Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY
Chapter 1: Cole Draven
Ozpin looked out through his office window, his freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand. The sun was going down on another day, the radiant colors of the lowering sun giving the landscape a red-orange hew. Had the situation been different, he would've thought this a very lovely sight, but on this day he had his mind on other things.
"Ozpin?" Glynda asked. Ozpin simply continued staring, locked in a trance. He had to retreat from the world into a place he knew he could find some understanding. His own mind.
In all his years, he never thought that anything could surprise him anymore, that he had seen it all. This, however, wasn't anything that he thought was possible. She had made a move that must have been cheating, suddenly adding a new pawn to the proverbial chess board. Except that this was no mere pawn.
"Ozpin!" general Ironwood slammed his hand down onto Ozpin's desk, causing the man to fall out of his trance. He turned his chair back to the group. He knew they were looking for answers. He knew this because he was too.
"We can't ignore this issue," Ironwood started "This happened under our very noses and nobody knows how it happened or how to deal with it."
"I know." Ozpin said simply. Glynda looked like she wanted to chime in but Qrow beat her to it.
"This isn't like anything we dealt with before Ozpin," Qrow said. "Grimm are one thing, the white fang another. Both are easy enough for a skilled huntsman to deal with on their own. But this?"
"Ozpin, what even is he?" Glynda asked, the concern in her voice not going unnoticed.
"Something that I never thought was possible I'm afraid." Ozpin replied, "I'm not sure how she did it, but she did."
As the sun rose, Cole's alarm rang out, alerting him that it was time to get up. Although he didn't need it. His anticipation for the day to come kept him awake all night long. Which in turn left him with a serious case of drowsiness. Not a great way to start his day. Especially this day.
Beacon academy. He's wanted his whole life to attend the prestigious school. His mentor attended Beacon for his huntsman training, and Cole wanted to be just as good a huntsman as him.
Cole received the offer to attend Beacon after helping his mentor fend off a Grimm attack on a group of traveling merchants. It had just so happened that one of the merchants was friends with a professor at Beacon and in gratitude promised to put in a good word for him.
Cole reached over his hotel bed to turn off his alarm, then his mentor burst in the door. "Cole, time to get up!" his mentor yelled. To his surprise however Cole was already awake. "Huh, you actually bothered to set an alarm for once. I'm impressed."
"Well I figured that if I didn't want to miss the airship, I'd have to actually start taking care of my own responsibilities like this." It was true that it was highly irregular for Cole to wake himself up at any decent hour. If there was one thing he treasured, it was a nice bed and a good eight hours with it. Or more, depending on the day.
Cole threw the covers off himself and opened his suitcase. He hadn't packed much, only what he knew he needed. He checked his scroll for any notifications then commenced dressing for the day. He grabbed his weapons and examined them. His twin whip-swords, the Twin Celestia. He built them himself and always kept them by his side. They also have the ability to transform into pistols which act as his mid-range offense.
Ready to walk out the door, he had to grab one last thing. His trusty coat. He never went anywhere without it. He called out to his mentor "Ready to go GT!"
Cole walked out into the living area of their hotel room. Waiting for him were his mentor, Gabriel-Tanner (or GT as he was more affectionately known), and GT's other apprentice, Finn. "You all packed?" GT asked, to which Cole nodded in confirmation.
GT was an older gentleman. He was tall with a rather muscular build, with dark skin and hair. He wore his usual garb. A green vest with various leather straps across his body that he used to carry different weapons and equipment. His pants were gray and looked rather worn out and he didn't wear a shirt. His body was covered in numerous amounts of scars of various sizes. Despite his more rugged appearance, his face was clean shaven.
Finn was a stark contrast to GT. He wore a blue overcoat with gold detailing and a gray shirt underneath. He was skinny and wore square black rimmed glasses. He wore a long gold colored scarf around his neck that flowed along his back to compliment the gold detailing on his coat.
Finn was sitting on the couch, his arm propped up on the back with a smug grin on his face. Of the two apprentices, Cole believed Finn to be the more...special one. Finn looked down, his stupid-ass grin not fading "hehehe" he clucked.
"What's got you all up and grinning then?" Cole asked.
"Oh, it's nothing Cole," Finn said, "I'm just happy that by going to this academy you may finally come up with the skill required to be my equal in combat."
"Heh, as if." Cole said "You're just hiding the fact that you're upset that I got asked to Beacon and you didn't." At that Finn visibly winced, his grin becoming fused with a snarl as he tried to hide his frustration at Cole.
"Now Cole, you know you've always been my inferior in combat." Finn said, desperately trying to keep his "cool". He then opened his eyes and pointed at him "the only reason you're going to this school and not me is because they acknowledge my skill and don't think I can learn anything from them, while you need all the help you can get!"
"Clueless assbag" Cole thought to himself. He looked towards GT to help, but he just shook his hand and gave him a signal to drop the whole thing. GT didn't really bother getting in the middle of Cole and Finn's petty quarrels as they often did, so he wouldn't be much help anyways. "Ugh, nevermind." Cole said finally "Let's just go."
On the way to the port to board the airship, the trio stopped at a local cafeteria to get some breakfast. GT simply got a cup of coffee, as usual. Finn helped himself to a mountain of golden pancakes while Cole got a platter of eggs and bacon with a glass of orange juice. Cole kept his breakfasts simple, as was his preference.
