A/N: Man was this a time coming. Apologies for the orbital bombardment that's about to happen but I think I've framed it well enough. How are you guys liking these little descriptor preambles? If they're annoying or pull you out let me know in the reviews and I'll nix em quick.

"Tyrus Boreale hand crafted this necklace in the later stages of his years-long Apprenticeship. Rosaries such as this are often used by opplomancers to bond with their weapons, but this one in particular is a curious case. Strange markings of a galloping stag are carved into the surface of the beads and the silver idol on the short bit of chain whisper of a hidden, unthinkable power.

Much of the religious elements of the Boreale State are unique even amongst the spiritualities and superstitions of Remnant. It is commonplace for Boreale Hunters to kneel in prayer for their fallen adversaries; wishing them safe passage into their next life, and forgiveness for bringing their end."
— Rosary of Unknown Saint

Chapter 7
So Ty's Family is Old

"Like many of the nations of Remnant, a good deal of Boreale's history is left incomplete. So it is also true for the family that quietly reigns the swath of dark forests, haunted valleys, and treacherous mountains on Anima's northmost shore. As reclusive but benevolent aristocrats, the Boreale family has existed for roughly twenty-five-hundred years. But the name itself has lasted even longer, after a certain point the exhaustive ancestral records are just gone. Either destroyed by any number of wars that come with ruling a nation, lost to the natural law of entropy, or covered merely by ciphers so complicated that even the most ancient of chroniclers cannot solve them. But not so much was lost that modern historians cannot guess as to their origin.

By studying the skeletal remains of abandoned settlements like Dauberny and Thesben, scouring shadow stalked forts like Windbreaker and Ghastor, and comparing their designs and fall to entropy to the same rivers and valleys carved into the basins and plateaus the cities of Boreale occupy, an educated guess can be made. The earliest point the Boreale line could date back to was in the closing centuries of Remnant's Ice Age, ten-to-fifteen-thousand years ago, when the Stroman Glacier receded into what is now the Tahlgeuse Strait between Anima and Sanus. The mass of ice and rock's departure opened a relatively small pass into a primeval bowl, preserved for millennia, freeing the region to the curiosities of wandering hunter-gatherer tribes. The Boreales were either one such tribe or a later amalgam of them. During their settling of this portal region, what is now the city of Vigil's Gap, the Boreale met and befriended distant progenitors of the Wolfram, Kuprinov, and Donnic families and joined their conflicts with the warlike ancestors of the modern-day Tiran and Zlodneykroviny families.

Unfortunately, historians can only speculate what transpired between the years of these old conflicts of feuding tribes and the founding of the Boreale family, besides the obvious. The soonest that the name was used definitively was during the wars to united Mistral, when fleeing barbarian hordes rushed into Vigil's Gap and poured into the Boreale State. At about twenty-nine-hundred BCE, the first order of Boreale Knights was founded to confront these more significant threats from the east and south as the rest of Remnant thrived under the advent of Dust. Even the creatures of Grimm found no purchase in the forested valleys, glacial mountains, and humid marshlands; the thick woods ensnared and strangled them, the peaks crushed and froze them, and the swamps devoured and drowned them. Those Grimm that overwhelmed and overpowered the stocky and heavy armored Knights, their progeny, the lithe and dexterous Hunters, proved that no beast of Grimm would find solace in the lands of the Boreale; their great strength of numbers diminished as they were slaughtered by the implacable fighting prowess of Boreale warriors and their phasing trick-weapons.

It is this aspect, the unfettered and unyielding will of the people, and the valor and glory of the Knights, that placed the Boreale clan at the throne of power they reside. But still, so very little of those early times remain. Even the Knights' own exhaustive records have weathered to the trials of the ages or lost to unbreakable ciphers; the earliest date back to the Siege of Buff's Vigil in 1233 BCE, when the order was engaged against three legions of the Imperial Mistral Army in a war of conquest and imperial mandate. The sacrifices made by these lost generations were not in vain, as history testifies. Amidst enmity and shifting allies, the Boreale have come out battered and bloody, but firmly independent. Thanks in no small part to the voracity, the might, and the determination of the Coast dwelling people, backed by the tempered warriors of the seminal Boreale Knights and their descendants, the Boreale Hunters, the united clans of the Sovereign State of Boreale have born witness to eight wars, five recessions, two epidemics, three different empires, twelve would-be conquerors, and a depression; through the trials of the ages, the Boreale and all of our people have not only persevered, we have prospered."

