Chapter one: Worst impressions
"This train is now approaching final stop: Atlas Academy Terminal. Atlas Academy Terminal final stop. All change please. All change." The monorail's PA system jolted me from my dream of eating birthday cake with Abe, my dad's old Alsatian. Sitting up groggily I cast my eyes around the carriage to see the other passengers, mostly new first year students at Atlas Academy just like me, gathering up their luggage and rushing for the doors. I didn't get up to follow them. No point in getting squished in the hurry to get out. I'd wait and get off after the first rush of new students had gone. So I just sat in my seat staring out the window. Not that there was a lot to see. The Atlas Academy Monorail Terminal was built onto the Academy itself, just like everything else seemed to be, and so its design was the same as the rest of the building. Lots of metal and glass, and concrete so unnaturally pale and clean that everything looked like it was built from compacted blocks of snow rather than rock. If I hadn't been raised in Vacuo, where the sun never stops shining and stays up for fifteen hours a day, I'm sure I'd have been squinting constantly. That or developing a terrible migraine.
After a few more minutes of watching the others get off I sighed and pushed myself up. My trusty brown leather jacket lay on the seat next to me and I snatched it up, slipping back into it, as I made my way to the door. I was surprised at how warm the station was as I stepped out onto the platform. A quick glance up through the sloping glass roof of the station told me that outside it was sunny but snowing lightly. It should have been at least chilly. I cast my eyes back down to the world at ground level and took in the hundred or so new students milling around on the platform. Some were chatting with friends, some looked as lost as I felt. Some were very obviously from Atlas. They had pale skin, very pale. And the vast majority had blonde hair and blue eyes, although of varying shades and intensities. Most of them wore white or blue too. I wondered for a moment if that was a cultural thing, or if the militaristic stereotype of Atlesians was actually accurate and they felt obligated to adopt a uniform outfit pattern for the sake of discipline or something.
The out of Kingdom transfers, like me, stuck out like splotches of multi-coloured paint on a white barn door. They all had wildly different styles of dress and appearance and just looked weird against the sea of white and blue. One guy in particular caught my eye as well as the eye, and disapproving sneers, of one or two of the people passing me. He wasn't especially tall, five feet eleven inches at most. He wore a black military greatcoat over a black and grey uniform I didn't entirely recognise, but I could tell it was military because of its design similar to the Atlas uniform I had seen on so many soldiers throughout the region. It wasn't his clothing that caught my eye though it was the feline ears that protruded from the top of his Raven black hair. They were very obvious, twitching and moving as he talked with a female Faunus with the same black hair as him, but she sported a fluffy black cat's tail poking out of the back of her blue dress that swished gently back and forth as she talked. I'll admit I stared at them for a second longer than would be considered natural but it was as if they suddenly sensed me because they both stopped talking and whipped their heads around to look at me. I shivered. The look of intense dislike and distrust in their matching sapphire eyes as they locked on me gave the impression that they expected me to attack them, and were daring me to do it. I had never had any problem with Faunus but I got the strange feeling that those two wanted me to start something so that they had an excuse to take me apart right there on the platform with no second thoughts.
Note to self: steer clear of Human hating Faunus at orientation I thought. There were plenty of friends I could make. THEY didn't need to be two of them.
Of all the places I have ever wanted to end up Atlas wasn't high on my list. In fact on my list of immigration destinations it wouldn't have made the top fifty. So you can imagine my dismay when I wound up living here. Mum got offered a permanent job as a PA at one of the research labs here and that was that. Goodbye Vacuo. Goodbye sun, goodbye sand, goodbye childhood friends. It wasn't the first time we'd left home for mum's work. She had temped all over remnant for a while but we had always come back home to Vacuo. This new job had a minimum four year contract and I knew that meant I wouldn't be going home anytime soon. I'd been in Atlas for just about six months before the new semester was due to start, and still every time I stopped to think about all that had happened, and especially about home, I'd get a little more depressed. It seemed to have made my mum happy though. She said it was the best paid job she'd ever been offered. Plus we got an apartment in the deal that was twice the size of the place we lived in during her stint as a waitress in Vale. So I tried to smile, for her sake. I do that a lot; try to be happy for other people. It's easier than you might think. Generally if you smile and joke enough you can convince yourself and everyone else it's all fine. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not a miserable person, and most of the time I am happy. I get that from my mum I think. I like talking to people and I like making friends and I love helping out. But there are the bad days, the days where I have to pretend to be someone else just to make it through the day.
