Hello. I rewrote it. Cause I changed some shit. Yup.
Enjoy.
LLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSS PLAY!
Welcome to Beacon
Beacon's central tower was enormous. A behemoth that caressed the ceiling of Remnant.
Weiss Schnee had known how big the tower would be. She'd even seen bigger. But that didn't stop her from gawking through one of the commercial Bullhead's many windows with the rest of the enrolling students. There was just something about the skyscraper that caught and held the attention of anyone who gazed upon it.
Weiss raised a hand to the back of her neck, and rubbed the rose emblem that had marred her pale, porcelain skin, in an attempt to quell the nervousness in her stomach. It was disgraceful. Schnees did not get nervous. Or at least most didn't. Then again, Weiss Schnee wasn't like most Schnees. If she were, she would be taking a tour of Atlas' Academy of Mages, magical scholars and warriors that would no doubt contribute greatly to society, not on an airship to the world's most renowned school for Magicians, the unholy, battle-hungry freaks of the magical world.
But of course her fate had been sealed the day that she woke up with a Demon's Mark on her neck. She grimaced at the reminder of the demonic creature who had marked her and ruined her life. Weiss' nails slipped under the flesh of her neck.
She hissed and pulled her hand away, cringing at her bloodied nails. She watched as the blood began to shimer and then softly blew the glowing dust on her nails away. Then she heard it. An all too familiar childish voice giggling, the sound echoing around her, mocking her. She gritted her teeth as it was the only thing stopping her from screaming at the voice. Apparently the owner of the voice found her anger even more amusing than before as the giggles escalated into laughter.
Luckily for Weiss, a distraction had come to take her attention. A good thing too, as her magic had began to leak, evident by the teens around her beginning to shiver with befuddled looks on their face, some of them muttering to themselves about the sudden drop in temperature.
Her distraction came in the form of a rather large and loud crowd had formed towards the center of the ships deck. She noticed a few other circles of people forming across the deck. Her curiosity peaked she made her way towards the largest crowd. The crowd was dense and people seemed reluctant to move, luckily Weiss had sharp elbows and a sharp tongue, people were more than happy to move after a few threats. She finally managed to force her way to the center of the commotion to find purple smoke floating idly. Weiss raised a brow. This was what the commotion was about? As if to answer her unspoken question, the smoke began to shift swirling around almost hypnotically before pooling together. The smoke took on the shape of a human and suddenly in its place was a blonde haired woman. Her appearance earned stares of admiration and gasps of shock from the crowds.
"Hello children, I would like formally welcome you all to Beacon." the woman spoke in a calm and commanding tone.
Ah. An announcement, about time. Weiss thought to herself.
"I am Glynda Goodwitch. But, hopefully, for the next four years, you will know me as Professor." The woman continued, "You are among a privileged few who have the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy." Weiss snorted at that, this was anything but an honor. The woman continued, "Our world is, as it has always been, threatened by cold, dark, murderous beasts. The creatures of Grimm. As future Magicians, it will be your duty to fight these creatures and protect the people. 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." The woman's speech led to many murmurs from the crowd as well as an annoyed noise slipping past Weiss' lips.
Then, just as suddenly and impossibly as she appeared, Glynda was gone in a flash of bright purple. Weiss stared at the place the woman had occupied as the crowd began to disperse.
"Well," a new voice said next to Weiss, "That was certainly...flashy."
Weiss' blue eyes turned to find purple ones mere inches away from her. She let out a yelp before stepping back from the strange girl before her. Looking the girl up and down, the first thing that Weiss noticed was the mane of flaming blonde hair. Literally. Weiss stared at the golden mane that had somehow been set alight. Typical Magician. Their magic is always unnecessarily grangidios.
Other than her hair, the girls noticeable traits were her… ample chest, large stature, and toned midriff, which was exposed by a brown jacket that was, probably purposefully, too short. She cursed herself as she felt her body betray her, blood rushing to her cheeks.
Under the girl's jacket, there was a yellow T-Shirt, with what was probably the girl's emblem printed at the top. Paired with the shortest pair of shorts she had ever seen, Weiss finally understood the meaning of the term bombshell.
The girl noticed Weiss' stare, which only made her already wide grin become ear splitting.
"Yang Xiao Long." The girl said simply, sticking out her hand.
Weiss stared at it dumbly for a moment before looking back up at the strange girl. The grin on the yellow girl's face highlighted the deep black Demon's Mark on her cheek. It was obviously some kind of flower though she couldn't discern what kind. Weiss' wary face briefly shifted to one of disgust before she sniffed and put on a cold smirk. "Weiss Schnee."
