"Wake up…Wake up…. Wake Up!" A voice shouted into the young man's ear. Opening his eyes he was met the form of a young girl with brown hair and gray eyes, she had a tan complexion and spots all over her face and arms.
"Huh… what?" the young man groaned.
"Get up Adam. It's time for the entrance exam." She informed him. The said boy just sat up and looked around realizing that there were only a few people on the floor now.
"Must've overslept. Ilia, why didn't you wake me as soon as possible?" he asked her, still feeling a little groggy as he grabbed his forehead.
"Because you needed some sleep since you stayed up all night watching over me again." Ilia replied as she glared at the older male. "I told you I don't need you looking over my shoulder 24/7, I can take care of myself."
Adam gazed at her face with a glare as he stood up before sighing to himself and shook his head in acceptance.
"Okay fine, but you know I don't exactly trust humans nor do they trust us."
"I know but still… If you gave them a chance maybe things will be different." She said as she pushed some strands behind her hair.
"Ilia, things are never gonna change between the faunus and humans unless we do something about it. To them we are nothing more than low class-scum that bend over backwards for them as to us they are nothing more than power-hungry monsters that will do anything to remain in control." Adam said as he continued brushing his teeth and Ilia spitted out the toothpaste and saliva into the sink.
"Okay so when exactly am I allowed to hang out with other humans?" she asked him, closing her locker as she was dressed in her combat attire.
She was wearing a black stealth suit with short legs with a zipper in the middle. Over it she has navy blue belts with gold buckles. Lastly, she had on black boots with a cuff and simple black glove on her right hand.
"When I'm dead." Adam finished closing his own locker and picking his shotgun-sword. He wore a long-sleeved black suit jacket with a red-shirt with black line underneath with long black pants and black shoes with red soles and black gloves with red emblems. His jacket was half buttoned exposing his shirt and collar.
"I rather not have you dead when making friends Adam besides we can't hide ourselves forever." Ilia stated as she walked up to him and put on his glasses. "I still can't believe you got rid of your mask, it was the only thing to help you control your semblance."
"You mean limit, Ilia." Adam corrected her as he went over to a mirror, his companion following him. He stared at himself as he fixed his glasses, gazing into his own red eyes. Eyes that reminded him of all the terrible things he has done. "My mask was a limiter to help me channel my semblance into my sword. Too bad I can only use it all in one shot."
"True, which is why we need friends to support us. That's why we're here, what's the point of doing all of this if we can't even take the time to bond with other people?" Ilia asked him as he sighed to himself before giving her a tired look.
"You're not gonna stop until I say yes, are you?" he asked.
"Pretty much. Sooooo…." She paused as she stared at him with big pleading eyes causing the latter to sigh in acceptance.
"Fine, fine. You can try and interact with them."
"Yes!" Ilia shouted before running to somewhere else causing Adam to shout at her.
"But if it fails, you owe me 20 hours of stealth training for a month!" he said as he walked in the direction where Ilia went passing Cinder's locker.
She was simply going over her stuff, double checking to make sure she had everything in place for her entrance exam.
"I need to go to the dust shop and get more dust crystals when I get the chance." Cinder reminded herself closing the door to her locker as she walked away and headed toward the cafeteria for some food.
Entering the café, she saw numerous students all from different years in the room chatting with one another. She went and got herself some tea and some biscuits before walking over the rows of numerous tables. Looking around she didn't really see anyone that she would be comfortable until she felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning she saw, Neo peering at her with a bowl of… ice cream.
"Hey there, I didn't even notice you. Don't you think it's a bit too early for ice cream?" The amber eyed girl asked but Neo just shook her head with a smile on her grin before pulling out a sign… it was small so she wasn't holding a stick.
'There's nothing wrong with eating ice cream for breakfast.' Neo then put the sign away as she scooped a small piece with her spoon and entered it into her mouth.
"Whatever makes you happy, I guess." Cinder said with a nervous smile before signaling Neo to follow her to Emerald and Mercury who was sitting with his back against the edge of the table.
"So… what do you think the initation's gonna be like?"
"Beats me, if anything it will involve Grimm and only the types that reside here in the kingdom of Vale. The exam suppose to be in a forest called Forever Fall."
