Remnant Chronicles: Kamen Rider Reiki
レムナント年代記：仮面ライダー霊気
Remunanto Nendai-ki: Kamen Raidā Reiki

Chapter 4: Initiation
第四章：伝授
Dai Yonshō: Denju

(OP1: This Will Be the Day)

They see you as small and helpless!
They see you as just a child!
Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild!

Prepare for your greatest moments!
Prepare for your finest hour!
The dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower!

We are lightning!
Straying from the thunder!
Miracles of ancient wonder!

This will be the day we've waited for!
This will be the day we open up the door!
I don't wanna hear your absolution!
Hope you're ready for a revolution!

Welcome to a world of new solutions!
Welcome to a world of bloody evolution!
In time, your heart will open minds!
A story will be told!
And victory is in a simple soul!

(OST: EP 3 Score – The Shining Beacon, Pt. 2)

As Kuen finally woke up from his sleep, he would groggily look at his watch, seeing the time. A quarter to six. Kuen would groan. How did he somehow manage to wake up before seven in the morning, much less a quarter to six? Sure, there was the Initiation weighing in his mind, but Kuen was pretty sure that it had to do with everything that had unfolded the night before.

The whole thing with Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang; yes, that was still in his mind for some weird reason.

Then there was that whole fight with Pyrrha and Blake against the monster, and subsequent discussions with Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch.

Noticing the journal he'd used the night before now under his pillow, he would gloss through the entry he'd made the night before, seeing the questions he'd wondered to himself as he headed back to the mess hall. Remembering what he'd thought to himself the night before, he could only sigh.

Getting up, he folded his sleeping bag up, placing it under his arm as he could feel his joints loosening up. "Note to self, sleeping bags suck."

Walking towards the locker room, he would place all of his stuff (with the obvious exception of his weapon) in the top compartment of the locker, before deciding to go and check the hallways to see if anyone else was up at this hour. Knowing the people who've made it into Beacon Academy, there was probably going to be at least one or two people that were really early risers.

Hell, maybe Pyrrha.

Still in his casual clothes/pyjamas hybrid outfit, he would walk through the hallways of Beacon Academy for the third time in the past two days, hearing the usual sounds from the usual classroom.

Which made Kuen definitely sure of who was in that classroom. Probably Pyrrha. Most likely Pyrrha. Definitely Pyrrha.

And opening the door, he was right. She was clad in her usual outfit, swinging her spear around. At least it was a spear this time and not a sword, so something different for a change.

Greeting Pyrrha, Kuen kept up a smile that was almost genuine to an extent.

"You're up early. It's almost six in the morning and you're already clad in your combat uniform. Meanwhile, I'm still in my pajamas."

The two of them chuckled, before Pyrrha retorted, "You look more like you're wearing casual clothes, to be honest."

"I know. I picked them up based on that fact, so that if I were to wander around at night, people don't think I'm in my pajamas. Anyways, what time did you wake up?"

He yawned a little, as Pyrrha replied, "Maybe fifteen minutes ago or something like that. It's unfortunately a routine of mine."

"I suppose I should have expected that." A chuckle left Kuen's lips. "Though, now knowing that you're up at this hour training, I suppose it's some level of motivation for me to get up early and train as well. I would say some form of motivational proverb, but I'm completely out of it right now. It was an intense night last night."

Pyrrha nodded. "Indeed, it was. Unexpected, if I may add."

Kuen nodded in agreement, before there was an interesting question he would suddenly have in mind. "Oh yeah, tell me."

A teasing grin formed on Kuen's lips, before he would then ask, "How interested are you in Jaune?"

Pyrrha was caught by surprise, as she couldn't help but laugh. "A bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"To be completely fair, I don't think you've even talked to him yet, so we'll see how things so once you two get to know each other," The teasing grin remained on Kuen's face, "Maybe you'll even become like, team members or something."

The two grinned, before Kuen then noted, "Probably not going to train this morning though, since there's the Initiation thing going on, I believe. I want to make sure I'm full of energy for that."

"You make a good point. I shouldn't really be training this morning."

"Hey, you do you. I'm not going to stop you."

"Right..."

And then Kuen remembered, "Though, I want to do a morning jog, since initiation is at nine and it's still barely a quarter past six."

"Sure, I don't suppose that would be a problem." Pyrrha responded, as Kuen made a thumbs-up sign, before stating, "Great. Are you going to be changing clothes or what, considering I'm pretty sure that outfit is optimized to your body- not in that way, I swear."

Pyrrha snorted a little, before responding, "Nah, I'm going to change. It'd be better. Besides, it's not comfortable jogging around in this."

