Year One
Chapter I: Initiation, Pt.2
Neven departed fairly soon after the speech, intent on getting an early chance to inspect the library. Clancey, on the other hand, figured that now would probably be the best time to get his stuff put away in the lockers; before the room was crowded, and things began to get too mixed around.
As he departed the locker room, he heard shouting down the hall; shouting, wherein he just happened to recognize one of the voices. After all, Susana wasn't exactly the type of person known for using an inside voice.
The other side of the argument seemed to be coming from a smaller, brown-haired girl; the same one who had been so quick to relieve her workload upon first getting off the airship. Her original helper, though, seemed to be absent; her cart was not. That, based on the current situation – namely, her toppled cart and scattered luggage. Gwen stood just off to the side, hand pressed tightly over her mouth to stifle laughter.
"Just because you come from some huge, rich family, doesn't mean you have the right to leave your things scattered around while people are trying to walk! Are you even looking at your own things? Do you know what would have happened if I had been running down this hallway?"
"Sure, the placement was bad. But perhaps walking backwards isn't the best idea, either?"
Gwen came over to Clancey as he approached, grinning as she said, "You're just in time."
Susana raised her arm and pointed directly at the other girl. "Don't try to make this about me, this is about you. You just leaving your stuff in the middle of a hallway."
"You mean pulling it down a hallway?"
Gwen turned about to look back at the pair, as Clancey asked, "Friends?"
"Nah. Never even met before. Of course, it doesn't help the girl happens to be Violet Jardine. Though it probably would, were it not for her mothers placement as a judge in Sue's last debate."
"The one she lost?"
"Yup."
The two turned back to the current fight. While Susana was clearly somewhat flustered, her anger appeared to be dying out. Violet, on the other hand, had remained mostly unaffected by the whole affair.
"Look, I see you're having troubles with this. But if you trip, you trip. You can't just throw the blame on me for your not looking around." she offered, causing Susana to give an almost stunned look.
"Throw the blame on you? Is that how you see it? It's your fault!" Susana cried out, her voice rising even louder now; despite this, she was clearly becoming exasperated.
"All I'm saying is, a fault has clearly been made here, and we're never going to move on if we keep arguing over it."
"Sue doesn't know when to quit." Gwen noted. Clancey nodded, and began walking forwards. As he did so, she frowned, and said, "Oh, don't be a killjoy!"
Clancey stepped up to the two, raising his hands and saying, "Okay, both of you just need to calm down. Save the fighting for the Grimm."
"The Grimm didn't try to trip me with their luggage!" Susana replied. "And stay out of it; this isn't your fight, anyways."
"No, he's right. I think that calming down is exactly what this situation needs." Violet said, backing up closer towards Clancey as she did so. After placing some distance between herself and Susana, she flashed a quick grin, which he only barely caught out of the corner of his eye. Susana, on the other hand, caught it fully, and was only getting more irate.
"Which means an apology from both sides." Clancey added.
To that, Violet frowned, and said, "For what, exactly? This is hardly my fault."
"It's nobodies fault." he said. "But regardless, the fighting needs to stop."
"It'll stop alright." Susana said. With a scoff, she stormed past the two, only stopping to add, "And you're not getting an apology." Clancey turned about to watch her leave. Gwen gave a quick shrug, and then followed.
"Well, she was a bitch." Violet noted. "You mind helping me with this?"
As Clancey helped her with putting everything back in order, he asked her, "You do realize all you needed to do was apologize, right?"
"As if." she responded. "There's a rule with people like that; you never yield ground. Give one inch, they take a mile."
"You say that because you haven't known her for four years. Trust me, she's not that unforgiving. She'll probably stew over it for a few hours, though."
"Well, you can hardly blame me for not knowing."
"That's because it's not about blame. I almost wonder if I should have just let you two go at it, looking at what ended up happening. Things may have been better that way."
