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Chapter 04: Vales' Halo
Felix and Arctus made their way through the streets of New Vale, the early afternoon sun partially obscured by the gleaming and towering structures and the bridges and walkways criss-crossing between them. The pair had been awoken by their younger cousins at a truly unfair hour considering the way the previous night had ended and had since made the trip from Patch to the mainland without incident alongside Blake who needed to visit a handful of establishments in her capacity as a high ranking member of the Faunus and workers rights group known as 'The Coalition'. Despite the progress that had been in made in the two decades since the end of the war and the reduction of the White Fang to little more than another of the criminal factions within Vaccuo there were still those who wished to take advantage of Faunus labour though they were far less prevelant.
"These aren't the same airship terminals I changed over at" Arctus noted as he and Felix arrived at their destination
"Yeah you would have landed at the Cross-Kingdom terminals, these flights are mostly local" Felix explained as he looked around. Arctus accepted the answer without comment, it explained why the docks he had arrived at were much more modern and well cared for than their current location, most of the airships around him were pre-war models and the terminal itself barely justified being called such, it was closer to a parking lot to accommodate the vessels whose engines were rippling the air around them
"Do we even know which ship is ours?" Felix asked as he rummaged through his pockets for his Scroll, eventually finding the device and opening the digital boarding pass that the Halo Academy of New Vale had sent him "Seriously, it just says to be here, it's got nothing about which flight we're on" Arctus let out a slow sigh, unsure if this was a simple admin mishap or the first stage of the unknown initiation process he tried to approach the situation logically
"Well either look for people who look like they're heading the same way or look for the kind of ship that an Academy would use to bring in new students they obviously want to make an imp-found it!"
"You're sure?" Felix raised an eyebrow as he took in the ship that the larger Faunus was pointing at
"Not one hundred percent" Arctus admitted with a grin "But look at the engines, see how the outlets have got that greenish glow coming from 'em?"
"Yeah?" Felix failed to see the relevance
"Eco-Friendly Dust engine" Arctus explained "My Mum invented them, that ship's been refitted which probably cost more than the construction of this terminal" Felix considered the information
"Well it's worth a look then, come on" the two of them approached the vessel in question. As they approached they saw the flag of New Vale emblazoned on its' hull, a black double bladed axehead with what could be interpreted as a halo above it upon a green background. Several other would be students could be seen milling about, identifiable as trainee Hunters by their unique outfits and the occasional weapon on display. Arctus, seeing that they were seemingly in the right place glanced around until he caught sight of an individual wearing the uniform of a crew member and made his way over to them, gesturing to Felix to indicate his intention
"Excuse me" he started, having proper manners when speaking to the staff of any establishment had been drilled into him from a young age "I'm trying to get to the Halo Academy of New Vale, my digital boarding pass doesn't actually have all the details I need. Can you help me please?"
"Yeah this is the flight you want kid" the crew member nodded towards the craft "You'll be able to board in a few minutes, passes get checked on board before take off"
"Thank you" Arctus replied gratefully, making to head back over to Felix when something caught his eye. Slouched on the ground leaning against a crate and using an overly large rucksack as a makeshift pillow was a teenage girl whom the Bear Faunus assumed was waiting for the flight to Halo Academy, face obscured by the hood of the baggy hoodie pulled low and strands of silvery grey protruding from it. Seeing that they were alone he decided to wake them and ensure they didn't miss the flight, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking
"Hey, sorry for waking you but the ship-" Arctus never got to finish, the young woman moved impossibly fast; body curling up as her leg shot outwards and swept his feet from under him, as Arctus toppled sideways she launched herself upwards completing her spin and her right arm shot outwards to wrap around his throat
"What the hell?" Arctus managed to gasp out as he found himself face down on the dusty ground being choked out from behind. After a brief moment the pressure on his neck subsided and he heard his attacker scramble to their feet
"Dude what the fuck?" a highly irate voice demanded "Who the fuck just shakes someone awake like that?"