"One side shrimp!" I remembered then that I was still blocking the door to the monorail car as, with those words and a rough shove, I was barged out of the way by another passenger. I thought for a second about telling the guy how rude he was. Then I got a look at him and just ask quickly decided to let him off. Could you blame me? The guy was six feet tall and clad in a mixture of street clothes and battle worn armour pieces. He had a tattered cloak draped around his shoulders with his personal crest embroidered on it; a wolf's head with what looked to be a scar over its right eye. Then I saw my second tail of the day. When he turned the cloak flopped aside revealing a huge grey wolf tail coming out through his trousers. He had only one red eye the other was scarred and milky white.
"I'm not a shrimp" I muttered lamely.
He grunted with what might have been laughter, "Still barely an Ursa snack though. With that pink hair you look like cotton candy, Grimm size."
Douche I thought. I had no problem with Faunus but this guy and the Cat Faunus who'd given me the evils earlier weren't doing much to improve their public image.
"My name is Misty" I told him indignantly, "and I can handle myself just fine!"
He glared at me unconvinced. Then, just for a second, he took a brief sniff of the air and his eyes flashed gold.
"You've got a smell of farm animals and earth about you. It's faint. I'd guess you haven't lived there in a long time, but I bet you've only ever had to deal with the small Grimm that attack livestock." He gave me a look that told me what he really thought. To him it was clear that I had no idea what I was doing, that I had no right to want to be a Huntress. "I bet you've never even seen an Ursa!" he remarked with something like a mocking snarl on his face. That got under my skin. This guy had clearly seen some shit, despite being barely older than me. But he didn't have any right to make assumptions about what I'd seen just because I didn't turn up to orientation day looking like I took a shortcut through a Beowulf den!
"I've seen plenty!" I told him, feeling my face flush a little with anger. "I've seen Alpha Beowulfs and Giant Nevermores too!" I didn't realise it immediately but my hand had slipped toward the holster where I kept Dawn Lighter, my twin revolvers. He noticed too, his red eye falling on where my hands hovered before moving back up to my face. The tension in him eased and he chuckled. It wasn't a reassuring sound, more like a feral growl than a human laugh.
"You've got nerve Pinky, I'll give you that. Most people take two steps away from me just for lookin' at them. Names Ash, Ash Draed."
I looked at him sceptically, "Ash Dread? Really?" That couldn't be his real name.
"No, Draed" he repeated and this time I could hear, he said it like "Dr-ay-ed".
"So not quite so on the snout then" I joked, then winced. I'd had a friend back in Vacuo, a Dingo Faunus, and we'd make jokes like that all the time without thinking about it. This guy didn't seem the type. His eye flashed dangerously and for a second I thought I was in trouble. Then he grunted again.
"I guess not."
At that moment a tall, thin, severe looking older woman, wearing an Atlas officer's uniform, rectangular wire-rimmed spectacles and flanked by two soldiers in body armour, stepped onto the platform and immediately began issuing orders.
"Attention!" She barked and the whole platform fell silent, "All first year recruits will form two straight lines, male and female. Males will Follow Sergeant Heart" she gestured to the male soldier to her left. "And Females will follow Sergeant Goldman" she gestured to the female soldier on her right. "After Processing and registration you will be shown into the mess hall for a greeting speech from the new headmaster Colonel Ironwood." She glared out over the confused mass of students for a second. "MOVE!" she barked again and the assembled group scrambled to do as ordered.
"Catch you later Shrimp" Ash drawled as he sauntered off toward where the guys were assembling at the far end of the platform.
