I confess, I always harboured a hatred for cliche story tropes.
Sure, some are pretty good, sometimes. But when writing a story, it's way too easy to slip into writing some boring unrealistic plot of being thrust into some hard new world, where despite this, you are more powerful somehow then everything, but don't yet know it. The protagonist then goes off and fights a dragon or something.
It's bad when explained with good fluff. When the story just states it with no reason why, it's insulting to read.
Which is why I found myself in some fairly major internal conflict, when I woke up with a splitting headache, in a forest that was all too familiar.
Forever fall.
No wait. Forever fall was the other one.
This was the Emerald forest.
Testing ground for new prospective initiates at the illustrious Beacon academy.
A distant but thunderous explosion sounded, and I snapped my head back as fast moving birds flew overhead, blurs of speed in the relative tranquil.
No, not birds. Those were people.
Huntsmen! Or at least prospective ones. This was initiation!
Jubilation at being in one of my favourite universes warred heavily with irritation. A bitter irritation that my proverbial story, because that was what it was looking like, was so cliched. It was then quashed by concern. I was away from home, in an incredibly dangerous location, with monsters that could taste your rage and fear. I quickly clamped down on my emotions, simply refusing to clutter my thoughts with them until I was safe, then worked to slow my heartbeat and control my body.
It took a minute and a half before I felt satisfied, and decided to move, in case I had attracted anything unsavoury.
Thoughts whirred through my head. Velocity, time, direction,
Plan?
Ozpin.
He's the only one likely to believe me. Failing that, I could be of much use to him. If this really was Remnant, and this really was when I think it is, then I can literally tell the future.
Location? Top of cliff face, reading scroll, monitoring prospective students.
Get to Ozpin. Slow heartbeat first, getting a bit too excited.
I looked around. where was the cliff face? I felt I recognised the particular area of the forest. No idea why, but it was all I had. So I set off.
No, no that's a stupid idea. Just as likely to run into a Grimm then find the cliff. Climb a tree. Scout around.
I looked around. Most seemed too smooth to climb, bar one, that had a few handholds. Enough to get up to the branches.
"Hello?"
Wait what?
I reeled, turned to see a girl. About my rough age and height seemingly, she was wearing some kind of half plate half cloth armour, carrying a rifle with a long blade for a sight.
Better idea.
"Soo... I guess we're partners now?"
Wha?
"Oh, no sorry, I'm not involved in the initiation."
"Huh? Then what brings you out here, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh, well it's kinda...complicated sorry, and I really shouldn't keep you. But if you could possibly point me in the general direction of professor Ozpin while you're here?"
"Oh, sure." She pointed back, her face scrunched up in thought. "He's about, say, three kilometers that way."
"Excellent, sorry to bother you." I said, relieved.
"Oh really, it's fine. See ya."
And like that, she ran off. Not jogged, but full out sprinted. It took me a moment to remember Aura was a thing.
I set off, careful to travel as close to exactly where she pointed, at a moderate pace. Like striding through a garden.
What was the phrase? Taking a turn was it?
Anyway, if I went much faster, my excitement would begin to bubble up, and risk attracting Grimm. At this moderate pace, if I kept calm, they should be distracted by the others, who were noisier and less controlling of their emotions.
It was three kilometers, over flat ground. At normal pace five kilometers amounts to one hour. I would have reached the cliff after forty minutes or so. I reached it in thirty, and was lucky enough not to encounter anything. I guess following the tracks of a Huntress in training, means you are unlikely to encounter live Grimm. Or live anything dangerous for that matter.
By the time I reached the cliff, I was wondering exactly how I was going to summit it.
I had good memory. I remembered that it was not a small cliff. I could try climbing it. I had done similar things before. But this cliff face was devoid of plant life, and if I fell from there, it would be fatal, rather then just crippling. I wasn't bad at climbing, I had higher then average finger strength and...
It turns out I didn't need to.
When I reached the clearing, I found two people.
A strict looking blond woman, casually flexing a riding crop between her hands, stern eyes behind light glasses.
She was standing behind a man, in an oddly green suit, an unusually young face framed by white hair. He was leaning on a cane, staring intently at me.
Neither were smiling.
It took me all of ten seconds to realise they had likely followed my progress through the forest. They knew.
Despite all my self control, drilled into me by martial arts and firm parenting, I felt a strong surge of fear and dread dart unwanted up my spine. I could feel myself begin to perspire as I returned their gaze.
Left with nothing more to do, I tried to quash my nerves, and took a step forward.
There was about a hundred meters between us. Crossing that distance was the on of the most uncomfortable things I have ever done. As I got closer, I could make out more. A slight glint of concern behind the harsh gaze of who I knew was Professor Goodwitch. A slight twist of curiosity from the eyes of who could only have been Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon.
I stopped, hands clenching, trying to still my nerves. So my voice would not waver.
He beat me too it.
"Well hello." He said, seemingly without a care in the world, like he had just met an old friend on the street.
Part of my brain noted the clever psychological reasoning behind that. Another part tried to predict what would happen from here, and work on a conversation plan.
