
For one reason or another, I felt like I'd made a friend in that moment.
…
…
Me and Jaune talked the rest of the way. I avoided any questions about myself, since I didn't really know anything about myself and focused on him.
I learned he came from a long line of Huntsman and that his weapons were inherited from his Great Grandfather, who fought in the Great War. The details of which I'm still sketchy on, as Ozpin wasn't exactly giving me an in-depth history lesson, but it clearly meant a good deal to him, so I humored him by pretending to be impressed.
Eventually we got to the actual auditorium and Jaune and I made our way towards Ruby and Sangria.
"Sweet, two nice quirky girls!" Jaune exclaims before we get into ear shot.
"You're really about girls, aren't you?"
"Well yeah, I mean, don't you want to form some kind of cute romance while we're here?"
"Uhm, I'll get back to you on that."
"You're kinda weird, aren't you?"
I huff, "Not weird. Just… I dunno. Me."
"Which is weird."
I roll my eyes, and we finally reach the two girls.
Ruby was currently cowering in some blonde girls arms from a girl with white hair and crystal blue eyes.
I would be lying if I said I didn't find her strikingly beautiful.
...But, based on her tone while she was waving a pamphlet in Ruby's face, I had to assume that beauty concealed some serious venom.
Jaune immediately slid up and tried to be smooth, "Hey Weiss! You know a lot about dust. Why not teach me more some time?"
Weiss rolled her eyes and proceeded to place a second pamphlet in his hands, "Educate yourself. You clearly need it, but not as much as Ms. Explosion here does."
"Explosion?"
Sangria must have heard my question, because she turns and addresses me, "Ruby apparently sneezed and caused a minor dust explosion out at the entrance."
"Oh, fun."
The blonde haired girl piped up, setting down Ruby, "I'd say! If my sister starts every school day with a Bang like that one, I think we're in for a good year!"
A smirk crossed my lips as everyone else groaned, "Yeah, I guess this year is gonna be a real blast."
The groans redoubled, "Oh no, there's two of them!" Ruby exclaims in dismay.
Yang in the meantime burst out laughing, looking to me, "Hey, I like you! Names Yang."
"Noire, good to meet you."
She was about to say something else, but Ozpin tapped on the mic at the front of the room and we all turned to face him.
Ozpin spoke directly into the mic and didn't bother to pan his gaze over the crowd. His tone was factual and professional as he began his speech.
"I'll… Keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and pursue new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But when I look among you… All I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove to you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Ozpin then walked off to the side, and Glynda took his place. "You will gather and sleep in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow you will begin your initiation. Be ready. You're dismissed."
Yang stared at them and fluffed her hair, then spoke, "Did he seem a little… Off?"
"Yeah…" Ruby notes, "Like he wasn't even there."
Jaune took the opportunity to slide towards Weiss, "I'm a natural blonde you know!"
She rolled her eyes and facepalmed, then walked off. Everyone began to file out towards the ballroom, so I followed.
….
It was already starting to get late when everyone rolled out their bedrolls and went to change into their night clothes, and I was left in my uniform, sitting against the wall with my staff resting against me.
While I was alone, I tried to channel some magic, discreetly because Ozpin seemed certain that I should keep it hidden from people's knowledge, at least at first.
I managed to summon small flames on my fingers, then put them out. They were unsteady and weak, so I kept repeating the exercise to try and get better control of them.
Eventually, however, I had to stop as someone approached me.
"Hello! You're still in uniform? Do you not have night clothes?"
It was a guy, and he was tall. At least 6'9'', maybe taller. His hair and eyes were both a bright blue, and he had a great big welcoming smile on his face. His night clothes consisted of a dark-blue T-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. He was also incredibly brawny, he looked like he could crush my skull between his pecs.
Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but he was jacked, alright?
"Uhm, no. I… Don't have any. No bedroll either."
His smile turned into a frown, "That's not good! Want to borrow some of my clothes? They might be a bit big on you, but it can't be comfortable sleeping in a uniform!"
I was taken aback, "You'd do that? I mean, I'm just some guy. You don't even know my name."
He extends his hand, "My name is Cobalt! Cobalt Quartz. And you?"
I hesitantly extend my hand and shake his, "Noire Vienna, nice to meet you."