Douche I thought again. I made my own way over to where the girls were assembling at the opposite end of the platform. As I walked I passed the pair of feline Faunus. The guy was embracing the girl and for a moment I wondered if they were a couple. Then I noticed again their matching black hair and sapphire eyes and I realised they could only be siblings. My theory was confirmed as I passed within earshot.
"Alright Cerulea I have to go. Be good to mother and no torturing Professor Quill whilst I'm gone . . . it's more fun with two" my footsteps stuttered at that and I glanced back at them. His tone was so warm and affectionate and completely at odds with the cold look he'd given me earlier when he'd caught me staring. He hadn't noticed me this time though and as I stared again he and his sister did the most adorable little nose touch. I tried not to see them as two kittens in a basket together. I was so engrossed that when the station Tannoy suddenly blared out that the monorail would be departing shortly I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Okay brother" the sister said as she pulled back, "but I don't see why I can't come with you. We've been training together for years. You know as well as I do that I could defeat anyone here with almost no effort!" The brother smiled as he urged her back aboard the train.
"That's true but you know as well as I do that you're only fifteen."
"As if that matters besides there's only six years difference!"
"Oh, go on fur ball get out of here! I'll call home tonight and tell you all about it."
"Promise?"
"On my ears" he assured, waving goodbye as the doors slid closed. Then he began to turn away and I had to scarper down the platform to avoid getting that hateful stare again.
I had taken so long that I was now right at the back of the line. The girl ahead of me in the line didn't even glance up as I hurried over; she was far too engrossed in whatever book she was reading. That or I was hidden from view behind the massive feathered wings that protruded from her back.
Another Faunus? I thought, surprised. Racism to Faunus was a big problem in all the kingdoms back then you understand, more so than now, but Atlas was generally regarded as the worst. Civil and workplace segregation was still common and there were several active racial hate groups on the continent, not to mention the legendarily poor treatment of Faunus by corporations like the Schnee Dust Company. Generally Faunus in Atlas kept their heads down or did their best to conceal their animal features in order to avoid attention or discrimination. Not the three I'd seen so far though. They either weren't yet aware of the problems they would face or they didn't care. Though I don't think she could have hidden her wings if she'd tried. Avian Faunus were, as far as I knew, exceptionally rare and most were not capable of flight but her wings were so huge it was hard to imagine that she wasn't.
"Hi" I offered as I fell in behind her. The girl was Amazonian! Ash had been tall but this girl was even taller. Standing next to her was like standing next to one of the angel statues in the cathedral, completely overshadowed.
"Hmm" she finally looked up from her book. She turned to face me and nearly clobbered me with one of her wings in the process. She looked confused for a second then looked down and spotted me, which made me feel even more awkward. Ash's shrimp comment had already made me self-conscious about my height. "Oh hello" she said with surprise, "you're the first person who's spoken directly to me today. My name's Olive Valerian."
"Misty Thulia" I said, offering a hand, which she promptly shook. "And you're the nicest Faunus I've met today."
"How many have you met?"
"Oh, just three" I said, not really thinking that glaring counted as 'meeting'.
"That's great. I won't be the only one then. I just graduated from Signal Academy back in Vale. They offered me a scholarship to Beacon but with all the tech and the potential combat training I opted to come here instead, so many opportunities for experimentation. Where are you from?" She said sounding exceedingly proud of herself.
"Umm Vacuo" I replied, "but I didn't come here from another school. My mum just got a job here and I've wanted to be a Huntress since I was a little girl."
"So you had to take the aptitude exams then?" she asked.
"Yeah" I shuddered as I remembered the brutal exams they had subjected people who didn't have a school reference to.
"Yeah, I didn't have to take one because of my recommendation but I got copies of some of the older papers and did them anyway just out of curiosity."
"Curiosity?" I was astounded. Those papers had terrified me, and I was sure that I was going to die from overheating my brain by the time I had been done. I was starting to get the feeling Olive was a bit of a nerd.
"So how well did you-?" She was cut off when the soldier at the head of the line, Sergeant Goldeen or something, barked for everyone to pipe down.
