Here's part 2 for ya'll. Part 1 was a massive infodump, but this one starts the story proper. Also, fight scenes. No omake here, sorry.
Life of a Mage Turned Huntress Part 2
"Do you believe in destiny?" - [REDACTED]
Louise took large gulps of her tea to drown out what she ate. She just finished her lunch in a fairly popular cafe that she frequented during her stay at the hotel. It was already late noon and adventure still hasn't found her yet. Not that she didn't mind of course, casual studying still gave her a cathartic feeling.
'I should purchase some romance novels. I heard Ninjas of Love was quite popular…'
Her thoughts were in disrupted as she flinched when warm hands covered her eyes.
"Found you, Lou!" The loud voice of her doting surrogate older sister invaded her ears as the noise vibrated within her eardrums.
"Gahh! Coco!?"
The hands loosed up and snaked their way onto Louise's neck in a loose hug. The invading limbs were wearing brown sleeves with gold vambraces. Velvet's face came close to her own with a toothy grin that was too adorable for her to ignore. "Nope! You thought it was Coco, but it was me, Velvet!"
A quick glance to Velvet's side gave her a full view of Coco with a wolfish grin. She was still wearing her usual Huntress attire. The browns and blacks of her outfit complimented her very well as with the ever present beret and sunglasses were still in their rightful places. The last piece of her outfit -the minigun/handbag weapon combo- hanging loosely to her side.
Velvet has since then changed her outfit since Louise last saw her. It was mostly just the color combinations. The blues were replaced with browns and the indigo swapped with black. Her golden accesories still stayed the same. Her weapon was nowhere to be found, but she was carrying a bag of sorts that was strapped to her -was more akin to a suitcase than a messenger bag. Her bunny ears were twitching in excitement.
"Coco, Velvet? What are you two doing here?" Louise inquired evenly to try and get a modicum of dignity. Or salvage whatever was left of it. "More importantly, how did you find me?"
"I installed a tracking device inside the cross pin of your cloak. It's actually the gem. Making it was real easy." Coco answered without a hint of shame. Her tone of voice even indicated that there was pride in it.
Louise could only sigh in disbelief. "Why did you do that? No -don't answer that. I don't want to know."
"Welp, too bad! Still gonna tell you kiddo!" The cheeky grin annoyed Louise quite a lot. "Who knew you were kingdom hopping during the summer? You even went to some fancy Vacuan beach with white sands and aaaalll the bitches!"
"Coco!" She shrieked in disbelief. There were far too many embarrassing memories of Goodwitch and her humiliating themselves in various tourist traps in Vacuo. "What happens in Vacuo, stays in Vacuo!"
Velvet smacked the back of her leader's head. The black beret on top of her loosened and almost fell. "Coco, stop teasing her." She looked at her pink haired surrogate little sister with a disarming smile. "It was Ozpin who told us to do it."
"I should have known it was him… Ugh, I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" Louise huffed indignantly. Her cheeks puffed in a way that just made Velvet's heart melt.
She glomped her pink haired little sister with enough force to knock back someone without an unlocked Aura. She started rubbing her cheek to the little girl's own one. "Aww Louise! You're too cute when you pout!"
"Velvet! Stooooooop! People are staring!"
People were indeed staring. It wasn't just the patrons of the cafe, but also random passerby and the occasional Huntsman and Huntress.
Coco coughed audibly. It was loud and fake enough to get the attention of people around them who were staring. "Nothing to see here people! Just Huntresses catching up! Don't mind us!"
The people that were staring ignored them and went back to their business. The loud boisterous nature of Hunters were a regular occurrence that people could just simply chalk it off as a minor annoyance of the Hunter culture.
"E-excuse me, miss. Your bill." A waitress interrupted them. It was quite obvious that she was nervous at the boisterous Huntresses that had effectively invaded the domain. Case and point: the manager of the establishment was already observing them just a few scant meters away.
Louise collected herself as she faced the employee. "Oh,Yes! Let me just-"
"Don't worry, Lou. I'll pay." Coco's hand shot out with a lien chip pointed at the waitress holding the bill.
"That's not necessary-"
With a hand lowering her sunglasses, Coco stared directly at her pink haired friend. The stare was strong enough to peer through her soul. "I'll. Pay. Lou."
"O-okay..."
With the expenses paid, manager pacified, and Velvet satisfied with the cuddling given to her by Louise, they went on their merry way to a park that Velvet frequented whenever she needed to practice her photography.
It was a quaint place with barely had anyone to disturb them. There were a few children running around with their parents guiding them, but other than that they had most of the park to themselves. They sat side by side at the bench of a small picnic cottage with their all of their weapons and Velvet's suitcase bag thing stacked on the table. Louise sat between her two surrogate sisters.
She decided to break the silence by initiating conversation. "Sooooo… What are you two doing here? It's still two weeks before initiation and another week before second year classes start."
There was a pregnant pause as Coco could only stare at Louise.
"What, you don't wanna see your awesome surrogate sisters? I'm hurt Lou!" Coco mockingly swayed as she gave a pose of being shot through the heart. Louise huffed in annoyance at her friend's annoying antics.
