AN: Heyo people! Already, here is chapter 2! I tend to have a lot of steam at the start! Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Also, feel free to start theorizing about all sorts of stuff. Its fun to see what people think up... :)
Chapter 2: Encounter
Aoi looked around and saw all the people. His brother had dropped him off just a bit ago, but already he was nervous and worried. There was so many people he had never met before, and to be honest he was already flustered. A lot of people took notice too, with comments ranging from worry to insulting, though no one said them to his face.
At the moment, he was in the hall where all the new students were supposed to meet. There were quite a few of them, but he didn't know anyone. He was not even sure what he should do, who he should talk to, if he should talk.
He started to look for a place to hide, when suddenly...
"Oh wow! Heyo! My name is Amarillo, but you can call me Rill! Its nice to meet you!"
That was when someone came up to him and introduced themselves. A Blonde haired boy who looked only a bit taller then him named Rill, apparently. He was practically radiating energy.
"Oh, and dont let my height fool you. I am 14!"
"Eh? R-really?!"
"Yeah yeah! What is your name?!"
"...umm...my name is Aoi. Aoi Azul".
"So, you must be another Special Admissions right? Cool! Maybe we will be on the same team!"
Aoi had no idea about how to react to the overly energetic boy in front of him. In fact, he had no idea in general how to act to anyone here for that matter. Back home, everyone knew him and he knew everyone, and he was always the weakest. He was sure the only reason he was here was because of his family, so he would have to manage somehow.
"Hey, are you okay kid? You know, you dont have to be here if you dont want to".
At that point, a calm and kind voice entered that even soothed Aoi a little. It belonged to another boy with a purple shirt.
"My name is Plum, Plum Purpureus. If you need any help, feel free to ask".
"Th-thanks...I am just a bit nervous is all. I...I can do this!"
Pumping himself up, Aoi mustered his courage and percievered. However, there were others around that also seemed concerned.
"Are you sure he can do this though?"
Lilac Luster questioned if this was actually a good idea, while another two girls also walked up from behind. One had brown hair, and the other had pink.
"Lilac, that was too harsh. Although, he does seem rather young even for special admissions...what do you think Claret?"
"Hmm...I wouldn't count him out just yet Orchid. The Headmaster accepted him after all. But, where is your weapon?"
"Ah, well...you see…"
However, before they could continue, the lights dimmed and the headmaster stepped on stage, beginning the speech that he had prepared. And so began the explanation of the school, and what would be expected.
"...they dont suspect a thing yet..."
Once the sun finally set, the speech was done, and the lights went back to full, everyone went to the appointed sleeping area so they could rest for tomorrow.
Of course, most of the girls were distracted by the guys, and most of the guys were distracted by the girls. And so, clad in T shirts and shorts they usually wore to sleep in when camping, as well as sneakers, Crimson and Oliver had successfully managed to sneak into the kitchen.
"See, Ollie? I told you this was a great idea".
"But...but...Crim! What if they find us!? We will get totally busted and get into trouble!"
"Relax Ollie, we had the skill to make it here right? We can do a simple kitchen raid".
"...are you sure?"
"You gotta have more confidence in situations like this Ollie. Think about our training!"
"Which pales in comparison to my training".
At those words, Oliver and Crimson looked behind them, and saw a teacher tapping her foot on the floor. The two of them were certain she was not there a second ago. Professor Raven Black, also a professor with one of the most terrifying auras of all time. She was considered one of the strongest huntresses in the world, and she had decided to teach here at Beacon for some time.
"Ma...ma...master?!"
She had also been the personal tutor of those two, who had been unaware she was a teacher here.
"Now then, what to do with you two...maybe I should make you walk back to your sleepingbags naked?"
"Th-that's not necessary! We are sorry!"
"Yeah, we are heading back now! Goodnight, master!"
"Hold it!" she said, as she opened the fridge. She narrowed her eyes at the selection, but then seemed to shake it off and brought out cookies, as well as some milk and soda. "I suppose everyone might want a midnight snack. Take those back to the other students, I will bring the drinks once I find the cups".
The two happily took the cookies, and hurried off before they incurred the wraith of their master. The moment that was done, she immediately took out some of the leftovers of the dinner that had been served, and put it in a separate container. After that, she took out a bunch of ingredients, and poured it into the drinks she had procured as well.
"First, sneak the students the antidote. Then I can find out who poisoned dinner".
