BLUE

Chapter 3

Flares, Relics, and Giant Grimm

"Are you alright now?"

"YeeeAAAAHHHHHH-"

"I suppose not."

The two friends wandered down the Emerald Forest, Blanc supporting Evan as he continued to moan, groan, and scream in pain due to the various bruises obtained from crashing through a couple trees at terminal velocity (Aura could only do so much, even if you have a healthy amount of it).

"You'll be glad to know I bothered to check for the flare you were expected to keep an eye on, Evan." Sometimes, Blanc truely regretted his choice of friends. This was one of those times, as Evan's only response was to scream in pain once more ("AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH-") and nearly collapse again. Blanc sighed, and kept on moving forward.

While Evan had experienced one dislocation, it only took one quick push and a little burst of Blanc's semblance to push it back in, with Evan's Aura quickly repairing the muscles in the area for it seemed that Evan's soul had more braincells than the walnut some would call his brain. Nevertheless, the memory of the pain was apparently enough to keep Evan out of commission up til now, though it seemed he had finally begun to let go, as his body slowly untensed and his legs began holding his own weight again. "S-ow- so, where's the flare?"

"A couple kilometers off to the north-west. If you can move on your own, then do so." Blanc kept supporting Evan for a minute more, but even he knew when enough was enough, and began walking again.

"Alright- ow- then, let's-a-go!" Evan skipped once, twice, and fell flat on his face.

"Good job."

"Thmanks…"

Eventually, the two teenagers made their way to a somewhat clear path, finally able to catch a glimpse of their end goal: the temple.

It was actually far more majestic than they were expecting, the ornate marble pillars carved with meticulous care, and the roof stretching at least a couple meters up before connecting into a beacon which, oddly enough, seemed to be a replica of the tower at Beacon Academy. Was that on purpose, or had coincidence simply tilted their head here?

"Neat, looks way cooler than I thought!"

"Indeed…" Blanc narrowed his eyes, taking in both the temple and judging the optimal route he could take. "Alright, follow me." He began running forward while Evan was still in a trance, stumbling a little as he realized Blanc had run off.

"Oi, care to explain to me where we're goin'?"

"Where do you think?" Blanc pointed down the long road, and then behind Evan, where ten Beowolves were running forwards.

"Oh."


The two teens walked in silence, one with a beet-red face looking anywhere but her companion, the other with a shell-shocked expression as she attempted to register what had just happened.

"Ursas… Beowolves… what…"

"Meep."

The two kept their act for another four minutes, until Olivier finally managed to say a word that wasn't 'what', 'the', or 'f*ck'.

"How…?"

"U-uh… luck…?" Alex attempted to deflect with a shield as sturdy as her social skills.

"Eight Beowolves."

Alex shuddered. "T-they… tripped?"

"Five Ursa Minor."

"U-u-ueh-"

"And a GODDAMN MAJOR ON TOP OF THOSE?!" Olivier turned on her heel, staring Alex down (or tried to; Alex looked away and pulled her hood up in a vain attempt to turn invisible) as she waved her arms all around. "At best, I've fought a single Ursa Major and survived, let alone kill it and all its children!"

"…meep." With that, the conversation came to a grinding halt, for any attempt by Olivier to get answers was responded with a 'meep'.

Not that she stopped trying.

"Heck, I don't think I've ever gone up against 8 Beowolves at once! Or taken on more than 3 Ursa Minors!"

Alex simply continued her meeping.

"And that hammer! How the heck are you using that thing so effectively?! It's huge!" Olivier continued her questioning-turned-rant as they continued walking to nowhere in particular.

"…meep?"

"Most importantly, where are we supposed to go?!" She brought her head down into her hands, silently screaming.

"…north-west…"

"What?"

"Th-the temple's north-we-we-w-" Alex's stammering sped up to such a point it could be considered a frequency as Olivier grabbed her shoulders and stared.

"Really?!"

"M-m-m-m-m-e-e-e-e-"

"Alright then, let's go!" Olivier spun on the spot, looking at the sun to guess the general direction and grabbing Alex's hand before running north-west, not bothering to question either how she knew or if Alex had even gotten the right question.