While they were eating, Cole noticed something odd about Finn. He appeared to be preoccupied with something, which was odd mostly for the fact that anything that could grab Finn's attention from a meal was unique indeed "Finn, what are you looking at?" Normally he wouldn't care, but Finn was not one to be distracted from pancakes, so it caught his interest.
"That girl over there," Finn said as he pointed in the direction "She looks incredibly familiar for some reason." Cole peered over to see a girl wearing bronze armor with long red hair in a ponytail sitting at a table not far from them.
"Familiar?" He said, "In what way?"
Finn slammed his hand down onto the table, causing the mound of pancakes to bounce slightly "I know exactly how I know her!" he exclaimed, getting up from his chair and marching over to her. Cole had the urge to follow him to see what kind of trouble the clueless assbag would get himself into this time.
As Finn reached the girl he stopped "excuse me." Finn said, his demeanor changing only slightly as it would when he introduced himself to new people.
The girl turned towards him "yes, can I help you?" she asked.
"Would you happen to be the same girl on the front of my favorite cereal box 'Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes?'" Cole face palmed at Finn's stupidity. Finn never stopped talking about that stupid cereal at breakfast. He even recalled Finn talking about romancing the girl on the front of the box at one point. He now knew what this was about.
"Oh, um, why yes I am." The girl responded, clearly uncomfortable with the situation "Although I must say that it isn't exactly a healthy cereal."
"Well that's neither here nor there." Finn said, waving his hand in a dismissing manner "I must say you're even more radiant than on the box of cereal."
The girl simply stared at Finn "oh, well I uh- "
"Please be my bride!" Finn yelled, getting the attention of everyone at the cafeteria. The girl's mouth was agape, and Cole face palmed with his other hand. GT's head slumped down in embarrassment at Finn and called for the check.
"Umm-" the girl obviously didn't know how to respond. Cole came up from behind Finn.
"I apologize for my assbag ma'am. He's kind of an idiot as you can see." Cole said, grabbing Finn from behind by the collar of his blue coat and dragging him away. The girl merely stared as Cole dragged Finn out of the door.
"Gosh, what is it with you and being so weird all the time?" Cole asked Finn.
"hehe, you're just jealous because you knew she would say yes to me!" Finn said, pointing a finger at Cole. "There isn't a woman alive who can say no to my dashing good looks and devil-like charm!"
"I don't think you know what charm is," Cole thought to himself. "Well it doesn't matter what she may have said, you can't just go up to some random girl and ask her to marry you."
"Why not?" Finn asked, "Whenever we're home it seems that GT brings a new female companion to the house at least once a week."
"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Cole asked, knowing the answer full well. GT was up ahead, so he didn't hear them talking. Either that, or he just didn't care.
"Hurry up you two!" GT called back to his two apprentices. While he wasn't that old, he certainly wasn't in his prime. The fact that the two boys often had trouble keeping up to him was either a testament to his physical prowess, or the lack thereof in the younger boys. However, considering neither of his apprentices were slouches, it was generally accepted that it was the former.
Once the boys caught up to their mentor, Cole noticed that they had walked past the turn towards the airship. "GT, I think the airship's back that way." Cole pointed out, pointing back towards the direction they came.
"Yes, it is," GT responded "but we're headed to find you some supplies. I won't have one of my apprentices attend my alma-mater unprepared." Cole then looked to his wrist to tell the time. It appeared there was enough time for them to make a short detour at least. Finn also looked at his wrist, only to realize he wasn't wearing a watch, but appeared to read the time anyway.
They soon arrived to a small dust shop, although it appeared as though there had been an accident recently take place there as one of the main windows of the shop had wooden boards covering it, most likely as a temporary means of keeping out the elements. As they entered the store, they were met with the pleasant smile of an elderly gentleman "Hello there, what can I do for you?" the gentleman asked GT.
"Dust for my apprentice here. He's starting at Beacon and I want to make sure he's more than prepared." GT responded politely, and somewhat proudly.
"Ah of course, I should have known." The man replied "I've gotten quite a few Beacon attendees through here today. So much so that I've started a discounted package that has everything an aspiring huntsman would need, including a few extras."
"Sounds excellent," GT exclaimed "Could we take a look?"
"Of course, one moment please." The shop keeper then left the register and walked through a door at the back of the building.
While they were waiting, Cole noticed that Finn had wandered off to another part of the store, his very attention-deficit self becoming bored with just standing at a register. Cole watched him out of the corner of his eye, as Finn looked through various shelves randomly. Finn picked up something off one of the shelves, then accidently dropped whatever it was, a loud thud suddenly ringing throughout the shop, getting the attention of GT. "Finn!" GT called in a yell-whisper. Finn had disappeared behind a shelf, but gave a thumbs up from overtop of it, indicating that everything was "ok".
A little while later, the shop keeper returned and brought with him a hefty-looking black case. It was surprisingly large, meaning it contained quite a few interesting trinkets. He opened the case and began going through all the various items within. There were dust rounds, clips, a cleaning set, as well as a few non-weapon related things like pencil holders and bookends.
GT seemed impressed with the package, and it would certainly be easier and probably less expensive than buying everything individually. Cole looked over everything as well "Can I see one of the clips please?" Cole asked
"Of course," the shop owner allowed.