"Not much of a diplomat, huh?" she said, as she placed the final piece of luggage back in its place. With a flourish, she grabbed onto the various bindings meant to hold everything in place, and quickly wrapped everything down.
"No." he admitted. "Never been much of a talker. Words are great, but actions are better. Fighting, strategizing, sculpting..."
"Sculpting?"
"Everyone needs a hobby." he said with a shrug.
"Hunting Grimm isn't a hobby?" she asked, leaning slightly against her now fully established cart.
"Not really. It's more a profession." he said. "Hobbies generally don't get you killed."
"Oh, I doubt they're that dangerous. I mean, not long ago I had a fight with this big, bad Beowulf, with huge teeth. He was like three times as big as me, and I did him in just fine. If we really get put in teams, I doubt they'll even be a threat."
"Perhaps for some. But there's usually more than just one, and they're usually much bigger. And if you're unlucky? You don't even recognize them. Susana, your new friend there, had an incident with one of those just last week. Huge rat Grimm in the sewers; never seen anything like it."
"You mean a Ratatosk?" she asked. Clancey raised his eyebrow as she did so. He had never heard of such a Grimm before in any of his studies, let alone so casual of a reference to a more esoteric variety.
"Perhaps." he replied. "Assuming the creature in question also has a bladed tail, and unusual damage survival capabilities."
"That'd be your Grimm, then. One of my tutors had a book with a huge list of weird Grimm. Most of them are apparently almost extinct around Vale, but apparently those ones live in huge warrens under the city. Hunters managed to break in and clear most of them out, but a few of the tunnels are too essential to be collapsed. If one of them ever gets lucky enough to make it into the sewers, they just keep growing and growing."
"I hope you've got as much combat experience as book knowledge."
"Eh... I've had a lot of practice. Sparring and dummies, mostly... well, almost completely."
"I suppose that's why Beacon's a school, not just a certification course. Best of luck... Violet, right?"
"Yeah... ooh! And your name?"
"It's Clancey. Pleasure to meet you."
The two shook hands, before Clancey said, "Well, I'm heading off. Word of advice? Don't fiddle with any extra functions. I already saw one kind accidentally launch his entire dust supply out past the borders of Vale."
"I'll keep that in mind." she said, nodding, as she casually pulled along the luggage cart. "I'll get on that, now. I'll probably catch you later."
With a final nod goodbye, Clancey continued down the hallway. Pulling out his scroll, he checked to see if he had received any messages yet from anybody else. So far, all ways quiet. Thinking to figure out where his friends had went off too, he put in a call to Alan.
The cafeteria was fairly open when Clancey entered, with more than enough space to fit at least twice the population of the school. For the incoming freshmen class, it was almost too much room, as the wrestling of a couple students in the far corner of the room demonstrated.
He found that he didn't recognize a disturbingly high number of students in the room. Being the feeder school for Beacon, Signal had certainly offered an impressive array of students. Yet as he looked around, he figured less than twenty of his seventy class-mates had made the transition; indeed, he figured there were just over thirty students, representing all four kingdoms, here in Beacon. It was the first time he truly began to realize just how many friends had been left behind.
Fork in hand, Clancey idly watched the ongoing brawl, as he tapped against his dinner tray. He heard Alan say, "You know, I hear food tastes better when it's hot. It's only a rumor, but they say all rumors are based on truth."
"Just thinking." he replied, impaling a few pieces of meat.
Besides Alan and Clancey, there sat two other students. The first was the dagger-wielding student who had gone to the tower with Clancey; a very skinny fellow, clad in torn, loose-fitting clothes which most certainly weren't a combat outfit, and with long, black hair. The second was a blonde girl, whose blue and white outfit could easily be mistaken for a dress were it not for the obvious, combat-practical re-fittings.
The girl raised a small teacup and took a drink, setting it next to the rather extravagant top-hat resting near her tray. "Clancey, love, are you alright?" she asked, a note of concern on her face.
