Volume 1
Chapter 11: Catch A Falling Star
Cedar awoke the next morning with the warmest of smiles on his face. He felt a little stiff from the fight so late last night, but he felt incredibly well rested. It'd been the deepest sleep he'd had since he'd arrived at Lustre Academy. Maybe it was due to all the pressure and all his worries being lifted off his shoulders yesterday. Like the chains had been cut from a struggling prisoner and he was walking free for the first time in ages. When he got out of bed and had his shower, it only helped enhance this feeling, he was still smiling from ear to eat when they arrived in the dining hall. Despite a brief flash of the memory of being humiliated in here, he shrugged it off and was soon sitting down to breakfast opposite team Torch, who also looked quite happy.
"I can't believe you guys stopped those bullies!" Candi blurted out through a mouthful of sugary cereal.
"Hm? How do you know we…?" Lariah began to say.
"A video has been uploaded to the school's homepage of your bout with team STAR." Martin explained, taking out his scroll and bringing up the page to show them. And yes indeed, someone had taken a video of it. Judging from the angle, it had likely been recorded from somewhere in the seats. But Cedar couldn't remember seeing anyone else in the room at the time… he wondered who had done this.
"Interesting." Yasmin smiled. "Word has spread of the culprits then. I won't say no to that."
"Yeah it's bloody amazin' mate!" Ozzy grinned, giving them a thumbs up. "You buncha wazzocks did great! Whole school's buzzin' about it!"
"Well thas' mighty fine, I reckon." Isaac smiled cordially. "Clearin' everythin' up with no confusion and whatnot."
"Yeah…" it was at this point Cedar glanced around the dining room, and sure enough, team Star were missing. He couldn't say he was surprised, if this news had spread around the school, they'd probably get food thrown at them the second they came in.
"Um… excuse me?" Just as he was thinking that, a timid voice drew his attention to April Showers, who was standing at the end of their table with a tray in hand. She received a few sharp stares team Torch.
"Shouldn't you be with your team, plotting up new ways to make fools of yourselves?" Martin said sharply, the disdain clear in his voice.
"No." April replied, looking at Cedar and his team. "I… I uh, wanted to thank you. For stopping my team." This surprised team Torch, but Cedar had a feeling he knew where she was coming from.
"Well, really it was you who stopped them." Cedar pointed out. "We only had evidence on Remus, you're the one who told us everyone else was involved."
"Mmh… b-but you guys inspired me to do it." As usual, April and Cedar had gotten into a 'no you are' contest and Cedar couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Listen, um… I-I know you're probably not going to believe me, but…" April seemed to be addressing the table now as both teams listened in. She glanced toward the cantina exit slightly and sighed. "My team… they… t-they're not bad people."
"You wot?!" Ozzy practically fell backwards out of his chair.
"All evidence certainly points to the contrary, April." Yasmin covered her mouth with her fan. "Did they ask you to tell us this as a bargaining chip?"
"N-no!" April said, defiant of Yasmin's suspicions. "I… I-I'm doing this of my own accord, not theirs." She insisted, surprising the group once again. "I just… t-they're still my team. They did something bad, we all did… b-but they're not bad people. They just… have problems. L-like everyone does, right?" She looked around the table again.
"Just because you have problems doesn't mean you can inflict them on others." Martin scoffed slightly, adjusting his glasses.
"No, you're right…" April nodded slightly, which drew Cedar's attention to how her hood was down. "But still, I-I just wanted to say it. That's all." April then moved away, going to sit down and eat on her own. There was a curious silence when she left them.
"She looks so sad. But determined." Candi pouted, idly tapping her bowl with her spoon.
"I wonder…" Cedar glanced over to the door April had been looking at. He had a feeling she'd been gesturing him to go over there. Before he knew why, he was rising to his feet and headed over to the doorway.
"Where ya goin' Cedar?" Isaac asked.
"Just need to check on something." Cedar passed it off, passing through the doorway and into the quieter corridor. He paced forward, hands in his jeans' pockets, eyes glancing left and right in uncertainty. A short few steps later, he found what he'd suspected April was directing him to. Silas.