Cole took one of the empty clips out of the case, then took out one of his Twin Celestia and transformed it into its pistol form. He attempted to insert the clip, but as he expected it didn't fit. Cole frowned upon this discovery.
"What seems to be the problem?" the shop keeper asked, slight confusion on his face.
"The clips aren't compatible with my weapons. The caliber is correct," He explained "but I built them myself. many of the parts are older and don't always play nice with newer equipment. I normally have to find some that do work, or I have to make new clips for them."
"You can blame me for that." GT explained as he placed his hand on Cole's shoulder. GT was somewhat of an old guard in his ideals and trained his apprentices to take the road less traveled when it comes to matters of convenience. He was tough, and it showed in his teaching. But he was confident that his methods would ensure that his apprentice would shine in his academics as a huntsman.
The shop keeper asked for the clips back "I apologize about that. I could see about exchanging these for some that might fit if you like."
"No, that'll be alright," Cole reasoned "I can probably modify them to help make them fit appropriately." He looked through the case again. It was certainly well organized, as it appeared they managed to fit a lot of interesting stuff into it, as well as a seemingly random assortment of reading material.
GT purchased the case for his apprentice, and they left the establishment, now headed back towards the airship station.
As they neared the station, Cole felt a sense of unease. He had never been to a traditional school of any kind. GT had been his only teacher ever since he was little, but now he was going to have multiple, completely new teachers. He wondered what that might be like. "GT, when you were here, what was Beacon like for you?" the young huntsman asked his mentor.
"Hmm," the huntsman began "Well, as you know I'm not from Vale originally, so that probably made things a little harder for me." Cole nodded. GT was Vacuan by birth, which likely attributed to his more abrasive outlook on life. "That being said, I recall my time at Beacon being quite enjoyable. I had many friends and worked to be the top of my class." He then paused briefely "In fighting at least." He finished, nudging his apprentice and winking at him. Then his expression changed "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I was just wondering." Cole reflected the question.
"Cole, just because I'm a huntsman doesn't mean I don't have good detective skills. I know when you're hiding something." GT glared at his apprentice, the huntsman-in-training attempting to reflect yet again but failing "Cole?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Finally GT relented, but not until Cole began to feel sorry for himself. GT had a way of doing that. Cole considered it one of his mentor's more annoying traits.
Then Cole realised something. There wasn't any snide comment or signature chuckle followed by GT's inquiries. Cole looked around and realised Finn wasn't anywhere to be found. "I can not WAIT 'till I don't have to deal with him anymore." Cole thought. GT soon realized that Finn was amiss too.
"I'll go find him, you head on to the station." GT told Cole, who nodded back to his mentor, grateful he didn't have to be the one to hunt down the problem man yet again.
After walking a short distance more, Cole at last arrived at the station. He looked around at the group of people gathered there, and realized just how different things were about to get for him. He noticed a kiosk with the word "registration" on it. "Well at this point, I guess that's how I get my ticket." He approached the kiosk where there were a couple people sitting there, one a girl and the other a guy.
Upon his approach, the girl brightened up "Hi there! And what can we do for you today?" She sounded cheary enough, but Cole couldn't help but feel like this sounded rehearsed.
"Cole Draven. I believe my name should already be in the registry." He stated confidently, then the girl gave a short "alright" then began looking up his name in her scroll.
"Ah, here you are!" she said brightly "Now if I could see your acceptance letter."
"Acceptance letter?" He thought "Guess she means my request letter." He then procured a small piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to the girl.
"Thank you." she said, staring at the letter in hand. Cole watched as she examined it, specifically the section that had Beacon's symbol printed on it. "All right, everything seems to be in order!" she exclaimed. "The airship is scheduled to depart in approximately 15 minutes, so you made it just in time! You can of course board now if you like, or you can take time to say goodbye to any family members who came to see you off."
"Perfect. I'm actually waiting on someone to get here who fell behind, so hopefully they'll get here in time." Cole's words were retrieved with another smile and a reply in understanding. He honestly couldn't tell if this encounter enhanced his perception of the years to come, or diminished them.
He waited about five minutes before GT and Finn finally arrived. Finn must have not wandered too far off in that case. "Where'd you get lost at this time?" Cole asked his fellow apprentice, the young man yet again procuring a smile.
"I was socializing!" was Finn's response, raising a hand and pointing a finger in the air. Cole merely raised an eyebrow.
"Who in this city would you have to socialize with? We have only been here a handful of times." Cole wondered this outloud intentionally, as he himself didn't know anyone from around here besides those he worked for in the past.
"Oh, no one you would know." Finn waved his hand in a dismissive manner, yet again attempting to seem superior in some way to Cole. Cole again looked towards GT who again signaled to drop the conversation.
This was a common interaction between these three. Finn claimed to do something or acted in some way that suggested he felt superior, Cole would look to GT to back him up or correct something, and GT would advise to drop the topic altogether. It was a formula they had since the two young men started training under GT.
Cole sighed. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt he was going to miss Finn in some strange way, despite their constant arguments. He then looked to a nearby clock and realized that he didn't have much time left. "Well, it looks like that I need to get going. The airship is going to depart soon." he informed the two.
