Hey, just wanted to say thank you for reading this. While this may be my first story I've published here I have always been big into writing. Saying that however I know that I'm far from perfect. Just wanted to say that I'm really excited about this story and let me know what you think. Please don't hold back, if it's bad I want to know why it's bad. Either way I just wanted to thank you in advance for reading this story, TheRedMenace out!
Chapter 1
The large beautiful expanse of Beacon stretched out before her. The illustrious halls stood for years training all manner of hunters and huntresses to face the creatures of Grimm. And now, finally, she could add her name to the list of many that had learned at the academy. The name Ember Flame will go down in this very academy. Her pure excitement knew no bounds, her blue eyes shining with determination. She had black, long hair that went down past her shoulders. Today she came dressed in her usual black dress that had small trims of orange all around. Her weapon and any other supplies were safely tucked away in her bag. While her face only showed small amounts of excitement, within she was nearly jumping off the walls at the idea of attending Beacon.
"Calm down." She thought "Your wits and intelligence got you here. You can't let your emotions get in the way of that."
After finally taking in the beauty of Beacon she moved through the crowd of new arrivals, ready for orientation. Walking through she saw all sorts of different people. She saw a girl that looked to be dressed in Roman armor with red hair. She briefly wondered who it was before finally putting a name to the face.
"That's Pyrrha Nikos!" she thought, remembering all the accolades that Pyrrha had achieved. Ember continued searching the crowds not noticing many of her old friends from Signal. Unfortunately she mostly made friends with underclassmen who wouldn't be here until next year. The only person she could really find was Yang Xiao Long, and they didn't know each other very well.
"Looking for someone?" A voice asked. Ember turned around to see a girl looking at her. The girl had dark, almost purple hair that was cut rather short. She had medieval armor covering all except her head. Even though the armor appeared heavy she had almost no problem moving around in it. Ember looked her in the eye and noticed her bright green eyes.
"Just trying to find a friend" she answered "I can't really find anyone that I know." At this the girl stuck out her hand.
"Lavender, Lavender Light" the girl introduced. Ember took the hand and shook it saying,
"Ember Flame" Ember said "So do you know anyone here"
"I know a lot of people" Lavender said, she then looked down and sighed. "Although not one of them is happy to know me"
"Really?" Ember asked "Why is that?"
"Back at my old school I was not very… liked." She answered. Ember, now suspicious of this girl, asked
"What do you mean by that? How did you treat people?" Lavender looked rather distraught and said
"Well it wasn't that I acted rude to anyone… it was just that they didn't exactly like me." Lavender shuddered still remembering all the chants of "Freak!" and "Evil!" that she suffered through every day. Ember could sense that this was a sensitive topic and moved to cheer her up.
"Well you kind of know me now" Ember smiled "And I still don't regret knowing you." Lavender smiled and finally looked up. Ember couldn't quite explain it but she had a feeling that this girl could make a valuable ally, and even a great friend. "Well I trusted my instincts before" she thought "and it got me here." Ember decided to move away from this subject and asked
"So what's your weapon?" Ember remembered the hours she put into forging her weapon at Signal. That process had given her a great appreciation for the amount of work put into weapons. Lavender, slightly taken aback, stammered
"It's- Well- it's" she caught her wits and decided it would be better to just show it. Lavender clicked a button on her armor and a clasp around the back released. She reached back and pulled out a what looked like a dual edged sword. There was a long handle in the middle and two blades pointing out on the sides. The blades were a beautiful polished steel that with intricate markings on them. Ember looked on in awe and asked
"So what can it do?" At this Lavender disconnected the two blades and held two separate swords in her hands. She then flourished those blades around her in an elegant and swift movement until finally reconnecting them and returning it to the holster in her armor.
"Sorry," she said "I've just always been a bit of a show off when it comes to my weapon." Ember laughed and gave her a smile.
"Don't worry, I'm rather funny about weapons as well"
"Well what about your own weapon? You think you can match mine?" she said with a smug look on her face. Ember laughed and said with a dramatic flair
"Oh you think that I wouldn't have a marvelous weapon such as yours? Well then, behold!" Ember held her hands out and showed her gloves towards Lavender. They were a dark black and hints of orange to match her outfit, and on the top held sharp claw like blades.
