Author's note: I am so sorry to not have this prepared faster. I think it was still made in relatively good time, but I have been busy with college life, and I need to focus on that more than anything. Don't expect this to be gone, talking to the few people who have followed this story, which, thank you so much for that! I hope I can entertain you with this story. Anyway, I will have to slow the story down more, since I need to focus on real life obligations, so I hope you understand. I will still try to get chapter four out when I can.
Hope you enjoy the chapter! Have a good day!
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.(Starting chapter)
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Chapter 3: Beacon Academy
Azura woke up to the shuffling of feet going towards the bathroom. Pyrrha made her way to the bathroom with a yawn, before closing the door. A groan exited his mouth, his back sore from sleeping on the floor. He stretched and pushed himself up into a crouching position, checking his scroll, seeing a message from Coco's mother telling him to visit if he needed anything, sending a quick response back, saying that he would. Before shutting the scroll screen off, he checked the date, seeing that it was Monday, April 15th, and that it was currently seven in the morning.
The first day of Beacon filled Azura with excitement. He had never been a student that went to school, since he was homeschooled by Luna. He wondered if he would be taught anything new, hoping that the kingdoms were something they would teach. His mother taught him about Atlas and Vale, seeing as she traveled in those places the most, but he knew very little about Mistral and Vacuo.
Azura stood up, hearing the shower running. He walked towards the closet area, careful to not wake anyone else just yet, as his shadow danced on the wall, the dawning sun casting a light blue and orange hue across the sky. Looking around, he spotted the Beacon uniforms hanging on the wall to his left. There was at least one extra uniform for everyone, including himself and Pyra, Azura grabbing one for himself. He returned from the closet, and sat on the now empty bed that Pyrrha claimed the night before. He spent the time by looking at the uniform, the clothing reminding him of a tuxedo. The black suit was lined with gold, giving it a small bit of a regal air, and was worn over a blue vest and white shirt, with a red tie to finish it off. The black dress shoes were shined and ready to be put on. A cough cut his study of the uniform off before it could get any further, and he looked to see Pyrrha standing there, a questioning look in her green eyes.
"Why are you studying the uniform?"
"Boredom."
A sound of acceptance left her mouth before she responded. "Well, the shower is open. Don't take too long though, we have four other people who will want to take one."
He waved her off, claiming the bathroom for himself. He took his shower at a decently fast pace, cleaning himself and getting into the uniform within ten minutes. He exited the bathroom, seeing Pyrrha playing around on the Beacon scroll, and the others still asleep. He took the time to look at the uniform that Pyrrha had on, the brown jacket playing off of the tan vest and white shirt that were similar to the boys uniform, same with the dress shoes she wore. The difference being the red plaid skirt and black stockings, and Azura mentally noted how good Pyrrha looked with stockings. He saw how she was still wearing the circlet on her head, keeping her red hair in check, his eyes briefly meeting hers as she looked him over as well, curious to see the male uniform.
The next to wake was Ren, thanking Azura for the uniform as he walked towards the bathroom. The process was repeated as Ren woke Nora up, struggling with waking her up for a few minutes, before she grumbled and got out of bed. She looked angry to exist, her mood changing once she came back out, looking as cheerful as ever. Azura laughed lightly seeing the change, before returning to his own Beacon scroll, looking through to see the new additions. Seeing a app just for aura levels of team JNPR with their plus two annoyed Azura, who wondered why a normal scroll didn't have such a function. Jaune was woken up next, the boy looking silly in the bunny suit, and Pyrrha blushed like crazy, until he left for the bathroom, uniform in hand.
Azura had to ask. "What was the blushing about?"
"Well, it's the mascot for the cereal I do photoshoots or. It's awkward to see it up close." Pyrrha responded.
"Never knew you did that. Are you famous or something?"
Azura looked up to see Ren and Nora staring at him like he had lost his mind.
"What?"
Pyrrha was the first to answer his obvious ignorance. "Do you not know who I am?"
"No."
"How much do you know about Mistral? And do you keep up with the news?"
"Only what my mother told me, which isn't a lot. And the local news, but that's it. Why?"
A blink of her eyes was his answer, Ren filling the silence with a verbal answer.
"You are similar to Jaune in that regard then. She is quite important over there."
"I see. I'll just continue to not care then. She must have come to Beacon for a reason."
