This is the result of another quick writing exercise I forced on myself so I can get back into updating my offerings on this site. This story will not be taking the place of either "Unleashed" or "Monster". I plan on (hopefull) soo to be actively updating at least one of the stories in the very near future.
/==/
Nora lay upon her bedroll the night before initiation. Beside her Ren, lay already deep asleep. Sleep evaded her at that moment. She was excited to finally be at Beacon with her best of buds. Of course she was also excited about what adventure initiation would bring, but there was something else. The memory of a kind family that had taken them in this past year. She could almost smell the pancakes Jasmine made each morning. She could hear the hearty laughter of Johnathon as he sat there surrounded by his family.
It would be true to say she missed them, and she figured Ren did too. They had done so much for the pair, it was almost unfathomable. She reached over her head and into the outside pocket of her pack sack. After a couple minutes of fumbling she found it and pulled it free of the other odds and ends that filled the pocket. Opening her hand she placed the small articulated figurine upon her stomach. It had been a gift, a special present from Johnathon to her. Taking a chance to raise her head up she glanced about to make sure no one was watching. Satisfied she lay back down and focused her full attention on the figurine. Cupping her hands around the present she took a deep and slow breath. Holding it for a few seconds before letting it free just as slowly as she had taken it.
"Right arm." she whispered. The figurine responded and slowly raised its right arm above its head.
"Left arm." she whispered again, achieving the same result. She smiled, happy with the small success.
"Spin." she whispered through her grin, and before her eyes the delicate figure twirled like a ballerina upon it's stand. Hearing a noise to her left she cupped her hands over the spinning toy ceasing its motion. She remembered his words of warning. That people could and often would take this ability of hers in a negative light.
"Gone are the days of the puppeteer." he said, "we've been replaced by the hunter and huntress."
Remembering his soft voice returned the smile to her lips, and brought back another memory, another memory; one of the two who wanted to be with her. Two who wanted to see the world, and be at her side. Those thoughts caused her smile to wane and then end.
/=/
In the darkness and mists of the Emerald forest two blonde hair young adults dusted themselves and then started to walk. Behind them the remains of an ursa disintegrated. They paid no attention to the sounds of the forest, as they attempted to work their way through brush and around tree trunks. They instead just glared at one another. Two sets of piercing blue eyes in a war of dominance. So intent on each other they missed the crashing sounds of a second ursa tearing through the forest towards them.
It slammed into the distracted pair. It's massive shoulders bowling the two blondes over. They rolled and tumbled through the brush in opposite directions of each other, until in unison they rolled to their feet in identical crouches. They looked at each other through the corners of their eyes as they regarded the great beast rising on it's hind legs before them. It bellowed a rage filled challenge, and the pair answered. With spurts of dirt grass and leaved the pair shot forward. He cocked back his right fist, as she chambered her left. The ursa bellowed again as the two blonde figures closed. Raising it's massive right arm back it prepared to swat the two figures as side.
To pale fists struck in tandem. On more delicate than the other. The inky flesh of the foul creature ripped from the combined strike and then caved. With a strangled gasp the ursa fell backwards, its chest compacted. Twin pairs of blue eyes watched as what should have been a terrifying beast crumpled and evaporated. Undeterred the pair strode forward, continuing their weaving path through the forest. Reaching a small clearing the male of the duo looked up into the star filled night sky.
"Like you know how to do that."
"More than you know how to read a map." the male snapped back as he lowered his gaze.
"Well if you hadn't lost it."
"Well if you hadn't tried handing it to me while we were crossing that river."
The pair stopped their bickering at the sound of rustling branches. Standing shoulder to shoulder they watched and waited. Hands clenched into fists. Their eyes scanned the edge of the clearing, straining in the dim light.
/=/
"They have power." Glynda commented as she watched the video feed from over the Headmaster's shoulder.
"That they do." Ozpin agreed, "Are you sure we are not missing any applicants?"
"They are all accounted for, though we do have an odd number this year, so we will end up with one three person team."
"Really, how so?" Ozpin asked as he picked up his mug, "We only accept an even number of students each year."
"One individual withdrew his application for medical reasons."
"Pity." Ozpin took a sip from his mug, as he regarded the two figures standing in the small clearing. "These two are powerful, they could be fine candidates for enrollment."
"Regardless, they are wandering a grimm infest forest the night before we conduct our initiation. They shouldn't be out there despite of how powerful they seem."
"Very true. Who is closest?"
"Bart." Glynda confirmed while looking at her tablet,
"Ask Bart to pick them up and escort them to Beacon. Also inform Kitsune. We should have them looked over, as we have no idea how long they've been out there before they came with in range of our cameras."