She was just glad she herself also had decided on getting a midnight snack. She had been distracted by work so she was not at dinner, but the moment she opened the fridge, she smelled something familiar...a poison she had encountered before. Now, it was time to cure everyone without anyone having ever known there was poison, and to see who reacted.
It appeared...someone among them was not who they claimed to be.
"So, where are you from Aoi?"
Among all the people around, there were four right now currently gathered in a small circle before heading to bed, asking various questions about each other.
"Me..me? I am from Dantoo Island".
"Dantoo Island? Never heard of it".
"Its pretty old and obscure. But its also pretty safe..."
"What about your family?"
"All Hunters. They are really exceptional...one of them made hunter by twelve years old. Not just Academy, but full fledged".
"What, seriously?"
"...what about you. Why are you all here?"
Aoi looked to Lilac, who had for some reason joined them. Even though she seemed a bit harsh, Aoi got the feeling she was actually a good person. Plum had also joined them, as well as Rill.
"I want to become a Hunter, to be big, strong, and independent!"
"You should probably give up on the big part. YOu are supposed to be three years older then Aoi, but you barely look a year older".
"D-dont crush my dreams like that!"
"Well, as for me...I guess its because I want to help people".
"Is that really it? Or are you hiding something".
"I just want to help people".
"Right...anyways, as for me, its because I want to do something noble, since my sister will be inheriting the family business. Lilac's dont follow, we charge forward, so it felt better to do this and fight monsters then follow in my sister's shadow".
"Huh, is that so? Well Aoi, what about..."
"We brought some midnight snacks!"
"And master has the drinks!"
At that point, their conversation was interrupted, again, as two boys and a teacher brought in snacks and refreshments. The room did feel a little warm all of a sudden, but since the opposite gender was around, no one felt inclined to strip down further. Therefore, the refreshments were gladly accepted by all to help them have a cool night's sleep.
No one questioned why the room had warmed up when it was night time and supposed to cool down though...
The next day, the new applicants had all gathered near the edge of a cliff. Among them were Plum, Aoi, Lilac, Rill, Crimson, Oliver, Orchid, and Claret.
The lineup this time was a little shorter then normal overall, but everyone here had proven themselves in some way or they wouldn't be here.
"So, do you all understand the task and the objective? Plum?"
"Yes. We are to rush into the forest, the first person we see will be our teammate, and we have to run and fight all the way to the Temple and collect a relic to bring back. There is one thing I am not clear on though..."
"And that is?"
"How do we get off the cliff?"
Plum, appearing to be a sensible and fairly normal human being, asked that normal question.
"Well, we are handling the launch. Its up to you to determine how you land".
"Wait, what do you meeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan?!"
At that point, mid conversation, Plum was launched into the air, along with everyone else, right into the forest of monsters known as Grimm. The first person who had been launched was actually Aoi, because he wanted to stand on the end and not in the middle of the group, and already made his landing.
"I...was not expecting that...I feel dizzy..."
Although seemingly fine, he ended up throwing up a little. Only a little though.
As for Rill...
"Woo hoo!"
Creating explosions from his boots, named the Solar Stompers, he rushed forward by kicking and jumping through the air to get some distance. He had already lost Aoi, but he was determined to find him. He thought Aoi was interesting, and had already decided they would be on the same team.
As for Lilac, her landing was graceful. As someone who specialized in Dust, she used gravity dust to slow her decent and landed gracefully on the ground.
However, her landing happened to coincide at the same place Rill stopped.
"Aww...I wanted to find Aoi first".
"...I suppose I could have done worse. Once heard a rumor about a guy who did this without his Aura unlocked even".
Meanwhile, Crimson and Ollie both landed at the exact same place, the only difference in time being from the delay between their launches.
"Sweet!"
"We did it!"
Ollie had taken out a Yoyo and used it as a sort of grappling hook, grappling onto a tree to break his fall. Meanwhile, Crimson had stopped his fall by planting his sword into a tree to use the friction and mass to break his fall. Once that was done, he had his large sword collapse into a smaller form, although certain things like the gyros were still visible.
And then finally, Claret also used dust weaving to slow her fall, while Orchid purposefully landed right next to her relying on nothing but her immense aura.
"Nicely done. I guess we are working together".
"Thanks! Same to you!"
And so, the Plum that had been sent flying reached a position far further then the others. Part from manipulating his body angle, part because he was not prepared so did not grip the ground as strong. And of course...
