Prologue

Sapphire

The booming voice of a very masculine man echoed across the arena. "It appears team MOSS is struggling to combat the overwhelming strength of team STRQ! What will they do to turn the tides of battle?" a frustrated man with green hair let out a yelp as he was assaulted by a woman seemingly attempting to run him through with her sword.

The fighting continued, STRQ never letting up, until eventually MOSS was down to its final member, the young woman quivering in fear, dropping her weapon and surrendering.

"Laaame! What a lame end to the fight." A young woman was shown to be watching the fight on a scroll. The young woman was star fished on her bed, a dark, lonely room in one of the wealthier areas of Atlas. She was called Marina, and she absolutely adored the life of a huntress. It was her dream, her obsession to become one of the protectors of Earth, fighting against the evil force of the Grimm, soulless monsters who thirst for destruction. But Marina knew it wouldn't be easy. She sighed to herself, pausing the video on the Atlas Video Network as she got up and looked out the open window. The night sky was plain, light pollution erasing the beauty of space. Marina began to play with her semblance - a power unique to her. She sent out a stream of water from her finger out of the window. "How am i meant to be able to protect people with a semblance like this..?"

A sudden knock on her door erupted into banging, ending in a chorus of splitting wood as the door was torn off its hinges… again. Marina's mother came rocketing in, her father trailing in behind her.

"Honey~ it's here! Your application results from Beacon have arrived! Open the parcel up! I can't wait to see how you got accepted!"

Marina let out a grimace, despite her dream of becoming a huntress, she had very little training in regards to the matter, what training she did have coming from her mother, a retired police officer. How could she protect people when she couldn't protect herself?!

Marina held her breath as she opened the delivery. It contained a letter and a box.

'Dear Marina Valtameri,

Beacon has received your application to our school, and upon review, we have deemed you worthy of one of the forty spots at our prestigious academy. Please find enclosed a set of the uniform you will be expected to wear for your stay, as well as more detailed information as to your stay.

Congratulations on having the skill, knowledge, and determination to make it this far. Humanity counts on you.

Regards, Headmaster Ozpin.'

Marina's jaw dropped.

"I guess that means our daughter was accepted! She's going to Beacon academy! I knew our coffee ploy would work, men his age can never resist it…"

Marina's father let out a nervous smile as he adjusted his glasses. "I just hope our daughter will be safe. Being a huntress is a lot of work. I still don't understand why you chose Beacon over Atlas, Marina."

"Atlas is scary!" retorted Marina. "I want to be a huntress! I want to save lives and have fun! I don't want to become a soldier, everyone knows that Atlas Academy is just a funnel for the Atlesian military these days.

Marina's father sighed, but dropped the subject. It seemed a lot of preparation would need to happen for Marina's new life!


The Bullhead soared through the air, it would fly them straight to Vale, where Marina would stay for the day until Beacon was ready to accept students. She donned her new outfit, the comfiest clothes she could wear, to allow her better flexibility in combat. She wore a light blue tank top, her dark blue sports bra extending up to her collarbone to protect her modesty. Despite this, her midriff was on display, a Dark blue skirt tights covering her legs. Vale was meant to be warmer than the snowy region of Atlas, so Marina wanted to dress in preparation for such! She wore her hair in messy bangs, her medium length sapphire hair sitting down her shoulders, the bright blue tips curled up slightly. Marina's silver eyes gleamed in the daylight, smiling in anticipation.

The bullhead shook, sending Marina stumbling. A panic struck voice sounds over the intercom, urging everyone to stay calm and that a grimm had come across them. Marina knew she had to act. She had to protect everyone. She spied a hatch to the top of the bullhead and climbed on top of the flying machine. The wind assaulted her senses as she tried to keep steady footing while eying up the threat. A griffon, a small one, fortunately. The winged beast let out a screech. It was do or die, Marina took out her sword, pressing the button to switch its mode.

Her weapon was named tsunami. It was a strange, urumi-like sword, strong yet flexible. At the press of a button, it split into many pieces, connected by a strong wire, turning the weapon into a longer ranged whip.

Marina sent a lash of Tsunami up at the griffon, which it easily dodged. Marina was beginning to lose her confidence. The creature screeched again and charged her, causing her to have to dodge to the side to avoid the deadly rending of its claws, the opening being large, enough to give her a chance to avoid and retaliate, another lash being sent at the griffon, this time managing to strike its leg, making the grimm cry in pain. It was furious.

The battle continued for another five minutes, with little progress on either end, and Marina was beginning to tire. She needed a plan or it would be her death. Clearly the whip isn't working here so she decided to take another stance in the fight, switching back to her sword. She waited for the small griffon to dart at her again, this time purposefully taking the brunt of the attack. The griffon's claws grinded against her aura, she was taking heavy damage, but the griffon was right where she wanted. She couldn't hit it at range because it kept dodging, but if it was preoccupied tearing her arm off?

Marina used her sword awkwardly, like a dagger, and brought it down on its wing, inflicting heavy damage. The griffon screamed and darted backwards, now forcefully grounded. Marina grinned to herself, satisfied with her progress. Now it was a fair fight. She continued to clash with the beast, its unrelenting claws cautiously swiping at the young woman, as she cautiously swiped back with Tsunami. Both fighters were weak. Once again Marina needed a plan, a way to get the advantage.

After brainstorming, Marina was able to think up a way where she could beat the Griffon. Her semblance, normally something she considered useless outside quenching her thirst, could make for a good distraction. She sent a blast of water at the Griffon's face, the cocky creature taking the spray head on. It was only water after all. What harm could that do?

Quite a lot of harm as it turns out. What it lacked in power, it made up for by being a nuisance. The water got in the griffon's face, blinding it while it was being pelted with water. Marina used the opportunity to get up close, grunting as she put all her power into this one blow, and fortunately it struck true! Although it didn't kill the beast, it sent it flying. It flew far enough to fall off the bullhead entirely! Marina beamed, she defeated her first grimm! Its wings were disabled, it would fall to its death. Marina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was proud… but other students would have destroyed the creature without a glance. Marina was happy with her efforts to protect everyone, but she knew it now. She had to get stronger.