A/N
Hello guys. Thank you to everyone who followed and favourited my last chapter. This is the first actual chapter of my fic and I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review telling me what you think and any feedback you may have.
If you are wondering how I got a six-thousand-word chapter up a day after my first, I have two chapters already written up and am halfway through another one. Speaking of which, the reason there may be some slight character inconsistencies between this chapter and further chapters is that chronologically this was written first. I had the drafts for the character stories written up before the first chapter but they weren't the full versions they are now.
Thanks for your time.
Nephrite was almost bouncing with excitement. The line to the registry stretched in front of her, leading into a small building, beyond which lay the airships that took students to Beacon. She tried to peer around the tall guy in front of her, but she couldn't clearly see where the line ended.
After another half hour, it was finally Nephrite's turn to register. Inside the terminal there was a large desk, behind which, three clerks sat. Nephrite approached the woman who had just finished registering another would-be huntsman, tail swishing animatedly behind her.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon Academy. I require your name and kingdom of birth." The clerk said, a welcoming smile on her face.
"My name's Nephrite Opalay and I'm from Mistral." Nephrite answered.
After a few seconds the clerk found Nephrite's information and registered her. "Ok, you're clear to move through to the airships."
"Thank you!" Nephrite called after her as she sped through the doors and onto the pathway that led to the airships.
There were three of them, lined up with their front boarding hatches open to allow the students to enter. Quickly Nephrite chose the one on the very end.
As she walked on, Nephrite looked around. The walls of the airship were covered in large windows that let the morning sun stream in. A soothing turquoise light emanated from the holographic displays that hang between the curved, bronze supports.
A few people stood in pairs or groups, most had their weapons in sheathes or holsters on their backs or hips. Nephrites bow was strung over her back, along with a quiver stocked with arrows. Many of them were the coloured, crystalline, dust variants that Nephrite made.
Making her way past the various students, Nephrite approached the very back of the transport. There were only two people back here. A boy dressed in a long brown trench coat. She could see the stocks of two weapons over his shoulders. The other person was a girl wearing a black and dark blue hoodie and a pair of blue jeans. The hood was pulled up, obscuring her face, but her long blue hair could be seen from under it. The girl was sat on the floor in the corner whereas the boy stood reading a book.
After a few minutes of doing nothing, Nephrite decided to try talking to the boy first. Approaching him she held her hand out for him to shake. "Hello."
"Hello." The boy returned, equally as cheerfully; however, he didn't look up from his book.
"Aren't you going to look at me?"
"What makes you think I'm not looking at you?"
Nephrite was confused. The boy was quite clearly reading his book, she could see his eyes following the words on the page as he read. "What do you…"
"Reaching up to his forehead, the boy drew back his hair to reveal six gleaming black eyes peering up at her. Two of the eyes were about the size of a normal human eye while the other four were quite a bit smaller. All were arranged symmetrically on his forehead, with the two larger ones directly above his normal eyes and the four smaller eyes in a row above that.
Nephrite physically recoiled, a look of shock and a small trace of disgust plastered on her face. Her tail stood straight up behind her, the fur bristled out. The boy snickered.
Realising what she'd done, Nephrite stammered an apology "I-I'm so sorry!" After a dew seconds of awkward silence, only broken by the boy's attempts to hold back his mirth, he burst into a bout of hysterical laughter. "The look on your face!" He gasped between breaths.
Finally calming down, the boy wiped tears from his eyes, at least his normal ones. "Names Octavius. Octavius Aranea. Nice to meet you." All he got was a look of absolute confusion and, most likely, he had given off the impression he was really strange. "Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" He prompted after nothing but more silence.
This finally seemed to snap her out of her stupefied state. "Y-Yes." She stammered. "I'm Nephrite Opalay and its… nice to meet you to." Her shoulders slumped with relief. He might be weird but at least he had the courtesy to introduce himself. Maybe people here would be more like what her mother had said after all. "So, Octavius, what brings you to Beacon." She immediately regretted asking the obvious question.
Her salvation from the potentially embarrassing situation came from a voice calling over from behind her.
"So, what's so funny over here?"