The boy was seated by one of the windows, hiding from view with a plastic tray on his lap, his breakfast consisting of simple toast and a cup of juice. His fur collared jacket had been buttoned up to his neck. Cedar didn't have to guess why he was eating here. Silas slowly looked up from his breakfast, a sullen look on his face as he recognised the Faunus.
"Yeah? What do you want? If you're here to gloat, get on with it." he said with a sigh, his eyes noticeably lustreless.
"No, i'm not here to gloat." Cedar sat down opposite him, knees up to his chest. "I just want to talk to you."
"Why? You want to threaten me?" Silas frowned, remaining highly defensive.
"No." Cedar shook his head. "I just want to ask… why. Why'd you do it? Tricking and pranking us like that?" He cut right to the point before Silas could accuse him of something else. The grey haired boy recoiled and was silent for a couple of moments before he spoke.
"It wasn't anything personal." He began. "I didn't pick you or your team for any reason, like you being a Faunus or whatever. I just went with whoever seemed easiest…" Cedar still wasn't sure what that meant, but he listened to Silas continue to speak. "You know why I did it? I did it because of what happened back in combat school. I had a bad experience and I didn't want it to happen again."
"What happened?" Cedar drilled a little harder as Silas winced at recalling the story.
"I liked huntsmen. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be one. So I went to an Atlas combat school, start training and whatever… then everyone started getting their semblances. And most of the other kids got amazing ones, shooting fire, lasers, whatever, fact was everyone suddenly had these flashy semblances…" his eyes narrowed. "And what did I get? Voice mimicry. Something that doesn't help against Grimm at all. It was a useless semblance. And everyone picked up on it." The word useless semblance really struck home for Cedar. He began to understand Silas' pain.
"They started picking on me. They were stronger and their semblances made them untouchable. So it just became routine and the school sure as hell did nothing about it. Every single freaking day it was listening to them, acting smug and superior all the time…" Silas' teeth gritted and Cedar spotted his fingers clenching. "...I got lucky though. Terrance went to the same school. Got angry over seeing what they did and he stood up for me, beat the snot out of them." Silas sighed slightly. "Found out later the guy has anger issues and his own stupidly powerful semblance… but I didn't care at the time. He helped me and as far as I was concerned, that was enough." Cedar winced slightly, what he would've given for a friend like Terrance in his own combat school.
"We became a team after that. We went about getting back at all of them. Terrance with his strength and me being the brains between us. Even my useless semblance helped me get back at them… ironic, isn't it?" He continued, his eyes sullen and hollow as he spoke. "We graduated, agreed to go to the same school. And we swore to each other, we wouldn't let it happen again. No-one would put one over on us… not if we put one over on everyone else first." He looked back up at Cedar, a mix of sadness and anger on his face. "That's why I did it. I thought I could be the one in power first and stop any of you from judging me, or him. We'd sit at the top and be untouchable…" he trailed off and sighed once again. "...now it's done the opposite. We're back on the bottom and the whole school hates us."
When Silas finished speaking, a silence settled upon them like a weighted blanket. Cedar turned over what he'd heard in his head, thinking carefully. Obviously, what Silas and his team had done was wrong. They'd hurt Cedar, hurt his team and might've hurt more people if it continued… but, deep down, Cedar felt a tug of compassion in his heart. He knew what Silas had been through, experienced and he hadn't even had support in the ways of friends. Aside from maybe one person, but… no, there was no time to think on that now.
"Silas." Cedar began to say.
"Yeah, what? I'm a terrible person a-"
"No, please, let me finish." Cedar cut him off before he could continue. "...i'm not going to forgive you. Not now, at least. What you did was wrong, we both know that." Silas frowned, it was an obvious statement but Cedar needed a lead up. "But, I understand why you did it."
"...what?" Silas' eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I understand your situation." Cedar continued, his ears twitching slightly. "Back in combat school, I was picked on too. For these." He pointed to his ears. "And it's where I found out my semblance too."