And that was that, Jaune coming out of the shower, looking more prepared for the day. Azura finally got off of the bed he was on to wake Pyra up. She awoke with a start, her blue eyes flashing open.
"Morning." Azura stated, a small smile on his face, lightly dropping her uniform on her lap.
"Good morning." Pyra yawned, her hair covering one of her eyes.
By the time Pyra got out of the shower, Ren said that it was seven fifty. Class wasn't starting soon, so they decided that now would be a good time to place their belongings.
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.(Line Break)
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It was eight thirty in the morning, and as it turned out, none of them had very many things to place around. Pyra and Ren brought nothing but clothes with them, and Nora only had a worn out plush sloth. Jaune had a small container, that, when opened, contained issues of some comic series that he reads. Pyrrha had a small picture frame with a photo of herself with what Azura assumed was her mother and older sister. She placed that on a small mecha shift nightstand that she brought with her. Azura also had a picture frame containing a photo, one of his mother and himself when he was younger. She held him in her lap, a simple pair of leather pants and a brown shirt being worn, with her flowing white hair sliding down her back, her fox ears relaxed and her tail slightly wrapped around him.
He felt her ghost give him a motherly kiss on the cheek, her cold skin brushing against his warm, human, one. He shook out of the nostalgia trip when Pyrrha came over to him, her eyes warm as she spoke.
"I have space on my night stand if you want me to put your photo on it."
He smiled. "Thank you for letting me do so."
She took the photo from him. "Your mother is very pretty! And you two look very similar."
As her back was turned, she couldn't see him look away with a forlorn look, Luna placing a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, thanks." he coughed. "And are you saying I look feminine?"
That got a laugh from the group, who had shuffled close to see his photo, while Pyrrha hovered, horrified. Pyra nodded her agreement, giving Azura a sidelong glance. He shook his head 'yes' to her unsaid question, probably wanting to know if he was fine with the topic.
The girl was way too friendly and trusting towards him.
"They do look quite similar. And he was joking Pyrrha, you can place the photo down now."
"R-right. I knew that!"
Once it was placed down, Nora asked the question that Azura knew someone would ask.
"Wait, are you a faunus? Where is your trait? Your mother is a fox faunus and you seem to be human!"
Azura nodded. "You are half correct, I am actually half faunus, but I was born without a trait. My mother, Luna, always told me when I was a kid to never forget that I was faunus, to be proud of it. I don't intend to let her down."
Nora shouted with delight as she rushed him with a hug, and he didn't crash to the ground from the force because Luna crashed in from his other side with a hug. Azura had never felt so 'over-hugged' as he did right now, so he pushed Nora off, with help from Ren, with a laugh.
A crash from outside the door drew their attention, Jaune walking over and opening the door to see what was happening. When everyone was stacked by the door, all they saw was Weiss running down the hall.
"Ahhh! We're gonna be late to our first class!" Ruby cried out, rose petals flying as she ran by, Yang and Blake going after her. Ghost-Ruby giggled and moved to float alongside, Azura noting that she could possibly speak.
Jaune blinked a few times before speaking. "What time is it?"
Ren responded, his voice calm. "Five minutes to nine."
"When and where do we have class?" Jaune asked afterwards.
Pyrrha answered. "Grimm studies on the first floor of the Lecture halls at nine."
Azura snorted with laughter. "Shall we run after them then?"
The question didn't even need to be answered as they all rushed through the door, running through the halls and following the rose petals. They all ran as best they could, trying their best to not get in the way of the others. Nora roared with laughter, clearly delighted to be running like their lives depended on it.
"Come on, slowpokes! Run faster, Jaune! We have to work on your endurance, oh leader of mine!"
Ignoring his personal space, Nora slowed down to match his speed and picked Jaune up bridal style, picking her speed up once more. Nora was made of pure energy, that was what Azura decided was her semblance
Once they made it out of the dorm rooms, they booked it towards the main tower of Beacon, which had a central four-way stone path that they were running on towards the lecture halls. There was a statue in the center that he didn't have much time to study on his way through, and shallow ponds in the four corners of the walkway. His breath was getting heavier, but he knew he was enjoying the day one experience of school life. Luna was at his side, floating alongside him, her eyes full of joy. She flashed her fingers with a number three times. It was two minutes to nine, and they had just entered the lecture halls.