"Coco, stop teasing her." Velvet scolded her leader. There was an occasional twitch of the bunny ears and her eyes, conveying her annoyance.
"Ahem… I am really, really glad to see you. It's just -I wasn't expecting it, that's all." Louise shuffled her feet nervously. She did miss them. The way they acted and embarassed her were the things that annoyed her the most though.
"We just wanted to see you, Louise." Velvet answered honestly with a sweet smile that warmed anyone's heart.
Louise could only sigh and slump her shoulders in defeat. "Well… I guess that's fair…"
"I knew you'd understand!" Coco shouted in glee as Velvet and her glomped their surrogate sister in a massive bone crushing Ursa hug.
"Velvet, Coco! Stooooop! You're embarrassing me!"
"Aww come on Lou! there's no one around. Are you ashamed of having your big sisters cuddling with you? Why, I'm hurt!" Coco gasped with a mocking voice that only miffed Louise more. With Coco gone into her act of despair, Louise finally wormed her way out of the Ursa hug.
"Hmph! I guess a bit of cuddling is fine… Besides..." Louise let her head fall onto Velvet's lap. Her pink tresses covered her blushing face. "I missed you two."
Velvet kissed the top of Louise's head. "Now there's the loving little kid we saved."
They stayed in the park for a few hours just talking and exchanging stories. Louise told them about her time in Atlas with the odd Penny Polendina and their training from hell. They already saw the pictures of various scars and bruises she got to them, but hearing it directly from Louise made them shudder. At the very least, the rigorous training gave Louise the opportunity to develop new spells, even if it happened due to an accident. She even demonstrated her teleportation and illusion spells.
Her vacation in Vacuo was what Coco dubbed as 'pretty standard Vacuan getaway, except with your teacher'. The sights and scenic views were still impressive to her. She did omit to tell the embarrassing encounters and accidents she and Goodwitch had. Especially the part where the majority of the people they bumped into assumed she was a twelve-year-old while her 'mother' was being hit on by countless men and women. She still couldn't scrub the cougar pick-up lines from her defiled mind.
It was already nighttime when the trio decided to eat dinner. Their talk had dragged on for far longer than they expected, not that any of them minded. They were all too happy to bask within each other's
Coco dragged them both to a sushi bar that Yatsuhashi recommended. It was close by the market district, with a few Dust shops surrounding the establishment. The presence of Dust shops made the sushi bar itself is a popular stop for any Huntsmen and Huntresses from Beacon, but there were hardly any of them currently as the school year still hasn't started yet.
They were all situated on a table that was close by to window. They were all enjoying their tea since they just finished eating. Coco waved to the nearest waiter to pay their expenses. They went all out with their orders seeing that it was appropriate to celebrate, and their metabolism as Huntresses were far greater than the average person.
Coco recovered her lien chip from the waiter, content with the large sum she left as tip. "Hey kiddo."
Louise tilted her head towards her taller friend. Coco had an unusually flat tone that caused Louise to scrunch up her face in confusion. "Yes?"
It was Velvet who spoke up to answer her inquiry, as Coco was too busy fiddling with something beneath the table. "We've got a few things for you. Consider them gifts from CFVY to you for getting a spot to Beacon's initiation."
Her head tilted again, but now in confusion. Surely they knew her special recommendation from Ozpin and his brotherhood. "Thank you, but I don't think it's necessary. Everyone already knows that I'm entering due to the headmaster's invitation-"
Seizing the momentary confusion, Coco's hand shot towards Louise's face and placed something on top of her nose. Two pointed objects almost poking her eyes out. It wrapped around her face as some sort eyewear.
"Gah! Coco! You almost poked my eyes out!"
"Pfft. You do know that active Aura protection is a thing, right?" She fiddled with the glasses that were placed on her without her consent. It had red thick rims that hugged the lenses. The lenses themselves were a bit on the slimmer side. The glasses seemed oddly comfortable. "Huh, red does look good on you. Join the glasses club, sister. 'Sides, it's extra protection for your eyes, so none of that 'Beowolf clawed your eyes out' excuse that trainees usually get."
Louise fidgeted at her seat. She didn't expect this from Coco at all. "Uhm… Well… Forgive me for sounding disappointed, but that was a tad bit tame, coming from you."
"That's not the gift." Velvet coughed lightly to grab the attention of her companions. "Coco's been fantasising about you joining her 'glasses club'-"
"Hey!"
Velvet ignored the protests of her leader as she took out the suitcase she has been holding onto the rest of the day and offered it to Louise. "Here's our real gift."
She gingerly opened the case. Inside it was a gun -no, a shotgun if she remembered correctly. The general aesthetic gave it the impression that the design was quite old, with a lever to pump bullets to the chamber, while the stock was more of a grip. The barrel of the firearm had dull runes engraved on the barrel that had a slight resemblance to the runes carved on Catharsis. The mahogany of the weapon was smooth to the touch, with careful engravings of platinum that looked like they were shaped to resemble grape vines. It was a custom made lever action shotgun, no doubt made by master craftsmen.
