A.N.
Before I say anything, let me post a quote.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
-Pyrrha Nikos: RWBY Vol. 1 Episode 6 "The Emerald Forest"
It was with a heavy heart that I found out about Monty Oum's passing. It was all so sudden, I couldn't believe it for a while. But it was quickly confirmed by Rooster Teeth and any hope I had about it being some sick, twisted practical joke went down the drain. I remember reading a post from Rooster Teeth regarding Monty's passing. As a suggestion from that post, they said that in tribute to Monty's legacy, everyone should go out and do something creative in order to better the world. They said it would be what Monty would have wanted and I couldn't agree more. That being said, I have been a hobby novelist and writer for quite a few years now. But I had always kept it as a private hobby. Now, in the fact of what has happened, I decided to go ahead and take the public plunge with some fanfiction for RWBY. What better creative work could I submit in tribute to Monty's memory? And so here it is. Chapter one of my story. I certainly won't be as extravagant as to say it will make the world a better place, but if at least one of you reading this can derive some entertainment, than I would consider it a form of success. As for the quote up there, I was thinking about how to open this first chapter and given the past few events, that quote by Pyrrha just came back to me. It felt so weirdly appropriate to me regarding this situation that I just slapped it up there. Anyways, enough rambling from me. Let's start the actual story. Please feel free to comment. This is my first public work and I'd be very interested in an feedback you'd have to give. Thanks for coming by and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Disclaimer: RWBY, RWBY characters, the world of Remnant and all other associated material and ideas are the property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. I lay claim only to the OC that are presented and the story written. Everything else belongs to Monty Oum.
Chapter 1
"Welcome back, young master," a tall, well groomed butler said as a massive heartwood door creaked slowly open.
A young man, one who at best was approaching the end of his adolescence, entered through the now open door. He was dressed smoothly and sharply with a primly pressed black dress pants, shiny dress shoes, a dark grey dress shirt and a black dress vest. Peeking through the v-neck of his dress vest was a dark blue tie. As soon as he had cleared the threshold, the massive door closed behind him. Moments before the door closed, a couple of chauffeurs could be seen bowing outside. The instant that the doors closed, the young man began to undo his appearance of formality. He quickly pulled the tie from his neck with a grunt, unbuttoned his dress vest and tuckered his dress shirt from his pants.
"Irwin, we are alone. Please stop being so formal," the young master said, as he ran his fingers through his deep black hair, ruffling his slicked back locks into a more frizzy and natural fashion. When he was done, what had once been a smooth, slicked back hairstyle now jutted down in somewhat stiff and angular bangs.
"I apologize, Master Noctis," Irwin said, bowing again.
Irwin's response earned him a sideways glance from said young master, before he sighed and threw his now disrobed tie at Irwin. "Irwin, it took three years for you to start using my name. How long will it take for you to stop calling me master?"
"I'm afraid I will never be able to shed that moniker," Irwin replied, "It's has become a part of my job description."
"You are kidding," Noctis said incredulously.
"I never kid, Master Noctis," Irwin said.
"No, of course you don't," Noctis said, shaking his head in defeat. He let the matter drop. Three years it took to get from 'Young Master' to 'Master Noctis.' He was simply going to have to accept the fact that for a while longer, he was going to have to remain the Master of this house. "Oh, Irwin. I am expecting an important letter today. Did anything arrive for me?"
"It has young master," Irwing said, "I have left it for you in your room. Please peruse it at your leisure."
"Excellent, thanks Irwing," Noctis said, "I'll go check out this letter now."
"As you wish, Master Noctis," Irwing said, "I shall go attend to dinner."
Noctis nodded at Irwing in acknowledgment as he bowed again and retreated. Turning around the corner, Noctis opened the door to his room and entered, pulling off his vest casually as he did. Tossing the vest onto the large bed nearby, Noctis glanced over at his work bench and saw a large and embroidered envelope laying next to his work tools. That must be it.
Noctis exhaled at the sight, a sudden well of nervousness rising from the pit of his stomach. "Moment of truth," he said to himself before walking over to the workbench and pulling open the envelope. A large multitude of papers were ensconced within, but one particular piece, tan in color with gold edges, caught his eyes.
Noctis allowed a momentary expression of trepidation passed over his face as he reached into the envelope and pulled out the letter. It all comes down to this. Months of planning and preparation came down to the contents of this one single piece of paper. Slowly, Noctis turned the letter around and began to read.