"What, is it some kind of teleport or something?" Silas asked, going off of what he'd seen in the dining room.
"No, it's shrinking." Cedar corrected him. Silas blinked.
"...shrinking? That's it?"
"Yep. I can't even control it properly… it's pretty useless." He smiled wryly.
"...wow, yeah, that is kind of useless against Grimm." Silas agreed.
"It is… but, the point is, I know what having a worthless semblance is like. And I know what being bullied is like. So, I get why you did what you did. I don't necersarily forgive you… but I think I can, in time." Cedar finishd, a look of disbelief spreading across his face.
"...you're not serious. You can't be serious right now." Silas muttered. "We humilated you! I-In front of everyone! They laughed at you! And your semblance!" He continued spitting the words. "How can you just be so okay with that?!"
"For a start, it helped me stop lying to my team. Helped me get along with them and it helped us catch you." Cedar explained. "And… we're going to be here for another 4 years, Silas. I don't know, I think it's best to just put these situations behind us and get on with it. Because… even if my semblance is weak, i'm not going to let it stop me." Cedar leaned forward slightly. "I want to get better. I want to be a huntsman, semblance or not. And I won't stop improving until i'm good enough to be one. And if you still care about beings a huntsman too, well… maybe you should do the same." Silas just looked at Cedar with shock, almost recoiling slightly. "...I mean, after all, it was April who sent me here to see you."
"...she did?" Silas looked aside. "...she's way too nice."
"She cares." Cedar corrected. "Cares about her team. And… well, maybe you should show her that too." He stood up, smiling at the grey haired boy. "I'll see you at detention Silas." He turned around and walked away from him. He felt a sense of closure over finally getting to hear the truth about the incident. He felt he understood Silas a little more now. And he knew that the boy was just like he was, just a normal guy and not some evil monster.
Silas watched Cedar go, looking in disbelief at the victim who said he understood his tormentor. He huddled a little tighter and felt a pang of regret creeping up inside of him. Not just for Cedar, but for someone else on his team. Before he was sure what he was doing, he took out his scroll and dialled a number on it. The scroll began to ring as Silas held it up to his ear, trembling slightly.
"Hey, April? It's Silas… look, I think I need to say something to you."
After Cedar returned to the table and the cacophonic smell of fried foods and cereals assaulted him, he finished his porridge and left with his team. Whilst today was mostly free, they had a job to do. It was time to receive their punishment. They were taken by some of the maintenance staff to a supply area and were given coveralls to put on along with caps. Then they were told to grab a few buckets of paint and some long rollers and follow them outside to the front grounds of the school. Cedar gulped nervously as they arrived at the great looming walls of the academy. And their job was to paint it. All of it.
It was going to be a loooooong detention, Cedar thought to himself. They quickly got to work, the other maintenance workers doing the higher areas of the wall via a portable davit, one of those window cleaning platforms Cedar had spotted a few times in the business district of town. They meanwhile stayed on ground level, painting the lower sections of the wall.
Cedar's nose wrinkled as they got to work, the smell of lead in the paint already getting to him as he moved his roller up and down. It didn't help any that he was short, he could barely reach as high as his teammates were painting. Especially Isaac, the cowboy seemed to have no trouble reaching up high with his roller. Lariah was doing the most out of the four of them, she was working hard and had a smile on her face. Cedar felt a little envious at her positive attitude and how well she was taking all of this.
"Guh… these coveralls are so stifling." Yasmin grumbled. It was a little funny to see her out of a beautiful outfit, even her school uniform helped improve her looks. But those coveralls were very unflattering as she splattered paint onto the wall. They kept at the work for a while, making little conversation and simply dedicating themselves to working. After all, the sooner they were done, the sooner they could relax and talk it out later. Cedar remained determined with the menial labour, working and going along the wall panel by panel, enduring the stink of paint and the occasional splatter onto his clothes or cap. Before they knew it, the sun was high overhead and they were allowed to take a short break.
"Phew… this is hard work!" Lariah lamented, wiping some sweat from her brow.