"A shotgun?" There was no malice in Louise's words, just confusion laced with more confusion. She didn't hate firearms, she just wasn't good with them. She didn't know why her friends gave her this. "I mean, the craftsmanship is quite exquisite, especially the platinum engravings on the grip, but why give me this? Forgive me for being confused as I don't really know how find a use for this. I already have Catharsis." She gestured to the sheathed estoc beside her.
Coco hummed in thought, before answering her little sister's question. "We -me and the team- thought that you needed more range options. Your explosions can do a real number on Grimm, don't get me wrong, but having a gun that uses different types of Dust rounds gives you those options. And I can totes see you do the twirling reload from that one old movie!"
"I may not be good at it, but I can still use Dust to cast ranged attacks, you know. And I can make do with teleportation and illusions too." Louise paused before remembering the obscure reference Coco made about the movie they watched a while back. "...There's also the chance that I might break my fingers doing that, just like that actor..."
"I know, I know. Besides…" There was a cheeky grin that was plastered on Coco's face. "it's good to have a sidearm. Why do you think we have mecha-shifting weapons? Besides, active Aura protection remember? That Shwarz actor guy probably sucks, since, no Aura and all." She could only shrug at the lameness of actors who do a lot of action scenes without Aura.
I don't think those count..."
The banter of Louise and Coco were drowned out as Velvet was concentrating on the sight that was just outside the establishment. There was a finely dressed man in white and a black bowler hat that covered his orange hair. There were various armed thugs around the man in white. They were obviously up to no good.
Coco snapped her fingers in front of Velvet's face to knock her out of her thoughts. "Hey Vel, what's wrong?"
"Look." She pointed right at the window, towards the crowd of suspiciously armed men and their conspicuously well dressed leader that were making their way towards a Dust shop; one From Dust Till Dawn. "It's that Torchwick guy from the news. Him and his gang has been stealing Dust all over Vale."
"What's a criminal doing out there?" It was Louise who finally asked the armor piercing question.
"No time to explain, Lou. We've got a job to do." Coco hefted her gatling gun handbag and proceeded to jog towards the exit. Velvet was already making her way towards the exit as well.
"Alright." Louise buckled her rapier belt with Catharsis in tow. She closed the suitcase before catching up to her Faunus friend and giving it her. "Velvet, can you use the shotgun for now? You don't really have a weapon…"
"Yeah, that's fine Louise. Good thing we packed a couple dozen Dust rounds." She opened the case and started loading the weapon before they were outside. The small sum of patrons and the sushi bar just ignored the armed Huntresses that were making their way outside of the sushi bar.
Louise could only sigh as she cursed her horrid luck while loading a vial of refined Burn Dust to Catharsis. 'Why do weird things happen to me?'
'Why do weird things keep happening to me?'
Ruby Rose wasn't sure how she ended up in this situation. All she was doing was looking at weapon magazines at her favourite Dust shop, then she gets a poorly attempted robbery thrown at her. Considering that she was a Huntress-in-training and was trained by one of the most badass huntsmen in recent history, her would be mugger did not stand a chance against her.
She unclipped Crescent Rose from her back, transformed it into its rifle mode, and shot an anti-material round straight to the thug's gut in a span of a blink of an eye.
The man's Aura caught the bullet, but was not strong enough to stop the force of the high-impact round. He flew through the glass window and towards his allies just outside. There was an audible crack as the man's Aura shattered and he was knocked out cold.
There was another thug rushing towards her with a mass produced red cleaver. He clearly was underestimating his opponent. She spun as she let Crescent Rose transform into into its ultimate form: the scythe.
The transformation of her beloved weapon caused the thug to momentarily flinch. Her momentum from the spin gave her enough force to slam him and throw him to the same glass window his buddy flew by. The scythe's crescent blade stopped behind her before she slammed the trigger and the massive weapon propelled her out towards the streets.
As her combat boots landed, her red cape bellowed as the cool summer wind buffeted her. She switched off her Scroll to stop the music playing from bothering her concentration. Her silver eyes caught sight at the numerous thugs and their leader waiting eagerly for a counterattack.
Their leader sighed as he gave a slight bow with his bowler hat. "You were worth every cent. Truly you-"
He was cut off as the rapid gunfire echoed throughout the street and tore through every possible form of cover that was remotely close by to the gang. There was even an explosion that was used as a warning shot; a warning shot that knocked two thugs out.
'Cavalry's here!'
The cause of all the ruckus was three Huntresses joining the fray.
One looked like she just came out a fashion show, too flashy and fashionable for Ruby's liking. The massive rotary gun that she held casually did make Ruby want to talk to her. The second one was a rabbit Faunus wearing a skin tight outfit with gold armour around it. She was pointing a lever action shotgun at the bad guys. The weapon seemed to be exquisitely made, but didn't have any other functions, like mecha-shift technology. The third Huntress was short. Far shorter than Ruby. Her purple cloak was swaying lightly with her pink wavy hair. She was holding what seemed to be a cobalt estoc with two hands as there was a slight spark of fire coming out of it. She surmised that the pink haired huntress was Dust caster.
