Welcome to the first of the Haven chapters! We've got some fresh faces here and I'd love to know what you guys think of them!

In other news, I've had one of the Beacon teams so far commissioned with another on the way! You can check out the artwork on tumblr at renren-writes, where I'll be putting most art and news related to fics!

V.

Haven: First Impressions

"I can't thank you enough for doing this for me," she laughed nervously. Beside her, her sister yawned and wiped at her eyes, night cap haphazardly still on her head to hide her ears. "With no one around the house to keep an eye on Pad, I wanna make sure she's not doing anything stupid."

As Glas walked past the doorway with a wave, still focused on his nephew more than their guests, Réalta Hautdesert eagerly gestured for Pad to walk inside and rest a while longer. "It's no trouble," she assured the sisters. "The girls will keep a close eye on Padparadshca while you're at Haven. Just promise you'll keep Rai out of trouble while you're both there."

Leonie glanced inside, past Réalta, and from the stairway the two males were standing at, she could see them both shaking their heads solemnly. Yeah, they didn't think so either.

"Can do," she obviously lied, hesitating to even look at Réalta as she said it.

The Argentum sisters parted ways, Pad tiredly waving to Leonie from the doorway as she and Rai made their departure. It was an early start for them, but they'd reasoned that with Haven Academy so close to where they lived in Mistral, it was less a case of getting there the night before and more arriving early the day of. At the very least, it gave them time to speculate on how teams would be decided in the school and hope for their ideal teammates.

Both of them had moved to Mistral around the same time, though prior to arrival, they'd never met. It was by pure chance that Leonie had been able to move into the empty house beside the Hautdesert abode, and Rai's family had been waiting for him ever since hearing about his intentions to become a Huntsman back when he lived in Vale. It was a happy coincidence for them, Leonie supposed. The Hautdeserts were very understanding of their situation, and it was a relief Leonie needed while she attended Haven and aimed for the connections being a Huntress would get her.

"Auntie started making a wig for Pad," Rai told her as he stretched his arms above his head. Leonie nodded sagely, having never considered a wig before. Pad's hair was too unruly to brush, but a wig couldn't hurt. "You got contacts for her, right?"

"Yeah. Hates 'em." Leonie shrugged. "But the less she gets noticed, the better. Appreciate it, my guy."

The two reached out and gave each other a fist bump. With their bags slung over their shoulders, camping supplies packed and ready, they were prepared for the exam to get into Haven. From what Leonie had heard, it wasn't a secretive affair—in fact, Kousa Forest was well known thanks to its recent implementation and the new headmaster's preference of using it for the exam. Apparently releasing a lot of untrained kids into the forests outside of Mistral to find their ways back on their own over the course of a week was… difficult. Body-count levels of difficult. When hearing about the success rate compared to the old test, it was no wonder Professor Lionheart had opted to collaborate with Atlas in building a forest with a controlled environment.

When Leonie thought on it, it almost reminded her of Forever Fall back at Vale. Though she supposed there was less control over the traffic there with regards to Grimm.

Their homes were close to the elevator that transcended the city. As soon as Leonie and Rai presented their invitations to attend Haven's exam, the guards let them on and they joined others from their level of the city on the lift. This was different from Vale, for sure—the city being more akin to a tower than a kingdom was always intriguing to Leonie, and while she knew how comfortable it was up the top compared to the bottom, sometimes she had to wonder just how bad things got at the bottom. She'd inherited a large sum of money that kept her and Pad comfortable, sure, but what if they'd never had that security blanket? Apparently a lot of things happened closer to the foot of the mountain you got, not all of them exactly legal or safe for a Faunus to be involved in.

Leonie leaned against the edge of the lift and rested her chin on her palm. Beside her, Rai stretched again and double checked his bags.

"I think the week-long estimate also serves as an elimination method," Rai told her. "I asked around—anyone who doesn't come back from the forest in a week is escorted out and failed on the exam. Some teams become a mix of first- and second-years thanks to it."