"See? Now you know my name! No qualms, right? Now you can borrow some clothes."
I had to admit this level of kindness wasn't exactly what I expected from this place, not that I had any expectations to begin with.
"Uhm, I suppose so."
"Come on then!"
…
So, Cobalt lent me some of his spare clothes and I changed in the bathroom before coming back, Cobalt told me I could just give back the clothes in the morning and it wouldn't be any trouble.
I took my uniform and folded it up, Cobalt unfortunately couldn't help in the bedroll department, so I figured I'd use the uniform as something of a makeshift pillow.
I approached a corner of the room and placed it down, and only after I had gotten ready to settle in did someone clear their throat from behind me.
Sitting on a chair with a small candle nearby was a girl with brown hair cut into a bob, and dark brown eyes. She wore a dark-pink nightgown and had olive-colored skin.
"I hope my reading won't interrupt your sleep." She spoke, her voice was rather proper. "I do say, night is the best time to read, but it would be wrong if my light kept you awake."
"Uhm, no, I should be fine." I didn't want to just leave it like that, so I sat on the ground and asked her, "So, excited for tomorrow?"
The girl hummed, "Excited is a word, but not the one I'd use. More… Apprehensive."
"Ah, so, you're nervous?"
"Indeed. What about you?"
"I don't know, really. Guess I'll have to take it as it comes."
"Fair enough, I'm more interested in figuring out who will be our teams. I don't believe they'll just let us pick. That would be a mistake I don't think Professor Ozpin is capable of."
"A mistake?"
"Yes, if he let them pick their friends, then some people would invariably be left out, and the team dynamics would be overall worse and much more unbalanced because of it. Especially as time went on."
I blinked a few times, "Wow, you're pretty smart aren't you?"
"Mmh, I prefer the term 'Observant.' But thank you." She stands up, stretching. I got to see that she was actually rather short, around 4'10'', "I'll see you around. I'll finish reading in my bedroll."
I waved her off and laid my head back against the makeshift pillow.
Soon, I was drifting off to an uncomfortable and dreamless sleep.
….
…
The morning was uneventful.
I didn't really talk to anyone and people mostly seemed to be forming their circles already.
I could have talked to Cobalt or Sangria, but I couldn't find them for some reason. In the meantime, Ruby was clinging to her sister for the morning and Jaune was still chasing Weiss.
I didn't get it, personally. Why was he attracted to someone who wouldn't even give him the time of day?
This red-head, Pyrrha, seemed more into him than Weiss from the five seconds I saw them interact than the entirety of Weiss' time knowing Jaune.
Either way, eventually we ended up at the initiation sight. Standing on platforms, with Ozpin and Glynda waiting for us all to get situation.
Ruby, Weiss, a girl I didn't recognize, and Yang were on the far right. With two people I didn't recognize, Jaune and Pyrrha coming after them.
Following that, was Cobalt, Sangria, Marigold, and me.
On my left was a… Strange group of people.
One's skull was shaped like that of a lizard, but beyond that he was entirely human. It freaked me out honestly. I had learned of 'Faunus' but I had never seen one like that before.
The others looked at least somewhat more normal. But only marginally.
There was a guy in a blue jacket that looked the most normal, there was a guy completely covered in the color red, even his hair and eyes were red!
Then there was a guy with green eyes, brown hair, and a dark green jacket on.
...Strange people, actually.
Ozpin cleared his throat, "Now that everyone is here, I will be explaining the initiation."
"You will journey through this forest and locate a relic, after which you will make your way back here to be deemed a success. While you're down there, you will meet the partner you're going to be spending the rest of your time here at Beacon with. The first person you lock eyes with when you land will be your partner. Now, any questions?"
As he asks that, Jaune raises his hand, "Uhm, excuse me sir. How are we getting down? Are you dropping us off or something?"
"No, you'll be falling."
Just then, off to my left, some of the others began getting launched, one at a time.
Jaune continued to question as people kept getting flung.
I was the furthest right out of the people I knew, so I was the first to get flung into the air without any warning.
Getting launched several hundred feet in the air wasn't something I was accustomed to, nor was it something I was ready for, but I tried my best to stabilize myself as I soared over the forest.
"Come on… I have magic, right?! Can't I fly?"
Try as I might, I couldn't summon the power to fly. Unfortunately.
