Felix sighed in relief as he stepped on solid ground once again. The long airship ride and the rather cramped quarters on said ship had left him itching and with a kink in his tail. Pausing for a moment, he adjusted the twin weapons thrust through the left side of his triple-wrapped cloth belt. Not a moment after he was finished, a mighty shove from behind sent him stumbling forwards several steps. As he regained his footing, he looked backwards at his assailant, ears twitching angrily and a growl rising in his throat.
"Oh my, the cat man looks angry! Be careful, he might scratch us!" the man, a large, hulking figure clad in armor, said in a condescending, joking manner to his companions.
"Good one, Cardin!" they all chorused, laughing.
"Hey, are these ears real? They sure look real, but you can never be sure." Cardin joked, smirking as he reached for Felix's head. Like a flash of lightning, Felix reached out and caught Cardin's arm before the brute could touch him.
"Don't you dare touch me." He growled, shoving the bully's arm away.
"Hey! Don't you tell me what to do, Faunus! Do you even know who I am?" Cardin blurted in rage. Felix looked back at the orange-haired boy coolly, ears twitching in annoyance.
"No, I don't know who I am talking to. But regardless of your identity, you do not possess the right to talk down to me as if I was less than human." He replied. Cardin's face twisted in anger.
"I have every right to talk down to you sub-humans! You can't claim to be equal to humans when you're half animal!" he shouted back.
"You must be confused. The one who is half-animal here is you. Clearly, you are at least half jackass." Felix shot back before turning away. His reply sent ripples of laughter through the crowd that had grown around the quarreling students, but engendered yet more rage in Cardin and his three cronies. Cardin reached out, caught Felix by the shoulder, turning him about, and swung his fist at the Faunus' face. Faster than the hulking brute could react, Felix once again caught Cardin's arm and shoved it away, unbalancing the bully. He followed this up by kicking at the larger man's ankle, causing him to stumble. As he did this, Felix grasped the larger hilt at his side with his right hand and the sheath with his left. So rapidly that it appeared as no more than a blur, Felix pushed on the guard with his thumb, releasing the blade collar from the sheath and drew the single-edged, curved blade out and slashed twice before replacing the sword in its scabbard, all in one big arcing motion.
Cardin caught himself just before crashing into a cart loaded with silver cases and spun around, eyes glittering with hate and malice. Voice dripping with scorn, he said "Ha! The kitty's lost his claws! You didn't even scratch me!" Felix, who had been walking away after finishing his attack, looked back just as Cardin's belt, which had been sliced almost all the way through on either side of his waist, split in two and the bully's pants slid down his legs to bunch around his ankles. Undergarments exposed to the laughing crowd, Cardin flushed both in anger and humiliation as he struggled to pull his pants up.
Unable to resist, Felix delivered the parting shot in a cool monotone, eyes shining with amusement though his face remained passive. "If you're going to be a dick, you might as well not wear pants." He then turned and walked towards the large school building before him. Behind him, the other students rolled in laughter at the joke and the humiliating situation the bully had found himself in. The student in question finally managed to wrest his pants back up around his waist, muttering to himself all the while, vowing vengeance against Felix. Passing by, a student even larger than Cardin, standing almost seven feet tall and visibly rippling with muscles, as his leather vest was left hanging open, laughed to himself.
"Good one, little man." he chortled in a thick accent, clapping a massive hand to his belly. Cardin took one look at the giant and his furry orange-and-black ears and scrambled away from him. Never before had he seen a teenager so large, aside from himself. The ground seemed to shake as the huge Faunus marched after Felix and the other enterprising students who made it to the school while the display was ongoing.
Inside, the students followed signs through long hallways until they reached a large theater-like room, though sans seats. A low stage rose in front of them, empty except for a microphone and a stand. The students filed in, forming rough rows before the stage. Felix found himself in the front row, with the hulking Faunus beside him. The giant looked down and chuckled.
"Ve meet again, little man!" he rumbled in his strange accent.
"I'm sorry, we have met before?" Felix replied quietly and politely.
"Vell, not exactly. But I saw marrrvelous show you put on outside! It was grrreat to see someone stand up to prrrejudiced fool!" the giant spoke enthusiastically. Felix grimaced silently.
"I didn't want to make a spectacle. It is not good to make enemies before school even starts."