"This is nuthin'." Isaac assured them. "Back home I had to help paint up the house when I was maybe 14. Y'get used ta it." He assured them, patting Lariah on the back slightly.
"I know I certainly couldn't." Yasmin frowned. "I feel so sweaty in these clothes."
"Yeah they do kinda cling." Cedar agreed, tugging on his sleeves slightly to give them some more length.
"Well we'd better get used to it! There's lots more of it to do after all." Lariah forced a smile to try and keep them all in high spirits.
"I'm gonna go sit down for a bit." Cedar said and turned to go find a shady tree somewhere around the grounds to sit under. Whilst he was walking, one of his fox ears twitched under the cap and he heard something soft on the breeze. He turned his head toward the sound. It was music. Soft, enticing music. The young Faunus couldn't help but follow the notes on the breeze to their source, finding their temptation too irresistible to pass up. Following a winding white path through the red grass, he came upon one of the great white and black trees that stood around the grounds, shade cast down from the midday sun. Sitting below it was someone Cedar recognised, by his wide brimmed brown hat with the yellow feather, by his unusual eye mask, by the silver flute he held so delicately, fingers dancing up and down as it played its soft melody.
"Um… it's Stizza, right?" Cedar spoke up, the flutist stopped playing and his eyes opened, glancing at him.
"That's right." Stizza confirmed, lowering his flute. "Did my music bother you?"
"Oh, no actually." Cedar wanted to sit down but he felt it rude to just do so when the boy had already claimed this spot. "I just kinda got drawn over by it, you know…"
"A common occurrence." Stizza smiled slightly. "You may sit with me if you like." briefly wondering if Stizza had telepathic powers, Cedar obliged and sat down on the soft grass.
"You play that flute beautifully."
"Why thank you." Stizza held it up. "Music is one of my favourite skills. It was part of my cultural studies when I was being home schooled."
"You were homeschooled?" Cedar looked surprised.
"Yes." Stizza nodded softly. "I was adopted from Mistral and raised in Atlas. I was well taken care of, taught manners, culture, fashion sense, alongside my combat skills. Then I was submitted here to Vault, to further my training in a more social environment." It was hard to not feel the slight aristocratic aura emanating off of Stizza when he spoke.
"Wow. No wonder you're so skilled." Cedar chuckled. He was a little proud of that. Considering he'd run out of class after the swift pummelling he'd received from the boy, being able to brush it off now… that felt good. Really good.
"I may have a slight edge in skill. But i'm sure I can be still be surprised before the year's end." Stizza smiled almost slyly.
"That and your semblance. It's almost perfect for combat." Cedar added. Though as he brought it up, something seemed to click in his head. He thought back to something earlier. "...actually. It was you, wasn't it?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"You were the one who filmed us fighting team Star, weren't you? That's why none of us saw you or your scroll, because of your semblance." As he spoke, Stizza's sly smile grew only wider.
"Very good. You're absolutely right." and to prove it, he took out his scroll and showed him the video recording on it, dated to the day before. Cedar once again, felt a certain sense of pride at working something like this out without much inclination. "I must admit, I secretly hoped someone would notice it. Consider it a condolence for our sparring match in class."
"Dude, don't even worry about that, it helped me realise i've got a ways to go too." Cedar assured him. Him recording the video pretty much made up for anything bad he could've done before now, intentional or not.
"I think we all do…" Stizza turned to look at the grounds, the red grass bristling in the wind and the trees swaying slightly, a few leaves tumbling from the branches. "It's going to be a very interesting year."
"Yeah." Cedar smiled. A strange sensation of peace washed over him. Everything he was coming to terms with. Having outsmarted an enemy team, made amends with their leader, getting over his humiliation and starting down the road to improvement and becoming a true huntsman. Everything was starting to feel right again and his fears about this school felt like they were all melting away in the warm breeze.
Then he heard a shout from Yasmin, it was time to get back to work. He stood up and bid Stizza goodbye, returning to the menial work at the wall of the academy.
Surprisingly, now more than ever, as he carried out this simple job, now Cedar truly felt like he was finding his place in this school.