Volume 1

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

When Cedar had woken up that morning, a part of him was convinced he was still dreaming. That, as he stood there gazing up at the vast mechanical aircraft settled into the docks, marvelling at its sheer size and scope, he was still in his bed with his head stuffed between too many pillows. It had taken a good few pinchings of his cheek and a couple rounds of rubbing his eyes to assure himself that, yes indeed, this was no dream.

And that left him with the sinking feeling that he may be horribly out of his depth.

It had been three months since he'd graduated combat school and passed his final exams. And another two months and a half til he received a letter of invitation to the academy. He'd been so astounded he'd gotten it he ended up crying slightly, just out of happiness. Though some of his friends had taken it that he'd been upset… that was fun to explain to them. His parents had been a little bit more pensive, suggesting he just be home schooled or find a job a little more low key and safer. But no, getting that letter had been assurance to him, that this was what he wanted to do. To become a huntsman and to protect the people…

And so, here he stood, feet resting on the white stone ground of the docks in the bright morning, the wind tugging at the thin white scarf around his neck and making him pull his jacket on a little bit tighter, his two fox ears atop his head blowing back from the gust, a rather plain bag in one hand carrying everything he needed. People were moving past him of all creeds, colours, and as he saw a curled tail slink past him, even species too, all into the huge airship that would be carrying on the chosen students to their new home in the academy beyond.

...okay but did this thing REALLY have to be this big?! How many new students were getting on this thing?! Were they all from the town? Had they flown over from other kingdoms? Were any of them going to be expelled on the first day like he'd heard stories of at Atlas academy? His mind buzzed with the angry hornets of doubt and uncertainty, so much so he got distracted from his surroundings and ended up walking right into someone. He sprawled on his back and held his nose from where it had connected with the other person.

"Sorry, sorry!" He said quickly, trying to look at who he'd bumped into. "I was totally distracted, didn't see you, hope I didn't hurt you!" He rambled, only to be silenced when a gloved hand reached down to help him up. The hand belonged to the copper haired girl he'd bumped into, her hair in a fishtail braid slung over one shoulder, her eyes bright and her smile even brighter.

"Hey, no worries! Let me help you up." Cedar was surprised as the girl managed to heft him right back up to his feet. He was oddly reminded of a time he'd been fishing and had been pulled into the water by a very big tuna. "It's alright to be nervous, i'm kinda nervous too!" the big girl admitted. Cedar couldn't help but glance over her biceps and notice how toned and strong they were. He felt briefly inadequate.

"So i'm not alone huh? That's a relief." Cedar chuckled nervously, then realising he was still clutching onto her hand. He attempted to play it off by shaking it quickly. "My name's Cedar Glade, nice to meet you." That seemed to work out, judging by how her wide smile grew yet wider.

"Lariah Marine, nice to meet you too." She replied, releasing his hand from her firm grip. "Come on, we should probably get onboard or it'll leave without us!" And with that, the copper haired muscle girl ran on ahead, leaving him in the dust…

It wasn't that he didn't want to follow, it's that his feet were glued to the spot. He was honestly finding it hard to take those steps to get onboard. It took some effort to finally get himself moving, as the crowds began to peter out around him. His ticket in hand and his feet dragging across the ground, he made it into the ship.

Now he was faced with his next big problem. Finding a seat.

Thanks to his concrete footed walk into the ship, most of the seats had already been taken. The interior of the ship was simple enough with wood panelled floors and leather cushioned metal seats set up in rows, the windows spanning all around the ship's exterior. Cedar wormed his way between the seats and finally found one to slip into, right at the end of a row, barely even paying any mind to who was sitting next to him.

Right as he sat, there was a sudden lurching in the ship around him, causing the students to shift in their seats. The great mechanical vessel's engines roared into life, its mighty fans spun up and slowly lifted it off of the docks, a great wind blustering from below it. With the horizon ahead, the great ship set off, it's precious cargo of young hopefuls safely contained within. It left the town behind and soared out over open land and into open sky.

After a few moments of tightly gripping his seat's armrests, Cedar relaxed a little. He wasn't a huge fan of flying, but at least he hadn't made a mess of himself like when he was seven. Some of the other students had stood up and were walking around, talking to each other. Cedar decided to stay seated and so did the guy sitting beside him, who turned to speak to him.

