Wow, an update for all three fics in the space of seven days! Now, let's see how Koa and the gang handle arriving and spending their first night at Beacon!
Enjoy like always!
Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon
Title Song: Butter-Fly - Kodoku Ver.
Koa gave a huge whistle as he stepped off the airship, "Whoa…" He said, looking up at the biggest building in Vale. "Colour me impressed."
He then quickly pulled aside Jasmine as the same queasy blonde boy who threw up on the flight rushed to the nearest trash can to heave up the rest of his lunch. Other students disembarking wisely gave him a wide berth.
'I think we head to the auditorium, don't we?' Jasmine wrote out. New students were stepping off multiple airships, approaching the school via a long avenue leading up to the main school building. In front was a large courtyard with tall, double rings of arches. Several trees, and light-poles with flags hanging from them lined the avenue. Just before the entrance to the amphitheatre is a large statue of a huntsman and huntress standing on top of a rock, with a beowolf beneath.
"Yeah, but I'm curious, who else could be coming to this school?" Koa asked. Nearby, Ruby and Yang had stepped off the ship.
Ruby looked like she was going to float away with all the different weapons that she could see, Jasmine wasn't that far behind. Yang grabbed her sister by her hood, while Koa gave Jasmine a scratching on her fox ears.
"Slow down, opening ceremony first, mingle second," He reminded her.
"Why would I need to make friends when I have Koa, Jasmine and you?" Ruby was asking Yang.
"… Well, my friends are here now, so we're going ahead, gotta catch up, see ya!" Yang said, as some other students ran over, pulling her away, leaving Jasmine and Ruby spinning from the force.
"Wait… where are we going? Aren't we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms?" Ruby asked.
Koa reached to grab the two dizzy girls, but came up short, instead, they collided with a mountain of white suitcases.
Koa eyed the emblem on the cases, and narrowed his eyes. Uh oh… that's the logo for the Schnee Dust Company… He thought.
"What are you two dunces doing?!" Asked a female voice.
Koa looked at the newcomer, and sighed. She was taller than Ruby, but that was due to the white, heeled wedge boots that climbed to her mid-calves. She wore a pale-blue/white small, open jacket over the same colour thigh-high dress with black lace at the neckline. The inside of the jacket was red, and the sleeves turned blue the further down towards her wrists.
She had white hair and ice blue eyes, with a crooked scar down the left eye. At her waist, attached to her belt was a rapier with a revolving chamber filled with various dust.
"Oh… sorry," Ruby said, stumbling to her feet. Jasmine nodded, self-righting a suitcase.
"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" The white-haired girl yelled at the two.
Ruby picked up a suitcase, handing it back to her. "U-uh…" She stuttered.
"Give me that!" the girl scowled, snatching back the case and checking the contents. "This is dust, mined and purified by the Schnee quarry!"
Jasmine noticed a suitcase had been knocked open, and quickly tried putting several vials of dust back in.
The Schnee girl noticed, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Dirty Faunus, get away from there!" She yelled, pushing Jasmine aside and tidying her belongings herself. "Stupid animals shouldn't handle such a delicate item."
Koa had grown tired of her attitude, "Hey!" He said, stepping between her and Jasmine. "That is enough!" He told her.
"And who do you think you are? This doesn't concern you," The girl said.
"It does when my friends are being picked on by a snobby, spoilt princess who thinks that just because she's part of the Schnee family, thinks she can bully anyone she wants," Koa scowled. "Your status and heritage means NOTHING to me."
"How dare you?!" The Schnee said.
"Let me get one thing straight ice queen," Koa said, getting really in her face. "If I see you say anymore racist comments to ANY Faunus in this school, you'll be on a one-way trip off that cliff without a parachute," He said, pointing behind her. "Am I clear?"
The rich girl opened her mouth, but closed it when she saw the scowl on his face, she relented. "Crystal," She simply said, but glared at him and the girls.
"Good, come on girls, let's get moving," Koa said, turning and leaving the Schnee to her luggage.
As the three walked away, Ruby turned to Koa, "Remind me never to say something mean to your friends," she said.
"I'd say you performed that extremely well," Koa blinked, hearing another girl, this one in black, speaking, reading a book.
Jasmine glanced over, and reeled back slightly in shock. It was Blake Belladonna! "Thank you," Koa said, "But I don't like going into butcher mode like that… in fact, I'll need to meditate to set my head straight as soon as this opening ceremony is done."
"You had the right mindset though," Blake said. Jasmine then noticed that the black-haired girl wore a bow over her cat ears, hiding them from the public eye. "Blake," She said.