My mouth went "Hi."
Stupid. Awkward. Clumsy.
He chuckled, lightly, and I could feel myself relaxing, the tension melting away.
"My name is Ozpin. I'm the Headmaster of Beacon academy, although I'm willing to bet you likely knew that." A slight tug of a smile, harmless "But I must confess, I do not know who your name. Might I ask it of you?"
Name.
"Oh, my name's Jason Richards. Pleasure to meet you." I say, shaking his proffered hand.
A firm grip, eye contact, good. I can recover this.
"And yes, I do know you, however not the way you would think I do."
He grinned, an honest expression that reached his eyes this time.
"I had a sneaking suspicion you were going to say that."
He turned, leaning on his cane.
"Glynda, could you supervise the new students? I'd like to take our new friend here off for a chat."
"Of course." she said, curt, despite her confusion. I'd guess Ozpin usually oversaw the new students personally.
"Excellent, thank you." He said, waving me towards an arriving Bullhead? Bulkhead? I couldn't remember.
"I'm sure you have quite the story to tell me, Jason."
It took about two hours and countless cups of tea before I managed to fully explain what I knew of how I got here, and then how I knew it.
He took his universe being an Anime series shockingly well. To be fair, we did debate the nature of the relationship between series and universe thoroughly. It was long and lengthy work, and I was barely able to keep up with him, which I'll admit is rare for me, but we managed to settle that this Remnant is both the same as the one from the series, by nature of being the same, and different, by nature of being, well, a universe, moreover, I had no way of confirming if such was identical to the series I knew. Would it be completely identical, or would it have some differences that I could not see. It seems basic, but we established that, whilst things were not constrained to the series plot, that is likely what is going to occur, if things remain the same. That had bought us onto our next point. I knew what would happen to Vale, I knew how to stop it, preempt it. But if we did, then we lose the advantage of certainty. A truly vexing issue, one that we put down to later discussion.
Then he put down his cup.
"So, Jason. In this web of fate we weave, what strand to you intend to straddle?"
I knew this would come up. Likely he knew I knew this would come up. Likely also, that he could guess what my answer was going to be.
"If possible, I'd like to enter into beacon as a prospective Huntsman."
His eyes narrowed.
"I expected as much. But remember, a Huntsman's lot is a perilous job. Watching the exploits of two of our most promising teams behind a screen may not accurately reflect this enough. Most Huntsmen do not end peacefully."
He was serious, very serious. Because of this, I ran through my thoughts again to confirm my choice, out of respect.
"Yes. I did spend a fair amount of my childhood learning martial arts. Four in total in fact, albiet only two very well. Come to think about it, I also learnt to shoot, and the basics of sword use."
He nodded, following.
"I am definitely rusty, but with some extra weight and technique training, I should be a good enough quality to earn Huntsman rank."
"...Very well." he said after a pause "New entries after the initiation exam are rare, but they do happen. You will duel with a student of that I decide is of sufficient skill. Should I deem you fit enough, both mentally and physically, you shall be entered into Beacon as a student."
I nodded in understanding. I had expected exactly this, but I was nervous. I would have to fight someone. A good someone, so no Jaune or even Cardin.
"Now." Ozpin said, rising. "I believe I have a ceremony to attend to, probably should not forget it." He slid me a scroll.
"I'm guessing you don't have one of these then. This should guide you to the guest wing. Just take any room you want, I'll send up dinner to you."
"Cool, thanks professor." I said, following him to the elevator. He pressed two buttons, one for each floor.
"I'd advise getting some rest, I'll meet you at your room tomorrow at ten. From there, I'll take you to the armoury, where you can choose a temporary weapon to use in your duel, which will be at noon. Any questions?"
"None." I said, the doors opening.
"This is you."
I step out, and the doors close behind me.
Left alone, I was free to wander unhurriedly to the guest wing. I picked the closest one, and checked inside. The room was sparse. A bed, a small kitchen, bathroom, and a TV. Just like home. I moved over to the window, and looked out over Beacon.
No, I corrected myself. No it wasn't home. It was Beacon. Not home.
I felt a pang of worry. I would be missed likely. Was "I" gone forever from that universe? What would it do too my parents? My friends? Those who looked to me for help? I had to stop myself. Whatever had happened, it had happened. And try as I might, I could not change it. I just had to hope that things turned out okay.
I sat on the bed, and started browsing through the interweb on my scroll. I had enjoyed tabletop and role-playing games, and I wanted to see how Remnant compares.
I found a 40K substitute. The Chaos Daemons were Grimm essentially. I found a varied amount of other games of differing styles.
I spent the evening browsing through the assorted cultures of Remnant. Dinner came and went, whilst I researched.
The last thing I did before I turned the lights off, was to reset my watch, and set an alarm on my scroll, to wake me up at 7. I wanted to keep good habits, although I suspected that I would end up getting up earlier, which did not excite me, a night person by nature.
I collapsed onto the bed, still in my day clothes. And was out like a light.