Leonie hummed. "Well, it's not like it'll be hard in a controlled space to pass," she noted. "Wouldn't even need a week. Probably just two days—three at most, if the exam itself involves searching for something."

Rai gave her a smug smile. "That a challenge I hear?" he scoffed. Leonie gave him a devilish grin and tilted her head.

"I dunno if you could beat me," Leonie taunted him. "I went through some rough and tumble times to find my sister, y'know."

"Oh no, how will I ever compete with a road trip?" Rai rubbed at his jaw, scratching at the green beard beginning to grow along it. Leonie couldn't remember when he'd last shaved, but he was probably growing it out proper now that they were almost adults. "One day—a whole twenty-four hours, not just the moment we get there to the next dawn, but a full day after we get there. I bet I can finish it in one day and beat you to the finish line."

"Them's fightin' words, boy."

He raised his fists in mock fighting stance. Leonie did the same, and the two began to walk in circles as though waiting for the other to strike first. It was, if the laughter of the others around them were any indication, a funny sight.

Playful teasing aside, the two shook on the bet and made the conditions known. Leonie and Rai were going to see who could not only finish the exam first, but who could do it in twenty-four hours or less. It'd been a while since they'd had the time for a good challenge like this that wasn't just throwing each other around in the backyard while Pad ate birthday cake. A change of pace was good once in a while.

Leonie's ears flicked. She leaned against the edge of the lift again, this time facing the other applicants riding to Haven. Everyone else seemed to have their bags packed and their supplies ready, camping gear in varying degrees of size and bulk strapped to everyone. They were all prepared for the week-long trek, though Leonie assumed that like herself and Rai, they expected to be done in a few days rather than the full week.

Her ears flicked again. She blinked. Leonie glanced at Rai, checking to make sure he wasn't staring—and he was eagerly watching the view from outside the lift become more and more grand, away from where she was standing. Leonie pursed her lips. Was someone staring at her? Her ears flicked a third time, brows furrowing, and Leonie finally looked back to the other applicants on the lift.

Already? was the first question on her lips. It hadn't even been long since she and Pad moved to Mistral. Surely no one back in Pad's village had tattled on where they went? Her mother? No, Pad's mother loved her too much to just— No. No, she let Pad go through all of that bullshit, there was a limit to what Pad's mother could protect her from. Leonie chewed her lip, teeth digging in so deep she was almost certain she'd draw blood.

She turned in one direction—no one was watching her, only glancing on occasion and mimicking her and Rai's movements from earlier. She turned in the other direction.

A hand landed on top of her head, fingers immediately working to scratch the lion ears atop her head, and the tall figure in front of her deadpanned, "Cat."

Her semblance, like a kneejerk reaction, activated and sent her flying backwards into Rai at full speed; Leonie was stuck to him like a magnet on a fridge as Rai freaked out, drawing his weapon with a cry of, "Leggo my Leo!"

The fright had been enough to set Leonie and Rai on edge—though more for reasons only they were concerned over compared to the person in front of them—but the ash-blond boy who'd approached simply stared in a daze. His hand was still up, violet eyes blinking a few times, before finally he noticed his "cat" missing and an axe being pointed at him by a scraggly, green-haired guardian.

"Oh," he said, almost disappointed. He looked at his hand, flexed it, and went on, "At least you don't scratch like cats do."

Leonie's ears were folded against her head, and it took a while for the words to sink in. Was he referring to her? Did he see her as a cat? Sure, lions were a… big cat. But she wasn't a cat Faunus—she was a lion Faunus! Just like Professor Lionheart!

"Lion," she tried. Rai looked at her over his shoulder, awkwardly moving about while keeping the axe pointed at the blond while making sure Leonie received maximum dubiousness.

"Are you seriously using semantics right now?"

Leonie glared at him. "I'm using political correctness, asshole. I am far from a simple cat Faunus. I am a lioness. King of the jungle."

"Ball biter," Rai said immediately.