"I'm fine, Alice." he replied. "Like I said, just thinking."
"No sense hurting yourself." the black-haired boy replied, smirking. "I'm no expert, but I'd say you're worried about something."
For a moment, he said nothing, continuing to watch the match. He didn't recognize either of the students, though from their looks, he figured they were from Mistral and Atlas, respectively. After a moment, he flashed a glance to the other student; Odhran, by name. "You know, that would hurt a little bit more if you hadn't utterly failed in the weapons construction final."
"I happen to like my daggers." Odhran replied, pointing a finger at Clancey. "Not everyone needs a fancy tri-fold to fight monsters. Specialization is the key to victory, after all."
"One can appreciate a pinch of variety." Alice said. "Then again, one does not usually go through their plate in alphabetical order."
"Don't blame him," Alan replied. "It's just how his mommy always packed lunch."
"Eight years and you still haven't let that go?" Odhran groaned. Alan just laughed at him, and Alice gave a light smile. Looking back to Clancey again, she asked, "You may have distracted those two, but you're not going to side-track me so easily. Why don't you tell us what is it you're so concerned about?"
"Tomorrow." he answered, turning around to look at everyone. "We've all heard the rumors. Students dying during initiation, random name drawings to select teams. We should compare what we know, and figure out a game-plan for tomorrow."
"Not that it really matters what we plan. Still, no sense bothering anyone else with a missing person's report." he thought to himself. Based on the quizzical look Alice gave, he figured she still wasn't convinced.
Before any more could be said, Alan offered, "Well, one of my brother's friends said he hacked into a live-feed from the initiation last year. He said they have cameras hidden all across the Emerald Forest, but his connection was cut off before he could see anything interesting happen."
"That matches up with what Arlette was telling me last year." Clancey replied. "Her sister had told her it was a training location, or something like that. Still, what could they expect of us? Kill a few Grimm and report back?"
"Maybe it's like a race?" Odhran said. "Like, what if the Headmaster teleports us to the edge of the forest, and then we get ranked by how quickly we get there?"
"That sounds like the wishful thinking of a runner to me." Alice said. "Remember, a Hunter must be more than just quick; they must be clever, and resourceful. No doubt, we are being sent to retrieve something of interest. Though what that something could be, I have no idea."
"It could be some sort of trophy." Alan suggested. "Like the horn or mask of a Grimm."
"Doubtful." Clancey replied. "Grimm disintegrate far too quickly to make a trophy feasible as evidence."
"Unless it's a race."
"It's not going to be a race. If it was a race, they'd be ignoring the very tenants of what we're meant to be tested by. Trust me, we're being sent after something. The only question is what it is."
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a voice asking, "Excuse me? Do you mind if I sit here."
Clancey turned. It was Neven, again, carrying a dinner tray. Clancey nodded to Alan, and both scooted down, as he said, "Make yourself comfortable."
"We don't bite." Alan said.
"Very much." Odhran added. "Except Grimm. Those we do bite."
Neven chuckled at that as he sat down, saying, "I didn't know you could bite Grimm. I didn't really learn about that back in Vacuo."
"Oh, it's a long-lasting tradition here in Vale." Odhran replied. "See, back in the old days, everyone bit each other as a way of saying 'hello'. So this one farmer, well, he comes across this big old Beowolf, who of course bites him."
"I don't deserve this." Alice said, pulling out a small vial from under her shirt, and pouring the clear contents of it into her tea-cup.
"Oh, be nice. We don't want the newbie to miss out on the culture. Anyways, as I was saying: The Beowolf bites the farmer, and the farmer, well, he bites back. Only, see, the farmer is incredibly strong, and he just rips this huge chunk out of the Beowolf. Now, normally Grimm just sort of don't care, but this Beowolf, well he just let's go, and backs off from the farmer. Next week, it's an Ursa. The farmer does the same thing, and again, the Ursa just runs off."
