A/N: And I rise from the dead to write a completely self-indulgent RWBY fanfiction alongside my boyfriend.
Short little disclaimer here- I haven't written OC driven fanfiction since I was about twelve, so bear with me if this turns into a giant trainwreck, okay?
Team CRLN Character Appearances:
Carran Lowell- A tall young man with pale skin, gray eyes, and short black hair. He wears a black bowler hat, a black vest, a tucked in white button up shirt, black pants, black combat boots, and a black knee-length coat. He occasionally wears a black cloak with a hood.
Rosaria Belmonte- A young woman of average height with chin length brown hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. She wears a tucked in white button up shirt, a red pleated skirt, brown combat boots, and a black trenchcoat.
Lydia Laroche- A young woman of average height with shoulder length curly brown hair, dark skin, and purple eyes. She wears a sleeveless purple dress, which is held up by a v-neck strap at the neck. The dress cuts off below the knee. She also wears a black, pirate style coat with silver buttons and black heel boots.
Nereus Asturias- A tall young man with short, curly brown hair. He also has blue-green eyes and tan skin. He wears a blue military style coat, a blue turtleneck, gray pants, and brown boots.
There were apparently multiple ways to get oneself placed upon an airship bound for Beacon Academy. Apparently, protecting a village outside the kingdom from a Grimm attack was one way to do it. However, it wasn't as if he could complain about the current situation. Being a hunter did happen to line up with his particular set of skills. He'd always been rather handy with a sword, for instance.
Carran took a moment to mark his page before looking up to observe his surroundings once again. As he suspected, not much had changed since his last glance upward. The brunette who had lent him the book he was currently reading was still seated to his right, completely absorbed with another novel. Towards the back, a blonde girl and a black haired girl were chattering, both practically on the verge of shouting as they conversed. There was also the other girl with the black coat, who was barely concealing her nerves. As it was, her shifting eyes easily gave her away. There was also the blond hovering by the trashcan and the brunet staring out the window, along with a half dozen other individuals that Carran was paying slight attention to.
"Do you like the book so far?"
Carran placed the voice immediately. It was the brunette again, the one with the black trenchcoat and the red skirt.
"Yeah. It's interesting." Which wasn't a lie. The book did interest him, which was why he hadn't immediately dropped it back into the girl's lap.
"What part are you at?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
He shrugged. "Just started. I'm only a few pages in."
"Ah." With that, she let the conversation drop, turning her head back down in favor of returning to her book. Carran waited for her to speak again, but she said nothing, only moving to turn a page.
Carran turned his attention back towards the general populace of the ship. The only thing that had changed was the news report, which had switched from a report about Roman Torchwick to a report on a Faunus protest. Trying to listen to the report immediately proved difficult once the brunet with the blue coat sat down next to him.
"So, do you always wear the suit?"
Carran resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah. It's comfortable."
"Isn't it hard to fight in though?" the brunet asked. "Aren't you worried about getting it dirty or something?"
"No and no," Carran responded. "Again, it's comfortable."
The brunet stared at him. "You're weird."
"Yes."
The brunet shook his head, a smile forming on his lips. He began to speak again, but was cut off by a soft whir from the screen, cutting off the Faunus report. A blonde woman appeared on the screen, with her hands behind her back. The brunette beside Carran looked up, marking her page as the blonde began to speak.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon," she said, in a tone that made Carran immediately suspect that the message had been recorded beforehand.
"Who's that?" The blonde by the window asked.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch," the blonde on screen continued, as if she had never been interrupted.
"Oh."
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy," Glynda continued. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future hunters and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
With that, her image faded offscreen, drawing murmurs of excitement from the crowd.
"Looks like we've arrived," the brunet beside Carran said, nodding towards the people crowded by the windows that were admiring the view. "You gonna go look?"
Carran shook his head.
The brunet shrugged, standing up to leave. "Fair enough. Nice to meet you, by the way. Maybe I'll see you on campus sometime?"
"Maybe."
The boy smiled and left, but doubled back a few seconds later, looking rather sheepish. "Uh, I didn't catch your name."
"Carran."
"Just Carran?" he asked, smirking slightly.
Carran resisted the urge to throw the book he was holding at the brunet. "Carran Lowell."
"Ah, okay. My name's Nereus Asturias."
Nereus waited for Carran to speak, but Carran only nodded in response.
"Well, cya around!" With that, Nereus left, moving back towards his spot by the windows, stumbling a bit as the ship angled itself downwards. Carran chuckled slightly before directing his attention back towards the brunette beside him, who was once again completely absorbed in her novel.
He placed the book she had lent him on top of the open one in her lap. "Here."
She looked up. "Huh?"
"We're landing," Carran replied, nodding towards the windows. "I don't think you want me to keep this."
It took another moment for his words to sink in before she responded. "Oh, right! You can hang onto it if you want," she said, looking a tad embarrassed. "Just give it back to me when you're done, okay?"
Carran shook his head. "It's fine. I'd rather not be responsible for someone else's belongings."
"Oh," the brunette responded, sounding more flustered than before. "I guess that makes sense."
"Yeah," Carran said, but his agreement proved to be unnecessary; the girl had become distracted by the blond with the armour racing past, looking rather green. She cringed as the boy began to retch into the trash can, and continued to look rather uncomfortable as the vomiting continued.
"Are you okay?" Carran asked.
"Yeah," the girl responded, the look persisting on her face.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she repeated, not sounding fine at all.
The ship continued to descend, drawing more people to the windows to admire the view. The brunette fell victim to the spell as well, averting her eyes away from Carran to gaze at the academy, which was quickly drawing into view.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the brunette said, almost at a whisper.
Carran only nodded in response. There was no further conversation between them; the brunette's attention was diverted by Nereus introducing himself, prompting a conversation between them that lasted until they disembarked.
It wasn't until the brunette vanished into the crowd that Carran realized that he never learned her name.