Finn then stepped forward and outstretched his hand in request of a handshake "Well then, good luck my companion. I hope that you manage to improve your skills in leaps and bounds during your time at Beacon." Cole was about to offer his thanks, but then Finn interrupted before there was actually anything to interrupt "God knows you'll need it if you are to catch up to the likes of me!" As he said this, he snapped his hand back, threw his head back slightly, then placed his fingers atop his face in a rather idiotic looking pose. At least by Cole's standards. Although Cole now thought that he probably wouldn't miss Finn as much as he thought he was going to.
GT then cleared his throat, getting both the boys' attention "Uh Finn, Go ahead and head on back to the hotel and start getting your things together. We're going to leave first thing in the morning." Finn responded with a "right away sir" then bolted back towards the hotel.
"You know he's going to get lost again." Cole said to GT as he watched Finn disappear down the street.
"I'll find him later." GT responded, then released a sigh from his breath "Cole, I wanted to tell you how much of an honor it has been to have you as my apprentice." GT's words surprised Cole. His mentor wasn't one to show much emotion. "I will miss teaching you, but as it stands I don't believe you have anything left to learn from me," He then looked towards the airship "but I know there's a lot you can still learn at Beacon that I could never teach you." GT then outstretched his hand in request of a handshake.
"Well, I'm thankful that I had you to teach me." Cole then grabbed all of his belongings and boarded the airship.
As the airship departed, an older gentleman walked up to GT "That your boy?" the man asked in reference to GT's apprentice.
GT smiled at the question "Something like that." the grizzled huntsman responded "But I've still got another one to take care of." he said to the man as he turned to head back to his hotel.
Aboard the airship, Cole was yet again somewhat stunned by the number of students headed to Beacon. He knew that he should've expected it, but he couldn't help but feel like he was caught off guard in some way. The overall experience left him...uncomfortable. Cole never liked large crowds. They made him feel confined.
As he walked around the deck of the airship he realized just how high up they were, as he could see the hotel they stayed at from here. Although no matter how high up they may have been, he knew he wouldn't be able to see his home. Well, old home anyway.
After a few minutes, a hologram featuring a news article about a faunus civil rights protest appeared in front of the window. Apparently, the protest had been overturned by a group known as the white fang, a group of faunas extremists Cole was familiar with, but didn't know much about overall. He had encountered some of their members once when he was helping GT deal with some grimm, but they did their best to avoid them. He didn't really pay much attention to the headline though. The news bored him.
The hologram then transitioned suddenly to the figure of a woman. She didn't look familiar to Cole, but he believed her to be a member of the faculty at Beacon. Cole gathered this was meant to be an announcement. "Hello and welcome to Beacon," the woman started "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor to attend this prestigious academy."
"Interesting," Cole thought "Were all the Students who were attending Beacon requested like me?"
"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace," Cole listened closely as Glynda continued "and as future huntsman and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram then deactivated, leaving a clear view of the outside.
Suddenly he noticed something. A sudden sound of somebody gagging. He looked towards the direction the sound was coming from and saw a young man with blonde hair who appeared as if he was having difficulty keeping his lunch down. It appeared that some people were still not accustomed to air travel.
The boy then started running to the other end of the deck, and nearly ran into Cole, had he not side-stepped to allow the soon-to-be vomitee to pass with ease. Cole watched the boy as he swiftly carried himself to find a bathroom, but with these sorts of things, nature has a way of pulling one's feet out from under them. Cole looked away quickly as the boy vomited next to a couple girls who then panicked at the sight, apparently getting vomit on one of their shoes. "Well, I hope they're friends," Cole thought to himself. After witnessing that sight, he decided to see himself to one of the outside decks of the airship. He quickly located a door to one of the outer decks, and as he opened it he was met with a large gust of cool wind in his face.
Now outside, he felt relieved to be able to breathe fresh air into his lungs. He enjoyed flying aboard an airship. The views from the sky were the part he enjoyed most of all, and the approach to Beacon appeared magnificent indeed. Although he noticed that there didn't appear to be many people out on this part of the ship. It appeared not everyone shared his love for this form of air travel. Unfortunately for him, though, he didn't really get this opportunity very often. In fact, there was only one other time Cole could remember getting to experience this privilege.
Cole continued walking along the outside of the airship and eventually arrived at the bow. There were quite a few people in this area, apparently wanting to catch the view as they arrived at the academy. He couldn't blame them, of course, as this was the same thing he wanted to watch. However, while he was distracted, he ran into something quite large. The sudden stop made him stagger and nearly fall.
He looked towards the object he ran into, then realized it was a person "Oh! Excuse me." Cole apologized to the man who appeared to be a faunus.
"No, excuse me," The faunus remarked "I'm completely in the way." The faunus before Cole was very tall, and appeared quite muscular. He wore a pale green shirt and brown pants. He also wore a thick leather belt and heavy-looking black boots. He also had two small round ears atop his head, reminiscent of a bear's.
"You're always in the way, you big oaf." another voice chimed in suddenly, this time that of a woman. The voice came from behind the faunus man, who then appeared to be shoved aside slightly by the newcomer "Hi! I'm Lily, the oaf there is my brother Oliver." The girl held out her hand as a gesture for a handshake, which Cole accepted. The girl had long, silvery-white hair and brown eyes and she had an athletic build. Her attire consisted of a red vest which she left unbuttoned, a white shirt, and a red miniskirt that was longer on one side.