"Emerald Forest, sounds like a rip off of an Indiana Jones movie only with a fantasy genre." Mercury joked before giving Emerald a flirty look. "Speaking of movies…"
"Not interested." She denied with a glare as he laughed at her response.
"Haha, so cold."
"Seems like you're having fun." Cinder interrupted sitting down next to Emerald while Neo sat on the opposite side next to Mercury.
Emerald scoffed at her statement. "As if, stupid here is just making jokes which by the way are terrible and being annoying." She finished as she took a bite out of her apple.
"Oh come on, you know you love me." He teased her.
"Shut up you little—"
"Okay." Cinder interrupted before things got out of hand. "Before we get all annoyed and irritated why don't we introduce ourselves?"
"I thought we all did that last night." Mercury said, confused at her question.
"No we didn't, Neo bump into me and kicked you in the shin while you and Emerald argued with each other and I played peacekeeper twice." Cinder said with a blank face.
"Oh." Mercury said as if a switch turned on his brain.
"I guess I should go first then since I suggested it." Cinder said as she was about to introduce herself until Emerald interrupted her.
"What are we suppose to say?"
"I don't know, your name, where you're from, and your hobbies I guess. I can't really think of much else." Cinder explained as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Uuuggghhh. Sounds too much work. Can't we just say our names and end it there?"
"Lazy ass." Emerald muttered to herself.
"I wouldn't call it lazy, seems like a strong word. I prefer the term, laidback." Mercury explained while Emerald remained glaring at him.
"Alright then, let's start. My name is Cinder, Cinder Fall. I'm from Mistral and my favorite hobbies include writing, solving puzzles and playing with fire." Cinder finished as she took a bite of her biscuit and motioned for someone else to go after her.
"Alright I go next," Mercury then stood up before taking a bow with one arm over his chest and the other out. "Mercury Black from Mistral is at your service ladies. Hobbies include saving damsel in distresses and ticking off a certain red eyed girl."
"Wow that's your introduction? You couldn't at least try to make it less annoying?" Emerald deadpanned as Mercury let out a snort of a laugh.
"Relax Chocolate Mint, I was just messing around." He called as the latter let out a small annoyed sound at the nickname. "My real hobbies include sleeping, fighting and annoying people."
"Sounds like a real charmer." Emerald said as she turned her gaze from the silver-haired teen to Cinder. "Emerald Sustrai. I'm from Mistral and my hobbies include NOYB."
"What now?"
"None of your business." She answered firmly taking another bite out of her apple.
"Wow, you are a cold stone—" Before Mercury could finish his statement, he was hit in the face with the apple causing him to fall over.
"IF you say what I think your about to say, I will cut open your mouth." She said with a glare as Cinder patted her arm.
"Now now, there's no need to fight any more so than we already have okay," Cinder said with a reassuring tone while Emerald pulled out another apple and Mercury sat up rubbing his red nose. Cinder sighed at them as she went to Neo. "Now why don't we let Neopolitan finish up?"
The said girl was almost finish with her bowl of ice cream, hearing her name called she looked up and notice that all three were staring at her with curious eyes. This cause her to look at them in confusion before her eyes lit up in realization and she quickly went under the table before bringing her head back up with another sign.
'Another sign?" Mercury thought with confusion.
'This girl has to be mute or something if she keeps doing this.' Emerald thought as she looked at the sign and then back at the petite girl. 'I wonder if she was born being mute or something.'
'Nice to meet you three. The names Neopolitan Torchwick but you can call me Neo. I like to eat sweets, my favorite being ice cream. And my hobbies include having fun, ice cream and wearing disguises.' Neo held the sign for them to read for about 10 seconds before tossing it away to somewhere and went back to eating her ice cream with her eyes filled with admiration.
The others sweat dropped at her actions. 'She must really love ice cream.'
"Well it seems like we've all introduced ourselves, I hope we all can get along well." Cinder said with a smile on her face.
"What not going to ask us to become friends?"
Cinder closed her book with a small clap before putting it inside her jacket. "Well, that's if you want to be friends but something tells me none of us fit that category."