"A month passes, and suddenly, this huge Death Stalker with two tails shows up in town. The peasants all lock their doors, but instead of running in fear, they start cheering for the farmer to come out. Sure enough, there he is. Only the Death Stalker, well, it has no mouth. Instead, it lunges forward, trying to pinch him. So the farmer reaches out, and grasps the monster by its claw, and vigorously shakes back. Strong as he is, he just snaps the monster's arm, and it runs off into the woods. Or at least, it tries to; see, as it runs off, he bites it on its tail, and rips that one off as well."
"Ever since then, all Death Stalker's have had only one tail. And in honor of the farmer, all of the citizens of Vale since then have offered a handshake, to show our power and strength over all Grimm."
With that, Odhran thrust his hand across the table to Neven. The foreign boy returned the shake, though weakly, and with a look of somewhat amused confusion upon his face.
"Don't mind him." Alan said. "He's just bored because he's stuck with us."
"It's not fair that you got to bring most of your friends to Beacon." Odhran said, giving Alan an accusing look. "Me? I got stuck with you guys."
"As if you don't enjoy our company." Alice replied, downing the rest of her drink, and moving on to the small piece of cake on the corner of her plate. "I for one do not miss the random explosions which you would have no doubt taken part in, were the rest of your hooligan friends to make the transfer."
"Hey! That was only once!"
"So... you're all from Signal?" Neven asked, looking up to join in with the conversation.
"Of course." Alice answered. She raised her hand to indicate the other three, and said, "The four of us attended Central Vale Primary prior to that. There was also Arlette, though she is no longer with."
"Oh... I'm sorry for your loss."
Alan did a spit-take as Neven spoke. Clancey, too, chuckled, and said, "She's not dead or anything. She's just not here with us right now."
"On that note," he thought. "I don't know of much that could kill her."
Neven stopped for a moment, and gave a look of embarrassment. "Oh. Sorry."
"It's fine." Clancey said. "No, she went off to Mistral. She'd already succeeded on getting a spot reserved in early admissions, but... well, it was family business."
"Which you never intend to clarify, do you?" Odhran added. "Say, is that what you were talking about that night we were at the tower? The two of you were all mopey after that. Guess I just never connected everything together until now."
"Yes, it was." Clancey added. "And no, I think it's best left at that. You know how private she was."
"Unlike some people." Alan said, not looking at anyone in particular.
"Whatever could you mean?" Neven asked.
"Some of our class are a tad more open about things." Alice answered. "I do believe our dear Alan is referring to one of our fellow students in a less-than-pleasant manner."
"We're basically your normal group of the school." Alan said. "Good fighters, cool powers, nobody special."
"Speak for yourself." Odhran replied.
"I'd hardly classify the guy who got Signal first place in the year's strategy competitions as being normal, Alan." Clancy said.
Alice reached over the table to place a hand on Alan's shoulder. "Love, there's no sense in understating our abilities on your own behalf."
"Your words are like cutting blades." Alan replied, brushing her hand off. "But there you have it. The best and brightest of Signal, and then my half-naked self tagging along for the right. And Odhran."
"Watch it, grandpa." Odhran said.
"Don't be jealous because you're not a natural grey." Alan replied. "But anyways, besides us, there's a few others. Most of the groups got left behind, or splintered pretty badly. It's going to be a lot of one-man-armies for today."
"With a few exceptions." noted Alice. "Our fellow student with loose-lips is a girl named Sienna. Pretty, and a talented mage."
"She plays the role of 'popular girl' very well," Clancey noted. "I doubt she's actually done her homework more than a couple of times the last few years. Just don't let that fool you. She didn't become a mage, or get into this academy, through cheating alone."
"And even if you feel brave enough to risk being roasted, you'll have to deal with Braith as well." Alan said. "And that's not something anyone wants to do."
"Who's that?"