She repelled herself from Rai as soon as he said it. Leonie landed on the ground as Rai clung to the rail with a grunt, preparing himself for her to push him away with as much force as possible; due to them being on a lift, however, Leonie was wise enough to not use excessive force. He felt what was akin to a playful shove more than a full throw, and Rai let out a relieved breath as he relaxed against the rail.

He was totally in for an ass-kicking when they were off the lift, though.

"Uh…"

In front of them, the boy cleared his throat and withdrew his hand. Leonie stood up and dusted herself off, letting out a breath as she did so. Guy was probably just a cat person or something. But was it so hard to separate cat Faunuses from regular cats? Or did he just have a thing with cat features?

"Sorry I startled you," he went on. "I probably should've asked if I could touch your ears."

"That's what good manners are, yeah." Leonie shrugged. "Apology accepted. I'm… also sorry? For freaking out. Ears are sensitive, y'know."

He nodded, awkward as he quickly replied, "Right, right. Yeah."

They just stood there, uncertain of what to do next. Leonie had been fully expecting a confrontation, or some kind of trouble at least, but now she had all this energy and nothing to channel it into. She went into fight or flight, chose fight after a brief flight, and now she had nothing to fight.

Rai stepped between them, at least, and brought the barely-there conversation back from the dead. "Weird reason for coming over aside," he said quickly, "you wanna introduce yourself?"

"Oh. Oh, right." The ash-blond boy cleared his throat again and rubbed the back of his neck. He was only an inch smaller than Rai, though he still towered above Leonie. "I'm Asher."

"Raidoeg," Rai said. "Call me Rai, though. Easier on the tongue."

"Leonie, but some people just call me Leo," Leonie chirped. At least this wasn't a weird conversation on manners when handling a Faunus' trait or whatever. "Did you come here with anyone?"

Asher shook his head. He leaned against the rail, lips pursed, and he brushed some of his hair out of his face. Then, after a brief moment of thought, he pointed across the lift. "A really loud girl got on at the same stop as me. Aside from the ears… You guys seemed quieter once you stopped being all weird."

"Right," Rai said, nodding. "Totally understandable."

He was being dubious again.

Leonie elbowed him and tried to steer the conversation away from pissing anyone off. Even if the loud girl in question was on the other side of the lift entirely and probably couldn't hear them. "Rai and I were talking about the exam," she quickly tried. "I hear Kousa Forest is huge, just not as big as the Emerald Forest back in Vale."

"Oh?" Asher glanced at the two of them. "I haven't heard much other than that we have to camp for a week. I imagine we find out the rest when we get there."

"W—Well, what do you think we'll be doing?"

Asher pursed his lips. He shrugged.

God, he was harder to talk to than Pad was when they first met.

"Hey, hey." Rai nudged her with his foot. His eyes were gleaming, like he had a sudden revelation he was enamoured by. "What if we get to fight Grimm? You think we can add a kill count to the bet?"

As soon as the duo began theorising about slaying Grimm while camping, excitement brewing once more, Asher's expression turned sour and he slowly began to back away.

He let out a little whimper as Greyson applied pressure to the toe beans on his foot. Greyson pouted at him, shoulders slumping, and behind him Fyth watched with mild amusement.

"How does someone who uses their trait to literally walk around," Fyth asked slowly, "get a cramp in their feet?"

The Faunus in question buried his face in his hands, blushing furiously as his long cat feet were held up in the taller boy's hands. He'd been fine when he'd run over to catch the lift… It was just when he tried to run around with his claws out like normal that messed with him. Wood didn't take as easily as solid ground, especially polished wood. It wasn't his fault he acted on reflex and cramped his feet trying to keep his balance!

He'd dropped to his knees at the time it had happened near Greyson and Fyth, tearing up as he'd curled in on himself, and Greyson—his saviour—had offered to help with the most concerned expression at the time. It wasn't that Wisteria couldn't fix the cramps himself… He was a big boy. But someone offering to massage his feet and promising to be gentle was too much to pass up.

Greyson let go of one of his feet, taking the other and applying pressure in circular motions to the pads. Fyth leaned over, arms crossed, and told him, "Flex your foot."

