What's your favorite fairy tale?
I'll tell you mine.
There was once an old wizard, one who had transcended life and death by reincarnation. He was a paragon of modern virtue, and he guided those who wished to do right on their paths. To those with potential above the others, he would tell a story. A story of four maidens and a witch. In truth, the witch was an old enemy of the wizard's, a demoness named Salem. Salem and the wizard had been at war for centuries, a secret war that affected few, yet would determine the fates of millions.
Neither side was making progress, until, one day, Salem's forces launched a direct assault on the wizard's palace, a grand institution of education known as Beacon Academy. Despite the wizard's best efforts, in conjunction with his allies and students, Salem's power seemed overwhelming.
The Academy fell, and so perished many brave souls, including the wizard's current body. The wizard's most trusted students and comrades were scattered to the winds, and for a time, it seemed that Salem had won. However, one of his students, a girl with silver eyes clad in Red, gathered her friends and set out to push back the dark. As they progressed, they reunited with Red's teammates: White, Black, and Yellow, as well as a Crow and the wizard, now a young boy.
They met the witch head-on in her own land, and in a battle that could level entire cities, defeated Salem, sealing her power away and ending her threat to the world of Remnant.
It's a good story, no? A good fairy tale?
But what if I told you that it was true?
You wouldn't believe me, would you?
Perhaps I can change your mind by telling you what happened next.
Once Salem was defeated, the wizard returned to Beacon, and, with the help of a Knight, restored the establishment in order to train the next generation of heroes.
The rest, the ones of Red, White, Black, and Yellow, the Crow, the Valkyrie, and the Lotus, savored the peace while it lasted, for deep within their hearts they knew it would be short-lived. In the time of peace, they settled and birthed children, training them to grow strong enough to beat back the darkness once more.
This is their story, the story of the next generation.
-XNTW-
Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale
Hot damn, this place is bright! Wren thought as he hopped out of the airship. He reached into an inside pocket and procured his sunglasses and his Scroll.
"Beacon Academy, huh? Well, it's pretty sturdy-looking." Wren mused to himself. He glanced at his Scroll, seeing a notification.
Congrats on getting here, Wrenny! I'll meet you in the courtyard! -K. He pocketed the Scroll and glanced around.
"Courtyard?" He took a few steps forward. He heard other students chattering around him, but he paid them no mind.
"Which courtyard?" He asked aloud, sounding slightly annoyed. He continued forward, looking around as he did.
"Kira! Slow down! You'll-" a husky voice called out.
Suddenly, a running body slammed into Wren, knocking them both down.
"-run into someone. Kira…"
The dust settled around the two that collided, and Wren saw a flashy-looking faunus girl with cat ears rubbing the back of her head.
"Oww… ah! Sorry! Wasn't looking where I was going…" The faunus girl said sheepishly. Wren stood and offered her a hand. "Thanks."
"No problem, it's all good." Wren replied, as another cat faunus wearing a hooded coat walked up to the two.
"Watch where you're going next time, Kira…" She said.
Ah, so she was the one yelling a minute ago. Gotcha, Wren thought. The first girl, Kira, dusted herself off and sauntered up to the other girl, and the two set off down the path again. That was… strange. Wren continued down the path, reaching a circular clearing with a massive statue in the center. There were a couple of students milling about, including a… Man? Woman? I can't tell… They were sitting on the edge of the monument, strumming away on a guitar shaped to resemble an axe. That's gotta be their weapon…
As Wren stepped into the circle's boundaries, the bard opened their eyes and stopped playing. They leapt down from the statue and landed a few feet away from Wren, their brown leather duster trailing behind. They wore a conquistador's breastplate and sash, along with segmented leg armor, brown pants, and cuffed boots. They took off their fedora and bowed to Wren, their dark-blue hair spilling down in front of their face.
"...the hell are you?" Wren asked with a hint of annoyance.
"I am Azul Yorona, second-year, at your service." Their voice was light and high-pitched, sounding gender-neutral, but the way they introduced themselves seemed almost… smarmy.
"Wren. First year." He replied.
"Oh, only a first year? Hmm. Pity."
The hell? Wren thought.
"I was honestly looking forward to seeing what the new class had to offer. But I guess you're the best they'll be able to come up with," They continued. Wren's eye began to twitch. "But maybe you'll be a little better than the rest of them. Maybe you can keep me entertained."
"Hey-" Wren tried to speak, but Azul scoffed and turned around.
"See you around, buddy." Azul said, smirking.
Ok, that's it. Wren almost growled. He started towards Azul.
"Hey!" He called to the bard, bringing a hand back and swinging towards the second-year. Azul ducked and stood into a headbutt directed at Wren's chin, causing the brawler to stumble.
He stepped back and rubbed his jaw. It's on.
He dropped into a fighting stance, and Azul did the same, heaving their guitar-axe onto their shoulder.
Wren dashed towards Azul, catching them off guard. He kicked upwards, striking Azul's chin, and backflipped, landing back in his stance. He launched a series of punches towards Azul, hitting them in the chest three times. Azul, having regained their senses, wove to the left, dodging Wren's next attack. Wren turned and wound up, attempting to hit Azul with an overhead punch. However, he hit nothing but the ground, leaving a cracked crater upon impact. He looked upwards and saw Azul in the air.
"Stand still!" Wren roared, grimacing.
"Haha! No!" Azul replied jovially.