Ty couldn't help the grin on his face. The wide-eyed looks of the young Hunter's classmates more than slightly boosted his ego, drinking from the glass of water on the speaking podium. "And that concludes my report, Professor."

"Excellently orated, Mister Boreale, one question before you take your seat."

Ty nodded. "Yes, Professor?"

"I'm wondering, what do your family's records have on the Faunus Revolution?"

The Faunus students in the class perked their heads up noticeably, of course, and their sharp eyes locked onto Ty. He stared back at them as his brows pulled together and the professor continued, "As far as anyone can tell none of the fighting spilling into the Boreale Coast, but a conflict of that size must have at least been noticed by your predecessors. Am I wrong?"

Ty didn't even blink. "No, professor." That was a lie. "There's hardly anything on the Revolution on the official record," also a lie. "I mean, I couldn't find any definitive proof that the Faunus didn't have an eye out for the Coast. I think the war ended before they made any move against the State." Again, a lie.

"Interesting," the professor took another drink from his coffee. "What do the records say on the matter?"

Ty pursed his lips and shrugged. "Very little, sir. A few reports of Faunus fighters skirting the distant borders, a skirmish or two with our guarded caravans, and several sightings of 'suspicious persons'," Ty bent a pair of his fingers with a deadpan tone and pursed, unimpressed expression, "but I didn't find anything that said we were ever invaded. The Knights did find a few abandoned small camps years after the war. And based on what was left, I think the Faunus were keeping an eye on the State's alliances with the Kingdoms."

The professor tapped his pen against the rim of his coffee mug. "The tides of conflict can shift in strange ways. Very well, Mister Boreale. Please take your seat and, once again, excellently done. Mister Blues, I believe you're next on our docket."

"Coming in hot," Deac rose from his place at the lecturing desk and came around as Ty was walking back to his, exchanging a quick brofist with Ty as they passed each other. "Alright. Interesting act, my family wasn't originally from Boreale, we immigrated there. Originally the Rackleys were from a little harbor town in Mantle called Polido about five hundred years ago..."

Ty dropped into his seat with a loud sigh and wiped his hands over his face. He was exhausted. Physically from his morning routine and mentally from airing out ten and a quarter centuries of his family history to a room full of strangers.

Not to mention spending two minutes straight up lying to your professor directly to his face. The little voice in his thoughts chided merrily.

Ty sighed and squeezed his temples.

It wasn't like the young Hunter was proud to do it. Professor Oobleck just was not in the cozy little circle of instructors clued into the Boreale's incredibly delicate secrets. Ty had actually started his research with the Faunus War and worked his way back. His reasoning is that, by and large, there was next to nothing in Beacon's archives about any Faunus offensives in the Boreale Coast.

The impression Ty got was that there wasn't enough hostility between the allied families and the handful of Faunus villages on the Coast to justify an attack. Ty wrote it off as his family lacking clout between the Kingdoms until he was almost done with the assignment.

It was a dumb accident he found anything in the first place. Ty was looking into the foundry of the Boreale Knights in a musty record of bound feeling parchment, deep in the recess of the Boreale library. Even then all the young Hunter had to go on was one cryptic sentence written on one page of the foot-thick book. "The Faunus set foot on the Coast in search of retribution for the sins of Humanity's past; they were met by the fangs of theirs."

Ty restrained a shiver running down his spine thinking on it. There was something unsettling about that brief entry, he still felt like the shadows were watching him. Whatever happened during the war was more that another skeleton in the family closet.

So the young Hunter settled himself into his seat and popped a throat lozenge. Deac's penchant for showmanship paid off when he had onlookers. It was going to be a good speech. The young Boreale Hunter gave a slight start when his Scroll buzzed in his pocket; Ty discreetly pulled it out and flipped it open to find a text from Yang.

Hey stud ;)P

Ty tapped out, Hey pretty lady.

How's the report going?

Just finished. Deac's giving his show aws. Sonny's after and V plays us out.