The building was actually quite similar to the dorm room halls, and they found the room they needed with relative ease. They opened the door and shuffled inside, their breathing a bit ragged, and Jaune was back on his own feet by now. They snuck inside with little grace, but the stout and fat man didn't even seem to notice. The seats were raised, and they sat behind team RWBY. The man was going on with some story, not that Azura really cared. He was grown up with a education of normal studies, Grimm, and how to survive, so he knew how most Grimm worked. Or, the Grimm he was taught about were the ones he knew.
He was going on about some Beowolves or something, and Azura was trying not to nod off, even forty minutes later, only stopping because Pyra was nudging him.
"This is important, you should be paying attention. I know we were taught the basics, but still, Professor Port could be teaching valuable lessons." She whispered.
Azura whispered back. "I was taught how to kill these basic Grimm and some more advanced ones by my mother. She taught me all that she knew." Glancing at Luna, he saw her attempting shadow puppets without shadows, and suppressed a smile.
Pyra sighed quietly. "How can you be so sure that you don't ne-"
"I do, sir!"
After taking in Pyra's 'we will talk about this later' look, Azura looked down to see Weiss looking absolutely livid. And it was wonderful to see the cold-hearted Schnee actually heated, in Azura's opinion. So she could feel.
"Well then, why don't we find out!"
Professor Port's voice rang out, and a cage was suddenly to his side. Those supply ninjas were at it again! Azura decided he would catch one at some point. Weiss was dismissed to get her combat gear, leaving Azura with the quiet to think.
The Grimm inside the cage was the Boar type Grimm, the Boarbatusk. It's bone-like horns were sharp and deadly, and armor lined its sides and back, and it was hard to pierce the armor of a Boarbatusk. Except it had one huge weakness, that being the tunnel vision it gets when charging. It allowed for a huntsman to simply sidestep it and flip it upwards on its backside, and a simple stab to its exposed chest is enough to kill it.
She returned and readied herself for the cage to open. He heard Ruby and her team cheering for her, a warm smile gracing his lips as he looked at it. What a good set of team members she had.
"Ruby! I am trying to focus!" Weiss practically killed Ruby with a glare.
Azura had a single thought. What a selfish snob.
"Oh...sorry." Ruby said quietly.
The beast was released a few seconds after, and Weiss sidestepped it with ease, only barely missing the correct timing needed to trip the Grimm. Ruby once more cheered for her, and Azura had to wince when Weiss lost her focus, dropping her weapon. Even he could feel bad for the Schnee.
The girl recovered with the grace of a dancer, moving swiftly to grab her weapon again. The Boarbatusk charged once again, with Weiss stopping it with her family semblance, the glyph popping into existence. It broke, the Boarbatusk flipping on its back as Weiss darted forward, her rapier piercing its heart. The fight was over, ended within seconds.
With that, Professor Port ended his hour long class. Weiss practically stomped out of the class, with Ruby trying to give chase.
"Sheesh, what's her problem?" Jaune questioned, his voice low.
As students shuffled out of the lecture hall, either with a free hour or another class, Azura checked the class schedule. The schedule they had placed them in a history class for the tenth hour, and he let out a small cry of joy.
"What're you so excited about?" Pyra asked.
Azura grinned. "We have history next!"
Ren walked over to join in. "I didn't take you for a person who liked history. And you clearly didn't seem that interested in Grimm Studies."
Azura laughed, feeling Pyra's gaze burning into him. "Well, I've already learned a lot of what first year Grimm Studies might hold from my mother, so this class isn't entirely needed. But with history, I only know Vale history and a bit of Atlas history. It'll be fun to learn new stuff!"
They joined the rest of team JNPR out in the halls, taking a slower pace to the third, and top, floor of the lecture halls. They had ten minutes until the next class, and it was in the same building anyway.
"So, let me get this straight." Ren started off, looking slightly confused. "You were taught about all this stuff on the Grimm by your mother, but she never thought to teach you history?"
Azura thought of how funny it would be if Ren could see the pout she was putting on right now, before replying.
"Well, yeah. She deemed that to be more important than learning the history of all four kingdoms. But, she at least taught me the history of Vale, and what she knew of Atlas."
Not to mention that she really only traveled to Atlas and Vale.
"Did she teach you based off of memory?" Pyrrha asked, looking over at him past Jaune.
"Yep. I would say she was pretty well-versed in what she taught."
Azura was sure that Ren would ask another question, but when he looked over, the boy was missing. Nora had dragged him to the left of Pyra, and the three were 'discussing' something about pancakes, or entertaining Nora with the topic, he wouldn't know.