"Koa Maru, this is Jasmine Diali and Ruby Rose," Koa said.
Blake separated from the group as they walked inside. "Ruby! I saved you a spot!" Yang called over.
"See you guys after the ceremony," Ruby said to her friends.
Koa and Jasmine stood off to the left, and waited calmly.
Soon enough, Professor Ozpin made his appearance, with Goodwitch at his flank. "I'll… keep this brief," He began. "You have come here in search of knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished you will have dedicated your life to protecting the people." He paused, looking around the room. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only take you so far. It's up to you to take the first step."
Goodwitch then took the microphone, "You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."
With that, she walked after Ozpin. "He seemed a little odd… but his speech has reminded me that I can't ever stop learning," Koa said.
That night, Jasmine emerged from the girls' changing room, wearing a white yukata with yellow flower designs.
"Yo, you with the cute tail," Jasmine blinked, hearing the call, and turned to see a lavender haired girl wearing a black crop top with pink straps and grey mini-shorts heading over. Jasmine then spotted the two ears poking out of her hair. Two small dogs with stubby legs were at her feet, one white, one black.
'Can I help you?' Jasmine nervously asked through her dust pen.
"Um… yeah… don't you have a pillow?" The girl asked. Jasmine twirled her tail around to be in front of her. "Ah, good point, but won't that be uncomfortable?" Asked the other Faunus.
Jasmine grabbed the girl's hand, and put it on her tail. "Whoa… that… is… fluffeh…" The girl blinked.
'I take care to make sure it stays that way 24/7,' Jasmine wrote out.
"What's your name?" Asked the wolf Faunus.
'Jasmine Diali, at your service,' Jasmine smiled.
"Lilo Fuchsia," The wolf girl smiled back.
"Ah, there you are," The girls looked over to see Koa walking over, wearing a light blue pyjama t-shirt and black pyjama shorts. He had a sleeping bag under his arm, and a book on top. "I was starting to worry," He said. "Who's your friend?"
"I'm Lilo, these are the pups, Shadow and Snowfall," The wolf said, pointing to the dogs behind her, the black one first, then the white one.
"Koa Maru," The black-haired boy held a hand out, which Lilo shook.
"Piece of advice to you both, those four over there?" Lilo pointed to four big young men that were showing off what muscle they had. "I've been here for one day, and I've already heard rumours those four are bad news."
"Advice noted, thank you," Koa nodded. "You're welcome to come and join us at the spot I found," He said to the wolf Faunus.
"Thank you, I think I will take you up on that offer, I saw you at the window over on the far side from the squabble over there," Lilo pointed to Ruby, Yang and the Schnee girl from earlier bickering about something petty probably.
"Sleep tight kiddo," Koa smiled, tucking Jasmine into her sleeping bag, before glancing over to Lilo, who was watching him with her head on a hand.
"You care about her, don't you?" She asked.
"Jas has had a… difficult life… she can be very delicate sometimes," Koa said.
"Is… that the reason because she's mute?" Lilo asked.
Koa sighed, glancing out the window, "Yeah… it is…" He then blew out the candle next to the window, bathing them in darkness.
The next morning, Koa woke to the sound of a cheerful girl with orange hair loudly waking a boy with black hair with a streak of pink.
The girl was wearing a white sleeveless top that forms a tiny heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wore matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles.
She also wore armour that begins in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist.
Her friend, the black-haired, pink-streaked boy wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit, and light-tan pants with black shoes.
With him awake, Koa yawned, before turning to his friend, who was curled up close to him. "Jas… come on, we need to ready up for initiation," He told her.
The fox Faunus stirred, before letting out a silent yawn, sitting up. Nearby, a certain wolf Faunus picked up the noise, and stirred as well.
"Morning Koa, Jassy," She muttered through a yawn of her own. She then shook her furry friends awake, "Come on you two, up you get. If you're quick, maybe we can ask the chef for any leftover ham."
A moment later, she laughed, "Ok, settle down, I have a routine to go through, remember?" She said, seemingly to no one.
Getting dressed, the three cleaned their teeth, had some breakfast and tidied up their sleeping bags. As they did, Koa noticed that the orange haired girl from earlier was still rambling on, in the same train of conversation from when they had woken up.
'Jeez… She must have had chocolate coated toffee under a stick of candyfloss last night, no one is this hyper, not even Ruby after a full plate of cookies,' Jasmine wrote out.