"I was trying to let you know that the flight is boarding in a few minutes so you didn't get left here" Arctus shot back "And who sleeps on the floor of an airship terminal?" he turned to face her just in time to catch silvery hair being brushed aside and a cherry red eye rolling
"Whatever dude, you're an idiot" with that she stalked passed him, snatching her rucksack as she went. Sighing Arctus dusted himself and was silently thankful that his mostly white combat gear was exceptionally resistant to stains and damage before realising that he had inadvertently caused a scene, he eventually found Felix who was currently doubled over and roaring with laughter while leaning against a pale haired feline Faunus whom Arctus was sure he recognised from somewhere but couldn't immediately place
"Smooth, real smooth" his cousin snorted as he finally managed to regain his composure and make his way over to him carrying both of their luggage, Felix's friend gave him a nod of acknowledgement as he joined them, the teen stood at roughly five foot eleven with a round somewhat chubby cheeked face coated with freckles, a complexion that would appear pale compared to anything other than Arctus's own, eyes the palest possible shade of green and messy white hair through which feline ears could be seen; his most noticeable features were the pair of mechanised tonfa hanging from his hips and the long tail coated in bushy white fur extending behind him
"You remember Nyanza right?" Felix asked
"Nyanza Angora, was in Felix's class at Signal" the newcomer clarified
"Oh yeah" Arctus grinned, realising he had indeed met the feline a handful of times on previous visits to Patch "How've you been?"
"Yeah not bad thanks" the conversation seemed to naturally fizzle out beyond that point, awkwardness was mercifully prevented as moments later the ramp allowing access to the ship was lowered and the soon-to-be students made their way towards it. Felix stopped Arctus by thrusting his luggage into his hands and resting one of his own now free hands on his larger cousins' shoulder
"However they pick teams at Halo, Nyanza is going to try and get partnered up with me. Please try and stop that happening" Arctus's expression was one of confusion
"I thought he was a friend of yours"
"He is, it's just..." Felix gave an annoyed sigh "Look the guy can't fight for shit, like I'm genuinely surprised he got accepted and he's got a mouth that I got roped into backing up for him way too many times at Signal. This isn't Patch, if I fuck up here I can actually get expelled….I don't wanna feel like a disappointment to my Mums y'know?"
"Yeah I get that" Arctus decided to lighten the suddenly heavy mood "But seriously, you think Aunt Yang wouldn't have expelled you?" the Lion Faunus merely snorted
"Yeah yeah, let's see if we can find some other girls to choke you out; apparently you're into that" with that the pair made their way aboard, bickering good naturedly the whole way.
The ship was thankfully of a model large enough to have its' own on-board mess hall, the appearance of which was a sign of it clearly being a decommissioned military vessel. Arctus had taken too long in the shower that morning and had missed breakfast, the Bear Faunus was currently finishing off bacon, eggs and a third cup of strong coffee in an attempt to stave off the sleep deprivation induced dizziness while Felix idly fiddled with his Scroll beside him
"Mind if I go see if I can find anyone else from Patch?" the blonde Faunus asked, a small amount of concern creeping into his voice "I can't believe out of my whole class only me and Nyanza are here"
"Yeah that's cool" Arctus mumbled while rubbing his heavy eyelids, I'm gonna go look for somewhere quiet anyway. I promised Athena I'd call her"
"Okay, I'll see you when we land if we don't meet up before then. Tell her I said hi" Felix added with a grin as the pair went their separate ways. Arctus left the mess hall, stifling a yawn as he went; he spent several minutes wandering somewhat aimlessly through the underbelly of the ship before eventually finding a secluded area, a corridor on a lower deck lined with several windows set at an angle that would allow anyone peering through them an impressive view of whatever was currently below. Making himself comfortable on the windowsill Arctus withdrew his Scroll and attempted to contact his sister
"Please leave a message after the tone" Arctus ended the call, grumbling inaudibly under his breath as he did so. Athena had probably left her Scroll lying around somewhere in the manor where she couldn't currently hear it. Arctus decided to show his little sister exactly what her big brother had left Atlas for and made to take a photograph, pausing momentarily to take in the sight below himself. A vast portion of the Kingdom of New Vale was visible beneath him. Vale had leaned heavily on Atlesian technology and expertise in their effort to rebuild after the war, specifically the construction of Atlesian Hive Cities; the difference being that while the cities in his homeland were built into and beneath the hollowed out innards of vast mountains Vale's cityscape was out in the open for all to see, a gargantuan and sprawling masterpiece of gleaming glass and steel. In the distance the perimeter walls could just be glimpsed, monumental structures capable of repelling