"Today is not my lucky day." The leader of the gang gave a mock despairing pose with his hand on his cane and the other on his bowler hat, before siccing his mooks to the four would be heroes.
Ruby rushed at the crowd of disposable mooks with gusto as Crescent Rose and it's creator initiated a dance of death, twirling and spinning at the beat of the bullets that echoed throughout the area. She wanted to impress her seniors after all.
Louise had doubts fighting against seasoned criminals, but seeing a girl -another Huntress trainee, she was sure- with a massive scythe mowing them down with ease and grace did calm her gnawing lack of experience with mortal combat.
'Alright. I can do this.'
With a quick incantation and a swipe of Catharsis, she teleported in the midst of the fray. Her swordwand crackled with sparks of flames as she plunged it to the concrete, using Nature's Wrath to send a shockwave of heat and a wall of flame that pushed all of the mooks away from her. Catharsis ejected an empty vial of Burn Dust as Louise slowly stepped backwards.
Her back met the other Huntress-in-training that was clad in red. Purple and red cloaks coalesced as the push of the summer breeze made the two colors clash with each other.
At the corner of her pink eyes, she saw Coco and Velvet locked in their own respective fights. Velvet combined her mastery of martial arts and the shotgun as a makeshift club to turn into a brown flurry of death to anyone who was foolish enough to approach her. Coco on the other hand was mowing down any stragglers who decided to run with their tails tucked between their feet.
The red clad Huntress trainee rushed towards the Torchwick criminal with the business end of her scythe propelling her towards the man. Red rose petals replaced the warmth at the back of Louise. She saw the girl match the criminal's own attacks equally. Cane meeting scythe in even parries and ripostes.
There was an explosion -that came out of the cane- as it pushed the red clad girl away from the criminal due to the concussive blast. Torchwick pointed his cane towards the girl at point blank range as ironsights came out of an orifice of the glorified walking stick.
'No!'
Louise's eyes widened in despair. There was only one thing she can do to save the girl. She pointed the cobalt tip of Catharsis to Torchwick. The incantation of a concentrated explosion was at the tip of her tongue.
What happened next wasn't what she expected.
The red clad girl vanished at the blink of an eye as her body seemed to be replaced by a trail of rose petals. There were sounds of a high caliber rifle being discharged before a blur of red came beside Louise. The blur was the red clad girl, safe and sound.
The spell Louise was reeling in let loose as the incantation left her tongue.
There was a massive explosion that rocked the ground as Torchwick's fireball met Louise's explosive magic. The soot and debris covered their vision. Their collective ears were ringing as a response to the volatile mixture of energy created by Dust and Halkeginian magic.
The master criminal used the ensuing pandemonium to escape.
Regaining her senses after a few seconds of chaos, Louise started to collect herself and scanned the area. Velvet and Coco were already up and about trying to round up the mooks. The red clad Huntress just started regaining her bearings. Louise waved her hands towards her friends as she shouted to gain their attention. "Velvet! Did you see where that scoundrel went?"
Velvet's head swiveled to meet Louise before pointing to a large building close by. "Barely. Last I saw was he was trying to get at the top of that building."
Louise tapped the the shoulder of the annoyingly taller red clad scythe wielder to get her attention. Silver eyes locked with her pink orbs as she as a silent conversation was held. The red clad Huntress-in-training nodded in agreement without wasting any breathe talking.
"Alright." Louise's gaze went back to Velvet. "You and Coco stay here and watch over these scum for the authorities. I'll head there with her." She gestured to the girl beside her.
"Gotcha." Coco gave a weak thumbs up before hefting her rotary gun again. "You gonna be alright, Lou?"
Louise flashed a weak smile to her surrogate sisters. "Yes, I will be. See you later."
She walked a few paces forward, calculating where she should land if she were to use her magic to teleport both of them to reach Torchwick. Finding the proper height needed, she let the red clad Huntress-in-training walk past her before stopping her.
"Take my hand." She offered her small hand to the other girl. The red clad girl took it with some hesitation. Her fingers clasped lightly towards Louise's own. There was a slight pink tint on her cheeks and ears that matched her hair.
"Uhh… W-why?" The girl stuttered slightly. Her face took a shade of crimson not unlike the color of her cloak.
Louise rolled her eyes at the display of embarrassment the silver eyes of the girl showed. "Teleportation."
"Wha? Teleporta- Whooooaaaa!"
The Huntress, Lou, and Ruby were transported just a few meters above their intended target. They both gracefully fell, landing at the balls of their feet. The teleportation was slightly disorienting to Ruby, but she quickly recovered when she realized she just teleported to somewhere else.
The criminal who was at the edge of the building's ledge stared at them, mouth agape for flies to enter it freely.
"Woah! That was sooooo cool!" Ruby's glee seeped out of her saccharine voice. "Th was awesome and super cool! Is that your semblance, Lou? How did you, I mean we-"
A small hand shot out in a 'stop' gesture. The pink haired girl was still locking eyes with the criminal. "It's Louise, not 'Lou'. Coco's the only one who gets to calls me that." There was a hint of amusement and anxiety that accompanied Louise's voice.