(ᐛ) Mr Saxophone must love the audience.

Ty smirked and fired back with, If he could, there'd be confetti and fireworks.

lol u kno eet (^Д^)

Ty sat back in his seat contentedly. What're you up to?

Study hall. (-_-) i so vewy vewy bowed.

How'd Sauche's test go?

Yang replied immediately. It was a slog.

Ty smirked. Bad?

Bad.

Like how bad?

Like watching a three-legged hound in a dog race.

Even having braced himself Ty only just caught the groan coming up his throat. Ouch. I'm sorry.

I kno (: You're next up right?

Yep.

Godspeed, stud

Thanks, Yang.

Ty smiled and looked back up to check on Deac's presentation. "…changed when Hurricane Harper hit Mantle in 1859 and a half the north of Polido disappeared, two hundred of miles of the harbor just gone. When the storm finally stopped the Neptunia was the only ship that was seaworthy. So the Hunter's paid my great grandfather to ferry them to Boreale and back. Through Grimm waters strewn with the husks of ships and bodies of fellow sailors…"

Ty clocked out of the story to text Yang again. I got one to get your thoughts going.

Shoot.

What do you consider your greatest weakness?

Yang's reply came before the screen had a chance to blackout.

Ice cream.

Ty raised a brow at the two words floating on the screen. Really?

Ah huh (̮) I'm powerless against cold sugary goodness

I'll have to keep that in mind.

Cheater ;P

What's your favorite flavor?

Cake batter hbu?

Sweet cream's my go to back home. Ty rubbed the underside of his nose. That or red velvet.

They have RED VELVET ICE CREAM in Boreale!?

My family makes it.

DUDE.

Ty snorted. Oh yeah. It's awesome.

CAN HAS?!

You want into my parlor I want dinner first Xiao Long

t(:P)t

Ty laughed at the pit of his throat and shifted in his seat, scratching at the collar of his uniform again. He needed to get in a meeting with Professor Heath or maybe even Goodwitch about his irritation with the fabric. It was leagues cooler in Oobleck's room versus Ports and Ty was still uncomfortable in his own skin. Ty was starting to think maybe it was allergies and he should head to the infirmary at some point. He made a mental note of it when Scroll buzzed again, surprise surprise, with another text from Yang.

hey what are you up to this weekend?

The young Hunter glanced his eyes up in thought. Nothing much.

Cool. Wanna go to the city with me?

Ty popped an eyebrow. As a date?

As a date!

Absolutely

Yeeee! It'll be gr8! I'll show you EVERYTHING Vale has to offer!

Premium exposure with off-premium pricing. Ty grinned.

Exactly!

Plus I can wear you as my arm candy around the city.

Tease (; I was thinking if the weather's nice you wanna hit the beach?

So you can ogle me in my swimwear?

Or you me C;

oic how it is. Ty chuckled under his breath, typing out, Maybe we can get ice scream.

Yeah babyy~

And the thought of you in a bikini IS very enticing.

U dn't evn kno~ G;

Now who's a tease?

Ty looked back up to check on Deac's progress, catching "…my family became the stewards of Cagney Isle around…" before his Scroll buzzed again.

So Weiss and Blake are trying to get Rubes up to snuff on the Fulson Principle

Ty narrowed his eyes. Isn't that how Aura replenishes over time?

Yep ̮ results are as expected

Ty smiled pitifully. That bad?

In chronological order: ~(~) ( ﾟヮﾟ) (•l•) then (ಠ~ಠ) ō_õ ﾟ- ﾟ) and now they're (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡 (༎ຶД༎ຶ) (ლ)

Poor Ruby.

Poor Wiess—she was really into the lesson. I learned more in ten minutes than I did four years at Signal.

Ty shook his head. Great work with the emojis btw. How many keyboards do you have set?

17 betch

Oobleck stood from his stool suddenly and clapped his hands together. "Alright Mister Blues, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Everyone, we'll continue our reports tomorrow! Otherwise, excellent work from our presenters today!"

The bell tolled a moment after and Ty glanced at his watch. Four and a half minutes since he wrapped up his speech about the Boreale. By Ty's best guess Deac was still had a third of his report to give, the saxophone man would have to finish up tomorrow. Ty grinned, lucky him.