Azul hit the ground as Wren leapt towards them. However, this time, Azul grabbed Wren's leg before he could land his kick, pivoting and slamming him into the ground, leaving another crater on impact. Wren rolled and launched himself up, springing backwards. Wren took off towards the bard again, launching a barrage of punches as he flickered with a green light. Azul was hit by every blow of the combo and stumbled backwards, allowing Wren a moment to contemplate what just happened.
That… could I always do that? He wondered, snapped back to reality as Azul hit him across the cheek with their axe, flinging him aside. Azul sauntered over as Wren tried to get up.
"This was fun, first-year. But it's time to wrap this up." Azul hefted their axe, and, as they brought it down onto Wren, he flickered with the same green light and vanished. "Wha-" Azul was cut off as Wren dropped onto them from above.
"I've been meaning to ask. You a dude or a girl? I can't tell. Not that it matters, but…" Wren asked as he leapt back to his starting position.
"Both!" Azul said, also returning to their original spot.
"What?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Fair enough. Asshole is a gender-neutral term anyway."
This time, Azul made the first move. They jumped into the air, bringing their axe down in an overhead swing. Wren flickered out of sight again and reappeared behind Azul, hitting them with a knife-hand strike to the shoulder. Azul turned and rammed into Wren, hitting the brawler with their shoulder. Wren rolled backwards and onto his feet.
Both fighters leapt towards each other, and as they collided in the air, Wren grabbed Azul's collar and blasted them directly downwards with a pulse of green. Azul rolled to the side and slammed their axe into Wren with an uppercut swing. The force carried Wren into the ground, and Wren coughed as he pulled himself to his feet.
Wren took a moment to assess his options, and decided he needed to finish this fight, and quickly. His aura was getting low, and he was wearing himself out before orientation had even begun. He opted to try to use the full effect of his Semblance, an ability he simply called "Destabilization." It did exactly what the name implied, destabilizing or empowering anything from structural integrity to energy, even being able to affect a person's resolve.
Wren exhaled, his hands glowing the same green as he'd been throughout the fight. Suddenly, Azul's body locked up, frozen for an instant by a split-second of immense doubt. Wren capitalized upon the opening he'd made, launching towards the bard and hitting them in the diaphragm with a powerful blow. He flickered, and reappeared behind Azul, kicking them in the lower back, and flickered several more times, landing one hit and disappearing each time. He stopped in front of Azul, hitting the bard with a flickering barrage of blows, finishing with an uppercut, launching them into the air. Wren's hand glowed again, and several tendrils of green energy erupted from the arm and wrapped around Azul's body, pulling them towards the brawler. He finished with another uppercut to the jaw, knocking his opponent onto their back.
Wren adjusted his vest and looked back at Azul over his shoulder, uttering two words:
"I win."
Azul, from their spot on the ground, gave a hoarse cough and slowly applauded.
"Wow, you're just as strong as she said… hehehe…" Azul sat up, dusting themselves off.
"...what?" Wren asked, confused.
"Haha… that was great! We gotta do that again sometime! You fought pretty well!" Azul stood, sauntering over to Wren.
"I… uh, just as strong as… who said?" Wren was taken aback by Azul's apparent heel-face turn following the beatdown they received.
"Sorry about what I said before. I was just asked to get a look at how you fought, and the only way I could do that was to be at the receiving end of a few hits."
"Who asked you to?"
"Oh, your sister-" Azul was cut off as a loud "yoohoo" echoed through the courtyard. "-Khione."
"Wre~en! So glad to see you're doing good!" Yelled a figure with white hair, fading to black near the tips and tied in a messy ponytail, wearing an angular paludamentum cape, a cropped sleeveless wrap, tight boots that looked optimized for mobility, and segmented leg armor strapped over loose pants. She wrapped herself around Wren in a tight hug.
"Khione… can't… breathe…" Wren managed, as his older sister let him go with an absentminded "oh."
"Aww… do I get a hug?" Azul asked.
"No, you just beat the shit out of my brother." Khione replied.
"B-but you asked me to!" Azul stuttered, seeming shocked.
"Calm down, I was just joking! You did great, Azzy." Khione said, laughing. She gave the bard a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the ass. Azul jumped a little, blushing. Wren looked confusedly at the scene unfolding before him, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"So are you two…" Wren trailed off.
"Yes, actually." Khione replied simply.
"Oh, that's right. I never finished what I was saying during the fight!" Azul snapped their fingers, a lightbulb blinking on in their mind.
"Azzy's a clownfish faunus." Khione said.
"A… what?" Wren was a little lost.
"Though you could never tell by looking." Khione finished, rather unhelpfully.
"Clownfish have the ability to change gender. That's my trait as a faunus. So, I'm both male and female." Azul explained.
"Huh… well how about that…" Wren's mind was somewhat blown. As he opened his mouth to speak again, an announcement rang out through the courtyard, calling all first-years to orientation. "Shit! Gotta go! Talk to you later, sis!" Wren dashed off, occasionally warping a couple feet to cover more ground.
-XNTW-
Wren skidded to a halt inside a clean, modern-looking auditorium, and jostled his way through the crowd of students in order to find a spot where he could see the stage better. As he slowed down, he could see a figure clad in green walk up to a stand microphone, tapping it twice as they cleared their throat. Almost instantly, the chatter in the auditorium ceased.
"Ahem. Thank you all for coming. My name is Oscar Pine, and I would like to welcome you all to Beacon Academy."