"Howdy? Y'doin' alright there?" He inquired, a warm smile on his round face. He was a particularly large boy, and unlike Lariah, he was large in the other sense.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry." Cedar felt his ears wiggle slightly atop his head. "I just haven't flown in a while is all."

"I see." The young man nodded slightly, the leather stetson covering his head wavering slightly. "Must confess, i'm a first timer to flyin' too. Usually go by land." That off put Cedar a little bit. The guy hadn't even flown before and here he was all calm, collected, friendly. It put him to shame.

"Well uh, you sure handled it well." Cedar nodded, maintaining his composure. "Cedar Glade by the way, you?" When in doubt, always introduce, he thought.

"Isaac Carbon. Nice to meetcha." A large hand patted Cedar on the back and almost sent him stumbling out of his seat. "Here's hopin' for a smooth landin', huh?" He chuckled, though coming from him it sounded more like an odd rumbling noise.

"Mhm, definitely…" Cedar nodded quickly and got to his feet. "I'm just gonna go look around and stuff." He left the conversation on that and decided to go to the window. The sight quickly made up for any nausea he may have been initially feeling. The ship was flying gracefully over the land below, rivers rushing by in silver streaks of light, the ground a mere blur of imagined lines and anyone down there just a brief sight on their journey to the academy. Cedar couldn't help but press his hands against the glass to get a closer look at it all. Everything seemed far more beautiful from above.

He briefly wondered if that's what she thought when she first took this craft to the academy…

"Um, excuse me?" A quiet voice got his attention. It was only now that Cedar noticed a girl had been seated right next to where he was looking out, shrouded in a big hooded raincoat with slight streaks of oddly coloured hair poking out. She'd exuded such a small presence, Cedar hadn't noticed her at all, and given his height that was saying something. "Could you move, please? You're um… kinda weirding me out."

"Oh sure, sorry." Cedar backed up. Ouch, that one hit home… they hadn't even gotten to the academy yet and someone thought he was creepy. And she was cute too, damnit! I mean it was weird she was wearing a raincoat but… no, she was cute, voices like that only belonged to cute people. He frowned and ruffled a hand through his hair before slipping them into his pockets. Maybe he should go hang out with Lariah, at least she didn't think he was creepy.

Lariah seemed to be talking to some big guy with spiky blonde hair, big in the muscular sense, not in Isaac's sense. Cedar wanted to interrupt but their discussion seemed oddly intense and to be frank, the blonde guy's angry looking face scared him.

"So many interesting faces." A voice alerted Cedar to a girl standing behind him, having somehow snuck up on him. Said girl was garbed in a flowery yellow dress, her face showing the slightest smirk. "I wonder if we're already seeing the flowers of romance taking root?"

"Um… excuse me, what're you talking about?" He blinked in uncertainty, his fox ears flattening slightly atop his head. The flowery girl giggled at the sight.

"Pardon my thinking aloud. I simply wonder who will be pining after who in the coming days." The girl commented, a sly eye overseeing the soon to be students chatting with one another.

"Okay that's totally normal." Cedar nodded slightly, passing it off. "Um, my name's Cedar Glade?" Stick to the basics, he thought to himself.

"Yasmin Ginshi." She replied, suddenly opening a silk fan and covering her mouth with it, giving her eyes a considerably more alluring look. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other well, if we survive the entrance exam."

"...survive?" Cedar felt his stomach do a somersault.

"Well you know what hunting academies are like, I'm sure there's some big test of great danger awaiting us. They can't just go accepting everyone you know." She tapped her fan on his forehead. It might've irritated him if his mind wasn't now conjuring up terrible images and ideas of what the entrance exam might consist of.

"I hear that, over in Beacon?" a dark skinned girl with blonde hair leaned over. "They shoot the new students out of a cannon to see how they land and ditch the ones who go splat!"

"That's just stupid." A grey haired boy snorted, rolling his eyes. "They probably just make them fight to the death in some big arena. Or maybe they'll just let us walk right in, they probably take in all the dregs anyway." He chuckled snidely.

None of these thoughts were helping Cedar at all, who was just standing there and taking it in, his imagination conjuring scenarios of fighting nightmarishly strong kids to the death, or flying through the air at nine hundred miles per hour and splatting like a fly on a window. They wouldn't really do that to new students, right? They couldn't just expect that out of them on day one… right?