I was coming down rather fast, and I could see the others all around me coming up with inventive landing strategies, or sticking the landing like proper Huntsman.
I, in the meantime, took out my staff and gripped it hard as I tried to figure out something to do.
"Come on, come on!"
I held the staff out in front of me and tried my hardest to will something to happen as I began to close in on a giant tree.
"Work damn it!"
Finally, right as I was about to faceplant into the tree, I felt myself slowing.
I had some kind of reddish field around me, and as I looked down, it began to lower me to the ground, my momentum from the launch lost.
As I landed, the field faded and I collapsed on the ground, "Ugh… That…"
...That really tired me out.
I guess I can't do fancy magic without getting tired, I'll need to be careful…
I'm sure if I tried blasting all of my problems away I'd die of exhaustion.
Guess there go my plans of being some badass who could destroy someone with a single glance who gets all the ladies.
Shame.
I barely had time to recover because I heard some rustling in the trees nearby. Using my staff as leverage, I steadied myself and went upright to see what was coming towards me.
I hoped it wasn't a Grimm.
In this shape, I'd be hard-pressed to fight, not that I even knew *how* to fight properly right now. You'd think Ozpin might have taught me before sending me on my way, or at least given some pointers, but here I was.
*...Snap!*
Oh geez, whatever that is, it's big!
I bet it's ugly, too!
Oh god…
The rustling of the grass and bushes soon revealed…
"Hello my friend!"
Cobalt, in all his giant glory.
Guess I got the 'big' part right.
Wait, that sounded wrong.
Whatever.
"Hey, Cobalt. Guess we're partners, huh?"
"Indeed! Are you alright? You look like you're tired."
"Just… A little bit. The whole 'launched into the stratosphere' thing took me by surprise."
Cobalt laughed, "I think it took everyone by surprise! Although I think the only person that had a tougher time than you with it was the blonde one I saw launch a bit after me. He looked like he was flailing!"
I didn't find it as funny as Cobalt did, but then again I seemed to be one of two people who didn't have some kind of landing strategy figured out.
"How did you land, anyway, Cobalt?"
Cobalt gestured for me to follow, so I did, using my staff as a cane for a minute before I was confident in my legs' ability to support me again.
He took me to a clearing in the forest, where there was a person-sized crater in the ground, with some of the ground around it cracked into crevices big enough to break your foot in.
"Gods, you just… Landed there?"
"Yep! I used my semblance!"
For a moment, Cobalt flexed, and his body was completely covered in shining blue armor.
It was a complete cover, glittering in blue, with a helm that covered his head shaped like a cross.
"Wow… That's amazing!"
"Thank you my friend! What's your semblance?"
Oh fuck.
"Uhm, well, see-"
Before I could try to explain it off, I heard a deep, guttural growling coming from the trees nearby. Yellow eyes glared in our direction, and Cobalt immediately shrugged off his greatsword from his back.
Cobalt's greatsword was a strange weapon.
It was very long, easily about as tall as me. For Cobalt, however, that wasn't much of a worry, he seemed strong enough to hold it. It had a gem placed in the middle of the cross-guard, it looked like some kind of blue gem… The kind, I couldn't place.
Was it Dust?
Cobalt's armor dissipated, strangely, "No need to waste that on such vermin! I'm sure I'll see your semblance soon enough, my friend. For now, let's get ready for a fight!"
Out of the brush came a large Ursa, the Grimm roared at us with monstrous ferocity, and my blue friend responded in kind with a bellowing war cry as he beat his chest for a moment and ran forward into the fray.
The Ursa responded by standing on its hind legs. It dwarved even Cobalt, but this didn't seem to dissuade him in the slightest as he used a fallen tree to catapult himself up.
Slashing his greatsword at the large Grimm, it roared in pain when the weapon connected, swinging upward and managing to connect with Cobalt, who grunted in pain as he was catapulted up.
Yet it didn't seem to be that big of an inconvenience to the giant, who backflipped in the air and drove his sword into the back of the beast.
It began to struggle, swatting around wildly while roaring.
"Noire! A little-" He grunted as the bear tried to throw him off, "A little assistance would be greatly appreciated!"
I suddenly remembered that I wasn't just a spectator to this fight, but a presumed participant.