"Okay! I'm Ru-"
"No time for introductions." Louise's response was ice cold. Gone was the anxiety and replaced with determination. "We'll do that after we apprehend this scoundrel."
Louise brought the hilt of her estoc close to her as she loaded a vial of green Dust -most likely Wind Dust- to the small receiver at the gunmetal pommel of it. She twisted the grip of the weapon, and it locked the Dust vial to the weapon's Dust manipulator. Small wisps of air encased the weapon like a miniature tornado.
There was a loud buzzing noise that invaded their ears. A Bullhead appeared out of nowhere and was instantly beside the criminal. The hatch for passengers to enter opened its doors for the master criminal. The passenger compartment had a woman hiding in the shadows, with swirls and lines glowed in the dark. Her burning eyes and her glowing bright red dress were the only things visible in the shadows.
With hand on bowler hat, the criminal bowed mockingly to his accomplice before mockingly bowing as well towards Louise and Ruby. "Well, Red and Strawberry Shortstuff-"
"Hey!"
"I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways…" He jumped into the Bullhead and began to fish something out of his white coat. He took out a few uncut Dust crystals and pointed his cane towards them.
"I guess this is the end of the line for you, kiddies!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he threw the precious volatile crystals to them. His cane shot let out a small fireball towards the crystals that were flying mid way to them. The glowing woman erected a barrier that protected the Bullhead from the ensuing blast.
'I have to protect Louise!'
Louise's body seemed to backpedal as opposed to Ruby, who was moving forward towards her. Time seemed to slow as Louise grasped whatever was nearest to her, which was Ruby's hand. There was a slight whisper that Louise let out before she grasped the hand as tight as she could with her small fingers.
There was a brief flash of light that blinded Ruby's eyes as something engulfed both of them. She could feel her body fall with Louise's own to the ground.
The next thing she knew, they were both on the same spot they were in, except their limbs were a tangled mess. Louise was sprawled all over Ruby, with her estoc a few feet away. Crescent Rose was… Crescent Rose was…
"W-wha?"
Upon closer inspection, Crescent Rose had transformed into its scythe form. The business end of it had apparently struck Louise's forehead hard enough to cause bruising to it. Her red rimmed glasses were disheveled mess that was comically placed on her head.
The situation finally sinked in Ruby's head after a few seconds passed. "Oh my Dust! Louise! Louise, are you okay? Louise!?" She patted the smaller girl vigorously, looking for more injuries aside from the bruise on her head. Panic was already sinking within Ruby.
Louise could only groan in response to the patting. "Ugh.. Too noisy... My head hurts… Need better control of Aura..."
A sigh of relief escaped Ruby's lips as she stopped patting the smaller Huntress. She mecha-shifted Crescent Rose into its inert form. Louise fell to Ruby's bosom as she let out another groan of annoyance.
There was no sign of the Bullhead, as apparently they used the resulting explosion as a method of escape. There was clicks that invaded their ears, Ruby didn't realize this was a person approaching them.
"You do need better control of your Aura, miss Valliere."
A small 'eep' escaped Ruby as she pivoted her head towards the newcomer. She was a blonde woman around her early thirties. She was wearing a very disciplinarian blouse, skirt, and stockings combo. The glasses, blonde bun, and stern green eyes accentuated the fact. Even her choice of weapon -a riding crop- added to the theme. The only thing that destroyed the overall thematic design was the tattered black and purple cape.
Ruby blinked in disbelief before standing upright in delight. Louise thumped as she fell on the floor again, face first this time. "Are you a Huntress?"
The older woman tilted her head in confusion, before giving a resigned sigh. "Yes I am, miss Ro-"
"Can I have an autograph!?"
'Ugh my head hurts… I really should have just teleported us out of the way… Why did I instinctively let out an explosion anyway?! I could have used Nature's Wrath instead to redirect the fireball! Stupid, stupid, unreliable magic and stupid, stupid brain for using an explosion!'
Professor Goodwitch took them -along with Velvet and Coco- to the nearest police station. The criminals they apprehended were locked up by the local authorities, out of mind and out of sight. They were brought to an interrogation room for a proper debrief. Louise did not expect her day to derail this much.
Louise rubbed her forehead with an icepack. Velvet was helping her with the task, while Coco just leaned on a nearby wall arms akimbo. The girl in red, one Ruby Rose, was beside her swaying her legs as an awkward silence invaded the room. Louise and Ruby sat side by side and facing Professor Goodwitch on the opposite side of their table.
There was a click that stopped the pregnant silence as Headmaster Ozpin entered the interrogation room with what seems to be milk and cookies. Louise's pink eyes twitched slightly at the display.
She knew there was a joke there somewhere, but she couldn't wrap her head around it.
Ozpin sat on the opposite side of their table. Professor Goodwitch took left the room for a few seconds before coming back with a few items of her own. Two empty mugs for the girls and another filled with coffee for the eccentric headmaster.