"Dear Mr. Media, thank you for your interest in Beacon... okay... blah blah... yada yada... formal dribble...," he muttered to himself as he read the letter. "Ah, after reviewing your record and transcript we must... inform you that... HA!"
A single, loud exclamation into the cold, dark night followed by a single, exceedingly awkward celebratory pose to commemorate this momentous occasion. That was all Noctis allowed himself to indulge in before he brought himself back under control. It was not becoming of a person of his stature to act so childishly. That thought brought a sour smile to Noctis's face. Be told something by everyone around you and eventually, you start to believe it whether you like it or not. After all, it was ironic that he would scold himself for being childish when he was celebrating his acceptance in a Training Academy. In other words, a school. Children go to school, and what was wrong with children occasionally acting childish?
Shaking himself free from such musings, Noctis turned and looked into the far corner of his room. There, gleaming in the pale moonlight filtering through his window, stood a suit of black plate armor. Next to it leaned a massive shield.
"Center stage now my friend."
Noctis looked around sheepishly as he boarded the Dust Plane. He efforts to remain inconspicuous had just failed, miserably. And he wanted to kick himself for the failure. After all that time, all those years of work, planning and refinement, Noctis had failed to take on thing into consideration.
Metal hitting metal was loud.
Irwin had scheduled one of the company's private Dust Planes to ferry him south away from Atlas, across the small sea that separated the northern and southern continents and to the main air docks of Vale. As they approached, Irwin had insisted that since they were here, they might as well take him the extra distance to Beacon itself. Noctis had been fast in vetoing that idea. One of the main reasons he had applied to Beacon instead of Atlas's hunter academy was because he wanted to escape the silver spoon lifestyle he had at home. Last thing he wanted to do was wave that silver spoon while shouting at the top of his lungs by arriving in a personal dust plane.
And so it was that Noctis was left alone at the primary air dock in Vale with his two suit cases and a large duffel bag. Fortunately, it had not taken long for him to locate the specially chartered dust plane that was to ferry new students from the dock to Beacon campus. After all, there were almost enough signs plastered over the walls for a blind person to follow. He dropped off his luggage with the dust plane staff before getting aboard the massive vehicle.
And it was here that his plan to have a nice, normal, quiet trip to Beacon began to fall apart. You see, seeing as how he was finally entering a full fledged Hunter Academy, Noctis felt a need to look the part of a recognized hunter in training. Acting on this train of thought, he had donned his massive suit of black plate mail armor. He had taken no small amount of pride as he wore the battle suit of his own design. Even after a full plane trip from Atlas, the suit of armor still felt comfortable and mobile. He had not slaved away on it's design for the better part of four years for nothing. However, all of that vanished the instant he had set foot into the chartered dust plane.
CLANG!
Noctis had jumped in surprise which of course led to another loud metallic clang. Followed by a series of clangs that were less in volume but higher in frequency as he stumbled a bit. When he finally straighten himself out, a faint heat spreading across the back of his neck, he could all but feel the gazes of the surrounding students on him. His private dust plane had been floored with plush, high quality carpet so he had never noticed. But this commercial dust plane had plain metal deck plating. With his armor on, each step he took banged his sabaton against the floor. And it was loud. Cursing himself silently for overlooking this key component of his armor design, Noctis had hurried off in an attempt to find a more secluded place. This had proven to be a bad idea as each step he had taken simply set off another loud clash of metal on metal. And each step he had taken only served to draw more and more attention to him. A few steps in and Noctis had already abandoned any idea of moving anywhere and simply turn on the spot towards one of the dust plane's window to stare blankly outside.
The view of Vale spread out before him. The dust plane had been flying slowly and low so Noctis could actually make out each individual building below. Despite everything that had happened, he could still feel stares on his back, Noctis found himself engrossed by the sight of the city. The skyline of Vale was markedly different from Atlas. Instead of the towering skyscrapers and the glowing lights of a bustling urban city, he could only see small, rustic building and the sparse scattering of night time lighting. It made Vale feel all the more quaint to him, a feeling he discovered that he kind of liked.
"It's quite the view isn't it?"