/=/
The pair of blonde haired, blue eyed teens regarded the lanky, green haired and be-speckled man standing before them with suspicion and curiosity. He in turn was observing them. Taking not of their rather ragged and worn look. Both were addressed alike, worn blue jeans, scuffed sneakers, and dark gray Pumpkin Pete hoodies. To the casual observer it would almost appear as if they trio was in a standoff. No one made a move, or a sound. They just all stood there.
"I'm Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck." the green haired man spoke first breaking the silence, his thermos hanging at his side. "I have been requested to escort you both to Beacon Academy. If you would be so kind as to follow me."
"Beacon?" the girl asked.
"Yes, Beacon Academy. That is where I work as a professor. So if you would..."
"She said Beacon, right?" the boy asked the girl, totally ignoring Oobleck.
"She did." the girl replied.
"Then we should follow. He can take us to her."
"Who is her?" Oobleck asked.
"Mistress." the pair replied in unison turning their eyes to focus on him.
"Mistress?"
"Yes." they again replied in tandem.
"She said she was going to Beacon." the girl informed
"So we came to be with her." the boy added.
"Be with her?" Oobleck asked, not sure if he should have voiced that question.
"We are for her..." the girl commented.
"...To use as she wishes." the boy stated.
Oobleck had no response. Their comments were off putting, and he wasn't entirely sure how to handle them. He knew he was to return the pair to Beacon, and maybe there the Headmaster could make sense of what they were saying, and implying. Tilting his head towards the direction he had arrived in the clearing from; he smiled bidding them to follow him, as he pulled out his scroll. The pair stood there for a few moments causing Oobleck to pause. As a single unit they turned their heads to look into each others eyes, and after a few seconds they nodded, and returned their attention on Oobleck.
"You'll take us to Mistress?" the girl asked as she reached out and took hold of the boy's hand.
"I..." Oobleck wasn't sure how to answer the question so he tried to be diplomatic, "I don't know Mistress, but I do know people who could help you find her. Is that okay?"
The pair nodded in unison and walked after Oobleck into the brush.
/=/
"Bart has collected them, and they are on their way in." Glynda informed Ozpin as she looked up from her tablet.
"Let him know to take them to the infirmary." Ozpin instructed as he rose from his chair. "We'll meet them there."
"Meet them?"
"Yes. They are both apparently talented individuals. It would be a shame not to give them a chance to further excel. I can see potential."
"Initiation is all set. We can't change anything to include more students at this point in time."
"Let's speak to them first. Maybe we can make and exception." Ozpin commented as he moved about his desk, mug in hand on his way to the elevator. "Besides we should find out why they were roaming the Emerald Forest."
"Bart has been informed."
/=/
It was too early in the morning for this, Ozpin thought as he tried to hide his grimace by using his mug as a shield. It was easy to tell that the pair were twins. Even if the looks were so similar, their mannerisms underlines the point. They would do things in perfect sync, answer for each other, and more often than not finish each other's sentences. Questioning them was also getting them almost nowhere. He wasn't sure if the pair were being purposely obtuse if if it as just they way they were. They had yet to even gotten their names as the pair had steadfastly refused to give them.
"Take us to mistress." the pair spoke, a deeper voice complimenting a higher one.
"Yes mistress." Glynda remarked, as she had spent the last ten minutes to draw out more information from them no success at least when it came to finding out who this 'Mistress' was.
The pair were disheveled, and dirty. It was also apparent the pair hadn't had anything substantial to eat for at least a few days. That being confirmed when the pair admitted to have run out of supplies as they wandered the Emerald Forest. As Glynda took a break in her questioning, the pair turned their heads to look one another in the eyes. Ozpin had noted the pair were the exact same height as one another, and it was no trouble for either to meet the other's gaze.
"She must be close." commented the female.
"Father will be mad." responded the male.
"Father will understand."
"We were meant for her?"
"Yes. We were meant for her." the female confirmed.
With the conversation over; the pair turned their attention back to the figures of Ozpin, Glynda, and Kitsune.
"Take us to Mistress." the pair spoke once again in perfect unison.
"We would like to help, but we need you to be more specific. Who is this Mistress?" Glynda tried again. It was possibly the third time she had tried a variation of the same question, Ozpin noted.
"Mistress..." the girl started.
"is Mistress." the boy finished.
Kitsunne moved closer to Ozpin rasiing her tablet to block her face she turned to him.
"They wont let me examine them." she informed, "I can visually tell they need minor medical attention, and from the state of how this session is going maybe even a psychiatric assessment."
"Did they give a reason?"
"Pretty much the same as they are doing with Glynda." she noticed Ozpin's raised eyebrow. "Only this Mistress is allowed to touch them; in whatever manner she wishes." Kitsunne repeated, causing Ozpin's brow to crease.
