Before we get into the mist of things, addressing a few reviews from the last two chapters:
DCDGojira (Chapters 1/2): Thanks! I noticed you've been sticking around since my previous story too, so I hope ya do! :D
Drcaus (Chapter 1): Hush, hush, no need to rush. It's not that time where I'm going to immediately introduce the pairings. That can wait.
Ham-Chan (Chapter 2): Thanks! I really appreciate that! I'm being very careful with these things as well. xD
Anyways, onto the story!
Kamen Rider Saber: Tale of Two Worlds
仮面ライダーセイバー：二つの世界の物語
Kamen Raidā Seibā: Futatsu no Sekai no Monogatari
First Book: Beacon of Hope
初の書籍：希望の烽火
Hatsu no Shoseki: Kibō no Hōka
Chapter Two: Nightfall Approaches, Destiny Arrives.
第二章：日暮れが近づく、運命がやってくる。
Dai Nishō: Higure ga Chikadzuku, Unmei ga Yattekuru.
The white and cold queen, of ice and frost.
氷と霜の白くて冷たい女王。
Kōri to shimo no shirokute tsumetai joō.
(OST: EP 3 Score – The Shining Beacon Pt 2)
"Anyways, you've registered, right?" Kuen asked Ruby, as the two walked down the hallway leading to the entrance of the main building, to which her response was a simple, "Yeah. Already did."
"Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the whole mess hall thing they have going on. Considering it's just a lot of boys and girls together in one room in one big sleep-over..."
Ruby looked confused, but Kuen quickly interjected, "Religious stuff. Am not used to some of this yet."
She let out a weird, 'Oh.', as the two entered the main building, before he then asked Ruby, "Mind if I go find an empty room? I need to do my prayers real quick."
"I'm also assuming it's also religious stuff?"
"Yep."
Kuen nodded, as he walked through the hallways of Beacon, looking for a place to conduct his afternoon prayers. Considering that it was only fifteen minutes left before the orientation, he didn't want to take too long.
And as he managed to find an empty room, he headed to the nearest bathroom, taking his abdest, before entering the room, using his phone to figure out which direction he was supposed to be facing.
And a few minutes later, he left the room, quickly reuniting with Ruby, as he then asked her, "Do you think your sister managed to save a spot for you?"
"I'm hoping so, that's for sure!"
Entering the room, he found that it was... significantly more massive, and more crowded than expected.
Trying to figure out what the hell was going on, Kuen was almost blinded by the sheer amount of hustle and bustle, bringing to mind the environment of the city before he arrived here. And from afar, the two soon-to-be students heard another voice call out in distance to Ruby, "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot or two!"
Kuen smiled, "Well, that's pleasant. Hopefully, there're two seats."
And the two strolled over, as Jaune could be seen trying to find a place of his own.
"Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?!" Jaune asked to himself, as from afar, a girl clad in metallic armor of a spartan design was clearly watching him, hand on her hips as she watched him walk away.
And back to Kuen and Ruby, as they joined the girl in yellow that had called Ruby, the two taking their seats, the girl in yellow then asked Ruby, "How's your first day going, little sister? Already made a friend, I see?"
Gesturing to Kuen, who shrugged, Ruby then replied, "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"
"Yikes! Meltdown already?"
He then quipped in, answering in a soft tone, "Um. Literally. Not metaphorically this time."
The girl in yellow then retorted, "And who might you be anyways? Eyeing my sister or something?"
Kuen almost jumped in surprise from the sudden comment, as he barely managed to get out, "Wha- what?! N-no. Obviously."
And as he managed to regain his composure somewhat, he only chuckled very awkwardly, "I'm Kuen. Kuen Akegata."
"The name's Yang Xiao Long." Yang retorted back, as they heard a voice suddenly go off, seeing Weiss approaching them, stomping in their direction.
"You!" She screamed, much to the fright of Ruby, who somehow managed to jump into her sister's arms, screaming, "Oh god, it's happening again!"
Weiss angrily screamed, "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"
Yang could only state, in a deadpan tone, "Oh my God, you really exploded."
Ruby was almost stuck in a loop of dialogue, almost akin to an NPC, as she recited something along the lines of 'It was an accident!' until her train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a pamphlet being held in her face.
"What's this?" Ruby asked, frightfully.