"Cole Draven." Cole stated, shaking the girl's hand. He then realized something interesting about the two "So you two are siblings? But you're not a faunus are you?"
"Well, step sibling." Lily responded "My mother is a human while his father is a faunus." Cole found that fact interesting.
"Huh. Step siblings attending the same huntsman academy together. You must be pretty close." Cole reasoned aloud, his two new acquaintances smiling.
"You could say that." Oliver chimed in "While we may be step siblings, we were young enough when our parents were married that it feels more like we're blood related siblings instead." Cole found this pretty interesting and quite wholesome. To think that they've been together that long and are this close, especially being so different on multiple accounts.
"That's kinda cool." Cole stated "So where are you from originally?" He directed the question towards Lily specifically.
"Mistral, actually." She stated "We actually graduated from Sanctum recently." This fact caught Cole's attention easily.
"Really? If that's the case then why attend Beacon if you don't mind me asking."
"Well, neither one of us are actually from Mistral originally." Lily began "I was actually born in Vale, while Oliver was born in Menagerie. Our parent's paths just happened to cross in Mistral with us along for the ride." She explained, although Cole didn't feel satisfied.
"Well, that doesn't exactly explain why you chose Beacon over, say, Haven. That would've been closer to your home wouldn't it?" Cole interrogated. He didn't mean to sound pushy, he was just used to digging for answers he asked for.
"Honestly, it's really just what felt right to us, especially considering that my mom graduated from Beacon as a huntress." This fact also interested Cole, perhaps because his mentor was a Beacon graduate as well.
"And wherever Lily goes I tend to get dragged along to," Oliver chimed in again "whether willingly or unwillingly." Oliver chuckled a bit as he said that.
Cole found the relationship between these two to be fairly interesting. They seemed to be quite sarcastic towards one another, but in that sarcasm was a connection that Cole seemed to recognize in some way. Similar to his relationship with Finn, just with a far less ammount of stupid.
"So what brings you to Beacon?" Lily asked Cole suddenly. Cole honestly didn't know how to respond though.
"Uh, Well Ever since I started training as a huntsman, I had always wanted to attend a huntsman academy like this, but Beacon specifically. So when I received a letter requesting my attendance there wasn't really much of a question." Cole explained while scratching the back of his head "But, my mentor was also a graduate here so I imagine that might have a little something to do with it as well."
"That's really cool." Lily responded brightly "I think a lot of people probably attend huntsman academies for similar reasons. Who is your mentor?"
"He's a very skilled huntsman," Cole answered with a bit of pride in his voice "one of the best there is in my opinion. Taught me everything I know." After hearing this, Lily's face showed a look of interest.
"Really? Sounds like you must think very highly of him." Cole affirmed her statement "Must've been a very popular teacher at your primary school." Cole then became confused "Where exactly did you attend before Beacon?"
"What do you mean?" Cole asked, hoping this wouldn't seem like a big deal.
"You know, Sanctum, Signal. What school were you at before Beacon?" She asked again, her expression changing to that of confused curiosity.
Cole thought for a moment on how to answer "Well, I never really attended any schools before Beacon," He started "I've only ever been taught by my mentor, until now of course."
Lily seemed shocked upon hearing this "Really? You must have had quite the application to get into Beacon then. Not many people can make it in without going to a primary school."
Cole then felt a little guilty "Well, I guess that I never technically applied. Like I said, I got a request to attend Beacon one day. That was how I got in."
"You were requested without having any formal academic transcripts?" Oliver asked, the two of them seeming quite astonished "That seems a little unusual, if you don't mind me saying." Cole didn't know how to respond. He thought for a while, but overall he felt unfamiliar with this kind of thing. It was true that he had never attended any sort of formal academy. He wondered if this could hinder somewhat. But he also wondered what that meant for his request of attendance.
"Yes, I suppose it is." Cole responded simply. Neither of them said much else about the topic though, as Lily suddenly got very excited.
"Oh! It looks like we're pulling up to Beacon!" Lily shouted as she pointed towards the platform where they were to disembark "It looks like we're soon to disembark. We had better get moving towards the exit. Care to walk with us?" Cole accepted Lily's invitation, excited that he had made some new friends so quickly.
As the trio disembarked the airship, they stared in awe at the majesty of the facility before them. The stone path was white to accompany the surprisingly well maintained grounds of the academy. The academy itself looked like something out of a fairy tail, the various towers reaching to scrape the clouds in the sky. Cole thought this sight to be quite impressive, as did his companions.
"Beacon certainly is something," Lily remarked, placing her hand on her hip "I can honestly say that I've never been anywhere quite like this before."
"I could say the same," Cole chimed in, "I'm pretty well traveled myself, but I don't think I've seen anywhere quite like this. It's quite scenic."
As they continued, Cole realized that today was certainly a busy day for Beacon, as students were all carrying on to and fro, coming and going. Although he noticed that nobody seemed to be carrying around much besides their weapons. He supposed that made sense, though, as all their luggage was stored in the airship's cargo hold during transit. Although he did wonder exactly where their luggage was to end up. He didn't see anything that looked like it would have a baggage claim, at least not anywhere near the disembarking platform. "Perhaps in the main building somewhere?"