Alan raised his fingers, and began striking them as he began listing things off. "Most popular girl in school. Greatest athlete Signal has ever seen. Valedictorian of the class. Took down a Death Stalker single-handed. Overall perfect girl. Take your pick."
"It was, admittedly, a rather small Death Stalker." added Alice. "I was there for the incident. Professor Taiyang seemed quite irate to find one still alive."
"Could you blame him?" Clancey asked. "He always made a point of keeping Patch safe for his daughters. Half of the time, he was out on hunting trips with Professor Qrow and other Hunters to mop up things. The Death Stalker massacre was one of his proudest achievements."
"Point being," Alan continued. "She's good. Really good. If she wasn't such a bitch about it, we might even be happy for her. As it is, the only time I've seen her smile for the last for years was when she was killing something. She generally spars against teams, just to keep in practice. Susana's the only one crazy enough to keep fighting her solo."
Before Neven could even ask, Alice answered, "Another girl from our class. She came from the same primary as Braith, and the two have been rivals ever since we've known them. A good fighter, but one with terrible luck, and far too little patience."
"Technically, she's part of our group." Clancey said. "Her and Gwen; Gwen being the white-haired girl who's usually with her. Mellow, if perhaps a little too fond of merely spectating in Sue's constant fights. Of course, they've been avoiding us ever since the tournament at the end of last year."
"Can you blame her?" said Odhran. "If I got smashed that badly, I'd be embarrassed too."
"I thought you said she was a good fighter?" Neven asked.
"Normally, she is." Clancey said. "Thing is, the tournament was meant to be for two-man teams. Of course, as soon as she saw Braith was going solo, she decided she would as well."
"To be fair, not everyone at Signal is that good." Alan said. "Were she to go up against most groups, she'd have been fine. Even with one of us, it would have at least been a good fight. But she wound up drawing Braith for the very first fight."
"I don't remember what Sue said that pissed her off so much, but Braith didn't hold back anything. Or, rather, she did. The fight should have been over in maybe twenty seconds. It wasn't."
Alice shook her head at that. "Quicker than that. Sue wasn't nearly fast enough to guard against those attacks. Not with her flail."
Noting Neven's confusion, Clancey said, "Braith should have ended the fight quickly, as she normally did. Instead, she dragged it out for nearly five minutes, tossing Sue around like a rag doll the whole time, in front of the entire student body. She never let Sue's aura drop low enough for the match to be called. Mind you, it was her own damn fault. 'Too bad your parents can't see this', was more than uncalled for."
"Ah, right." Alan said. "That's what those comments were."
"Top of her class? Best fighter? Orphan?" Neven asked. "I'm sorry, it sounds like you're trying to pull a fast one on me. Next you're going to tell me she's the chosen one."
"And that's why we don't hang out with her." Alan said. "Because she pretty much thinks she is."
"Though it should be noted, her comments regarding my choice in head attire remain her greatest crime." Alice added. "Still, I suppose her type always winds up getting what they want. She will no doubt have a successful team."
"That depends on the process of selection." Clancey replied. "Something which, much like the process of initiation, we are still mostly in the dark about."
"Well, I know it's teams of four." Neven said. "Maybe the four of you will wind up together?"
"I don't know if we get a choice." Alice said. "If the rumors are true, partner selection is done by random selection. The teams themselves? That I am less certain about."
"We'll find out tomorrow." Clancey said. "Really, I suppose there's no sense worrying, seeing as we can't really do anything about it."
"There may also be a way of making things easier..." Neven said, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a folded sheet of white paper. He set it upon the table, and rolled it open, revealing a map of the area surrounding Beacon. Everything was there: landmarks, trail paths, and even a few notations on hotspots for Grimm. Clancey began to immediately take it all in.
"Where did you get this?" Clancey asked. "Did you bring it with you?"
"They had it in the library. I just made a copy." Neven answered. "Though since we don't know much about what we're doing, I don't know how helpful this could be."