"So, all of your knowledge is the same as your mother?" Jaune asked.
Azura nodded. "Pretty much. In defense of her though, she certainly knew her stuff, being a huntress and all."
"Do you come from a family of huntsmen?" Pyrrha inquired, her red ponytail bobbing slightly as they went up the stairs leading to the third floor.
Azura was silent for a moment before answering. "Yeah."
Well, his mother was the only family he knew. So, he technically wasn't lying. Didn't stop the slight amount of guilt from building up. Pyrrha and Jaune smiled at him, and he sorely wished they didn't, it just made him feel bad for lying. They entered the room and took seats in the second row on the left. Azura in the one closest to the wall, Nora the closest to the steps. Pyra was separated from her by Ren, and she seemed relieved to not talk about pancakes anymore. Team RWBY came in, Ruby quietly taking the same seat as Azura, just in the first row instead. That was followed by Blake, Yang, and then Weiss. The Schnee 'Princess' seemed to not be feeling as grumpy.
A man came speeding in through the door, and Azura could've sworn he was rapidly muttering about coffee under his breath. He briskly went through his bag, collecting what he would need for the class, before he looked up and spoke.
"Hello class! My name is Doctor Oobleck, not Professor. I worked hard to get what I needed to become one, and I would prefer to be called with my correct title. Now, let us get started with a basic topic, one that we will be covering for the following two weeks, that being the history of Vale."
Azura felt his heart sink and his head droop. He knew it was important, but he was hoping for a topic that would be new to him. Pyrrha patted his shoulder with a hand, looking amused. He groaned quietly, slumping his body backwards into the chair.
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.(Line Break)
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The hour was up and they were released, Azura's scroll saying that it was eleven. The first day was not to be a free one however, as Doctor Oobleck assigned homework, asking them to write about the origins of the kingdom of Vale. A look at the schedule showed that they had the next two hours to themselves, then Combat Class with Professor Goodwitch at two, and going for three hours in total.
Team JNPR plus two and team RWBY exited the lecture halls together, other classes still in progress, most likely for the older students. Upon discussing what they wished to do, they decided to head to the library that was nearby.
The walk was short, and almost went without issue, until Pyra spoke up near the entrance.
"Can Azura and I have a moment? You guys can go on ahead."
They agreed and shuffled on by, with Yang giving her a wink and a thumbs up. Pyra blushed slightly at the implication. Luna smirked with mirth before joining Ghost-Ruby in entering the library. Azura wondered as to when those two decided to know each other, and if he should do anything about it.
"Well, what did we need to talk about in private?" Azura asked, refocusing on the reason he was still out here.
She turned to him, and this look that demanded his attention was in her eyes.
"Despite what you may know about the Grimm, should you really be so certain that you know every single thing about the Grimm we will be learning about?"
Azura felt a need to defend himself, his pride flaring up slightly. "I am certain in my knowledge that the Grimm we will be learning about in that class is something that I am already quite familiar with."
Pyra's left eye twitched in annoyance, before she huffed. "Look, I am not here to argue with you. I'm actually quite worried that you might be underestimating the Grimm. Will you at least put in the effort to pay attention?"
Azura looked down, a bit of shame on his face. Almost arguing with his partner is not something he should do, not for something this small.
"Okay." he said, looking up. "I'll be sure to keep up with the topics."
Pyra smiled. "I'm happy to hear that. Let's go find our friends."
He gave a half-hearted hum.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, beyond you, Pyrrha, Ruby, and maybe Yang, I'm not so sure I am friends with the others."
"What? Why would you say that? Ren, Nora, and Jaune like you! Blake is quiet, and hasn't seemed to interact with any one of us, and Weiss is-oh...this is about her?"
"Yeah." Azura answered.
Pyra sighed. "What's the big deal with that? It's been one day, and you're acting like she wronged you."
"She's a Schnee. That's reason enough, not like she does much to help herself with that attitude of hers."
"And how different are you acting?!"
Azura felt his anger grow a little. "Don't compare me to her. Look, the SDC have wronged the Faunus for so long. How would me calling her out for what she is make me the bad guy?"
Pyra physically growled. "Alright, fine. Be that way! You clearly won't hear me beyond your bias against her. You want to compare her to her family instead of her character? Fine! Maybe I was wrong to partner with you."
