I walked towards the crowd seeing the airship from a long ways away. My tail swayed back and forth as I continued going towards the crowd. I stretched feeling my back pop. I felt exhausted after traveling across the ocean on the boat arriving at the port that led to the Kingdom of Vale and now walking to the airship that will take us to Beacon Academy.
I stood towards the back of the crowd waiting to board the airship. I looked around me taking in the large amount of people trying out for a chance to get into Beacon Academy. My brown feline tail swayed in amazement at the magnitude. There had to be hundreds of people with aspiring dreams of becoming Grimm-Hunters or maybe even mercenaries for hire. I let out a sigh. I could look on the faces of many of them and see how truly oblivious they were.
I even heard one student say how much fun it s gonna be when they actually start fighting Grimm. I had to fight the urge to tell them how dangerous Grimm were. That even with all the experience I had killing these things under the training of my father that even I could easily die with one mistake. Instead I let out a breath and watched the doors to the airship open and we all shuffled in.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around swiftly startled by the unexpected touch. It was a young man of 26, around 8 years older than me, some rumors say he was trained by the renowned Team STRQ. His name was Jet Algrave. His black hair was cut short but never fixed, much like he just woke up. He was probably 3 inches taller than me so roughly six feet tall. His amber eyes ever examining. His cat ears twitching and his tail swayed. He was a rare faunus with two animal characteristics instead of one. He was the messenger for the schools though he is mainly based in my Grimm surrounded town of Tiudal in the Kingdom of Anima. He smirked a little. I understand your nervous. He said to loudly enough Over the crowd where I could barely hear him.
I sighed. I m not nervous. I wasn t. I was more uncertain. I had never been around people besides those in my village and the occasional based hunter.
Jet chuckled a little. Riiight. he said in false belief. You are just super jumpy because you are in a nice peaceful place. Before I could respond, Jet cut me off and got a serious look in his eye. Listen it s okay to be nervous. It s even okay to be afraid. This is different from anything you have done. If you want to back out-
No. I said my turn to interrupt. I gotta do this.
Jet smiled. Alrighty then. He said back into his more chill happy self. Then let s hop aboard and start a new chapter in Rowan Reignier s story! I sighed and and shook my head. The man was embarrassing but I would be lying if I said I didn t appreciate him. He was one of the few outsiders who could still smile after leaving Tiudal and be happy to coming back. Plus he was a good sparring partner.
The airship was huge. There were hundreds of us and everyone still had beyond enough room to move around. I was amazed looking around at the giant cabin as a beep was heard and a voice was heard throughout the area. Future students of Beacon Academy, we are about to take off. Please do not go on the balconies til we reach the air. I had no idea where the voice was coming from but no one else was nervous so I calmed myself down. I was fighting the urge to draw Jaded Thorn, my 36-inch straight, dual-edged katana.
I let out a sigh just as the airship shook violently as it took flight. I instantly gripped something my eyes wide wondering why no one else was panicking. I felt a hand on my shoulder. This time it was a fellow cat faunus with cat ears. Her black hair was long and her amber eyes were calm. She wore a white shirt with a black vest with black pants. Calm yourself. She said in a steady calm tone. It s just turbulence. What the hell was that?
Tur-bu-lence ? I said still not very calm.
The airship is rising up fighting against the force of gravity. So it shakes. It s normal we are fine. She continued saying trying to soothe me. I let out a breath and nodded. May wanna watch that...much scarier things out there than turbulence. She turned and walked away. She never said her name but that was fine. I could tell by her eyes. She was a survivor. Meaning I would have all semester to ask her name.
After the shaking stopped the voice came back. You are now free to move around and onto the balconies. I looked around and went somewhere to be alone. I never really liked doing small talk and introducing myself. I went outside on the balcony and watched us float above the clouds. The first thing I noticed was a small flicker over the balcony, I reached out and felt a gentle hum of a shield. Probably to prevent people from falling out. It was amazing how we could be this far above. Not even the tallest tree in Tiudal that I climbed was not even close to this. I let myself attempt to let my mind wander instead of thinking how foolish many of these potential students were.
I sighed and ran a hand through my short brown and red hair. My emerald eyes looking out at the sky below. I felt myself remembering. My intense training from my father. Almost dying from an Ursa attack. Being told that my aura doesn t heal. Joining the White Fang after people tried kidnapping my sister Violet. I sighed touching my shoulder where the branch of White Fang I was a part of branded their insignia. I felt my heart beat faster as not so pleasant memories started to surface until a voice broke the anxiety.
Hi I m Ruby Rose. I am 15 years old. I use a scythe that turns into a high-impact sniper rifle. I like hunting Grimm and eating cookies. Can I touch your tail?
I looked to my left snapping out of my thoughts. The girl was younger than me or at least appeared so. She was easily 5 3 had short brown hair with a single section dyed red. Her eyes were a pretty silver. The girl was...cute not mate cute but cute like my little sister. Ummm what?