"Ah, but vay you handled large one, you vill have niet trouble fending zem off again!" Felix found that though the man's accent was strange and thick, he had little trouble determining his meaning.
"Still, it is not good to make yourself enemies. Though it is true that I can handle them easily, that does not mean I want to." A short silence fell between the two, and Felix decided to carry on the conversation with the amiable giant by introducing himself. Thrusting his hand towards the large Faunus, he said "My name is Felix Alizarin. May I ask yours?"
Nearly crushing Felix's hand in his own, the man said "Vell met, little man – er, Felix! I Logan RRRust!" loudly. Grimacing in pain, Felix gingerly extricated his hand from Logan's vice-like grip.
"Indeed, it is good to meet you, Logan. You know, I find your accent very whimsical. May I ask where you're from?"
"I hail frrrom grrreat kingdom of Mistrrral, in norrrtherrrnmost rrreaches of Anima! Vhat about you, little Felix?"
"I once lived in Menagerie, like many other Faunus. If you're from Mistral, what brings you to Beacon Academy, all the way in Vale?" Felix bounced from the subject of his home quickly, as if uncomfortable with the subject.
"My family may be frrrom Mistrrral, but ve do not agrrree vith headmaster zerrre. He is bad man. Verrry veak-minded. Ve like Ozpin much betterrr. He is good man. Verrry strrrong."
"I see. That is very interesting." Felix tailed off as a tall, thin man with a cane, a pair of glasses and a mug walked out onto the stage and the lights fell, leaving only a soft spotlight on the center of the stage.
"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 are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." The man said. A short pause followed as the gathered students looked at each other excitedly.
"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." At these words the students began to mutter to those nearby, some angry, some upset, some confused. Felix and Logan merely exchanged a short glance, then returned their attention to the man. He looked back at them, seemed to take note of something, and nodded once before looking back at the populace.
"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." At the conclusion of this statement, he turned and walked off the stage, his spot at the microphone was taken by Glynda Goodwitch, who had spoken to them earlier, on the airship.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." She said, before she too turned and left as the lights rose. In almost total silence, the students filed out of the room and found their way through the hallways to the ballroom.
There, each of them pulled out a sleeping bag and began setting up their temporary living spaces. Felix made his way to the far side of the ballroom and laid down his bedding in a secluded nook behind a curving staircase. Shielded from prying eyes, Felix relaxed enough to disrobe and change into a pair of sandy brown flannel pants. He carefully laid out his outfit for the next day; a pair of twisted rope sandals, a pair of thick cloth socks with separation between the big toe and the other toes, a pair of sand-colored cloth leggings, a black pair of cloth trousers with deep pleats and plates of armor sown on, a long sand-colored silk shirt with a thin belt, a burnt orange thigh-length jacket with a cord at the lapels to hold it together, and a long black linen belt.
Taking a seat against the wall, Felix set down his twin blades and pulled out a set of three stone blocks, a device in which to clamp the block, a flask of water and a towel. Setting the first of the three stones in the holder, he opened the flask and poured water over the stone. The runoff was collected in a basin in the bottom of the holder. When the basin was full, Felix removed it, poured it into the flask and began to repeat the process. After about twenty minutes, the stone was soaked and Felix drew the larger of the two blades. Sighting down the spine, he detected a slight bend near the tip. Withdrawing a wooden block with a deep slot in the middle, he fit the spine of the blade in the slot and began to straighten the blade. When he was satisfied, he stowed the tool back in his bag and began to dissemble his sword. With quick, deft movements, Felix unwrapped the hilt, removed the dragon-shaped ornament, tapped out the peg holding the two halves of the hilt to the tang, slid the hilt off, removed the spacers, the guard, and the collar. When he was finished, all that was left was the bare steel blade and tang.
Holding the tang carefully, Felix shifted into a kneeling position before the sharpening stone. With long, deliberate strokes, he drew the blade continuously over the stone, producing a rasping sound. He continued the process, focusing intensely on keeping the blade at a consistent angle and keeping his strokes even. As time passed, he worked from the first stone down to the last stone, producing a fine beveled edge. He then reassembled the sword and replaced it in its sheath, then began again with the shorter sword. After a while, the rasping sounds drew the attention of a young girl. Wandering over behind the stairs, the girl was taken aback by the sight of Felix sharpening his short sword.
