Chapter 1
In the middle of Vale, on top of a famous platform every year hundreds of Humans and Faunus alike take upon the first step in their journeys to become professional Huntsmen. This is the platform from which every year new students enter the renowned Hunter Academy: Beacon.
Known across the lands as one of the best out there, this Academy draws tens of thousands of applicants every year and only a select few hundred get the chance to enter and test their worth.
And one of those lucky applicants of the current year was Taiyo Hikaru, usually called by his preferred name of 'Ray'. By all accounts a normal looking boy that turned 18 only recently. Short, black hair on his head, light blue pupils in his eyes, the small stubbles reminiscent of failed beard growth on his face. A rather tall stature, measuring in at exactly 1 metres and 80 centimetres. Slim build with, what one can't tell when he is clothed, rather defined muscles.
Alongside him were two grown adults, one woman with grey hair bound into a long ponytail and looks as delicate as a flower. However, one could liken her to a rose as this gorgeous flower had unexpected thorns. Her small and thin stature distracting one even further from that fact.
The man beside her on the other hand looked his part of a seasoned Huntsman specializing in hand-to-hand combat. Wide as a doorway, towering above at easily 2 metres. His short-trimmed black hair allowing a full view of his face that was home to several scars gained in battle.
"Are you sure you have everything?" His mom asked him worriedly, for the estimated tenth time within the past hour. They had arrived early and had even packed two reserve bags, in case Ray was missing something.
"I don't have a lot of stuff with me, so the risk is minimal. But seriously, we triple-checked already, Mom. I have enough Dust, I have my maintenance kit and I have Thunder."
"You can never be too sure. You did manage to forget your gauntlets before."
"I still managed to kill the Ursa, didn't I?" He retorted, an obvious look of annoyance on his face.
"Only because you managed to keep it at range. They better teach you how to not forget your equipment at Beacon." His dad chimed into the conversation after being quiet for a while. Seriously, he hadn't talked since they left. His father was not a fan of many words.
"I'll get used to it, Dad. Worst case scenario, I just get better with Lightning. There's still Oz to take care of me anyway, so no need to worry."
"I actually worry a lot. Please don't leave me, Lightning and Thunder."
[All accepted students of Beacon, get ready to board the airships. We will take off in 15 minutes. I remind all students to take out their letters of acceptance in order to be welcomed on board.]
"Well, looks like I gotta go now or I'll miss it. I'll miss you two! And don't worry Mom, I'll write regularly." While waving his hand, Ray separated from his parents and made his way towards the actual airship that would bring him to his destination: Beacon.
With a final wave towards his parents Ray turned around and, with a grand grin planted on his face, already imagined what sort of adventures he'd have from that day onward.
"I didn't have to wait long, now did I?" Ray jokingly thought to himself as he looked at the scene before him.
In it's entirety each airship could hold up to 12 students in it's observation dock, the only place needed as it was a rather short trip. Among those 12 students, there were 3 in particular that stood out. Two of them because they were unnaturally loud and the other one because he apparently got motion sickness.
"We're barely ten minutes into the air. How bad is your motion sickness dude?"
Regardless of his snarky remarks, Ray searched his bag and found the small plastic bag his mother packed him, just in case. He moved up to the poor guy desperately searching for a container and held him the plastic bag without words, to which he got a wordless nod in response before he relieved himself of the vomit in his throat.
Taking the chance, he analysed the guy and found him taller than him. Only a bit, but still taller with blond hair and an unnaturally pale complexion that made one wonder about this person's health. Well, he did look reasonably handsome even with that complexion, so there shouldn't be anything in particular to worry about.
As for clothing, this guy was wearing armour, something rather uncommon for the current day and age. To be exact, he was wearing a chest plate, a backplate, two shoulder guards going as far his elbows. Ray could even make out wrist guards from under the guy's leather gloves. As for his clothes under the armour, he was wearing a black hoodie, a normal light-blue pair of jeans and, for whatever reason, two belts hanging so that they form a cross on his front.
"Thanks for that. I'm really not good with airships. Or ships in general."
"Not a problem, I had it on hand anyway. So, you're a student of Beacon as well?"
"Yup. The name's Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."
"Taiyo Hikaru. Just call me Ray though. I see you like the classics." Ray remarked as he inspected his sword and armour more closely.
"Huh? Oh... yeah, well, the sword is an heirloom of my family and the armour is mostly just basic insurance in case my aura runs out."
"What aura? You don't even have it unlocked." Ray was doubtful in his mind. "Does this guy honestly not know he doesn't have his aura unlocked? How is that even possible? Even if he does know, why would he still try for Beacon? And why would they accept him?"
"…Forged Documents?"
"I see. Was just wondering. After all, forging equipment like that is unnecessary effort for most people. The generally accepted style is more evasive after all and weight isn't needed. Did you make the documents pertaining to it's composition? I'd like to see them some time."
"Oh, sure. I think I have them at home somewhere. I should be able to have my parents send them over to me."