After this thought, he noticed a couple men dressed in suits carrying a luggage dolly full of luggage, all of which was stark white in color. "Well, whoever that belongs to certainly knows where their stuff is" He then noticed a girl in a bluish-white dress walking close by it. The way she walked made Cole think that she thought very highly of herself, as she seemed quite uppity. He assumed that was her luggage "Ah, how surprising." Cole thought aloud sarcastically.
"What's that?" Lily asked Cole, wondering what he was referring to. Cole motioned towards the luggage being roled by the butlers and the girl strutting nearby "I see," she said simply "That must be the Schnee girl that I've heard rumors about. Wonder why one of them would come to Beacon instead of Atlas." Cole sensed some light hostility in Lily's voice, which made him think that she had some underlying disdain aimed towards the Schnee family.
"Not a fan of the Schnee's I take it?" He asked Lily, curious about her stance on the Schnee's large corporation.
Lily grimaced after the question "I don't outright hate them, but I don't approve of a lot of their business practices." She reasoned. Cole understood that. It was true that the Schnee corporation partook in what some would refer to as "unfavorable labor policies" but there were also some things that people believed the business was guilty of that there wasn't much proof for.
"Fair enough," Cole thought. He prefered not to take sides on issues like that. GT had taught him that there were always two sides to a coin, so it's best not to take sides without first knowing what resided on either side.
"Well, I suppose we had best get moving," Oliver stated "we don't want to be late for the ceremony. I hear that's when we get assigned our lockers to store our equipment." The sudden topic from Oliver was a little unexpected to Cole. He had gathered by this point that Oliver wasn't much for talking except when he had something specific to say. An interesting contrast to his sister, who seemed one that enjoyed making small talk. Aside from the fact that they didn't look anything alike, Cole believed that this made things difficult for Lily and Oliver when explaining to most people that they were siblings, even if they are step-siblings.
"Where exactly are we supposed to go though?" Cole asked, to which Oliver responded.
"I believe it's straight up ahead." Oliver explained "If the directory I read was correct, then we there should be an-" Oliver was then interrupted by a loud explosion that came from nearby. Cole instinctively drew his weapons. And faced the noise.
"What was that!?" Lily exclaimed, looking towards the noise explosion's origin. Cole then recognized two individuals standing nearby, one being the uppity-looking girl from moments ago, and another girl he saw on the ship, although he didn't recall specifically how he recognized her. It looked like they were arguing about something "did either of you see what happened?" Lily asked them.
The white girl groaned loudly "This brat was being careless and just completely blew up in my face! It's obvious she doesn't even understand the simplest dust protocol!" the other girl became annoyed at being called a brat. Cole didn't know if he should attempt to intervene or just not interfere with...whatever was going on.
"Did she just say that girl...blew up?" Cole asked his new companions, to which they nod slowly. Oliver then suggested that they slip away quietly, so as to hopefully not get involved with the argument.
After asking around for directions, the trio finally found themselves in what appeared to be the amphitheater where the welcome ceremony was supposed to take place. "This looks like the place." Oliver said, pointing out the obvious fact. There was a large group of people inside, and before them was a stage with a microphone in the center.
"So, how long is this supposed to take?" Cole asked no one in particular. He was ready to get on with the rest of his day, not to mention he was actually starting to get sore feet.
"No tellin' really" Lily responded "Just about as long as the headmaster decides it'll take." Cole found this information to be not so helpful.
"So did y'all have anything like this at-" Cole was immediately cut off by Lily gasping excitedly.
"Is that- It is!" she exclaimed "Pyrrha! Pyrrha Nikos!" She started jumping up and down excitedly as she waved over at someone. Cole looked to where she was waving towards, then saw a girl dressed in bronze armor with bright red hair in a ponytail. Cole somehow felt that he recognized her. The girl noticed Lily then began walking over towards them. "It's so good to see you!" Lily exclaimed as the two embraced in a hug.
"It's good to see you too Lily." Pyrrha responded happily "As well as you Oliver." Oliver simply smiled and repeated the phrase "And who is this with you?" she asked, looking at Cole.
"Oh, I'm Cole." Cole introduced himself, offering a handshake to Pyrrha. Pyrrha then looked to be in thought.
"Do I...know you from somewhere?" She asked quizzically "You seem awfully familiar somehow."
"You know, I was actually thinking the same thing just now." Cole answered. He thought for a moment, then recalled an interaction he had with Finn at a coffee shop earlier. "The coffee shop! you were there while I was getting breakfast!"
Pyrrha's eyes widened, remembering the incident "Oh that's right, I remember seeing you there...but, was that-"
"No, that was a colleague of mine, the assbag." Cole interrupted. He could tell neither of them wanted to relive the situation at that moment, so he didn't pursue the topic further "So how do you three know each other?" Cole asked his friends.
"Pyrrha is a friend from Sanctum academy." Lily explained "She actually graduated top of the class. Not to mention she won the Mistral regional tournaments 4 years in a row."
Pyrrha then giggled slightly "Well, that's true. Although you yourself came pretty close to beating me several times Lily. You and your brother were the two most difficult opponents I had to face."
