Volume 4

Chapter 4: The Foundations

BIBEEP! BIBEEP! BIBEEP!

The alarm on Cedar's scroll woke him the next morning, the repeating beeps raising him from a dreamless slumber until he tapped it to turn it off. He sat up and blinked his eyes open, shaking his head slightly as his fox ears perked up. Glancing around the room, he almost expected it to be his room back at home, with the wardrobe at the foot of the bed, window to his right, the tatty red rug stretching out beside his bed and the wafting scent of breakfast creeping under the door. But as he looked around and remembered he was still at Lustre Academy, he smiled slightly. It hadn't quite felt real yesterday, but waking up in this room, now it felt real. He'd made it… he wasn't going anywhere. Not yet.

The next thing that drew his attention was the sound of running water and the rising steam from the bathroom, someone was showering. Considering he could see Isaac still asleep, snoring noisily and Lariah still in bed, he guessed it was Yasmin who was showering. He stood up and moved to get his clothes from the wardrobe, but when he was checking for his normal clothes, he found something he wasn't expecting, some identical articles of clothing he didn't remember bringing, nor did he remember anyone adding it to the wardrobe. Three dark blue sweater vests, three long sleeve cream shirts, two sets of blue trousers and a similarly coloured skirt with a cream lining and three dark blue ties, lined with three light blue diamond symbols.

Yasmin emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her hair and her body clothed in one of the outfits Cedar had spied in the wardrobe, though her feet were currently bare and a rich smell of soap wafted out from the bathroom.

"Aaahhh. This fits me nicely. All the measurements are correct. Much better than I was expecting." Yasmin was admiring herself, checking the length of the skirt and her shirt.

"Umm… why are you wearing that?" Cedar asked idly, still a little dozy.

"It's my uniform, silly." Yasmin giggled. "There's one for each of us. You might want to get yours on before these two get up and hog the bathroom." she joked, gesturing to her two slumbering teammates. "My hair still needs to dry anyway."

"Um, right." Cedar took one of the outfits, the smaller of the two of course, before he headed into the bathroom. He showered up, having brought his own soap and shampoo with him, he needed something special so it wouldn't affect his fox ears natural fur. Once he was washed and dried, he tried on his new outfit. It was a good fit, decently comfy, though he took a few minutes fumbling with the tie and watching himself in the bathroom mirror. He'd miss wearing his scarf and gloves… but it did look a little more official. He emerged back into the bedroom where the rest of his team were now awake.

"Heeey Cedar! You look kinda cute." Lariah beamed at him and the Faunus smiled a little shyly.

"Not that cute… but you should probably try yours on, too." He mentioned.

"Oooh right! We better hurry or we'll miss breakfast!" Lariah dashed into the bathroom with not even a hint of debate from Isaac, who still seemed very weary. A little while later, all four of them were dressed and making their way down to the dining hall from last night. It was clean as ever and a number of students had already arrived, seated at tables of queueing for food, everyone in uniform. Cedar couldn't help but feel a little proud, even comfortable as they joined the line. Their uniformity, it felt like he was really one of them. A normal student training to be a huntsman… he briefly wondered if being excited over something so mundane was sad, silly or both.

Whilst walking over to a table with a bowl of porridge, Cedar spied someone waving at him.

"Oi, shortyfox!" It was Ozzy, the copper haired loudmouth who was waving at him from a table. "Come sit with us, eh? We could use the company!" The rest of team TORC were seated next to him. A little chat with ICYL and soon both teams were sharing a table together. Somehow, Martin made the school uniform look even smarter, whilst Ozzy had somehow already gotten food on his sweater vest too, mangling a plate of scrambled eggs in the meantime.

"I'm so excited for class today!" The girl Cedar vaguely remembered as Candi piped up, her shocking pink hair with slight blue highlights catching his eyes, a bowl of sugary cereal set in front of her. "Do any of you guys know what we're doing first?"

"I believe it's history first." Martin spoke up, showing his scroll with the class schedule on it.

"Well that's just dandy." Isaac smiled, making his way through a fry up on his plate. "I ain't too partial to history round my home, so I wanna find out s'more."

"You said you're from Vacuo, right?" Lariah glanced his way, a kipper idly stuck on her fork. "So you guys don't hear much about history over there?"

"Not s'much." Isaac shook his head. "Was kinda homeschooled and we didn't have all too many books."

"Bah who needs it!" Ozzy scoffed, his mouth full of egg and toast. "All ya need to be a huntsman is a good punchin' arm and the common sense not to stand in a Grimm's swingin' range! Who needs history?!"

