One year later
One year had passed since the day I first met Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch and thanks to Ozpin's friend Qrow, I can now use my Semblance. He had been a... strange teacher but since he helped to bring out my Semblance, I thanked him profusely. The problem that we found out with my Semblance is that normally I can only sense people and buildings a metre around me. Now with my Semblance, I can now sense where most people and buildings are around me. It just takes a lot out of me. Qrow has been training me to use my Semblance for longer durations, but I remain tired after every time I use it.
Like my friend, Blake in the White Fang, he wasn't put off by my way of feeding, nor about me being a Faunus. He talked about his nieces that are enrolling to Beacon Academy soon. By the way he was speaking about them, he was very close to his nieces. Qrow wasn't the only professional Huntsmen that I had ran in while I had stayed at Beacon for a year. I also met Professor Port, with his stories of his old battles with the Grimm, and Professor Oobleck, he was kind of eccentric, with the way he talked. He talked so fast that he made my head spin.
Near the end of my training with Qrow; Qrow himself, Ozpin, Glynda, Myself and a man called Ironwood all met in Ozpin's office. They told me that they are part of a secret group that protects the four Maidens and that keeps the piece between the four Kingdoms. They told me that the reason why the Winter Maiden before me unknowingly died was because she didn't seek the help from Ozpin and the others. They explained that there are forces that want to harness the Maidens power for evil intent. There is one being that is hell bent on destroying Ozpin and the peace that had spread around Remnant.
Salem.
She's the one responsible for the Winter Maiden before me to die. The reason why I am being hunted by an unknown force. And she's the reason why everyone has to put their lives on the line for me and the other Maidens. She has employed several people to work under her and carry out operation, in her name as a sort of inner circle. Qrow, Ozpin, Miss Goodwitch and General Ironwood Told me their names.
Tyrian Callows. A Scorpion Faunus and overall batshit insane, as Qrow eloquently put it.
Dr Arthur Watts. Arrogant and condescending, but severely dangerous.
Finally, Hazel Rainart. Tall and insanely powerful. One not to be trifled with.
Once out talk was over, Ozpin, Qrow and the others led me to an underground facility 'where prying eyes cannot see us unannounced' as Ozpin put it. In the back, I picked up on a body signal that was growing weaker and weaker by the second. Ozpin explained that she is the Fall Maiden, Amber. She was attacked by one of Salem's people and was put into this state. Thankfully she is inside a pod that is the only thing keeping her alive. I placed my hand on the pod, trying to give her some comfort. "You must be in so much pain... I'm so sorry."
When they had torn me away from Amber, they led me to back to Ozpin's office where Qrow and Ironwood shortly left, as did I to my own room. In a couple of weeks, a new semester will be started and Ozpin gave me permission to officially attend. I hope that I can make some friends when the semester starts. Obviously, they can't know about my Maiden Powers, but I don't think I could know how long I could keep my Faunus heritage a secret for long though.
Months passed rather quickly leading up to the start of the new semester. I was told by Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch that I should go to the Main Avenue to see all the other Students. I used my Semblance to navigate from Ozpin's office to where the other soon-to-be-students were hanging out. I had my purple cloak so no one could see my bat ears, with my Bat wings also bind underneath my cloak. I heard the feet of everyone walked passed by, ignoring me.
The Main Avenue was mostly empty apart from a herd of people. I sensed around seven people still around. Four out of the seven were harassing a rabbit eared Faunus. Somehow the other two students couldn't hear the girl being bullied by the four human students. Oh no. No one is getting bullied by Faunus haters, not while I'm here.
"Hey... You stay away from her." I shouted at the four bullies. I readied my Bow, just in case this turned ugly.
"What... You want this Faunus trash?" One of the bullies said as he grabbed the Faunus girl and pulled her so she was in front of me but out of reach. "Come and get her!" He then pushed the Faunus girl to one of his friends. They stood there and snickered at me.
Oh boy, they don't know what they have gotten themselves into.
"It's going to be okay." I said as I tried to calm her down.
"I would be more worried about yourself!" One of the bullies said. I then sensed him take out his weapon and he tried to attack me. I waited for the right moment and coughed his mace-like weapon with my hand. He seemed surprised because he staggered away, I then elbowed his stomach with my arm. He shortly fell to the floor, clutching his stomach.
