Chapter 2- First Step
"... *Sigh*... I hope this decision is something I'm not going to regret." Orion muttered, staring out of the window. He was onboard an airship that was destined for Beacon Academy. He was surprised to see so many others on the same flight, proving just how prestigious the school was.
He was listening to the news telecast on the criminal he encountered, Roman Torchwick, as well as a report on the rise in activity from the White Fang, an extremist group that comprised of mainly Faunus.
The news telecast was cut short by a holographic speech given by the same blonde woman he had met yesterday, who introduced herself as Glynda Goodwitch. Once it was over, Orion returned to watch the scenery below, but was distracted by a rather loud commotion behind him.
"EW, YANG! GROSS! YOU'VE GOT PUKE ON YOUR SHOE! GROSS! GROSS! GROSS! GROSS! GET AWAY FROM ME! OH GET AWAY FROM ME!" A familiar voice yelled out before he found himself being tackled to the ground by a red blur. As he tried to recover, he noticed it was the same red-hooded girl he met yesterday who ran into him at ramming speed and was now lying face flat on him. A little embarrassed at the close proximity with the girl, he tried to pick himself up.
"Ow... Who put that wall in front of me?" The young teen asked.
"Ahem, well... For starters, I'm not a wall." He replied.
"Oh sorry! Sorry! Didn't see you there... Wait, aren't you that guy I met yesterday? Orion's your name, right?" She said as she started rubbing on the sore spot on her head.
"Yeah... Need some help with that?" Orion asked, pointing to her head.
"Thanks, but I'll be fine."
"Ruby! Oh sorry! My little sister can be a klutz sometimes. Ruby, you know you're not supposed to use your speed while we're INSIDE the ship, remember?" A rather tall girl said as she quickly approached them, looking rather concerned.
Her most noticeable features were her long, messy bright-golden hair, which did nothing to hide her lilac eyes, her pale skin as well as her large chest that was mostly covered by her yellow low-cut crop top with a black crest that resembles a burning heart.
Her tan vest, which hugged around her chest tightly, had rather puffy cap sleeves with black cuffs. Shifting his attention down, a brown belt with a buckle, a pouch, and a small banner-like object hung from her waist.
She wore black shorts, over which she had a white asymmetrical back skirt, which showed off a lot of her pale skin. She even had an orange infinity scarf wrapped around her neck.
She walked towards the pair of them in her brown knee-high platform boots that appear to be made of leather, with orange socks of different lengths. Tied to to top of her left boot was a sort of gray bandanna that fluttered through the air as she moved. She offered out both hands, which were covered by fingerless black gloves, and helped up the duo.
"I know... Oh, right. Yang! This is the guy I was talking about yesterday. He's the one who was helped me out when I tried to catch that Torchwick guy!"
"Um...Hi, miss...?"
"Oh, don't be such a stiff! You can call me Yang! And any friend of my sister is a friend in my book!" She said, wrapping one arm around Ruby's neck.
"All right... wait, you two are sisters? I don't really see the resemblance..."
"Oh, that... well it's kind of a long story. But in short, we're just half sisters. We've got different Moms, but we have the same Dad!" Yang responded, fiddling with her long golden-blonde hair.
"Yup, and he is the most awesome Dad in the world!"
"Is that so? Well, it's nice to know that you and your family gets along..." Orion said, before turning his head and muttering to himself, "Not like mine..."
"So... Orion, you just enrolled into Beacon too?" Yang asked.
"You could say that... Still can't believe I'm here though. It feels too good to be true."
"Well, ya better start believing it buddy! Cos we're almost there now!"
"Yeah! Just a few more minutes and we'll be... Ew, Yang! You still got that guy's puke on your boot! Do something about it, will you?!" Ruby yelled with a grossed-out look on her face.
"Okay okay, Sis. Don't need to get your hood tied in a bunch. I'll go wash it out, hopefully along with the stink. Smell ya later!" Yang said before snickering to herself. "Hehe... Smell ya later... Now, that's a good one."
As the duo watched Yang walk away to find the bathroom, Orion couldn't help but feel that his life was going to get a lot more interesting being around these people.
As the airship had finally landed at the docking area outside of Beacon, most of its passengers were all making their way towards the exit.