"Uhm, right!"
I didn't know what to do, could I even hurt this thing?
I hadn't tried to do any sort of real magic yet!
Not combat magic at least.
I had to try at least!
I pointed my staff at the Ursa and tried to do something, anything to get some magic to work.
I felt a pulling deep in my chest, it felt like the start of a fire, kindling to burn.
Trying to draw on this, I closed my eyes and held my staff firmly with both my hands.
For one reason or another, I call out , "EXPLOSION!" as I feel a heat building in my staff.
A deafeningly loud explosion sounded out in front of me, forcing me to the ground from the force.
My ears were ringing even as the explosion subsided and I opened my eyes, trying to look around.
Sure enough, the trees around the Ursa had been blown back, and the Ursa itself was nowhere to be seen anymore.
Cobalt, however, emerged from a nearby bush, coughing, "By the brothers! Was that your semblance?"
"Uhm, yeah. Something like that." I managed, as I tried to stand, but found myself falling over again.
"...Not that it agrees with me very well right now."
Cobalt helped me stand as I used my staff for support, he then went over to the brush and grabbed his sword, putting it on his back.
"Well, come then. We should get moving, the artifacts can't be too far from here."
And so, off we went.
….
It took a lot of walking, and a few close encounters with some Grimm, but we eventually came to a clearing that had a large circular stone structure in the middle of it.
"This looks like it, hmm?" Cobalt wonders as we approach.
I had been using my staff as support for most of the walk here, but luckily I was beginning to feel better now and started to walk normally.
They were…
"Chess pieces?" I wonder aloud.
Standing on pedestals were three different types of chess pieces.
It looks like one set was missing, but there were three others.
A Knight piece, a Rook piece, and a Pawn piece.
"Which should we take?" I wonder.
"Hmm… I'll let you choose, my friend. I'm going to take a quick look around the area."
Cobalt wandered off out of sight for a moment.
I was honestly kind of worried about just being left alone in this place considering my lack of proper defensive skills, but I proceeded towards the pieces anyways.
Tentatively, I reached out to a grey pawn piece and took it, before placing it in my pocket.
It didn't take long before I heard some rustling from the trees nearby and turned quickly to the source, hoping to god it wasn't another Ursa.
Thankfully, my fears abated as two familiar girls stepped out of the brush.
Sangria and Marigold.
Sangria was in the same khaki outfit she wore yesterday, while Marigold was in a bright yellow dress and holding a Parasol on her shoulder.
"Hey, Cobalt's here!" Sangria waved at me, and I waved back.
"Hey Sangria. Made it here alright, I see, with your partner."
"Charmed to see you again, Noire." Marigold responded politely, "Yes, we landed rather close to each other, so we've partnered up as per the Headmaster's orders."
"I teamed up with a guy named Cobalt, heard of him?"
Marigold shook her head, but Sangria nodded, "That really big dude? Awesome! His weapon looked pretty sweet, if a little standard. Where is he?"
"He wandered off to check the perimeter while I chose our piece. Speaking of, I think you guys need to grab one of these."
"Obviously." Marigold noted softly, walking up to one and plucking a Pawn piece, "It seems pretty standard for an artifact. I suppose Ozpin didn't want to put real artifacts in the hands of trainees."
"Probably not." Sangria noted as she went to look at the Pawn piece, and Marigold held it out for her to check it.
I spotted two more girls appear over the horizon, on one of the hills. A mess of blonde hair followed by a black haired girl with a bow. Both of them were incredibly attractive, at least in my opinion, but I obviously wasn't going to pull a Jaune.
Besides, I recognized at least one of them was the sister of that Ruby girl.
Not that that was a dealbreaker or anything.
"Oh hey," The blonde one spoke, "People we don't know!" She waved as they headed towards our position.
"Hey." I raised my hand, "I remember you from yesterday. You're Ruby's sister right?"
"Yep! Name's Yang, and you're Mr. Funny-guy helping me prove the glory of puns!"
"Yeah, you had some real Yangers yesterday."
Blake, Marigold, and Sangria all facepalmed while Yang let off a short laugh, "That's the stuff! Anyway, what's with these chess piece?"
"Artifacts, pick your favorite." I responded, leaning against one of the empty pedestals.