"Mind yourself, Ozzy." Yasmin smirked, picking at an omelette. "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

"Yes, miss Yasmin has the right idea." Martin nodded, Yasmin raising a suggestive eyebrow at his compliment. "We should all be sure to study hard alongside our combat practice, both will be important."

"Studying's hard…" Lariah frowned, slightly bemused. "I tried to study with Dad a couple times… it didn't work out."

"Come on, we'll all help each other!" Candi leaned over the table, her pale yellow eyes sparkling with an unusual gleam. "We can be one big study group!"

"Maybe we should actually see what we're working with first." Martin suggested, adjusted his glasses slightly whilst Cedar stood up, having finished his breakfast whilst they were talking. He made his way over to a stack on the right side of the room to put his tray and bowl away when he walked by a familiar blonde haired boy. The two collided in passing and Cedar suffered the worst of it, the bump making him stumble before he tripped and fell forward, face planting right into his bowl and covering his face in his leftovers. The room around him went quiet as people turned to look at the Faunus who'd fallen over. The silence was deafening as Cedar raised his porridge smeared face from the floor.

"Watch where you're going, mutt." Terrance growled, only looking back for a moment before he continued walking. That word… mutt… Cedar was familiar with it. Back in combat school when the other kids made fun of his Faunus traits, mutt was one of the things they called him. All that feeling of belonging drained away along with the colour in his face, his ears limp and his body stiff, finding himself unable to even get up off the floor.

"Now hold up there, pardner." Isaac was suddenly standing, facing down with Terrance, his face a picture of calm but with a distilled anger bubbling behind his eyes. "Y'all bumped into my buddy there and sent him sprawlin'. You oughta apologise." Cedar looked back at him in surprise, the room focused on them. The blonde boy's teeth gritted as he stood against Isaac.

"Your buddy wasn't looking where he was going, butterball." Terrance accused him, folding his arms. "You got a problem with that?"

"Matter of fact, I do. And I got a problem with that insult." Isaac returned, both boys emitting a great aura of intensity as they stared each other down.

"Not my fault you eat more than anyone in this hall." Terrance returned, his eyes narrow and spiteful.

"Not what's important, friend. Y'shouldn't be knockin' folks over like that." Isaac replied, firm and calm.

"I'm gonna smack you if you keep accusing me for your friend being clumsy.." Terrance spat as Cedar watched, Lariah moving to help him up in the meantime. Were they really going to start a fight here?

"Maybe we should settle this here, pardner. Been a while since I done some proper wrasslin'." Isaac seemed more than intent to throw down, when someone intervened.

"Now now you two, calm down." A grey haired boy said, someone Cedar recognised as Silas, Terrance's teammate. "It was just an accident after all, no need to be so hostile over it."

"Hostile? Pardon me but it was your buddy who insulted mine." Isaac countered, not impressed with the smooth talking mediator.

"Oh please, it was an off handed remark. Terrance doesn't actually mean that." Silas assured him coolly, looking to his blonde friend. "Isn't that right?"

"...yeah." Terrance seemed to simmer down a little, his teeth no longer grinding and his arms unfolding.

"See? Now let's stop this fighting business before a teacher shows up, shall we? Don't want to make a bad impression on the first day, after all." Silas continued, smiling at Isaac who was finding it difficult to get a word in. Silas just took his hulking teammate back to their table whilst Cedar felt a mix of confusion and sadness.

"Creep." Lariah muttered with a frown, wiping Cedar's face with her napkin to clean the porridge stains off. "Are you okay?"

"A little." Cedar lied, still unsettled by his comment and looking a fool in front of his new peers. The front of his uniform was a little scuffed too, which he brushed down, his ears still flopped over his head.

"Who the bloomin' hell does he think he is?!" Ozzy snapped once the two were sat back at their table. "Callin' a Faunus a mutt, bloomin' cheek…"

"He probably didn't mean it like that…" Brock tried to speak up. He shared a knowing look with Cedar, the two sharing a mutual understanding of Faunus torment.

"Perhaps we should steer clear of their group in future." Martin recommended, having watched the whole thing over the rim of his glasses. Then the bell rang nearby and everyone got up to go to class. Cedar trailed behind his team as they put their trays away and walked on, his head down as he tried to recover his shattered pride.