Turning, Nephrite saw who asked the question. The boy stood at around 6'3", with dark skin. He was dressed head to toe in white, in some places accented with gold. A short tattered white cape hung from his shoulders, a golden sun insignia sewn on the back. He wore a pair of stylish white trainers, covered in swirls of gold, and white trousers with a gold stripe following the seam. Over his torso, he wore nothing but an undone white denim sleeveless jacket, revealing his heavily muscled chest and arms. He had handsome features with a chiselled jawline and eyes flecked with gold.
Rising to his feet, Octavius replied "Nothing much. Just her reaction to my unfortunate ocular editions. Coming from another Faunus as well. Terrible, simply terrible." Sarcasm dripped from his voice with the last remark.
Now that he stood up, Nephrite could see what he wore beneath his coat. Octavius was clad in a white dress shirt, with a brown waistcoat over that. On the breast pocket of his waistcoat was his insignia, a grey theatre mask, half comedy, half tragedy, over a white spider's web. On his legs, he wore a pair of smart brown trousers and his feet were encased in a pair of brown, steel capped, boots.
"Well you don't exactly sound horrified about it." Nephrite huffed.
The newcomer chuckled and began to introduce himself. "I'm Braith Tallarn. I expect I'll soon be your classmate and I look forward to working with you."
"You're from Vacuo, aren't you?" Octavius questioned, grinning.
"Yes actually. From your choice of attire, I reckon you're from Atlas. Only way anyone would be wearing such a heavy coat in such pleasant weather."
"Guilty as charged, Desert Man."
Sighing at the nickname, Braith turned his attention to the short girl standing near him. "And what's your name?"
"Nephrite." She replied cheerfully.
"Well you're certainly happy." He replied with a smile. "I didn't know anyone could be around an Atlesian." His eyes flicked to the spider faunas standing to his left.
"I rebuke that statement. Just because we literally attempted to outlaw fun and expression a hundred years ago doesn't mean we hate it."
"I think that is literally the definition of hating something."
"Slander!"
"Have you got any idea what you are one about?"
"Do you?"
Is anyone on this ship normal?
The pounding of feet towards the front of the ship caused all three of the new trainee hunters to look over, just in time to see a girl with a massive plume of blond hair drag a noticeably younger girl, wearing a red cape, through the doorway. Right after, the entrance closed with a thump.
"Damnit Ruby! I told you we didn't have time to go to the bakery."
The younger girl just tapped her fingers together and mumbled something the group couldn't hear. The blonde bombshell sighed. "I can't stay mad at you."
With a jolt, the airship began to lift off the ground, engines whining as the mixture of various types of dust was used to lift the massive metal bird off the ground. Once they were high enough, large wing-like flaps began to move, directing the ship towards Beacon Academy.
Once the ship was high enough in the air, Nephrite hurried over to the window. Below her the city of Vale spread out for miles. Gothic steeples and tall houses rose up around wide avenues and narrow alleyways.
Octavius whistled. "Damn. Everything's so utilitarian back in Atlas. You don't see any purely artistically designed buildings."
"Jeez. Atlas sounds like a rough place to live."
"Yeah, it's a pretty grimm situation."
Nephrite and Braith both deadpanned. "Right. I'm done!" Braith announced before wandering off into the crowd.
"No wait." Nephrite cried. "Don't leave me alone with him!" But Braith had already disappeared into the throngs surrounding the windows. "This is gonna be along year."
Before Nephrite could think of a way to excuse herself from her fellow faunus' company the airship rocked heavily. In an instant she was falling backwards. Octavius made a move to catch her but before he could she felt someone stop her fall.
Back on her feet, Nephrite turned around to see who her saviour was. She was greeted with the sight of a girl, slightly taller than herself, dressed mostly in blue with long sky-blue hair falling down well past her shoulders. After a few seconds Nephrite recognised her as the girl who had been sitting in the corner, just across from where she and Octavius had been talking.
"Hi." The girl said in a small voice.
Now Star had done it. Stay out of things, she'd told herself. Don't draw attention to yourself. But then, the second literally anything happened, she'd gone and jumped right in.
"Hi." She said.
The girl who's fall she had stopped beamed at her. "Thanks for the save…"
"Oh, Star, my name's Star."