The girl in white then somehow managed to go on what was almost going to be a two-minute tangent about the Schnee Dust Company and some blah blah blah that Kuen knew that he had to eventually interrupt, listing off policies that he didn't know even existed.
"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field-"
And then Kuen decided to interject, quickly snatching the pamphlet from her hands (something he wasn't admittedly fond of doing but had to do), skimmed through it, much to her disdain.
"Hey- what do you think you're doing?!" She screamed at him, before he decided to switch to a sarcastic, yet almost polite tone, replying, "Reading the pamphlet, Ms. Weiss Schnee."
She looked at him furiously, before all of their attention would be drawn to the massive stage in the middle of the area, where a male in green clothing, donning a pair of glasses stood, readying a microphone.
"Professor Ozpin..." Kuen commented softly to himself, much to Yang's confusion, as the male standing on stage coughed, assumedly to regain everyone's attention before he began his speech.
"I'll… keep this brief. 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."
That caused whispers and commotion amongst the students, as Kuen confusedly tried to understand the meaning behind what he had just said.
"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." The headmaster finished.
And as the headmaster would step off the stage, the vice headmaster would step onto the stage almost as if in sync, before she then stated, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
And the level of noise in the auditorium went from zero to one-hundred in a heartbeat, as most of them prepared to leave the auditorium.
Yang then wondered, "He seemed kind of... off..." Ruby immediately responded.
"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Kuen then quipped in, "Maybe a hologram of some kind? I don't see that as being too far-fetched, given the circumstances."
As if, he thought to himself. He wasn't too sure on believing that holograms existed, but if he was now a student in a school where holding weapons are required, he guessed he should trust in that decision of his...
As the sun started to go down, Kuen realized he had to conduct his evening prayers, as he traversed through the halls of Beacon once more, heading for the same room he had conducted his afternoon prayers in earlier.
And cruising through the empty hallways, he finally allowed himself to take peeks in each of the classes that would be designated for the first-year students, to get a feel for what his first semester here was going to be like.
"This is just... fucking surreal, man." He commented to himself.
And as he headed to the room he had used earlier, he heard the sound of metal being swung, almost jumping in surprise, though he kept his mouth shut. Noticing that the door was open, he peeked his head in, mentally very confused.
'Is there somebody here?' He asked himself some more.
And his theory was right, as he saw a female, clad in metallic armor that resembled one of those Greek warriors, executing what he thought were combat motions, the spear in her hand swinging through air like it was nothing. Her arms were almost fluid, as Kuen found himself almost awe-struck by what was going on.
'Damn. She's good at this...' Kuen thought to himself, before he found his train of thought being interrupted.
She'd noticed him. And she was waving at him. And he was definitely sure that there wasn't anyone behind him. He waved back awkwardly, before breaking the silence.
"So... what brings you here?" Kuen asked.
"Training, I guess? What brought you here of all places?"
"Uhh, I used this class earlier to conduct my afternoon prayers earlier, since it was quiet and more out of sight."
Entering the class, and closing the door behind him, he found himself intrigued by the design of her weapon, almost mirroring his sword in a sense. Walking towards her, he offered a hand, his face red a little.
"I'm Kuen."
"Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos."
She shook his hand back, an almost instinctive smile forming on her face.
'Definitely Greek...' He noted to himself, as another wave of awkward silence washed over the two of them.
"Does training involve fighting the air or something?" Kuen asked in genuine confusion.
"You sound like you want to spar." Pyrrha responded.
"Maybe..." He thought to himself.
"I mean, sure, why not, I'm definitely in the mood."
A weird answer, but he'd allow it. As Pyrrha readied her weapon, he proceeded to unsheathe his, as the sword whirred to life once more, the runes on the blade flashing red and white for a brief moment and the golden emblem on the crossguard emanating a soft golden aura.
KAENKEN REKKA!
火炎剣烈火！
Kaenken Rekka!
"Interesting. Does your weapon always do that or something?" Pyrrha asked confusedly, though she looked like she recognized the weapon.
"Not all the time. It sorta happens." Kuen shrugged.
Entering what he assumed was a stance, he tried to figure out his first move, considering he's no expert at swordfighting, and he was pretty sure that he'd bleed if he even let the tip of her weapon pierce him.
"I know I might sound like a coward, but please go easy on me. I'm pretty sure if that spear even pierces me, I'm bleeding to death." Kuen nervously warned.