Surprisingly, Yang was not disconcerted by her icy stare. In fact, it only seemed encourage the girl.
"Good to meet you, Weiss." She said. Her smile never left her face.
"I'm sure it is." Weiss sneered and crossed her arms. The smile on Yang's face didn't budge. Weiss frowned before sighing.
That usually works... Normal people don't tend to stick around after one or two glares. She silently reminded herself of what Winter had told her before she left.
At least try to make friends. Weiss would have loved to follow her sister's advice. She just wished she was in better company to do so. In her experience Magicians were unbearably strange.
"Your hair is on fire." She said, her frown still firmly in place. Just because Winter had asked her to try didn't mean she had to enjoy it.
Yangs smile became larger than it already was, as impossible as thar seemed. Weiss was beginning to think that the girl was using Augmentation magic to alter her appearance. "Yes, yes it is. Impressive, isn't it?" The yellow girl boasted, the flames of her hair flaring up as she did. "My uncle told me once that it's good to look intimidating when facing the Grimm, so I had him teach me how to to do this."
"Intimidating. That seems counter intuitive. We protect the people, what sense does it make to scare them with the way we look?"
"I thought that too. When I asked my uncle about it, he said that if a civilian thinks a Magician looks more intimidating than a Grimm, then it helps the civilians believe the Magician can handle the situation."
Weiss thought on it, and realized that the girl's words, or rather the words of the girl's uncle, made sense. In a backwards thinking sort of way. She voice her opinion and Yang chuckled.
"That's Uncle Qrow for you. He never makes any sense until he does." Yang had noticed the lull in conversation that they were racing towards before Weiss did, and immediately directed the down a different path. "So, what's your class?"
"I'm an Invoker though I know a few Elementalist tricks." Weiss said with a smirk.
"Interesting. Not many people bother learning more than their class requires. Guess you think you're some kind of big shot huh." Yang said with an eyebrow raised and a smirk. She grinned when the cocky look on Weiss' face turned back into an icy, albeit half hearted glare. Weiss didn't like the smug look on the girls face. Something was off about the girl, like she was laughing at a joke that only she knew. Yang laughed at her frown. "I'm kidding. I think it's pretty awesome that you put in the work. I'm an Elemental myself so can vouch for it being a difficult magic to learn, even when it's the magic you have and affinity for. I've tried dealing with other types of magic before. It usually led to me getting angry and running off into the woods to set something on fire."
Weiss allowed herself to smile at the praise. She supposed Yang didn't seem too strange.
"Yes, well there is a bit of a trick to it." Weiss said.
"And I to struggle with elements that aren't ice or gravity. Maybe you can help me in that regard?"
"Gladly."
Yang's oversized grin was infectious, and Weiss found herself truly happy for the first time on her journey to Beacon.
They continued like that for the rest of the flight. By the time the Bullhead reached Beacon's docks, Yang and Weiss had already become well acquainted.
The two Magicians-to-be had spent the majority of the flight talking about magic types and their intricacies. As it turn out, Yang was very knowledgeable in the field of Physical magic as she had been studying it for the past couple of years. The yellow girl had excitedly told her that she could knock a tree over with a single punch, and had admitted with an embarrassed grin that she had only managed to master the muscle enhancing techniques. Weiss hadn't known what she expected from the girl, but she definitely did not expect to relearn her an entire semester's worth of Advanced Physical magic lessons. Yang was very smart, despite the dumb blonde vibe she gave off.
In turn, Weiss had given Yang a brief lesson on the hand motions of Summoning magic. Yang had said that trying to remember the different gestures and what they meant made her head spin. She found it much easier to remember the amount of magic needed to punch through a brick wall.
Weiss was trying to wrap her head around one of the more advanced Elemental techniques Yang was telling her about when a voice echoed through the Bullhead. "Welcome to Beacon."
Yang let out a small woop of excitement before grabbing Weiss' hand and all but dragged her off the Bullhead. Weiss let out a yelp of surprise as she was 'escorted' off of the aircraft, but did nothing to stop the blonde girl. Despite her dismay at attending a school for Magicians, Weiss was still just as excited as Yang. It was like the woman had said, they would, hopefully, be spending the next four years there.