"Cardin! You bitch, you'll pay for that!" One of his friends growled out as I sensed him go over to this 'Cardin' and helped him up. "Sky, Dove come on, leave the freak. Let's teach this bitch a lesson."
Four on one, that doesn't seem fair... for you.
All four of them attacked me at one so I gracefully dodged them. I tried to counter attack but one of them managed to grab my cloak but I managed to quickly evade his grasp. I then turned and hit one of the four in the gut with my elbow, rendering him unconscious.
"Russel!" While they were stunned about their unconscious friend, I managed to take two more of them done. "Shit! Sky and Dove too." I then turned my attention to the last of the bullies. "H-Hey I get the message, no more picking on the tra-Faunus girl. Can I please go?"
I turned away from him as he muttered his thanks and collected his unconscious friends. "Just don't you dare do this again. To her or any other Faunus." I said firmly as I walked away to check on the scared Faunus girl.
"Hey, you are going to be okay now. You won't have to worry about them." I said softly trying to calm her down. What caught me off guard was that she immediately launched herself at me, wrapping me into a tight embrace.
"Thank you!" she said as her hands made her way near to my bind wings, which she then pushed herself away from me.
"I-I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me." The girl said.
I collected myself and said. "It's fine, it was a spur of the moment thing. I understand."
We both fell into an uncomfortable silence. "So... You're a Faunus too, Miss?"
"Nyreen Surana. And you are?"
"Velvet Scarlatina. Please to meet you Miss Surana."
"Oh please, there's no need to be formal with me Miss Scarlatina. You can call me Nyreen."
"Okay then, no more Miss Scarlatina. You can call me Velvet, okay." She said as she gave me a warming smile.
I blushed and I nodded my head out of embarrassment. "S-So are you a new student?" She shook her head.
"No. I'm a Second Year. I just went to grab food for them, but I ran into them. Coco's probably gone to look for me." Velvet said as I heard a voice behind me, my bat ears perked up at the new voice. I heard the pattering of feet running towards us. "Oh, here she is now."
"Bun Bun... Are you okay? Are you hurt? I heard from some passing classmates, you ran into trouble" This 'Coco' said as I heard her pull Velvet into a hug. Wait, Bun Bun?
"It's fine Coco. I'm fine, thanks to Nyreen, here."
"Umm... Hi! I'm Nyreen Surana. Pleased to feet you."
"Coco Adel. I'm Velvet's partner and team leader of team CFVY."
"It's good to meet you Miss Adel." I said as I heard a soft giggle escape from Velvet. Did I say something strange "Is something wrong Velvet?"
"Umm. Please don't call me 'Miss Adel', it reminds me of my parents. Just Coco is fine."
I nodded my head. "Okay then Coco. Can I ask you a question?"
She nodded her head. "Shoot."
"Why did you call Velvet 'Bun Bun'?" I asked.
"I'm a Rabbit Faunus, as you can probably tell with my ears." I heard Velvet say.
"Got a problem with that!" Coco suddenly growled out.
"No! Why would I?" I said as I lowered my hood to show them my pointed ears. "You see, I'm a Faunus too. If I should be more precise, I am a Vampire Bat Faunus."
"A bat you say? Cool! Does that mean you have wings too? I heard that bats in general are a rare kind of Faunus. A Vampire Bat Faunus must be even rarer."
"Yeah, Mama and I are a rare breed. Most vampire bats can see like my Mama, however there are those that are unlucky and born blind." I explained to them both.
"When you say that there are Vampire Bat Faunus that are blind, do you mean that you are one of them?" Velvet asked as I laughed a little.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Mama and Papa said they were a bit worried at first, but I learned to use my ears instead of my eyes. I mean yeah it has been hard, but I've learned to adapt."
"Really, that's awesome." Coco said.
"Coco, we really should be going. Fox and Yatsu are probably hungry."
"Yeah, okay Velvet. Sorry Nyreen, but we have to go. Oh, yeah... Sorry for accusing you for hating Velvet."
I waved my hand in front of me, trying to ease her worries. "It's okay Coco, I understand. It has been a pleasure to meet you both." I said as I raised my hood to hide my ears.