Well you see I have never seen a faunus before and you are here and well may I touch your tail?! The innocent excitement confused me greatly it once again reminded me of my younger siblings when they ask me for something...which is bad because it s hard for me to say no. But i was determined I didn t know this girl. I will say no! S-sure. I say defeated.
Yay! I held out my tail for her to touch my face crimson in anger at my idiocies. I felt her gently pet my tail. I purred lightly. Cursing myself for that natural reaction. Oh my gods! You purr! I hit my head on the railing. So what s your name Mr. Faunus?
Rowan. I say agitated at myself for being weak.
That s a cool name! Where do you come from? What s your semblance? What s your weapon? Can we be friends?
Ummm uhhh yeah sure. She kept looking at me waiting I remembered she asked other questions. W-well umm..I am from a small forest village in Anima called Tiudal. My weapon is... I pulled out my sword. The blade was an emerald green color and about 36 inches in length. It was thinner being a dual-edged straight katana. The young girl looked at it mouth opened.
It s so pretty! Does it change into a gun? I shook my head. But that s boring. She complained. I scratched the back of my head. Wasn t my fault my belief prohibitted firearms. What s your semblance? I got super speed. She put so much excitement and over the top hand motions with super speed it almost made me laugh.
Well I uh... don t really talk about it. I said simply. My limit is 10 feet but unlike shorter distances I can t rapid fire a long distance teleport. But Ruby didn t need any of this information. Mom told me that they sometimes held fighting competitions so I shouldn t reveal too much information.
Her face and tone went full concerned. Is it bad a bad one?
N-no...I nodded in response. Have you fought Grimm? I have! It s so exciting! The girl was so childish and chipper about fighting Grimm. Even more parallels to my sister Violet.
Y-yeah. I say kind of awkwardly.
She just smiled as she stopped playing with the cat tail and then stepped into my vision. Well i hope to see you later Rowan bye! Then she ran off at extreme speeds. My response was simply to shake my head to not think about the situation.
Though I would be lying if I said that I didn t enjoy the random encounter. It brought back memories both recent and old of the interactions between my siblings and I. They were so different than me. Violet, who had just turned 12 last week, was carefree and fearless. Unlike me, she was excited to start training to fight Grimm.
None of that. I whispered quickly. That s a dangerous memory. Fear has no place. I repeated the motto of the Reignier s. I continue gazing out thinking about the other 3 Reignier siblings. There were the twins Sylvain and Jasmine who were 8. Sylvain was built like a true Reignier male. He was already 5 foot even and was built like a well rooted tree. He was much like their father. Strong-willed, abrupt, and short-tempered if mom and I weren t so good at subduing him he would be a force to be reckoned with. Though even I have to admit he is very effective with a mace. Though not yet ready to fight like I do.
Jazz was...Jazz. She was very airheaded and ditzy but so caring and sweet. She gets those traits from mom s family. She has no interest in fighting Grimm. She seems more interested in dancing and helping others than fighting. Unfortunately she was born in Tiudal and has the last name Reignier so the choice isn t hers.
Mabel was only 10 months old. There really isn t much to add with her except that I miss waking up to feed her since dad refuses to. Saying it s the mother s job. That is when once again my thoughts were interrupted once again from a guy running beside me screaming move out of the way! I moved just before he blew chunks over the side. I hurriedly looked away not wanting to have a phantom reflex from seeing the...situation.
Hmph. My cat ears twitched towards the shrill sound. A girl about 17 with long white hair icy blue eyes with an icier stare to match in a blue, tan, and red combat dress outfit with a rapier at her waist walked towards us, while the young man spewed everything to his unknown name. Beside the girl was a taller girl with long red hair and bright green eyes in gladiatorial armor though she had probably put her weapon away in a box or it was a weapon hidden away in her armor.
White Hair looked at the other girl. You see Pyrrha, this is why they called us to sign up for Beacon. They needed Champs not chumps like these two.
Feeling a pang of insultedness at being called a chump and being compared to someone who was spewing HIS chumps, my tail frizzed up. Who are you anyway to insult me or anyone?
The girl paused bringing her glare to me. Who are we? She asked before busting out laughing. You can t be serious! Everyone knows who we are! I was then more infuriated because they thought so highly of themselves that they believe they are famous.
Weiss... the other girl, Pyrrha, began. What did I tell you? We need to make friends and allies. No one will want to help us if we are all jerks to them. Plus...they don t seem like bad people. Pyrrha smiled at me and slightly bowed showing an obvious Anima heritage or at least influence. Sorry for my sister let me introduce us. I am Pyrrha Nikos and she is-
Weiss Schnee-Nikos current champion of the Haven Tournament. White Hair...Weiss... practically flowed while saying that.
Yeah well I am from Anima and I still never heard of either of you.
Weiss looked genuinely angry and then composed herself. Probably can t afford a tv.
