Onto chapter 2!
...
Chapter 2: Preparations
Damion was slowly beginning to regret his existence .
Why Mum, why must you embarrass me?
She had decided that after getting accepted into Beacon, she would throw a party.
Most of these people I don't even know!
She had really went out of her way to make him feel as humiliated as possible.
That probably wasn't her original intention...
Well, it's what he was feeling.
"Aren't you excited?".
"This is a huge opportunity!".
"Getting accepted into Beacon?. Well done!"
All he wanted to do was to take a nice long sleep in his bed before boarding the plane tomorrow.
His last day in his house...
With his family...
With his best friend...
"Hello, earth to Damion?".
Speak of the Devil.
"Hey, Sarah".
"Oh, good. Thought you had dozed off there."
She took a seat next to him.
"You excited?".
"Yeah, I guess."
"You don't sound it."
He drew in a long breath.
"It's just...
He trailed off for a second.
"I'm just a bit nervous, that's all."
She looked at him dead in the eyes.
"Cut the crap Damion. I have known you long enough to tell that you are more than just a bit nervous.' Now, you going to tell me what's wrong?"
He took a drink from his glass and cleared his throat.
"People keep crowding around me, telling me it's going to this and that, but, quite frankly, I think it's going to suck."
'Damion, this is what you have worked for all your life. Isn't this what you want?'.
"Of course, but.."
He put his head in his hands and sighed. Sarah put a hand on his back.
"I'm just going to miss everything. My family, my house, but most of all...
He turned around to face her.
"I think I'm going to miss you, Sarah."
He could still see it in his mind, when he had got his exam result, the happiness he had felt when he got in, he had immediately texted Sarah, asking if she had, only to be hit with the tragic news that she hadn't.
"I'll miss you too."
They sat in silence for a couple of moments.
"I'm sure you'll get put with a great team at Beacon."
"I hope."
All of a sudden, a loud beeping could be heard from Sarah's scroll.
"Aw man, my dad says I got to leave now, he needs me to take care of my little brother, because he and Mom are going out tonight. Can I come and see you tomorrow before you go?".
"Won't have time, we are going to be leaving really early tomorrow".
"Oh right".
They stood there in silence for a couple more moments.
Then, Sarah walked towards him, arms outstretched, and they embraced.
"Your going to do great at Beacon Damion".
He didn't say anything, just held her for what felt like a eternity.
He finally let her go, and she sniffled, and Damion could see the tears in her eyes.
"Keep in touch now, won't you?".
"Of course"
"Okay, I'm leaving now before I'm literally reduced to a bawling mess. Until next time, Damion".
"Until next time."
She watched her walk away, and the wave of sadness hit him again.
He looked at himself in the mirror, scruffy brown hair which hadn't been combed right, scruffy brown t-shirt, scruffy black tracksuit bottoms.
Better make sure I look presentable tomorrow.
...
I didn't think it was so big.
Alan was on a bullhead , looking at Beacon Academy from above.
Just think Alan, this is a brand new start! A chance to wipe your old state and start anew.
He didn't want to think about his home life anyways.
There was a reason why he ran away from parents to join Beacon.
His parents...
Don't dwell on that now Alan, focus on what's in front of you.
But his thoughts kept coming back to them.
He remembered how the first time he had brought a faunus friend home, they had berated him and ordered the "filthy mutt" out of their house.
He remembered the time he tried to tell them that faunus discrimination was wrong, his father had hit him so hard he went flying back into a wall.
He remembered his days in the blacksmith, toiling away at his weapons, a set of hand gauntlets appropriately named Justice and Equality. They had retractable claws in them, which he dedicated to Sam, for he was a tiger faunus.
"Sir, we have arrived."
The pilots statement had jerked him out of his thoughts.
"Thank you."
He stepped off the bullhead as it began to fly away.
There was a nearby lake, and Alan walked over and looked at his reflection.
He observed that his blonde hair was beginning to go a bit curly, that his jumper was worse for wear, his trousers had several rips in them, and one of his shoes had a hole in them.
He began to explore his surroundings, passing a old antique store with a clock in it's window, and after taking a look at it, he realised he probably should find a hotel to stay in.