Noctis turned to see someone had crept up next to him while he was distracted. The first thing that struck Noctis was that he was tall, quite tall in fact. The battlesuit he wore added a bit of height to him, but Noctis's new companion was still at least half a head taller than he. His rust red hair was tied back into a pony tail although he had a single very large bang hanging down in front of his face. Like him, the boy besides Noctis wore armor, but his set was far less heavy than Noctis's. He wore a bell cuirass over a dark red leather under armor piece, spaulders on his shoulders and vambraces which were connected to fingerless gloves. In contrast to the relatively well protected upper, the young man wore markedly less armor below his waist. There, he only wore a pair of heavy duty cargo which were tucked into plated guard boots.
"I've always enjoyed my visits to Vale."
Noctis had been busy studying the attire of his new companion and was a bit jolted when he suddenly spoke again.
"Oh... I see."
The young man looked at Noctis, giving him a friendly smile. "Have you been to Vale before?"
Noctis smiled back. "First time," he said.
His companion nodded. "You'll like it here," he said.
The two lapsed into comfortable silence for a moment in which Noctis watched the reflection of the young man next to him in the window. As far as first impressions go, that didn't feel too bad. They seemed to be getting along and maybe this could be the beginning of a friendship. His companion certainly seemed interested in him. Noctis could see his reflection watching him quite intently.
"By the way," he finally said slowly, "That was quite the entrance."
Well... so much for first impressions.
"So... so you saw," Noctis said, sounding sheepish again.
"Heard, actually," his companion said.
Noctis sighed loudly. "Look, I'm sorry. I just haven't worn this very much outside of training," he said. "I didn't think it would be so noisy."
"Relax, I don't think it really bother anyone. Besides, I can appreciate a set of well made armor," his companion said, gently knocking his curiass for emphasis. "It looks quite heavy though. Isn't it hard to move in?"
Noctis shrugged and rolled his shoulders. "I've been training with this kind of armor for a long time now," he said, "You get used to it after a while."
"Hmm, I guess I can understand. I still feel like it would be a bit stuffy." A slight pause. "You know, I don't want to be rude... but I need to ask. Why don't you wear a helmet?"
Noctis chuckled in response. He should have seen that coming. Everybody who saw his armor design asked the same question.
"I know what you are thinking," he said, "It doesn't make sense, after putting on all this armor, to leave your most critical area exposed. But I have a good reason." To illustrate his point, he reached behind him into the holster on his lower back and pulled out his rifle. "I'm primarily a ranged combatant. My choice of weapons are firearms. Therefore, marksmanship and accuracy are my most important skills. I've dabbled with adding a helmet to my armor design before, but I always found them too cumbersome to aim with. So I've left it out. Besides, I've not had too much problems with this vulnerability before. If someone aims for my head I just duck." He patted the massive bulwark shield on his back.
"Hmm," his companion mused as he took a glance said shield, "Makes sense. And here I was thinking that you were just being vain."
Noctis chuckled. "Well you know how it goes. If you have a trench coat, high collars, a cool hat or don't wear a helmet, than most likely you will survive."
His companion laughed. "My name is Ferrus, by the way," he said, "Ferrus Helios."
"Ferrus," Noctis said, "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Noctis Media."
"So you chose to come Beacon as well?" Ferrus said, "If you are on this plane, it means you aren't from Vale."
"I did," Noctis said, "I am originally from Atlas, but I felt like going abroad to get more experience. You know, see different things."
Ferrus nodded. "I can understand. My friend and I left Mistral due to a similar reason."
"Your friend?" Noctis said, interested.
"Yeah," Ferrus said, "She was with me a second ago. Which is strange since she was the one who -Ow."
Ferrus abruptly interrupted his sentence, lurching forward and grabbing the back of his head. The sudden motion drew Noctis's attention and before could stop himself, he spun around to see what had Ferrus had sudden whirled around to face. There was another fusillade of clangs as Noctis moved. When he turned, he was faced with a young girl standing behind them. His immediate reaction was to blink his eyes. The girl had incredible, pale violet hair. With the dust plane's light shining down on her like that, her hair almost seemed to emit the faintest glow. It reminded Noctis of the earliest lights of a cloudless dawn. It took him a while to pull his eyes away from her long, chest length hair to get a better look at his latest companion. She was calm looking girl with big aqua blue eyes and rather luscious looking pale pink lips. Her hair, which ran down the sides of her face and cascaded over her back, had two braids coming from the sides, each one tied with a pale orange ribbon. Unlike both Ferrus and himself, the new girl did not wear any form of armor. Instead, she wore a lilac color robe with dark blue embroidering and a flowing white sash. The robe ran down past her knees so Noctis could not see her choice of pants, but he did see a pair of purple high heeled boots peeking from underneath her robe.
