PLS READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AFTER THE CHAPTER THNX
"Were these lockers out here yesterday?" I asked. There were four lockers outside, next to the door to our dorm. They each were as tall as the ceiling and slightly broader than my own shoulders. I had just fully changed into the school's black uniform and was the first to exit the room to begin the day. Mostly it was to let Elysia finish changing in peace. She was the last of us to take a shower and begin to change.
"What are you talking abou- oh." Nero popped out of the room to see what I was talking about. His dark hair and tail really seemed to blend into the dark uniform colors. He stepped towards the lockers and examined them. "They're apparently locked and unlocked through PIN codes."
"They're rocket lockers," Elysia said, emerging fully dressed in the dark uniform, a huge contrast to her light complexion and blonde hair. "They're also connected directly to our Scrolls. Our PINs are our ID numbers given to us, also found on our Scrolls. We can summon them to our location at the press of a button, and only open for us."
"And you know this how?" I asked her. She sighed and showed her own Scroll, which was opened to what looked like the Haven Academy website.
"If you sign in to the official website of the academy as a student, they tell you everything the basic rundown of what a student receives here. It also comes with a map." Elysia explained. "Honestly, I'd thought you all would have already down some research last night. Argos and I did. Speaking of which…" She opened our room's door open, allowing Argos is walk through. "Shall we head to the Great Hall?"
"Right, breakfast." I confirmed. "Hopefully they don't drug us this time."
With that, we headed back to the Great Hall, and just like yesterday the Great Hall now acted as a large cafeteria. Four large tables covered in different food platters at which all the students sat. Like any normal school cafeteria, the room was practically filled with loud laughter and conversation among friends and rivals.
"That's another thing I found in my research," Elysia said as we approached the now-cafeteria. "Haven truly only chooses elite students, hence as to why there's so few students compared to both Atlas and Beacon."
"Really?" Nero asked her. I knew this already, Rama had given me the whole vocal tour about the place and the way they chose their students. It didn't hurt to listen and see if there were any other important little tidbits to keep in mind.
"Hey RAEN!" A familiar female voice called out to us. Looking over the crowd, I saw Cherry Maraschino standing and waving for our attention. Her appearance was very obvious amongst her surroundings. "We saved seats for you guys!"
This callout caused the commotion of the cafeteria dial down immensely. Ignoring the volume change, we walked as a team to the table. There was still muttering amongst students, but I could feel dozens of pairs of eyes following our every move. It didn't seem to be of malicious intent, just curious and judgmental.
We managed to meet up with Cherry, who was joined by the rest of Team MSCN. On the opposite side of table was Team OCTN, with a gracious amount of space around Calliope. Seeing as the rest of the occupants at this table looked fairly younger and farther spread apart along the table, that the normal-school idea of seating based on grade was set in form.
Noir and Taz greeted us with a cheery "Eyo!" Well, at least Taz was cheery. Noir looked absolutely miserable, but as Taz assured us, his partner was always like this. Calliope only us greeted with a small smile and return to munching on eggs. Anora, the team leader and tallest of the group, gave a warm smile and nod to the four of us as we approached and sat down.
"Good morning, Team RAEN." The tall knightess greeted warmly. Out of her armor and in the Haven uniform, the black tones really bringing out the color of her amber hair and orange eyes. "I trust you had a good first night's sleep?"
"Eh, I suppose." I shrugged. Argos did the same, eliciting a small giggle from Anora. ELysia and Nero simply nodded as they passed down plates amongst ourselves and started getting food from the serving platters in the middle of the table.
"What were you guys talking about over there by the way," Taz asked. "About this place only having elite students?"
"You could hear us from here?" I asked.
"Perks of having Faunus ears, Railen." He smiled as he grabbed a muffin from a tray of assorted baked goods.
"Well, Atlas makes it a basic requirement for all combat school graduates to attend Hunter Academies as part of their militaristic style, and both Vacuo's Shade and Vale's Beacon academies are based on application and scouts." Elysia said. "Haven is extremely selective of it students, hence why the other schools have much greater student populations."
"Of course," Anora said. "That's why many Mistral civilians like to treat Haven students like mini-celebrities, even if we've just started."
"We're the best that all of Mistral has to offer, then?" I concluded, and received a nod from Anora in response.
"Oh, that's right!" Cherry suddenly exclaimed. "I never introduced RAEN to the rest of MSCN."
"Acacio Sage." An bark-brown haired boy extended an arm, which we all shook. He appeared to be slightly shorter than Noir. He also had a slightly crooked nose. "I'm also a Wolf Faunus, by the way." He mentioned, much to Taz's cheer.
"Cousin!" Taz jested, causing Noir to roll his eyes and eliciting a chuckle from Acacio.
"Sure, Taz." He joked. As he spoke, I noticed he had a bit of a restrained accent. It sounded quite foreign.
"Where are you from, Acacio?" Nero, who apparently also noticed it, asked. "You have a bit of an accent."
"Southern outskirts of Vale." The brunette boy answered. "Grew up a farmer with a rather noticeable accent. It comes out more when I ramble, I promise ya."
"Vale?" Elysia asked, sounding quite sincere of her curiosity. "What was it like there?"