And with that, she walked off, anger rolling off her in waves. Azura failed to see her problem, walking away from the library entrance, back towards the Beacon tower. After a few minutes of wandering with his thoughts to keep him company, he finally came back to his senses when he bumped into something, finding himself in a closed off garden, away from prying eyes. Other than Headmaster Ozpin, who seemed slightly surprised to find Azura there.
"Well, I hardly expected to find one here in the gardens on the first day of the academic year."
"Oh, Headmaster Ozpin! I'm sorry to have bumped into you. I was just wandering aimlessly when it happened." Azura said frantically.
"It's hardly a problem. And please, call me Ozpin when in a casual setting. Now, what seems to be your problem? You seemed quite lost in thought, angry ones at that." Ozpin said, gesturing towards a bench as he sat down.
Azura took a seat, taking a deep breath, as to not snap at the Headmaster.
"I...well, me and my partner have gotten into a argument."
Ozpin hummed. "It seems to be a common thing to argue with partners on the first day this year." He said, chuckling. "Just a few hours ago, Miss Rose was trying to figure out why Miss Schnee was angry with her. While the argument is over, it does seem like they have yet to talk about it."
Azura looked down, feeling calmer, before responding. "I guess it is a bit common. Pyra thinks I am being biased towards the Schnee, and we argued for a bit before she left."
"Well, calling her by her family name in that manner will certainly cause problems."
Azura looked up, confused. "What for?"
Ozpin shook his head. "If you refuse to see her as anything but a Schnee, would I be correct to assume you have some reason to dislike her family?"
Azura breathed out, feeling the need to be defensive. "Of course I do! The unfair treatment of Faunus, no, the unfair treatment of their workers in general is barbaric."
"Is that all?"
"What do you mean?! Of course there is mo-"
Azura froze, realizing what had just happened. "You tricked me, sir." He said, looking at the gray haired man.
Ozpin smirked, tapping his cane on his boot once. "I have no idea what you mean. I simply helped you find the wrong part of your argument."
He stood up, gathering his mug of coffee, and turned around to look Azura in the eye. Azura could have sworn the man seemed older than he looked.
"I want you to think of a few things, Azura. I believe that you have the ability to become a good Huntsman, and I know that you are hiding your semblance. Do not worry, it is not obvious to those who don't think of it, but perhaps you shouldn't look like you are trying to communicate with a wall with your eyes."
He sighed. "But, that does not mean you are perfect, despite what I think your potential is. You are prideful, perhaps too much so. Sometimes, you have these notions about something, and refuse to think of it any other way. This problem you have with Miss Schnee? You believe her to be exactly like her company policies?"
Azura nodded.
"Disregard that notion. Looking at Miss Schnee, I do not see a Schnee. I see a teenager who wishes to change the image that her family name has, so she is fiercely protective of it. She knows of the wrongs her family name has caused, and despite knowing that, she is willing to hold the burden to cleanse the name." Ozpin coughed, clearing his throat. "And, we have cameras you know. Not everywhere, privacy is a thing, but I saw the comments you made to Miss Schnee before Initiation. You are entitled to an opinion, but what you displayed...well, I will be honest. They were unfair to her."
"I never thought of it like that. It's just...my family is Faunus." Azura said, voicing his thoughts.
Ozpin smiled, a bit of pity in his eyes. "And that is perfectly fine. If I recall, your mother, Luna, was a person who knew no family. It is possible that she had some, but she never found out. Your father, Rex, was the only taste of family she had. It is a tragedy that he died before you were born."
Azura let the excitement show on his face. "You knew my mother? And my father?"
"I know very little about your father, so I apologize. But, I was actually a friend of Luna Heart, back when we were both students."
Azura was about to respond, but Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground and spoke first.
"However, that is not why I bring this up. Rex was a human, and Luna was a faunus. That makes you a half-Faunus, and while I support you in your desire to want to change the way Faunus are treated, you are doing it the wrong way. Hating those that are simply marked with blood spilt by their ancestors is not fair to that person. They have not done the deeds of their past family members."
Ozpin bent down, placing the cane down for a moment to grab his shoulder. Azura looked with his yellow eyes into Ozpin's brown eyes. "I want you to take some time to think of how you can look at Miss Schnee as Weiss, who happens to be a Schnee, and not that she is only a Schnee. Look at her actions around others, but do not label her. She is her own person, as are you. I have made many mistakes in my time, young man. I do not want to say that you should not make a mistake, but I simply want to help you fix your flaws as a person. That is what a school is for."