"We'll see you later Nyreen." Velvet said as I heard her and Coco walk away.
They both seem nice, I just hope more are like them and not like Cardin and the others. I hope they come to accept me for being a Faunus, like Coco was, and my Maiden powers. I guess I should try and find the other students.
After wandering around Beacon and talking to a few second-year students, I managed to find my way to the courtyard where all the new students were, along with Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch. I just made it in time for his speech.
"Ahem..." He cleared his throat. "I'll keep this brief. You have travelled 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."
I then heard Miss Goodwitch speak. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"
Well that was weird. Ozpin didn't seem like himself. He felt... off. I couldn't think long about it though, because I heard two people amongst the hoard of Students talk about me.
"Hey look Ruby, that girl over there has a cloak like yours."
"Yang... please no."
What are they talking about me? Seconds later my question was answered as I heard the two approach me. One was rather tall, while the other was slightly smaller than me.
"Helloooo!" One of the bellowed out as I sensed her dragging another girl behind her.
"Umm. Hello." I said to the two girls. Thankfully the crowd had dispersed, so it was only the three of us.
"I want you to meet my little sister, Ruby. You see, she hasn't got many friends as she has been moved up two years to attend Beacon Academy. Isn't that cool or what." One of the girls said.
I picked up on where the other girl was and gave her a warming smile. "Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you." I said. I then heard a little scuffle and thanks to my Faunus ears, I could pick up a whisper from in front of me.
"Hey... Ruby say something to her. You were earlier saying that you needed friends. Well now's your chance."
"Ummm... Nice cloak." A small voice said.
"Oh, my god!" I heard one of the girls slap her forehead. I get that the smaller girl is trying to be friendly, but does she have to be so skittish. Thankfully, I heard more footsteps behind me.
"Miss Surana... a word." Miss Goodwitch said from behind me.
"Yeah, sure. Did I do something wrong?" I asked as I sensed that the two other girls were standing next to me.
"Yes. I have received a complaint that 'The girl with the purple hood, attacked us!' Is he referring to you. I believe his name was Cardin Winchester." Miss Goodwitch said as she swatted her cane onto her hand.
"Yes, but I was only defending another girl. The four in question were bullying Velvet Scarlatina, because of her Faunus heritage. They backed her into a corner so I had to stand up for her."
"You mean that this Cardin is bullying Faunus? This jerk and his friends are going down!" The tall girl on my right said.
"That won't be necessary Miss Xiao Long, the situation is now under control. I just wanted to clarify with Miss Surana about what happened. I suggest that you all make your way to the Ballroom." Miss Goodwitch said as she walked away from the three of us. As Miss Goodwitch walked away from us, the taller girl next to me let out a small grunt.
"Assholes! Who would gang up on a girl? A Faunus girl at that."
"How low can you go?" The smaller girl said. "I bet you kicked butt." She said as I heard her bounce up on her heels.
I laughed a little. "Well I did leave three of them unconscious, leaving a warning to not bully the Faunus."
"Good!" The taller girl said as we headed to the ballroom.
I introduced myself, as did the two girls. The taller girl is called Yang Xiao Long, while the smaller girl is called Ruby Rose. They are apparently half-sisters. I told them about my Faunus heritage. I felt like I could trust them after they were set against what Cardin and his friends did to Velvet. They were surprised at first when they found out that I couldn't see and a Vampire bat Faunus, especially Ruby. She must not have met someone that couldn't see, before. Yang on the other hand, took it in in her stride. She gave off a carefree attitude, like she wanted to be friendly to everyone. The three of us naturally became friends.
As it became night, more and more students flooded into the ballroom. Ruby, Yang and I had changed into their pyjamas. I took off my cloak and unbound my wings, with the help from Ruby and Yang, and remained in my combat gear, as they were soft and comfortable to act as pyjamas. As I unbound my wings, Ruby and Yang both let out a small 'Wow', which caused me to giggle a little. Miss Goodwitch entered the ballroom to lock the doors for the evening, I was lying down next to Ruby and Yang in my make-shift bed. I could hear the constant scribbling from Ruby next to me.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang said as she leaped to her bed.