She then ordered us to follow and led the way off of the platform into the academy proper. As we walked along Olive muttered.
"It's all very efficient but why soldiers, wouldn't senior students have been better? Or even professors?"
"They are former students" someone else whispered from in front of Olive. "Many of them train as Huntsmen and Huntresses but then use that training to get a leg up in the army."
"That's not right" I muttered to myself.
"I know" agreed Olive, overhearing, "such a waste of potential!"
"No that's not what I meant" I muttered. It just didn't seem right to me. "The point of becoming a Huntress is to help the people, not to use that training for personal gain!"
"I think you're being a bit too idealistic there" said Olive. "I think you'll find that an awful lot of people join these academies for personal gain. I know I did." I decided not to ask her what she meant, but she had mentioned something about tech and experimentation so I got the feeling she was looking for an opportunity to work on some personal project.
Inside the academy buildings things were just as white but a lot less utilitarian. There were windows with ornate frames along the corridor; blue carpet ran up the centre of the floor and blue and white banners bearing the school emblem, along with paintings depicting various famous students, events and locations in Atlesian history were hung at intervals along the walls. I couldn't see out of the windows to my left because the line of guys was in the way but out of the right hand windows I could see straight down over a sheer drop that went down at least a hundred feet before stretching away for several miles of snow-capped forest. Beyond that lay the residential and commercial areas of Atlas and beyond that, nothing but snow and ice for at least two hundred miles until you reached Mantle. We continued to walk. The corridor turned around to the left and deposited us in a wide courtyard in front of a set of steps that led up to the dining hall, or mess hall, whatever they'd called it. At the base of the steps about twenty feet apart were two tables. Each had another person, this time in Atlas Academy uniform sitting behind it at a computer. The heads of each line had just reached them and I could see that each student was handing over a copy of their transcript for registration I began to dig around in the pockets of my jacket trying to find mine, praying that I hadn't left it in my luggage which was currently who knew where?
The lines on both sides shortened fairly quickly considering we weren't in order but it did still take nearly an hour and a half. Twenty minutes in Olive went back to reading her book which left me at the back of the line with nobody to talk to. I didn't mind too much. I was too busy taking in the scale of the place, so much grander than anywhere in Vacuo except perhaps Shade Academy. After I got bored of that I started looking over the boy's line and wondering if I would end up on a team with any of them, trying to guess from what they looked like and the weapons they were carrying what kind of person/fighter they were. I spotted Ash up near the head of the line. As I watched something happened. Ash walked up to the table, the guy behind it said something that looked dismissive and Ash became very agitated. I could hear him yelling from all the way at the back of my line though I couldn't make out what was said. Then he leapt at the man, only to be restrained by the soldier who had led them there. Everyone was watching now. We all watched as the feline Faunus and the female officer who'd met us at the platform approached the table. I was shocked to see the Faunus grab the guy at the desk by the collar and haul him aside, the officer following. He clearly said something that put the fear of Grimm in him because the man quailed and slunk back to his seat where he proceeded to process Ash's papers and allow him through into the mess hall.
I only found out later that what had happened was a very similar experience to the one I was about to witness. I'd been in line for an hour and twenty minutes by this point, and actually getting pretty sick of standing, but by then it was just me and Olive left in line. I was just watching as the register over at the male table folded up his computer and turned from his desk, only to be escorted out of sight by the sergeant when I heard the woman at our desk speak up.
"Oh wonderful another one" I whipped around trying to see her around Olive's wings. She too was leaning around them trying to see past Olive. When she spotted me she smiled warmly before turning her eyes back on Olive. She frowned. "Step aside please, Faunus."
"Excuse me?" Olive sounded genuinely confused.
Poor girl I thought, guess she really wasn't expecting it.
"I said step aside please. And don't cause a fuss like that other one did. We've had enough trouble from your kind today."
"My kind?" Olive sounded so confused and hurt, as though nobody had ever spoken to her that way, that it made my heart ache. I was starting to wonder if I wanted to attend Atlas Academy at all if all the students were so bigoted.