"Wh-WHA-"


To the north-west of the Emerald forest stood a temple. Its walls were decorated with murals from a time long-lost, its roof collapsed long ago, its pillars on their final legs, and yet it still lived. In the middle of its floor sat a chessboard atop a small pillar carved into a stool-like cylinder. Two Knights, Two Rooks, and Two Bishops all rested on the chessboard in their respective positions, watching, waiting for the duo worthy of their value.

If Blanc and Evan had been in Group 8, perhaps they would have seen a magical sight, with the evening sun casting light on the board in a near-picturesque way. However, they were not Group 8 and therefore were greeted to the sad sight of the sunlight being blocked by a mountain casting shade directly on the chessboard. One could have compared it to some random parking lot with the disappointment emmiting from the imagery.

Not that the two had time to notice, as they were too busy running from the now-30 Beowolves that had joined in the stampede chasing the unfortunate huntsmen. Negative emotions apparently included fear, worry, and overwhelming pain from crashing right into the ground at Mach 1, and as such each Beowolf was drooling at the mouth from the banquet that was Evan Bronze.

"AAAAAAHHHHH-" Evan ran forward while Blanc kept up with a sprint and a couple sudden bursts of force behind him originating from his hands. Seeing the chessboard and pieces in the middle, Evan jumped for one of the pieces with a 'HUP-'

"OW-"

-only to crash right into Olivier, who had also been sprinting for a relic.

Do you know how speed works?

The faster you go, the more energy you build up, with the energy dispersing via either your slowdown releasing energy into the floor or suddenly if you run into something.

This fact is what makes the debate of Unstoppable Force versus Immovable Object viable, with researchers from Atlas, Mistral, Vale and sometimes Vacuo butting heads over what would happen.

However, even a first-grader in a civilian school knows what happens when two people run into one another at high, but manageable speeds.

"DAMNIT-"

"AAAAAAOOOOWWWWW-"

Evan and Olivier both fell back, yelling in pain as Aura could only do so much against your receptors overloading without removing one's sense of touch.

Blanc sighed a little as he watched the collision occur in front of him, once more lamenting his choice of friends, before looking to his right to see Alex shake a little as she looked at the Beowolves in… anticipation. That changed immediately upon seeing Blanc and Evan, however, as she immediately clammed up (though her smile didn't completely fade) and gripped her suitcase just a little harder.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, EVAN?!" Olivier stood up and immediately glared right at Evan, whose only response was to turn around at the Beowolves and shudder.

She, too, looked over and let her anger wash away with a healthy dose of fear. "...oh."

Blanc reached the temple at the same time as Alex, giving the four about sixty-odd seconds to prepare for the onslaught of Grimm.

"Alex, correct?" Blanc turned over to Alex, who seemed to shake, but answered immediately with a 'Y-yes'.

"Weapon?"

"Battlea-axe…"

Blanc nodded, closed his eyes for seven long seconds, and then reopened them with a confident glare. "Very well."

"Alex, run right at them. I'll support you with my Semblance; it lets me create force from anything I'm directly touching." He turned to Evan and Olivier. "Evan, same as usual. Olivier, split them."

The two nodded, with Evan stepping back and pointing his rifle while Olivier stepped forward, slipping some Dust canisters into her shotgun. Neither had a smile on their face, instead focused and ready.

Alex, on the other hand, let a small smile grace her face.

The next few minutes flew by, but at the same time lingered and wrung out every last millisecond in the group's mind.

Oh, they didn't remember every last movement they did, the amount of Beowolves they killed, or how long they spent (7 minutes and twenty-seven seconds, quite a long amount of time to be fighting non-stop, but not the longest in Beacon's history). All that really mattered was that they lived and actually won against such a number of Grimm with minimum injuries.

In the end, Blanc Dorado and Evan Bronze completed their initiation at 4:14:19 PM, with Olivier Lavender and Alex Ulexite finishing right behind them at 4:14:21 PM.

For a brief snippet of context, the Beacon initiation required students to retrieve and bring a relic to a pickup location up a (currently-damaged, similar to the Grim Reaper leaving their mark upon the mortal realm with their double-bladed scythe) mountain within 45 minutes, lest they are automatically failed.