They jarred to a stop and before Weiss could gripe at her new found friend for stopping so suddenly, she saw it. And her mouth fell agape. She finally understood why they called it The Shining Beacon. They stood in the middle of Beacons expansive courtyard. The view from the Bullhead didn't do the the towers of Beacon justice. The spires seemed to stretch past the heavens from where they stood. Spreading almost impossibly far over the cliffs. Columns lined the central avenue of the overly large courtyard.
"So, we are supposed to head to the auditorium, right?" Yang asked, staring at the shimmering palace, mouth agape. It really was even more magnificent up close.
"Yes, they told us this in the packet we got a few months ago. The one that came with our letters of acceptance, remember?"
"Uh… yeah, that packet that I totally read. I definitely didn't accidently set it on fire or anything like that." Yang said scratching the back of her head. Weiss gave the blond a stare of disbelief. "What? I got excited after I read the words 'Yang' and 'have been accepted'."
"You must be joking."
"Afraid not, Weiss cream."
Weiss whirled around at the speed of sound, ready to berate Yang for her silly nickname, when she spotted something behind the taller girl.
Yang followed her gaze to a small crowd of people. She could just barely see a red blur at the center of said crowd.
"What's that about?" She asked, confused. Just after she did, bright orange smoke erupted from the crowd. The crowd was sent into a panic. Out of the chaos, a red and gold blur launched out back to the docks. Yang could have sworn she heard the blur yell out an apology.
"I don't know…" Weiss answered as she stared after the blur. "But I think our time would better spent heading towards the auditorium."
"Or. We can go find out."
"..."
The docks were almost completely empty at this point. The only people still milling around were Bullhead pilots, Beacon workers, who were doing maintenance on the Bullheads and unloading student bags. Now that she was able to clearly see the docks and not just the distorted images that had passed her by on her rush to the courtyard, she noticed that the docks were shaped like the gears of a clock.
She also noticed the girl crying on a bench off to their left. She was there too.
Weiss and Yang had no trouble spotting the girl.
The girl's hair was a deep red. Her skin slightly pale. She wore golden greaves that gleamed in the sun and her arms were protected with similar looking guards. Her chest was covered by sturdy looking bronze chest plate, and she also wore a short skirt with a large golden pin. Around her waist was a sash that matched her hair and kissed her ankles. The pin bore her emblem, a shield and spear. The girl's final accessory was a gold headpiece. For some reason, Weiss found eyes wandering to the girl's chest. But not for the reason you think. Okay maybe partially for the reason you think. The other reason was right above the redheads heart. On it sat a demon mark. Two golden crescents.
Another whimper reached Weiss' ears and she cringed as she saw the tears falling out of the girls eyes. She had never been good with emotions. Not even her own. She had a very unbecoming tendency to either let them run rampant or suppress them in the darkest corners of her mind. She had absolutely no idea how to try to consol this girl.
But, apparently, that was what Yang was for.
The taller girl slowly walked over to the crying one. Weiss followed after her. She sat down silently next to the girl and, after a while, rested a hand on her shoulder.
The red haired girl's crying ceased immediately, and Yang could feel the muscle tense under the girl's skin.
Things stayed like that for a moment until Yang finally spoke.
"Are you going to be okay?" Yang asked.
The girl to her left let out a long stuttery sigh. "Yes, yes, I sorry. I was just a bit overwhelmed by how… amicable everyone was being." Her voice was broken and muted as she spoke.
"You don't appreciate people being friendly?"
"Not when it is for the wrong reasons." The girl muttered under her breath. Weiss had just barely been able to hear it. But she did.
"Neither do I." Weiss said.
The girl looked up at her revealing emerald green eyes. Eyes that widened for a moment in recognition before narrowing. They seemed to scan her face for any sign of deceit any drop of ill intent, but when they found none the girl allowed herself to smile politely.
"I didn't think I would be followed." She began her voice sounding only a little broken now. "I didn't want anyone to see me like this."
"Sorry about that." Yang said with an apologetic smile. "We were about to head to the auditorium when we saw all the commotion. You ducked out of there pretty quickly. We were curious."
"You were curious." Weiss corrected. Yang stuck her tongue out and winked at her in response.
The girl next to Yang laughed at the exchange. Once she stopped she sat herself up straight.
"I'm Pyrrha."
"Oooh. That's why you look so familiar."
Pyrrha, seemed to stiffen again.
"You're the girl on the Pumpkin Pete's box art, right?" Yang exclaimed.
Pyrrha looked at Yang in shock for a moment. Then she started to laugh.
She clutched her gut and laughed so hard that she started to cry again.
She pulled herself together to give the yellow girl a proper answer.
"Yes. Yes I am."