"That's a nice name. I'm Nephrite and this." She reached up and grabbed the shirt collar of the tall boy next to her, pulling him down until he was level with her. "Is Octavius."
Star giggled at the sight of Octavius, who stood almost a foot taller than Nephrite, being pulled down to her height. Grinning, he waved, before being let go and standing up.
"So, where are you from? I only ask because I'm from Atlas, she's from Mistral and this guy we met earlier was from Vacuo. So far the people at this school seem to be a pretty diverse bunch." Octavius questioned the new arrival.
"I-I-I'm from Vale." She stuttered. She hated being put on the spot like this. Curiously, Octavius cocked his head to the side before promptly diverting the conversation away from Star.
"So, in lieu of anything more appropriate to talk about, what are your guys' weapons?"
At hearing this Nephrite seemed to burst into activity. She reached behind her and slung her recurve bow off her back. It was sleek and made of a black metal with shiny lavender highlights. "This is my pride and joy." She said, a wide grin on her face. "I call her Ukufa. Watch this." Nephrite pressed a button on the side and, immediately, the arms of the bow sprang outwards into sharp curved blades and the bow separated in two at the handle. She twirled the dual blades in her hands. "Cool right."
Octavius clapped in a small round of applause. Then turned to face Star.
After a few seconds of having the other two stare at her, Star realised it was her turn to present her weapon. Reaching behind her she pulled out a metal rod, about 3 feet long.
"Ok." Nephrite said, slightly confused.
Her apprehension was swept away when Star flipped a switch on the side of the weapon and it sprang out. The metal pole now measured 7 feet in length with a long spear tip making up a foot of that and a large axe head on one side. The weapon was silver and shone brilliantly in the light that streamed through the windows. Blue streaks and swirls covered the weapon and there was a large compartment in the centre which seemed to hold several vials of varying types of dust. "This is Arcturus." Star said quietly, not wanting to make a scene out of it.
"Well I suppose that makes it my turn." Octavius reached to his back and grabbed the two weapons from their holsters. When he removed them, he held two, long guns. They were just under 5 feet in length, yet he held them both by their grips, completely unbothered by their inconvenient length. "These are my Hurricanes." The weapons had a mostly wooden construction, with a metal barrel and hammer at the breach. White spider web patterns criss crossed their way up the side of the weapon, ending at the muzzle. "But wait there's more." Octavius held his coat open to reveal the sight within.
All over the inside of his coat there were various sheaths, each containing a blade that was about one and a half feet in length. A bandolier of stick grenades was positioned in a ring at the same height as his chest; Octavius wore two holsters on his back which, presumably, held the muskets.
Tucking his muskets back into their holsters, he with drew two of his bayonets, cackling wildly at the bewildered expressions on the two girls faces. The blades had a slight curve to the end but were otherwise straight on both sides, leading back down to the hilt. Replacing these bayonets, he drew two more. These ones had a brutally serrated blade but much the same shape otherwise. "I have different kinds but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."
Nephrite, at this point was just gawping at Octavius. "In what possible situation could you require that many weapons."
"Fun." Was Octavius' response. "After all, variety is the spice of life and, if you can't blow your enemy up at the same time as stabbing them and shooting everyone in the general vicinity, then what even is the point?"
It was at this point that their conversation was interrupted by a loud metallic THUNK from Star. Arcturus had just exploded out into its full length, almost knocking the quiet girl off her feet. Star frantically grabbed at her weapon and flicked the switch that would return it to its compact size.
After taking a second to compose herself, Star looked behind her to see a dazed girl in a red hood and black dress with a red trim. The girl was rubbing her head but seemed to notice them staring at her.
"IMSORRYIWASJUSTLOOKINGANDIFLICKEDTHESWITCHANDITWENTREALLYLONG!" An unintelligible torrent of words flew from her
Coming over to the girl, Nephrite crouched down, bringing herself face to face with her. "Ok, can you repeat everything you just said but ten times slower?" Nephrite questioned the girl.
The girl took a deep breath. "IJUSTWANTEDTOLOOKATTHEWEAPONAND…" Nephrite clamped a hand over the girl's mouth.
"That is literally the opposite of what I told you to do." Nephrite sighed. "Take a few deep breaths, calm down, and then tell us your name."