And with that, Ozpin stood up, taking his cane once more. He turned to leave, and was stopped by Azura calling out to him.
"Wait, Headmaster!"
"If it is about the odd situation you are in, that being a part of a official team, but not in a actual team, rest assured. We will be talking about what duties you and Miss Sol will be able to do soon enough. For now, please think over my previous words. Have a good day Mister Heart, and remember, it is currently 11:30 a.m., and you have combat class at two."
With that, Azura was left alone in the private gardens.
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.(Line Break)
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Azura woke up after being shook, seeming to have fallen asleep at some point. He groaned, finally finding out how uncomfortable sleeping on a bench was. He stood up, and found Ren looking at him.
"Hey."
"What are you going to do about Pyra?"
"Hey, cut me some slack, I just woke up."
Ren sighed, but he didn't seem angry or anything. "Okay. Tell me on the way to the cafeteria. We have fourty minutes until combat class, with Professor Goodwitch."
As they walked, Azura spoke up.
"We got in an argument. And no, I don't need someone to tell me what I did wrong. Headmaster Ozpin showed me what I had done wrong. And he's right. I...well, I was being unfair to Weiss. Oh no, does she know?"
"Weiss? No, Pyra didn't say a word to Weiss. But remember, Weiss already knows what you think of her. Or, what you thought she was. If it makes you feel better, I am glad that you have sorted your thoughts out."
"Thanks, Ren."
He nodded, and they walked in a peaceful silence to the food court. When they reached it, they entered and Azura went to grab something to eat along the way, a simple salad and a bottle of water. They sat down, Ren on his scroll. After a few minutes, he spoke.
"Alright. I was just telling everyone on the team what we were doing. They'll meet us on the way. Would you prefer to talk to Pyra in private?"
Azura had just finished taking a drink of water when he answered. "Not yet. I don't want to avoid it…"
"You would just prefer to figure out what you want to say?"
"Yeah. And I can't believe this is all on the first day of classes, quite the mess, huh?"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "You can say that. It cannot be unexpected though, so I am sure it is not bad."
Azura nodded, glad that Ren was a good source for a voice of reason, and went back to eating. At 1:45 p.m., Ren left to join everyone, giving Azura a quiet 'goodbye'. A few minutes later, Azura threw his trash out, and left as well, going at a brisk pace to make his way to the training halls on time. Once he made it to the halls, he saw students walking out of the locker rooms, weapons and combat gear in hand, so he figured he would do the same. He went in, grabbed his sword, and to his surprise, found his part-casual, part-combat, gear in there as well.
Looking around, he found private stalls to change in, also realizing that this was not the same place as the original locker room, and that only guys were here.
He walked towards the private stalls, grabbing the first free one he could find. As he left the stall once more, and placed his school clothes in the locker. He felt more comfortable in his darker clothing, his black and red sweatshirt falling snugly into place, and his navy blue jeans were just comfortable to him.
He made his way to the center of the building, taking note that he was correct in thinking this was multipurpose. It was the same place that Headmaster Ozpin held his speech two days ago. Looking around, he found groups of students in the first few rows of the bleachers, all wearing their combat gear. Team JNPR were sitting with team RWBY to their side, seeing them with the help of Ren waving a arm lazily at him.
As he walked up the steps to reach them, he was stopped by Pyra, she was shifting on her feet nervously, but was still able to make eye contact with him.
"Can we talk?"
Azura agreed readily, bringing her to a empty bleacher, away from everyone.
"I'm sorry for lashing out at you, and-" Pyra said.
She was about to continue, but Azura put a hand to her shoulder to silence her.
"No, I should be the one to apologize. I ran into Headmaster Ozpin, and he gave me some advice. Advice that I should have known for a long time. I was being unfair to you, and to Weiss. I was too prideful and arrogant to admit that I was in the wrong, and I acted in a manner that I shouldn't have, and for that, I am deeply sorry. Can we be partners again?"
He looked up to see a smile on her lips. "We were always partners, Azura. One argument should not be enough to stop that. But, what will you do with Weiss?"
"I'll apologize to her as well. Our interactions weren't the best. But, I will wait until she and Ruby make up for whatever reason they argued for."
Pyra nodded, then nudged him and pointed in one direction. He ignored Luna sitting down next to him, and looked over to see Professor Goodwitch had walked onto the stage, her voice reaching far to the students sitting around.