Orion was also heading towards the exit when a blonde guy rushed past him to reach the trash can outside and started to throw up into it. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the guy was wearing quite average-looking combat attire. A black hoodie and blue pants were worn under a set of simple white armor, only covering the more critical area with arm and knee guards, a single chest plate and a pair of spaulders. Underneath his clothes, he could vaguely see the outline of the guy's toned and muscled body, implying that the guy must have been working out quite a bit.
Swinging from his waist was a simple sword sheathed in a white scabbard with dull yellow trimmings. Judging from its worn down appearance, he guessed that it had seen its fair share of combat over a long time.
Thinking that he should try and help the poor guy, he walked over to him and began rubbing his hand over that guy's back, hoping that it would help to soothe his body.
"Hey, take it easy. Deep breaths now. Let me guess, air sick?"
"Urgh... Kind of... Got a bad case of... *Urk*... motion sickness." The young blonde responded with dread in his voice.
"Don't you have some kind of medication to help with that?"
"Nope, I don't really need it...I'll *Urk* be fine... I'm used to it. Thanks for *Urk* asking though." He said, heaving a few times mid sentence.
"Don't mention it. I'm Orion by the way."
"Ah... that's better. Oh, and my name's Jaune Arc." He replied, wiping his mouth and finally stepping away from the trash can after throwing up into it.
Soon, the pair began making their way from the landing platform to the main academy building with the remaining passengers. However, while most of the people were chatting happily, there was an unsettling silence between the pair as they walked.
"So Jaune, ready to take your first step in becoming a huntsman?" Orion asked, hoping to break the tension. "Maybe... guess I'm just nervous, that's all." He said with his head hanging low.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone's gonna be jittery on their first day." Orion stated.
"Really? You don't look nervous in the least." Jaune pointed out.
"Not true, I'm nervous on the inside." He answered, gesturing toward himself. "But I learnt how to hide it well so I can give others the impression that I'm always in a calm state of mind. You should try it sometime... it may help you somewhere down the line."
"Sure... Thanks for the advice." Jaune said, looking slightly better.
"Anytime, my friend-" Orion was cut off by an explosion that came from somewhere ahead of them. From where he stood, he saw a big black puff of smoke emanating from the central courtyard followed by a shrill voice yelling out loud. It seemed someone had accidentally set off a cloud of Dust, causing an explosion and incidentally covering someone in black soot.
"W-Woah, what was that?! Are we under attack or something?!" Jaune said, startled by the sound.
"No… I don't think so. Sounds more like someone accidentally triggered a Dust explosion in someone else's face and that person is mad about it."
"Shouldn't we do something about it then?"
"Hmm…? There's no need to. It seems like someone else had the same idea and already stepped in."
Looking back in the direction of the explosion, the duo saw that the small group at the epicenter of it had finally dispersed, with a girl dressed in black and white clothing walking in their direction.
As she quickly walked by, Orion was turned to watch the passerby. Her long, dark colored hair that flowed in the wind, which she had adorned with a black bow, were unable to hide the piercing look in her amber eyes. She wore a white undershirt, which exposed part of her midriff, underneath a black buttoned vest with coattails that fluttered through the air.
Black ribbons decorated her arms, with one arm covered by a black detached sleeve and a silver armband. She wore white shorts, in contrast to her black stockings that faded to purple towards her black low-heeled boots. Partially hidden by her hair was a grey cleaver-like broadsword, its hilt designed to double as a pistol. Another long black ribbon, like those wrapped around her arms, was attached to the hilt like some decoration which flowed with the wind.
Before he had a chance to ask anything, the girl had walked out of audible range. "Perhaps it's better to leave her be," he muttered to himself before heading to join up with Jaune, who had just helped a red-hooded girl.
Wait... Red hood? It can't be a coincidence...
"Hey Orion! What kept you?" Jaune asked.
"Oh nothing... Was merely curious about that girl in black earlier." He replied before turning to a slightly dusty-looking Ruby. "I'm more surprised about you, Ruby. Getting into trouble so soon after yesterday's little fiasco?"
"Hey Orion... He he... Yeah, but it was an accident, honest. I didn't MEAN to sneeze and explode like that."
"I'm sure you didn't mean to... Where's your sister Yang?" He asked
"Urgh... She just ditched me out here to meet up with some new friends, right before I exploded!"
"Let's forget about that for now and get a move on, shall we?." He said, hoping to change the subject.
"Sure." The other two said in agreement. The trio then began to walk aimlessly through the school compound.