When the little toes of his cat foot wiggled, it didn't hurt. Wisteria let out a relieved breath and dropped onto his back entirely. That was way faster than what he could've managed! Greyson had magic hands!

"I owe you guys," Wisteria whimpered. "It's so hard to walk around if I wait it out."

"Maybe you should wear some shoes." Fyth tilted her head. "They have good grip, and a cobbler can probably make some specially for you."

Wisteria glanced at her. Would they, though? All the cobblers his parents tried to take him to just turned them away. Haven may not have been the worst place in the world, but… A lot of stores on his way to the lift had declared Faunuses like himself weren't allowed service. He scrunched up his face, looked away, and twiddled his thumbs over his chest.

"I'll… look around," he mumbled.

Greyson snorted, softly, and finished up massaging the other foot. "You should be fine," he said, voice soft as he spoke to Wisteria. "You get used to new things eventually. I'll just massage your feet if they cramp up again in the meantime."

With a playful wiggle of his feet, Wisteria sat back up and beamed at the boy.

Fyth looked him up and down as he stood up with Greyson's help. Though they'd only just now met by chance, Fyth coming to look and help however she could when they'd thought the problem was bigger than foot cramps, the fact that she was sticking around gave Wisteria hope that she wanted to be friends. He never really had a lot of those growing up, since he was always on the road, but his parents insisted Haven would be a great place for him to start making some.

And then Fyth looked at his belongings, back to him, and said, "You don't look like the type to survive these kinds of initiations."

His heart sank. And then Wisteria realised she was questioning his ability to camp out and not get lost. With a pout, Wisteria looked down at her and insisted, "I'm great at this kind of thing! If you guys stick with me, I can get us in and out of the forest in a jiffy with time to spare and maybe even other people helped along the way!"

"You look… dainty."

Dainty? He looked dainty? Wisteria backed down as quickly as he'd begun pouting. He really did look dainty, didn't he? His parents always handled things when they travelled, and honestly he was surprised they even thought sending him to Haven would be a good idea. He sank in on himself and tried not to sulk too hard. Fyth was just stating the obvious, wasn't she? He already knew he was dainty.

"What's so bad about being dainty?" he tried, though his heart wasn't in the argument.

"Dainty doesn't survive. Dainty always has to be rescued."

Greyson, with one fluid movement, pointed to two girls showing off their outfits to each other. "What do you call those two, then?"

The girls in question both had dark skin tones; one was dressed in blues and blacks, with high-heeled rain booties on her feet and a cardigan that slid off of her shoulders, while the other was dressed in pinks and blacks, only a hint of white on her beret with the skull and crossbones bunny head displayed on the headpiece. They both looked dainty, smaller than Wisteria, and for a moment he looked back to Fyth and Greyson in alarm.

He always knew he was dainty and feminine, but they weren't mistaking him for a girl, were they? He pursed his lips and blushed, trying not to panic too much; it'd be rude to assume they immediately assumed him a girl, especially after talking to him. His mother always said boys could be cute too—he just happened to be the cutest.

Still… Maybe he should've opted for a haircut instead of learning how to tie it up into a milkmaid braid every morning.

"Loud," Fyth said to Greyson. "The pink one doesn't even have a weapon. At least the blue one brought something with her."

She pointed to the microphone stand the girl in blue was holding casually, collapsed quite clearly for ease of movement as she spoke to the other in pink. Wisteria glanced down at his sides, where his swords were stabbed to his belt, and he felt a tinge of disappointment. Even with swords, he looked less capable than the girl with a microphone for a weapon.

"Maybe," Greyson said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shrugged. "It might help to wait and see. Some people are the opposite of how they look, I guess."

It was pretty sound advice, at least to Wisteria it was. But Fyth seemed to have her own way of working things out, piecing things together, and she merely raised a brow at the tall boy before leaving to do her own thing. The lift was almost at Haven anyway—why bother waiting any longer with the dainty boy and the foot masseuse?