"He didn't react. Either he is just that dull or he didn't fake his documents, meaning he doesn't know about his lack of aura. But that's unlikely. So: He is just that dull and dense."
"That's cool. I personally do prefer weapons like my Lightning though."
"Lightning?"
"This." He pulled out his Naginata, Lightning, from its case he had lying next to me. It had the form of a normal naginata, only missing a guard by the blade and with a slightly special blade. The staff was brown like wood, with thin lines of white forming an intricate pattern along its entire length. These lines serve as the 'veins' connecting the blade to the dust chamber and change colour depending on the injected dust. As for the blade, it was serrated on one end with the incisions large enough to potentially trap some weapons or blades.
"THAT'S SO COOL!" he heard a hyper-active voice behind him after he pulled Lightning out. Turning around he found two girls standing there, the smaller one of which had her eyes almost literally sparkling with excitement. The taller one only theatrically sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Now that is quite an introduction. Maybe you heard from before, but I am Taiyo Hikaru. Just call me Ray."
"Yang Xiao Long. And this is my little sister, Ruby."
"Ruby Xiao Long?"
"Rose. We are only half-sisters by our father's side."
"Little sister? You don't even look eighteen. How did she get into Beacon?"
"Do I look like I know? The Headmaster just accepted her for whatever reason. Not that I am unhappy about it. I do get to be with my baby sister after all. And it proves how special she is."
Ray accepted that as it was and decided to take a good look at those two before judging anything. Thinking he might as well do it by order, he first looked at the taller girl with the flowing blond, almost golden, hair, Yang Xiao Long. Wearing a short-sleeved, lower belly-baring tan jacket, a pair of black fingerless gloves under a pair of yellow gauntlets that might have been her weapon, along with a brown belt attached with a short, cape-like object carrying a yellow emblem, black mini-shorts, knee-high boots, slightly over-knee socks and with an orange scarf around her neck she looked rather mature. And very melee-heavy, as judged by her gauntlets.
"Note: She would be a difficult fight. Second note: bouncy goodness. Third note: Lilac eyes, nothing special there."
Going over to the 'little red', as Ray decided to call her jokingly from then on, her outfit was more one-sided. Consisting of a long-sleeved black blouse with dark-red trim on the skirt and cuffs, a corset-esque midriff section with red lacing, a belt carrying a few pockets, ammo cartridges and an emblem that looked like a rose, thick black stockings, black combat boots with red laces, like her 'corset', red trim around the top, like her blouse, and red soles her outfit was much more one-sided and clearly colour-schemed. Toping it all off was a red cape attached to her shoulders with cross-shaped pins, making that even clearer. Her hair was, unlike her elder sister's, short-cut and black with a small red hue on the ends.
"You have… Silver eyes…" Ray accidentally mumbled out loud as he thought about what that implied about her. The realization about why the headmaster let her into Beacon that early sunk in and made him forget himself for a second.
"Hey! Somebody already said that to me today. Is that special somehow?"
Ray looked at her with ridiculousness flashing across his eyes. How could this girl have Silver eyes and not know what they meant? However, instead of reprimanding her he decided to drop a cryptic affirmation.
"In ways you cannot imagine, little red. Actually, Ruby Rose, was it? I think I heard that name before… Was it four years? Back then a dusty old guy was talking to Oz and my dad and I think I overheard that name. Didn't stick around though. That guy was just reeking of alcohol. Later my dad told me that his name was Qrow or something."
"That's my uncle!"
"Huh. That, in combination with your talents, would explain why Oz let you into Beacon early. Anyway, I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Rose. Same goes to you, Miss Xiao Long, Mister Arc."
"You can just call me Yang. No big deal."
"Same here. Just call me Jaune. No need to be formal."
"Ruby is fine for me too. But I am really interested in your weapon! How does it work?"
"Ah, a fellow weapon lover. You see, this is a naginata that I actually made myself with the help of my mother. As for what it can do, it can use Dust…"
[We are approaching the landing platform of Beacon Academy. All passenger, get ready to leave the ship as soon as we land. Landing preparations will begin shortly.] A mechanical voice like the one at the take-off sounded and informed all present of the imminent arrival at Beacon Academy, interrupting Ray mid-sentence.
"… after I put it into this chamber. It is right here." Ray pointed with his finger to a small open hole in the staff, about thirty centimetres up from the non-clade end. He gleefully continued his explanation and Ruby attentively listened, the both of them essentially having entered their own little world. "To do this I need Dust in a liquid form. I usually prepare it myself, since I also tend to use combinations of different Dust varieties. Afterwards the Dust travels along these white lines, injecting the blade along with the entire staff with the Dust's power. Apart from that mechanism, it is more or less a normal naginata, save for the Aura my mother injected into it."
"That's awesome! And you did that on your own?"
"Mostly, but having an atlesian scientist in your family does help a lot."