Louise raised her hand weakly to gain Ozpin's attention. "E-excuse me, mister-"
"Miss Valliere." He interrupted. He took a sip of the coffee before beginning again. "I'll have to talk to miss Rose here first before going through the report miss Scarlatina and miss Adel made."
Ozpin sipped again before he started speaking. "Miss Rose… You have silver eyes…"
Louise's eyes twitched again. 'Was that a pickup line?'
"Uhh… Thank you..?" Ruby fidgeted slightly on her seat.
Professor Goodwitch coughed lightly to gain the room's attention. She held a Scroll with the footage of the fight they just participated in. Most of the shots were concentrated on Ruby's amazing combat prowess.
"Now where did you learn how to do this?" Ozpin gestured to the video. "I inquired not to insinuate anything or question your skill, it's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow…"
Ruby's silver eyes beamed in glee. "Oh, that's my Uncle! Uncle Qrow taught me how to fight like him! I was trash before and I couldn't even find a weapon that was compatible with me until he started teaching me how to fight!" "I'm still in training and attending Signal though, but when I graduate, I'll attend Beacon Academy."
'Her uncle is the Qrow Branwen person that was a part of Ozpin's brotherhood? I've never met the man himself, but if he truly trained Ruby, then the skills he imparted to her was a testament to his skill.' This was new information to Louise. Much needed information.
"So I've noticed." Ozpin replied calmly. There was a small smirk at crept up on his lips. "And what is an adorable girl, such as yourself, doing at a school designed to train warriors?"
"As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!" She gestured wildly with such a saccharine voice.
Ozpin sipped his coffee once again. "Do you know who I am?"
"Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. The uhh… The coffee mug kinda gives it away." Ruby gestured at the offending object. It had Beacon's logo superimposed onto it.
"Hmm… So you mentioned something about wanting to enter my school?" He quickly replied to keep the conversation going in his favor. "Well, okay."
There was a pregnant pause as everyone in the room needed to register what the headmaster said. Ruby was the one who broke the silence with a small "Wait, what?".
"I'm inviting you to attend my school two years early. Do you accept?"
"YES!" Ruby shouted in response with enough force to startle Velvet. "Yes, of course! I get to be classmates with Yang! Aww yeah!"
Ozpin's gaze went back to Louise. His smirk was now wide enough to be noticeable by anyone who was keen enough. "Well miss Valliere, it seems that you've finally made your first friend in your year. Perhaps you might even end up in the same team."
Ruby clasped both of Louise's hands and brought them close to her chest. Her eyes were brimming with infectious glee. "You're going to Beacon too!? That's so cool!"
"Uhh… Thank you?"
"Congratulations, Lou. Now you've got more people to hangout with." Coco hugged Louise loosely. Her hand patted the pink hair of the smaller girl lightly.
Velvet was less reserved than Coco. She jumped at the opportunity to cuddle and started to rub her cheeks onto Louise. There were even a couple of kisses that made their way to her. "Finally a friend outside of our team! I'm so proud of you Louise!"
"Velvet! Coco! Stooooooop! You're embarrassing me!" Louise shrieked indignantly. There was a slight giggle that came out of Ruby. Professor Ozpin's smirk was now in 'shit-eating' territory.
Professor Goodwitch sighed heavily at the display. "Too late, miss Valliere."
"Eh? EEEHH!?"
The two weeks of respite that was granted to Louise have come and past. She was now in one of the airships that brought them to Beacon Academy. She could have made her way to the school on her own, but this was more or less to keep up appearances. She didn't mind keeping up appearances as she didn't want to attract unwanted attention.
She was however slightly disappointed that she didn't see Ruby or Yang inside the airship.
After the impromptu interrogation, she kept in contact with the red clad girl on a semi-regular basis. They exchanged a few messages, mostly comprising of exchanged book recommendations. Sure she was loud and annoying, but there was a certain charm to her that made Louise want to be her friend. Her enthusiasm was also quite contagious and made her smile whenever they interacted.
Ruby's sister was surprisingly the blonde buxom she fought at The Club a few months back. Louise had a rough start when Ruby introduced her to Yang, but they soon warmed up to each other. There wasn't that much resemblance to the sisters, but Ruby provided the information that they were half-sisters.
Putting away the thoughts of her new friends, she decided to look around and scanned the other passengers with her. The red rimmed glasses Coco gave her was now on her face, comfortably protecting her eyes from any and all danger.
There was a wolf Faunus looking at the scenery below with palpable awe. She was wearing what seems to be casual clothing; torn jeans, plain white and black sneakers, and a red plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves. What set her apart from civilians was the grey poncho, quiver at her hip, fingerless gloves, and a golden greatsword that lacked a point and that had a hilt with the shape of it being a circular handle and a slightly more angular tip. She had short onyx hair -it just came to her chin- with blue highlights. Her wolf ears atop her head was twitching wildly from the sensory overload. Her overall height seemed to be just a bit taller than Louise.
There were a few passengers who pointed, laughed, and scoffed at the wolf Faunus, but she didn't seem to notice or actively ignored them.
Seeing as the wolf Faunus didn't mind and could probably handle herself, Louise's gaze wandered to a different part of the airship.
