As we left the carrier, I saw the castle's grounds up close for the first time. It was a little smaller than I had expected. I would have expected it to be the size of the old Jedi Temple. We started our walk down the unnecessary catwalk, the only large part of the whole castle, though the 'backyard' could compete with that. Most of the students had little of an idea where to go. I Figured the best way to go was directly into the castle where a stage with a microphone was visible.
"Hey Ama," I said.
"What?" she snapped back, still acting angry.
"Don't make anyone else vomit, there was too much plot convenience with that already." She looked away but I could tell she was smiling.
When we made it to the castle walls, I saw some of the other students standing in front of the stage. We entered the gates as I heard an explosion coming from the front of the hallway. The rest of my group turned back to look for the source. No one else going through the gates turned back, a display of a Jedi's increased senses. Some looked at us in confusion, while others looked back to see a girl in red standing the the center of a crater. I sensed her aura and noticed she was the scythe-wielder. She was talking with two other girls, one in white and the other in black. Someone else who was close had also noticed, they appeared to be the victim of Ama's stunt from earlier, the so called Vomit Boy.
Once everyone had filed into the caste, someone who I could only assume was a teacher approached the stage. I could tell that they didn't want to be here. They stepped up to the mic and began to address the crowd.
"I'll...keep this brief,"
"You didn't keep the wait brief," Leaf started.
"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge,"
"Ummm, not quite. Try again."
"To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."
"Not necessarily, but you're getting closer."
"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy,"
"Well that was rude."
"in need of purpose – direction."
"That's better."
"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far."
"Yeah, haven't you seen The Sorcerer's Stone?"
"It is up to you to take the first step."
"Hmmm, I wonder the name of the next episode."
The headmaster glared into the crowd at Leaf. It was confusing to me how he heard what she had said. After he left the women from the shuttle talked to us about many other remedial things. Eventually we were released into the ballroom for the night.
In the morning we were being sent to the back of the school for initiation. I was the only one in my group to know what awaited us. Along the way I found myself remembering the previous night. There was a group that had caused a commotion, consisting of the same people from the explosion at the front of the school, though another girl was amongst them. The one person that stuck out was the girl in black reading a book. She had already been reading since before the pandemonium had started. The commotion itself wasn't the most important part of the exchange, it was what happened after.
We were sleeping together near where the girl in black was sitting. I awoke from my nightmares as I had since leaving the Temple and started to go back to sleep before I noticed that she was looking at me. She was still there, reading her book like before despite everyone else sleeping. I felt like I should talk to her about it.
"Hey, black, why are you awake?" She noticed I was returning her look.
"Couldn't sleep," she said, returning to her book.
"Why not?" I asked. She looked back up, seeming more interested now.
"Everyone has a past, i'm sure that's something you can relate to." I could tell she was beginning to be annoyed.
"I can." I turned around, trying to leave her alone, but I had something else to say. Turning back, I said, "if you even need someone to talk to regarding your past, you can come to me." I started to try and sleep again, but I tried to read her emotions. She may not be letting on to it, but she was secretly surprised by my remark. That time when I had fallen asleep, Sapphire didn't come back.
I had figured others would have similar stories to mine, but it was still a shock. Black was walking in front of me and I could tell she felt the same way. I saw her look back at me on several occasions. I tried to look away when she did, but she caught me once or twice. The rest of my group could tell something was up but they kept quite.
We had gone over are plans for when we started the test. I had left out the fact it was taking place in The Emerald Forest, but I had told them the telltale rule for partnering.
"The first person you make eye contact with is your partner for the next 4 years." I had also told them how we were going to find each other before someone else found us.
"When you are in the test use your sense of the force to find everyone else. If you sense someone who doesn't have jedi-level force in them, hide immediately until they pass." The stage had been set and the curtain had risen. It was time to be initiated. I was launched deep into the forest, watching my allies to estimate their point of impact. It had begun.
*I do not own RWBY, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. All rights reserved to their respective owners