all but the largest Grimm while several smaller such walls could be seen criss-crossing throughout the districts of the Kingdom; their armoured gates ready to close at a moments' notice. Adjusting the angle of the camera Arctus made sure to get a picture that captured both the Kingdom below and the aerial defences. Following the war Vale, Mistral and even begrudgingly Vaccuo had petitioned the Atlesian Council for the designs to make airships of similar capabilities to those manufactured in the frozen Kingdom; Atlas had eventually acquiesced though had naturally immediately set about the task of producing the next generation of warships to ensure that their aerial supremacy remained unchallenged. The end result of this was the dozen or so heavily armed light cruisers that could be seen, sunlight glinting from their hulls. Then there were the platforms; Arctus's parents had told him that the incident that started the war in earnest was a tragedy at Sky-Reach Stadium during a Vytal Tournament match, the Dust powered anti-gravity platform that the stadium had been built on had since been used to house the array for New Vale's CCT, replacing the tower that was lost in the war; to defend it and the rest of the Kingdom several other anti-gravity platforms had been commissioned, serving as watchtowers, runways for fighters, refuelling points for larger airships and bases from which Hunters could rapidly respond; the highest points of New Vale's skyline being closer to the hovering outposts than the ground they were built on. Arctus smiled to himself as he finally found an angle he was happy with and took the picture; promptly sending the image to Athena, his mother and father with the caption 'The only way is up'. A few moments later his Scroll buzzed and he was mildly surprised to see that it was his father who had replied first
'That might actually beat the view from my ship. You'll have to come and see for yourself one day'
'Sounds like a plan' he sent the hastily typed reply and covered his mouth as he yawned once again; checking the time he realised he had hours before the ship would arrive at the academy and he idly wondered if the pilot had been instructed to fly slow on purpose before deciding to get a little more sleep. As he scrolled through the various albums he had saved to his Scroll and fished his earphones out of one of his various pockets the sound of footsteps reached his ears; soon after the owner of those footsteps made themselves known
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me" Arctus looked up and was faced with a five foot ten young woman with a lithe physique, noticeable curves and light brown skin, she wore black pants and vest with deep green hi-top sneakers and a pale green belt and sleeveless jacket a fingerless glove on her left hand and gleaming armour around the forearm; a red sash was slung over her right shoulder with several bandoleers of ammunition on top of it. Her high cheek bones framed cherry red eyes, a diamond studded nose piercing glinted in the overhead lights and the bangs of her silvery hair reached almost to her shoulders while the rest was tied back. Arctus's teenage mind couldn't help but wander in somewhat inappropriate directions for a split second before he made their connection
"Oh, hi" he gave the individual who had choked him a baleful stare
"Dude, not looking for trouble here. I'm just trying to find somewhere quiet for a few hours….It was a long flight over from Mistral"
"I think we actually had the same idea" Arctus noted with a slight grin, not interested in holding any grudges "Name's Arctus by the way"
"Diamond Sustrai-Black" the newcomer informed him as she dropped the oversized rucksack from her shoulders and made herself comfortable on the windowsill, sitting facing him "And sorry about earlier, kinda reflexive"
"Reflexive?" Arctus was left slack-jawed by that admission
"Yeah" Diamond shrugged "Mum does a lot of charity work around the rough parts of Mistral's inner cities, long hours. Dad's a pilot so he's away a lot. There's always someone desperate enough to burgle an apartment where a student at Sanctum lives and risk the ass-kicking" she gave a bemused snort at this, clearly thinking about a specific time that such a break-in had happened.
"So you came over from Mistral on your own?" Arctus asked with a raised eyebrow "I mean I'm from Atlas originally, but I've got family over here"
"Yeah, I think I'm the only one from my class at Sanctum coming here as well so it's a completely fresh start for me" Diamond admitted with a wide smile that showed pearly white teeth
"Gutsy" he noted before another yawn cut him off and triggered Diamond's own yawn
"Don't start" she grumbled "My flight over was delayed, I had to wander around New Vale until I found the right terminal in the early hours of the morning and climb over the wall to get in" Arctus almost questioned her seemingly casual approach to breaking and entering before thinking better of it and handing her his Scroll
"If this is you asking for my number-"
"It's not" he assured her "If you wanna get some sleep for a couple hours you can borrow that. Try not to kill me if I wake you up" Diamond gave him another bright smile
"Thanks dude" her expression became one of faux disgust as she scrolled through his music collection "Red Sheeran, really?"