The boy turned around and blushes after looking at these two. Oh wow. He moved by them and started doing a more...closer pose. Both of you ladies are absolutely beautiful. Pyrrha giggled actually seemingly enjoying this man s disgrace. Weiss was not pleased at all.
You disgusting armored street rat! You just got done throwing up. Who the hell do you think you are?
Jaune Arc. Short. Sweet. The ladies love it. Once again Pyrrha giggled smiling genuinely. Was she flattered by this? I was feeling embarrassed for him by this point. Weiss...seemed to only get more annoyed.
How disgusting, disgraceful, despicable can you get? You look like nothing more than a lanky annoying socially inept loser who is wearing hand-me-down armor and probably can t even fight out of a cardboard box...you may as well just quick because out there it will get a lot worse than the truthful words that I am speaking. With every sentence she stomped him back onto the balcony. He looked confused. He didn t know how to respond.
Hmph. Just as I thought. Weiss said. Pathetic. She walked away
Weiss we are here to help people. I heard Pyrrha whisper before they were out of earshot. I looked at the shocked and confused Jaune. He stayed that way for a couple of minutes.
You okay? I ask as the blonde young man regains composure. He was taller than me by a few inches. Was very fair skinned. Somewhat toned but Lanky as hell. His hair was long and mess. He had eyes that reminded me of the river I used to fish at back home.
Y-yeah. Just flying isn t my thing...or trains...or anything but walking to be honest. The boy looked awkward and nervous trying to distract from the verbal slaughter he had just been through. M-my name is Jaune Arc. Short. Sweet. And the ladies love it. He attempted to change his demeanor like he did with the girls but it was like putting make up on a Beowulf...not very effective. However, l decided to just ignore the cringe and move on.
Rowan.
That s a cool name. Do you have a last name?
Yes. He looked at me like he wanted me to add more but that wasn t gonna happen.
Oookay... he looked back out at the horizon still looking pale from his previous moment. So you looking forward to Beacon Academy?
It s a thing I have to do. The words slipped out before I could stop it and with a little agitation. Yes
Jaune looked taken aback. Okay sorry I asked. He let out a gentle sigh. I understand what that feels like though. He looked almost crestfallen. This boy looked pathetic and socially inept but I could see the pressure in his stare. It hit close to home. I mentally kicked my ass. I hate feeling sympathetic.
Hey. I said, feeling awkward of what I am gonna say. He looked at me surprised that I took the initiative to speak. We will get through initiation okay? I didn t smile but I hoped my words were encouraging. Jaune did a half hearted smile and nodded. See ya later Rowan.
The young man walked back into the main part of the ship. I sighed hoping for some time on my own. I closed my eyes letting the hum of the airship relax me further. Flying wasn t so bad...after the whole turbulence thing. After about six minutes, I heard the same ding that was heard earlier before the voice said something. All future Beacon students into the main chamber of the Bulkhead. Groaning at my relaxation ending, I turned around and walked into the main part of the ship, or the chamber as the voice said. Everyone was waiting around talking amongst themselves. I saw Jaune, now with a sword and shield, and he waved at me to stand by him. I took two steps before someone grabbed my hand.
Rowan! Let s go over here! With her semblance she dragged me away towards the complete opposite side of Jaune. I looked at what everyone else was looking at. It was a platform, probably 3 feet high. Above it was a glass dome about 4 feet in diameter. This is gonna be so cool! Ruby said excitedly as the dome began to glow a soft light green. A beam of light struck down and an image of a woman with glasses, a dress, and a blouse, couldn t tell colors due to the green tint of the image. I was very confused on why we saw this image of this woman until it began moving. No one else looked shocked at this. Was this normal? What else have I not been exposed to?
Welcome all future hunters and huntresses. The image said. I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch teacher of Semblance Applications at Beacon Academy. Your journey towards honor and glory is about to begin. You will learn how to fight in unity against all forces that attempt to crumble the four kingdoms. The speech sounded quite motivating from the look in Ruby s eyes. They were identical to stars in the sky. Now your initiation starts soon. Below you, is the forest ruins of an attempt to colonize outside of the kingdom. This is where your initiation will take place. There are many ways of passing this test. After locking eyes with someone to trigger your partnership, these 2 possible objectives become open to you. Way 1: find a piece of an artifact could be a weapon, a piece of armor, or even jewelry. The pair that finds the other half of your artifact becomes the other half of your team. Way 2: Survive 3 days in the wilderness. However, if you succeed in this way your pair will be randomly put with another pair that either found a piece of an artifact but no one found the other half or they also survived the three days. If in anyway your partner is incapacitated or you don t even find a partner you will be sent home and will have to wait til next year to try again. Now good luck and...happy landings.
Wait what? I yelled realizing what she just said. The image disappeared and I looked at Jaune, his face equally horrified. Before I could look at Ruby the section of floor she was standing on fell dropping her and several other students. Ruby! I screamed. Other people were now getting frightened. I didn t get to move away before I felt no floor below me and gravity took control as I looked up and saw the airship above me.