Blake hummed, "I'll choose." She walks up to the Knight and takes it, "Any Grimm in the area?"
"Well-" Marigold started, only to be interrupted when she heard some screaming coming from above.
"HEEADDSSS UPPPPPP!" Ruby yelled as she fell from the sky.
Before anyone could react to try and help her, another body slammed into her and sent them into a tree.
"...Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake wondered with a tone of mild interest.
Before anyone could respond, an Ursa burst through the trees, roaring and flailing about, before falling down and revealing an orange-haired girl riding on top of it, "Awwh, I broke it!"
"Nora!" A male voice called out, emerging from behind the Ursa's leg, "Don't ever do that again…"
Marigold picked up, "Did she just ride in on an Ursa?"
The orange haired girl zipped over to the pedestals and picked up a castle with a fascinated look on her face, before promptly placing it on her head and promptly posing with it.
"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"
"NORA!"
Giggling, the castle fell off, "Coming Ren!" Then, she skipped off.
Again, before anyone could reply, a girl burst through the brush, and hot on her tail was a giant Scorpion Grimm that seemed to have a vendetta against her for one specific reason or another.
"...Did she run here with a Grimm on her tail?"
Ruby appeared in view, seemingly having gotten off the tree, "Yang!"
"Ruby!"
"NORA!" The orange-haired girl appeared before the two girls could hug, making her presence known.
Her partner, Ren, soon ran over to join the small assembly of students.
Yang seemed to explode, almost literally, her eyes going red for a minute, "Okay, can everyone chill out for TWO SECONDS before something crazy happens again?!"
One…
Two…
Ding!
"Uhm, Yang…" Ruby pointed up.
The white-haired girl from yesterday was in the sky, holding on to a giant Raven Grimm.
"RUBY! YOU ABANDONED ME!"
"I told you to let go!"
Following that, I heard Cobalt yelling from the forest, "INCOMMINNNGG!"
He ran forward through the trees, with a giant Praying Mantis on his tail.
It was easily ten feet tall, and was primarily colored white, but had gold and black trimming, rounding off its nightmarish appearance with red bug eyes as it drove its sharp pincers into the ground where Cobalt had been before.
"Oh great, two things." Blake deadpanned.
"I think your partner is falling." Ren notes to Ruby rather casually.
And worse, I noticed Jaune looking to play hero by getting ready to dive in and save her.
Well, I guess I had to do something.
As Jaune grabbed Weiss and they both started to fall together, I raised my staff and tried to concentrate like I had when I was falling, but pointed it at the two of them.
Come on…
I felt like I had feathers in my stomach as a purple aura surrounded the two of them right as they were about to land on the ground, but then it faded and they fell anyway, with Jaune landing face first into the dirt and Weiss landing sitting on his back.
"My hero." Weiss muttered sarcastically, neither of them seeming aware of the purple aura that had momentarily appeared around them.
"My back!" Jaune groaned in pain.
...Guess my magic needed work if it was going to affect more than one person at once.
For some reason, I didn't feel too tired from that one. Maybe it was because it petered out so quickly?
Then, the red haired girl dove past the assembled group and landed on the ground.
"Great! The gang's all here." Yang exclaimed, "Now we can die together."
"Not if I can help it!" And Ruby raced forward, despite Yang's objections.
Similarly, Sangria readied her weapon, "I'm not gonna let Cobalt die to that thing!" And ran towards where he was.
"Wait, Sangria!" Marigold exclaimed, before sighing, "Reckless."
Several things happened at once.
The Raven Grimm shot several feathers out, pinning Ruby's cloak, and the Mantis Grimm made contact with the gem on Cobalt's sword, causing a large white explosion.
When it cleared, the Mantis was encased in ice.
Meanwhile, the white haired girl, Weiss I think was her name? Rushed forward and pulled a similar move, freezing the scorpion and saying something to Ruby I couldn't make out.
Afterwards, everyone assembled back at the front, and I moved from my position behind the group sitting on a pedestal to join them.
"Guys! That thing is circling back again." Jaune pointed to the large Raven screeching overhead, "What are we gonna do?"
"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss gestured to the remaining pieces.
"She's right. Our objective is to get the artifacts and make it back to the cliff. There's no sense in fighting these things!" Ruby picked up.
"Run and live. That's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune commented.