Kuen nodded, before the two parted ways for the time being.

The two later reunited, both of them dressed in more appropriate attire, as Pyrrha then asked, "So how much are we jogging today?"

"Maybe one or two laps around Beacon. I admittedly just want to get the chills off my feet."

"That nervous, huh?"

"Yep."

An hour or so later, the two students stopped in front of the entrance to the main building, Kuen looking worse for wear than Pyrrha.

"Fuck, you're good at this stuff."

"I guess it comes naturally from being the top of your league."

"Is that a humble brag or a lament?"

"Beats me."

Kuen thought for a bit. "Wanna get breakfast in a bit?"

"Sure."

And so they parted ways once again, as Kuen returned to the mess hall to put on his clothes, noticing Ruby still snoring. Unsurprisingly, really, considering there was still more than an hour left.

(OST: EP 4 Score – The First Step, Pt. 1)

A good amount of people, in fact, were still asleep. And as Kuen headed back from the bathroom after taking a well-deserved and refreshing shower, stopping by the locker room once again, now dressed in his combat attire, he had noticed there were, unsurprisingly, other people who had already showered.

He then noticed a male with long hair with an oddly surprisingly pink streak in one of them, dressed in green, pink and white clothes that seemed to give off a general Chinese or Japanese vibe. Not that he was assuming that the other was such, anyways. He was just giving off the colorful Japanese vibes.

There was also another, a orange-haired girl clad in mostly pink, white and black, as Kuen took the chance to maybe overhear the dialogue a little bit, to scope what was going on. The hyperactivity of the orange-haired girl took him by surprise, for one, and their conversation was less like two people having a normal conversation and instead it felt like two childhood friends chatting.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?" The orange-haired girl excitedly stated.

'Cutest stuff I've ever seen.' Kuen thought to himself, chuckling softly.

Deciding that he'd grab the last of his stuff eventually, when it was almost time for Initiation, he headed to the cafeteria to grab breakfast, strolling through the hallways as he snapped the seconds away, deciding that it was better if he were to find something better to do than stare at his phone, with how the whole scenery was still new bait for him, to be frank.

And as he arrived at the cafeteria, he quickly grabbed breakfast, as more and more people began to enter the cafeteria, having already woken up.

And half an hour after he took his first portions, having chatted with Pyrrha in the meanwhile, he decided to peek over at the serving tables to see if there were any seconds he could take at all.

Unsurprisingly, there was still a lot of food still leftover, since not everyone had taken breakfast, but in a surprisingly twist, Kuen seemed to notice that there was a lack of any extra pancakes.

"Who the hell even eats this many pancakes?" He asked confusedly, before he found his question being answered as he glanced to a nearby table.

Noticing the pink girl and green guy from earlier, he happened to see her slurping what appeared to be a massive stack of pancakes. "Ah, so that's where it went."

And then Kuen managed to overhear a line of dialog between the two.

"Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together! Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school."

Indeed, she was very excited. Or hyper. Or something of the sorts, anyways.

And finishing breakfast, Kuen headed back to the locker room, obviously to pick up the rest of their essentials. Entering the locker room, he grabbed his weapon, holstering it onto his belt, while also putting his gear into his coat pockets.

And as he locked the locker, he overheard what he assumed was basically the final part of the conversation between pink girl and green guy.

"I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?"

And Kuen finally heard the other speak for once.

"Nora?"

"Yes, Ren?"

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"

"Come on Nora, let's go."

"Not 'together-together...'"

The two left the room, as Kuen thought to himself, once again, 'Still the cutest stuff I've seen. They're definitely dating."

Ten dol- Lien on that.

"Wonder what those two are so worked up about?" Kuen managed to notice Ruby and Yang talking, as he decided to stroll on over, maybe to join in or something, as Yang replied to Ruby's statement, "Oh, who knows? So, you seem awfully chipper this morning!"

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or "getting-to-know-you" stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."

And he managed to chime in, noticing Ruby hugging her weapon rather questionably.

"Yo." He chimed in, to Yang replying back with a quick response of the same caliber.

And then she retorted back to Ruby's words, "Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together."

"You sound like Dad! Okay, first of all: What do meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!"

Kuen then wondered, asking, "Well, what about when all the teams are formed?"

Ruby's tone of voice suddenly turned into something much more nervous, as she managed to stutter out, "Um, I don't know, I… I'll just be on yours or Yang's team or something…"

Yang softly chuckled, suggesting, "Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?"

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

"What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!"

Kuen softly chuckled, as Ruby barely managed to get out something along the lines of, "What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely-"

And he quickly interrupted their conversation, deciding to push them out of the locker room, and past Weiss and (surprisingly) Pyrrha, who seemed to be having a conversation about possibly something. And so the three made their way to the Initiation area.