"So they're just gloves with claws?" Lavender asked. Ember calmly looked into her eyes and said,
"I think you'll find they're far more than that. Behold once more!" Then the blades on her gloves shot into the air. The blades flew through the air connected by thin razor wire to the gloves. While they were in the air Ember began directing the blades, extending the wire forward and allowing her to aim her blades wherever she wished. Finally she moved her thumb, which was the only one that had no blade or wire, and clicked the palm of the glove. Near instantly the wires retracted and the blades locked right back into place.
Lavender could only stare in shock at the complexity of the weapon. Ember let out a soft laugh and said
"So what do you think?" Lavender took a second to compose her thoughts before answering
"Those are absolutely amazing! Where in the world did you get a weapon like that?" Ember blushed at the compliment and told her
"I had to make it myself." Lavender was even more surprised at that. She knew that some schools make students forge their own weapons but this was crazy.
"So then you actually made that! How in the world did you do that?"
"It took weeks of getting all the intricacies just right but I managed." The way Ember said it as though it was nothing made Lavender even more curious about where she learned everything. The two girls continued to chat about all different things. The subjects of their old schools, teachers, and expectations of Beacon were at the forefront of their conversations. After talking for a short time they both felt that they had made a great new friend. Ember decided to ask
"So how's your day been going?" Lavender once again sighed and said
"Not so well, the same people from school are still causing some problems." She then perked up and looked at Ember "But it's good to meet someone nice for a change." Ember was happy to hear that she had helped brighten the day for someone as skilled and kind as Lavender.
"Hey don't worry, I'm sure your day will get even better." Ember encouraged
"Maybe, I just hope no one is having as bad a first day as me." Just then they heard a loud explosion coming from where the air ships dropped off the students. They could see the obvious markings of Dust from the ice and lightning in the explosion. Lavender freaked out at the sight of the disaster while Ember calmly considered what could have happened.
"Someone may be hurt!" Lavender yelled "We have to go help them!" She started to take off before Ember grabbed her shoulder and told her
"It looks like some sort of Dust problem. Honestly the staff of this school should be better equipped to handle the problem than we are. Besides, judging from the size of the explosion it probably didn't harm anyone anyway." Lavender visibly relaxed and turned around. They both agreed to let the staff handle the problem of the explosion and reported it to the nearest staff member they saw. They then decided that they should really head to wherever they were supposed to go for orientation.
Once they entered the hall for orientation Ember took another look around the room. She saw Pyrrha again and noticed she was looking at someone. Ember followed her gaze and saw a clumsy looking boy with blonde hair. She also saw Yang once again waving someone over. The person who she was calling finally made it over and Ember nearly screamed in surprise.
"That-That's Ruby Rose!" she told Lavender "What is she doing here? She still had two years left at Signal!" Ember distinctly remembered seeing Ruby walk into all sorts of lower classes with other people. She also recalled that she was one of the people that Mr. Qrow had trained personally. The slight reddish black hair and the scythe/rifle attested to that fact. Ruby Rose was attending Beacon, and two years ahead of schedule.
"Maybe she got moved up. She must be impressive to have skipped two years." Ember continued to watch them and saw that a girl with White hair in a ponytail was standing right behind Ruby. This time it was Lavender's turn to nearly panic out of surprise. "That's Weiss Schnee! Heir to the Schnee Dust company! I never thought that she would be attending Beacon!" They saw Weiss shout something at Ruby before Ruby jumped into Yang's arms.
"That's right I forgot they were sisters" Ember said. The two continued to watch the ordeal continue on for another minute or so before finally deciding to pay attention to the stage. A man with gray hair and dark spectacles came onto the wore a dark green jacket with all sorts of shades of green underneath. Next to him was the woman from the plane, Glynda Goodwitch. The man who the two girls knew was the headmaster, Professor Ozpin, prepared the microphone and began his speech.
"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." He then walked off the stage putting pressure on his cane to help him walk off. After walking off Ms. Goodwitch walked up to the microphone and said
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." With that she left as well. Lavender turned to Ember and said
"That was a pretty strange speech." Ember nodded and said
"While I agree he seemed strangely off, his speech was actually really smart. We can gain as much knowledge as we want, however it won't be worth anything if we don't have the will or ability to use it."
"I never thought of it like that." They both moved on into the ballroom in order to find somewhere to sleep. Professor Ozpin's speech still fresh in their minds and they prepared themselves to spend their first night at Beacon.