"Ferrus, you really don't process the words coming out of your mouth, do you?" she said.
"What are you talking about," Ferrus said, "And why do you always resort to hitting me in the head? What if you damage my brain cells?"
"I'll be worried when you grow some brain cells to damage" she retorted. Than she turned away from a sputtering Ferrus to Noctis and smiled warmly. "Hello, Noctis. My name is Iola Selene. What my friend meant to say was that I was the one who wanted to come introduce us."
"Oh, I see," Noctis said quickly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hold onto that feeling," Ferrus quickly jabbed in, "It may not be a pleasure for very long."
Iola slapped Ferrus on the arm, although playfully this time, and stuck out her tongue at him. "Don't be a pest."
"I'm just giving him a fair warning," Ferrus replied.
Noctis watched with a slight grin of amusement as the pair before him settled into a comfortable squabble. Neither Ferrus or Iola wanted to back down, but Noctis could tell from the tone of their voice that the two were just teasing.
"Iola?" Noctis said upon feeling that he had given the two sufficient time to squabble. The pair stopped and looked at him. "I am curious. Why were you interested in meeting me?"
Iola smiled warmly at him. "You mean besides your rather flamboyant entrance?"
Ah...
"So... you heard as well..." Noctis said slowly, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"There is no need to be embarrassed," Iola said, "You have done a magnificent job with your armor. I can sense the effort, the care and the consideration you put into building your suit." Iola paused for a moment before slowly approaching Noctis. With a slow, graceful gesture, she gently placed the palm of her hand onto the chest plate of Noctis's armor. "But beyond that, I can sense the intention beyond your armor. I can sense the desire to be unbound, to grow, to experience. I can sense the intention to take control of your own destiny and to seek your own life." She smiled as she removed her hands and took a step back. "It is quite beautiful, like a majestic eagle, just beginning to take flight."
Noctis stared for a moment at Iola. "Huh," he said said slowly, "I've never heard my armor described in quite that way before."
"Iola tends to be quite poetic when it comes to armor and weapons," Ferrus said, placing a hand warmly on her shoulder as he did. "And it's more than that." He grinned at Noctis as he continued. "If that is what she saw in you, than I think we have more in common than I thought."
Noctis tilted his head in curiosity and was about to ask what Ferrus meant when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon."
The abrupt change in voice caught all their attention and they turned to the flat display, which had previous been playing a new channel discussing the latest dust robbery and a recent Faunus protest involving the White Fang terrorist organization. However, the display now showered a mid aged women with elegant curling blond hair in a bun and emerald green eyes behind a thin rectangular glasses. She wore what looked like a white business suit and a black business skirt although the garment that caught Noctis's attention the most was the flowing purple cape.
"Who's that?" Ferrus wondered, shooting his gaze away from the screen when he heard an echo. Noctis followed suit and saw a brief moment of fiery blond before the women in the display continued, pulling their attention back.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."
"Oh."
Noctis resisted the urge to turn his head back towards the speaker. He wasn't exactly sure, but he seemed to recall a name like Goodwitch on the faculty roster. This broadcast may contain some pertinent information.
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredibly time of peace, and as future Huntsmen 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."
Something clicked in Noctis's head as the Mistress Goodwitch completed her speech welcoming the incoming students. He remembered now. Glynda Goodwitch is a Aura Professor of Beacon as well as the combat instructor. She also takes on the role of the school representative which explains her speech just than. Noctis had heard of her reputation before but she didn't appear particularly formidable. Than again, Noctis was not very sure of his judge of character. That and she seemed like she'd quite strict. It would probably be safer to stay on her good side.
"There it is." Iola said, stepping forward and pressing a palm on the window. "It's Beacon Academy."
Curious, Noctis stepped forward to see himself. He barely managed to catch himself before realizing what he was about to do and stepped forward extremely carefully. It resulted in a extreme strenuous and an extremely time consuming step forward. Fortunately, the gentle contact of his boot on the deck plate resulted in only a small metallic tap. Finally finishing his step, Noctis sighed and turned to see Ferrus and Iola giving him a knowing smile. Noctis frowned.