On his way to find one, he passed a bookstore which was known as "Tuksons Book Trade, Every book under the Sun".
Must pay a visit to that sometime.
Before long, he had found a hotel and using some money he had stolen from his parents, he had checked in for the night.
Grabbing the key, he went up to his room, passing a couple of people along the way.
Don't mind me, just a runaway hunstman about to enter Beacon tomorrow.
He opened the door and immediately flopped down onto the bed, letting out a loud sigh.
Can't believe it actually worked.
His plan of sneaking away while his parents were out, hitching a ride on a bullhead, and checking into a hotel had actually worked.
Which was pretty surprising, considering that things going right for him was not a common occurrence.
Should probably go to sleep now, big day tomorrow.
He didn't even bother to get undressed before sleep took him.
...
Bethany let out a load groan before opening her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't staring at the sky, but at a roof.
I'm in a... house?
She tried to sit up, but her body resisted, and she winced a bit.
Guess he hit me harder than I thought.
She managed to get herself into a sitting position, and took a look at the room around her.
It was pretty plain, with a brown roof, brown walls and a brown floor with a grey carpet situated in the middle of it.
A guest room?
Then, she heard someone coming up the stairs, and heard the door opening.
"Well, looks my own sleeping beauty has finally waken up".
A women had entered the room. She was tall, wearing a long hooded jacket which stretched down past her hips. She wore a pair of black leather pants and boots. She had long flowing white hair and a pair of black gloves. Her most striking feature, though, was a long dark blue wide cape which stretched all the way down past her legs and stopped just above her boots.
Wait a second...
"Aren't you the one who saved that village from that new type of grimm a couple of months ago?".
"The big spider one?".
She nodded her head.
"Yep, that was me".
"So, your like a professional huntress?"
"No, I graduated from Beacon and I'm not a professional huntress".She finished her statement with a roll of the eyes.
"No need for the sarcasm".
"Trust me, when you get to a certain age, the only way to form relationships with people is to be as snarky and sassy as possible".
She put her hands on the windowsill and looked outside.
"So, thanks for saving my life?".
"I'm sure you would have survived. I just sped up your recovery process",
Another silence passed between them.
"What happened to Daniel and the other girl?".
"Lucy? They were gone by the time I got there."
"I guess I was lucky you were in the area at the time."
"A couple of people came by and said they had seen them breaking in, and they were aware I was in the area, so they came and told me, guess you got there first".
"Your quite a popular figure then?".
"Well, I've saved several villages from the clutches of criminal lords and grimm, so yeah, I suppose I am."
She sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I assume your heading to Beacon then? Not many people would engage two dangerous criminals."
"Yep,wait,when does the plane leave?".
"Not for another hour, or so, and we are relatively close to the airport, so I wouldn't worry. I'll be getting on the plane too".
She looked at her in confusion.
".What reason would you have for going to Beacon?."
"First of all, not everyone that is on the plane is going to Beacon. Second, I'm going to be a professor. 'After hearing of my feats of pure awesomeness-"
"Bit egotistical are we?".
"No, just stating a fact. Anyways, after hearing about them, and hearing I was in Vale, Professor Ozpin called me in, and offered me a job'. I know I'm supposed to be mature adult, but I'm actually just as excited as the students."
All of a sudden, a realisation seemed to hit her.
"Oh, I've just realised, I've been talking to you for a while now, and I haven't even asked you your name yet. Sorry, I can get awfully talkative sometimes".
"Bethany Brennan".
"Hi Beth, I'm Amy'. You don't mind me calling you Beth, do you?".
"No, of course not."
"Ok, that's good."
She pulled back her sleeve and looked at her watch.
"Well, we should probably get going, our flight isn't going to wait for us.' You ok to walk with that injury of yours?".
"Should be."
"I could carry you",she added teasingly with a small smirk on her face.
"I think I'll pass."
"Right, well let's get going then".
She got out of the bed, and they both headed for the door downstairs.
"You excited?".
"Obviously".
"If there was one thing that you wouldn't want to happen at Beacon, what would it be?".
"Bit of a random question."
"Just trying to make small talk.
She thought about it for a minute. Surprisingly, the answer came to her quickly.
"I wouldn't want to be made team leader."