"Yeah we're more like acquaintances at this point. Not really into the idea of making friends." Mercury said as he put his hands behind his head with a calm expression.
"Couldn't said it better myself." Emerald said with a small smirk on her face as Neo nodded her head relentlessly, her cheeks full of ice.
'Attention all first-year students please report to Beacon cliffs for initiation. I repeat; all first-year students report to Beacon Cliffs for Initiation.' The speaker echoes through the lunch hall alerting all first years that it was time.
"Looks like that's our cue." Mercury said before flipping himself up onto the floor and started walking. "Alright, let's get this thing over with." He said with a bored look on his face.
"Hey! Don't go acting all cocky and arrogant, tin man." Emerald shouted at him, throwing her finished apple in the trash before following Mercury.
Cinder let out a small frown as she gazed at the two teenagers. "Something tells me that this is going to be a long year." She said with a sigh as she started walking as well before she stopped herself. "Oh right, Neo, are you ready for the- huh?" Cinder turned back around to see that the ice cream girl was gone. No bowl or the girl herself as if she was never there to begin with.
"That's weird, for a second I thought she-?" Cinder spoke once more before feeling a tug on her jacket. Looking behind she saw Neo with a smile on her face, gazing at her with excitement in her eyes and swinging her umbrella 360 upwards with her right hand.
"That's twice you've done that, impressive." She spoke curious about Neo's abilities at stealth. "So, you ready for the exam?"
Neo just nodded her head before grabbing Cinder's hand and started running causing the latter to stumble a bit before regaining her balance and follow her.
From afar, four pairs of eyes were watching the two run off. Two that were sitting in the shadows away from the crowd and the other two watching with their expressions full of curiosity.
Salem was gazing at the Emerald Forest as she waited for her students to arrive here. She wondered what new things she would learn about from these first years. Yes she does do this initiation every year but something told her that this particular group of first years would be different from the previous ones.
Hearing rapid footsteps behind her, she saw numerous students approach the rendezvous and stopped to catch their breaths while others walked slowly and took a breath of fresh air as they gazed at the forest in front of them.
"Huh, so does anyone know what were actually going to be doing for this thing?" Mercury asked while Neo came beside him and stared at the view before her moved her lips as if she was performing a wolf whistle.
"That is where your initiation will take place." Salem explained as she began walking in front of them, passing by each student. "Everyone of you have been training for years to become huntsman and huntresses, here you will be evaluated by your abilities. And today you will be given teammates."
'Teammates?' Cinder thought, raising an eyebrow at the word teammates.
"Your teammates will be those at first sight, in short those who you make eye contact with after you land will be your partner for the next four years."
"What!?" Mercury and Emerald exclaimed while Salem chuckled at their surprised faces.
"Four years…" Cinder repeated to herself.
"Yep four years, so it's best that you pair up with somebody you can work well with." Salem said. "After you tag yourself a partner, you will go to an abandoned temple and find several relics. From there, each pair will obtain one relic and guard it with their lives and return to the cliff to be graded at the end of the exam." She explained.
Now that threw a wrench in the works, Cinder was prepared to being a lone wolf but she wasn't ready to have someone as a partner for the next four years. Acquaintances sure but partners… she wasn't sure.
'I just hope I found someone I can adapt with…' Cinder thought as everyone took their positions on the metal platforms. Then they all noticed a chicken at the far end of the right on the last platform.
"What's with the chicken?" Emerald asked.
"Demonstration." They all turned their and saw Hazel walking with a scroll in his hands.
"So how are we getting into the forest?" A girl with freckles and brown hair asked him.
'Demonstration?' Neo questioned with a giant question mark appearing above her head.
"Like this." Hazel said cryptically as he pressed a button and suddenly the platform sprung forward launching the chicken as they saw it fly flew the air into the trees.
"Anymore questions?"
'So blunt.' Everyone thought sweat dropping at Hazel's blank face.
"Now, it's time for your initiation." Salem announced as she walked over to the side with Hazel and returned to gazing at the Forest. "Take your positions."
Everyone stood on a platform waiting to be launch to the skies. All platforms went in random order and not down the row.