A minute of deep breathing later, the girl attempted to answer Nephrites question. "I'm Ruby. I'm really sorry about what happened with your halberd." She turned to face Star. "I'm just a big weapon nut."
"You don't say." Octavius chimed in.
Blushing slightly, Ruby continued. "I managed to get away from my sister, but I didn't know who to talk to or what to do. I was about to go back but then I spotted your weapon and I couldn't help myself."
"You could have just asked. We were showing off our weapons anyway, so you wouldn't have been interrupting anything." Star took her chance to say something.
"Again, I'm really sorry." She seemed to perk up for a second before a grin spread across her face. "Heeeeey, if you guys are comparing weapons, can I show off mine?"
Nephrite didn't like the look on her face but before she could address the situation with any sense of caution, a resounding "Yes" erupted from Octavius and, surprisingly enough, Star. Ruby giggled slightly; removing a red, metal object from her lower back that had previously been covered by her cloak. With a flick of her wrist the weapon began to shift. Octavius, at this point, had a manic smile on his face. Nephrite really didn't like the unhinged look he had in his eyes. Ruby's weapon, meanwhile had transformed into its scythe configuration.
Ruby stood up proudly, not really changing much as she still stood slightly shorter than Nephrite. Her scythe was easily over six feet in length, slightly shorter than Star's halberd, but possessing a huge curved blade.
Octavius whistled, making his way towards a very proud looking Ruby. "So, what is this beautiful piece of murderous machinery called?" He asked.
"I call her Crescent Rose. It took me ages to design her. Finding all the right components and materials to make her perfectly. But I couldn't be prouder of my baby." Ruby said, embracing the weapon. "I had originally wanted a whole bunch more features, but my Instructor at Signal said that it would be 'mechanically impossible' and 'break the laws of physics'. Honestly I reckon she thinks too small."
"I agree, you easily could have fit a grenade launcher on here, don't you think?" The spider faunus said. "I mean a rocket launcher would have really brought the whole thing together, maybe a rotary barrel." He mused.
Ruby seemed intrigued by his comments. "You really like weapons, don't you?" Star said, entertained by the amount that Ruby had to gush over about her weapon.
Ruby nodded her head vigorously. "Yep. I suck with new people but weapons are so much better."
"Is my baby sister making new friends?" A new voice called out. Nephrite vaguely recalled it as the… well endowed, blonde girl who had boarded the ship along with Ruby.
Indeed, when the group turned, they saw a very amusing sight. Ruby's older sister had Braith held in a headlock. Instead of feeling, at the very least, irritated, Braith seemed to be enjoying every second of it. Whether the blonde girl was oblivious to where exactly she held the Vacuan or if she simply didn't care was not clear.
"Hey Yang!" Ruby said enthusiastically. Nephrite briefly pondered whether the girl was physically capable of not being enthusiastic. "I MADE SOME NEW FRIENDS!"
Star, Nephrite, and Octavius looked at each other nervously not entirely sure what they had just gotten themselves into. "Oh boy" Nephrite muttered.
It didn't take long for the airship to reach Beacon academy proper. Some students, evidently, had taken to the journey better than others as, no sooner had they landed, a lanky blonde huntsman sprinted off the airship and emptied his stomach into a bin. The group of huntsmen and huntresses, including a discernibly irritated Yang, exited the vehicle. Their mouths dropped as they saw Beacon Academy.
Beacon tower was absolutely enormous. It was taller than any of the skyscrapers that dominated the skyline of Atlas, rivalled only by the CCT tower that stood on the other side of the academy. The main body of the school was a maze of interconnected buildings and gothic architecture. Students buzzed around the campus like ants, easily numbering in the thousands. Immense spires rose into the air
Yang whistled, briefly forgetting her irritation at getting vomit on her shoe. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this."
Almost immediately Ruby began to rave about the dozens of new weapons that she could see. Quickly her sister grabbed her little sister's cape to keep her from running off.
"Do you think she'll calm down at any point?" Star whispered to Octavius.
"Probably not." He intended to say more but he was cut off by a rather impassioned speech by Ruby.