"So you've all fought each other before in a tournament?" Cole asked the group. They all affirmed his question, and he became very intrigued "You must all be very skilled in combat."
"I like to think so." Lily remarked with a smile.
Cole then noticed something interesting. The three individuals before him all seemed to have a certain camaraderie about themselves. Despite the claims that Lily made about Pyrrha that seemed fairly competitive, he didn't detect any animosity coming from the group. He wondered if this was due to the fact that they were all just friends who wanted each other to do their best, or if there was something about sport combat that made them this way.
Cole's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of someone talking through a microphone. He looked towards the stage to see who he presumed to be the headmaster in front of the microphone "I'll...keep this brief." The headmaster started "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft, and acquire new skills, and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose. Direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
After he was finished, a Lady standing next to him stepped up to the microphone. Cole recognized her as the lady from the hologram message he saw while onboard the airship. She then proceeded to follow up on his speech "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
The crowd then began dispersing as everyone seemed to start walking elsewhere. "Well, that was shorter than I expected." Cole commented "He didn't seem particularly excited did he?"
"Well, he is the headmaster. He's probably gotten used to this sort of thing by now." Oliver added "But I agree with you. He seemed a little...off."
That night, Cole found their sleeping arrangements...slightly unusual. All the new students had strewn sleeping bags across the ballroom. And it was indeed all of them. Boys and girls. Although it did appear that girls were all gathered in one section while guys were gathered in another. However, that in and of itself wasn't really what bothered Cole though. Mostly just that he didn't feel comfortable sleeping in such a large room with so many unfamiliar faces. He was used to his own room in his own bed.
Oliver had found a spot nearby Cole. That at least made him feel like he had a friend he knew nearby. Lily, of course, was over in the girls section. Cole glanced over at her a few times, and it appeared that she was making friends easily.
"I wonder why they're having us all sleep in here tonight." Cole asked Oliver, who merely shrugged.
"I can't really say, although I've heard that it might have something to do with initiation tomorrow and forming teams." Oliver responded. Although Cole wasn't sure he knew what Oliver was talking about.
"What do you mean by teams?" Cole questioned.
"I've heard that we're supposed to be assigned to teams. I'm not certain what that means, but apparently you're supposed to be assigned a team of either two or four, I'm not certain which. I've heard a couple rumors as to which it is."
Cole wasn't exactly sure what this would have to do with their reasoning for sleeping in a ballroom with a large crowd, but he decided not to question it further as he was beginning to feel tired. He laid his head down on his pillow, attempting to catch some shuteye, but just as he was nodding off he heard someone yell "People are trying to sleep!" followed by a loud "Oh not you again!"
He attempted to ignore the conversation and try and get to sleep anyways, being reminded of Finn's antics from the noise. After multiple attempts to drown out the noise he heard continued hearing the noises then heard someone yell "Yea! what's your problem with my sister, she's just trying to be nice!" to which the other voice responded "She's a hazard to my health!"
Finally Cole had had enough and just as someone started to blow out the candles he yelled "SHUT UP!" at the top of his lungs. Everything suddenly got quiet and there was a cacophonous "ooooh" heard from a multitude of voices in the ballroom. Despite his slight embarrassment at his outburst though, things had finally gotten quiet and he again began to fall back to sleep.
GT and Finn found themselves without much to do that night, although the rest of their day didn't really have much in store for them since they dropped off Cole at the Airship. Finn specifically was having issues, as his attention-deficit self found it difficult to sit still for long. He had picked up a puzzle box at a local toy store to mess around with, but this quickly lost his interest. He started playing a game on his scroll, but he quickly ran out of those to entertain him as well.
GT on the other hand felt content to relax for a moment and watch the news. Or he would have had he not had something on his mind that he couldn't get off of it ever since they arrived in this city. There was something about all this that felt a little off to him, he just couldn't figure out what it was exactly. There was a lot that revolved around Cole's attendance at Beacon that he just couldn't figure out. He was proud that his student was able to attend Beacon, of course, so he didn't mention any of this to Cole, but deep down, he just had this strange feeling.
He continued his thoughts for a moment, then remembered an old friend of his that lived here. Although he wasn't certain if he would be able to meet up with him. GT then procured his scroll from his pocket and messaged his friend.
"Hey, I'm staying at a hotel in the City of Vale.
Do you happen to be in town?"
"You're in luck.
I just happen to be in town for a few days.
What's up?"
"There's something I need you to look into for me.
Could we meet up somewhere tonight?
There's a bar not too far from my hotel called
'The Grimm's Fang'."
"I'm familiar with it.
I'll meet you there in 10."
After their short conversation and a few minutes passed, GT stood up from the couch and put on his vest "I'm going out for a little while Finn. I don't really care what you do, just remember we're leaving first thing in the morning." He informed his apprentice as he walked towards the door.
"Yes sir GT!" Finn exclaimed while bringing his hand up into a salute for some reason.
"And don't go getting into trouble." He warned just before shutting the door behind him as he walked out.
While walking along the street towards the bar, GT noticed there weren't as many people out tonight as he would've expected. Although it was a little colder tonight than usual, which made him wish he brought his bigger jacket along on the trip. Or that may have just been the fact that he didn't wear a shirt. He actually wasn't really sure why he didn't have any shirts, he just never really bought them and that's how it always was since he's been a huntsman. "Actually, I think if I remember correctly it's because it cuts down on the amount of laundry I have to do."