Suddenly the girl with brown hair and freckles was launched into the screaming with glee as she sailed through the air, back at the platform the boy that was next to her just sighed at her excitement.
Next was a girl with black hair and green eyes with a white skirt stared at the forest before being launched off into the forest. Afterwards another girl with the same hair and eyes but wearing a red skirt was launched into the air.
Mercury gazed at them both wondering if they were twins or something before feeling the platform shift under his feet ready to move. He took a stance and then looked over to Emerald with a grin.
"SYOTOS." He said before was launched into the air. "Woohhhhoooooo."
"I really hate that guy." Emerald said as she was launched right after Mercury. Then back at the far end, Adam readied himself as he moved his right hand to his sword gripping it tightly as he was launched into the air.
Neo then waved her hands back and forth at Cinder with a smile on her face before she was launched into the air. Seeing the petite girl go off, Cinder took a breath before feeling the platform shift under her feet and before she knew it, she was off into the sky like everyone else.
Salem watched the as the fire girl off before turning her head towards Hazel. "Now let's see how our student fare in skydiving." She said with a smile on her face as Hazel turned on the scroll and pulled up a large screen showing different cameras set out through the forest.
Everyone had a different landing strategy as they entered the Emerald Forest.
Adam had used his shotgun to fire himself upwards to slow his momentum before coming near a tree and pull out his sword stabbing it in the tree as he slid down to the ground. Jumping off midway he landed on two other branches before landing on the ground with a roll and stood up ready to attack. Looking above he heard an echo go through the air.
Mercury shot himself in the air all over in a zig zag as if he was flying to slow down his speed before coming face to face with a tree, with this he flip himself over and aimed his feet towards the tree. Landing on the side he pressed his boots into the wood before jumping off with an air blast and came down to an opposite tree side to side before flipping in midair and landed on the ground.
"Now that, was awesome if I do say so myself."
Neo simply opened her umbrella and let the wind take her to wherever as she roam across the sky before landing in the middle of a clearing and down on the ground gently as if she was Mary Poppins.
Emerald took out her pistols before changing its form into kusarigamas and threw them to a branch before pulling herself downwards. Using her momentum she swung around the branch like she was doing gymnastics and swung upwards before doing the same to a few more trees and landed on a final branch as her target.
"Hmph too easy." She scoffed her chains retracting back into gun form.
Cinder quickly open her pouch and took out a set of bright orange dust crystals before it formed and into two obsidian swords and she grabbed them flipping herself over and found herself into the trees. She used her blades to slice into the woods and used her momentum to twirl around the tree and the blade went down to the roots, slicing off the tree in the progress.
Landing on the ground, she quickly ran into the trees to find a partner one. She didn't know who she might end up with. If anything, she kind of hoped that it would be one of three people she met yesterday.
Mercury, he seemed nice and kind of a jokester but he seems to laidback and sounded a little lazy, like everything was too much work.
Then there was Emerald, she seems like the silent and strong type of person but she looks like someone who prefers to be away from social interactions and wasn't too keen on joining anytime soon.
That just leaves…
Cinder stopped herself as she came into a clearing and was met with a familiar figure in front of her. Neo turned around at the sound of footsteps and her eyes widened at who she saw. Seeing Cinder, her eyes lit up in joy as she rushed over towards her.
"Hmhm, looks like you are my partner for the next four years. A pleasure to be working alongside you Neopo—" she was cut off when the ice cream girl gave her a cute glare and pout as if she wanted something different.
"I-I'm sorry, forgive me for saying it incorrectly. A pleasure to working alongside you Neo." She apologized as the petite girl nodded her head and gave her a curtsy with her umbrella open.
"So which way do you think the temple is?" she questioned as the petite girl simply raised her left hand and pointed to the side to her left.
"Down there?" Cinder asked as Neo nodded her head before going back Cinder and signed on her back. This cause the amber-eyed girl to shiver at the touch but relax when she realized what Neo was doing.
'I remember seeing the temple in that direction while was floating down.' she signed before returning to her front and peered up at Cinder.
"Well then, shall we?" she gestured with her hand as Neo nodded her head before running off towards that direction. Cinder let out a small giggle before running after her in that same direction.