"Wait, you've never activated your Aura?" Pyrrha asked, the tone of confusion much more present.
"Aura?" Kuen asked, though he'd heard about some people talking about it in passing-by conversations.
She just smiled softly, before she stated firmly, "I'll explain what Aura is then."
(OST: EP 6 Score – The Emerald Forest Pt 1)
The two almost instinctively finding somewhere to take a seat, she began explaining to him, a script of words almost exiting her mouth instinctively.
"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens, and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"
"A lot." Kuen answered almost instinctively.
"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals." Pyrrha said, a soft chuckle escaping her lips hearing Kuen's response.
"Shield... is it like ki from Dragon Ball?"
"Ki?"
"Uhh, like life force..."
"From the way you phrase it, I guess you could say it's like that."
"Ohh..." Kuen managed to piece the words together, as she instructed him to stand up, something he did almost instinctively, much to his own embarrassment.
"Now, close your eyes and concentrate."
Confused, Kuen decided to comply, closing his eyes, a soft 'Okay.' leaving his mouth. And Pyrrha softly smiled, closing her own eyes, as she walked up to Kuen, holding the side of his head, much to his own bewilderment. He wasn't used to being touched by girls that weren't his family... mainly because of religious stuff. So this was a sight to behold.
She softly opened her eyes, her skin beginning to glow and her irises beginning to shrink, before shutting her eyes once more.
And as the glow from Pyrrha's body changed from white to a faint red, Kuen began glowing a bright red, as Pyrrha began to mentally speak.
'For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to raise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death.'
And as she placed a hand on his chest, she continued, 'I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.'
And at that moment, she stopped glowing, and almost fell over from what looked like exhaustion, as Kuen managed to catch her in time, the glow still present around his body.
"Pyrrha? You alright? You need me to get you to the nurse?" Kuen asked worriedly.
"It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She responded, grinning a little.
"What is it?"
"You have a surprising amount. It's rare that I see such a bright glow..."
"Woah..." Kuen was almost filled with glee, visibly struggling to contain it, much to Pyrrha's own amusement.
(OST: EP 3 Score – The Shining Beacon Pt 2)
"You look like you're new to all this. You've never heard of Aura, somehow, and you feel like you're not used to the blade. What's up with that?" Pyrrha asked gently.
Kuen was almost hesitant to ask. Should he reveal the truth? Should he lie all the way? Or should he mix both into something more sensical? Maybe the latter was the best option for him.
"Admittedly... Ozpin was the one who helped me get in here. Mainly because I instinctively protected him by accident a few days ago." Kuen sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"So you're the one the news was talking about for a while..."
"Wait, I was in the news?! I've been checking the papers every day, but I've somehow never found an article about me? Mostly other things..."
"You'll figure it out." Pyrrha chuckled.
And Kuen chuckled almost instinctively. Indeed, laughter was contagious. And Kuen checked the time, almost panicking. It was already six in the evening.
"Eh, you'll figure it out too. I think I saw you staring at Jaune in the distance when I came into the hall earlier." Kuen quipped, having barely noticed it but thought it was a thing worth bringing up.
"How'd you no- we're even." Pyrrha stated monotonously, the two chuckling some more in response.
"I need to go take my ablution and do my evening prayers. Is it okay if I do it here?"
"Sure, I don't see why not." Pyrrha replied.
As night fell onto the skies, Kuen found himself walking to the balcony, as he stared at the stars, almost hazily, looking at the moon that was high in the air, a part of it cracked and split from the big chunk of moon floating up there.
"What is the backstory behind that broken moon anyways?" Kuen asked to himself some more, as he shrugged, deciding to forget about it, and maybe head to sleep.
He had already done the usual night preparations; take a shower, brush teeth, and dress up in something more appropriate, in particular being a red pair of pajamas that looked semi-decent enough to be confused as casual wear.
Heading back into the mess hall, he walked into the locker room, pulling out the sleeping back he had managed to buy in the time between now and meeting Pyrrha earlier, which he was very thankful he had barely enough Lien to use.
The two had done some training after Kuen's evening prayers, and admittedly, he lost, that was for sure. But hey, considering that he was an absolute newbie at swordfighting, managing to last for more than thirty seconds against a certified professional was good enough for him. Not great, but it was good enough.