"It is not a glorious action, but…" Cobalt sighed, "Sometimes it is better to retreat. We should move!"
The Scorpion, as if on cue, began to break from its ice, and the Mantis began to form cracks in the block of ice it was in.
"How about we leave now?" I note.
"Good idea!" Jaune exclaims.
And so, we all began to run.
…
We kept running, and soon arrived at the ruins of what must have been some kind of human outpost against the Grimm in ages past.
The Raven perched on the very top of the ruined watchtower and screamed murder at the top of its lungs.
"Well, that's inconvenient." Yang noted to Ruby while we were all hiding behind some ruins.
And to punctuate this inconvenience, the scorpion and Mantis burst through the trees, roaring at us.
"And so is that." I mutter.
"Oh man, run!" Jaune exclaims, and so we do, running like bats out of hell.
I didn't pay attention as Nora began to shoot at the Raven and we all ran for the bridge, but before I could get to it, the Mantis stuck one of its claws in front of me, stopping me a few feet from the fridge as I skinned to a halt.
"Uhm, guys! Problem!"
Sangria was the first to come to my aid, lunging forward and stabbing at the mantis' claw with her pike, before blasting it with the shotgun part and sending it reeling back.
Following up was Cobalt and Marigold.
Cobalt leapt in and stabbed at the exoskeleton, prying off a piece of it with his sword and causing the creature to scream out in pain.
Marigold stopped and pointed her Parasol like a rifle, shooting at the creature.
I cast my glance off to where the others were and saw that both other groups were battling the other two Grimm.
It was us against this Mantis.
And it was with that I realized I was still in between the Mantis two arms.
It looked at me and screeched an unholy screech that sent chills down my spine.
Its mouth was open, it looked like it wanted to eat me, so I did the only logical thing.
WHACK!
I smashed it with the wood part of my staff.
That seemed to daze it for a split second, so I fled back before it reoriented itself.
"Think it's giving?!" Sangria asked.
Then the creature smacked her and sent her flying back.
"Guess not!" Cobalt picked up, leaping on the creatures back and hacking at its exoskeleton, "It's hard to pierce this beast's armor!"
Sangria came back with a vengeance, she took out a red vial and tossed it on the creature.
It crashed against it and it covered it.
It looked like… Blood?
Said blood suddenly caught on fire, and the creature began to scream in pain and confusion, swinging wildly.
Marigold unfolded her Parisol and began to spin in. From the parasol, air began to coalesce and form a tornado that lifted the creature in the air, Cobalt proceeding to jump off before it got too high in the air.
"Noire!" Cobalt called to me.
I guess he wanted me to use my 'semblance!'
I didn't know if I could channel the same power, but I tried.
As I called the energy forth from my body, I felt myself getting incredibly exhausted.
I didn't know if I had some kind of upper limit, but I was clearly pushing myself for this.
No turning back now!
Rather than fire, a burst of lightning shot from the gem on my staff and blindsided the Mantis, causing it to shoot off into the giant ravine near us.
As it started to fly off, the others began to cheer.
I, however, felt the world fading.
And soon, I collapsed onto the ground.
….
It was cold. Too cold.
The land around me was dead, bitter snow covering once beautiful flowers.
She stared down at me from her perch, glaring at me. I was the bane of her existence.
"Why did you… Do this?" I muttered.
"For the future."
"What about me?! The others?!"
"...You were never going to be worthy."
Before I could respond, a loud crack of thunder landed in front of us both.
"Hey, Noire, wake up!"
I blinked blearily, standing over me was… Well, everyone.
Everyone I had been with during initiation was surrounding me, "Oh, so you are alive. Good!" Yang exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Can't… Can't use semblance without getting too tired." I lied as best I could.
"Shame."
Cobalt was staring at me rather weirdly, but said nothing.
"Well at least you're not dead." Weiss noted, as everyone began to back away to give me space, and Sangria helped me stand.
I leaned on my staff, "Yeah. Not dead. That's good. Thanks Snowball."
"Snowball?" She squinted at me, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well. You froze the Scorpion with your dust, your hair is white, and I don't know your name. So, Snowball."
"My name's Weiss. Weiss Schnee."
"Cool. Weiss Knee."
"SCHNEE! You know, Schnee Dust Company?"