"Knowing the layout for the Emerald Forest could be helpful." Clancey noted, pointing to that area on the map. "Though there doesn't seem to be much more than a few small mountains to break the woods, which means it could be pretty easy to get lost."
"Not really." Alice said, motioning to the Beacon Cliffs on the map. "The only challenge will be finding clearings to look over the trees. We should be able to see them for miles."
"What I thought was more interesting," Neven began. "Is these."
He pointed to three separate locations on the map, each showing complexes of some kind. "I can't identify the markings, but unless I'm mistaken, these are definitely ruins of some kind."
"I can confirm that." Clancey said, thinking back to his knowledge of regional history. "The area just outside of Vale is littered with ancient, abandoned sites. Most of them become hiding holes for the Grimm."
"Do you think any live in ruined churchyards?" asked a voice from behind, startling Clancey and breaking his chain of thought. He turned to identify the speaker, and saw that it was Violet, the same girl from earlier. She had a glass in her hand, but no dinner tray in hand.
"I suppose there's a few." he replied, as she walked around, heading to the opposite side of the table. "Though you're the one with esoteric knowledge of the Grimm here."
"Well yeah, I know a bit about them." Violet said, as she sat herself down next to Alice. "But I never found an answer to that question. Oh, and by the way, do you have a problem if I sit here?"
"Suppose not." Alan said. He then glanced down the table, to the main entryway of the cafeteria. "Well, speak of the devil," he said "And she will appear."
Clancey turned, to see what Alan had noticed. Coming down the hallway were Braith, Sienna, and a small group of others who they had apparently collected. They were foreigners, for the most part.
"They don't seem that bad." Neven remarked, with a frown. "I mean, they just seem like normal students to me."
"Nobody is that bad." Alan replied. "But don't let outside appearances fool you. Especially not with that group."
"I'm going to go talk to them." Violet said, staring at the group.
"I wouldn't recommend it, dear."
Alice's comment went unnoticed, as Violet quickly stood up, leaving only her glass behind, as she went off to go speak to the other group. Odhran chuckled, and said, "Well, at least she's gone."
"She didn't seem that bad." Alan said.
"Her manners could be more refined." Alice noted. "Based on the fabric of her attire, I'd assume high income. Clancey, love, you seemed to know her?"
"I met her after she ran into Sue earlier. Her name's Violet Jardine."
"Who?" Odhran asked.
"The Jardine family is a weapons manufacturer, based here in Vale." Alice explained. "They're rather large, thanks in part to them buying out most of the dust mines in the kingdom. They supply most of the weaponry used by the local military, and occasionally, for Hunters. Latest rumors have it that their dust mines are running dry, and the Schnee Dust Company is looking for a vertical merger."
"You need to start sending me these news links, Alice." Clancey said. "I hadn't heard anything about a merger."
"Well, the rumors were always there. It's only that recently, there's actually material facts to back it up."
'We'd best be heading out soon." noted Alan, who glanced up towards the clock. "It doesn't appear our break will be lasting much longer."
"To the ballroom, then?" asked Alice, who began to rise. Clancey glanced about the table, and noted that somehow, despite being the cleanest and most well-mannered at the table, Alice had also managed to leave her plate without a single dirty spot. Odhran and Alan, on the other hand, could have each single-handedly justified the job of a dish-washer.
Then, with a nod, Clancey stood, saying, "We should probably grab our toiletries first."
"And grab a spot in the hall." Alan added, as he, Odhran, and Neven began to rise. "Can you grab the black bag in my locker? Same pass-code as usual, locker should be 537. I'll go secure us spots in the main hall."
"Make sure it's as far from the restroom as possible." Clancey said. "I'd rather be the one tripping over people in the dark, than the one actually being tripped over."
"You got it." Alan responded, grinning as he gave a thumbs up, and then quickly turned down a side
"So, do you guys mind if...?" Neven began to ask.