"I am definitely going to need to fix that."
Ferrus chuckled while Iola gave a friendly smile. Together, the three of them looked down onto the air view of Beacon. Noctis tilted his head as he mused at the scenery before him. it looked smaller in the pamphlets and brochures. But the size wasn't what was important. This was what he had been searching for. It was a chance to further his training, gain broader experience and test himself against new challenges. But more importantly, it was a chance for him to make something of himself by himself, to achieve something on his own rather then be given every by another. It was a chance for him to find his own future.
Hmm, perhaps Iola's metaphor was more apt than he thought.
"Well, home sweet home," Ferrus said softly.
"It looks like a lovely place to call home," Iola commented.
Noctis was about to contribute to the discussion as well when someone quickly stumbled past. He had messy blond hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a black hoodie covered by a chalk white chest plate and small shoulder pauldrons. He hands, which were covered in a lightly plated brown fingerless glove, were clasped over his mouth and was making groaning and retching noises. It was such a sight that both Iola and Ferrus stopped to watch him pass along with Noctis.
"Oooo," Ferrus said, "Airsickness."
"It's a more common problem than people think," Iola said, "Poor guy."
Sighing as he stepped off of the dust plane, Noctis looked up at the skyline of Beacon that spread out before him. He was finally here. He had bid farewell to Iola and Ferrus, telling them to go ahead without him. He wanted to wait until most of the other people had left before he disembarked. That way, he could regale as few people as possible with his armor symphony. The two of them had chuckled gently at his request but had done as he asked, making promises to meet up again later in the day. After their departure, Noctis had waited by himself besides the window until most of the people around him had filtered out. Once he thought that no one was nearby any more, he had clanged his way noisily to the exit.
Rolling his shoulders a bit so that he could adjust his armor into a more comfortable position, Noctis took a deep breath in order to appreciate the fresh outdoor air. The move felt particularly refreshing after being stuck in the recirculated atmosphere of the dust plane for so long. He walked from the ramp and began making his way past the school gates. Thankfully, the loud clang of his sabatons on steel gave way to the much softer clink of metal on stone as he made his way off of the gantry.
"Hmm," Noctis mused, stopping momentarily to consult his map. "Am I... here? No. No, That couldn't be right. The air dock is here so... I'm going... this way?"
Groaning gently, Noctis gave his map a shake and tried again to get his bearings. He had read through all the material sent to him from Beacon and memorized all the procedures about getting registered upon arriving at the school. Unfortunately, the administration saw fit not to send him any sort of map. Combine this with the fact that students are not issued their Scrolls until after initiation, along with the ban on personal electronics, and it meant that for someone from out of town like Noctis, finding his way around the massive campus was quite the challenge. In preparation for this event, he had printed off a map of Beacon he found online and was trying to use it for navigation. However, the last time he had used a paper map, he was still learning how to spell the name of the four kingdoms. Growing up in the high tech kingdom of Atlas meant that he had been surrounded by GPS tracking and navigational assist devices at a very early age. As such, the paper map's inability to align itself with his compass facing was proving to be surprisingly disorienting.
"Urgh," Noctis grunted, growing a bit frustrated. "The auditorium is here and the air dock is here so... I should go... that way. No... that leads to the statue. I need to go that... way..." He looked up from his map. "I should just go ask someone for directions."
"What are you doing!?"
A sudden exclamation caught his attention. Turning, he saw a young girl dressed in white accosting another in black and red. The latter appeared to have fallen into the former's luggage and the former was none too happy about it.
"Uh... sorry."
"Sorry? Do you have any idea of the damage you could've caused?"
Wow, such attitude. Noctis returned to his maps. She already apologized. What more do you want?
"Uhh..."
"Gimme that! This is Dust, mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry."
Schnee Quarry?
Noctis turned back to the exchange and regarded the white haired girl with greater scrutiny. Schnee Quarry, white hair, pale skin and... a multi-action dust rapier. Weiss?
"Uhh..."
"What are you, brain dead?"