And heading into the main room, he noticed Ruby writing in the distance, deciding to approach her, as she was talking with Yang.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed.
"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though..." Ruby chuckled awkwardly, continuing to write.
"I know I do...!" Yang giggled, purring as she would take notice of several muscular and shirtless guys... until Jaune passed by, dressed in a weird pair of pajamas and waving at her, much to her disdain.
"...what's that?" She then asked, taking notice of Ruby's writing thing.
"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aw, that's so cuuute!" Yang teased, before she was hit in the face by a pillow coming from Ruby.
And at that exact moment, Kuen happened to bump in, giving a short wave and a hello to the two sisters.
"What'cha doing, Ruby?" Kuen asked.
"Writing a letter to my friends back at Signal." Ruby replied back, continuing to write her letter.
"Signal?" Kuen asked, confused.
Yang looked confused, almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But she decided that she wouldn't bother thinking about it.
"Anyways, that's cute as hell, Ruby." Kuen said almost genuinely, before he also received a pillow to his face, much to his own surprise... and disdain.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!" Ruby exclaimed.
"What about Jaune? He's… nice! And Kuen too! There you go! Plus two friends! Two hundred percent increase!" Yang claimed almost optimistically.
"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to one…" Ruby lamented.
Kuen then chimed in, "Well, there's no such things as negative friends… you made two friends and, uh… one enemy!"
Yang then continued, "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"
Kuen then noticed a small candle being lit, noticing a familiar figure sitting against the wall, reading a book from the likes of it.
"The girl from this morning..." Both Kuen and Ruby almost noted in unison, as Yang simply asked, "You know her?"
"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."
"Well, now's your chance!" Yang cheered.
And she would somehow manage to grab Ruby's arm, lifting her up as the latter struggled, as she dragged her to the girl in black's spot, as Kuen decided to trail along, also deciding that he'd only interrupt if it were absolutely necessary.
The girl in black would look at the two girls (and Kuen) with a deadpan expression in her face, as Yang then asked, in a sing-song voice, "Hel-looo! I believe you two may know each other?"
The girl in black, currently almost laser-focused with the book that was in her hand then replied, "Aren't you… the girl that exploded?"
Ruby then nervously replied, "Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me… actually, just call me Ruby."
The girl in black decided to get back to her book, but not before introducing herself as Blake Belladonna for the briefest of moments, as Kuen decided to wait the awkward silence out, but not before noticing the book that she had been reading.
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Kuen asked, glossing at the cover, as Blake then turned to him, a look of intrigue in her eyes.
"I'm assuming it's also the one by Robert Louis Stevenson, right?" He asked further.
"Yep." The other responded, before going back to her book, something which Yang and Ruby both asked in unison, in a tone very similar to whispering, "How the heck are you used to this?"
Kuen only awkwardly grinned, responding in a monotonous voice, "Literature studies."
Ruby then decided to break the tension, mentioning, "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"
Blake then chuckled softly, asking, "And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"
"That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." Blake mentioned, her smile turning in a frown.
"Well, that's why we're here! To make it better." Ruby smiled warmly.
Yang then immediately hugged her sister, holding her in the air as she then quipped, "Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!"
Ruby responded, "Cut it out!"
And then fighting ensued between the two sisters, as Blake and Kuen chuckled softly.
"Sisters, am I right?" Kuen off-handedly mentioned, as Blake responded with a very casual shrug.
And their brief moment was immediately interrupted by a familiar face. And it's Weiss Schnee. In her pajamas. With a very angry look on her face, as she stomped towards the four of them.
"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" She exclaimed angrily.
And then she noticed Kuen, and Kuen also noticed her.
"Oh, not you again." Both of them said at the same time, except Weiss said it seriously, and Kuen was saying it sarcastically.
Ruby then made a shushing noise, before replying, "Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"
"Oh, now you're on my side!" Weiss said in almost alarming levels of exasperation.
"I was always on your side!" Ruby replied in frustration.
Yang then chimed in, "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"
Weiss immediately responded, "She's a hazard to my health!"
And Kuen and Blake could only roll their eyes, as Blake would close her book, grabbing her candle, and blowing it out.
The black feline of the night, who sees in the dark.
暗闇の中で見る夜の黒い猫。
Kurayami no naka de miru yoru no kuroi neko.