In the meantime, as Ruby and Ray got more and more into their talk that had now shifted to Ruby's Sniper Scythe, Crescent Rose, Yang approached Jaune with a teasing grin on her face.
"Sooooo, you alright now, Vomit Boy?"
"Thank you for that wonderful nickname. But I am fine now, thanks for asking."
And thus, as Ray and Ruby bonded over weapons, Yang allowed herself a little fun with Jaune and the rest of the passengers just looked at this boisterous group with equal parts envy and annoyance, the ship started landing onto the platform, beginning a particular experience in the lives of all those that attended Beacon in the years to come. (Ignore the line)
The 4 individuals got off the ship when it landed and looked at each other. Yang was the first one to make her way to the Beacon main building with her sister.
"Well it was a fun time, but we have to go now, come babysiss, time to get our next assignments"
Ruby swiftly said goodbye to Ray and Jaune and made her way into this giant academy next to her big sister.
As they Yang and her sister got into this building, Ray was standing with Jaune before a rather big statue. It had a man a woman and a man standing together on a defeated beowolf. Ray just smiled as he looked around, he finally made it. Beacon Academy.
"Let's go Jaune, we have a lot of adventures before us"
Ray stepped forward and Jaune followed him into the main hall, where the new students assembled and were talking together. He got sight at Ruby and her sister, but there was this other girl. She said something about the Schnee Dust Company.
"Schnee .. I know that name .. right, my mother works with them. So this must be the sister of Winter, if I recall right she is called Weiss. Her sister is very well known in Atlus."
On first sight he could registered her perfect attitude. She had a perfect walk, but overall, she looked absolutely flawless. This was still toped trough her white tight-length dress with the slight white jacket that she wore. On the side she got her rapier and on the back she had this little box. As if everything wasn't white enough, she also got this snow-like hair bond to a ponytail.
After coming back from his thoughts, he could see Ozpin on the end of the room. He was standing on some kind of stage holding an introduction speech. The usual bla bla about learning is important. After his speech, everybody can freely wander around the building and will have to be on the entrance of the emerald forest the next day. So, after some chit-chat, he quickly sits into a corner with his book and instantly sunk into it. He didn't even realised that next to him set another girl wearing a bow. As he noticed it, he jumped right into the question
„Hey, what's with that bow ?
The girl looked back to him, but only for a short time. She ignored him and give him only an annoyed
„None of your business"
„So she is a Faunus, that was quiet easy"
To be fair, it is not that obvious but hey, why would she wear a black bow if it's not to hide her cat ears. Cute little neko. Wait, forget that. From his very little relationships to the White Fang, he remembers that Blake belongs the Belladonna family, the rulers of Menagerie, a little island on the southeast of Remnant, a quiet place for all Faunus. The first things he saw were her yellow eyes and her long black hair growing down to her wrist. She wears a white top with a decent black vest on. With that she has some white shorts with black stockings and boots.
"I'm sorry that was kinda impolite, Taiyo Hikaro the name, but you just call me Ray"
"Blake"
She only gave small answers and he could hear some sort of annoying in her voice. So he just sat back and wanted to read his book as he hears 2 people talking, way too loud for his taste. It was a boy and girl, the male seemed very calm and tried to pass this calmness onto the girl. The young man sat in his sleeping bag and after sometime, they really look like a couple.
The young man got a little pink streak in his black hair, the same color as his eyes. As clothing it remembers a bit Chinese fashion. He got a green coat with white pants and normal black shoes.
"Nora please, can't you just sit in your sleeping bag and sleep? Look nobody can sleep because of you! Please just sit down and relax"
"But but but Ren! We. Are. At. Beacon ! Can you believe that, we will become hunter and huntresses, and will be learned to fight, and do missions, and get new friends, and so much more!"
"Jeez, she really is annoying, let's just hope I don't have to team with her.."
The girl next to him was Nora Valkyrie, a girl dressed in a short-sleeved black vest that ends at her waist and a top with a heart shape. On her waist she got something like a corset but much more loose. Her outfit gets completed by the pink skirt reaching to her mid-thighs. At one moment he had enough and just walked up to her and let his book at his place.
"Have you ever been struck by lightning ? You seem to be very hyperactive"
"Actually yea, well, as you see im not dead, that was a very crazy Thursday"
She just laughed when she told it and held out her hand for proper introduction. As always she looks very enthusiastic and smiled
"Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, who are you then"
"Just call me Ray, so you two came to Beacon together? It makes it easier to be with friends hm?"
Nora instantly answered before Ren could even react
"Sure ! We are the best team! Together we can do everything!"
"That's great ! I wish you a wonderful time here at Beacon Academy"
[Note: Don't mess with Nora, she's way to fast and unpredictable]
With that being, he goes back to his sleeping back and decides to go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day so better be prepared for everything that comes. He knew that tomorrow will be the team assignment at the emerald forest. But that's like everything he knows. So with that he closes his eyes and goes into sleeping.