Of course this confused Weiss. She had known exactly who Pyrrha Nikos was the moment she saw her. The girl who had been in tears just a moment ago was a world class fighter. An amazing Impetumancer, whose prowess with Force magic was on par with that of professional Mages and Magicians. If Weiss remembered correctly, she had seen the girl at a few galas she had performed at.
She was going to voice her thoughts when she caught the pleading look Pyrrha was sending her. She suddenly understood. Pyrrha didn't want advertise who she was. Weiss could understand the sentiment. She had entertained the idea of disguising herself on her way to Vale, but had decided against it. Schnees did not hide from their problems. Still, she could respect Pyrrha's choice.
"It is nice to meet you, Pyrrha. I am Weiss." Weiss said as politely as she could with her hand outstretched. She smiled when Pyrrha gripped it and shook it eagerly.
"And I'm Yang." Yang grinned. Her fire in her hair emulated her excitement, as it bounded and leapt off of her head madly.
"It's a pleasure meet both of you." The red girl said, eyeing Yang's fiery hair.
"We should get going, wouldn't want to be late on the first day, right?" Yang said, standing up. She, then, offered a hand to Pyrrha, who took it gratefully.
"Yes, we should be on our way." Weiss agreed, turning on her heels and beginning to head back in the direction of the school, while Yang and Pyrrha followed behind her.
The three began an amicable conversation. Pyrrha and Weiss seemed to have a sort of connection. Almost like they were kindred spirits. And Yang's friendly disposition made befriending Pyrrha all too easy.
After walking for some time Yang's voice broke Weiss and Pyrrha out of their semi heated debate over Mistralian politics. The two looked around in confusion for their acquaintance who had stopped a few steps behind them. "Uhh. Guys?"
"Yes, oaf." Weiss said with a small smile. One that grew bigger at the sound of Pyrrha's giggling and the sight of Yang's face twisting into a frown.
Yang snorted before asking with her hands on her hips. "Do either of you know where we're going."
Weiss blinked for a moment before looking around. They were on a desolate path that didn't seem to lead anywhere.
"I thought you knew where we were going." Weiss accused.
"Me? I was following you." Yang shot back.
Eyes wide she turned to Pyrrha who shrugged with a nervous grin.
It took all of Weiss willpower to swallow her anger. The rational part of her mind told her that no one was at fault here. The other part told her to that she needed to strangle a blonde and a redhead for getting her lost. She sighed as she listened to the former. She didn't want to scare off, possibly the only decent people at this school. Or rather the only people she was willing to talk to. Two friends was enough right?
"Okay. This is fine we simply need to retrace our steps. Let's make our way back to the docks."
The others nodded.
They didn't make it back to the docks. They didn't even make it two feet.
Please, Salem and Oum, don't let this become a trend. Weiss thought after seeing a pink blob tackle Yang into the bushes.
Yang let out a screech of outrage at this and Pyrrha and Weiss rushed to her aid only to be lightly shoved out of the way by a green clad young man.
"Valkyrie, what have I told you about physical contact and personal space?" The young man said.
The girl, Valkyrie, who had jumped Yang let out a exasperated sigh. She didn't turn around when she answered, which Pyrrha found very unsettling.
"Don't invade other people's bubble and if I am going to touch someone don't do it in a way that can potentially, physically harm them." The spritely girl said in a disgruntled tone. "But, Renny! Her hair is on fire. I hadto get a closer look."
"That doesn't mean you can tackle her. If you wanted a closer look you should have asked."
"What if she had said no? How would I cope with the rejection?" The strange girl said as she continued to fiddle with Yang's false flames, much to the yellow girl's discomfort. "Aww. They're fake. How could you break my heart this, fire lady?"
"Valkyrie." 'Renny' scolded.
"Ugh. Fine." The girl said as she removed herself from Yang, who, for some reason looked like she had seen a ghost, her face as white as Weiss' hair.
Valkyrie turned to face the rest of them and Pyrrha and Weiss understood what had scared Yang.
Valkyrie was a pale-skinned, tiny, little thing. Tinier than even Weiss. Short, orange hair seemed to perfectly frame her face. She wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist. She also wore a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. A pink skirt graced her waist and ran down to the middle of her thighs. Swishing back and forth behind her, was a long, violet-tinted black tail, that they had somehow missed when the girl's backside was facing them. Strangely, her petite feet were bare against the ground.