"Now that's a katana…" she mumbled in surprise. Felix looked up at her, not pausing his continuous motion.
"Actually, this is known as a wakizashi. My katana is over there." He said, nodding to the longer sword laying before him.
"May I?" queried the girl, gesturing to the katana. Felix nodded his assent, and the girl knelt and picked up the sheath.
"Just be careful with it. The blade is newly sharpened." Felix said, returning most of his attention to his work but keeping an eye on the girl. She was wearing a short top emblazoned with the face of a Beowolf, which Felix found odd, and long pajama bottoms with little rose symbols printed on them, as well as a black sleeping mask designed to look like a Grimm's eyes pushed back on her head. She also had short black hair with red highlights, and silver-colored eyes.
With jerky movements, the girl drew the long, curved blade from its sheath and nearly dropped it when the full weight of the sword came free of the supporting sheath. So fast only he could see it, Felix whipped the blade of his wakizashi up and nudged the katana upwards, just before it fell from the girl's hand, then returned to sharpening the blade. The girl carefully set the sheath on the ground by her feet and grasped the hilt with both hands. Felix took note of her stance and nodded approvingly. It was clear that she had had some sword training before, but it was not her primary style.
"My name is Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose." she said as she began to move through some basic forms, struggling a little with the length of the blade.
"Felix Alizarin." he replied as he lifted the wakizashi blade to his eyes to judge the bevel. Unsatisfied with it, he resumed grinding. After a while, he looked up and found that the curious sound of grinding had drawn another girl. The girl, who had black hair surmounted by a dark purple bow, was sitting on her ankles not far away from Felix. He nodded a greeting, but found that she was staring at his ears and not really paying attention. He shrugged, then returned his attention to the grinding. Once more lifting the blade to his eyes and finding it unsatisfactory, he drew the blade thrice more over the stone before deeming it finished. He then withdrew a cloth and wiped the blade clean of the slurry that had formed. As he did so, the thick chains around his arms rattled, drawing the gaze of both Ruby and the black-haired girl.
"Why are you wearing the chains of a slave?" whispered the latter. Felix sighed, then began reassembling the wakizashi. When he was finished, he stood and shook his limbs. Around each of his fingers, including his thumbs, were thick steel rings. Attached to these rings were chains that ran up his arm and were fastened to more chains at his wrists and just below the elbows. From the chains wrapped around his forearms spiraled chains that were linked to the ones around his wrists. A thin steel collar was fastened around his neck, and from that came three thinner chains; two that twisted around his upper arms and attached to the chains around his forearms and another that ran down his spine to be linked to a steel waistband, which had two similar chains that wound down his legs, below the pants. Both above the knee and below the knee, as well as at the ankles, steel bands anchored the leg chains.
"Because I am a Faunus. And while my brethren remain bound by the chains of prejudice, I cannot let myself walk free and without cares. These chains remind me of that burden." He spoke quietly. Ruby, who had somehow failed to notice the chains because of being more interested by the swords, was astonished. The other appeared to have tears in her eyes before she blinked quickly, returning to a passive face.
"I may have been born and raised in Menagerie, where discrimination against my kind doesn't exist, but many, many others are not so fortunate. I fight for their freedom as much as I fight for my own honor." He finished, reassuming his kneeling pose.
"Are… are you a member of the White Fang?" asked Ruby, appearing to be shocked. Felix noticed that at the mention of the now-violent Faunus rights organization, the black-haired girl flinched slightly.
"Of course not." He scoffed. "Those brutes no longer fight for us. They fight for themselves, and in doing so, cast an unflattering light on us. The very fact that you asked about them, in fear, shows why they are no friends of us. Before we can truly be free, we must rid ourselves of this menace. Restoring the White Fang to its previous peaceful nature would be a step in the right direction." After his quiet tirade, Felix calmly held out his hand towards Ruby, who, rather reluctantly, relinquished his katana. Sliding it back into its sheath and placing it by his side, he did the same with the wakizashi before beginning to pack up his sharpening materials. After rinsing the stones of slurry with the last remnant of water in the flask and wrapping them in the towel, he stood with the basin of water in his hands. "Goodnight." He said before slipping off towards the bathroom. The girls returned to their bedrolls, and the black-haired girl blew out the candles that had been quietly burning in their sconce next to hers, plunging the room into darkness.