He'd find out pretty soon as he felt the ship starting to descend. The other kids piled back into their seats and Cedar followed suit as the vessel touched ground and came to a slow stop. Then the doors opened and everyone rushed to get out first. Cedar waited, he wasn't in much of a hurry anymore.

When Cedar finally did walk down the platform and onto solid ground again, his eyes were met with the splendour of the academy grounds stretching out before him. A white stone path split the land in two from the docking area, leading further into the grounds. On either side, patches of lush ruby grass grew, a unique specimen not found in many other regions outside of their kingdom's semi volcanic soil. Peeking up from the crimson grass, tall trees of white and black stood tall and proud, their leaves in a similar shade, bearing yellows and oranges of all kinds, mixing in a colourful tapestry of nature that fluttered slightly in the breeze.

Further up the grounds, winding white paths split off from the main path akin to the branches of a great tree, some leading to peaceful looking ponds pitted into the landscape, the area also dotted with large white stone lanterns, currently doused and dark in the sunny day. Further beyond that, the path became a large circular area with stone and wooden seats situated around the outside, all surrounding a grand fountain flowing with sparkling water, featuring four tall white statues of hunters in various poses.

And even beyond that, stood the main building of the academy itself. The entire thing was one vast complex surrounded by a square wall of sleek white and silver metal, black gaps between the great panels and huge turrets sitting at each corner, one right at the end of the path and two more splitting off on either side. The main building stood within, more strong metal and vast square constructs, a work of modern art in the form of a solid, fortified building, seeming almost alien amidst the crimson beauty of nature, yet also somehow so perfectly at home in it. And behind it all, the ocean and the sky met to provide a shining blue backdrop to it all.

Cedar barely even realised he was walking as he observed the campus, he was so lost in the beauty of it all. It truly felt like a great combination of everything the other kingdoms had to offer when this place was built, a collaborative effort to create something both beautiful but also steadfast and unbreakable. He was so entranced in the view, he walked straight into the back of a boy with copper hair.

"Oi!" He remarked, turning to look at him. "Watch where ya going, eh? Use yer eyes!"

"Sorry, sorry…" Cedar withdrew quickly. "I just… I got lost in the view."

"Well it is pretty bonzer, mate." The boy's attitude suddenly flipped as he beamed at him. "But hey, we can admire it when we move in, eh? Don't wanna get left behind on the first day!" and when Cedar actually looked around, he did realise they were lagging behind the other students. He quickened his pace to walk alongside the other boy, hoping meetings like this wouldn't become a habit.

Soon they passed through the great doors of the main building and into the main hall. The floor was covered by diagonal white tiles, leading up to the walls in similar shades. Hanging from the walls were great red and gold banners, flying the familiar grey symbol of the shield, their homeland's symbol. There were chairs set out for them to take a seat on, sitting before a large wooden stage. A podium stood at its centre and behind it, several other figures were seated, watching the students enter. Cedar presumed they must be the faculty.

He found himself sitting between the girl in the raincoat from earlier, who shied at his presence, and the copper haired boy who quickly rested one leg on his knee and kicked back in his seat. Once everyone was seated, one of the adults stood up and took the stage. She was a curly strawberry blonde haired woman in a white blouse, matched with a floral brown dress with a wide skirt, an ornately decorated scabbard also hanging at her side. She stood at the podium and cleared her throat.

"Welcome, everybody, to Lustre Academy!" she announced, her voice full of energy. "I'd like to thank you all for attending our little welcoming assembly. Now, before we go any further with today, your new headmaster has some words of wisdom for you. Please welcome, Mr Billeous Birchwood." She then stepped down as another of the adults took her place.

The man in question was an old looking gentleman with a stern, crinkled face. He had receding white hair, still sticking out around the sides of his heat and a white goatee beard on his chin. It was also worth noting he had a pair of grey ram horns curled at either side of his head. He was dressed rather plainly in grey robes covered by a darker green kind, his sleeves long and the robe reaching his feet, covered by old wooden sandals. In his left hand he held a T-top wooden cane, looking every bit as ancient as he was.

"Thank you, Miss Lariet." He said, glancing back at the blonde teacher before overlooking those seated in front of him. As Cedar watched him, he got this strange intense feeling emanating from him, locking him into place in his seat. It wasn't just him, either. The copper haired boy was no longer lounging and the shy girl beside him was leaning forward a little.