"Yes, now step aside. You are holding up the line." I glanced behind me, dumbfounded. Were there another hundred invisible girls behind me I couldn't see? There was nobody else waiting but me.
"Stop pointing that at me" the woman ordered suddenly, sounding tense.
"What, my staff?" Olive asked sounding less hurt and more offended now. "I'm not pointing it at you!" I glanced around but the female officer and the bold Faunus guy from earlier had vanished, and sergeant Goldy was making no effort to stop the woman's racist tirade. In fact I was disgusted to see that she was grinning.
"Step aside and stop pointing that at me or I will have you incarcerated for threatening a student of this academy!" the woman at the desk went on.
"Okay NO!" I couldn't take it anymore.
"Excuse me miss?" the lady asked as she focused on me ducking around Olive's wing to plant my hands on her desk.
"This is ridiculous!" I insisted, starting to flush angrily again.
She got a self-satisfied smirk and sneered at Olive again "See what I mean? You're even annoying her now." Olive looked over at me, hurt.
"NO. YOU are the one that's annoying me! Leave Olive alone, she has just as much right to get registered as I do!" At once her look changed from smug to disgusted and she eyed me up and down as if I had some disease.
"Do you know this Faunus?" she demanded, in the same tone someone might ask "do you know this criminal?"
"Only for the past couple of hours" I said, "but I can already see that she's a much better person than you are! Why are you being so mean to her?"
She looked at me like it was the dumbest question she had ever heard and then asked "why are you defending her? She's just a Faunus, and a freaky one at that." I wondered if I had accidentally bumped into Olive's wings after all because I was about to start spitting feathers.
"You have got to be kidding me! Why does that even matter? Register her now and stop being so mean. I guarantee she deserves to be here more than I do!"
She stared at me then rolled her eyes and turned to Olive. "Transcript!" she barked, holding out her hand. Olive produced the pristine sheet of paper from within her book and handed it to the woman who snatched it and glanced over it. I felt a little better when I saw her eyes widen as she glanced over Olives recommendation from Signal. She entered the information into her computer before practically flinging the transcript back at Olive.
"Done. Welcome to Atlas. Be grateful. Now get out of the way!" I nearly punched her on the nose. "Transcript" she barked at me, with equal disdain. Just to show how little I cared I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket and tossed it on the desk. She unfolded it and began updating the information I'd provided six months ago with the test scores that now had to appear on my transcript as well as any information that may have changed. I noticed her 'tsk' with disgust as she looked over my sheet. She handed it back to me without saying a word. As I walked up the steps I heard her call after us.
"You two are great together Vale Faunus scum and uneducated Vacuo trash. You'd make great partners team garbage!"
"Let it go" I muttered to myself as I hurried up the steps after Olive.
She was waiting for me by the door. "Welcome to Atlas huh?" I joked as we headed inside. She didn't respond at first and when I glanced over at her she had curled one of her wings around and was brushing at her feathers self-consciously. "Olive you okay? Look don't pay any attention to her she's just a racist mean girl with no real friends. Probably."
"Yeah you're probably right" Olive agreed but she was still brushing at her wing. "I've never had anyone abuse me that openly before. I'm used to people giving me weird looks, muttering things they think I can't hear or not letting me have a seat on public transport but nobody's ever done something like that before." She looked at me searchingly, watching as I answered her next question. "Do my wings really freak you out?"
"No way!" I told her emphatically. "I mean, they seem like they'd be a pain in the butt to have in the bath and I wouldn't want to sleep with them but they look awesome! Can you fly with them?" She looked at me cautiously, as if she wasn't sure if I was making fun of her, but when she realised I wasn't she smiled brightly.
"Yeah, yeah I can. And I don't mean to brag but I can do it quite well too."
"That's awesome!"
"Thanks, Misty wasn't it?"
"Yeah that's me. And don't worry about it. We humans aren't all as bitchy as her."