"I don't think Dad would approve of the boys, though." Ruby said as she continued to write.
"I know, I do." Yang said as she let out a small purr.
"What are your writing Ruby?" I asked.
"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aww, that's so cuuuuute!" Yang said as she teased her sister and I laughed a little. Yang was interrupted from continued as I sensed Ruby pick up her pillow and threw it at Yang.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here."
"What about Jaune? He's nice! And there's Nyreen" Yang asked. Who's Jaune? "There you go! Plus, two friends! That's a 200 percent increase!"
Ruby let out a small sigh. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to one."
"There's no such thing as negative friends. You've just made two friends and one enemy!" Yang said as Ruby threw my pillow at Yang. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet." We stayed in an uncomforting silence as Ruby continued to write to her friends.
"Say Nyreen, what combat school do you go to?" Yang asked to break the silence.
"I didn't. Mama and Papa trained me." I said as I tried not to give away that I was lying to them. It's not like I want to say that I'm one of the four Maidens, but it's for their safety that they don't know. Thankfully, Yang and Ruby fell for my excuse.
"Really?! That's awesome!" Yang exclaimed.
I then heard someone gasp from one end of the ballroom. "N-Nyreen... Is that you?"
I turned to the direction to where the voice originated. No way... It can't be? "B-Blake... Is that you?"
"Oh, my god... It is you Nyreen." Blake voice quivered as I felt her rush into my chest, enveloping me into a crushing embrace. "I t-thought y-you'd died w-with y-your f-family." Blake said through her waterfall of tears. I just held her close and patted her head whispering to her.
"It's okay Blake, I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere." I said, which caught the attention of Ruby and Yang.
"Awww! That is just so cute."
"Yang, not now."
Ten minutes' pass and Blake had finally calmed down. I explained to Yang and Ruby how I know Blake. Well I told them that Blake and I have been friends for a while, I didn't tell them the reason how we met. I don't know if I can tell them we were in the White Fang. I especially can't tell them what... What I did.
"So... are you two like together?" Yang said, which earned her a quick punch to her arm by Ruby. Blake and I both giggled at them.
"No. Besides we're childhood friends we've grown up together, she's like the little sister that I never had. You see Mama and Papa are best friends with her parents, so we routinely visited each other." I said.
"Sorry for that Ny, but when I was told that everyone from your family was killed, I thought that included you. I'm sorry what happened to your parents. I promise, we'll get however done this." Blake said as she wiped away her tears and gave me a triumphant smile.
"Yeah." I replied weakly. I don't know if I should bring up that it was Adam who killed Mama and Papa considering their... intimate relationship. No, it's probably for the best if she doesn't know.
"You don't have parents?! They were killed!?" A small, quiet voice came out from Ruby.
"Yes Ruby. A year ago, in fact, but don't worry I find whoever did it and bring them to justice. Then Mama and Papa can finally rest in peace." I said as I gave Ruby a warming smile.
"Yeah, and when the time comes, we get the bastard with you." Yang declared.
"What in the world is going on over here!? Don't you realise some of us are trying to sleep!" A harsh and stern voice growled out from next to Yang.
"Oh, not you again!" Both the new girl and Yang shouted at the same time. The high shout was too much for my sensitive ears, since that I recoiled in pain and I was biting back tears. Grabbing them in the process. None of them seemed to notice, except for Blake, who I felt her arms around my shoulders, trying to comfort me.
"Guys can you be quiet!" Blake said sternly to the three girls, they must have taken notice and saw me in pain as they spoke quieter.
"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep." I heard Ruby say, as I moved my hands from my ears. I thanked Blake for lowering the noise.
"Oh, now you're on my side." The new girl growled out quietly.
"I was always on your side." Ruby retorted.
"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" Yang said defending Ruby.
"She's a hazard to my health!"
Oh, my god! How long is this going to go on for?
"This could go on for a while, why don't you try and get some sleep, Ny?" Blake said as my sensitive ears had stopped hurting.
I gave her a small smile. "Hopefully, they stop arguing soon." I said as I heard Blake laugh.
Hearing Blake laugh like that brought back memories of our time in the White Fang. Before... Before the White Fang changed. Hopefully, my time at Beacon will be a lot different.