Ty stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder and was coming down the lecture room's stairs when a pulse bounced off Ty's ears. A dull and deep noise like he had swallowed in the middle of a long yawn. The sensation made Ty jerk up straight and his mouth went dry, his eyes popping open in surprise, and the hairs across his body stood up.

"Shit," Ty tapped out of the messenger and checked the date. "That time already?"

Veera's figure wiped in front of the young Hunter. "You good, Ty? You look like somebody spooked ya."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ty sniffed and stood up. "I forgot to ready my gear for EES today and I just realized it."

"Well if you didn't spend so much time this morning neckin' with Yang that wouldn't happen," Deac shot back.

Ty scoffed. "There was hardly any necking at all and you know it."

The music maestro chuckled under his breath and flipped back to the messenger to give Yang the heads up.

Hey I gotta head to the lockers to get my gear ready for EES. See you there?

Mos def.

Ty joined up with his teammates and stormed out the door with his crowded classmates. But Ty broke left and down the hall instead of following Team BRSS to their destination. Towards the Beacon Academy locker rooms and then onto the Chapel, for a significant and very uncomfortable ceremony.

...

There were dozens of religions on Remnant. Monotheistic and polytheistic, each with their own stories of creation, laws for the people of Remnant to abide by, stories of proud kings and prophets, messiahs and premonitions of the end of the world. Beacon's Chapel was non-denominational by default and all were welcomed to the sermons delivered on whatever day or time the Sabbath fell upon. There were even small shrines dedicated to the individual religious that the faithful or lost could seek out. Ty could count on each hand the number of people at Beacon that came to the secluded and curtained over room he was visiting. Not many people believed the legends of the quartet Ty and the other Hunter teams venerated, let alone worshipped them.

Ty followed the narrow strip of the hallway that led to the isolated shrine. It was a quiet space, a gently lit room, smaller than the other ones by design but infinitely more lavish with decoration. A few small windows backed the idols of the four gods, they're violet glass backlit by some ethereal light that moved through it instead of shining behind it, a small raised space on the floor reserved for offerings and tithes. The dark marble walls were divided by columns between the simplistic idols. The surfaces hand carved with obsessively and intricately detailed reliefs telling the stories of these gods. Who they were and where they came from, their great powers, the long war they waged against an abomination of malice and spite on ancient Remnant, the kingdoms they built after their victory, and the line of their descendants reaching through the ages.

Ty buzzed his lips at the sight of the simple, andtedeluvian carvings. The weight of the actual proof of these ancient god-kings slung over his own back kept the young Hunter from calling the whole mess ridiculous. But only just.

"I mean, c'mon. Cosmic warriors born in the Void?" Ty shook his head. "It sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon."

The shrine's restful quiet offered nothing for the young Hunter. He sighed and pulled the long case from his shoulders.

"Right. Fine," he popped the side latches that held the case shut along and lifted the sword from its confines. "Let's get this over with."

The the whole the sword was nearly as long as long as Ty was tall; a white-gray weapon had a design like a claymore with a thick quillon that slopped towards the tip of the blade. A few strips of handwritten cloth charms wrapped around the sword from the cross guard to the end of the ornately carved fuller and the ends dangled helplessly at several points. It was heavy, but not quite the right weight for its size. A mixed blessing, Ty could wield the sword in one hand and still do a lot of damage if he needed. The ensuing caveat being he'd need to pull his own weight back to keep from toppling over.

"But then, you're not supposed to be wielded like that, are you?" Ty looked at the sword with his hands planted on his hips and one eyebrow raised. "I thought as much."

He reached into his shirt and pulled his rosary from around his neck. Ty had crafted the necklace at the final stage of his Apprenticeship a year ago, in Boreale. He was straightforward with its fashion, stone and wood beads threaded at intervals, divided by polished steel bands, strung on a dyed horse-hide string. The rosary was tied off at either end by hooked metal facets that connected to a short bit of ion chain and terminated at an ornate silver idol that his father had given him. An icon designed very much like the crossguard of the sword he was standing over.