"His new album is great" Arctus defended
"Black Parade….haven't heard them since I was fourteen, silver beetles, Yellow Submarine; your taste is trash my friend….Ah Blue October, now that's something I can listen to"
"If you're just gonna take the piss I'll have my Scroll back" Arctus snorted, Diamond merely winked and playfully gave him the finger before the muffled sound of music could be heard from the earphones; Arctus good naturedly returned the gesture before closing eyes that were beginning to sting from tiredness while he removed his sword and allowed himself to get comfortable; his last thoughts before he fell asleep were that he seemed to have made a friend before he even arrived at the academy. He was off to a good start.
Felix slowly made his way along the ramp; it was early evening when the airship finally docked at Halo Academy itself, though he was sure the journey could have been made quicker if the pilot was so inclined. He hadn't seen Arctus since the two parted ways several hours earlier and his efforts to find a familiar face among the new students had not only proven unsuccessful, he'd somehow lost track of the only other student from Signal he knew was aboard. He knew that class sizes were small at the academies but he had hoped to be among fewer strangers. Forcing the negative thoughts to the back of his mind he readjusted the luggage in his hand stepped off of the ramp making his first step onto the Halo Academy of New Vale. As New Vale had expanded outwards from the remains of its' predecessor it had done so unevenly, leaving the remains of Beacon Academy even further to the edge of the Kingdom than it originally had been. The campus of Halo was housed on another of the aerial platforms, a massive anti-gravity structure positioned almost directly above the remains of Beacon. Felix made his way along path that was paved yellow bricks for reasons he couldn't fathom, eventually making his way beyond the docking area and through a pair of arching gates into the expansive courtyard. He'd seen pictures and videos of the academy since even before it opened but he'd never visited in person. Seeing the various pristine white towers rising upwards, the largest amongst them containing a clock tower whose inner workings were visible from the outside left Felix speechless taking several moments to simply stand and try to take it all in. eventually he realised that several students had passed him and none of them were Arctus, he decided to get moving and wait for his cousin at the agreed upon place. Lining the path towards the steps of the academies' entrance were golden statues, each of them three times the size of a person and set on a raised platform inscribed with the individuals name and heroic acts followed by the words 'We shall not forget', these were the heroes who had fallen in the war, each of them a student of Beacon Academy. Felix came to a stop at a statue that was noticeably smaller than the rest, the man it was in honour of had been a mere five feet tall and portions of it were made of smoked glass rather than golden metal. The man was Perdu Callow, known to most as Squish and the statue was intended to evoke his Semblance of invisibility
"Uncle Gang says hi" Felix patted the platform, Squish had been Arctus's fathers' partner and Felix knew his cousin wanted to see the statue of the uncle he never had the opportunity to meet in person
"Where the fuck is he?" Felix muttered under his breath as the minutes dragged on. Looking around he saw a teen with red hair clad in gleaming golden armour leaving a pair of statues who seemed to be holding hands
"Is that someone your parents knew?" Felix turned at the sound of the abrupt question, the speaker was a young woman who stood at a relatively impressive height of six feet with deep crimson eyes highlighted by the patches of freckles beneath them and blonde hair several shades brighter than his own. She wore a black hoodie and faded jeans that were tucked into a pair of heavy black boots; a sword sheathed on her hip, pristine white armour adorned her chest, shoulders, thighs and left arm; her forearm sporting a bulky and angular shield which if Felix was not mistaken had what appeared to be tank treads adorning its' underside
"Do I know you?" Felix tried his best to keep as much hostility out of his voice as possible, well aware that he had 'one of those faces' and tended to come off as belligerent unintentionally, she fidgeted nervously at the question
"No it's just that people don't usually hang around the statues unless its' personal, I was just making conversation because well Grandma always says strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" Felix couldn't help but chuckle at the rapid-fire way words seemed to fall out of her mouth as if her body was struggling to contain her thoughts