"Of course not, love." Alice replied. "Stick around as long as you need to."
As the group began making their way out of the cafeteria, Clancey took a moment to glance around the room. The brawl from earlier had dissipated, only to be replaced by what appeared to be a competition of one-fingered push-ups by a few of the students. A few had taken notice to their group rising, and began brushing aside her trash into the waste-bins. Violet had managed to catch the attention of Braith and Sienna, and looked to be engaged in conversation with the latter. Now that they were standing, he noted that Gwen had made her way into the room, and was standing off in the corner speaking to two faunus students. There was no sign of Susana at the moment, though he couldn't imagine she was very far off.
"I wonder how Sue will react if she gets throw on another team then Gwen," Clancey mused. "Or being on a team at all, really."
Alice and Neven were having a discussion about books of some sort, now. Odhran, being completely uninterested in literature, was now thumbing through his scroll, with the occasional chuckle reminding everyone that he was still with them. Meanwhile, Clancey continued to think on the events; more-so, he began to consider who would make a good team.
"If Sue wasn't Sue, she'd be a great team-mate. Certainly one of the strongest fighters, and a better team player than Braith would be. Though truth be told, neither Braith or Sienna would necessarily be bad team-mates. Having a fire-mage as strong as Sienna to cover you would be useful, and I can't imagine someone as talented as Braith fighting coming up more than once every four years."
"Gwen's not a bad fighter, either. Then again, she's never been keen on doing work outside of combat-work, so that could be a problem. The same could be said for Odhran, though he isn't nearly as good. Heck, he still hasn't gotten his daggers upgraded to include a ranged weapon, and that's going to get him killed one day."
They made their way to the locker room. Clancey took out a small bag of essentials from his own locker, before making his way over to Alan's. "Alan's good, and I wouldn't mind being teamed up with him. Come to think of it, having him and Gwen on the same team couldn't be a bad thing. They did pretty well together in that tournament."
Having grabbed their things, the group made their way back down the halls, to the ballroom. He gave a quick glance to Alice, who was now demonstrating – with some help from her bag – a number of magic tricks, made all of the more impressive by the lack of dust involved. "Hopefully Alice winds up on whatever team I'm on. As modest as she is, I've yet to take her in a duel. Plus, she's dependable."
For a few moments, his mind continued running over other students from Signal, only to realize that nobody else really stood out in his mind. Instead, he turned his thoughts to the other students he had run into.
"Neven seems nice enough, and fairly smart." he noted. "But somehow, he doesn't strike me as much of a fighter. I'm not sure if he'll fair as well as the others in combat. Then again, I suppose that's only relative to other students at Beacon."
"Then there's Violet. Again, somewhat knowledgeable, albeit in different fields than one might expect. Doesn't look like much of a fighter either, though I'd more less surprised for looks to be deceiving in her case than with Neven. And despite what Alice said, I imagine her manners are a tad more refined than she's letting on. Convincing another student to drag her luggage around is proof enough of that."
Alan waved them down as they entered the ballroom, showing a set of bedrolls he had already prepared for them. Clancey tossed Alan his bag, before setting his own down near one of the rolls.
The next few hours were spent in a haze of idle chitchat, planning, and occasionally leaving to talk with the other students about matters. For his part, Clancey waited there the whole time, listening to the others, and considering the matter of the day to come. How would initiation be? Who would they be teamed up with? Would they really be searching through a Grimm-infested forest? And what would they be searching for?
Amazingly, everyone seemed fairly relaxed. Though as he sat their listening in his bedroll, Clancey tuned his ears to listening about the room. He had been on enough trips; he knew the sound of people sleeping. He knew that tonight, very few of the other students were getting much rest.
A/N: And that concludes Chapter Two. A little bit of detail for the side characters, and some speculations by Clancey as to the teams. Thank you for reading, and swing by next chapter to see how the first years deal with the hardship that is Initiation Day.