Yeah, Weiss. No mistaking that delicate little flower. And her tongue has apparently gotten sharper in the intervening years. Noctis shook his head and turned back to his map. He actually hadn't thought about that. Weiss was around the same age as he. It would make sense that she would be attending a Hunter Academy as well. He would have to be careful around her. From what he has seen, getting on her dislike list might as well be a death sentence. Furthermore, she could make life difficult for him in many other manners as well. Luckily, the two of them had never known each other too well so as long as he kept a low profile around her, the situation shouldn't get too bad.
"Dust! Fire, Water, Lightning, energy! Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Haaaaaaaa-CHOO!"
There was a loud boom, followed by the crackle of ice and the percussion of lightning. The suddenness of the explosion jolted Noctis and he turned in shock towards the source. As he did, a smoking red crystal arched gracefully through the air and landed on the map he was holding in his hands. Startled as he was, Noctis could only stare mutely at this crystal as it spontaneously ignited, setting his map on fire.
"Gyah!"
Jolted from his shock at the sight of flames, Noctis dropped his map which promptly burst into a full fledged mini inferno upon hitting the ground. By the time Noctis had to sense to stamp the flames out, what was once a perfectly readable map was little more than charred ash.
Noctis watched the remains of his map disintegrate and blow away on the breeze. "Great," he muttered to himself. "Well, I guess this is an upgrade. I've gone from being ineptly lost to just plain lost." Looking back at Weiss, who was now laying into the girl in red even harder than before, Noctis slumped his shoulders in defeat and sighed. "Maybe there will be a directory or something nearby."
There was, as it transpired, not a directory or something nearby. Furthermore, it rapidly became the case that there were no buildings or even people nearby either. Somehow, in his quest to find the auditorium, Noctis had managed to bungle his way into a lush area of vegetation with lots of trees and shrubbery nearby. This park would actually have made for an excellent place to relax with a leisurely walk were it not for the fact that Noctis was supposed to be somewhere. And he was supposed to be there in the very near future. The trees around him were sufficiently thick to obscure his view of the surrounding landmarks so it made pinpointing his exact location impossible, but given his luck, Noctis severely doubted that this path was going to take him to the auditorium.
"This was SUCH a bad idea," Noctis growled, as he tapped a nearby tree in irritation. "Ugh, and now there aren't even any people to ask for directions anymore."
Stiffly, Noctis rounded another bend past a bunch of bushes. This was a great way to start his career at Beacon. Lost in the park and about to miss the welcoming ceremony. If this experience was going to be any indication, his decision to come to Beacon was a horrible, horrible mistake. Groaning again in frustration, Noctis turned on the spot to face the other direction. Maybe if he went back the way he came, he could at least backtrack his way out of this park area.
Just than, however, a chill ran up his spine. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck and a deep feeling of unease took root in the pit of his stomach. There was something around, something nearby. And it was watching him. Crouching slightly to widen his stance, Noctis began to scan the surrounding. His arms went behind his back, prepared at a moment's notice to pull his trusted weapons out from behind him and into combat position. Thus prepared, Noctis began to slowly work his way down the side walk, ever alert for anything in his surrounding that may indicate the presence of something. This was Beacon, one of the if not the premiere Hunter Academy in all of Remnant. Could there be Grim here? On campus?
There was a sudden shuffle above him, in the leaves of the trees from behind and a surge of adrenaline pumped through Noctis's body. Slotting his left arm into his Bulwark Shield, Noctis rolled forward and ended his evade on his knees. With a swift motion, Noctis pulled the Battle Rifle from his back and pointed it upwards, towards where he heard the noise from, ready to levy fire onto whatever was there above him.
And there, from beyond the barrel of his gun, Noctis saw a pair of deep black eyes staring back at him. Blinking a few times to clear the shock of adrenaline from his vision, Noctis looked more carefully and saw that the other presence he had sensed in the trees belonged to a person. It was a young man, one who looked about as old as he did with dark black eyes framed by long black hair tied into a loose ponytail, although the two bangs that hang next to his face were a deep dark blue color. The boy wore a large extremely loose scarf around his neck that rose high enough to hide his chin and hung down enough to resemble a shawl. This scarf seemed to consist of a single, extremely worn and beaten length of black cloth. Beneath that, he had on a dark blue vest over a white long sleeved shirt and a black pair of jean pants. Below that, he wore a pair of cloth boots.