After a good fifteen minutes of listening to Jaune go on and on about the issue of motion sickness and also a bit about himself, Ruby felt it was time to change the topic.
"So... I have this thing." She said as she whipped out Crescent Rose in its Scythe form, startling the two guys.
"Woah! I-Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked.
"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle." She answered, beaming with pride at her weapon.
"A what...?" Jaune asked again, confused at what she said.
"It's a high calibre firearm, designed to cause maximum damage to long range targets with precision. Very accurate, very deadly..." Orion explained, further baffling the blonde boy.
"Uh... Translation please...?"
"It's also a gun." Ruby clarified, cocking the rifle.
"Oh... That's cool!" Jaune replied.
"So what have you got?" She asked, looking at the sword strapped to Jaune's waist.
"Oh... well, I got this sword," Jaune replied, drawing his sword to let Ruby check it out. It looked to be a rather simple longsword with a blue and yellow hilt. "It's got a shield too!" He took out his stark-white sheathe and it unfolded into a shield form. The shield was basically a rounded triangular shield, with two yellow crescent arcs emblazoned on its white surface.
"Interesting gimmick," Orion commented.
"So what'd they do?" Ruby asked while touching it, triggering something in the shield and making it jump out of his grip.
"Aah!" He exclaimed as he clumsily tried to catch it. Regaining his composure after retrieving it, he continued from where he left off.
"T-The shield gets smaller... so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..."
"But wouldn't it weigh the same...?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, it does..." He said, with a look of disappointment on his face.
"Well...he he, I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to weapons... Guess I did go a lil' overboard in designing it."
"Wait, YOU made that?!" Both Jaune and Orion exclaimed.
"Of course, all students at Signal forge their own weapons... Didn't you make yours?" She asked Jaune.
"I-It's a hand-me-down. My great-grandfather used it to fight in the war..." He answered, saddened at the mention of it being something inherited. It looked as if he was bothered that he was using a weapon given to him rather than one that he could have made.
"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me... Well, I like it! Not many have an appreciation for the classics these days."
"Yeah... The classics..." Jaune answered, continuing to look dejectedly at the ground.
"And what about you, Orion? What do you have? I was so focused on catching Torchwick last night, I didn't get a good look at it." Ruby turned the question to Orion, who wasn't too keen on giving her a straight answer.
"Erm... Well, my weapon's a bit unique, to say the least... It was built around the idea of situational adaptability..." Orion replied as he drew it out from under his cloak.
"It's basically a hybrid weapon comprising of a gauntlet-type shield, a sword for close quarters and a bow for long range combat." He explained.
"A sword and a bow? I don't see where the blade's being stowed. I also didn't see any quiver or bowstring."
"Ah... That's a secret..."
"Aw, c'mon! Don't leave me hanging like that. Now I really wanna know!" Ruby pleaded with puppy-dog eyes. However, Orion remained unfazed by it.
"I might tell you... some other time." He said with firmness in his voice. Seeing as he wasn't going to budge on the topic, she relented.
"Right now, I think we'd better go." Orion said, earning a nod from the other two.
As they continued walking down the open path, Ruby restarted her conversation with Jaune.
"So why'd you help me out back there?"
"Meh, why not? Like my mom always said... Strangers are just friends you haven't met."
"Hmm... Hey, where are we going?" She asked.
"Oh, I don't know... I was kind of following you two." Jaune said, as the the trio stopped in their tracks.
"We're hopelessly lost, aren't we?" Orion asked the two of them. "You guys ought to know, I'm terrible with directions."
Trying to remain positive in this situation, Jaune tried looking high and low.
"You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court, some sort of recognizable landmark?" Jaune listed out his thoughts, which made Ruby snicker at him.
"Is that a no?"
"I think that's a no."
"Great, where's a sign when you need it?!" Jaune yelled out just as someone, who appeared to be one of the school staff, placed a signboard nearby. The signboard read: "This way to Main hall for New Students" with an arrow pointing towards the main academy building.
"Well Jaune, you got your wish. Now we have to make sure we aren't late for the ceremony." Orion stated before the trio rushed off in the direction stated on the signboard.
It took them a good ten minutes of fast walking and a couple of detours, but they finally reached the main hall where all the new students were gathered.
"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang waved over to the trio as she called out to Ruby.
"Oh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you two after the ceremony!" The red-hooded teen said before dashing off to join her sister.