It's one of the many reasons Beacon is considered both the best academy and the most challenging one to succeed in (as well as why it's the one with the most complaints filed against it).

Indeed, on average only 75% of students would actually make it in, which seems like a large number until you recognize that A. Beacon has the most stringent acceptance system, only taking in the best of the best, and B. The other three academies will only fail about 30 Huntsmen and Huntresses during Initiation.

Beacon normally fails 32.

Evan stepped to the side once Blanc handed his Relic over to a teacher, and proceeded to gag a little from overexertion. Blanc looked over with mild worry, but Evan wordlessly gave a thumbs up.

Blanc nodded, and looked over at Olivier and Alex, who had just given their Relic over as well (both Relics were Rooks, incidentally).

As of right now, Alex was as she had always been for the 23 hours Blanc had known her, and yet not so.

The awkwardness was there in spades, true, and perhaps her embarrassment from Olivier's shenanigans (the current one being whispering in her eye when Alex least expected it) was normal, and yet there was something else.

A little spark in her eyes, one quickly fading and yet still holding strong. It wasn't the glint of nervous confusion Alex had had up to that point, but rather of a warrior who just tasted battle and yearned for more.

Looking at that, Blanc couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Evan gagged behind him, but did not actually hurl owing to the lack of a lunch.


"We did good, didn't we?"

The three friends and one mess of a human being clinked four glasses together (non-alcoholic, not that didn't stop some people from acting drunk anyways), with Evan posing the question to a currently-grinning Olivier.

As of right now, they were sitting in a large amphitheater, two large holographic screens reading out 'Beacon Initiation Ceremony' floating above a large crowd of students, parents, and siblings sitting on benches circling the lower floor.

Said lower floor had a couple tables sitting around with soda, water, and other drinks for the students. Quite notably, there were far less students now than in the morning (about half), making Blanc raise his eyebrow while taking a sip of blank water.

"Of course we did! Who the hell can kill, like, a thousand Beowolves with only three teammates?" Evan grinned as he spoke, a couple drops of his fizzy Cola splashing out of his cup due to his exuberation.

Alex remained silent, preferring to focus on the porcelain floors where perhaps her hopes of escaping the social interaction may be found and achieved.

The floors gave no wisdom, and as such Alex simply whimpered.

"Say, your sister didn't come today, right?" Olivier turned over to Blanc, her iced tea sitting forgotten in her hand.

"No, she had some last-minute work thrown onto her." Blanc let out a sigh, but otherwise didn't let his posture fall much. His movements did have a slightly sluggish feel, however, though some of that may have come from the tiring Initiation.

"Damn, that sucks." Evan chugged his drink, coughing a little in the process and letting a few more drops hit the floor. "Agh, that smarts!"

"Shouldn't've drunk that fast, nerd…" Olivier laughed a little, still not taking one sip from her drink.

"All students, please make your way to the back of the stage." Miss Goodwitch's voice came on upon the speakers, prompting Alex to rush away, Blanc to lightly place down his glass, Evan to sloppily slam his glass down, and for Olivier to remember she had a drink in her hand.

"Oh CRAP-" Olivier chugged her drink, coughing a little in the process and letting a few more drops hit the floor. "DAMNIT-"

"Shouldn't've drunk that fast, nerd…"

"Shut up, asshole…"

"Children, please," Blanc grabbed the both of them by the collars, "We have business to attend to." He dragged the other two, letting their argument go in one ear and exit from the other.

Entering the backstage (very large, but also very bland), they were greeted to a large group of accepted students, all chatting about various things from the weather (a fine day, with only a few clouds in the sky and a couple leaves blowing north, east, south, west, and all in between outside) to rumours of various groups.

"Did you hear that one group took out a Nevermore, Deathstalker, and multiple Ursa Majors all at the same time?!"
"Yeah, Pyrrha Nikos was a part of that group, right?"

"The championship fighter?!"

Evan groaned at the name.
"The one and only! Hey, they also said the heiress to the SDC was part of the group!"
"What?! She's here?! I thought she'd be going to Atlas Academy!"

Blanc's eyes hardened just a little.