Continuing to walk onwards down the street, he was beginning to realize just how far away this bar was from his hotel. He could've sworn it was closer though. Although he did recall passing by it on their way to the airship platform, so he might've just remembered seeing it then. He was starting to regret this decision a little, though, as he was starting to feel tired.
Eventually he arrived, and as he walked in he saw his friend sitting at the bar, a drink in his hand "About what I expected." GT thought as he walked up to the bar. "I'll have what he's having." GT said as he walked up to the bar.
His friend looked back at him "Well, took you long enough. What, no hello it's been a while?" GT stared at his friend and they proceeded to embrace in a bro-hug.
"I appreciate you meeting me Qrow, but I'm afraid this matter is pretty important." GT explained. Qrow nodded, then they went to the upstairs section of the bar where not as many people were so they could talk privately.
They found a table quickly and sat down "So what is it I can do for you GT?" Qrow initiated the conversation.
"Well, I should probably start from the beginning. You remember my apprentice Cole, right?" Qrow nodded in affirmation.
"Yea, great kid. Pretty good with his weapons too."
"Well, just today I sent him off to Beacon."
"Good for him." Qrow congratulated, raising his glass.
"Well, you see that's where all of this starts." Qrow look at GT quizzically as he said this "You see, a couple months ago, I was hunting down some Grimm in the emerald forest along with Cole and my other apprentice Finn." Qrow nodded, indicating that he was following along "Well, while we're tracking down some Grimm, we hear a commotion and some yelling not far from where we were. We ran over to see what it was, and found a couple of Ursai attacking some traveling merchants. Instinctively we ran in to help and dispatched them quickly, as they weren't that much of a challenge for the three of us combined."
Qrow raised an eyebrow "What were merchants doing in the emerald forest without a huntsman to protect them?"
GT pointed at him "That's what I wondered, until afterwards they told me the Ursai had killed the huntsman while he was trying to protect them. At first I just thought he must've been inexperienced, but after I looked over his body, not only did he look close to my age, I noticed a Haven academy pin on his jacket's lapel."
"So what you're saying is that his corps didn't make him seem inexperienced." Qrow inquired.
"Even if he wasn't that experienced, I could have easily trusted Cole to take care of those Ursai alone. That should not have been enough to kill a huntsman."
"Well, what does any of that have to do with Cole?" Qrow inquired, hoping GT would get to the point.
"Well, after we dispatched the Ursai, the head merchant seemed to take an interest in Cole. Said that he thought Cole had some potential. He talked about having friends at Beacon and putting in a good word for him."
"And? Cole got into Beacon because of this right?" Qrow asked "I'm afraid I'm not getting the point."
"I'm getting there." GT said, slightly annoyed "I had some friends look this guy up, alright? Doesn't appear as a licensed merchant in any of the four kingdoms' databases. He's not even documented in any public citizen records. It's like he doesn't exist. Then, not after a few weeks later, Cole receives a request for attendance from Beacon."
Qrow still wasn't sure where GT was going with this "Sounds to me like he's just had his records scrubbed from any public records to get out of having to pay taxes."
"Qrow, can you honestly tell me that someone like that would have that kind of influence at Beacon?"
Qrow stared at his friend briefly and sat back in his chair "Well, he got his request letter didn't he? Did everything come out clean?"
"Yea, I had all the documents we received examined and everything seemed legit."
"So then what's your problem?" Qrow insisted.
"Qrow, Cole doesn't have any academic transcripts. He doesn't have any records at any combat schools Beacon would be able to see to even offer him a request letter. I was actually working on writing them up myself when we received it. Until now Beacon likely didn't even know he existed. How would they even know where to send it to?" Neither of them said anything for a moment after that then Qrow spoke up.
"Agh, I still feel like you're overthinking it." He told his friend. GT didn't say much for a while "He's at Beacon isn't he? I promise there's nothing you have to worry about."
"Maybe so," GT said finally "but even still, I need you to look into it for me. Find the professor that the merchant talked to and relay what you find back to me."
It was again silent as Qrow sat back in his chair and chugged back the last of his drink "Alright, alright. Look, I'm going to be gone for a while in a few days, so I can't do much right now, but I'll see what I can do. I still think you don't have anything to worry about." He said finally, his words beginning to slur slightly. GT stood up from the table, but before he could leave Qrow stopped him "What, so you're just gonna leave like that? You're not even drunk yet."
GT stared at Qrow for a second, then to the drink in Qrow's hand. He grunted "Alright, I suppose it would be nice to catch up after all this time." He said as he sat back down.
Qrow smiled "There, that's the GT I remember." He called a waitress over to their table and the two began to converse about their adventures and times since passed as they proceeded to drink the night away.
Author's Notes:
Hello everyone!
Here's the first chapter of a story I've been wanting to do for a while, and I'm really happy with how it came out. I know it might seem like it's starting out slow, but that's for good reason. This isn't a story I want to rush, which is partially why it took me longer than I wanted to finish this chapter, but I'm happy with the result. Constructive criticism is always welcome, so if there's anything you'd like to point out or if you have any questions feel free to leave a review or PM me.
Thanks for reading!