We joined the rest of the students crowded inside. Everyone had mixed together again, milling around and talking. I spotted the cat guy from earlier and Ash, on opposite sides of the room glaring at each other. I wondered what that was all about. I'd find out later of course but I'd hoped at the time that after what happened outside they would have become instant friends. Just as we walked up the lights dimmed. On the stage at the head of the room a tall man with black hair, just beginning to show a shade of grey at the edges, and another Atlas officer's uniform stepped into view. He was an imposing figure, tall and broad chested with a demeanour that spoke of confidence in his abilities and leadership. Unlike the other military staff I'd met today though he had a casual smile on his face and though he moved with military precision, hands tucked into the small of his back, he wasn't rigid but fluid. This man was born to be a soldier. When he spoke his voice carried throughout the hall issuing from speakers concealed around the room.
"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Colonel Ironwood and it is my honour and privilege to welcome you today as new students of Atlas Academy. Today is especially important as it marks not only the first step on your journey towards the noble goal of becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses but also the first step down the path to who you will become for the rest of your life. And as your new headmaster, I look forward to taking that journey with each and every one of you. I'm sure you will all join me in wishing Marshall Aslin a happy retirement." He paused to clap and an elderly man with a wild mane of white hair stood up and took a bow before returning to his seat. When the applause died down Ironwood started speaking again.
"As students of Atlas Academy you will have access to the finest training, the most experienced tutors and the best technology Remnant has to offer. There is no finer academy in the world. While you are here your classmates will become family, comrades in arms, brothers and sisters. Your tutors will be your instructors, your guides but they will also be your family. Do not hesitate for a moment to come to us with any problems or questions. It is our job as teachers to support you as much as possible and help you become the warriors you were destined to be. But be warned, these next few years will not be easy. For some of you it will be too much. Not all of you will make it. But through diligent study, constant training, mental and physical discipline you will prevail. When you leave here in four years' time you will be the Elite. The finest, best trained and if you ask me. . ." he gave the audience a conspiratorial wink (which I only saw because of the overhead monitors enlarging his face), "best looking Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world!" He laughed and most of the audience joined in, the Atlesians mainly.
"But that is still a long way off. For tonight let's just focus on getting you settled. We'll have dinner, and after that bed rolls will be distributed. You can bunk here for the night and in the morning we start the real work." As he said the last part his demeanour shifted from jovial to serious. But just as quickly he was back to casual again. "For tonight though get some rest, relax and get to know those around you. You never know, the person standing right next to you may be your future wingman." As he turned and left the stage the whole hall broke into applause. I looked over at Olive and almost laughed.
Wingman.
We ate dinner in relative quiet but by the time we were getting ready for bed Olive and I were chatting casually again. She was nice enough, a massive bookworm with a weird obsession with Dust as far as I could tell, but she had a sense of humour and was prettier than she had any right to be. She was taller than Ash, six foot two at least, though I suppose she'd have to be to support her wings. She had straight raven hair, the same colour as her plumage, which hung all the way down to her hips when she let it out and eyes so green they were like Emeralds when they caught the light. She made me feel majorly insecure about myself. So I was surprised when she told me she'd never had a boyfriend.
"Seriously?" I asked, "Not one?"
"I've never really looked" she insisted blushing slightly. "I tried once in high school, you know to take to dances and stuff? But most human boys didn't want anything to do with me and I think the Faunus boys found me either intimidating or too nerdy." She thought for a second, "I could have asked a girl but I never had the confidence."
"Wow" I said, ignoring the last part "their loss."
"What about you?" she asked as she settled atop her sleeping bag, tucking her wings firmly against her back before she folded herself into it. It was a weird thing to witness, like some sort of contortionist magic trick.
"My mum always moves us around too much for me to think about a long term relationship. I've dated once or twice but nothing serious."
"Boys or girls?" she asked.
"Just boys" I said firmly.
As we both settled down to sleep I thought back on the events of the day. And although my overall impression hadn't been good so far I'd at least made a new friend. Possibly two if Ash turned out not to be a complete douche. At least Colonel Ironwood seemed like a nice guy. I hoped he was right about the other members of staff not being as severe and uptight as they appeared. I closed my eyes and tried to look forward to tomorrow.