Noctis relaxed slightly as he identified his unnoticed companion as another person. His pose did not appear threatening as he was laying on one of the larger branches, his legs and his arms crossed. His gaze was stony and neutral, but there was obviously no malice in his eyes. Deciding that he was not treat to him, Noctis lowered his gun.
"Umm," Noctis said, pulling his arm from his shield and slinging his rifle back onto his back. "Hi there."
His companion made no indication that he had heard Noctis, aside from perhaps an almost imperceptive thinning of his lips. His gaze, however, never left Noctis.
Assuming that he was holding his companion's gaze, Noctis keep going. "I apologize about that. You startled me."
Still no response. Noctis was met with a continued stony gaze.
"Uh... so... what are you doing here?"
Nothing.
"Are... are you a new student too?"
And to Noctis's great relief, he noticed the tiniest nod from the other young man in response to his question. If this had gone on any longer and Noctis would have started wondering if the other guy was even conscious.
"Oh. So... why aren't you at the welcoming ceremony?"
There was a substantial pause after Noctis posed this question. The other person seemed to have been considering Noctis for a long period of time. Than, after some apparent internal deliberation, finally spoke in a quiet but even voice.
"I don't like crowds."
Noctis squinted at his quiet companion as he finally spoke. He didn't seem too strange now that he finally demonstrated he had a voice, but Noctis didn't think anyone could be so withdrawn. And Noctis knew quite a few people who were criminally reclusive.
"Isn't it mandatory to attend?" Noctis asked, deciding to soldier on in his efforts to socialize.
"Than you should get going," his unsociable friend replied.
"Yeah, well..." Noctis said, "I would. But... I am lost."
There was no immediate reaction, although after a few seconds, the other did reply. "Lost?"
"Lost," Noctis confirmed. "I can't find the auditorium."
More silence. Than, slowly, Noctis's companion lifted a hand and pointed back in the direction that Noctis had come from. "That way."
Noctis's mouth thinned. That wasn't very helpful. Even he, as lost as he was currently, could tell he should probably go back the way he came to get back on track. Furthermore, Noctis was starting to get the idea. This new youth did not seem to be the most sociable of people. He was here when all the new students should be attending the welcoming ceremony and getting him to talk was like pulling teeth. Maybe Noctis's continued efforts at conversation was actually more rude than friendly. Maybe this guy simply wanted to be left alone.
Along that train of thought, Noctis turned in the direction that he was pointing and readied himself to be on his way. "But, what about you?" he asked, deciding to drop one final thought before leaving. "You could get in trouble. New students are required to attend the ceremony."
No response, but no surprise there either.
"Look," Noctis said, turning back towards the tree the young man was perched on and was surprised slightly to see that he had risen to his knees and was still staring down intently at him. The sudden shift in position startled Noctis slightly. "Umm... at least tell me your name. If there is something wrong and you can't attend the ceremony, I can at least let the staff know."
He looked up at his companion and returned his gaze for a few moments in silence. There, in his deep black eyes, Noctis could see that he was considering him.
"Why would you do that for me?" he finally said after a while.
"Why? Well, why not?" Noctis said, shrugging. "I'm just being friendly."
Silence again. This was getting old. Noctis was on the verge of giving up and leaving when he saw the young man suddenly rise to his feet, standing atop the branches. Leaves rustled at his motion and change in angle meant that his face was suddenly hidden in shadow.
"My name is Lucis Lux," he said, "Thank you... for your concern." He pointed up again in the same direction he had before. "Take that road. It will lead out of the park. Once you are out, turn right and go straight. You should run into some signs that will point you the rest of the way to the auditorium."
"Right," Noctis replied, "Lucis, was it? Thank you."
Lucis's face was still silhouetted in shadow and Noctis couldn't see for sure, but he could have almost sworn that he had seen the faintest traces of a expression tug briefly at Lucis's lips. When he spoke again, though, his voice was the same even tone as it had always been.
"Go," he said simply. "You are going to be late."
And with that, Lucis turned and leap from the tree. There was a rustle of leaves and the sounds of a few whipping branches. Than, everything was still again. Lucis had vanished. He had not only disappeared from sight, but Noctis could no longer even detect Lucis's presence.
"Interesting fellow," Noctis muttered to himself. "Well, you did come here seeking new experiences."
Than, the urgency of his situation came back upon him. Exclaiming slightly, he turned down the path and hurried away.
In Loving memory of Monty Oum. Keep moving ahead.