The young Hunter wrapped the rosary between his fingers and around his palm and dropped to a knee with his hand held it at arm's length over the sword. Ty closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, clearing his thoughts until the image of the rosary in his hand appeared in his mind. Ty focused on the idol, soaking in its detail. How its shape was made of thin iron bars and outlined the antediluvian pendant's miniature baroque inlays. The rays of light crowning small stars, tiny eyes formed by blooming roses linking four moonstone jewels with the blue crystal in the center on a column of lumenfluer effigies.

Ty reached out with his mind and clasped his hand around the icon and brought it to his chest. Ty opened his eyes and raised his arm, wreathed in his Aura, as the idol radiated with his very spirit. Ty spoke with words empowered by divine authority.

"For the Pact of the First Light and the Son's From Dark," Ty began. "I call upon the power awoken by ancient creed and current oath. Born of the New Blood and bade to carry the bane of light upon all things of darkness, hear me!" The air settled and the icon shown brighter, burning hot against his fist. "Grant me that this blade, withdrawn from its master, elucidated by Moonlight and seeped in strength, be bonded to me. Let it be that this sovereignless sword of hyborean age inherits a new knight, undaunted by fear and unshackled by death, to carry forth the will and way of the Four Sons. By the light of my soul, this is my call."

Ty dropped his fist straight down and touched the radiant rosary to the jewel of the sword on the altar. A vibrant green light surged from the crystal, engulfing the young Hunter and the shrine around him. The wash of cosmic radiance lasted a few moments and dissipated, leaving a single thin beam in the center of the shimmering crystal that fired skyward through Ty's fist. The icon had returned to its dormant, dull iron state. Ty's vision had cleared and his arm pulled back and set on his knee. Ty placed his head to rest on his wrist and out an exhausted breath, focusing on keeping his breathing even while he waited out the buzzing in his ears and the vibrations rattling his teeth.

It was an annoying aftereffect, but Ty would make it through the disorienting, fishbowl sensation while his Aura settled. The young Hunter reminded himself that this wasn't the worst bout of fatigue he had ever gotten from an oplomancy ritual. The first time Ty had paired his Aura with a weapon had left him so drained Ty was bedridden for a month, unable to eat and barely sleeping; a little disorientation was a cake walk. He'd make it through it okay.

Ty stood up carefully and unwrapped the rosary from his grip before returning it to his neck and letting out a long breath.

Well as fun as all this had been Ty had more pressing things to concern himself with. Namely, Roseline Sauche's unit exam and heading off Yang in EES for a no holds barred curb of his losing streak.

And a lot of making out thereafter, Ty smiled smugly as he packed the sword back into its case.

Was it wrong that Ty was itching for that chance to get in the ring with Yang? Probably, and that thought dulled his dumb grin into a smirk. They did just have their first date last night. Maybe he wouldn't be as devastating as he had planned to be, but he and Yang could have a fun bout of bucking their heads together before they pulled something. Or either of them passed out from plain exhaustion. Even with his Semblance going there was only so much exertion Ty's body could take before giving out.

Ty swung the sword case over his shoulder and left the shrine, and a thought occurred to him. What was Yang's Semblance anyway?

"I mean…" His head tilted as he thought. "It's probably something to do with her fists. Let's be real here."

It was a decent starting point. Ty kept on it as he walked. Maybe Yang's Semblance affected her fighting ability, like a force multiplier, doling out higher damage per hit for shorts bursts. It would definitely fit Yang's blunt force aggression in the ring. Ty rubbed a bit of his lower lip between his teeth, maybe she was like his mother and her Aura had a physical presence with mass and dimensions Yang could use as a weapon or armor. Yang always barreled into confrontations, if her Semblance worked like armor it made Ty wonder if all the holes in her guard weren't intentional. A good opponent could spot them out and rush in for the kill, only getting a hefty smack away by Yang's Semblance and left wide open for a counterattack. A strategy like that more than explained her reckless habit of charging into the fray

Ty stopped as his train of thought reached a final destination. What if Yang's Semblance was like his Aura Surge?

"Ehh...That'd be something," he rubbed his chin with the webbing of his thumb and forefinger a moment before checking his watch. He had eight minutes before Ballistic Theory. Plenty of time.

"It's gonna be an interesting day of class, that's for sure."