"Welcome to combat class. I am Professor Goodwitch, and I will be teaching you how to better yourself; in combat, with certain environments, aura, and even your semblances. I will be blunt, this is the most important class that we have to offer, and if I were to catch you not paying attention, I will take action."
She let her sharp gaze run over all of the students, making sure that they were paying attention.
"Now, there are important matters to be attended to that were not handled earlier, so I will be having only four students fight against each other this time. However, I will be having an extended class tomorrow for the rest of you who will not fight, since you are the last of the first year classes to be here each day. Consider this a short class, one that will not happen fequently. Now, shall we begin?"
Not waiting to be answered, Professor Goodwitch had her scroll in hand, a overhead screen turning on, with two boxes that held a question mark in it. Below, there were bars that were currently at full capacity, labeled as 'Aura'.
"Now, let's see who will be facing off."
The first box flashed, and showed Ruby in it, while the other did the same, and showed Azura in the other. Azura threw on his best deadpan look he could.
"Honestly, fighting against the prodigy? What terrible luck."
"Good luck!" Pyra said as he stood up.
Azura chuckled. "Right. Thanks."
He stepped on to the arena with Ruby, Professor Goodwitch leaving on another set of stairs. Before they seperated, Ruby spoke to him.
"Hey, let's have some fun this match!"
"You bet." Azura replied.
As she walked away, ghost-Ruby watching her go as she stood next to Yang. At least she hasn't noticed my semblance to seeing ghosts and stuff, he thought. He knew he would have to deal with it at some point, though. Speaking of ghosts, Azura looked over at Luna and shook his head. He wasn't ready to have his semblance be shown off. She pouted, but agreed anyway, moving off to the side. Ruby turned around after making it halfway between the center of the arena and the edge of it, Azura making his way to the same area, but opposite of her.
"The fight ends when the first student reaches 15% aura, knocked outside the arena barriers, or is found unable to continue fighting. Are both fighter ready?" Upon their agreement, Goodwitch looked to her scroll, and pressed a button. "Begin!"
Azura had sword and pistol in his hands within a second, with a lightning magazine in already. He watched her for as long as he was allowed, before she zoomed towards him at a speed that he could barely keep up with, dodging to the side as she slashed her scythe where he was. He barely had any time at all to prepare himself when she moved again, managing to parry her weapon to the side through luck more than anything. He shot two bullets, the lightning dust being a shock to her nerves, but she held on to her weapon, taking it in both hands and shooting a point blank sniper dust round, which sent him flying.
Recovering as fast as he could, knowing he could not afford to lose time, he saw how far of a distance she was from him. A glance at the board told him that she was at 92%, while he was already at 93%. Another round of sniper fire came at him bouncing off of his aura, and Azura knew that the rounds were too fast for him to stop until he got closer. He started sprinting towards her, taking another two shots, his aura at 72% when he got to her. Shooting twice at her, he hit her leg, seeing the jolt stopping her leg from reacting as fast, Azura taking his chance to slash at her aura. When she could, her semblance boosted her forward, her blade slicing towards his pistol hand, which Azura dodged with all he could.
He was suddenly very glad for all those grueling training days his mother put him through. Giving chase, they followed the same routine for a small amount of time, slowly chipping away at each other. After a minute of this, Azura learned that Ruby had the stamina of a goddess, his breathing starting to be ragged, while she simply seemed to be slightly short of breath. Rose petals were everywhere, with the older ones wilting and dissappearing rapidly. He stood in the center of the arena, watching her like a hawk while he caught his breath somewhat. His aura was at 47%, and he was glad Ruby seemed to have a smaller aura pool, hers being at 32%. Scratch that, he was at 40%, the little minx just shot him! He shot a mock pout at her as she stuck her tongue out.
Feeling prepared to go back at it, he ran towards her, shooting another three shots of lighting dust at her, seeing only one connect on her wrist, her weapon clattering to the ground as the shock attached to her weapon. She yelped when Azura dashed towards her even faster, pinning her to the ground, and stabbing at her aura. Seeing his chance at ending it, he raised his blade, sinking it towards her, only for him to hit rose petals.
Despite his impressive display of speed, he was no match for the girl, her weapon already slamming into him. He was on the ground in a instant, his pistol already sliding across the ground, with rose petals going with it. He let go of his sword as she pressed a boot on his forearm, the other foot on his chest, and her scythe head pointed towards his throat. Were her eyes always this captivating when she was in 'battle mode'?