"Yup! We've got one hell of a year! There's even someone who skipped two years! People say she stopped, get this, Roman Torchwick!"

"Woah… I've gotta go find them now!"

"Come on, they're over there!"

"Move it!"

"Beat it!"

A mob of people began running towards an indistict group of colours, all clamouring to either meet Pyrrha Nikos, the heiress to the richest company in the world, or the 15 year-old prodigy.

Olivier sighed, Evan slammed his head against the wall ("Please do not damage the wall.") and Blanc still looked just a little less calm.

All the while, a hooded symbol of anxiety stood at the corner, staring at the giant mob in second-hand horror.

"Blanc Dorado."

Blanc looked over at Evan. "Get up, we're up now."

"Olivier Lavender."

Olivier stood up, and looked over at Alex. "Come on now, we're up!"

"Alex Ulexite."

Alex slowly began walking up, shaking all the while.

"Evan Bronze."

"Zzz…hm? Oh, crap." Evan stood up slowly, using a sniper rifle to prop himself up.

One by one, each of the four made their way to the front entrance, all the while a polite applause rang out for them. The same applause the Team before them had gotten, and the one before that, and so on and so forth.

Blanc stepped forth, hands behind back and rimrod straight. Evan came up behind with his hands behind his head, his sniper rifle latched safely onto his back.

Olivier came next, with a light hop to her step and a jolly smile upon her face.

Alex came last, slowly walking forward before stopping suddenly, too frightened to move another step.

That is, until Miss Goodwitch stepped forward to Alex, and whispered a couple words to her. No one else could hear what she said, but whatever it was helped Alex, as she began walking again. Slowly, shakily, but eventually she made her way to a position next to Olivier.

Headmaster Ozpin stood patiently all the while, but there was a little chitter from above.

"...the four of you retrieved your group's white rook pieces. From this day forth, you shall be Team…" He paused, for dramatic effect, before concluding.

"...BLUE."

The entire room was silent for a moment, prompting Ozpin to continue.

"Led by Blanc Dorado."

The crowd began to clap yet another lukewarm applause.

Olivier gave a slight curtsy, Blanc didn't move an inch, Evan grinned and waved, and Alex turned the other direction.

"We wish you luck, good Hunters." With that last line, Ozpin waved them off and began reading out the next group.

"Jaune Arc."

The crowd let out a light applause.

"Nora Valkyrie."

Yet another light applause.

"Pyrrha Nik-" And the crown went wild. The sound was powerful enough to make an ancient Grimm dragon fall to its knees, the thunder strong enough to shake the entire school.

It was so loud, in fact, that no one noticed a "Lie Ren" walk upon the stage until about a week later when the hype behind having Pyrrha 'Invincible' Nikos at their school had died down and combat classes had begun. To be specific, someone reported a non-student in the school, but that is a tale for another story.

The applause took a solid five minutes to lower to the point that Ozpin could attempt to begin to quiet the crowd down, and another three to finally stop.

"Ahem. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces." He allowed a second, louder applause to ring for a minute before tapping his microphone, causing a feedback loop to ring out and silence the audience. "From this day forth, you work together as Team JNPR. Peace, peace," he then said to stamp out the cheers before the school fell to pieces. "Thank you. We hope you learn to stand as strong as the rooks you retrieved, and your leader, Jaune Arc, represents the steadfast, sturdy, and focus of their movement."

There was silence for a brief moment, Ozpin already placing his hands over his ears in preparation for-

"WHAT?!"
"NOT PYRRHA?!"
"SCAM!"
"DECEIT!"
"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"

- a sudden outburst of various people, all screaming at the top of their lungs for the replacement of Jaune Arc.

Evan winced just a little at the reaction. "You'd think he just announced the SDC going bankrupt or something…"

Blanc simply looked forward, his eyes narrowed.

The blond with the name of Arc looked around with fear in his eyes before his partner, the red-headed Pyrrha Nikos gave him a light shoulder bump and a friendly smile. While a shoulder bump didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, it seemed to give him a little bit of reassurance, and he gave a nervous grin in turn.

"You think they'll keep on yelling?"

"Probs, yeah."

"Give it another two minutes. They'll tire out."

All that came from Alex was a little 'meep'.