"Now, before we proceed with today's events, I'd like to dispel some rumours that you may have heard." He said, spitting out the word 'rumours' sourly. "Since Lustre Academy is, presently, the youngest of the academies across Remnant, some may think that we offer an easy pass to those that attend, that we will take even the worst possible students just to fill up our places." He lifted his cane up and pointed behind them. "Any of you who believe this to be true, I ask you leave immediately. Because I am dispelling those rumours, right now." He moved his cane back and suddenly struck the stage with it, the resounding clack of wood on wood making some of the others jump in surprise.

"Lustre Academy is not of a lower standard than the other academies. We drill our students especially hard, to make them the best they can possibly be for the world outside of these walls. We take the unrefined talent of young hunters and we school them in everything a hunter needs."

His cane hit the stage again with a resounding CLACK!

"Discipline."

CLACK!

"Decisiveness."

CLACK!

"Durability."

CLACK!

"And dexterity." He paused a moment, resting his cane back into a comfortable position at his side. "We ask only two things of our students. Firstly, that to have respect, you must show respect. You will be treated as responsible adults within these walls, as long as you in turn respect your faculty and your fellow students. And secondly, we ask you display the best of your abilities. That is the only way this academy will forge you into the kind of person who protects the innocent, stands up for those in need and earns the right to be called a hunter. If you can adhere to those two practices, Lustre Academy will make you a goodly hearth and home and we shall show you equal resolve in forging your destinies. That is all." The headmaster stepped down from the podium, leaving the hall in silence.

Cedar was rooted to his seat. The headmaster's words had quelled his buzzing doubts about this place. The rumours were indeed something he'd heard around town… but this headmaster sure didn't fit the bill of the meek old man he'd heard of. His words inspired him, lighting a flame in his core that almost made him eager to prove he was worth being here, especially considering the headmaster was a Faunus himself. Everything was coming back now… this was why he wanted to be a huntsman. To prove he could stand up and prove he had the qualities of a huntsman, that he wasn't a coward who'd turn tail and run… he wasn't a coward… he wasn't.

"Now then." Miss Lariet, the blonde teacher took the stand again. "We'll now be proceeding with the entrance exam. Everyone, please follow the left path around to the side of the school grounds where we will begin the test. Please leave your bags beside your seats and bring your weapons with you." She directed them back to the doors as she walked down off the stage and led them outside.

The other kids got up and headed outside after her after rummaging around and pulling our various mechanical contraptions, chatting amongst themselves. Cedar followed suit, taking out his weapon too and holding it steady. He also took out the hip quiver he'd need and slipped that onto his belt before he rushed out after the others. Cedar noticed in particular the grey haired boy from before was looking a touch worried, hanging beside the hulking blonde kid as the group walked along the path.

"That speech was awesome!" Gushed the muscular girl from before… Lariah, wasn't it?

"Sure was!" The copper haired boy agreed, looking equally excited. "I'm pumped! I feel like I could cave in a Beowolf's face right now!"

"Tone it down, pardner." Isaac chuckled, walking beside them. "There'll be plenty o'time for that soon, I reckon."

"It's Ozzy, not pardner." The copper haired boy replied quickly.

Cedar hung behind everyone else, near the shy girl from before and an equally quiet boy with black and white hair and similar looking ears. He wasn't quite sure what species of animal ears they were. Together, they followed the pack along the path, leading around to the left side of the academy, well, left if you were coming out of its great gates.

After a little walking, the pack split up as they seemed to reach something set into the ground. When Cedar got close to it, he felt his stomach do another somersault at the sight of it. What he was looked into seemed to be a great pit descending into the ground, strange grey vapour lingering around its top, akin to clouds on a stormy day. Large circular platforms, mechanical in nature, jutted out around the lip, many in number and only just wide enough for a person to be able to fit upon them. Cedar twitched in uncertainty as renewed fear and uncertainty welled up within him. The others began to take a step onto the podiums and stand upon them. Cedar followed suit, stepping onto a circular platform and immediately being hit by a sense of vertigo, gazing down into the swirling abyss beyond the lip of the cliff.

"This." Miss Lariet addressed them, standing on the lip with a device in hand. "Is your entrance exam."