As soon as Fyth passed the two girls, the girl in blue realised she'd been caught up in conversation and dipped her head down. Much like Wisteria, she was clamping up and awkwardly hiding in plain sight. Wisteria watched her, almost felt bad for her; maybe he wasn't the only one who felt inadequate.

"Thanks," he said to Greyson. Greyson shrugged again, and though his expression was blank, he seemed almost touched that someone had thanked him. He reminded Wisteria of his dad—tall and intimidatingly handsome, but a massive softie on the inside. He hoped Greyson would stay friends with him if they both passed. "I'm gonna meet a few other people. If we have to partner up with someone, it might help to know a few names, right?"

Greyson nodded. He pointed to the other side of the lift and deadpanned, "I'll take this side, then. Good luck."

With a determined nod, Wisteria set off for the duo. He was going to make some friends, damn it!

There were a few things Schwarz wasn't expecting to see when he arrived at Haven. The sheer amount of camping supplies some people brought was one. Another… was more floral-print.

He hadn't heard the guy's name, but the wolf Faunus was clearly on a mission as he'd hurried off of the lift and searched for a spot to hide. Schwarz had assumed it was more of an issue with the ride up itself, or nerves getting to him, and like a decent person he followed. Found the floral-print vacation shirt the wolf Faunus was apparently willingly wearing, and with it the Faunus in question. Yellow eyes were deeply concentrated on the thin papers between his fingers, and with careful movements Schwarz realised he was rolling up a cigarette.

Ah. Hadn't expected that from the floral-print shirt.

It didn't take long for Schwarz to be noticed. In fact, it didn't take long for a pre-rolled cigarette to be offered.

"Didn't see you follow me," the wolf said. "You want one too?"

Schwarz glanced at the cigarette, then at the wolf, and shook his head. "Not much of a smoker."

The wolf nodded sagely, almost as though agreeing with him. He gestured vaguely to Schwarz overall and said, "Yeah, no, I figured with the burns. Still polite to ask, though."

Schwarz's hands twitched at his sides. He cleared his throat, looked away; he probably should've seen a jab at his burns coming, but he supposed the poor fashion sense caught him off guard to begin with.

"Wait, shit—" The wolf stood up quickly, practically dropping the rollie and tobacco onto the ground as he did so. "Sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way, I swear. Just—People with burns tend to not like cigarettes and I assumed but I didn't wanna be rude—"

"It's okay." Schwarz relaxed a little. Alright, less of a jab and more foot-in-mouth disease. He could handle that. "Thanks. For offering. I don't actually mind it sometimes—the medicinal part. If you ever experiment with herbs, I'd be down."

For a split second the wolf laughed—and then his expression turned to that of horror. "Buddy, they'll kick you out in a heartbeat if you smuggled weed in here."

Schwarz returned the horrified look with one of his own. "I didn't—"

"Shh, shh…" The wolf held up a hand and gave him a sympathetic expression, approaching him now. "No need to explain yourself, man. I won't snitch. You can trust me with that much."

"But I don't—"

"And if you ever need any papers, you let me know, yeah? I know a guy in the lower parts of Mistral. Works security, never gives a shit if I smoke from his stash." He seemed almost proud. "Then again, you prolly have someone to hook you up already."

Schwarz reached up and planted a hand on the wolf's shoulder. The wolf paused, friendly as ever, and finally stopped talking.

"I don't smoke. Anything," Schwarz told him. "And I haven't smuggled weed into the school. I meant if you were ever up for, like, using the ingredients for medicinal use. Or something—I don't know. Burning some herbs can be beneficial, I guess."

The wolf's expression fell again. "Oh. Oh, buddy, I am so sorry. I went and assumed again, holy fuck."

Schwarz finally gave him a half-smile. "You're fine," he said. He let go of the wolf and shrugged. "And I won't snitch on you either. Just don't lose track of time before the exam starts."