There was a tall blonde Beacon initiate with large metal gauntlets and greaves. Her hair was cut short, but had a small braid near her bangs. She was wearing a lightly armored black, white, and blue bodysuit. She had an Atlesian military coat, with tufts of fur on the collar, draped over her. Her eyes were covered by an angular sunglasses while the top of her head was covered with a white beret, with a few pins with different designs on it.
Close by to the Coco wannabe was a short girl with ginger hair talking animatedly to a boy clad in green eastern clothing. The girl was the physical manifestation of a sugar rush; talking at near light-speed, twirling around a massive warhammer that was probably as heavy as her, boundless energy seeping out of her form -there was even pink lighting!-, and what seems to be boxes of pancake mix in one of her bags.
Louise's sympathy went to the boy in green eastern clothing. The boy was listening -or trying to- intently to his partner. It even seemed like the mere presence of the girl was absorbing whatever energy the boy could muster up.
Louise shuddered at the display and went on her way to shut the world away from her mind as the airship went on its merry way to Beacon Academy. Her life seemed to be taking a turn she couldn't comprehend.
'Ugh… This sucks…'
Ruby's first day at Beacon sucked, and it's only been two minutes since she got here!
She was already feeling anxious as she's apparently the youngest student inducted into the academy. She didn't know why Ozpin took her in, but was happy to take the opportunity. Now though, she didn't know. The rousing speech from Yang wasn't helping her either.
Speaking of Yang, her sister ditched her for her own friends when she was talking about weapons! 'The 'sink or swim' method was always Yang's thing, but this just sucks.' Ruby thought she would've been fine if Louise was with her, but she apparently boarded a different airship. Ruby could only blame her luck for all of this.
Her train of thought was broken when she bumped into another person. They both fell on their respective bottoms and the persons luggage were strewn all over the paved road.
This person was a girl around Louise and Yang's age but was around Ruby's own height. Her asymmetrical ponytail was ivory white. The scar on her left eye and the bright blue of her orbs were in a deep scowl that bore a hole through Ruby's soul.
The white haired girl stood up and started gesturing wildly. "What are you doing?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!"
"Uhh… I'm sorry?" Ruby was genuinely sorry, but was still too shocked at the display to react accordingly.
The girl huffed in annoyance. "Sorry? Do you have any idea how much damage you could've done?!"
"Uhh..." Ruby held one of the suitcases that was strewn across the pavement. some vials of Dust were rolling away from them.
"Give me that!"
"Hey! Handling Dust without proper protection is utter stupidity!" A familiar voice shouted and echoed through the area.
Out at the corner of her silver eyes was another Beacon initiate with a slight tan. Her hair was white that progressively went black at the tips and cut short, shorter that Ruby's. Her face was in perpetual scowl, sporting crimson eyes and deep bags under them. She was wearing a white shirt with bandoliers on it and a pink zip up hoodie and a leather jacket was over it. Her cargo pants sported a holster and sheaths for her weapons. She was wearing leather gauntlets and combat boots to finish her ensemble.
The person's scowl deepened and walked away. Right behind her was Louise rushing to where Ruby was. There was concern in her pink eyes.
"Louise..?" Ruby was still sprawled with her bottom on the floor.
Louise stood in front of her and puffed her chest in defiance at the crabby girl. She glanced at Ruby and gave a weak smile. "Don't let people like her talk down on you."
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!" Steam was practically seeping out of the crabby girl.
Before Louise could retort, Ruby shot up and went in between them, bowing her head to the white haired girl. "I'm so sorry!"
"Humph!" The crabby girl crossed her arms and gave a cold stare towards them. "Sorry won't cut it!"
Louise's eyes twitched in annoyance. "Founder… She said she was sorry, princess!"
"Its heiress, actually." A new voice interrupted them before they could have a full blown catfight.
It was a girl in black and white with a bow sitting atop of her head. She had a sword with a pistol grip as a guard. Her golden eyes were glued to her book. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company: one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world…"
Weiss had a smirk that was directed towards Louise and Ruby. "Finally some recognition!"
"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The girl with the black bow said with enough venom to kill an Ursa Major. There was a small smirk when the girl said it to Weiss'.
"What! How dare-" Weiss sputtered indignantly before walking away with palpable rage. "Ugh!"
"I promise I'll make it up to you!"
Louise dusted Ruby's Huntress outfit for stray specks of dust and dirt. She even straightened up her trusty cape. "Don't bother with people like her, Ruby."
"I guess we're not the only ones having a rough first day... So, what's- " Ruby began, trying to get the attention of her black haired savior. The girl in question was already a ways away from them, sauntering to the academy. "Welcome to Beacon, I guess…"
There was a pregnant pause as Ruby and Louise could only contemplate on how their day devolved into this. They were in too deep thought to notice a lightly armored boy walking towards them.
"Hey. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc." The blonde boy began with his hand holding a bag. The bag had Louise's emblem on it. "Seems kind of weird to start the first day of school with a catfight. You dropped this, by the way."