"Your Gran sounds cool, that's mine over there….shame I never got to meet her, I heard she was a bad-ass" he indicated to a statue of a woman wielding a Katana before holding a hand out and introducing himself "Felix Xiao Long" she promptly took his hand and shook it
"Eagle Arc, short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it" this elicited another laugh from the Lion Faunus before he decided to answer her original question
"Nah this is more personal to my cousin who I'm waiting for right now" he thought about her comment on students not hanging around the statues "Sounds like you know some people here already?" Eagle fidgeted nervously again
"I don't know any of the students here" she mumbled "That's kinda why I came over to talk to you, you looked lost I thought I'd say hi"
"Well hi" Felix grinned, his attention being diverted away from his new acquaintance as a figure who was in his opinion unreasonably tall lumbered into view
"There you are!" he called to Arctus as the Bear Faunus approached. Felix did a double take upon seeing his companion
"Oh look its' the neck masseuse" Arctus pinched the bridge of his snout like nose at the jibe
"Felix this is Diamond, Diamond this is my ass-hole cousin. Sorry it took so long, we both fell asleep on the ship"
"Really now?" Felix gave them both a wink
"Not like that" Diamond sighed, clearly exasperated with the Lion Faunus in record time; Eagle gave a giggle that sounded somewhat out of place coming from someone her size, Felix frowned as it occurred to him that he was actually the shortest person present. The train of thought was derailed by a high pitched somewhat nasally voice yelling out from the direction of the academies' entrance
"Eagle! There you are!" the four of them turned to see two people that could only be professors, the speaker a miniscule ginger with turquoise eyes; the man beside her wore his black hair tied back, a pink streak matching his partners' outfit clearly visible, reading glasses adorned his face and a long scar could be visible running down his left temple to his jaw. Eagle looked positively giddy at the sight of them, a bright smile spreading across her face before she rushed forwards
"UNCLE REN! AUNT NORA! I'VE MISSED YOU!"
"So" Felix noted "That was thing….Now what?" Arctus stretched and worked a crick out of his neck
"I think we've got an orientation programme this evening before initiation first thing tomorrow"
"Rules and paperwork" Diamond muttered "Joy"
"Y'know what?" Felix smirked as he regarded Diamond "You're not so bad after all"
Authors Notes:
So now we've met all four members of Team FADE at least briefly, let's get this show properly underway shall we?
So to summarise:
Little insight into what Blake and Weiss are doing with their lives.
I think Weiss and Gangrel would definitely make sure that their kids talked to customer service/retail staff properly. Gang coming from a working class background and Weiss not wanting her kids to grow up to be bigoted dicks like she remembers being.
Arctus makes the best first impressions.
Another new character, Nyanza is a cat Faunus based on a Turkish Angora. he'll probably only be a background character but I do like my fictional worlds to feel lived in.
New Vale has learned from the destruction of Vale, it's not dystopian the way Atlas was in The Downward Spiral they've just co-opted some of their technology and design choices and defended themselves a lot better.
Meet Diamond Sustrai-Black, Merc & Em aren't divorced, they just never got married….I can't imagine either of them wanting to leave a paper trail.
She's also pretty damn street smart. Watching her and Felix interact is gonna be fun.
It wouldn't be me if there were no references would it.
Beacons' successor has a yellow brick road….think of it as Goodwitch's personal monument to Ozpin.
Halo Academy of New Vale, think Beacon crossed with Sky High.
The redhead in golden armour staring at Jaune and Pyrrha's statues…..wait for it.
Eagle Arc, niece of the late Jaune Arc. That's all four members of Team FADE.
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" and "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it" I already love this dolt.
Yes there's a statue of Raven Branwen.
Ren and Nora are teachers….Brace yourselves.
Thank you to Qtrlbsceci, Ferrous and MarianTheLibrarian22 for their reviews on the last chapter.
I may surprise you with the villains, I'll say no more than that right now.
I think Blake's own teenage years in the White Fang mean that there's very little on Patch that Felix could do to surprise her really.
Toe-beans on a feline Faunus….the fact I haven't seen it done yet baffles me.
Raffia's Semblance is going to be a nightmare to fight; as is Carcharodon.
We'll see Felix's Semblance next chapter as well as spend a little more time with Eagle Arc
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.