"Well, again I lived in the southern outskirts in a farming town." Acacio said. "Not a lot of experience with living with in the inner regions, so I can't really say much other than it was quite around my parts."
"That sounds peaceful." Elysia commented with a polite smile. The other boy on Team MSCN reached forward and offered a hand, which we shook.
"Dartmouth Natterjack," He shook my hand with great vigor and enthusiasm. A large smile on his face really shone with eagerness to meet us. "But please, my friends call me Jack!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jack." I obliged. At my response, his dark blue eyes and bright green hair seemed to brighten up, if that was even possible for the latter.
"You're Railen Roame!" He gasped.
"U-um…" I flinched; I was never really used to being recognized for anything. "Y-yes I am."
"I freaking loved your cameo in X-Ray and Vav!" He said, bringing up some rather… weird memories.
"Oh, the cartoon series." I remembered. "That was an… interesting time."
"Wait, Natterjack?" Elysia asked. "As in the Southern Mistral capital family?"
"Oh, yeah." He subdued his enthusiasm a bit. "How could you tell?"
"The kilt is a dead giveaway." Nero pointed at Jack's lower body, which was indeed in a green kilt. How I didn't notice that, I'll never know. "The Natterjack family has a cultural tie to the old southern Mistral, in which it was a great family of combat nobles, known for going into combat wearing kilts."
"Eh, I suppose it's important." Jack shrugged. "I just like it because of how it looks when I jump."
"Like a cape, then?" I added, digging into my eggs. Argos was contently listening to our new acquaintances introduce themselves.
"Exactly!" Jack responded. He must really like superhero stuff then, I thought. I turned to the last member of Team MSCN, who was glaring at me intently.
"Can I help you?" I asked, a bit perturbed at her glare.
"Where are you from, Railen?" She asked. Her red hair had blue highlights that clashed violently. Her blue eyes had little specs of green that, while absolutely natural, appeared rather alien yet very… familiar.
"Southern Mistral." I immediately answered.
"What part of Southern Mistral?" She pressed.
"What do you mean?" Cherry was actually surprised at how her teammate was basically interrogating me. Jack seemed offended that someone on his team was grilling someone he looked up to. Acacio was partially paying attention, as Taz and Noir were currently arguing about how many muffins Taz had eaten for breakfast and why he needed to stop doing so.
"What part of the south did you grow up in?" She said. I still don't even know your name, I thought. But I know I've met you before.
"Junks." I replied, causing Jack, Nero, Elysia to turn to me. I looked back at them and went for more breakfast. "What?"
"Did you have a motorcycle when you lived in the Junks, Railen?" She asked, getting out of her seat and stepping towards me with a rather threatening vibe about her.
"Yes."
"Did you happen to drive through an alley and crash into a water tank some time ago?" She asked, her tone tense. That was specific, the only way she could have known that was if—wait.
"That… was you?" I asked. Memories flooding back to me now, as an old friend of mine and I were escaping on my old motorcycle to get away from the police for stealing some food from the local market. I made a wrong turn into an alley and… well…
"Yes, you almost killed me that day." She stated flatly. Almost everyone in earshot (which was basically just the three teams) turned to us with rapt attention.
"Well," I could feel the others' eyes on me as I spoke. "I greatly apologize. I made a wrong turn that day and was distracted from what was chasing us."
"The cops." She stated.
"Yes, the cops." I repeated.
"The police chased after you?" Elysia asked, bewildered.
"I'll explain when we're not eating in front of othe people who may be listening." I said, finding a way out of explaining. I then turned to the girl who was interrogating me and continued. "Again, I'm really sorry about that. I promise not to do that again."
"Just promise me you'll never bring me anywhere near one of those death machines ever again." She prompted as her eyes bore into my very soul.
"Deal." I said offering my hand to shake. "I'mglad we've come to that understanding, miss…"
"Cressida Bristle." She finally smiled, if anything it was a bit smug but mostly kind. She took my hand and shook it. "I'm glad I can finally make friends with the guy who nearly killed me!"
"That's rather grim." I noted.
"Wait, you were five at the time when you could drive a motorcycle?" She asked once more.
"Well, I never said I drove it well at that point." I retorted. "I'm rather good at it nowadays."
With that, we all calmed down and continued to eat breakfast. Small talk all around, and smiles from everyone, even Noir from time to time. As I looked around, I could still see the older students casting glances our way, sizing us up. I didn't care at the moment; I was just content with taking my days here slow and steady until the need calls for chaos. Looking at our group of three teams, I could already see a lot of memories here. Both teams held a lot of potential, especially with the reputations among us, and not just in RAEN.
Now, all we had to do for today was survive our first round of classes.
A/N: Heyo, BleachCadelina here! Sorry for such a short, filler-y chapter. I've been busy prepping for a two-week long trip to Poland which I'm leaving for in about... 2 hours from when I'm writing this (it's noon right now. Hiiiiiiigh nooon). So yeah, it'll be a while until I update any story. Just wanted to say thanks, once again, for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of what's to come for this story.
I know it seems slow right now, but trust me, things will kick off in a few coming chapters, I promise y'all.
See you all next time!
Also, I will be putting up a poll regarding whether or not I should make a . Please go to my page and answer truthfully.