A little wandering later and they found their classroom, a large square room with seats and stacked tables lining the back walls which the students began to fill, stairs cutting through the middle of the room and leading down toward the front area. That area was dominated by a large antique looking desk with a polished wooden surface and ornately carved patterns spiralling around its corners and sides. A large leather seat sat behind it, probably the most modern furnishing in the room. Strung up on the walls behind the desk were framed pieces of parchment, depicting maps, sketches of Grimm and huntsmen of the past. And most interestingly of all, a wooden mannequin dressed up in an antique suit of armour, composed of green and silver metal with a sword in hand, keeping a watchful eye over the room, like a valiant guard at his post.

Everyone took their seats and for a while there were murmurs and a little chatting until their teacher arrived, drawing the eyes of the students with his toffee brown hair fading into soft red and his loud tweed jacket.

"Good morning everyone!" He said cheerily, strolling down the stairs to his desk and standing behind it, adjusting his bow tie slightly and the light reflecting in his dark brass framed glasses. "My name is Malum Saccharo, and you can all call me Professor Saccharo! I'll be your history teacher over this term." He clapped his hands together, his face a picture of pure excitement. "Now, who's ready to explore the past and relive the tales of old?!" there was a resounding silence from the classroom til Saccharo continued.

"W-well then, why don't we test your skills on local history first? Can any of you tell me about the area this school is situated in?" Saccharo looked eagerly to the class, all a little too nervous to put their hands up. Then, Martin raised his hand.

"It's a colony built by the four kingdoms, sir. It's the youngest large settlement in Remnant.." He said quickly, Cedar could've sworn his glasses flashed slightly as he answered.

"Very good, Mr Thistle!" Saccharo nodded, taking a device out of his pocket and pressing a button on it, activating a projector, displaying a map of Remnant on the screen. On the Sanus continent, on the central southern section between Vale and Vacuo, the shield symbol of Vault was present on the map.

"18 years ago, the four kingdoms were facing a crisis of overpopulation, their capital cities were full and there were fewer safe villages with increasing Grimm and bandit attacks." The image on the board showed a number of human symbols popping up over the four kingdoms. "Even with Menagerie, this problem couldn't be fixed. So, the councils arranged a meeting to discuss a solution. And they came up with one." He clicked the device and it returned to an image of Sanus. "At the time, Vacuo had plans to expand a mining operation into this area." he pointed to the map. "And the dust reserves there had been untapped, a fresh vein of resources. So the four kingdoms proposed something… a grand plan to solve their issues and make use of this deposit of dust! And that project, boys and girls, was the colony of Vault!"

He clicked the projector to show a layout plan for the city, including building placements, wall defences and certain establishments. "The four kingdoms came together and began building on this site, their troops protecting it from Grimm at night and through pooling their resources, they were able to construct a settlement on the volcanic soil of the area, using natural defences and built defences to protect it. Construction took a year of work and a lot of money, but it was completed by that year's end." Professor Saccharo continued to lecture, changing the image to a photograph of what looked like a township, small but fresh and new.

"Initially, Vault was populated by the workers and those stationed there to protect it. Anyone in the kingdoms who didn't have a stable home or those that lived in unprotected settlements were invited to have a fresh start in the newly flourishing colony. It was built with the best of all four kingdoms, the technology of Atlas, the style of Mistral, the culture of Vale and of course, the strong working attitude of Vacuo, who could resist such an offer?" the professor grinned brightly as he changed the image to another photograph, this one a little later than the first.

"Now, who can tell me how they decided Vault would be governed?" Saccharo looked over the class and Cedar kept his hand down, still trying to write down what the professor had just been saying.

"Sir." Yasmin raised her hand to answer. "It was decided Vault would be governed by four council members from each kingdom so each kingdom may have a voice here and all would be equal."

"Excellent answer, miss Ginshi!" Professor Saccharo nodded, clicking the device as the board showed four individuals, one from each kingdom, no-one Cedar recognised. "Even now this system of government is in place, however recently a representative chosen by the people of Vault has also been given a seat on the council to assist in its governing." Saccharo continued. "Thanks to their guidance, Vault has flourished despite being only 17 years old, a success for the other kingdoms' project. Now, who can tell me when Lustre Academy was built?" There was a greater show of hands this time, more students knew of the academy than the colony itself. "Yes, Mr Sleet?"

"It was established 10 years ago." Silas replied, smiling thinly.

"Not quite, Mr Sleet.." Saccharo shook his head slightly. "After Vault was constructed and proved it could sustain life and income, the council members drew up a plan to construct an academy and further aid in the training of huntsmen to protect the colony and work outside it. Once again the kingdoms pooled their resources in order to build it, which took 6 months. However, the plans and the building occurred 11 years ago, whilst Lustre Academy opened the next year, aka 10 years ago. So, you were close Mr Sleet." Saccharo smiled at him reassuringly and the grey haired boy just rolled his eyes. "Make sure all of you write that down!" he said quickly, clicking the device to change the image again, this time it was of Lustre Academy. 10 years had been very kind to it, Cedar thought as he gazed at the photograph on the screen.