"Plum...are you okay?"
"Oh...good, you are safe Aoi...owww…"
"Oh! Here, let me patch you up!"
Aoi ran over to Plum, and took out a first aid kit from his backpack. He immediately began to treat Plum's wounds, while Plum noticed his unique backpack.
"Aoi, is your backpack made of metal?"
"Oh yeah. Its really durable, so I can carry all sorts of things! And also I..."
"Hold it. Don't speak. Grimm are incoming".
As he said that, he took out his weapon, and then noticed that Aoi didn't have his.
"Aoi, where is your weapon?"
"Well, you see..."
"You dropped it didn't you?"
"What?! N-no! Also, dont move! You might make your injuries worse before I can bandage them!"
"They are not too bad...how are you so good at this though?"
"I would always get hurt while training, so I learned on my own".
Hearing those words, Plum only got more concerned.
"Aoi, you...are really weak, aren't you?"
"...yeah. Even my little brother is stronger then me already, and he has an amazing semblance".
"What is your Semblence anyways? Since we are teammates after all".
"Technopathy. That's how I got so far at the start, I modified my own panel to suit my needs".
"Technopathy...in a forest...well, we will manage somehow. The sun is up, but this forest provides a lot of cover, so I can make use of mine. Aoi, stay behind me. I will protect you".
"But..."
"We are teammates anyways. Not sure why you are here, but I wont let you die so easily".
"Y-yes...".
Aoi felt bad he was only slowing people down, but he himself thought he was weak. That said...
"...sure are a lot of machines for a forest though".
"Solar Storm!"
"...you were not kidding about naming some of your moves, were you?"
Lilac said that as Rill kicked a grim into a tree, killing it with a combination of lightning, explosive force, and the force of it hitting a tree. At the moment, Rill was completely engulfed in lightning. Any Grimm that touched him would soon find themselves zapped with quite a bit of electricity.
"Anyways, if these weaklings are the only thing they got, we will be fine".
"Indeed. The Luster Household is made to train against more then a few of these weaklings..."
Then, as if on cue, a large amount of growling could be heard around them. Quite a lot in fact, of all sorts of Grimm.
"I guess we should be careful what we say!"
"Ha! It just means we will score better with those watching us right?"
"Hmm. I was worried about teaming up with a brat like you, but...it seems like you got a good amount of ambition and spirit!"
"Same to you! Nice to know you have the heart of a warrior, and not a fragile princess!"
The two made smiles at each other while they looked around the Grimm. Grimm, which normally could not feel fear, felt shivers go down their spines at these two.
Word to the wise, dont pick fights with energetic and aggressive people.
"Orchid! Can you cover the flank?"
"Sure! Me and my trusty thorn are more then able!"
Orchid smashed her mace down on another enemy, before turning it into gun form and shooting at the closer ones that were charging. Meanwhile, Claret used her weapon in Flute Form to create music based dust attacked, using the music to control the dust and manipulate it in the forms she desired.
They were just rushing forward and clearing a path through the Grimm, making short work of everything. However...that was when they heard a strange noise, as if it were an engine.
And then, rushing right past them was a large red motorcycle being ridden by two boys, Crimson and Oliver. In fact, that motorcycle seemed to share similarities with Crimson's weapon.
"His weapon...turns into a motorcycle?"
"Not bad kid. Now, follow them! They can help us clear a path!"
"Agreed! This was a lot more Grimm then I was expecting for a test!"
"Well, that looks like the last of them" Plum said as he folded up his weapon.
Aoi shook his head however, concerned.
"We need to finish and leave the forest soon. There are way more Grimm then there should be here. I think the test has been tampered with".
"What?"
Suddenly, Aoi ran out ahead towards the temple.
"We need to hurry! Something is wrong! This forest...its full of machines! And not the monitoring ones!"
And then...the ground burst open right in front of Aoi...
AN: And that is chapter 2! Well what do you think! Some suspicious stuff is going on already! Why is it going on? What is the plan? What is the goal?! I guess you will have to keep reading to find out, but feel free to theorize!
Also, a question to the readers! Please answer and leave in a review! Who do you think is strongest and weakest? Put the eight characters in order of strongest to weakest! (Crimson's and Oliver's teacher is not counted, Raven is obviously the strongest right now of all of them so isn't worth asking to rank)