But what Pyrrha and Weiss had their attention on, were her eyes. They had no white. They were and endless abyss of darkness, except for the blurry bright neon pink pin pricks that sat at the center of each. Her eye socket seemed to crack and crumble around empty pits of the girls skull.
The pin pricks shifted, too quickly, to Pyrrha and Weiss. The Magicians to be stiffened under the other girl's gaze. Weiss suddenly forgot everything. She was unaware of her heavy breathing or the hairs on her neck standing in attention. She could feel the strange girls gaze penetrate her. She shuddered as they crawled along her skin, observing her, sizing her up. After a moment Weiss mind finally cleared and she was able to think. She could only think one thing.
I'm going to die. This thing is going to kill me.
"Valkyrie," Ren said, grabbing the girl's attention and allowing the girls to gasp out labored breaths that they didn't know they had been holding in. "your eyes."
Valkyrie tilted her head and blinked confused. She stared at her friend who seemed nonplussed to her soul sucking eyes. Then realization crossed her face and she blushed. "Oops."
And suddenly pink pin pricks were replaced by turquoise orbs.
Turning around to Yang, Valkyrie saw her terror stricken face and the girls tail drooped with guilt. She quickly offered a hand to her.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I get excited sometimes, and when I do forget to keep my eyes disguised."
Yang, who was slowly regaining the color in her skin, hesitantly took the offered hand and and allowed herself to be hoisted up. She looked Valkyrie in the eyes for a moment, composing herself before her signature grin returned to her face.
"It's fine. I'm sorry I reacted so badly. You caught me off guard." She said, playfully slugging the shorter girl in the shoulder. Said girl seemed elated that Yang wasn't upset with her, if her swishing leathery tail was anything to go by. "You're a demon right?"
Valkyrie grinned. "Yes siree! You're looking at five feet of raw magical power!" She said flexing her surprisingly toned muscles. As she did sparks of pink electricity streaked through the girl's hair. The four humans could feel the Pure magic permeate through the air.
"Awesome." Yang said in awe.
"I apologize for our… unconventional meeting." The boy said while sending a half hearted glare at Valkyrie. " My name is Lie Ren. And this is my Compeer, Valkyrie."
Weiss scowled at the pair. At least try to make friends. Winter's voice ran through her mind. She rolled her eyes and sighed before looking the boy up and down. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders and framed his angular face. On Ren's left cheek was a circular emblem that depicted a hammer with a lightning bolt through it. There was a strand of hair pink in the front that matched the boys eyes. The boy wasn't overly muscular from what she could see. Covering his chest was an green tailcoat with an elaborate black and gold design. His lower half was covered by a pair of simple light tan pants. Black shoes covered his feet.
He seems civilized enough… She thought. Then her eyes narrowed and wandered to that…. That thing next to him. She bite back a sneer and crossed her arms.
"It is… nice to meet you Li-"
"I'm sorry, I would prefer to be called Ren."
Weiss ground her teeth together. "I apologize. It is nice to meet you Ren." She said reluctantly holding out her hand to Ren who shook it quickly. She turned, looking at Valkyrie. She sniffed and turned her back to the creature. If she had been looking she would have seen the demons tail droop and Yang and Pyrrha exchange confused and worried glances respectively. And she would have seen anger clearly written on Ren's face.
"I am Weiss Schnee." She said icily as she walked away.
She heard Pyrrha and Yang hurriedly introduce themselves, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to find Yang staring back at her.
"Where are you going in such a hurry all of the sudden?" The yellow girl as confused. Weiss stared at the girl who she had spent the majority of her afternoon with. She looked confused and worried. And as she looked closer she could see the hurt behind the yellow girl's eyes. She let out a huff of annoyance and shrugged Yang's hand off.
"To the auditorium." She muttered. "Are you coming?"
"I planned to." Yang said, sarcasm dripping from her tongue.
Weiss' frown deepened. "Is that thing coming with us?"
Yang's eyes widened. "Is that going to be a problem?" Yang's tone was warning. Cold blue eyes widened as they stared back at red ones, but Weiss stood her ground, arms still crossed. She glanced back at Ren and Pyrrha who had struck up a conversation without them. She brought her eyes back to Yang whose eyes had returned to their normal color.
"Yes." That was all she said as she whipped around and swiftly made her way back down the path.
Just before she was out of ear shot she heard her yellow companion sigh.
"That's a shame."
Hi. This is the new rewritten version. Don't lynch Weiss she gets better…. Probably… Maybe…
FFtR
(Feel Free to Review) Cause I love reading comments and constructive criticism. Like a lot.
Ciao*