"Do you think you can keep them here? We have initiation in just a couple hours. I'll need Glynda and the other professors there." asked as he watched Glynda's shoulders slump as she again hit a brick wall with her line of questioning.
"I can try, but I also need to get ready for initiation."
"Quite right." Ozpin nodded, as her words reminded him that there could be some students who would be in need of medical care upon the conclusion of the exercise. The both grew quiet and turned their attention back to Glynda as she tried in vain to get more information from the pair of teens.
"What does Mistress look like?" Glynda asked.
"Orange hair." the girl offered.
"Jade eyes." the boy added
Ozpin lowered his empty mug. He nodded a slim smile crossing his features. It was a bare bones description, but it was a start.
"Mistress adores pancakes." the pair spoke simultaneously their eyes alight as if that final statement answered all the questions the adults arranged before them could ask.
"It seems we have hit an impasse." Ozpin interjected, before the frustration Glynda was showing full materialized. "Could I suggest that the both of you accompany myself and Miss Goodwitch to the cliffs. Maybe you could spot Mistress there, when all our students congregate for their first assignment?"
The three adults watched as the pair once again turned their heads to one another in the eyes. An unspoken conversation took place and after a few minutes of silence the pair returned their blue eyed gaze upon the trio before them.
"We agree." they replied.
/=/
If any of the collection of students noticed the pair of blondes standing behind of Ozpin and Glynda; they didn't make any outward signs or motions. The pair stood silently as their vivid blue eyes scanner the milling crowd. Glynda and Ozpin took note of the pair's obvious focus, noticing the subtle movements of their heads. Ozpin returned his full attention to the students as they arrayed themselves on the platforms situated on the top of the cliff.
/=/
The pair didn't pay attention to the well rehearsed speech he gave. Their entire focus on the search for her. Their heads tilted to the side in confusion as one after another the collected students were suddenly thrown into the sky. Then they opened in surprise, a very familiar sound reaching their ears.
"Mistress." they whispered as twin sets of vivid blue eyes snapped to the sky above the forest, searching. They didn't catch sight of her as the students spread into the sky on arcing trajectories towards the canopy below.
As if suddenly realizing what had happened their eyes narrowed, and turned from the sky to settle on the gray haired, green suited man standing ahead of them. Without a further pause their feet pressed against the ground, as they began to lean forward.
/=/
Ozpin could swear he felt a wave of animosity wash over him from behind, and as he took a sip from his mug while slightly leaning forward on his cane. A gun shot like crack of earth being compressed echoed through the air. He instantly knew what had transpired behind him; and Glynda's gasp and sudden reaching for her crop confirmed it. They barreled past, their forms blurs. While not as fast as Miss Rose, he was impressed, especially after them spending so long out in the wilderness without and real source of sustenance.
Glynda stepped forward raising her riding crop, only to have Ozpin's cane come up and gentle land on top of her hand halting her motion. In silence they watched as the pair hit the edge of the cliff and launched themselves over it. Removing her hand from under Ozpin's cane, Glynda pulled her tablet up and started to punch in commands. She sighed as she watched the pair clear the chasm just below the cliff. They hit the ground hard, indenting it; and without a pause tore off into the trees beyond the clearing in which they had landed.
"Inform Bart and Peter of this development," Ozpin calming remarked, "and instruct them to intercede if they run into anything. They are guests after all, not students."
Glynda nodded as her fingers flew over the on screen keyboard, sending the relevant information to the two professor's patrolling the boundaries of the initiation site.
/=/
Nora was having the time of her life. Being thrown high into the air was an exhilarating experience, and never once did she worry about a landing strategy. Hers hand been simple, straight forward and direct. Magnhild had performed admirably, and now she was scratching off another of the items on her most excellent of things to do. She hefted Magnhild over her head with one hand as her other twisted into the black mane like fur of the ursa she was currently astride.
It's two companions crumbling away into nothing as she steered her mighty steed through the forest. She had a single goal, and she was set on seeing it completed. She would find her best of best friends; her sole companion through all those years of wandering. Ren would be her partner, she would make sure of it.
Her ride burst into another clearing just in time to see Ren dispatch a King Taijitu. Her own ride collapsing and falling apart, throwing her forward into a tumble, that she easily recovered from. She shouted his name and wave Magnhild high above her head to gain his attention. Shyly Ren returned the gesture, as he stepped away from the dissipating remains of the slain grimm.
It took Nora less than five seconds to dash across the short distance that separated her from Ren. Stopping and allowing her momentum to pivot her forward so she was balanced on the balls of her feet she looked him straight in the eyes, a smile on her face.
"We're partner's Renny poo" she quipped in a singsong voice.
"Yes. Yes we are." Ren replied with a shy smile as he turned slightly raising his right hand to scratch the back of his head.