My eyes lingered shut as the warmth of my bed enveloped me. I opened my tired eyes slowly, my blurred vision coming to focus, when I realized something the ceiling was different from my room. I looked around and I realized I was in something akin to a hospital. I noticed a window with the afternoon sun coming through. I pushed myself up so I was sitting instead lying down on the bed. I noticed that I was not in my clothes. I was in what looked like hospital scrubs, though there was a zipper down the front of the shirt, presumably to make it easy to take off. I then remembered the monster that attacked Azura and I. I lifted my shirt up with my left hand to look at my wound only to see just a large scar. There were no bandages or stitches, just the scar.

What?

"Good, you're finally awake."

I jumped a bit at the sound of the voice, as I thought I was the only one in the room. It appeared I wasn't, turning my head to the left to see a middle aged man standing at the foot of my bed. He had grey hair, glass spectacles, a dark green suit and had both hands holding onto what appeared to be a cane in front of him.

"How are you feeling?" The mysterious man asked me.

"I- I..." I couldn't speak. I was confused and in shock. I tried to speak again, my hoarse voice just barely coming through. "I'm fine… I think..."

I noticed some pressure on my right hand and looked down to see Azura sitting in a chair with her head lying on the bed, her hand squeezing mine. She had a blue blanket over her, but I noticed she was wearing different clothes than before. She was wearing a dark grey jacket with a light blue shirt underneath, as well as black pants.

"You are both lucky that Team Coffee showed up when they did." I looked up at the man, confused at what he said. "If they had shown up any later the Ursa Major would have killed you both."

"What… What are you…"

I couldn't make sense of what he was saying. Team Coffee? Ursa Major? What did he mean by that? We were attacked by a thing named after a constellation? And rescued by a team called Coffee? And that woman… I started to question whether I was dreaming or not.

"You don't remember?" The man asked, "You were attacked-"

"I remember." I said sharply. "I'm just trying to make sense of this. Where are we?"

"You're at Beacon Academy. The infirmary to be exact." Nothing was making any sense. I didn't know what or where 'Beacon Academy was. I didn't know what an 'Ursa Major' was. I didn't understand anything.

What is going on?

I heard Azura groan next to me and looked down at her. She squeezed my hand and slowly towards me. When she realized I was sitting upright and awake her eyes widened and she shot towards me, throwing her arms around my neck. Her blanket fell off of her as she began sobbing uncontrollably into my neck. I wrapped my arms around her and tried my best to comfort her.

"I know you both have been through a lot but there is something we need to discuss." He said, as he reached his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a white gem, the same one Azura and I found in the cavern. "Where did you find this?"

"What… Wh- where did you get that?" I didn't remember waking up with it or even seeing it near us when we woke up.

"Miss Hood gave it to me when you were brought here," he said, "She told me about how you went into a cave and found it. And when you picked it up it brought you both to the Emerald Forest."

I looked at the small gem the man held, trying to process everything. Azura unwrapped her arms around my neck and pushed herself off of me. She wiped away some tears and looked me in the eyes.

"I told him about everything that happened," She explained, "I even told him where we came from and he didn't know what places I was talking about."

She gripped my shoulders and looked down.

"Ash..." Her voice sounded shaky, as if she was going to start crying again. She looked back up at me, tears coming down from her eyes. "This sounds crazy, but we aren't on Earth anymore..."

I looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She couldn't have been telling the truth. It was impossible.

"You're joking… You have to be…."

Azura shook her head, mouthing 'no' to me. I looked at the man standing at the foot of my bed, hoping he would say it was a joke.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hood is telling the truth."

I was in shock. How was that possible? It wasn't. It couldn't be. Everything that happened either had to be some crazy dream or some very elaborate joke.

But it all felt so real.

The pain from the 'Ursa Major' attacking me, from Azura pushing down on my wound, picking up the gem in the cavern, talking to that woman.

That woman…

Find Ozpin, Ash. He will help you both.

I looked up at the man in the green suit and realized who he was.

"You're Ozpin, aren't you?"

Azura pushed herself up and looked at me confused. She looked back to the man in the green suit, who perked up at what I said.

"So you know who I am." He replied. Azura looked back at me, trying to figure out what was going on.

"H- how did you know his name?" She asked. I couldn't tell if she had already learned his name or not, but either way she was still shocked that I knew it.

"Azura, that person we saw in the cave, wearing the cloak. She… After the rocks started falling all around us I opened my eyes and I was in this white nothingness and she was there. She told me to find Ozpin, that she would explain everything to me. She told me to go the direction we did when we woke up in the forest."

Azura couldn't hide her shock at what I had said. She closed her eyes and looked down, trying to process what I told her.

"This woman, wearing the cloak," Ozpin started, "Did she tell you her name? What did she look like?"

"She never told me her name," I explained, "She had her cloak covering her face too. But her cloak was white and red and she was wearing a black dress."

Ozpin eyes widened when I mentioned the color of her cloak. He looked down at the floor and started walking towards the window.

"No, that can't be right..." He muttered to himself. He looked out the window, lost in thought. It seemed as though it was his turn to be shocked.

"Do you know who she is?" I asked. Ozpin held up the gem and examined it.

"Her name is Summer Rose," he explained, "She was a student at this academy many years ago, and a very capable Huntress. She died many years ago."