Blanc's prediction turned out to be true.

Not because the crowd magically became saints and kindly grandpas and grandmas, but rather because they got too tired.

Indeed, one could still see the raw hatred and vitriol in the audience's eyes, but in the end their throats mattered more than a championship fighter's status in her team.

Ozpin continued for a while yet, bringing up a team called 'RWBY' who got a fairly large applause from the students, and another called 'CRDL' (Pronounced Cardinal, but Evan couldn't help but point out how close it was to 'curdle'), alongside various others that Evan didn't bother to remember, Olivier only remembered to see who she wanted to date, and Blanc remembered for networking reasons.

Alex continued her foolproof plan of ignoring as many people as possible in the large, ornate Beacon hallways, which clearly was working amazingly as she had three people around her, two of which were actively trying to engage in conversation.

"We've done it! We're Beacon students now!" Evan walked to Alex's right, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yup! Though, I can't help but feel a little incompetent…" Olivier also had a big smile, though it was dampened somewhat by her melancholic eyes.

"What, 'cuz of Pyrrha Nikos?"

"I was thinking more about her team and RWBY. They took out tens upon tens of Grimm, including a Nevermore and a Deathstalker!" Olivier looked over to Alex, who flinched just a little. "What about you? Whaddya think about all this?"

"U-uh, it's… cool…?" Alex quickly deflected with two of the holy words of any introvert.

"Yeah, it is!" Olivier was about to go on, but Blanc spoke for the first time in ten minutes, his words piercing through the atmosphere.

"Relax, you two. We're at our dorm now." He tapped his Scroll upon a sleek mahogany door, letting a light click run its course before turning the handle to be introduced to a nice apartment, with four beds sitting a couple meters apart from one another in a row.

"Woah, it's so nice!" Olivier rushed in and jumped right onto a bed, bouncing up a couple times upon it.

"Yeah, leagues better than the old school!" Evan threw his hat right onto another bed's handle before walking over to a pile of suitcases at the corner of the room. "'Aight, imma go set up my YBox now!"

"Would you like help with that?" Blanc had already gone to the suitcases, checking each one of them for damages and counting them.

"Yup!" Evan dragged his two suitcases out, opening one to reveal a TV with a YBox Seven sitting atop haphazardly. Nevertheless, the TV remained undamaged, and so did the YBox and its controllers. "Say, Blanc, do we know what A…Alex's suitcases are?"

Blanc turned to Alex, who had just taken her fourth step in the room. "Fair point. How many suitcases did you bring?"

"O-one…"

"This one, correct?" Blanc pulled another suitcase out, with a light metallic sheen and not much else in the way of accessories and decorations.

"M-mhm…" Alex took another two steps over and lightly pulled the suitcase to her before walking to the furthest bed, sitting down, and opening her suitcase to prep her area.

"Oi, Blanc! Help me with the TV, wouldya?"

"Very well, very well." Blanc moved his suitcases to the second bed and walked over to Evan's struggles with his TV.

"Wait, you're setting up the YBox?! Let me at it!" Olivier rolled right out of her bed and jumped to the other two, picking up the YBox and its many cables. "Oh god, this is tangled!"

"I can't help it, alright?!"

"You really can, Evan."

"You two?! Damnit…"

Alex simply continued sorting her suitcase out, letting the banter from the three childhood friends filter from one ear to the next.

Perhaps Beacon wasn't such a good idea after all, even if it had far bigger Grimm to fight.


Author's Note:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I regret to inform you all that I am, in fact, still alive.

Life, as always, decided to punch me (alongside many, many others) in the gut, hence why this not only took longer but is also far shorter.

With that said, I did live, and as such deliver this new chapter without either a beta or dignity. Hopefully I can manage to release the next chapter within thirty days.

Reviews are not only appreciated, but encouraged. Especially criticism, for I have never been one to believe in empty praise or a simple 'your story sucks lol'.

- Fails Salot

(Note: Fanfiction Dot Net's font looks really nice. I am not sure as to why it does, but it does, hence why I still use this god-forsaken site. Though, it seems the developers have finally fixed their Wi-Fi routers and are at last working on the site again, which is nice.)