"Uhm, no clue who they are."
"R-Really?" This seemed to take Weiss by surprise.
And everyone else.
"How do you not know them?" Yang wondered, "They're pretty huge."
"Yeah, it's odd. Where are you from?" Marigold asked.
"Uhm, somewhere. We should get going, huh?"
"Right!" Ruby notes, "The Headmaster wants us back for the ceremony where we get our teams."
And so, I was saved indirectly by Ozpin.
….
My group ended up being last.
The first group grabbed the black Bishop pieces and was named team Cardinal.
Second up was Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. They formed JNPR.
Then came Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake. RWBY was formed.
Finally, Cobalt, Marigold, Sangria, and myself walked up.
"Cobalt Quartz, Marigold Magnolia, Sangria Delilah, Noire Vienna."
"You all claimed the grey Pawn pieces. Together, you will form team Crimson. CMSN. With Cobalt as your leader. Congratulations."
Ozpin gave me a look and, as we were walking off stage, he whispered to me, "I'll talk to you more later."
...Comforting. Truly.
….
That night, we had been assigned a room. We were in the same hallway as RWBY and JNPR, which I wasn't sure if I was meant to find comforting or not.
As we were all sitting on our beds, Cobalt spoke, "So! It's good to be working with you three. I hope I won't disappoint you as team leader."
"Well, you seem fairly stalwart, I trust Ozpin's decision." Marigold noted, back in her night clothes.
"Yep!" Sangria was wearing footie pajamas. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. "After how you went at that Mantis, I'm more than happy to put my trust in you."
"Same here. You'll make a good partner too."
"And you as well, Noire! Although, I would like to talk to you in private for a moment, if you would."
Oh boy.
"Sure." I responded, going to stand.
I had ended up borrowing some of Cobalt's night clothes again, which made me wonder if it was about that or something else.
We ended up in the hallway, and he spoke, "What was with the lightning, my friend? Your semblance is explosions, isn't it?"
Fuck.
"Uhm- Well, it's actually more like… Elemental channeling? If I use my staff, I can use elements."
It may not be the most solid explanation, but it had to work.
"Hmm… Very well! I was simply curious, and I don't want any secrets between the team, alright? Nothing to worry about."
"Right! Nothing to worry about."
Cobalt went back inside, and I told him I was going to clear my head and take a short walk down the hall, which he accepted as truth.
I wasn't entirely lying, although I found myself going towards the balcony offered in the hallway and leaning against it, staring out at the empty courtyard of the school with a heavy sigh. The night air was chilly, but not cold enough to warrant discomfort.
I heard some footsteps behind me, and turned to look at who was coming my way.
It was Blake, also dressed in her night clothes, but she stopped when she saw me, "Sorry I- Didn't see you."
"It's fine. Introspective isolation loves company… Right?"
"Kind of the opposite of isolation, isn't it?" She ponders as she comes to the balcony anyway.
"...You're right. Oh well."
Silence. Awkward silence.
"...You're Blake, right?"
"Right. You're Noire?"
"Right. Why'd you come out here?"
"Get away from my teammates for a moment. Too loud. You?"
"...Kind of the same. Wanted to clear my head."
More silence.
This time it wasn't really awkward, we just both kind of stared out at the courtyard.
Blake was the one to break the silence this time. "...Your team killed the Mantis, right? And you passed out."
I flushed in embarrassment, "R-Right. The others did a lot more than I did, truth be told."
"You landed the final blow."
"I also passed out after that. If we were in the middle of real combat, I'd be dead."
"...Maybe. But we're still students. You have time."
Sighing, I nodded, "Maybe. You did good with the Raven thing. What did Ozpin call it? Nevermore?"
"A Nevermore. And thank you. It was mostly Ruby and Weiss."
"...Guess we're both not exactly in the spotlight."
"I don't think that's a bad thing."
Mulling it over, I nodded, "I'm inclined to agree with you."
"Blaaakee!" Ruby's voice called from inside the building, "Where are you?"
Blake sighed, "Time to go, I guess." She stands up, "Good talk."
"Right, good talk."
She left, and a few minutes later, I did to.
Once I slipped back into the team's dorm, I found the others already asleep, and soon, I found myself joining them.
A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter of Into Remnant! I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always welcome, criticism helps me improve after all.