"Surrender."
"I surrender." He called out, making sure Goodwitch could hear him. Looking over while on the ground, he saw her aura at 19%, while he was at 23%. So close.
The call for the end of the fight was made, with Ruby given the victory. She got off of him and put her weapon away, offering him a hand up. He took it, letting go once he was standing, and leaned over to her.
"You know, I'm going to smell of your rose-scented shampoo for the rest of day."
Ruby blushed. "Shut up. I don't need to think of that!"
"Also, you're a dominating person when you want to be." Azura said, a low laugh leaving him as she lightly punched him.
"Trying to soften the blow of your loss?"
Azura faked a gasp. "How did you know? Some scary pordigy you are."
"Normal knees!" She whined.
He blinked. "What?"
"N-nothing."
Professor Goodwitch coughed, waiting for them to finish. When they were silent, she spoke.
"Now, this is where I tell the two students who fought what they can improve upon. Miss Rose showed excellent usage of her semblance, and showed that one must use what they can to keep the advantage. But, she made the mistake of underestimating her opponent, as well as not having any clear plan to attack, going with the flow, which can be fatal in a real situation. Mister Heart gave an admirable try at a strategy that would work in his favor, and clearly showed his knowledge of his body and weapons, as well as an ability to understand what his opponent would do." she paused. "But, he ended up falling for the trap of believing the battle was over, and trying to win a fight of attrition that he knew he would lose. The thing I will be most critical in saying is this; Mister Heart, whatever your reasons could be, do not act like some will not notice the fact that you refused to use your semblance. I do not care why you would do such a thing, I am telling you to use your semblance, as you clearly fight like one who would fight with his semblance."
Azura paled slightly. "Of course, Professor. I will keep your words in mind."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Good. You two are dismissed to freshen up in the locker rooms. Don't stay there for long."
They walked the short distance towards the locker rooms, Professor Goodwitch speaking in the background to start the last match of the class, the two only speaking when they had to part ways.
"That was a awesome fight, Azura! We should do it again sometime." Ruby said, excited as she thought about it.
Azura nodded, replying with a smile. "Totally. You were a force to be reckoned with."
"So were you. Well, I'll see you in a bit, on the bleachers."
"Yep."
After taking a quick shower to get rid of the sweat and smell of roses, and putting his school uniform back on, Azura put his gear away in the locker, same with his battle/casual clothing. He assumed the supply ninjas would clean them, like how the clothing mysteriously dissappeared after initiation, only to appear here.
Exiting the locker room, he saw Ruby just do the same.
"Shall we go meet them, winner?" He said with a smirk.
"We shall." Ruby said, letting the persona of a royal queen take over for a moment.
They both laughed, making their way to the bleachers. As the took the stairs up, they saw Blake and Nora fighting, and by the time they even sat down, Nora had just slammed her hammer into Blake, sending her out of the arena. As they were told what went wrong, Nora taking hits that she didn't need to take, and Blake for being indecisive, the group congratulated them for a good fight. Weiss even gave Ruby a compliment.
Professor Goodwitch's voice rang out towards the group. "This is what most days of combat class will be like. Expect other forms of classes to happen, but I am here to test you to fight each other so that you can improve. Class dismissed."
They exited the building as a full group of ten, the sun starting to set, the April weather starting to cool faster as twilight approached within a few hours. They had no other classes for the day, and returned to the library to spend some time together.
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.(Line Break)
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Azura spent his time reading a book called 'Phantom Thieves'. He decided to bring it with him, only needing to have the Librarian mark him as a student with a book, and a reminder to bring it back within a month. Afterwards, they went to grab food for dinner, since Beacon seemed to support all three meals, not that they complained.
Now in their dorms, they found two beds where the sleeping bags were, and Ren found a note from the supply ninjas, where it said that they were able to get the beds ready for the two new people in the dorm room. And that, yes, they did wash the clothes. Azura felt a shiver run down his back, suddenly feeling like he was being watched.
They repeated the same process of getting ready to sleep, with Azura lazily not showering and only changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was out within minutes, feeling so grateful to have a bed.
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.(End of chapter)
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Well, there you have it. Compared to chapter two, chapter one and three is the length I would prefer to have per chapter. If you have anything to say, don't be afraid to say. I want to improve, and I can't do that if I get told nothing.
Hope you enjoyed it. Will work on chapter four when I have the time!