"You know… I was thinking the same, how is she still going?" Lilo asked, as they took their plates over to where people were stacking up the dishes in an organised fashion.
They entered the locker room, and split up, heading to the lockers they had left their weapons last night. Koa pulled out his metallic holsters, and put them on the desk, then he went into the locker and pulled out a case. Then, he took off a couple of clips, and the boomerangs opened, allowing Koa to take a look at the Lightning dust vials inside.
"Yeah, better top up so I don't run out today," He muttered, whistling as he set to work.
"Interesting weapon concept," A voice said from next to him, and he glanced up to see a boy in black and slate-grey loading custom shells into some kind of axe.
"I could say the same," Koa smirked, returning to his work. "What's your weapon? And your name for that matter," He asked, taking out the vials and filling them up with more dust.
"My name is Onyx Stone, and this is an axe with a slug thrower in the handle, I call it Obsidian Rage," He said, putting his weapon into it's compact form on his back. "You?" He asked.
"Two heavy-weighted, lightning-dust-infused boomerangs, and my name is Koa Maru," Koa said, closing them up, tossing up both and catching them with ease. He grabbed his magnetic holsters and clipped them to his waist, then connected his weapons to them.
Nearby, Jasmine pulled out her weapon, and also clipped several extra magazines to her belt. She checked all the functions, and smiled.
Her weapon had been inspired by the weapon she used to flee from the White Fang facility. It was primarily a lance, but there was a pair of hinges on the bottom, which could open up to reveal a kind of shotgun, down at the handle, under the guard, was a trigger, which opened the weapon's tip. A button on the bottom of the hilt would retract the tip, then fold the head around so she could clip it to her back.
Next to her, Lilo was placing magazines into a pair of open slots on her gauntlets, then she checked the spring-release for the claws, extending them with a satisfying SHINK!
"Ready for initiation kid?" She asked Jasmine.
Jasmine nodded. She then glanced around at some of the other students, and blinked, setting her eyes on a red haired girl talking with the white haired Schnee girl from yesterday.
She wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She also had light-green eyeshadow around her green eyes, and she was very tall and much more muscular than other girls she had met so far.
She wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical brown strip down the center. She also wore an elastic, black A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both her arms. She wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. She wore elaborate bronze greaves that started below the mid-thigh before continuing downwards to her boots, as well as a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She also had a bronze bracer on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, reaching up to her mid-calf.
On her right hip was a small bronze, circular plate, on of which was an emblem of a shield and spear. She wore a brown circlet around her head with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also wore a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bracelet upon the upper half of her left arm.
NO WAY! Jasmine gasped with starry eyes. PYRRHA NIKOS?! Excusing herself to Lilo, who was a slight bit confused by her sudden departure.
"… well… I was hoping we could be on the same team together?" The white haired girl was saying.
"Well, that sounds…" She paused, noticing they had a newcomer heading their way. "Can I help you?" She asked Jasmine.
'Yes please! I'm your BIGGEST fan!' Jasmine grinned as she wrote out.
"Oh, glad to meet you…" Pyrrha trailed off.
'My name is Jasmine Diali, I was kind of hoping you'd sign something for me…' Jasmine wrote out, pulling a magazine from her satchel. On it was the red-haired girl, with a headline. Champion of Mistal does it again!
"Of course," Pyrrha smiled. She took a pen and the magazine from Jasmine, and was about to write her signature, when Koa walked up.
"Morning ice queen," He nodded calmly to the Schnee. "And Mistral's champion, this is a surprise."
He bowed slightly to her, then he straightened, "I'd like to make a point here to you Miss Pyrrha, that while we are classmates, I will treat you like any other student here."
"Thank you," Pyrrha nodded. "And I will treat the three of you with the same respect."
"Sorry about yesterday Miss Schnee, my name is Koa Maru," The black-haired boy bowed to the white-haired girl.
"Hmmph, apology accepted Koa. But call me Weiss if you must say anything," The Schnee said. She glanced at Jasmine, then walked away.
Koa glanced down at Jasmine, "Oh no… were you pestering her?" He asked, seeing the magazine and pen that was currently in Pyrrha's hands. "You'll have plenty of time to fangirl, come on," He told her.
"Will all first year students please report to Beacon cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon cliff immediately," Goodwitch's voice announced over a PA system.
"Well, see ya later Pyrrha," Koa said, pulling Jasmine away to the exit, with Jasmine waving back to her idol.
Koa: So, it's about to begin.
Lilo: How're things going to go?
Koa: Just wait and see!
All: Next time: The First Step!