"Just weapons?!" She cried "They're an extension of ourselves. Meeting new weapons is like meeting new people, only better."
"You really should be going out and meeting new people." Braith cut in, attempting to provide some sage advice to the young huntress.
This was rendered pointless as Octavius gave his opinion. "Or, you could just have all the other spots on your team filled by weapons. I don't think there's a rule stating that team members can't be inanimate objects." Around him, everyone else stared at him with deadpan expressions.
Ruby seemed to consider his suggestion for a moment before shaking her head. "Nope, I'll just be on Yang's team."
"Yeah about that, my friends are here now, gotta go, bye." Like that Yang was gone along with a group of people that she knew from combat school.
Ruby sighed and looked around for the rest of the group she was with, only to find that they had all vanished.
Braith had been having a pretty good day so far. He had managed to escape the pun making spider faunus, got amazingly close to the greatest rack he had ever seen. The only con to this was that he was now completely and totally lost.
Looking around he tried to find anything that could help him find his way to the entrance speech. People milled around the campus. Second, third, and fourth years making their way around the school and enjoying the couple of days before classes would begin. Lacking a map or any signs around the school, Braith elected to ask one of the students walking around.
"Hey, do you know where the atrium is? It's my first year so I'm pretty lost." He asked a tall girl who had just walked past him. She turned around to face him and seemed to look him over.
"Tall, dark, and handsome. Just my type." The girl purred. She was dressed mostly in various shades of brown with a beret and a pair of sunglasses. She grinned before pointing towards the school. "Carry on down the path until you reach the main entrance. Take a left and then the third right from there. You can probably just follow the stream of other first years. Hope you find it easily."
With that she walked over to a group of other second years. A huge guy dressed in green, a shorter guy in orange, and a small rabbit faunus.
Braith started walking, following her directions.
It didn't take long to find the schools main entrance. Large wooden doors opened out into an enormous hall. According to her instructions, he followed a stream of first years down the corridor to the left. The third turning on the right led him down a wide corridor and through another set of doors, back outside. A large arena type building lay ahead of him, full of first years milling around.
As he entered, he was immediately greeted with an ornate stage. A familiar head of hair poked through the sea of other students around him. Instantly he recognised it as the blonde with the great… assets.
He made his way over to Yang. "Hey hot stuff. Looks like you just can't avoid me." He said as he got near.
"Now what possible reason would I have to avoid you, Mr-oh-so-suave." She laughed.
"Find the place ok?"
"Pretty easily. One of my friends has a brother who goes here so he showed us how to get here."
"Speaking of which, why did you leave your sister back there? No offence intended, but she doesn't seem the most comfortable around new people." Braith questioned.
Yang sighed. "Ruby's a lot of things. Adorable goofball, weapon crazed maniac, and brutal when she fights the grimm. But she isn't what you could call social. She always had problems talking to new people. Moving her up two years probably didn't help either. All her friends are still at signal, and I'm the only person she knows in the whole school. The thing is, if she just followed me around all year then she wouldn't ever break out of her shell."
"Makes sense…" Before he could finish Yang saw something and cut him off.
"Hey Ruby! Over here, I saved you a spot!"
Braith turned to the entrance to the arena, to see Ruby and a tall blonde boy run into the arena. Ruby seemed to say something to the blonde boy before running over to join them.
"So, how's your first day going little sis?" Yang asked.
"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby asked pointedly.
"Yikes, meltdown already?"
"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school and there was some fire and I think some ice."
"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang dug at her little sister.
Ruby scoffed. "I wish, I tripped over some crabby girls' luggage and then she yelled at me and then I sneezed and then she yelled at me again and I felt really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me."
"YOU!" A voice cut through the thrum around them.
"OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" Ruby cried, jumping into her sister's arms faster than anyone could react.
"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" The new girl said, clearly angry.
"Hang on, you mean you actually exploded?" Braith asked.
"YES!" Both girls responded in unison.
"Ok. Who are you?" Yang questioned the new arrival.
"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest dust mining business on Remnant." Weiss proudly exclaimed.
"Are there going to be a lot of Atlesians around here because it's only my first day and I've already met two?" Braith muttered under his breath. He spoke up. "Maybe you two just need to try and start over, after all we are here for the same reasons. We all want to train to be huntsman and huntresses."
