Everything felt like a blur, a rush of colors, brown and green. A forest? He was running, from what he couldn't tell, a black haired woman at his side. Her name… what was her name? He couldn't remember. There was the sound of gunfire, cannons even, from behind them, sounds of people in agitation and anger. The path curved, the two runners moving into the trees themselves to make it harder to hit them.
"Move! Move!" He could hear his own voice, although sounding more agitated and deeper, as the two wound between tree trunks that ran thick in the forest. The angry shouts were met with growls and roars, the Grimm not happy with the intrusion of humans into their territory. His head turned, and that stupid motion to check came against him, his foot hitting a thick root and sending him tumbling forward, the world spinning for a moment before coming still. He could hear the slide of his partner's feet as she stopped and came back, but he pushed her away. "You have to get back to Ozpin, tell him what is going on. I'll try to hold them off."
Vibrant red eyes looked into his, leaving little else for his sight. "No, you're getting out too!"
He roughly pushed her off. "Go!" The sounds of people coming forward were getting louder, and the woman had little choice but to rise and run off. He raised his weapons, guns aiming forward, before he hear the gunshot, feeling pain in his wrist and forcing him to drop it. Two men jumped him, blades drawn, feeling the sharp metal slide into his stomach and chest. "Sterling!" It was a sharp, feminine voice that rang in his ears.
The next thing he knew, Sterling was sitting up, breathing shallow and fast, eyes wide. The room was dark, although with looking out the window he could see that the sun was starting to poke out over the horizon. It would only be a few hours until the initiation trial, he could assume. His hands went to his chest and stomach instinctively; checking for any wounds that he knew wouldn't be there. This wasn't the first nightmare that he has had. It was so vivid though, others had been hazy, as though seen through a lens. He had talked about it with his father before his passing, and reassured that they were nothing. Still, it was troubling to his mind.
Instead, his mind went to where he was, trying to calm his racing mind and root himself in the present instead of his dreams. He was in the ballroom, with the rest of the first year students, a temporary arrangement until they got their dorm rooms, he was sure. Everyone was lying around haphazardly, as though they were camping out. His eyes got adjusted to the fading darkness, few details came to importance to him, a few faunus were around, but the burst of yellow hair about halfway across the room that had caught his eye. It was strange, that such a small thing slowed his breathing, made a smile cross his face. It was a silly thing, really, and he shook it out of his head. Being distracted like that wouldn't help him here. Best to keep his mind clear while getting ready for something dangerous. He rose from his bed wrappings, stretching silently before heading to the door. He turned his head before stepping out, finding that blonde hair… and lilac eyes. They both seemed frozen in time for a second before Sterling offered a small smile, seeing her match it. His hand came up, a finger over his lips to keep quiet, before sliding out of the ballroom completely, closing the door. His body rolled to his back against the wall, eyes staring up for a moment before closing. What the hell was this? He had never been like that before. He shook his head hard. It was time to get ready. And with that he pushed off the wall with his foot, hands sliding into the pockets of his pajama pants and feet finding a stride, his mind idle and movements on autopilot until he reached the locker room.
His mind seemed to go blank as he reached his locker, opening the door before leaning forward, resting his head against the top shelf. Quickly he went over what he knew about today's work. Ozpin had set up a task that split the year into teams of 4. The task changed every year, so he couldn't rely on that. But at least he knew he would have people to rely on after the test. This would be a good opportunity to see what others were capable of. All his life the only things he saw in combat were his sister and robots. His hands grabbed his clothes, feeling the weight of his weapons in his hoodie, something familiar that gave him comfort. With his foot he pushed his locker closed and turned-
"Hello."
Sterling nearly jumped out of his skin seeing Yang there, dropping his clothes to the ground. There was Yang, with a smirk on her face as though she was proud of herself for that. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" Even still, Sterling couldn't be too mad about it, kneeling down to pick his clothes up. "I'm sorry if I woke you up. Why didn't you go back to sleep?"
Yang quirked an eyebrow at him. "I thought you wanted me to follow?"
Sterling was about halfway up before freezing, the blood draining from his face, leaving his cheeks a silver color. "No, I just didn't want to make a commotion."
Yang seemed to think for a second before shrugging. "Well, I'm here now."
A mixed wave of relief and worry went over Sterling at that. He stood fully, seeing the smirk on her face, and couldn't help the smile, a hand going back to rub the back of his head. "Sorry, I'm bad with people."
"Really." She smirked a little wider. "I figured most people were alright going through school."
He frowned at that, peeling off his shirt to change into something fresh. "This is my first year. I didn't go to a combat school. It's… complicated."
"Try me."
Sterling could feel her eyes burning on him, although he didn't get self-conscious about it. He pulled his shirt on, grabbing his hoodie. "I was trained since around the age of 4 how to fight at home. My father was adamant that I learn how to, so I could protect my family when he passed. Beacon was just the next step to me."
"It sounds like you really love your family."
"I do." He turned to face her, zipping up his hoodie. "Don't you?"
Yang sighed, although it was reminiscent instead of exasperated. "Yeah. My sister Ruby got accepted into Beacon this year, too. Two years ahead of normal. I'm proud of her, but… I'm not sure if she's ready yet. She's still young."
Sterling smiled at that. "She'll do fine. They wouldn't have let her in if she wasn't ready."
"Yeah, you're right." Sterling looked between her and his pants, a frown on his face, before opening his locker back up as a divider, grabbing the clothing and sliding behind it.
"But you're around to watch over your sister, Yang. Things will work out in the end. They always do."
"You're a fountain of wisdom, Sterling." He could hear her chuckle, and he couldn't help but join in. And yet he was distracted with getting dressed.
"And you're a fountain of beauty."
His body froze at that, and if she wasn't laughing about it he could hear it ringing in his ears either way. He was quick to pull his pants on, closing the locker with just a little too much force for it to be natural. "I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me. I mean, yes…" His face was a deep red from the blood rushing to it. "I'm sorry, I have to go." And with that fast steps brought him out of the locker room, feeling her eyes on him as she watched him with an amused look on her face. Food. Yeah, that was it. He was just hungry; he had to fill up before the test. As the sun was still rising and people were just waking up, he figured he had more than enough time to eat before anyone could join him.