As they assembled into position, standing on what appeared to be landing pads of some kind, as Ozpin would then state, "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Professor Goodwitch would then continue, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

There wasn't too much surprise from Kuen, as he would recall something that Ozpin had told him about the whole Initiation ordeal after he'd been dismissed the day before, as he could hear Ruby sigh dejectedly, muttering, "What? Ohhh..."

Ozpin then continued, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

There was definite groaning from Ruby's expression, as Ozpin quickly continued before gossiping amongst the students could even possibly occur, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Kuen could definitely tell that Ruby was shocked, since her reaction was as if somebody's world was cracking like glass and falling apart, for one. "Whaaaat?!"

Kuen blinked in surprise, like the one meme of that one guy from America that he can't seem to somehow remember for some reason.

Nora would then look at Ren, before chirping out, "See? I told you~!"

Ozpin then continued, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

There was an awkward laugh from Jaune's end, and a nervous gulp from Kuen's end, as the headmaster would finish his protocol, stating, "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?

And while Kuen seemed to notice Jaune raising his hand, assuming he was planning to ask a question, the headmaster seemed not to notice, somehow, as he then stated, "Good! Now, take your positions!"

Kuen had a lingering suspicion that Ozpin was just choosing to ignore it, disguising it as not noticing it or something.

Everybody would strike a pose on their tile, as Kuen finally figured out what was going on, muttering to himself something along the lines of, "Thank gosh I got Pyrrha to unlock my Aura. They're seriously deciding to launch us into the skies, huh…"

Pulling out his blaster, he readied the firearm, before noticing Nora, Ren, Yang and Ruby readying themselves for the skies.

As Kuen noticed the tile under Weiss rising up like a springboard, sending her into the air, he prepared for his platform to activate, all the while hearing Jaune ask the headmaster, "Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin responded back almost nonchalantly.

"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No. You will be using your own 'landing strategy.'"

"Uh-huh... Yeah… So what exactly is a landing strateg-"

And finally Jaune's words were cut off as Jaune was sent flying into the skies. Kuen looked at the headmaster, chuckling a little as Yang and Ruby would also be sent into the air. Making the two-finger salute in the direction of Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, the headmaster would nod with a smirk on his face. And immediately, he was sent flying into the skies as well.

As the last student would finally be sent into the skies, Ozpin would simply take a sip of the drink he had in his hand, cracking his knuckles a little as he got comfortable.

"This is going to be a while," He commented to himself.

As Kuen was sent flying into the skies, he scrambled to figure out a solution to his problem, deciding that the only options he had right now were either to use his weapon's recoil to launch him somewhat, or to fall into the forest, tanking the trees and shrubbery. Not wanting to use the latter, he pulled out the gear from his pocket, placing it into the slot on the weapon.

SAT! SU! EI! SHOOTING!
撮影！シューティング！
Satsuei! Shūtingu!

Why was he so calm in this situation?

Aiming the firearm at the ground below, Kuen would fire a boom of white energy which would provide the recoil necessary to send him back in the skies.

Though Kuen was confused as to why the recoil only worked now, considering he hadn't had to deal with recoil the first three times he used the weapon. He suspected foul play.

He would then notice Ruby accidentally crashing through something, her reaction being mainly a loud "Birdie, no!"

Regardless, Kuen was hoping that by giving himself a lot more flight distance in the air, it'd allow him to travel less to search for the relic. Though he was afraid of the air, and was mentally screaming the whole time.

Seriously, he's a bit calmer than to be expected of someone like him in this situation...

Kiyou would step into the forest, a malicious grin beginning to form on her face. As she observed the skies, seeing the to-be-students flying through the skies at breakneck speeds, she kept her grin up. Continuing to destroy the Grimm that seemed intent on making her main objective fail, she continued to run through the forest, blending within the foliage while looking for any potential victims.

(OST: EP 5 Score – The First Step, Pt. 2)

On another side of the forest, Ruby would fire off a few rounds from her weapon to slow herself down, before unfolding her weapon. Converting her weapon into its scythe mode, she caught onto one of the tree branches in her blade, gracefully landing on the ground.

Weiss wielded what appeared to be a white and gray rapier, before summoning a white snowflake circle under her, using it to leap above the forests, in the hopes of finding the relic and getting the task done as soon as possible.

Ren would spin in the air, pulling his weapons out and using its blades to spiral around the trunk of a large tree and hit the ground, brushing off his clothes before looking upwards, seeing Yang flying above him.