He turned on his heel, waving over his shoulder. As he left, he could hear the wolf breathe a sigh of relief and go back to his rolling. At least it wasn't something dire that needed help from others, and Schwarz could leave with a clear conscience.

Haven had a more natural look to it compared to Atlas. Less of a realm of snow, a winter wonderland, and more of a colourful world waiting to be explored. Schwarz actually enjoyed the difference in scenery. He'd come to Mistral sooner to attend Sanctum, and he'd adjusted well enough—but a school atop a mountain was almost as mystifying as a school in a floating kingdom, honestly. Either way, you were on top of the world. The only difference was how much of that world felt alive in front of you.

The crowds moved further into Haven's grounds as the teachers began to call out greetings. Schwarz kept his head high as he walked, though still kept to himself for the most part as he followed the crowd. As far as he knew, there was just a welcoming ceremony to sit through and then the exam began. Then, when he was done with that, he'd have to sit through a celebratory welcome before he could actually relax and ease into his new team properly.

It was when the crowd arrived at the courtyard that things began to kick off. One by one, students were passed a scroll by the teachers weaving through the crowd, and as a teacher clad in pink handed him his own, Schwarz mumbled his thanks and bowed his head. Beside him, a girl in blue seemed to do the same—refusing to stand out too much just yet, if she could help it.

They were far from the front of the crowd, but it was still possible for Professor Lionheart to be heard from even this distance. Microphone in hand, speakers above them echoing his words, he warmly welcomed his new students and prayed their trips so far had been safe. Schwarz turned his gaze down to the scroll, his focus on it more than the words of the headmaster. Normally it wasn't until after everyone put their things away that a scroll would be handed out, but he supposed this wasn't like how Atlas was run. Lionheart had his own rules, after all.

Schwarz was mildly startled when his scroll turned itself on during Lionheart's speech. He looked up, alarmed, but others were in the same position as Lionheart went on. This was all part of the speech, he told himself. This was probably related to the exam.

"On your scrolls, you will find a folder with your application inside," Lionheart's voice echoed over the crowd. "Not only will you find your own application, but the application of a randomly chosen partner for you to complete the initiation with. Whether you choose to start the initiation with your partner by your side is your choice, but the fact remains that to pass proper, you must finish together."

Interesting. Schwarz didn't quite open the folder yet, now actively listening to Lionheart for more details. He was finally sharing useful information in his speech.

"You will be dropped from airships to Kousa Forest. In this forest, you and your partner have one week—and only one week—to find a coloured rope to bring back to Haven." Lionheart held up two fingers. "There are two conditions to be met with this. You already know the condition of finishing initiation together. The other, however, is that you must tie the rope to each other somehow and remain linked when you leave Kousa Forest."

Schwarz let out an unimpressed hum. Not the most ideal condition to meet, but he supposed if he was paired with someone agreeable, it could be done.

"And with that said," Lionheart finally announced, "you have ten minutes to find your partner before the airships leave for Kousa Forest. I wish you all the best of luck."

Beside him, the girl in blue let out a huff and mumbled to herself about having a mountain for a partner. Schwarz glanced at her, brows raised, but she was more focused on her scroll and the applicant displayed on it.

"Alright, Kelron Phemeranthus," she muttered, fist clenched by her side. "Let's see where you're hiding among all these regular-sized people."

He watched her as she left. Well, it seemed she had a distinct feature to look out for. Lucky her.

Schwarz looked down at his scroll. His finger hovered over the folder, and just as he was about to tap the icon, he felt a nudge at his side. Schwarz didn't look up, mumbled an apology, and moved; but the person nudged again.

When he looked up, he saw a scroll held out to him. On that scroll, his name and face greeted him.

"Schwarzwald, yeah?" The lion Faunus in front of him grinned, one hand on her hip as she slowly pulled the scroll back to herself. "If so, nice to meet you. I'm Leonie, your partner."

Well. That saved him some time at least.

This isn't everyone introduced, but we'll be seeing the pairs all meeting up next chapter for the initiation! How well do you guys think they'll do in the week-long initiation? How will they have to find the ropes?