"Now then, who can tell me the rules the council set upon Lustre Academy when it was built?" Saccharo looked over the class, this time no-one raised their hands to Saccharo decided to pick someone. "You, Mr Wattle, can you tell me?"

"Erm… urr…" the copper haired boy struggled, having been leaning back in his seat all this time and paying little attention. "Don't practice Grimm dentistry?" There was a slight snicker from somewhere in the room.

"No." the professor said flatly. "The rules of the academy are similar to the rules of those that run the colony itself. At least one representative from each kingdom must be present in order to maintain presence and fair order, whilst the headmaster and the school nurse are both neutral representatives." he proudly put a hand on his chest. "The more astute amongst you may have picked up on the fact I am the representative chosen for Vacuo. I'll leave you to figure out the rest." he winked cheekily and clicked the button again, shifting to an image of Lustre's blueprints. "That's arguably what makes Lustre Academy the finest huntsman academy. Everything is shared here, the culmination of the four greatest kingdoms to make one final achievement. And with Vault continuing to flourish, it's going to give us plenty to talk about in future!" Then the projector turned to an image of the more modern Vault township. "Now, to finish up for today, can anyone give me an explanation why Vault is becoming so prosperous?"

"Sir." Yasmin was the one to speak up once again. "It's become prosperous due to a thriving tourist trade, low crime rates, the environment and the mix of cultures."

"Very good indeed, miss Ginshi!" Saccharo nodded, changing the image once again. "Because Vault was built upon volcanic soil, growing crops has become one of its main exports. Plus there's still the healthy deposit of dust being mined and sold. The mix of cultures also turned Vault into a unique experience even among over kingdoms with attractions like the Atlas designed shopping centre of the more Mistrallian based hot springs, again thanks to the environment." Saccharo explained, striding up and down behind his desk. "And yes indeed, the low crime rates. With Atlas trained personnel on the watch, few criminals attempt large scale operations and most of the crime consists of petty theft and vandalism." Saccharo turned back to the group.

"Alright, that's all for today. For your homework, i'd like you to research something that assisted in creating Vault, be it a group, a resource or a person and present your research in a short essay. That's all for now, class dismissed!" the bell rang perfectly in line with when he finished his speech. Cedar just about managed to finish writing his notes when the bell went, breathing a sigh of relief. The entire lesson had gone by pretty quickly and he'd struggled to keep up, but it helped knowing some of the others weren't finding it easy too, like Ozzy.

"Y'comin' Cedar?" Isaac tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh uh, yeah, i'm coming." Cedar got up quickly, following Isaac out.

"You sure know a bit about history, Yasmin!" Lariah mentioned as they were walking.

"Well, my family moved out here to assist in the building of Vault when I was very young. So I had a good home teacher, you could say." Yasmin explained, a slightly proud smile playing on her lips.

"Ohhh so you're local! I always kinda guessed you were from Mistral because of your outfit and your weapons." Lariah looked surprised, scratching her chin. "Here I just moved here from Vale and all…"

"There's no shame in not being local." Yasmin assured her. "What about you, Cedar?"

"Hm?" Cedar hadn't been listening and was more focused on walking. "Oh, yeah, i'm local. I was born in Vault, actually… my family moved out here from Vale due to um… financial troubles." he explained, though he kept a little bit of the truth to himself for the time being.

"So you're both local! Neat!" Lariah beamed. "You two better show me around town sooner or later!"

"Maybe at the weekend." Yasmin flicked her fan over her mouth and looked at Lariah with those suspicious eyes. "Unless you're suggesting we cut class on the first day."

"W-what?! No, I wasn't saying that at all!" Lariah protested, throwing her hands up in surprise.

"It's alright Lariah, the mind wanders and wants to free itself from this prison of a school." Yasmin teased her as Lariah became increasingly flustered.

"Stop saying those things! I just wanna see the town sometime, not during school!" She insisted. Isaac chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Now calm yerself. She's only teasin'." Isaac assured her and Lariah just pouted indignantly. Yasmin flicked her fan shut and moved on, the strong armed girl lagging behind the group as they returned to the cantina. It was lunchtime after all. As Cedar returned to the hall, he remembered what happened over breakfast and felt a little nervous at it happening again. He'd have to keep an eye out for that blonde boy from before and his grey haired partner. He mustered up his courage, tightened his fists and went to get food.