Yang would soar right above the treetops, using her gauntlets to push her through the air further and further north, spinning and laughing with each blast, even when she ultimately would crash through the leaves of a tree, leaping off two trunks to tumble to the ground.

Pyrrha, still flying the air, would arm both of her weapons, in what appeared to be a sword and shield formation, before crashing through several trees, ultimately catching on a branch and rolling on it. She would shift her blade into a rifle, looking into the scope to see a Jaune flying through the air helplessly. Pyrrha would then use her weapon, in spear form, to throw the javelin through the forest, somehow pinning Jaune to a tree.

And as Kuen found a spot to land, landing almost painfully, he winced, before trying to figure out which direction the ruins were going to be in. Doing some on-the-spot mathematics, he figured he'd actually have to keep moving forwards.

Motivation? Yes.

A good pun? Definitely.

Travelling through the forest, he kept his weapon on hand at all times, though he was careful not to keep his finger on the trigger. The heightened awareness, he assume, came from the assumption that whoever created those shadow monsters was going to make more while he was in Initiation, but there was also the fact that he remembered that there were Grimm lurking in the forest around, a fact he'd known because of Ozpin.

And indeed, his gut instinct seemed to be right, as Kuen would hear a very low and inhuman growl, noticing a pair of red eyes staring at him from the darkness. At that exact moment, he would roll to the side, as a wolf-like creature of darkness leapt out of the shadows, narrowly missing him.

Kuen took the chance, firing at the Grimm, as he continued to circle it, careful not to get too close in its range. He stared down the Beowulf Grimm, its red eyes piercing through the greens and browns of the forest, and its pale white claws preparing to strike. The monster charging at Kuen once again, he parried the blow using his firearm, running to the side and inserting the gear, pulling the crank and charging the barrel.

SAT! SU! EI! SHOOTING!
撮影！シューティング！
Satsuei! Shūtingu!

And a shot and a bang caused the Grimm to dissipate into black dust, the dust then disappearing into the air.

Meanwhile, Ruby landed in another part of the forest, dashing in one direction, thinking about one thing in particular. "Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find... Yang! Yaaaang! Oh, this is bad, this is really bad... What if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first? Well, there's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny! ...I don't think he's very good in a fight, though. Ooh! What about Blake?! So mysterious, so calm... Plus she likes books! Then again, I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her... Ugh!"

She then wondered to herself, "Okay... Who else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake, Kuen, aaaand-"

And ultimately, time would somewhat stop, her words cut off as Ruby would find herself encountering Weiss of all people, the two making eye contact, followed by a pause and a long awkward silence. The latter would immediately turn the other way, walking away from the former, as Ruby chased after Weiss.

"Wait! Where are you going?! We're supposed to be teammates..." Ruby screamed at Weiss, almost completely dejected.

And as she heard occasional grunts and 'Ow's in the distance, Ruby would notice Weiss heading back to her, before pulling her by the hood, stating, "By no means does this make us friends."

"You came back!" Ruby exclaimed, almost instantly rejuvenated with energy

With Ruby being dragged by Weiss, the former would ask the latter confusedly, "What's the hurry?"

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your— what the...?"

Ruby would suddenly appear in front of her in the blur of an eye, before stating, "I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!"

"When did...?"

"Weiss, just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters! You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss, and after it's all over, you're going to be like, 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really, really cool... and I wanna be her friend!'"

And just like that, Ruby would disappear into a shower of rose petals, which Weiss would wave away as she heard crackling in the bushes around her.

"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!" Weiss called out. And then the wind went silent.

"Ruby?" Weiss would then notice a pair of red eyes glaring at her, as she pulled out her weapon, calling Ruby's name repeatedly.

Jaune was now somehow stuck to a tree, trying to get himself out, waving his arms in panic.

"Wait! Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!"

He looked down, only to see Pyrrha looking at him, the latter asking, "Jaune Arc? Do you... have any spots left on your team?"

"Very funny..."

He looked at her, before softly chuckling, an expression which was returned by her.

"Now please get me out," Jaune pled.

(ED3: Red Like Roses, Pt. 2)

I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute!
Couldn't bear another day without you in it!
All of the joy that I had known for all my life!
Was stripped away from me the minute that you died!

To have you in my life was all I ever wanted!
But now without you I'm a soul forever haunted!
Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted!
No way in hell that I can ever comprehend this!

I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone!
I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong!
How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?
Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f'ing day!

It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending!
Every scene fades black, and there's no pretending!
This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well!
There's no knight in shining armour who will wake me from the spell!

I know you didn't plan this!
You tried to do what's right!
But in the middle of this madness!
I'm the one you left to win this fight!

Red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me!
Always closer
To the emptiness and sadness!
That has come to take the place of you!