"Oh, thank you." Louise took the bag, and started rummaging through it. "This seems tame in comparison to what I'm used to." Satisfied with how the bag was untouched, her hand took Jaune's in a firm handshake. "Louise Valliere."
"Ruby Rose." Ruby took the hand and shook it too. "Aren't you the guy who threw up?"
The trio was walking aimlessly around the campus. Their banter took most of their attention, enough to not notice where they were going. Or in Louise's case, put the thought if the initiation at the back of her mind.
"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!"
"I'll have to agree with Arc on this one…" Louise mumbled thoughtfully. Her thoughts wandered the first few times she rode in a tiltjet. She took quite a while to get used to the lurching of her stomach whenever she flew.
The fact that she had taken more than a couple dozen flights during the past few months forced her body to adapt to air travel. She still had lingering feelings of motion sickness sometimes, but it was easily manageable.
Ruby bowed her head slightly in apology. "Look, I'm sorry. Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."
"Oh yeah? What if I called you… Something! I'll think of something!" Arc gestured wildly with his hands. There was a slight panic in his voice.
"Real charmer there, Arc." Louise drawled out sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
Ruby looked at Louise with a slight confusion in her silver eyes. "Are we really in last name basis right now?"
"Only to Arc." Louise thumbed Arc with a playful grin on her face.
"Hey! I'll have you know that my name is short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it." He was gesturing animatedly. It was comical, but Louise could only internally sigh at the display.
"Founder… A Casanova wannabe..." The sigh deepened audibly.
"Do they?" Ruby playfully said, with sarcasm seeping out of her.
"Aww come on guys!"
Both Louise and Ruby giggled at the expense of their new friend. It was too easy to tease the Casanova wannabe. All of them were joking around like they were old war buddies sharing stories. Most of their quips was targeted to their only male companion.
When the giggles died, Ruby took out Crescent Rose. "Soooo… I got this thing." It unfolded into its scythe form.
Whoa!" Arc jumped in surprise. "is that a scythe?"
"It's also a customizable, high impact-"
"It's a gun." Louise interrupted Ruby. The girl in question puffed her cheeks in annoyance. A bothered Ruby was too adorable for Louise to ignore. 'Too adorable.'
Arc clapped his hands in realization. "Oh! That's so cool! What about you, Valliere?"
"Nice to see you taking the last name basis rule of our relationship." Louise unsheathed her estoc from her belt. The dull cobalt was gleaming from the sunlight. "I have Catharsis here. And the shotgun was a gift from my friends here at Beacon. They're second year students now." She gestured to the shotgun that was slung on her shoulder. It was hidden before by her purple cloak.
"Those were the people with you during the thing, right?" Ruby asked but Louise knew what she was talking about. She was happy that Ruby kept that information confidential.
Louise simply nodded in confirmation. "Half of them, yes. What about you, Arc? What weapon do you use?" She gestured toward the sheathed sword on Arc's hip.
"Weeell…." He unsheathed the sword and had the sheath attached to his arm. The sheath itself extended and transformed into a kite shield. He had a an awkward stance, a clear vision of his lack of training with it. "I've got this sword. And I've got a shield too."
"What do they do? Crescent Rose turns into a sniper rifle and Catharsis has a Dust manipulator for Nature's Wrath."
"I'm still impressed you discovered how my estoc works with only a few glances..."
Ruby and Arc's banter went on for a few more minutes. Their conversation went from weapons, family heirlooms, guns and the like. They circled the same spot a couple of times. Louise was still in deep thought to even help the two navigate. There was clear joy in her giggle filled fits and thoughts. 'If my life as a Huntress is more of this, I wouldn't mind. Although I think I need less crabby heiresses in my life. One is already too much, thank you very much.'
They all halted when Ruby stopped them. She slowly turned her head to them. There was obvious fear in her silver eyes.
"Jaune! I think we're lost!" She animatedly waved her hands in clear panic.
The creeping fear and realization also hit Arc. "Wait, what!? I thought you knew where we were going!"
"Founder's tits, Arc! Why didn't anyone ask me where to go?! How did we get here anyway!?"
They were already in a comical state of panic, but despite the deep trouble they were in, Louise could only give the brightest smile she could. 'I wouldn't mind this at all.'
Author's Notes:
I do like the idea of Louise trying to live a normal life of a Huntress in Remnant. Maybe I'll expand on it more, maybe not. Who know? I still do like the idea though. If I do write about it, it'll definitely be a sequel of sorts. A sequel that would probably run parallel with the canon with just a different perspective.
If I do write a sequel or a spiritual successor -and that's a pretty big 'IF'- I'm gonna force Louise to cope with living in Remnant. Not gonna use the 'she comes back to her own world as a badass with seemingly no time wasted in Halkeginia' schtick that quite a few fics are using. I may or may not have the two universes diddle each other though. Like Grimm slipping into Halkeginia or manticores and shit invading the Grimmlands.
Maybe I should have Albion suddenly appearing out of nowhere near Atlas? It would change the plot for obvious reasons, but I do like doing sociopolitics and stuff. Oh! Maybe I should have Halkegenia slowly appearing in Remnant, continent by continent!
I should stop now...
Thank you for reading.