"Really?".
"I'm more of a follower, honestly."
"Think about it, though, you would get to order your teammates around, issue orders in the heat of battle, and best of all, you get to claim all the glory when your team claims victory."
"There's a difference between a leader and a dictator, Amy".
"What may that be?. Go on, amaze me with your words of wisdom".
"A leader is supposed to be encouraging, respectful, and they are the ones who try and solve any quarrels that may break out. But most importantly, they should be the ones who iron out any flaws in the team dynamic."
"Maybe you would be a better team leader then you think."
They walked down the path towards the airport where they would be boarding.
When they arrived, there were hoards of chattering people there.
They weaved their way through the crowds of people and boarded the plane.
As she looked out the window, she felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement as the plane took off.
The dream that I've always dreamed is about to flower...
...
Roman Torchwick was not a happy man.
Getting his robbery stopped by a little girl wasn't good, but now being informed that his whole plan had to be changed? Not good, not good at all.
"Cinder, you can't be serious. You've asked me to do some pretty bizarre things before, but this really takes the biscuit."
"When have I ever not been serious, Roman?".
"I am not working with the White Fang!" he exclaimed angrily.
"No need to raise your voice."
'Their a bunch of mangy mutts who should keep their wet noses out of our heist!'.
"And these "mangy mutts" could help you."
"We don't need their help!".
"Whenever you first started this heist of yours, you assured me that you, Daniel, Lucy, and Neo could steal all the dust in Vale if I wanted you too. Have you done that yet?"
"No, but we just need a bit more time!".
"You have had enough time already, I think it's about time that Adam Taurus stepped in and helped you out".
"I am not taking orders from him!".
"Don't worry, Roman, he won't be your boss. He will simply be your partner. I shall arrange a meeting between your two parties. In two days, 12:00 pm sharp, at your warehouse. Make sure you are there."
"No, wait! Cinder, please!".
But she had already hung up.
He set down his scroll, and leaned back in his chair.
Animals, all of them, absolute animals...
"Someone's in a bad mood."
Roman turned around and saw Daniel and Lucy enter with two suitcases, probably full of dust.
"You can say that again."
Daniel took notice of his scroll, and saw that he had just been talking to Cinder.
'What did she want?".
"To put it simply, we need to work with the White Fang".
"The White Fang? Why? We are doing pretty good on our own."
"Cinder doesn't think says they will help us get the job done quicker".
"Bit impatient, isn't she?" Lucy said.
"But won't this be good for us?' Daniel asked "More men equals better efficiency, which means we steal dust faster, and the faster we get this job done, the faster we move onto "phase two", whatever that may be."
"You know how I feel about Faunus".
'That there a bunch of dirty animals who should still be working in mines?'.
"Exactly".
"I will never understand your hatred towards Faunus, Roman."
"We have a meeting with the White Fang in two days, at 12 o'clock."
"Alright."
"I'll go tell Neo".Lucy walked out the door.
Daniel took the seat across from Roman.
"Why do you hate Faunus so much Roman?".
Roman ignored him, taking a cigar out of his coat pocket.
"Did they do anything to you, or did you grow up in a anti-faunus environment perhaps?".
"None of your damn business."
"I thought you might say that".
He leaned over the table.
"You know, if you really don't want to work with the White Fang, we could try my plan".
"No".
"I've talked it over with Lucy and Neo, they both seem to think it could work."
"I've already told you, no."
Daniel stood up and looked at Roman.
"Like it or not, I'm keeping it open as a option, but we're going to need you to make it work."
He kept his mouth shut.
"Well, see you later Candlewick",calling him by his nickname before he strode out the door.
Roman simply puffed on his cigar, lost in thought.
At this meeting, it's definitely going to be Daniel and Lucy doing the talking. I can't even look at the Faunus without wanting to put my cane to their heads.
He looked out the window at the shattered moon in the sky.
Well there's chapter two done! And with it brings a whole new host of questions:
Will Damion survive the rest of the party without dying of humiliation?
Can Alan make sure he doesn't accidentally sleep in?
Will Roman make it through the meeting without Adam stabbing him in the chest?
What is this plan that Daniel is talking about?
Thanks for reading and have a good day!