I felt a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. That woman, Summer, she was a ghost? That didn't make any sense. Nothing we were being told was making any sense.

But everything was true. We were not on Earth, we were attacked by a monster called Ursa Major, and a ghost was talking to me. It was all true. I needed answers. We deserved answers.

"If she's dead then how did we see her in that cave?" Azura finally spoke again after moments of just silence. I could feel her hand tightening around mine.

"She once told me about an encounter she had with a gem like this one," Ozpin explained. "It may have even been this exact one, considering you have encountered her."

Ozpin walked over to us and reached his hand out to me, with the gem resting on it.

"I believe this belongs to you." I looked at him confused, wondering why he would give it back to me. I picked it up out of his hand and examined it. It was no longer glowing like it was in the cave, but it was still glowing slightly. It was very dim, as if it were a light bulb about to burn out, or a dying ember.

"I never formally introduced myself to either of you," He said, Azura and I looking up at him. "I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. The monster you encountered was an Ursa Major, a Creature of Grimm that seeks to destroy Humanity. At this school I train Huntsman and Huntresses to fight the Creatures of Grimm and protect Humanity from the darkness. I can help you in this new world by accepting you both into Beacon Academy, and training you to become a Huntsman and a Huntress."

Azura and I looked at each other, surprised at his offer to help us. I started thinking about it when I realized what it meant. We would have to fight monsters like the one that attacked us, and maybe other people. It would mean we would have to risk our lives.

"There's no way of going home then, is there?" Azura asked. I had been in so much shock I hadn't even thought about going home. I hadn't thought of the people we'd left behind. It had finally set in that we would probably never see them again.

"Not that I'm aware of." Ozpin replied. Azura and I both sank at his words. We really were stuck in this new world.

"Then I'm in." I looked up at Azura, shocked at what she said. "I'll join Beacon Academy."

I stared at her for a moment, taking in what she said. I then made up my mind and looked up at Professor Ozpin.

"I'll do it too."

Ozpin smiled at our responses and nodded. He then took something out of his pocket. It resembled a phone. He began tapping on it and then put it away.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy," He said. He then started walking to the door of the hospital room. "I will have two of the students who rescued you and Professor Goodwitch help you build your weapons. They are the only ones who can know where you are from. Do not let anyone else know for your own safety."

Ozpin stopped in front of the door and turned to the both of us.

"And do not tell anyone about Summer Rose, that is only to be between us."

Professor Ozpin then exited the room, leaving Azura and I alone. Everything that was said in this room was a lot to take in. I understood why he told us to keep everything a secret, why it was important to not let anyone know who we were besides this Team Coffee. Then I caught something that he said. 'Build your weapons.' What did that mean?

"I really thought I was going to lose you..." I looked up at Azura, who was trying her best not to break down. "They wanted to take me up to his office to talk. I didn't want to leave you in case you… If something happened again..."

Azura broke down again and threw herself onto me, sobbing uncontrollably. I remembered what I told her to do when the Grimm attacked us, and how she watched me take a hit from it, how she came to me when I was bleeding out. And it wasn't the first time she thought she would lose me.

I-I thought I lost you.

I wrapped my arms around her tightly as she sobbed into my shoulder. I could feel some tears coming down my face as well.

Promise me...

"Azura… I…" I pulled her closer to me, closing my eyes. "I won't do anything like that again. I won't ever leave you. I'm not gonna die. I promise."

Azura's sobbing slowed down and eventually stopped. She then let go of me and sat up straight, wiping her tears away.

"Okay..." She got up off the bed and stood up walking back a bit. I moved myself to the side of it and stood up. Immediately I almost fell over, being caught by Azura. After regaining my balance I stood on my own. I noticed some clothes on a chair at the corner of the room and walked over to it, picking them up. It was a black shirt, a grey jacket and a green pair of pants.

There was a sudden knock at the door that made me jump slightly.

"Hello? Can we come in?" A feminine voice called from the other side. I realized that it was probably the team that had saved us.

"Y-yeah, you can come in." I replied. The door opened and two women walked in.

They were both of pale complexion, with brown hair and brown eyes. One of them was slightly taller than me, and had wavy locks of hair on one side of her face dyed a caramel color. She wore a beret on the top of her head, a scarf around her neck, a brown long sleeve shirt, black pants, black boots and a brown belt with crosshairs for a buckle and bullets strapped to it.

The other wore an outfit consisting of a brown top and brown shorts with gold trimming on both that resembled armor. Underneath she wore what looked like a black undersuit. Her outfit's colors perfectly matched the color of her hair, her eyes, and her bunny ears.

Bunny ears.

Bunny ears?

I looked at the bunny ears on top of the girls head. They looked incredibly real. Not only did they look real but they also matched the color of her hair. The girl with the bunny ears noticed I was looking at her and started to get really timid, grabbing her arm and looking down. At the same time her ears folded down.

Wait are those real!?

"It's good to see that you're awake," The woman with the beret said, "How are you feeling?"

"Uh- Y- Yeah I'm feeling fine. I'm surprised my wound healed so quickly." I replied, placing my hand over where my wound would have been.

"Aura does some pretty incredible things," The woman said. "I'm Coco Adel, and this is my teammate Velvet Scarlatina. Go ahead and get dressed, there's a lot of things we've got to do."