"See you later, Ruby!" Orion said as she left.
"Hey, wait! Ugh... Great, where am I supposed another nice quirky girl to talk to...?" Jaune said as the two of them slowly moved through the crowd to see the stage.
"Cheer up, Jaune. At least you've still have me to talk to."
"Yeah, I guess that's fine... Though it would be better if I had a few female friends. You know... mingle with the opposite gender and stuff."
"Well... Socializing isn't one of my strong points. However, I can tell you this... People will usually gather around those who portray confidence in themselves."
"Hmm... My dad used to say something like that too. Guess I'd better start following his advice now."
"Right... Oh, it seems like the ceremony's about to begin." Orion said, bringing Jaune's attention to the front when Professor Ozpin had just stepped onto the stage, ready to give his opening address.
"Ahem... I'll keep this brief." He stated with a solemn expression on his face. "You have travelled here in search of knowledge... To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you've finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." At this point, some amongst the crowd began whispering amomg themselves with a liitle excitement.
But the mood changed as he continued. "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 ended his speech there, allowing Professor Goodwitch to take the stage. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins... Be ready... You're dismissed."
"Okay... now that that's over, what say we... Jaune, where did you-" Orion had turned to speak to Jaune, only to find him missing from the spot next to him. As he looked all around him, he spotted the blonde boy nearby. "I'm a natural blonde, you know..." He heard Jaune say, trying to impress a certain white haired girl with a one-sided ponytail.
Orion could only stand there and facepalm himself at the guy's attempt at befriending a girl. "Jaune, that's not what I meant when I talked about self-confidence..." He muttered under his breath.
Later that night, all the new students had gathered in together and laid out their bedrolls, getting ready to rest for their initiation test the next day. However, some of them had taken to chatting and playing around in order to kill their boredom.
Orion, having laid out his bedroll next to one of the ballroom's balcony doors, was standing on the balcony looking up at the night sky. He had only taken off his cloak and boots as he stood barefooted on the veranda. The quietness of the night made him feel a little uneasy, resulting in being unable to get an early sleep.
"... *Sigh*... This is going to take some getting use to..." He said to himself, before closing his eyes and letting the night wind lap at his hair.
"Hey Orion... Can't sleep?" A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts, snapping him back to reality. He turned around to notice Ruby standing behind him without any footwear as well. She was sporting a simple set of PJs, comprising of a black tank top with a heart-shaped Beowolf design, a pair of white pants with pink roses printed all over it and a black sleeping mask atop her head.
"You could say that... Guess I'm not used to the night being so quiet... How about you? Too excited you couldn't sleep?"
"... Not really, I was up writing a letter to my old friends back in Signal. Then, Yang had this crazy idea to try and get me some new friends... Not sure if my attempt was any good."
"Sounds like you're doing just fine... As for me, I just feel that nights like this are hard to come by... When you've lived the way I did for the past year, you wouldn't be used to such peaceful nights..."
"What do you mean? I don't really follow..." Ruby asked.
"I've spent the last year on my own, roaming throughout Remnant... Everyday I spent outside the protection of the cities was a battle for survival... Always being on constant alert for Grimm wanting to make a meal out of me, no matter if it was day or night..."
"That's sounds incredibly dangerous... Why would you even put yourself at risk like that?" She asked.
"Well... Guess you could say... I'm trying to find myself." Orion replied, turning back to look up at the shattered moon.
"...Meaning?" She questioned, a hint of interest in her voice.
"It's... not something a person of your maturity should concern herself with..."
"Hey! I'm mature enough. I'm at least fifteen!" She said before puffing up her cheeks and pouting her lips.
Stifling a laugh at her attempt to correct him, Orion decided to humor her a little. "All right, I understand... You're a MATURE little lady... And now I think it's time for the little lady to turn around and get her beauty sleep. You're going to need it for tomorrow..." He replied, patting her head lightly. Her cheeks began to redden, out of embarrassment for being treated like a kid, before finally pulling away from his hand.
"I'm gonna let that one go for now... See you tomorrow, I guess?" She asked, her face still flushed with embarassment.
"All right... Goodnight, little lady." He said, bowing like some gentleman.
"...*Yawn*...Goodnight, Orion..." She replied before quickly going back inside to turn in for the night.
Looking back at the shattered, he sighed. "With any luck, tomorrow's initiation will kick off without a hitch..." He muttered to himself before turning in for the night like the others.