"Yeah. Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies." Ruby attempted to befriend the increasingly irritating girl.
Braith tuned out about halfway through the sarcastic rant that followed. He shared a quick glance with Yang and could tell she felt the same way he did.
"I'll… keep this brief." A mans voice rung out over the assembled first-years.
Braith turned to face the stage to see that a man with silver hair and dressed in green now stood there. Alongside him stood a tall woman dressed in white and black with a tattered cape over her shoulders.
"You have travelled here today 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. 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." The man, who the students had taken to be the headmaster, stepped away from the microphone.
The woman stepped up to the microphone. Braith remembered her as Glynda Goodwitch from the airship's tv screen. "Tonight, you will gather in the ballroom…"
"What kind of school needs a ballroom?" Braith whispered to Yang.
"Probably the kind with too much money and no idea what to spend it on." She whispered back.
"Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Goodwitch finished her address.
Yang turned to face her sister. "He seemed kind of off."
"It's like he wasn't even there." Ruby replied.
Before the group turned to leave, along with everyone else, the blonde that Ruby had arrived with, attempted another go at Weiss. "I'm a natural blonde you know."
"I'm not going to last one year at this place." Braith moaned.
"All I'm saying is that guns are able to deliver a more powerful payload over longer distances and are thus superior to bows." Octavius argued.
"But they are much louder than bows which makes stealth practically impossible." Nephrite countered.
"But we fight grimm." He replied. Octavius grinned. "Mostly, at any rate. Either way stealth isn't necessary, not when you carry enough firepower to level a building."
"Not a problem with dust." She said, removing a red crystal from her pocket.
Star had listened to these two argue for the last two hours about whether guns or bows were better. All the way through dinner, when they went to get their bags, and even now that they getting ready to sleep.
"Star!" Nephrite yelled.
"YES?!" She responded.
"Which do you think is better, guns or bows?"
"Um…" Star paused. If I say guns are better, then that will upset Nephrite. But if I say bows are better then… who knows how Octavius will react. Ok, diplomat Star, GO!
"Well, it is true that guns are more powerful and have a longer range. However, this can be overcome by using dust. Yes, bows are quieter than guns but grimm can sense our negative emotions so stealth isn't usually possible. In the end, both have their own merits."
Silence.
"Yeah, but which is better?" Octavius repeated.
Star groaned, this was never going to end.
"Hey! I haven't seen you guys since we arrived." A familiar voice called over. Predictably, Star looked over to see Braith approaching. Star immediately looked away. The had all gotten changed into their sleepwear a little while ago. Star wearing her usual hoodie with dark blue pyjama bottoms instead of jeans. Nephrite donned a lilac t-shirt with pink polka dots and joggers. Octavius wore a white t shirt and red checked pyjama bottoms.
Braith, however, seemingly ditching any sense of modesty wore only a pair of white boxer shorts.
"Ok, maybe you can answer our question. Which are better guns or bows?" Nephrite asked, hands on her hips and noticeably fazed by Braith's choice of apparel, blushing slightly.
Braith considered this before making his decision. "I'd have to say bows."
"HA! Told you." Nephrite said grinning.
"Just because he agrees with you, doesn't mean you're right." Octavius grumbled.
Star breathed a sigh of relief that the argument had finally ended. She began to walk off, with the rest off her ragtag group of 'friends' following her. Finding a large empty area, she lay out her sleeping bag next to the wall of the ballroom. The rest of them followed suit.
"What do we talk about now?" Braith asked.
"Nothing." Nephrite responded, settling into her sleeping bag. "We have our initiation tomorrow and it is going to be dangerous and I don't want to be tired."
After a moments silence Braith spoke up. "I met Weiss Schnee today." He said.
"What!" Nephrite shouted, prompting a hurried shushing from her friends and several angry looks from the people trying to sleep around them. "You met a SCHNEE!" She whisper-yelled at him.
"Yes. She got into a fight with that girl we met on the airship, Ruby."
"Typical Schnee. Do you know the things they do?" Nephrite whispered.
"The Schnees aren't that bad." Octavius said. "They do a lot of good for people."
"They also bought out the dust mine that my town worked around. Dozens lost their jobs and left the town because they weren't making enough from the Schnee's wages, relatives of mine among them. They treat the faunus like trash." Nephrite argued.
"At least they actually employ faunus. Do you know how many people would starve without being on the Schnee's payroll? Next thing you know you'll be telling me the White Fang are 'misunderstood little snowflakes who never meant for anyone to get hurt'. Give me a break." Octavius said, his voice lacking any sense of his usual humour.
Every two minutes these two start another argument. Star looked on as the two began another argument. Should I do something? Should I let them carry on?
"You two." Star said quietly. "We really need to get to sleep. Initiation is supposed to be really hard and, like you said Nephrite, we can't be going into it tired. Besides, what happened isn't her fault. It's the company's, she's just a member of the family not the individual who caused the whole situation."
Nephrite muttered something under her breath before slumping back into her sleeping bag. Star breathed a sigh of relief before settling down herself.
"Goodnight everyone." Nephrite grumbled.
Octavius yawned. "'night"
"Goodnight." Braith replied.
"Goodnight." Star replied before the lights abruptly cut out, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
With people like these running around, this year certainly isn't going to be boring.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Vale.
Roman Torchwick walked through the white corridors of the underground hospital. This place specialised in dealing with criminal clientele, no questions asked. Torchwick had been here a few times, mostly to visit but he never enjoyed the cold sterile feel of the place. Would it kill them to get some central heating?
He followed a doctor with Neo trailing slightly behind him, the quiet woman constantly scanning the doors and rooms. The only sounds were the clacking of shoes and his cane on the tiled floor. Eventually he came to the room he was looking for. "Here you are Mr Torchwick, I will be down by the reception area should you need me. I trust you know your way back?" The doctor spoke in a low hiss.
Torchwick nodded and the doctor left. Neo looked at him, concern on her face before he pushed open the door and entered in.
The room was what you would expect. A hospital bed lay in the middle of the room, the back against the right wall. Assorted medical instruments lay on a metal tray next to an IV drip filled with clear liquid. On the far wall of the room was an electronic screen that functioned as a fake window, currently showing a view of vales skyline at night. On the bed lay a large form, covered head to toe in bandages, with small gaps left for his eyes and mouth.
Neo let out a silent gasp as she saw the man on the bed. Roman himself felt a pang of sympathy for the man on the bed. "Gods, Alex. What the hell happened?"
The man's voice was a deep rasp. "Some bitch attacked us boss. Beat the crap out of the guys outside and broke in." He grimaced under the bandages, the pain of moving his burned flesh would have been far too much without the painkillers from the IV.
"A whole warehouse." The crime boss muttered under his breath. "Three million lien of stolen weapons, valuables, and dust went up with that warehouse; you nearly went up with it too."
The man, Alex, chuckled. "Gonna take much more than a dust explosion to kill me boss." Roman chuckled as well. He had known Alex for years, since he and Neo had first come to Vale. The man had been loyal, incredibly so, and had quickly become a close friend of the criminal duo. He was Roman's most trusted lieutenant and here he was, burned almost to a crisp and lying in a hospital bed. Alex continued. "She shot some laser at me, missed but it set a whole bunch of the crates on fire. Didn't notice until it blew up behind me. Some of the boys got me out along with the explosives for that job you were talking about." He winced in pain.
Roman Torchwick, a criminal mastermind, renowned for his sharp fashion sense, sharper wit, and genius plots sat there and watched his friend in pain before he calmed down. "The doctor said you'd recover. Said you'd be back on your feet in a few weeks." He nodded to Neo, who reached into a bag she had been carrying. She removed a large suit of black combat armour, and a pump action shotgun with an axe blade attached to the front. She lay the armour down on a chair and leaned the gun against it. "Get better soon." He grinned. "These guys charge by the day."
Alex laughed and went back to staring out of the 'window' as Roman and Neo left. As they walked back to the exit Roman talked. "I want you to find the guards who saw this girl and bring them to me, we need to figure out who she was. Meanwhile, I have another robbery to organise. I don't know why she has to make us work with those animals in the Fang."
They left the hospital with their plans figured out. This girl has no idea who she just messed with.