Meanwhile, Professor Goodwitch and Headmaster Ozpin were going through the final preparations of the initiation test the next day.
"Let's see now... This year's entries for initiation will be... Hmm... It seems you were right, Ozpin. That boy did turn up today." Glynda said as she scanned through a list of profiles.
"Did he now? Well, now that he has decided to show up... We can see for ourselves if he's meant to be here." Ozpin answered, his eyes still fixed to his terminal screen.
"As the overseer for the test, I'm going to be very critical with regards to the final results. If his performance doesn't qualify for our level of training, it'll be better for him to withdraw. I will nit have him risk becoming a liability to others."
"... *Sigh*... Very well. Have it your way then. You're quite stubborn for your age, you know that?"
"It's called being firm... And don't you dare bring up my age again." Glynda responded with a low growl. Ozpin remained unfazed by her little threat and simply returned to the work before him.
The next day, everyone began gathering at Beacon Cliff, eager to start their initiation test. Having taken a wrong turn on the way there, Orion become one of the last few to arrive.
Earlier in the morning, he had a little run in with a certain person in oriental green garbs and a rather bubbly and overly excitable ginger-headed girl, who had somehow managed to steal some of Orion's pancakes at breakfast, thinking he wouldn't notice.
Thinking back, Orion didn't exactly mind that as he wasn't one to eat a lot for breakfast either. So he simply sat quietly and ate as he watched the girl continue rambling on and on to her black haired partner.
Snapping out of his flashback, he spotted Jaune, Ruby and Yang in a line with the other participants, each standing on top of a silver tile.
"Morning, you sleepyhead. What kept ya?" Yang asked him as he took his place on the tile next to Jaune's.
"Yeah... I got a little lost on the way over... Good thing I managed to arrive in time. What about you three? Ready for the initiation test?"
"Well... I'm ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Just hoping I'll make it out alive." Jaune said with a degree of uncertainty.
"Here's some good advice on survival in combat: Stay back and look at the big picture. It'll be easier to spot for weaknesses and opportunities that way." He replied, hoping his advice would ease Jaune's worries.
Before Jaune could respond to that, everyone turned their attention to Professor Ozpin, who started his briefing for the test. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."
Professor Goodwitch came forward to add a few words of her own. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."
A surprised Ruby couldn't hold back her shock. "What? Ohhh..."
Taking over from the blonde instructor, Ozpin continued from where he left off. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."
A few groans could be heard amongst the line of new students, but Ozpin paid them no heed.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." He stated, earning a few shocked expressions from the crowd, especially Ruby, who felt like her world just shattered like a mirror.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." He said, with a solemn look on his face, which meant he wasn't planning to sugarcoat the reality of what they had signed up for.
Jaune could only laugh nervously and gulped down his saliva as he started to feel a little weak in the knees.
The headmaster immediately decided to finish up his briefing quickly. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"
Jaune immediately raised his hand to ask something, but the headmaster didn't seem to notice.
"Good! Now, take your positions."
Everyone immediately struck a pose on their tile, looking ready for combat. All except Jaune, who still had his hand raised.
"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" He asked the headmaster, who finally took notice of Jaune.
"No. You will be falling." He answered with a straight face.
"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" The blonde inquired. Orion shook his head and started thinking that perhaps Jaune wasn't quite ready for this, seeing as he kept throwing out question after question while the others were each being launched through the air. The line of students soon dwindled down to the remaining few closest to the headmaster.
"No, you will be using your own 'landing strategy'..." was the reply.
"Uh-huh... Yeah." Jaune said, scratching his head and looking both confused and hesitant.
Orion noticed Yang winking at her younger sister before putting on a pair of aviators and being catapulted over the forest, yelling with excitement as she sailed through the air. A second later, Ruby was also sent flying into the distance along with the others.
"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!" He asked but he was cut off when the tile beneath him finally flung him into the sky with the other students, who were beginning to make their descent into the forest below.
"... I'm going to regret not learning how to fly, aren't I?" Orion thought aloud before being catapulted into the air as well. Ozpin, having heard what Orion mumbled, simply took a sip of his drink as he and the other teachers on the cliff looked down at the forest, watching as the initiation test had finally commenced.
That was the end of Chapter two- First Step. Hope you guys like it. Stay tuned for my next chapter. Also, please remember to Read & Review, becuase any feedback from you guys is recommended.